How then fhall man, thus infolently proud, Plead with his judge, and combat with his God? How from his mortal mother can he come Unftain'd from fin, untin&tur'd from the womb? There with the princes, who in grandeur fhone, Or the dim fubftance kindled into man. [ceafe, When nature calls for aid, my fighs intrude, 24. The 25th Chapter of Job paraphrafed. PITT. THEN will vain man complain and murmur ftill, And ftand on terms with his Creator's will? Shall this high privilege to clay be given? Shall duft arraign the providence of Heaven? With reafon's line the boundless distance fcan? Oppofe heaven's awful majefty to man? To what a length his vaft dimenfions run! How far beyond the journeys of the fun! He hung yon golden balls of light on high, And launch'd the planets through the liquid fky: To rolling worlds he mark'd the certain space, Fix'd and fuftain'd the clemental peace. Unnumber'd as thofe worlds his armies move, And the gay legions guard his realms above; High o'er th' ethereal plains the myriads rife, And pour their flaming ranks along the skies: From their bright arms inceffant fplendors ftream, And the wide azure kindles with the gleam. To this low world he bids the light repair, Down through the gulphs of undulating air; For man he taught the glorious fun to roll From his bright barrier to his western goal. The Lord, from his fublime empyreal throne, As a dark globe regards the filver moon. Thofe ftars, that grace the wide celestial plain, Are but the humbleft fweepings of his train; Dim are the brighteft fplendors of the fky; And the fun darkens in Jehovah's eye. But does not fin diffufe a fouler ftain, And thicker darkness cloud the foul of man? Shall he the depths of endlefs wifdom know? This fhort-liv'd fovereign of the world below? His frail original confounds his boast, [dust. Sprung from the ground, and quicken'd from the § 25. The Song of Mofes in the Fifteenth Chap ter of Exodus, paraphrased. PITT. THEN to the Lord the vaft triumphant throng Of Ifrael's fons, with Mofes, rais'd the fong. To God our grateful accents will we raise, And every tongue fhall celebrate his praife: Behold difplay'd the wonders of his might; Behold the Lord triumphant in the fight! With what immortal fame and glory grac'd! What trophies rais'd amid the watery waste! How did his power the fteeds and riders fweep Ingulph'din heaps, and whelm'd beneath the deep? Whom should we fear, while he, heaven's awful Unfheaths for Ifrael his avenging fword? [Lord, His outstretch'd arm, and tutelary care, Guarded and fav'd us in the last despair: His mercy eas'd us from our circling pains, Unbound our fhackles, and unlock'd our chains. To him our God, our father's God, we'll rear A facred temple, and adore him there With vows and incenfe, facrifice and prayer. The Lord commands in war: his matchlefs might Hangs out and guides the balance of the fight: When to the fight, from Egypt's fruitful foil, Lay midit the roarings of the furges drown'd. Who fhall thy power, thou mighty God, with ftand, At thy dread voice the fummon'd billows crowd, As thus the yawning gulf the boafters pafs'd, To fmooth the way, and clear the dreadful road. lefs power, Thy throne thall ftand when time fhall be no more: For Pharaoh's steeds, and cars, and warlike train, Leap'd in, and boldly rang'd the fandy plain : While in the dreadful road, and defert way, The fhining crowds of gafping fishes lay: Till, all around with liquid toils befet, § 26. The 139th Pfalm paraphrafed. Pirr. DREAD Jehovah ! thy all-piercing eyes Explore the motions of this mortal frame, This tenement of duft: Thy ftretching fight Surveys th' harmonious principles, that move In beauteous rank and order, to inform This cafk, and animated mafs of clay. Nor are the profpects of thy wondrous fight To this terreftrial part of man confin'd; But fhoot into his foul, and there difcern The firit materials of unfashion'd thought, Yet dim and undigested, till the mind, Big with the tender images, expands, And, fwelling, labours with th' ideal birth. Where'er I move, thy cares pursue my feet Attendant. When I drink the dews of fleep, Stretch'd on my downy bed, and there enjoy A fweet forgetfulnefs of all my toils, Unfeen, thy fov'reign prefence guards my fleep, Wafts all the