Classic Poem

O Joys! infinite sweetness! with what flowers
And shoots of glory my soul breaks and buds!
All the long hours
Of night and rest
Through the still shrouds
Of sleep and clouds,
This dew fell on my breast.
Oh, how it bloods
And spirits all my earth! hark! in what rings
And hymning circulations the quick world
Awakes and sings!
The rising winds,
And falling springs,
Birds, beasts, all things
Adore Him in their kinds.
Thus all is hurled
In sacred hymns and order; the great chime
And symphony of Nature. Prayer is
The world in tune,
A spirit-voice,
And vocal joys,
Whose echo is Heaven's bliss.
Oh, let me climb
When I lie down! the Pious soul by night
Is like a clouded star, whose beams, though said
To shed their light
Under some cloud,
Yet are above,
And shine and move
Beyond that misty shroud.
So in my bed,
That curtained grave, though sleep like ashes hide
My lamp and life, both shall in Thee abide.