The poetical works

Contents

Page The Last Day. In Three Books.

Book I 1 II 12

The Force of Religion ; or, Vanquished Love.

Book I 38

II 48

Love of Fame, the Universal Passion. In Seven Characteristical Satires.

Satire I 63

HI 84

V. On Women 102

VI. On Women 122

VII 143

Ocean: an Ode, occasioned by his Majesty's royal Enconragement of the Sea Service. To which is prefixed

an Ode to the King; and A Discourse on Ode . . . 152

A Paraphrase on Part of the Book of Job 183

On Michael Angelo's famous Piece of the Crucifixion . 205

To Mr. Addison, on the Tragedy of Cato 206

Historical Epilogue to the Brothers. A Tragedy . . . 206

IV CONTENTS.

Epitaph on Lord Aubrey Beauclerk, in Westminster

Epitaph at Wehvyn, Hertfordshire 209

A Letter to ;Mr. Tickell, occasioned by the Death of the

Eight Hon. Joseph Addison 210

Reflections on the Pubhc Situation of the Kingdom . . 215 Kesignation. In Two Parts.

Parti 235

On the late Queen's Death, and his Majesty's Accession

to the Throne 305

An Epistle to the Eight Hon. George Lord Lansdowne . 318 Two Epistles to Mr. Pope.

Epistle 1 337

An Epistle to the Right Hon. Sir Robert Walpole ... 357

The Old Man's Relapse 363

Verses sent by Lord Melcombe to Dr. Young .... 366

THE LAST DAY.

IX THREE BOOKS.

Venit summa dies. — Vikg.

BOOK I.

While others sing the fortune of the great ; Empire and arms, and all the pomp of state ; With Britain's hero* set their souls on fire. And grow immortal as his deeds inspire ; I draw a deeper scene : a scene that yields A louder trumpet, and more dreadful fields ; The world alarm'd, both earth and heaven o'er-

thrown, And gasping nature's last tremendous groan ; Death's ancient sceptre broke, the teeming tomb, The righteous Judge, and man's eternal doom. 'Twixt joy and pain I view the bold design,

*The Duke of Marlborough.

Z THE LAST DAY.

And ask my anxious heart, if it be mine. ^Yliatever great or dreadful has been done Within the sight of conscious stars or sun, Is far beneath my daring : I look down On all the splendours of the British crown. This globe is for my verse a narrow bound ; Attend me, all the glorious worlds around ! O ! all ye angels, howsoe'er disjoin'd, Of every various order, place, and kind, Hear, and assist, a feeble mortal's lays ; 'Tis your Eternal King I strive to praise.

But chiefly thou, great Ruler ! Lord of all ! Before whose throne archangels prostrate fall ; If at thy nod, from discord, and from night. Sprang beauty, and yon sparkling worlds of light, Exalt e'en me ; all inward tumults quell ; The clouds and darkness of my mind dispel ; To my great subject thou my breast inspire. And raise my lab'ring soul with equal fire.

Man, bear thy brow aloft, view every grace In God's great offspring, beauteous nature's face : See sprmg's gay bloom ; see golden autumn's store ; See how earth smiles, and hear old ocean roar. Leviathans but heave their cumbrous mail. It makes a tide, and wind-bound navies sail. Here, forests rise, the mountains awful pride ; Here, rivers measure climes, and worlds divide ; There, valleys fraught with gold's resplendent seeds. Hold kings, and kingdoms' fortunes, in their beds : There, to the skies, aspiring hills ascend,

BOOK I. 6

And into distant lands their shades extend. View cities, armies, fleets ; of fleets the pride, See Europe's law, in Albion's channel ride. Yievy^ the whole earth's vast landscape unconfin'd, Or view in Britain all her glories join'd.

Then let the firmament thy wonder raise ; 'Twill raise thy wonder, but transcend thy praise. How far from east to west ? the lab'ring eye Can scarce the distant azure bounds descry : Wide theatre ! where tempests play at large, And God's right hand can all its wrath discharge. Mark how those radiant lamps inflame the pole, Call forth the seasons, and the year control : They shine thro' time, with an unalter'd ray : See this grand period rise, and that decay : So vast, this world 's a grain ; yet mj-riads grace. With golden pomp, the throng'd ethereal space ; So bright, with such a wealth of glory stor'd, 'Tvrere sin in heathens not to have ador'd.

