Could I mount on seraph's wing
To Thy throne of heavenly light:
Could I, like archangels, bring
Holiest offerings, pure and bright:
Could I songs of cherubs sing,
Veiled before Thy dazzling sight,-
I might lift my eye to Thee,
Thought-absorbing Deity.
I am but a child of clay-
Shadow of mortality!
Born as 'twere but yesterday,
And to-morrow doomed to die;
Like a dream I pass away.
Source of being! how shall I
Seek Thy high and holy throne,
Great, unutterable One?