In ftarving folitude; while Luxury,

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In palaces, lay ftraining her low thought,
To form unreal wants; why heaven-born Truth,
And Moderation fair, wore the red marks
Of Superftition's fcourge; why licens'd Pain,
That cruel fpoiler, that embofom'd foe,
Imbitter'd all our blifs. Ye Good diftreft!
Ye noble Few! who here unbending ftand
Beneath life's preffure, yet bear up a while, 1065
And what your bounded view, which only faw
A little part, deem'd evil, is no more:
The ftorms of Wintry Time will quickly pafs,
And one unbounded Spring encircle all.

Α ΗΥΜΝ.

5

10

THESE, as they change, Almighty Father! these Are but the varied God. The rolling year Is full of Thee. Forth in the pleasing 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 swelling year; And oft' Thy voice in dreadful thunder speaks; And oft' at dawn, deep noon, or falling eve, By brooks and groves, in hollow-whispering gales, Thy bounty fhines in Autumn unconfin'd, And spreads a common feaft for all that lives. In Winter awful Thou! with clouds and storms Around Thee thrown! tempeft o'er tempeft roll' ! Majestic darkness! on the whirlwind's wing, Riding fublime, Thou bidst the world adore, And humbleft Nature with thy northern blaft. Myfterious round! what fkill, what force divine, Deep felt, in thefe appear! a fimple train, Yet fo delightful mix'd with fuch kind art, Such beauty and beneficence combin'd,

15

20

Shade, unperceiv'd, so softening into shade,
And all fo forming an harmonious whole,
That as they ftill fucceed they ravish still.
But wandering oft', with brute unconscious gaze,
Man marks not Thee, marks not the mighty hand
That, ever-bufy, wheels the filent spheres,

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Works in the fecret deep, fhoots, steaming, thence
The fair profufion that o'erspreads the Spring!
Flings from the fun direct the flaming day,
Feeds every creature, hurls the tempeft forth,
And, as on earth this grateful change revolves, 35
With transport touches all the springs of life.
Nature, attend! join every living foul
Beneath the fpacious temple of the sky,
In adoration join, and, ardent, raise

One general fong! To Him, ye vocal Gales!

40

Breathe soft, whofe Spirit in your freshness breathes :
Oh talk of him in folitary glooms!

Where, o'er the rock, the scarcely waving pine
Fills the brown shade with a religious awe.

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And Ye! whose bolder note is heard afar,
Who shake th' aftonish'd world, lift high to heaven
Th' impetuous fong, and say from whom you rage.
His praise, ye Brooks! attune, ye trembling Rills!
And let me catch it as I muse along.

Ye headlong Torrents! rapid and profound ;
Ye fofter Floods! that lead the humid maze
Along the vail: and thou, majestic Main!

50

A fecret world of wonders in thy felf,

55

60

65

Sound His ftupendous praife, whofe greater voice
Or bids you roar, or bids your roarings fall.
Soft roll your incenfe, herbs, and fruits, and flowers,
In mingled clouds, to Him, whofe fun exalts,
Whose breath perfumes you, and whofe pencil paints
Ye Forefts! bend; ye Harvests! wave to Him;
Breathe your fill fong into the reaper's heart,
As home he goes beneath the joyous moon,
Ye that keep watch in heaven! as earth afleep
Unconscious lies; effufe your mildest beams,
Ye Conftellations! while your angels ftrike,
Amid the fpangled fky, the filver lyre.
Great Source of day! beft image here below
Of thy Creator, ever pouring wide,
From world to world, the vital ocean round,
On Nature write, with every beam, his praife.
The thunder rolls: be hufh'd the proftrate World, 70
While cloud to cloud returns the folemn hymn.
Bleat out afrefh, ye Hills! ye molly Rocks!
Retain the found the broad refponfive low,
Ye Vallies! raife, for the Great Shepherd reigns,
And his unfuffering kingdom yet will come.
Ye Woodlands all! awake; a boundlefs fong
Burft from the groves; and when the reftlefs day,
Expiring, lays the warbling world afleep,
Sweeteft of birds! fweet Philomela! charm

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The liftening fhades, and teach the nightHis praise. 80
Ye, chief, for whom the whole creation fmiles,
At once the head, the heart, and tongue of all,
Crown the great hymn. In fwarming cities vaft,
Affembled Men! to the deep organ join.

The long-refounding voice, oft' breaking clear, 85
At folemn paufes, thro' the fwelling base,
And as each mingling flame increases each,
In one united ardour rife to heaven.

Or if you rather chufe the rural fhade,
And find a fane in every facred grove,
There let the fhepherd's flute, the virgin's lay,
The prompting feraph, and the poet's lyre,
Still fing the God of Seasons as they roll.
For me, when I forget the darling theme,
Whether the bloffom blows, the Summer-ray
Ruffets the plain, infpiring Autumn gleams,
Or Winter rifes in the blackening East,

Be my tongue mute, may Fancy paint no more,
And, dead to joy, forget my heart to beat!

9.5

Should Fate command me to the fartheft verge 100 Of the green earth, to distant barbarous climes, Rivers unknown to fong, where first the fun Gilds Indian mountains, or his fetting beam Flames on th' Atlantic ifles, 'tis nought to me; Since God is ever prefent, ever felt,

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In the void waste as in the city full !