On
Exodus
iii
.
14.
I
am
that
I
am
.
An
ODE
.
Written
in
1688
,
as
an
Exercise
at
St.
John's
College
,
Cambridge
.
I.
Man
!
Foolish
Man
!
Scarce
know'st
Thou
how
thy
self
began
:
Scarce
hast
Thou
Thought
enough
to
prove
Thou
art
:
Yet
steel'd
with
study'd
Boldness
,
Thou
dar'st
try
To
send
thy
doubting
Reason's
dazled
Eye
Through
the
mysterious
Gulph
of
vast
Immensity
.
Much
Thou
canst
there
discern
,
much
thence
impart
.
Vain
Wretch
!
suppress
thy
knowing
Pride
:
Mortifie
thy
learned
Lust
:
Vain
are
thy
Thoughts
;
while
Thou
thy
self
are
Dust
.
II
.
Let
Wit
her
Sails
,
her
Oars
let
Wisdom
lend
:
The
Helm
let
Politick
Experience
guide
:
Yet
cease
to
hope
thy
short-liv'd
Bark
shall
ride
Down
spreading
Fate's
unnavigable
Tide
.
What
,
tho'
still
it
farther
tend
?
Still
'tis
farther
from
it's
End
;
And
,
in
the
Bosom
of
that
boundless
Sea
,
Still
finds
it's
Error
lengthen
with
it's
Way
.
III
.
With
daring
Pride
and
insolent
Delight
Your
Doubts
resolv'd
you
boast
,
your
Labours
crown'd
;
And
,
EYPHKA
!
your
GOD
,
forsooth
,
is
found
Incomprehensible
and
Infinite
.
But
is
He
therefore
found
?
Vain
Searcher
!
no
:
Let
your
imperfect
Definition
show
,
That
nothing
You
,
the
weak
Definer
,
know
.
IV
.
Say
,
why
should
the
collected
Main
It
self
within
it
self
contain
?
Why
to
its
Caverns
should
it
sometimes
creep
,
And
with
delighted
Silence
sleep
On
the
lov'd
Bosom
of
it's
Parent
Deep
?
Why
shou'd
it's
num'rous
Waters
stay
In
comely
Discipline
,
and
fair
Array
,
'Till
Winds
and
Tides
exert
their
high
Commands
?
Then
prompt
and
ready
to
obey
,
Why
do
the
rising
Surges
spread
Their
op'ning
Ranks
o'er
Earth's
submissive
Head
,
Marching
thro'
different
Paths
to
different
Lands
?
V.
Why
does
the
constant
Sun
With
measur'd
Steps
his
radiant
Journeys
run
?
Why
does
He
order
the
Diurnal
Hours
To
leave
Earth's
other
Part
,
and
rise
in
Our's
?
Why
does
He
wake
the
correspondent
Moon
,
And
fill
her
willing
Lamp
with
liquid
Light
,
Commanding
Her
with
delegated
Pow'rs
To
beautifie
the
World
,
and
bless
the
Night
?
Why
does
each
animated
Star
Love
the
just
Limits
of
it's
proper
Sphere
?
Why
does
each
consenting
Sign
With
prudent
Harmony
combine
In
Turns
to
move
,
and
subsequent
appear
To
gird
the
Globe
,
and
regulate
the
Year
?
VI
.
Man
does
with
dangerous
Curiosity
These
unfathom'd
Wonders
try
:
With
fancy'd
Rules
and
arbitrary
Laws
Matter
and
Motion
He
restrains
;
And
study'd
Lines
,
and
fictious
Circles
draws
:
Then
with
imagin'd
Soveraignty
Lord
of
his
new
Hypothesis
He
reigns
.
He
reigns
?
How
long
?
'till
some
Usurper
rise
:
And
He
too
,
mighty
thoughtful
,
mighty
wise
,
Studies
new
Lines
,
and
other
Circles
feigns
.
From
this
last
Toil
again
what
Knowledge
flows
?
Just
as
much
,
perhaps
,
as
shows
,
That
all
his
Predecessor's
Rules
Were
empty
Cant
,
all
Jargon
of
the
Schools
;
That
he
on
t'other's
Ruin
rears
his
Throne
;
And
shows
his
Friend's
Mistake
,
and
thence
confirms
his
own
.
VII
.
On
Earth
,
in
Air
,
amidst
the
Seas
and
Skies
,
Mountainous
Heaps
of
Wonders
rise
;
Whose
tow'ring
Strength
will
ne'er
submit
To
Reason's
Batt'ries
,
or
the
Mines
of
Wit
:
Yet
still
enquiring
,
still
mistaking
Man
,
Each
Hour
repuls'd
,
each
Hour
dare
onward
press
;
And
levelling
at
GOD
his
wand'ring
Guess
(
That
feeble
Engine
of
his
reasoning
War
,
Which
guides
his
Doubts
,
and
combats
his
Despair
)
Laws
to
his
Maker
the
learn'd
Wretch
can
give
;
Can
bound
that
Nature
,
and
prescribe
that
Will
,
Whose
pregnant
Word
did
either
Ocean
fill
;
Can
tell
us
whence
all
Beings
are
,
and
how
they
move
and
live
.
Thro'
either
Ocean
(
foolish
Man
!
)
That
pregnant
Word
sent
forth
again
,
Might
to
a
World
extend
each
Atom
there
;
For
every
Drop
call
forth
a
Sea
,
a
Heav'n
for
every
Star
.
VIII
.
Let
cunning
Earth
her
fruitful
Wonders
hide
;
And
only
lift
thy
stagg'ring
Reason
up
To
trembling
Calvary's
astonish'd
Top
:
Then
mock
thy
Knowledge
,
and
confound
thy
Pride
,
Explaining
how
Perfection
suffer'd
Pain
;
Almighty
languish'd
;
and
Eternal
dy'd
:
How
by
her
Patient
Victor
Death
was
slain
;
And
Earth
prophan'd
,
yet
bless'd
with
Deicide
.
Then
down
with
all
thy
boasted
Volumes
,
down
:
Only
reserve
the
Sacred
One
:
Low
,
reverently
low
,
Make
thy
stubborn
Knowledge
bow
;
Weep
out
thy
Reason's
,
and
thy
Body's
Eyes
;
Deject
thy
self
,
that
Thou
may'st
rise
;
To
look
to
Heav'n
,
be
blind
to
all
below
.
IX
.
Then
Faith
,
for
Reason's
glimmering
Light
,
shall
give
Her
Immortal
Perspective
;
And
Grace's
Presence
Nature's
Loss
retrieve
:
Then
thy
enliven'd
Soul
shall
see
,
That
all
the
Volumes
of
Philosophy
,
With
all
their
Comments
,
never
cou'd
invent
So
politick
an
Instrument
,
To
reach
the
Heav'n
of
Heav'ns
,
the
high
Abode
,
Where
Moses
places
his
Mysterious
GOD
,
As
was
that
Ladder
which
old
Jacob
rear'd
,
When
Light
Divine
had
human
Darkness
clear'd
;
And
his
enlarg'd
Ideas
found
the
Road
,
Which
Faith
had
dictated
,
and
Angels
trod
.