Down to the gloom of Tartarus profound. All ye who thirst forblood!--for swolnwithpride, There too I find thee, in the lowest bounds Fach haughtywretchblasphemes thysacredname, Or Erebus, and read thee in the scenes And bellows his approaches to affront Of complicated wrath : I see thee clad Thy glorions Majesty. Thy foes I hate In all the majesty of darkness there. Worse than my own. O Lord! explore my soul! If, on the rucldy morning's purple wings See if a flaw or stain of sin infecis L'pborne, with indefatigable course | My guilty thoughts; then, lead me in the way I seek the glowing borders of the cast, | That guides my feet to thy own heaven and thice. Where the bright sun, energing from the deeps, With his first glories gilds the sparkling seas, And trembles o'er the waves; ev'n there thy hand s 27. An Hymn to the Supreme Being. An ImiShall thro' the watery desert guide my course, p iation of the 104th Psalm. Blacklock. And o'cr the broken surges pave my way, While on the dreadful whirls I hang secure, Quid prius dicum solitus parentis And mock the warring ocean. If, with hopes Laudibus ? qui res hominuin ac deorumihing Qui mare terras, ruritsque mundum Hor. space confines. To man still various, but the same to thee. When darkness ruld with universal sway, On thee is all the structure of my frame He spoke, and kindled up the blaze of day; Dépendant. Lock'd within the silent womb First, fairest offspring of th' omnific word! Sleeping I lay, and rip'ning to my birth; (there; Which like a garment cloth'd its soy'rign Lond. Yet, Lord, thy outstretch'd arın preserv'd me TOn liquid air he bade the columns rise, Before I mord to entity, and trod That prop the starry concave of the skies; The verge of being. To thy hallow'd name Diffus'd the blue expanse from pole to pole, I'll pay due honors; for thy mighty hand And spread circumfluent ether round the whole. Built ihis corporeal fabric, when it laid Soon as he bids impetuuns tempests fly, The ground-work of existence. Hence I read To wing his sounding chariot thro' the sky, The wonders of thy art. This frame I view Impetuous tempests the command obey, With terror and delight; and, wrapt in both, Sustain his flight, and sweep th' aërial way. I starlle at iyself. My bones, unformid Fraught with Lis mandates, from the realms og 'As yet, nor hardening from the viscous parts, Unnumber'd hosts of radiant heralds fly [high, But blended with th' unanimated mass, From orb to orb, with progress uncontina, The eye distinctly view'd; and, while I lay As lightning swift, resistess as the wind.' Within the earth, imperfect, nor perceiv'd In ambient air this pond'rous ball he hung, The first faint dawn of life, with ease survey'd And bade its centre rest for ever strong; The vital gliminerings of the active seeds, Heav'n, air, and sea, with all their storins in vain Just kindling to existence, and beheld Assault the basis of the firın machine. My substance scarce material. In thy book At thy Almighty voicc old Ocean saves, Was the fair inodel of this structure drawn, | Wakes all his force, and gathers all his waves ; Where every part, in just connection join'd, Nature lies mantled in a wat'ry robe, Compos'd and perfected th' harmonious piece, | And shoreless billows revel round the globe ; Ere the dim speck of being learn d to stretch O'er highest hills the higher surges rise, Its ductile forin, or entity had known Mix with the clouds, and meet the fluid skies. To range and wanton in an ainpler space, But when in thunder the rebuke was giv'n, How dear, how tooted in my inmost soul, . That shook th' eternal firmament of heav'n; "Are all thy counsels, and the various ways The grand rebuke th' affrighted waves obey, Of thy eternal providence! the sun And in confusion scour their uncouth way; So boundless and immense, it leaves behind And posting rapid to the place decrced, The low account of numbers; and outflies All that imagination e'er conceiv'd: [shores, ! Reluctant in their bounds the waves subside; Less numerous are the sands that crowd the The bounds, impervious to the lashing tide, The barriers of the ocean. When I rise Restrain its rage; whilst, with incessant roar, Froin my soft bed, and softer joys of sleep, It shakes the caverns, and assaults the shore.. I rise to thee. Yet lo! the inpious flight By him, from mountains cloth'din lacid snow, Thy mighty wonders. Shall the sons of vice Through fertile vales the mazy rivers flow. Elude the vengeance of thy wrathful hand, Here the wild horse, unconscious of the rein, Andinock thy lingiring thunder which withhold That retels boundless o'er the wide campaign, Its forky terrors from their guilty leads ? *. [fly Imbibes the silver surge, with heat opprest, Thou greut tremendous GOD!