I offer fruitless sacrifice, and with gifts
Offend, and not propitiate the Ador’d.
'Tho' Gratitude were blest with all the powers
Her bursting heart could long for; tho' the
The fiery wing'd Imagination soar'd [swift,
Beyond Ambition's wish-yet all were vain
To speak him as he is, who is ineffable.
Yet still let reason, thro' the eye of Faith
View him with fearful love; let Truth pro-
And Adoration on her bended knee,
With heav'n-directed hands, confess his reign,
And let the angelic, archangelic band,
With all the hosts of Heaven, cherubic forms,
And forms seraphic, with their silver trump
And golden lyres attend :-"For thou art holy,
For thou art one, th' Eternal, who alone
Exerts all goodness, and transcends all praise!"
§ 23. On the Immensity of the Supreme Be-
ing. SMART.
Would also speak thy residence! and there
Would I, thy servant, like the still profound,
Astonish'd into silence muse thy praise!
Behold! behold! th' unplanted garden round
Of vegetable coral, sea-flowers gay, [tom,
And shrubs of amber from the pearl-pav'd bot-
Rise richly varied, where the finny race
In blithe security their gambols play:
While high upon their heads, Leviathan,
ONCE more I dare to rouse the sounding The terror and the glory of the main,
The Poet of my God-Awake, my glory,
Awake, my lute and harp-myself shall wake,
Soon as the stately night-exploding bird
In lively lay sings welcome to the dawn.
List ye! how nature with ten thousand
tongues
His pastime takes with transport, proud to see
The ocean's vast dominion all his own.
Hence thro' the genial bowels of the earth
Easy may fancy pass; till at thy mines,
Gani or Raolconda, she arrive,
And from the adamant's imperial blaze
Form weak ideas of her Maker's glory.
Begins the grand thanksgiving, Hail, all hail; Next to Pegu or Ceylon let me rove,
Ye tenants of the forest and the field!
My fellow-subjects of th' Eternal King,
I gladly join your matins, and with you
Confess his presence, and report his praise.
O Thou, who or the lambkin or the dove,
When offer'd by the lowly, meek, and poor,
Prefer'st to pride's whole hecatomb, accept
This mean Essay, nor from thy treasure-house
Of glory immense the orphan's mite exclude.
What tho' the Almighty's regal throne be
rais'd
High o'er yon azure Heaven's exalted dome,
By mortal eye unkenn'd-where East nor
West,
[blow;
Nor South nor blustering North has breath to
Albeit He there with angels and with saints
Hold conference, and to his radiant host
Ev'n face to face stands visibly confest;
Yet know, that nor in presence or in power
Shines he less perfect here; 'tis man's dim eye
That makes th' obscurity. He is the same;
Alike in all his universe the same.
Whether the mind along the spangled sky
Measures her pathless walk, studious to view
The works of vaster fabric, where the planets
Weave their harmonious rounds, their march
directing
Where the rich ruby (deem'd by sages old
Of sov'reign virtue) sparkles ev'n like Sirius,
And blushes into flames. Thence will I go
To undermine the treasure-fertile womb
Of the huge Pyrenean, to detect
The agate and the deep-intrenched gem
Of kindred jasper-Nature in them both
Delights to play the mimic on herself.
And in their veins she oft pourtrays the forms
Of leaning hills, of trees erect, and streams
Now stealing softly on, now thundering down
In desperate cascades with flowers and beasts,
And all the living landskip of the vale :
In vain thy pencil, Claudio or Poussin,
Or thine, immortal Guido, would essay
Such skill to imitate-it is the hand
Of God himself-for God himself is there.
Hence with th' ascending springs let me ad-
Thro' beds of magnets, minerals, and spar,
Up to the mountain's summit, there t' indulge
Th' ambition of the comprehensive eye,
That dares to call th' horizon all her own.
