Except through him-through him, who stands alone, [atone! Of worth, of weight, allow'd for all mankind to' He rais'd the lame, the lepers he made whole, He fix'd the palsied nerves of weak decay, He drove out Satan from the tortur'd soul, And to the blind gave or restor❜d the dayNay more far more unequall'd pangs sustain❜d, Till his lost fallen flocks his taintless blood regain'd. My feeble feet refus'd my body's weight, A birth of joy-not like the first of tears and woe. Ye strengthen'd feet, forth to his altar move; Quicken, ye new-strung nerves, the' enraptur'd lyre; Ye heaven-directed eyes, o'erflow with love; Glow, glow, my soul, with pure seraphic fire; Deeds, thoughts, and words, no more his mandates break, But to his endless glory work, conceive, and speak. O! penitence, to virtue near allied, Thou canst new joys e'en to the bless'd impart : The listening angels lay their harps aside, To hear the music of thy contrite heart; And heaven itself wears a more radiant face, When charity presents thee to the throne of grace. Chief of metallic forms is regal gold; Of elements, the limpid fount that flows; What can with great leviathan compare, Who takes his pastime in the mighty main? What, like the sun, shines through the realms of air, And gilds and glorifies the' ethereal plain— Yet what are these to man, who bears the sway? For all was made for him-to serve and to obey. Thus in high heaven charity is great, Faith, hope, devotion, hold a lower place; On her the cherubs and the seraphs wait, Her, every virtue courts, and every grace; See! on the right, close by the' Almighty's throne! In him she shines confess'd, who came to make her known. Deep-rooted in my heart then let her grow That for the past the future may atone; That I may act what thou hast given to know, That I may live for thee and thee alone, And justify those sweetest words from heaven, "That he shall love thee most* to whom thou'st most forgiven." * Luke vii. 41, 42, 43. ON THE ETERNITY OF THE SUPREME BEING. HAIL, wondrous Being, who in power supreme May then the youthful, uninspired bard Presume to hymn the' Eternal; may he soar Where seraph, and where cherubim on high Resound the' unceasing plaudits, and with them In the grand chorus mix his feeble voice? He may, if thou, who from the witless babe Ordainest honour, glory, strength, and praise, Uplift the' unpinion'd muse, and deign to' assist, Great Poet of the universe! his song. Before this earthly planet wound her course Before "the morning stars together sang," Thou art-all glorious, all beneficent, At when these worlds began? Could ought retard Content, exhausted with one week of action- All stamp'd with thine uncounterfeited seal. But yet (if still to more stupendous heights The muse unblam'd her aching sense may strain) Perhaps wrapt up in contemplation deep, The best of beings on the noblest theme Might ruminate at leisure, scope immense The' eternal Power and Godhead to explore, And with itself the' omniscient mind replete. This were enough to fill the boundless All, This were a Sabbath worthy the Supreme! Perhaps enthron'd amidst a choicer few, Of spirits inferior, he might greatly plan The two prime pillars of the universe, Creation and redemption—and a while Pause-with the grand presentments of his glory. Perhaps but all's conjecture here below, All ignorance, and self-plum'd vanityO thou, whose ways to wonder at's distrust, Whom to describe's presumption (all we can→→→ And all we may-) be glorified, be prais'd! A day shall come when all this earth shall perish, Shall war against themselves, and mutual rage The enormous blaze of the destructive flames.- [cedars Ye mountains, on whose cloud-crown'd tops the More largely and with filial tears must weep, Nor thou, illustrious monarch of the day: |