 | Sonnets and Other Poems Chiefly Religious |  |
45
THE MYSTERY AND THE GLORY.
He that ascends to Etna's highest height,
With nought around but rocks and fire and snow,
Shall see the stars more numerous and more bright,
While the blue depths of heaven still deeper grow.
They seem no nearer to the straining sight
Than when he gazed upon them from below;
But far more glorious in their light they shine,
And speak more clearly of the Power Divine.
With nought around but rocks and fire and snow,
Shall see the stars more numerous and more bright,
While the blue depths of heaven still deeper grow.
They seem no nearer to the straining sight
Than when he gazed upon them from below;
But far more glorious in their light they shine,
And speak more clearly of the Power Divine.
And so it is with those the height who climb
Of highest human knowledge; for the rays
Of the eternal glory most sublime
Seem to the eyes which from that summit gaze;
But all the mightiest mysteries of Time,
Existence, Freedom, Fate, that height displays
Not solved but deepened—an abyss of sky
Deepening and darkening as we mount on high.
Of highest human knowledge; for the rays
Of the eternal glory most sublime
Seem to the eyes which from that summit gaze;
But all the mightiest mysteries of Time,
Existence, Freedom, Fate, that height displays
Not solved but deepened—an abyss of sky
Deepening and darkening as we mount on high.
| Sonnets and Other Poems Chiefly Religious | |