 | [The universe God's temple, in] The opal : a pure gift for the holy days |  |
136
THE UNIVERSE GOD'S TEMPLE.
O Nature! thou'rt the Temple of our God!
Thy silence is His voice, thy smile His look,
Thy harmony is His, and all thy excellence
Is but the type of his Omnipotence!
Yon arching sky 's the roof of his abode,
Spangled with starry lustres that outshine
All the bright jewels of imperial pride;
The Earth 's His footstool, carpeted with flowers,
That throw up incense in their gratitude;
The vast, unwearied, melancholy main,
Boundless and fathomless, that wraps the Earth,
Within its winding sheet of cooling waves,
In its majestic fury speaks His wrath,
And in its calms, his mercy and forgiveness:
The fire that belches from the mountain's womb,
Streaking the angry skies with blood-red hues;
The gale that maddens all the peaceful air,
And sweeps the labor'd works of man away;
The earthquake, and the forked shaft of Heav'n,
Wing'd with a death so swift that none can feel,
All are His slaves that crouch beneath his pow'r,
And do His bidding, without saying nay.
The laws of Nature are the laws of God,
The humble creatures of his sovereign will,
By whose obedient agency he sways,
His vast creation of the universe.
Thy silence is His voice, thy smile His look,
Thy harmony is His, and all thy excellence
Is but the type of his Omnipotence!
Yon arching sky 's the roof of his abode,
Spangled with starry lustres that outshine
All the bright jewels of imperial pride;
The Earth 's His footstool, carpeted with flowers,
That throw up incense in their gratitude;
The vast, unwearied, melancholy main,
Boundless and fathomless, that wraps the Earth,
Within its winding sheet of cooling waves,
In its majestic fury speaks His wrath,
And in its calms, his mercy and forgiveness:
The fire that belches from the mountain's womb,
Streaking the angry skies with blood-red hues;
The gale that maddens all the peaceful air,
And sweeps the labor'd works of man away;
The earthquake, and the forked shaft of Heav'n,
Wing'd with a death so swift that none can feel,
All are His slaves that crouch beneath his pow'r,
And do His bidding, without saying nay.
The laws of Nature are the laws of God,
137
By whose obedient agency he sways,
His vast creation of the universe.
This is His Temple! this the fitting shrine,
For Man, the great High Priest appointed here,
The only being who can speak His praise,
For the dumb beasts, and all inanimate things,
That have no voice to tell their gratitude,
To offer up his humble orisons,
All other Temples are the work of man—
This—this alone is worthy of his God.
For Man, the great High Priest appointed here,
The only being who can speak His praise,
For the dumb beasts, and all inanimate things,
That have no voice to tell their gratitude,
To offer up his humble orisons,
All other Temples are the work of man—
This—this alone is worthy of his God.
| [The universe God's temple, in] The opal : a pure gift for the holy days | |