.' • -a. .,* *~ ;*>? &# At * R-46205 1793, ■ran FROM THE LIBRARY OF REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D. BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO THE LIBRARY OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Sectfej, i HORJE LYRIC M. POEMS CHIEFLY OF THE LYRIC KIND. In THREE BOOKS. SACRED T. To Devotion and Piety. II. To Virtue, Honour, and Friendship. III. "To the Memory of the Dead. Bt I. WATTS, D. D. Si non Uranie Lyram Catlejlem cobibii> nee Polyhymnia Humanism refugit tendere Barbiton. Hor. Od. i. imitat, PHILADELPHIA: Printed st R. AIT KEN fc* SON, N°. %%, Market Street. M.DGC.XCIZ, THE PREFACE. IT has been a long; complaint of the virtuous and refined world,, that poefy, whofe original is di- vine, fhould be enilaved to vice and prophanenefs; that an art infpiredfrom heaven, fhould have fo far loft the memory of its birth-place, as to be engaged in the interefts of hell. How unhappily it is per- verted from ksmoft glorious defign! How bafelyhas it been driven away frcm its proper ftation in the temple of God, and abufed to much difhonour! The iniquity of men has conftrained it to ferve their vileft purpofes, while the fons of piety mourn the fa.c13Ie.ge and the fhame. The eldeft fong whkh hiftory has brought down to our ears, was a noble a<5t of worfhip paid to the God of IJrael, when his right hand became glorious i.i goiver; ivhen thy right hand, Lord, dafaed in pieces the enemy; the chariots o/Pharaoh and his hojts tuers eajt into the Red-Sea ; tl»u didji bloxv tviih thy luind. ihs deep covered them, and they fank as lead in the mighty ivaters, Exod. xv. This art was maintained facred through the following ages of the church, and em- ployed by kings and prophets, by David, Solomon and Isaiah, in defcribing the nature and rhe glories of God, and in conveying grace or vengeance to the hearts of men, By this method they brought To much of heaven down to this lower world, as the darkneis of that dHpeniation would admit : and now and then a divihs and poetic rapture lifted their fouls A a far Jv The PREFACE. far above the level of that ceconomyof fhadows, bore them away far into a brighter region, and gave them a glimpfe of evangelic day. The life of angels was harmonioufly breathed into the children of Adam, and their minds raifed near to heaven in melody and devotion at once. In the younger days of heathenifm the mufes were devoted to the fame fervice : the language in which old Hesiod addreffes them is this: Pierian mufes, fain d for heavenly /ays, Defend, and ftng the God your father s prarf. And he purfues the fubject in ten pious lines, which I could not forbear to tranferibe, if the afpect and found of fo much Creek were not terrifying to a nice reader. But fome of the latter poets of the Pagan world have debafed this divine gift ; and many of the writers of the firft rank, in this our age cf national Chrifians have to their eternal fhame, furpaffed the vileft of the Gentiles. They have not only difrobed religion of all the ornaments of verfe, but have em- ployed their pens in impious mifchief to deform her native beauty and defile her honours. They have expofed her moft facred character to drollery, and crefi'ed her up in a moft vile and ridiculous diiguife, for the fcorn of the ruder herd of mankind. The vices have been painted like fo many goddeffes - , the charms of wit have been added to debauchery, and the temptation heightened where nature needs the fbrongeft reftraint. With fweetnefs of found, and delicacy of expreffion, they have given a relifh to Llafphemies of the harfheft kind ; and when they rant at their Maker in fonorous numbers, they fancy themfelves to have acted the hero well. Thus r:i£ P R £ JF A C E. v Thus almoit in vain have the throne and the pul- pit cried reformation; while the ftage and licentious poems have waged open war with the pious defign of church and State. The prefs has fpread the poifon far, and fcattered v/ide the mortal infecaon : un- thinking youth have been enticed to fin beyond the vicious propenfities of nature, plunged early into difeafes and death, and funk down to damnation in multitudes. Was it for this, the poefy was endued with all thofe allurements that lead the mind away in a pleafing captivity ? Was it for this fhe wasfur- nifhed with fo many intellectual charms, that fhc might feduce the heart from GOD the original beauty, and the mcil lovely of beings ? Can I ever be perfuaded, that thofe fweet and reliftlefs forces of metaphor, wit, found and number, were given with this defign that they mould he all ranged under the banner of the great malicious fpnit, to invade the rights of heaven, and to bring fwift and everlafiing deilrucfion upon men ? How will thefe allies of the netherworld, the lewd aneLthe frophane verfiiiers, {land agh aft before the great Judge, when the blood of many fouls whom they nVver law, fhail be laid to the charge of their writings, and be dreadfully re- quired at their hands i The Reverend Mr. Collier has fet this awful fcene before them in juft and flaming coiours. If the application were not too rude and uncivil, that noble flanza of my Lord Roscommon, en Pfalm. cslviii. might be addreffed tothenL; 21? dragons ivh of? contagious breath Peop'^ss4be dark retreats of death, Charige your dire bijfzr.gs into heavenly fottvs, And pr afe yaur Jlla/ier -with your fried tongues, A 3 Thw vi The PREFACE. This profanation and oebafemcnt of fo divine an art, has tempted fome weaker chriftians to imagine that poetry and vice are naturally akin ; or at leaft, that verfe is fit only to recommend trifles, and en- tertain our loofer hours, but it is too light and tri- vial a method to treat any thing that is ferious and facred. They fubmit indeed to ufe it in divine pfal- mody, but they love the dried: tranftation of thepi'alm heft. They will venture to fing a dull hymn or two at church, in tunes of equal duilnefs ; but ftill they perfuadethemfelves,and their children that the beau- ties of poefy are vain and dangerous. All that arife* a degree above Mr. Sternhold is too airy for wor- Ihip, and hardiy efcapes the fentence of andean and abominable. 'Tis ftrange that perfons that have the Bible in their hands, fhould be led away be thought - lefs prejudices to fo wild and rafh an opinion. Let me entreat them not to indulge this four, this cen- forious humour too far, left the facred writers fall under the lafh of their unlimited and unguarded re- proaches. Let me entreat them to look into their Bibles, and remember the (tile and way of writing that is ufed by the ancient prophets. Have they forgot, or were they never told, that many parts of the Old Teftament were Hebrew verfe ? and the fi- gures are ftrcnger, and the metaphors bolder, and the images more furprizing and ftrange than ever I read in any prophane writer. When Deborah fings her praifes to the GOD of Ifrael while he marched from the field of Edam, fhe fets the earth a trembling, the heavens drop, and the mountains diffolvi from before tie Lord. They fought from heaven, the far s in their caurfes fought againft Si SERA : ivhen the river of Kifhon fweft them away, that ancient river, the river Kifhou. 7xj foul) thou haftrodsn dnivr.frtrgth. Judg. v. t*fe. Whea The P R E F A C E. *ii When Elipkas, in the book of Job, fpeaks his fenfe of the holinefs of God, he introduces a ma- chine in a vifion : Fe*r came upon me, tretisbltng on all my bones, the hair of 'my f.efh. food up ; afpirit faffed by and food fill, but its form iijs undifcet nible ; an image before mine eyes; and flence ; Then I heard a Kioice, frying, foall mortal man he more jujl than God ? \&c. job. iv. When he describes the fafety of the righteous, he hides him from -thejeourge of the tongue, he makes him laugh at dflruclion and famine, he brings the flones of the field into league tilth him, and makes the brute animals enter into a covenant of peace, fob. v. 21. Id'c. When job fpeaks of the grave, how melancholy is the gloom that he fpreads over it ! It is a region to which I muft fhortly go, and ivhence I fcall not return; it is a land of datinrfs, it 'is darknefs itfdf, the land of the ft adoiv of death; ail confufion end d'frder, and ivherethe lights as darhr.ef^ This is tny houfe, there have I made my b?d : I have faid to cor- ruption, thou art my father, and to the luorm, thou art my mother and my ffet : as for my hope, ivko foall fee it ? I and my hope go dotvn together to the bars of the pit, Job x. ai. and xviii. 13. When he humbles himfelf in complainings before the almightinefs of GOD, what contemptible and feeble images doth he life! Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro ? ivilt thou purfue the dryfubbls ? I confume atvay like a rotten thing, a garment eaten by the moth, Job xiii. 25. &c. Thou Hftefl me up to the ivind, thou caufef me to ride upon it. and dijfolvefl my fubfance, Job xxiii. 22. Can any man invent more defpkable ideas to reprefent the fcoundrel herd and refufe of mankind, than thofe which Job ufes ? chap. xxx. and thereby he aggra- vates his own forrows and reproaches to amaze- ment . Thty t& a f ore younger than I bavt ms in derifon, wbcfe jriii The PREFACE. tvbofe fathers I would have difdainedto have fit with tie tlo §r Pin- da* Tut PREFACE, si Kzr " T ere to prepare an equipage for a defcending god, they might ufe thunder and lightnings too, and clouds and fire, to form a chariot andhorfes for the battle or the triumph. But there is none of them provides him a flight of cherubs initead of horfes, or feats him in chariots offalvation, David beholds him riding upon the heaven of heavens, by his name J AH : he was mounted upon a cherub and did fly, he flew on wings of the wind; andHABBAKuK fends the peftilence before him. Homer keeps a mighty ftir with his Nephelegerefa Zous, and Hefiod with his Zous hupjibremete. 'Jupiter that raifes up the clouds, and that makes a noife or thunders on high. But a divine poet makes the clouds but the duft of his feet, and when the Higheft gives his voice in the heavens, hailftones and coals of fire follow. A di- vine pott difcovers the channels of the waters, and lays open the foundations of nature ; at thy rebuke, O Lord at the blaft of the breath of thy noftrils, When the HOLT ONE alighted upon mount Sinai, his glory covered the heavene : he flood and meafured the earth; he beheld and drove afunder the nation?, end the everlafting mountains were fcattered ; the perpetual hills did bow ; his ways are everlafting. Then the prophet faw the tents of Cufoan ill affliction, aad the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble, Hab. iii. Nor did the bleffed fpirit which animated thefc writers j forbid them the ufe of viCons, dreams, the opening of fcenes dreadful and delightful, and the introdudtltci of machines upon great occafions : the divine licence in this refped, is admirable and furprifmg, and the im.^es are often too bold and dangerous for an uninfpired writer to imitate. Mr. Dennis has made a noble eiTay to difcover how aauch fuperier isinfpired pcefy to the brightefl and beft xii The P R E F A C E. bcft defcriptions of a mortal pen. Perhaps if his propofal of crit'uif.n had been encouraged and pur- sued, the nation might have learnt more value for the word of GOO, and the wits of the age might have been fecured from the danger ot deifm ; while they muft have been forced to confefs at leaft the divinity of all the poetical books of fcripture, when they fee a genius running through them more than human. Who is there now will dare to affert, that the doc- trines of our holy faith will not indulge or endure a. delightful drefs ? lhall the * French poet affright us by faying: De lafoy R E F A C E. preffion ; but upon the review, I found fomc ex- preffions that were not fuite,d to the plained capa- city, and the metaphors ari too bold to pleafe the weaker chriitian, therefore I have allotted them a place here. Amongft the fongs that are dedicated to dl-vlneluv: 1 think T may be bold to affert, that I never com- pofed one line of them with any other defign, than what they are applied to here; and I have endea- voured to fecure them all from being perverted and debafed to v/anton paffions, by feveral lines in them that can never be applied to a meaner love. Are not the nobleft inftatices of the grace of Chriit re- prefented under the figure of a conjugal ftate, and defcribed in one of the fweetcft odesj and the fofteft paftoral that ever was written; I appeal to Sole mon* in his feng, and his father David, in Pfal. xU\ if David was the author: and I am well af- fured that I have never indulged an equal licence: it was dangerous to imitate the facred writers too nearly in fo nice an affair. The Poems fured to Virtue, &c. were formed when the frame and humour of my foul was juft fuited to thefubjedr. of my verfe : the image of my heart is painted in them; and if they meet with a reader, whofe foul is akin to mine, perhaps they may agree- ably entertain him. The dulnefs of the fancy, and coarfenefs of expreffion will difappear ; the famenefs of the humour will create a pleafure, and infenfibly overcome £nd conceal the defects of the mufe. Young gentlemen and ladies, whofe genius and education * Solomon's Song ivas much more in ufe among freaibers and -writers of divinity when th r fe i~ocms were written than it if jicw. I7JO. The P R E F A C E. xix cducation have given them a relifh of oratory and verfe, may he tempted to feek fatisfaetion amono- the dangerous diverfions of the ftage, and impure fonnets, if there be no provifion of a iafer hind made to pieafe them. While I have attempted to gratify innocent fancy in this refpedt, 1 have net forgotten to allure the heart to virtue, and to raife it to a difdain of brutal pleafures. The frequent interpofition of a devout thought may awaken the mind to a ferious fenfe of GOD, religion, and eter- nity. The fame duty that might be defpifed in a fermon, when propefed to their rcafon, may here perhaps feize the lower faculties with furprife, de- light and devotion at once ; and thus by degrees draw the fuperior powers of the mind to piety. A- mongft the infinite numbers of mankind, there is not more difference in their outward fhape and fea- tures, than in their temper and inward inclination. Some are more eafily fufceptive of religion in a grave difcourfe and fedate reafoning. Some are bed frighted from fin and ruin by terror, threatening and amazement ; their fear is the properefr paffien to which we can addrefs ourfelves, and begin the divine work : others can feel no motive fo powerful as that which applies itfelf to their ingenuity, and their polifhed imagination. Now I thought it law- ful to take hold of any handle of the foul, to lead it away betimes from vicious-pleafures; and if I could but make up a compofition of virtue and delight, fuited to the tafte of well-bred youth, and a refined education, I had fome hope to allure and raife them thereby above the vile temptations of degenerate nature, and enftdra, that is yet more degenerate. When I have felt a flight inclination to fatyr or bur- kfmie, I thought it proper to fupprefs it. The grining sx The P R E F A C E; grining and the growling mufe are not hard to be obtained; but I would difdain their affiftance, where a manly invitation to virtue s and a friendly frnile may be fuccefsfuhy en. ployed. C'nu'.d I pctfuace any man by a kinder method, I fhould never think it proper to fcold or laugh at him. Perhaps there are fome hlOFofe readers, that ftand ready to condemn every line that's written upon the theme of lowe% but have we not the cares and the felicities of that fort of focial life reprefented to us in the facred writings? Some expreiilons are there tifed with a def.gn to give a mortifying influence to our fofteft affections; others again brighten the eha« racier of that ftate, and allure virtuous fouls to pur- fue the divine advantage of it, the mutual afiii ar e in the way to falvation: Are not the exxvii and exxviiii pfalms indited on this vtry iubjeel ? Shall it be lawful for the prefs and the pulpit tc trear of it with a becoming fclemnity in profe, ^nd ifcufi the mention of the fame thing in poefy be pronounced forever unlawful? It is utterly unworthy of a ieri- ous character to write on this argument, becaufe it has been unhappily polluted by fome fcurrilouspens ? Why may I not be permitted to obviate a common and a growing roifchief while athoufand vile poems of the amourouskind fwarm abroad, and give a vici- ous taint to the unwary reader ? I would tell the World that I have endeavoured to recover this argu- ment out of the hands of impure writers, and to make it appear, that virtue and love are not fuch ftrangers as they are reprefented. The blifsful inti- macy of fouls in that ftate will afford fufficient fur- niture for the graveft entertainmant in verfe ; r o that it need not be everlaftingly dreffed up in ridi- cule, nor affumed only to furnifh cut the lewd fon- Tus P R E F A C E. xxi Siets of the times. May fome happier genius pro- mote the fame fervice that I propofed, and by fupe- riorfenfe, and fweeter found, render what I have ■Written contemptible and ufelefs. The Imitations cf that nobleft Lathi poet of modern ages, Cajjlmtre Sarbieiifki of Poland, would need lio excufe, did they but arife to the beauty of the original. I have often taken the freedom to add ten or twenty lines, or to leave out as many, that I might fuit my fong more to my own defign, cr be- eaufe I faw it impoffible to prefenc the force, the finenefs and the fire of his expreffion in cur language. There are a few copies wherein I borrowed fome hints from the fame author, without the mention of his name in the title. Methinks I can allow fo fuperi- or a genius now and then to be la villi in his imagina- tion, and to indulge fome excurfions beyond the limits of fedate judgment : The riches and glory of his verfe make attonement in abundance. I wifli fome EtigUJb pen would import more of his trea- fures, and blefs our nation. The infer -iptions to particular friends, are warrant- ed and defended by the practice of almoft all the Z^-zV writers. They frequently convey the rigid rules of morality to the mind in the fofter method of applaufe. Sufcained by their example, a man will not eafriy be overwhelmed by the heavieft cen- fures cf the unthinking and unknowing ; efpecially when there is a fliadow of this practice in the divine ffalmf, while he inferibes to Afapb or jeduihnn hisfongs, that were made for the harp, or (which is all" one) his Lyric odes, though they are addreiied to GOD himfelf. Jn the poems of heroic meafire, I have attempted in rhimc the fame variety of cadence, comma and period. [X ii Thb PREFACE. period, which blank verfe glories in as its peculiar* elegance and ornament. It degrades the excellency of the beft verification when the lines run on by- couplets, twenty together, juft in the fame pace, and with the fame paufes. It fpoils the nobleft pleafure of the found : the reader is tired with the tedious uniformity, or charmed to fleep with the unmanly foftnefs of the numbers, and the perpe- tual chime of even cadences. In the ejfays without rhix:e, I have not fet up Mil- ton for a perfect pattern ; though he fhall be forever honoured as our deliverer from the bondage. His works contain admirable and unequalled inftances of bright and beautiful diction, as well as majefty and ferenenefs of thought. There are feveral epifodes in his longer works, that ftand in fupreme dignity without a rival ; yet all that vaft reverence with which 1 read his paraJ.ife loft, cannot perfuade me to be charmed with every page of it. The length of his periods, and fometimes of his parenthefes, runs me out of breath : feme of his numbers feem too harfh and uneafy. I could never believe that rcugh- jiefs and obfeurity added any thing to the true gran- deur of a poem : nor will I ever affect archaifms, exoticifms, and a quaint uncouthnefs of ipeech, in order to become perfectly Miltonian. 'Tis my opini- on that blank verfe may be written with all due ele- vation of thought in a modern ftile, without bor- rowing any thing from Chaucer s tales, or running back io far as the days of Coi'm the Jbepberd, and the reign of the Fairy Queen. The oddnefs of an antique found gives but a falfe pleafure to the ear, and abuftsthe true relifh, even when it works de- light. There were fome fuch judges of poefy among tclie ©!d RomaiiS) and Martial ingeniously laughs at The PREFACE. »& .at one of them, that was pleafed even to aftonifh- ment with obiblete words and figures. Attonitsfque Ugis terraifrugiferai. So the ill-drawn poftures and diftortions of fhape that we meet with in Chir.efe pictures, charm a fick- ly fancy by their very awkwardnefs ; fo a diftem- pered appetite will chew coals and fand and pro- nounce it guftful. In the pindarks I have generally conformed my lines to the fhorter fize cf the ancients, and avoided to imitate the exceffive lengths to which fome mo- dern writers have ftretched their fentences, and es- pecially the concluding verfe. In thefe the ear is the trueft judge ; nor was it made to be enllaved to any precife model of elder or later times. After all, I muft petition my reader to lay afide the four and fullen air of criticifm, and to affume the friend. Let him chufe fuch copies to read at particular ho-irs, when the temper of his mind is fuited to the fong. Let him come with a defire to be entertained and pleafed, rather than to feek his own difguftand averfion, which will not be hard to find. I am not fo vain as to think there are no faults, nor fo blind as to efpy none : though I hope the multitude of alterations in this fecond edition are not without amendment. There is fo large a difference between this and the former, in the change of titles, lines, and whole poems, as well as in the various tranfpofitions, that it would be ufelefs and endlefs, and all confufion, for any reader to compare them throughout. The additions alfo make up almoft half the book, and fome of thefe have need of as many alterations as the former. Many a line needs the file to polifh the roughnefs of it, and many a thought wants richer language to adorn and make it fbine, Wide defects and equal fuperfluitiss xxiv The PREFACE. fuperfluities may be found, efpecially in the larger pieces ; but I have at prefent neither inclination ncr leifure to correct, and 1 hope I never fhall. It is ©ne of the big-gelt fatisfactions I take in giving this .volume to the world, that I expect to be for ever free from the temptation of making or mending po- ems again*. So that my friends may be perfectly fecure againft this impreffion's growing wafte upon their hands, and ufelcfs as the former has done. Let minds that are better furniihed for fuch per- formances purfue thefe ftudies, if they are convinced that poefy can be made ferviceable to religion and virtue. As for myfelf, I almoft blufh to think that I have read fo little, and written fo much. The following years of my life fhall be more entirely de- voted to the immediate and direct labours of my flation, excepting thofe hours that may be employed in finilhing my imitation of the P faints of David, in chriftian language, which I have now promifed the worldf. I cannot court the world to purchafe this book for their pleafure or entertainment, by telling them that any one copy entirely pleafes me. The beft of them finks below the idea which I form of a divine or moral ode. He that deals in the myfteries of heaven, or of the mufes, mould be a genius of no vulgar mould : and as the name of Vates belongs to both ; fo the furniture of both is comprifed in that line of Horace. " Cui * Naturam expellas furca licet, ufque recurret. JJcr. Will thisfhort note of Horace excufe a man ivhn has reffled nature many years but has been fometimes •vercome? 1 736. Edition the 7th. f In the year JJiythefe were fnifktd and printed. The PREFACE. kky Cut mens divinior y atque as Ibfagna fonaturum. But what Juvenal fpake in his age, abides true in ours : a complete poet or a prophet is fuch a one ; — G)ualem nequeo monjlrare, fcT ' fentio tantum. Perhaps neither of thefe characters in perfection fhall ever be feen on earth, till the feventh angel has founded his awful trumpet ; till the victory be complete over the beaft and his image, when the natives of heaven fhall join in confort with prophets and faints, and fing to their golden harps, falvation, honour and glory to bim that fits upon tbe throne, end U tht Lamb for ever. May 14, 1709, ON On Pleading Mr. WATTS's Poems. Sacred to Fiety and Devotion. x\ E GARD the man ivlo in fr.^L'c lay* Andfoiving fn.m'trsjh:gs his Ivltiii-r V pr if-: He needs invoke no failed mufe 's art ■, Toe heavenly fang comes genuine from Lis he.uf, F;c7iz thai pure heart ivhich God has deign 'd /' inftirt h ith holy rapt i. res and a f acred f re. Thrice happy man vobofe foul and gviltlefs breoli Are ivell p-repard to lodge th' almighty guf. ! 