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Than praise and sacrifices of the fool,
Whose hecatomb, whose golden offering
Is food for flame or Sacrilegious spoil
For temple robbers.
Libanius:
God is first and last
Who leads the chorick dancing of the stars
The planet's progress, as the solar stay,
And God is Very Beauty, would you win
To that Diviner essencecount it not
As Earthly Beauty is to man of earth
The brief liv'd promise of immediate joy,
The panting halt before possession prove
Prelude again to dull satiety.
The Very Beauty passes not, nor palls,
But since God's face is mirror'd in His world,
The best of earthly beauty you may know
Deep in your soul's shrine reverently set,
Imperfect image, in a little space,
