A thunder-cloud had blotted out the sun;
The lightning played among us and caught one
Who ran to save his jacket from the rain.
Before we got him home the storm had sped;
The hay we'd cocked was steaming dry again;
Doctor and Parson came: one shook his head;
'An Act of God,' the other, kneeling, said.
Next day being Sunday I strolled round my fields
To view my crops and figure out their yields;
Some ants were busy on one sandy bit
Of the chance path down which I sauntered:
Aimless, I paused, and trod one's life from it:
And sudden Doubt within me reared its head;
'An Act of God? An Act of God?' Doubt said.