And welter'd in that wondrous dome,

Where, as to shame the temples deck'd

By skill of earthly architect,

Nature herself, it seem'd, would raise

A minster to her Maker's praise!

Not for a meaner use ascend

Her columns, or her arches bend;

Nor of a theme less solemn tells

That mighty surge that ebbs and swells,

And still, between each awful pause,