51. The Incomprehensible

FAR in the Heavens my God retires:

My God, the mark of my desires,

And hides his lovely face;

When he descends within my view,

He charms my reason to pursue,

But leaves it tir’d and fainting in th’ unequal chase.

Or if I reach unusual height

Till near his presence brought,

There floods of glory check my flight,

Cramp the bold pinions of my wit,

And all untune my thought;

Plunged in a sea of light I roll,

Where wisdom, justice, mercy, shines;

Infinite rays in crossing lines

Beat thick confusion on my sight, and overwhelm my soul.…

Great God! behold my reason lies

Adoring: yet my love would rise

On pinions not her own:

Faith shall direct her humble flight,

Through all the trackless seas of light,

To Thee, th’ Eternal Fair, the infinite Unknown.