Hymns and Poems Original and Translated: By Edward Caswall ... Second Edition |
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| XXXIX. | XXXIX. NATURE'S ORATORIES. |
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 | Hymns and Poems |  |
XXXIX. NATURE'S ORATORIES.
Thou, too, O Nature, Temple most divine!
Besides thy public transept wide display'd,
Hast thine own private cells within thy shrine,
For secret prayer and meditation made:
Blest Oratories! on calm mountain-height,
Or in the forest's dim recesses found;
Or in the natural cave far hid from sight,
Down by the shore where ceaseless billows sound,
And the black beetling rocks reverberate around.
Besides thy public transept wide display'd,
Hast thine own private cells within thy shrine,
For secret prayer and meditation made:
Blest Oratories! on calm mountain-height,
Or in the forest's dim recesses found;
Or in the natural cave far hid from sight,
Down by the shore where ceaseless billows sound,
And the black beetling rocks reverberate around.
To these thy cloistral haunts, in olden time,
Often, 'tis said, the world's great sages came,
To meditate apart on truths sublime,
By glimpses caught through nature's outward frame;
And here—while, listening to Creation's groan,
They yearn'd for that Redemption yet to be—
Thou, Lord, didst hear their heart's responsive moan,
And pitying their dense mortality
Liftedst in part the veil that hid their gaze from Thee.
Often, 'tis said, the world's great sages came,
To meditate apart on truths sublime,
By glimpses caught through nature's outward frame;
And here—while, listening to Creation's groan,
They yearn'd for that Redemption yet to be—
Thou, Lord, didst hear their heart's responsive moan,
And pitying their dense mortality
Liftedst in part the veil that hid their gaze from Thee.
458
Hither came Orpheus, with his golden lyre,
Anticipating Thine own David's strains;
Here Homer sipp'd the fount of living fire,
And pious Hesiod sang, not all in vain;
Here Numa sat, from busy courts retired,
And Socrates with Plato, side by side;
Here Solon and Confucius were inspired;
Here Virgil knelt; and many more beside,
Whose names for ever live,—true souls unspoilt by pride!
Anticipating Thine own David's strains;
Here Homer sipp'd the fount of living fire,
And pious Hesiod sang, not all in vain;
Here Numa sat, from busy courts retired,
And Socrates with Plato, side by side;
Here Solon and Confucius were inspired;
Here Virgil knelt; and many more beside,
Whose names for ever live,—true souls unspoilt by pride!
And evermore came wisdom all unsought
On those who stole in silence here to muse:
But evermore the proud return'd untaught;
For Thou to them, O Lord, didst light refuse,
And in its place Egyptian darkness came;
Wherein, whoso Thy glorious works abuse,
They for their pride shall perish in the same.
O, teach us, then, a lowly path to choose,
And in our hearts Thine own humility infuse.
On those who stole in silence here to muse:
But evermore the proud return'd untaught;
For Thou to them, O Lord, didst light refuse,
And in its place Egyptian darkness came;
Wherein, whoso Thy glorious works abuse,
They for their pride shall perish in the same.
O, teach us, then, a lowly path to choose,
And in our hearts Thine own humility infuse.
| Hymns and Poems | |