Yet wandering, I found on my ruinous walk, By the dial-stone aged and green,
One rose of the wilderness left on its stalk,
To mark where a garden had been. Like a brotherless hermit, the last of its race, All wild in the silence of Nature, it drew, From each wandering sunbeam, a lonely embrace; For the night-weed and thorn overshadowed the place Where the flower of my forefathers grew.
Sweet bud of the wilderness! emblem of all
That remains in this desolate heart! The fabric of bliss to its centre may fall, But patience shall never depart!
Though the wilds of enchantment, all vernal and bright, In the days of delusion by fancy combined With the vanishing phantoms of love and delight, Abandon my soul like a dream of the night, And leave but a desert behind.
Be hushed, my dark spirit! for wisdom condemns When the faint and the feeble deplore ;
Be strong as the rock of the ocean that stems A thousand wild waves on the shore!
Through the perils of chance, and the scowl of disdain, May thy front be unaltered, thy courage elate! Yea! even the name I have worshipped in vain, Shall awake not the sigh of remembrance again; To bear is to conquer our fate.
27.—part of A POEM ON THe fear of god.
EARTH praises conquerors for shedding blood,— Heaven those that love their foes, and do them good. It is terrestrial honour to be crowned
For strewing men, like rushes, on the ground. True glory 'tis to rise above them all, Without the advantage taken by their fall. He that in fight diminishes mankind, Does no addition to his stature find; But he that does a noble nature show, Obliging others, still does higher grow; For virtue practised such a habit gives, That among men he like an angel lives:
Humbly he doth, and without envy, dwell, Loved and admired by those he does excel. Fools anger show, which politicians hide; Blest with this fear, men let it not abide. The humble man, when he receives a wrong, Refers revenge to whom it doth belong; Nor sees he reason why he should engage, Or vex his spirit, for another's rage. Placed on a rock, vain men he pities, tost On raging waves, and in the tempest lost. The rolling planets, and the glorious sun, Still keep that order which they first begun : They their first lesson constantly repeat, Which their Creator as a law did set. Above, below, exactly all obey;
But wretched men have found another way. Knowledge of good and evil, as at first,
(That vain persuasion !) keeps them still accurst! The Sacred Word refusing as a guide,
Slaves they become to luxury and pride.
28. THE LAST SPEECH OF CYRUS.-FROM XENOPHON. FEAR not when I depart; nor therefore mourn
I shall be nowhere, or to nothing turn; That soul which gave me life was seen by none, Yet by the actions it designed was known; And though its flight no mortal eye shall see, Yet know, for ever it the same shall be ; That soul, which can immortal glory give To her own virtues, must for ever live. Can you believe that man's all-knowing mind Can to a mortal body be confined?
Though a foul foolish prison her immure
On earth, she (when escaped) is wise and pure.
Man's body, when dissolved, is but the same
With beasts, and must return from whence it came ; But whence into our bodies reason flows,
None sees it when it comes, or where it goes. Nothing resembles death so much as sleep, Yet then our minds themselves from slumber keep. When from their fleshly bondage they are free, Then what divine and future things they see! Which makes it most apparent whence they are, And what they shall hereafter be, declare.
—A LADY'S SALUTATION TO HER GARDEN IN THE
WELCOME, fair scene; welcome, thou loved retreat, From the vain hurry of the bustling great.
Here let me walk, or in this fragrant bower, Wrapped in calm thought, improve each fleeting hour. My soul, while nature's beauties feast mine eyes, To nature's God contemplative shall rise.
What are ye now, ye glittering, vain delights, Which waste our days, and rob us of our nights? What your allurements,—what your fancied joys,— Dress, equipage, and show, and pomp, and noise! Alas! how tasteless these, how low, how mean, To the calm pleasures of this rural scene.
Come then, ye shades, beneath your bending arms Enclose the fond admirer of your charms: Come then, ye bowers, receive your joyful guest, Glad to retire, and in retirement blest ; Come, ye fair flowers, and open every sweet; Come, little birds, your warbling songs repeat; And O descend to sweeten all the rest, Soft smiling peace, in white-robed virtue drest. Content unenvious, ease with freedom joined, And contemplation calm, with truth refined; Deign but in this fair scene with me to dwell, All noise and nonsense, pomp and show, farewell.
