Heaven and Earth

Blessed are the dead

Who die in the Lord!

And though the waters be o’er earth outspread,

Yet, as his word,

Be the decree adored!
He gave me life – he taketh but

The breath which is his own:

And though these eyes should be for ever shut.

Nor longer this weak voice before his throne

Be heard in supplicating tone,

Still blessèd be the Lord,

For what is past,

For that which is:

For all are his,

From first to last –

Time – space – eternity – life – death –

The vast known and immeasurable unknown.

He made and can unmake;

And shall I, for a little gasp of breath,

Blaspheme and groan?

No; let me die, as I have lived, in faith,

Nor quiver, though the universe may quake!

- “Heaven and Earth: A Mystery” (1821) by George Gordon Lord Byron, lines 1148-1169