1  Lord, how can man e'er preach Thy Word?

       He is brittle, crazy glass;

    Yet in Thy temple is conferred

       This glorious and transcendent place,

       To be window through Thy grace.

 2  But when Thou dost anneal Thy story

       In glass, Thy life to shine within

    The holy preachers, light of glory

       More radiant grows and more doth win,

       Which else shows waterish, bleak, and thin.

 3  The life and doctrine blent in one

       As light and color mingled, bring

    A strong regard; but speech alone

       Doth vanish like a flaring thing,

       And in the ear, not spirit ring.