Winds, clouds, and lightnings! and ye waves, whose heads
Curl'd into monstrous forms, the seaman dreads!
Horrid abyss, where all experience fails,
Spread with the wreck of planks and shatter'd sails;
On whose broad back grim Death triumphant rides,
While havock floats on all thy swelling tides,
Thy shores a scene of ruin, strew'd around
With vessels bulged, and bodies of the drown'd!
Ye Fish, that sport beneath the boundless waves,
And rest, secure from man, in rocky caves;
Swift darting sharks, and whales of hideous size,
Whom all th' aquatic world with terror eyes!
Had I but Faith immoveable and true,
I might defy the fiercest storm, like you :
The world, a more disturb'd and boist'rous sea,
When Jesus shows a smile, affrights not me;
He hides me, and in vain the billows roar,
Break harmless at my feet, and leave the shore.
Thou azure vault, where, through the gloom of
night,
Thick sown, we see such countless worlds of light!
Thou Moon, whose car, encompassing the skies, 51
Restores lost nature to our wondring eyes;
Again retiring, when the brighter Sun
Begins the course he seems in haste to run!
Behold him where he shines! His rapid rays,
Themselves unmeasur'd, measure all our days;
Nothing impedes the race he would pursue,
Nothing escapes his penetrating view,
A thousand lands confess his quick'ning heat,
And all he cheers, are fruitful, fair, and sweet.
Far from enjoying what these scenes disclose,
I feel the thorn, alas! but miss the rose;
Too well I know this aching heart requires
More solid good to fill its vast desires;
In vain they represent his matchless might
Who call'd them out of deep primaeval night;
Their form and beauty but augment my woe:
I seek the Giver of those charms they show;
Nor, him beside, throughout the world he made,
Lives there, in whom I trust for cure or aid,
Infinite God, thou great unrivall'd ONE! Whose glory makes a blot of yonder sun; Compar'd with thine, how dim his beauty seems, How quench'd the radiance of his golden beams ! 59 quick'ning]
44 I might defy] My soul would brave A.
66 out of deep] forth from black 4.
Thou art my bliss, the light by which I move;
In thee alone dwells all that I can love;
All darkness flies when thou art pleas'd t' appear,
A sudden spring renews the fading year;
Where e'er I turn, I see thy power and grace
The watchful guardians of our heedless race;
Thy various creatures in one strain agree,
All, in all times and places, speak of thee;
Ev'n I, with trembling heart and stammering
tongue,
Attempt thy praise, and join the gen'ral song.
Almighty Former of this wondrous plan,
Faintly reflected in thine image, Man,-
Holy and just,- the greatness of whose name
Fills and supports this universal frame,
Diffus'd throughout th' infinitude of space,
Who art thyself thine own vast dwelling-place; 90
Soul of our soul, whom yet no sense of ours
Discerns, eluding our most active pow'rs;
Encircling shades attend thine awful throne,
That veil thy face, and keep thee still unknown ;
Unknown, though dwelling in our inmost part,
Lord of the thoughts, and Sov'reign of the heart!
Repeat the charming truth that never tires,
No God is like the God my soul desires;
He at whose voice heav'n trembles, even He,
Great as he is, knows how to stoop to me;
Lo! there He lies,-that smiling Infant said,
"Heav'n, Earth, and Sea, exist!"—and they obey'd.
Ev'n He whose Being swells beyond the skies,
Is born of woman, lives, and mourns, and dies;
Eternal and Immortal, seems to cast
That glory from his brows, and breathes his last.
Trivial and vain the works that man has wrought,
How do they shrink and vanish at the thought!
Sweet Solitude, and scene of my repose!
This rustic sight assuages all my woes-
That crib contains the Lord whom I adore;
And Earth's a shade, that I pursue no more.
He is my firm support, my rock, my tow'r,
I dwell secure beneath his shelt'ring pow'r,
And hold this mean retreat for ever dear,
For all I love, my soul's delight, is here.
I see th' Almighty swath'd in infant bands,
Tied helpless down, the Thunder-bearer's hands!
And in this shed that mystery discern,
Which Faith and Love, and they alone, can learn.
Ye tempests, spare the slumbers of your Lord! Ye zephyrs, all your whisper'd sweets afford ! Confess the God that guides the rolling year; Heav'n, do him homage; and thou Earth, revere ! Ye Shepherds, Monarchs, Sages, hither bring Your hearts an off'ring, and adore your King! Pure be those hearts, and rich in Faith and Love; Join in his praise, th' harmonious worlds above; To Bethl'em haste, rejoice in his repose,
And praise him there for all that he bestows! 130
Man, busy Man, alas! can ill afford
T'obey the summons, and attend the Lord;
Perverted reason revels and runs wild,
By glitt'ring shows of pomp and wealth beguil'd;
And, blind to genuine excellence and grace,
Finds not her Author in so mean a place.