terrors of my dreams away, Scoths all my foul, and foftens my repose. Before conception can employ the tongue, And mould the ductile images to found; Before imagination stands display'd, Thine eye the future eloquence can read, Yet unarray'd with fpeech. Thou, mighty Lord! Haft moulded man from his congenial duft, And fpoke him into being; while the clay, Beneath thy forming hand, leap'd forth, infpir'd, And ftarted into life: through every part, At thy command, the wheels of motion play'd. But fuch exalted knowledge leaves below, And drops poor man from its fuperior sphere. In vain, with reafon's ballaft, would he try To ftem th' unfathomable depth; his bark O'erfets, and founders in the vaft abyfs. Then whither fhall the rapid fancy run, Though in its full carcer, to fpeed my flight From thy unbounded prefence ? which, alone, Fills all the regions and extended space Beyond the bounds of nature! Whither, Lord! Shall my unrein'd imagination rove, To leave behind thy Spirit, and out-fly [fpread, Its influence, which, with brooding wings out, Hatch'd unfledg'd nature from the dark profound? If mounted on my tow'ring thoughts I climb Into the heaven of heavens, I there behold The blaze of thy unclouded majefty! In the pure empyrean thee I view, High thron'd above all height, thy radiant fhrine Throng'd with the proftrate Seraphs, who receive Beatitude paft utterance! If I plunge 1 Down Don to the gloom of Tartarus profound, If, on the ruddy morning's purple wings The verge of being. To thy hallow'd name The ground-work of exifterce. Hence I read My fubfiance fcarce material. In thy book [fhores, ARISE, my foul! on wings feraphic rife! When darknefs rul'd with univerfal fway, In ambient air this pond'rous ball he hung, And bade its centre left for ever ftrong; Heav'n, air, and fea, with all their ftorms, in vain Affault the bafis of the firm machine. At thy almighty voice old Ocean raves, Wakes all his force, and gathers all his waves; Nature lies mantied in a warry robe, And fhorclefs billows revel round the globe: O'er higheft hills the higher furges rite, Mix with the clouds, and meet the fluid fkies. But when in thunder the rebuke was giv'n, That fhook th' eternal firmament of heav'n; The grand rebuke th' affrighted waves obey, And in confufion fcour their uncouth way; And pofting rapid to the place decreed, Wind down the hills, and fweep the humble mead. Reluctant in their bounds the waves fubfide; The bounds, impervious to the lathing tide, Refrain its rage; whilft, with inceffant roar, It thakes the caverns, and affaults the thore. By him, from mountains cloth'd in lucid fnow, Through fertile vales the mazy rivers flow. Here the wild horfe, unconscious of the rein, That revels boundlefs o'er the wide campaign, Imbibes the filver furge, with heat oppreft, To cool the fever of hi.lowing breast. Here Here rifing boughs, adorn'd with fummer's | Nor does our world alone its influence share; pride, Project their waving umbrage o'er the tide ; Here verdant paftures wide extended lie, Up the fteep hill afcends the nimble doe, Here ftalks the shaggy monarch of the wood, Now orient gems the eastern fkies adorn, And joyful nature hails the op'ning morn: The rovers, confcious of approaching day, Fly to their fhelters, and forget their prey. Laborious man, with moderate flumber bleft, Springs cheerful to his toil from downy reft; Till grateful evening, with her argent train, Bid labour ceafe, and cafe the weary fwain. "Hailfov'reign goodness! all-productive mind! On all thy works thyfelf inferib'd we find : How various all, how varioufly endow'd, How great their number, and each part how good! How perfect then muft the great Parent shine, Who, with one act of energy divine, Laid the vaft plan, and finifli'd the defign!" Where'er the pleafing fearch my thoughts purfue, Unbounded goodness rifes to my view; "} Exhaustless bounty, and unwearied care The azure kingdoms of the deep below, The volley'd lightning, and the furging tide; But, if one moment thou thy face fhouldft Thy glory clouded, or thy fmiles deny'd, [hide, Then widow'd nature veils her mournful eyes, And vents her grief in univerfal cries: Then gloomy death, with all his meagre train, Wide o'er the nations fpreads his dismal reign; Sea, carth, and