Behold the forest, and th' expansive verdure
Of yonder level lawn, whose smooth-shorn sod
No object interrupts, unless the oak
His lordly head uprears, and branching arms
Extends-Behold in regal solitude,
And pastoral magnificence, he stands
So simple, and so great, the under-wood
Of meaner rank an awful distance keep.
Still faithful, still inconstant, to the sun;
Or where the comet, thro' space infinite
(Tho' whirling worlds oppose in globes of fire)
Darts, like a javelin, to his distant goal;
Or where in Heaven above, the Heaven of Yet Thou art there, aye, God himself is there,
Burn brighter suns, and goodlier planets roll
With satellites more glorious-Thou art there.
Ev'n on the bush (tho' not as when to Moses
He shone in burning majesty reveal'd).
Nathless conspicuous in the linnet's throat
Is his unbounded goodness-Thee her Maker,
Thee her Preserver chants she in her song;
While all the emulative vocal tribe
The grateful lesson learn-no other voice
Is heard, no other sound-for, in attention
Buried, ev'n babbling Echo holds her peace.
Now from the plains, where the unbounded
prospect
Gives liberty her utmost scope to range,
Turn we to yon inclosures, where appears
Chequer'd variety in all her forms,
Which the vague mind attract, and still sus-
pend
[ers,
With sweet perplexity. What are yon tow-
The work of laboring men and clumsy art,
Seen with the ringdove's nest? On that tall
beech
Awaken'd and alarm'd; she feels its force;
In every spring she feels it, every wheel,
And every movement of her vast machine.
Behold! quakes Apennine; behold! recoils
Athos; and all the hoary headed Alps
Leap from their bases at the god-like sound.
But what is this, celestial tho' the note,
And proclamation of the reign supreme,
Compar'd with such as, for a mortal ear
Too great, amaze the incorporeal worlds!
Should Ocean to his congregated waves
Call in each river, cataract, and lake,
And with the wat'ry world down a huge rock
Fall headlong in one horrible cascade,
"Twere but the echo of the parting breeze,
When zephyr faints upon the lily's breast;
"Twere but the ceasing of some instrument,
Her pensile house the feather'd artist builds-When the last lingering undulation
The rocking winds molest her not; for see
With such due poise the wondrous fabric's
hung,
That like the compass in the bark, it keeps
True to itself and steadfast ev'n in storms.
Thou idiot, that asserts there is no God,
View, and be dumb for ever-
Go bid Vitruvius or Palladio build
The bee his mansion, or the ant her cave-
Go call Correggio, or let Titian come
Dies on the doubting ear, if nam'd with sounds
So mighty! so stupendous ! so divine!
But not alone in the aerial vault
Does He the dread theocracy maintain ;
For oft, enrag'd with his intestine thunders;
He harrows up the bowels of the earth,
And shocks the central magnet-Cities then
Totter on their foundations, stately columns,
Magnific walls, and heav'n-assaulting spires.
What tho' in haughty eminence erect
To paint the hawthorn's bloom, or teach the Stands the strong citadel, and frowns defiance cherry On adverse hosts; tho' many a bastion jut
To blush with just vermilion-Hence away-Forth from the rampart's elevated mound;
Hence, ye profane! for God himself is here.
Vain were th' attempt, and impious, to trace
Thro' all his works th' Artificer Divine-
And tho' nor shining sun, nor twinkling star,
Bedeck'd the crimsom curtains of the sky;
Tho' neither vegetable, beast, nor bird
Were extant on the surface of this ball,
Nor lurking gem beneath; tho' the great sea
Slept in profound stagnation, and the air
Had left no thunder to pronounce its Maker;
Yet man at home, within himself, might find
The Deity immense, and in that frame,
So fearfully, so wonderfully made,
See and adore his providence and power-
I see, and I adore-O God most bounteous!
O infinite of goodness and of glory,
The knee that Thou hast shap'd shall bend to
Thee;
[thy praise;
The tongue which Thou hast tun'd shall chant
And thine own image, the immortal soul,
Shall consecrate herself to Thee for ever.
