The history of The Old Testament In verse With One Hundred and Eighty sculptures: In Two Volumes. Vol. I. From the Creation to the Revolt of the Ten Tribes from the House of David. Vol. II. From that Revolt to the End of the Prophets. Written by Samuel Wesley ... The Cuts done by J. Sturt |
I, II. |
The history of The Old Testament In verse | ||
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CXLVIII. 2 Samuel, Chap. XI. to Ver. 5.
David and Bathsheba.
How often some inferior Passions slave!
To bad the best, by native Bent inclin'd:
—O why was Pow'r bestow'd on human kind,
A harmful Pow'r to make themselves unblest?
—But vainly we with righteous Heav'n contest:
Man were not Man unless indulg'd Free-will,
And uncontroll'd in Choice of Good or Ill.
The Mind can no exteriour Force control,
When Beauty thro' the Body wounds the Soul:
Had David clos'd his Eyes, the fatal Dart
From Bathsheba had never reach'd his Heart;
Vain of her Form, tho' she th'occasion gave,
And proud to have a Monarch call'd her Slave.
That Virtue which so many Storms cou'd bear,
Relax'd with Ease, grew sick in milder Air;
Loose from his Couch with the declining Sun,
He rose, and came, and saw, and was undone:
Her Bosom the polluted crystal laves,
How wild a Flame shot upward from the Waves?
Th'unguarded King beheld, review'd, admir'd,
Th'unknown forbidden Beauty he desir'd,
He blush'd and trembled, and her Name enquir'd,
Which his officious Courtiers soon declare,
Her Lord detain'd in Ammon's dubious War:
Seduc'd with ease the willing Prey they bring,
His Blot, his Shame, his Curse to Judah's King:
In vain awhile their lawless Loves conceal'd,
First by th'Effects, and then the Punishment reveal'd.
The history of The Old Testament In verse | ||