The perfect world, by Adam trod,
Was the first temple built by God;
His fiat laid the corner stone,
And heaved its pillars one by one.
He hung its starry roof on high,
The broad expanse of azure sky;
He spread its pavement, green and bright,
And curtained 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 rang.
Lord, ’tis not ours to make the sea,
And earth, and sky, a house for Thee;
But in Thy sight our offering stands,
A humbler temple, made with hands.