University of Virginia Library

Devout Soliloquies.

SOLILOQUY I.

Eternal Maker, hail! hail pow'r divine!
The heav'ns and earth, the day and night are thine.
Matter and form to thee their being owe,
From thee, their great original, they flow:
When yet the mingled mass unactive lay,
Thou gav'st it motion by thy quick'ning ray;
Chaos and night thy pow'rful mandate heard,
And light, and glorious order, soon appear'd.
If thou but hide thy face, the creatures mourn,
But life and pleasure with thy smile return.
Thy gentle smile dependant nature chears,
Revives its hopes, and dissipates its fears.
The earth and skies thro' various changes run;
But thou, whose wond'rous being ne'er begun,
Can'st ne'er thro' all eternity decay,
While time's swift flood bears all things else away.
By thy direction, the fair orbs above,
In perfect order, thro' the ether move;
And all that's lovely, all that's pure below,
Immediately from thy bright essence flow.
Fountain of life! from thy immortal flame
All ranks of intellectual beings came:
Our maker thou, our great original,
We own thy right, and thee our father call.

SOLILOQUY II.

SOLILOQUY III.

Whatever various turns my life shall see,
Of downy peace, or hard adversity;
Let smiling suns shine on my prosp'rous ways,
Or low'ring clouds obscure my gloomy days;
The praises of my God shall still employ
My tongue, and yield my thoughts perpetual joy:
For he is all my glory, all my boast,
Be ev'ry name but his for ever lost!
My trust alone is his almighty name,
All other aids my tow'ring thoughts disclaim.
In God, my glorious Saviour, I'll rejoice,
And still exalt him with my grateful voice.
His angels, he himself surrounds the just,
And guards the saints who in his promise trust.
O taste and see, how blest, how highly blest
Are they who on his boundless mercy rest!
He, with indulgent care, their wants supplies,
And guides their steps with ever-watchful eyes;
His gracious ears are open to their pray'r,
And hear, with soft compassion, all their care;
When darkness and despair their steps surround,
Their gentle guide and succour he is found.
Mercy and truth, thro' all his gracious ways
To human race, shine with distinguish'd rays.
O let my tongue on the blest subject dwell,
The wonders of his love to men and angels tell!
Angels and men their glad assent shall join,
And mix their loud applauding notes with mine.

SOLILOQUY. IV.

Too low my artless verse, too flat my lays,
To reach thy glory, and express thy praise;
Yet let me on my humble reed complain,
And mourn thy absence in a pensive strain;
My own soft cares permit me to rehearse,
And with thy name adorn my humble verse.
The streams shall learn it, and the gentle breeze
On its glad wings shall waft it thro' the trees.
The list'ning nymphs, instructed by my flame,
Shall teach their hearts to make a nobler claim;
The swains no more for mortal charms shall pine,
But to celestial worth their vows resign.
The fields and woods the chaste retreats shall prove
Of sacred joys, and pure, immortal love;
And angels leave their high abodes again,
To grace the rural seats, and talk with men.

SOLILOQUY V.

By sighs, by gentle vows, and soft complaint,
Deluded lovers all their suff'rings paint;
Their joys in smooth similitudes they dress,
And all their grief in flowing words express?
But what are flowing words? how poor, how vain,
These high celestial ardors to explain!
Can human sounds such wond'rous things unfold,
As angels warble to their harps of gold?
O teach me all your sweet, melodious art,
To breathe the tender dictates of my heart!
To talk—of what—for you alone can tell
What minds enflam'd with holy transports feel.
You feel them, when you touch th' immortal strings,
And gaze, and love, and talk immortal things;
When ev'ry blissful shade, and happy grove
Repeat the sound, and softly breathe out love.

SOLILOQUY VI.

SOLILOQUY VII.

Celestial gift, by heav'n alone inspir'd,
And not by man, in all his pride acquir'd,
What wonders hast thou done? thy sacred force
The skies obey, and nature turns her course.
At thy command the sun has backward fled,
Th' astonish'd moon stood still with silent dread.
If thou but speak, the raging winds obey,
The waves divide, and leave an open way;
Thy potent breath dissolves the rock, and brings
From solid marble, softly-bubling springs;
At thy request mortality is fed
From heav'n's high store-house, with celestial bread;
Thy wide commands no limits can confine,
Whate'er omnipotence can do is thine.

SOLILOQUY VIII.

SOLILOQUY IX.

SOLILOQUY X.

