The Book of Nature

THERE is a book, who runs may read,

Which heav'nly truth imparts,

And all the lore its scholars need,

Pure eyes and Christian hearts.

The works of God above, below,

Within us and around,

Are pages in that book, to show

How God Himself is found.

The glorious sky, embracing all,

Is like the Maker's love,

Wherewith encompassed, great and small

In peace and order move.

The moon above, the Church below,

A wondrous race they run,

But all their radiance, all their glow,

Each borrows of its Sun.

The dew of heaven is like Thy grace

It steals in silence down;

But, where it lights, the favored place

By richest fruits is known.

The raging Fire, the roaring Wind,

Thy boundless power display;

But in the gentler breeze we find

The Spirit's viewless way.

Two worlds are ours: 'tis only sin

Forbids us to descry

The mystic heaven and earth within,

Plain as the sea and sky.

—JOHN Keble.

The heavens declare the glory of God;

And the firmament showeth his handiwork.

—Psalm xix. 1.