The Bakchesarian Fountain and Other Poems | Page 9

in the ocean of air,?A hundred fold as many other worlds--and then?Dare to compare them to thee,?They would scarcely appear an atom,?And I compared to thee--nothing!
Nothing! yet thou shinest in me?Through thy great goodness:?In me thou imagest thyself,?As the sun is reflected in a small drop of water.?Nothing! yet I am sensible of my existence,?By an indescribable longing I ascend?Steadfastly to a higher region:?My soul hopes to be even as thou,?It inquires, meditates, reasons;?I am, and doubtless thou must be.
THOU ART! the order of nature proclaims it;?My heart declares it to be so,?My mind assures me of it.?Thou art! and I am not, therefore, nothing!?I am a particle of the whole universe,?Placed, as I think, in that important?Middle point of being,?Where thou finishedst mortal creatures,?Where thou began'st heavenly spirits,?And the chain of all beings unitedst by me.
I am the bond of worlds existing everywhere;?I am the extreme grade of matter;?I am the centre of living things,?The commencing trait of the Divinity;?My body will resolve itself into ashes,?My mind commands the thunder.?I am a king, a slave, a worm, a god!?But, being thus wonderful,?From whence have I proceeded? This is unknown.?But I could not have existed of myself!
I am thy work, Creator!?I am the creature of thy supreme wisdom,?Fountain of life, Giver of blessings,?Soul and monarch of my soul!?It was necessary to thy justice?That my immortal being?Should traverse the abyss of death,?That my spirit should be veiled in perishable matter,?And that through death I should return,?Father! to thy immortality!
Inexplicable, incomprehensible Being!?I know that the imaginings?Of my soul are unable?Even to sketch thy shadow!?But, if it be our duty to praise thee,?Then it is impossible for weak mortals?Otherwise to render thee homage?Than, simply, to lift their hearts to thee,?To give way to boundless joy,?And shed tears of gratitude!
[1] The full beauty of this metaphor can only be felt by those who have witnessed, in a high northern latitude during intensely cold and clear weather, the state of the atmosphere which the poet describes.
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