sprung this glorious Frame, or when began
Things to Exist, they could not always be?
To what stupendous Energy
Shall we ascribe the Origin of Man?
That Cause, from whence all Beings else arose,
Must Self-existent be alone,
Intirely perfect, and but One:
Nor Equal, nor Superior knows;
Two firsts, in Reason, we can ne'er suppose.
If that, in false Opinion, we allow,
That once there absolutely Nothing was,
Then Nothing could Be now:
For by what Instrument, or how
Shall Non-Existence to Existence pass?
Thus Something must from Everlasting be,
Or Matter, or a Deity.
If Matter only uncreate we grant,
We shall Volition, Wit, and Reason want;
An Agent infinite, and Action free,
Whence does Volition, whence does Reason flow?
How came we to Reflect, Design, and Know?
This from a nobler Nature springs,
Distinct in Essence from Material Things;
For Thoughtless Matter cannot Thought bestow.
But if we own a God Supream,
And all Perfection's possible in him:
In him does boundless Excellence reside,
Power to Create, and Providence to Guide.
Unmade himself, could no Beginning have,
But to all Substance prime Existence gave;
Can, what he will Destroy, and what he pleases Save.