'Tis he that lends thy touring thoughts their iving % And tunes thy lyre tvhe.i thou attempt f to flng : He to thy foul lets in celefial day, JSv'n ivhilfi impr'fond in this mortal clay ; 2?%' death's grim afpecl then art not alarm'd, He for thy fake has death itfelf difarm 'd '; JYorfball the grave o'er thee a victory boafl ; Her triumph in thy rifingfhall be loft, When thottfhalt jcin tb* angelic choirs above In never ending fngs of frtift and love, EUSEBIA. TO 1 To Mb. W A TTS, On his Divine Posms. O A T, human feraph, tvhence that charming for rt t That flams ! that foul ! -which animates each line s And hozv it runs -with fach a graceful eafe, Loaded taith pond'rousjlife .' Say, did not Hs The 'cve'v ]^- ! = vs i ivho commands t-hy breaf, hfpire thee tvifb himfelf? With Jesus dwells. Knit in myfterious bands, the Paraclete, The breath of God, the everlaf.ing fourcs Cf love : and what is less in fouls like thine t But air, and incenfe to the poefsfre ? Should an expiring faint nxchnfe f&tmmlng eyes Ii£i,-! Br. WATTS, O N H I S DIVINE P O E M S. C^.3% foiling mufe, what heavnly fir ah ^"* Forbids the waves to roar ; Comes geri'y-gliding o'er the main, And charms our lijV/iingfhoie! J*/ I at angel f riles the trembling firings $ And whence the golden found / Oris /V Watts— or Gabriel fins* From y on celeflia I ground t 'Tis thou, feraphie Watts; thy lyre Plays foft along the foods ; Thy notes, the arfw' ring bills infpire, And bend the waving woods. The meads, with dying mific fWd, Their fmiling honours fhotv, Whih, wbifperivg o'er each fragrant field r , The tuneful breezes bloiv. The rapture founds in ev ry trace, Ev 'n the rough rocks regale. Frejl flow' 'ry joys fame o er the fate Of ev' ' ry laughing vale. And thou, my foul, the tratfport own, Fir 'd with immortal heat ; Whilft dancing pu/fes driving on, About thy body beat. ( 2 9 ) Long as the fun fhall rear his bead. And chafe the flyitig glooms, As blujbing fro, n his nuptial lei The valiant bridegroom domes : Long as the dufiy evningfies Ant Jheds a doubtful light, IVhilefdden rufh along tbefkies . The fable fhades of 'night: Watts, thy facred lays fo Jong Shall evry bofomfre ; And ei> 'ry mvje; and ev'ry tongue, Tofpeak thy prafe, confpire. When thy fair foul fhall on the ivings Of fooutingferaphs rife, And iviih fiperior ftveetnefs fings Amid thy native fkies ; Still fhall thy lofty numbers fow, JMelo lions and divine ; And choirs above, and faints beloiv 3 A deathlfs chorus ! join. To our far foores the foundfhall toll, (So Philomela/v^y And eaf to iveft, and pole to pole Tb' eternal tune prolong. Neiv- England, Soflon^ March ic, 1 725, M. Btlss, mRJE HORJE LYRICJE. BOOK I. Sacred to Devotion and Pietv. Worshipping with Feak I. WHO dares attempt th' eternal name With notes of mortal found? Dangers and glories guard the theme, And fpread defpair around. II. Deftruction waits t'obey his frown, And heaven attends his fmile ; A wreath of lightning arms his crowa, But love adorns it ftill. III. Celeftial king, our fpirits lie, Trembling beneach thy feet, And wifh, and caft a longing eye t To reach thy lofty feat. IV. When fhall we fee the great unknown, And in thy prefenr e ftand ? Reveal the fplendors of thy throne, But feield us with thy hand. Sacred to Devotion, &c. 31 V. In thee what endlefs wonders meet ! What various glory fhines ! The crofting rays too fiercely beat Upon our fainting minds. VI. Angels are loft in fweet furprize If thou unvail thy grace ; And humble awe runs thro' the ikies. When wrath arrays thy face. VII. When mercy joins with majefty To fpread their beams abroad, Not ali their faireft minds on high Are lhadows of a God. VTII. Thy works the ftrongeft feraph lings In a too feeble ftrain, And labours hard on all his firing* To reach thy thoughts in vain. IX. Created powers, how weak they be ! How fhorc our praifes fall! So much akin to nothing we, And thou th' eternal all. Asking Leave to Sing. I. YE T, mighty God indulge my tongue, Nor let thy thunders roar, Whilft the young notes and vent'rou6 fong To Worlds of glory foar, II. 32 LYRIC POEMS, Book I, I!. If thou my daring flight forbid The mafc folds up her wings : Or at thy word her iknder reed Attempts almighty things. III. Her (lender reed infpir'd by thee Bids a new EJ.n grow, With b looming life on every tree, And fpreads a heav'n below. IV. She mocks the trumpets loud alarms Fili'd with chy dreadful breath ; And calls the angelic noftd to arms, To give the nations death. V. Eut when me taftesher Saviour's love, And feels the raptures flrong, Scarce the divinelt harp above Aims at a fweeter long. Divine Judgments. NO T from the duil my forrows fpring, Nor drop my comforts from the lower fkies ; Let ad the baneful planets fhed Their mingled curfes on my head, How vain their curfes, if th' eternal king Look thro' the clouds and blefs me with his eyes. Creatures with all their boafted fway Are but his flaves, and muft obey ; They wait their orders from above, And execute his word, the vengeance, cr the love. II. Sacred to Devotion, &c. 33 ir. 'Tis by a warrant from his hand The gentler gales are bound to ileep : The north wind blufters, and afiumes command Over the defert and the deep ; Old Boreas with his freezing pow'rs Turns the earth iron, makes the ocean glafs, Arrefts the dancing riv'lets as they pafs, And chains them movelefs to their fhores ; The grazing ox lows to the gelid Ikies, Waits o'er the marble meads with withering eyes, Walks o'er the folid lakes, muffs up the wind and dies, III. Fly to the polar world, my fong, And mourn the pilgrims there, (a wretched throng !) Seiz'd and bound in rigid chains, A troop of ftatues on the Ruffian plains, And life ftands frozen in the purple veins. Atheift, forbear ; no more blafpheme ; God has a thoufand. terrors in his name, A thoufand armies at command, Waiting the fignal of his hand, And magazines of ffoft, and magazines of flame, Drefs thee in fteel to meet his wrath ; His fharp artillery from the north Shall pierce thee to the foul, and fliake thy mortal frame. Subiime on winter's rugged wings He rides in arms along the Iky, And fcatters fate on iwains and kings ; And flocks and herds, and nations die ; While impious lips, profanely bold, Grow pale ; and, quivering at his dreadful cold, Give their own blafphemies the lie. IV. 34 LYRIC POEMS. Bock I. IV The mifchicfs that mftft the earth, When the hot dog-ilar fires the realms on high, Drought and difeafe, and cruel death, Are but the flafnes of a wrathful eye, From the incens'd divinity. In vajan our parching palates thirfk. For vital food in vain we cry, And pant for vital breath ; The verdant fields are burnt to dufb, The fun has drunk the channels dry, And all the air is death. Ye fecurges of our maker's rod, 'Tis at his dread command, at his imperial nod You deal your various plagues abroad. V. Hail, whirlwinds, hurricanes and floods That all the leafy ftandards firip, , And bear down with a mighty fvveep The riches of the fields, and honours of the woods ;• ftorms, that ravage o'er the deep And bury millions in the waves; Earthquakes, that in mid-night flecp Turn cities into heaps, and make our beds our graves : While you difpenfe your mortal harms, 'Tis the Creator's voice that founds your loud alarms, When guilt with louder cries provokes a Gun to arms- VI. O for a meffagefrom above To bear my fpirits up ! Some pledge of my Creator's love To calm my terrors and fupport my hope ! Let Sacred to Devotion, &c, 33 Let waves and thunders mix and roar, Be thou my God, and the whole world is mine : V 7 hile thou art ibv 'reign, I'm fecure ; I Dial! be rich till thou art poor ; Tor ali I fear, and all I with, heav'n, earth and hell are thine. Earth and Heaven. I. J'JJ AST thou not ften, impatient boy ? . .1. Hair thou not read the folemn truth, 7 hat grey experience writes for giddy youth On every mortal joy ? Fleafure mi>Ji be dajb'd ivitb pain : And yet with heedlefs hafte, The thirfty boy repeats the tafte, "Nor hearkens to defpair. but tries the bowl again. The rills of pleafure never run fincere ; . (Earth has no unpolluted fpring) From the curs'd foil fome dang'rous taint they bear j So rofes grow on thorns, and honey wears a fbing. II. In vain we feek a heaven below the fky ; The world has-falfe, but fiatt'ring charms; Its diftant joys fhow big in our efteem, But leffen full as they draw near the eye ; In our embrace the vifions die, And when we grafp the airy forms We lofe the pieafing dream. HI. Earth, with her fcenes of gay delight, Is but a landikip rudely drawn, With glaring colours, and falfe light ; Diftance 3 6 LYRIC POEMS. Book I. Diftance commends it to the fight, For fools to gaze upon ; But bring the naufeous daubing nigh, Coarfe and confuf d the hideous figure lie, Diffolve the pleafure, and offend the eye. IV. Look up, my foul, pant tow'rd th' eternal hills ; Thofe heav'ns are fairer than they feem ; There pleafures all fincere glide on in cryftal rills, There not a dreg of guilt defiles, Nor grief difturbs the ftream. That Canaan knows no noxious thing, No curfed foil, no tainted fpring, Nor rofes grow on t horns, n or honey wears a fting Felicity Above. I. NO, 'tis in vain to feek for blifs; For blifs can ne'er be found 'Till we arrive where Jesus is, And tread on heav'nly ground. II. There's nothing round thefe painted fkie», Or round his dufty clod; Nothing, my foul, that's worth thy joys, Or lovely as thy God. iir. 'Tis heav'n on earth to tafte his love, To feel his quick'ning grace; And all the heav'n I hope above Is but to fee his face, IV. Why move my years in flow delay? O God of ages ? why ? Let the fpheres cleave, and mark my WIJ To the fuperior fey; Sacred to Devotion, &c. 37 if. Dear Sov'reign, break thefe vital firings That bind me to nay clay ; Take me, Ukiel, on thy wings, And ftretch and foar away. GOD's Dominion and Decrees, 7. KEEP filence, all created things, And wait your Maker's nod : The mufe ftands trembling while flie lings The honours of her Gorj. II. Life, death, and hell, and worlds unknown Hang on his firm decree : He fits on no precarious throne, Nor borrows leave to be: III. Th' almighty voice bid ancient night Her endlefs realms refign, And lo, ten thoufand globes of light In fields of azure fhine. IV. Now wifdom with fuperior fway Guides the vaft moving frame, V/hilft all the ranks of being pay, Deep rev'rence to his name. V. He fpake ; the fun obedient flood. And held the falling day ; Old Jordan backward drives his flood, And difappoints the fea. D 38 LYRIC POEMS, Book I. VI. Lord of the armies of the Iky, He marfhals all the ftars ; Red comets lift their banners high, And wide proclaim his wars, VII. Chain'd to his throne s volume lies, With all the fates of men, With every angel's fonrfand fize Drawn by th' eternal pen. VIII. His providence unfolds the book, And makes his counfels fhine : Each opening leaf, and every ftrokej Fulfils fome deep defign. IX. Here he exalts neglected worms To fcepters and a crown ; Anon the following page he turns, i And treads the monarch down. X. Not Gabriel a Acs the reafon why, Nor God the reafon gives : Nor dares the favourite angel pry Between the folded leaves. XI. My Gon, I never long'd to fee My fate with curious eyes, [ What gloomy lines are writ for me, "~ Or what bright fcenes fhall rife. XII. In thy fair book of life and grace May I but find my name, Recorded in fome humble place Beneath my Lord the Lams. Seli Sacred to Devotion^ &c. 39 Self-Consecration. I. IT grieves me, Lord, it grieves me fore, That I have liv'd to thee no mere, And wafted half my days ; My inward pow'rs fhall burn and flame With zeal and paffion for thy name, I would not fpeak, but for my God, nor move, but to his praife. II. What are my eyes but aids to fee The glories of the Deity Infcrih'd with beams of light On flow'rs and ftars ? Lord, I behold The mining azure, green and gold ; Bu t when I try to read thy name, a dimnefs veils my fight. III. Mine ears are rais'd when Virgil lings Sicilian fwains, or Trojan kings, And drink the mufic in : Why fhould the trumpet's brazen voice, Or oaten reed awake my joyg, And yet my heart fo t ftupid lie when facred hymn* begin ? IV. Change me, O God; myflefh fhall be An inftrument of fong to thee, And thou the notes infpire : My tongue fhall keep the heav'nly chime, My chearful pulfe fhall beat the time, And fweet variety of found fhall in thy praife confpire > V. The deareft nerve about my heart, Should it refufc to bear a part, D a From 4 o 1 YR J C POEM S, Book I. With my melodious breath, I'd tear away the vital cord, A bloody vi&im to my Lord, And live without that impious firing, or fhew my zeal in. death. The Creator, and Creatures. I. GO D is a nsme my foul adores, Th' Almighty Three, th' Eternal one; Nature and grace with all their pow'rs, Confefs the Infinite Unknown. If. From thy Great Self thy being firings;. Thou art thy own original, Made up of uncreated things, And felf-fufficience bears them all. III. Thy voice produe'd the feas and fpheresj,. Bid the waves roar, and planets fhine ;. But nothing like thyfelf appears, Thro' all thefe fnacious works of thine. Still reftlefs nature dies and grows ; Xrom change to change the creatures run ; Thy being no fucceffion knows, And all thy vaft defigns are one ; V. A glance of thine runs thro' the globes, Rules the bright worlds, and moves their frame : 33 road meets of light compofe thy robes ; Thy guards are form'd of living flame. VI. Sacred to Devotion, &c. 41 VI. Thf ones and dominions round thee fall, And worfhip in fubmiffive forms; Thy prefence fhakes this lower ball, This little dwelling-place of worms. VII. How fhall affrighted mortals dare To fing thy glory or thy grace, Beneath thy feet we lie fo far, And fee but fhadows of thy face ? VIII. Who can behold the blazing light ? Who can approach confuming flame ? None but thy wifdom knows thy might ; None but thy word can fpeak thy name; The Nativity of Christ. r. • QHEPHERDS, rejoice, lift up your eye», O " And fend your fears away : 8t News from the region of the Ikies, " Salvation's born to day. II. " JESUS, the God whom angels fear, " Comes down to dwell with you ; " To-day he makes his entrance here, " But not as monarchs do. III. ** No gold, nor purple fwadling bands, " Nor royal fhining things ; A * A manger fwr his cradle ftands, tl And holds the King of kings, -D 3 IV. 42 LYRIC PO'E M S, Jftook I IV. " Go, fhepherds, where the infant lies, *' And fee his humble throne ; *' With tears of joy in all your eyes, " Go, fnepherds, kifs the Son." V. Thus Gabriel fang, and ftrait around The heavenly armies throng, They tune their harps to lofty found, And thus conclude the fong : VI. *' Glory to God that reigns above, " Let peace furround the earth: c « Mortals fha!l know their Maker's lov?, " At their Redeemer's birth." VII. 1.0 rd ! and mall angels have their fong?. And men no tunes to raife ? O may we lofe thefe ufekfs tongues When they forget to praife ! vui. Glory to God that reigns above, That pitied us forlorn, We join to fing our Maker's rove, For there's a Saviour born. God Glorious, and Sinners savei> I. FATHER, how wide thy glory mines ! How high thy wonders rife i Known thro' the e^rth by thoufand figns, .By thoufand thro' the ikies. Sacred to Devotion, Sic. 43 II. Thofe mighty orbs proclaim thy power, Their motions fpeak thy fkill ; And on the wings of every hour, "We read thy patience ftill. Ill, Part of thy name divinely {lands On all thy creatures writ, They fhew the labour of thine hand?, Or imprefs of thy feet. IV. But when we view thy ftrange deCgn To fave rebellious worms, Where vengeance and compaifion join In their divineft forms. V. Our thoughts are loft in reverend awe ; We love and we adore : The firft arch-angel never faw So much of Goo before. VI. Here the whole Deity is known,- Nor dares a creature guefs Which of the glories briteft {hone, The juftice or the grace. VII. When finners broke the father's laws, The dying fon attones ; Oh the dear nryfteries of his crofs ? The triumph of his groans ! VIII. Now the full glories of the Lamb Adorn the heavenly plains; Sweet Cherubs learn ImmanueFs name, And try their choked fkains. 44 LYRIC FOE M £. Book I. XT. O may T bear fome humble part In that immortal long ! Wonder and joys (hall tune my heart, And love command my tongue. The Humble Inquiry. A French ^r.net imitated. 1695. Grand Dieu^ tes Jugemens, &C. GRACE rules below, and fits enthron'd above, How few the iparks of wrath how flow they move And drop and die in boundlefs feas of love ! II. But me, vile wretch ! fhould pitying love embrace, Deep in its ocean, hell itfelf would blaze, And flafh, and burn me thro' the boundlefs feas. III. Yea, Lord, my guilt to fuch a vaftnefs grown Seems to confine thy choice to wrath alone, And calls thy power to vindicate thy throne. IV. Thine honour bids, avenge thine injur'd name, Thy flighted loves a dreadful glory claim, While my moift tears might but incenfe thy flame. V. Should heav'n grow black, almighty thunder roar, And vengeance blaft me, I could plead no more, But own thv juftice dying, and adore. VI. Yet can thefe bolts of death .hat cleave the flood To reach a rebel, pierce this fac.*°d fhroud, Ting'd in the vital ftream of my Redeemer's blood? TilE Sacred to Devotion, &c. d§ The Penitent Pardoned. I. HENCE from my foul, my fins, depart, Your fatal friendfhip now I fee ; Long have you dwelt too near niv heart, Hence, to eternal diftance fiee. II, Ye gave my dying Lord his wound, Yet I carefs'd your viperous brood, And in my heart-firings lapp'd you round, You, the vile murderers of my God. III. Black heavy thoughts, like mountains, roll O'er my poor breaft, with boding fears, And crufhinghard my tortur'd foul, Wring thro' my eyes the briny tears. IV. Forgive my treafons, prince of grace, The bloody Jews were traitors too, Yet thou haft pray 'cl for that curs'd race, Father , tbey jk/wzv not ivhat ibey do. V. Great advocate look down and fee A wretch, whofe fmarting forrows bleed j O plead the fame excufe for me ! For, Lorb, I knew not what I did. VI. . Peace, my complaints ; let every groan, Be ftill, and filence wait his love : Compaffions dwell amidft his throne, And thro' his inmoft bowels move. iVII. Lo, from the everiafting |fkies, Gently, as morning -dews diflilj, The dove immortal downward flies, With peaceful olive in his bill. VIII. 46 LYRIC POEMS. Book I. VIII. How fweet the voice of pardon founds ! Sweet the relief to deep diftrefs ! J feel the balm that heals my wounds, And all my pow'rs adore thy grace. A hymn of Praise for three great: Salvations, viz. I. From the Spanifii Invafion, 1588. a. From the Gun-powder, Plot, Nov. 5. 3. From Popery and Slavery, by K. William of Glorious memory, who landed, Nov. 5, 1688. Cempoftd, Nov. 5, j 695. T. INFINITE God, thy counfels ftand Like mountains of eternal brafs, Pillars to prop our finking land, Or guardian rocks to break tbe feas. II. From pole to pole thy name is known, Thee a whole heaven of angels praife ; Our labouring tongues would reach thy throne With the loud triumphs of thy grace. III. Part of thy church, by thy command, Stands rais'd upon the Britifh ifles ; Tbftr, faid the Lord, to ages far. J y Firm as the ever'ajling bills. IV. In vain the Spanifh ocean roar'd; Its billows fwell'd againfl our fhore, Its billows funk beneath thy word, With all the floating war they bore. V. Sacred to Devotion, &c. 47 v. Come, faid the fons of bloody Rome, Let us provide nexv arms from hell : And down they digg'd thro' earth's dark womb, And ranfack'd all the burning cell. VI. Old fatan lent them fiery ftores, Infernal coal, and fulph'rous flame, And all that burns, and all that roars. Outrageous fires of dreadful name. VII. Beneath the fenate and the throne, Engines of hellifh thunder lay ; There the dark feeds of fire were fown, To fpring a bright, but difmal day. VIII. Thy love beheld the black defign, Thy love that guards our Ifiand round ; Strange ! how it quench'd the fiery mine., And crufh'd the tempeft under ground. The Second Part, I. ASSUME, my tongue, a nobler ftrain, Sing the new wonders of the Lord ; The foes revive their pow'rs again, Again they die beneath his fword. II. Dark as our thoughts our minutes roll, While tyranny poffefs'd the throne, And murderers of an Inlh foul &an, threatmng death, thro' every tQWJQ* III. 4 S LYRIC POEMS, Book I. hi. The Roman prieft, and Britifh prince, Join'd their bed force, and Wackeft charms, And the fierce troops of neighbouring France, Offer'd the fervice of their arms. IV. *Tis done, they cry'd, and laugh'd aloud. The courts of darknefs rang with joy, Th' oldferpent hifs'd, and feed grew proud, Wnile ZionmGurn'aher rum nigh. V. But lo, the great deliverer fails. Gommiffion'd from J bov ih s hand, And finding fea;, and wifhing gales, Convey him to Hie longing i md» VK The happy day, and happy year, ^ 6g ^ Both ;n our new falyatidh meet : £ •*' The day that qi.nch'd the burning Inure, 1 Nov. 5 The year that burnt the invading ikec. $ IJ&3. VII. Now did thine arm, O God of hofts, Now did thine arm. fhme dazzling oright, The fons of might their hands had iofl, And men of blood forgot to fight. VIII. Brigades of angelrlin'd the way, And guarded William to his throne ; There, ye celeftial warriors ftay, And makes his palace like your own. IX. Then, mighty God, the earth fhall know, And learn the wcrfhip of the fky; Angels and Britons join below, To raife their hallelujahs high, X. Sacred to Devotion, &c. 49 All hallelujah, heavenly king ; While diftant lands thy vidtory fing, And tongues their utmoft powers employ, The world's bright roof repeats the joy. The Incomprehensible. I. FA R in the heav'ns my God retires, My God, the mark of my defires, And hides his lovely face j When he defcends within my view, He charms my reafon to purfue, Eut leaves it tir'd and fainting in th' unequal chafe. II. Or if I reach unufual height Till near his prefence brought, There floods of glory check my flight, Cramp the bold pinions of my wit, And all untune my thought : Piung'd in a fea of light I roll, V/here ivifdom, jiijike, mercy , mines; Infinite rays in eroding lines Beat thick confufion on my fight, and overwhelm my foul. III. Come to my aid, ye fellow-minds, And help me reach the throne ; (What fingle ftrength, in vain defigns, United force hath done ; Thus worms may join, and grafp thepoles, Thus atoms fill the fea j jBut the whole race of creaturt-jouls E Stretch \} S o LYRIC POE M S, Book I. Stretch'dto their lait extent of thought, plunge and are loll in thee. IV. Great God, behold my reafons lies Adoring; yet my love would rife On pinions not her own : Faith fhall direcb her humble flight Thro' all the tracklefs feas of light, To Thee, th' Eternal Fair, the Infinite Unknown, Death and Eternity. I. MY thought?, that often mount the Ikies, Go, f-iarch the wcrld beneath, Wherenatifrein ail ruin lies, And owns her fov : reign, death. II. The tyrant, how he triumphs here ! His trophies fpread around ! And heaps of dull and bones appear Thro' all the hollow ground. III. Thefe fkulh, what ghaftly figures now! How tbathfome to the eyes ? Thefe are the heads we lately knew So beauteous and fo wife* IV. But where the fouls, thofe deathlefs things, That left this dying clay ? Ky thoughts, now ftretch out all your wings, And trace eternity. V. O that unfathomable fea ! Thefe deeps without a fnore ! Where Sacred to Devotion. &c. Where living waters gently play, Or fiery billows roar. VI. Thus mail: we leave the banks of life, An-i try this doubtful fea ; Vain are our groans, and dying Srife, To sain a moment's fray. VII. There we fhall fwim in heav'Iy blife, Or fink in flaming;" waves, While the pale carcafe thoughtlefsiieft, Amcngft the filent graves, yin. Some hearty friend fhall drop his tear On our dry bones, and fuy, " Thefe once were ftrong, as mine appeal " And mine muft be as- they." IX. Thus fhall our mould'ring members teach What now our fenfes learn : For dfiit and aihes loudeft preacli Man's infinite concern. A Sight of Heaven in Sickness. I. OF T have I fat in in fecret hVhs, To feel my flefh decays Then groan'd aloud with frighted eye?, To view the tott'ring clay, II. But 1 forbid my forroWs now, Nor dares the'flelh complain ; Difeafes bring their profit too ; The joy o'er comes the pain . E 3 III. 52 LYRIC P E M S, Book I. HI. My chearful foul now all the day Sits waiting here and fings ; Looks thro' the ruins of her clay, And praclifes her wings. IV. Faith almoft change;, into fight, While from afar fhe fpies, Her fair inheritance, in light Above created Ikies. V. Had but the prifon-walls been fLrcng, And firm without a flaw, In darkneisfhe had dwelt too long, And lefs of glory faw. VI. But now thexverlafting hills Thro' every chink appear, And iome thing of the