10
what is man?
Like the bright fires that at the dewy eve
Flies o'er the mossy fen with flick'ring ray,
The lone traveller only leads astray.
Oh! Thou great Inscrutable, who didst plan
Each link and bond that gives to mortal man
The power of thought supreme, the form Divine,—
Once his glorious image form'd to shine!
Oh! Heaven-born gift, thou mak'st our feeble brain
Start and recoil;—and yet we seize again,
Each sever'd link and portion of the chain.
Hail Powers Divine! to Thee indeed be given
The perfect praise of nature and of Heav'n.
Man, fallen man, shall tune his varied tongue,
And thus, by each Thy holy praise be sung;
All Thy glorious works must pass away,
Thy truth and justice ne'er shall know decay!
Flies o'er the mossy fen with flick'ring ray,
The lone traveller only leads astray.
Oh! Thou great Inscrutable, who didst plan
Each link and bond that gives to mortal man
The power of thought supreme, the form Divine,—
Once his glorious image form'd to shine!
Oh! Heaven-born gift, thou mak'st our feeble brain
Start and recoil;—and yet we seize again,
Each sever'd link and portion of the chain.
Hail Powers Divine! to Thee indeed be given
The perfect praise of nature and of Heav'n.
Man, fallen man, shall tune his varied tongue,
And thus, by each Thy holy praise be sung;
All Thy glorious works must pass away,
Thy truth and justice ne'er shall know decay!