-- Avaunt; and To cool the fever of his glowing brčast. flere Here rising boughs, adorn'd with summer's Nor does our world alone its influence share ; pride, Exhaustless bounty, and unwearied care Project their waving umbrage o'er the tide; Extends thro' all th' intinitude of space, While, gently perching on the leafy spray, And circles nature with a kind embrace. Each feather'd warbler tunes his various lay: The azure kingdoms of the deep below, And, while thy praise they symphonise around, Thy pow'r, thy wisdom, and thy goodness show:Creation echoes to the grateful sound. Heie multitudes of various beings stray, Wide o'er the heavens the various bow hcbends, Crowd the profound, or on the surface play: Its tinctures brighten, and its arch extends : Tall navies here their doubtful way explore, At the glad sign the airy conduits flow, And ev'ry product waft from shore to shore ; Soften the hills, and clicer the mcads below: Hence measre want expellid and sanguine strife, By genial fervor and prolific rain, For the muld charms of cultivated life; Swift vegetation clothes the smiling plain : Hence social union spreads from soul to soul, Nature, profusely good, with bliss o'erflows, And India joins in friendship with the pole. And still is pregnant, tho' she still bestows. Here the huge potent of the scaly train Here verdant pastures wide extended lic, Enormous sails incumbent o'er the main, And yield the grazing herd exuberant supply. Lan animated isle! and, in his way, Luxuriant waving in the wanton air, Dashes to heaven's biuc arch the foamy sca; Here golden grain rewards the peasant's care: When skies and ocean mingle storm and flame, llere vines mature with fresh carnation glow, Portending instant wreck to nature's frame, And heav'n above diffuses heav'n below. Pleas'd in the scene, he mocks, with conscious Erect and all here mountain cedars rise, pride; Wave in the starry vault, and emulate the skies. The velly'd lightning, and the surging lide; Here the wing'd crowd, that skim the yielding. And while the wrathful elements engage, With artful toil their little domes prepare;fair, Foments with horrid sport the tempest's rage. Here hatch their tender young, and nurse the (All these thy watchful providence supplies, rising care. To thec alone they turn their waiting eyes; Up the steep hill ascends the nimble doc, 2 For them thou open'st thy exhaustless store, While tirnid coneys scour the plains below, Till the capacious wish cau grasp no more. Or in the pendent rock elude the scenting foc.) But, if one moment thou thy face should'st Ile baule the silver majesty of night Thy glory clouded, or thy smiles deny'd, [hide, Revolve her circles, and increase her light; Then widow'd nature veils her mournful eyes, Assign'd :1 province to e::ch rolling sphere, And vents her grief in universal cries : And taught the sun to regulate the year. Then gloomy death, with all his mcagre train, At his cominand, wide hou 'ring o'er the plain, Wideo'er the nations spreads his dismal reign; Primeral night resumes her gloomy reign : Sea, carth, and air, the boundless ravage mourn, Then from their dens, impatient of delay, And all their hosts to naiive dust return. The savage anonsters bend their speedy way; ( But when again thy glory is display'd, . Howl thro' the spacious waste, and chasc thcir Revi'd creation lifts her cheerful head; frighted prey. Vew rising forms the potent smiles obey, Here stalks the shaggy monarch of the wood, and life rc indles at the genial ray; Taught from thy providence to ask his food! Unted