joy fee feel's While file's a pris'cer Here. VII. The fhinesof heaven rufh fweetly in At all the gaping flaws ; Vifioas of endlefs blifs are feen ; And native air fhe draws. VIII. O mzi thife walls ilandtott'ring ftiii, The breaches never clofe, If I mull here in darknefs dwell, And ail his glory lofe ! IX. Or rather let this flefli decay, The ruins wider grow, Till glad to fee th' enlarged way, I ftretch my pinions through. Til Sacred to Devotion, &c. 53 The Universal Hallelujah. Pfaim cxlviii. paraphrafed. I. PRAISE ye the Lord with joyful tongue, Ye povv'rsthat guard his throne ; JESUS the Man {hail lead the long. The God infpire the tune. II. Gabriel, and all th' immortal choir That fill the realms above, Sing, for he form'd you of his fire, And feeds you with his love. III. Shine to his praife, ye cryftal Ikies, The floor of his abode, Or veil your little twinkling eyes Before a brighter God. IV. Thou reftlefs globe of golden light, "vVhcfe beams create cur days, Join with the filver queen cf night, To own your borrow'd rays. V. Blufh and refund the honours paid. To your inferior names ; Tell the blind world, your orbs are fed By his o'erfiowing flames, VT. Winds, ye fhall bear his name aloud. Thro' the etherial blue, For when his chariot is a cloud, He makes his wheels of you. VII. Thunder and hail, and fires and {forms, The troops of his command, E 3 Appear 5 4 LYRIC POEMS. Book I, Appear in all your dreadful forms, And fpeak his awful hand. VIII. Shout to the Lord, ye furging feas, In your eternal roar ; Let wave to wave refound his praife, And fhore reply to fhore, IX. "While monfiersfporting on the flood In fcaly filverfhine, Speak terribly their Maker God, And lafh the foaming brine. X. Eut gentler things (hall tune his name To fofter notes than thefe, Young zephyrs breathing o'er the ftream, Or whifpering thro' the trees. XT. Wave your tall heads, ye lofty pines, To him that bid you grow, Sweet clufters bend the fruitful vines On every thankful bough. XII. Let the fnrill birds his honour raife, And climb the morning fky : While groveling beafts attempt his praife In hoarfer harmony. XIII. Thus while the meaner creature flng,. Ye mortals, take the found, Echo the glories of your King Thro' all the nations round. XIV. Th' eternal name muft fly abroad Prom Britain to Japan ; And Sacred to Devotion, Sec, .55 And the whole race fhall bow to Gob That owns the name of man. The Atheist's Mistake. I. LAUGH, ye proph^ne, and fwell and burft With bold impiety : Yet fhall ye live for ever curs'd, And feek in vain to die. II. The gafp of your expiring breath Configns your fouls to chains, By the latl agonies of death Sent down to fiercer pains. III. Ye ftand upon a dreadful fteep, And all beneath is hell, Your weighty guilt will fink you deep, "Where the old ferpent fell. IV. When iron flumberg bind your fiefh, With ftrange furprife you'll find Immortal vigour fpring afrefh, And tortures wake the mind! V. Then you'll confefs the frightful names Of plagues you fcorn'd before, No more fhall look like idle dreams, Like foolifh tales no more. VI. Then fhall ye curfe that fatal day, (With flames upon your tongues) Whco 56 LYRIC PO E M S. Book I. When you exchang'd your fouls away For vanity r.nd fon'j-s. . vir. Behold the faints rejoice to die, For heuv'n fhines round their heads ; And angel guard* prepar'd to fly. Attend their fainting beds. VIII. Their longing fpirits part, and rife To their celeftial feat ; Above thefe ruinable fkies They make their lafb retreat. IX. Hence, ye prophane, 1 hate your ways, I walk with pioi:<:. fouls; There's a wide difference in our race, And difiant are our goals. The Law given at Sin at. I. AR M thee with thunder, heavenly mufe. An&keep th' expecting world in awe ; Oft haft thou lung in gentler mood The melting mercies of thy Goo ; Now give thy fierceft fires a loofe, And found his dreadful law : To Ifrael firft the words were fpoke, To Ifrael freed from Egypt's yoke, Inhuman bondage ! the hard galling load Over-prefs'd their feeble fouls, Bent their knees to fenfelefs bulkv And broke their tics to God. Sacred to Devotion. Sec, 57 II. Now had they pafs'd the Arabian bay, And march'd between the cleavmg;iea ; The rifing waves fiocd guardians of their won- d'rous way, Put fell with mofl impetuous force, On the purfuing fv/drms, And bury 'd Egypt all in arms, Blending in watry death the rider and the horfe : O'er ftruggling Pharaoh roll'd the mighty tide, And fa v'd the labours of a pyramid. Apis and Ore in vain he cries, And ail his horned Gods befide, Ke fwallows fate with fwimming eyes, And curs' d the Hebrews as he dy'd. III. Ah \ foclifh Ifrael, to comply With Memphian idolatry! And bow to brutes, (a ftupid Cave) To idols impotent to fave! Behold thy God, the fovereign of the Iky, Has wrought falvation in the deep, Idas bound thy foes in iron fieep, And rais'd thine honours high ; His grace forgives thy follies paft, Behold he comes in majefty, And Sinai's top proclaims his law : Prepare to meet thy God in hafle ; But keep an awful difhance ftill : Let Mofes round the facred hill The circling limits draw. IV. Hark ! the fhrill echoes of the trumpet roar, And call the trembling armies near , Slow and unwilling they appear, Rails IC POEMS, Book T. Rails kept them from the mount before, Now from the rails their feat I 'Twas the fame herald, ami the trump the fame Which {hall be blown by high command, Shall bid the wheels of nature Rand, And heav'r.s eternal will proclaim, Ih&timcjhall I: no more. V. Thus while the labouring rngeifwell'd the found, And rent the (kiesj and fnook the ground, Up rofe th" Almighty ; round his fapphire feat, Adoring thrones in order fell ? The leffer powers at di fiance dwell, And caft their glories down fucceffive at his feet-; Gabriel the great prepares his way, Lift i.f your beads, eternal dcors, he cries ; Th' eternal door* his word obey, Open, and fhoot celeftial day Upon the lower fkies, Heav'ns mighty pillars bow'd their head, As their creator bid, And down Jehovah rode from the fuperior fphere, A thoufand guards before, and myriads in the rear. v VI. His chariot was a pitchy cloud, The wtels befct with burning gems ; The winds in harnefs with the flatties I-' lew o'er th* uhereal road : Down thro' his magazines he paffc Of hail, and ice and fleecy fnow, Swift roli'd the triumph, and as faft Did hail, and ice, in incited rivers Row, The day W2s mingled with the night, His feet on folid darknefs trod, His radiant eyes proclaim 'd the God, And Sacred to D e v o t i ox, Sec, 59 And fcatter'd dreadful light ; He breath'd, and fulphur rar^ a fiery flream : He fpoke, and (tho' with unknown fpeed he came) Chid the How tempeft, and the lagging fianie. VII. Sinai receiv'd his glorious Sight, With axle red, and glowing wheel Did the winged chariot light, And riling fmoke obfeur'd the burning hill. Lo, it mounts in curling waves, Lo, the gloomy pride out-braves The ftately pyramids of fire, The pyramids to heav'n afpire, And mix with liars, but fee their gloomy offspring higher. So have you feen ungrateful ivy grew Round the tail oak that fix fcore years has flood, And proudly fnoot a leaf or two Above its kind fuppcrter's utmoft bough, And glory there to fcand the loftieft of the wood. VIII. Forbear, young mufe, forbear; The fiow'ry things that poets fay, The little arts of Simile Are vain and ufelefs here ; Nor fhall the burning hills of old With Sinai be compar'd, Nor all that lying Greece b.3s told, Or learned Rome has heard ; JEtna fhall be nam'd no more, jEtna, the torch of Sicily, Not half fo high Her lightning fly, Not half fo loud her thunders roar Crofs the Sicanian fea, to fright th' Italian fh«re. Behold Co LYRIC POEMS, Book I. Behold the facred hill : its trembling fpire Quakes at the terrors of a fire, While all below its verdant feet Stagger and reel under th' almighty weight : Prei's'd with a greater than feign'd Atlas' load Deep groan'd the mount ; it never bore Infinity before, Itbow'd, and fhook beneath the burden of a God, IX. Frefh horror feize the camp, defpair, And dying groans, torment the air, And fhrieks, and fwoons, and deaths were there : The bellowing thunder, and the lightnings blaze Spread thro' the hoft a wild amaze ; Darknefs on every foul, and pale was every face : Confus'd and difmal were the cries, Lei Mofesfpeah Or Jfraeldies : Mofes the fpreading terror feels, No more the man of God conceals His fhivering and furprize : Yet, with recovering mind, commands Silence, and deep attention, thro' the Hebrew bands. X. Hark ! from the center of the flame, All arm'd and feather'd with the fame, Majeftic founds break thro' the fmoaky cloud ; Sent from the all-creating tongue, A flight of cherubs guard the words along, And bear their fiery law to the retreating crowd. XI. 11 I am the Lord ; 'tis I proclaim " That glorious and that fearful name, "Thy God and King: 'TwasI, that broke «« Thy bondage, and th' Egyptian yoke; " Mine is the right to fpeak my will, *« And thine the duty to fulfil. " Adore Sacred to Devotion, &c. 6 i " Adore no God befide me, to provoke mine eyes : " Nor worfiiip me in fhapes and forms that men devife ; " With rev'rence ufe my name, nor turn my word* to jell; " Obferve my fabbath well, nor dare prophane my reft ; {t Honour and due obedience, to thy parents give ; " Nor fpili the guiltlefs blood, nor let the guilty live: " Prefervethybodychafte, and flee th' unlawfulbed; te Nor fteal thy neighbour's gold, his garment, or his bread : c£ Forbear to Waft his name with faiihood or deceit ; " Nor let thy wiihes looie upon his large eftate. Remember your Creator, <&c. Ecclef. xii. I. CHILDREN to your Creator God, Your early honours pay, While vanity and youthful blood Would tempt your thoughts aftray. II. The memory of his mighty name, Demands your firft regard, Nor dare indulge a meaner flame, 'Till you have lov'd the Lord. III. Be wife, and make his favour fure, Before the mournful days, When youth and mirth are known no more, And life and ftrength decays." F IV. 62 LYRIC POEMS, Book I, IV. No more the bltffingsof a feaft Shall relifh on the tongue, The heavy ear forgets the tafte And pleafure of a fofcg; V. Old age with all her ffifmal train, Invades your golden years With fighs and groans, and raging pain, And death, that never fperes. VI. What will you do when light departs, And leaves your withering eyes, Without one beam to chear your hearts, From the fuperior Ikies ? VII, fiow will you meet Goo's frowning brow, Or flaud before his feat, While nature's old fupporters bow, Nor bear their tott'ring weight : VIII. Can you expccl your feeble arms Shall make a ftrong defence, When death with terrible alarms, Summons the pris'ner hence ? IX. The filver bands of nature burft, And let the building fall ; The flefh goes down to mix with duft, Its vile original. X. Laden with guilt, (a heavy load) Uncleans'd and unforgiv'n, The foul returns t' an angry God, Tube fhut out from heay'n. Syx, Sacred to Devotion, &c. 63 Sun, Moon and Stars, praise ye the Lord. I. TT 1 A I R E S T of all the lights above. JC Thou fun, whofe beams adorn the fpheres, And with unwearyM fwiftnefs move, To form the circles of our years j n. Praife the Creator cf the ikies, That drefs'd thine orb in golden rays : Or may the fun forget to rife, If he forget his Maker's praife. III. Thou reigning beauty of the night, Fair queen of den.ee, dyer moon, Whofe gentle beams and bcrrow'd light, Are fofter rivals of the neon ; IV. Arife, and to that fov'rdgn power Waxing and waning honours pay, Who bid thee rule the dulky hour, And half fupply the abfent day. V. Ye twinkling ftars, who gild the Ikies When darknefs ha^ its curtains drawn, Who keep your watch with wakeful eyes, When bufinefs, cares, and day are gone ; VI. Proclaim the glories of the Lord, Difpers'd thro' all the heav'nly fireet, Whofe boundlefs treafures can afford So rich a pavement for his feet. VII. Thou heav'ns, fupremely bright, Fair palace of the court divine, F 3 Where 64 LYRIC POEMS, Book I, Where, with inimitable light, The Godhead condefcends to fhine. VIII. Praife thou thy Great Inhabitant, Who fcatters lovely beams of grace On every angel, every faint, Nor veils the luftre of his face. IX. O God of glory, God of love, Thou art the fun that makes our days : With all thy finning works above, Let earth and dull attempt thy praife. The Welcome Messenger. I. 10 R D when we fee a faint of thine _j Lie gaiping out his breath, With longing eyes, and looks divine, Smiling and pleafs'd in death ; II. How we could e'en contend to lay Our limbs upon that bed We afk thine envoy to convey Our fpirits in hi3 ftead. III. Cur fouls are rifing on the wind, To venture in his place; For when grim death has loft his fling. He has an angel's face. IV. JESUS, then purge my crimes away, 'Ti» guilt creates my fears, Tis Sacred to Devotion, Sic, 6^ 'Tis guilt gives death its fierce array, And all the arms it bears. V. Oh ! if my threat'ning fins were gone, And death had loft his fting, I could invite the angel on, And chide his lazy wing. VI Away thefe interpofihg days, And let the lovers meet; The angel has a cold embrace, But kind, and foft, and fweet. VII I'd leap at once my feventy years,, I'd ruin into his arms, And lofe my breath, and all my cares, Amidil thole heav'nly charms. VIII Joyful I'd lay this body down. And leave the lifeleis clay, Without a figh, without a groan, , And ftretch and foar away. Sincere Praise. I. ALMIGHTY Maker, God! How wond'rous is thy name! Thy glories, how diffus'd abroad Thro' the creation's frame ! II. Nature in every drefs. Her humble homage pays, And finds a thoufand wayst' exprefs Thine undiffembkd praife. F 3 J"- 66 LYRIC POEMS, Book I. ITT. In native white and red The rofe and lilly ftand, And free from pride, their beauties fpread. To fliew thy fkilfulhand. IV. The lark mounts up the Iky, With unambitious fong, And bears her Maker's praife on high Upon her artlefs tongue. V. My foul would rife and fing To her Creator too, Tain would my tongue adore my King, And pay the worfhip due. VI. But pride, that bufy fin Spoils all that I perform ; Curs'd pride, that creeps fecurely in, Andfwells a haughty worm. VII. Thy glories I abate, Or praife thee with defign ; Some of the favours I forget, Or think the merit mine. VIII. The very fongs I frame Are faithlefs to thy caufe, And fteal the honours of thy name, To build their own applaufe. IX. Create my foul anew, Elfe all my jworfhip's vain ; J This wretched heart will ne'er be true, Until 'tis form'd again. Sacred to Devotion, <&c. 67 X. Defcend, celeflial fire, And feize me from above, Melt me in flames of pure deflre, A facrifice to love. xi: .Let joy and worfhip fpend The remnant of my days, And to my God, my foul, afcend, In fweet perfumes of praife. True Learning. Partly imitated from a French fonnet of M. Pcieret. I. HAPPY the feet that mining Truth has led With her own hand to tread the path fhe pleafc To fee her native luftre round her fpread, Without a veil, without a fhade, All beauty, and all light, as in herfelf fhe is. TI. Our fenfes cheat us with the premng crowds Of painted fhapes they thrufi: upon the mind ; The truth they fhew lies wrapp'd in fevenfold fhrouds Our fenfes caft a thoufand clouds On unenlighten'd fouls and leave them doubly blind, III. I hate the duft that fierce difputers raife, Andlofe the mind in a wild maze of thought : What empty triflings, and what fubtle ways, Townee and guard by rule and rote! Our God will never charge us, That we know them not. IT, 68 LYRIC POEMS. Book I. IV. Touch, heavenly Word, O touch thefe curious fouls; .Since F have hegpd but one foft hxm from thee, From all the vain opinions of the fchools (That pageantry of knowing fools) I feel my powers.releas'd, and ftahd divinely free. 'T was this almighty Word that all things made, He grafps whole nature in his fingle^hand ; All the eternal truths in him are laid, The ground of all things, and their head, The circle where they move, and center where they (land. ' VI. Without his aid I c have no fure defence Frora troops of errors that befiege me round • But he tivat reiishisreafon and his ienfe Faft here, and never wanders hence, Unmoveable he dwells upon unlhaken ground. VII. Infinite Truth, the life of my deflres,. Come from the fky, and join thyfeif to me; I'm tir'd with bearing, and this reading tires ; But never tir'd of telling thee, 'Tis thy fair face alone my fpirit burns to fee. VIII. Speak to my foul, alone, no other hand Shall mark my path out with delufive art: All nature filent in his prefence fcand. # Creatures be dumb at his command, And leave his Tingle voice to whifper to my heart. IX. Retire, my foul, within thyfeif retire, Away fromfenfe and every outward fhow : Now Sacred to Devotion, &c. 69 : Now let my thoughts to loftier themes afpire, My knowledge now on wheels of fire May mount and fpread above, furveying all below. ■v The Lord grows lavifh of his heav'nly light, And pours whole floods on fuch a mind as this; Fled from the eyes fhe gains a piercing fight, She dives into the infinite, And fees unutterable things in that unknown abyfs. True Wisdom. PRONOUNCE him bled, my mile, whom ii-ifdom guides In her own path, to her own heavenly feat ; Thro' all the ftcrms his foul fecurely glides ; Nor can the temp-efts, nor the tides, That rife and roar around, fupplant his fteady feet, I:. Earth, yoiimaylet your golden arrows fly, And fefek in vain, a paffage to his breaft, Spread all \ r our painted toys to court his eye, He fmiles, and fees them vainly try To lure his foul Elide from her eternal reft. lit. Our hcad-ftrong luffs, like a young fiery horfe, Start and flee raging in a violent courfe ; He tames and breaks them , manages and rides 'em, Checks their career, and_turns and guides 'em, And bids his reafon bridle their licentious force. iy. Lord of himfelf, he rules his wildeft thoughts, And boldly a&s what calmly he defign'd, Whilft 7 o LYRIC POEMS, Book I. Whilft he looks down and pities human faults ; Nor can he think, nor can he find A plague like reigning paffion, and a fubjecl mind. V. But oh ! 'tis mighty toil to reach this height, To vanquifh felf is a laborious art, What manly courage to fuftain the fight, To bear the noble pain, and part With thofe dear charming tempters rooted in the heart ! VI. 'Tis hard to [land when all the palhcns move, Hard to awake the eye that pafiion binds To rend and tear out this unhappy love, That clings fo clofe about our minds, And where th' enchanted foul fo f weet a poifon find*. VII. Hard; but it may be done. Come heavenly fire, Come to my breafi, and with one powerful ray Melt off my hafts, my fetters : I can bear A while to be a tenant here, Eut not be chain'd and prifon'd in a cage of clay. Villi Hcav'n is my home, and I muft ufe my wings ; Sublime above the globe my flight afpires; 1 have a foul was made to pity kings, And ail their little glitt'ring things; I have a foul was made for infinite defires. IX. Loos'u from the earth, my heart is upward flown ; Farewti, my friends, and all that once was mine; Nov/, fhould you fix my feet on Casfar's throne, Crown me, and call the world my own, The gold that binds my brows oduld ne'er my foul confine, X. Sacred to Devotion, &c. 71 X. I am the Lord's, and JESUS is my love ; He, the dear God, fhall fill my vaft defire. My fiefh below ; yet I can dwell above, And nearer to my Saviour move; There all my foul {hall center, all my pow'rs conr fpire. XI. Thus I with angels live ; thus half divine I fit on high; nor mind inferior joys; Fiil'd with his love, I feel that God is mine Hi? glory is my great defign, That everlafting project: all my thoughts employs. A Song to Creating Wisdom. PART 1. I. ETERNAL Wisdom, thee we praife, 1 Thee the creation fings ; With thy loud name, rocks, hills and feas, And heav'ns high palace rings. II. Place me on the bright wings of day To travel with the fun ; With what amaze Avail I furvey Th'e wonders thou halt done ? HI. Thy hand how wide it fpread the iky ! How glorious to behold ! Tir.g'd with a blue of heavenly dye, And ftarr'd withfparkling gold, IV. There thou haft bid the globes of light Their endlefs circles run ; Th< 7* LYRIC POEMS, Book I. There the pale planet rules the night, And day obeys the fun. - PART II. V. Downward I turn my wond'ring eyes On clouds and ftorms below, Thofe under-regions of the Ikies Thy numerous glories fhow. VI. The noify winds (land ready there Thy orders to obey, With founding wings they fweep the air To make thy chariot way. VII. There, like a trumpet, loud and ftrong, Thy thunder fhakes our coaft ; While the red lightnings wave along, The banners of thine hoft. VIII. On the thin air, without a prop, Hang fruitful ihow'rs around ; At thy command they fink, and drop Their fatnefs on the ground. PART III. IX. Now to the earth I bend my fong, And caft my eyes abroad, Glancing the Britifh ifies along ; Bleft ifles, confefs your God. X. How did his wond'rous fkill array, Your fields in charming green ; A thoufand herbs his art difplay, A thoufand flowers between i XI. Sacred to Devotion, &c. 71 XL Tall oaks for future navys grow, Fair Albion's beft defence, While corn and vines rejoice below, Thofe luxuries of fenfe. xir. | The bleating flocks his paflure feeds : And herds of larger fize, That bellow thro' the Lindian meads, His bounteous hand fupplies. PART IV. XIII. We fee the Thames carefs the fhores, He guides her filver flood : While angry Severn fvvells and roars, Yet hears her ruler God. XIV. The rolling mountains of the deep Obferve his ftrong command ; His breath can raife the billows fleet) Or fink them to the fand. XV. Amidft thy watry kingdoms, Lor», The finny nations play, And fcaly monfters at thy word, Rulh thro' the northern fea„ PART V. XVI. Thy glories blaze all nature round, And ftrike the gazing fight, Thro' Ikies, andfeas, and folid ground, With terror and delight, G XVlh 74 LYRIC POEMS. Book I. XVII. Infinite ftrength and equal ikill, Shine thro' the worlds abroad, Our fouls with vaft amazement fill And fpeak the builder God. XV1I1. But the fweet beauties of tby grace* Our fofter paffions move ; Pity divine in J ES US face. We fee, adore, and love. God's Absolute Dominion LO RD, when my thoughtful foul furvey* Fire, air, and earth, and ftars and feas, I call them all my flaves ; Commiffion'd by my father's will, Poifons fhall cure, or balms fhall kill ; Vernal funs, or Zephyr's breath, May burn or blaft the plants to death That fharp December faves. What can winds or planets boaft Eut a precarious pow'r ? The fun is all in darknefs loft, Froft fhall be fire, and fire be froft, When he appoints the hour. II. Lo, the Norwegians near the polar fky Chafe their frozen limbs with fnow, Their frozen limbs awake and glow, The vital flame touch'd with a ftrange fupply Rekindles, for the Gon of life is nigh ; He bids the vital flood in wonted circles flow. Cold Sacred to Devotion, &c. 75 Cold fteel expos' d to northern air, Drinks the meridian fury of the midnight Eear, And burns th' unwary ftranger there. iii. Enquire, my foul, of ancient fame, Look back two thoufand years, and fee Th' Affyrian prince transform'd a brute, For boafting to be abfolute : Once to his court the Goo oflfrael came,! A King more abfolute than he. I fee the furnace blaze with rage Sevenfold : I fee amidft the flame Three Hebrews of immortal name They move, they walk acrofs the burning flage Unhurt and fearlefs while the tyrant flood A ftatue ; fear congeal'd hisblocd : Nor did the raging element dare Attempt their garments, or their hair ; Ttknev/the Lord ol nature there. Nature, compell'd by a fuperior caufe, Nov/ breaks her own eternal laws Now feemsto break them, and obeys Her Sovereign King in different ways. Father, how bright thy glories fhlne ! How broad thy kingdom, how divine! Nature, and miracle, and fate, and chance are thine. IV. Hence from my heart ye idols 'nee, Ye founding names of vanity ! No more my lips fhall facrifke To chance and nature, tales and lies : Creatures without a God can yield me no fapplies. What is the fun, or what the fhade Or frofb, or flames, to kill or fave ? 