| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 110. Heaven’s Magnificence |
| | | By William Augustus Muhlenberg |
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| SINCE o’er thy footstool here below | |
| Such radiant gems are strown, | |
| Oh, what magnificence must glow, | |
| My God, about thy throne! | |
| So brilliant here these drops of light, | 5 |
| There the full ocean rolls, how bright! | |
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| If night’s blue curtain of the sky, | |
| With thousand stars inwrought, | |
| Hung like a royal canopy | |
| With glittering diamonds fraught, | 10 |
| Be, Lord, thy temple’s outer veil, | |
| What splendor at the shrine must dwell! | |
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| The dazzling sun at noontide hour, | |
| Forth from his flaming vase | |
| Flinging o’er earth the golden shower | 15 |
| Till vale and mountain blaze, | |
| But shows, O Lord, one beam of thine: | |
| What, then, the day where thou dost shine! | |
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| Ah, how shall these dim eyes endure | |
| That noon of living rays! | 20 |
| Or how my spirit, so impure, | |
| Upon thy brightness gaze! | |
| Anoint, O Lord, anoint my sight, | |
| And robe me for that world of light. | |
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