Poems on Several Occasions :: :: University of Virginia Library

'Tis certain God to Israel does approve,
To Hearts untainted, his indulgent Love.
But from his Path my Feet were near to slide,
And my unsteady Steps to turn aside:
At impious Men my Breast with Envy swell'd,
When prosp'rous Guilt in Triumph I beheld.
When I observ'd, from where it first begun,
On to the last their Thread so smoothly run:

193

While inexhausted Strength renews their Prime,
Firm and unconscious of the Waste of Time.
Exempt from adverse Chance, they never know
That common Fate which Mortals undergo:
That universal Lot of human Woe.
Yet favour'd thus, with Insolence they deck
As with an honorary Chain their Neck:
For this are they, as with a Mantle spread
To wrap them round, with Violence array'd.
Inclos'd with swelling Fat, their Eye-balls start:
Their wealth exceeds the Wishes of the Heart.
To all around does their Contagion reach;
They menace Outrage, arrogant of Speech:
Their Mouth opposes Heav'n; their Censures go
Thro' all the habitable World below.
For this the Vulgar courts them; whence they drain,
As from a plenteous Bowl, no slender Gain:
And yet, can God discover this! they cry;
Is he Omniscient whom they stile Most High?
Behold the Impious! what the World confers
In smooth Success or wealthy Store is theirs.
Then I, alas! have purg'd my Heart in vain:
And purify'd my Hands from guilty Stain.
The live-long Day with Sorrow was I worn;
My anxious Doubts awaken'd with the Morn:
Almost my Sentence did with theirs agree;
Then to thy Children I injust shou'd be.
I labour'd long this Science to attain;
But found my Force unequal to the Pain:
Till I perplex'd the Sanctuary sought,
Where I at length their final Doom was taught.

194

How thou hast plac'd them, where, too apt to slide,
They totter on the Pinnacle of Pride:
And then from thence by thee are headlong thrown,
And into Depths of Ruin tumble down.
How in the momentary Glance of Thought,
They to a dreadful Fate at once are brought!
Like Visions, which before the sleeping Eye
Glide smoothly on, but with the Slumbers fly,
So thou, O Lord! the Phantom shalt disdain,
When from Repose thou shalt arise again.
This Conflict long disquieted my Heart;
My very Reins were thrill'd with piercing Smart:
My Sense, when I adventur'd to dispute
The Cause with thee, did not excell the Brute.
Yet by thy Side for ever I remain;
And me thou dost by my right Hand sustain:
To guide me here thy Council thou shalt give;
And after that to Glory shalt receive.
Whom but thy self have I in Heav'n above?
Or who on Earth with thee divides my Love?
No! tho' my wasted Flesh shou'd wear away,
My Heart with languid Pulse forget to play,
Yet God it's lively Vigour shall restore;
And be my Heritage for evermore.
Behold! they perish all, from thee who rove,
And to thy Rivals yield their perjur'd Love.
'Tis best that I with near Attendance wait,
And trust in God: and then I shall relate
His noble Acts in Sion's lofty Gate.