Page:Pearl Of Great Price (1851).pdf/64



Oh! say, what is truth? ’Tis the fairest gem,
 * That the riches of worlds can produce;

And priceless the value of truth will be, when The proud monarch’s costliest diadem,
 * Is counted but dross and refuse.

Yes, say, what is truth? ’Tis the brightest prize
 * To which mortals or Gods can aspire;

Go search in the depths where it glittering lies, Or ascend in pursuit to the loftiest skies,
 * ’Tis an aim for the noblest desire.

The sceptre may fall from the despot’s grasp,
 * When with winds of stern justice he copes;

But the pillar of truth will endure to the last, And its firm-rootted bulwarks outstand the rude blast,
 * And the wreck of the fell tyrant’s hopes.

Then say, what is truth? ’Tis the last and the first,
 * For the limits of time it steps o’er;

Though the heaven’s depart, and the earth’s fountains burst, Truth, the sum of existence, will weather the worst,
 * Eternal, unchanged, evermore.