M. GUION'S Experience of DIVINE
COMMUNION: A POEM
Prophesying that the Light of the Gospel should reach to, and spread in distant Countries, separate Islands, and other Hemispheres.*
CHRIST TO HIS SPOUSE,
THOU dear object of
THOU dear object of my fixt delight,
True to my laws, and beauteous in my sight,
Obsequious, chaste, effervent with the dart'
Of pure affection in thy constant heart!
My BRIDE elected! All THY SELF resign :
For ever faithful to thy bridegroom shine,
As when thy toils, in prior days pursu'd,
No stipend sought, no sordid wish allow'd.
When in the maze of thorny paths I led,
Or on the cliffs where briary thickets bred,
Thy course was dauntless, while it seem'd alone,
And faith undevious from the path unknown.
Pleas'd I beheld thy vigilance and fears,
Reliev'd thy sighs, allay'd thy gushing tears,
Look'd on thy conflicts, heard thy suppliant strain,
And arm'd with patience in the depth of pain.
When death stood threat'ning, still my SPOUSE resign'd
Call'd not my love inconstant or unkind.
Thy loads were pond'rous: I the burden blest,
Tho' fancied distant from thy soul distrest.
No placid ease, or gay diversion sought,
None but the succours which my pleasure brought.
With lenient balm I sooth'd each pain and fright,
Within thy bosom, yet without thy sight.
This then thy language, "O my dearest SPOUSE,
"With thee to suffer is the lot I chuse.
"For thee to labour is thy lover's scope:
"Thy smile her only happiness and hope!
"All gems beside it are but void and vain:
"They wound her peace, and tantalize her pain.
"One look of thine (why turn'd away those eyes?)
"Fills with new raptures, and new life supplies."
I saw thee struggling with incumbent throes,
As to my throne thy pray'r, emergent, rose.
* Perhaps the British Isles, which have been highly favoured, also, America, and even Greenland, where the Gospel has been faithfully propagated by some PATIENT LABOURERS from Germany.
No pow'r exterior gave internal rest,
Or gain'd a seat and sceptre in thy Breast.
It softly breath'd, O Witness of my love,
"Look down auspicious, from the realms above
"O rock of ages! Nothing here below
"I crave, enrich'd if thy compassion flow :
When yet too weak I saw thy willing mind
For full refinement, which my grace design'd,
I call'd, "exert thy double fortitude,
"No baits, delicious to the senses, view'd.
"For such our league: If thou'lt be wholly mine,
"Thou must all darlings, and thyself, resign,
"Cast each warm wish of all thy bliss aside,
"And rest in mine completely satisfy'd.
"Endure with patience. Let no conflicts tire;
"To see me glorious be thy sole desire."
What in such conscious solitude I said,
Thine ear attended, and thy heart obey'd.
My chearing voice thy vivid hope advanc'd,
And the chaste ardour of thy love enhanc'd.
Unseen, unknown, thou would'st have instant dy'd,
To give bright pledges of a faithful Bride.
All beauty's charms in dark oblivion caught,
All selfish interests in the dust unsought,
Thou cry'd, "I'm fair if faithful to my LORD,
"Whose wond'rous favours on his Spouse are stor❜d."
At length all murmurs on thy lips decay'd:
All fell in silent resignation laid.
Silence profound! It's merv'lous glow refines,
And human wit, and wisdom, far outshines.
All words are worthless, where its beams abound,
When mutual converse melts without a sound.
Thus in the woods thou past thy pleasing youth,
Alone enraptur'd with celestial truth,
In reverend stillness heard my language there,
And wish'd no human eloquence to hear.
It wrought its wonders, and thy pangs it heal'd,
And joyous myst'ries of my realm reveal'd,
Unveil'd my beauty; with my goodness blest;
Source of thy toils, and temple of thy rest!
'Twas then thy soul in clearest lustre saw,
How senses, pamper'd, into bondage draw.
Thy hands refus'd, whate'er would gratify,
Their keen demand, superfluous, to supply.
All charms then darken'd which had once been bright,
As stars all vanish from the solar light.
Each wish was ONE, as when the lucid rays,
To one fix'd point collected, hotly blaze.
