quote · Legacy record

Come let me view the wonder! Let me look On nature in her grandeur and her power; Reading the fairer portions of her book, I may have missed her in her solemn hour, Searching fresh beauty in each wildling flower, And melody in every woodland song; I have not seen her when her features lower, Or known the terrors that to God belong, Not viewing, in his might, the terrible, the strong! Come, let me look into the vast abyss, See the great rush, the whirlwind and the storms; Hear the “vast hell” where oceans “howl” and “hiss,” And fell destruction loveliness deforms. Where is the horror which so much alarms, At which alike timid and strong turn back? I hear no howls. I see no horrid forms; Nor dream of nations or of nature’s wrack, I see a mighty, but a lovely cataract. No terrors sit upon its smiling brow, There sunshine plays upon the waters clear; And as it pours its mighty flood below, Sunshine and glory make their dwelling there: I wonder and admire, but cannot fear, All is so lovely and so beautiful. See! the blessed bow of many tints is here, A seven-fold bow of promised safety full, Spanning the glorious whole, each rising fear to lull. Pour on for ever, thou mighty flood, Thy stream of goodness thus. For ever flow, Unchanging emblem of infinitude, Nor deem thy bounty needs a course more slow, Unmeasured fountains pour their wealth below, Where diamond wells in deep concealment lie; And constant streams that never ebb can know, For ever flowing, bring their rich supply, Fed by eternal streams—springs which can never dry.

Come let me view the wonder! Let me look On nature in her grandeur and her power; Reading the fairer portions of her book, I may have missed her in her solemn hour, Searching fresh beauty in each wildling flower, And melody in every woodland song; I have not seen her when her features lower, Or known the terrors that to God belong, Not viewing, in his might, the terrible, the strong! Come, let me look into the vast abyss, See the great rush, the whirlwind and the storms; Hear the “vast hell” where oceans “howl” and “hiss,” And fell destruction loveliness deforms. Where is the horror which so much alarms, At which alike timid and strong turn back? I hear no howls. I see no horrid forms; Nor dream of nations or of nature’s wrack, I see a mighty, but a lovely cataract. No terrors sit upon its smiling brow, There sunshine plays upon the waters clear; And as it pours its mighty flood below, Sunshine and glory make their dwelling there: I wonder and admire, but cannot fear, All is so lovely and so beautiful. See! the blessed bow of many tints is here, A seven-fold bow of promised safety full, Spanning the glorious whole, each rising fear to lull. Pour on for ever, thou mighty flood, Thy stream of goodness thus. For ever flow, Unchanging emblem of infinitude, Nor deem thy bounty needs a course more slow, Unmeasured fountains pour their wealth below, Where diamond wells in deep concealment lie; And constant streams that never ebb can know, For ever flowing, bring their rich supply, Fed by eternal streams—springs which can never dry.

In print by 1888 AD · industrial

Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.