Near, ever near, and ever bringing peace,
Groping among the dark things of man's spirit,
And shedding o'er the troubled mind its light,
As a stray ray of sunshine wanders 'mong
The shattered arches of a fallen ruin.
Ere sunset leaves the world, and sinks behind
The illumined ocean, let me muse awhile.
'Twas in a garden that that hideous thing,
Sin, first was born accurst, and now all through
The wide wide universe it ranges fierce.