If e'er again I find my soul's delight,
With love's soft fetters I'll restrain his flight;
And e'er I with the darling treasure part,
The sparks of life shall quit my trembling heart:
That life, which soon would prove a tiresome load,
Without the charming hopes to find my God.
O thou that dost my panting breast inspire
With all the ardor of celestial fire,
Thee I must find, or in the search expire!
In vain the tempting world its glory shows,
All it can give would yield me no repose;
Renounc'd at once let all its proffers be,
My bliss shall be completely full in thee:
Here is my rest, my vain pursuits are o'er;
Here let me fix, and never wander more.

SOLILOQUY XI.

No change of time, nor place, shall change my love,
Nor from my God my stedfast thoughts remove.
The flatt'ring world, with all its tempting art,
Shall never blot his image from my heart.
Should hell, with all its stratagems, combine,
They could not quench an ardor so divine:
Their false allurements, nor their proudest rage,
Shall e'er my resolution disengage.
Pleasure shall court in vain, and beauty smile,
Glory in vain my wishes would beguile.
The persecutor's rage I would not fear;
Let death in all its horrid shapes appear,
And with its keenest darts my breast assail;
When breath, and ev'ry vital spring shall fail,
The sacred flame on brighter wings shall rise,
And unextinguish'd reach its native skies;
With an eternal force the heav'nly fire
Shall to its bright original aspire.

SOLILOQUY XII.

Dance on, ye hours, on soft and downy feet!
Roll swift, thou ling'ring sun, and let us meet!
Come, ye blest moments, with a sprightly grace!
Let the gay period shew its smiling face!
What is the day? what is its useless light,
Unless it shews me that transporting sight?
No beauteous object smiles below the skies,
To charm my thought, and fix my longing eyes;
Celestial excellence my eyes inspires,
And kindles in my breast immortal fires.
Thou bright, unrival'd object of my love,
To thee alone my soft affections move;
Thine are my rising hopes, my purest fires,
My noblest wishes, and sublime desires.

SOLILOQUY XIII.

Ye happy minds, that free from mortal chains,
Possess the realms where boundless pleasure reigns,
That feel the force of those immortal fires,
And reach the bliss, to which my soul aspires;
Who meet, unveil'd, that radiant majesty,
Of which, to gain one transient glance, I'd die;
I charge you, by the boundless joys you feel,
My tender cares to my beloved tell;
Make all th' aspiring inclination known,
In such high strains as you describe your own;
In such exalted numbers as explain
The sacred flames which in your bosoms reign;
When all the heights of ecstasy you prove,
And breathe the raptures of immortal love.
O tell the glorious object, whom I prize
Beyond the chearful light that meets mine eyes,
Beyond my friend, or any dearer name,
Beyond the breath that feeds this vital frame,
Beyond whate'er is charming here below,
Beyond the brightest joys that mortals know,
Beyond all these, O tell him that I love!
Tell him what anguish for his sake I prove;
Tell him how long the hours of his delay,
And what I suffer by this tedious stay;
Tell him his absence robs my soul of rest,
While cruel jealousy torments my breast.
O let him know that my distracted mind
No real joy, while he withdraws, can find;
That all my hopes are center'd in his love,
How lost without it, how undone I prove!
Tell him that nothing can that loss repair,
Nor help the soul that dismal stroke to bear,
Nothing ensues but grief, and black despair:
Nothing beyond my soul could undergo;
'Tis death! 'tis hell! 'tis all unmingled woe!

SOLILOQUY XIV.

O stay, thou sacred object of my love,
Nor from my longing eyes so soon remove!
Stay yet, nor let me lose thy charming sight!
Stay till the midnight shadows take their flight!
Stay till the morning star's illustrious ray
Awakes the dawn, and leads the blushing day!
Stay till the sun unveils his golden light,
And joyful birds their early songs recite;
Return, my life, or let me follow thee!
The world affords no solace now for me.
With thee I ev'ry smiling hope forego,
And in thy absence no delight can know;
Thou, thou art all my happiness below!

SOLILOQUY XV.

Come, gentle death, release my struggling soul
From those dull fetters which her flight controul!
Less eagerly the hireling waits the close
Of the long, tedious day, to find repose.
A pilgrim here in this detested clime,
I rove and sigh away the ling'ring time.
O come, thou wish'd for messenger of peace!
The pris'ner longs not more for a release;
The wretch that under painful bondage groans,
With less concern his misery bemoans.
How shall I bless the hour that sets me free,
And gives my soul her native liberty!
With eager joy I'd bid the world adieu,
And with contempt its parting glories view;
To mortal vanities I'd close mine eyes,
Led on by sacred love I'd upward rise,
And in a moment reach the blissful skies.

SOLILOQUY XVI.