thanks replenishid nature pays, 'To thee, O Father, to thy bounteous skies, And hear'n and earth resound their Maker's He rears his inane, and rolls his glaring a si praise. He roars ; the desert trembles wide around, When time shall in eternity be lost, And repercussive hills repeat the sound. And hoary nature languish into dust, Now orient gems the eastern skies adorn, For (ver young, thy glory shall rcinain, And jorful nature hails the op'ning morn:. l'ast as thy being, endless as thy reign. The rovers, conscious of approaching das, : Thou froni the regions of cternal day, Fly to their shelters, and forget their prey. View'st all the works at one immense survey; Laborious man, with moderate slumber blest, Plca'd thou behold'st the whole propensely tend Springs cheerful to his toil from downy rest; To perfect happiness, is glorious end. Till grateful evening with her argent train,. If thou tu canth but turn thy wrathful eyes, Bid labour cease, and case the weary swain. Her basis treables, and her offspring dics: "Hail sor'reign goodness! all-productive mind! Thou smilst the hills, and at th' Almighty blow On all thy works thyself inscribid we find: Their sunimits kindle, and their inwards glow, How various all, how variously endow'd, While this immortal spark of heav'nly flame How great their numbet; andcach part howgood: Distends my breat and animates my frame: How perfect then must the great Purcat shine, To thee my ardcnt praises shall be borne W'ho with one act of encrgs divine. On thcfiriibreeze that wakes the blushing morn; When fill of thee my soul excursive flies From From world to ttorld new wonders still I find, When thou, O Lord, shalt stand disclos'd In majesty severe, Who does her sins lament, Shall endless woc prevent. Then sce the sorrows of my heart. Ilow are thy servants blest, O Lord : Ere set it be toj latc: How sure is their defence ! | And hear my Saviour's dying groans, Eterr: wisdom is their guide, To give those surrow's weight. Their help omnipotence. For never shall iny soul despair In foreign realms, and lands rcmote, Her pardon to procure, Supported by thy care, Who knows thy only Son has died 1 To make that pardun sure. | $ 30. A Hymn on the Seasons. Thomsofie The hoary Alpine hills it warmd, Tuese, as they change, Almighty Father, these And smooth'd the Tyrrhene seas. Are but the varied God. The rolling year Think, O my soul, devoutly think, Is full of 'Thce. Forth in the pleasing Spring How with affrighted eyes Thy beauty walks, thy tenderness and love. Thou saw'st the wide extended deep Wide flushi the fields: the softening air is balm; In all its horrors rise ! Echo the mountains round; the forest smiles; And every sense and every heart is joy. Confusion dwelt in ev'ry face, Then comes thy glory in the Summer months, And fear in ev'ry heart, With light and heat refulgent. Then thy sun When waves on waves, and gulphs in gulphs, | Shoots full perfection thro' the swelling year : - D'ercame the pilot's art. 1 And oft thy voice in dreadful thunder speaks, Yet then from all my griefs, O Lord, Land oft at dawn, deep noon, or falling eve, Thy mercy set me free; By brooks and groves,in hollow whisp'ringgales, While in the confidence of pray's Thy bounty shines in Autumn unconfin'd, My soul took hold on tice. and spreads a common feast for all that lives. For though in dreadful whirls we hung In Winter awful Thou!. with clouds and storms High on the broken wave, Around Thee thrown,tempest o'er tempest rollid, I knew thou wert not slow to hear, Majestic darkness ! On the whirlwind's wing, Nor impotent to save. Riding sublime, Thou bidd'st the world adore, And humblest nature with thy northern blast, The storm was laid, the winds retir'd Mystcrious round! what skill, what force din Obedient to thy will; | Deep-felt, in these appear! a simple train, (vine, The sca, that roar'd' at thy command, Yet so delightful mix'd, with such kind art, At thy command was still. Such beauty and beneficence combin'd; In midst of dangers, fears, and deaths, And all so forining an harinonious whole, . Thy goodness I'll adore; . Shade, unperceiv'd, so soficning into shade; And praise