Classic Poem

We thank Thee, O God of earth and heaven,
Source and essence of all we know,
Thou, who the power to man has given
Thy life to witness, — Thy life to show
To us it is nothing to call Thee Father,
Mother, or Brother, or Bride, or Friend;
Manifold motions of Thee; or rather
The manifold rays in Thy love that blend.

Whether we see Thee as sole and single; —
Whether as Three on Thy name we call, —
Many natures in all things mingle,
Why not Three, in the source of all?
Whether in form as of Son and Father,
A dual Being Thou seem'st to bear;
Or whether in nature we see Thee rather,
Worshipping Godhood everywhere.

Whether in shape as of outer being
Fitted for flesh Thy face to see;
Or whether unto us Thy spirit seeing,
Thy flesh and Thy bones have ceased to be;
We bless Thy goodness, that workest to free us,
In all these forms Thy spirit to know;
What, alas! were we, should'st Thou only see us
In the shapes of our life which to men we show.

For the motions of life that make up being;
For being that blends them all in one;
For thought and emotion — for feeling and seeing
In the warmth and the light of an inner sun;
For life, with its joys of gaining and giving,
For death, which is life in another dress; —
Life, — that is more than merely living, —
Death, that is more than life, — and less!

For joys whereby the warmth is given
That eases the strain of the Spirit's strife;
For sorrows, that are as the winds of heaven,
Bracing the nerves of the inner life;
For strife springing forth from the just reaction
Of forces moving the life within;
For peace, whereto by some subtle paction
Strife moveth ever, its way to win.

For Fate, which setteth a bound to being,
A limit to knowledge, a law to ill;
For faith, — which is as the spirit of seeing,
For love, — which is as the soul of will;
For these, and how many a boon and blessing,
From these outpouring in gladsomeness;
Thy love, as the spirit of all confessing,
Thy Spirit, O Infinite Love! we bless!