Poems on Several Occasions To which is added Gondibert and Birtha, A Tragedy. By William Thompson |
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THE MAGI.
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 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
116
THE MAGI.
A Sacred Eclogue.
No more in Beauty's Praise my Numbers move,
Nor melt away in dying falls of Love:
A Child on Earth, yet Heaven's eternal King,
The manger'd God, the Virgin's Son I sing.
Thou Fountain-Good, with Light my Soul o'erflow,
With hallow'd Ardour bid my Bosom glow!
Fir'd at the promise of thy dawning Ray,
The Eastern Sages found Celestial Day.
Nor melt away in dying falls of Love:
A Child on Earth, yet Heaven's eternal King,
The manger'd God, the Virgin's Son I sing.
Thou Fountain-Good, with Light my Soul o'erflow,
With hallow'd Ardour bid my Bosom glow!
Fir'd at the promise of thy dawning Ray,
The Eastern Sages found Celestial Day.
Drawn by a leading Flame, with sweet surprize,
The Infant Deity salutes their Eyes.
The Heir-elect of Love his Mother prest,
Smil'd in her Arms, and wanton'd on her Breast.
No Jewels sparkle here, nor India's Stores
The Portals brighten or emblaze the Doors.
But young-ey'd Seraphims around Him glow,
And Mercy spreads her many-colour'd Bow!
Her Bow, compos'd of new-created Light,
How sweetly lambent and how softly bright!
The sacred Circle of embodied Rays
The Cradle crowns, and round his Temples plays.
So shines the Rainbow round th' eternal Throne
To shade the Holy, Holy, Holy One.
By turns the Ruby bleeds a Beam, by turns,
Smiles the green Em'rald, and the Topaz burns:
The various Opal mingles every Ray,
Fades into Faintness, deepens into Day:
Promiscuous Lustre kindles half the Skies,
Too slippery-bright for keen-Seraphick Eyes.
The venerable Three, low-bending down,
Extend their Offerings and the Godhead own.
Mag. I.The Infant Deity salutes their Eyes.
The Heir-elect of Love his Mother prest,
Smil'd in her Arms, and wanton'd on her Breast.
No Jewels sparkle here, nor India's Stores
The Portals brighten or emblaze the Doors.
But young-ey'd Seraphims around Him glow,
And Mercy spreads her many-colour'd Bow!
117
How sweetly lambent and how softly bright!
The sacred Circle of embodied Rays
The Cradle crowns, and round his Temples plays.
So shines the Rainbow round th' eternal Throne
To shade the Holy, Holy, Holy One.
By turns the Ruby bleeds a Beam, by turns,
Smiles the green Em'rald, and the Topaz burns:
The various Opal mingles every Ray,
Fades into Faintness, deepens into Day:
Promiscuous Lustre kindles half the Skies,
Too slippery-bright for keen-Seraphick Eyes.
The venerable Three, low-bending down,
Extend their Offerings and the Godhead own.
From Eastern Realms, where first the infant Sight
Springs into Day and streaks the fading Night,
To Thee we bend, before the Morning Rise;
A purer Morning trembles from thy Eyes.
Springs into Day and streaks the fading Night,
To Thee we bend, before the Morning Rise;
A purer Morning trembles from thy Eyes.
118
In vain the Sun with Light his Orb arrays,
Our Sense to dazzle, and as God to blaze;
Through his transparent Fallacy we See,
And own the Sun is but a Star to Thee.
Our Sense to dazzle, and as God to blaze;
Through his transparent Fallacy we See,
And own the Sun is but a Star to Thee.
Mag. III.
Thou spotless Essence of primeval Light,
Thy Vassals own, and wash thy Ethiops White.
Thy Cloud of sable Witnesses adorn
With the first Roses of thy smiling Morn.
Thy Vassals own, and wash thy Ethiops White.
Thy Cloud of sable Witnesses adorn
With the first Roses of thy smiling Morn.
Mag. I.
By Bards foretold the ripen'd Years are come,
Gods fall to Dust and Oracles are dumb.
Old Ocean murmurs from his Ouzy Bed,
“A Maid has born a Son, and Pan is dead.
Gods fall to Dust and Oracles are dumb.
