Eternal God, this Worm lifts up the head,
And looks to Thee, by Thee encouraged.
Cheered by thy Bounty, it would speak thy praise,
Whose wondrous Love hath measured all my days:
If thou vouchsafe to make a Worm rejoice,
Give him a thankful praising heart and voice.
Thy shining Glory blessed Angels see:
Angels must sing thy Highest praise, not we:
But if thy warming beams cause Worms to speak,
Their baser part will not the Consort break.
⟨p. 2⟩When Time was yet no measure; when the Sun
Its rapid motion had not yet begun;
When Heaven, & Earth, & Sea, were yet unframed,
Angels and Men, and all things else unnamed;
When there did nothing else exist but Thee,
Thou wast the same, and still the same wilt be:
When there was none to know or praise thy Name,
Thou wast in perfect Blessedness the same.
The Father, Word and Spirit, One in Three,
Trinity doth with Unity agree.
Th' Eternal Life, that quickens all that lives;
The soul of souls; the Light which all Light gives
Immense and boundless, present every where:
Beyond all place and creatures, thou art there,
Uncomprehended, comprehending all:
Foreknowing whatsoever shall befall.
Uncaused, thou causest all that hath a Being:
Unknown, thou knowest; unseen, thou art all-seeing.
Though necessary, yet without constraint;
Unmoved, yet moving all, dost never faint.
All things depend on Thee; and Thou on none;
And changing all things, art unchanged alone.
One in th' innumerable multitude;
Perfectly ordering things which seem most rude.
Infinite Power, one accent of whose breath,
Can sentence Heaven and Earth to life or death.
Yea, by one act of efficacious Will
Canst make and unmake worlds; give life, and kill.
Reason transcending all created Reason;
Not only knowing all things in their season,
⟨p. 3⟩But with a Knowledge perfect, infinite,
Knowing Thy self in Thine Eternal Light.
A knowledge which doth utterly excel,
The Knowledge of the Earth, the Heavens & Hell;
To know ten thousand worlds, were but to know
The finite streams which from thy Will do flow:
Existents, Futures, all Contingencies
Concealed from man, are naked to thine eyes:
Of every thing thou knowest the Form and Cause;
As giving all their Nature and their Laws.
Nature's whole frame is but one piece to thee.
The Place and Use of all things thou dost see.
The Globes of Heaven and Earth are in thy span;
Thou seest not things by parcels, like poor Man.
ETernal God, this Worm lifts up the head,
And looks to Thee, by Thee encouraged.
Cheer'd by thy Bounty, it would speak thy praise,
Whose wondrous Love hath measur'd all my daies:
If thou vouchsafe to make a Worm rejoyce,
Give him a thankful praising heart and voice.
Thy shining Glory blessed Angels see:
Angels must sing thy Highest praise, not we:
But if thy warming beams cause Worms to speak,
Their baser part will not the Consort break.
⟨p. 2⟩When Time was yet no measure; when the Sun
Its rapid motion had not yet begun;
When Heav'n, & Earth, & Sea, were yet unfram'd,
Angels and Men, and all things else unnam'd;
When there did nothing else exist but Thee,
Thou wast the same, and still the same wilt be:
When there was none to know or praise thy Name,
Thou wast in perfect Blessedness the same.
The Father, Word and Spirit, One in Three,
Trinity doth with Unity agree.
Th' Eternal Life, that quickens all that lives;
The soul of souls; the Light which all Light gives
Immense and boundless, present every where:
Beyond all place and creatures, thou art there,
Uncomprehended, comprehending all:
Foreknowing whatsoever shall befall.
Uncaus'd, thou causest all that hath a Being:
Unknown, thou know'st; unseen, thou art all-seeing.
Though necessary, yet without constraint;
Unmov'd, yet moving all, dost never faint.
All things depend on Thee; and Thou on none;
And changing all things, art unchang'd alone.
One in th' innumerable multitude;
Perfectly ordering things which seem most rude.
Infinite Power, one accent of whose breath,
Can sentence Heav'n and Earth to life or death.
Yea, by one act of efficacious Will
Canst make and unmake worlds; give life, and kill.
Reason transcending all created Reason;
Not only knowing all things in their season,
⟨p. 3⟩But with a Knowledge perfect, infinite,
Knowing Thy self in Thine Eternal Light.
A knowledge which doth utterly excel,
The Knowledge of the Earth, the Heav'ns & Hell;
To know ten thousand worlds, were but to know
The finite streams which from thy Will do flow:
Existents, Futures, all Contingencies
Conceal'd from man, are naked to thine eyes:
Of every thing thou know'st the Form and Cause;
As giving all their Nature and their Laws.
Nature's whole frame is but one piece to thee.
The Place and Use of all things thou dost see.
The Globes of Heav'n and Earth are in thy span;
Thou seest not things by parcels, like poor Man.
