The Works of the Reverend and Learned Isaac Watts, D. D. Containing, besides his Sermons, and Essays on miscellaneous subjects, several additional pieces, Selected from his Manuscripts by the Rev. Dr. Jennings, and the Rev. Dr. Doddridge, in 1753: to which are prefixed, memoirs of the life of the author, compiled by the Rev. George Burder. In six volumes |
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TO DR. THOMAS GIBSON.
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 | The Works of the Reverend and Learned Isaac Watts, D. D. |  |
TO DR. THOMAS GIBSON.
The Life of Souls.
1704.
I.
Swift as the sun revolves the dayWe hasten to the dead,
Slaves to the wind we puff away,
And to the ground we tread.
'Tis air that lends us life, when first
The vital bellows heave:
Our flesh we borrow of the dust;
And when a mother's care has nurst
The babe to manly size, we must
With usury pay the grave.
II.
Rich juleps drawn from precious oreStill tend the dying flame:
And plants, and roots, of barbarous name,
Torn from the Indian shore.
Thus we support our tott'ring flesh,
Our cheeks resume the rose afresh,
When bark and steel play well their game
To save our sinking breath,
And Gibson, with his awful power,
Rescues the poor precarious hour
From the demands of death.
III.
But art and nature, pow'rs and charms,And drugs, and recipes, and forms,
Yield us, at last, to greedy worms
A despicable prey;
I'd have a life to call my own,
That shall depend on heav'n alone;
Nor air, nor earth, nor sea
Mix their base essences with mine,
Nor claim dominion so divine
To give me leave to be.
IV.
Sure there's a mind within, that reignsO'er the dull current of my veins;
I feel the inward pulse beat high
With vig'rous immortality.
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And breath dissolve amongst the winds;
Gibson, the things that fear a grave,
That I can lose, or you can save,
Are not a-kin to minds.
V.
We claim acquaintance with the skies,Upward our spirits hourly rise,
And there our thoughts employ:
When heav'n shall sign our grand release,
We are no strangers to the place,
The business, or the joy.
| The Works of the Reverend and Learned Isaac Watts, D. D. | |