 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
VERSES inscrib'd to the Revd. Dr. Delany.
A youth, whom Folly long had led aside,Was bless'd with Reason, but o'er run with Pride:
His Mind with Judgment and with Sense was fraught;
Piercing his Wit, sagacious was his Thought;
By Nature fitted to discern aright,
Whilst Science sharpen'd and improv'd his Sight:
But lost to Virtue in his early Way,
He walk'd the Path which led him wide astray:
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The foul Infection on his Morals preys:
Religion mock'd he daily hears and sees,
Endures it first, then likes it by Degrees;
'Till with the potent Poison all o'erspread,
His Conscience slumbers, and his Fears are fled.
Now plung'd in Vice, he feels no Pang within,
But sports with Death, and basks secure in Sin:
With horrid Blasphemies is nightly pleas'd:
A dying Saviour, and a God appeas'd,
Are Subjects made for shocking Ridicule,
When Wits run wanton in the mad Mis-rule:
Religion, fled, had left no feeble Trace;
Nor in his Heart remain'd one Mark of Grace.
Perverse, forlorn, O Death, he's wholly thine,
A rip'ning Victim to the Wrath Divine;
The angry Bolt in Heaven's right Hand grows red,
And aims Destruction at his guilty Head,
When gracious Providence, with Smile serene,
Bade melting Mercy gently step between.
Some Angel guides him with celestial Care,
And leads him, heedless, to the House of Pray'r,
Where, haply, Paulus, in fair Truth's Defence,
(His Armour, Reason; and his Weapon, Sense)
Awful arose, and with persuasive Art,
Displays the Preacher's, and th'Apostle's Part;
Destin'd the harden'd Sinner to subdue;
His Words resistless, as his Cause was true.
The list'ning Youth with conscious Tremblings heard
The mighty Truths his pow'rful Tongue declar'd,
Alternate Changes in his Face arise,
The Crimson Blush in sudden Paleness dies;
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Conviction flashes on his inmost Soul.
Now Hope and Fear are in his Heart at Strife,
Eternal Torments, and eternal Life;
Ideas, fearful, in his Mind renew,
And open, dreadful, to his anxious View:
His frozen Heart to Faith's warm Beam gives Way,
Like Snow dissolving in the Noontide Ray;
And from his Eyes repentant Drops distil:
Like hallow'd Dew on Hermon's sacred Hill;
Virtue and Truth resume their native Place,
And Vice and Error now resign to Grace;
Convinc'd, subdu'd, the yielding Convert stands,
And lifts on high his supplicating Hands:
The humbled Penitent low bends to God,
And thanks the Hand which held the healing Rod:
This straying Lamb, whom Error long misled,
Now, sacred Shepherd, in thy Fold is fed:
Restor'd to taste, with thy well-tended few,
The living Fountain, and the fragrant Dew.
A greater Triumph in his Change is won,
Than Julius earn'd, or Philip's haughty Son:
Not Indian Treasures yield so bright a Crown;
Not conquer'd Worlds can claim such true Renown.
Go on, admir'd, thy heav'nly Power employ,
Give Sinners Comfort, and give Angels Joy:
Be still ambitious of such glorious Fame,
And add new Trophies to thy Rev'rend Name.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |