POEMS, I SACRED AND MORAL. Printed by A, Strahan, Printers-Street. - POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. THOMAS G1SBORNE, M. A. ff " I would not trifle merely, though the world " Be loudeft in their praife, who do no more. COWPKR. n THE THIRD EDITION. LONDON: PRINTED FOR T. CADELL AND W. DAV1ES, IN THE STRAND. 1803. T O THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LADT HARROWBT, THE FOLLOWING POEMS ARE, WITH GREAT RESPECT, ESTEEM, AND REGARD, INSCRIBED, BY THE AUTHOR. 45152 CONTENTS. PACK Futurity - - . < . 5 Fortitude " . .. . g Equity . . . I Life . , 3 Stanzas fuppofed, &c. . . 2 5 Stanzas to a Church-Bell - - jg The Birthday-Eve - +22 The Sun ... - 28 Ode to the Harp of Cowper 30 Ode to the Memory of William Cowper, fq. 33 Till CONTENTS. PAGE The Dying Indian : an Ode - - 37 The Reformation : an Ode - 49 Solitude : an Ode - 65 Ode from the Tenth Chapter of the Prophecy oflfaiah - * 75 Hymn I. ... 85 II. ' - - 86 III. ... 87 IV. ~ 88 V. 90 Confolation : a Lyric Poem - 93 The Duellift : an Elegy - 129 Elegy to the Memory of the Rev. William Mafon - - - 137 Epitaph on the Rev. William Mafon - 151 To My Son, on the Definition of Needwood Foreft - - - 153 Innovation - - 1 S9 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. CONSCIENCE. rip JL HERE lie for ever there " the Murderer faid ; And preft his heel contemptuous on the dead " No terrors haunt the well-concerting mind ! " Vengeance my aim, thy gold I leave behind : *' Clutch'd in thy grafp be thy own knife furveyM " Thus fo may death felf- fought thy name degrade ! " My fteel, that did the deed, this lake (hall hide " Hence ruft beneath the all-concealing tide POEMS, SACRED .AMD MORAL. " The long defcent thefe mounting bubbles tell " Down ; down dill deeper to the fancied Hell. " But why this needlefs care? The wretch unknown " My garment bloodlcfs no man heard him groan " Nor He, the fabled Monarch of the ikies " He fpoke, and fix'd on heaven his iron eyes. No terrors haunt the well-concerting mind ! Say'ft thou, when March unchains the midnight wind ? When the full blaft, as Alp-defcending Po Whirls through the rocky ftreight the liquid mow, Down the vale driving with refifllefs courfe, Pours on thy walls its congregated force ; When tottering chimnies bellow o'er thy head, And the floor quakes beneath thy fleeplefs bed ? No terrors haunt thee! Say'ft thou, when the ftorm Bids all its horrors, each in wildeft form, From adverfe climes on wings of thunder hafte, And clofe around thee on the naked wade : CONSCIENCE. Bids at each flafh untimely night retire, And opes and {huts the living vault of fire : When from each burfting cloud the arrowy flame Seems at thy central bread to point its aim ; While crafh on craih redoubles from on high, As though the fhatter'd fabric of the fky Were hurl'd in hideous ruin through the air, To whelm the guilty wretch whom lightnings fpare ? No terrors haunt thee ! Lo, Yts Winter's reign : His broad hand, plunging in the Atlantic main, Lifts into mountain piles the boiling deep, And bounds with vales of death each billowy fteep. Now, when thy bark, the dire afcent furpaft, Turns to the black abyfs the downward maft ; In that dread paufe, while yet the dizzy prow Poifed on the verge o'erhangs the gulph below ; Now prefs thy confcious bofom, and declare If guilt has ralfed no throbs of terror there. B 2 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. Still art thou proof? In fleep I fee thee laid : Dreams by the paft infpired thy fleep invade. Houfelefs and drear a plain expands in view : There travels one like him thy fury flew : Couch'd in the brake, a ruffian from his den Starts forth, and aOBMS, SACRED AND MORAL. FORTITUDE. ITS wings around the yielding town * The vidor hoft unfurl'd " And fhall my fhame," faid Cato, " crown " The conqueft of the world ? ** Unarm'd, bareheaded, on the fands " Shall I the tyrant meet ? " Shall I be dragg'd by servile hands " To crouch at Caefar's feet ? Utica. FORTITUDE. r< Shall I, the jeft of gazing Rome, " Swell his triumphal pride ? " Be life and fhame the coward's doom- He grafp'd the fword, and died. Unpitied Louis groan'd forlorn, While murderous Hate decreed In the broad eye of public fcorn His deftined head to bleed. Malice, afraid to lofe her prey, Watch'd o'er his forfeit breath ; And fnatch'd with jealous hafte away Each inftrument of death *. " Unknown the temper of my foul,'* He cries, " ye feize the knife. " A ftronger Power than man's control " For you fhall guard my life. * See Clery's Journal de ce qui s'eft pafse a la Tour dtt Temple pendant la captivite de Louis XVI. A Londres, 1798. IO POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. " Let Paris, while (he rears the block, " With exultation ring ; " And fend her myriads forth to mock " Him that was once her King ! *' O, never fliall this hand profane " The faith to God it owes. " Thou bid'ft me, Heaven, the life retain " Thy will as yet beftows I" Lo here the Fortitude compared That Truth and Error give ! 'Twas but to die the Roman dared : The Chriftian dares to live. ECtpITY. II EQUITY. JL URN, turn thy hafty foot afidc> Nor crufh that helplefs worm : The frame thy fcornful looks deride Required a God to form. The common Lord of all that move, From whom thy being flow'd, A portion of his boundlefs love On that poor worm beftow'd. The Sun, the Moon, the Stars HE made To all his Creatures free ; And fpreads o'er earth the grafTy blade For worms as well as thee. 12 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. The Crown to awe, the Rod to fmite, Is Man's by law divine : But facred be each humbler right That clafhes not with thine ! Let favage prowlers of the wood, With thirft of hunger bold ; Let poifonous foes, by land or flood ; Let plunderers of thy fold j Let pilferers of thy hoarded grain, To juftice vi&ims die : But injure not the harmlefs train That creep, or walk, or fly. Let them enjoy their little day, Their lowly blifs receive : O, do not lightly take away The Life thou canft not give ! LIFE. 13 LIFE. A SOLDIER'S courfe from battles won To new-commencing ftrife ; A Pilgrim's reftlefs as the fun : Behold the Chriftian's life ! Prepared the trumpet's call to greet, Soldier of Jefus! ftand. Pilgrim of Chrift ! with ready feet Await thy Lord's command. The hofts of Satan pant for fpoii : How can thy warfare clofe ? Lonely thou tread'il a foreign foil : How canft thou hope repofe ? 14 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. Seek, Soldier, Pilgrim, feek thine home, Reveal'd in facred lore ; The land whence Pilgrims never roam, Where Soldiers war no more : Where Grief (hall never wound, nor Death, Beneath the Saviour's reign : Nor Sin with peftilential breath His holy realm profane : The land where, Suns and Moons unknown, And Night's alternate fway, Jehovah's ever-feurnlng throne Upholds unbroken day : The land, for Heaven its biifs unfeen Bids earthly types fugged ; Where healing leaves and fadelefs green Fruit-laden groves inveft : LIFE. Where Founts of Life their treafures yield la ftreams that never ceafe ; Where everlafting mountains ihield Vales of eternal peace : Where they who meet (hall never part ; Where Grace atchieves its plan : And God, uniting every heart, Dwells face to face with man. POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. STANZAS SUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN IN A TOWER COM- MANDING AN EXTENSIVE PROSPECT. OEE, the long beams of dawning light With dewy filver gem the plain ; Kindle the vapoury mountain's height, And fpread with gold the crimfon main- Why bid the fires of Morning hail, The mifty pageant of an hour ? See Noon through cloudlefs ether fail, And panting Nature own her power. But lo ! the pride of Noon decays. What flames the brow of Eve inveft ! See earth and heaven, a boundlefs blaze : See Nature hail the peerlefs Weft ! STANZAS, ETC. 17 Behold, the gorgeous vifion flies : See, fee the laft expiring ray ! O, why the paffing glory prize, Nor think on realms of endlefs day ? Morn yields to Noon, and Noon to Eve. O Father ! let my heart be placed Lefs on the world I foon muft leave, And more on that to which I hafte. l8 *OEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. STANZAS TO A CHURCH. BELL. OONOROUS Brafs of changeful power, Now whirled amain, now fwinging flow, Alike prepared to hail the hour Of hope or fear, of joy or woe ! When Sabbath-tracks to prayer invite, Or babes acquire a Chriftian's name, Or Wedlock's holy ties unite, Thy notes the feilival proclaim. And when unbodied fpirits fly, Thy knell