The miscellaneous works (1739)

'Tis done! the darling idol I resign,
Unfit to share a heart so justly thine;
No can the heav'nly call unwelcome be,
That still invites my soul more near to thee;
Thou dost but take the dying lamps away,
To bless me with thy own unmingled day.
Ye shades, ye phantoms, and ye dreams, adieu!
With smiles I now your parting glories view.
I see the hand, I worship, I adore,
And justify the great disposing pow'r.
Divine advantage! O immortal gain!
Why should my fond, ungrateful heart complain?
Whate'er of beauty in his ample round
The sun surveys, in thee is brighter found;
Whate'er the skies, in all their splendid cost,
Their beamy pride, and majesty can boast;
Whate'er the restless mind of man desires;
Whate'er an angel's vaster thought admires;

119

In thee 'tis found in its unchanging height,
Thou first great spring of beauty and delight!
What have I lost of excellent, or fair,
Of kind, or good, that thou can'st not repair?
What have I lost of truth or amity,
But what deriv'd its gentle source from thee?
What is there here of excellence, or grace,
Which one bright smile from thee would not efface?
At one kind look, one sparkling glance of thine,
Created pride must languish and decline.

'Tis done, at last, the great deciding part!
The world's subdu'd, and thou hast all my heart;
It pants for joys which that can ne'er bestow,
And spreads itself too wide for all below;
It leaves the vast creation far behind,
And presses forward, free and unconfin'd.
I see a boundless prospect still before,
And dote upon my former joys no more;
Celestial passions kindle in my soul,
And ev'ry low, inglorious thought controul.
O come! ye sacred gusts, ye pure delights,
Ye heav'nly sounds, ye intellectual sights;
Ye gales of paradise, that lull to rest,
And fill with silent calms the peaceful breast;
With you, transporting hopes, that boldly rise,
And swell, in blissful torrents, to the skies;
That soar with angels on their splendid wings,
And search th' arcana of celestial things.
Here let me dwell, and bid the world adieu,
And still converse, ye glorious scenes, with you.

120

Keep far away, for ever far from hence,
Ye gawdy shews, and flatt'ring snares of sense;
Ye gay varieties on earth, adieu!
However soft, and pleasing to the view.
And all ye dazzling wonders of the skies,
Ev'n you my now aspiring thoughts despise;
No more your blandishments my heart detain,
Beauty and pleasure make their court in vain;
Objects divine, and infinite in view,
Seize all my pow'rs, ye fading toys, from you.

'Tis finish'd now, the great deciding part!
The world's subdu'd, and thou hast all my heart;
It triumphs in the change, it fixes here,
Nor needs another separation fear.
No fatal chance thro' endless years shall rise,
The series of my pleasures to surprise;
No various scenes to come, no change of place
Shall e'er thy image from my soul efface;
Nor life, nor death, nor distant height above,
Nor depths below, shall part me from thy love.

University of Virginia Library

The RESIGNATION.