Thy presence drew me back from sheer despair,
And shock too keen for mortal nerve to bear;
Alas! so giant-great the vision came,
That I might feel me dwarf, ev’n as I am.
I, God’s own image that already seemed
To gaze where Truth’s eternal mirror gleamed,
And, clean divested of this cumbering clay,
Basked in the bliss of heaven’s vivific ray;
I, more than cherub, with fresh pulses glowing,
Who well nigh seemed through Nature’s deep veins flowing