The Altar or, Meditations in Verse On The Great Christian Sacrifice By The Author of "The Cathedral," [i.e. Isaac Williams] |
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6.
“The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.”
But if no hand or thought can rightly paint
That scene so terrible and yet so fair,
Much less can mortal thought,—by grovelling care,
Or low pursuit, or the defiling taint
Of foul imaginings void of restraint,
Made sensual,—from things of earth, sea, air,
Learn aught of those bright things beyond compare.
Yea, saintly souls themselves are frail and faint
Aught to conceive of that high blessedness:
They gain no glimpse, or if they should attain,
Yet find no words that vision to express;
Or if they language find to speak, no less
Their burning words to others speak in vain,
Who hear but cannot understand the strain.
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