O GLORIOUS Sun! whose car sublime Unerring since the birth of time, In glad magnificence hath run its race; O day's delight -- God-painted sky, O moon and stars, whose galaxy Illuminates the night thro' all the realms of space. O poetry of forms and hues, Resplendent Earth! whose varied views In such harmonious beauty are combined; -- And thou, O palpitating Sea, Who holdest this fair mystery In the wide circle of thy thrilling arms enshrined -- Hear me, O hear while I impart The deep conviction of my heart, That such a theatre august and grand, Whose author, actors, awful play, Are God, mankind, a judgment day, Was for some higher aim, some holier purpose plann'd. I will not, nay I cannot, deem This fair creation's moral scheme, That seems so crude, mysterious, misapplied, Meant to conclude as it began, Unworthy the material plan With whose perfections rare its failures are allied. As in our individual fate, Our manhood and maturer date, Correct the faults and follies of our youth, So will the world, I fondly hope, With added years give fuller scope To the display and love of wisdom, justice, truth. 'Tis this that makes my feelings glow, My bosom thrill, my tears o'erflow, At any deed magnanimous -- sublime; 'Tis this that re-assures my soul, When nations shun the forward goal, And retrograde awhile in ignorance and crime. Mine is no hopeless dream of some Impeccable Millennium, When saints and angels shall inhabit earth; But a conviction deep, intense, That man was meant by Providence Progressively to reach a higher moral worth. On this dear faith's sustaining truth Hath my soul brooded from its youth, As heaven's best gift, and earth's most cheering dower. O! may I still in life's decline, Hold unimpaired this creed benign, And mine old age attest its meliorating power! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THURSDAY by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS ON GEORGE HERBERT'S BOOK, THE TEMPLE, SENT TO A GENTLEWOMAN by RICHARD CRASHAW THE SONG OF THE SMOKE by WILLIAM EDWARD BURGHARDT DU BOIS A FAREWELL TO AMERICA, TO MRS. S. W. by PHILLIS WHEATLEY THE BIRDS: THE WEDDING CHANT by ARISTOPHANES ON A FOUNTAIN AND ITS ARCHITECT by PHILIP AYRES |