O thou great Empress! The love of Russia, the dread of thy foes, the heroine of the northern world, the hope, the joy, the goddess of the shores of seven wide seas, thou shinest in the cloudless lights of goodness and beneficence. Forgive thy slave that he has chosen thy glory for his lay, and that his rugged verse, in token of submission to thy rule, has thus dared to attempt to magnify thy power.—Given in F. R. Grahame’s The Progress of Science, Art and Literature in Russia.
MORNING MEDITATIONS
O’er the wide earth yon torch of heavenly light
Its splendour spreads and God’s proud works unveils;
My soul, enraptured at the marvellous sight,
Unwonted peace, and joy, and wonder feels,
And with uplifted thoughts of ecstasy
Exclaims, “How great must their Creator be!”
Or, if a mortal’s power could stretch so high—
If mortal sight could reach that glorious sun,