The Works of the Late Aaron Hill ... In Four Volumes. Consisting of Letters on Various Subjects, And of Original Poems, Moral and Facetious. With An Essay on the Art of Acting |
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The Creation.
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 | The Works of the Late Aaron Hill |  |
The Creation.
[I.]
In the beginning, the Almighty God!Sending out his loud decree,
Begot existence, and bid being be!
Creation! first-born child of un-nam'd night,
Swell'd slowly, upward, at his pow'rful beck:
Aloft, he wav'd his threat'ning rod,
And, strait, resistance fled the aweful check!
And trembled, downward, from his dreadful nod!
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Up roll'd the face of form, wrapt round with night,
And, from the curling clouds, march'd out, magnificent, and bright.
Loose earth, at first, was rude, and shapeless, made,
And cover'd thick, with still, and empty shade;
For darkness, brooding o'er the deep, had motion overlaid!
Out went the spirit, o'er the lifeless waste,
And breath'd, in breezy gales, God's high command:
Let there be light, said he; and e'er the word was past,
Pale, quiv'ring beams shot thick, on every hand:
And gath'ring into lustre, devious, flew,
Ready to act, but ignorant what to do.
The spirit swift collected all, and rang'd em, on one side,
And drove the sever'd darkness on a heap,
Curling black with wheely sweep,
In piles, immensely horrible, and steep:
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Henceforth, be this bright fluid, day, he cry'd,
And night this dusky mount, on my left side:
So saying, pleas'd with his own work, he shot himself away,
And morning, thus, and evening, join'd, made up the first great day.
II.
The hand of God, again, was stretch'd o'er all:Ascend, he cry'd, ye thin, and subtile train,
That, lightest, in the mingled mass, remain.
The floaty atoms started, at his call,
And hasted to him all;
Whose voice was never heard in vain.
High, from the grosser heap, they steam'd away:
A nimble host of springy bodies, curl'd,
In various forms, and struggling every way,
To be at ease, and fly unfurl'd;
But each, obstructive to the other's care,
Together twisted wide they spread, a liquid field of air!
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All above this, be mine!
Heaven shall be here, and, here, my throne shall shine!
Hither, ye thinnest, purest, atoms rise,
Possess, and fill my topmost skies!
You second ranks, rest where you are,
And call your fluid force the Atmosphere:
But you, more heavy climbers! backward fall,
Keep you the humblest post of all:
Condens'd to closer substance, roll below,
And, murm'ring hoarse, in wat'ry vastness flow.
All, widely differing, hear alike, and equally obey,
And so found end, the second formful day.
III.
Let all these currents, which, divided, run,Unite, says God, and gather into One!
At once, with hollow roar, the back'ning flood,
Unveil'd the reeking earth, and shrunk away:
'Twas then the third astonish'd day,
Disclos'd a swelling globe of naked mud,
A lifeless bulk, which all unactive lay:
And saw the channel'd Ocean, round it, play!
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Of each new dreary space;
Th' impregnate glebe, grown conscious of her worth,
Conceiv'd at once, at once brought forth.
With mineral pangs, her stiff'ning bowels groan,
Her heaving mountains harden into stone.
The muddy surface brightens into green:
Sturdy shrubs are, this way, seen;
Stemless herbs rise, there, between.
The opening rose, by nature gay,
Blushes at the kiss of day!
Pale, hard by, the lilly blows,
Envious of the ruddy rose;
And, pining at her sicklier white,
Hangs her head, to shun the sight.
Each verdant vale embroider'd beauty fills;
And shooting forests crown the waving hills.
Carpets of grass o'erspread th' extended plains;
And, here and there, for ornament, an uncloath'd rock remains!
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IV.
Well-pleas'd, the Maker saw his work succeed:'Tis wond'rous fair, he said! these charms below,
With sparkling beauty seem to plead,
That heaven shou'd pay 'em back some show.
Then, let there be two glorious lights:
Let one inspire the days, and one adorn the nights.
The word was God's! 'twas said, and done!
Out-blaz'd, at once, the glorious sun!
All heaven, and earth, strait, catch'd the quickning fire;
And melted into warm, and new desire.
The sea, enamour'd with his beams,
Smil'd, upward, from a thousand streams;
And, longing to approach him nigher,
Dissolv'd, in exhalations, to aspire!
Wide, this new torch of heaven, the world adorns;
The crescent moon, too, show'd her silver horns:
But, with a paler lustre shin'd:
For she, distasteful, that she ow'd her light
To a proud rival's envied sight,
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And, as he rose, declin'd!
God saw her grief, and bent to ease her pain,
And ornament her shadowy reign,
Struck out a myriad of illustrious sparks,
The Gems of heav'n, her starry marks!
And, e'er the bashful Planet cou'd complain,
Bid her light up the sun-left world, with her night-twinkling train.
V.
The fifth day dawn'd; and, thus, God's voice was heard,Why shou'd this world of waters steril flow?
By inborn offspring, let her wastes be chear'd.
