Who fathoms the eternal thought

Who fathoms the eternal thought. John Greenleaf Whittier* (1807-1892). From ‘The Eternal Goodness’, published in The Independent, a weekly periodical (New York, 16 March 1865), and then in Whittier’s The Tent on the Beach, and Other Poems (Boston, 1867) (Rogal, 2010, p. 47). The poem, which has 22 stanzas, begins as a criticism of those whom Whittier knew and whom he admired, but who held strongly to doctrine: I trace your lines of argument; Your logic linked and strong I weigh as one who dreads dissent And fears a doubt as wrong. But still my human hands are weak To hold your iron creeds: Against the words ye bid me speak My heart within me pleads. The fourth stanza that...