But thou, oh Nymph retir'd and coy! In what brown hamlet doft thou joy To tell thy tender tale? O fay what foft propitious hour When Eve, her dewy ftar beneath, If fuch an hour was e'er thy choice, WISDOM! if thy foft controul Can footh the ficknefs of the foul, Can bid the warring paflions cease, And breathe the calm of tender peace; Wifdom! I blefs thy gentle fway, And ever, ever will obey. But if thou com'ft with frown auftere To nurse the brood of care and fear; To bid our sweeteft paffions dic, And leave us in their room a figh; Or if thine afpect ftern have pow'r To wither each poor tranfient flow'r That cheers this pilgrimage of woe, And dry the fprings whence hope fhould flow; Wifdom, thine empire I difclaim, Thou empty boaft of pompous name! In gloomy fhade of cloifters dwell, But never haunt my cheerful cell. Hail to pleafure's frolic train! Hail to fancy's golden reign! Festive mirth, and laughter wild, Free and fportful as the child' Hope with eager fparkling eyes, And cafy faith, and fond furprife! Let thefe, in fairy colours dreft, For ever fhare my carclefs breaft : Then, tho' wife I may not be, The wife themfelves thall envy me. $57. Defpondency. An Ode. BURNS. OPPRESS'D with grief, opprefs'd with care, A burden more than I can bear, I fit me down and figh: O life thou art a galling load, Dim-backward as I caft my view, What fick'ning fcenes appear! What forrows yet may pierce me through, Still caring, defpairing, My woes here fhall close ne'er, But with the clofing tomb! Ev'n when the wifhed end 's denied, Meet ev'ry fad returning night Find ev'ry profpe&t vain. The cavern wild with tangling roots, Or haply to his ev'ning thought, The ways of men are diftant brought, A faint-collected dreamn: While praifing, and raifing His thoughts to Heav'n on high, Than I, no lonely Hermit plac'd But ah! thofe picatures, loves, and joys, The Solitary can defpife, Oh' enviable early days, When dancing thoughtle's Pleafure's maze, That active man engage; $58. The Frailty and Folly of Man. PRIOR. GREAT Heav'n! how frail thy creature Man How by himself infenfibly betray'd! is made! In In our own ftrength unhappily fecure, retreat. $59. A Paraphrafe on the latter Part of the Sixth Chapter of St. Matthew. THOMSON. WHEN my breaft labours with oppreflive care, And o'er my cheek defcends the falling tear; While all my warring paffions are at ftrife, Oh let me liften to the words of life! Raptures deep-felt his doctrine did impart, And thus he rais'd from earth the drooping heart: Think not, when all your fcanty ftores afford Is fpread at once upon the fparing board; Think not, when worn the homely robe appears, While on the roof the howling tempeft bears; What farther fhall this feeble life fuftain, And what fhall clothe thefe fhiv'ring limbs again. Say, does not life its nourishment exceed ? And the fair body its invefting weed? Behold! and look away your low defpairSee the light tenants of the barren air: To them nor ftores nor granaries belong, Nought but the woodland and the pleafing fong; Yet your kind heav'nly Father bends his eye On the leaft wing that flits along the iky. To him they fing when fpring renews the plain," To him they cry in winter's pinching reign; Nor is their mufic or their plaint in vain : He hears the gay and the diftrefsful call, And with unfparing bounty fills them all. Obferve the rifing lily's fnowy grace, Obferve the various vegetable race; They neither toil nor fpin, but careless grow, Yet fee how warm they bluth! how bright they glow! } What regal veftments can with them compare? 60. Songs of Praife. WATTS. A general Song of Praise to God. HOW glorious is our heav'nly King, Who reigns above the sky! How fhall a child prefume to fing How great his pow'r is, none can tell, Not angels, that stand round the Lord, My heart refolves, my tongue obeys; To hear their mighty Maker's praise Praife for Creation and Providence, I SING th' almighty pow'r of God, That made the mountains rife ; That fpread the flowing feas abroad, And built the lofty kies! I fing the Wisdom that ordain'd The moon fhines full at his command, I fing the goodness of the Lord, That fill'd the earth with food; He form'd the creatures with his word, And then pronounc'd them good. Lord, how thy wonders are display'd, Where'er I turn mine eye! If I furvey the ground I tread, Or gaze upon the sky; There's not a plant or flow'r below But makes thy glories known; And clouds arife, and tempelts blow, By order from thy throne. Creatures (as nuin'rous as they be) Are fubject to thy care; There's not a place where we can flee, But God is present there. In heav'n he fhines with beams of love, With wrath in hell beneath! 