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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UPON SILENCE.
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 | Fruits of Retirement |  |
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UPON SILENCE.
[Written by another Hand.]
1
What Muse so soft, or who is fit to singThy Praise, thou mighty Passive Thing?
Who can Define thy Genealogy,
Thou Product of the Deity?
For before any thing, thou hadst thy Place
Extended through the wide and empty Space.
2
Th'Inhabitants above, in that bright Sphere,Acknowledge thee a Being there,
When they their Hymns and Hallelujahs sing
To their High and Heavenly King,
In a most Reverend Frame, make use of thee
To magnify the great Solemnity.
3
When Horeb's Mount was topt with Fire & Smoak,And with a Dreadful Trembling shook;
To add unto its Horror and its Wonder,
The Rocks and Mountains split asunder:
Yet ne'ertheless, JEHOVAH was not there,
But in the Silent Voice he did appear.
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4
Tho' Voice and Speech alone to Man was given,To worship Him, whose Throne is Heaven;
Yet in an awful Reverend Silence, He
Admits of a Discovery;
For to his Ears, Words utter'd without Noise,
Are louder Languag'd, than a Vocal Voice.
5
What Praise is due to thee, thou calm Abode,Thou Rest of Souls, that worship God
In thy Recess; the Spirit doth convey
To Man the Knowledge of the Way,
That leads to where Desires terminate,
Where more's enjoy'd than Mortals can relate.
6
Tho' some confess the Pleasure of thy Loves,Thy nightly Walks and silent Groves,
Thy sweet Retirements, and thy pleasant Shades,
Where neither Wind nor Storm invades;
Where Pleasure's free, unmixt, and unconfin'd,
Always attend upon a quiet Mind.
7
Yet very few there are, that really beFully Satisfy'd with thee:
Therefore thine Artless Altar neglected lies,
For want of holy Votaries;
Whil'st Noise, thine Enemy, ascends the Chair,
And Crowds her Praises Eccho through the Air.
W. A.
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