thee for thy mercies past, That, as they still succeed, they ravish still, And humbly hope for more. But wandering oft, with rude inconscious gaze, My life, if thou preservist my life, Man marks notThce, marks not the mightyhand Thy sacrifice shall be; That, ever busy, wheels the silent spheres; And death, if death must be my doom, Works in the secret deep; shoots,stcaining, thence Shall join my soul to thee. The fair profusion that o'erspreads the Spring; | Feeds ev'ry crcature ; hurls the tempest forth $ 29. Another Hymn. Anon. And, as on carth this grateful change revolves, WHEX rising from the bed of death, With transport touches all the springs of life, O'erwhelm'd with guilt and fear, Nature attend ! join every living soul i Beneath the spacious temple of the sky, I see my Maker face to face, In adoration join; and ardent raise O! how shall I appear ? One general song! To him ye vocal gales, If yet, while pardon may be found, Breathesoft, whose spiritinyourfreshinessbreaches: And mercy may be sought, Oh talk of him in solitary glooms, My heart with inward horror shrink, | Where o'er the rock the scarcely waving pine And trembles at the thought: Fills the brown shade with a religious awe! And And ye, whose bolder note is heard afar, : When even at last the solemn hour shall com Where universal love not smiles around, In infinite progression. But I lose Sound his stupendous praise, whose greater voice Myself in Him, in light ineffable ! Or bids you roar, os bids your roaring fall. Come then, expressive silence, muse his prais Sorollyour incense, herbs, and fruits and flowers, In mingled clouds to Him, whose sun exalts, $ 31. Ilymn to Humanity. Langhorne. Whose breath perfumes you, and whose pencil paints. Parent of virtue, if thine ear Attend not now to sorrow's cry ; I Should haply on thy cheek be dry ; Indulge my votive strain, O sweet humanity Unconscious lies, effuse your mildest beams, Ye constellations, while vour angels strike, Amid the spangled sky, the silver lyre. Come, ever welcome to my breast ! | A tender, but a cheerful guest. Great source of day! blest image here below Of thy Creator, ever pouring wide, ' Nor always in the gloomy cell From world to world, the vital ocean round, (Of life-consuming sorrow dwell; On nature write with every beam his praise. For sorrow, long-indalg'd and slow, The thunder rolls · be hush'd the prostrate world; 1 Is to Humanity a foe ; While cloud to cloud returns the solemo hymn. 1: And grief, that makes ihe heart its prcy, "Wears Sensibility away, Bleat out afresh, ye hills ; ye nossy rocks, Retain the sound: the broad responsive low, Then comes, sweet nymph, instead of thee, Ye valleys, raise; for the Great Shepherd reigns ; .. (The gloomy fend, Stupidity. ' 3. When sorrow fills a brother's eye; From private or from social woes, E'er make this pleasing sense depart, Let not its flattering power beguile ; Nor, borne along the fav'ring tide, 5. Should fate coinmand me to the farthest verge If doom'd to drag life's painful loau Of the green carth, to distant barbarous climes, Through poverty's uneven road, Rivers unknown to song; where first the sun And, for the due bread of the day, Gilds Indian mountains, or his setting beam Destin'd to toil as well as pray; Flames on th' Atlantic isles, 'tis nought to me : To thee, Humanity, still irue, Since God is ever present, ever felt, I'll wish the good I cannot do; In the void waste as in the city full; And give the wretch, that passes by; And where lle vital spreads, there must be joy. A soothing word ma tcar - a sigh. 6. Hoir care, Beyond its sphere shall human wisilom go, . Howe'er exalted, or deprest, And boldly censure what it cannot know? Be ever mine the feeling breast. 