Then in hew freedom soar'd thy flaming love,
High on the pinions of the peaceful dove;
Of these great favours all the grateful fame,
To distant nations, ardent to proclaim.
HER SOLILOQUY AND ADDRESS.
SUCH salutation, from my Sov'reign Spouse,
Hail'd in his Bride a boundless love to rouse,
Of secret Self to drown the sly controul,
And fix in perfect purity of soul.
No more
I wish'd of transcient toys to view,
No more mine audience vain discourses drew.
"Oh grant new pow'rs, I pray'd, my Love supreme,
"For promulgation of the worthiest theme:
"Nor longer leave my fervour thus confin'd,
"Since thy refulgence on my soul has shin'd!
Thy boundless goodness now my soul surveys, ""Tis lost in wander, and 'tis fill'd with praise. "Rapt with thy beauties and exempt from fear, "I must resound 'em, tho' the worst I bear."
Ye sever'd isles, and Hyperborean plains Whose woods lie fetter'd in their icy chains, Whose piercing blasts deprive your dreary glades Of the sweet fragrance of the Southern shades, To you, tho' distant, in his name I call; Oh live devoted to the LORD of All. Your gates immortal to his Grace unfold; And ye'll exult in blessings yet untold, In the high glories of perpetual hills, In the sweet solace of celestial rills. If no repugnance intercept the rays Which rise to bless you with the best of days. All wants redress'd, a brighter sun will glow, And endless love in blissful union flow, Your heart and hands in generous acts employ, And crown your labour with transcendent joy. Ye stately fabricks in th' enamel'd fields, Where art improves what lovely nature yields; Ye beauteous hills for pearly fruits renown'd, Ye crowns of vines which deck their summits round,
Ye wide canals which cost amazing toil,
Ye streams which murmur o'er the flow'ry soil,
Oh since your Lords, decoy'd with earthly views,
Neglect the Giver, and the gifts misuse,
Since peace fraternal yields to selfish strife,
And graceful virtue to luxurious life,
I leave, lamenting, your infected state,
And waft my words to regions less elate.
Ye then who hold yon Western Hemisphere,
Or whose long darkness ends your frigid year,
Within your breasts your Author's love inclose,
To thaw your ice, and melt your chilling snows.
He courts a refuge in your nations. Chuse
Him for your LORD, nor offer'd bliss refuse.
His due reception renders every place
Fair in his sight and honour'd with his Grace.
He lifts aloft, and wings to bliss from woe
A race of rebels in the world below,
Broke from the bonds of dastard fear and shame,
By virtue fervent with celestial flame.
Ye fruitless tracts, whose hapless towns are thin,
Oh, if he shield you from the shafts of sin;
His perfect goodness if your tribes revere,
And to his laws, in spotless lives adhere;
Then all its wildness will the waste forego,
Then clustering grapes for noxious brambles grow.
But righteous judgment will at last surprize,
If mortals, call'd, the gracious call despise.
SOME Short Pieces taken from her Book of Emblems, which appear to have been the Productions of her younger days.
HOW endanger'd was I, when distant from thee,
When sins had an absolute reign;
When frantic with joy, from restriction if free,
I rush'd into sports with the vain!
When idle amusements attracted my heart,
When I heard, and yet fied, from thy voice; Applauding my folly for flying apart,
And blindly pursuing her choice!
I now see it all with a pungent regret;
Of my rashness I deeply repent.
Oh deiga, I beseech, to forgive and forget,
To thy will let me fully be bent!
HOW long I resisted a gracious GOD,
Who kindly vouchsaf'd to invite!
Ah rebel I was, well deserving his rod,
And to sink in the horrors of night.
I submit, I surrender myself to thy will:
And nothing I hope from my tears.
Thy righteous sentence let justice fulfil;
So my soul be set free from her fears.
III.
Great author of goodness, my heart with thy love
Has been smitten and felt its delight:
Then every delay from obedience remove,
And turn what is wrong all aright.
DRAW me, my Spouse, and thy steps I'll pursue;
For around thee how every thing blooms!
How sweet is all nature, how beauteous to view!
How reviving with od rous perfumes!
Here the Spouse stopt me short, as a novice in love;
In such terms, in his turn, he reply'd;
"Weak lovers cry out for attractions to move :
"And are false and inconstant when try'd."
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