Occasional verse, moral and sacred Published for the instruction and amusement of the Candidly Serious and Religious [by Edward Perronet] |
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THE TRUE DYING SWAN, OR THE REAL CHRISTIAN
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 | Occasional verse, moral and sacred |  |
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THE TRUE DYING SWAN, OR THE REAL CHRISTIAN
Returning to the Celestial Zion with Songs of everlasting Deliverance!—Isaiah xxxv. 10.
I
'Twas on the banks of Jordan's tide,The close of Life's short day,
A dying Saint melodious tried
To chace her cares away.
II
But though she oft had tun'd her throat,And oft her cup ran o'er:
Yet now she sang far sweeter note
Than e'er she sang before.
III
“Farewell (she cried) each idol lay,Ye tinsell'd toys adieu;
Ye have no charms to tempt my stay,
And I have none for you.
IV
Farewell, with these, each worrying pain,With each corroding care;
Each mortal loss and mortal gain,
Each childish hope or fear.
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V
Farewell, sad Grief and sore Disease,The fruit of inbred sin;
I can no more repent of these,
When I am enter'd in.
VI
Farewell all seasons and all times,Farewell the change of this,
With all the follies and the crimes
That fools account their bliss!
VII
Farewell Contention's ceaseless jars,Foreign, or home-bred feud;
The tyrant's or the bigot's wars,
That drench the world with blood.
VIII
Farewell Ambition's furious strife,With Avarice' lust of gain;
The pride of dress, the pride of life,
Religion's rust and bane.
IX
Farewell the Tempter's baleful pow'r,With every fiery dart;
And farewell too these clouds that lour,
And watch to cloud my heart.
X
Farewell all sorrow and all shame,And thou, O Sting of Death!
With thine, O Grave! whose dreary name
Alarms at every breath.
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XI
Farewell thou bright imperial Sun,Whose rising gilds the morn;
And thou too, fair refulgent Moon,
Whose beams the night adorn.
XII
Farewell, ye constellated Gems,Ye Solar Stars farewell;
I go—where uncreated beams
Your brightest flames excel.
XIII
Farewell, ye friends, that silent weep,And with your tears bedew
This dying corse—'tis but a sleep,
And then I wake anew!
XIV
With you no more must I converse,Nor tread this dreary road;
See there the Prophet's flaming hearse,
That bears me to my God!
XV
Cease then, ye kind companions, cease,Nor fond indulge your woe;
It is my Father's pleasure this,
And I with pleasure go.
XVI
Be you as willing to submit,As now ye are to mourn;
And ye, ere long, shall hear him greet
Your rising and return.
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XVII
In fine then, Farewell all that's here,And all my tongue could tell;
However lov'd, however dear,
However good—Farewell!”
XVIII
Thus Heaven's fair Swan, the Christian, sings,In sight of joys to come;
While the Great Angel spreads his wings,
And wafts his Cygnets home!
| Occasional verse, moral and sacred | |