Afternoon in October

Here's another fine poem of Dr. Vernon Grounds.

For this day's glory. God above,
My heart rejoices.
My breath, enraptured, mingles with
The woodland's voices
In ecstatic prayer.

Of maple's flame and chestnut's amber
Sing I, O God.
A copse's coloured aisles and nave
Form Thine abode;
Thou broodest there.

For sight of mounts bedizened
Humbly I praise.
Upon their slopes, reflected now,
Thy grandeur plays.
I hush; I stare.

Today we delve into the seas;
We penetrate the stratosphere;
We uproot mountains ruthlessly;
We smash the hills and atoms here.

And notwithstanding finite bounds
And limits to our mastery,
Without conceit we claim the right
To rank ourselves, O God, with Thee.