Original - Duke Divinity School

The silent Globe is struck with awful Fear,
When Thy Majestic Shades appear:
Thou dost compose the Air and Sea,
And Earth a Sabbath keeps, sacred to Rest and Thee.
In thy Serener Shades our Fhosts delight,
And court the umbrage of the Night;
In Vaults and gloomy Caves they stray,
But fly the Morning’s Beams, and sicken at the Day.
Though Solid Bodies dare exclude the Light,
Nor will the brightest Ray admit;
No Substance can thy Force repel,
Thou reign’st in Depths below, dost at the Center dwell.
The Sparkling Gems, and Ore in Mines below,
To Thee their beauteous Lustre owe;
Though form’d within the Womb of Night,
Bright as their Sire they shine, with Native Rays of Light. …
Thou dost thy Smiles impartially bestow,
And know’st no difference here below:
All things appear the same by Thee,
Though Light Distinction makes, Thou giv’st Equality. …
Calm as the Blest above the Anchorites dwell,
Within their peaceful gloomy Cell.
Their minds with Heavenly Joys are fill’d;
What envious Light denies, Thy Shades for ever yield. …
When the Almighty did on Horeb stand,
Thy Shades enclos’d the hallow’d Land:
In Clouds of Night he was array’d,
And venerable Darkness his Pavilion made.
When he appear’d arm’d in his Power and Might,
He veil’d the Beatific Light;
When terrible with Majesty,
In Tempests he gave Laws, and clad Himself in Thee.
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