A paraphrase on the Book of Job As likewise on the Songs of Moses, Deborah, David: On Four Select Psalms: Some Chapters of Isaiah, and the Third Chapter of Habakkuk. By Sir Richard Blackmore |
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| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XIV. |
| XV. |
| XVI. |
| XVII. |
| XVIII. |
| XIX. |
| XX. |
| XXI. |
| XXII. |
| XXIII. |
| XXIV. |
| XXV. |
| XXVI. |
| XXVII. |
| XXVIII. |
| XXIX. |
| XXX. |
| XXXI. |
| XXXII. |
| XXXIII. |
| XXXIV. |
| XXXV. |
| XXXVI. |
| XXXVII. |
| XXXVIII. |
| XXXIX. |
| XL. |
| XLI. |
| XLII. |
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THE xxxivth Cha. of Isaiah. PARAPHRAS'D. |
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| LIII. |
 | A paraphrase on the Book of Job |  |
259
THE xxxivth Cha. of Isaiah. PARAPHRAS'D.
Ye various Nations who disperse
Your Dwellings thro' the spacious Universe,
Inhabitants of every distant Soil,
Of every Continent and every Isle,
At Heav'n's dread Summons all appear;
Let all the World collected throng to hear
Things that will melt their trembling Hearts with fear.
Your Dwellings thro' the spacious Universe,
Inhabitants of every distant Soil,
Of every Continent and every Isle,
At Heav'n's dread Summons all appear;
Let all the World collected throng to hear
Things that will melt their trembling Hearts with fear.
Against the Nations God's fierce Anger burns,
Against them he his pointed Vengeance turns.
He brings his oldest Stores of Fury forth,
Hidden Reserves of Rage, and high fermented Wrath.
He will the swiftest Kinds of Death employ
The Heathen Nations to destroy;
Who mixing Arms advance from far
Against our Land Confed'rate War.
Their Bodies shall unburied lie, a Feast
To every rav'ning Forrest Beast.
Vultures and all the Rovers of the Air,
To the red Fields of Slaughter shall repair;
Where they great Chiefs and Potentates shall eat,
And royal Banquets shall their Hunger treat.
From heaps of putrifying Dead,
Amidst the Skies
A noisome Scent shall rise,
And thro' the tainted Air Malignant Vapours spread.
Against them he his pointed Vengeance turns.
He brings his oldest Stores of Fury forth,
Hidden Reserves of Rage, and high fermented Wrath.
He will the swiftest Kinds of Death employ
The Heathen Nations to destroy;
Who mixing Arms advance from far
Against our Land Confed'rate War.
Their Bodies shall unburied lie, a Feast
To every rav'ning Forrest Beast.
Vultures and all the Rovers of the Air,
To the red Fields of Slaughter shall repair;
Where they great Chiefs and Potentates shall eat,
And royal Banquets shall their Hunger treat.
260
Amidst the Skies
A noisome Scent shall rise,
And thro' the tainted Air Malignant Vapours spread.
Down from the Hills on which their Armys stood
Torrents shall run of reeking Blood,
And rocky Fragments roll along th' impetous Flood.
The Plains shall lie, and all the Vales around
Beneath the Purple Inundation drown'd.
Torrents shall run of reeking Blood,
And rocky Fragments roll along th' impetous Flood.
The Plains shall lie, and all the Vales around
Beneath the Purple Inundation drown'd.
Nature shall groan, and during this attack
Her universal Frame shall with Convulsions shake.
The Sun and Moon amaz'd to see
Nature's convulsive Agony
Shall spring, and start from out their Sphears;
And all the glitt'ring Host of Stars
Seiz'd with no less affright,
Shall fly away from Mortals sight,
And in the Bosom hide of antient Night.
The vast Expansion drawn around the World,
Shall like a useless Sail be furl'd.
All the blew Volumes of the Sky shall roll
Themselves together, as a Parchment Scrole.
Celestial Orbs that round us shine
Falling from Heav'n the World shall see
As Leaves in Autumn from the Vine,
Or Figgs when ripe, fall from the shaken Tree.