'Tis ours to cherish what Heav'n deign’d to give, From me remove the stagnant mind And thankful for the gift of being live. Of languid indolence, reclin'd; Progressive powers, and faculties that rise The soul that one long sabbath keeps, From earth's low vale, io grasp the golden skies, And through the sun's whole circle sleeps; Though distant far from perfect, good, or fair, Dull Peace, that dwells in Folly's eye, Clain the due thought, and ask the grateful And self-attending Vanity Alike, the foolish and the vain Come, then, thou partner of my life and name, Are strangers to the sense huinane. Froin one dear source, whom Nature forin'd the 7. same, i O for that sympathetic glow Ally'd more nearly in cach nobler part, Which taught the holy tear to flow, And more the friend, than brother of my heart ! When the prophetic eye survey'd Let us, unlike the lucid twins that rise Sion in future ashes laid; At different times, and shine in distant skies, Or, rais'd to heaven, implor'd the bread , With inutual eye this mental world survey, That thousands in the desert fed! Mark the slow rise of intellectual day, Or, when the heart o'er friendship's grave View reason's source, if man the source may find, Sighid- and forgot its power to save And trace each Science that exalts the mind. O for that sympathetic glow - Thou self-appointed lord of all below! Which taught ihy holy tear to flow. Ambitious man, how little dost thou know? 8. For once let Fancy's towering thoughts subside, It comes: It ölls my labouring breast, Look on thy birth, and mortify thy pride! I feel my beating heart opprest. A plaintive wretch, so blind, so helpless born, Oh! hear that lonely widow's wail! The brute sagacious might behold with scorn.! See her dir eye! her aspect pale! How soon, when Nature gives him to the day, To hcaren she turns in deep despair, In strength exulting, does he bound away; Her infants wonder at her prayer, By instinct led, the fostering leat he finds, An), mingling tears they know not why, Sports in the ray, and shuns the searching winds. Lift up their little hands, and cry. No grief he knows, he feels no groundless fear, O God! their moving sorrows sce! Feeds without cries, and sleeps without a tear. Support them, sweet Humanity! Did he but know to reason and compare, 9. See here the vassal, and the master there, Life, filled wil grief's distressful train, What strange reflections must the scene afford, Forever ask, the tear humane. That shew'd the weakness of his puling Lord!" Pehold in yon unconscious grove Thus sophistry unfolds her specious plan, The victims of ill-fated love! Forin'd not to humble, but depreciate man. Heard you that agonizing throe? Unjust the censure, if unjust to rate Sure this is not romantic woe! His pow'rs and inerits from his infant-state. The golden day of joy is o'er; For, grant the children of the flow'ry vale And now they part -- to meet no more. By instinct wiser, and of limbs more hale, Assist them, hearts from anguish free! With equal eye their perfect state explore, Assisi them, sweet Ilumnaniiy! And all the vain comparison 's no more. 10. “ But why should life, so short by Heav'n Parent of virtue, if thine ear ordain'd, Attend rot now to Sorrow's cry; Be long to thoughtless infancy restrain'dIf now the pity-streaming tear To thoughtless infancy, or vainly sage, Should haply on thy cheek be dry, Mourn through the languors of declining age?" Indulge my votive strain, O sweet Humanity! O blind to truth! to Nature's wisdom blind!, And all that she directs, or Heav'n design'd! $ 33. Epistle II. ' Behold her works in cities, plains and groves, Or life that vegetates, and life that moves!" To Tilliam Langhorne, M. A. 1760. In due proportion, as cach being gays Light heard his voice, and, eager to obey, In perfect life, it rises and decays From all her orient fountains burst away. Is man long helpless? Through each tendor At Nature's birth, O! had the power divine 1 hour, Commanded thus the moral sun to shine, See love parental watch the blooming flow'r! Bram'don the mind all reason's influence bright, By op'ning charms, by beauties fresh display'd, And the full day of intellectual light, And sweets unfolding, see that love repaid ! then the free soulon Truth's strong pinion borne, Has age its pains ? For luxury it may Had never languish'd in this shade forlorn. The temp'rate wear insensibly away, ... Yet thus imperfect form', thus blindand vain, While sage experience and reflection clear Doom'd by loog toil a glimpse of truth to gain; Beam a gay sunshine on life's fading year. But |