Great sire of life, and source of light,
Thou hast o'er all control;
Dispeller of the mystic night,
Of worlds the central soul. Shot from thy quiver, swiftly fly,
Space-wide, thine arrowy rays;
Falling, like fire-flakes from the sky,
Into the boundless maze. The sinless stars, so bright and fair,
Are offspring born of thee;
Daughters of heaven, with golden hair,
That smile o'er land and sea. From thee the Earth her wealth receives,
Her beauty, fruits, and flowers;
And at thy nod old Ocean heaves,
And feels thy quickening powers. Yes, all that live, from thee partake
A life that never dies--
A life that sleeps but to awake
In life beyond the skies. And they who worship in thy name,
And share thy gifts of fire,
Still in thy smiling face of flame
Behold creation's Sire-- The lofty One, whose outline dim
Pervades, unseen, the vast;
The realm that's sanctified by Him,
The mighty First and Last. Oh that we could unveil to sight
The depths of Nature's plan--
The infinite in power and might,
Whose crowning work is man! Although the seal we cannot break,
Yet, blest with godlike powers,
Why not, at least, ourselves forsake,
And scale the loftiest towers? The pinnacles that gleam on high
In that unchanging clime
Where ne'er is heard an earthly sigh,
Nor lisp that breathes of time.