George Willis Cooke, comp. The Poets of Transcendentalism: An Anthology. 1903.
The Old Song and the NewAugusta Cooper Bristol (1835–1910)
C
God is away from the world!
Twilight encloseth the finite for aye;
God is away from the world!
Outward Humanity leaneth in vain,
Straining her vision a witness to gain
Of the background being—the infinite plain;—
God is away from the world!
God is away from the world!
Man hath appraised them, and noted their worth;
God is away from the world!
Gather the sounds of the sea and the air,
Harmonies subtle, and symphonies rare,—
Still not a whisper from Deity there;
God is away from the world!
God is away from the world!
His vesture and footprints no longer appear;
God is away from the world!
He cometh no more with a daily accost
To the finite; the garden is cold with the frost,
And the echoes of Eden forever are lost:
God is away from the world.
God is away from the world!
He hath perfected His purpose and plan;
God is away from the world!
Creation is finished; He sitteth apart,
In a glory too dread for the scene of His art;
Too piercingly pure for Humanity’s heart;
God is away from the world!
God is away from the world!
Only poor gleams of the actual day;
God is away from the world!
We reach not the substance; we touch but the screen;
Our hope is the victim that ’s lifted between
The real and the seeming, the Christ-Nazarene;
God is away from the world!
Heirs of the Morning, we walk in the light;
God is forever with man!
A day that hath never a noon or a night;
God is forever with man!
A day without limit, whose glories unfold
The statutes that time and eternity hold;
An endless becoming its measure and mould;
God is forever with man!
God is forever with man!
Life leadeth on to an infinite goal;
God is forever with man!
Inward, not outward, is Deity’s shrine,
The Presence Eternal—the Spirit Divine,
And being becomes immortality’s sign;
God is forever with man!
God is forever with man!
We have a witness on which to rely;
God is forever with man!
The word is eternal, and cometh to all;
And the inward rebuke, and the heart’s ceaseless call,
Are tones from the lips of the Father that fall;
God is forever with man!
God is forever with man!
Our roots are the veins of the Infinite Heart;
God is forever with man!
The Christ liveth ever in creature disguise;
The Logos by which every soul shall arise
The gospel and glory of self-sacrifice;
God is forever with man!
God is forever with man!
Cleave the soft air with a rapturous wing;
God is forever with man!
Warble the story to forest and rill,
Sweep up the valley and bear to the hill
The sacred refrain of your passionate trill;
God is forever with man!
God is forever with man!
Precious the meaning your beauty hath wrought;
God is forever with man!
Spread out the sweet revelation of bloom,
Lift and release from an odorous tomb,
The secret embalmed in a honeyed perfume;
God is forever with man!
God is forever with man!
Echo, sea-caverns, the truth evermore,
God is forever with man!
Bear on, Creation, the symbol and sign,
That being unfolds in an aura divine,
The soul moveth on in an infinite line;
God is forever with man!