Poems (1791) :: :: University of Virginia Library

“Tremble, thou earth! th'anointed poet said,
At God's bright presence, tremble, all ye mountains,
And all ye hillocks on the surface bound.”
Then once again, ye glorious thunders roll,
The Muse with transport hears ye, once again
Convulse the solid continent, and shake,
Grand music of omnipotence, the isles.
'Tis thy terrific voice; thou God of power,
'Tis thy terrific voice; all Nature hears it
Awaken'd and alarm'd; she feels its force,
In every spring she feels it, every wheel,
And every movement of her vast machine.
Behold! quakes Apennine, behold! recoils
Athos, and all the hoary-headed Alps

Leap from their bases at the godlike sound.
But what is this, celestial tho' the note,
And proclamation of the reign supreme,
Compar'd with such as, for a mortal ear
Too great, amaze the incorporeal worlds?
Shou'd ocean to his congregated waves
Call in each river, cataract, and lake,
And with the watry world down a huge rock
Fall headlong in one horrible cascade,
'Twere but the echo of the parting breeze,
When Zephyr faints upon the lily's breast,
'Twere but the ceasing of some instrument,
When the last ling'ring undulation
Dies on the doubting ear, if nam'd with sounds
So mighty! so stupendous! so divine!

But not alone in the aërial vault
Does he the dread theocracy maintain;
For oft, enrag'd with his intestine thunders,
He harrows up the bowels of the earth,
And shocks the central magnet.—Cities then
Totter on their foundations, stately columns,
Magnific walls, and heav'n-assaulting spires.
What tho' in haughty eminence erect
Stands the strong citadel, and frowns defiance
On adverse hosts, tho' many a bastion jut
Forth from the ramparts elevated mound,
Vain the poor providence of human heart,

And mortal strength how vain! while underneath
Triumphs his mining vengeance in th'uproar
Of shatter'd towers, riven rocks, and mountains,
With clamour inconceivable uptorn,
And hurl'd adown th'abyss. Sulphureous pyrites
Bursting abrupt from darkness into day,
With din outrageous and destructive ire
Augment the hideous tumult, while it wounds
Th'afflicted ear, and terrifies the eye,
And rends the heart in twain. Twice have we felt,
Within Augusta's walls twice have we felt
Thy threaten'd indignation, but ev'n Thou,
Incens'd Omnipotent, art gracious ever:
Thy goodness infinite but mildly warn'd us
With mercy-blended wrath; O spare us still,
Nor send more dire conviction: we confess
That thou art He, th'Almighty: we believe.
For at thy righteous power whole systems quake,
For at thy nod tremble ten thousand worlds.

Hark! on the winged Whirlwind's rapid rage,
Which is and is not in a moment—hark!
On th'hurricane's tempestuous sweep he rides
Invincible, and oaks and pines and cedars
And forests are no more. For conflict dreadful!
The West encounters East, and Notus meets
In his career the Hyperborean blast.

100

The lordly lions shudd'ring seek their dens,
And fly like tim'rous deer; the king of birds,
Who dar'd the solar ray, is weak of wing,
And faints and falls and dies;—while He supreme
Stands stedfast in the center of the storm.

Wherefore, ye objects terrible and great,
Ye thunders, earthquakes, and ye fire-fraught wombs
Of fell volcanos, whirlwinds, hurricanes,
And boiling billows hail! in chorus join
To celebrate and magnify your Maker,
Who yet in works of a minuter mould
Is not less manifest, is not less mighty.

Survey the magnet's sympathetic love,
That wooes the yielding needle; contemplate
Th'attractive amber's power, invisible
Ev'n to the mental eye; or when the blow
Sent from th'electric sphere assaults thy frame,
Shew me the hand, that dealt it!—baffled here
By his omnipotence Philosophy
Slowly her thoughts inadequate revolves,
And stands, with all his circling wonders round her,
Like heavy Saturn in th'etherial space
Begirt with an inexplicable ring.

If such the operations of his power,
Which at all seasons and in ev'ry place
(Rul'd by establish'd laws and current nature)
Arrest th'attention! Who? O Who shall tell

101

His acts miraculous, when his own decrees
Repeals he, or suspends, when by the hand
Of Moses or of Joshua, or the mouths
Of his prophetic seers, such deeds he wrought,
Before th'astonish'd Sun's all-seeing eye,
That Faith was scarce a virtue. Need I sing
The fate of Pharoah and his numerous band
Lost in the reflux of the watry walls,
That melted to their fluid state again?
Need I recount how Sampson's warlike arm
With more than mortal nerves was strung t'o'erthrow
Idolatrous Philistia? Shall I tell
How David triumph'd, and what Job sustain'd?
—But, O supreme, unutterable mercy!
O love unequall'd, mystery immense,
Which angels long t'unfold! 'tis man's redemption
That crowns thy glory, and thy pow'r confirms,
Confirms the great, th'uncontroverted claim.
When from the Virgin's unpolluted womb,
Shone forth the Sun of Righteousness reveal'd
And on benighted reason pour'd the day;
Let there be peace (he said) and all was calm
Amongst the warring world—calm as the sea,
When Peace, be still, ye boisterous Winds, he cry'd,
And not a breath was blown, nor murmur heard.
His was a life of miracles and might,
And charity and love, ere yet he taste

102

The bitter draught of death, ere yet he rise
Victorious o'er the universal foe,
And Death, and Sin and Hell in triumph lead.
His by the right of conquest is mankind,
And in sweet servitude and golden bonds
Were ty'd to him for ever.—O how easy
Is his ungalling Yoke, and all his burdens
'Tis ecstacy to bear! Him blessed Shepherd
His flocks shall follow thro' the maze of life,
And shades that tend to Day-spring from on high;
And as the radiant roses, after fading,
In fuller foliage and more fragrant breath
Revive in smiling spring, so shall it fare
With those that love him—for sweet is their savour,
And all eternity shall be their spring.
Then shall the gates and everlasting doors,
At which the King of Glory enters in,
Be to the Saints unbarr'd: and there, where pleasure
Boasts an undying bloom, where dubious hope
Is certainty, and grief-attended love
Is freed from passion—there we'll celebrate
With worthier numbers, him, who is, and was,
And in immortal prowess King of Kings
Shall be the Monarch of all worlds for ever.