There, high exalted in the sphere,
As it another nature were,
It moveth all; and makes a flight,
As circular as infinite.
Whose notions when it will express
In speech, it is with that excess
Of grace, and music to the ear,
As what it spoke, it planted there.
The voice so sweet, the words so fair,
As some soft chime had stroked the air;
And, though the sound had parted thence, Still left an echo in the sense.
But that a mind so rapt, so high,
So swift, so pure, should yet apply
Itself to us, and come so nigh
Earth's grossness: there's the how, and why.
Is it because it sees us dull,
And sunk in clay here, it would pull
Us forth, by some celestial sleight,
Up to her own sublimèd height?
Or hath she here, upon the ground,
Some Paradise, or palace, found;
In all the bounds of beauty, fit
For her t' inhabit? There is it.
Thrice happy house, thou hast receipt
For this so lofty form, so straight,
So polished, perfect, round, and even,
As it slid moulded off from heaven.
Not swelling, like the ocean proud,
But stooping gently, as a cloud,
As smooth as oil pour'd forth, and calm
As showers, and sweet as drops of balm.
Smooth, soft, and sweet, in all a flood,
Where it may run to any good ;
And where it stays, it there becomes
A nest of odorous spice and gums.
In action, wingèd as the wind,
In rest, like spirits left behind
Upon a bank, or field of flowers,
Begotten by the wind and showers.
In thee, fair mansion, let it rest,
Yet know, with what thou art possest,
Thou, entertaining in thy breast
But such a mind, mak'st God thy guest.
THE stately Heavens which glory doth array,
Are mirrors of God's admirable might;
There, whence forth spreads the night, forth springs the day,
He fixed the fountains of this temporal light,
Where stately stars enstall'd, some stand, some stray,
All sparks of His great power (though small yet bright);
But what none utter can, no, not conceive,
All of His greatness shadows may perceive.
What glorious lights through crystal lanterns glance
(As always burning with their Maker's love), Spheres keep one musick, they one measure dance,
Like influence below, like course above,
And all by order led, not drawn by chance,
With majesty (as still in triumph) move.
And (liberal of their store) seem shouting thus:
"Look up, all souls, and gaze on God through us!"
A MEMORIAL OF MERCIES PAST.
O THOU, who all things hast of nothing made,
Whose hand the radiant firmament display'd,
With such an undiscerned swiftness hurl'd
About the steadfast centre of the world;
Against whose rapid course the restless sun,
And wandering flames in varied motions run;
Which heat, light, life infuse; time, night and day,
Distinguish; in our human bodies sway:-
That hung'st the solid earth in fleeting air,
Vein'd with clear springs, which ambient seas repair;
In clouds the mountains wrap their hoary heads;
Luxurious valleys clothed with flow'ry meads:
Her trees yield fruit and shade; with liberal breasts,
All creatures she (their common mother) feasts.
Then man Thy image mad'st; in dignity,
In knowledge, and in beauty like to Thee;
Placed in a heaven on earth; without his toil
The ever-flourishing and fruitful soil
Unpurchased food produced; all creatures were
His subjects, serving more from love than fear;
He knew no lord but Thee. But when he fell
From his obedience, all at once rebel,
And in his ruin exercise their might;
Concurring elements against him fight;
Troops of unknown diseases: sorrow, age,
And death assail him with successive rage.
Hell let forth all her furies; none so great,
As man to man; ambition, pride, deceit,
Wrong arm'd with power, lust, rapine, slaughter reign'd; And flatter'd vice the name of virtue gain'd.
A MEMORIAL OF MERCIES PAST.
Then hills beneath the swelling waters stood,
And all the globe of earth was but one flood;
Yet could not cleanse their guilt; the following race
Worse than their fathers, and their sons more base,
Their God-like beauty lost; sin's wretched thrall;
No spark of their divine original,
Left unextinguished; all enveloped
With darkness; in their bold transgressions dead.
Then Thou didst from the East a light display,
Which rendered to the world a clearer day;
Whose precepts from hell's jaws our steps withdraw
And whose example was a living law;
Who purged us with His blood; the way prepar'd
To heaven, and those long-chainèd doors unbarr'd.
How infinite Thy mercy! which exceeds
The world Thou mad'st, as well as our misdeeds!
Which greater reverence than Thy justice wins,
And still augments Thy honour by our sins.
O who hath tasted of Thy clemency
In greater measure, or more oft than I!
My grateful verse Thy goodness shall display,
O Thou, who went'st along in all my way!
To where the morning with perfumed wings
From the high mountains of Panchæa springs,
To that new-found-out world, where sober night
Takes from th' antipodes her silent flight;
To those dark seas, where horrid winter reigns,
And binds the stubborn floods in icy chains;
To Libyan wastes, whose thirst no showers assuage,
And where swoln Nilus cools the lion's rage.
Thy wonders in the deep have I beheld;
Yet all by those on Judah's hills excell'd:
There, where the Virgin's Son His doctrine taught, His miracles, and our redemption wrought:
A MEMORIAL OF MERCIES PAST.
Where I by Thee inspired His praises sung ;
And on His sepulchre my offering hung.
Which way soe'er I turn my way, or feet;
I see Thy glory and Thy mercy meet.
Met on the Thracian shores; when in the strife
Of frantic Simoans Thou preserv'dst my life,
So when Arabian thieves belaid us round,
And when by all abandon'd, Thee I found.
Thou savedst me from the bloody massacres
Of faithless Indians; from their treacherous wars;
From raging fevers; from the sultry breath
Of tainted air, which cloy'd the jaws of death.
Preserv'd from swallowing seas; when towering waves
Mix'd with the clouds, and open'd their deep graves.
From barbarous pirates ransom'd; by those taught
Successfully with Salian Moors we fought.
Thou brought'st me home in safety; that this earth
Might bury me, which fed me from my birth;
Blest with a healthful age; a quiet mind,
Content with little; to this work design'd;
Which I at length have finisht by Thy aid;
And now my vows have at Thy altar paid.
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