air the boundless ravage mourn, And all their hofts to native duft return. But when again thy glory is difplay'd, Reviv'd creation lifts her cheerful head; New rifing forms thy potent fimiles obey, And life rekindles at the genial ray; United thanks replenish'd nature pays, And heav'n and earth refound their Maker's praife. When time fhall in eternity be loft, And hoary nature languish into dust, For ever young, thy glory fhall remain, Vaft as thy being, endlefs as thy reign. Thou from the regions of eternal day, View 'ft all thy works at ore immenfe furvey: Pleas'd thou behold'ft the whole propenfely tend To perfect happiness, its glorious end. If thou to earth but turn thy wrathful eyes, Her bafis trembles, and her offspring dies: Thou fmit'ft the hills, and at th' Almighty blow Their fummits kindle, and their inwards glow While this immortal spark of heav'nly flame Diftends my breaft, and animates my frame; To thee my ardent praises fhall be borne On the firft breeze that wakes the blushing morn; The lateft ftar fhall hear the pleasing found, And nature in full choir fhall join around. When full of thee my foul excurfive flies Thro' earth air, ocean, or thy regal kies; From In majefty fevere, And fit in judgment on my foul, O! how thall I appear? From world to world, new wonders ftill I find,When thou, O Lord, fhalt ftand difclos'd HOW § 25. Another Hymn. ANON. are thy fervants bleft, O Lord! How fure is their defence! Eternal wisdom is their guide, Their help omnipotence. In foreign realms, and lands remote, Through burning climes I pafs'd unhurt, Made every region pleafe; And fmooth'd the Tyrrhene feas. Confufion dwelt in ev'ry face, And fear in ev'ry heart, [flight When waves on waves, and gulphs in gulphs, Yet then from all my griefs, O Lord, While in the confidence of pray'r My foul took hold on thee. For tho' in dreadful whirls we hung I knew thou wert not flow to hear, The form was laid, the winds retir'd, The fea, that roar'd at thy command, In midft of dangers, fears, and deaths, Agd death, if death must be my doom, But thou haft told the troubled foul, Who does her fins lament, The timely tribute of her tears Shall endless woe prevent. Then fee the forrows of my heart, Who knows thy only Son has died § 30. A Hymn on the Seafons. THOMSON. THESE, as they change, Almighty Father, these Are but the varied God. The rolling year Is full of Thee. Forth in the pleafing Spring Thy beauty walks, thy tenderness and love. Wide flush the fields; the foftening air is balm; Echo the mountains round; the foreft fmiles; And every fenfe and every heart is joy. Then comes thy glory in the Summer months, With light and heat refulgent. Then thy fun Shoots full perfection thro' the fwelling year: And oft thy voice in dreadful thunder fpeaks, And oft at dawn, deep noon, or falling eve, By brooks and groves, in hollow-whifp'ring gales. Thy bounty fhines in Autumn unconfin'd, And fpreads a common feaft for all that lives. In Winter awful thou! with clouds and forms Around Thee thrown, tempeft o'er tempeft roll'd, Majeftic darknefs! On the whirlwind's wing, Riding fublime, Thou bidd'ft the world adore, And humbleft nature with thy northern blaft. Myfterious round! what skill, what force diDeep-felt, in thefe appear! a fimple train, [vine, Yet fo delightful mix'd, with fuch kind art, Such beauty and beneficence combin'd; And all fo forming an harmonious whole, Shade, unperceiv'd, fo foftening into fhade; That, as they ftill fucceed, they ravish still. But wandering oft, with rude inconscious gaze, Man marks not Thee, marks not the mighty hand That, ever bufy, wheels the filent fpheres; Works in the fecret deep; fhoots, fteaming, thence The fair profufion that o'crfpreads the spring; Flings from the fun direct the flaming day; Feeds ev'ry creature; hurls the tempeft forth, And, as on earth this grateful change revolves, With tranfport touches all the fprings of life. Nature, attend! join, every living foul Beneath the fpacious temple of the fky, In adoration join; and ardent raise One general fong! To him, ye vocal gales, Breathe foft, whofe fpirit in your freshness breathes; Oh talk of him in folitary glooms, Where o'er the rock the fcarcely waving pine Fills the brown fhade with a religious awe! And |