Vain the poor providence of human art,
And mortal strength how vain! while under-
neath
Triumphs his mining vengeance in th' uproar
Of shatter'd towers, riven rocks, and moun-
tains,
With clamor inconceivable uptorn, [fires
And hurl'd adown th' abyss. Sulphureous
Bursting abrupt from darkness into day,
With din outrageous and destructive ire,
Augment the hideous tumult, while it wounds
Th' afflictive ear, and terrifies the eye,
And rends the heart in twain: Twice have
we felt,
$24. On the Power of the Supreme Being.
Within Augusta's walls, twice have we felt
Thy threaten'd indignation: but even Thou,
Incens'd Omnipotent, art gracious ever;
Thy goodness infinite but mildly warn'd us,
With mercy-blended wrath; O spare us still,
Nor send more dire conviction! We confess
That thou art He th' Almighty: we believe.
For at thy righteous power whole systems
quake;
SMART. For at thy nod tremble ten thousand worlds. "TREMBLE, thou Earth!" th' anointed poet Hark! on the winged whirlwind's rapid rage, [mountains! Which is and is not in a moment-hark!
"At God's bright presence; tremble all ye
And all ye hillocks on the surface bound!"
Then once again, ye glorious thunders, roll!
The Muse with transport hears ye; once again
Convulse the solid continent! and shake,
Grand music of Omnipotence, the isles!
"Tis thy terrific voice, thou God of power,
"Tis thy terrific voice; all nature hears it,
On th' hurricane's tempestuous sweep he rides
Invincible, and oaks, and pines, and cedars,
And forests are no more. For, conflict dread-
ful!
The West encounters East, and Notus meets
In his career the Hyperborean blast.
The lordly lions shuddering seek their dens.
And fly like timorous deer; the king of birds,
Who dar'd the solar ray, is weak of wing,
And faints, and falls, and dies;—while He su-
preme
Stands steadfast in the centre of the storm.
Wherefore ye objects terrible and great,
Ye thunders, earthquakes, and ye fire-fraught
wombs.
Of fell volcanos, whirlwinds, hurricanes,
And boiling billows, hail! in chorus join
To celebrate and magnify your Maker,
Who yet in works of a minuter mould
Is not less manifest, is not less mighty.
Survey the magnet's sympathetic love
That woos the yielding needle; contemplate
Th' attractive amber's power, invisible
Ev'n to the mental eye; or when the blow
Sent from th' electric sphere assaults thy
frame,
We 're tied to him for ever.-O how easy
Is his ungalling yoke, and all his burdens
"Tis ecstasy to bear. Him, blessed Shepherd!
His flocks shall follow thro' the maze of life,
And shades that tend to day-spring from on
And as the radiant roses, after fading, [high;
In fuller foliage, and more fragrant breath
Revive in smiling spring, so shall it fare
With those that love him-for sweet is their
savour,
And all Eternity shall be their spring.
Then shall the gates and everlasting doors,
At which the King of Glory enters in,
Be to the saints unbarr'd: and there, where
pleasure
Boasts an undying bloom, where dubious hope Is certainty, and grief-attended love [here Is freed from passion-there we'll celebrate, Show me the hand that dealt it!-Baffled With worthier numbers, Him who is, and was. By his Omnipotence, Philosophy Slowly her thoughts inadequate revolves, And stands, with all his circling wonders round her,
Like heavy Saturn in th' ethereal space,
Begirt with an inexplicable ring.
If such the operations of his power,
Which at all seasons and in every place
(Rul'd by establish'd laws and current nature)
Arrest th' attention; who, oh who shall tell
His acts miraculous? when his own decrees
Repeals he, or suspends; when by the hand
Of Moses or of Joshua, or the mouths
Of his prophetic seers, such deeds be wrought,
Before th' astonish'd sun's all-seeing eye,
That faith was scarce a virtue. Need I sing
The fate of Pharaoh and his numerous band
Lost in the reflux of the wat'ry walls,
That melted to their fluid state again?
