A PARAPHRASE

ON PSALM CXLVIII.

O AZURE vaults! O crystal sky!
The world's transparent canopy,

Break your long silence, and let mortals know
With what contempt you look on things below.

Wing'd squadrons of the God of war,
Who conquer whosoe❜er you are,

Let echoing anthems make his praises known
On earth his footstool, as in heaven his throne.

Great eye of all, whose glorious ray Rules the bright empire of the day, O praise his name, without whose purer light Thou hadst been hid in an abyss of night.

Ye moons and planets, who dispense,
By God's command, your influence;
Resign to him, as your Creator due,
That veneration which men pay to you.

Fairest, as well as first, of things,
From whom all joy, all beauty springs;
O praise the' almighty Ruler of the globe,
Who useth thee for his empyrean robe.

Praise him, ye loud harmonious spheres,
Whose sacred stamp all nature bears,
Who did all forms from the rude chaos draw,
And whose command is the' universal law:

PARAPHRASE ON PSALM CXLVIII.

267

Ye watery mountains of the sky,
And you so far above our eye,
Vast ever-moving orbs, exalt his name,
Who gave its being to your glorious frame.

Ye dragons, whose contagious breath
Peoples the dark retreats of death,
Change your fierce hissing into joyful song,
And praise your Maker with your forked tongue.

Praise him, ye monsters of the deep,
That in the sea's vast bosom sleep;
At whose command the foaming billows roar,
Yet know their limits, tremble and adore.

Ye mists and vapours, hail, and snow,

And you who through the concave blow,

Swift executers of his holy word,

[Lord. Whirlwinds and tempests, praise the' Almighty

Mountains, who to your Maker's view Seem less than mole-hills do to you, Remember how, when first Jehovah spoke, All heaven was fire, and Sinai hid in smoke.

Praise him, sweet offspring of the ground, With heavenly nectar yearly crown'd; And, ye tall cedars, celebrate his praise, That in his temple sacred altars raise.

Idle musicians of the spring,

Whose only care's to love and sing,

Fly through the world, and let your trembling throat Praise your Creator with the sweetest note.

Praise him each savage furious beast,
That on his stores do daily feast:

And you tame slaves of the laborious plough,
Your weary knees to your Creator bow.

Majestic monarchs, mortal gods,

Whose power hath here no periods,

May all attempts against your crowns be vain!
But still remember by whose power you reign.

Let the wide world his praises sing,
Where Tagus and Euphrates spring,

And from the Danube's frosty banks, to those
Where from an unknown head great Nilus flows.

You that dispose of all our lives,

Praise him from whom your power derives; Be true and just like him, and fear his word, As much as malefactors do

your sword.

Praise him, old monuments of time;
O praise him in your youthful prime ;
Praise him, fair idols of our greedy sense;
Exalt his name, sweet age of innocence.

Jehovah's name shall only last,

When heaven, and earth, and all is pass'd : Nothing, great God, is to be found in thee, But unconceivable eternity.

Exalt, O Jacob's sacred race,

The God of gods, the God of grace; Who will above the stars your empire raise, And with his glory recompense your praise.

A PROLOGUE,

SPOKEN TO

HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF YORK,

AT EDINBURGH.

FOLLY and vice are easy to describe,
The common subjects of our scribbling tribe;
But when true virtues with unclouded light,
All great, all royal, shine divinely bright,
Our eyes are dazzled, and our voice is weak;
Let England, Flanders, let all Europe speak,
Let France acknowledge that her shaken throne
Was once supported, Sir, by you alone;
Banish'd from thence for an usurper's sake,
Yet trusted then with her last desperate stake:
When wealthy neighbours strove with us for power,
Let the sea tell, how in their fatal hour,
Swift as an eagle, our victorious prince,
Great Britain's genius, flew to her defence;
His name struck fear, his conduct won the day,
He came, he saw, he seized the struggling prey,
And while the heavens were fire and the' ocean
blood,

Confirm'd our empire o'er the conquer'd flood.
O happy islands, if you knew your bliss!
Strong by the sea's protection, safe by his!
Express your gratitude the only way,
And humbly own a debt too vast to pay:
Let Fame aloud to future ages to tell,
None e'er commanded, none obey'd so well;

15.

A A

While this high courage, this undaunted mind,
So loyal, so submissively resign'd,
Proclaim that such a hero never springs
But from the uncorrupted blood of kings.

SONG.

ON A YOUNG LADY WHO SUNG FINELY, AND WAS
AFRAID OF A COLD.

WINTER, thy cruelty extend,
Till fatal tempests swell the sea,
In vain let sinking pilots pray;

Beneath thy yoke let Nature bend,
Let piercing frost, and lasting snow,
Through woods and fields destruction sow!

Yet we unmoved will sit and smile,
While these lesser ills create,
These we can bear; but, gentle Fate,

you

And thou, bless'd Genius of our isle, From Winter's rage defend her voice, At which the listening gods rejoice.

May that celestial sound each day
With ecstasy transport our souls,
Whilst all our passions it controls,

And kindly drives our cares away;
Let no ungentle cold destroy
All taste we have of heavenly joy!