Ye unbelieving! learn a wiser part,
Distrust your erring sense, and search your heart;
There, soon ye shall perceive a kindling flame
Glow for that Infant God from whom it came; 140
Resist not, quench not that divine desire,
Melt all your adamant in heavenly fire!
Not so will I requite thee, gentle Love!
Yielding and soft this heart shall ever prove;
And ev'ry heart beneath thy power should fall,
Glad to submit, could mine contain them all.
But I am poor, oblation I have none,
None for a Saviour, but Himself alone :
Whate'er I render thee, from thee it came;
And if I give my body to the flame,
My patience, love, and energy divine
Of heart and soul and spirit, all are thine.
Ah vain attempt, t' expunge the mighty score!
The more I pay, I owe thee still the more.
Upon my meanness, poverty, and guilt,
The trophy of thy glory shall be built;
My self-disdain shall be th' unshaken base,
And my deformity its fairest grace;
For destitute of Good and rich in Ill,
Must be my state and my description still.
And do I grieve at such a humbling lot?
Nay, but I cherish and enjoy the thought-
Vain pageantry and pomp of Earth, adieu !
I have no wish, no memory for you;
129, 130 rejoice in... there] that scene of his repose, There yield
136 Author] Sov'reign A. 145 ev'ry heart]
The more I feel my mis'ry, I adore
The sacred Inmate of my soul the more;
Rich in his Love, I feel my noblest pride
Spring from the sense of having nought beside.
In thee I find wealth, comfort, virtue, might;
My wand'rings prove thy wisdom infinite;
All that I have, I give thee; and then see
All contrarieties unite in thee;
For thou hast join'd them, taking up our woe,
And pouring out thy bliss on worms below,
By filling with thy grace and love divine
A gulph of Evil in this heart of mine.
This is indeed to bid the valleys rise,
And the hills sink-'tis matching earth and skies! I feel my weakness, thank thee, and deplore
An aching heart that throbs to thank thee more;
The more I love thee, I the more reprove
A soul so lifeless, and so slow to love;
Till, on a deluge of thy mercy toss'd,
I plunge into that sea, and there am lost.
GOD NEITHER KNOWN NOR LOVED
BY THE WORLD
YE Linnets, let us try, beneath this grove,
Which shall be loudest in our Maker's praise!
In quest of some forlorn retreat I rove,
For all the world is blind, and wanders from his ways.
That God alone should prop the sinking soul,
Fills them with rage against his empire now;
I traverse earth in vain from pole to pole,
To seek one simple heart, set free from all below. 8
They speak of Love, yet little feel its sway,
While in their bosoms many an idol lurks;
Their base desires well satisfied obey,
Leave the Creator's hand, and lean upon his works.
'Tis therefore I can dwell with man no more;
Your fellowship, ye warblers! suits me best:
Pure Love has lost its price, though priz'd of yore,
Profan'd by modern tongues, and slighted as a jest.
My God, who form'd you for his praise alone,
Beholds his purpose well fulfill'd in you:
Come, let us join the Choir before his throne,
Partaking in his praise with spirits just and true!
20 just] pure A.
Yes, I will always love; and, as I ought,
Tune to the praise of Love my ceaseless voice;
Preferring Love too vast for human thought,
In spite of erring men, who cavil at my choice. 24
Why have I not a thousand thousand hearts,
Lord of my soul! that they might all be thine?
If thou approve-the zeal thy smile imparts,
How should it ever fail! Can such a fire decline?
Love, pure and holy, is a deathless fire;
Its object heav'nly, it must ever blaze:
Eternal Love a God must needs inspire,
When once he wins the heart, and fits it for his praise.
Self-love dismiss'd-'tis then we live indeed-
In her embrace, death, only death is found:
Come then, one noble effort, and succeed,
Cast off the chain of Self with which thy soul is bound!
Oh! I would cry that all the world might hear,
Ye self-tormentors, love your God alone;
Let his unequall'd Excellence be dear,
Dear to your inmost souls, and make him all your
They hear me not-alas! how fond to rove
In endless chase of Folly's specious lure!
"Tis here alone, beneath this shady grove,
I taste the sweets of Truth-here only am secure.
THE SWALLOW
VOL. 2, CANTIQUE 54
I AM fond of the Swallow-I learn from her flight,
Had I skill to improve it, a lesson of Love:
How seldom on earth do we see her alight!
She dwells in the skies, she is ever above.
It is on the wing that she takes her repose,
Suspended, and pois'd in the regions of air,
'Tis not in our fields that her sustenance grows,
It is wing'd like herself, 'tis ethereal fare.
She comes in the Spring, all the Summer she stays,
And dreading the cold, still follows the sun-
So, true to our Love, we should covet his rays,
And the place where he shines not, immediately shun.
39 unequall'd] unrivall❜d A.
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