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Spiritual Laws

By Ralph Waldo Emerson

Topics: classic

The living Heaven thy prayers respect,     House at once and architect,     Quarrying man's rejected hours,     Builds therewith eternal towers;     Sole and self-commanded works,     Fears not undermining days,     Grows by decays,     And, by the famous might that lurks     In reaction and recoil,     Makes flame to freeze and ice to boil;     Forging, through swart arms of Offence,     The silver seat of Innocence.

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"The living Heaven thy prayers respect,..."

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Author:Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The living Heaven thy prayers respect,..." by Ralph Waldo Emerson

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"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

About Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) was an American essayist, philosopher, and poet who led the Transcendentalist movement. His poems—including "Brahma," "The Rhodora," and "Concord Hymn"—explore nature, self-reliance, and the oversoul.

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"One musician is sure,     His wisdom will not fail..."

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