An Apology for Atheism

How happy could I be with either,Were t'other dear charmer away;But while you thus teaze me together,The devil a word can I say.

Who sees with equal eye, as God of all,A hero perish, or a sparrow fall,

Grunt and groan,And curse all systems but their own;

As if religion were intended,For nothing else but to be mended,

'He is good,And that themselves are blind.'

What is impossible can't be,And never never comes to pass.

Leads the willing and drags the unwilling.

Each lends to each a borrowed charm,Like pearls upon an Ethiop's arm.

Rich windows that exclude the light,And passages that lead to nothing.

To be and not to seem is this man's maxim;His mind reposes on its proper wisdom,And wants no other praise.

Being convinced against their will,Are of the same opinion still.

Eternal, mighty, causeless God,

Above the regions of etherial space,And far extended frontier of the skies;Beyond the outlines of wide nature's face,Where void, not yet enclosed, uncultivated lies;Completely filling every placeAnd far outstretching all imaginary space.

Eternal, mighty, causeless God

To know, what every day before us lies,Is the prime wisdom,

Better be with the deadThan on the tortures of the mind to lieIn restless ecstacy.