Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

As when it tunes the linnet's voice,
Or blushes in the rose.

By reason taught to scorn those fears
That vulgar minds molest,
Let no fantastic terrors break
My dear Narcissa's rest.

Thy life may all the tend'rest care
Of Providence defend;
And delegated angels round

Their guardian wings extend!

When thro' creation's vast expanse
The last dread thunders roll,
Untune the concord of the spheres,
And shake the rising soul;

Unmov'd, may'st thou the final storm
Of jarring worlds survey,
That ushers in the glad serene
Of everlasting day!

CARTER.

ON THE MORNING OF CHRIST'S NATIVITY.

THIS is the month, and this the happy morn,
Wherein the Son of Heaven's Eternal King,
Of wedded maid and virgin mother born,
Our great redemption from above did bring;
For so the holy sages once did sing,

That he our deadly forfeit should release,
And with his Father work us a perpetual peace.

That glorious form, that light unsufferable,
And that far-beaming blaze of majesty,

Wherewith he wont at heaven's high council-table
To sit the midst of Trinal Unity,

He laid aside; and here with us to be,
Forsook the courts of everlasting day,

And chose with us a darksome house of mortal clay. Say, heavenly Muse, shall not thy sacred vein Afford a present to the Infant-God?

Hast thou no verse, no hymn, or solemn strain, To welcome him to this his new abode,

Now while the heaven, by the sun's team untrod,
Hath ta'en no print of the approaching light
And all the spangled host kept watch in squadrons
bright?

See, how from far, upon the eastern road,
The star-led wizards haste with odours sweet :
O run, prevent them with thy humble ode,
And lay it lowly at his blessed feet;

Have thou the honour first thy Lord to greet,

And join thy voice unto the angel-quire,

From out his secret altar touch'd with hallow'd fire.

MILTON.

THE PETIT-MAITRE CLERGYMAN.

I VENERATE the man whose heart is warm, Whose hands are pure, whose doctrine and whose life

Coincident, exhibit lucid proof

That he is honest in the sacred cause.

To such I render more then mere respect,
Whose actions say that they respect themselves,
But, loose in morals, and in manners vain,
In conversation frivolous, in dress
Extreme, at once rapacious and profuse;
Frequent in park, with lady at his side,
Ambling and prattling scandal as he goes;
But rare at home, and never at his books,

Or with his pen, save when he scrawls a card;
Constant at routs, familiar with a round
Of ladyships, a stranger to the poor;
Ambitious of preferment, for its gold,
And well prepar'd by ignorance and sloth,
By infidelity and love o' th' world

To make God's work a sinecure: a slave
To his own pleasures, and his patron's pride—
From such apostles, O ye mitred heads,
Preserve the church! and lay not careless hands
On sculls that cannot teach, and will not learn.

COWPER

UPON THE CIRCUMCISION.

YE flaming powers, and winged warriors bright,
That erst with music, and triumphant song,
First heard by happy watchful shepherd's ear,
So sweetly sung your joy the clouds along
Through the soft silence of the listening night;
Now mourn; and, if sad share with us to bear
Your fiery essence can distil no tear,
Burn in your sighs, and borrow

Seas wept from our deep sorrow;

He, who with all heaven's heraldry whilere Enter'd the world, now bleeds to give us ease Alas, how soon our sin

ore doth begin

His infancy to seize !

more exceeding love, or law more just! st law indeed, but more exceeding love! or we, by rightful doom remediless,

Were lost in death, till he, that dwelt above,
High-throned in secret bliss, for us frail dust
Emptied his glory, even to nakedness;

And that great covenant which we still transgress Entirely satisfied;

And the full wrath beside

Of vengeful justice bore for our excess;

And seals obedience first, with wounded smart, This day; but, O! ere long,

Huge pangs and strong

Will pierce more near his heart.

MILTON.

THE PRAYER OF JACOB.

O God of Abrah'm! by whose hand
Thy people still are fed;

Who through this weary pilgrimage,
Hast all our fathers led!

Our vows, our prayers, we now present

Before thy throne of grace;

God of our fathers, be the God
Of their succeeding race.

Through each perplexing path of life

Our wand'ring footsteps guide,
Give us by day our daily bread,
And raiment fit provide.

[ocr errors]

O spread thy cov'ring wings around,
Till all our wand'rings cease,
And at our father's lov'd abode

Our feet arrive in peace.

Now with the humble voice of prayer

Thy mercy we implore;

Then with the grateful voice of praise

Thy goodness we'll adore.

LOGAN

WINTER.

SEE, how rude Winter's icy hand

Has stripp'd the trees, and seal'd the ground!
But Spring shall soon his rage withstand,
And spread new beauties all around.

My soul a sharper winter mourns
Barren and fruitless I remain ;
When will the gentle spring return,
And bid my graces grow again?

Jesus, my glorious sun, arise!
'Tis thine the frozen heart to move;
Oh! hush these storms, and clear my skies,
And let me feel my vital love!

Dear Lord, regard my feeble cry,
I faint and droop till thou appear;
Wilt thou permit thy plant to die?
Must it be winter all the year?

Be still, my soul, and wait his hour,
With humble prayer, and patient faith;
Till he reveals his gracious power,
Repose on what his promise saith.

He, by whose all-commanding words*
Seasons their changing course maintain,
In every change a pledge affords,
That none shall seek his face in vain.

NEWTON,

SPRING.

PLEASING Spring again is here;
Trees and fields in bloom appear,

Gen. viii. 22.

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »