Occasional verse, moral and sacred Published for the instruction and amusement of the Candidly Serious and Religious [by Edward Perronet] |
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 | Occasional verse, moral and sacred |  |
ON THE WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY,
And other Branches of Natural and Experimental Philosophy.
Hail, sacred art! sure guide to nature's laws,
Whose each effect but proves the primal cause
That great Supreme, whose all commanding skill
Bespoke all being, and directs its will:
Himself a centre that no limit knows,
And whence creation, as its fountain, flows;
Whose lightnings here in miniature are seen,
While crackling bursts of thunder snap between.
Here shocks electric shake the vital frame,
And cool conductors trail the electric flame;
The wond'ring crowd in dread expectance stand,
And join their shrieks, ere well they join their hand.
Their distance nothing, and their numbers nought,
More keen than arrows, and more swift than thought
From link to link, from pole to pole they fly,
And ere its twinkling meet each gazer's eye.
Tremendous sign of that tremendous Power,
Whose eyes are lightning, and his arm a tower;
His word a sword, that at a stroke can part
The joints and marrow of the human heart;
Unveils the bottom of the mental deep,
Where midnight thoughts in midnight stupor sleep;
And shews mankind, what else had ne'er been known,
That human wit and human pride are one.
But cease the Muse, lest virtue's cheeks should burn,
And back to science and its source return.
See then His hand by each just balance known,
And its vast force from mighty levers shewn,
While pliant pullies, in dependent state,
With truth divide the labour and its weight.
The pond'rous magnet, of majestic code,
Attracts its object, and supports the load;
Opposing poles, opposing poles repel,
And each with each strives mutual to excel.
Here restless meteors their long vigils keep,
And roving comets in their orbits sleep;
Or, left at large, velocity immense!
Elliptic fly, and range the vast expanse!
Here polar suns as polar stars appear,
And optic art pervades each hemisphere;
[illeg.] lucid prisms the solar rays divide,
Dazzle the eye, and mock the tulip's pride.
Here nature rous'd, her secret pow'r unfolds,
While peerless Pitt her secret pow'rs controls,
Lessens the shock, or bids its terrors cease,
Unwinds the screw, and all we hear is—peace.
Whose each effect but proves the primal cause
That great Supreme, whose all commanding skill
Bespoke all being, and directs its will:
Himself a centre that no limit knows,
And whence creation, as its fountain, flows;
Whose lightnings here in miniature are seen,
While crackling bursts of thunder snap between.
Here shocks electric shake the vital frame,
And cool conductors trail the electric flame;
The wond'ring crowd in dread expectance stand,
And join their shrieks, ere well they join their hand.
Their distance nothing, and their numbers nought,
More keen than arrows, and more swift than thought
From link to link, from pole to pole they fly,
And ere its twinkling meet each gazer's eye.
65
Whose eyes are lightning, and his arm a tower;
His word a sword, that at a stroke can part
The joints and marrow of the human heart;
Unveils the bottom of the mental deep,
Where midnight thoughts in midnight stupor sleep;
And shews mankind, what else had ne'er been known,
That human wit and human pride are one.
But cease the Muse, lest virtue's cheeks should burn,
And back to science and its source return.
See then His hand by each just balance known,
And its vast force from mighty levers shewn,
While pliant pullies, in dependent state,
With truth divide the labour and its weight.
The pond'rous magnet, of majestic code,
Attracts its object, and supports the load;
Opposing poles, opposing poles repel,
And each with each strives mutual to excel.
Here restless meteors their long vigils keep,
And roving comets in their orbits sleep;
Or, left at large, velocity immense!
Elliptic fly, and range the vast expanse!
Here polar suns as polar stars appear,
And optic art pervades each hemisphere;
[illeg.] lucid prisms the solar rays divide,
Dazzle the eye, and mock the tulip's pride.
Here nature rous'd, her secret pow'r unfolds,
While peerless Pitt her secret pow'rs controls,
66
Unwinds the screw, and all we hear is—peace.
Go on, great bard, and shake the electric rod,
Till fools grow wise, and Atheists own a God!
Till fools grow wise, and Atheists own a God!
| Occasional verse, moral and sacred | |