 | The miscellaneous works (1739) |  |
66
Thoughts of a dying Christian.
I come, I come! and joyfully obey
The fatal voice that summons me away:
With pleasure I resign this mortal breath,
And fall a willing sacrifice to death.
O welcome stroke, that gives me liberty!
Welcome, as to the slave, a jubilee!
Of the vain world I take my last adieu,
The promis'd land is now within my view;
The clouds dispel, the stormy danger's past,
And I attain the peaceful shores at last.
My hope's dear objects, now are all in sight,
The lands of love, and unexhausted light;
The flowing streams of joy, and endless bliss,
The shining plains, and walks of paradise;
The trees of life, immortal fruits and flow'rs,
The tall celestial groves, and charming bow'rs.
I breathe the balmy empyrean air,
The songs of angels, and their harps I hear;
And scarce the fierce, tyrannic joy can bear.
The fatal voice that summons me away:
With pleasure I resign this mortal breath,
And fall a willing sacrifice to death.
O welcome stroke, that gives me liberty!
Welcome, as to the slave, a jubilee!
Of the vain world I take my last adieu,
The promis'd land is now within my view;
The clouds dispel, the stormy danger's past,
And I attain the peaceful shores at last.
My hope's dear objects, now are all in sight,
The lands of love, and unexhausted light;
The flowing streams of joy, and endless bliss,
The shining plains, and walks of paradise;
The trees of life, immortal fruits and flow'rs,
The tall celestial groves, and charming bow'rs.
I breathe the balmy empyrean air,
The songs of angels, and their harps I hear;
And scarce the fierce, tyrannic joy can bear.
| The miscellaneous works (1739) | |