76 LYRIC POEMS, Book I. His favour is my life, his lips pronounce me dead ; And as his awful dictates bid, Earth is my mother, or my grave. Condescending Grace. In Imitation of the 114th Pfalm., TTTKEN the Eternal bows the ikies, ** To vifit earthly things, With fcorn divine he turns his eyes From towers of haughty kings ; II. Rides on a cloud difdainful by A Sultan, or a Czar, Laughs at the worms that rife 10 high, Or frowns 'em from afar ; HI. He bids his awful chariot roil Far downward from the ikies, To viGt every humble foul, With yikafure in his eyes. IV. Why fhould the Lord that reigns above Bifdain fo lofty kings ? Sny, Loud, and why fuch looks of love Upon fuch worthlefs tilings ; V. Mortals, be dumb ; what creature dares Difpute his awful will ? Aik no account of his affairs, Eut tremble, and be ft ill. VI. Sacred to Devotion, &c. vt. Ju$ like his nature is his grace, All fovereign, and all free ; Great God, how fear chiefs are thy ways! How deep thy judgments be ! The Infinite. I. SOME feraph, lend your heavenly tongue, Or harp of golden firing, That I may raife a lofty fong To our eternal king. II: Thy names, how infinite they be ! Great Everlasting One! Boundlefs thy might and majefry, And unconfin'd thy throne. III. Thy glories fhine of wondrous fize, And wondrous large thy grace ; Immortal day breaks from thine eyes,. And Gabriel veijs his face. IV. Thine effence is a vaft abyfs^ Which angels cannot found, An ocean of infinities Where all our thoughts are drown'd. V. The myfberies of creation lie Beneath enlighten'd minds, Thoughts can afcend above the fky, And fly before the winds. ^ G 5 VT, 78 LYRIC POEMS, Book I, VI. Reafon may grafp the maffy hills, And ftretch from pole to pole, But half thy name our fpirit fills, And overloads our foul. VII. In vain our haughty reafon fvvells, For nothing's found in Thee, Eut boundlefs unconceivables; And vaft eternity. Confession and Pardon, I. ALAS my aking heart ! Here the keen torment lies ; It racks my waking hours with fmart, And frights my flumbring eyes.. II. Guilt will be hid no more, My griefs take vent apace, The crimes that blot my confciencc o'er, Flufh crimfon in my face. III. My forrows, like a flood, Impatient of reftraint, Into thy bofom, O my God, Pour out a long complaint: IV. This impious heart of mine, Could once defy the Lord, Gould rufh with violence on to fin, In pretence of thy fword. Sacred to Devotion, &c. 79 v. How often have I flood, A rebel to the fkies, The calls, the tenders of a God, And mercy's loudeft cries ! VI. He offers all his grace, And all his heaven to me ; Offers! But 'tis to fenfelefs brafs, That cannot feel nor fee. VII. JESUS the Saviour ftands, To court me from above, And looks andfpreads his wounded hands, And fhews the prints of love. VIII. But I, a flupid fool, How long have I withfcood, The bleffiflgs purchas'd with his foul, And paid for all in blood ? IX. The heav'nly dove came down, And tender'd me his wings, To mount me upward to a crown, And bright immortal things. X. Lord, I'm afham'd to fay, That I refus'd thy dove, And fent thy fpirit griev'd away, To his own realms of love. XI. Not all thine heav'nly charms, Nor terrors of thy hand, Could force me to lay down my arms, And bow to thy command, XII, 80 LYRIC POEMS. Book I. XII. I.o^d, 'tisagainft thy face, My fins like arrows rife, And yet, and yet (O matchlcfs grace !) Thy thunder filent lies. XIII. O fhall I never feel The meltings of thy love? Am I of fuch hell-harden'd fled, That mercy cannot move ? Xt'V. Now for one powerful glance, Dear Saviour y from thy face ! This rebel heart no more withfhands, But finks beneath thy grace. XV. O'ereome by dying love 1 fall, Here at thy crofs I lie, And throw my fitfh, my foul, my all, And weep, and love, srtd die. XVI. " Rife, fays the prince of mercy, rife, " With joy and pity in his eyes : " Rife, and behold my wounded veins, 11 Here flows the blood to wafh thy fains. XVII. " See my great father reconcil'd :" Hefaid. Andlo, the father fmil'd; The joyful cherubs clapp'd the wings, And founded grace on all their firings-. Youk« Sacred to Devotion, &c. 81 Young Men and Maidens, Old Men and Babes, Praise ye the LORD, Pfalm cxlviii. 12. SONS of Adam bold and young, In the wild mazes of whofe veins, A flood of fiery vigour reigns, And weilds your aciive limbs, with hardy fkrews ftrung ; Fall proftrate at the eternal throne, "Whence your precarious pow'rs depend ; .Nor fwell as if your lives were all your own, But chocfe your maker for your friend ; His favour is your life, his arm is your fupport, His arm can ftretch your days, or cut your minute,* ihort. Virgins, who roll your artful eyes, And ihoot delicious danger thence, Swift the lovely lightning flies, And melts our reafon down to fenfe; Boaft not of thofe withering charms That muft yield their youthful grace. To age and wrinkles, earth and worms ; But love the author of your fmiling face; I That heav'nly bridegroom claims your blooming hours ; O make it your perpetual care To pleafe that everlafting fair ; His beauties are the fun, and but the fhade is yours, III. Infants, whofe different deftinies Are wove with threads of different fize : Bat 82 LYRIC POEMS, Book I. But from the fame fprlng-tkle of tears, Commence your hopes, and joys and fears, (A tedious train !) and date your following years : Break your firft filence in his praife Who wrought your wondrous frame : With founds of tendereft accent raife Young honours to his name ; And confederate your early days To know the pow'r fupreme. IV. Ye heads of venerable age, Juft marching off the mortal ftage, Fathers, whofe vital threads are fpun ; As long as e'er the glafs of life would run, Adore the hand that led your way Thro' flow'ry fields a fair longfummer's day ; Gafp out your foul in praifes to the fovereign pow'r That fet your weft fo diftant from your dawning hour. Flying Fowl and creeping Things PRAISE YE THE LORD, Pfal. clxVlH. 10. I. SWEET flocks, whofe foft ennamel'd wing Swift and gently cleaves the fey ; Whofe charming notes addrefs the Jpring With an artlefs harmony. Lovely minftrels of the field, Who in leafy fhadows fit, And your wondrous flruclures build, Awake your tuneful voices with the dawning light; To Sacred- to Devotion, &c. 83 To nature's God yourfirft devotions pay, E'er you faiute the riling day, i 'Tis he calls up the fun, and gives him every r^y. II. Serpents, who o'er the meadows Aide, And wear upon your mining back Num'rous ranks of gaudy pride, Which thoufand mingling colours make ; Let the fierce glances, of your eyes Rebate their baleful fire : In harmlefs play twift and unfold The volumes of your fcaly gold : That rich embroidery of your gay attire, Proclaims your Maker kind and wife, III. Infecls and mites, of mean degree, That fwarm in Myriads o'er the land, Moulded by wifdom's artful hand, And curl'd and painted with a various dye ; In your innumerable forms Praife him that wears th' ethereal crown, And bends his lofty counfels down To defpicable worms. The Comparison and Complaint, I. INFINITE power, eternal Lord, How fovereign is thy hand ! Sj$t nature rofe t'obey thy word, And moves at thy command: II. ►Vith fteady courfe thy fhining fun Keeps his appointed way ; And 84 LYRIC POEMS, And all the hours obedient run The circle of the day. III. But ah ! how wide my fpirit flies, And wanders from her God ! My foul forgets the heavenly prize, And treads the downward-road. IV. The raging fire, and ftormy fea, Perform their awful will, And every beaft and every tree, Thy great defigns fulfil : V. While my wild paffions rage within, Nor thy commands obey ; And flefh and fenfe, enflav'd to fin, Draw my beft thoughts r.way. VI. Shall creatures of a meaner frame Pay all their dues to thee ; Creatures, that never knew thy name, That never lov'd like me ? VH. Great God create my foul anew, Conform my heart to thine, Melt down my will, and let it flow, And take the mould divine. VIII. Seize my whole frame into thy hand; Here all my pow'rs I bring ; Manage the wheels by thy command, And govern every fpring. IX. Then fhall my feet no more depart, Nor wandring fenfes rove j Sacred to Devotion, &c. 85 Devotion fhaU be all my heart, And all my paffions love. X. Then not the fun fhall more than I His maker's law perform, Nor travel fwifter thro' the fky, Nor with a zeal fo warm. God Supreme and Self-sufficient, WH A T is our God, or what his name, Nor men can learn, nor angels teach ; [ He dwells conceal'd in radiant flame, ! Where neither eyes nor thoughts can reach, II. ; The fpacious worlds of hcav'nly light, Compar'd with him, how fhort they fall ! ! They are too dark, and he too bright, Nothing are they, and God is all. III. 1 He fpoke the wondrous word, and lo ! Creation rofe_at his command : ■ Whirlwinds and feas their limits know, f Bound in the hollow of his hand. IV. [, There refts the earth, there roll the fpheres, \ There nature leans, and feels her prop : But his own felf-fufficience bears The weight of his own glories up. V. The tide of creatures ebbs and flows, Meafuring their changes by the moon : H No 86 LYRIC POEMS, Book I. No ebb his fea of glory knows; His age is one eternal noon. VI. Then fly, my fong, an endlefs round, The lofty tune let Michael raife ; All nature dwell upon the found, But we can ne'er fulfil the praife. JESUS the only Saviour. I. AD A M, our father, and our head Tranfgreft ; and juftice doom'd us dead : The fiery law fpeaksall defpair, There's no reprieve, nor pardon there. II. Call a bright council in the ikies ; ** Seraphs the mighty and the wife, " Say, what expedient can you give, " That fin be damn'd, and finners live ? III. " Speak are you ftrong to bear the load, " The weighty vengeance cf a God ? M Which of you loves our wretched race, " Or dares to venture in our place ?" IV. In vain we aft: ; for all around Stands filence thro' the heavenly ground : There's not a glorious mind above Kas half the ftrength, or half the love. y But, O unutterable grace ! Th' eternul SON takes Adam's place : Down to our world the Saviour flies, Stretchei his naked arms, and dies. VI. Sacred to Devotion, &c. %7 VI. Juflice waspleas'd to bruife the Goo, And pay its wrongs with heavenly blood ; What unknown racks arid pangs he bore ! Then rofe : the law could afk no more. VII. Amazing work ! look down, ye ikies, Wonder and gaze with all your eyes ; Ye heavenly thrones, ftoop from above, And bow to this myfterious love. VIII. See, how they bend ! See how they look I Long they had read th' eternal book, And ftudied dark decrees in vain, The crofs and Calvary makes them plain. IX. Now they are ftruck with deep amaze, Each with his wings conceals his face ; Nor clap theirfounding plumes, and cry, Tie ivlfdom of a DE1TT! Low they adore th' Incarnate Son, And fing the glories he hath won ; Sing how he broke our iron chains, How deep he funk, how high he reigns. XI. Triumph and reign, victorious Loud, By all thy flaming hofts ador'd ; And fay, dear Conqueror, fay, how long, E'er we fhall rife to join their fong ? XII. Lo, from afar the promis'd day Shines with a well-diftinguifh'd ray ; But my wing'd paffion hardly bears Thefe lengths of flow delaying years. X1IL 88 LYRIC POEMS, Book I. Xill. Send down a chariot from above, With fiery wheels, and pav'd with love ; Raife me beyond th' ethereal blue, To ling and love as angels do. Looking Upward, I. TH E heavens invite mine eye, The ftars falute me round; Father, I blufh, I mourn to lie Thus groveling on the ground. II. My warmer fpirits move, And make attempts to fly; I wifh aloud for wings of love To raife me fwift on high. III. Beyond thofe cryftal vaults, And all their fparkling balls ; They're but the porches to thy courts, And paintings of thy walls. IV. Vain world, farewell to you ; Heaven is my native air; I bid my friends afhort adieu, Impatient to be there. V. I feel my powers releaft From their old Study clod ; Fair guardian bear me up in hafbe And let me near my Gcd. Christ Sacred to Devotion, &c. 89 Christ dying, rising and reigning, HE dies the heav'nly lover dies ! The tidings flrike a doleful found On my poor heart-firings : deep he lies In the cold caverns of the ground. II. Come, faints, and drop a tear or two On the dearbofoniof your God, He fhed a thoufand drops for you, A thoufand drops of richer blood. III. Here's love and grief beyond degree, The Lord of glory dies for men ! But lo, what fudden joys I fee ! JESUS the dead revives again. IV. The rifing God forfakes the tomb, Up to his father's court he fiies ; Cherubic legions guard him home, And fhout him welcome to the ikies. V. Break off your tears, ye faints, and tell How high our great deliverer reigns ; Sing hew hefpoil'd the hofis of hell, And led the monfter death in chains. VI. Say., Live for ever, tvoruhous King ! Born to redeem, undftrong iofave ! Then afk the monfter, Where's ihejiing t And ivhere's iby viclory, bcajling grai;t ? H ,q The t 9 o LYRIC POEMS, Book I. The GOD of Thunber. OThe immenfe, the amazing height, The boundlefr grandeur of our G«d, Who treads the worlds beneath his feet, And fways the nations with his nod. II. He fpeaks ; and lo, all nature fhakes, Keav'n's tverlafting pillows bov/ ; He rends the clouds witft hideous cracks, And ihoot» his fiery arrows through. HI. Well, let the nations ftart and fly At the blue lightning' s horrid glare, Athciits and emperors (hunk and cde, When flame and uoSe. toiment the air. IV. Xet noife and.fli;me confound the Ikies, And drown the fpacious realms below, Yet will we fing the Thunderer's praife, And ftnd our loud Hofr.nnas through. V. Celeftial King, thy blazing power, Kindles our hearts to flaming joys, We fhout to hear thy thunders roar, And echo to our father's voice. VI. Thus (hall the God our Saviour come, And lightnings round his chariot play, Ye lightnings, fly to make him room, Ye glorious ftorms, prepare hi* way. Sacred to Devotion, &c. 91 The Day of Judgment. An ODE: Attempted in Englilh Sapphick. I. WHEN the fierce north wind with his airy forces, Rears up the Baltic to a foaming fury : And the red lightning like a ftorm of haii comes Rulhing amain down. II. How the poor Tailors ftand amaz'd, and tremble! While the hoarfe thunder, like a bloody trumpet, Roars a loud onfet to the gaping waters Quick to devour them. III. Such fhall the noife be, and the wild diforder, (If things eternal may be like thcfe earthly) Such the dire terror when the great archangel Shakes the creation, IV. Tears the ftrong pillars of the vault of heaven, Breaks up old marble, the repofe of princes, See the graves open, and the bones arifing, Flames all around 'em. V. Hark, the fhrill outcries of the guilty wretches ! Lively bright horror, and amazing anguifh, Stare thro' their eye-lids while the living worm lies Gnawing within them. VI. . Thoughts like old vultures, prey upon their heart firings, And the fmart twinges, when the eye beholds the Lofty j udge frowning, and a flood of vengeance Roiling afore him. VII. • 9 2 LYRIC POEMS. Book I. VII. Hopelefs immortals ! how they fcream and fniver, While devil? pufh them to the pit wide-yawning Hideous and gloomy, to receive, them headlong Down to the centre. VIII. Stop here my fancy : (all away ye horrid Doleful ideas,) come arifo to JESUS, Kow he fits God-like ! and the faints around him Thron'd yet adoring. IX. O may I fit there when he comes triumphant, Dooming the nation: ! then afcend to glory, While our hofannas all along the paffage Shout the Redeemer. The Song of Angels above, EARTH has detain'd me prifoner long, And I'm grown weary now : My heart, my hand, my ear, my tongue, There's nothing here for you. II. Tir'din my thonghts I ftretch me down, And upward glance mine eyes. Upward (my father) to thy throne, And to my native ikies. III. There the dear man my Saviour fits, The God, how bright he fhines 1 And fcatters infinite delights On ail the happy minds. IV. Sacred to Devotion, &c. 93 IV. Seraphs with elevated {trains Circle the throne around, And move and charm the ftarry plains With an immortal found. V. JESU3 the Lord, their harps employs, JESUS my love they fmg, JESUS the name of both our joys Sounds fweet from every fixing. VI. Hark how beyond the narrow bounds* Of time and fpace they run, And fpeakin moft majeftick founds, The Godhead of the Son. VII. How on the Father's breaft he lay, The darling of his foul, Infinite years before the day Or heavens began to roll: VIII. And now they fink the lofty tone, And gentler notes they play, And bring th' eternal Godhead dows To dwell in humble clay. IX. O facred Beauties of the Man ! (The God refides within) His flefh all pure, without a {lain, His foul without a fin. X. Then, how he look'd, and how he fmil'd, What wondrous things he faid ! Sweet cherubs, ftay, dwell here a while, And tell what JESUS did, XI. 94 LYRIC POEMS, Book I. XI. At his command the blind awake, And feel the gladfom rays ; He bids the dumb attempt to fpeak, They try their tongues in praifc. XII. He fhed a thoufand bleffings round Where'er he turn'd his eye : He fpoke, and at the fovereign found The hcllifh legions fly. XIII: Thus while with unambitious ftrife Th' ethereal minftrels rove Thro' all the labours of his life, And wonders of his love. XIV. In the full choir a broken firing Groans with a ftrange furpfife ; The reft in Clence mourn their King," That bleeds, and loves, and dies. XV. Seraph and faint with drooping wings, Ceafe their harmonious breath; No blooming trees, nor bubbling fprings, While JESUS fieeps in death. XVI. Then all at once to living ftrains They fummon every chord, Break up the tomb, and burft his chains, Andfhew their rifing Lord. XVII. Around the flaming army throngs To guard him to the Ikies, With loud Hofannas on their tongues, And triumph in their eyes. XVIIL I Sacred to Devotion, Sec, 95 XVIII. awful flate the conquering Go© Afceiids his mining throne, While tuneful angels found abroad The vicVries he has won. XIX. Now let me rife, and join their fcr.g, And be an angel too ; My heart, my hand, my ear, my tongue, Here's joyful work for you. XX. I would begin the mufick hqre, And fo my foul fhould rife : Oh for fome heavenly notes to bear My fpirit to the Ikies ! XXI. There, ye that love my Saviour, fit, There I would fain have place, Amongft your thrones, or at your feet, So I might fee his face. XXII. I am confin'd to earih no more, But mount in hafle above, To blefs the God that I adore, And fins: the Man. I love, Fire, Air,. Earth and Sea. p raise ye the LORD. 1. Tp'AR TH, thou great fcotftool of our Gob ^~ / Who reigns on high ; thou fruitful fource Of all our raiment, life and food ; Our houfe, our parent, and our nurfe ; Mighty 96 LYRIC POEMS. Book I. Mighty Stage of mortal fcencs, Dreft with ftrong and gay machines, Hung with golden lamps around ; (And flow'ry carpets fpread the ground) Thou bulky globe, prodigious mafs, That hangs unpillar'd in an empty fpace ! While thy unwieldy weight refts on the feeble air, Blefs that almighty word that fix'd and holds thee there. II. Fire, thou fwift herald of his face, Whofe glorious rage, at his command, Levels a palace with the fand, Blending the lofty fpires in ruin with the bafe : Ye heav'nly flames, that finge the air, Artillery of a jealous God. Bright arrows that his founding quivers bear To fcatter deaths abroad ; Lightnings, adore the fovereign arm that flings His vengeance , and your fires, upon the heads of kings. III. Thou vital element, the Air y Whofe boundlefs magazines of breath Our fainting frame of life repair, Andfave the bubble man from the cold arms of death : And ye, whofe vital moifture yields Life's purple ftream a frefh fupply ; • Sweet waters wandring thro' the flow'ry fields, Or dropping from the fky , Confefs the pow'r whofe all-fufficient name Nor needs your aid to build, or to fupport our frame. IV. Now the rude air, with noify force, Beats up and fwells the angry fea, They Sacred to Devotion, &c. 97 They join to make our lives a prey, And fweep the failors hopes away, Vain hopes, to reach their kindred on the fhores ! Lo, the wild feas and furging waves Gape hideous in a thoufand graves : Be ftill, ye floods, and know your bounds of fand, Ye ftorms, adore your mafter's hand ; The winds are in his fill, the waves at his command. V. From the eternal emptinefs His fruitful word, by fecret fprings Drew the whole harmony of things That form this noble univerfe: Old nothing knew his pow'rful hand, Scarce had he fpoke his full command, Tire, air, and earth, and fea, heard the creating call, And leap'd from empty nothing to this beauteous all; And ftill they dance, and ftill obey The orders they receiv'd the great creation-day. The Farewell. I. DEAD be my heart to all below, To mortal joys and mortal cares To fenfualblifs that charms us fo Be dark, my eyes, and deaf, my ears. II. Here I renounce my carnal tafte Of the fair fruit that finners prize : Their paradife mall never wafte One thought of mine, but to defpifc. III. All earthly joys are overweigh'd With mountains of vesatious care ; I And 98 LYRIC POEMS, Book I. And where's the fweet that is not laid A bait to fome deftru&ive fnare ? IV. Be gone for ever, mortal things! Thou mighty mole-hill earth, farewell! Angels afpire on lofty wings, And leave the globe for ants to dwell. V. Come heaven and fill my vaft dt fires, My foul purfues the fovereign good ; She was all made of heavenly fires, Nor can fhe live on meaner food. GOD ONLY KNOWN TO HIMSEIT. STAND and adore ! how glorious He That dwells in bright eternity ! We gaze, and we confound our fight Plung'd in th' abyfs of dazzling light. II. Thou Sacred One, Almighty Three, Great everlafting Mystery, What lofty numbers fhall we fram« Equal to thy tremendous name ? III. Seraphs, the neareft to the throne, Begin, and fpeak the Great Unknown : Attempt the fong, wind up your firings, To notes untry'd, and boundkfs things. IV. You, whofe capacious pow'rs furvey Largely beyond our eyes of clay : Yet what a narrow portion too afeen, or known, or thought by you ? Scared to Devotion, &c. 99 - V. How flat yeur higheft praifes fall Below th' immenfe Original ! Weak creatures we, that ftrive in vain To reach an uncreated {train ! VI. Great God, forgive our feebk lay s, Sound out thine own eternal praife ; A fong fo vail, a theme fo high, Calls for the voice that tun'd the fky. Pardon and Sanctification. MY crimes awake ; and hideous fear Diftracls my refllefs mind, Guilt meets my eyes with horrid glare, And hell purfues behind. II. Almighty vengeance frowns on high, And flames array the throne ; While thunder murmurs round the fey. Impatient to be gone. III. Where fnall I hide this noxious head ; Can rocks or mountains fave ? Or flidll I wrap me in the fhade Of midnight and the grave ? IV. Is there no flicker from the eye Of a revenging Gob ? JESUS, to thy dear wounds I fly, Bedew me with thy blood. I a ico LYRIC POEMS, Book 1, v. Thofe guardian drops my foul fecure, And warn away my fin ; Eternal juftice frowns no more, And confcience fmiles within. VT. I blcfs that wondrous purple ftream That whitens every (lain ; Yet is my foul but half redeem'd, If fin the tyrant reign. VII. Lord, blafl his empire with thy breath, That curfed throne muft fall ; Ye flattering plagues, that work my death, Fly, for I hate you all. Sovereignty and Grace. I. THE Lord? how fearful is his name ? How wide is his command ? Nature, with all her moving frame, Refts on his mighty hand. II. Immortal glory forms his throne, And light his awful robe ; "Whilft withafmile, or with a frown, He manages the globe. III. A word of his almighty breath Can fwell or fink the feas ; Euild the vaft empires of the earth, Or break them as he pleafe. IV. Sacred to Devotion, &c. 101 IV. Adoring angels round him fall In all their mining forms, His fovereign eye looks thro' them all, And pities mortal worms. . V. His bowels, to our worthlefs race, fn fweet companion move ; He deaths his looks with fofteft grace, And takes his title, love. VI. Nov/ let the Lord for ever reign, And fway us as he will, Sick, or in health, in eafe, or pain, We are his favourites full. VII. No more fhall peevifh paffion rife, The tongue no more complain ; *Tis fovereign love that lends our joys, And love refumes again . The Law and Gospel. " I^URST be the man, for ever curlr, %^_j " That doth one wilful fin commit ; t{ Death and damnation for the nrft, " Without relief, and infinite." II. Thus Sinai roars ; and round the earth Thunder, and fire, and vengeance Sings ; But JESUS, thy dear gafping breath, And Calvary, fay gentler things. i 3 m. 102 LYRIC POEMS, Book I. in. " Paidon, and grace, and boundlefs love, " Streaming along a Saviour's blood, " And life, and joys, and crowns above, " Dcar-purchas'd by a bleeding God." IV. Hark, how he prays, (the charming found Dwells on his dying lips) Forgive ; And every groan, and gaping wound, Cries, " Father, let the rebels live." V, Go, you that reft upon the law, And toil, and feek falvation there, Look to the flames that Mofes faw, And fhrink, and tremble, and defpair. VI. But I'll retire beneath the crofs, Saviour, at thy dear feet I lie ; And the keen fword that juftice draws, Flaming and red, fhall pafs me by. Seeking A divine Calm in a restless World. O mens, qux ftabili fata regis vice, &c. Cafimire, Book III. Ode %Z. I. ETERNAL mind, who rul'ft the fates, Of dying realms, and rifing dates, With one unchang'd decree, While we admire thy vaft affairs, Say, can our little triming cares Afford a fmile to thee ? Sacred to Devot ion, Sst* 103 II. Thou fcattereft honours, crowns and gold ; We fly to feize, and fight to hold The bubbles and the ore : So emmets ftruggle for a grain ;. So boys their pretty wars maintain For Ihells upon the fhore. III. Here a vain man his fcepter breaks, The next a broken fcepter takes, And warriors win and lofe ; This rolling world will never ftand, Plunder'd and fnatch'd from hand to hand. As power decays or grows. IV. Earth's but an atom : greedy fwords Carve it amongft a thoufand lords, And yet they can't agree; Let greedy fwords ftill fight and flay, I can be poor; but, Lord, I pray To fit and fmile with thee* Happy Frailty. " TT O W meanly dwells th' immortal mind ? X.L " How vile thefe bodies are ! *' Why was a clod of earth defign'd " T' enclofe a heavenly ftar ? II. «' Weak cottage where our fouls refide ! " This flefh a tott'ring wall ; t( With frightful breaches gaping wide *« The building bends to fall. III. 164 LYRIC POL M S. Book I. in. " All round it dorms of trcuhle blow, " And waves of forrow roil ; " Cold waves and winter ftprms beut tkrc " And pain the tenant-foul. IV: <{ Alas ! how frail our ftate !" faid I ; And thus went mourning on, Till fudden from the cleaving fky A gleam oi glory fhone. V. My foul all felt the glory come, And breath'd her native air ; Then fh; remember' d heaven her home, And fne a prifoner here. VI. Straight fne began to change her key, And joyful in her pains, She fung the frailty of her clay In pleafurable drains. VII. " How weak the Pris'n is where I dwell ! " Flefh but a tottering wall, ♦' The breaches chearfully foretell, " The houfe muft fhortly fall. VIII. *' No more, my friends, fhall I complain, " Tho' all my heart- firings ake ; c< Welcome difeafe, and every pain, '* That makes the cottage fhake. IX. " Now let the tempeft blow ell round, *' Now fwell thefurges high, " And beat this houfe of bondage down, tl To let the ftranger fly. Sacred to Devotion, Sec, T05 X. :< I have a manfion built above " By the eternal hand ; " And fhould the earth's old bafis move " My heav'nly houfe rauft ftand. XI. :{ Yes, for 'tis there my Saviour reigns, " (Hong to fee the God) " And his immortal ftrength fuftains *' The courts that colt him blood. XII. I" Hark from on high my Saviour calls; '* I come, my Lord, my Love." Devotion breaks the prifon-walls, And fpeeds my laft remove. Launching into Eternity. ITT was a brave attempt ! advent'rqus he, •*■ Who in the flrft fhip broke the unknown fea; And leaving his dear native fhores behind, Trufted hisJife to^the licentious wind. I fee the furging brine : the tempeft raves : •% He on a pine-plank rides acrofs the waves, C Exulting on the edge of thoufand gaping graves ; j He fteers the winged boat, and fnifts the fails, Conquers the flood and manages the gales. Such is the foul that leaves this mortal land Fearlefs when the great mailer gives command. Death is the ftorm : ihe fmiies to hear it roar, And bids the temp eft waft her from the more : Then with a ikilful helni Ihe fweeps the feas, And manages the raging ftorm with eafe : (Her faith can govern death J Ihe fpreads her wings ~) Wide to the wind, and as fhe fails fhe ilngs, ?