SERAPHIC LOVE.
I
Thou beauty's vast abyss, abstract of all
My thoughts can lovely, great, or splendid call;
To thee in heav'nly flames, and pure desires,
My ravish'd soul impatiently aspires.
II
With admiration, praise, and endless love,
Thou fill'st the wide resplendent worlds above;
And none can rival, or with thee compare,
Of all the bright intelligences there.
III
What vapours then, what short-liv'd glories be
The fairest idols of our sense to thee?
Before the streaming splendor of thine eye,
The languid beauties fall away, and die.
IV
Farewel then, all you flat delights of sense!
I'm charm'd with a sublimer excellence,
To whom all mortal beauty's but a ray,
A scatter'd drop of his o'erflowing day.
V
How strongly thou, my panting heart, dost move
With all the holy ecstasies of love!
In these sweet flames let me expire, and see
Unveil'd the brightness of thy deity.
VI
Oh! let me die, for there's no earthly bliss
My thoughts can ever relish after this;
No, dearest Lord, there's nothing here below,
Without thy smiles, to please, or satisfy me now.
