Poems on Several Occasions By Henry Jones |
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On the Hospital for Lying-in-Women, erected
in Dublin. Inscrib'd to the Founders.
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 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
On the Hospital for Lying-in-Women, erected in Dublin. Inscrib'd to the Founders.
Celestial Charity! thy Praise I sing,
O lift my Fancy on thy Angel Wing,
With thy pure Energy, propitious Guest,
Fill all my Faculties, and fire my Breast,
To raise the Soul, its tender Springs to move
To warm Benevolence, to kindle Love.
O Queen of Virtues! in whose Face we find
The living Traces of th'Eternal Mind,
Where Pity beaming copious Bounty glows,
And sweet Benevolence for ever flows;
How are thy Attributes, celestial Maid,
Through all th'Extent of Heav'n and Earth display'd!
Lo! melting Mercy in thy Essence lives,
And pities first what she at last forgives.
Through each revolving Scene and changing Stage,
From cradl'd Infancy to crippled Age,
Thy friendly Hand supports the trembling Knee,
And Pain and Poverty still cry to thee.
Thine Eye well-pleas'd, propitious Goddess, turn,
Here kneel thy Vot'ries, here thy Altars burn,
Here breath thy Ardours, here thy Pow'rs redress,
And reach th'up-lifting Hand to low Distress;
Remove fell Maladies, and soften Woe,
When teeming Nature feels the painful Throw;
Shelter the Matron from the naked Wild,
And save at once the Mother and the Child:
The Houseless Wretch no friendly Shade who finds,
Expos'd to beating Rains and howling Winds,
Shall here from Anguish and Temptation free,
Enjoy her Innocence, her Babe, and Thee:
Shall here, secure from casual Ills, confess
Thy healing Comforts, and thy Bounty bless.
Auspicious Pile, preventing Pains and Guilt,
First plann'd by Piety, by Virtue built,
A public Virtue in thy Founder blaz'd,
A public Love thy sacred Mansions rais'd,
Mansions by Charity herself design'd,
The sure Asylum of the suff'ring Kind,
Whom Poverty with meagre Mien pursues,
And ghastly Malady, with Pain subdues;
In thee reliev'd, their fainting Souls revive,
The rescu'd Mother and her Infant thrive;
Through timely Care and Strength-restoring Food,
Those smiling Pledges of the public Good,
Thy Charity to early Light conveys,
To social Duties and to lengthen'd Days,
Strengthens for frequent Births the fruitful Womb,
And stores Community with Hands to come,
Training the Midnight Dame to save the Wife,
Nor strangle Nature in the Porch of Life.
O lift my Fancy on thy Angel Wing,
With thy pure Energy, propitious Guest,
Fill all my Faculties, and fire my Breast,
To raise the Soul, its tender Springs to move
To warm Benevolence, to kindle Love.
O Queen of Virtues! in whose Face we find
The living Traces of th'Eternal Mind,
Where Pity beaming copious Bounty glows,
And sweet Benevolence for ever flows;
How are thy Attributes, celestial Maid,
Through all th'Extent of Heav'n and Earth display'd!
Lo! melting Mercy in thy Essence lives,
And pities first what she at last forgives.
Through each revolving Scene and changing Stage,
From cradl'd Infancy to crippled Age,
120
And Pain and Poverty still cry to thee.
Thine Eye well-pleas'd, propitious Goddess, turn,
Here kneel thy Vot'ries, here thy Altars burn,
Here breath thy Ardours, here thy Pow'rs redress,
And reach th'up-lifting Hand to low Distress;
Remove fell Maladies, and soften Woe,
When teeming Nature feels the painful Throw;
Shelter the Matron from the naked Wild,
And save at once the Mother and the Child:
The Houseless Wretch no friendly Shade who finds,
Expos'd to beating Rains and howling Winds,
Shall here from Anguish and Temptation free,
Enjoy her Innocence, her Babe, and Thee:
Shall here, secure from casual Ills, confess
Thy healing Comforts, and thy Bounty bless.
Auspicious Pile, preventing Pains and Guilt,
First plann'd by Piety, by Virtue built,
A public Virtue in thy Founder blaz'd,
A public Love thy sacred Mansions rais'd,
Mansions by Charity herself design'd,
The sure Asylum of the suff'ring Kind,
Whom Poverty with meagre Mien pursues,
And ghastly Malady, with Pain subdues;
In thee reliev'd, their fainting Souls revive,
The rescu'd Mother and her Infant thrive;
Through timely Care and Strength-restoring Food,
Those smiling Pledges of the public Good,
Thy Charity to early Light conveys,
To social Duties and to lengthen'd Days,
Strengthens for frequent Births the fruitful Womb,
And stores Community with Hands to come,
121
Nor strangle Nature in the Porch of Life.
O! need the Muse invite the gen'rous Fair,
To make such Charity their constant Care;
By Nature taught, to pity they incline,
And chearfully support the great Design;
Their winning Smiles shall ev'ry Bosom warm,
Inspire Compassion, and to Goodness charm,
Shall ev'ry human Heart with Joy engage,
And melt to Charity a gen'rous Age.
To make such Charity their constant Care;
By Nature taught, to pity they incline,
And chearfully support the great Design;
Their winning Smiles shall ev'ry Bosom warm,
Inspire Compassion, and to Goodness charm,
Shall ev'ry human Heart with Joy engage,
And melt to Charity a gen'rous Age.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |