Song to the Sun
I will sing unto thee,
O thou radiant sun,
High aloft on thy throne
In the deep, azure night,
With the worlds left and right
As thy vassals. Below
In thy glance they may glow;
But their light thou must be.
Behold! Nature is dead.
Now, when ghosts walk about,
On her form night has cast
A black mort-cloth at last.
Many lamps lend relief
To the mansion of grief.
Thou again steppest out
When the east burneth red.
Like a rosebud unfurled
Now awakens the world.
It takes life, it takes hue,
But with joy thou look'st down
On the glittering dew,
And the hills' flaming crown.
And Life's flowing stream,
That was stilled in a dream,
Now goes murmuring on
With thine image, O sun,
Till, more cool, thy rays fall
On the great western hall,
Where fulfilled is each hope
And where virtue may rest
When the portals shall ope
To the realm of the blest.
O celestial one, say
Whence thou camest, I pray.
Wert thou by at the time
The Almighty sublime
Sowed the glittering night
With the seed of the light?
Or perchance was thy place
By the throne of the Lord —
Far aloft above Space —
Where the angels adored;
Till no more thou wouldst brook
The commands from on high,
And He wrathfully took
Thee and flung through the sky
With supernal disdain
Like a ball in the blue
Which might show to full view
That He only doth reign?
Therefore on thou dost roll
With so restless a will
That no friend may console
Thee or bid thee be still.
And anon thou dost seek
With a cloud to enfurl
The hot shame of thy cheek,
For thou ruest the day
The Avenger did hurl
From His presence away,
And thou fell'st from His knees
To the sky's desert seas.
Seems it long thou hast strode
On thy journey alone?
Dost thou tire of the road
Thou so often hast gone?
As in ages untold
Thou hast come the same way,
Have thy tresses of gold
Never softened to gray?
Thou'rt a warrior strong
In the radiant strath,
And thy bold legions throng,
Over-arching thy path.
But the hour draws near
When thy great yellow sphere
With a loud noise will break,
And Creation shall quake.
Like a tottering wall
Will the universe fall
Into atoms with thee;
And Time, that on high
Like an eagle sped free,
Shall fall, wounded, and die.
Now an angel doth soar,
Where thou swammest of yore
Like a swan gold of hue
On the ocean of blue;
He looks dumbly around
On the empty Profound,
But he sees thee not there.
For, thy long trial o'er,
The Almighty thee bore
On His arm like a child,
And received thee to rest
On His fatherly breast.
Do thou roll on thy way
And be glad in the light
Till thou reachest that day!
We shall win through the night,
Be it never so long,
And in fairer blue then
I shall hail thee again
With a lovelier song.
O thou radiant sun,
High aloft on thy throne
In the deep, azure night,
With the worlds left and right
As thy vassals. Below
In thy glance they may glow;
But their light thou must be.
Behold! Nature is dead.
Now, when ghosts walk about,
On her form night has cast
A black mort-cloth at last.
Many lamps lend relief
To the mansion of grief.
Thou again steppest out
When the east burneth red.
Like a rosebud unfurled
Now awakens the world.
It takes life, it takes hue,
But with joy thou look'st down
On the glittering dew,
And the hills' flaming crown.
And Life's flowing stream,
That was stilled in a dream,
Now goes murmuring on
With thine image, O sun,
Till, more cool, thy rays fall
On the great western hall,
Where fulfilled is each hope
And where virtue may rest
When the portals shall ope
To the realm of the blest.
O celestial one, say
Whence thou camest, I pray.
Wert thou by at the time
The Almighty sublime
Sowed the glittering night
With the seed of the light?
Or perchance was thy place
By the throne of the Lord —
Far aloft above Space —
Where the angels adored;
Till no more thou wouldst brook
The commands from on high,
And He wrathfully took
Thee and flung through the sky
With supernal disdain
Like a ball in the blue
Which might show to full view
That He only doth reign?
Therefore on thou dost roll
With so restless a will
That no friend may console
Thee or bid thee be still.
And anon thou dost seek
With a cloud to enfurl
The hot shame of thy cheek,
For thou ruest the day
The Avenger did hurl
From His presence away,
And thou fell'st from His knees
To the sky's desert seas.
Seems it long thou hast strode
On thy journey alone?
Dost thou tire of the road
Thou so often hast gone?
As in ages untold
Thou hast come the same way,
Have thy tresses of gold
Never softened to gray?
Thou'rt a warrior strong
In the radiant strath,
And thy bold legions throng,
Over-arching thy path.
But the hour draws near
When thy great yellow sphere
With a loud noise will break,
And Creation shall quake.
Like a tottering wall
Will the universe fall
Into atoms with thee;
And Time, that on high
Like an eagle sped free,
Shall fall, wounded, and die.
Now an angel doth soar,
Where thou swammest of yore
Like a swan gold of hue
On the ocean of blue;
He looks dumbly around
On the empty Profound,
But he sees thee not there.
For, thy long trial o'er,
The Almighty thee bore
On His arm like a child,
And received thee to rest
On His fatherly breast.
Do thou roll on thy way
And be glad in the light
Till thou reachest that day!
We shall win through the night,
Be it never so long,
And in fairer blue then
I shall hail thee again
With a lovelier song.
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