The Creator and Creatures.
I
God is a name my soul adores,
Th'almighty Three, th'eternal One;
Nature and grace, with all their pow'rs,
Confess the infinite Unknown.
II
From thy great self thy being springs:
Thou art thy own original,
Made up of uncreated things,
And self-sufficience bears them all.
III
Thy voice produc'd the seas and spheres,
Bid the waves roar, and planets shine;
But nothing like thyself appears,
Thro' all these spacious works of thine.
IV
Still restless nature dies and grows;
From change to change the creatures run:
Thy being no succession knows,
And all thy vast designs are one.
V
A glance of thine runs thro' the globes,
Rules the bright world, and moves their frame:
Broad sheets of light compose thy robes;
Thy guards are form'd of living flame.
VI
Thrones and dominions round thee fall,
And worship in submissive forms;
Thy presence shakes this lower ball,
This little dwelling-place of worms.
VII
How shall affrighted mortals dare
To sing thy glory or thy grace,
Beneath thy feet we lie so far,
And see but shadows of thy face?
VIII
Who can behold the blazing light;
Who can approach consuming flame?
None but thy wisdom knows thy might;
None but thy word can speak thy name.
