NATURE'S TEMPLE by JAMES HERVEY HYSLOP

THE sun moved down the western sky,
And rested on the beaming shores
Of night's infinity, the space
In which Orion's rising light
Is waiting for his silver throne;
Then sailed into the darkling sea
Of night, and left the splendid glow
Of twilight in his radiant wake.

The distant mountains, bathed in light
And hiding the horizon's bar,
Or closing in the blue empyrean,
Stand high in minatory grandeur,
The watchmen at the portals wide
Of day and night, the sentry bold
Whose vigilance sublimely guards
The entrance to infinity.

The moon rose slowly o'er the plain
And lighted woods and placid lake
In silver sheen. No evening winds
Disturbed the lambent air or moved
The silent leaves in revelry,
Or chilled the ecstasy of man,
Who worships there, in ardent joy,
The sombre glory of the stars.

In dell or woodland loneliness
The moonbeams' silver silence guards
The cadence of AEolian music,
That moves upon the balmy air
And lulls the soul into the peace
Of God, or thrills the passion deep
Of reverie and song, and opes
The gateway of eternal life.

The lights and shadows in the vale
Make fairyland for elf and sprite,
Or wake in human life the springs
Of true romance and poetry.
This challenges the mind and heart
To love and worship at the fane,
Which nature builds and sanctifies
For the immortal name of God.

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