Her universal Frame shall with Convulsions shake.
The Sun and Moon amaz'd to see
Nature's convulsive Agony
Shall spring, and start from out their Sphears;
And all the glitt'ring Host of Stars
Seiz'd with no less affright,
Shall fly away from Mortals sight,
And in the Bosom hide of antient Night.
The vast Expansion drawn around the World,
Shall like a useless Sail be furl'd.
All the blew Volumes of the Sky shall roll
Themselves together, as a Parchment Scrole.
Celestial Orbs that round us shine
Falling from Heav'n the World shall see
As Leaves in Autumn from the Vine,
Or Figgs when ripe, fall from the shaken Tree.
261
Th' Almighty's Sword, so 'tis in Heav'n decreed,
Shall bath it self in Blood, and on Destruction feed.
The radiant Spoiler down the Sky
Shall like projected Lightning fly.
On Edom's Fields he'll make his swift descent
To execute his dire Intent.
The reeking Ravager will march in hast
To slay the Men, and lay the Country wast.
Where e'er his Course the Conq'rour bends,
Ruin in all its frightful Forms attends.
Death and Destruction keep an equal pace,
And Desolation shews her ghastly, wastful Face.
Shall bath it self in Blood, and on Destruction feed.
The radiant Spoiler down the Sky
Shall like projected Lightning fly.
On Edom's Fields he'll make his swift descent
To execute his dire Intent.
The reeking Ravager will march in hast
To slay the Men, and lay the Country wast.
Where e'er his Course the Conq'rour bends,
Ruin in all its frightful Forms attends.
Death and Destruction keep an equal pace,
And Desolation shews her ghastly, wastful Face.
The glitt'ring Glutton shall be gorg'd with Food
Made fat with Spoil and drunk with Blood.
Not with the Blood of Goats and Lambs,
Nor fatted with the Flesh of Rams,
But with the Blood of Israel's Foes,
And with their Flesh who Israel's God oppose.
Princes and Lords with these combin'd
Against us, in Destruction too are joyn'd.
Princes and Lords who arm'd with Pow'r
The People, as their Prey devour:
Who lawless sway like Unicorns possess,
Or the wild Bulls that range the Wilderness.
God has a mighty Sacrifice in hand
In Bozrah, and at his command
Vast slaughter will be made in Edom's Land.
A Slaughter and a Sacrifice
Where harmless Beasts are sav'd, and Man th' Offender dies.
Made fat with Spoil and drunk with Blood.
Not with the Blood of Goats and Lambs,
Nor fatted with the Flesh of Rams,
But with the Blood of Israel's Foes,
And with their Flesh who Israel's God oppose.
Princes and Lords with these combin'd
Against us, in Destruction too are joyn'd.
Princes and Lords who arm'd with Pow'r
The People, as their Prey devour:
Who lawless sway like Unicorns possess,
Or the wild Bulls that range the Wilderness.
God has a mighty Sacrifice in hand
In Bozrah, and at his command
Vast slaughter will be made in Edom's Land.
262
Where harmless Beasts are sav'd, and Man th' Offender dies.
So great a Slaughter shall be made,
That all the Land shall under Blood be laid.
The Carcasses of Idumeans slain
Shall cover every Hill and Plain.
For this is that tremendous Day
Which God appoints, wherein to pay
The mighty Sums of Fury in arrear,
And his vast Debt of Vengeance clear;
His long contracted Debt of Vengeance due
To Nations, that his People's fall pursue.
That all the Land shall under Blood be laid.
The Carcasses of Idumeans slain
Shall cover every Hill and Plain.
For this is that tremendous Day
Which God appoints, wherein to pay
The mighty Sums of Fury in arrear,
And his vast Debt of Vengeance clear;
His long contracted Debt of Vengeance due
To Nations, that his People's fall pursue.
Their Floods to lazy Streams of Pitch shall turn,
And kindled Brimstone shall their Cities burn.
The Clouds shall spouts of Flame on Edom pour,
Such as Gomorrah did devour;
Whence everlasting Smoke shall rise,
As from a burning Mount amidst the Skies.
