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Flushes the hill, and sets on fire the wood,
And turns the deep-dy'd ocean into blood.

Oh formidable glory! dreadful bright!
Refulgent torture to the guilty sight.
Ah turn, unwary Muse! nor dare reveal
What horrid thoughts with the polluted dwell..
Say not, (to make the sun shrink in his beam)
Dare not affirm they wish it all a dream;
Wish or their souls may with their limbs decay,
Or God be spoil'd of his eternal sway:
But rather, if thou know'st the means, unfold
How they with transport might the scene behold.
Ah how! but by repentance, by a mind
Quick, and severe, its own offence to find?
By tears, and groans, and never-ceasing care,
And all the pious violence of pray'r?

Thus then, with fervency, till now unknown,
I cast my heart before th' eternal throne,
In this great temple, which the skies surround
For homage to its Lord, a narrow bound.

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"O Thou! whose balance does the mountains weigh, "Whose will the wild tumultuous seas obey, "Whose breath can turn those watʼry worlds to flame, "That flame to tempest, and that tempest tame; "Earth's meanest son, all trembling, prostrate falls, "And on the boundless of thy goodness calls. 320

"Oh! give the winds all past offence to sweep,

"To scatter wide, or bury in the deep:

"Thy pow'r; my weakness, may I ever see, And wholly dedicate my soul to thee: "Reign o'er my will; my passions ebb and flow "At thy command, nor human motive know ! If anger boil, let anger be my praise, "And sin the graceful indignation raise: "f My love be warm to succour the distress'd, "And lift the burden from the soul oppress'd. "Oh may my understanding ever read "This glorious volume which thy wisdom made! Who decks the maiden Spring with flow'ry pride? "Who calls forth Summer, like a sparkling bride ? "Who joys the mother Autumn's bed to crown? "And bids old Winter lay her honours down? "Not the great Ottoman, or greater Czar,

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Not Europe's arbitress of peace and war.

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*May sea, and land, and earth, and heav'n, bejoin'd, "To bring th' eternal Author to my mind!

"When oceans roar, or awful thunders roll,

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"May thoughts of thy dread vengeance shake my soul; "When earthi's in bloom, or planets proudly shine;

Adore, my Heart! the Majesty Divine.

"Thro' ev'ry scene of life, or peace, or war, Plenty, or want, thy glory be my care!

"Shine we in arms? or sing beneath our vine? "Thine is the vintage, and the conquest thinè: Thy pleasure points the shaft, and bends the bow; "The cluster blasts, or bids it brightly glow:

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"'Tis thou that leadst our pow'rful armies forth, "And giv'st great Anne thy sceptre o'er the North.

. Grant I may ever, at the morning ray, "Open with pray'r the consecrated day; "Tune thy great praise, and bid my soul arise, "And with the mounting sun ascend the skies: "As that advances, let my zeal improve, "And glow with ardour of consummate love; "Nor cease at eve, but with the setting sun My endless worship shall be still begun. "And, oh! permit the gloom of solemn Night "To sacred thought may forcibly invite. "When this world's shut, and awful planets rise, "Call on our minds, and raise them to the skies; "Compose our souls with a less dazzling sight, "And shew all Nature in a milder light; "How ev'ry boist'rous thought in calm subsides! "How the smooth'd spirit into goodness glides! "O how divine! to tread the Milky Way, "To the bright palace of the Lord of day; "His court admire, or for his favour sue,

"Or leagues of friendship with his saints renew; "Pleas'd to look down, and see the world asleep, "While I long vigils to its founder keep!

"Canst thou not shake the centre? Oh, control, "Subdue by force, the rebel in my soul. "Thou who canst still the raging of the flood,

"Restrain the various tumults of my blood:

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"Teach me, with equal firmness, to sustain
65 Alluring pleasure, and assaulting pain,
"O may I pant for thee in each desire!

"And with strong faith foment the holy fire!
"Stretch out my soul in hope, and grasp the prize
"Which in Eternity's deep bosom lies!
"At the great day of recompence behold,
"Devoid of fear, the fatal book unfold!
"Then wafted upward to the blissful seat,
"From age to age my grateful song repeat;
"My light, my life, my God, my Saviour see,
And rival angels in the praise of thee."

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End of Book Second.

BOOK III.

Esse quoque in fatis reminiscitur, affore tempus,
Quo mare, quo tellus, correptaque regia colli
Ardeat; et inundi moles operosa laboret.

OVID MET.

THE book unfolding, the resplendent seat
Of saints and angels, the tremendous fate
Of guilty souls, the gloomy realms of woe,
And all the horrors of the world below;
I next presume to sing. What yet remains
Demands my last, but most exalted strains;
And let the Muse or now affect the sky,
Or in inglorious shades for ever lie.
She kindles; she's inflam'd, so near the goal;
She mounts: she gains upon the starry pole;
The world grows less as she pursues her flight,
And the sun darkens to her distant sight.
Heav'n op'ning, all its sacred pomp displays,
And overwhelms lier with the rushing blaze!
The triumph rings! archangels shout around!
And echoing Nature lengthens out the sound!
Ten thousand trumpets now at once advance;
Now deepest silence lulls the vast expense:
So deep the silence, and so strong the blast,
As Nature dy'd, when she had groan'd her last.
Nor man nor angel moves; the Judge on high
Looks round, and with his glory fills the sky;

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