Collected poems of Samuel Davies : 1723-1761

Davies, Samuel (1723-1761)

MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, CHIEFLY ON Divine Subjects.

BOOK I.

I. LORD Thou knowest all Things, Thou knowest that I love Thee. Joh. xxi. 17.

II. Early Piety recommended. (Sent originally in a Letter to two young Ladies.)

III. Philosophic Devotion. (Occasioned by reading The Religious Philosopher.)

IV. SOLOMON.

IV. I said, I will be wise: but it was far from me.

VI. Of Him, and thro' Him, and to Him are all Things. Rom. 11. ult.

VII. ANOTHER.

VIII. Sinful Immortality worse than Non-Existence.

IX. A Clergyman's Reflections on hearing of the Death of one of his pious Parishoners. Dec. 5. 1750.

10.

X. The Soul releas'd by Death.

11.

XI. Gratitude and Impotence

12.

XII. The universal Lamentation.

13.

XIII. The Aspiration.

14.

XIV. The Soul early estranged from its Divine Parent.

15.

XV. A Survey of human Nature.

16.

XVI. Whom have I in Heaven but Thee? And there is none upon Earth I desire besides Thee. My Flesh and my Heart faileth; but Thou art the Strength of my Heart, and my Portion forever. Ps. lxxiii. 25, 26.

17.

XVII. Conjugal Love and Happiness. February 27, 1750–1.

18.

XVIII. The Messiah's Kingdom. Extracted out of the Prophet Isaiah

19.

XIX. ΑΔΗΣ Or, The invisible World.

20.

XX. The Triumphs of CHRIST's dying Love.

BOOK II.

I. The obstinate Security of Sinners lamented. (annext to a Sermon on Matt. iii. 10. April 15, 1750.)

II. Penitential Sorrows. (annext to a Sermon on Luke xiii. 3.)

III. SELF-DEDICATION. (annext to a Sermon on Rom. vi. 13. June 15, 1750.)

IV. Sight thro' a Glass, and Face to Face. (annext to a Sermon on Matt. v. 6. March 18, 1750. before the Lord's Supper.)

V. The Law and Gospel. (annext to a Sermon on Gal. iii. 9, 10. Aug. 19, 1750.)

VI. CHRIST the Beloved and Friend of His Church. (annext to a Sermon on Cant. v. 16. Oct.—1748.)

VII. The Spiritual Warfare. (annext to a Sermon on Rev. xxi. 7.)

VIII. A guilty Conscience. (annext to a Sermon on 1 John iii. 20. Nov. 25. 1750.)

IX. Love to God for His Holiness. (annext to a Sermon on 1 John iv. 16. Dec. 2, 1750.)

10.

X. Brotherly Love. (annext to a Sermon on 1 John iii. 14. Dec. 9, 1750.)

11.

XI. The doubting Christian. (annext to a Sermon adapted for Self-Examination, on 1 John iii. 7, 8. December 16, 1750.)

12.

XII. CHRIST's Agony in the Garden. Luke xxii. 41, 44.

13.

XIII. Spiritual Inactivity lamented.

14.

XIV On a sudden Death. (annext to a funeral Sermont on Eccles. ix. 12. Jan. 5. 1750–1.)

15.

XV. The Conflagration. (annext to a Sermon on 2 Pet. iii. 11. Jan. 27, 1750–1.)

16.

XVI. Separation from GOD the most intolerable Punishment. (annext to a Sermon on Gen. iv. 13, 14. Jan. 13, 1750–1.)

THE APPENDIX

[No. I. No! never, never can this Heart]

[No II. And must I call these Passions mine]

[No. III. Life's but a Load, a tedious Pain]

[No. IV. My God! I'm pleas'd that Thou art All in All]

[No. V. Oh! be Thy glorious Name exalted high]

[No. VI. That I'm the vilest Sinner, Lord! I own]

[No. VII. Repulse me not; for whither shall I flee?]

[No. VIII. Ah! what avail these warm poetic Strains]

[No. IX. Why should I, in the Rage of wild Despair]

10.

[No. X. Though luscious Figs no more shall bloom and grow]

11.

[No. XI. Yes! soon the iron Hand of Death]

12.

[No. XII. Oh! while eternal Ages roll]

13.

XIII. A Description of a Storm, May 9, 1751.

27.

XXVII. On bearing of the Rev. Mr. Samuel Blair's desperate Illness by common Fame, and Letters from Correspondents in Pennsylvania, June 9. 1751.

