The Mystery, from Lyrics of Lowly Life, by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, 1896

I was not; now I am—a few days hence I shall not be; I fain would look before And after, but can neither do; some Power Or lack of power says “no” to all I would. I stand upon a wide and sunless plain, Nor chart nor steel to guide my steps aright. Whene’er, o’ercoming fear, I dare to move, I grope without direction and by chance. Some feign to hear a voice and feel a hand That draws them ever upward thro’ the gloom. But I—I hear no voice and touch no hand, Tho’ oft thro’ silence infinite I list, And strain my hearing to supernal sounds; Tho’ oft thro’ fateful darkness do I reach, And stretch my hand to find that other hand. I question of th’ eternal bending skies That seem to neighbor with the novice earth; But they roll on, and daily shut their eyes On me, as I one day shall do on them, And tell me not the secret that I ask.

Praising Manners
 

We should ask God
To help us toward manners. Inner gifts
Do not find their way
To creatures without just respect.
If a man or woman flails about, he not only
Smashes his house,
He burns the whole world down.
Your depression is connected to your insolence
And your refusal to praise. If a man or woman is
On the path, and refuses to praise — that man or woman
Steals from others every day — in fact is a shoplifter!
The sun became full of light when it got hold of itself.
Angels began shining when they achieved discipline.
The sun goes out whenever the cloud of not-praising comes near.
The moment that foolish angel felt insolent, he heard the door close.

"Praising Manners" by Robert Bly from The Winged Energy of Delight. 
© Harper Collins Publishers, 2005.