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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Encouraged to hope for Health in May.
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 | The Works of the Reverend and Learned Isaac Watts, D. D. |  |
Encouraged to hope for Health in May.
DECEMBER 1712.
Confin'd to sit in silence, here I waste
The golden hours of youth. If once I stir,
And reach at active life, what sudden tremors
Shake my whole frame, and all the poor machine
Lies fluttering? What strange wild convulsive force
O'erpowers at once the members and the will;
Here am I bound in chains, a useless load
Of breathing clay, a burthen to the seat
That bears these limbs, a borderer on the grave.
Poor state of worthless being! While the lamp
Of glimmering life burns languishing and dim,
The flame just hovering o'er the dying snuff
With doubtful alternations, half disjoin'd,
And ready to expire with every blast.
The golden hours of youth. If once I stir,
And reach at active life, what sudden tremors
Shake my whole frame, and all the poor machine
Lies fluttering? What strange wild convulsive force
O'erpowers at once the members and the will;
Here am I bound in chains, a useless load
Of breathing clay, a burthen to the seat
That bears these limbs, a borderer on the grave.
Poor state of worthless being! While the lamp
Of glimmering life burns languishing and dim,
The flame just hovering o'er the dying snuff
With doubtful alternations, half disjoin'd,
And ready to expire with every blast.
Yet my fond friends would speak a word of hope:
Love would forbid despair: ‘Look out,’ they cry,
‘Beyond these glooming damps, while winter hangs
‘Heavy on nature, and congeals her powers:
‘Look cheerful forward to the vital influence
‘Of the returning spring!’ I rouse my thoughts
At friendship's sacred voice, I send my soul
To distant expectation, and support
The painful interval with poor amusements.
Love would forbid despair: ‘Look out,’ they cry,
‘Beyond these glooming damps, while winter hangs
‘Heavy on nature, and congeals her powers:
‘Look cheerful forward to the vital influence
‘Of the returning spring!’ I rouse my thoughts
At friendship's sacred voice, I send my soul
To distant expectation, and support
The painful interval with poor amusements.
My watch, the solitary kind companion
Of my imprisonment, my faithful watch
Hangs by; and with a short repeated sound
Beats like the pulse of time, and numbers off
My woes, a long succession; while the finger
Slow moving, points out the slow-moving minutes;
The slower hand, the hours. O thou dear engine,
Thou little brass accomptant of my life,
Would but the mighty wheels of heaven and nature
Once imitate thy movements, how my hand
Should drive thy dented pinions round their centres
With more than ten-fold flight, and whirl away
These clouded wintry suns, these tedious moons,
These midnights; every star should speed its race,
And the slow bears precipitate their way
Around the frozen pole: Then promis'd health
That rides with rosy cheek and blooming grace
On a May sun-beam should attend me here
Before to-morrow sheds its evening-dew.
Of my imprisonment, my faithful watch
Hangs by; and with a short repeated sound
570
My woes, a long succession; while the finger
Slow moving, points out the slow-moving minutes;
The slower hand, the hours. O thou dear engine,
Thou little brass accomptant of my life,
Would but the mighty wheels of heaven and nature
Once imitate thy movements, how my hand
Should drive thy dented pinions round their centres
With more than ten-fold flight, and whirl away
These clouded wintry suns, these tedious moons,
These midnights; every star should speed its race,
And the slow bears precipitate their way
Around the frozen pole: Then promis'd health
That rides with rosy cheek and blooming grace
On a May sun-beam should attend me here
Before to-morrow sheds its evening-dew.
Ah foolish ravings of a fruitless wish
And spirit too impatient! Know'st thou not,
My soul, the Power that made thee? He alone
Who form'd the spheres, rolls them in destin'd rounds
Unchangeable. Adore, and trust, and fear him:
He is the Lord of life. Address his throne,
And wait before his foot, with awful hope
Submissive; at his touch distemper flies:
His eyelids send beams of immortal youth
Thro' heaven's bright regions. His all-powerful word
Can create health, and bid the blessing come
Amid the wintry frost, when nature seems
Congeal'd in death; or with a sovereign frown
(Tho' nature blooms all round) he can forbid
The blessing in the spring, and chain thee down
To pains, and maladies, and grievous bondage
Thro' all the circling seasons.
And spirit too impatient! Know'st thou not,
My soul, the Power that made thee? He alone
Who form'd the spheres, rolls them in destin'd rounds
Unchangeable. Adore, and trust, and fear him:
He is the Lord of life. Address his throne,
And wait before his foot, with awful hope
Submissive; at his touch distemper flies:
His eyelids send beams of immortal youth
Thro' heaven's bright regions. His all-powerful word
Can create health, and bid the blessing come
Amid the wintry frost, when nature seems
Congeal'd in death; or with a sovereign frown
(Tho' nature blooms all round) he can forbid
The blessing in the spring, and chain thee down
To pains, and maladies, and grievous bondage
Thro' all the circling seasons.
| The Works of the Reverend and Learned Isaac Watts, D. D. | |