reveals the parting breath ; And when the lifted bier draws nigh, Conducts it to the vault of death. When rebecks greet the jocund wake, Or May-day wreaths perfume the plain ; The labouring fpire thy carols {hake, And roufe to mirth the village train. STANZAS TO A CHURCH-BELL. IQ When gleamy fires the corn-flack climb, Or flames the finking roof invade ; In quick alarm thy backward chime On diftant hamlets calls for aid. When Jervis lops the flying hoft ; When Howe or Duncan * fhouts " Deftroy !" Thy clanging peals from coaft to coaft Explofive bear a people's joy. And when to Henry's hallow'd ground f In fable pomp (hall George be borne ; Thy muffled flrokes in broken found Shall tell how boding nations mourn. * Thefe lines were written antecedently to the glorious victory obtained by Rear Admiral Nelfon over the French Fleet near the Mouths of the Nile. Providence, however, during the courfe of the prefent war, has not only blefTed His Majefty's Naval Com- manders with fuch fignal wifdom and valour, but has alfo crowned that wifdom and valour with fuch extraordinary fuccefTes ; that a Writer, who, in order to illuftrate or to dignify his fubject, incidentally notices the merits of fome of thefe diftinguiftied Of- ficers, muft find it impoffible to felect names for his purpofe without omitting others equally entitled to the moft honourable commemoration. f Henry the Seventh's Chapel, the burying-place of the kings of Great Britain. C2 2O POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. Emblem of man's uncertain tongue, That owns each varying paffion's fway ; From hope to fear, from plaint to fong, Transferred within one little day ! Sonorous Brafs, let grief or joy, Let fober truth or wild pretence, Or hope or fear thy tones employ ; Alike in thee 'tis innocence. Not fo, when man's uncertain voice Confpires to aid the foul intent, Purfues unawed its headftrong choice, By malice urged, on vengeance bent ; With rage o'erwhelms, with guile betrays, The living wounds, defames the dead, Love with envenom'd fcorn repays, With curfes loads a brother's head ; The Power, whofe nod is fate, defies, Difdains his mercy, braves his ire, Scoffs the bright manfions of the ikies, And Hell's blue lakes of endlefs fire. STANZAS TO A CHURCH-BELL. 21 O, when the Dead of everj^ age r For Judgement ranged in order due, In Accufation's open page Each " idle word" recorded view * ; What crowds (hall wifh their tongues, like thee, Had but performed a mimic's part ; Had moved from confcious meaning free Nor told the language of the heart ! * " I fay unto you, that every idle word that men fpeak, they " fhall give account thereof in the day of Judgement." Matth. chap xii. ver. 36. 22 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. THE BIRTHDAY-EVE. O'ER the Lake's placid bofom, for hufh'd was the night, With its fires all unclouded the Firmament glow'd ; And faw kindred fires dart an emulous light, Deep funk in their fathomlefs cryftal abode. No fcreech-owl difturb'd the repofe of the wood ; No watch-dog foreboded difquiet and harm ; No torrent, in catara&s hurling its flood, With Fancy's calm dreams blended noife and alarm. THE BIRTHDAY-EVE. One ftreamlet remote, from the margin that fell, On the ear dealing foft in low murmur complain'd: Yet the murmur but feem'd the more clearly to tell By a contraft fo gentle the ftillnefs that reign'd. A found by yon rock, nor uncheck'd nor fuppreft, As from lips half unconfcious efcaping was heard ; Then, as rapt meditation expanded the breaft, Clear, ftrong, and unbroken the defcant recurr'd. " Yes, Morn, when emergent {he crimfons the fea, " And Noon, throned on high when fhe fcorches *' the plain, " And Eve, when fhe fades from each glimmering " tree, " And Night, with new worlds when fhe fpangle s " her train : " All, glorious all ! Hark, in turn they declare " The fount, whence the tide of refplendency * " He is not afhamed to call thew brethren." Heb. ii. u. 28 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. THE SUN. A RIME luftre, bright emblem of Bounty Supreme, Who crownedft the glow of Creation's gay dawn King of Planets, that fparkle adorn'd by thy beam, Or fade into gloom from thy prefence withdrawn ! While millions of eyes on thy Majefty gaze, From worlds beyond worlds amid ether that roll : O, (hake not the fires on thy forehead that blaze, And afcribe to thyfdf what was made for the whole. From the throne whence thouguideft obedient fpheres, O, fcorn not the frail generations of man- What if threefcore and ten be the term of his years ? Lo ! thoufands, or myriads, number thy fpan. Why exult o'er yon orbs that in ether's wide fea Around thee for ages their circuit have trod ? *' They fhine but with radiance borrow'd from Me !" And thou but witfci radiance borrow'd from God ! THE SUN. 29 Exult then, O Sun, in the pride of thy fway, As from fleep fprings a Giant elate in his might : With power undifguifed awe the regions of Day ; By the Moon, thy fair delegate, govern the Night. Yet here, in this bofom, an inmate reticles, An ethereal fpark, of flame purer than thine ; Illumined by Him, who o'er Nature prefides, Who bade me adore, and ordain'd thee to fhinc. When the Soul, all extinct her ethereal fire, In Guilt's murky labyrinth lay down to die ; The Saviour beheld her, and, quenching his ire In Mercy'sbright fountain, He ftoop'd from the fky. On Golgotha bleeding, thou fawft it aghaft, Thou fawft it, and horror overclouded thy face, On Golgotha bleeding, He pardon'd the pail ; And fhower'd on her darknefs the fplendours of Grace. Alas ! If, abforb'd in pollutions of clay, Beams of love fhedfrom Heaven profanely fhefpurn; How bleft, could fhe fade with thy perifhing ray, And with thy finking orb into Nothing return ! But how bleft if, my Saviour, renew'd by Thy light, She fprings at Thy call from defilement below, With Seraphs for ever, while funs fet in night, For ever, for ever and ever, to glow ! 30 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. ODE* TO THE HARP OF COWPER, WHILE empty founds inceflant ring From many a human lyre ; Why, Harp of Cowper, deeps thy firing, Touch'd with ethereal fire ? Unchafed by yonder feeble fun, Have vapours dank of earth Quench'd, ere thy matter's courfe be run, That fpark of heavenly birth ? * Written about the end of the fummer of 1798. ODE TO COWPER'S HARP. 31 The fparkfrom Heaven can never die. Has then the hallow'd flame, Of mortals weary, fought the fky, Returning whence it came ? No, never flialt thou mourn the blaze From thy vibrations fled. Lo, ftill its lambent glory plays Around thy matter's head. Seeft thou forlorn thy matter (land Pierced by the (haft of pain ? Hath flow difeafe unnerved the hand, That woke thy holy drain ? Yes, Pain hath bent and twang'd her bow, And launch'd her keened dart : And pale difeafe with footftep flow Hath mined thy matter's heart. 32 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. O, foon may He, whofe face more bright The clouds of woe reveal, Recal the eye's declining light, The wounded fpirit heal ! Yet, for his hidden ways in vain Our labouring thoughts explore ; Perchance He wills thy holy ftrain To found on earth no more. In fleep then unrepining lie, If fuch be Heaven's decree. Till, for " the twinkling of an eye" *, Thy matter fleep with thee. A little while thy fleep prolong, Till hence with him removed ; Then wake to raife the eternal fong Before the God he loved. * I Cor. ch, xv. ver. ao. ODE TO THE MEMORY OF WILLIAM COWPER, Efq. * I. i. " SERAPH !" from Heaven's eternal throne Slow the folemn accents roll " Thou, by whofe hand on David's favor'd foul " Through clouds of grief my mercy (hone : " To him, whom now 'tis thine to guard, " A bleffing in affliction's form convey. u Go, gently on the Chriftian Bard " The wand of forrow lay." I. 2. The obedient Spirit flies. Aid to Salvation's heirs ordain'd to lend, Miniftrant hofts his flight attend. Hark to the fong that rends the fkies ! * Written in the Spring of 1800. D 34 ODE TO THE MEMORY " From the flame's refining power " More pure the gold of Ophir flows : " From affliction's fiery hour " More bright the Chriftian's virtue glows. " Bard, lov'd of Heaven ! thy Saviour's face " Though clouds and darknefs hide ; " 'Tis but a moment. Canft thou doubt his " grace ? " For thee the Saviour died." i- 3. Around the unconfcious Bard with pitying gaze The heavenly fquadrons (land. With pealing fwell and folemn paufe He fings the Great Redeemer's praife. Nigh the raptur'd Seraph draws : With fmiles of love he waves his hand ; And cries, " 'Tis Mercy," while he lays On COWPER'S brow the wand. With nerves unftrung, and afpe& pale, The fon of forrow lies : And fad and wildering vifions fail Before his vacant eyes. OF WILLIAM COWPER ESO^ 35 II. I. Seraph !" from God's eternal throne, Hark, the dread beheft again ! " The gold is tried : bid ceafe my fervant's pain : " Go, make the Heaven he fang his own.'' " Secure thy Truth, untired thy Love, " Parent of Good !" angelic hymns reply, " To Saints that live in blifs above, " To Saints below that die." II. 2. On Sorrow's couch reclined Behold the Bard ! Mark ye the beamlefs glance Wide-wandering flow in dizzy trance ; The figh that fpeaks the wounded mind ? Weak his hand ; yet ftill it ftrays, Sweet lyre ! athwart thy hallow'd frame : Faint his voice ; yet ftill would raife In broken tones his Saviour's name. Seraph ! O, hafte the glad command " In blifs/' he cries, " repofe." The Chriftian finks : behold an angel hand The ftiffening eyelid clofe ! 