Eureka: A Prose Poem

It is with humility really unassumed-it is with a sentiment even of awe-that I pen the opening sentence of this work: for of all conceivable subjects I approach the reader with the most solemn-the most comprehensive-the most difficult-the most august.What terms shall I find sufficiently simple in their sublimity-sufficiently sublime in their simplicity-for the mere enunciation of my theme?I design to speak of the Physical, Metaphysical and Mathematical-of the Material and Spiritual Universe:-of its Essence, its Origin, its Creation, its Present Condition and its Destiny. I shall be so rash, moreover, as to challenge the conclusions, and thus, in effect, to question the sagacity, of many of the greatest and most justly reverenced of men.