That which we dare invoke to bless;
      Our dearest faith; our ghastliest doubt;
      He, They, One, All; within, without;
The Power in darkness whom we guess;

I found Him not in world or sun,
      Or eagle's wing, or insect's eye;
      Nor thro' the questions men may try,
The petty cobwebs we have spun:

If e'er when faith had fall'n asleep,
      I heard a voice `believe no more'
      And heard an ever-breaking shore
That tumbled in the Godless deep;

A warmth within the breast would melt
      The freezing reason's colder part,
      And like a man in wrath the heart
Stood up and answer'd "I have felt."

No, like a child in doubt and fear:
      But that blind clamour made me wise;
      Then was I as a child that cries,
But, crying, knows his father near;

And what I am beheld again
      What is, and no man understands;
      And out of darkness came the hands
That reach thro' nature, moulding men.


Last modified 16 February 2010