Need I recount how Samson's warlike arm,
With more than mortal nerves was strung,
And, in immortal prowess King of kings,
Shall be the monarch of all worlds for ever.
25. On the Goodness of the Supreme Being.
And mad'st the mute melodious !-greater yet
Was thy divinest skill, and rul'd o'er more
Drove trembling Satan from the heart of Saul,
Than art and nature; for thy tuneful touch
And quell'd the evil Angel-in this breast
Some portion of thy genuine spirit breathe,
And lift me from myself; each thought impure
Banish; each low idea raise, refine,
Enlarge, and sanctify ;-so shall the Muse
Above the stars aspire, and aim to praise
Her God on earth as he is prais'd in heaven.
Idolatrous Philistia? Shall I tell [tain'd? How David triumph'd, and what Job susImmense Creator! whose all-powerful hand -But, O supreme, unutterable mercy! Fram'd universal being, and whose eye O love unequall'd, mystery immense, Saw like thyself, that all things form'd were Which angels long t' unfold! 'tis man's regood, [gin, demption [firms; Where shall the timorous Bard thy praise beThat crowns thy glory, and thy power con- Where end the purest sacrifice of song, Confirms the great, th' uncontroverted claim. And just thanksgiving-the thought-kinWhen from the Virgin's unpolluted womb Shone forth the Sun of Righteousness reveal'd, Thy prime production, darts upon my mind dling light, And on benighted reason pour'd the day; “Let there be peace!" he said, and all was And fills my soul with gratitude and Thee. Its vivifying beams, my heart illumines, Hail to the cheerful rays of ruddy morn, That paint the streaky East, and blithsome
Amongst the warring world-calm as the sea When, "O be still, ye boisterous winds!" he cried,
The birds, the cattle, and mankind from rest! And not a breath was blown, nor murmur Hail to the freshness of the early breeze, His was a life of miracles and might, And charity and love, ere yet he taste The bitter draught of death, ere yet he rise Victorious o'er the universal foe,
And death, and sin, and hell in triumph lead.
His by the right of conquest is mankind,
And in sweet servitude and golden bonds
And Iris dancing on the new-fall'n dew,
Without the aid of yonder golden globe,
Lost were the garnet's lustre, lost the lily,
The tulip and auricula's spotted pride;
*See this conjecture strongly supported by Delany in his Life of David.
Lost were the peacock's plumage, to the sight | Ye carry armies on your tower-crown'd backs,
So pleasing in its pomp and glossy glow.
O thrice-illustrious! were it not for Thee,
Those pansies, that reclining from the bank
View thro' th' immaculate pellucid stream
Their portraiture in the inverted heav'n,
Might as well change their triple boast, the
white,
And grace the turban'd tyrants, bow to Him Who is as great, as perfect, and as good In his less striking wonders, till at length The eye's at fault, and seeks th' assisting glass. Approach, and bring from Araby the Blest The fragrant cassia, frankincense, and myrrh, And, meekly kneeling at the altar's foot, Lay all the tributary incense down. Stoop, feeble Africa, with reverence stoop, And from thy brow take off the painted plume; Ev'n with the baleful hemlock's irksome green. With golden ingots all thy camels load Without thy aid, without thy gladsome beams, T' adorn his temples; hasten with thy spear The tribes of woodland warblers would re- Reverted, and thy trusty bow unstrung, Mute on the bending branches, nor recite [main While unpursued thy lions roam and roar, The praise of Him, who, ere he form'd their And ruin'd towers, rude rocks, and caverns
The purple, and the gold, that far outvie
The Eastern monarch's garb, ev'n with the
dock,
lord,
[flight,
Their voices tun'd to transport, wing'd their
And bade them call for nurture and receive;
And lo! they call-the blackbird and the
thrush,
The woodlark and the redbreast, jointly call;
He hears, and feeds their feather'd families;
He feeds his sweet musicians-nor neglects
Th' invoking ravens in the greenwood wide;
And though their throats coarse rattling hurt
the ear,
They mean it all for music, thanks and praise
They mean, and leave ingratitude to man :-
But not to all-for, hark! the organs blow
Their swelling notes round the cathedral's
dome,
And grace the harmonious choir, celestial feast
To pious ears, and med'cine of the mind!
