Talk not of proofs: God must be seen, and felt,
And known by meditation; not deduced
Like some hard problem, or a riddle spelt
By frequent guessing. Proofs on proofs adduced,
Speak they so plainly as the wailing cry
Of her first infant tells the mother’s heart
A mother’s love doth well from God on high?
Who hath not heard, in solitude apart,
God’s voice upon the wind? Who hath not seen
And felt Him present? seen Him earth pervade?
Each spring, their wither’d crowns renew with green
In aged trees? seen Him in depths of shade?
And glorious sunshine? and reveal’d in light
Of stars? and in the sea’s resistless might?