University of Virginia Library

Midnight Meditations.

Look here, my Soul, how sparkling and how bright
These Stars do shine in this cold frosty Night;
From the Sun's absence they advantage take,
Their native lustre visible to make;
Their beams set in array adorn the Skie
As if they did Nights black approach defie;
This cold which freezeth us, it does but clear
The Air, and make their brightness more appear:
Let these fair Stars be patterns unto thee
And teachers too shewing what thou should'st be,
When sacred Providence the Heavenly Law,
Made up of Love and Wisdom, shall withdraw
That pleasing Sun-shine of prosperity,
Which from thy Cradle hath attended thee,
And by its Revolutions shall this state
Into afflictions dark cold night translate;
Or if thy body sickness should confine
To a dark room to languish there and pine
In pain, or malice should attempt thy fame,
And with black Slanders strive to cloud thy name;
Or what's thought worse than either, should thou be
Stark naked stript and pincht by Poverty;
Or shouldst thou be for some great merit sent
To a dark Prison or a Banishment:
Then muster all thy powers up, O my Soul,
Whose shining may these Clouds of Night controul:
Let all these oppositions serve to raise
But greater Trophies to thy virtue's Praise;
Virtue like valour is a thing ne're known,
If in encountring dangers never shown:
Now let a bright unspotted innocence
In sweet Contentment, Courage, Patience,
Shed its mild beams, let Hope and Joy display
Lustres which turn night into lightsome day.
So shall the Darkness as a foil be friend
Thy Beauty, and a greater glory lend:
So thy Eclipse shall but attract more Eyes;
So from oppression thou shalt greater rise;
So by our treading thrives the Chamomil,
As if our feet did but manure the Soil;
Nor is affliction's night the only case
Wherein thy brightness should the dark shades chase,
But when my Soul temptations unto Sin,
Like foggy darkning mists, shall from within,
Or from without arise, striving to stain
And sully thee with guilt; then let disdain
Break forth in virtuous Sparklings, and dispel
Those noysome Vapours which arise from Hell:
Yea when at last that King of terrors, Death,
Shall summon thee to yield thy utmost Breath,
And with its dismal shape strive to affright
Thee with the horror of eternal night;
With an undaunted mind his Message hear,
With chearful smiling looks his presence bear,
Dread not his aspect, turn not from his Dart,
But with resolvedness present thy Heart;
Thy Heart now burning most with Heavenly fire
Which Heavenwards wafts thee, there thou shalt expire,
True Phœnix in the flames of Love and Joy:
Death shall not hurt thee, thou shalt it destroy,
And though to Mortal Eyes thou disappear,
Thou shalt shine brighter in an higher Sphear,
Even like these Stars thou n'ere shalt find a Night,
But shalt be swallowed up in greater Light.