The thrilling trebles and the manly base
Join in accordance meet, and with one voice
All to the sacred subject suit their song.
While in each breast sweet melancholy reigns
Angelically pensive, till the joy
Improves and purifies; the solemn scene
The sun thro' storied panes surveys with awe,
And bashfully withholds each bolder beam.
Here, as her home, from morn to eve fre-
quents
The cherub Gratitude; behold her eyes!
With love and gladness weepingly they shed
Ecstatic smiles; the incense, that her hands
Uprear, is sweeter than the breath of May
Caught from the nectarine's blossom, and her
voice
Is more than voice can tell; to Him she sings,
To Him who feeds, who clothes, and who
adorns,
Who made, and who preserves whatever dwells
In air, in steadfast earth or fickle sea.
O He is good, He is immensely good!
Who all things form'd, and form'd them all
for man,
Who mark'd the climates, varied every zone,
Dispensing all his blessings for the best,
In order and in beauty-rise, attend,
Arrest, and praise, ye quarters of the world!
Bow down, ye elephants, submissive bow
To Him who made the mite! Tho', Asia's
pride,
Re-murmur to the glorious, surly sound.
And thou, fair Indian, whose immense domain
To counterpoise the hemisphere extends,
Haste from the West, and with thy fruits and
flowers,
Thy mines and med'cines, wealthy maid,attend.
More than the plenteousness so fam'd to flow
By fabling bards from Amalthea's horn
Is thine; thine therefore be a portion due
Of thanks and praise: come with thy brilliant
And vest of fur; and from thy fragrant lap
Pomegranates and the rich ananas pour
But chiefly thou, Europa, seat of Grace
And Christian excellence, his Goodness own,
Forth from ten thousand temples pour his
Clad in the armor of the living God, [praise.
Approach, unsheath the spirit's flaming sword;
| Faith's shield, salvation's glory-compass'd
With fortitude assume, and o'er your heart
Fair Truth's invulnerable breast-plate spread;
Then join the general chorus of all worlds,
And let the song of Charity begin
In strains seraphic, and melodious prayer.
"O all-sufficient, all beneficent,
Thou God of Goodness and of Glory, hear!
Thou, who to lowest minds dost condescend,
Assuming passions to enforce thy laws,
Adopting jealousy to prove thy love;
Thou, who resign'd humility uphold'st,
Ev'n as the florist props the drooping rose,
But quell'st tyrannic pride with peerless power,
Ev'n as the tempest rives the stubborn oak:
O all-sufficient, all-beneficent,
Thou God of Goodness and of Glory, hear!
Bless all mankind; and bring them in the end
To heav'n, to immortality, and Thee!"
FROM earth's low prospects and deceitful
aims,
[dreams,
From wealth's allurements, and ambition's
The lover's raptures, and the hero's views,
All the false joys mistaken man pursues;
The schemes of science, the delights of wine,
Or the more pleasing follies of the Nine!
Recal, fond Bard, thy long-enchanted sight
Deluded with the visionary light!
A nobler theme demands thy sacred song,
A theme beyond or man's or angel's tongue!
But oh, alas! unhallow'd and profane,
How shalt thou dare to raise the heav'nly
strain ?
Do Thou, who from the altar's living fire
Isaiah's tuneful lips didst once inspire,
Come to my aid, celestial Wisdom, come;
From my dark mind dispel the doubtful gloom;
My passions still, my purer breast inflame,
To sing that God from whom existence came;
Till heav'n and nature in the concert join,
And own the Author of their birth divine.