• And lofes by degrees the fight o£ mortal things. J As io6 LYRIC POEMS. Bcok I. As the fhoreslcffen, fo herjoys arife, The waves roll gentler, and the tempeft dies, Now vaft eternity fills all her fight, -j She floats on the broad deep with infinite delight, C The feas forever calm, the ikies forever bright. J A Prospect of the Resurrection. I. HOW long {hall death the tyrant reign ; And triumph o'er the juft, While the rich blood of Martyrs flain Lies mingled with the daft ? II. When fhall the tedious night be goae t When will our Lord appear ? Our fond defires will pray him down, Our love embrace him here. III. Let faith arife and climb the hills, And from afcr dcfcry Howdiftant are his chariot- wheels,. And tell how fa ft they fly. IV. Lo, T behold the featuring fhades, The dawn of heav'n appears, The fweet immortal morning fpreads Its blufhes round the fpheres. V. I fee the Lord of Glory come, And flaming guards around : The ikies divide to make him room, The trumpet fhakes the ground. VI. Sacred to Devotion, &c. 107 VI. i hear the voice, Ye dead arife y And lo, the graves obey, And waking faints with joyful eyes Salute th' expecled day. VII. They leave the duft, and on the wing Rife to the middle air, In fhining garments meet their king, And low adore him there. VIII. D may my humble fpirit (land Amongfcthem cloth'd in white ! The meaneft Place at his right hand Is infinite delight. IX. How will our joy and wonder rife, When our returning king Shall bear us homeward thro' the Ikies On love's triumphant wing ! Breathing toward the heavenly Country. Cafimire, Book 1, Od. 19. imitated, Urit me patris decor, &c. TH E beauty of my native land Immortal love inipires ; I burn, I burn with ftrong dellres, And figh, and wait the high command. There glides the moon her mining way, And moots my heart thro' with a filver ray, Upward my heart afpires : io8 LYRIC POEMS, Book II A thoufand lamps of golden light Hung high, in vaulted azure, charm my fight, And wink and beckon with their amorous fires. O ye fair glories of my heavenly home, Bright centinels who guard my father's court, Where all the happy minds refort, When will my father's chariot come ? Muft ye for ever walk the ethereal round, Jor ever fee the mourner lie An exile of the fky, A prifoner of the ground ? Defcend fome mining fervants from on high, Build me a hafty tomb ; A graffy turf will raife my head ; The neighbouring lillies drefs my bed ; And fhed a cheap perfume. Here I put off the chains of death, My foul too long has worn : Friends, I forbid one groaning breath, Or tear to wet my urn ; Raphael, behold me all undreft, Here gently lay this flefh to reft ; Then mount, and lead the path unknown, Swift I purfue thee, flaming guide, on pinions of jny own. On Saint Ardalio, who from a Stage- Player became a Christian, and SUFFERED MARTYRDOM. I. ARDALIO jeers and in his comick ftrains, The myfteries of our bleeding God profanes, While his loud laughter fhakes the painted fcenes. II. Sacred to Devotion, &c. 109 II. Heaven heard and ftrait aroundthe fmoaking throne The kindling lightning in thick fialhes fhone. And vengeful thunder murmur'dta be gone. III. Mercy flood near, and with a fmiling brow Calm'd the loud thunder ; " there's no need of you; " Grace mail defcend, and the weak man iubdue. IV. Grace leaves the ikies, and he the ftage forfakes, He bows his head down to the marryring ax, And as he bows, his gentle farewel fpeaks ; V. " So goes the comedy of life away; «< Vain earth, adieu ; heaven will applaud to day; " Strike courteous tyrant, and conclude the play. When the Proteftant Church at Montpelier was demolijhed by the French King's order, the. Protejtants laid Stones up in their Burying place, whereon a Jfefuit made a Latin Epi- gram. Englifhed thus :' AKug'not Church, once at Montpelier built, Stood and proclaim'd their madnefs and their guilt; Too long it flood beneath heav'ns angry frown 9 Worthy whenrifing, to be thunder'ddown, Lewis, at laft, th' avenger of the Ikies, Commands, and level with the ground it lies : The flones difpers'd their wretched offspring come, Gather, and heap them on their father' omb, K Thus no LYRIC POEMS, Book I. Thus the curs'd houfe falls on the huilder's head ; "} And tho' beneath the ground their bones are laid, V Yet the juft vengeance ftill putfues the guilty dead. j The An.syver by a French Protestant, Englifhcd thus : AChriftian Church once at IVTontpelier flood, And nobly fpoke the builder's zeal for G 00. It flood the envy of the fierce dragoon, But not deferv'd to be deftrcyed f'o foon : Yet Lewis, the wild tyrant of the age, Tears down the walls, a victim to his rage, Young faithful hands pile up the facred ftones (Dear monument!) o'er their dead father's bones; The ftcnes fhall move when the dead fathers rife Start up before the pale deftroyer's eyes, And teflify his madnefs to th' avenging fkies. Two happy Rivals, Devotion and the Muse. WILD as the lightning, various as the moon, Roves my Pindaric fong : Here fhe glows like burning noon In fierreft flame?, and here fhe plays Gentle as Aar-heams on the midnight fea$; Now in a fmiling angel's form, Anon fhe rides upon the ftorm, Loud as the noify thunder as a deluge ftrong, Are my thoughts and wifhesfree, And Sacred to Devotion, &c mi And know no number nor degree ? Such is the rnufe : lo fne difdtdns The links and chains, Meafures and rules of vulgar drains, And o'er the laws of harmony a fovereign queen fne reigns. II. If (he roves By ftreams or groves Turning her pleafures on her pains, My paffions keeps her ftill in fight, My paflion holds an equal Sight Thro 1 love's, or nature's wide campaigns. If with bold attempt fne fings Of the biggeft mortal things, Tottering thrones and nations flain : Or breaks the fleets of warring king6, While thunders roar From fhore to fhore, My foul fits fait upon her wings, And fweeps the crimfon furge, or fcours the purple plain ; Still 1 attend her as fhe flies, Round the broad globe, and all beneath the ikies. III. But when from the meridian ftar Long ftreaks of glory fhine, And heaven invites her from afar, She takes the hint, fhe knows the fign, The mufe afcends her heavenly carr, And climbs the fteepy path and means the throne divine. Then fhe leaves my fiutt'ring mind Clogg'd with clay, and unrefin'd, Lengths of diftance far behind. K a Virtue 112 LYRIC POEMS, Book I. Virtue lags with heavy wheel •, Faith has wings, but cannot rife, Cannot rife, Swift and high As the winged numbers fiy, And faint devotion panting lies Half way th* ethereal hill. IV. O why is piety fo weak, And yet the mufe fo ftrong ? When fhali thefe hateful fetters break That have confin'd me long ? Inwaid a glowmgheat I feci, A fpark of heav'nly day ; But earthly vapours damp my zeal, And heavy flefh drags me the downward way. Faint are the efforts of my will, And mortal paffiens charm my foul aftray. Shine, thou fweet hour of dearreleaft, Shine, ficm the fky, And call me high To mingle with the choirs of glory and of blifs. Devotion there begins the flight, Awakes the fong and guides the way ; There love and zeal divine and bright Trace out new regions in the world of light, And fcr.rce the boldefl mufe can follow or obey. V. I'm in a dream, and fancy reigns, She fpreads her gay delufive fcenes ; Or is the vifion true ? Behold religion or her throne, In awful Itate defcending down, And her dominions vaft and bright within my fpaci- ous view. She fmiles, and with a courteous hand She Saered to Devotion, &c 113 She beckons me away ; I feel mine airy powers loofe from the cumbrous clay And with a joyful hafte obey Religion s high command. What lengths and heighths and depths unknown ! Broad fields with blooming glory fown, And feas, and fides, and ftars her own, In an unmeafur'd fphere ! What heavens of joy, and light ferene, Which nor the rolling fun has feen, Where nor the roving mufe has been That greater traveller ! VI. A long farewel to all below, Farewel to all that fenfe can fhow, To golden fcenes, and flow'ry fields, To all the worlds that fancy builds-, And all that poets know. Now the fvvift tranfports of the mind Leave the fluttering mufe behind, A thoufand loofe Pindaric plumes fly featuring do*yn the wind. x^mongft the clouds I lofelny breath, The rapture grows too flrong : The feeble pow'rs that nature gave Faint and drop downward to the grave ; Receive their fall, thou treafurer of death ; I will no more demand my tongue, Till the grofs organ well refin'd Can trace the boundlefs flights of an unfetter'd mind Andraife an equal fong^ K 3 The ii 4 LYRIC POEMS. Book I. The following Poems of this Book are peculiarly dedicated to Divine Love.* The Hazard of loving the Creatures. I. WHERE e'er my flatt'ring paffions rove I find a lurking fnare ; 'Tis dangerous to let loofe our love Beneath th' eternal fair. II. Souls whom the tye of friendfhip binds, And partners of our blood, Seize a large portion cf our minds, And leave the lefs for God. III. Nature has foft but powerful bands, And reafon fhe controuls ; While children with their little hands Hang clofeft to our fouls. IV. Thotightlefs they act th' old ferpent's part j What tempting things they bt ! Loud, how they twine about our heart, And draw it off from thee ! V. ■ Our hafly wills rufh blindly on Where rifing paffion rolls. And thus we make our fetters ftrong To hind our flavifh fouls. VI. * Differ (nt ages have their different airs and fafhivns of writing. It was much more the fajhion of the age\ it hen tbife poefns were written, to treat of divine fuhje&t in the fiyle of Solomon's Song than it is at this cay, which will afford lorue apology for the writer, inhisyoung- eft years, Sacud to Divotion, &c. 115 VI. Dear fovereign, break thefe fetters off, And fet our fpirits free ; God in himfeif is blifs enough, For we have ail in thee. Desiring to Love Christ. t. COME, let me love ; or is my mind Harden'd to ftonc, or froze to ice ? 1 fee the bleffed fair one bend And (loop t' embrace me from the ikies ! II. O! 'tis a thought would melt a rock, / nd make a heart of iron move, That thpfe fweet lips, that heavenly look, Should feek and wifn a mortal love ! III. 1 was a traitor doom'd to fire, Bound to fuftain eternal pains ; He flew on wings of ftrong delire, Afium'd my guilt, and took my chains. IV. Infinite grace ! almighty charms! Stand in amaze, ye whirling Ikies, JESUS the Gon, with naked arms, Hangs on a crofs of love and dies. V. Did pity ever ftoop fo low, Drefs'd in divinity and blood f Was ever rebel courted fo In groans of an expiring God ? V!. nS LYRIC POEMS, Book I, VI. Again he lives ; and fpreads his hands, Hands that were nail'd to tort'ring fmart ; By thefeddar wounds, fays he; and ftands And prays to clafp me to his heart. VII. Sure I mud love ; or are my ears Still deaf, nor will my paffion move ? Then let me meit this heart to tears ; This heart fnall yield to death or love. The HeapvT given away I. IF there are paflions in my foul, (And paflions fure there be) Now they are all at thy controul, My JESUS all for thee. II. If love, that pleafing power, can reft In hearts fo hard as mine, Come, gentle Saviour, to my breaft, For all my love is thine. III. Let the gay world, with treacherous art, Allure my heart in vain ; I have cenvey'd away my heart, Ne'er to return again. IV. I feci my warmeft paflions dead To all that earth can boalt ; This foul of mine was never made For vanity and duft. • Sacred to Devotion, &c, 117 v. Now I can fix my thoughts above, Amidft their flatt'ring charms, Till the dear Lorb that hath my love, Shall call me to Lis arms. VI. So Gabriel, at his king's command, From yon celeftial hill. Walks downward to cur worthlcfs land, His foul points upward ftill. VII. He glides along by mortal things, Without a thought of love, Fulfils his tafk, and fpreads his wings To reach the realms above. Meditation in a Grove. I. SWEET mufe defcend, and blefs the fhade, And blefs the evening grove ; Eufinefs, and noife, and day are fled, And every care, but love. II. But hence, ye wanton young and fair, Mine is a purer flame ; No Phillis fhail infect the air, With her unhallowed name. III. JESUS has all my powers poffefr, My hopes, my fears, my joys : He, thetrear fovereign of my bread, Shall ftill command my voice. IV, n8 LYRIC POEMS. Book I, IV. Some of the fairefl choirs above, Shall flock around my fong, With joy to hear the name they love Sound from a mortal tongue. V. Kis charms fhall make my numbers flow, And hold the falling floods, While fllence fits on every bough, And bends the lift'ning woods. VI. 1*11 carve, our paffion on the bark, And every wounded tree Shall drop and bearfome myftic mark That JESUS dy'd for me. VII. The fwains fhall wonder when they read, Infcrib'd on all the grove, That heaven itfelf came down, and bled To win a mortal's love. The Fairest and the Only Beloved. HO N OUR to that diviner ray That fir ft allured my eyes away From every mortal fair ; All the gay things that held my fight Seem but the twinkling fparks of night, And languifhing in doubtful light Die at the morning-ftar. II. Whatever fpeaks the Godhead great, And fit to be ador'd, Whatever Sacred to Devotion, &c. 119 Whatever makes the creature fweet, And worthy of my paffioD, meet Harmonious in my Lord, A thoufand graces ever rife And bloom upon his face ; A thoufand arrows from his eyes Shoot thro' my heart with dear furprife } And guard around the place. HI. All nature's art fhall never cure The heavenly pains I found, And 'tis beyond all beauty's power To maks another wound : Earthly beauties grow and fade ; Nature heals the wounds me made, Eut charms fo much divine Hold a long empire of the heart ; What heaven hasjoin'd fhall never part. And JESUS muftbe mine. IV. In vain the envious fhades of night, Or flatteries of the day Would veil his image from my fight, Or tempt my foul away ; JESUS i»all my waking theme, His lovely form meets every dream And knows not to depart : The paffion reigns Thro' all my veins, And floating round the crim&n ftream, Still finds him at my: heart. V. Dwell there, for ever dwell, my love j Here 1 confine my fenfe ; Nor dare my wildeft wifhes rove No» i2o LYRIC POEMS, Book I. Nor ftira thought from thence. Amidft thy glories and thy grace Let all my remnant-minutes pafs ; Grant, thou Everlasting Fair, Grant my foul a manfion there : My foul afpires to fee thy face Tho' life fhou'd fcr the vifion pay ; So rivers run to meet the fea, And loofe their nature in th' embrace; vr. Thou art my ocean, thou my God ; In Thee the paffions of the mind With joys and freedoms unconfin'd Exult, and Jpread their powers abroad. Not all the glittering things on high Can make my heaven, if thou remove; I fhall be tir'd, and long to die; Life is a pain without thy love ; Who could ever bear to be Curft with immortality Anions; the ftars, but far from thee ? Mutual Love stronger than Death. NO T the rich world of minds above Can pay the mighty debt of love I owe to C u r i st my Goo : With pangs which none but he could feel Ke bought my guilty foul from hell : Not the firftferaph's tongue can tell The value of his blood. Sacred to Devotion, &c. 121 II. Kindly he feized me in his arms, From the falfe world's pernicious charms With force divinely fweet Had I ten thoufand lives my own, At his demand, With chearful hand, I'd pay the vital treafure down In hourly tributes at his feet. III. But, Saviour, let me tafte thy grace With every fleeting breath ? And thro' that heaven of pleafure pafs To the cold arms of death : Then I could lofe fuccefiive fouls Faft as the minutes fly ; So billow after billow rolls To kifsthe fhore, and die. The fubfiance of the following Copy, and many of the Lines werefent me by an efleemed Friend, Mr. W. Nokes, with a defirt that I would form them into a Pindaric Ode j but I retained his Meafurts^ left I fhould too much alter thefenfe. A Sight of Christ. I. AN G E L S of light, your God and King fur- round, With noble fongs; in his exalted flefh He claims your worihip ; while his faints on earth, Blefs their Redeemer«God with humble tongues. L Angela jsa LYRIC POEMS, Book I, Angels v.-itli lofty honours crown his head ; We bowing at his feet, by faith, may feel Jiis diftant influence, and confefs his love. Once I beheld his face, when beams divine Broke from his eye-lids, and unufual Iigb* Wrapt me at once in glory and furprize. My joyful heart high leeping in my breaft With tranfport cry'd, this is the Christ (/God; Then threw my arms around in fweet embrace, I And clafp'd, and bow'd adoring low, till I was loi in him. While he appears, no other charms can hold Or draw my foul, afftam'd of former things, Which no remembrance now deferve or name, Tho' with contempt ; bed in oblivion hid. But the bright fhine and prefence foon withdrew I fought him whom I love, but found him not; I felt his abience ; and with ftrongeit cries Proclaimed, "where JESUS is not, all is vain. Whether I hold him with a full delight, Or feek him panting with extreme defire, 'Tishe alone can pleafe my wond'ringfoul; To hold or feek him is my only choice. Tf he refrain on me to caft his eye Down from his palace, nor my longing foul With upward look can fpy my deareft Lord Thro' his blue pavement, I'll behold him {till With fweet reflection on the peaceful crofs, All in his blood and anguifh groaning deep, Gafping and dying there . This fight I ne'er can lofe, by it I live : A quick'ning virtue from his death infpir'd Is life and breath to me ; his flefh my food ; His vital blood I drink, and hence my ftrength, I live, I'm ftrong, and pow eternal life Bt Sasred to Devotion, &c. 123 Beats quick within my breaft; my vigorous mind Spurns the dull earth, and on her fiery wings Reaches the mount of purpofes divine, Counfels of peace betwixt th' almighty three JCouceiv'd at once, and fign'd without debate, In perfect union of th' eternal mind. With vaft amaze I fee the unfathom'd thoughts, [infinite fchems, and infinite defigns JOf God's own heart, ia which he ever reits. JEternity lies open to my view ; Here the beginning and the end of all, I can difcover ; CHRIST the end of all, And CHRIST the great beginning; he my head, My God, my glory, and my all in all. O that the day, the joyful day V. ere come, When the firil Adam from his ancient dufl Crown'd with new honours fhall revive, and fee JESUS his Son and Lord; while fhouting faints Surround their king, and God's eternal fon Shines in the midft, but with fnperior beams, And like himfelf ; then the myfteriqus word Long hid behind the letter ihall appear All fpirit and life, and in the fullefi light Stand forth to public view, and there difciofe His father's facred works, and wondrous ways : Then wifdom, rightcoufnefs and grace divine, Thro' all the infinite tranfactions pall, Inwrought and mining, fhail with double blaze Strike our ailoniih'd eyes, -and ever reign, Admir'd and glorious in triumphant fight. Death, and the tempter, and the man of fin Now at the bar arraigned, in judgment cuft, Shall vex the faints no more : but per feci love Andloadeft praifes perfect joys create, While eyer circling years mamtain the blifsful flate. L % Love 124 LYRIC POEMS. Book!, Love on a Cross, and a Throne. 1. NO W let my faith growftrong, and rife, And view my Lord, in ali his love ; Look back to hear his dying cries, Then mount and fee his throne above. II. See where he languifiVd on the crofs ; Beneath my fins he groan'd and dy'd ; See where he fits to \ Lad my caufe Ey his almighty father's fide. III. If I behold his bleeding heart, There love in floods of forrow reigns, He triumphs o'er the killing fmart, And buys my pleafure with his pains. IV. Or if I climb th' eternal hills Where the dear Conqueror fits enthron'd, Still in his heart compafiion dwells, Near the memorials of his wound. V. How fnall a parden'd rebel fhow How much I love my dying God ? Lord, here I banifh every foe, 1 hate the fins that coft thy blood. VI. I hold no more commerce with hell, My deareft lufts ihall all depart ; But let thine image ever dwell Stampt asaftal upon my heart. A Pri> Satred to Devotion*, &c. 125 A Preparatory Thought tor thk Lord's Supper. In Imitation of Ifai. lxiii. I, 2, 3. I. "TTT HAT heavenly Man, or lovely Gon r * * Comes marching do vvn wards from the Ikies, Array 'd in garments roil'd in bieod, With joy and pity in his eyes? II. The Lord ! the Saviour! yes, 'tis he, -» I know him by the fmiies he wears ; Dear glorious Man that dy'd for me, Dreuch'd deep in agonies and tears! III. Lo. he reveals his mining breaft ; I own thofe wounds, and I adore : Lo, he prepares a royal feaft, Sweet fruit of the fliarp pangs he bore! [IV. Whence flow thefe favours fo divine ! Lord ! why fo lavifh of thy blood ? Why for fuch earthly fouls as mine, This, heavenly flelh, this facresi food. V. 