"God will not let His work be lost;
Too wondrous is the mind of man,
Too many ages has it cost
The huge fulfilment of His plan.
"But on we pass, for ever on,
Through death to other deaths and life;
To brighter lights when these are gone,
To broader thought, more glorious strife,
"To vistas opening out of these;
To wonders shining from afar.
Above the surging of the seas,
Above the course of moon and star;
"To higher powers of will and deed,
All bounds, all limits left behind;
To truths undreamt in any creed;
To deeper love, more God-like mind.
* * * * *
"Great God! we move into the vast;
All questions vain—the shadows come!
We hear no answer from the past;
The years before us all are dumb.
"We trust Thy purpose and Thy will;
We see afar the shining goal;
Forgive us, if there linger still
Some human fear within the soul!
* * * * *
"But lo! the dawn of fuller days;
Horizon-glories fringe the sky!
Our feet would climb the shining ways
To meet man's widest destiny.
"Come, then, all sorrow's recompense!
The kindling sky is flaked with gold;
Above the shattered screen of sense,
A voice like thunder cries, 'Behold!'"