Downward, upward, and onward,
Travels the clear-souled man,
From lowest depths of ocean
To Heaven's highest span:
From chaos to order, from atom to sphere,
How noble his aiming, how high his career!

Truth's day-star rises o'er him,
And shines with genial ray,
While shrinking low before him
Dark error steals away;
Still purer his vision the higher his flight,
Beyond misty cloudlands are regions of light.

How dazzling streams of lightning
That flash amid night's gloom;
How sweet spring's opening flowers
When flush'd with infant bloom!
But light amid darkness, or flowers amid snow,
Are not half so bright as the first truths we know.

Downward, upward, and onward,
Travels the mighty soul,
Rushing fleeter than time flies,
Passing life's gloomy goal;
Clearer and clearer, and higher and higher,
Death cannot quench that pure spirit of fire.