Giver of all good gifts, I thee implore:
Open the eyes that still are closed and blind,
Enlarge our hearts to know thee more and more
The Soul and source of all,—eternal Mind,—
The Father, Mother, God of all mankind.
O Love divine, that holdest in thine hand
This orbed earth, the countless stars of light,
How can I hope to come and take my stand
Immaculate and sinless in thy sight!
'Tis Love alone can wash my garment white.
There is a path no mortal foot hath trod,
It is not in the depth, nor on the steep,
It leadeth upward—ever up—to God,
Beyond the vision of the starry deep:
Yet each within his heart that path may keep.
'Tis he that dwelleth in the secret place
Of the most High, that shall abide beneath
The Almighty's shadow, and shall see His face
When he hath conquered self, and sin, and death:
So sang the shepherd king with balmy breath.
When I awake in thee, the psalmist sings,—
I shall be satisfied, when I awake
After thy likeness. See the glimmerings
And flecks of rosy-fingered morning break
Over the fading stars! Awake, my soul, awake!
