University of Virginia Library

Hymn to the Trinity.

I.

First of all things primeval, hoar
Was Thought, self-throned in glory,
Brooding with shaping might before
Each new Creation's story:
An unvoiced strength, a quiet power
Still pondering, still conceiving,
Unfathomed depth from hour to hour
With deathless virtue heaving;
Exhaustless, infinite to produce,
That in its gentle going
Weldeth the limbless and the loose
To reasoned beauty growing.
Hail, glorious Thought, silent, sublime,
From thy divinest nature,
Sprang worlds on worlds from dateless time
First Father, First Creator,
Voice forth the hymn, loud pæans roll,
Ye thinking souls from pole to pole,
And round your centre gather!
Far peal his praise from jubilant throat,
Soul of all soul, thought of all thought,
The hidden God, the Father.

II.

Second of things the Word forth-voiced
From the o'er-laden bosom
Of Thought, that with itself rejoiced
And shook redundant blossom;
Swift-winged it flew, and journeying far
Like wave on wave it bounded,
And filled all space with vocal war
Of joy with joy confounded.
Prophetic Word what wealth shall be
Of star-eyed expectation,
While Hope and Faith attend on thee,
Thou first bright incarnation
Of primal Thought divine! thou seed
With eager promise swelling,
And with strong pulse and measured speed
More stable growth compelling!
Voice ye the hymn, with pæans brim,
Your praise full-throated pour to him
From whom all Voices run!
Ye swelling hearts with high hopes stirred,
Hymn ye the prime prophetic Word,
The published God, the Son.

III.