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.