Collected poems of Samuel Davies : 1723-1761

Thee, Great Incarnate Godhead, Thee
Th' Almighty Father's equal Progeny,
Thee, Jesus! dear and venerable Name,
Partaker of our frail Humanity,
Thee shall my Voice, my Harp, my Muse and Quill proclaim.

II.

Wake my Harp! melodious sing
On each sweetly-sounding String
Th' illustrious Conquests of the Saviour-King;
In loud majestic Accents sound
His Triumphs o'er the Pow'rs below,
When He gave Death his everlasting-Wound,
'Led the infernal Monsters bound,
And crush'd the direst Terrors of His Foe.

III.

While Ages unbegun
Their vast, their boundless Circuits run,
On His eternal Father's loving Breast,
Self-happy, infinitely blest,
Lay the coeval Son;
In the immense Jehovah satisfy'd,
And the entire Divinity enjoy'd.

IV.

There lay the filial Godhead, till He saw
From the superior Sky,
Adam transgress his Maker's Law,
Hell yawn with greedy Jaws to draw
Into one Ruin all his wretched Progeny.
He saw the Flashes of vindictive Fire
Break out impatient from the Throne,
And the Angelic Messenger
Wave his dread Weapons, that high-brandish'd shone,
Thirsting for human Blood; while Hell grew proud
With Hopes of Prey, and laugh'd prophanely loud.

V.

He saw, and (O amazing Grace!) He lov'd,
With Pity all his inmost Bowels mov'd,
And Love omnipotent began to glow:
“Shall all the human Race, He cries,
“Fall an eternal Sacrifice,
“And grace the Triumphs of the insulting Foe?
“What! shall Hell's Tyranny destroy
“My Father's Image, Work and Boast,
“And riot in malicious Joy
“To see His fav'rite Creature lost?
“No! rather confounded,
“With Chaos surrounded,
“Be Heav'n, Earth, Ocean and all!
“The Wheels of Nature break,
“The Universe to horrid Wreck,
“Blended, disjointed, fall!
“I will o'ercome, or be o'ercome,
“Wrench from the Tyrant's Hand his royal Rod,
“Or yield him mine, and own him God:
“My chosen Race shall live, or I will share their Doom.

“By the dread Life of the Divinity,
“Possest by the eternal Three,
“I swear and ratify the firm Decree.

VI.

He said; He rose, and bow'd
The chrystal Heav'ns, and down he came:
Aside He threw the Grandeur of a God,
In mortal Regions fixt his low Abode,
And cloath'd Himself in feeble human Frame.

VII.

He gave His Heart to the vindictive Sword
Without a murm'ring Word,
Patient, His sacred Breath
At the Arrest of Death
Resign'd—O! the dire Terrors of the Thund'rer's Wrath!
O! the immense Severity
Of the dread Law! the dire Reward
Of Sin! the Vengeance of the flaming Sword
Of Justice! O! dire Fruits of the forbidden Tree!

VIII.

Come, Sinners, see your Saviour dead,
And weep around His Tomb:
Your Hope, your Joy, your All is fled;
For Oh! your Champion's overcome.
For you in Conflict with the Pow'rs of Hell
He nobly fought, but ah! He fell.

IX.

But whither, raving Muse? refrain;
Nor with ignoble Tears profane
The Triumphs of the God.

The Dying Champion overthrows
Th' united Force of all His Foes;—
In louder Strains proclaim His Victories abroad:

X.

Sing how thro' the Shades of Death
He enter'd the dark Realms beneath,
Where Hell and Horror rage;
Th' infernal Pow'rs perceiv'd the God,
And the grim Monsters roar'd aloud,
Nor durst the well-known Arm engage.

XI.

Old Chaos trembled, Satan fled,
And in Hell's deepest Pit sought to conceal his Head.
“In vain thou fleest, the Conqu'ror cries,
“Fly to the Bottom of th' Abyss,
“This vengeful Thunder-Bolt shall dart thee thro',
“And to the lowest Deep pursue.”
He said, and strait the glowing Bolt He threw:
New Horror seiz'd the trembling Host,
Blasted with vengeful Flame;
For well they mind the Day when Heav'n they lost.
And Thunder drove them to th' infernal Coast,
To Darkness, Pain and Shame.

XII.

He broke the Instruments of Pain,
Engines to torture, guilty Ghosts;
And strew'd them o'er the gloomy Coasts;
The Rack, the Wheel, the adamantine Chain
He tore and scatter'd o'er th' infernal Plain,
Unstrung the Monster Death, and bid him hiss in vain

XIII.

But see! the Conqu'ror leaves the Glooms
Of Hell, and climbs His native Sky:
Around His Head victorious Lawrel blooms,
And Triumph sparkles in His Eye:
He drags the Tyrant of the Gulf profound
At His triumphant Chariot bound.

XIV.

Heav'n celebrates a Jubilee,
And shouts aloud His glad Return;
The heav'nly Choirs proclaim His Victory,
And with unusual Rapture burn.
His Triumphs all the Harps on high,
His Triumphs Mortals grateful sing;
The Universe joins in the Harmony,
And Stars, and Earth, and Seas, with His loud Triumphs ring.

This Poem is a Translation, at least an Imitation of a Latin. Ode of Dr. Watts's, inscribed Ad Dominum nostrum & Servatorem JESUM CHRISTUM. Lyric Poems B. 1. P. 94. In which that divine Poet has excelled himself; but like most other Originals, its Beauty shines but faintly thro' the Medium of Translation.

In allusion to Serpents, which can only hiss when depriv'd of their Stings.

University of Virginia Library

XX. The Triumphs of CHRIST's dying Love.

I.

II.