On and in the lucent background float the ever-changeful forms,
Sometimes glowing into glory, sometimes glooming into storms.
God's blest seal is on creation; signs and symbols throng the sky,
Though too dull to read their meaning droops the stolid human eye.
Over mountain, over valley throng the clouds to soothe the sight;
Through the dim walls of the city gleam they buoyant, fleeting, bright.
Gentle, dreadful, or fantastic--nearer, farther as we gaze;
Varied, spiritual, tender, forms and melts the surging haze.
'Heavenly secrets' breathe around us--lowly flowers on the sod,
Cloudland's curves and grading colors veil the Infinite of God.
The Infinite--we shudder! but wild longings through us steal
As we vainly strive to grasp It till our failing senses reel.
Ever longing, never grasping, though in tenderness It stoop
To shade the scented cups of flowers, to bend them as they droop.
For through infinite gradations pass the changeful hues of light,
That the infinite through color may send greetings to the sight.
Through ne'er-returning, endless curves, flowers, trees, clouds,
mountains pass,
That man may see the Infinite through nature's magic glass.
Oh, tender stooping! soothing! Infinite Love must be
The cause, aim, end, the burning heart of everything we see.
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