36 ODE. II. 3- " Servant of God !" through Heaven the founds are fpread *' Servant of God ! well done. ' Thy warfare's paft, thy toil is o'er : " Vifions of woe no longer dread. ** Moon and ftar thou need'ft no more, " Nor yonder perifhable fun : " The night of earthly noons is fled, *' The eternal day J s begun. Thy Matter calls." " Awake, awake/* Proclaims the Incarnate Word ; '* Servant of God ! well done : partake f< The glories of thy Lord." THE DTING INDIAN: AN ODE. 3 C 39 3 PREFACE. AN American Indian, when captured in war by favages of another tribe, is commonly tortured to death by fire. In that cafe, after previouily enduring much barbarous ufage, he is finally faf- tened to the flake ; and fmgs, while burning, his cleath-fong. The general tenor of the death-fongs may appear by the following extracts from Carver's Travels into the interior parts of North America/ 2d edit. p. 337 34.1. " The prifoners deftined to death are foon led to " the place of execution, which is generally in the " centre of the camp or village ; where, being " ftripped, and every part of their body blackened, " the fkin of a crow or raven is fixed on their '* heads. They are then bound to a flake with D 4 40 PREFACE. " f a gg ts heaped around them ; and obliged, for " the laft time, to fmg their death-fong. The " warriors, for fuch it is only who commonly who dar'ft with Me the fceptre fhare " What outcry lhakes the flagnant air ? * " There ftiall come a falling away fiifl, and that Man of Sin " be revealed, the Son of Perdition, who oppofeth and exalteth " himfelf above all that is called God, or is worihipped; fo that " he, as Cody fitteib in the temple of God, foeiving hhnfelf that " He is God." 2, The01 chap. ii. ver. 4. See alfo Revelations, chap. xiii. ver. 6.; and Daniel, chap, vii, ver. 25. ; and chap, xk rer. 36. 54 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. " Why heaves and fwells yon torpid deep ? ** Ten thoufand moons have fcen it ileep ! " Why undulates the ftedfaft ground ?" Amazed fhe eyes the regions round. Then with inftin&ive dread her look fhe bends Where her Vicegerent's throne in hallowed flate afcends. V. On feven prond hills of old renown The imperial fortrefs rears its crefl * : Around unnumber'd bulwarks frown ; And terror chills the confcious Weft* A lamb, fair fign of peace and love> Trac'd in the broider'd banner floats above. But mark the walls beneath ! The emblem vain Waves o'er the fcourge, the rack, the chain, Sc Revelations, chap. xvii. ver. 9. and 18. THE REFORMATION. 55 And namelefs forms of torturing power : And ftill to each embattled tower, And each tall parapet along, Fierce bands in fable armour throng : And oft in flames the bolt of vengeance hurPd Uproots oppofmg thrones, and awes the proftrate world. VL Even now behold the figns difplay'd Of roufed alarm, of vengeful ire I Volumes of fmoke the pile o'erfhade ; Each roaring turret pours its fire. For lo, the keen- eyed Guards defcry In human guife an Angel Foe draw nigh ! Still as more fierce the vollied lightning glows> His form dilates, his ftature grows. Nor fpear nor fword he deigns to wield ; Backward he flings his radiant fhield : Befide yon bulwark takes his (land ; The buttrefs grafps with giant hand ; 64 56 POEMS, SACRED AND MOX.AL. Shakes, Sampfon-like, the nodding towers amain, And opes the mighty rent, that ne'er fhall clofe again. VII. " So wait, Abhorred Pile, thy fall" Ere yet anew he feeks the ikies, " So nurfe beneath thy ruin'd wall " Thy ferpent brood," the Viftor cries. " So wait thy fall, fo nurfe thy brood * O'ergorged and drunk with Saints' and Martyrs' By Prieftcraft formed his fpellsto pile And dupe the crowd that gazed from far. And hark, the cloifter-doors unbar ! The unprifoned vi&ims hurry forth : Lo pale-eyed beauty, lettered worth, To Heaven their raptures lift in grateful ftrife ; And drink anew the gales of liberty and life. X. No more obfcured in barbarous tone The altar hears the myftic rite : No more fhall Prayer with tongue unknown The vainly liftening ear invite. As when around each favour'd head Infpiring beams the fiery emblem fhed -J* ; * Instruments of pretended miracles. | Ads, chap. a. 6O POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. Even now from Jands, by Ocean's roaring tide And fhadowy mountains parted wide * ; God's wondrous works proclaiming, Praife Her native voice is heard to raife. Lo Truth, efcaped from Error's den, Her hallow'd fount unfeals again f. From realm to realm the facred currents hafte, And heal with frefhening dews the long-neglefted wafte. XL " Prepare the ftake, the pile uprear " The triple-crowned Tyrant cries. The Fiends of Perfecution hear : A lurid gleam o'er Europe flies. Oy^Ei TS ffH..b\1cif 0aXacTct rg r^tiSfTet, HoM. f At the Reformation, the Scriptures were translated into va- rious modern languages for general ufe. THE REFORMATION. , 6l Hark, ceafelefs hammers forge the chain ; And crowded dungeons are enlarged in vain. Behold unripen'd youth and nervelefs age And female weaknefs mock their rage 1 See holy Wifhart climb the pyre, Nor fhrink though Beaton watch the fire : See mitred Ridley, bold in death, And dauntlefs Hooper gafp for breath : See Latimer augment the glorious band ; And Cranmer eye ferene the firm repentant hand 1 XII. 'Tis pad, 'tis paft, the ftorm of blood! Again from yon meridian height Lo Truth renews the golden flood, And fhouting nations hail the light ; Earneft of thofe triumphant days By Seers foretold, by Bards in heaven-taught lays Invoked, when circling earth from pole to pole The fea of righteoufnefs fliall roll 62 FOEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. The cleanfing wave to every (bore : When Salem, raifed to fall no more, As parents for their elder-born Lament, for Him ftie pierced (hall mourn * : One common name bid Jew and Gentile ceafe ; And Chrift be Lord of All in univerfal peace. * See Zech. chap, xii. ver. KX SOLITUDE, AN ODE. FOEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. 65 SOLITUDE, AN ODE. I. i. REMEMB'REST Thou, at Nature's birth, Sifter of Darknefs, Solitude ! When kindred atoms fprang from Chaos rude ? Exulting Thou furvey'dft the Earth ; Saw'ft the drear land, void air, unpeopled fea, And criedft, " The World is made for Me !" Vain hope ! With fwarming life fee ocean heave : The air unnumber'd pinions fan : The ground what rifing myriads cleave ! See God's lad work, imperial Man ; Hear the loud Fiat o'er Creation huri'd : " Mine image Thou : be Monarch of the world (" 66 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. L 2. Again ambitious hopes prevail. Her windows Heaven unbars, her founts the Deep : Of fail devoid, of oar, of helm, Life's poor remains before the whirlwind fweep. " Frail bark ! where flieft thou o'er my deflined " realm ? " Soon (hall Jehovah's bolt thy fragments whelm !" Thou fay'ft The flirinking waters fail : Lo ! the faft-anchor'd veflel rolls no more : The waves confefs a fhore. See hill emerge, and lawn, and vale : Behold the Patriarch Sire defcend, Before the grafly altar bend ; See the atoning victim plead for Grace ! " Man, Earth be thine !" proclaims the appeafed Lord: " No fecond Flood abforbs thy race : " Yon Bow till days expire fhall feal the firm " accord." SOLITUDE. 