MAN scarce had risen, obedient to his call
Who form'd him from the dust, his future grave,
When he was crown'd, as never king was since.
God set the diadem upon his head,
And angel choirs attended. Wondering stood
The new-made monarch, while before him pass'd,
All happy and all perfect in their kind,
The creatures summon'd from their various haunts
To see their sovereign, and confess his
Vast was his empire, absolute his
Or bounded only by a law, whose force
'Twas his sublimest privilege to feel
And own; the law of universal love.
He ruled with meekness, they obey'd with joy.
No cruel purpose lurk'd within his heart,
And no distrust of his intent in their's.
So Eden was a scene of harmless sport;
Where kindness on his part who rul'd the whole,
Begat a tranquil confidence in all;
And fear, as yet, was not, nor cause for fear.
RETIRE: the world shut out: thy thoughts call
Imagination's airy wing repress :
Lock up the senses: let no passion stir:
Wake all to reason, let her reign alone:
Then in the soul's deep silence, and the depth
Of Nature's silence, midnight, thus enquire:
What am I, and from whence? I nothing know
But that I am; and since I am, conclude
Something eternal; had there e'er been nought,
Nought still had been; eternal there must be.
But what eternal? Why not human race,
And Adam's ancestors without an end?
That's hard to be conceiv'd; since every link
Of that long-chain'd succession is so frail;
Can every part depend, and not the whole?
Yet, grant that true, new difficulties rise;
I'm still quite out at sea, nor see the shore.
Whence earth, and yon bright orbs? Eternal too?
Grant matter were eternal: still these orbs
Would want some other father.
Is seen in all their motions, all their makes;
Design implies intelligence and art:
That can't be from themselves; nor man. That art
Man scarce can comprehend, could man bestow?
And nothing greater, yet allow'd, than man.
Who, motion foreign to the smallest grain,
Shot through vast masses of enormous weight?
Who bid brute matter's restive lump assume
Such various forms, and gave it wings to fly?
Has matter innate motion? Then each atom,
Asserting its indisputable right
To fly, would form a universe of dust.
Has matter none? Then whence these glorious forms
And boundless flights from shapeless and repos'd?
Has matter more than motion? Has it thought,
Judgment, and genius? Is it deeply learn'd
In mathematics? Has it framed such laws
Which but to guess, a Newton made immortal?
If art to form, and counsel to conduct,
And that, with greater far than human skill,
Reside not in each block, a godhead reigns.
And if a God there be, that God how great,
YE nymphs of Solyma begin the song,
To heavenly themes sublimer strains belong.
The mossy fountains and the sylvan shades
Delight no more. Oh! thou my voice inspire,
Who touched'st Isaiah's hallow'd lips with fire,
Rapt into future times, the bard begun :
A virgin shall conceive, a virgin bear a son.
From Jesse's root, behold a branch arise,
Whose sacred flower with fragrance fills the skies.
The ethereal spirit o'er its leaves shall move,
And on its head descend the mystic dove.
Ye heavens, from high the dewy nectar pour,
And in soft silence shed the kindly shower!
The sick and weak the healing plant shall aid,
From storms a shelter, and from heat a shade.
Peace o'er the world her olive shall extend,
And white-robed innocence from heaven descend.
Swift fly the years, and rise the expected morń !
Oh! spring to light; auspicious babe, be born!
See Nature hastes her earliest wreaths to bring
With all the incense of the breathing spring.
See Lebanon his lofty head advance,
See nodding forests on the mountain dance!
See spicy clouds from lowly Sharon rise,
And Carmel's flowery top perfume the skies.
Hark! a glad voice the lonely desert cheers;
Prepare the way, a god, a god appears!
A god! a god! the vocal hills reply;
The rocks proclaim th' approaching deity.
Lo, earth receives him from the bending skies!
Sink down, ye mountains, and ye valleys rise;
With heads declin'd, ye cedars, homage pay!
Be smooth, ye rocks, ye rapid floods, give way!
The Saviour comes! by ancient bards foretold;
Hear him, ye deaf, and all ye blind behold!
He from thick films shall
the visual ray,
And on the sightless eye-ball pour the day.
'Tis he the obstructed paths of sound shall clear,
And bid new music charm th' unfolding ear.
The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego,
And leap exulting like the bounding roe.
No sigh, no murmur, the wide world shall hear,
From every face he wipes off every tear;
As the good shepherd tends his fleecy care,
Seeks freshest pastures and the purest air,
Explores the lost, the wandering sheep directs,
By day o'ersees them and by night protects.
Mankind shall thus his guardian care engage;
The promis'd Father of the future age.
No more shall nation against nation rise,
Nor ardent warriors meet with hateful eyes,
Nor fields with gleaming steel be cover'd o'er ;
The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more;
But useless lances into scythes shall bend,
And the broad falchion in a plough-share end.
The lambs with wolves shall graze the verdant mead,
And boys, in flowery bands, the tiger lead.
The steer and lion at one crib shall meet,
And harmless serpents lick the pilgrim's feet.
The smiling infant in his hand shall take
The crested basilisk and speckled snake :
Pleas'd, the green lustre of the scales survey,
And with their forked tongue and pointless sting shall
play.
Rise, crown'd with light, imperial Salem, rise!
Exalt thy towering head, and lift thy eyes!
See a long race thy spacious courts adorn;
See future sons and daughters yet unborn,
In crowding ranks on every side arise,
Demanding life, impatient for the skies!
See barbarous nations at thy gates attend,
Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend.
See thy bright altars throng'd with prostrate kings,
And heap'd with products of Sabæan springs.
For thee Idumea's spicy forests blow,
And seeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow.
See heaven its sparkling portals wide display,
And break upon thee in a flood of day.
No more the rising sun shall gild the morn,
Nor evening Cynthia fill her silver horn;
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