How great, how firm, how sacred, all appears ! How worthy an immortal round of years ! Yet all must drop, as autumn's sickliest grain, And earth and firmament be sought in vain : The tract forgot where constellations shone. Or where the Stuarts fill'd an awful throne : Time shall be slain, all nature be destroy'd, Nor leave an atom in the mighty void.

Sooner, or later, in some future date, (A dreadful secret in the book of fate !) This hour, for aught all human wisdom knows,

Or when ten tliousand harvests more have rose ; When scenes are chang'd on this revolving earth, Old empires fall, and give new empires birth ; While other Bourbons rule in other lands, And (if man's sin forbids not) other Annes ; While the still busy world is treading o'er The paths thej trod five thousand years before. Thoughtless as those who now life's mazes run, Of earth dissolv'd, or an extinguish'd sun ; (Ye sublunary worlds, awake, awake ! Ye rulers of the nation, hear, and shake !) Thick clouds of darkness shall arise on day ; In sudden night all earth's dominions lay ; Impetuous winds the scatter'd forests rend ; Eternal mountains, like their cedars, bend : The valleys yawn, the troubled ocean roar. And break the bondage of his wonted shore ; A sanguine stain the silver moon o'erspread ; Darkness the circle of the sun invade ; From inmost heaven incessant thunders roll. And the strong echo bound from pole to pole.

When, lo, a mighty trump, one half conceal'd In clouds, one half to mortal eye reveal'd. Shall pour a dreadful note ; the piercing call Shall rattle in the centre of the ball ; Th' extended cfi*cuit of creation shake. The living die with fear, the dead awake.

Oh powerful blast ! to which no equal sound Did e'er the frighted ear of nature wound, Tho' rival clarions have been strain'd on high,

BOOK I. O

And kindled wars immortal tliro' the sky, Tho' God's whole enginery diseharg'd, and all The rebel angels bellow'd in their fall.

Have ano-els sinn'd ? and shall not man beware ? How shall a son of earth decline the snare ? Not folded arms, and slackness of the mind. Can promise for the safety of mankind : None are supinely good : thro' care and pain And various arts, the steep ascent we gain. This is the scene of combat, not of rest, Man's is laborious happiness at best ; On this side death his dangers never cease, His joys are joys of conquest, not of peace.

If then, obsequious to the will of fate. And bending to the terms of human state, When guilty joys invite us to their arms. When beauty smiles, or grandeur spreads her

charms.

The conscious soul would this great scene display, Call down th' immortal hosts in dread array. The trumpet sound, the Christian banner spread. And raise from silent graves the trembling dead ; Such deep impression would the picture make, No power on earth her firm resolve could shake ; Engag'd with angels she would greatly stand. And look regardless down on sea and land ; Not proffer'd worlds her ardour could restrain. And death might shake his threat'ning lance in vain ! Her certain conquest would endear the sight, And danger serve but to exalt delight.

b THE LAST DAY.

Instructed thus to shun the fatal spring, Whence flow the terrors of that day I sing ; More boldly we our labours may pursue, And all the dreadful image set to view.

The sparkling eye, the sleek and painted breast, The burnish'd scale, curl'd train, and rising crest, All that is lovely in the noxious snake, Provokes our fear, and bids us flee the brake : The sting once draAvn, his guiltless beauties rise In pleasing lustre, and detain our eyes ; We view with joy, what once did horror move, And strong aversion softens into love.

Say then, my muse, whom dismal scenes delight, Frequent at tombs, and in the realms of night ; Say, melancholy maid, if bold to dare The last extremes of terror and despair ; Oh say, what change on earth, what heart in man. This blackest moment since the world besfan.

Ah mournful turn ! the blissful earth, who late At leisure on her axle roll'd in state ; While thousand golden planets knew no rest, Still onward in their circling journey prest ; A grateful change of seasons some to bring, And sweet vicissitude of fall and spring : Some thro' vast oceans to conduct the keel. And some those watery worlds to sink, or swell : Around her some their splendours to display, And gild her globe with tributary day : This world so great, of joy the bright abode. Heaven's darling child, and fliv'rite of her God,

BOOK I. /

Now looks an exile from her father's care, Deliver'd o'er to darkness and despair. No sun in radiant glory shines on high ; No Hght, but from the terrors of the sky : Fall'n are her mountains, her fam'd rivers lost, And all into a second chaos tost ; One universal ruin spreads abroad ; Nothing is safe beneath the throne of God.

