Poems on Several Occasions by Samuel Wesley. The Second Edition, with Additions |
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A Paraphrase on the Eighth Psalm.
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 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
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A Paraphrase on the Eighth Psalm.
A PINDARIC ODE.
I.
Jehovah! Sov'reign God and Lord!Sustaining this created Frame,
To Nature's utmost Bounds ador'd,
How great, how excellent thy Name!
Thou bid'st thy sacred Glory fly
Beyond th' Expansion of the Sky,
Above the highest Heavens, high.
II.
Thy Praise employs the Seraph's Lays,Suckling Infants show thy Praise:
From stamm'ring Mouth, at thy Command,
Strength resistless is ordain'd.
The Giant Wretch, who dares to cope with Thee,
Yields to the meanest Child of Piety:
Unwilling Hearts confess th' Almighty's Hand,
Nor can the Wise object, nor can the Strong withstand.
III.
Thy Pow'r Divine no Limit knows,Weakness itself obeys thy Call;
Still is the Rage of clam'rous Foes,
And down the proud Avengers fall.
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I.
Thy Heavens oft, stupendous Round!In Contemplation I admire,
Those Heavens which thy Hands did found;
The Sun, whose unexhausted Fire
Does Light and Heat to Earth convey,
Runs joyous his commanded Way,
Unwearied Monarch of the Day;
II.
The Moon, who Regent of the Night,Shines with delegated Ray;
The Stars which constant seem to Sight,
Stars that regularly stray;
Which first thy plastick Will from nothing brought,
Assign'd their Stations, and their Courses taught:
Distinct with Worlds yon azure Vault appears,
Seasons and Days to mark, and guide revolving Years.
III.
Lord! what is Man! amaz'd I cry,Whose Mould is Dust, and Life a Span,
That thou regardest from on high,
With such Respect, the Son of Man!
I.
Nature, and Nature's God to see,Mankind, thy Wisdom did ordain,
To serve his Maker call'd to be,
But o'er his Maker's Works to reign,
Thine awful Image found to bear,
Thou mad'st him with peculiar Care,
And all the Trinity was there.
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II.
On humble Earth his Seat was plac'd,Than th' Angelick Orders lower;
Yet him thy bounteous Mercy grac'd,
Crown'd with Dignity and Power.
Nay, 'midst the Splendor of the Throne of God,
Will highest Angels, in that bless'd Abode,
Revere the Nature they excell'd before,
Join'd to the Son of Man, the Son of God adore.
III.
Man governs all things here below,They serve his Grandeur, or his Need;
Laborious Oxen drag his Plough,
And Sheep for his Convenience bleed.
I.
Nor only tamer Beasts we find,To Man, their Lord, Obedience yield;
But ev'ry fierce and savage Kind,
That range the Desart and the Field.
Each Monster upon Africk's Shore,
And captive Lions, while they roar,
Submit reluctant to his Pow'r.
II.
Of Birds, the various feather'd Race,Lightly fleeting through the Sky,
To him perpetual Homage pays,
From his Empire cannot fly.
And Fishes that through Paths of Ocean stray;
From Shoals that num'rous, and that nameless play,
To vast Leviathan, disporting wide,
Created without Fear, King of the Sons of Pride.
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III.
Jehovah! Sov'reign God and Lord!Sustaining this created Frame,
To Nature's utmost Bounds ador'd,
How great, how excellent thy Name!
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