Bring forth, O sea! and fill the depths, below:
Loud ocean, hush'd to stillness, and afraid
To let one wave the shore invade,
Wonder'd, yet, to feel, within,
A kind of moving war begin!
Fermenting vigour stirr'd the wat'ry heap,
Liquid life began to creep,
And half-form'd monsters flounder'd, thro' the deep.
Panting sensation, by degrees, spread wide;
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To stem, in scaly shoals, the topmost tide.
The shell-drest tribe, of growth, and motion, slow,
Crawl, humbly, on the strands, below:
Warm, and gay, the nimbler kind
Upward roll, the top to find,
And, leaping, cool their livers, in the wind.
In the mid-way, the plunging whale plays round,
Wanton in life, he whirls, with antic bounds,
And, sometimes, to the surface mounts, and, sometimes, sweeps the ground;
The boiling deep about him foams, and, with his sport, resounds.
Thence, too, the feather'd nation, flutt'ring, rise,
Clouds of sun-obscuring size!
And, every bird, as from the wave he springs,
And tries his new-form'd throat, and sings,
Shakes the moisture from his wings;
Then, drawn by instinct, upward flies,
And tow'rs, ambitious, to the tempting skies.
Be fruitful, all, God said, and multiply,
And fill the seas, and fill the sky:
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And let your various kinds, O Fowl! o'er all the earth be found.
VI.
Now, air was peopled, and the roomy seas!And nesting inmates fill'd the branchy trees!
Thou, earth, said God, shalt, yet once more, conceive,
E'er our mighty task we leave:
Earth, trembling from her center, heard the sound,
And felt, thro' all her chasms, inspiring heat!
Warm germination heav'd th' enliv'ning ground,
And, from the forest's close, and dark retreat,
Lynxes, and Tygers, on a sudden, bound.
From the silent, mountain cave,
Glaring round, the lion stalks!
And wond'ring, frowns, in fierceness grave,
To meet the clumsy Camel, in his walks!
The sprightly horse neighs, from the rugged hill,
And, shooting downward, thunders o'er the plain;
Bounding along, strikes out his heels at will,
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Rais'd, on his hinder paws, a grinning Bear,
Roughly fix'd, in stupid stare,
Snorting, he starts, and gallops back, again!
From the moist fen, th' unfinish'd Frog
Croaks faintly, yet but half-way freed;
And, struggling with his muddy clog,
Drags out his limber legs, and skips along the mead!
From the bush, the speckled Snake,
With high-rais'd head, astonish'd, glides;
Hissing, he journeys on, from brake to brake,
Proud of the curly folds, whereon he slides!
From the high precipice, the bearded Goat
Looks down, with gravity, on distant flocks:
The Wolf discerns him, and, with barking throat,
Springs upward, at him, and assaults the rocks!
In every plain, on every hill,
The busy world is stirr'd throughout:
And, labouring with its maker's will,
In breathing mists, a swarm of life breaks out!
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VII.
High, on a mount of Eden's happy shore,Thoughtful, at last, the great Creator stood:
I find, says he, there wants one labour more,
And, then, the work is good!
And, be it, so, e'er yet I give it o'er:
One shall be form'd, to rule the millions, form'd before!
He said; and wav'd, on high, his aweful hand,
Strait, from hot Arabia's sand,
And Scythia's wild, and frozen land,
A gathering whirlwind toward him blew;
Sweeping, from East to West, from pole to pole,
Swifter, than thought, the circling eddies roll;
And a long train of each land's dust, in clouds, together drew.
Th' approaching atoms their Creator knew,
And guess'd his mighty meaning, too;
And, knitting into close embrace, a human shape they grew!
God touch'd the light, and unconnected frame,
And breath'd the breath of life throughout.
A sudden flash of spirit, thro' it, ran!
At once, the dry conjunction catch'd the flame,
And kindled into man.
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He saw his God, and prostrate fell, oppress'd with virtuous shame.
VIII.
Hear me, thou captain of my creatures! thou,Whose nobler form, in my own image, made,
Forbids thee, any where, to bow,
But to my glory, in these works, display'd,
I, thy great Maker, must be well obey'd:
All else shall thy commands fulfil,
Only subject to thy will:
Look round those wide-extended plains, below,
Whate'er thou see'st, is all thy own!
Yon distant mountains, topt with snow,
Swell'd to that height, for thee, alone!
For thee, yon winding rivers flow;
Fill'd, within, by finny shoals!
There's not a bird of heaven, which shall not know,
And stoop to thy controuls.
For thee, yon wind-shook forests grow;
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Enamel earth, and scent the breezy showers,
Which give 'em strength to rise, and paint the leafy bowers.
The fruits, of various hew, are also thine;
For thee, yon rip'ning clusters shine:
The loaded stems, which bear 'em, bending stand,
But to invite thy hand.
But, have a care, O Son of dust! thus rais'd,
That I am duly prais'd:
Remember, grateful, by whose pow'r thou art,
And, in the flowing fullness of thy joy,
Be mindful, he, who made thee, can destroy,
And curb the haughty swellings of thy heart.
| The Works of the Late Aaron Hill | |