Whence sprung this glorious frame! or whence arose
The various forms the universe compose ? From what Almighty Cause, what springs
From this great spring of uncreated might'
This all-resplendent orb of vital light;
Whence all created beings take their rise,
Which beautify the earth, or paint the skies'
Profusely wide the boundless blessings flow,
Which heav'n enrich and gladden worlds be-
low!
Which are no less, when properly defin'd,
Than emanations of th' Eternal Mind!
Hence triumphs truth beyond objection clear
(Let unbelief attend and shrink with fear!)
That what for ever was-must surely be
Beyond commencement, and from period free;
Drawn from himself his native excellence,
His date eternal, and his space immense !
And all of whom that man can comprehend,
Is that he ne'er began nor e'er shall end.
In him from whom existence boundless flows
Let humble faith its sacred trust repose:
Assur'd on his eternity depend,
mystic" Eternal Father! and eternal Friend!"
Within that mystic circle safety seek,
No time can lessen, and no force can break
And, lost in adoration, breathe his praise,
High Rock of ages, ancient Sire of days!
Shall we derive the origin of things?
Sing, heav'nly Guide! whose all-efficient light
Drew dawning planets from the womb of
night!
Since reason, by the sacred dictates taught,
Adores a pow'r beyond the reach of thought.
First Cause of causes! Sire supreme of
birth!
[earth!
Sole light of heav'n! acknowledg'd life of
Whose Word from nothing call'd this beaute-
ous whole,
This wide expanded All from pole to pole !
Who shall prescribe the boundary to Thee,
Or fix the era of Eternity?
Should we, deceiv'd by error's sceptic glass, Admit the thought absurd-That Nothing was! Thence would this wild, this false conclusion flow,
That nothing raised this beauteous All below! When from disclosing darkness splendor breaks, Associate atoms move, and matter speaks, When non-existence bursts its close disguise, How blind are mortals-not to own the skies! If one vast void eternal held its place, Whence started time? or whence expanded space?
What gave the slumb'ring mass to feel a change, Or bid consenting worlds harmonious range? Could Nothing link the universal chain? No, 'tis impossible, absurd, and vain! Here reason its eternal Author finds, The whole who regulates, unites, and binds, Enlivens matter, and produces minds! Inactive Chaos sleeps in dull repose, Nor knowledge thence, nor free volition flows! A nobler source those powers ethereal show, By which we think, design, reflect, and know; These from a cause superior date their rise, "Abstract in essence from material ties." An origin immortal as supreme, From whose pure day, celestial rays! they came; In whom all possible perfections shine, Eternal, self-existent, and divine!
Thus recogniz'd, the spring of life and Eternal, self-deriv'd, and unbegot, [thought Approach, celestial Muse, th' empyreal throne And awfully adore th'exalted One! In nature pure, in place supremely free, And happy in essential unity! Bless'd in himself, had from his forming hand No creatures sprung to hail his wide command;
Bless'd, had the sacred fountain ne'er run o'er, A boundless sea of bliss that knows no shore
Nor sense can two prime origins conceive, Nor reason two eternal Gods believe! Could the wild Manichæan own that guide, The good would triumph, and the ill subside! Again would vanquish'd Aramanius bleed, And darkness from prevailing light recede! In diff'rent individuals we find An evident disparity of mind; Hence ductile thought a thousand changes And actions vary as the will ordains; [gains, But should two Beings, equally supreme, Divided pow'r and parted empire claim; How soon would universal order cease! How soon would discord harmony displace! Eternal schemes maintain eternal fight, Nor yield, supported by eternal might; Where each would uncontroll'd his aim pursue, The links dissever, or the chain renew! Matter from motion cross impressions take, As serv'd each pow'r his rival's pow'r to break, While neutral Chaos from his deep recess, Would view the never-ending strife increase, And bless the contest that secur'd his peace! While new creations would opposing rise, And elemental war deform the skies! Around wild uproar and confusion hurl'd, Eclipse the heav'ns and waste the ruin'd world
|