Such, earth, thy fate: what then canst thou afford To comfort and support thy guilty lord ? Man, haughty lord of all beneath the moon. How must he bend his soul's ambition down Prostrate, the reptile own, and disavow His boasted stature, and assuming brow ? Claim kindred. with the clay, and curse his form, That speaks distinction from his sister worm? "What dreadful pangs the trembling heart invade ? Lord, why dost thou forsake whom thou hast made? "Who can sustain thy anger ? who can stand Beneath the terrors of thy lifted hand ? It flies the reach of thought ; oh, save me. Power Of powers supreme, in that tremendous hour ! Thou who beneath the frown of fate hast stood. And in thy dreadful agony sweat blood ; Thou, who for me, thro' every throbbing vein, Hast felt the keenest edge of mortal pain ; Whom death led captive thro' the realms below, And taught those horrid mysteries of woe ; Defend me, O my Gk)d ! Oh, save me. Power Of powers supreme, in that tremendous hour !

From east to west they iij, from pole to line, Imploring shelter from the wrath divine ; Beg flames to wrap, or whelming seas to sweep, Or rocks to yawn, compassionately deep; Seas cast the monster forth to meet his doom, And rocks but prison up for wrath to come.

So fares a traitor to an earthly crown ; While death sits threat'ning in his prince's frown His heart 's dismay'd ; and now his fears command, To change his native for a distant land : Swift orders fly, the king's severe decree Stands in the channel, and locks up the sea; The port he seeks, obedient to her lord, Hurls back the rebel to his lifted sword.

But why this idle toil to paint that day ? This time elaborately thrown away ? 'Words all in vain pant after the distress, The height of eloquence would make it less ; Heavens ! how the good man trembles ! —

And is there a last day ? and must there come A sure, a fix'd, inexorable doom ? Ambition swell, and, thy proud sails to show, Take all the winds that vanity can blow ; Wealth on a golden mountain blazing stand, And reach an India forth in either hand ; Spread all thy purple clusters, tempting vine. And thou, more dreaded foe, bright beauty, shine ; Shine all ; in all your charms together rise ; That all, in all your charms, I may despise ;

BOOK I. y

While I mount upward on a strong desire. Borne, like Elijah, in a car of fire.

In hopes of glorj to be quite involv'd ! To smile at death ! to Ions: to be dissolv'd ! From our decays a pleasure to receive ! And kindle into transport at a grave ! What equals this ? And shall the victor now Boast the proud laurels on his loaded brow ? Eeligion ! Oh, thou cherub, heavenly bright ! Oh, joys unmix'd, and fathomless delight ! Thou, thou art all ; nor find I in the whole Creation aught, but God and my own soul.

For ever, then, my soul, thy God adore, Nor let the brute creation praise him more. Shall things inanimate my conduct blame, And flush my conscious cheek with spreading

shame ?

They all for him pursue, or quit, their end The mountain flames their burning power suspend; In solid heaps th' unfrozen billows stand. To rest and silence aw'd by his command : Nay, the dire monsters that infest the flood, By nature dreadful, and athirst for blood. His will can calm, their savage tempers bind, And turn to mild protectors of mankind. Did not the prophet this great truth maintain In the deep chambers of the gloomy main ; When darkness round him all her horrors spread, And the loud ocean bellow'd o'er his head ?

When now the thunder roars, the lightning flies,

And all the warring winds tumultuous rise ; When now the foaming surges, tost on high, Disclose the sands beneath, and touch the sky ; When death draws near, the mariners aghast. Look back with terror on their actions past ; Their courage sickens into deep dismay, Their hearts, thro' fear and anguish, melt away ; Nor tears, nor prayers, the tempest can appease ; Now they devote their treasure to the seas ; Unload their shatter'd barque, tho' richly fraught, And think the hopes of life are cheaply bought With gems and gold ; but oh, the storm so high ! Nor gems nor gold the hopes of life can buy.

The trembling prophet then, themselves to saA^e, They headlong plunge into the briny wave ; Down he descends, and, booming o'er his head, The billows close ; he 's n umber 'd with the dead. (Hear, O ye just ! attend, ye virtuous few ! And the bright paths of piety pursue) Lo ! the great Ruler of the world, from high, Looks smiling down with a propitious eye, Covers his servant with his gracious hand, And bids tempestuous nature silent stand ; Commands the peaceful waters to give place, Or kindly fold him in a soft embrace : He bridles in the monsters of the deep : The bridled monsters awful distance keep : Forget their hunger, while they view their prey ; And guiltless gaze, and round the stranger play.