67 I 3- Why grafp at univerfal power ? Content, enjoy thy partial reign : For thine is many a noifelefs hour, And many a fhiplefs fea, and many a tracklefs plain. Thine Zahara's burning noon : Thine fpicy hills to Tropic funs that glow : Thine Hecla's furnace, thine the fnow That glicters to the polar Moon. Nile for Thee his fecret head, And wafting Niger guards his dufty bed, And Patagonia bends her howling fhore : For Thee to meet the ikies Yon ftony Needles * rife, Where never foot (hall climb, nor pinion foar. * The inacceffible Aiguilles de Dreux, de Moine, &c. among the Swifs Alps. F 2 68 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. And owns not Beauty thy command ? On Andes' top 1 fee Thee (land ; I fee thine eye with fond emotion hafte To Juan's * blooming lawns amid the wat'ry wafte. II. i. To me thine awful fcenes unveil, Thy lore, dread Monitrefs, impart ; Raife the low thought, expand the felfifh heart. Thou beckoned to yon cloifter pale f , Where Britain, fide by fide in crowded rows, Beholds her glorious Dead repofe. Bard, Hero, Sage, how bleft each honour'd name, Theme of all tongues ! That frown forego '* Here learn to weigh the breath of Fame. " Shall Spirits caft a glance below, " While now, ev'n now, his throne the Judge arrays ?" Their doom they wait, nor think of human praife ! * The Ifle of Juan Fernandes. f Weftminfter Abbey. SOLITUDE. 69 II. 2, " With Pity's wreath be Virtue crown'd. " View yon lone feaman, where mid ocean raves, " Scoop from his fhatter'd boat the tide, " Now feen, now loft, among the weltering waves," He feels at every ftroke the fkiff fubfide Is there no beacon'd flame his way to guide* No fhore, no fail, in ether's bound ? A moment, while the broken floods recoil, He fnatches from his toil, And eyes the blank horizon round. Mark the wild glance, record the groan, To all but Thee and Heaven unknown 1 See lefs, yet lefs, the finking veflel grows Eve watch'd the fpeck upon the gleaming main t Night heard the parted waters clofe : Morn oped her pitying eye, and fought the fpeck in vain. J 7O POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. ir. 3 - Again thy lore is taught by woe ! Exile ! the dead no more I grieve. I fee thee 'mid Siberian fnow : I fee the eleclric dawn flafti from the brow of Eve j*. Dark the piny forefts fcowl, As lambent meteors crofs the waving gloom : From wilds whofe filence mocks the tomb, Save when the bear with favage howl Chides her mate, I fee thee come, Exile ! to yon rude hut, thy loathed home : Yon hut thine home by night, yon wild by day. From all the ties of life, Friend, kindred, offspring, wife, Cut off, from wafte to wafte I fee thee dray, * The Aurora Borealis is remarkably vivid in Arctic regions, and nofturnal meteors very common. SOLITUDE. 71 The glofTy fur, the (haggy hide, Thy dated tribute, to provide * : Then fling thee by thy burden on the floor, And hope to dream of joys thine eye fhall meet no more* III. i. With nerves of fteel, with bread of done ; By fcourge, by gibbet, unappall'd, See in thy (hades Obduracy enthrall'd : To Thee (he yields, to Thee alone. By Law's kind doom yon wretch immured apart, Holds converfe with his dubborn heart. Lo, Memory throbs ; avenging Confcience wakes : Lo, down his vifage deals the tear : With trembling hope each finew (hakes : " Yes, Mercy yet/' he cries, " may hear!" Bends at the Throne of Grace the fuppliant knee ; His bofom fmites, and blefles Heaven for Thee. * The tribute of furs and (kins impofed on perfons exiled to Siberia. POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. III. 2. Is there a foul that dares defy Thy frown> dread Power, thy lonely horrors brave ? What rebel paflion fcorns thy fway ? Behold felf-righteous Pride her ftandard wave, And central in thy realms her hoft array ! See in that cave yon anchoret difplay His vaunted title to the fky : The couch of rugged done, the fhirt of hair ; The duly mutter'd prayer ; The meagre frame, the fleeplefs eye ; The bloody fcourge, the girded chain 44 O Wretch, confumed by fruitlefs pain, <4 Go learn,'* Thou crieft, " what more the grace of 44 Heaven 44 Than felf- applauding pangs and groans (hall move, 44 Than years to proud Contrition given : 44 One figh of humble faith, one deed of Chriflian 44 love." SOLITUDE. 73 III. 3. From proftrate domes and lonely walls, Whofe groves in wondering ether hung * ; Where Monfter to his fellow calls, And 'mid Belfhazzar's Courts the bittern broods her young ; Bid the fhade of Babel roufe And cry, nor fpare, to London's rival creft. She hears Thee ! Glory of the Weft, " Pride of the Sea ! whofe regal brows " He, who bade me fill my day, " Now crowns fupreme, approach, my doom furvey : " Behold my Sifter Queens around me mourn : " Come, fearch with wearied eyes " The duft where Ninus f lies : " Come, trace Samaria's unfrequented bourn : * The Hanging Gardens of Babylon raifed upon buildings of extreme height and magnificence. f Nineveh. 74 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. " See Tadmor *, Tyre, a fhapelefs heap : " Behold thrice-captive f Salem weep* " By Sin we fell : dread Thou the impartial rod. " To Thee our Ruins cry ; ' Repent, adore thy God !" * Palmyra. f- Jerufalem has been fucceflively captive and in fubje ' Hear Earth and Heaven ! Jehovah's word. < Avenger of my flighted Law, ' Affyrian, rife ! Away, away ; * Chafe the vi&im, feize the prey : Crufh the difTembling race that calls me Lord, * As grind thy chariot-wheels the unrefifting clay.' REFERENCES. I ft Strophe Ifaiah, ch. x. ver. 5. O AfTyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the ftaff in their hand is mine indignation ! 6. I will fend him againft an hypocritical nation, and againft the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the ipoil and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire in the ftreets, 8o POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. I. 2. * He haftes : but not to vindicate My Name. * Not fuch the purpofe of his heart, ' On conqueft bent, athirft for fame, * O'er proftrate earth he (hakes the dart. " Are not my chieftains Kings ?" he cries : " As Calno fell, lo Hamath lies ! " Where now Carchemia's idol-fhrine ? " Prone in the duft Samaria fighs : " And boding Salem fhrieks, < My fitter's fate is mine !* REFERENCES. ift Antiftrophe, rer. 7. Howbeit he meaneth not fo, neither -doth his heart think fo : but it is in his heart to deftroy, and cut off nations not a few. 8. For he faith, " Are not my princes " altogether Kings? 9. Is not Calno as Carchemifh; is not " Hamath as Arpad ; is not Samaria as Damafcus ? 10. As my ' hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whofe graven " images did excel them of Jerufalem and Samaria; n. fhall " I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, fo do to " Jerufalem and her idols ?" ODE FROM THE TENTH CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. Si I- 3- Learn, Son of Pride, learn from My lips thy * doom ! * Ere long in Sion's fate Thy miniftry of Vengeance fills its date. Then to yon expecting tomb c Thy banner'd pomp, thy long array, Thy harden'd heart, thy boaftful eye defcend : < And o'er thy glittering dreams of boundlefs * fway Their fhadows Night and Scorn extend. REFERENCES. ift Epode, ver. ia. Wherefore it (hall come to pafs, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerufalem ; I will punifli the fruit of the flout heart of the King of Aflyria, and the glory of his high looks. POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. II. I. ' I hear thy vaunt' " My wifdom plann'd the " deed, " Mine arm atchieved : be mine the praife. l( I frown'd ; affrighted realms recede : " My hand their treafured neft on high " Reach'd : as eggs the fhepherd-boy " Sweeps up, I fwept the earth : none dared to raife " The wing, nor ope the beak, nor roll th' exploring " eye." REFERENCES. ad Strophe, ver. 13. For he faith, " By the ftrength of my " hand I have done it; and by my wifdom; for I am prudent; " and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed " their treafures : and 1 have put down the inhabitants like a " valiant man. 14. And my hand has found as a neft the riches " of the people : and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I " gathered all the earth : and there was none that moved the c< wing, or opened che mouth, or peeped.'