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140
The 25th Chapter of Job Paraphras'd.
Then will vain Man complain and murmur still?
And stand on Terms with his Creator's Will?
Shall this high Privilege to Clay be giv'n?
Shall Dust arraign the Providence of Heav'n?
With Reason's Line the boundless Distance scan;
Oppose Heav'n's awful Majesty to Man.
To what a length his vast Dominions run?
How far beyond the Journeys of the Sun?
He hung yon' golden Balls of Light on high,
And launch'd the Planets thro' the liquid Sky:
To rolling Worlds he mark'd the certain Space,
Fixt and sustain'd the Elemental Peace.
And stand on Terms with his Creator's Will?
Shall this high Privilege to Clay be giv'n?
Shall Dust arraign the Providence of Heav'n?
With Reason's Line the boundless Distance scan;
Oppose Heav'n's awful Majesty to Man.
To what a length his vast Dominions run?
How far beyond the Journeys of the Sun?
He hung yon' golden Balls of Light on high,
And launch'd the Planets thro' the liquid Sky:
To rolling Worlds he mark'd the certain Space,
Fixt and sustain'd the Elemental Peace.
141
Unnumber'd as those Worlds his Armies move,
And the gay Legions guard his Realms above;
High o'er th'ethereal Plains, the Myriads rise,
And pour their flaming Ranks along the Skies:
From their bright Arms incessant Splendors stream,
And the wide Azure kindles with the Gleam.
And the gay Legions guard his Realms above;
High o'er th'ethereal Plains, the Myriads rise,
And pour their flaming Ranks along the Skies:
From their bright Arms incessant Splendors stream,
And the wide Azure kindles with the Gleam.
To this low World he bids the Light repair,
Down thro' the Gulphs of undulating Air:
For Man he taught the glorious Sun to roll,
From his bright Barrier to his Western Goal.
Down thro' the Gulphs of undulating Air:
For Man he taught the glorious Sun to roll,
From his bright Barrier to his Western Goal.
How then shall Man, thus insolently proud,
Plead with his Judge, and combat with his God?
How from his mortal Mother can he come,
Unstain'd from Sin, untinctur'd from the Womb?
Plead with his Judge, and combat with his God?
How from his mortal Mother can he come,
Unstain'd from Sin, untinctur'd from the Womb?
142
The Lord from his sublime Empyreal Throne,
As a dark Globe, regards the silver Moon.
Those Stars that grace the wide Celestial Plain,
Are but the humblest Sweepings of his Train;
Dim are the brightest Splendors of the Sky;
And the Sun darkens in Jehovah's Eye.
But does not Sin diffuse a fouler Stain,
And thicker Darkness cloud the Soul of Man?
Shall he the Depths of endless Wisdom know?
This short-liv'd Sov'reign of the World below?
His frail Original confounds his Boast,
Sprung from the Ground, and quicken'd from the Dust.
As a dark Globe, regards the silver Moon.
Those Stars that grace the wide Celestial Plain,
Are but the humblest Sweepings of his Train;
Dim are the brightest Splendors of the Sky;
And the Sun darkens in Jehovah's Eye.
But does not Sin diffuse a fouler Stain,
And thicker Darkness cloud the Soul of Man?
Shall he the Depths of endless Wisdom know?
This short-liv'd Sov'reign of the World below?
His frail Original confounds his Boast,
Sprung from the Ground, and quicken'd from the Dust.
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