Tennyson - In Memoriam - the pain of not understanding

In Memoriam A. H. H. OBIIT MDCCCXXXIII: [Prelude]


By Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1809–1892

Strong Son of God, immortal Love,
Whom we, that have not seen Thy Face,
By faith, and faith alone, embrace,
Believing where we cannot prove;


Thine are these orbs of light and shade;
Thou madest Life in man and brute;
Thou madest Death; and lo, Thy foot
Is on the skull which Thou hast made.


Thou wilt not leave us in the dust:
Thou madest man, he knows not why,
He thinks he was not made to die;
And Thou hast made him: thou art just.


Thou seemest human and divine,
The highest, holiest manhood, Thou.
Our wills are ours, we know not how,
Our wills are ours, to make them Thine.


Our little systems have their day;
They have their day and cease to be:
They are but broken lights of Thee,
And Thou, O Lord, art more than they.


We have but faith: we cannot know;
For knowledge is of things we see;
And yet we trust it comes from Thee,
A beam in darkness: let it grow.

One could write pages on these lines, but I think it better to let Tennyson speak for himself. May he and all who live lives tortured by doubt, rest in peace.