* ODE FROM THE TENTH CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 57 II. 2. ' Fool ! Shall the axe o'er Hermon's piny fliade, ' Scorning the hewer's arm, prevail ? ' The faw, without its matter's aid, * The pomp of Lebanon aflail ? c Say 'ft Thou/ " Untired with whirlwind pace " By native ftrength my foes I chafe ?" ' Proud chief! My breath fupplies thy force : 6 My fcourge incites thee to the race : * My curb is in thy jaws, and guides thy frantic c courfe.' REFERENCES. ad Antiftrope, ver. 15. Shall the axe boaft itfelf againft him that heweth therewith ? Or fhall the faw magnify itfelf againft him that ftiaketh it ? As if the rod fliould (hake itfelf againft them that lifted it up : or as if the ftaff ftiould lift up itfelf, as if it were no wood. The concluding image of the Antiftrophe is borrowed from Ifaiah, chap, xxxvii. ver. 19, in which chapter the completion of the prefent prophecy is recorded. See Biihop Lowth's Notes on both chapters. G 2 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. ii. 3- * On Thee, on thine, I vindicate My Name. ' See my red Vengeance hurl'd ! < Prince, people, fall : as when the Sylvan world * Shuddering views the ethereal flame. * The low-fpread thorn, the cedar's height, ' The huge oak finks beneath the burning flood. ' Ranging the fcorched realms, a child may write c The fcatter'd reliques of the wood.' REFERENCES. 2d Epode, ver. 1 6. Therefore fliall the Lord, the Lord of Hofts, fend among his fat ones leannefs ; and under his glory he fhall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. 17, And the Light of Ifrael fhall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame ; and it fhall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day : 18. and fhall con fume the glory of his foreft and of his fruitful field, both fcul and body ; and they lhall be as when a ftandard-bearer fainteth. 19. And the reft of the trees of his foreft fhall be few, that a child may write them. HYMNS. 85 HYMN I. SAVIOUR ! When night involves the ikies, My foul adoring turns to Thee ; Thee, felf-abafed in mortal guife, And wrapt in {hades of death for me. On Thee my burfting raptures dwell, When crimfon gleams the Eaft adorn j Thee, Viftor of the Grave and Hell, Thee, fource of Life's eternal Morn. When Noon her throne in light arrays, To Thee my foul triumphant fprings ; Thee, throned in Glory's endlefs blaze, Thee, Lord of Lords and King of Kings. O'er earth when {hades of evening fteal, To Death and Thee my thoughts I give : To Death, whofe power I foon {hall feel ; To Thee, with whom I truft to live ! G 3 S6 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. HYMN II. A HY humbleft works with full accord Confirm thy word, Almighty Lord ! And fpread beneath man's downward eyes A fcene that bids them feek the ikies. Emblem of zeal that never tires, Nor kindles with unhallow'd fires, Such be my zeal ! in eddying tides Yon ftream its active chryftal guides : Or paufmg, as a nobler wood, Or wilder cliff o'erhangs its flood, (Each Wave, each dimpling curl, repreft) Difplays the picture on its breaft. O well ! were mine as pure a courfe. O well ! with half the truth and force Did this degenerate heart of mine Reflecl the beams of Grace divine. HYMNS. 87 HYMN III. Vv HEN Groves by moonlight filence keep, And Winds the vexed waves releafe, And fields are hufli'd, and cities fleep : Lord ! Is not that the hour of peace ? When Infancy at evening tries By turns to climb each parent's knees, And gazing meets their raptured eyes : Lord ! Is not that the hour of peace ? In golden pomp when autumn fmiles ; And hill and dale its rich increafe By man's full barns exulting piles : Lord 1 Is not that the hour of peace ? When mercy points where Jefus bleeds, And Faith beholds thine anger ceafe, And Hope to blank Defpair fucceeds : This, Father, this alone is Peace ! 64 88 POEM.S, SACRED AND MORAL. HYMN IV. > FOR A PERSON IN SICKNESS. " O FATHER! glorify thy name" So pray'd at woe's approach my Lord. Difeafe corrodes this mortal frame : O Father ! be thy Name adored. Though life's unruffled days had flown, Ere yet was pad her vernal prime ; And Sicknefs o'er my head has ftrewn, The fnows of age before their time : Why fear the path of grief to tread ; Why, Father ! fhrink from thy decree : If thus my longing foul be led A fafer, fhorter, way to Thee ? On wings of Faith, o'er fogs of earth, Thy fervant, Father ! teach to rife, And view the bleffing's native worth Clear'd from affliction's dark difguife. 8 9 , Yon clouds, a mafs of fable fhade To mortals gazing from below, By Angels from above furveyM With univerfal funihine glow. 9 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. HYMN V. VEIL, veil your eyes, Angelic Legions ! veil. The Son of God forfakes the fkies ; Bids flefh his Deity difguife ; Bids earth her Saviour hail. Veil, veil your eyes ! Hell's black abyfTes move. The rebel world its God denies ; The terrors of his wrath defies ; Mocks his redeeming love. Veil, veil your eyes ! The bloody bargain's fign'd. The hour of fraud the traitor fpies ; With fwords and ftaves, and torches flies, As 'twere a thief to bind. Veil, veil your eyes 1 To Judgement Chrift is led. With charges feign'd, and perjured lies, Malice His innocence decries, Arraigns His facred head. Veil, veil your eyes ! The reed, the platted thorn, The mimic robe of purple dyes, Mark Him the brutal rabble's prize, The taunting foldier's fcorn. Veil, veil your eyes ! Gentile and Jew confpire. Againft Him Prieft and People rife ; His death demand with frantic cries, A murderer's life require. Veil, veil your eyes ! Barabbas is fet free. Caft out, the Lord of Glory dies ; For fmners bleeds a facrifice, Nail'd to the accurfed tree. 92 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. Raife, raife your eyes ! Angels ! He burfts the tomb : Joins Love and Truth in endlefs ties ; Bids Peace with Juflice harmonife ; Averts the finner's doom. Raife, raife your eyes ! See Heaven her King receive ! The Law's demand He fatisfies ; The fons of Adam juftifies ; Bids all their myriads live. Raife, raife your eyes ! His Spirit He fends down : To all overflowing grace fupplies ; His willing people fanctifies ; Prepares their future crown. Raife, raife your eyes ! Death's captives He unchains. His faithful hoft He glorifies. Farewell to death aiid tears and fighs ! Man with his Saviour reigns CONSOLATION: LYRIC POEM. ARGUMENT. The purport of the following Poem is to compare Chriftianity with the three leading fyftems of Antient Philofophy, name- ly, the fyflem of Pyrrho, that of Epicurus, and that of Zeno, as to influence on human happinefs. After fome defcription preparatory to the introduction of the fubjeft, the charater- iftical tenets and the practical effefts of each of thefe philofo- phical fyftems are illuftrated. Thofe of the Chriftian Reli- gion are afterwards exemplified and appretiated in a fimilar [ 95 ] CONSOLATION: A LYRIC POEM. I. 1 HE paufing tide fcarce broke in foam : High on the cavern'd rock I flood ; And view'd the quivering funbeams roam In boundlefs radiance o'er the flood. Beneath each ifle, each headland gray, Unmoved the inverted picture lay. Hung in bright haze the diftant mountains glow'd : Earth, fea, heaven fmiled : my heart with joy o'erflow'd. POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. II. Short was the joy. With eddying hafte Dun clouds combined their lengthening train. The blaft in lurid purple traced Its courfe athwart the roughen'd main. Wave after wave with deepening roar Plunged headlong on the fadden'd ftiore. Sea-mews with fcreams the rifmg temped hail'd : Earth, ocean, heaven portentous darknefs veil'd. III. " O fickle charms of Nature's form, " Fading while yet we gaze," I cried ; << O turns of funlhine and of florm, " Too well ye paint life's changeful tide ! " What though with tranfitory gleam " Health, Peace, Content, and Rapture beam ? ** Hovering full foon o'er man's devoted head, " Difeafe and woe their raven wings outfpread. CONSOLATION : A LYRIC POEM. 97 IV. " Sages ! inured the arms to wield " Made proof by Wifdom's myftic fpell, " Stand forth with philofophic fhicld (e The (haft of forrow to repel. " Or teach, if human fldll in vain " Toil to avert the ftroke of pain, "At leaft to cool the wound, and draw the dart " Wrapt in the bleeding fibres of the heart \" V. Mournful I fpoke. A rufhing found, As Beings more than mortal paft, (I heard and fhudder'd,) fwept the ground: An eager glance around I caft. Fled was the fcene ; nor low'ring fky Nor darkened ocean met mine eye. The Sun was throned in renovated might, And feem'd on claffic realms to pour the light. POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. VI. A city *, form'd for fovereign fway, Sublime upon a rock appeared : Her marble domes in clofe array Climbing the rugged fteep fhe rear'd ; Hid with gay roofs the circling plain ; Stretch'd her long arms to reach the main ; Saw at each mole the baffled furge decreafe, And bade her anchored navies float in peace. * Athens, originally denominated Cecropia from its founder Cecrops, was built on a high rock fituated on a large plain near the middle of Attica. The citadel, in the centre