I love all beautiful things that flare and fade,
Each wonder that is wind-wild, flickering-fair,
The glow of gorgeous suns that pass to shade,
All lovely shapes the hastening years impair.
As much I love the things that know no change,
The bountiful abstractions of the brain,
Cool reaches of man’s insubstantial range,
And where the spirit strikes, nor roots in vain.
Lord, grant me when each natural fire burns low,
When passion dies or dims to a fitful flame,
Beyond each transient idol still to know
Your truth which rests unchangeably the same.
And find, when cherished blossoms droop and die,
The unfading freshness of eternity.
