Poems on Several Occasions :: :: University of Virginia Library

I leave Mortality's low Sphere.
Ye Winds and Clouds, come lift me high,
And on your airy Pinions bear
Swift thro' the Regions of the Sky.
What lofty Mountains downward fly!
And lo, how wide a Space of Air
Extends new Prospects to my Eye!
The gilded Fanes, reflecting Light,
And Royal Palaces, as bright,
(The rich Abodes
Of Heav'nly and of Earthly Gods)
Retire apace; whole Cities too
Decrease beneath my rising View.
And now far off the rolling Globe appears;

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Its scatter'd Nations I survey,
And all the Mass of Earth and Sea;
Oh Object well deserving Tears!
Capricious State of Things below,
That changeful from their Birth no fix'd Duration know!

II.

Here new-built Towns, aspiring high,
Ascend, with lofty Turrets crown'd;
There others fall, and mouldring lie,
Obscure, or only by their Ruins found.
Palmyra's far-extended Waste I spy,
(Once Tadmor, ancient in Renown)
Her Marble Heaps, by the wild Arab shown,
Still load with useless Pomp the Ground.
But where is Lordly Babylon? where now
Lifts she to Heav'n her Giant Brow?
Where does the Wealth of Nineveh abound?
Or where's the Pride of Africk's Shore?
Is Rome's great Rival then no more?
In Rome herself behold th'Extreams of Fate,
Her Ancient Greatness sunk, her Modern boasted State!
See her luxurious Palaces arise
With broken Arches mix'd between!
And here what splendid Domes possess the Skies!
And there old Temples, open to the Day,
Their Walls o'ergrown with Moss display;

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And Columns, awful in Decay,
Rear up their Roof-less Heads to form the various Scene.

III.

Around the Space of Earth I turn my Eye;
But where's the Region free from Woe?
Where shall the Muse one little Spot descry
The Seat of Happiness below?
Here Peace wou'd all its Joys dispense,
The Vines and Olives unmolested grow,
But lo! a purple Pestilence
Unpeoples Cities, sweeps the Plains,
Whilst vainly thro' deserted Fields
Her unreap'd Harvests Ceres yields,
And at the Noon of Day a Midnight Silence reigns.
There milder Heat the healthful Climate warms,
But Slaves to arbitrary Power,
And pleas'd each other to devour,
The mad Possessors rush to Arms.
I see, I see them from afar,
I view distinct the mingled War!
I see the charging Squadrons prest
Hand to Hand, and Breast to Breast.
Destruction, like a Vultur, hovers nigh;
Lur'd with the Hope of human Blood,
She hangs upon the Wing, uncertain where to fly,
But licks her drowthy Jaws, and waits the promis'd Food.

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IV.

Here cruel Discord takes a wider Scene,
To exercise more unrelenting Rage;
Appointed Fleets their numerous Pow'rs engage,
With scarce a Space of Sea between.
Hark! what a brazen Burst of Thunder
Rends the Elements asunder!
Affrighted Ocean flies the Roar,
And drives the Billows to the distant Shore;
The distant Shore,
That such a Storm ne'er felt before,
Transmits it to the Rocks around;
The Rocks and hollow Creeks prolong the rolling Sound.

V.

Still greater Horrors strike my Eyes.
Behold convulsive Earthquakes there
A shatter'd Land in Pieces tear,
And ancient Cities sink, and sudden Mountains rise!
Thro' opening Mines th'astonish'd Wretches go,
Hurry'd to unknown Depths below.
The bury'd Ruin sleeps; and nought remains
But Dust above and desart Plains,
Unless some Stone this sad Inscription wear,
Rais'd by some future Traveller,
The Prince, his People, and his Kingdom here
One common Tomb contains.

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VI.

Again, behold where Seas, disdaining Bound,
O'er the firm Land usurping ride,
And bury spacious Towns beneath their sweeping Tide.
Dash'd with the sudden Flood the vaulted Temples sound.
Waves roll'd on Waves, Deep burying Deep, lift high
A watry Monument, in which profound
The Courts and Cottages together lie.
E'en now the floating Wreck I spy,
And the wide Surface far around
With Spoils of plunder'd Countries crown'd.
Such, Belgia, was the Ravage and Affright,
When late thou saw'st thy ancient Foe
Swell o'er thy Digues, oppos'd in vain,
With deadly Rage, and rising in its Might
Pour down swift Ruin on thy Plains below.
Thus Fire, and Air, and Earth, and Main,
A never-ceasing Fight maintain,
While Man on ev'ry Side is sure to lose;
And Fate has furnish'd out the Stage of Life
With War, Misfortune, and with Strife;
'Till Death the Curtain drops, and shuts the Scene of Woes.

VII.