No People more shall e'er possess
This ruin'd Land, this burning Wilderness.
No Trav'ller ever more shall pass
Thro' this accurs'd, inhospitable Place.
Ne'er shall be seen the footsteps of a Man,
But the hoarce Bittern, and the Pelican,
The Owl and Raven shall inhabit there
With all th' illboding Monsters of the Air.
God to accomplish his design,
O'er Edom shall extend his measuring Line:
Shall draw his Compass round about,
And for Destruction mark the People out.
And kindled Brimstone shall their Cities burn.
The Clouds shall spouts of Flame on Edom pour,
Such as Gomorrah did devour;
Whence everlasting Smoke shall rise,
As from a burning Mount amidst the Skies.
No People more shall e'er possess
This ruin'd Land, this burning Wilderness.
No Trav'ller ever more shall pass
Thro' this accurs'd, inhospitable Place.
Ne'er shall be seen the footsteps of a Man,
But the hoarce Bittern, and the Pelican,
The Owl and Raven shall inhabit there
With all th' illboding Monsters of the Air.
God to accomplish his design,
O'er Edom shall extend his measuring Line:
263
And for Destruction mark the People out.
No Idumean Prince or Lord
Shall scape the Conq'ring Sword.
Thistles and thorny Trees
Shall flourish in their Princes Palaces.
Nettles shall spring around their Monarch's Throne;
Their Forts with Brambles shall be overgrown,
And mossy Turf shall cover every Stone.
Their gilded Roofs shall lodge the Bat and Owl,
And in their lofty Rooms of State
Where cringing Sycophants did wait,
Dragons shall hiss, and hungry Wolves shall howl.
In Courts before by mighty Lords possest,
The Serpent shall erect his speckled Crest,
Or fold his circling Spires to rest.
Shall scape the Conq'ring Sword.
Thistles and thorny Trees
Shall flourish in their Princes Palaces.
Nettles shall spring around their Monarch's Throne;
Their Forts with Brambles shall be overgrown,
And mossy Turf shall cover every Stone.
Their gilded Roofs shall lodge the Bat and Owl,
And in their lofty Rooms of State
Where cringing Sycophants did wait,
Dragons shall hiss, and hungry Wolves shall howl.
In Courts before by mighty Lords possest,
The Serpent shall erect his speckled Crest,
Or fold his circling Spires to rest.
The long-neck'd Gyant of the feather'd Kind
The Ostrich, there a sandy Nest shall find.
Leopards and all the rav'ning Brotherhoods
That range the Plains, or lurk in Woods,
Each other shall invite to come
And make this wilder Place their home.
Fierce Beasts of every frightful shape and size,
Shall setle here their bloody Colonys.
Satyrs shall to their Fellows cry, advance,
Let us to Edom's Land make hast,
'Tis a silent, lonesome Wast,
There let us dwell, there let us sport and dance.
The Ostrich, there a sandy Nest shall find.
Leopards and all the rav'ning Brotherhoods
That range the Plains, or lurk in Woods,
Each other shall invite to come
And make this wilder Place their home.
Fierce Beasts of every frightful shape and size,
Shall setle here their bloody Colonys.
Satyrs shall to their Fellows cry, advance,
Let us to Edom's Land make hast,
'Tis a silent, lonesome Wast,
There let us dwell, there let us sport and dance.
264
The Screech-Owl thither shall direct her flight,
With all the Hooping Horrors of the Night:
There they shall build their Nests and breed;
Their Eggs they'll unmolested lay,
There o'er their Young their Wings display
And there the gaping Callow Monsters feed.
The Vultures there and all the Eagle Kind
Shall rendezvous o'erjoy'd to find
A perfect desolation to their Mind.
With all the Hooping Horrors of the Night:
There they shall build their Nests and breed;
Their Eggs they'll unmolested lay,
There o'er their Young their Wings display
And there the gaping Callow Monsters feed.
The Vultures there and all the Eagle Kind
Shall rendezvous o'erjoy'd to find
A perfect desolation to their Mind.
| A paraphrase on the Book of Job | |