Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.
II. Light: Day: Night“In the wide awe and wisdom of the night”
Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts (1860–1943)I
I saw the round world rolling on its way,
Beyond significance of depth or height,
Beyond the interchange of dark and day.
I marked the march to which is set no pause,
And that stupendous orbit, round whose rim
The great sphere sweeps, obedient unto laws
That utter the eternal thought of Him.
I compassed time, outstripped the starry speed,
And in my still Soul apprehended space,
Till weighing laws which these but blindly heed,
At last I came before Him face to face,—
And knew the Universe of no such span
As the august infinitude of man.