Anchored to the Infinite

By Edwin Markham 1852–1940 Edwin Markham

The builder who first bridged Niagara’s gorge,

Before he swung his cable, shore to shore,

Sent out across the gulf his venturing kite

Bearing a slender cord for unseen hands

To grasp upon the further cliff and draw

A greater cord, and then a greater yet;

Till at the last across the chasm swung

The cable then the mighty bridge in air!

So we may send our little timid thought

Across the void, out to God’s reaching hands—

Send out our love and faith to thread the deep—

Thought after thought until the little cord

Has greatened to a chain no chance can break,

And we are anchored to the Infinite!

Source: The Shoes of Happiness and Other Poems (1929)

Biography

Once internationally famous as the author of the poem "The Man with the Hoe," Markham was a popular American literary figure during the first half of the twentieth century whose works espoused progressive social and spiritual beliefs. In contrast to the experimentalism and pessimism that generally characterized poetry of this era, Markham's quatrains, sonnets, and heroic verse celebrate peace, love, and socialist utopian reform. . . .

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