Fruits of Retirement Or, Miscellaneous Poems, Moral and Divine. Being Some Contemplations, Letters, &c. Written on a Variety of Subjects and Occasions. By Mary Mollineux ... To which is Prefixed, Some Account of the Author |
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A MEDITATION.
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A MEDITATION.
Eternal Love, before whose Glorious FaceAll Times art present, filling ev'ry place;
Uncircumscribed, Unexcluded! Can
Thy Boundless Mercy to forgetful Man
Be told? Or can thy long Forbearance be
Enough admir'd? Great Dreadful Majesty!
Ah, let my Soul, in a true living Sense
Now ruminate on the sweet Influence
Of that abounding Goodness, which from thee
Did freely reach to such a Worm as Me!
The Beast, that cleaves the Hoof, & chews the Cud,
Was by the Ancient Law proclaimed Good:
And as thou'rt pleas'd t'enjoyn thine Israel,
In humble due acknowledgment, to tell
Thy Mighty Wonders, each one to his Friend,
Whereby thou brought'st 'em to the promis'd Land;
So 'mongst the many Favours, Lord, of thine,
May I now call to Mind that doleful Time;
Wherein, as pondering of my State, I found
(Tho' Life and Vertue doth with thee abound)
My self as one of those dry senseless Bones,
Which lay in th'open Valley, which thou once
Did'st shew thy Prophet, all exceeding dry,
Until thou pleas'd to cast a tender Eye
Of Pity on them, and the Answer give
Unto that great Demand, Can dry Bones live?
By Breathing on them, when thy Gracious Hand
Had gather'd them, and by thy bless'd Command,
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It was of old, and cannot move in vain.
Thus, tho' at first my miserable State
Seem'd unto me doleful and desperate,
How soon thou, in the Bone, didst broach a Spring,
Which to my Soul did sweet Refreshment bring.
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