 | Deity |  |
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VIII. PROVIDENCE.
As from some level country's shelter'd ground,
With towns replete, with green inclosures bound,
Where the eye kept within the verdant maze,
But gets a transient vista as it strays!
The pilgrim to some rising summit tends,
Whence opens all the scene as he ascends:
So Providence the friendly height supplies,
Where all the charms of Deity surprize;
Here Goodness, Power and Wisdom all unite,
And dazzling Glories whelm the ravish'd sight!
With towns replete, with green inclosures bound,
Where the eye kept within the verdant maze,
But gets a transient vista as it strays!
The pilgrim to some rising summit tends,
Whence opens all the scene as he ascends:
So Providence the friendly height supplies,
Where all the charms of Deity surprize;
Here Goodness, Power and Wisdom all unite,
And dazzling Glories whelm the ravish'd sight!
Almighty Cause! 'tis thy preserving care,
That keeps thy works for ever fresh and fair!
The sun from thy superior radiance bright,
Eternal sheds his delegated light,
Lends to his sister orb inferior day,
And paints the silver moon's alternate ray;
Thy hand the waste of eating Time renews,
Thou shed'st the tepid morning's balmy dews;
When raging winds the blacken'd deep deform,
Thy spirit rides commission'd in the storm;
Bids at thy will the slack'ning tempest cease,
While the calm'd ocean smooths its ruffled face;
When light'nings thro' the air tremendous fly,
Or the blue plague is loosen'd to destroy,
Thy hand directs, or turns aside the stroke,
Thy word the fiend's commission can revoke;
When subterraneous fires the surface heave,
And towns are bury'd in the yawning grave;
Thou suffer'st not the mischief to prevail,
Thy sov'reign touch the recent wound can heal.
To Zembla's rocks thou send'st the chearful gleam;
O'er Libya's sands thou pour'st the cooling stream;
Thy watchful Providence o'er all intends,
Thy works obey their great Creator's ends.
That keeps thy works for ever fresh and fair!
The sun from thy superior radiance bright,
Eternal sheds his delegated light,
Lends to his sister orb inferior day,
And paints the silver moon's alternate ray;
Thy hand the waste of eating Time renews,
Thou shed'st the tepid morning's balmy dews;
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Thy spirit rides commission'd in the storm;
Bids at thy will the slack'ning tempest cease,
While the calm'd ocean smooths its ruffled face;
When light'nings thro' the air tremendous fly,
Or the blue plague is loosen'd to destroy,
Thy hand directs, or turns aside the stroke,
Thy word the fiend's commission can revoke;
When subterraneous fires the surface heave,
And towns are bury'd in the yawning grave;
Thou suffer'st not the mischief to prevail,
Thy sov'reign touch the recent wound can heal.
To Zembla's rocks thou send'st the chearful gleam;
O'er Libya's sands thou pour'st the cooling stream;
Thy watchful Providence o'er all intends,
Thy works obey their great Creator's ends.
When man too long the paths of vice pursu'd,
Thy hand prepar'd the universal flood;
Gracious to Noah gave the timely sign,
To save a remnant from the wrath divine!
One shining waste the globe terrestrial lay,
And the ark heav'd along the troubled sea;
Thou bad'st the deep his ancient bed explore,
The clouds their wat'ry deluge pour'd no more!
The skies were clear'd,—the mountain tops were seen,
The dove pacific brought the olive-green.
On Arrarat the happy Patriarch tost,
Found the recover'd world his hopes had lost;
There his fond eyes review'd the pleasing scene,
The earth all verdant, and the air serene!
Its precious freight the guardian ark display'd,
While Noah grateful adoration paid!
Beholding in the many-tinctur'd bow,
The promise of a safer world below.
Thy hand prepar'd the universal flood;
Gracious to Noah gave the timely sign,
To save a remnant from the wrath divine!
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And the ark heav'd along the troubled sea;
Thou bad'st the deep his ancient bed explore,
The clouds their wat'ry deluge pour'd no more!
The skies were clear'd,—the mountain tops were seen,
The dove pacific brought the olive-green.
On Arrarat the happy Patriarch tost,
Found the recover'd world his hopes had lost;
There his fond eyes review'd the pleasing scene,
The earth all verdant, and the air serene!
Its precious freight the guardian ark display'd,
While Noah grateful adoration paid!
Beholding in the many-tinctur'd bow,
The promise of a safer world below.
When wild ambition rear'd its impious head,
And rising Babel heav'n with pride survey'd;
Thy word the mighty labour could confound,
And leave the mass to moulder with the ground.
And rising Babel heav'n with pride survey'd;
Thy word the mighty labour could confound,
And leave the mass to moulder with the ground.
From Thee all human actions take their springs,
The rise of empires, and the fall of kings!
See the vast theatre of time display'd,
While o'er the scene succeeding heroes tread!
With pomp the shining images succeed,
What leaders triumph! and what monarchs bleed!
Perform the parts thy Providence assign'd,
Their pride, their passions to thy ends inclin'd:
A while they glitter in the face of day,
Then at thy nod the phantoms pass away;
No traces left of all the busy scene,
But that remembrance says,—The things have been!
The rise of empires, and the fall of kings!
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While o'er the scene succeeding heroes tread!
With pomp the shining images succeed,
What leaders triumph! and what monarchs bleed!
Perform the parts thy Providence assign'd,
Their pride, their passions to thy ends inclin'd:
A while they glitter in the face of day,
Then at thy nod the phantoms pass away;
No traces left of all the busy scene,
But that remembrance says,—The things have been!
