He stood upon the earth, and turned To gaze on sky and land and sea, While in his ear the whisper burned, “Behold, these all belong to thee!” O wondrous call to conquests new! O thrill of blood! O joy of Soul! O peaks with ever-widening view! O race, with still-receding goal! He heard; he followed, evermore Stumbling and falling, wandering far, Yet still advancing, while before His footsteps shone the guiding star. He cleft the seas; the torrent loud He harnessed to his need or whim; He bade the lightning of the cloud Run with his words, and toil for him. He pierced the rock; he scaled the steep; Destroyed; created; brought to light The secrets of the deepest deep, The glories of the highest height! The future and the past he scanned; With sense refined and vision keen, Explored, beyond this lower land, The treasures of a realm unseen. Until he stood with regal brow,— No more, as on the primal sod, A creature yet ungrown, but now Lord of two worlds, and child of God!
The Ascent of Man
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