A Spirit Passed Before Me
from Job
A Spirit Passed Before Me - meaning Summary
Human Justice Versus Divine
The speaker experiences a visionary encounter in which a formless, divine spirit confronts human self-regard. The apparition exposes human mortality and fragility, questioning whether people are "more just" or purer than God. The poem contrasts transient, ignorant creatures with divine wisdom, using visceral bodily reaction and imagery of withering to insist on human humility before supernatural judgment. It emphasizes limits of human understanding and moral pride.
Read Complete AnalysesA spirit passed before me: I beheld The face of immortality unveiled - Deep sleep came down on every eye save mine - And there it stood, -all formless -but divine: Along my bones the creeping flesh did quake; And as my damp hair stiffened, thus it spake: "Is man more just than God? Is man more pure Than He who deems even Seraphs insecure? Creatures of clay -vain dwellers in the dust! The moth survives you, and are ye more just? Things of a day! you wither ere the night, Heedless and blind to Wisdom's wasted light!"
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