Herein, to reason's eye, is revealed the mystery of goodness,
Blessing through permitted woe, and teaching by the mystery of sin.
O Christian, whose chastened curiosity loveth things mysterious,
Accounting them shadows and eclipses of Him the one great light,
Look now, satisfied with faith, on minds that judge by sense,
And, dull from contemplating matter, take small heed of spirit.
Toiling feebly upward, their argument tracketh from below,
They catch the latest consequent, and prove the nearest cause:
What is this? that a seed produced a seed, and so for a thousand seasons;
Ascend a thousand steps, thy ladder leaveth thee in air: