The dread of waters and the blazing sky
Make pensive captives all humanity;
Confusion reigns o'er all the seething land,
From mountain peak to ocean's clammy strand;
As if--it seemed--but weak are human words,
The rocks of Christendom were rent to sherds:
They clash, they dash, they crash, above, around,
The earth-quake, dread, splits up and rasps the ground!

Tell me, my muse, my goddess from above,
Of dazzling sheen, and clothed in robes of love,
What this wild rage--this cataclysmic fall--
What rends the welkin, and, Who rules them all?
"'Tis God! The Blest! All elements are his
Who rules the unfathonable dark abyss.
'Tis God commands! His edicts are their will!
Be silent, heavens! The heavens are hushed and still!"
These are the wail of elemental life;
The fire and water wage supernal strife;
The blasting fire, with scathing, angry glare,
Gleamed like an asphalte furnace in the air:
Around, above it swirled the water's sweep,
And plunged its scorching legions in the deep!

The works of God are good and infinite,
The perfect offsprings of his love and might,
And wonderful, beneficient in every land--
With wisdom crowned the creatures of His hand;
And truly, meekly, lowly must we bow
To worship Him who made all things below,