LIFE'S ANSWER
Reading edition
A stroke of lightning stabbed the storm-black sea, As if it sought the heart of Life thereunder, And meant to put an end to it utterly;— Then came thunder— Wildly applauding thunder. Riven with fear the foam-crests ran before it, Hissed by the rain and beaten down to darkness. A gull rose out of the murk with wings that tore it— Life's answer to the storm's terrible starkness.