Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/441

415 "Eternal Spirit! universal God!

Power inaccessible to human thought

Save by degrees and steps which Thou hast deigned

To furnish; for this Image of Thyself,

To the infirmity of mortal sense

Vouchsafed; this local, transitory type

Of thy paternal splendors, and the pomp

Of those who fill thy courts in highest heaven,

The radiant Cherubim;—accept the thanks

Which we, thy humble Creatures, here convened,

Presume to offer; we, who from the breast

Of the frail earth, permitted to behold

The faint reflections only of thy face,

Are yet exalted, and in Soul adore!

Such as they are who in thy presence stand

Unsullied, incorruptible, and drink

Imperishable majesty streamed forth

From thy empyreal Throne, the elect of Earth

Shall be—divested at the appointed hour

Of all dishonour—cleansed from mortal stain.

—Accomplish, then, their number; and conclude

Time's weary course! Or, if by thy decree

The consummation that will come by stealth