Hymn for the Dedication of a Church
Where ancient forests round us spread,
Where bends the cataract’s ocean-fall,
On the lone mountain’s silent head,
There are thy temples, God of all!
Beneath the dark-blue, midnight arch,
Whence myriad suns pour down their rays,
Where planets trace their ceaseless march,
Father! we worship as we gaze.
The tombs thine altars are; for there,
When earthly loves and hopes have fled,
To thee ascends the spirit’s prayer,
Thou God of the immortal dead.
All space is holy; for all space
Is filled by thee; but human thought
Burns clearer in some chosen place,
Where thy own words of love are taught.
Here be they taught; and may we know
That faith thy servants knew of old;
Which onward bears through weal and woe,
Till Death the gates of heaven unfold!
Nor we alone; may those whose brow
Shows yet no trace of human cares,
Hereafter stand where we do now,
And raise to thee still holier prayers!