But still arise new wonders ; nature's Lord

BOOK I. 11

Sends forth into the Weep his powerful word. And calls the o:reat leviathan : the orreat Leviathan attends in all his state ; Exults for joy, and, with a mighty bound, Makes the sea shake, and heaven and earth resound ; Blackens the waters with the rising sand. And drives vast billows to the distant land.

As yawns an earthquake, when imprison'd air Struggles for vent, and lays the centre bare, The whale expands his jaws' enormous size ; The prophet views the cavern with surprise ; Measures his monstrous teeth, afar descried, And rolls his wond'ring eyes from side to side : Then takes possession of the spacious seat, And sails secure within the dark retreat.

iSTow is he pleas'd the northern blast to hear, And hangs on liquid mountains, void of fear ; Or falls immers'd into the depths below, Where the dead silent waters never flow ; To the foundation of the hills convey'd. Dwells in the shelving mountain's dreadful shade : "Where plummet never reach'd, he draws his

breath, And glides serenely thro' the paths of death.

Two wondrous days and nights thro' coral proves, Thro' labyrinths of rocks and sands, he roves : When the third mornino^ with its level ravs The mountains gilds, and on the billows plays,

It sees the king of waters ]^e and pour His sacred guest uninjur'd on the shore : A type of that great blessing, which the muse In her next labour ardently pursues.

BOOK 11.

-'Ek yatrjs i\77i^o^€v is (pdos iXdelv.

Phocyl.

We hope that the departed will rise again from the dust : after which, like the gods, they will be immortal.

NoTV man awakes, and from his silent bed, Where he has slept for ages, lifts his head ; Shakes off the slumber of ten thousand years, And on the borders of new worlds appears. Whatever the bold, the rash, adventure cost, In wide eternity I dare be lost. The muse is wont in narrow bounds to sing. To teach the swain, or celebrate the king. I grasp the whole, no more to parts confin'd, I lift my voice, and sing to humankind : I sing to men and angels ; angels join, While such the theme, their sacred songs with mine.

Again the trumpet's intermitted sound Rolls the wide circuit of creation round, A universal concourse to prepare

BOOK II. 13 Of all that ever breath'd the vital air

In some wide field, which active whirlwinds sweep,

Drive cities, forests, mountains, to the deep,

To smooth and lengthen out th' unbounded space,

And spread an area for all human race.

Now monuments prove faithful to their trust. And render back their long committed dust. Now charnels rattle ; scatter'd limbs, and all The various bones, obsequious to the call, Self-mov'd, advance ; the neck perhaps to meet The distant head ; the distant legs the feet. Dreadful to view, see thro' the dusky sky Fragments of bodies in confusion fly, To distant regions journeying, there to claim Deserted members, and complete the frame.

When the world bow'd to Rome's almighty sword, Eome bow'd to Pompey, and confess'd her lord. Yet one day lost, this deity below Became the scorn and pity of his foe. His blood a traitor's sacrifice was made. And smok'd indignant on a ruffian's blade. No trumpet's sound, no gasping army's yell, Bid, with due horror, his great soul farewell. Obscure his fall ! all welt'ring in his gore. His trunk was cast to perish on the shore ! While Julius frown'd the bloody monster dead. Who brought the world in his great rival's head. This sever'd head and trunk shall join once more, Tho' realms now rise between, and oceans roar. The trumpet's sound each fragrant mote shall hear,

14 THE LAST DAT.

Or fix'd in eartli, or if afloat in air, Obej the signal wafted in the wind, And not one sleeping atom lag behind.

So swarming bees, that on a summer's day In airy rings, and wild meanders play, Charm'd with the brazen sound, their wand'rings

end.

And, gently circhng, on a bough descend.

The body thus renew'd, the conscious soul, Which has perhaps been fluttering near the pole, Or midst the burning planets wond'ring stray'd, Or hover'd o'er where her pale corpse was laid ; Or rather coasted on her final state. And fear'd or wish'd for her appointed fate : This soul, returning with a constant flame, Now weds for ever her immortal frame. Life, which ran down before, so high is wound. The springs maintain an everlasting round.

Thus a frail model of the work design'd First takes a copy of the builder's mind. Before the structure firm with lasting oak, And marble bowels of the sohd rock. Turns the strong arch, and bids the columns rise, And bear the lofty palace to the skies ; The wrongs of time enabled to surpass. With bars of adamant, and ribs of brass.

