SELECTIONS IN ENGLISH POETRY
By God built over the sheer depth
The which is Space begun ;
So high, that looking downward thence
She scarce could see the sun. ^0
It lies in Heaven, across the flood
Of ether, as a bridge.
Beneath, the tides of day and night
With flame and darkness ridge
The void, as low as where this earth 35
Spins like a fretful midge.
Heard hardly, some of her new friends
Amid their loving games
Spake evermore among themselves
Their virginal chaste names; 40
And the souls mounting up to God
Went by her like thin flames.
And still she bowed herself and stopped
Out of the circling charm;
Until her bosom must have made 45
The bar she leaned on warm,
And the lilies lay as if asleep
Along her bended arm.
From the fixed place of Heaven she saw
Time like a pulse shake fierce 50
Through all the worlds. Her gaze still strove
Within the gulf to pierce
Its path : and now she spoke, as when
The stars sang in their spheres.
The sun was gone now; the curled moon 55
Was like a little feather
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