In vain, in vain, alas! feduc'd by ill,
And acted wildly by the force of will!
I tell my foul, it will be conftant May,
And charm a feason never made to Aay;
My beauteous arbour will not stand a storm,
The world but promises, and can't perform :
Then fade, ye leaves; and wither, all ye flowers
I'll doat no longer in enchanted bowers;

But fadly mourn, in melancholy fong,

The vain conceits that held my foul fo long.
The lufts that tempt us with delusive show,
And fin brought forth for everlasting woe.
Thus fhall the notes to Sorrow's object rise,
While frequent refts procure a place for fighs
And, as I moan upon the naked plain,
Be this the burthen clofing every train 8
Return, my fenfes; range no more abroad;
He'll only find his blifs who feeks for God.

E X TAC Y.

THE fleeting joys, which all affords below,
Work the fond heart with unperforming fhow;
The with that makes our happier life compleat,
Nor grafps the wealth nor honours of the great ;
Nor loosely fails on Pleasure's easy stream,
Nor gathers wreaths from all the groves of fame ;
Weak man, whose charms to these alone confine,
Attend my prayer, and learn to make it thine.

From

From thy rich throne, where circling trains of light
Make day that 's endless, infinitely bright;
Thence, heavenly Father! thence with mercy dart
One beam of brightness to my longing heart.
Dawn through the mind, drive Error's clouds away,
And ftill the rage in Paffion's troubled fea;
That the poor banish'd foul, ferene and free,
May rife from earth, to vifit heaven and thee:
Come, Peace divine! fhed gently from above,
Infpire my willing bofom, wondrous Love;
Thy purpled pinions to my shoulders tye,
And point the paffage where I want to fly.
But whither, whither now! what powerful fire
With this blefs'd influence equals my defire?
I rife (or Love, the kind deluder, reigns,
And acts in fancy fuch enchanted scenes);
Earth leffening flies, the parting skies retreat,
The fleecy clouds my waving feathers beat;

And now
the fun and now the ftars are gone,
Yet ftill methinks the fpirit bears me on,
Where tracts of æther purer blue display,
And edge the golden realm of native day.
Oh, ftrange enjoyment of a blifs unseen!
Oh, ravishment! Oh, facred rage within!
Tumultuous pleasure, rais'd on peace of mind,
Sincere, exceffive, from the world refin'd!
I fee the light that veils the throne on high,
A light unpierc'd by man's impurer eye;

I hear the words, that iffuing thence proclaim,
"Let God's attendants praife his awful name!"

Then heads unnumber'd bend before the fhrine,
Mysterious feat of Majesty divine!

And hands unnumber'd ftrike the filver ftring,
And tongues unnumber'd Hallelujah fing.
See, where the fhining Seraphims appear,
And fink their decent eyes with holy fear.
See flights of angels all their feathers raise,
And range the orbs, and, as they range, they praise;
Behold the great Apoftles! sweetly met,

And high on pearls of azure æther set.
Behold the Prophets, full of heavenly fire,
With wandering finger wake the trembling lyre;
And hear the Martyrs' tune, and all around
The church triumphant makes the region found.
With harps of gold, with bows of ever-green,
With robes of white, the pious throngs are feen;
Exalted anthems all their hours employ,

And all is mufick, and excess of joy.

Charm'd with the fight, I long to bear a part ;
The pleasure flutters at my ravish'd heart.
Sweet faints and angels of the heavenly choir,
If love has warm'd you with celestial fire,
Affift my words, and, as they move along,
With Hallelujahs crown the burthen'd fong.
Father of all above, and all below,

O great, and far beyond expreffion fo;

No bounds thy knowledge, none thy power confine, For power and knowledge in their fource are thine; Around thee glory fpreads her golden wing:

Sing, glittering angels, Hallelujah fing.

Son

Son of the Father, firft-begotten Son,

Ere the short measuring line of time begun,

The world has feen thy works, and joy'd to fee
The bright effulgence manifest in thee.

The world must own thee Love's unfathom'd spring
Sing, glittering angels, Hallelujah fing.
Proceeding Spirit, equally divine,

In whom the Godhead's full perfections shine,
With various graces, comforts unexprefs'd,
With holy transports you refine the breast ;
And earth is heavenly where your gifts you bring,
Sing, glittering angels, Hallelujah fing.

But where 's my rapture, where my wondrous heat, What interruption makes my blifs retreat?

This world's got in, the thoughts of t' other 's croft,
And the gay picture 's in my fancy loft..

With what an eager zeal the conscious foul
Would claim its feat, and, foaring, pass the pole !

But our attempts these chains of earth restrain,
Deride our toil, and drag us down again.
So from the ground afpiring meteors go,.

And, rank'd with planets, light the world below;
But their own bodies fink them in the sky,

When the warmth 's gone that taught them how to fly.

ON DIVINĖ LOVE,

BY MEDITATING ON

THE WOUNDS OF CHRIST.

HOLY Jefus! God of Love!

Look with pity from above

Shed the precious purple tide
From thine hands, thy feet, thy fide;
Let thy ftreams of comfort roll,
Let them please and fill my foul.
Let me thus for ever be

Full of gladness, full of thee.
This, for which my wishes pine,
Is the cup of love divine;

Sweet affections flow from hence,
Sweet, above the joys of fenfe;
Bleffed philtre! how we find
Its facred worships! how the mind,
Of all the world forgetful grown,
Can defpife an earthly throne;
Raife its thoughts to realms abovė,
Think of God, and fing of love.
Love celeftial, wondrous heat,
O, beyond expreffion great!
What refiftlefs charms were thine,
In thy good, thy beft defign!

When