Oh! could I borrow some celestial plume, This narrow globe should not confine me long In its contracted sphere---the vast expanse, Beyond where thought can reach, or eye can glance, My curious spirit, charm'd should traverse o'er, New worlds to find, new systems to explore: When these appear'd, again I'd urge my flight Till all creation open'd to my sight.
Ah! unavailing wish, absurd and vain, Fancy return and drop thy wing again; Could'st thou more swift than light move steady on, Thy sight as broad, and piercing as the sun, And Gabriel's years too added to thy own; Nor Gabriel's sight, nor thought, nor rapid wing, Can pass the immense domains of th' eternal King; The greatest seraph in his bright abode Can't comprehend the labours of a God. Proud reason fails, and is confounded here; ---Man how contemptible thou dost appear! What art thou in this scene?---Alas! no more Than a small atom to the sandy shore, A drop of water to a boundless sea, A single moment to eternity.