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Miscellanies in Prose and Verse

By Mrs. Catherine Jemmat
 

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A Morning REFLECTION.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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17

A Morning REFLECTION.

All hail, Omnipotence! whose out-stretch'd arm,
Whose mighty fiat bid existence rise;
Aw'd by the sound, elastic nature sprung,
From dross refin'd, confess'd to open day:
Chaos no more broods o'er Confusion's mass,
But ope's the long-clos'd portals of her dome,
Whence issues symmetry in fair proportion.
No longer silent horrid Darkness reigns,
But glorious rising from the cheary gloom,
Th' enlivening sun burst forth with blaze of light,
And wide disclos'd the wonders of the whole.
Thus have the vaulted heavens, th' etherial orb,
The trackless ocean, and the solid earth,
Fulfill'd the ends great Nature had design'd.
But man, rebellious man, insidious, false,
Rash and imperious, turbulent and proud,
Prone to all evil, retrograde to good,
Still acts subversive of the general plan.

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Whence this delusion? Where's the great reward,
To pay the sacrifice of every virtue?
What can compensate for the dreadful risque,
Of bliss immortal in the great hereafter?
What are the boasted pleasures of this world,
The fond pursuits and objects of our wish?
But empty bubbles dying with a breath,
And fleeting shadows that delude fruition;
The span of life scarce answers to our souls.
God of all mercies! source of every joy,
Parent of peace, of harmony, and love,
Pour out thy spirit on this wretched land;
Nor let Detraction, with invenom'd tooth,
Poison the fame of characters rever'd.
Let dark Suspicion, with her jaundic'd eye,
Let haggard Envy, and opprobrious Hate,
Let clamorous Faction, and malignant Spleen,
Relinquish wrongs they meditate in vain:
Let discord cease, and close unite our hearts,
In amity's soft, pleasing, gentle bands.