 | Poems on several occasions |  |
TO MISS MARTHA WESLEY.
AN EPISTLE, 1735.
559
When want, and pain, and death besiege our gate,
And every solemn moment teems with fate;
While clouds and darkness fill the space between,
Perplex the' event, and shade the folded scene;
In humble silence wait the' unutter'd voice,
Suspend thy will, and check thy forward choice;
Yet, wisely fearfnl, for the' event prepare;
And learn the dictates of a brother's care.
How fierce thy conflict, how severe thy flight,
When hell assails the foremost sons of light;
When he, who long in virtue's paths had trod,
Deaf to the voice of conscience and of God,
Drops the fair mask,—proves traitor to his vow;
And thou the temptress, and the tempted thou!
Prepare thee then to meet the' infernal war,
And dare beyond what woman knows to dare:
Guard each avenue to thy fluttering heart,
And act the sister's and the Christian's part.
Heaven is the guard of virtue; scorn to yield,
When screen'd by heaven's impenetrable shield.
Secure in this, defy the' impending storm,
Though Satan tempt thee in an angel's form.
And every solemn moment teems with fate;
While clouds and darkness fill the space between,
Perplex the' event, and shade the folded scene;
In humble silence wait the' unutter'd voice,
Suspend thy will, and check thy forward choice;
Yet, wisely fearfnl, for the' event prepare;
And learn the dictates of a brother's care.
How fierce thy conflict, how severe thy flight,
When hell assails the foremost sons of light;
When he, who long in virtue's paths had trod,
Deaf to the voice of conscience and of God,
Drops the fair mask,—proves traitor to his vow;
And thou the temptress, and the tempted thou!
Prepare thee then to meet the' infernal war,
And dare beyond what woman knows to dare:
Guard each avenue to thy fluttering heart,
And act the sister's and the Christian's part.
Heaven is the guard of virtue; scorn to yield,
When screen'd by heaven's impenetrable shield.
Secure in this, defy the' impending storm,
Though Satan tempt thee in an angel's form.
And O, I see the fiery trial near;
I see the saint, in all his forms, appear.
By nature, by religion, taught to please,
With conquest flush'd, and obstinate to press,
He lists his virtues in the cause of hell,
Heaven, with celestial arms, presumes to' assail,
To veil with semblance fair the fiend within,
And make his God subservient to his sin!
Trembling I hear his horrid vows renew'd,
I see him come, by Delia's groans pursued.
Poor injured Delia! all her groans are vain;
Or he denies, or listening mocks her pain.
What, though her eyes with ceaseless tears o'erflow,
Her bosom heave with agonizing woe?
What, though the horror of his falsehood near
Tear up her faith, and plunge her in despair?
Yet can he think, (so blind to heaven's decree,
And the sure fate of cursed apostasy,)
Soon as he tells the secret of his breast,
And puts the angel off—and stands confess'd;
When love, and grief, and shame, and anguish meet,
To make his crimes and Delia's wrongs complete,
That then the injured maid will cease to grieve,
Behold him in a sister's arms, and live?
I see the saint, in all his forms, appear.
560
With conquest flush'd, and obstinate to press,
He lists his virtues in the cause of hell,
Heaven, with celestial arms, presumes to' assail,
To veil with semblance fair the fiend within,
And make his God subservient to his sin!
Trembling I hear his horrid vows renew'd,
I see him come, by Delia's groans pursued.
Poor injured Delia! all her groans are vain;
Or he denies, or listening mocks her pain.
What, though her eyes with ceaseless tears o'erflow,
Her bosom heave with agonizing woe?
What, though the horror of his falsehood near
Tear up her faith, and plunge her in despair?
Yet can he think, (so blind to heaven's decree,
And the sure fate of cursed apostasy,)
Soon as he tells the secret of his breast,
And puts the angel off—and stands confess'd;
When love, and grief, and shame, and anguish meet,
To make his crimes and Delia's wrongs complete,
That then the injured maid will cease to grieve,
Behold him in a sister's arms, and live?
Mistaken wretch! by thy unkindness hurl'd
From ease, from love, from thee, and from the world;
Soon must she land on that immortal shore,
Where falsehood never can torment her more:
There all her sufferings and her sorrows cease,
Nor saints turn devils there to vex her peace!
Yet hope not then, all-specious as thou art,
To taint with impious vows her sister's heart;
With proffer'd worlds her honest soul to move,
Or tempt her virtue to incestuous love.
No: wert thou as thou wast, did heaven's first rays
Beam on thy soul, and all the Godhead blaze,
Sooner shall sweet oblivion set us free
From friendship, love, thy perfidy, and thee;
Sooner shall light in league with darkness join,
Virtue and vice, and heaven and hell, combine,
Than her pure soul consent to mix with thine;
To share thy sin, adopt thy perjury,
And damn herself to be revenged on thee;
To load her conscience with a sister's blood,
The guilt of incest, and the curse of God!
From ease, from love, from thee, and from the world;
Soon must she land on that immortal shore,
Where falsehood never can torment her more:
There all her sufferings and her sorrows cease,
Nor saints turn devils there to vex her peace!
561
To taint with impious vows her sister's heart;
With proffer'd worlds her honest soul to move,
Or tempt her virtue to incestuous love.
No: wert thou as thou wast, did heaven's first rays
Beam on thy soul, and all the Godhead blaze,
Sooner shall sweet oblivion set us free
From friendship, love, thy perfidy, and thee;
Sooner shall light in league with darkness join,
Virtue and vice, and heaven and hell, combine,
Than her pure soul consent to mix with thine;
To share thy sin, adopt thy perjury,
And damn herself to be revenged on thee;
To load her conscience with a sister's blood,
The guilt of incest, and the curse of God!
| Poems on several occasions | |