YE nymphs of Solyma! begin the fong:
To heav'nly themes fublimer ftrains belong.
The moffy fountains, and the sylvan fhades,
The dreams of Pindus and the Aonian maids
Delight no more-O thou my voice inspire,
Who touch'd Isaiah's hallow'd lips with fire!
Rapt into future times, the Bard begun :
A Virgin fhall conceive, a Virgin bear a fon!
From Jeffe's root, behold a branch arife,
Whofe facred flow'r with fragrance fills the fkies:
Th' ethereal Spirit o'er its leaves fhall move,
And on its top defcends the mystic Dove.
Ye Heav'ns! from high the dewy nectar pour,
And in foft filence shed the kindly show'r!
The fick and weak the healing plant fhall aid,
From forms a fhelter, and from heat a fhade ;
All crimes fhall cease, and ancient fraud fhall fail;
Returning Juftice lift aloft her scale;
Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,
And white-rob'd Innocence from Heav'n defcend,
Swift fly the years, and rife th' expected morn!
Oh, fpring to light, aufpicious Babe! be born!
See Nature haftes her earlieft wreaths to bring,
With all the incenfe of the breathing spring:
See lofty Lebanon his head advance,
See nodding forefts on the mountains dance:
See fpicy clouds from lowly Sharon rife,
And Carmel's flow'ry top perfumes 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 vallies rife!
With heads declin'd, ye cedars honage pay!;
Be fimooth, 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 fhall purge the visual ray,
And on the fight lefs eye-ball pour the day:
'Tis He th' obftructed paths of found fall clear,
And bid new mufic charm th' unfolding ear:
The dumb fhall fing, the lame his crutch forego,
And leap, exulting, like the bounding rce.
No figh, no murmur the wide world fhall hear,
From ev'ry face he wipes off ev'ry tear:
In adamantine chains shall death be bound,
And hell's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound.
As the good fhepherd tends his fleecy care,
Seeks fresheft pafture and the pureft air,
Explores the loft, the wand'ring sheep directs,
By day o'erfees them, and by night protects;
The tender lambs he raifes in his arms,
Feeds from his hand, and in his bofom warms;
Thus fhall mankind his guardian care engage,
The promis'd Father of the future age.
No more fhall nation against nation rite,
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 fhall bend,
And the broad falchion in a plow-fhare end:
Then palaces fhall rife; the joyful fon
Shall finish what his hort-liv'd fire begun;
Their vines a fhadow to their race shall yield,
And the fame hand that fow'd shall reap the field,
The fwain in barren deferts with surprise
Sees lilies fpring, and fudden verdure rife;
And starts amidst the thirsty wilds to hear
New falls of water murm'ring in his ear.
On rifted rocks, the dragon's late abodes,
The green reed trembles, and the bulrush nods.
Wafte fandy vallies, once perplex'd with thorn,
The fpiry fir and shapely box adorn ;
To leaflefs fhrubs the flow'ring palms fucceed,
And od'rous myrtle to the noisome weed.
The lambs with wolves fhall graze the verdant mead,
And boys in flow'ry bands the tyger lead!
The fteer and lion at one crib fhall meet,
And harmlets ferpents lick the pilgrim's feet..
The smiling infant in his hand fhall take-
The crefted bafilifk and fpeckled fnake,
Pleas'd the green luftre of the scales furvey,
And with their forky tongue fhall innocently play.
Rife, crown'd with light, imperial Salem, rife!
Exalt thy tow'ry head, and lift thy eyes!
See a long race thy fpacious courts adorn;
See future fons and daughters, yet unborn,
In crowding ranks on ev'ry fide arife,
Demanding life, impatient for the skies!
See barb'rous nations at thy gates attend,
Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend;
See thy bright altars throng'd with proftrate kings,
And heap'd with products of Sabean Springs!
For thee Idume's spicy foreft blow,
And feeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow.
See Heav'n its sparkling portals wide display,
And break upon thee in a flood of day!
No more the rifing fun fhall gild the morn,
Nor ev'ning Cynthia fill her filver horn;
But loft, diffolv'd in thy fuperior rays,
One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze
O'erflow thy courts: the Light himself shall shine
Reveal'd, and God's eternal day be thine!
The feas fhall waste, the skies in smoke decay,
Rocks fall to duft, and mountains melt away;
But fix'd his word, his faving power remains!
Thy realm for ever lafts, thy own Meffiah reigns!
AN INQUIRY AFTER HAPPINESS.
THE midnight moon ferenely fmiles
O'er Nature's foft repofe;
No low'ring cloud obfcures the sky,
Nor ruffling tempest blows.
Now ev'ry paffion finks to reftys
The throbbing heart lies ftill3
And varying fchemes of life to more
Distract the labʼring will.bé pukat
In filence hufh'd, to Reafon's voice
Attends each mental pow'r:
Come, dear Emilia, and enjoy
Reflection's fav'rite hour.
Come; while the peaceful scene invites,
Let's fearch this ample round,
Where fhall the lovely, fleeting form
Of Happiness be found?
Does it amidst the frolic mirth
Of gay affemblies dwell?
Or hide beneath the form gloom,
That fhades the hermit's cell?*
How oft the laughing brow of Joy
A fick ning heart conceals!
And through the cloifter's deep recefs,.
Invading forrow steals.
In vain through beauty, fortune, wit,
The fugitive we trace;
It dwells not in the faithlefs finile,
That brightens Clodio's face.
Perhaps the joy to these deny'd,
The heart in friendship finds :
Ah! dear delufion, gay conceit
Of vifionary minds! :
Howe'er our varying notions rove,
Yet all agree in one,
To place its being in fome ftate,
At diftance from our own..
|