 | Poems (1717) |  |
53
A PARAPHRASE ON THE CXLVIIIth PSALM.
O Azure Vaults! O Crystal Sky!
The World's transparent Canopy,
Break your long Silence, and let Mortals know
With what Contempt you look on Things below.
The World's transparent Canopy,
Break your long Silence, and let Mortals know
With what Contempt you look on Things below.
54
Wing'd Squadrons of the God of War,
Who conquer wheresoe'er you are,
Let Ecchoing Anthems make his Praises known
On Earth, his Foot-stool, as in Heav'n his Throne.
Who conquer wheresoe'er you are,
Let Ecchoing Anthems make his Praises known
On Earth, his Foot-stool, as in Heav'n his Throne.
Great Eye of All, whose Glorious Ray
Rules the bright Empire of the Day,
O praise his Name, without whose purer Light
Thou hadst been hid in an Abyss of Night.
Rules the bright Empire of the Day,
O praise his Name, without whose purer Light
Thou hadst been hid in an Abyss of Night.
Ye Moon and Planets, who dispence,
By God's Command, your Influence;
Resign to him, as your Creator due,
That Veneration which Men pay to you.
By God's Command, your Influence;
Resign to him, as your Creator due,
That Veneration which Men pay to you.
Fairest, as well as First, of Things
From whom all Joy, all Beauty springs,
O praise th'Almighty Ruler of the Globe,
Who useth thee for his Empyreal Robe.
From whom all Joy, all Beauty springs,
O praise th'Almighty Ruler of the Globe,
Who useth thee for his Empyreal Robe.
55
Praise him ye loud harmonious Spheres,
Whose Sacred Stamp all Nature bears,
Who did all Forms from the rude Chaos draw,
And whose Command is th'universal Law:
Whose Sacred Stamp all Nature bears,
Who did all Forms from the rude Chaos draw,
And whose Command is th'universal Law:
Ye wat'ry Mountains of the Sky,
And you so far above our Eye,
Vast ever-moving Orbs, Exalt his Name,
Who gave its Being to your Glorious Frame:
And you so far above our Eye,
Vast ever-moving Orbs, Exalt his Name,
Who gave its Being to your Glorious Frame:
Ye Dragons, whose contagious Breath
Peoples the dark Retreats of Death,
Change your fierce Hissing into joyful Song,
And praise your Maker with your forked Tongue
Peoples the dark Retreats of Death,
Change your fierce Hissing into joyful Song,
And praise your Maker with your forked Tongue
Praise him ye Monsters of the Deep,
That in the Seas vast Bosoms sleep,
At whose Command the foaming Billows roar
Yet know their Limits, Tremble and Adore.
That in the Seas vast Bosoms sleep,
At whose Command the foaming Billows roar
Yet know their Limits, Tremble and Adore.
56
Ye Mists and Vapours, Hail and Snow,
And you who through the Concave blow,
Swift Executors of his holy Word,
Whirlwinds and Tempest, praise th'Almighty Lord.
And you who through the Concave blow,
Swift Executors of his holy Word,
Whirlwinds and Tempest, praise th'Almighty Lord.
Mountains, who to your Maker's View
Seem less than Mole-Hills do to you,
Remember how, when first Jehovah spoke,
All Heav'n was Fire, and Sinai hid in Smoak.
Seem less than Mole-Hills do to you,
Remember how, when first Jehovah spoke,
All Heav'n was Fire, and Sinai hid in Smoak.
Praise him, sweet Off-spring of the Ground,
With Heav'nly Nectar yearly Crown'd;
And ye tall Cedars, celebrate his Praise,
That in his Temple Sacred Altars raise.
With Heav'nly Nectar yearly Crown'd;
And ye tall Cedars, celebrate his Praise,
That in his Temple Sacred Altars raise.
Idle Musicians of the Spring,
Whose only Care's to Love and Sing,
Fly thro' the World, and let your trembling Throat
Praise your Creator with the sweetest Note.
Whose only Care's to Love and Sing,
Fly thro' the World, and let your trembling Throat
Praise your Creator with the sweetest Note.
57
Praise him each Salvage Furious Beast,
That on his Stores do daily feast:
And you tame Slaves of the laborious Plow,
Your weary Knees to your Creator bow.
That on his Stores do daily feast:
And you tame Slaves of the laborious Plow,
Your weary Knees to your Creator bow.
Majestick Monarchs, Mortal Gods,
Whose Pow'r hath here no Periods,
May all Attempts against your Crowns be vain;
But still remember by whose Pow'r you Reign.
Whose Pow'r hath here no Periods,
May all Attempts against your Crowns be vain;
But still remember by whose Pow'r you Reign.
Let the wide World his Praises sing,
Where Tagus and Euphrates spring,
And from the Danube's frosty Banks, to those
Where from an unknown Head great Nilus flows.
Where Tagus and Euphrates spring,
And from the Danube's frosty Banks, to those
Where from an unknown Head great Nilus flows.
You that dispose of all our Lives,
Praise him from whom your Pow'r derives:
Be True and Just, like him, and fear his Word,
As much as Malefactors do your Sword.
Praise him from whom your Pow'r derives:
Be True and Just, like him, and fear his Word,
As much as Malefactors do your Sword.
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Praise him, old Monuments of Time;
O praise him in your Youthful Prime:
Praise him fair Idols of our greedy Sense;
Exalt his Name, sweet Age of Innocence.
O praise him in your Youthful Prime:
Praise him fair Idols of our greedy Sense;
Exalt his Name, sweet Age of Innocence.
Jehovah's Name shall only last,
When Heav'n, and Earth, and all is past:
Nothing, Great God, is to be found in Thee,
But Unconceivable Eternity.
When Heav'n, and Earth, and all is past:
Nothing, Great God, is to be found in Thee,
But Unconceivable Eternity.
Exalt, O Jacob's Sacred Race,
The God of Gods, the God of Grace;
Who will above the Stars your Empire raise,
And with his Glory recompence your Praise.
The God of Gods, the God of Grace;
Who will above the Stars your Empire raise,
And with his Glory recompence your Praise.
| Poems (1717) | |