Lord, how can man preach thy eternal word? He is a brittle crazy glass; Yet in thy temple thou dost him afford This glorious and transcendent place, To be a window, through thy grace. But when thou dost anneal in glass thy story, Making thy life to shine within The holy preachers, then the light and glory Most reverend grows, and more doth win; Which else shows waterish, bleak and thin. Doctrine and life, colors and light, in one When they combine and mingle, bring A strong regard and awe; but speech alone Doth vanish like a flaring thing, And in the ear, not conscience, ring. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A PSALM OF TRAVEL by GEORGE SANTAYANA THE LOVELINESS OF LOVE by GEORGE DARLEY MENAPHON: DORON'S JIG by ROBERT GREENE FOOTSTEPS OF ANGELS by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW THE DEPARTED by JOHN BANISTER TABB NOTHING WILL DIE by ALFRED TENNYSON THE MYSTIC TRUMPETER by WALT WHITMAN |