An ODE, written in 1710, as an Exercise.

WHEN, in a glorious terrible array,

From Paran's towering height th' Almighty took his

Borne on a cherub's wings he rode,
Intolerable day proclaim'd the God;
No earthly cloud

Could his effulgent brightness shroud:
Glory, and majefty, and power,
March'd in a dreadful pomp before;

Behind, a grim and meagre train,

Pining fickness, frantic pain,

[way;

Stalk'd widely on! with all the dismal band, Which heaven in anger fends to scourge a guilty land.

With terror cloath'd, he downward flew, And wither'd half the nations with a view; Through half the nations of th' aftonish'd earth He scatter'd war, and plagues, and dearth!

VOL. XLIV.

L

And

And when he spoke,

The everlafting hills from their foundations shook;
The trembling mountains, by a lowly nod,
With reverence ftruck, confefs'd the God:
On Sion's holy hill he took his ftand,
Grafping omnipotence in his right hand;
'Then mighty earthquakes rock'd the ground,
And the fun darken'd as he frown'd:
He dealt affliction from his van,
And wild confufion from his rear;

They through the tents of Cufhan ran,
The tents of Cushan quak'd with fear,
And Midian trembled with despair.
* I fee! his fword wave naked in the air;
It sheds around a baleful ray,

The rains pour down, the lightnings play,
And on their wings vindictive thunders bear.

When through the mighty flood

He led the murmuring crowd,

What ail'd the rivers that they backward fled?
Why was the mighty flood afraid?
March'd he against the rivers? or was he,
Thou mighty flood! difpleas'd at thee?

VARIATION.

I fee his fword wave with redoubled ire.

Ah! has it fet the very clouds on fire?

The clouds burst down in deluges of showers;
Fierce lightning flames, vindictive thunder roars.

The

The flood beheld from far

The deity in all his equipage of war;
And lo! at once it burfts! in diverfe falls
On either hand! it swells in crystal walls!
Th' eternal rocks difclofe! the toffing waves
Rufh in loud thunder from a thousand caves!
Why tremble ye, O faithlefs! to behold

The opening deeps their gulphs unfold?
Enter the dreadful chafms! 'tis God, who guides
Your wondrous way! the God who rules the tides!
And lo! they march amid the deafening roar
Of tumbling feas! they mount the adverse shore!
Advance, ye chofen tribes! Arabia's fands

Lonely, uncomfortable lands!

Void of fountain, void of rain, Oppose their burning coafts in vain! See! the great prophet stand, Waving his wonder-working wand!

He ftrikes the stubborn rock, and lo! The stubborn rock feels the Almighty blow! His ftony entrails burft, and rushing torrents flow.

Then did the fun his fiery courfers ftay,
And backward held the falling day;

VARIATION.

Ah, what new fcenes unfold, what voice I hear! Sun, ftand thou ftill; thou moon, thy courfe forbear: Ah, .. fun, thy wheels obedient ftay,

Doubling the fplendors of the wondrous day.

The nimble-footed minutes ceas'd to run,

And urge the lazy hours on.
Tinte hung his unexpanded wings,
And all the fecret fprings
That carry on the year,
Stopp'd in their full career:
Then the astonish'd moon
Forgot her going down;
And paler grew,

The difmal fcene to view,

How through the trembling Pagan nation, 'Th' Almighty ruin dealt, and ghaftly defolation.

But why, ah! why, O Sion, reigns
Wide wasting havock o'er thy plains?
Ah, me! deftruction is abroad!
Vengeance is loose, and wrath from God!
See! hofts of spoilers feize their prey!
See! flaughter marks in blood his way!

The nimble-footed minutes ceafe to run

And urge the lazy hours on.

Time hangs his unexpanded wings,

And all the fecret fprings

That carry on the year

Stop in their full career;
At once th' aftonifh'd moon

Forgets her going down,

And paler grows,

To view th' amazing train of woes;

While through the trembling Pagan nation,

Th' Almighty ruin deals, and ghaftly desclation.

See!

See! how embattled Babylon

Like an unruly deluge rushes on!

Lo! the field with millions swarms!

I hear their shouts! their clashing arms!
Now the conflicting hofts engage,

With more than mortal rage!

Oh! heaven! I faint- -I die!
The yielding powers of Ifrael fly!-
Now banner'd hofts furround the walls
Of Sion! now fhe finks, fhe falls!.

Ah! Sion, how for thee I mourn!
What pangs for thee I feel!

Ah! how art thou become the Pagans' scorn,
Lovely, unhappy Ifrael!

A fhivering damp invades my heart,
A trembling horror fhoots through every part;
My nodding frame can fcarce fuftain
Th' oppreffive load I undergo:
Speechless I figh! the envious woe
Forbids the very pleafure to complain:
Forbids my faultering tongue to tell
What pangs for thee I feel,
Lovely, unhappy Ifrael!

Yet though the fig-tree fhould no burthen bear,
Though vines delude the promife of the year;
Yet though the olive should not yield her oil,
Nor the parch'd glebe reward the peafant's toil;
Though the tir'd ox beneath his labours fall,
And herds in millions perifh from the ftall;