 | A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes |  |
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CANTATA VI. The Religious.
Recitative.
Here, tyrant Superstition, ugly fiend,
Harpy with an angel's face,
Monster in Religion's dress,
Thy impious pray'rs and bloody visions end.
Harpy with an angel's face,
Monster in Religion's dress,
Thy impious pray'rs and bloody visions end.
Hence, with thy sister Persecution, go—
Hence with all her pleasing dreams
Of martyrs' groans, and virgins' screams,
The stretching rack, and horrid wheel,
Slow fires, and consecrated steel,
And ev'ry priestly implement of woe,
And ev'ry threat'ned tool of hoodwink'd zeal,
Ingenious Rome can find, or tortur'd Nature feel.
Hence with all her pleasing dreams
Of martyrs' groans, and virgins' screams,
The stretching rack, and horrid wheel,
Slow fires, and consecrated steel,
And ev'ry priestly implement of woe,
And ev'ry threat'ned tool of hoodwink'd zeal,
Ingenious Rome can find, or tortur'd Nature feel.
Air.
From Britain's happier clime repair
To southern suns and slavish air—
To empty halls,
To midnight bells,
To cloister'd walls,
To gloomy cells
Where moping Melancholy dwells—
William's name shall reach you there,
And sink your souls with black despair.
Recitative.
The Hero comes, and with him brings
Fair Hope, that soars on Cherub's wings;
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Intent on things above the sky,
To mortal ken unknown; and She,
Meek and seemly, kind and free,
Ever hoping, still believing,
Still forbearing, still forgiving,
Greatest of the heavenly Three.
Air.
Britons, join the godlike train,Learn, that all but Truth is vain,
And to her lyre attune your joy:
No gifts so pure as those she brings,
No notes so sweet as those she sings,
To praise the heav'nly-favour'd Boy.
| A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes | |