The appeal which Platonism made to the English poets in its doctrine of a heavenly love was through its power to stir the minds with a deep sense of that beauty which God was understood to possess. The application of the principle of beauty to God resulted in a note of joy and in an exaltation of soul in the religious mind, which, after forsaking the beauty of this world of sense, could enjoy the great principle of beauty in the beatific vision of God. Such a strain of joy may be heard in Drummond, in John Norris, and even in the quiet lyrics of George Herbert.
The sight of God in His absolute beauty is considered by these poets as the end of the soul’s endeavor. According to John Norris God is the divine excellence,
“Which pleases either mind or sense,
Tho’ thee by different names we call!
Search Nature through, there still wilt be
The Sum of all that’s good in her Variety.”
He thus exhorts the soul to rise to a sight of Him.
“But do not thou, my Soul, fixt here remain,
All streams of Beauty here below
Do from that immense Ocean flow,