Thoughts Upon The Four Last Things Death; Judgment; Heaven; and Hell. A Poem In Four Parts. The Second Edition. To which are added, The I, CIV, and CXXXVII Psalms Paraphras'd [by Joseph Trapp] |
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| II. |
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| IV. |
 | Thoughts Upon The Four Last Things |  |
O Thou Eternal! (Hallow'd, wond'rous Name!)
Whose fruitful Word gave Birth to Nature's Frame;
Our only Hope, yet our Consuming Fire;
Mighty to Save, yet Terrible in Ire:
Who can abide That great, That fearful Day,
When Thou, as Judge, Thy Glory shalt display?
When all Things in Confusion shall be hurl'd,
And Wreaths of Smoke involve the flaming World?
When from Thy red Right-hand new Lightnings fly;
And unfix'd Orbs rush clatt'ring thro' the Sky?
The Universal Mass, from Pole to Pole,
Burnt up, and shrivel'd, like a Parchment Scrole?
In vain for Help shall Then the Guilty call;
“Hide us, Ye Hills, Ye Mountains, on us fall:”
When with fierce fervent Heat, before ne'er felt,
Like Wax the Everlasting Hills shall melt
At Thy dread Presence; and the Mountains want,
Themselves, That Refuge they are ask'd to grant.
Whose fruitful Word gave Birth to Nature's Frame;
Our only Hope, yet our Consuming Fire;
Mighty to Save, yet Terrible in Ire:
Who can abide That great, That fearful Day,
When Thou, as Judge, Thy Glory shalt display?
When all Things in Confusion shall be hurl'd,
And Wreaths of Smoke involve the flaming World?
When from Thy red Right-hand new Lightnings fly;
And unfix'd Orbs rush clatt'ring thro' the Sky?
The Universal Mass, from Pole to Pole,
Burnt up, and shrivel'd, like a Parchment Scrole?
In vain for Help shall Then the Guilty call;
“Hide us, Ye Hills, Ye Mountains, on us fall:”
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Like Wax the Everlasting Hills shall melt
At Thy dread Presence; and the Mountains want,
Themselves, That Refuge they are ask'd to grant.
Behold, He comes with Clouds; and ev'ry Eye
Shall see Him in resplendent Majesty:
Ev'n Those who pierc'd his Hands, his Feet, and Side,
Shall see Him in triumphant Brightness ride,
On Wings of Cherubs, and the bounding Wind;
Black Clouds his Chariot, Storms in Harness join'd;
The Just prepar'd to meet him in the Air,
And Conscious Sinners shiv'ring with Despair.
Shall see Him in resplendent Majesty:
Ev'n Those who pierc'd his Hands, his Feet, and Side,
Shall see Him in triumphant Brightness ride,
On Wings of Cherubs, and the bounding Wind;
Black Clouds his Chariot, Storms in Harness join'd;
The Just prepar'd to meet him in the Air,
And Conscious Sinners shiv'ring with Despair.
Of that great Day indeed, That Day, and Hour
Knows no Man: Not ev'n he th'Almighty Pow'r,
The awful Judge Himself, as Son of Man;
(As God, He all things knows, and all things can:)
When it will come, in Darkness is conceal'd;
But come it will; That clearly is reveal'd.
Or were it not; that God, most just, and wise,
Will judge the World, crown Vertue, punish Vice,
Reward his Faithful, and confound the Proud,
Reason asserts, and Nature cries aloud.
Th'essential Difference 'twixt Moral Good,
And Evil, must by all be understood:
Who e'er was found so Savage, and so Brute,
As Their assur'd Existence to dispute?
What Man, unless of Reason quite bereft,
Can doubt that Murder, Fraud, Adult'ry, Theft,
To be unmann'd by Drunkenness, and Lust,
To be Profane, Oppressive, and Unjust,
Are absolutely Evil? That to these
The opposite, endearing Qualities,
Sweet Meekness, Charity, to have a Taste
For Heav'n on Earth, to be Just, Pious, Chaste,
Are absolutely Good? This Sense of Things
From Nature, and Eternal Reason springs:
'Tis mix'd, congenial, with the Minds of All;
'Tis Universal; therefore Natural;
Therefore from God; and therefore must be True.
And what can from This Good, and Ill ensue,
But Punishment to This, to That Reward?
Both therefore are by God, the Judge, prepar'd.
Reward to Vertue, Punishment assign'd
To Vice, can ev'n in Thought be ne'er disjoin'd.
No less does Conscience This great Truth attest;
Conscience, Heav'n's Delegate in ev'ry Breast:
By Heav'n, not Priests, and Statesmen, planted There;
Since Universal is This Hope, and Fear;
Common to All, the Learned, and the Rude;
By the most Stupid to be understood;
By no Philosophy to be subdued.
What then does Conscience, but anticipate
A future Judgment, and a future State?
Future; For Conscience frights us, or applauds,
Consoles us, or with Stings, vindictive, goads;
For Actions which Ourselves can only know,
When Nought is fear'd, or hop'd for, Here below.
Knows no Man: Not ev'n he th'Almighty Pow'r,
The awful Judge Himself, as Son of Man;
(As God, He all things knows, and all things can:)
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But come it will; That clearly is reveal'd.
Or were it not; that God, most just, and wise,
Will judge the World, crown Vertue, punish Vice,
Reward his Faithful, and confound the Proud,
Reason asserts, and Nature cries aloud.
Th'essential Difference 'twixt Moral Good,
And Evil, must by all be understood:
Who e'er was found so Savage, and so Brute,
As Their assur'd Existence to dispute?
What Man, unless of Reason quite bereft,
Can doubt that Murder, Fraud, Adult'ry, Theft,
To be unmann'd by Drunkenness, and Lust,
To be Profane, Oppressive, and Unjust,
Are absolutely Evil? That to these
The opposite, endearing Qualities,
Sweet Meekness, Charity, to have a Taste
For Heav'n on Earth, to be Just, Pious, Chaste,
Are absolutely Good? This Sense of Things
From Nature, and Eternal Reason springs:
'Tis mix'd, congenial, with the Minds of All;
'Tis Universal; therefore Natural;
Therefore from God; and therefore must be True.
And what can from This Good, and Ill ensue,
36
Both therefore are by God, the Judge, prepar'd.
Reward to Vertue, Punishment assign'd
To Vice, can ev'n in Thought be ne'er disjoin'd.
No less does Conscience This great Truth attest;
Conscience, Heav'n's Delegate in ev'ry Breast:
By Heav'n, not Priests, and Statesmen, planted There;
Since Universal is This Hope, and Fear;
Common to All, the Learned, and the Rude;
By the most Stupid to be understood;
By no Philosophy to be subdued.
What then does Conscience, but anticipate
A future Judgment, and a future State?
Future; For Conscience frights us, or applauds,
Consoles us, or with Stings, vindictive, goads;
For Actions which Ourselves can only know,
When Nought is fear'd, or hop'd for, Here below.
| Thoughts Upon The Four Last Things | |