Page:Poems Hoffman.djvu/131

Tell me thou glittering evening star,
Tinting the western sky afar,
 On heaven's blue curtain traced;
Hast thou green fields and nodding flowers,
Rivers and hills and city towers?
Art thou a living world like ours
 Or but a barren waste?

Mysterious questions, answered not,
With deepest meaning ever fraught,
 Flooding this life below,
When rolling years no more shall be,
When man shall find his destiny,
When time unveils eternity;
 Perhaps, we then shall know.

The gracious Ruler over all
Who formed this changing earthly ball
 And spake a world from naught,
All of thy gems so rich and rare,
All of thy glories, dazzling fair,
With wondrous skill and loving care,
 With His own hand hath wrought.

Earth, all thy myriad voices raise
To sing of all God's wondrous ways
 'Till heaven's high arches ring.
Lo, from the clouds Thy voice is heard,
The mountains tremble at Thy word,
The heavens declare Thy glory, Lord;
 The stars Thy praises sing!

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