Samuel Griswold Goodrich (
  • Samuel Griswold Goodrich (1793-1860)

    • "Contributor to Magazines." (Sharp)

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    Ultima Thule

    The blue heaven spreads before me with its keen
    And countless eyes of brightness,--worlds are there,--
    The boldest spirit cannot spring, and dare
    The peopled universe that burns between
    This earth and nothing. Thought can wing its way
    Swifter than lightning-flashes, or the beam
    That hastens on the pinions of the morn;
    But, quicker than the glowing dart of day,
    It tires and faints along the starry stream,--
    A wave of suns through countless ether borne,
    Though infinite, eternal! yet one power
    Sits on the Almighty Center, whither tend
    All worlds and beings from time's natal hour,
    Till suns and all their satellites shall end.

    (Text from American Sonnets)