On Libya's burning sands, and trackless waste,
Or Zembla's icy coast let me be cast;
On some bleak shore, or solitary den,
Far from the path, and chearful haunt of men:
However sad and gloomy be the place,
Let me but there behold thy smiling face;
The wildest cave a paradise would be,
Celestial plains, and blissful groves to me.
Danger, and solitude, and lonesome night,
At thy propitious presence take their flight.
Beauty, in all its soft variety,
And love, and crowding joys attend on thee.
Immortal life springs up, where-e'er thou art,
And heav'nly day breaks in from ev'ry part.
Thou moon, ye stars, and thou, fair sun, adieu!
I ask no more thy rising beams to view;
For oh! the light himself, with rays divine
Breaks in, and God's eternal day is mine.

SOLILOQUY XVII.

Be hush'd, ye gentle pow'rs, of harmony,
Whatever soothing sounds in nature lie!
Whatever art, thro' all her wide controul
Of changing notes, has found to touch the soul,
Be hush'd for ever! while my thoughts attend
That voice which might ev'n hell itself suspend,
Lull all its anguish, calm its fiercest pains,
Open its gates, and loose th' infernal chains;
That sacred voice, whose efficacious sound
Gave motion to the spheres, and set their tuneful round.
O let those charming accents from above
Breathe down celestial harmony and love!
Eternal joys on the smooth current roll,
And boundless pleasure overwhelms my soul.
Ye angels, I resign your tuneful choirs,
Nor envy seraphim their golden lyres.

SOLILOQUY XVIII.

SOLILOQUY XIX.

Ye soft complaints, and tender sighs,
That from my anxious bosom rise,
Take wing, and reach the distant skies.
Your gentle eloquence may move
The sacred object of my love
To heal the anguish of my breast,
Of God forlorn, and robb'd of rest.
But oh! what sighs, what soft complaint
My grief and wild distress can paint?
What lover's pains can equal mine,
While at thy absence I repine?
Without thee pleasure is no more,
I die till thou my bliss restore.
At once thy lovely face reveal,
And all these gloomy fears dispel.
My lov'd Redeemer! let that name,
Which does thy tenderness proclaim,
Let that thy soft compassion move,
And waken all thy former love.
Thou taught'st my infant lips thy name,
And didst my first desires enflame:
Recal the kindness of my youth,
When first I gave my plighted truth;
Ev'n then I felt the fire divine,
My young affections all were thine.

SOLILOQUY XX.

Fair Eden lost, my fancy oft renews,
And still with grief the beauteous scene reviews.
But oh! nor verdant plants, nor painted flow'rs,
Nor crystal rills, sweet shades, nor fragrant bow'rs
Excite my envy; these I could resign,
Nor for the tree of life itself repine:
The nobler bliss, in high converse to rove
With friendly angels, thro' the happy grove,
Content I would forego; but oh! I mourn
Delights that ne'er to guilty man return,
Delights that guilty man could never boast,
Since the blest age of innocence was lost;
Among the trees with God himself to walk,
And in sweet converse to his Maker talk:
The scenes of paradise appear'd more fair,
Nature rejoic'd, and heav'n itself was there.
O highly-favour'd, hail! how blest thy fate!
How much unlike thy future wretched state!
O highly-favour'd, hail! the angels cry'd,
The echoing skies in chearful sounds reply'd.
Roll back, thou sun, and bring those glorious views,
Those envy'd joys! 'tis these my soul pursues.

SOLILOQUY XXI.

To thy high praises be my lips unseal'd,
And in chaste strains celestial love reveal'd.
O thou bright cause of this celestial flame!
In sacred rapture let me speak thy name;
That name which ev'ry sullen care beguiles,
That dear-lov'd name still breath'd with heav'nly smiles;
That makes the wildest storms of passion cease,
And fills my breast with unmolested peace.
How much I love thee, thou alone canst tell,
On thee, on thee my thoughts for ever dwell.
To all but thee my joys, my hopes are lost;
How fair thou art to what the world can boast!
When I but meet a smile from thy bright eyes,
Nature in all her blooming glory flies;
And let the whole creation disappear,
I have enough; for God himself is here!

SOLILOQUY XXII.

I'll spend the silent hours in vows to thee,
Nothing shall come betwixt my God and me.
No other image shall my soul employ,
No earthly pleasure, no unholy joy.
From all the charms of sensual objects free,
My spirit disengag'd shall spring to thee.
The whole creation I at once resign,
I ask no more, be thou, great God, but mine.
'Tis thou alone shalt fill my thoughts, to thee
All my desire in its full height shall be.
Be thou my portion, my eternal lot,
And be the world in ev'ry form forgot.
In silence, undisturb'd with pomp and noise,
Let me be swallow'd in immortal joys.
Full in my view place all the bliss above,
The scenes of pleasure and eternal love;
From op'ning heav'ns let streaming glories shine,
And thy sweet whispers tell me thou art mine.