Old Ocean murmurs from his Ouzy Bed,
“A Maid has born a Son, and Pan is dead.
Mag. II.
The Nymphs, their Flow'r-inwoven Tresses torn,
O'er Fountains weep, in twilight Thickets mourn.
Long, hollow Groans, deep Sobs, thick Schreeches fill
Each dreary Vally and each shaded Hill.
O'er Fountains weep, in twilight Thickets mourn.
Long, hollow Groans, deep Sobs, thick Schreeches fill
Each dreary Vally and each shaded Hill.
119
No more shall Memphian Timbrels wake the Morn,
No more shall Hammon lift his gilded Horn.
From hence in vain shall Belzebub rebell,
Anubis howls, and Moloch sinks to Hell.
No more shall Hammon lift his gilded Horn.
From hence in vain shall Belzebub rebell,
Anubis howls, and Moloch sinks to Hell.
Mag. I.
Here lows a Bull; a golden Gleam adorns
The circling Honours of his beamy Horns.
He safely lows, nor fears the Holy Knife,
No Sacrifice from hence shall drink his Life.
The circling Honours of his beamy Horns.
He safely lows, nor fears the Holy Knife,
No Sacrifice from hence shall drink his Life.
Mag. II.
Ye Gardens, blush with never-fading Flowr's,
For ever smile, ye Meads, and blow, ye Bowr's:
Bleat, all ye Hills, be whiten'd, all ye Plains;
O Earth, rejoice! th' Eternal Shepherd reigns.
For ever smile, ye Meads, and blow, ye Bowr's:
Bleat, all ye Hills, be whiten'd, all ye Plains;
O Earth, rejoice! th' Eternal Shepherd reigns.
Mag. III.
Ye Lillies, dip your Leaves in falling Snow,
Ye Roses, with the Eastern-Scarlet glow,
To crown the God: ye Angels, haste to pour
Your Rain of Nectar, and your Starry Show'r.
Ye Roses, with the Eastern-Scarlet glow,
To crown the God: ye Angels, haste to pour
Your Rain of Nectar, and your Starry Show'r.
120
Offers Gold.
The Ore of India ripens into Gold,
To gild thy Courts, thy Temple to infold.
Accept the Emblematick Gift; again
Saturnian Years revolve a Golden Reign!
To gild thy Courts, thy Temple to infold.
Accept the Emblematick Gift; again
Saturnian Years revolve a Golden Reign!
Mag. II.
Offers Frankincense.
For Thee Arabia's happy Forests rise,
And Clouds of Odours sweetly stain the Skies.
While fragrant Wreaths of smoaking Incense roll,
Receive our Pray'rs, the Incense of the Soul!
And Clouds of Odours sweetly stain the Skies.
While fragrant Wreaths of smoaking Incense roll,
Receive our Pray'rs, the Incense of the Soul!
Mag. III.
Offers Myrrh.
The weeping Myrrh with balmy Sorrow flows,
Thy Cup to sweeten and to sooth thy Woes:
So Prophets sing; for (Human and Divine)
The Man was born to grieve, the God to shine.
Thy Cup to sweeten and to sooth thy Woes:
So Prophets sing; for (Human and Divine)
The Man was born to grieve, the God to shine.
Mag. I.
Smile, sacred Infant, smile: thy rosy Breast
Excels the Odours of the spicy East;
The burnish'd Gold is Dross before thy Eye,
Thou God of Sweetness, God of Purity!
Excels the Odours of the spicy East;
The burnish'd Gold is Dross before thy Eye,
Thou God of Sweetness, God of Purity!
121
Ye Planets, unregarded walk the Skies,
Your Glories lessen as his Glories rise:
His radiant Word with Gold the Sun attires,
The Moon illumes, and lights the Starry Fires.
Your Glories lessen as his Glories rise:
His radiant Word with Gold the Sun attires,
The Moon illumes, and lights the Starry Fires.
Mag. III.
Hail, Lord of Nature, hail! To Thee belong
My Song, my Life,—I give my Life, my Song:
Walk in thy Light, adore thy Day alone,
Confess thy Love, and pour out all my own.
My Song, my Life,—I give my Life, my Song:
Walk in thy Light, adore thy Day alone,
Confess thy Love, and pour out all my own.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |