Alfred H. Miles, ed. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.
By Verse Musings on Nature, Faith, and Freedom (1889). I. Faith. III. Where is Religion?John Owen (18361896)
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Or words or writings elsewhere brought,
With sacred fire, though once uplit,
But now—the mere dead signs of thought.
Its public prayer or sacred rite,
Imperfectly devised by man,
To body forth the Infinite.
Or lifeless dogmas cut and squared,
Or pious acts or ritual deeds,
For quickening holy life prepared.
No vital warmth can they inspire,
Like lava streams, now cold and hard,
Which erst flowed on—a living fire.
Embers instead of burning glow,
The ashes tell where fire hath been;
No further use—cold embers know.
Of faith and hope and love which tells
In th’ infinite of human thought,
There there alone, Religion dwells.