Collected poems of Samuel Davies : 1723-1761 | ||
164
The different States of Sinners and Saints in the Wreck of Nature.
Isaiah xxiv. 18–20. Long Metre.
I
How great, how terrible that God,Who shakes Creation with his Nod!
He frowns, and Earth's Foundations shake,
And all the Wheels of Nature break.
II
Crush'd under Guilt's oppressive WeightThe Globe now totters to its Fate,
Trembles beneath its guilty Sons,
And for Deliv'rance loudly groans:
III
And see the glorious dreadful DayThat takes th' enormous Load away!
See Ocean, Earth, all Nature's Frame
Sink in one universal Flame.
IV
Where now, O where shall Sinners seekFor Shelter in the gen'ral Wreck?
Shall falling Rocks be o'er them thrown?
See Rocks, like Snow, dissolving down.
165
V
In vain for Mercy now they cry;In Lakes of liquid Fire they lie;
There on the flaming Billows tost,
For ever, O for ever lost!
VI
But, Saints, undaunted and sereneYour Eyes shall view the dreadful Scene;
Your Saviour lives, tho' Worlds expire,
And Earth and Skies dissolve in Fire.
VII
Jesus, the helpless Creature's Friend,To Thee my All I dare commend:
Thou can'st preserve my feeble Soul,
When Lightnings blaze from Pole to Pole.
Collected poems of Samuel Davies : 1723-1761 | ||