That ancient, sacred, and illustrious dome,* Where soon or late fair Albion's heroes come,

^ Westminster Abbey.

BOOK II. 15

From camps, and courts, tho' great, or wise, or

just.

To feed the worm, and moulder into dust ; That solemn mansion of the royal dead. Where passing slaves o'er sleeping monarchs

tread, Now populous o'erflows : a numerous race Of rising kings fill all th' extended space : A life well spent, not the victorious sword. Awards the crown, and styles the greater lord.

Nor monuments alone, and burial-earth, Labours with man to this his second birth ; But where gay palaces in pomp arise, And gilded theatres invade the skies, Nations shall wake, whose unrespected bones Support the pride of their luxurious sons. The most magnificent and costly dome Is but an upper chamber to the tomb. No spot on earth but has supplied a grave, And human skulls the spacious ocean pave. All 's full of man ; and at this dreadful turn. The swarm shall issue, and the hive shall burn.

Not all at once, nor in like manner, rise : Some lift with pain their slow, unwilling eyes : Shrink backward from the terror of the light. And bless the grave, and call for lasting night. Others, whose long-attempted virtue stood Fix'd as a rock, and broke the rushing flood, TVliose firm resolve, nor beauty could melt down. Nor raging tyrants from their posture frown ;

Such, in this day of horrors, shall be seen To face the thunders with a godlike mien ; The planets drop, their thoughts are iixt above ; The centre shakes, their hearts disdain to move : An earth dissolving, and a heaven thrown wide, A yawning gulf, and fiends on every side, Serene they view, impatient of delay. And bless the dawn of everlasting day.

Here, greatness prostrate falls ; there, strength gives place ; Here, lazars smile ; there, beauty hides her face. Christians, and Jews, and Turks, and Pagans stand, A blended throng, one undistinguish'd band. Some who, perhaps, by mutual wounds expir'd, With zeal for their distinct persuasions fir'd, In mutual friendship their long slumber break. And hand in hand their Saviour's love partake.

But none are flush'd with brighter joy, or, warm With juster confidence, enjoy the storm, Than those, whose pious bounties, unconfin'd, Have made them public fathers of mankind. In that illustrious rank, what shining light With such distinguish'd glory fills my sight ? Bend down, my grateful muse, that homage show, Which to such worthies thou art proud to owe. Wickham ! Fox ! Chichley ! hail, illustrious

names,* Who to far distant times dispense your beams ;

* Founders of New College, Corpus Christi, and All Souls, in Oxford; of all Avliicli the author was a member.

BOOK II. 17

Beneath your shades, and near your crystal springs, I first presum'd to touch the trembUng strhigs. All hail, thrice honour'd ! 'Twas your great renown To bless a people, and oblige a crown. And now you rise, eternally to shine, Eternally to drink the rays divine.

Indulgent God ! Oh how shall mortal raise His soul to due returns of grateful praise. For bounty so profuse to humankind. Thy wondrous gift of an eternal mind ? Shall I, who, some few years ago, was less Than worm, or mite, or shadow can express, Was nothing ; shall I live, when every fire And every star shall languish and expire ? When earth 's no more, shall I survive above. And thro' the radiant files of angels move ? Or, as before the throne of God I stand, See new worlds rolling from his spacious hand, Where our adventures shall perhaps be taught, As we now tell how Michael sung or fought ? All that has being in full concert join. And celebrate the depths of love divine !

But oh ! before this bUssful state, before Th' aspiring soul this wondrous height can soar. The Judge, descending, thunders from afar, And all mankind is summon'd to the bar.

This mighty scene I next presume to draw : Attend, great Anna, with religious awe. Expect not here the known successful arts To win attention, and command our hearts :

Fiction, be far away ; let no macliine Descending here, no fabled god, be seen ; Behold the Gcd of gods indeed descend, And worlds unnumbered his approach attend !

Lo ! the ^vide theatre, whose ample space Must entertain the whole of human race. At heaven's all-powerful edict is prepared. And fenc'd around with an immortal guard. Tribes, provinces, dominions, worlds, o'erflow The mighty plain, and deluge all below : And every age, and nation, pours along, Nimrod and Bourbon mingle in the throng: Adam salutes his youngest son ; no sign, Of all those ages, which their births disjoin.