'Tis on his earth I stand or move, And 'tis his air I breathe. His hand is my perpetual guard : Praife to God for our Redemption. And fave our ruin'd race! Our father ate forbidden fruit, And we his children thus were brought Bleft ! Bleft be the Lord that fent his Son To take our flesh and blood! He for our lives gave up his own, To make our peace with God. He honour'd all his Father's laws, Which we have difobey'd; He bore our fins upon the crofs, And our full ransom paid. Behold him rising from the grave; Behold him rais'd on high: He pleads his merit, there to fave Tranfgrefors doom'd to die. There on a glorious throne he reigns, And by his pow'r divine Redeems us from the flavish chains Of Satan and of fin. Thence fhall the Lord to judgment come, O may I then with joy appear And, with the blefs 'd affembly there, Praife for Mercies Spiritual and Temporal. WHENE'ER I take my walks abroad, Not more than others I deferve, Yet God has giv'n me more; While I am cloth'd from head to feet, While fome poor wretches fcarce can tell I have a home wherein to dwell, And rest upon my bed. While others early learn to fwear, And curfe, and lie, and steal, Lord, I am taught thy name to fear, And do thy holy will. Are thefe thy favours, day by day, Then let me love thee more than they, And try to serve thee beft, Praife for Birth and Education in a Chriftian Land. GREAT God! to thee my voice I raife, I would not change my native land Thy praife fhall ftill employ my breath, Praise for the Gospel. LORD, I ascribe it to thy grace, What would the ancient Jewish kings And Jewish prophets once have giv'n, Could they have heard thofe glorious things How glad the Heathens would have been, Praife to God for learning to Read. I offer to the Lord, That I was taught, and learnt so young, To read his holy word. That I am brought to know The danger I was in ; I can do nothing well; How Chrift, the Son of God, He fends his Spirit down Om O may that Spirit teach, Thofe truths, which all thy fervants preach, Then fhall I praife the Lord, In a more cheerful strain, That I was taught to read his word, § 61. The Excellency of the Bible demonftrated. WATTS. GREAT God, with wonder and with praise But fill thy wifdom, pow'r, and grace, The ftars, that in their courfes roll, Here would I learn how Chrift has died Not all the books on earth befide Then let me love my Bible more, And take a fresh delight By day to read thefe wonders o'er, ALMIGHTY God, thy piercing eye Strikes thro' the fhades of night, And our moft fecret actions lie All open to thy fight. There's not a fin that we commit, Nor wicked word we fay, But in thy dreadful book 'tis writ, And must the crimes that I have done And blot them from thy book. And let his blood wash out my ftains, And antwer for my guilt. § 63. Solemn Thoughts concerning God and Death. WATTS THERE is a God that reigns above, Lord of the heav'ns, and earth, and feas: $64. Heaven and Hell WATTE HERE is beyond the sky THE A heav'n of joy and love; And holy children, when they die Go to that world above. There is a dreadful hell, And everlasting pains; There finners must with devils dwell, Can fuch a wretch as I Efcape this curfed end? While I have life and breath, § 65. The Advantages of early Religion. WATTS. HAPPY the child whofe tender years Receive inftructions well; When we devote our youth to God, A flow'r when offer'd in the bud 'Tis cafier work, if we begin To fear the Lord betimes; While finners that grow old in fin Are harden'd in their crimes. "Twill fave us from a thousand fnares, To mind religion young; Grace will preferve our following years, That our whole lives were thine. Let the fweet work of pray'r and praise WATTS. 66. The Danger of Delay. What if the Lord grow wroth, and fwear, 67 Examples of early Picty. WATTS. WHAT blefs'd examples do I find Writ in the word of truth, Religion in their youth! And keeps the world in awe, At twelve years old he talk'd with men, And blefs'd their Saviour's name! Samuel the child was wean'd, and brought To wait upon the Lord; Young Timothy betimes was taught Then why should I fo long delay What others learn fo foon? I would not pafs another day Without this work begun. § 68. Again Lying. WATTS. 'Tis a lovely thing for youth But liars we can never truft, Tho' they fhould fpeak the thing that 's true! And lies to hide it, makes it two. The Lord delights in them that speak That burns with brimftone and with fire § 69. Againf Quarvelling and Fighting. WATTS. L ET dogs delight to bark and bite, For God hath made them fo; But, children, you should never let Your little hands were never made Let love through all your actions run, His foul was gentle as a lamb : And, as his ftature grew, Now, Lord of all, he reigns above; And from his heav'nly throne |