'Twashis own love that made him bleed', That nailed him to the curfed tree ;, ^T was his own love this table fpread 3?or fuch unworthy worms as we. VI. Then let us tafte the Saviour's love, Come, faith, and feed upon the Lord : With glad confent our lips fhall move And fweet bo/annas crown'dthe board, L 3 Cojsversb iz6 LYRIC POEMS, Book I Converse with Christ. I. I'M tir'd with vifits, modes and forms, And flatteries paid to fellow worms ; Their converfation cloys : Their vain amours, and empty fluff: But I can ne'er enjoy enough Of thy bieft company, my Lord, thou life of al my jovs. II. When he begins to tell his love, Through every vein my pafiions move, The captives of his tongue ; In midnight (hades, on frofty ground, 1 could attend thepleafing found, Nor fhould I ftel December cold, nor think the dark- nefs long. III. There, while I hear my Saviour God Count o'er the fins, (a heavy load) He bore upon the tree, Inward I blufh with fecret fhame, And w-eep, and love, and blefs the name That knew nor guilt nor grief his own, but bare it all for me. IV. Next he defcribes the thorns he wore, And talks his bloody pafiion o'er, Till I am drown'd in tears : Yet with the fympathetic fmart There's a flrange jcy beats round my heart ; The curfed tree has bleffings in't, my fweetefl Lalm it bears. Sacred t& Devotion, &c. 127 V. I hear the glorious fufferer tell, Kow on hiscrofs he vanquifn'd hell, And all ths powers beneath ; Tranfported and infpir'd, my tongue Attempts Ills triumphs in a fcng : Hoiv bas lot frpeni lojl LisJIing, and ivbere 's iby vi&o- ry, clear b P VI. But when he (hews his hands and heart, With thyfe dear prints of dying fmart, He fets my foul on fire : Not the beloved John could reft With more delight upon that breaft, i>*or Thomas pry into thofe wounds with more in- tenie deiire. VII. Kindly he opens me his ear, AiTd bids me pour my forrows there, And tell him ail my pains : Thus while I eafe my burden* d heart, In every woe he bears a part, His arms embrace me, and his hand rny drooping head fuftains. VIII. Fly from my thoughts, all human thing9, And fporting fwains, and fighting king?, And tales of wanton love : My foul difdains that little fnare The tangles of Amira's hair ; Thine arms, my God, are fweeter bands, nor can my heart remove, Grace 128 LYRIC POEMS, Book I. Grace shining, and Nature fainting. Sol. Seng i. 3, & ii. 5. 5c vi. 5. I. TELL me, fairefl of thy kind, Tell me Sht^HtKD, aii civine, Where this tainting head reclin'd May relieve fuch cares as name : Siiiirn E,tu, lead me to thy grove; If burning noon infect the Iky The fick'ning fheep to coverts fly, The fheep not half fo faint as I, Thus overcome with love. If. Say, thou dear Sovereign of my breaft, Where doit thou lead thy flock to reft? Where fhould I appear like one Wild and jwand'ring ail alone, Unbeloved and unknown ? O my great Redeemer, fay, Shall i turn my feet aftray ! Will JESUS bear to fee me rove, To fee me feek another love ? III. Ne'er had I known his deareft name, Ne'er had I felt his dearell flame, Had rot his heart-firings firft began the tender found ; Nor can I bear the thought, that he Shou'd leave the fey, Shcu'd bleed and die, Should love a wretch fo vile as me Without returns of paffion for his dying wound. IV. His eyes are glory mix'd with grace j In his delightful awful face -Jits raajefty and gent u nefi. So Sacred to Devotion, &c. 129 So tender is my bleeding heart That with a frown he kills ; His abfence is perpetual fmart, Nor is my foul refin'd enough To bear the beaming of his love, And feel his warmer fmiles. Where fhall I reft this drooping head ? 1 love, I love the fun, and yet 1 want the fhade. V. My finking fpirits feebly flrive T' endure the ecftacy ; Beneath thefe.rays 1 cannot live, And yet without them die. None knows the pleafure and the pain That all my inward powers fuftain But fuch as feel a Saviour's love, and love the. God again. VI. O why fhould beauty heavenly bright Stoop to charm a mortal's fight, And torture with the fweet excefs of light I Our hearts, alas! how frail their make ! With their owq, weight of joy they break, Oh why is love fo flrong, and nature's felf fo weak? VII. Turn, turn away thine eyes, Afcend the Azure hills, and mine Amongft the happy tenants of the Ikies, They can fuftain a vihon fo divine. O turn thy lovely glories from me, The joys are too intenfe, the glories overcome me. VIII. Dear Lord, forgive my rafh complaint, And love me itill Againft my froward will \ Unvail ISO LYRIC POEMS, Book I. Unvail thy beauties, tho' I faint. Ssnd the great herald from the fky, And at the trumpet's awful roar This feeble ftate of things fliall fly And pain and pleafure mix no more : Then fhall I gaze withftrengthened fight On glories infinitely bright, My heart fhall all be love, my JESUS all delight. Love to Christ present or absent. 1. OF all the joys we mortals know, JESUS, thy love exceeds the reft j Love, the bed blefling here below, And nearefl image of the blefL II. Sweet are my thoughts, and foft my cares, When the celeftial flame I feel ; In all my hopes, and all my fears, There's fomething kind and pleafing flill. III. While I am held in his embrace There's not a thought attempts to rove ; Each fmile he wears upon his face Fixes, .and charms, and fires my love. IV. He fpeaks, and flrait immortal joys Run thro' my ears, and reach my heart ; My foul all melts at that dear voice, And pleafure fhoots thro' every part. V. If he withdraw a moment's fpace, lie leaves a facrtd pledge beinn.il ; Here Sacred to Devotion, &c» 131 Here in this breaS his image (lays, The grief and comfort of my mind. VI. While of his abfence I complain, And long, and weep as lovers do, There's a fcrange pleafure in the pain, And tears have their own fweetnefo too. VII. When round his courts by day I rove, Oraik the watchmen of the night For fome kind tidings of my love, Hisv^ry name creates delight. VIII. JESUS, my God ; yet rather come; Mine eyes would dwell upon thy face ; 'Tis beft to fee my Lord at home, And feel the prefence of his grace. The Absence of Christ. I. CO ME, lead me to fome lofty fhade Where turtles moan their loves j Tall fhadows were for lovers made : And grief becomes the groves. II. 'Tis no mean beauty of the ground That has enflav'd my eyes ; I faint beneath a nobler wound, Nor love below the Ikies. III. JESUS, the fpring of all that's bright, The everlafting fair, Heaven's ornament, and heaven'e delight, Is my eternal care . I V. i 3 2 LYRIC POEMS, Book I. IV. Eut, ah ! how far above this grove Does the bright charmer dwell? Abfence, that keeneft wound to love, That fharpeft pain, I feel. V. Penfive I climb the facred hills, And near him vent my wees ; "Yet his fweet face he flill conceals, Yet flill my paffion grows. VI. 1 murmur to the hollow vale, I tell the rocks my flame, And blefs the echo in her cell That bell repeats his name. VII. My paffion breaths perpetual fighs, Till pitying winds fhall hear, And gently bear them up the fkics, And gently wound his ear. Desiring his Descent to Earth, JESUS, I love. Come, deareftname, Come and poffefs this heart of mine ; I love, tho' 'tis a fainter flame, And infinitely lefs than thine. II. O ! if my Lord would leave the fkies, Dreftin the rays ofmildeft grace, My foul fhould haflen to my eyes To meet the pleafures of hi* fate. III. Sacred t& Devotion, &c, 133 in. 1 How would I feaft on all his charms, j Then round his lovely feet entwine ! I Worfhip and love, in all their forms, ' Shou'd honour beauty fo divine. IV. In vain the tempter's flatt'ring tongue, The world in vain fhould bid me move, In vain; for I fhould gaze fo long Till I were all transform'd to love. V. Then (mighty God) I'd fing and fay, Ai What empty names are crowns and kings! " Amongft 'em give thefe worlds away, ** Thefe little defpicable things. VI. I would not afk to climb the fky, Nor envy angels their abode, I have a heav'n as bright and high In the bleft vifion of my God. Ascending to Him in Heaven. I. TI S pure delight, without alloy, JESUS to hear thy name, My fpirit leaps with inward joy, I feel the facred flame. II. My paffions hold a pleafing reign, While love infpires my breaft, Love, the divineft of the train, The fovereign of the reft. M m. i 3 4 LYRIC POEMS. Book I. HI. This is the grace muft live and fing, When faith and fear fhall ceafe, Muft found from every joyful ilring Thro' the fvveet groves of blifs, IV. Let life immortal feize my clay; Let love refine my blood ; Her flames can bear my foul away, Can bring me near my God. V. Swift I afcend the heavenly place, And haften to my home, Heap to meet thy kind embrace, I come, O Lord, I come. VI. Sink down, ye fepajating hills, Let guilt and death remove, 'Tis love that drives my chariot wheels, And death muft yield to Jove. The Presence of GOD worth dyinc for: Or, the Death of Moses. LORD, 'tis an infinite delight, To fee thy lovely face, To dwell whole ages in thy fight, And feel thy vital rays. II. This Gabriel knows ; and fings thy name With rapture on his tongue; Mofes the faint, enjoys the fame, And heaven repeats the fong. III. Sacred to Devotion, &c. 135 III. While the bright nation founds thy praife. From each eternal hill, Sweet odours of exhaling grace The happy region fill. IV. Thy love, a fea without a fhprc, Spreads life and joy abroad; O 'tis a heaven wonh dying for, To fee a fmiling God! V. Shew me thy face, and I'll away From all inferior things ; Speak, Lord, and hear I quit my clay, And ftretch my airy wings. VI. Sweet was the journey t« the Iky The wondrous prophet try'd; Climb up the mount, fays GoD, and die : The prophet climb'd and dy'd. VII. Softly his fainting head he lay Upon his Maker's breaft, His Maker kifs'd his foul away, And laid his flefh to reft. VIII. In God's own arms he left the breatfe That God's own fpirit gave ; His was the nobleft road to deatb, And his the fweeteft grave. M J * L O N G 136 LYRIC POEMS. Book I. Long for his Return. I. O'Twas a mournful parting day ! Fareivel, txyfpoufe, he faid ; How tedious, Lord, is thy delay! (How long my love hath {laid 1) II. Farcivsl ! at once he left the ground, And cKmb'd his father's Iky : Lord, 1 would tempt thy chariot do wn* Or leap to thee on high. III. Round the creation wild I rove, And fearch the globe in vain ; There's nothing here that's worth my lore Till thou return again. IV. My paffions fly tofeek their King* And fend their groans abroad* They beat the air with heavy wing, And mourn an abfent God. V. "With inward pain my heart-ftrings found, My foul diffolves away ; Dear Sovereign, whirl the feafons round* And bring the promis'd day. Hope in Darkness. I. 1694* YET, gracious GOD, Yet will I feek thy fmiling face ; What tho' a fhort eclipfe his beauties fhroud And Sacred to Devotion, &c. 137 And bar the influence of his rays, 'Tisbut a morning vapour, or a fummercloud : He is my lull, tho' herefufe to (hine, Tho ! for a moment he depart 1 dwell for ever on his heart, For ever he on mine. Ear;y before the light arife I'll fpring a thought away to God ; The pafijon of my heart and' eyes Sha'l fhout a- thoufand groans and fighs, A thoufand glances ftrike the fkies, The floor cf his abode. II. Dear Sovereign, hear thy fervant pray Bend the blue Heavens, Eternal King, Downward thy chearful gracesbring ; Or fhall I breathe in vain, and pant my hours away? Break Glorious Brightnefs, thro' the gloomy veil, Look how the armies of defpair, Aloft their footy banners rear- Round my poor captive foul, and dare Pronounce me prifoner of hell. But Thou, my Sun, and Thou, my Shield, Wilt fave me in the bloody field; Break, gioriousTkightneis, fhootoneglimm'ring ray, One glance of thine creates a day, And drives the troops of hell away. III. Happy the times, but ah ! the times are gone When wond'rous power and radiant grace Round the tall arches of the temple (hone, And mingled their victorious rays: Sin with all its ghaftly train, Fled to the deeps of death again, M 3 And j 3 8 LYRIC POEMS, Book 1. And fn iling triumph fat en every face; Our lpirits raptur'd with the fight Were all devotion, all delight, And loud Hofannas founded the Redeemer's praifc. Here could I fay. (And point the plase whereon I flood) Here 1 enjoy'd a vifit half the day From my defceoding God : I was regal'd with heavenly fare, With fruit and manna from above ; Divinely fweet the bleHii gs were While mine Emanuel was there ; And o'er my head The Conqueror fpread The banner of his love. IV. Then why my heart funic down fo low ? Why do my eyes diffolve and flow, And hopelefs nature mourn ? Review, my foul, thofe pleafing days, Pvead his unalterable grace Thro' the difpleafure of his face, And wait a kind return. A father's love may raife a frown To chide the child, or prove the fon> But iove will ne'er deftroy ; The hour of darknefs is but fbort, Faith be thy life, and patience tby fupport, The morning brings the joy. Come, Lord JESUS. WHEN fhal! thy lovely face be feen ? When fhall our efc$ behold ourC-cD ? Whal Sacred to Devotion, &c. 139 What lengths of diftance lie between, And hills of guilt ? a heavy load I II. Our months, are ages of delay, And flowly every minute \vear5 : Fly, winged time, and roll away Thefe tedious rounds of fluggifb years, III. Ye h-avenly gates, loofe all your chains, Let the eternal pillars how ; Bletl Saviour, cleave the ftarry plains, And make the cryftal mountains iiow. IV. Hark, how thy faints unite their cries, And pray and wait the general doom ; Come, thou, The Soul of alj our joys Thou, The desire of nations, come. V. Put thy bright robes of triumph on, And blefs our eyes, andblefs our ears, Thou abfent Love, thou dear Unknown - , Thou Fairest of ten thousand Fairs-. VI. Our heart ftrings groan with deep complaint, Our fiefli lies panting, Lord, for thee, And every limb, and every joint, Stretches for immortality. VII. Our fpirits fhake their eager wings, And burn to meet thy flying throne ; We rife away from mortal things T' attend thy mining chariot down. VIII. Now let our chearful eyes furvey The blazing earth and mslting hills, And 1 4 o LYRIC P OE M S, Book I. And fmile to fee the lightnings play, And flafli along before thy wheels. IX. O for a fhout of violent joys, To join the trumpet's thund'ring found ! The angel herald fhakes the (kits, AwaKes the graves, and tears the ground. X. Ye flumb'ring faint?, a heavenly ho ft Stands wait.ng at your gaping tombs; Let every facred fleeping dufc Leap into life, for JESUS comes. XI JESUS, the God of might and love, New-moulds our limbs of cumb'i pus clay ;• Quick as feraphick flames we move, Active and youns:, and fair as they. XII. Our airy feet witb unknown flight Swift as the motions of defire, Run up the hills of heavenly light, And leave the weltring world in fire. Bewailing my own Inconstancy. I. I LOVE the Lord ; but ah ! how far My thoughts from the dear object arc ! This wanton heart how wide it roves ! And fancy meets a chouftnd loves. II. If my foul burn to fee my God, I tread the courts of his a b( d.e. But troops of rivals throng the place And tempt me off before his face. H L Sacred to Devotion, &c. 141 ill. Would I enjoy my Lord alone, I hid my paffions all be gone, All but my love ; and charge my will To bar the door and guard it ftill. IV. But cares or trifles make or find Still new avenues to the mind, Till I with grief and wonder fee Huge crowds betwixt my Lord and me. V. Oft I am told the mufe will prove A friend to piety and love : Strait I begin fome facred fong, And take my Saviour on my tongue, VI. Strangely I lofe his lovely face To hold the empty founds in chafe ; At bed the chimes divide my heart, And the mufe fhares the larger part* VII. Falfe confident ; and falfer breail [ Fickle and fond of every gueft : Each airy image as it flies Here finds admittance thro' my eyes. VIII. This foolifh heart can leave her God, And fbadows tempt her thoughts abroad j How (hall I fix this wandring mind, Or throw my fetters on the wind ? IX. Look gently down, Almighty Grace, Prifon me round in thine embrace; Pity the foul that would be thine, And let thy power my love confine. X.- i 4 2 LYRIC POEMS, Book I, x. Say, when (hall that bright moment be. That I (hall live alone for thee, My heart no foreign lords adore, And the wild mufe prove falfe no more ? Forsaken, tet Hoping. I. HAPPY the hours, the golden day*, When I could call my JESUS mine, And fit and view his fmiling face, And melt in pleafures all divine. II. Near to my heart, within my arm* He lay, till fin defil'd my breaft, Till broken vows and earthly charms, Tir'd and provok'd my heavenly gueft. 111. And now he's gone, (O mighty woe !) Gone from my foul, and hides his love ! Curfe on you, fins, that griev'd him fo, Ye fins, that fore'd him to remove. IV. Break, break, my heart ; complain my tougi Hither, my friends, your forrows bring ; Angels affift my doleful-fong, If you have e'er a mourning- firing. V. But ah ! your joys are ever high, Ever his lovely face you fee ; While my poor fpirits pant and die*, And groan for thee, my God, for thee. sacred to Devotion, &c. 143 VI. ji'et 1ft my hope look thro' my tears, fad fpy ah: his rolling throne ; irjis chariot thro' the cleaving fpheres Shall bring the bright Beloved down. VII. Swift as a roe flies o'er the hills, My foul fpffMgs out to meet him high, Then the fair Conqueror turns his wheels* And climbs the ttianfiens of the Iky. VIII. There fmilingjoy for ever reigns, No mere die turtle leaves the uove ; ^arewelto jeuloufies, and pains, And all the ills of ahfent love. The Conclusion. GOD EXALT* D ABOVE ALL PRAISE, I. ET EjRN AL power ! whofe high abode Becomes the grandeur of a Gon ; Infinite lengths beyond the bounds Where ftars revolve their little rounds. II. The lowefl Hep above thy feat Rifes too high for Gabriel's feet, In vain the tall arch-angel tries To reach thine height with wondring eyes. III. Thy dazling beauties whilft he fings, He hides his face behind his wings ; And ranks of Ihining thrones around Fall worfhipping, and fpread the ground, IV. ,44 LYRIC POEMS, Book I, IV. Lord, what fhall earth and afhesdo ? We would adore our Maker too ; From fin and duft to thee we cry The Great, the Holy and the Higu. V. Earth from afar has heard thy fame, And worms have learnt to lifp thy name ; But O, the glories of thy mind, Leave all our foaring thoughts behind. VI. God is in heaven, and men below ; Befhort, our tunes; our words, be few; A facred reverence checks our fongs, And praife fits filence on our tongues. The END of the FIRST BOOK. Tibi filet law, Deus, Pfal. kv. I. HORM LTRICM. BOOK II. Sacred to Virtue, Honour, and Friendship, Q To her Majesty. UEEN of the northern world whofe gentle fway Commands our love, and charms our hearts t' obey, i Forgive the nation's groan when WILLIAM dy'd : Lo, at thy feet in all the loyal pride i Of blooming joy, three happy realms appear, And WILLIAM's urn almoft without a tear I Stands; nor complains ; while from thy gracious tongue, I Peace flows in filver ftreams amidft the throng. Amazing balm, that on thofe lips was found To footh the torment of that mortal wound,. And calm the wild affright! the terror dies, The bleeding wound cements, the danger flies, And Albion fhouts thine honours as her joys arife The German eagle feels her guardian dead, Not her own thunder can fecure her head; Her trembling eaglets haften from afar, All Belgia's lion dreads the Gallick war l N All j 146 LYRIC POEMS, Book II. All hide behind thy (liield. Remoter lands Whofe lives lay trufted in NafTovian hands, Transfer their fouls, and live ; fecure they play In thy mild rays, and love the growing day. Thy beamy wing at once defends and warms Fainting religion, whilft in various forms Fair piety fhines thro' the Britifh ifies ; Here at thy fide, and in thy kindeft fmiles* Blazing in ornamental gold fhe {lands To bids thy councils, and affift thy hands, And crowds wait round her to receive commands. There at a humble diftance from the thronef Beauteous fhe lies; her luftre all her own, Ungarnifh'd ; yet not blufhing, nor afraid, Nor knows fufpicion, nor affects the fhade : Chearful and pleas'd flic not prefumes to fhare Jn thy parental gifts, but owns thy guardian care. For thee, dear fovereign, endlefs vows arife, And zeal with early wingialutes the fkies To gain thy fafety: here afolemn form* Of ancient words keeps the devotion warm. And guides, but bounds our wifh.es: there themindf Feels its own fire, and kindles unconfin'd "With bolder hopes: yet ftill beyond our vows Thy lovely glories rife, thy fpreading terror grows. Princess, the world already owns thy name : Go, mount the chariot of immortal fame, Nor die to be rcnown'd : fame's loudeft breath Too dear is purchas'd by an angel's death. The vengeance of thy rod, with general joy, Shall fcourge rebellion and the rival boy :^ Thy * The cjlablifbed Church oj England. f Vbt frotejlant Difentctt, ^ The Pretender* Sacred to Devotion, &c. 147 Thy founding arms his gallic patron hears And fpeeds his flight nor overtakes his fears, Till hard defpair wring from the tyrant's foul The iron tears out. Let thy frown controul Our angry jarrs at home, till wrath fubmit Her impious banners to thy facred feet. Mad zeal and phrenzy, with her murderous train, Flee thefe fweet realms in thine aufpicious reign, Envy expire in rage, and treafon bite the chain. Let no black fcenes affright fair Albion's ftage : Thy thread of life prolong our golden age, Long blefs the earth, and late afcend thy throne Ethereal : (not by deeds are there unknown Nor there unfung : for by thine awful hand Heaven rules the waves, and thunders lands, Creates inferior kings* and gives 'em their mand Legions attend thee at the radiant gates ; For thee thy fifter-Seraph, Blelt MA&IA, waits. But oh ! the parting ftroke ! fome heavenly power Chear thy fad Britons in the gloomy hour ; Some new propitious ftar appear on high The faireft glory of the ivejlern Iky, And ANNA be its name ; with gentle fway To check the planets of malignant ray, Sooth the rude north wind, and the rugged Bear, -v Calm rifing wars, heal the contagious air, / And reign with peaceful influence to the fouihern f fphere. 3 Note, This poem ivas written iu the year I705, in that honorablt part of the reign of our late QuEEN,Wj«fl N % fhc * She made Charles, the emperor's fecond fon king of Spain, who is now emperor of Germany. own, lands ~\ o'er the I icir com- 1 i 4 8 LYRIC POEMS, Book II. fie had broke the French power at Blenheim, offtrtei the right of Ch.MU.E3, the prefent emperor ', to the crown c f Spain, exerted her zeal for the proteftant fuccefiion, and prom if ed inviolably to maintain the toleration to the proiefiant dijfenters. Thus fie appear' d the chiej fup- port of the reformation, and the patromTs of the li- berties of Europe. The latter part of her reign was of a different co!our % and was ky no means attended with the acconipUfiment of ihc r e crlorious hopes which we had conceived. Now, tlic tnufe cannot fatisfy herf elf to puhlifi this new edition, with- out acknowledging the mlflake of her former prefag"s : a, id •while fie does the world ibis jujlice, fie does herfelf the hon- our of a voluntary retraclion, Auguft I, IJ2I. Palinodia. BR I T O N S, forgive the forward mufe That dar'd prophetic fcals to locfe, (Unfkill'd in fate's eternal book,) And the deep characters mifrook. GEORGE is the name, that glorious ftar ; Ye fiv.v his fplendors beaming far ; Saw in the eaft your joys arife, When ANMA funk in w.fiem fkies, Streaking the heavens with crimfon gloom Emblems of Tyranny and Rome, Portending blood and night to come. 'Twas GEORGE diffus'd a vital ray, And gave the dying nations day : His influence fooths the Ruffian Bear, Calms riling wars, and heals the air ; Jqin'd with the fun his beams are huiTd Tofcatter bkfimgs round the world, Fulfil [Sacred to Devotion, &c. 149 Fulfil whate'er the mufe has fpoke, ; And crown the work that ANNE forfook. Augujl 1, i 7 ai. To John Locke, Esq; retired from Business. I. ANGELS are made of heavenly things,. And light and love our fouls compofe, Their blifs within their bofom fprings, Within their bofom flows. But narrow minds ft ill make pretence Tofearch the coafts of fltfh and fonfe, And fetch diviner pleafures thence. Men are akin to ethereal forms, But they belye their nobler birth,. Debafe theirhonour down to earth, And claim a {hare with worms. II. He that has treafures of his own May leave the cottage or the throne, May quit the globe, and dwell alone Within his fpacious mind. LOCKE hath a foul wide asthefea, Calm as the night, bright as the day, There may his vaft ideas play, Nor feel a thought confin'd. N3 TV A 150 LYRIC P 6 E M S. Book II. To JOHN SHUTE, £f 7 . (voiv Lord BarrUgtcn.) On Mr. Locke's dangerous Sichnefs. fomc time after he had retired to finely the Scriptures. I. June 1704. ND muft the man of wondrous mind (Now his rich thoughts are juft rerin'd) ForfAe our longing tyes? Reafon at length fubr.