The perfect world by Adam trod,
Was the first temple - built by God -
His fiat laid the corner stone,
And heav'd its pillars, one by one.
He hung its starry roof on high -
The broad illimitable sky;
He spread its pavement, green and bright,
And curtain'd it with morning light.
The mountains in their places stood -
The sea - the sky - and "all was good;"
And, when its first pure praises rang,
The "morning stars together sang."
Lord! 'tis not ours to make the sea
And earth and sky a house for thee;
But in thy sight our off'ring stands -
A humbler temple, "made with hands."