Glorious, you stand there,
Beautiful, boundless firmament!
Swelling wide over earth and air,
And round the horizon bent,
With your bright vault, and sapphire wall,
You overhang and circle all.
Far below you, tall old trees
Arise, skyscrapers raised of old,
And hills, whose ancient summits freeze,
In the fierce light and cold.
The eagle soars his greatest height,
Yet you stretch far above his flight.
You have your frowns—with you on high,
The storm has made his airy seat,
Beyond that soft blue curtain lie
His barrage of hail and sleet.
The consuming lightnings break.
There the strong hurricanes awake.
Still, you are father of smiles—
Smiles, sweeter than your frowns are stern:
Earth sends, from all her countless isles,
A shout at your return.
The glory that comes down from you,
Bathes, in deep joy, the land and sea.
The sun, the gorgeous sun, is yours,
The pomp that brings and shuts the day,
The clouds that round him change and shine,
The airs that fan his way.
Then the thoughtful stars peer down, and there
The meek moon walks the silent air.
The sunny tropics may boast
Of the lovely tints that flush her skies.
And lovely, round the colder coasts,
May your blue pillars rise.
I only know how fair they stand,
Around my own beloved land.
And they are fair—a charm is theirs,
That earth, the proud green earth, has not—
With all the forms, and hues, and airs,
That haunt her sweetest spot.
We gaze upon your calm pure sphere,
And read of Heaven's eternal year.
Oh, when, amid the crowd of men,
The heart grows sick of life's hollow dirge,
How willingly we turn upward then
Away from this cold earth,
And look into your azure breast,
For seats of innocence and rest.