How empty learning, and how vain is art, But as it mends the hfe, and guides the heart ! What volumes have been sw^ell'd, what time been

spent, To fix a hero's birth-day, or descent ! What joy must it now yield, what rapture raise, To see the glorious race of ancient days ! To greet those worthies who perhaps have stood Illustrious on record before the flood ! Alas ! a nearer care your soul demands, Csesar unnoted in your presence stands.

How vast the concourse ! not in number more The waves that break on the resounding shore. The leaves that tremble in the shady grove, The lamps that gild the spangled vaults above : Those overwhelming armies, whose command

BOOK IT. 19

Said to one empire, fall ; another, stand : Whose rear lay Avrapt in night, while breaking

dawn Rous'd the broad front, and call'd the battle on : Great Xerxes' world in arms, proud Cannae's

field, "Where Carthage taught victorious Rome to yield, (Another blow had broke the fates' decree, And earth had wanted her fourth monarchy,) Immortal Blenheim, fam'd Ramillia's host. They all are here, and here they all are lost : Their millions swell to be discern'd in vain, Lost as a billow in th' unbounded main.

This echoing voice now rends the yielding air, For judgment, judgment, sons of men, prepare ! Earth shakes anew ; I hear her groans profound ; And hell through all her trembling realms resound.

Whoe'er thou art, thou greatest power of earth. Blest with most equal planets at thy birth ; Whose valour drew the most successful sword. Most realms united in one common lord ; Who, on the day of triumph, saidst. Be thine The skies, Jehovah, all this world is mine : Dare not to lift thine eye — Alas ! my muse, How art thou lost ! what numbers canst thou choose ?

A sudden blush inflames the waving sky. And now the crimson curtains open fly ; Lo ! far within, and far above all height,

Wliere heaven's great Sov'reign reigns in worlds

of light, TVlience nature he informs, and with one ray Shot from his eye, does all her works survey, Creates, supports, confounds ! Where time, and

place.

Matter, and form, and fortune, life, and grace. Wait humbly at the footstool of their God, And move obedient at his awful nod ; Whence he beholds us vagrant emmets crawl At random on this air-suspended ball (Speck of creation) : if he pour one breath, The bubble breaks, and 'tis eternal death.

Thence issuing I behold (but mortal sight Sustains not such a rushing sea of light 1) I see, on an empyreal flying throne Sublimely rais'd, heaven's everlasting Son ; Crown'd with that majesty which form'd the

world.

And the grand rebel flaming downward hurl'd. Virtue, dominion, praise, omnipotence. Support the train of their triumphant prince. A zone, beyond the thought of angels bright, Around him, like the zodiac, winds its light. Night shades the solemn arches of his brows, And in his cheek the purple morning glows. Where'er serene, he turns propitious eyes. Or we expect, or find, a paradise : But if resentment reddens their mild beams, The Eden kindles, and the world 's in flames.

BOOK II. 21

On one hand, knowledge sliines in purest liglit;

On one, the sword of justice fiercely bright.

Now bend the knee in sport, present the reed ;

Now tell the scourg'd impostor he shall bleed ! Thus glorious thro' the courts of heav'n, the source

Of life and death eternal bends his course ;

Loud thunders round him roll, and lightnings play;

Th' angelic host is rang'd in bright array :

Some touch the^ string, some strike the sounding shell.

And mingling voices in rich concert swell ;

Voices seraphic ; blest with such a strain,

Could Satan hear, he were a god again. Triumphant King of Glory ! Soul of bliss !

What a stupendous turn of fate is this !

O ! whither art thou rais'd above the scorn

And indigence of him in Bethlem born ;

And but a second to the fodder'd beast !

How chang'd from him, who, meekly prostrate laid,

Youchsaf 'd to wash the feet himself had made !

From him who was betray'd, forsook, denied.

Wept, languished, pray'd, bled, thirsted, groan'd, and died ;

Hung pierc'd and bare, insulted by the foe.

All heaven in tears above, earth unconcerned below !

And was 't enough to bid the sun retire ?

Why did not nature at thy groan expire ?

I see, I hear, I feel, the pangs divine ;

The world is vanish'd, — I am wholly thine.

Mistaken Caiaphas ! Ah ! which blasphem'd ; Thou, or thy prisoner ? which shall be condemn'd ? Well might'st thou rend^ thy garments, well exclaim ; Deep are the horrors of eternal flame ! But God is good ! 'Tis wondrous all ! Ev'n he Thou gav'st to death, shame, torture, died for thee.