e night!
Of which the least full godhead had proclaim'd,
And thrown the gazer on his knee--or, say,
Is appellation higher still, Thy choice?
Father of matter's temporary lords!
Father of spirits! nobler offspring! sparks
Of high paternal glory; rich endow'd
With various measures, and with various modes
Of instinct, reason, intuition; beams
More pale, or bright from day divine, to break 2240
The dark of matter organized (the ware
Of all created spirit); beams, that rise
Each over other in superior light,
Till the last ripens into lustre strong,
Of next approach to Godhead. Father fond
(Far fonder than e'er bore that name on earth)
Of intellectual beings! beings bless'd
With powers to please Thee; not of passive ply 2248
To laws they know not; beings lodged in seats
Of well-adapted joys, in different domes
Of this imperial palace for thy sons;
Of this proud, populous, well policied,
Though boundless habitation, plann'd by Thee:
Whose several clans their several climates suit;
And transposition, doubtless, would destroy.
Or, oh! indulge, immortal King, indulge
A title, less august indeed, but more
Endearing; ah! how sweet in human ears!
Sweet in our ears, and triumph in our hearts!
Father of immortality to man! 2260
A theme that lately[74] set my soul on fire.--
And Thou the next! yet equal! Thou, by whom
That blessing was convey'd; far more! was bought;
Ineffable the price! by whom all worlds
Were made; and one redeem'd! illustrious Light
From Light illustrious! Thou, whose regal power,
Finite in time, but infinite in space,
On more than adamantine basis fix'd,
O'er more, far more, than diadems, and thrones,
Inviolably reigns; the dread of gods! 2270
And oh! the friend of man! beneath whose foot,
And by the mandate of whose awful nod,
All regions, revolutions, fortunes, fates,
Of high, of low, of mind, and matter, roll
Through the short channels of expiring time,
Or shoreless ocean of eternity,
Calm, or tempestuous (as thy Spirit breathes),
In absolute subjection!--And, O Thou
The glorious Third! distinct, not separate!
Beaming from both! with both incorporate; 2280
And (strange to tell!) incorporate with dust! 2281
By condescension, as Thy glory, great,
Enshrin