But thou art fire, sacred and hallow'd fire;
And I but earth and clay: should I presume
To wear thy habit, the severe attire
My slender composition might consume.
I am both foul and brittle; much unfit
To deal in holy writ.
Yet I have often seen, by cunning hand
And force of fire, what curious things are made
Of wretched earth. Where once I scorn'd to stand,
That earth is fitted by the fire and trade
Of skilful artists, for the boards of those
Who make the bravest shows.
But since those great ones, be they ne'er so great,
Come from the earth, from whence those vessels come;
So that at once both feeder, dish and meat
Have one beginning and one final summe:
I do not greatly wonder at the sight,
If earth in earth delight.
(from the 17th Century English sacred poet George Herbert, in his poem "The
Priesthood".)
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