“But (questions Doubt) whence sickly nature feels
“The ague-fits her face so oft reveals?
“Whence earthquakes heave the earth's astonish'd breast?
“Whence tempests rage? or yellow plagues infest?
“Whence draws rank Afric her empoison'd store?
“Or liquid fires explosive Ætna pour?”
Go, sceptic mole! demand th'Eternal Cause,
The secret of his all-preserving laws?
The depths of Wisdom infinite explore,
And ask thy Maker—why he knows no more?
“The ague-fits her face so oft reveals?
“Whence earthquakes heave the earth's astonish'd breast?
“Whence tempests rage? or yellow plagues infest?
“Whence draws rank Afric her empoison'd store?
“Or liquid fires explosive Ætna pour?”
Go, sceptic mole! demand th'Eternal Cause,
The secret of his all-preserving laws?
The depths of Wisdom infinite explore,
And ask thy Maker—why he knows no more?
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Thy error still in moral things as great,
As vain to cavil at the ways of fate.
To ask why prosp'rous vice so oft succeeds,
Why suffers innocence, or virtue bleeds!
Why monsters, nature must with blushes own,
By crimes grow pow'rful, and disgrace a throne!
Why saints and sages, mark'd in ev'ry age,
Perish, the victims of tyrannic rage;
Why Socrates for truth and freedom fell,
Or Nero reign'd the delegate of hell:
In vain by reason is the maze pursu'd,
Of ill triumphant, and afflicted good.
Fix'd to the hold, so might the sailor aim
To judge the pilot, and the steerage blame;
As we direct to God what should belong,
Or say that sov'reign Wisdom governs wrong.
As vain to cavil at the ways of fate.
To ask why prosp'rous vice so oft succeeds,
Why suffers innocence, or virtue bleeds!
Why monsters, nature must with blushes own,
By crimes grow pow'rful, and disgrace a throne!
Why saints and sages, mark'd in ev'ry age,
Perish, the victims of tyrannic rage;
Why Socrates for truth and freedom fell,
Or Nero reign'd the delegate of hell:
In vain by reason is the maze pursu'd,
Of ill triumphant, and afflicted good.
Fix'd to the hold, so might the sailor aim
To judge the pilot, and the steerage blame;
As we direct to God what should belong,
Or say that sov'reign Wisdom governs wrong.
Nor always vice does uncorrected go,
Nor virtue unrewarded pass below!
Oft sacred justice lifts her awful head,
And dooms the tyrant and th'usurper dead;
Oft Providence, more friendly than severe,
Arrests the hero in his wild career;
Directs the fever, poinard, or the ball,
By which an Ammon, Charles, or Cæsar fall:
Or when the cursed Borgias brew the cup
For merit, bids the monsters drink it up;
On violence oft retorts the cruel spear,
Or fetters cunning in its crafty snare:
Relieves the innocent, exalts the just,
And lays the proud oppressor in the dust!
Nor virtue unrewarded pass below!
Oft sacred justice lifts her awful head,
And dooms the tyrant and th'usurper dead;
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Arrests the hero in his wild career;
Directs the fever, poinard, or the ball,
By which an Ammon, Charles, or Cæsar fall:
Or when the cursed Borgias brew the cup
For merit, bids the monsters drink it up;
On violence oft retorts the cruel spear,
Or fetters cunning in its crafty snare:
Relieves the innocent, exalts the just,
And lays the proud oppressor in the dust!
But fast as Time's swift pinions can convey,
Hastens the pomp of that tremendous day,
When to the view of all created eyes,
God's high tribunal shall majestic rise,
When the loud trumpet shall assemble round
The dead, reviving at the piercing sound!
Where men and angels shall to audit come,
And millions yet unborn receive their doom!
Then shall fair Providence, to all display'd,
Appear divinely bright without a shade;
In light triumphant, all her acts be shown,
And blushing Doubt, eternal Wisdom own!
Hastens the pomp of that tremendous day,
When to the view of all created eyes,
God's high tribunal shall majestic rise,
When the loud trumpet shall assemble round
The dead, reviving at the piercing sound!
Where men and angels shall to audit come,
And millions yet unborn receive their doom!
Then shall fair Providence, to all display'd,
Appear divinely bright without a shade;
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And blushing Doubt, eternal Wisdom own!
Mean while, thou great Intelligence supreme,
Sov'reign director of this mighty frame,
Whose watchful hand, and all-observing ken,
Fashions the hearts, and views the ways of men,
Whether thy hand the plenteous table spread,
Or measure sparingly the daily bread;
Whether or wealth or honours gild the scene,
Or wants deform, and wasting anguish stain;
On thee let truth and virtue firm rely,
Bless'd in the care of thy approving eye!
Know that thy Providence, their constant friend,
Thro' life shall guard them, and in death attend;
With everlasting arms their cause embrace,
And crown the paths of piety with peace.
Sov'reign director of this mighty frame,
Whose watchful hand, and all-observing ken,
Fashions the hearts, and views the ways of men,
Whether thy hand the plenteous table spread,
Or measure sparingly the daily bread;
Whether or wealth or honours gild the scene,
Or wants deform, and wasting anguish stain;
On thee let truth and virtue firm rely,
Bless'd in the care of thy approving eye!
Know that thy Providence, their constant friend,
Thro' life shall guard them, and in death attend;
With everlasting arms their cause embrace,
And crown the paths of piety with peace.
| Deity | |