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Creator Spirit, by whose aid
The world's foundations first were laid,
Come, visit every pious mind;
Come, pour thy joys on humankind;
From sin and sorrow set us free,
And make thy temples worthy thee.
.

On thing missing. The poet who wrote it. [J.D.]Bill Wiltrack wrote:.
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Creator Spirit, by whose aid
The world's foundations first were laid,
Come, visit every pious mind;
Come, pour thy joys on humankind;
From sin and sorrow set us free,
And make thy temples worthy thee.
.
Doob. One thing missing. The poet who wrote it.Dubious wrote:You didn't seem to be too serious based on the gif you gave.
However this is a far better and more famous contemporary poem on the subject, one I memorized when I was a kid:
FATHER of all! in ev’ry age,
In ev’ry clime ador’d,
By saint, by savage, and by sage,
Jehovah, Jove, or Lord!
Thou Great First Cause, least understood, 5
Who all my sense confin’d
To know but this, that thou art good,
And that myself am blind:
Yet gave me, in this dark estate,
To see the good from ill; 10
And binding Nature fast in Fate,
Left free the human Will.
What Conscience dictates to be done,
Or warns me not to do;
This teach me more than Hell to shun, 15
That more than Heav’n pursue.
What blessings thy free bounty gives
Let me not cast away;
For God is paid when man receives;
T’ enjoy is to obey. 20
Yet not to earth’s contracted span
Thy goodness let me bound,
Or think thee Lord alone of man,
When thousand worlds are round.
Let not this weak unknowing hand 25
Presume thy bolts to throw,
And deal damnation round the land
On each I judge thy foe.
If I am right, thy grace impart,
Still in the right to stay; 30
If I am wrong, O teach my heart
To find that better way.
Save me alike from foolish Pride
Or impious Discontent,
At aught thy wisdom has denied, 35
Or aught thy goodness lent.
Teach me to feel another’s woe,
To hide the fault I see:
That mercy I to others show,
That mercy show to me. 40
Mean tho’ I am, not wholly so,
Since quicken’d by thy breath;
O lead me, whereso’er I go,
Thro’ this day’s life or death!
This day be bread and peace my lot: 45
All else beneath the sun
Thou know’st if best bestow’d or not,
And let thy will be done.
To Thee, whose temple is all Space,
Whose altar earth, sea, skies, 50
One chorus let all Being raise,
All Nature’s incense rise!
...then why did you post the John Dryden extract if that's the case? Why is Shakespeare still alive and well, though few understand him except for snippets? If the message remains alive and relevant then why only in this forum? Great poetry, music or art in general is not something you move-on from. Not unlike philosophy itself, the Greats remain regardless of age.Bill Wiltrack wrote:.
I think culture and communications have moved-on.
The poem may have been fine in it's time. It's time has passed. Though the message still remains relevant & alive here at this forum.
I agree. Great art is immortal because the themes it invokes are universal to the human condition. Art is what defines us in our humanity, and although the media which artists use evolve over time their power to touch the human spirit does not.Dubious wrote:the Greats remain regardless of age.
