I King-Three sad hours' sackcloth then shall show to us
His penance, as our fault, conspicuous:

2 King And He more needfully and nobly prove

The Nations' terror now than erst their love;
3 King-Their hated love's changed into wholesome fears:
Chorus-The shutting of His eye shall open theirs.
I King-As by a fair-eyed fallacy of Day

Misled, before, they lost their way;

So shall they, by the seasonable fright
Of an unseasonable Night,

Loosing it once again, stumble on true Light :

King-And as before His too-bright eye
Was their more blind idolatry;

emuit offer conceit pulce

up an

of day blere The went of

bludness

3 King

So his officious blindness now shall be
Their black, but faithful perspective of Thee.
His new prodigious Night,

Their new and admirable light,

The supernatural dawn of Thy pure Day;
While wondering they

(The happy converts now of Him

Whom they compell'd before to be their sin)

Shall henceforth see

To kiss him only as their rod,

Whom they so long courted as God.

Chorus-And their best use of him they worshipp'd, be
To learn of him at last, to worship Thee.

I King-It was their weakness woo'd his beauty;

But it shall be

Their wisdom now, as well as duty,

To enjoy his blot; and as a large black letter
Use it to spell Thy beauties better;

And make the Night itself their torch to Thee.

2 King-By the oblique ambush of this close night Couch'd in that conscious shade

The right-eyed Areopagite

Shall with a vigorous guess invade

And catch Thy quick reflex; and sharply see
On this dark ground

To descant Thee.

3 King-O prize of the rich Spirit! with what fierce chase Of his strong soul, shall he

Leap at thy lofty face,

And seize the swift flash, in rebound
From this obsequious cloud,

Once call'd a sun,

Till dearly thus undone ;

Chorus-Till thus triumphantly tamed (O ye two

Twin-suns!) and taught now to negotiate you,

I King-Thus shall that rev'rend child of Light, 2 King-By being scholar first of that new Night,

Come forth great master of the mystic Day; 3 King-And teach obscure mankind a more close way, By the frugal negative light

Of a most wise and well-abusèd Night,

To read more legible Thine original ray ;

Chorus-And make our darkness serve thy Day ;
Maintaining 'twixt Thy World and ours

and The mage

commerce.

of

A commerce of contrary powers,

A mutual trade

"Twixt sun and shade,

By confederate black and white
Borrowing Day and lending Night.

I King-Thus we, who when with all the noble powers
That (at Thy cost) are call'd, not vainly, ours:

2 King—

Upwards, and press on for the pure intelligential prey;

At least to play

The amorous spies,

And peep and proffer at Thy sparkling throne; 3 King-Instead of bringing in the blissful prize And fastening on Thine eyes :

Forfeit our own

And nothing gain

But more ambitious loss at last, of brain;
Chorus-Now by abasèd lids shall learn to be

Eagles, and shut our eyes that we may see.

THE CLOSE.

[Chorus] Therefore to Thee and Thine auspicious ray (Dread Sweet!) lo thus

At last by us,

I King

The delegated eye of Day

Does first his sceptre, then himself, in solemn

tribute pay.

Thus he undresses

His sacred unshorn tresses;

At Thy adored feet, thus he lays down

His gorgeous tire

Of flame and fire,

2 King-His glittering robe, 3 King-His sparkling crown; I King His gold, 2 King-His myrrh, 3 King-His

frankincense;

Chorus-To which he now has no pretence :

For being show'd by this Day's light, how far
He is from sun enough to make Thy star,
His best ambition now is but to be
Something a brighter shadow, Sweet, of Thee.
Or on Heaven's azure forehead high to stand
Thy golden index; with a duteous hand
Pointing us home to our own sun,

The world's and his Hyperion.

MADAM,

To the Queen's Majesty.

'Mongst those long rows of crowns that gild your race, These royal sages sue for decent place:

The daybreak of the Nations; their first ray,

When the dark World dawn'd into Christian Day, And smil'd i' th' Babe's bright face: the purpling bud

And rosy dawn of the right royal blood;

Fair first-fruits of the Lamb! sure kings in this,

They took a kingdom while they gave a kiss.

But the World's homage, scarce in these well-blown,
We read in you (rare queen) ripe and full-grown.
For from this day's rich seed of diadems

Does rise a radiant crop of royal stems,

A golden harvest of crown'd heads, that meet
And crowd for kisses from the Lamb's white feet:
In this illustrious throng, your lofty flood

Swells high, fair confluence of all high-born blood:
With your bright head whole groves of sceptres bend
Their wealthy tops, and for these feet contend.
So swore the Lamb's dread Sire, and so we see't,
Crowns, and the heads they kiss, must court these feet.

Fix here, fair majesty ! may your heart ne'er miss
7!

To reap new crowns and kingdoms from that kiss ;

Nor may we miss the joy to meet in you
The aged honours of this day still new.
May the great time, in you, still greater be,