The Works of William Mason :: :: University of Virginia Library

Deep in the secret veins of earth,
Where each metallic ore has birth,
Silver and gold for ages sleep;
Blue sapphires there by rocks are veil'd,
There crystal springs in grottos seal'd,
Unheard, unseen, their useless vigils keep:
But man, by fortitude and vigour led,
Can cleave the rocks, thro' mountains force his way,
Drag the bright sapphires from their murky bed,
And bid them rival the meridian ray.
Thro' clefts he bursts, can teach the stream to glide,
Direct, augment, control its fertilizing tide.

I. 2.

He can those depths profound descry,
Where never pierced the vulture's eye,
Can those tremendous caves descend,
Where fiercest lions dare not prowl,
Nor ere was heard the tiger's growl;
Can make all nature to his prowess bend:
But did this bold, this all-pervading man
That dread mysterious region ere explore,
Where Wisdom dwells? Does he presume to scan
The place, where she exerts her sacred power?
What if he ask the deep abyss below,
If in its realm she dwells? its Genius answers, “No!”

I. 3.

What if to ocean's caves he hies,
In hope to find the guest?
The Monarch of the waves replies,
“She sleeps not on my breast.”
Vain then the hope! the fleet aerial race,
Born on sublimest plume, her mansion fail to trace.

First antistrophe, ver. 7. There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen, &c. But where shall wisdom be found, &c. to verse 14.

First epode, ver. 14. And the sea saith it is not in me. Ver. 21. It is kept close from the fowls of the air. Note, this is the only slight transposition of the text.

II. 1.

O could he seize her form divine!
Beyond the gold of Ophir's mine,
The sapphire's beam, the diamond's blaze,
Beyond the Ethiop's pearly store,
Beyond each gem, the sculptor's power
Could teach to sparkle on his richest vase,
Her charms he'd prize! yet Death, destructive king,
Who erst to chaos made despotic claim,
Ere from the void he saw creation spring,
Remembers whilom that he heard her name,
And knows that God, to whom all space is known,
Call'd Wisdom to himself, and rais'd her to his throne.

II. 2.

'Twas then in solemn synod high,
Or ere he plann'd the galaxy,
Ere through the heavens one planet roll'd,
With her he fix'd all Nature's laws,
Creation's first and final cause,
And bade her hands th' ideal chart unfold.

She saw this vast material orb appear,
Bless'd the first pause of elemental strife,
When earth, air, water, fire forgot to war,
And all was harmony, and light, and life;
Saw man produced, while, thund'ring from on high,
The Eternal's awful voice proclaim'd his destiny:

II. 3.

“Offspring of matter and of mind!
“Know, Mortal, know, in age and youth
“Thy proudest talents are confin'd
“To mark this one important truth,
“That all of wisdom, to thy race allow'd,
“Is to refrain from sin, and venerate thy God!”

Second strophe, ver. 15. It cannot be gotten for gold, &c. to ver. 24.

Second antistrophe, from ver. 24 to 28. But here the version of Albert Schultens is rather followed, than that of our Bible.

Second epode, ver. 28. And unto man he said, Behold, to fear the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.

The whole 28th chapter of the book of Job, when separated from the context, is a poetical illustration of this truth, “that man is capable of making great advances in the discovery of nature, but as to prying into the secrets of Providence in the government of the world, which is here emphatically called the Wisdom of God, that is above the reach of all creatures.” The first strophe, in the above metrical version, begins at the first verse: “Surely there is a vein for silver and a place for gold;” and proceeds to the 7th.