I loved the word of Holy Writ,
admired all those that followed it;
and, reading deeds of godly men,
identified myself with them;
was Moses, Joseph, David, too.
Until "the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew."
And my dream-house shuddered and shook;
the windows rattled, and shutters flew wide,
and I, huddled inside,
saw it collapse in rubble around me
with an enormous roar
on the foreshore.