UNCOLLECTED POEMS

[THIS UNCULTIVATED LAND]

[A PRAYER IN TIME OF STORMS]

ELEGIAC VERSES on the lamented Death of the Rev. Mr. Samuel Blair,

[Come, heav'nly pensive Contemplation, come]

The Revd. Mr. Samuel Davies, Minister of the Gospel To the Congregation of Hanover County In the Colony of Virginia.

[SIN THE DESPOILER]

[TRUST NOT BEAUTY]

[THE PIOUS MIND IN A TIME OF STORM]

[TO CHARA]

[“THE WAR OF THE ELEMENTS”]

[A STORM AT SEA]

The different States of Sinners and Saints in the Wreck of Nature.

56.

LVI. National Judgments deprecated, and National Mercies pleaded.

On the same.

[FRONTIER WARFARE]

The Blessing of Hope in Death; or Comfort in a dying Hour earnestly implored.

The universal Call of God to Repentance.

AN HYMN

Self-Examination.

An HYMN

[CHRISTIAN, PREACHER, FRIEND]

The Glories of God in pardoning Sinners.

Christ's Tenderness to the bruised Reed and smoking Flax.

The one Thing needful generally neglected.

Spiritual Want and Misery confessed, and the Communication of spiritual Blessings implored.

Applying for Relief to the All-Sufficiency of Christ.

The holy Spirit invoked, and his purifying and quickening Influences implored.

The Transcendent Excellency of Christ in his Person and Offices, and the Soul desirous to love Him.

Christ most worthy of Esteem, but ungratefully neglected in our World.

Pious Breathings amidst general Wickedness and Desolation.

Self-Dedication at the Table of the Lord.

[section]

ON THE BIRTH OF JOHN ROGERS DAVIES,

[section]

A PARAPHRASE on Jer. XXXI. 18, 19, 20.

[EPHRAIM'S PENITENCE]

[THE DIVINE LOVE AND SUFFERINGS OF OUR SAVIOR]

SCIENCE. An ODE.

POEMS ASCRIBED TO DAVIES

VERSES ON Gen. Braddock's defeat.

THE MILITARY GLORY OF GREAT-BRITAIN,

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VIII. Sinful Immortality worse than Non-Existence.

1.

Thou only Holy! To Thy Name
'Tis fit eternal Praise be given,
By all the Things Thy Hands did frame,
Thro' the wide Earth, and wider Heav'n.

2.

Being itself becomes a Curse,
When not employ'd, Great God! for Thee:
And Life estrang'd from Thee is worse
Ten thousand Times than not to Be.

3.

Better to Non-Existence sink,
Or turn to elemental Clay,
Than sleep and laugh, and eat and drink
My precious Hours in vain away.

4.

Were there no Ground to hope and plead
Thy Grace may form my Soul a new,
How should I wish to be unmade,
And drop to Nothing from Thy View!

5.

For Oh! the dire Disease of Sin
Has canker'd all my active Pow'rs;
Corrodes my languid Soul within,
And all her vital Strength devours.

6.

The Vigour of my Soul is spent
On low Pursuits and empty Joys:
But ah! how feeble, cold and faint,
When to my God I try to rise!

7.

Sin chills Devotion's sacred Fire,
Makes Wisdom's Path a tiresome Road;
Cumbers the Pinions of Desire,
That flutter to ascend to God.

8.

If, contemplative, I retire
With Things eternal to converse;
My Heart, that restless Wanderer,
Rambles thro' the wide Universe.

9.

Or if before Thy Gracious Throne,
I humbly bend the suppliant Knee,
Languors oppress my Spirit down,
I cannot, cannot rise to Thee!

10.

And when in some celestial Song,
I pay my Homage to Thy Name;
The Anthem dies upon my Tongue;
Nor feels my Breast the heav'nly Flame.

11.

So when I view the sacred Page,
Where Love and Light united shine,
Cold Criticisms my Thoughts engage,
Quite blind to Beauties more Divine.

12.

Almighty God! With pitying Eye,
Behold these useless Faculties!
Restore Thy fallen Progeny,
That deep immers'd in Ruin lies.

13.

Say, shall my Being still be vain!
Oh! shall I never serve my God!
Then Life itself's a tedious Pain;
And gladly I'd lay down the Load.

14.

Oh! shall my Immortality
Be spent t' offend Thy dearest Name!
No! Rather let me cease to Be,
And sink to Nothing whence I came.

15.

But if Thy Grace renew my Soul,
'Twill be my Privilege to Be;

And while eternal Ages roll,
Joyful I'll live and act for Thee.

16.

When Nature dies, and Day and Night
Measure the Flux of Time no more,
In brighter Worlds, with long Delight,
The Hands that made me I'll adore.

University of Virginia Library

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