30.-A THOUGHT ON ETERNITY.
ERE the foundations of the world' were laid, Ere kindling light the Almighty word obeyed', Thou wert'; and when the subterraneous flame Shall burst its prison, and devour' this frame, From angry Heaven when the kēen lightning flies, When fervent heat dissolves the melting skies', Thou still' shalt be; still as thou wert before', And know no change', when time shall be no more'. O endless' thought! divine Eternity'! The immortal soul' shares but a part of thee! For thou wert present when our life began', When the warm dust' shot up in breathing man'.
Ah! what is life'? with ills' encompassed round, Amidst our hopes', fate strikes the sudden wound': To-day` the statesman of new' honour dreams, To-morrow' death destroys' his airy schemes. Is mouldy treasure' in thy chest confined? Think all' that treasure thou must leave behind'; Thy heir with smiles shall view thy blazoned hearse', And all thy hoards' with lavish hand disperse'. Should certain fate the impending blow delay', Thy mirth will sicken', and thy bloom decay`; 'Then feeble age' will all thy nerves disarm', No more thy blood' its narrow channels warm`. Who then would wish to stretch' this narrow span, To suffer' life beyond' the date of man?
The virtuous' soul pursues a nobler' aim, And life' regards but as a fleeting dream': She longs to wake', and wishes to get free', To launch from earth' into eternity`.
For while the boundless theme extends' our thought, Ten thousand' thousand' rolling years are nought.
31. DAVID'S TRUST IN GOD.
THE warrior thus in song his deeds expressed, Nor vainly boasted what he but confessed; While warlike actions were proclaimed abroad, That all their praises should refer to God. And here, to make this bright design arise In fairer splendour to the nation's eyes, From private valour he converts his lays, For yet the public claimed attempts of praise; And public conquests where they jointly fought, Thus stand recorded by reflecting thought: God sent his Samuel from his holy seat To bear the promise of my future state; And I, rejoicing, see the tribes fulfil The promised purpose of Almighty will: Subjected Sichem, sweet Samaria's plain,
And Succoth's valleys, have confessed my reign; Remoter Gilead's hilly tracts obey,
Manasseh's parted sands accept my sway:
Strong Ephraim's sons and Ephraim's ports are mine, And mine the throne of princely Judah's line:
Then since my people with my standard go, To bring the strength of adverse empire low, Let Moab's soil, to vile subjection brought,
With groans declare how well our ranks have fought; Let vanquished Edom bow its humbled head, And tell how pompous on its pride I tread; And now, Philistia, with thy conquering host, Dismayed and broke, of conquered Israel boast; But if a Seer or Rabbah yet remain
On Johemaan's hill, or Amon's plain,
Lead forth our armies, Lord, regard our prayer; Lead, Lord of battles, and we'll conquer there. As this the warrior spake, his heart arose, And thus, with grateful turn, performed the close; Though men to men their best assistance lend, Yet men alone will but in vain befriend; Through God we work exploits of high renown, "Tis God that treads our great opposers down.
Hear now the praise of well-disputed fields, The best return victorious honour yields; 'Tis common good restored, when lovely peace Is joined with righteousness in strict embrace: Hear, all ye victors, what your sword secures ; Hear, all ye nations, for the cause is yours; And when the joyful trumpets loudly sound, When groaning captives in their ranks are bound; When pillars lift the bloody plumes in air, And broken shafts and battered armour bear; When painted arches acts of war relate,
When slow processions' pomps augment the state; When fame relates their worth among the throng, Thus take from David their triumphant song: Oh, clap your hands together! oh, rejoice In God with melody's exalted voice! Your sacred psalm within his dwelling raise, And, for a pure oblation, offer praise- For the rich goodness plentifully shows He prospers our designs upon our foes. Then hither, all ye nations, hither run, Behold the wonders which the Lord has done! Behold, with what a mind, the heap of slain, He spreads the sanguine surface of the plain ! He makes the wars, that mad confusion hurled, Be spent in victories, and leave the world.
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