^its to wear The wir:gs vX faith; and lo, they rear Her chariot high, and nobly bear, Ker prophet to the ikies; II. Go, friend, ^and wait The prophet's flight, Watch if his mantle chance to light And feize it for thy own : SHUTE is the darling of his years, Young SHUTE his better likenefs bears, Ail but his wrinkles and his hairs Are copy'd in his fon. III. Thus when our follies or our fault3 Call for the pity of thy thoughts, Thy pen (hall make us wife : The fallies of whefe youthful wit Could pierce the Britifh fogs with light, Place our true * interef. in our fight, And open half our eyes. f To Mr. W I L L I A N NOKES. Friendship. I. 170^ RIENDSHIP, thou charmer of the mind, Thou fvveet deluding ill, The * TifiutereJ of England; written by J. S. Efq. 1£I The brighteft minute mortals find, And fharpeft hour we feel. II. Fate has divided all our (hares O r plea'fure and of pain ; In love the comforts ana lie cares Are mix'd and join'd again. III. But whilfl in floods our forrow rolls, And drops cf joy are few; This dear delight of mineling fouls Serves but to fweli our wee. IV. Oh ! why fhould Idifs depart in haftc, And friendfhjp ftay to moan? Why the fond pufiion cling fo faft, When every joy is gong ? V. Yet never let cur hearts divide, Nor death diffoive the chain ; For love and joy were once ally'd, And muft be join'd again. TO NATHANIEL GOULD, Efq. Nov/ Sir NATHANIEL GOULD. I. 1704. > r TP 1 S not by fplendonr, or by (late, X Exalted mein. or lofty gait, My mufe takes meafure of a king ? If wealth, or height, or bulk will do, She calls each mounrair of Peru A more majeflic thing. Frown 1^2 LYRIC POEMS, Book IT. Frown on me, friend, if t'er I boaft O'er fellow minds enflav'd in clay, Or fwell when I fhall have engroft A larger heap of fhining duft, And wear a bigger load of earth than they. Let the vain world falute me loud, My thoughts look inward, and forget The founding names of high and^a/, The flatteries of the crowd. II. When GOULD commands his fhips to run. And fearch the traffic of the fea, His fleet o'ertakes the falling day, And bears the ivsjlern mines away, Or richer fpices from the rifing fun ; While the glad tenants of the fhore Shout, and pronounce him fenator,* Yet ftill the man's the fame : For well the happy merchant knows The foul with treafure never grows, Nor fwells with airy fame. III. But truft me, GOULD, 'tis lawful pride To rife above the mean controul Of flefh andfenfe, to which we're ty'd ; Thi6 is ambition that becomes a foul. We fleer our courfe up thro' the fkies ; Farewel this barren land :. Wc ken the heavenly fhore with longing eyes. There the dearwealthoffpiritslies, And beckoning angels ftand. To * Mcmbtr *f Pafliemintfor a fort in Suflcx. Sacred to Devotion, Sec. 153 To Dr. THOMAS GIESON. The Life of Souls. 1. 1704. SWIFT as the Sun revolves the day We haften to the dead, Slaves to the wind we puff away, And to the ground we tread. 'Tis air that lends us life, when firfi Th§ vital bellows heave : Our flefii we borrow of the duft; " And when a mother's care has nuril The babe to manly fize, we muft Withufury pay the grave. II. Rich juleps drawn from precious ore Still tgo3 the dying flame : And plants, and roots, of barbarous name, Torn from the Indian fhore. Thus we fupport our tott'ring fiefh, Our cbeeks refume the rote afrelh, When Bark and Steel play well their game To fave our finking breath, And GIBSON, with his awful power, Rtfcues the poor precarious hour From the demands of death. III. But art and nature, pow'rs and charms, And drugs, and recipes, and forms, Yield us, at laft, to greedy worms A dcfpicable prey ; I'd have a life to call my own, That (hall depend on heaven alone ; Nor air, nor earth, nor fea, Mix i 5 4 LYRIC POEMS. Book H. Mix their bafe effences with mine, Nor claim dominion fo divine To give me leave to be. IV. Sure there's a mind within, that reign* O r er the dull current of my veins : I feel the inward pulfe beat high With vig'rous immortality Let earth refume the flefh it gave, And breath diffolve amongft the winds ; GIBSON, the things that fear a grave, That I can lofe, or you can fave, Are not akin to minds. V. We claim acquaintance with the fkies, Upward our fpirits hourly rife, And there our thoughts employ : When heaven fhall fign our grand releafe, We are no ftrangers to the place,. The buflnefs, or the joy. False Greatness. I. MYLO, forbear to call him blefl That only boaft a large eftate, Should all the treafures of the iveft Meet, and confpire to make him great I know thy better thoughts, I know Thy reafon can't defend fo low. Let a broad ftream with golden fand*. Thro* all his meadows roll, He's but a wretch with all his lands,. That wears a narrow foul. Sacred to Devotion, &c. 155 II. He f wells amidft his wealthy ftore, And proudly poizing what he weighs, In his own fcale he fondly lays Huge heaps of fhining ore. rle fpreads the balance wide to hold His manors and his farms, And cheats the beam with loads of gold He hugs between his arms, So might the plough boy climb a tree, When Crsefus mounts his throne, And both ftand up, and frnile to fee How long their fhadow's grown. Alas ! how vain their fancies be To think that fhape their own ! III. Thus mingled ftill with wealth and Hate, Craefus himfelf can never knew; His true dimenfions and his weight Are far inferior to their fhow. Were I fo tall to reach the pole, Or grafp the -ocean with my fpan, I mult be mcafur'd by my foul : The mind's the ftandard of the man. To Sarissa. An Epistle. BEAR up SARISSA, thro' the ruffling ftorms Of a vain vexing world : tread down the caree Thofe ragged thorns that lie acrofs the road, Nor fpend a tear upon them. Truft the mufe, She fingsexperieue'd truth : this briny dew, This rain of eyes will make the briars grow. We travel thro' a defert, and our feet Have i 5 6 LYRIC POEMS, Book II. Have meafur'd a fair fpace, have left behind A thoufand dangers, and a thoufand fnares Well Tcap'd. Adieu, ye horrors of the dark, Ye firiihVd labours, and ye tedious toils Of days and hours : The twinge of real fmart, And the falfe terrors cf ill-boding dreams Vanifh together, be alike forgot, For ever blended in one common grave. Farewel, ye waxing and ye waning moons, That we have watch'd behind the flying clouds On night's dark hill, or fetting or afcending, Or in meridian height : Then filence reign'd O'er half the w r orld; then ye beheld our tears, Ye witnefs'd our complaints, our kindred groans, (Sad harmony !) while with your beamy horns Or richer orb ye filver'd o'er the green Where trod our feet, and lent a feeble light To mourners. Now ye have fulflll'd your round, Thofehoursare fled, farewel. Months that are gone Are gone for ever, and have borne away Each his own load. Our woes and forrows paft, Mountainous woes, ftill leffen as they fly Far off. So billows in a ftormy fea, Wave after wave (a long fucceffion) roll Beyond the ken of fight : the failors fafe Look far a ftern till they have loft the ftorm ; And fhout their boiilerous joys. A gentler mufe Sings thy dear fafety, and commands thy cares To dark oblivion ; bury'd deep in night Lofe them SARISSA, and aflift my fong. Awake thy voice, flng how the {lender line Of fate's immortal NOW divides the paft From all the future, with eternal bars Forbidding a return. The paft temptations No Sacred to Devotion - , &c. 157 No more fkall vex us ; every grief we feel -Shortens the deftin' d number ; every pulfe Beats a fharp moment of the pain away, -And the laft ftroke will come. By fwift degrees Time fweeps us off ; and we fhall foon arrive At life's fweet period : O celeiiial point That ends this mortal ftory ! But if a glimpfe of light with flattering ray Breaks thro' the clouds of life, or wandring fire Amidft. the (hades invite your doubtful feet, Beware the dancing meteor : faithlefs guide, That leads the lonefome pilgrim wide aftray To bogs and fens, and pits, and certain death ! Should vicious pleafure take an angel form And at a diftance rife by flow degrees, Treacherous, to wind herfelf into your heart, Stand firm aloof; nor let the gaudy phantom Too long allure your gaze : the juft delight That heaven indulges lawful, muft obey Superior powers ; nor tempt your thoughts too fa? In flavery to fenfe, nor fwell your hope To dang'rous fize ; if it approach your feet And court your hand, forbid th' intruding joy To fit too near your heart : ftill may our louls Claim kindred with the ikies, nor mix with duft Our better born affections ; leave the globe A neftfor worms, and haften to our home. O there are gardens of th' immortal kind That crown the heavenly EJens, rifing hills "With beauty and with fweets ; no lurking mifchief Dwells in the fruit, nor ferpent twines the boughs ; The branches bend laden with life and blifs Ripe for the tafte, but 'tis a fteep afcent : Hold fail the * golden chain let down fromheav'n, O 'Twill * %be Go/pel 158 LYRIC POEMS. Book II. Twill help your feet and wings; I feel its force Draw upwards ; falten'd to the pearly gate It guides the way unerring : happy clue Thro' this dark wild ! 'twas wifdom'snobleft work, All join'd by power divine, and ev'ry link is love. To Mr. T. Bradbury. Paradise. I. 170?. YOUNG as I am I quit the ftage, Nor will I know the upplaufes of the age ; Farewel to growing fame. I leave below A life not half worn out with cares, Or agonies, or years ; I leave my country all in tears, But heaven demands me upward, and I dare to go. Amongft ye, friends, divide and fhare The remnant of my days, If ye have patience, and can bear A long fatigue of life, and drudge thro' all the race. II. Hark, my fair guardian chides my flay, And waves his golden rod : Angel, I come ; lead on the way : And now by fwift degrees I fail aloft thro' azure feas, Now tread the milky road : Farewel, ye planets, in your fpheres : And as the ftars are loft, a brighter fky appears. In hafte for paradife I ftretch the pinions of a bolder thought ; Scarce Sacred to Devotion, &c. 15-9 Scarce had I will'd, but I was pafl Deferts of tracklefs light and a'.lth' ethereal wafte, And to the facred borders bro't ; There on the wing a gmrd of cherubs lies, Each waves a keen flame as fee flies, And well defends the walls from lieges and furprife. III. With pleafing rev'rence I behold The pearly portals wide unfold : Enter, my foul, and view th' amazing fcenes ; Sit fafc upon the flying mufe, And let thy roving wonder loofe O'er all th' empyreal plains. Noon Hands eternal here : here may thy fight Drink in the rays of primogenial light ; Here breathe immortal air ; Joy maft beat high in ev'ry vein, Pleafure thro' all thy bofom reign ; The laws forbid the ftranger, pain, And baniih every care. IV. See how the bubbling fprings of love Beneath the thrcne arife ; Theftreams in cryftal channels move, Around the golden flreets they rove, And biefs the manfioas of the upper ikies. There a fair grove of knowledge grows, Nor fin ncr death infecrs the fruit ; Young life hangs frtfh en all the boughs, And fprings from every root ; Here may thy greedy fenfes feaft While extacy and health attends on every tafte. With the fair profpeel: charm'd I fiood : Fearlefsl feed on the delicious fare, And drink profufe falvation from the filver flood, Nor can excels be there. V. s6o LYRIC POEMS, Book II. V. In facred order rang'd along Saints new-releas'd by death Join the bold feraph's warbling breath,, And aid the immortal fong. Kach has a voice that tunes his firings To mighty founds, and mighty things, Things of everlafting weight, Sounds, like the fofter viol, fvveet, And, like the trumpet, ftrong.. Divine attention held my foul, I was all ear! Thro* all my pov/'rs the heavenly accents roll. I long'd and wifh'd my BRADBURY there; " Could he but hear thefe notef, 1 faid, U His tuneful foul wou'd never bear " The dull unwinding of life's tedious thread, " But burft the vital chords to reach. the. happy dead- VI. And now my tongue prepares to join: The harmony, r»nd with a noble aim.. Attempts th' unutterable name But faints, confounded by the notes divine : Again my foul th' unequal honour fought, Again her utmoft force fhe brought, A nd bow'd beneath the burden of th' unweildy tho't. Thrice I effay'd, and fainted thrice ; Th' immortal labour flrain'd my feeble frame, Broke the bright vifion, and diflolv'd the dream ^ 1 funk at once and loft the fkies : In vain I fought the fcenes of light Rolling abroad my longing eyes, Tor all around 'em flood n.y curtains and the night. Strict Sacred to Devotion, &c. 161 Strict Religion very rare, I. I'M bcrne aloft, and leave the crowd', 1 fail upon a morning cloud Skirted with dawning gold ; Mines Lyes beneath the opening day Command'the-ginbe with wide furvey, Where ants in bufy millions play, And tug and heave the mould. II. * e Are thefe the things (my paffion cry'd) ** That we call men ? Are chefe aliy'd " To the fair worlds of light ? w They have raz'd out their Maker's name, f* Grav'n on their minds with pointed flame .*' In ftrokes divinely bright.. III. M Wretches ! they hate their native Ikies; w If an ethereal thought arife, " Or fpark of virtue fhine, M With cruel force they damp its plumes, ** Choke the young fire with fenfual fumes, " With bufinefs, lull or wine. IV. " Lo ! how they throng wdth panting breath " The broad dcfcending road * l That leads unerring down to death, " Nor mifs the dark abode." Thus while I drop a tear or two On the wild herd, a noble few- Dare to ftray upward, and purfue Th' unbeaten way to Gob. V. i 62 L YR TO POEM S r Book II, v. I meet Myrtillo mounting high, I know his candid foul afar; Here Dorylusand Thyrfis fly Each like a rifing ftar, Charin I faw and Finea there, I Lw them help each other's flight,. And blefs them as they go ; They foar beyond mylub'ring fight, And leave their loads of mortal care, But not their love I eicw. On heav'n, their home, they fix their eyes,. The temple of their God : "With morning incenfe up they rife Sublime, and thro' the lowe: fkies- Spread the perfumes abroad. VI. Acrofs the road a feraph flew, "Mark (faidhe) that happy pair, '*' Marriage helps devotion there ; " When kindred minds their God purfue «* They break with double vigour thro' " The du'l inevmr crt air »' Charm'd with the pleafure and furprifc My foul adores and fmgs, " Bleft be the power that iprings their flight, " That flreaks their path with heavenly light, M That turns their love tofacrifice, " And joins their zeal for wings." To Mr. C. and S. Fleetwood. T. LEETWOODS, young generous pair, Defpife the joys that fools purfue ; Bubbles FLEE' Defpi Sacred to Devotion, &c. 163 Bubbles are light and brittle too, Born of the water and the air, Try'd by a ftandard bold and uft Honour and gold are paint and duft ; How vile the laft is, and as vain the firfl £ Things that the crowd call great and brave, With me how low their values brought I Tit es and names, and life and breath. Slaves to the wind and born for death %. The foul's the cnly thing we have Worth an important thought. II. The foul ! 'tis of the immortal kind, Ner form*d of fire, or earth or wind, Out lives the mouldring corpfe, and leaves the globe- behind. In limbs of clay tho' (he appears, Am.y'd in rofy fkin, and deck'd with ears and eye*, The flefh is bur the foul's difgurfe, There's nothing in her frame kin to the drefs fhe wears : , From all the laws of matter free, Horn all we feel, and all we fee, She Hands eternally diiHndr., and muffc for ever be. III. Rife then, my thoughts, on high, Soar beyond all that's made to diej JLo ! on an awful throne Sits the creator and the judge of fouls, Whirling the planets round the poles, Winds off our threads of life, and brings our periods on. Swift the approach, and folemn is the day, When this immortal mind Stript of the body's coarfe array r64 LYRIC POEM S, Book II, To endlefs pain or endlefs joy Muit be at once confin'd. IV. Think of the fands run down to ra fce, We poifefs none of all the pail. None, bw the prefent is our own ; Gr«tce ib '\o: plac'd within cur p *Tis but one ftiort, .-ne fhining hour, Bright and dc: ..ling as a fettvngTnn, See the white minutes wing'd with haf:c ;; The NOW that flies may be the lafl ; Seize the falvation e'er 'tis pafl, Nor mourn the blefCngs gone ; A thought's d-Jay is ruin here, A doling eye, a gafping breath, Shuts up the golden fcenein death, . And drowns you in defpair. To William Blackbourn, Esq. Czfunir. Lib. »'. Od. 2. imitated. Ova iegit canas n.odo Brutr.a italics ^ &C. I. MARK how it fnows ! how fait the valley fills! And the fweet groves the hoary garment wear; Yet the warm fun beams bounding from the hills Shali melt the veil away, and the young green appear. II. But when old age has on your temples fhed Her filver froft, there's no returning fun ; Swift flies our autumn, fwift our fummer's fled, When youth, and love ; and fpring, and golden joy» are gene.. III. Sacred to Devotion, &c. 165 ITT. Then cold, and winter, and your aged fnow,. Stick faft upon you ; not the rich array, Not the green garland, nor the rofy bough Shall cancel cr conceal the melancholy grey.. IV. The chafe of pleafure is not worth the pains, While the bright fands of health run wafting dowaj, And honour calls you from the fofter fcenes, To fell the gaudy hour for ages of renown. V. *Tis but one youth, and ihort, that mortals have And one old age diffolves our feeble frame ; But there's a heavenly art t' eiude the grave, And with the hero race immortal kindred claim. VI. The man that has his country's facred tears- Bedewing his cold hearfe, has liv'd his day t Thus, BLACKBOURN, we Ihould leave our names or heir Old time and waning moons fween all the reft awav. True Monarchy. 1701* TH E rifing year beheld th' imperious Gaul Stretch his dominion, while a hundred towns Crouch'd to the vicior : but a fteady foul Stands firm on its own bafe, and reigns as wide, As abfolute ; and fways ten thoufand flaves, Lufts and wild fancies with a fovereign hand. We are a little kingdom; but the man That chains his rebel will to reafon's throne, Forms it a large one, wbilft his royal mind Makes heaven its council from the rolls above £>raws his own ftatutes, and with joy obeys. 'Ti* »66 LYRIC POEMS. Book II. 1 'Tis not a troop of well appointed guards Creates a monarch, nor a purple robe Dy'd in the people's blood, not ail the crowns Or dazzling tiars that bend about the head, Tho' gilt with fun beams and fet round with ftsrs A monarch he that conq-uers all his fears, And treads upon them ; when he frands alone, Makes his own camp ; four guardian virtues wair His nightly {lumbers, and fecure his dreams. Now dawns the light ; he ranges all his thovghts Infqrare battalions, bold to meet th' attacks Of time and chance, himfelf a numerous heft, All eye, all ear, all wakeful as tbe day, Firm as a rock, and movelefs as the centre. In vain tbe harlot, pleafure, fpreads hsr charms, To lull his thoughts in luxury's fair lap, To fenfual eafe, (the bane of little kings, Monarchs whofe waxen images of fouls Are molded into foftnefs) ftiil his mind Wears its own fliape, nor can the heavenly form Of the mad vulgar, that unthinking herd. He lives above the crowd, nor hears the noife Of wars and triumphs, nor regards the fhouts Of popular applaufe, that empty found ; Nor feels the flying arrows of reproach, Or fpite or envy. In himfelf fecure, Wifdom his tower, and confeience is his ihield, His peace all inward and his joys his own. Nov/ my ambition fwell?, my wifhes foar, This be my kingdom : fit above the globe My rifing foul, and drefs tbyfelf around, And fhing in virtue's armour, climb the height Of wifdom's lofty caftle, there refide Safe from the fmiiing and the fj owning world. Yet Sacred to Devotion, &c. J'67 Yet once a day drop down a gentle look On the gr&at mole-hill, and with pitying eye Survey the bufy emmets round the heap, Crowding and buftiing in a thoufand fbrms Of ftrife and toil, to purchafe wealth and fame, A bubble or a d«ft : then call thy thoughts Up tothyfelf to feed on joys unknown, Rich without gold, and great without renown. True Courage. HONOURdemandsrnyfong. Forget the ground! My generous mufe, and fit amongft the ftars, There fing the loul, that, confciousof her birth, Lives like a native of the vital world, Amongftthefe dying clods, and bears her Hate Tuft to herfelf : how nobly me maintains Her character, fuperior to the flefh, She wields her pallions like her limbs, and knows The brutal powers were only born t' obey. This is the man whom ftorms could never make Meanly complain ; nor can a flatt'ring gale Make him talk proudly; he hath no defire To read his fecret fate ; yet unconcern'd j And calm could meet his unborn deftin.y, In all its charming, or its frightful fhapes, He that unfhrinking, and without a groan^ . Bears the firft wound, may finifh all the war With meer courageous filence, and come off Conqueror : for the man that well conceals The heavy ftrokesof fate, he bears 'cm well. He, tho' th' Atlantic and the Midland feas With adverfe furges meet, and rife on high Sufpended 'twixt the winds, then rufh amain Mingled with flames, upon his Angle head, And clouds, and flaw, and thunder, firm he {lands, Secure i68 LYRIC POEMS, Book II. Secure of his beft life ; unhurt, unmov'd; And drops his lower nature, born tor death. Then from the lofty caftle of his mind Sublime looks down, exulting, and furveys The ruins of creation ; (fouls alone Are heirs of dying -worlds ; J a piercing glance Shoots upwards from between his clofing lids, To reach his birth-place, and without a figh He bids his batter'd flefh lie gently down Amongil its native rubbifh ; while the fpirit Breathes and flies upwards, an undoubted gueft Of the third heaven, th' unruinablefky. Thither, when fate has brought our willing fouls, No matter whether 'twas a fharp difeafe, Or a fharp fword, that help'd the travellers on, And pufh'd us to our home. Bear up, my friend, Serenely, and break thro' the flormy brine With fteady prow ; know, ye fhall once arrive At the fair haven of eternal blifs, To which we ever fleer; whether askings Of wide command we've fpread the fpaciousfea With a broad painted fleet, or row'd along In a thin cock- boat with a little oar. There let my narrow plank fhift me to land And I'll be happy : thus I'll leap afhore Joyful and feariefs on th' immortal coaft, Since all I leave is mortal, and it muft be loft. „ , , , _— To the much Honoured Mr. THOMAS ROWE, The DirexSlor of my Youthful Studies. Free Philosophy. I. CUSTOM, that tyrannefs of fools, That leads the learned round the fchools, Sacred to Devotion, &c. 169 In magic chains of forms and rules ! My genius ftornis her throne ; No more, ye Haves, with awe profound Beat the dull track, nor dance the round ; Loofe hands, and quit th' inchanted ground : Knowledge invites us each alone. II. I hate thefe fhackles of the mind. Forg'd by the haughty wife; Souls were not born to be confin'd, And led, like Sampfon, blind and bound ; But when his native ftrength he found He well aveng'd his eyes. I love thy gentle influence , ROWE, Thy gentle influence like the fun, Only diflolves the frozen fnow, Then bids ©ur thoughts like rivers flow, And chufe the channels where they run. III. Thoughts fhould be free as fire or wind ; The pinions of a fingle mind Will through all nature fly : But who can drag up to the poles Long fetter'd ranks of leaden fouls ? A genius which no chain controuls Roves with delight, or deep or high ; Swift I furvey the globe around, Dive to the centre thro' the folid ground, Or travel o'er the iky. T© 170 LYRIC POEMS. Book IL To the Reverend Mr. BEN'ONI R O W E. The Way or the Multitude. I. ROW E, if we make the crowd our guide Thro' life's uncertain read, Mean is the thafe; and wandering wide We mils th' immortal good ; Yet if my thoughts could be cenfin'd To follow any leader mind, I'd mark thy fteps, and tread the fame : Dreft in thy notions I'd appear Not like a foul of mortal frame, Nor with a vulgar air. H. Men live at random and by chance, Bright reafon never leads the dance ; Whilft in the broad and beaten way O'er dales and hills from truth we flray, To ruin we defcend, to ruin we advance. Wifdom retires; fhe hates the crowd, And with a decent fcern Aloof fhe climbs her fleepy feat, Where nor the grave not giddy feet, Of the learn'd vulgar or the rude, Have e'er a paffage worn. III. Meer hazard firft began the track, Where cuftom leads her thoufands blind In willing chains and firong ; There'sfcarce one bold, one noble mind, Dares tread the fatal error back ; But hand in handourfelves wc bind And diag the age along. ■ Sacred i& Devotion, &c- 171 IV. Mortals, a fa vage herd, and loud As billows on a noify Hood in rapid order roll : Example makes the mifchief good : With jocund heel we beat the road, Unheedful of the goal. Me let * Ithuriel's Friendly wing Snatch from the crowd, and bear fubilrne To wifdom's- lofty tower, Thence to furvey than wretched thing, Mankind ; and in exalted rhime Blefs the delivering power. To the Rev. Mr. JO II N H O W E, I. 1704- Gi REAT man-, permit the mufe to climb r And feat her at thy feet, Bid her attempt a thought fublime, And confecrate her wit. 1 feel, I feel th' attractive force Of thy fuperior foul : My chariot flies her upward courfe, The wheels divinely roil. Now let me chide the mean affairs And mighty toil of men : How they grow grey in trifling cares^ Gr wafle the motions of the fpheres Upon delight3 as vain ! P %■ If. * Ithiarie! is tut nante'vf'an angd in Milton's paradife loft ■•- i 7 2 LYRIC POEMS, Book II. II. A puff" of honour fills the mind, And yellow duft is folid good : Thus like the afs of favage kind, We fmiffthe breezes of the wind, Or fceal the ferpent's fod. Could all the choirs That charm the poles Eut flrike one doleful found, 'Twculd be employ'd to mourn our fouls, Souh that were fram'd of fprightly n:c> In floods