Non Nobis Domine [Psalms 115: 1]

Non nobis, Domine, non nobis,
sed Nomini Tuo da Gloriam.

[Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
But to Your Name give Glory]

Psalms 115: 1

Non Nobis Domine! by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

Non nobis Domine!,
Not unto us, O Lord!
The Praise or Glory be
Of any deed or word;
For in Thy Judgment lies
To crown or bring to nought
All knowledge or device
That Man has reached or wrought.

And we confess our blame,
How all too high we hold
That noise which men call Fame,
That dross which men call Gold.
For these we undergo
Our hot and godless days,
But in our hearts we know
Not unto us the Praise.

O Power by Whom we live,
Creator, Judge, and Friend,
Upholdingly forgive
Nor fail us at the end:
But grant us well to see
In all our piteous ways,
Non nobis Domine!,
Not unto us the Praise!

"Truth at Last" by Edward R. Sill (1841 - 1887)

Does a man ever give up hope, I wonder, --
Face the grim fact, seeing it clear as day?
When Bennen saw the snow slip, heard its thunder
Low, louder, roaring round him, felt the speed
Grow swifter as the avalanche hurled downward,
Did he for just one heart throb --did he indeed
Know with all certainly, as they swept onward
There was the end, where the crag dropped away?
Or did he think, even till they plunge and fell,
Some miracle would stop them?  Nay, they tell
that he turned round, face forward, calm and pale,
Stretching his arms out toward his native vail
As if in mute, unspeakable farewell,
And so went down, --'T is something, if at last,
Though only for a flash, a man may see
Clear-eyed the future as he sees the past,
From doubt, or fear, or hope's illusion free.