 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
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PSALM the CIVth, PARAPHRASED.
Awake my soul! in hallow'd raptures praise
Th' Almighty God, who in th' empyreal height
Majestic shines, too glorious to behold.
Methinks the broad expansion of the sky
O'erspreads thy throne: in air thy chambers hang
Eternal, and unmov'd. Clouds roll'd on clouds
Thy chariot form; in thund'rings wrapt and fires
Thou walk'st, incumbent on the wings of wind.
Th' Almighty God, who in th' empyreal height
Majestic shines, too glorious to behold.
Methinks the broad expansion of the sky
O'erspreads thy throne: in air thy chambers hang
Eternal, and unmov'd. Clouds roll'd on clouds
Thy chariot form; in thund'rings wrapt and fires
Thou walk'st, incumbent on the wings of wind.
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Active as flames, all intellect, God forms
Angels of essence pure, whose finer parts
Invisible, and half dissolv'd in light,
Should fleet thro' worlds of air. Th' Almighty hand
Fixt earth's eternal basis, and prescrib'd
Its utmost limits to the raging main.
Angels of essence pure, whose finer parts
Invisible, and half dissolv'd in light,
Should fleet thro' worlds of air. Th' Almighty hand
Fixt earth's eternal basis, and prescrib'd
Its utmost limits to the raging main.
Forth from their deeps a world of waters rose
And delug'd earth. He spoke, the waves obey'd
In peace, subsiding to their ancient springs.
Part murmur headlong down the mountain's sides:
Part thro' the vales in slow Mæanders play,
As pleas'd, yet loth to leave the flow'ry scene.
And delug'd earth. He spoke, the waves obey'd
In peace, subsiding to their ancient springs.
Part murmur headlong down the mountain's sides:
Part thro' the vales in slow Mæanders play,
As pleas'd, yet loth to leave the flow'ry scene.
Thither by instinct savage beasts repair
To slake their thirst. Along the margin trees
Wave in the watry gleam, amid whose boughs
The winged songsters chaunt their Maker's pow'r.
To slake their thirst. Along the margin trees
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The winged songsters chaunt their Maker's pow'r.
God with prolific dews, and genial rain
Impregnates earth, then crowns the smiling fields
With lively green: the vegetative juice
Flows briskly thro' the trees; the purple grape
Swells with nectareous wines t' inspire the soul.
With verdant fruits the clust'ring olive bends
Whose spritely liquor smooths the shining face.
Impregnates earth, then crowns the smiling fields
With lively green: the vegetative juice
Flows briskly thro' the trees; the purple grape
Swells with nectareous wines t' inspire the soul.
With verdant fruits the clust'ring olive bends
Whose spritely liquor smooths the shining face.
On Lebanon the sacred cedar waves,
And spiry firr-tree, where the stork conceals
Her clam'rous young. The rocks bare, unadorn'd,
Have uses too: there goats in quest of food
Hang pendulous in air, there rabbits form
Their mazy cells—In constant course the moon
Nocturnal sheds her kindly influence down,
Marks out the circling year, and rules the tydes.
And spiry firr-tree, where the stork conceals
Her clam'rous young. The rocks bare, unadorn'd,
Have uses too: there goats in quest of food
Hang pendulous in air, there rabbits form
Their mazy cells—In constant course the moon
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Marks out the circling year, and rules the tydes.
In constant regularity the sun
Purples the rosy east, or leaves the skies.
Then awful night o'er all the globe extends
Her sable shades: the woods and defarts ring
With hideous yell, what time the lions roar
And tear their prey; but when the glim'ring morn
Dawns o'er the hills, their depredations cease,
And sacred silence reigns. Then painful man
Commences with the sun his early toil,
With him retires to rest. O Pow'r supreme,
How wonderful thy works! the bounteous earth
Pours from its fruitful surface plants and herbs
Adapt for ev'ry use: its bowels hold
Rich veins of silver, and the golden oar.
Purples the rosy east, or leaves the skies.
Then awful night o'er all the globe extends
Her sable shades: the woods and defarts ring
With hideous yell, what time the lions roar
And tear their prey; but when the glim'ring morn
Dawns o'er the hills, their depredations cease,
And sacred silence reigns. Then painful man
Commences with the sun his early toil,
With him retires to rest. O Pow'r supreme,
How wonderful thy works! the bounteous earth
Pours from its fruitful surface plants and herbs
Adapt for ev'ry use: its bowels hold
Rich veins of silver, and the golden oar.
233
Unnumber'd wonders in the deeps appear,
Incredible to thought. There tow'rs of oak
Float o'er the surges; there enormous whales
In awkward gambols play, th' inferior fry
Sportive thro' groves of shining coral glide.
These with observance due, when hunger calls
Expect their meat from God, who sometimes gives
A just sufficiency, or more profuse
Show'rs down his bounty with a copious hand.
When God withholds his all-sustaining care,
To dust, their former principle they fall.
Then thy prolific spirit forms anew
Each undecaying species. Mighty God,
How great, how good thy pow'r; that was, and is,
And e'er shall be immutably the same!
Incredible to thought. There tow'rs of oak
Float o'er the surges; there enormous whales
In awkward gambols play, th' inferior fry
Sportive thro' groves of shining coral glide.
These with observance due, when hunger calls
Expect their meat from God, who sometimes gives
A just sufficiency, or more profuse
Show'rs down his bounty with a copious hand.
When God withholds his all-sustaining care,
To dust, their former principle they fall.
Then thy prolific spirit forms anew
Each undecaying species. Mighty God,
How great, how good thy pow'r; that was, and is,
And e'er shall be immutably the same!
Earth at thy look with reverential fear
Ev'n to the center shakes: the mountains blaze
Beneath thy touch! Hail awful pow'r of heav'n,
Eternal three and one! The slaves of vice
Thy vengeance, like a sudden whirlwind's rage,
Sweeps from mankind. My muse, thrice glorious task!
While my blest eyes behold the chearful sun,
While life shall animate this mortal frame,
In heav'nly flights shall spread a bolder wing,
And sing to Him, who gave her first to sing!
Ev'n to the center shakes: the mountains blaze
234
Eternal three and one! The slaves of vice
Thy vengeance, like a sudden whirlwind's rage,
Sweeps from mankind. My muse, thrice glorious task!
While my blest eyes behold the chearful sun,
While life shall animate this mortal frame,
In heav'nly flights shall spread a bolder wing,
And sing to Him, who gave her first to sing!
| Poems on Several Occasions | |