of folly drown'd. Souls made of glory feek a brutal joy ; How they difclaim their heavenly birch,, Jvlclt their bright fubfiance down with drofiy earth, And hate to be refin'd from that impure alloy. III. Oft has thy genius rous'd us hence With elevated fong, Bid us renounce this world of fenfe, Bid us divide th' immortal prize With the feraphic throng . " Knowledge and love makes fpirits bleft, " Knowledge their food, and love their reft" ; Eut rlefh, th' unmanageable beaft, Rcfnls the pity of thine eyes, And muiic of thy tongue. Then let the worms of groveling mind Hound the fhort joys cf earthly kind In reftlefs windings roam ; HOWE hath an ample orb of foul, Where filming worlds of knowleJge roll, Where love the centre and the pole Compleats the heaven achome. The Sacred id Devotion*, &c 173 The Disappointment and Relief. I. VIRTUE, permit my fancy to impels Upon my better pow'rs : She cafts fw-eet fallacies on half our woes, And gilds the gloomy hours. How could we bear this tedious round Of waining moons, and rolling years,. Of flaming hopes and chilling fears> If (where no fevereign cure appears) No opiates could be found. II. Love, the mod cordial ftream that flows, Is a deceitful good : Young Doris, who nor guilt nor danger knows,. On the green margin flood, Pleas'd with the golden bubbles as they role, And with more golden fands htr fancy pav'd the flood ; Then fond to be entirely bleft, And tempted by a fakhlefs youth, As void of goodnefs as of truth, She plunges in with heedlefs hafte, And rears the nether mud : Darknefs and naufeous dregs arife O'er thy fair current, love, with large fapplies Of pain to teaze the heart, and forrow for the eyes The golden blifs that charm'd her fight Is dalh'd and drown'd, and loft : A fpark, or glimmering ftreak at mod, Shines here and there amidft the ni^ht, Amidft theturbid waves, and gives a faint delight, III; Recover'd from the fad furprife, J}oris awakes at lafl, £ 3 Grown 174 LYRIC POEMS. Book II, Grown by the disappointment wife ; And manages with art th' unlucky cafi ; When the low'ring frown fhe fpies On her haughty tyrant's brow, With humble love fhe meet? hib wrathful eyes, And makes her Sovereign beauty bow ; * Chearful fhe fmiles upon her grifly form ; So fnines the fetting fun on adverfe fkies, And paints a rainbow on the Storm. Anon fhe lets thefullen humour fpend, And with a virtuous book, or friend, Beguiles th' uneafy hours : Well colouring every crofs fhe meets, With heart ferene fhe fleeps and eats, She fpreads her board with fancy'dfweet$, And Strews her bed with flow'rs. The Hero's School of Morality. T HERON, a mongft his travels, found, A broken ftatue on the ground ; And fearching onward, as he went H; trac'd a ruin'd monument Mould, mofs, and fhades had overgrown The Sculpture of the crumbling ftone, Yet, e'er he pad, with much ado, He guefs'd, and fpell'd out, Scj-pi-o. «' Enough, he cry'd ; I'll drudge no more {i In turning the dull Stoicks o'er : " Let pedants wafte their hours of cafe «« To fweat all night at Socrates; -V And feed their boys with notes and rules, **. Thofe tedious recipes of Schools To Sacred to Devotion, &c. 175 " To cure ambition : I can learn x With greater eafe, the great concern i Of mortals ; now we may deipife "All the gay things below the Ikies. " Methinks a mouidring pyramid " Says ail that the old fages laid ; " For me thefe fhatter'd tombs contain «« More morals than the Vatican. U The dull of heroes caft abroad, " And kick'd, and trampled in the road, •' The relicks of a lofty mind ^ " That lately wars and crowns defign'd, >■ " Toft for a jeft from wind to wind, J •' Bid me be humble, and forbear "\ '« Tall monuments of fame to rear, > " They are but caflles in the air. 3 ft The tow 'ring heights, and frightful falls, f* The ruin'd heaps, and funerals, " Of fmoaking kingdoms and their kings, ** Tell me a thoufand mournful things *' In melancholy filence, « l -He " That living could not bear to fee " An equal, now lies torn and dead ; " Here his pale trunk, and there his head ; " Great Pompey ! while I meditate, " Withfolemn horror, thy fad fate, " Thy carcafs, fcatter'd on the fhore " Without a name, inftru&s me more, " Than my whole library before. "Lieftill, my Plutarch, then, andfkep, " And my good Seneca may keep '* Your volumes clos'd for ever too, " I have no further ufe for you : " For when I feel my virtue fail, 11 And my ambitious thoughts prevail, i" I " i.jS'. LYRIC POEMS, Book II, " I'll take a turn unong the tombs,. " And fee whereto all glory comes ; ** There the vile foot of every clown " Tramples the ifons of honour down. " Beggars with awful afiiesfport, " And tread the Catfars in the dirt. Freedom. 1* 1697.. TEMPT me no more. My foul can ne'er comport; With the gay flayeries of a court : I've an averfton to thofe charms, And hug dear liberty in both mine arms. Go, vaffal-fouls, go, cringe and wait,. And dance attendance at Honorio's gate, Then run in troops before him to compofe his ftatefl Move as he moves ; and when he loiters, ftand ; You're but the fhadowsof a man. Bend when he fpeaks ; and kifs the ground : Go, catch th' impertinence of found : Adore the follies of the great ; "Wait till he fmiles : but lo, the idol frown'dl And drove them to their fate. II.. Thus bafe-born minds ; but as for me, I can and will be free : Like a (hong mountain, or fome {lately tree,, My foui grows firm upright, And as I ftand, and as I go, , It keeps my body fo : No I can never part with my creation right. Let fiaves and affes ftoop and bow, I cannot make this iron knee Bend to a meaner power than that which form'd it free. HI. Sacred to Devotion, &c. 177 III. Thus my bold harp profufely play'd Pindarical ; then on a branchy {hade I hung my harp aloft, myfelf beneath, it laid, Nature that liften'd to my drain, Refum'dthe theme, and adled it again. Sudden rofe a whirling wind Swelling like Honorio proud, Around the draws and feathers crowd, Types of a flavifh mind ; Upwards the ftormy forces rife, The dull flies up and climbs the Ikies, And as the tempefl fell th' obedient vapours funk .* Again it roars with bellowing found, The meaner plants they grew around, The willow, and the afp, trembled and kifs'd the ground 1 Kard by there flood the iron trunk Of an old oak, and all the ftorm defy'd ; In vain the winds their forces try'd, In vain they roar'd ; the iron oak Bow'd only to the heavenly thunder's flroke. On Mr. LOCK'S Annotations upon feveral Parts of the New-Testament, left behind him at his Death. THUS reafon learns by flow degrees, What faith reveals; but flill complains Of intellectual pains, And darknefs from the too exuberant light. The blaze of thofe bright myfteries Four'd all at once on nature's eyes Offend and cloud her feeble fight. II." i 7 & LYRIC POE M S, Book % II. Reafon could fcarcc fuftain to fee Th' almighty one th' eternal three, Or bear the infant deity; Scarce could her pride defcend to own Her maker {looping from his throne, And dreft in glories fo unknown. A ranfom'd world, a bleeding God, And heav'n appcas'd with flowing blood, Were themes too painful to be underftcod. III. Faith, thou bright cherub, fpeak, and fay, Did ever mind of mortal race Coil thee more toil, or larger grace To melt and bend it to obey. 'Twas hard to make fo rich a foul fubmit, And lay her mining honoursatthy fovereign feet*. IV. Sifter of faith, fair charity, Shew me the wond'rous man on high, Tell how he fees the God-head three in one f The bright conviction fills his eye, His nobleft powers in deep profixaticn lye At the myfeerious throne. " Forgive he cries, ye faints below " The wav'ring and the cold affeRt '* I gave to themes divinely true; •' Can you admit thebltffed to repent ? •' Eternal darknefs vail the lines " Of that unhappy book, " Where glimmering reafen with falfeluftrefhinesi •' Where the mere mortal pen mifiook " What the celeftial meant !" See Mr. LoCKt's Annotations on Rom. hi. 25, and garajiirafi on Rom. ix 5, iibub has inclined fame rea* 1 dtrt Sacred to Devotion, &c. 179 tiers to doubt, -whether he believed the deity and 'fjihJaHron %f C,H Rl ST. Therefore in the forth fanza I invoke Cha- rity, that by her help Imayfndhim out in heaven, fince his notes on 2 Cor. V. ult. and fine ether places, give me reafon to believe he ivas no Socinian tho' he has -darken d the o-lory of the gofpel, and debafed ' Jirifiianity, in the book ivhich he calls the Reafonablenefs of it, and in fame of his other works. True Riches. I AM not concern'd to know What to-morrow fate will do x Tis enough that I can fay, I've pofleft myfelf to-day i Then if haply midnight death Seize my fiefh, and ftop my breath, Yet to-morrow I ihall be Heir to the beft part of me. Glittering ftones, and golden things, Wealth and honours that have wings, Ever fluttering to be gone, I could never call my own : Riches that the world beftows, She can take, and I can lofe; But the treafures that are mine Lie afar beyond her line. When I view my fpacious foul, And furvey myfelf a whole., And enjoy myfelf alone, I'm a kingdom of my own. I've a mighty part within That the world hath never feen, Rich as Eden's happy ground, And with choicer plenty crown'd. Here i8o LYRIC POEMS, Book Kere on all the fhining boughs Kuowledge fair and ufeful grows; On the fame young flow'ry tree All the feafons you may fee; Notions in the bloom of light, Juft difclofing to the fight; Here are thoughts of larger growth, Rip'ning into folid truth ; Fruits refm'd of noble tafte ; Seraphs feed on fuch repaft. Here in a green and fhady grove, Streams cf'pleafure mix with love : There beneath the fmiling fkies Hills of contemplation rife ; Now upon fome fhining top Angels light, and call me up ; I rejoice to raife my feet, Both rejoice when there we meet; There are endlefs beauties more Earth hath no refemblance for ; Nothing like them round the pole, Nothing can defcribe the foul ; 'Tis a region half unknown, That has treafures of its own More remote from public view Than the bowels of Peru ; Broader 'tis, and brighter far, Than the golden Indies are ; Ships that trace the watr'y ftagc, Cannot coaft it in an age , Harts, or horfes, ftrong and fleet, Had they wings to help their feet, Could not run it half way o'er In ten thoufand days or more. Sacred to Devotion, &c. iSi Yet the filly wandring mind, Loth to be too much confin'd, Roves and takes her daily tour3, Coafcing round the narrow fhores, Narrow ihores of fiefh and fenfe, Picking fhells and pubbles thence : Or fhe fits at fancy's door, Calling fhapes and fhadows to her, Foreign vifits flill receiving, And t' herfelf a ftranger living. Never, never would fhe buy Indian duft, or Tyrian dye, Never tread abroad for more, If fhe faw her native ftore. If her inward worth were known, She might ever live alone. The Adventurous Muse. I. URANIA takes her morning flight With an inimitable wing : Thro' rifing deluges of dawning light She cleaves her wondrous way, She tunes immortal anthems to the growing day; Nor * Rapin gives her rules to fly, nor f Purceli notes to fing. II. She nor enquires, nor knows, nor fears „ "Where lie the pointed rocks, or where the ingulph- ing fand, Climbing the liquid mountains of the fkies She meets defcending angels as fhe flies, Nor afks them where their country b'es, CL Or * A French Criiick, f An Englifh majler of mufttk. i82 LYRIC POEMS, Book II, Or where the fea marks fiand, Touch'd with an empyreal ray, She fprings, unerring, upward to eternal day, Spreads her white fails aloft, and fteers, With bold and fafe attempt, to the celeftial land. III. Whilft little fluffs along the mortal fhores With humble toil in order creep, Coafting in fight of one another's oars, Nor venture thro' the boundlefs deep. Such low pretending fouls are they Who dwell inclofs'd in folid orbs of Ikull ; Plodding along their fober way, The fnail o'ertakes them in their wildeft play, While the poor labourers fweat to be correctly dull . IV.) Give me the chariot whole diviner wheels Mark their own rout, and unconfin'd Bound o'er the everlafting hills, And lofe the clouds below, and leave the ftars be- hind. Give me the mufe whofe generous force, Impatient of the reins, Purfues an unattempted courfe, Breaks all the criticks iron chains, And bears to paradife the raptur'd mind. V. There Milton dwells : the mortal fung ; Themes not prefum'd by mortal tongue ; New terrors, or rew glories, fhine In ev'ry page, and flying fcenes divine Surprise the wond'ring fenfe, and draw our fouls along. Behold his mufe fent out t* explore The unapparent deep where waves of chaos roar, And Sacred to Devotion, Sec, 183 And realms of night unknown before. She trat'd a glorious path unknown, Thro' fields of heavenly war, and feraphs over- thrown , Where his advent'rous genius led : Sovereign Ihe fram'd a model of her own, Nor thank'd the living nor the dead. The noble hater of degenerate rhime Shook off the chains and built his verfe fublime, A monument too nigh for coupled founds to climb. He mourn'd the garden loft below ; (Earth is the fcene for tuneful woe) Now blifs beats high in all his veins, Now the loft Eden he regains, Keeps his own air, and tiiumphsin unrival'd {trains. VI. Immortal bard ! thus thy own Raphael fings. And knows no rule but native fire ; All heav'n fits filent, while to his fovereign firings He talks unutterable things ; With graces infinite his untaught fingers rove Acrofs the golden lyre : From every note devotion fprings, Rapture, and harmony and love, Cerfpread the lift'ning choir. To Mr. NICHOLAS CLARK. The Complaint. I. 'fl^W A S in a vale where ofiers grow X By murm'ring ftreams we told our woe, And mingled all our cares : Q^a Friendfhip i8 4 LYRIC POEMS, Book II. Friendfhip fat pleas'd in both cur eyes, In both the weeping dews arife, And drop alternate tears. IT. The vigorous monarch of the diy Now mounting half his morning way Shone with a fk.nter bright; Still fickning, and decaying fl III, Dimly he vander'd up the hill, With his expiring light. Iff- In dark eclipfe his chariot rcll'd, The queen of night obfeur'u his gold Behind her fable wheels : I-Tature grew fad to lofe the day, The fiuw'ry vales in mourning lay, In mourning flood the hills. IV. Such are or r forrows, CLARK, I cry'd, Clouds of the brain grow biack and hide Our dark'ned fouls behind ; In the young morning of our years Diftempering Cogs have climb'd the fpheres. And choke the lab Ting mind. V. I,c, the gay planet rears his head, And overlooks the lofty (hade, New-bright'ning all the fkiesj But fay, dear partner of my moan, When will our long eclipfe be gone, Or when our funs arife ? VI. In vain are potent herbs apply'd, Harmonious founds in vain have try'd To make the darkneisfly: But Sacred to Devotion, &c. i8j But drugs would raife the dead as foon, Or clatt'ring brafs relieve the moon, When fainting in the fky. VII. Some friendly fpirit from above, Born of the light, and nurft with love, Aflifl our feebler fires; Force thefe invading glooms away; Souls mould be feen quite thro' their clay, Bright as your heavenly choirs. VIII. But if the fogsmuft. damp the flame, Gently, kind death, diflolve our frame, Releafe the prifoner-mind : Our fouls fhall mount, at thy difcharge, To their bright fource, and fhine at large Nor clouded, nor confin'd. The Afflictions of a pRiENry. I. 170a, NO W let my cares all bury'd lie, My griefs for ever dumb : Your forrows fwell my heart fo high. They leave my own no room. II. Sicknefs and pains are quite forgot, The fpleen itfelf is gone ; Plung'd in your woes I feel them not, Or feel them all in one. III. Infinite grief puts fenfe to flight, And all the foul invades: " Secure of life above the ftars. IV. " "But frenzy dares eternal fate, " And fpurr'd with honour's airy dreams, " Flies to attack th' infernal gate, M And force a paffage to the flames." V. Thus hov'ring o'er NAMURIA's plains, Sung heav'niy love in Gabriel's form : Young THRASO left the moving Arams, And vow'd to pray before the ftorm. VI. Anon the thundering trumpet calls; Votvi are but ivind y the hero cries; ; Then fvvears by heav'n andfcalesthe walls, Props in the ditch, Ueipairs and dies. Bl/RNJNS Sacred to Devotion, &c. 189 Burning several Poems of Ovid, Martial, Oldham, Dryden, «£c. I. 1708. I Judge the mufe of lewd defire •; Her fons to darknefs, and her works to fire. In vain the flatteries of their wit Now with a melting (train, now with an heavenly flight, . Would tempt my virtue to approve Thofe gaudy tinders of a lawlefs love. So harlots drefs : they can appear Sweet, modeft, cool, divinely fair, To charm a Cato's eye ; but all within, Stench, impudence and 6re, and ugly raging fin. II. Die, Flora, die in endlefs fhame, Thou profritute of blacked fame, Stript of thyfuife array. Ovid, and all ye wilder pens Of modern luft, who gild our fcenes, Poifon the Dritiih ftage, and paint damnation gay, Attend your miftrefs to the dead ; When Flora dies, her imps fhould wait upon her fhade. HI. * Strephon of noble blood and mind, (For ever fhine his name!) As death approach'd, his foul refm'd, And gave his Iooler fonncts to the fiarre. " Burn, burn, he cry'd with facre&rage, " Hell is the due of every page, " Hell be the fate. (But O indulgent heaven! " So vile the mufe, and yet the man forgiv'n!) " Burn * Earl of Kocbejleri 190 LYRIC POEMS, Book II. *' Burn on my fongs : for not the filver thames, " Nor Tyber with his yellow ftreams, '* In endlefs currents rolling to the main, " Can e'er dilute the poifcn, or walh out the flak So Mofes by divine command, Forbid the leprous houfe to ftand "When deep the fatal fpot was grown, Break doivn the timber , and dig up thejlone. To Mrs. B. B E N D I S H. Against Tears. I. i6g£, MADAM, perfuade me tears are good To waft our mortal cares away ; Thefe eyesfhall weep a futfden flood, And flrcam into a briny fea, II. Or if thefe orbs are hard and dry, (Thefe orbs that never ufe to rain) Some fiar direct me where to buy One foverejgn drop for all my pain. III. W ere both the golden Indies mine, I'd give both Indies for a tear: I'd barter all but what's divine : Nor fhall I think the bargain dear. IV. But tears, alas! are trifling thing?, They rather feed than heal our woe; From trickling eyes new forrow fprings, As weeds in rainy feafous grow. Sacred to Devotion, &c, 191 V. Thus weeping urges weeping on : In vain our miferies hope relief, For one drop calls another down, Till we are drown' d in feas of grief. VI. Then let thefe ufelefs ftr earns be ftaid, Wear native courage on your face : Thefe vulgar things were never made For fouls of a fuperior race. VII. If 'tis a rugged path you go, And thoufand foes your fteps furround, Tread the thorns down, charge thro' the foe : The hardeft fight is higheft crown'd. Few Happy Matches. I. Aug. 1 701. SAY, mighty love, and teach my fong, To whom thy fweeteft joys belong, And who the happy pairs I Whofe yielding hearts, and joining hands, |i Find bleffings twifted with their bands, To i'often all their cares. II. Not the wild herd of nymphs and f wains, That thoughtlefs fly into the chains, As cuftom leads the way : If there be blifs without defign, Ivies and oaks may grow and twine, And be as bleft as they. III. Not fordid fouls of earthly mould Who drawn by kindred charms of gold, Ta i 9 2 LYRIC POEMS. Bookll. To dull embraces move : So two rich mountains of Peru May rufii to wealthy marriage too, And make a world of love. IV. Not the mad tribe that hell infpires With wanton flame ; thofe raging fires The purer blifs dtftroy : On ./Etna's top let furies wed, And fheets of lightning drefs the bed T' improve the burning joy. Nor the dull pairs whofe marble forms None of the melting pafiions warms, Can mingle hearts and hands : Logs of green wood that quench the coals Are marry'd jufc like fcoic fouls, With ofiers for their bands. VI. Ncr minds of melancholy ftrain, Still filent or that flill complain, Can the dear bondage blefs ; As well may heavenly conforts fpring From two old lutes with ne'er a firing, Or none befides the bafe. VII. Nor can the foft enchantments hold Two jarring fouls of angry mould, The rugged and the keeu : Sampfon's young foxes might as well In bonds of chearful wedlock dwell, "With firebands ty'd between. VIII. Nor let the cruel fetters bind A gentle to a lavage mind ; Sacred to Virtue, &c. 193 For love abhors the fight ; Loofe the fierce tyger from the deer, For native rage, and native fear Rife and forbid deligbt. IX. Two kindefHouls alone muffc meet, 'Tis friendfhip makes the bondage fweet, And feeds their mutual loves ; Bright Venus on her rolling throne Is drawn by gentleit birds alone, And Cupids yoke the doves. To DAVID POL HILL, Esq. An Epistle. I. December, 1702. LE T ufelefs fouls to woods retreat ; POL HILL fhould leave a country feat "When virtue bids him dare be great. II. Nor Kent,* nor SufTex,* fhould have charms, While liberty, with loud alarms, Calls you to counfels and to arms. Ill, Lewis, by fawning ffaves ado r'd, Bids you receive a f bafe-born lord; Awake your cares! awake your fword! IV. Factions amongft the J Britons rife, And warring tongues, and wild furmife, And burning zeal without her eyes. R V. * His country feat and divdling. -f The pretender, proclaimed king in Fraw. \ The Parliament i 9 4 LYRIC POEMS, Book If V. A vote deckles the blind debate; Refolv'd, "Tis of divine* iveight t To five the fceple, than the ft at:. VI. The § bold machine is form'd and joinM To ftretch the ccnfcience, and to bind The native freedom of the mind. VII. Yourgrandure fiiades with jealous eye, Frown down to fee their offspring lie Carelefs, and let their country die. VIII. If |! Trevia fear to let you fiand Agairift the Gaul with fpear in hand, At lead * petition for the land. The celebrated Victory of the Poles over Ofmat the TurkiJJi Emperor, in the Dad an Battle, Tranflated from Cafimer, B. I V. Od. 4. with large Additions, GL ADOR the old, the wealthy and the ftrong, Chearful in years, (nor of the heroic mufe Unknowing, nor unknown) held fair poffeffions Where flows the fruitful Danube: feventy fprings Smil'd § The bill againfl oceafonal conformity, 1"J02. \\ Mrs. Polhill of the family of the Lord Trevor. ^ Mr. Polhill ivas one ofthefefve zealous gentlemen zi-h» frefented the famous Kentijh petition to the parliament ', in the eign of iing William^ to haften their fupf lies r in order it vpport the king in his zvar iviih Prance. Sacred to Virtue, &c. 195 Smil'd on hi3 feed, and feventy harveft moons Fili'd his wide granaries with autumnal joy-: Still he rbfurn'd the toil : and fame reports, While he broke up new ground, and tir'J his plough In graffy furrows, the tern earth oifclos'd Helmets, and fwords (bright furniture of war Sleeping in ruil) and heaps of mighty bones. The fun defcendir.g to the wcfLern deep Bid him lie down and reil; he loos'd the yoke, Yet held his wearied oxen from their food With charming nunjbeis, and uncommon fong. Go, fellow labourers, you may rove fe cure, Or feed befide me, tail the greens and boughs That you have long forgot; crop the fvveet herb, And graze in fafety, while the viclor pole Leans on hisfpear, and breathes; yet ftill his eye Jealous and fierce. How large old foldier, fay, How fair a harveft of the flaughter'd Turks Strew'd the Moldavian fields? what mighty piles Ql Vo«.t. viCitiucnoii, ana ui *««iJ.li a il 9?^i Fill and amaze my eyes! broad bucklers lie (A vain defence) fpread o'er the pathiefs lulls, And coats of fcaly fteel, and hard habergeon, Deep bruis'd and empty of Mahometan limbt--. This the fierce Saracen wore, (for when a boy, I was their captive, and remind their drefs:) Here the Poionians, dreadful march'd along In auguft port, and regular array. Led on to conqueit; here the Turkifh'chief Prefumptous trod, and in rude order rang'd His long battalions, while his populous towns pour'd out frefh troops perpetual, dreft'd in arms, Horrent in mail, and gay in fpangled pride. O the dire image of the bioody fight Thefe eyes have feen/ when the. capacious plain R 2 Was l 9 6 LYRIC POEMS, Book II. Was throng'd with Dacian fnears; when polifh-'d helms, And convex gold blaz'd thick againffc the fun Refroring all his beams ! but frowning war All gloomy, like a gather'd tempeft, flood Wavering and doubtful where to bend its fall, The {lorni of miiiive fteal delay'd a while My wife command ; fi.'dg'd arrows on the nerve : And Scymiter ana Sabre bore the iheath Relu&anf: till the hollow brazen clouds Had bellow'd from each quarter of the field Loud thunder, and dbgorg'd their fulph'reus fire. Then banners wav'd, and arms were mixed with arms. Then javelins anfwcr'd javelins as they fled, Forboch fled biffing death : with adverfe edge The crooked i'aulchicns met ; t.r.d hideous noife From clafting fnieids, thro' the long ranks of war, Clang'd horribie. A thoufand iron fcorms Roar diverfe : and in harm cesfufion drown The trumpet's filvcr Lutv