Man by Wisdom Cannot Find Out God

Ye who ascend to the celestial heavensTo study planets, stars and asteroidsAnd view the wonders of the stellar worlds,Countless in number, hurrying through space,Planned in such perfect mechanism, that not oneSwerves from the course, in which some all-wise powerHas destined it to move, setting a boundOver which all the powers and arguments of manCannot compel it to revolve.

And ye who delveAfter the hidden treasures of the earthTo resurrect from stores of ages deadAnd bring to light the history of the past,The strange formation of the solid rock,Vegetation submerged long centuries ago,Metals and gems, sands and the compact clay,All furnishing new scope for thought,New truths for science to delineateAnd new surmises, questionings and doubts;Astronomers, geologists and all who exploreThe vast cathedral of this universe,Whose vaulted roof, far as the eye can reach,Clear azure, spangled o'er with gold by night$And oft diversified with clouds by day,Spreads out a beauteous covering for earthWhose corridors and galleries and aislesWith emerald carpetings, broidered with flowersAnd leafy draperies with silvery ribbonsWinding in and out;

And the great basins,Fountains, cisterns and vast reservoirsSupplying man with bounteous blessingsAnd delights;

The wind and wavesSweet instruments of musicWith all their delicate, vibrating chordsSounding from shore to shore, accompanied byThousands of voices from the sea and land,And all in matchless harmony composingThe choir of Nature's temple and her God.

You who can analyze the various partsOf this great structure, with its countless domesTowering beyond where human thought has reached,May boast to comprehend the wondrous wisdomThe great Architect displays in this, His handiwork.

To meThe smallest seed contains enoughTo make man's great devices seem but small,Though to the casual observer it might seemOf small importance, a mere lifeless thing,Possessing neither beauty, grace or worth;But place it where it can draw sustenanceFrom the rich soil, the dews, refreshing showersAnd the warm sunbeams;

All is still;No faint suggestion of a change disturbs the spot—But go thy way; when a few days or weeks have passed—behold,From that same spot, two tiny leaflets peep and seem to say,"Have we not earned a place in which to grow?"

Weeks pass away, the tiny embryoLittle by little increases and expandsTo a symmetrical and beauteous plant,Budding and blossoming and throwing outSuch perfume as no chemist could compound;A marvelous work and silently performed,Thus teaching us that oft most grand resultsMay be obtained by quiet action,Silent and sublime.

Who can form such a gem? Can mortal hands?Let science delve and analyze, create and shapeThe exact image of the little seed;Plant it and wait and wait 'till centuries have passed,—She waits in vain, sunbeams and showers combinedCan never coax to life a lifeless thing;And thus we learn that some creating powerNot in the reach of man, has touched to life and actionWhat without, were dead.

Man cannot comprehend this wondrous power,He can but catch a faint idea of its magnitudeBeyond the reach of science and of thought,Beyond the limit of the mortal mindIt reaches out, omnipotent, eternal and all-wiseSearch for that power, whose stamp is on the earthSetting in motion every living thing;Waking to life the flowers, the birds, the trees,And giving being unto man and beast;Then you may realize the awful truth,That man by wisdom cannot find out God.