Forth from his bosom plucks his ling'ring arm *,
And on the miscreants pours destruction down,
Who can abide his coming? † Who can bear
His whole displeasure? In no common form
Death then appears, but starting into size
Enormous, measures with gigantic stride

245

Th' astonish'd earth, and from his looks throws round Unutterable horror and dismay.

All nature lends her aid. Each element

Arms in his cause. Ope fly the doors of heav'n;
The fountains of the deep their barriers break;
Above, below, the rival torrents pour,

And drown Creation; or in floods of fire
Descends a livid cataract, and consumes

250

255

An impious race ||. Sometimes, when all seems peace, Wakes the grim whirlwind, and with rude embrace Sweeps nations to their grave, or in the deep Whelms the proud wooden world; full many a youth Floats on his wat'ry bier, or lies unwept

On some sad desert shore! At dead of night,

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B 4

* Gen. xviii. 20.
Gen. vii. 11,

+ Mal. iii. 2.

Gen. xix. 24.

In

In sullen silence stalks forth Pestilence *:

Contagion, close behind, taints all her steps
With pois'nous dew; no smiting hand is seen, 265
No sound is heard, but soon her secret path

Is mark'd with desolation; heaps on heaps
Promiscuous drop. No friend, no refuge, near;
All, all is false and treacherous around;

All that they touch, or taste, or breathe, is Death. 270
But ah! what means that ruinous roar? why fail
These tott'ring feet? Earth to its centre feels
The Godhead's power, and trembling at his touch
Through all its pillars, and in ev'ry pore,

Hurls to the ground with one convulsive heave 275
Precipitating domes, and towns, and tow'rs,

The work of ages. Crush'd beneath the weight
Of gen'ral devastation, millions find

One common grave; nor ev'n a widow left

To wail her sons: the house, that should protect, 280 Entombs its master; and the faithless plain,

If there he flies for help, with sudden yawn

*Psal. xci. 6.

Starts

Starts from beneath him*. Shield me, gracious heav'n, O snatch me from destruction! If this Globe,

This solid Globe, which thine own hand hath made 285 So firm and sure, if this my steps betray;

If

my own mother Earth, from whence I sprung, Rise up with rage unnatural to devour

Her wretched offspring, whither shall I fly ?
Where look for succour? Where but up to Thee, 290
Almighty Father? Save, O save, thy suppliant
From horrors such as these! At thy good time
Let Death approach; I reck not-Let him but come
In genuine form, not with thy vengeance arm'd,
Too much for man to bear. O rather lend
Thy kindly aid to mitigate his stroke;

And at that hour when all aghast I stand

295

(A trembling candidate for thy compassion) On this World's brink, and look into the next; When my soul starting from the dark unknown 300 Casts back a wishful look, and fondly clings To her frail prop, unwilling to be wrench'd

From

* In allusion to the earthquake at Lisbon in 1755.

From this fair scene, from all her custom'd joys,
And all the lovely relatives of life ;

Then shed thy comforts o'er me, then put on

305

310

The gentlest of thy looks. Let no dark crimes,
In all their hideous forms then starting up,
Plant themselves round my couch in grim array,
And stab my bleeding heart with two-edg'd torture
Sense of past guilt, and dread of future woe.
Far be the ghastly crew! And in their stead
Let cheerful Memory, from her purest cells,
Lead forth a goodly train of Virtues fair,
Cherish'd in earliest youth, now paying back
With tenfold usury the pious care,

315

And pouring o'er my wounds the heav'nly balm
Of conscious innocence. But chiefly Thou,
Whom soft-ey'd Pity once led down from Heav'n
To bleed for man, to teach him how to live,
And, oh! still harder lesson! how to die;
Disdain not Thou to smooth the restless bed
Of sickness and of pain. Forgive the tear
That feeble Nature drops, calm all her fears,

320

Wake

1

Wake all her hopes, and animate her faith,
Till my rapt Soul, anticipating Heav'n,
Bursts from the thraldom of incumb'ring clay,
And on the wing of Extasy upborne,
Springs into Liberty, and Light, and Life.

325