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THE VISIBLE CREATION.

THE God of Nature and of Grace

In all his works appears;

His goodness through the earth we trace,

His grandeur in the spheres.

Behold this fair and fertile globe,

By Him in wisdom plann'd;

'Twas He, who girded, like a robe,

The ocean round the land.

Lift to the firmament your eye;

Thither his path pursue;

His glory, boundless as the sky,

O'erwhelms the wondering view.

He bows the heavens, the mountains stand

A high-way for their God;

He walks amidst the desert land,

-'Tis Eden where He trod.

The forests in his strength rejoice;

Hark! on the evening breeze,

As once of old, the Lord God's voice

Is heard among the trees.

Here on the hills He feeds his herds,

His flocks on yonder plains;

His praise is warbled by the birds;

-O could we catch their strains!

-Mount with the lark, and bear our song

Up to the gates of light,

Or with the nightingale prolong

Our numbers through the night!

In every stream his bounty flows,

Diffusing joy and wealth;

In every breeze his spirit blows,

-The breath of life and health.

His blessings fall in plenteous showers

Upon the lap of earth,

That teems with foliage, fruit, and flowers,

And rings with infant mirth.

If God hath made this world so fair,

Where sin and death abound;

How beautiful beyond compare

Will Paradise be found!

SONNET.

Imitated from the Italian of GAETANA PASSERINI.

Ir in the field I meet a smiling flower,
Methinks it whispers, "God created me,
"And I to Him devote my little hour,
"In lonely sweetness and humility.”

If, where the forest's darkest shadows lower,
A serpent quick and venomous I see,

It seems to say," I, too, extol the power

"Of Him, who caused me, at his will, to be."

The fountain purling, and the river strong,

The rocks, the trees, the mountains raise one song; "Glory to God !" re-echoes in mine ear:

Faithless were I, in wilful error blind,

Did I not Him in all his creatures find,

His voice through heaven, and earth, and ocean hear

N

SONNET.

Imitated from the Italian of GIAMBATTISTA COtta.

I

SAW the' eternal God, in robes of light,

Rise from his throne,-to judgement forth He came ;

His presence pass'd before me, like the flame
That fires the forest in the depth of night;

Whirlwind and storm, amazement and affright,

Compass'd his path, and shook all Nature's frame, When from the heaven of heavens, with loud acclaim, To earth he wing'd his instantaneous flight.

As some triumphal oak, whose boughs have spread Their changing foliage through a thousand years,

Bows to the rushing wind its glorious head,
The universal arch of yonder spheres

Sunk with the pressure of its Maker's tread,

And earth's foundations quaked with mortal fears.

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