FOND man! the vision of a moment made!
Dream of a dream, and shadow of a shade!
What worlds hast thou produced, what creatures fram'd,
What insects cherished, that thy God is blam'd?
When pain'd with hunger, the wild raven's brood
Loud calls on God, importunate for food;
Who hears their cry, who grants their hoarse request,
And stills the clamour of the craving nest?
Who in the stupid Ostrich has subdu'd
A parent's care, and fond inquietude,
While far she flies, her scatter'd eggs are found,
Without an owner, on the sandy ground;
Unmindful she, that some unhappy tread
May crush her young in their neglected bed.
What time she skims along the field with speed,
She scorns the rider and pursuing steed.
How rich the Peacock! what bright glories run
From plume to plume, and vary in the sun;
He proudly spreads them to the golden ray,
Gives all his colours, and adorns the day:
With conscious state the spacious round displays, "
And slowly moves amid the waving blaze.
Who taught the hawk to find, in seasons wise,
Perpetual summer, and a change of skies?
When clouds deform the year, she mounts the wind,
Shoots to the south, nor fears the storm behind;
The sun returning, she returns again,
Lives in his beams, and leaves ill days to men.
Know'st thou how many moons, by Me assign'd,
Roll o'er the mountain Goat, and forest Hind,
While pregnant, they a mother's load sustain?
They bend in anguish, and cast forth their pain.
Hale are their young, from human frailties freed;
Walk unsustain'd, and unassisted feed;
They live at once; forsake the dam's warm side;
Take the wide world, with Nature for their guide;
Bound o'er the lawn, or seek the distant glade,
And find a home in each delightful shade.
Will the tall Reem, which knows no Lord but Me, Low at the crib, and ask an alms of thee;
Submit his unworn shoulder to the yoke,
Break the stiff clod, and o'er thy furrow smoke? Since great his strength, go trust him, void of care;
Lay on his neck the toil of all the year:
Bid him bring home the seasons to thy doors,
And cast his load among thy gathered stores.
AUTHOR of good! to Thee I turn:
Thy ever wakeful eye
Alone can all my wants discern,
Thy hand alone supply.
Oh let Thy fear within me dwell,
Thy love my footsteps guide;
That love shall meaner loves expel,
That fear all fears beside.
And oh by Error's force subdu'd,
Since oft my stubborn will
Preposterous shuns the latent good,
And grasps the specious ill;
Not to my wish, but to my want,
Do Thou Thy gifts apply;
Unasked, what good Thou knowest, grant;
What ill, though asked, deny.
YE Nymphs of Solyma! begin the song:
To heav'nly themes sublimer strains belong.
The mossy fountains, and the sylvan shades,
The dreams of Pindus and th' Aonian maids,
Delight no more-O Thou my voice inspire
Who touch'd Isaiah's hallow'd lips with fire!
Rapt into future times, the Bard begun :
A Virgin shall conceive, a Virgin bear a son!
From Jesse's root behold a branch arise,
Whose sacred flow'r with fragrance fills the skies :
The Etherial Spirit o'er its leaves shall move,
And on its top descends the mystic Dove.
Ye Heav'ns! from high the dewy nectar pour,
And in soft silence shed the kindly show'r!
The sick and weak the healing plant shall aid,
From storms a shelter, and from heat a shade.
All crimes shall cease, and ancient fraud shall fail;
Returning Justice lift aloft her scale.
Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,
And white-rob'd Innocence from heav'n descend.
Swift fly the years, and rise th' expected morn!
Oh spring to light, auspicious Babe, be born!
See Nature hastes her earliest wreaths to bring,
With all the incense of the breathing spring:
See lofty Lebanon his head advance,
See nodding forests on the mountains dance:
See spicy clouds from lowly Saron rise,
And Carmel's flow'ry top perfumes the skies!
Hark! a glad voice the lonely desert cheers ;
Prepare the way! A God, a God appears:
A God, a God! the vocal hills reply,
The rocks proclaim th' approaching Deity.
Lo, Earth receives Him from the bending skies!
Sink down, ye mountains, and ye valleys, rise;
With heads declin'd, ye cedars, homage pay;
Be smooth, ye rocks; ye rapid floods, give way;
The Saviour comes! by ancient bards foretold :
Hear Him, ye deaf, and all ye blind, behold!
He from thick films shall purge the visual ray,
And on the sightless eye-ball pour the day:
'Tis He the obstructed paths of sound shall clear,
And bid new music charm th' unfolding ear:
The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego,
And leap exulting like the bounding roe.
No sigh, no murmur the wide world shall hear,
From ev'ry face He wipes off ev'ry tear.
In adamantine chains shall death be bound,
And Hell's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound.
As the good shepherd tends his fleecy care,
Seeks freshest pasture and the purest air,
Explores the lost, the wand'ring sheep directs,
By day o'ersees them, and by night protects,
The tender lambs he raises in his arms,
Feeds from his hand, and in his bosom warms;
Thus shall mankind His guardian care engage,
The promised Father of a future age.
No more shall nation against nation rise,
Nor ardent warriors meet with hateful eyes,
Nor fields with gleaming steel be covered o'er,
The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more;
But useless lances into scythes shall bend,
And the broad falchion in a ploughshare end.
Then palaces shall rise; the joyful Son
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