With beams reviving on rebellious man,
Devoid of hope, to exile doom'd and death.
What heights and depths, unknown to finite minds,
From heav'ns unvaried counsels rise!
Of light and joy divine renascent, raise
To views sublime, the soul's awaken'd powers!
Say how the dreadful breach was clos'd; and whence That wond'rous compact by the sacred Three
(One infinite, unchang'd, eternal mind)
Was seal'd in heav'n; and ratified on earth,
When the great price was paid. O boundless depth
Of unexampled love; The heav'nly host
Of shining seraphs, from their bright abodes
Stooping with downward wing, in wonder lost,
And joyous adoration, strive t' explore
The vast design unsearchable. Hence flow
Life, peace, and joy, from an exhaustless spring,
To those bless'd mortals who believe and love
The glorious agent; till they gain the height
Of blissful treasures infinite, unseen,
And unconceiv'd by thought: where hallow'd minds
Unbodied live; releas'd from cumbrous clay,
And purged from sin. The grand efficient cause
Mysterious, far surpassing human search,
Or mind angelic, which effac'd the stains
Of guilt, and vanquish'd all the pow'rs of death,
His visage chang'd, and set his pris'ners free,
Survey; with ectacy and pure affections rais'd.
Wonders here rise on wonders: joyous scenes
Reviving, open. Heedless mortals broke
The sov'reign laws of heav'n: the Almighty Son
Spotless, assum'd the trembling sinner's place;
Sustain❜d the penal threats; obey'd and dy'd ;-
And rose triumphant! Justice quits her claim,
Appeas'd with heav'nly blood, and asks no more.
Crown'd with new honours, thus the ancient pair
With their glad progeny, from mould'ring dust
Rise glorious; and their tuneful harps employ
In endless praises to th' immortal king,
First-born of the creation. Loftier beings
Ministrant, immaterial, which surround
The radiant throne, to heav'nly praise inur'd,
Melodious join the everlasting song!
Speak, how the filial Godhead, form divine
Of the paternal glory, uncreate,
In whom perfections infinite, truth, love,
And wisdom dwelt inherent, deign'd to leave
His beamy robes, and realms of heav'nly light,
For this wild waste, disconsolate; renew'd
Lost Paradise, and rais'd, from captive chains,
The exil'd human race, to joys sublime.
O sacred theme inexplicable! View
The infant God, inshrin'd in mortal frame;
Expos'd to darksome scenes of grief! How mean
His birth-place; his attendants vile! From death
Triumphing, and the tempter's latent wiles,
Born to redeem, he treads the glitt'ring pomp
Of this vain world beneath his feet: a rule
For minds, which, conscious of a loftier birth,
Dare claim their origin, and native rights
Re-purchas'd! To what narrow humble bounds
Infinity vouchsafes to be confin'd!
The lord of life, to die for helpless worms!
Impell'd by gen'rous flame, ye mortal tongues
Aspire, with unambitious strife, to join
Your loud Hosannah's with the tuneful throng
Unbodied! Trace him from the orbs of light;
And sing the wonders of his matchless love!
More glorious than the morning star, his face
Majestic sweetness fill'd, and heavenly rays;
Surpassing far those fainter gleams deriv'd
On finite minds. To his unbounded sway
The scepter'd race, elate with pride, shall bow
Obsequious or reluctant; and confess
Their delegated pow'r. Yes, the supreme
Eternal monarch, uncontroul'd, who rules
The fate of empires, his first levees made
With brutes innocuous; not the splendid train
Of high-born courtiers, who distinguish'd shine
With beamy stars inwrought. Their fleecy folds
Deserting, humble shepherds haste to adore
Israel's annointed King, sole heir and lord
Of the terrestrial and supernal worlds.
With dark'ning shade he veils his regal state
Inherent, undiscern'd by mortal eye;
Disdaining grandeur, and in servile form
Debas'd: but shining guards, with folded wings,
Observant, tho' unseen, their weighty charge
Attend in joyous rapture. Heavenly choir!
Who late, harmonious sang, "To God on high
"Glory to earth celestial peace restor❜d:
And, gladsome news, benevolence to men!"
When first, the sovereign all commanding word
From lifeless matter, and the vast abyss
Of dark and silent night, call'd into being
His destin'd worlds; and fill'd the boundless void
With rising wonders infinite, display'd
In various forms; those first-born sons of light
With rapturous hallelujahs hymn'd his praise
Sublime and their alternate music flew
From sphere to sphere, through heav'ns high arch; and reach'd
The glorious orb terrene, then happy seat
Of human joys, from whence the charming sound
Return'd with echoes of devotion pure.
Such symphony divine in earth's low vale
Deprav'd, unheard, that emissary train
Angelic form'd: when o'er the darken'd world
With hope exorient cheer'd, th' eternal sun
Descending shone. But in the heav'nly orbs
Myriads of myriads, wrapt in holy flame-
Beings irradiate from reflexive light;
Various in rank, yet to the will supreme
In prompt devotion emulous!-proclaim'd
A sacred festival: accession new
To their sublime and ever-flowing joys!
And o'er the infinite ethereal space
Loud acclamations rang. The golden lyres
With vocal accents sweet,-blest harmony!
Surpassing mortal ear or human thought
High soaring!-tun'd the great Jehovah's praise
Ineffable. Before the radiant throne
Seraphic crowns lay prostrate: minds advanc'd
By rev'rence and abasement! pleas'd to see
Bright beams of love dart gently from his eye
On Adam's sons deep favour'd! Joyful dawn
Of that triumphant day; when high enthron'd,
Th' Almighty Son incarnate shall display
Amidst his shining tribes, the unfathom'd depths
Of wisdom, justice, truth, and sovereign grace
Couch'd in the ways of Providence abstruse;
And with celestial rays encircl'd, reign
In light immortal, glorious and admir'd!
Such distant views sublime, from human race
Exalted anthems claim: and through the paths
Of fleeting time should raise their raptur❜d minds
Pure and refin'd from all the coarse allay
Of vulgar thought, above the starry spheres.
Those sparkling out-guards of the heav'nly court,
High fixt in vaulted azure, keep their round
Ethereal; dazzling with their pointed streams
The wond'ring eye up-lifted; to remind
Vile sons of earth, from what stupendous height
They fell unguarded; and inflame the soul
Once more to reascend its native sky.
Hail Prince of Peace! from the Jessæan stem
Self-infinite descended! Crowning hope
Of mortal race reviv'd! At whose command
Creation rose in all its various forms
Divinely perfect! Thy auspicious day,
And gentle rule pacific, arm'd with pow'r
Resistless, through dark ages, then unborn,
The Princely Seer sublime, whose hallow'd lips
Were touch'd with heav'nly fire, exultant trac'd
In sacred vision. The descending God,
Awful, yet sweeten'd by the human form,
In bright ideas mental, he discern'd,-
Unlike the shining heroes fam'd in war,—
Through passive conduct bearing off the palm
Triumphal and unfading; strong to bind
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