What Do We Know

What do we know of life who have not borne

In plenitude her sorrows and her pain

Or struggled with a darkness of the heart

And demon-thoughts that plague the tortured brain.

What do we know of love who have not felt

Its million pulses coursing through the heart,

Before the sacred image bowed and knelt,

Moved by the supreme creator's art.

What do we know of God who have not seen

His face in all the warring tribes of men

Acknowledged Him in good or vile and mean,

Turned away and back to Him again.

What do we know of man who have not found

The unity that marries all as one,

The harmony that finds a higher ground,

A brotherhood of souls we've scarce begun.

What do we know of joy who snatch at bliss

In fitful starts yet cannot hold her crown,

Who yet await the rapture of His kiss

And still refuse our longings to disown.

What do we know of fate and Lila's play

Who have not lived a beggar or a king,

Encompassed joy and grief as night and day,

Equally embracing everything.