But why do I delay my Flight?
Or on such gloomy Objects gaze?
I go to Realms Serene with ever-living Light.
Haste, Clouds and Whirlwinds, haste a raptur'd Bard to raise;

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Mount me Sublime along the shining Way,
Where Planets, in pure Streams of Æther driv'n,
Swim thro' the blue Expanse of Heav'n.
And lo! th'obsequious Clouds and Winds obey!
And lo! again the Nations downwards fly,
And wide-stretch'd Kingdoms perish from my Eye,
Heav'n! what bright Visions now arise!
What opening Worlds my ravish'd Sense surprise!
I pass Cerulean Gulphs, and now behold
New solid Globes their Weight, self-balanc'd, bear,
Unprop'd amidst the fluid Air,
And all, around the Central Sun, in circling Eddies roll'd.
Unequal in their Course, see they advance,
And form the Planetary Dance!
Here the pale Moon, whom the same Laws ordain
T'obey the Earth, and rule the Main;
Her Spots no more in shadowy Streaks appear;
But Lakes instead, and Groves of Trees,
The Wond'ring Muse transported sees,
And their tall Heads discover'd Mountains rear.
And now once more I downward cast my Sight,
When lo! the Earth, a larger Moon, displays.
Far off, amidst the Heav'ns, her silver Face,
And to her Sister-Moon by turns gives Light!
Her Seas are shadowy Spots, her Land a milky White.

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VIII.

What Pow'r unknown my Course still upwards guides,
Where Mars is seen his ruddy Rays to throw
Thro' heat-less Skies that round him seem to glow?
And where remoter Jove o'er his four Moons presides?
And now I urge my Way more bold,
Unpierc'd by Saturn's chilling Cold,
And pass his Planetary Guards, and his bright Ring behold.
Here the Sun's Beams so faintly play,
The mingled Shades almost extinguish Day.
His Rays reverted hence the Sire withdraws,
For here his wide Dominions end;
And other Suns, that rule by other Laws,
Hither their bordering Realms extend.

IX.

And now far off thro' the blue Vacant borne,
I reach at last the Milky Road,
Once thought to lead to Jove's Supreme Abode,
Where Stars, profuse in Heaps, Heav'ns glittering Heights adorn.
Lost in each other's neighb'ring Rays,
They undistinguish'd shine in one promiscuous Blaze.
So thick the lucid Gemms are strown,
As if th'Almighty Builder here
Laid up his Stores for many a Sphere
In destin'd Worlds, as yet unknown.

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Hither the nightly-wakeful Swain,
That guards his Folds upon the Plain,
Oft turns his gazing Eyes,
Yet marks no Stars, but o'er his Head
Beholds the streamy Twilight spread,
Like distant Morning in the Skies;
And wonders from what Source its dawning Splendors rise.

X.

But lo!—what's this I see appear?
It seems far off a pointed Flame;
From Earth-wards too the shining Meteor came.
How swift it climbs th'aerial Space!
And now it traverses each Sphere,
And seems some living Guest, familiar to the Place.
'Tis He—as I approach more near
The great Columbus of the Skies I know!
'Tis Newton's Soul, that daily travels here
In search of Knowledge for Mankind below.
O stay, thou happy Spirit, stay,
And lead me on thro' all th'unbeaten Wilds of Day;
As when the Sybil did Rome's Father guide
Safe thro' the downward Roads of Night,
And in Elysium blest his Sight
With Views till then to mortal Eyes deny'd.
Here let me, thy Companion, stray,
From Orb to Orb, and now behold
Unnumber'd Suns, all Seas of molten Gold;

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And trace each Comet's wand'ring Way,
And now descry Light's Fountain-Head,
And measure its descending Speed;
Or learn how Sun-born Colours rise
In Rays distinct, and in the Skies
Blended in yellow Radiance flow,
Or stain the fleecy Cloud, or streak the watry Bow;
Or now diffus'd their beauteous Tinctures shed
On ev'ry Planet's rising Hills, and ev'ry verdant Mead.

XI.

Thus, rais'd sublime on Contemplation's Wings,
Fresh Wonders I wou'd still explore,
Still the great Maker's Pow'r adore,
Lost in the Thought—nor ever more
Return to Earth, and Earthly Things;
But here with native Freedom take my Flight,
An Inmate of the Heav'ns, adopted into Light!
So for a while the Royal Eagle's Brood
In his low Nest securely lies,
Amid the Darkness of the shelt'ring Wood,
Yet there with in-born Vigour hopes the Skies:
'Till fledg'd with Wings full-grown, and bold to rise,
The Bird of Heav'n to Heav'n aspires,
Soars 'midst the Meteors and Cœlestial Fires,
With generous Pride his humbler Birth disdains,
And bears the Thunder thro' th'Ætherial Plains.