of which was the vafl. Temple of Minerva, conftrufted wholly with Parian marble and (till fubfifting, occupied the fummit. In procefs of time the whole plain was covered with buildings. The city was joined to the harbour of Piraeus by the walls called Max^a Ts/^j, the Long Walls, being about five miles in length ; whence they are ftyled by Propertius, " Long Arms." Inde ubi Pirseei capient me littora portus, Scandam ego Thefeae brachia longa vise. Lib. iii. Eleg. The road from the harbour was named O^o? Qwtut, the road of Thefeus. See Potter's Antiquities of Greece, 3d edit. vol. i. ch. ?. CONSOLATION : A LYRIC POEM. 99 VII. Its triple tier a rampart tall Around the craggy fummit led : Long gleams of radiance crown'd the wall From fliield and lance and helmed head. On the (harp peak, to grace the fhrine Rear'd to the guardian Power divine, A fane's majeftic pile, o'er bulwarks raised And towers' proud heads, with Parian luftre blazed. ' VIII. Cecropia calls thee ; Mortal, rife :" From lips unfeen the accents flow'd : . Cecropia, tutrefs of the wife, To bleft Philofophy's abode Jids all her fages guide thy way, ad cheer thy foul with mental day." I helkd : in thought I fcorn'd the frowns of fate ; And nffh'd impatient to the expanded gate, u 2 . TOO POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. IX. I paft. With heaven-afpiring head A fplendid Pile before me rofe. Its valves the open portal fpread : Above, more bright than Thracian fnows *, A Goddefs fat. Beneath her throne In bold relief the fculptured ftone, Proclaim'd ; " Approach, and learn, ingenuous Youth, The path of Wifdom from the lips of Truth." X. Sounds, as though tongues innumerous vied A theme of choral praife to fwell, Broke from within : in airy tide On my charm' d fenfe the murmur fell ; Then ceafed. I enter'd. High uprear'd In marble pomp a bull appeared. * Among the Grecians, Truth was reprcfentcd as a Goddefs clothed in white robes. CONSOLATION: A LYRIC POEM. 101 Deep on its bafe engraved a myftic line Bade Pyrrho's name in golden luflre fhinc* XL Sages, in fpotlefs white array'd, In long procedion moved around. The foot, by confcious awe difmay'd, Scarce dared to prefs the hallow'd ground. Each, as the chiflell'd form he paft, A glance of homage upward caft ; His hands fubmiflive on his bofom fpread ; In filence paufed, and bow'd his reverent head * XII. At once in wide-extended ring The liftening band collected flood : Stillnefs aloft on movelefs wing Hung poifed, and hufh'd th* aerial flood. * From the prefent ftanza to the nineteenth inclufive, the lead- ing tenets of the Pyrrhonic Philofophers are under confideration. "3 SACRED AND MORAL. With heaving bread and eyes entranced From the denfe orb a Sage advanced : " Hail, feftive day !" with raptured voice he cried ; <* Hail, feftive day !" the echoing dome replied: XIII. " Hail, feftive day ! to Wifdom dear, ** Hail to thy long expe&ed beams ! " Beft offspring of the rolling year, " Again thy noontide glory ftreams ! 44 Hail ! for thou firft, in mute delight " Stooping from thy meridian height, i( Heard'ft Pyrrho's tongue the path of blifs explore, " And thefe exulting walls return the lore. XIV. " Yes, mighty Sage, in circling band " Whom now we greet with wonted rite, " This day beheld thy potent hand tl New ftreams from Wifdom's fount invite. CONSOLATION : A LYRIC POEM. 105 ** Lo ! from thefe walls the current glides ; " Now rolls through Greece its fwelling tides ; te Views parched nations bending o'er the brink, " And kindling life glow brighter as they drink. XV.- " As travellers loft in midnight fnows " When mortals roam'd, no fuccour nigh $ " Thou bad'ft Philofophy difclofe " Her radiance to the mental eye : " Not burft in floods of cloudlefs light * f " With dazzling glare to fcorch the fight ; " But, veil'd in haze, with mitigated power " Shed the mild glimmerings of the twilight " hour. * In allufion to the charafteriftical principle of the Pyrrhonic fchool, which was, to confider every thing as a matter of doubt and uncertainty. H 4 )Of POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. XVI. " By thee the freeborn foul difdains " From Syftem's mine bafe drofs to heave ; " By thee exalted breaks the chains, " That ftern Conviction loves to weave* " Why feek myfterious depths to know ? " Knowledge is certainty of woe ! " Rule Gods, or Fate, or Chance ? Inflamed with bile " Let fools decide Thou bid'ft us doubt, and fmile. XVII. " No rigid lore our Peace annoys ; " Prefiding Doubt each maxim weighs : " And ftill in fluduating poife '* The ever-trembling balance plays. " Brethren, again this day revere, " Bed offspring of the rolling year ; " Through all her towers till Athens wake the fong, " And Sauium's echoing cliffs the drain prolong * !" * Sunium, a promontory of Attica. , CONSOLATION : A LYRIC POEM. XVIII. The ftrain unnumber'd voices fwell'd : " Hail to the day, whofe beamy eye " Thy hand, illuftrious Sage, beheld " The tear of joy from Mifery's eyelid breaks, " And Sorrow's bofom triumphs while it aches." XLVI. Mine eyes 1 rais'd : a dungeon frown'd ; Green damps the mildew'd wall had ftainM : 1 4 I2O POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. Shewn by pale lights that gleam'd around, Two mangled forms * to earth were chain'd. Beneath their blood-entangled hair Dark crufts o'erfpread their fhoulders bare, Where from new ftripes thefanguine dream had flow'd; And each torn limb with fettering anguifh glow'd. XLVII. Yet on their brow no fadnefs lours ; Their breads with tranfport feem to fwell : Hark ! from their lips what rapture pours i Ecflatic praifes {hake the cell. * " They drew Paul and Silas into the market-place unto the " Rulers; and rent off their clothes, and laid many ftripes upon " them ; and thruft them into the inner prifon, and made their " feet faft in the ftocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, " andfavg praifes unto God ; and the prifoners heard them." Afts, chap. xvi. ver. 19, &c. The ftate in which they were thus con- fined may be collected from a fubfequent verfe of the fame chap- ter; in which it is related that afterwards the jailor " took " them, and ivajhcd their ft ripes." Ver. 33. CONSOLATION : A LYRIC POEM. 121 Echo, long ftunn'd with Sorrow's moan, Starts as fhe hears the fong unknown ; Bids through each vault the pealing joy rebound : And Night and Mifery wonder at the found- XLVIII. 'Twas pad. In alter'd garb array'd Grief to my gaze her vifions fpread ; The glare of funeral lamps difplay'd, The fable throng, th' uplifted dead. The parent, while that death-bell's toll Smites from yon tower her in moil foul, Groans at each ftroke, as o'er the corfe fhe bends ; And Sorrow's flood in larger flream defcends. XLIX. In youth's gay prime her darling died : To Nature true the parent grieves. But lo ! even now her pangs fubfide ; Now lefs and lefs her bofom heaves. 122 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. Hope's kindling dawn her cheeks difclofe ; llefign'd (he ftills her plaintive woes ; Unclafps her hands, the gufhing forrow dries* And kneels, and points exulting to the ikies. L. The fcene was chang'd. Bellowing with rage Plebeian crowds athirft for blood, Prince, Conful, Senatorian age, Circling a vaft arena flood. There *, flung to ravening beafts a prey, Still gafping many a fufferer lay ; * To be thrown to wild beafts in the arena of the Circus as a fpeftacle to the people, is well known to have been one of the early modes of Chriftian martyrdom. To be wrapt in veftments over- fpread with pitch, and thus burned, was another mode. " Pere- *' untibus addita ludibria ; ut crucibus affixi, aut flammandi, dtque, " ubi defeciflet dies, in ufum nofturni luminis urerentur." Taci- tus, Annal. lib. xv. To this barbarous fpeftacle Juvenal appeals to allude in the following lines : tseda lucebis in ilia Qua ftantes ardent, qui fixo gutture fumant; Et latum media fulcum deducit arena, Sat. i. 1. 15$. CONSOLATION : A LYRIC POEM. 123 Or, fmear'd with pitch, on fulphurous piles was raifed, And vengeful myriads fhouted as he blazed. LI. Three victims from a platform's height Witnefs the pangs they foon muft (hare. Their eyes with holy ardour bright To heaven they lift in fecret prayer : A Power by Faith beheld adore ; Hear unappall'd yon monfter's roar ; Unmoved behold yon myriad hands confpire To rear the mighty pyramid of fire. LIL Fate calls them next. The imprifon'd beaft Bounding impatient o'er the fand Calm they await ; the pitchy veft They clafp with unreluclant hand : Which paflage the Scholiaft thus explains: " Nero maleficos homi- " nes tzda & papyro & cera fuperveftiebat, & fie ad ignem " admoveri juheat." Martial alfo fpeaks of the " tunica molefta," in which the Chriftian was burnt, " Matutina fpedtatus arena." 