XII.

Fall back, all worlds, into the abyss, That man may contemplate once more That which He ever was Who is:— The Eternal Essence we adore.

Angelic hierarchies! recede Beyond extinct creation's shade! What were ye at the first? Decreed:— Decreed, not fashioned; thought, not made!

Like wind the untold Millenniums passed. Sole-throned He sat; yet not alone: Godhead in Godhead still was glassed;— The Spirit was breathed from Sire and Son.

Prime Virgin, separate and sealed; Nor less of social love the root; Dimly in lowliest shapes revealed; Entire in every Attribute;—

Thou liv'st in all things, and around; To Thee external is there nought; Thou of the boundless art the bound; And still Creation is Thy Thought.

In vain, O God, our wings we spread; So distant art Thou—yet so nigh. Remains but this, when all is said, For Thee to live; in Thee to die.