Poems on several occasions By the late Edward Lovibond |
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TO LAURA, ON Her receiving a Mysterious LETTER from A METHODIST DIVINE. |
 | Poems on several occasions |  |
163
TO LAURA, ON Her receiving a Mysterious LETTER from A METHODIST DIVINE.
The Doctor wakes early—half drest in his cassock,
He steals from his consort to write;
She sleeps—and sweet Heaven is invok'd from his hassock
To lengthen the trance of her night.
He steals from his consort to write;
She sleeps—and sweet Heaven is invok'd from his hassock
To lengthen the trance of her night.
Now he writes to the fair, with what fervour he paints
Heaven's glory concern'd in her fame;
How he raves upon grace, and the union of Saints,
Idolatry, raptures, and flame?
Heaven's glory concern'd in her fame;
How he raves upon grace, and the union of Saints,
Idolatry, raptures, and flame?
164
Equivocal priest, lay solemnity by,
Deceiver thyself, or deceiv'd!
When you kneel to the idol of beauty, and sigh,
Are your ardors for Heaven believ'd?
Deceiver thyself, or deceiv'd!
When you kneel to the idol of beauty, and sigh,
Are your ardors for Heaven believ'd?
Will the heart that is kindled from passions below
Ascend in pure spirit above?
Ah! analyse better, as blended they glow
The flames of Religion and Love.—
Ascend in pure spirit above?
Ah! analyse better, as blended they glow
The flames of Religion and Love.—
Quit the Teacher, my fair one, and listen to me,
A Doctor less grave and severe!
Who eternity's joys for the virtuous can see
Consistent with happiness here.
A Doctor less grave and severe!
Who eternity's joys for the virtuous can see
Consistent with happiness here.
Still reverence, I preach, those endearing relations
Of daughter, of parent, of wife:
Yet I blame not your relish for slighter sensations
That sweeten the medicine of life.
Of daughter, of parent, of wife:
Yet I blame not your relish for slighter sensations
That sweeten the medicine of life.
165
Know, the virtue it cherishes Heaven will reward,
But attend to no blasphemous tales,
That the blaze of the Deity shines unimpair'd,
Though human infirmity fails.
But attend to no blasphemous tales,
That the blaze of the Deity shines unimpair'd,
Though human infirmity fails.
Know your God as he is, wise, good, beyond measure,
No tyrant in horrors array'd,
But a Father, who smiles on the innocent pleasure
Of amiable creatures he made!—
No tyrant in horrors array'd,
But a Father, who smiles on the innocent pleasure
Of amiable creatures he made!—
Still please, and pursue his benevolent ends,
Still enrapture the heart and the ear!
I can swear for myself, and believe for my friends,
Our morals improve as we hear.
Still enrapture the heart and the ear!
I can swear for myself, and believe for my friends,
Our morals improve as we hear.
If the passions are waken'd by Harmony's charm,
Their breezes waft health to the mind;
What our reason but labours, vain toil! to disarm,
By virtue and song are refin'd.
Their breezes waft health to the mind;
What our reason but labours, vain toil! to disarm,
By virtue and song are refin'd.
166
Ah! listen to me, in whose natural school
Religion leads Truth by the hand!—
Who regulates faith by a mystical rule,
But builds his foundation on sand!
Religion leads Truth by the hand!—
Who regulates faith by a mystical rule,
But builds his foundation on sand!
By the winds of unreconcil'd principles driven,
Still fluctuates the Methodist's plan;
Now he wishes you chaste for the glory of Heaven,
—Now frail—for the pleasure of man.
Still fluctuates the Methodist's plan;
Now he wishes you chaste for the glory of Heaven,
—Now frail—for the pleasure of man.
| Poems on several occasions | |