1 The thoughts of men appear Freely to move within a sphere Of endless reach; and run, Tho in the soul, beyond the sun. The ground on which they acted be Is unobserv'd infinity. 2 Extended through the sky, Tho here, beyond it far they fly: Abiding in the mind An endless liberty they find: Throughout all spaces can extend, Nor ever meet or know an end. 3 They, in their native sphere, At boundless distances appear: Eternity can measure; Its no beginning see with pleasure. Thus in the mind an endless space Doth naturally display its face. 4 Wherein because we no Object distinctly find or know; We sundry things invent, That may our fancy give content; See points of space beyond the sky, And in those points see creatures lie. 5 Spy fishes in the seas, Conceit them swimming there with ease; The dolphins and the whales, Their very fins, their very scales, As there within the briny deep Their tails the flowing waters sweep. 6 Can see the very skies, As if the same were in our eyes; The sun, tho in the night, As if it mov'd within our sight; One space beyond another still Discovered; think while ye will. 7 Which, tho we don't descry (Much like by night an idle eye, Not shaded with a lid, But in a darksome dungeon hid), At last shall in a glorious day Be made its objects to display. 8 And then shall ages be Within its wide eternity; All kingdoms stand, Howe'er remote, yet nigh at hand; The skies, and what beyond them lie, Exposed unto every eye. 9 Nor shall we then invent Nor alter things; but with content All in their places see, As doth the glorious Deity; Within the scope of whose great mind, We all in their true nature find. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HEAVEN-HAVEN; A NUN TAKES THE VEIL by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS TO MY ANTENOR, MARCH 16, 1661/2 by KATHERINE PHILIPS A DEDICATION by ALFRED TENNYSON THE FEAST OF THE DEAD by CHARLOTTE BECKER THE REASON WHY by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES UNEASY PEACE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN |