The hosts of radiant seraphs call
To Him, most glorious of them all:
Holy art Thou, O Lord!
Holy art Thou!
The sons of mighty men declare
His majesty beyond compare:
Blessed art Thou, O Lord!
Blessed art Thou!
All they who glorify His name,
With every morn anew proclaim:
Holy art Thou, O Lord!
Holy art Thou!
Israel, His people, ceaselessly
Cry as they bend and bow the knee:
Blessed art Thou, O Lord!
Holy and blest!
Those shining as a crystal spring
Chant in the presence of their King:
Holy art Thou, O Lord!
Holy art Thou!
The stranger's children evermore
The mighty Lord of lords adore.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord!
Translation from the Hebrew by Mrs. Henry Lucas
Where is He? Ask His emblem,
The glorious, glorious sun,
Who glads the round earth with his beams
Ere his day's course is run.
Where is He? Ask the stars that keep
Their nightly watch on high.
Where is He? Ask the pearly dew,
The tear-drops of the sky.
Where is He? Ask the secret founts
That feed the boundless deep;
The dire simoon, or soft night-breeze
That lulls the world to sleep.
Where is He? Ask the storm of fire
That bursts from Etna's womb,
And ask the glowing lava-flood
That makes the land a tomb.
Where is He? Ask the maelstrom's whirl,
Shivering tall pines like glass;
Ask the great oak, the graceful flower,
Or simplest blade of grass.
Where is He? Ask the behemoth,
Who drinketh rivers dry; The ocean-king leviathan,
Or scarce-seen atom fly.
Where is He? Ask the awful calm
On mountain tops that rests;
And bounding, thundering avalanche
Rent from their rugged crests.
Ask the wide-wasting hurricane,
Careening in its might;
The thunder crash, the lightning blaze,
Earth all convulsed with fright.
Where is He? Ask the crystal isles
On Arctic sea that sail;
Or ask from lands of balm and spice,
The perfume-breathing gale.
Where on the universe is found
That Presence-favored spot?—
All, all proclaim His dwelling-place!
But say, where is He not?
GOD, WHOM SHALL I COMPARE TO THEE?
God! whom shall I compare to Thee,
When Thou to none canst likened be?
Under what image shall I dare
To picture Thee, when everywhere
All Nature's forms Thy impress bear?
Greater, O Lord, Thy glories are
Than all the heavenly chariot far.
Whose mind can grasp Thy world's design? Whose word can fitly Thee define?
Whose tongue set forth Thy powers divine?
Can heart approach, can eye behold
Thee in Thy righteousness untold?
Whom didst Thou to Thy counsel call,
When there was none to speak withal,
Since Thou wast first and Lord of all?
Thy world eternal witness bears
That none its Maker's glory shares.
Thy wisdom is made manifest
In all things formed by Thy behest,
All with Thy seal's clear mark imprest.
Before the pillars of the sky
Were raised, before the mountains high
Were wrought, ere hills and dales were known,
Thou in Thy majesty alone
Didst sit, O Lord, upon Thy throne!
Hearts, seeking Thee, from search refrain,
And weary tongues their praise restrain.
Thyself unbound by time and place,
Thou dost pervade, support, embrace,
The world and all created space.
The sages' minds bewildered grow,
The lightning speed of thought is slow.
"Awful in praises " art Thou named;
Thou fillest, strong in strength proclaimed,
This universe Thy hand has framed.
Deep, deep beyond all fathoming,
Far, far beyond all measuring,
We can but seek Thy deeds alone;
When bow Thy saints before Thy throne,
Then is Thy faithfulness made known.
Thy righteousness we can discern,
Thy holy law proclaim and learn;
Is not Thy presence near alway
To them who penitently pray,
But far from those who sinning stray?
Pure souls behold Thee, and no need
Have they of light; they hear and heed
Thee with the mind's keen ear, although
The ear of flesh be dull and slow.
Their voices answer to and fro.
Thy holiness forever they proclaim:
The Lord of Hosts! thrice holy is His name!
Translation from the Hebrew by Mrs. Henry Lucas
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