To thee, O Herald and Interpreter of Heaven.
Methinks I read thy purpose on thy brow. 130
Thou who canst fathom and who canst reveal, Through the deep-searching light of thy mind's eye, The shadowy mysteries of God, relieve Me with thy coming.
The late decision of the ruling Powers, The new decree made by the Godhead, who Esteems celestial joys as of less worth Than earthly elements, oppresses Heaven, Even from the low abyss the Earth exalts Above the stars, sets man high in the seat 140 Of the Angels, whom, shorn of primordial powers, He then commands for human happiness To sweat and slave. The Spirits once consecrate To service in empyreal palaces Shall serve an Earth-worm that from out the dust Hath crawled and grown; and on his bidding wait, And see him them excel in rank and numbers. Why doth the endless Mercy us degrade So soon? What Angel hath forgot to render Due reverence? How could the Deity 150 Mingle with base mankind and thus pass by The nature of His chosen Angels here, While His own nature and His Being He pours Into a body?--thus eternity Unite with its beginning, time, and what Is highest to what is lowest of the low? --The great Creator to His creature bind? Who can the import glean of this decree? Shall now eternity's bright, quenchless sun Set in the gathering darkness of the world? 160 Shall we, the Stadtholder of God, thus kneel Before this shadow power, this puny lord; And see the countless hosts of souls divine And incorporeal bow themselves before A gross and sluggish element upon Which God hath stamped His Being and majesty? We Spirits are yet too gross to comprehend This mystery. Thou, who the key dost guard Of God's rich treasure-house of mysteries, Unlock, if so thou mayest, this secret dark 170 From out thy sealèd book: unfold to us The will of Heaven.
As much as is to us Permitted to unfold out of God's book: Much knowledge doth not profit one alway; Indeed, may damage bring. The Sovran Power Revealeth only what He deems most fit. The inner light blinds even Seraphim. The spotless Wisdom would, in part, her will Conceal, in part would it disclose. Himself E'er to submit and to conform unto 180 A well-established law, this best becomes The subject, who unto his master's will And charge stands bound. The reason why the Lord (Which secret we shall know, when first shall pass A lineage of Earth-born generations) Who, in the course of time, both God and man Become, shall reign,--shall sceptre sway, and rule, Afar and wide, the stars, the sea, the Earth And all that live, the Heavens conceal from thee: Time shall divulge the cause. God's trumpet heed: 190 His will thou now hast heard.