124 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. Nor quake, nor fhrink, nor breathe a figh, Nor turn afide the ftedfaft eye, When crouching to his fpring the tiger glares, Or death's red torch the approaching Liclor bears. ' LIIL Again the echoing vault of Heaven With thunder lhakes ; the weftern fun Glows ; to the darkening zenith driven The clouds his arrowy fervour fhun. Behold, their central depths divide ! Bright chinks foretel the golden tide *. It comes ! a flood of glory burfts its way, And pours a blaze of more than mortal day. LIV. Lo, Angei hofts, whofe lucid train Seems half abforb'd to melt in light, Orb within orb, a Crofs fuftain, A Crofs than Angel Hods more bright. * Aurea rima micans percurrit lurnine nimbos. Vine. CONSOLATION : A LYRIC POEM. 125 _^ ^ --- -= Pourtray'd in characters of flame Aloft it bears a myftic Name. Beneath is fculptured ; " Overcome by This * : " Lo, here the fign of conqueft and of blifs, LV. " Lo, here the fign," a Seraph cries Cherubic legions catch the found : Loud as when polar billows rife In ftorms, to ether's utmoft bound The Hofanna rolls : " Lo, here the fign " Of refcued man, of Love divine, 4fi Of human crimes by guiltlefs blood effaced, " And Eden raifed from earth's degenerate wafte* LVI. " By This with praife mid feftering fmart " The captives fhook the midnight cell : * In allufion to the infcription on the Crofs reported to have appeared to Conftantine : " Ev rc/yl vma." 126 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. " By This, the childlefs parent's heart " With throbs of woe forgot to fwell. ft By This, from earth-born fears releafed, " The Martyr on the infuriate bead *' And men more favage fix'd the dauntlefs eye, " Or rofe in flames triumphant to the fky. LVII. " Away, vain fophiftry ! A Chriftian I, " And fear at Duty's call to rifk ray fame ? * See Mark, chap. viii. ver. 3?. THE DUELLIST: AN ELEGY. " Yet how, proud foe, thy cold infulting eye, " Shunning the offer'd combat, fhall I face ? ft Where hide my head, while Slander's envious cry, " Ro-ufed at thy bidding, trumpets my difgrace ? f< My native woodlands (hall I feek, the fneer " Even in their (hades on every brow to meet ? 4t Or haunt the town, in every wind to hear There fculks the Coward,' murmur through the " ftreet ? *' What, live to infamy, of fools the fcorn, " The daftard's butt, the by-word of the brave ? " No : farewel Doubt I" c Beneath the waving thorti, * Go, learn his fate at yonder namelefs grave* * Stranger ! If trials like to his are thine, * Hark to the voice, that whifpers from his fod. " Shame doft thou dread ? The lhame of Sin decline : " Talk'ft thou of Valour? Dare to fear thy God." ELEGY MEMORY REV. WILLIAM MASON. POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. 139 ELEGY MEMORY REV. WILLIAM MASON. MASON is dead! From Aft on's airy tow'r The folemn warning vibrates down the vale. Fame flood obfervaat of his parting hour ; And all her hundred tongues proclaim the tale. " Now hade/' fhe cries, " to yon funereal fcene r " Prepare, ye fons of Poefy ! the verfe f 11 Round the dead Bard in crowded pomp convene^ rt And hang with tributary praife the hearfe. POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. " Long did his name my labouring trumpet fill ; " O'er many a realm the pealing echoes roll'd : * And long and loud the blaft that yet fliall thrill, " Ere the full triumphs of his mufe be told^ " Ope then each fountain of poetic grief; " Fulfil each rite by Time's fure ftamp approved : " Chide med'cine's God,, whofe hand withheld relief ; " Chide the relentlefs Fates, by fong unmov'd. " Breathe chilling blight on each Parnaffian glade ; '* Call from their withering bowers th* AorJan " quire ; < In fabler dole array the tragic maid ^ " Let fad Thalia trail the inverted lyre. * Beckon the Dryad from each rifted oak; *' From mountain dells be Oreads heard to ITgh ; 41 From lake and ftream the Naiad train convoke * " From coral groves let Nereid plaints reply. EL1GY ON MR. MASON. that feels for ally Slow-pondering, dooms yon fhades to fall : If Law demands their native bed To enlarge a kingdom's fcanty bread : If Albion's flocks and Albion's kinc 'Midft inefficient limits pine : Own we the call, " To others do " What rendered ye could wifh to you :" Be every felfifh thought withftood, And grief abforb'd in general good. If long facilities of ill, Nurfed and matured by lonely Skill, Needwood ! thine ample verge around The fenfe of Right and Wrong confound ; If fcreen'd by gloomy Solitude Through the deep wood marauders rude POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. By day, by night, range unrepreft, Nor fpare the Sabbath's holy reft : If Crimes from fmall tranfgreffions flow ; If pilfering ftealth to rapine grow ; If deer purloin'd by trefpafs bold Train up the plunderer of the fold^ The wanderer of the dufk prepare The manfion's bolted ftrength to dare : With Toil if Virtue hand In hand Approach ; if Sloth, if Fraud expand, As neighbouring fliades are fwept away, Her breafl to evangelic day : Serene we mark the Foreft nod, And yield our much-loved oaks to GOD. So Lebanon ! with thundering fhock When plunging prone from rock to rock At Hiram^s word thy cedars die ; Havock's bare arm with louring eye The nations view. But when they hear The trunks JEHOVAH'S FANE ftiall rear 5 Delight transforms each angry gaze, And murmurs change to grateful praife. TO MY SON, &C. 157 Yet from the biting axe fecure Some favoured fcenes (hall (till endure. And as, in Barca's wild forlorn, The Pilgrim's eye at peep of morn Beholds a green Oafis fmile, Mid feas of fand a tufted ifle : So Thefe, while o'er furrounding plains In tedious famenefs Culture reigns, Shall ihine, preferved by faithful Tafte, Memorials of the beauteous wafte. INNOVATION: A POEM. POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. l6l IN NO V ATIO N. 1 is March ! How warm this cottage-garden fpreads Full to the Southern clime its little beds ! Here, time-worn pales the fearching North oppofe ; There, intertwifted thorns the entrance clofe : While goofeberries renown'd for lufcious juice, Mix'd with the fragrant briar, thofe for ufe Cultured, for pleafure this, combine their fcreen, And tip the lengthening bud with early green. Lo, half conceaPd from each incurious view By wither* d fage and ever^verdant rue, Yon fnow-drops, heralds of the opening year, Through melting drifts in kindred veftufe peer. M l6t POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. Their modeft heads the florets bend to earth, And feem to (him the beams that gave them birth : While, boldly venturing from the guardian hedge, The crocus, pofted on the border's edge, Expands her bofom to the noon-tide rays, And all her golden cups return the blaze. Hark ! round yon hive the bufy murmur rings, What crowds in frolic circles ply their wings, Reviving funs in glad commotion hail, And drink the frefhnefs of the vernal gale ! While thefe in fports their vacant raptures pour, Thofe wifer haunt the new-difcover'd flower ; Each fragrant cell explore, each neclar'd fold, Glean the new wax, and load their thighs with gold. Propt on his fpade behold the owner ftand, And watch, abforb'd in thought, th* induflrious band : While Hope, exulting many a month before, Computes the weight of their autumnal flore. With calmer tide when fanguine paflions roll, And Peace and Mufing harmonife the foul, INNOVATION. 