Everything fails me – every thing –
These instruments, do they not all
Mock me? Lathe, cylinder, and ring,
And cog and wheel – in vain I call
On you for aid, ye keys of Science,
I stand before the guarded door
Of Nature; but it bids defiance
To latch or ward: in vain I prove
Your powers – the strong bolts will not move.
Mysterious, in the blaze of day,
Nature pursues her tranquil way:
The veil she wears, if hand profane
Should seek to raise, it seeks in vain,
Though from her spirit thine receives,
When hushed it listens and believes,
Secrets – revealed, else vainly sought,
Her free gift when man questions not,__
Think not with levers or with
To wring them out if she refuse.
Love it: “mysterious in the blaze of day…”
We are fearfully and wonderfully made!