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A poem on divine revelation

being an exercise delivered At the Public Commencement at Nassau-Hall, September 28. 1774

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These men deserve our song, and those who still,
With industry severe, and steady aim
Diffuse the light in this late dreary land,
In whose lone wastes and solitudes forlorn,
Death long sat brooding with his raven wing.
Who many 'a structure of great fame have rais'd,
College, and school, upon th' Atlantic coast,
Or inland town, through ev'ry province wide,

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Which rising up like pyramids of fire,
Give light and glory to the western world.