Miscellaneous Pieces in Verse and Prose, By Theodosia [i.e. Anne Steele] |
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On the sudden death of a libertine.
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 | Miscellaneous Pieces |  |
On the sudden death of a libertine.
Addressed to his Friend.
By lawless pleasure led, whose syren songHad sooth'd to rest the faithful monitor
That would, long since, have warn'd them to beware,
Lorenzo and his gay companion stray'd:
Till to a dangerous eminence they rose,
Whose fatal brow o'erhangs a dark, deep gulph,
Where tempest reigns, and night eternal frowns.
Here guilty riot drove the hours along;
Reflection banish'd, reason's dictates scorn'd:
Tho' oft the voice of friendship call'd, return;
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In vain was every warning—plung'd in vice
They bade defiance to the censuring world,
And boldly dar'd the vengeance of the skies;
Nor dar'd unpunish'd long—for now they drew
Too near the dreadful brink, nor dream'd of ought
But flowery pleasures; round them hung a cloud,
Spread by some demon, which confin'd their view,
And hid the terrors of the gulph below.
Here as they laughing stood, swift flew the shaft
Of awful vengeance!—O! Lorenzo say?
What were thy thoughts when instant from thy side,
The gay companion of thy guilty hours
Plung'd headlong in the unfathomable deep?—
And art thou spar'd? and will astonishment
And terror let thee ask, “why am I spar'd?
“Why did the fatal shaft that pierc'd my friend
“Not reach this guilty bosom?” Mercy spread
Her shield before thee—Hark! she calls—“Retreat,
“Retreat this instant, e'er commission'd flies
“A second arrow—heaven may not vouchsafe
“Another warning.”—May her heavenly voice,
Lorenzo, reach thy heart! In time reflect
While time is lent, and humbly deprecate
The awful vengeance of offended heaven!
Fly to that Saviour, whose atoning blood
Alone can expiate guilt, whose boundless grace
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Thy wretched heart, and guide thy erring steps
Far from the paths of danger, where too long
Thy feet have stray'd, and point the narrow way
To peace, to safety, to eternal life.
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