What bound may we assign, O God, to any work of thine! Their endlessness discovers thee In all to be Divine; A Deity That will for evermore exceed the end Of all that creature's wit can comprehend. V Am I a glorious spring Of joys and riches to my King? Are men made Gods? And may they see So wonderful a thing As God in me? And is my soul a mirror that must shine Even like the sun and be far more divine? VI Thy Soul, O God, doth prize The seas, the earth, our souls, the skies; As we return the same to Thee They more delight Thine eyes, And sweeter be As unto thee we offer up the same, Than as to us from Thee at first they came. VII O how doth Sacred Love His gifts refine, exalt, improve! Our love to creatures makes them be In Thine esteem above Themselves to Thee! O here His goodness evermore admire! He made our souls to make His creatures higher. THE DEMONSTRATION I The highest things are easiest to be shewn, And only capable of being known. A mist involves the eye While in the middle it doth live; And till the ends of things are seen The way's uncertain that doth stand between. As in the air we see the clouds Like winding sheets or shrouds, Which, though they nearer are, obscure The sun, which, higher far, is far more pure. II Its very brightness makes it near the eye, Tho' many thousand leagues beyond the sky. Its beams by violence Invade, and ravish distant sense. Only extremes and heights are known, No certainty, where no perfection's, shewn. Extremities of blessedness Compel us to confess A God indeed, Whose excellence In all His works must needs exceed all sense. III And for this cause incredibles alone May be by demonstration to us shewn. Those things that are most bright Sun-like appear in their own light, And nothing's truly seen that's mean: Be it a sand, an acorn, or a bean, It must be cloth'd with endless glory, Before its perfect story (Be the spirit ne'er so clear) Can in its causes and its ends appear. IV What can be more incredible than this, Where may we find a more profound abyss? What Heavenly height can be Transcendent to this Summity! What more desirable object can Be offered to the soul of hungering man! His gifts as they to us come down Are infinite and crown The soul with strange fruitions; yet Returning from us they more value get. V