Poems on Several Occasions :: :: University of Virginia Library

Accept, my God, the Praises which I bring,
The humble Tribute from a Creature due:
Permit me of thy Pow'r to sing,
That Pow'r which did stupendous Wonders do,
And whose Effects we still with awful Rev'rence view:

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That mighty Pow'r which from thy boundless Store,
Out of thy self where all things lay,
This beauteous Universe did call,
This Great, this Glorious, this amazing All!
And fill'd with Matter that vast empty Space,
Where nothing all alone
Had long unrival'd sat on its triumphant Throne.
See! now in every place
The restless Atoms play:
Lo! high as Heav'n they proudly soar,
And fill the wide-stretch'd Regions there;
In Suns they shine Above, in Gems Below,
And roll in solid Masses thro' the yielding Air:
In Earth compacted, and diffus'd in Seas;
In Corn they nourish, and in Flow'rs they please:
In Beasts they walk, in Birds they fly,
And in gay painted Insects croud the Skie:
In Fish amid the Silver Waves they stray,
And ev'ry where the Laws of their first Cause obey:
Of them, compos'd with wondrous Art,
We are our selves a part:
And on us still they Nutriment bestow;
To us they kindly come, from us they swiftly go,
And thro' our Veins in Purple Torrents flow.
Vacuity is no where found,
Each Place is full: with Bodies we're encompass'd round:
In Sounds they're to our Ears convey'd,
In fragrant Odors they our smell delight,
And in Ten thousand curious Forms display'd,
They entertain our Sight:
In luscious Fruits our Tast they court,
And in cool balmy Breezes round us sport,
The friendly Zephyrs fan our vital Flame,

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And give us Breath to praise his holy Name,
From whom our selves, and all these Blessings came.

2.

Receive my Thanks, 'tis all that I can pay,
The whole I can for num'rous Favours give;
Their Number does increase each Day,
I still on unexhausted Bounty live:
My Life, my Health, the Calmness of my Mind,
All those Delights I in my Reason find,
Those dear Delights which are from all the Dregs of Sense refin'd,
Are Donatives of Love Divine,
The Benefactor in his Gifts does shine:
His boundless Goodness still it self displays,
Still warms with kind refulgent Rays:
In it the whole Creation share;
The whole Creation is his Care:
All Beings upon him depend;
To whatsoe'er he made, still his Regards extend:
Nothing's so high, nor yet so low,
As to escape his Sight,
He do's the Wants of all his Creatures know,
And to relieve them is his chief Delight,
A Pleasure worthy that Almighty Mind,
Whose Kindness like himself is unconfin'd.

3.

Ah! thankless Mortals, can't such wondrous Love,
Inspire you with a grateful Sense?
Can't such amazing Favours move?
Must he his Blessings unobserv'd dispence,

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Have no Return, no Tribute paid,
No Retributions for such Bounties made?
O think, and blushing at his Footstool fall,
There beg his Pardon, prostrate lie,
And for Forgiveness to his Mercy fly:
Remember 'tis to him you owe your All,
He gives you Pow'r upon himself to call:
Should he from you his Aid withdraw,
You quickly wou'd have cause to mourn,
And sighing to your Dust return:
He is your Strength, your Life, your Light,
He to your jarring Principles gives Law,
And the Destroyer Death does awe:
His Angels compass you around,
And keep off Ills from the forbidden Ground:
By his Command you're ever in their Sight,
And made at once their Care, and their Delight:
O quickly then your Gratitude express,
And as becomes you, your Creator bless:
Before his Throne melodious Off'rings lay,
And in harmonious Strains your long neglected Homage pay.

4.

I'll strive with you my Zeal to show,
With you I'll strive to pay
Some little Part of what I owe:
My self before his Throne I'll lay,
My self, and all he does on me bestow:
My Reason for him I'll employ,
And in his Favour place my Joy:
His Favour which to me's more dear
Than all the tempting Glories here:
My Tongue shall still extol his Name,

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Shall still his wondrous Works proclaim:
My Mem'ry shall his Kindnesses inrol,
And fix them firmly in my Soul:
From him my Thoughts no more shall stray,
No more my Passions I'll obey,
No more to the rash Dictates of my Will give Way,
But still to him, and him alone, a glad Submission pay.

5.

To Love I will my self resign;
But it shall be to Love Divine:
That o'er me ever shall preside,
Shall ev'ry Word, and ev'ry Action guide:
To it I will my self unite,
In it I'll place my sole Delight,
And ev'ry meaner Object slight;
Till one at last with it I grow,
And tir'd with treading this dull Round below,
To its blest Source with eager Swiftness go;
To its blest Source, where constant Joys are found,
And where ne'er ending Pleasures spread themselves around;
Where nothing's wanting that we can desire,
Where we to nothing greater can aspire,
And where e'en Thought it self can soar to nothing higher.