Little by little and one by one, <br />Out of the ether, were worlds created; <br />Star and planet and sea and sun, <br />All in the nebulous Nothing waited <br />Till the Nameless One Who has many a name <br />Called them to being and forth they came. <br /> <br /> <br />All things mighty and all things small, <br />Stone and flower and sentient being, <br />Each is an answer to that one call, <br />A part of Himself that His will is freeing- <br />Freeing to go on the long, long way <br />That winds back home at the end of the day. <br /> <br /> <br />Little by little does mortal man <br />Build his castles for joy and glory, <br />And one by one time shatters each plan <br />And lowers his palaces, story by story- <br />Story by story, till earth is just <br />A row of graves in the lowly dust. <br /> <br /> <br />One by one, whatever was called, <br />Must be called back to the primal Centre. <br />Let no soul tremble or be appalled, <br />For the heart of the Maker is where we enter- <br />Is where we enter to gain new force <br />Before we are sent on another course. <br /> <br /> <br />And one by one, as He calls us back, <br />We shall find the souls that we loved with passion, <br />In the great way-stations along the track, <br />And clasp them again in the old, sweet fashion- <br />In the old, sweet fashion when earth we trod- <br />And journey along with them up to God.<br /><br />Ella Wheeler Wilcox<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/one-by-one-24/
