Unmov'd by fear, the skilful master guides
His floating bark, sore threaten'd; and sustains
The ruffl'd brine, till their impetuous rage
To pristine calmness yields; and soft embraces
Compose the wat'ry strife. Such is the man,
Whose mind, self-balanc'd, lives above the reach
Of noise and tumult; nor regards the shouts
Of popular applause, mere empty sound!
Nor dreads the flying arrows of reproach,
Or spiteful envy. Guarding virtues watch
His nightly slumbers; and his dreams secure
From frightful phantoms. At the op'ning dawn
Past conduct he revolves, and wisely forms
New scenes of action. No distasteful gall
Immixing, spoils his temper'd sweets of life,
Serenely rising with the new-born day.
Here, chagrin sable-hued, in ghastly form
Finds no access; nor malice forky-tongu❜d.
Firm as a rock, he treads unshaken ground;
Tames his wild passions; conquers all his fears,
And tramples on them. Conscience is his shield;
His fortress, wisdom. In himself suffic'd
He sits above the globe; nor danger feels
From the false flatt'ring, or the frowning world.
Riches divine, and all the joys above,
Immensely flowing from the fount supreme,
Are your's appropriate; who adore, and trust
His awful name. On you, the world below,
And worlds above, things present, and to come,
Are safe entail'd. Celestial guardians wait
Unseen, yet faithful, to repel the shafts
Of adverse pow'rs envenom'd; and your steps
Unerring guide. For you, the fertile earth
Her fruit bears plenteous; and enliv'ning show'rs
Gaily adorn her face with various dress.
For you, the radiant lamp diurnal shines;
Chearing the subject world with genial warmth,
The inferior orb
Her borrow'd light displays; to chace thick gloom
Disconsolate; and Tethy's rolling surge
Alternate, rule: whilst in the empty space
Of liquid air, the globe's amazing weight
Unpillar'd hangs; by the first mover pois'd
With art divine. The azure roof of heav'n,
Inwrought with starry gems, each night's return
Makes cheerful, and your wholesome slumber covers;
Free from infectious damp, or steams impure.
For you, the sands of time glide gently on:
Unwearied nature keeps her massy wheels
In constant motion; and her fabric stands.
Not the first planters of the human race
Were happier when the bright etherial hosts
Descending from their orbs, on downward wing,
Vouchsaf'd their friendly converse; and the mind
With thoughts sublime, and intellectual bliss
Richly improv'd. When nature's various gifts
Cool shades, unfading greens, and beauteous flow'rs,
Sprung up spontaneous. When celestial dews
Impearl'd the verdant grass; and fragrant drops
Sate on the bending spires. When vapours bland
Rose with the dawn, and mixt with balmy air
In sweet perfume, the waking senses cheer'd;
Whilst kindly fruits, rich with ambrosial juice,
Renew'd life's crimson fountain, pure and free
From hurtful taint: and, rais'd on early wing,
Warbling their maker's praise, the feather'd choir
Grac'd the sweet morning song; or, perch'd secure
On ev'ning bough, the sacred vespers join'd.-
"In fatal hour, how soon the tasted bliss
"Was chang'd to guilt, and mis'ʼries infinite !”
But the blest paradise renew'd; the state
Of happy intercourse 'twixt God and man,
Restor❜d by the Redeemer's death, affords
No noxious tree. Its healing fruits, benign,
Salubrious, grateful to the explorer's taste,
Yield blooming life. Immortal pleasures thence
Exhaustless spring; unbounded as the mind,
And hourly heighten'd: whilst the indulgent skies
Shed their sweet influence o'er the human race
With cheering smile perpetual, and proclaim
An heav'n on earth. The sure foundations laid
In love unchang'd, and counsels deep, enroll'd
In th' archives supreme. Enthron'd with pow'r
Omnipotent the peaceful victor rules
The radiant orbs above, and world below.
Glad nature rests on his great guiding hand
Her moving frame stupendous. On his will
Adoring angels, in their shining forms,
Obsequious wait; and court his high commands
With ardent zeal: whilst Adam's race deep-sunk
In guilty shame, and active pow'r depress'd,
His sov'reign pity feel. Tho' Sinai roars
In fire and thunder, breathing dreadful threats;
The cross speaks milder things. Free pardon, grace,
And boundless love stream from his bleeding wounds;
And life, and joys dear-purchas'd. Now, no more
Eternal justice frowns; nor conscience gnaws:
But, pleas'd with its unrivall'd empire, smiles
Calm and serene within. The atoning blood
Whitens the deepest stains; and ghastly death
Bereaves of his sharp-pointed sting. The soul
Gladly embark'd at the supreme command,
Now fearless leaves the mortal shore; nor shrinks
When swelling surges rise. With skilful helm,
And wide expanded wings, she safely rides
The dreadful storm; by her blest pilot's hands
Securely guided: and her joys advance;
More pure and perfect, as the lessening shores
Take off the views of time, and mortal things.
Immense eternity fills all her thoughts:
Billows subside; and skies serenely bright,
With gentle gales propitious, waft her on
To gain the blissful port of peace and rest.
Not so, the vile degen'rate race: whose minds, Grov❜ling in dust, like busy ants, around
The world's great mole-hill, strive, with endless toil,
Incessant cares, and sleepless nights, to raise
A pile of earth, or heaps of shining clay;
Or court the fleeting breath of partial fame,
Vain bubble, soon subsiding!-whilst the grand
Immortal part, instampt with heav'nly form,
In base neglect lies dormant. Minds enslav'd
To lawless appetite's unbounded sway,
Pursue a wand'ring fire; and plunge in ruin
Inextricable, thoughtless. Bondage vile!
When reason from its awful seat dethron'd,
Stoops to impetuous will. With artful guile
The syren Pleasure spreads her fatal charms
Unheeded; and in luxury's embrace
Enchanting, Iulls their thoughts to sensual ease;
'Till heav'n's bright strictures in the soul are lost,
Or moulded into softness. Manly pleasure,
Indulg'd to beings rais'd above the size
Of brutal instinct, chearfully obeys
Superior pow'rs. But you, the impious herd!
Who proudly scorn the peaceful message brought
By lips divine, in accents mild; to whom
The Saviour spreads his wounded hands in vain,
And shews the prints of love: no more blaspheme,
With tongues profanely bold, that awful name;
Which strikes a thousand terrors, arm'd with death.
No more presume to hide the monstrous face
Of vice, with colours gay, aud gilded charms
Delusive; or mislead through flow'ry paths,
And dreams fantastic, the unthinking crowds
With haste precipitant, to endless woe.
Cease to defame the bright unerring ways,
And shining beauties of eternal truth:
Which, free from artful paint, resembles heav'n;
Tunes to immortal joys the human mind;
And mounts its votaries above the stars.
In vain you hope and wish, when life's short span
Is measur'd out, to cease from being; and lose
The parting soul in ambient air. A thought
Stupendous; and abhorr'd by all, but those
Who, self-condemn'd, can nothing better hope;
And justly dread what's infinitely worse!
Benighted, wand'ring meteors! blind to reason,
And all its manly pow'rs! pernicious guides,
Dancing in darkness! whose deceitful glare,
Erratic, leads the traveller aside,
|