163 What charms hath {Imple Nature f O'er the heart A penfive pleafure deals : the toys of Art " Nature !" exclaims a Critic, while furprife Wrinkles his brow, dilates his angry eyes ; " What mighty charms can barren Nature fhew ? " Nature, grown old five thoufand years ago : *' Nay., thrice five thoufand thanks to modern lore, " That lying Hebrew can delude no more " The charms of fimple Nature ! Grant them true : With fimple Nature what haft thou to do ? " Of yore, as when the infant's drawling tongue " Forms its vile cadence to the Nurfe's fong ; * Dandled in Nature's arms, poetic brains " Tun'd to her chords their monotonic drains : " And, darkling flill, from beams of modern day te Yon rhymers turn ; and Cowper leads the way. " Shall bards then trace, in Freedom's reign, the plan " By poets hackney'd fmce the world began ; ** Greet with obedient faith each pedant rule " Enforced in Homer's antiquated fchool ; M 2 164 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. " Pace the dull track of old by Virgil trod ; " And (till, like children, crouch to Nature's rod ! " Lo, Innovation, every wing unfurl'd, old, modern, prefent, paft, combine ; O'er allegoric hyperbolic verfe Trope after trope, an endiefs fhower, difperfe ; Huge fimilies from page to page unroll, And form the texture of the flimfy whole* So, claflic rills where Tiber's fountains pour* Some felf-exalted Claudio of the hour, Of brilliance prating, toils to deck more bright His pictures gaudy with excefs of light. From fide to fide a tinfel luftre plays ; Sky, rock, hill, water, wood, renew the blaze : Again the artift fcans the landfcape round; Travels with gilding touch from ground to ground r And when at length, furvey'd at diftance due, The work, now deem'd complete, enchants his view, INNOVATION, 169 A fober corner fpies, the brufh relumes, Another and another fpeck illumes ; Nor lets one folitary fpot difclofe The fimple charm of ihadow and repofe* From ftyle fubdued, to bolder flights the bard Adventurous turns, nor finds th' adventure hard. From vulgar {hackles freed,, his liberal ftrain Bids us the links of prejudice difdain : And, as from profe, no lefs we learn from fong The glorious truth, " Whatever is, is wrong." The firm eftablifhed, all arrangements made, Well form'd, well freighted, for their novel trade* Poetic merchantmen to every gate In Folly's fervice hoift the ready fail. Their barks by inland navigation glide To every creek of her domeflic tide ; Glean from each county with difcernment nice For every palate an appropriate vice : Then by each town and village anchor cafl, And feed their thoufands with the rich repalh J7O POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL* Next with full canvas from their native ftrand The helm they ply to many a foreign land ; To marts remote in queft of mifchief roam, And bear with joy the precious cargo home. Their barks import; to mend our flavilh laws, Fraternal maxims, philofophic faws, That teach how bleft, Equality, thy fway ; How bleft, where all command and none obey ! Their barks import the fceptic note abfurd, The fhallow cavil at the Sacred Word, The gibe, the blundering feoff, that, here de- vifed, Then 'crofs the Channel fent, at home defpifed, A Briton's fancy yet may chance to hit, New-cloth'd, and trimmed with lace of Gallic wit. Their barks import, to renovate the age, New Cedes of Morals from the German ftage. Thence Guilt arrives in gorgeous robes array'd ; Till, at the glare while modeft virtues fade, INNOVATION. By Etna's light as ftars and planets faint, We rank a Roller * higher than a Saint. Thence too we learn how, fhipwreck'd in Pellew* A Hufband, hamper'd by conjunctures new, Lord of two wives, this wedded in the ifle r That difembarking from his native foil, By each afTaiPd, to give up either loth, Concludes in partnerftiip to keep them both f : How with accordant fway the charmers reign. And bring the patriarchal days again. When damps mephitic to the darken'd ikies In wide-extended effervefcence rife ; We cannot wonder the poetic tribe A portion of the floating gas imbibe. When tongues, that cry to all the human race,. Shake univerfal Nature on her bafe ; * In allufion to a well-known Drama, by Schiller. f In allufion tcr a recent Drama, by Kotzebue. 172 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. No wonder nerves, to every paffing tone Keenly alive, the general impulfe own. And well that Siren tongue may lull the ear v The heart expand, the ardent bofom cheer* That tells of Slaves to liberty reftored ; Of ploughfhares tempered from the ufelefs fword ? Of equal laws that bind and blefs the whole, And ties fraternal linking pole to pole* But firft the deeds of Innovation prove r Try by her fruits her title to our love. And though we grant in many a diftant land Augean ftables afk her cleanfing hand ; Though on our public pile a fpot or ftain Of human imperfection yet remain ; Say, fhall our country's welfare meet its doom Beneath the twigs of her relentlefs broom ? But let her come ; and, as fhe wins her way, The wonted trophies of her might difplay : High o'er the frantic crowd m triumph fwing The gory vifage of a murder'd king ; INNOVATION. 173 From thronged fcaffolds tofs the patriot's head ; Banifh the Senator, or fmite him dead ; Hear, as fhe ftalks, deluded nations groan, Equal in guilt and mifery alone : Then at the houfe of God diredl her ire, Shake the tall pillar, cleave the nodding fpire ; Melt the huge bell to cannon, and for balls Strip coffin 'd reliques of their leaden walls; Sell the bare pile a theatre to raife, Or bid it for her Guards a kitchen blaze ; Or, as the Saviour's birthplace to deride, Stable her war-horfe at the altar's fide : Unbar the floodgates of licentious rage, Bid the wild torrent fpare nor fex nor age ; Till, as to every wind the dreams divide, Law, Cuftom, Order, fink beneath the tide : And if fome bolder fpirits nobly flrive To fave fome fparks of antient worth alive ; As feamen, rolling in the briny grave, At times emerge and ilruggle with the wave 174 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. Pour down her cataracts with deepening roar, Till the red deluge fwims from fhore to (hore ! But Peace and Plenty mark her equal reign ; And blifs peculiar crowns the village train ! Confult yon hind Did claims of rent expire, When Citizen aflumed the place of 'Squire ? Gains he another field, now Lords are flown f Pays he lefs impoft, now the tithes are gone ? Beholds that cottager new pleafures wait, And fue for entrance at his humble gate ? Difcerns he none ? Then may he boaft the old Still undiminifh'd in this Age of gold ; Beneath his lowly roof in peace repofe, And take in fafety what his God bellows ; Survey at eafe his garden's vernal pride, The fcythe athwart his loaded meadow guide, From Autumn's wealth the pendent bough relieve, With crackling faggots cheer the winter eve ? The fun is fet : the daily tafk is o'er : Lo, military ruffians burft the door ; INNOVATION. 175 With favage eye the fons, the father fcan, Stern REQUISITION fcowling in the van. May one efcape ? The knell of all is rung : " Nor this," She cries, " too old, nor that too young:" Then fends the pinion'd flaves the fword to wield. And fig lit for Freedom in a diftant field. " Dreamer I" I hear the critic voice reply : " What, with our grandfathers did Wifdom die I " Shall Man to torpid floth inglorious bend, " Nor ftep by ftep Perfection's height afcend ? " Shall a vain found, by interefted fear " Rung like a 'larum in the public ear, " Watchword of Folly, Ignorance, and Pride, tf For ever check Improvement's rolling tide ? " Art thou of change, becaufe 'tis change, the foe ? " Friend of all wrong, becaufe eftablifh'd ?" No. When Innovacion with impartial fcales Decides that evil over good prevails ; By righteous means promotes a righteous plan j To God gives glory, happinefs to man ; 176 POEMS, SACRED AND MORAL. To profperous gales be ail her wings unfurl'd ; Swift be their flight, and may they (hade the world ! Then, whether laws unjuft or undefined Sons of one (late with links unequal bind ; When Ignorance, that leans on tyrant Might, Seals the barr'd entrance, and excludes the light ; Through Superflition's fog with alter'd mien And giant port when Heavenly Truth is feen : Then may all Lands that fraud and force enthrall Hear Innovation's fpirit-ftirring call ; And as it hears may every region fniile As free and happy, Britain, as thine ifle : Or, that too little, fmile if more may be, Than Britain's ifle more happy and more free ! But when, regardlefs of what millions feel, She fports at random with a nation's weal ; Becomes to Selfiftmefs a willing tool ; Plucks down a chief to bid his rival rule ; Pretends a bleffing, and bequeaths a curfe ; The good to bad transforms, the bad to worfe ; INNOVATION. 177 Turns to an iron curb a teafmg rein ; Removes a cord, and fattens on a chain ; Faith difavows as antiquated lies ; Abjures th' Eternal Monarch of the ikies ; Views bleeding Nature fhrink beneath her rod, Alike the foe of Freedom and of God : O foon may He> who (hakes this tottering ball, His vengeful Minifter of wrath recall ; Some milder fcourge bid guilty nations feel, And bright with beams of love his pitying face reveal ! THE END. 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK PROM WHICH BORROWED? LOAN DEPT. RENEWALS ONLY TEL. NO. 642-3405 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. NOV131969 54 DIG 3 '69 -4PM T.T\OI A a General Library UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY