A change fo fad what mortal here could bear?
Exhaufted woe had left him nought to fear;
But gave him all to grief. Low earth he preft,
Wept in the dust, and forely fmote his breast,
His friends around the deep affliction mourn'd,
15

Felt all his pangs, and groan for groan return'd;
In anguith of their hearts their mantles rent,
And feven long days in folemn filence spent ;
A debt of reverence to diftrefs fo great!
Then Job contain'd no more; but curs'd his fate.

50

A dreadful voice, and thus th' Almighty fpoke:
Who pives his tongue a loofe fo bold and vain,
Cenfures my conduct, and réproves my reign;
Lifts up his thought against me from the duft, 45
And tells the World's Creator what is juft?
Of late fo brave, now lift a dauntless eye,
Face my demand, and give it a reply:
Where didft Thou dwell at nature's early birth?
Who laid foundations for the fpacious earth?
Who on its furface did extend the line,
Its form determine, and its bulk confine ?
Who fix'd the corner-ftone? What hand, declare,
Hung it on nought, and faften'd it on air;
When the bright morning ftars in concert fung,
When heaven's high arch with loud hofaunahs
rung,
56
When shouting fons of God the triumph crown'd,
And the wide concave thunder'd with the found?
Earth's numerous kingdoms, haft Thou view'd
them all?

And can thy span of knowledge grafp the ball? 60

Who heav'd the mountain, which fublimely ftands, And cafts its fhadow into diftant lands?

65

Who, fretching forth his fceptre o'er the deep, Can that wide world in due fubjection keep? I broke the globe, I fcoop'd its hollow fide, And did a bafon for the floods provide ; I chain'd them with my word; the Loiling fea, Work'd up in tempefts hears my great decree; "Thus far, thy floating tide fhall be convey'd ; "And here, O main, be thy proud billows stay'd" 70

Haft thou explor'd the fecrets of the deep, Where, fhut from ufe, unnumber'd treafures fleep?

Where down a thousand fathoms from the day,
Springs the great fountain, mother of the fea?
Thefe gloomy paths did thy bold foot e'er tread,
Whole worlds of waters rolling o'er thy head?
Hath the cleft centre open'd wide to Thee?
Death's inmoft chambers didit Thou ever fee?
E'er knock at his tremendous gate, and wade
To the black portal through th' incumbent fhade?
Deep are thofe fhades; but fhades ftill deeper

Are mifts begotten? Who their father knew? From whom defcend the pearly drops of dew? To bind the ftream by night, what hand can boaft,

Or whiten morning with the hoary froft
Whofe powerful breath, from northern regions
blown,

Touches the fea, and turns it into flone?
A fudden defart fpreads o'er realms defic'd, 95
And lays one half of the creation waste?

Thou know'ft Me not; thy blindness cannot
fee

How vaft a distance parts thy God from Thee.
Canft thou in whirlwinds mount aloft? Canft
Thou

In clouds and darkness wrap thy awful brow;
And, when day triumphs in meridian light,
Put forth thy hand, and fhade the world with
night?

Who launch'd the clouds in air, and bid them
roll

125

Rage through the world, or waste a guilty land.
Who taught the rapid winds to fly fo falt,
Or shakes the centre with his eaftern blaft?
Who from the skies can a whole deluge pour?
Who ftrikes through nature with the folemn roar
Of dreadful thunder, points it where to fail,
And in fierce lightning wraps the flying ball? 130
Not he who trembles at the darted fires,
Falls at the found, and in the flash expires.

Who drew the Comet out to fuch a fize,
And pour'd his flaming train o'er half the fkies?
Did thy refentment hang him out? Does he
Glare on the nation, and denoune, from Thee?
Who on low earth can moderate the rain,
That guides the fars along th' ethereal plain?
Appoint their feafons, and direct their courte,
Their luftre brighten, and fupply their force?
Canfthon the fkies benevolence reftrain,,
And cause the Pleiades to fine in vain;

145

Or, when Orion fparkles from his fphere,
Thaw the cold feafon, and unbind the year;
Bid Mazzaroth his deftin'd station know,
And teach the bright Arcturus where to glow?
Mine is the night, with all her ftars; I pour
Myriads, and myriads I referve in store.

Doft Thou pronounce where day-light fhall be born,

And draw the purple curtain of the morn ; 150
Awake the fun, and bid him come away,
And glad thy world with his obfequious ray?
Haft Thou, inthron'd in flaming glory, driven
Triumphant round the fpacious ring of heaven?
That pomp of light, what hand so far displays,
That diftant earth lies basking in the blaze? 156
Who did the foul with her rich powers invest,
And light up reafon in the human breaft?
To fhine, with fresh increaft of luftre bright,
When ftars and fun are fet in endless night? 160
To thefe my various questions make reply.
Th' Almighty spoke; and, fpeaking, Thook the
fky.

What then, Chaldæan Sire, thy furprize! Thus hou, with trembling heart and down- caft

"My voice is in eternal filence bound, "And all my foul falls proftrate to the ground." He ceas'd: When, lo again th' Almighty fpoke;

The fame dread voice from the black whirlwind broke.

Can that arm measure with an arm divine? And canft Thou thunder with a voice like Mine; Or in the hollow of thy hand contain The bulk of waters, the wide-fpreading main, When, mad with tempefts, all the billows rife In all their rage, and dash the distant skies? 176 Come forth, in beauty's excellence array'd; And be the grandeur of thy power difplay'd; Put on omnipotence, and, frowning, make The fpacious round of the creation fhake; Dispatch thy vengeance, bid it overthrow Triumphant vice, lay lofty tyrants low, And crumble them to duft. When this is done, I grant thy fafety lodg'd in Thee alone; Of Thee Thou art, and mayft undaunted ftand, Behind the buckler of thine own right-hand.

180

Fond man! the vifion of a moment made! Dream of a dream! and fhadow of a fhade! What worlds haft thou produ'd, what creatures fram'd:

What infects cherifh'd, that thy God is blam'd? When pain'd with hunger, the wild Raven's brood

191

An Eagle drops her in a lower sky;
An Eagle, when, deserting human fight,
She feeks the fun in her unweary'd flight:
Did thy command her yellow pinion lift,
So high in air, and fet her on the clift,
Where far above thy world fhe dwells alone, 225
And proudly makes the ftrength of rocks her

Didft thou from service the wild-Ass discharge, And break his bonds, and bid him live at large, 250

Through the wide wafte, his ample manfion,

roam,

And lofe himself in his unbounded home?

By nature's hand magnificently fed,

His meal is on the range of mountains spread; As in pure air aleft he bounds along,

260

He fees in diftant finoke the city throng;
Confcious of freedom, fcorns the fmother'd train,
The threatening driver, and the fervile rein.
Survey the warlike Horfe! didft Thou inveft
With thunder his robuft diftended cheft?
No fenfe of fear his dauntlefs foul allays;
'Tis dreadful to behold his noftrils blaze;
To paw the vale he proudly takes delight,
And triumphs in the fulness of his might;
High-rais'd he fnuffs the battle from afar,
And burns to plunge amid the raging war;
And mocks at death, and throws his foam
around,

265

And in a ftorm of fury fhakes the ground.
How does his firm, his rifing heart, advance
Full on the brandifh'd fword, and fhaken lance;
While his fix'd eye balls meet the dazzling field,
Gaze, and return the lightning of the field!
He finks the fenfe of pain in generous pride,
Nor feels the fhaft that trembles in his fide;
But neighs to the fhrill trumpet's dreadful blaft
Till death; and when he groans, he groans his

lat.

276

280

But, fiercer ftill, the lordly Lion ftalks,
Grimly majeftic in his lonely walks ;
When round he glares, all living creatures fly;
He clears the defart with his rolling eye.
Say mortal, does he roufe at thy command,
And roar to Thee, and live upon thy hand ?
Doft thou for him in forefts bend thy bow,
And to his gloomy den the morfel throw.
Where bent on death lie hid his tawny brood 285
And couch'd in dreadful ambush, rant for blood;
Or, ftretch'd on broken limbs, confume the day,
In darkness wrapt, and flumber o'er their prey?
By the pale moon they take their deftin'd round,
And lafh their fides, and furious tear the ground.
Now fhricks and dying groans the defart fill;
They rage, they rend; their ravenous jaws diftil
With crimson foam; and, when the banquet's
o'er,

They ftride away, and paint their steps with gore;
In flight alone the fhepherd puts his truft,
And hudders at the talon in the duft.

225

Mild is my Behemoth, though large his frame; Smooth is his temper, and repreft his flame, While unprovok'd. This native of the flood Lifts his broad foot, and puts afhore for food;"3c0 Earth finks beneath him, as he moves along To feek the herbs, and mingle with the throng. See with what ftrength his harden'd loins are bound,

All over proof and shut against a wound.
How like a mountain cedar moves his tail! 305
Nor can his complicated finews fail.
Built high and wide, his folid bones furpafs
The bars of steel; his ribs are ribs of brafs ;
His port majestic and his armed jaw

Give the wide forest, and the mountain, law. 310 The mountains feed him; there the beafts admire

The mighty ftranger, and in dread retire,
At length his greatnefs nearer they survey,
Graze in his fhadow, and his eye obey.
The fens and marshes are his cool retreat,
His noontide fhelter from the burning heat;

315

And the bowl journey round his ample fize? Or the debating merchants fhare the prey, And various limbs to various marts convey? 1hrough his firm skull what feel its way can win?

340

335 What forceful engine can subdue his skin ? Fly far, and live; tempt not his matchlefs might : The braveft fhrink to cowards in his fight; The rafheft dare not rouse him up: Who then Shall turn on Me, among the fons of men? Am I a debtor? Haft thou ever heard Whence come the gifts that are on Me conferr'd? My lavish fruit a thoufand valleys fills," And Mine the herds that graze a thousand hills: Earth, fea, and air, all nature is my own; 345, And ftars and fun are duft beneath my throne.. And dar'st Thou with the World's great Father vye,

Thou, who doft tremble at my creature's eye? At full my lage Leviathan fhall rife,

Boaft all his ftrength, and spread his wondrous, fize.

350

What hideous fangs on either fide arife!
And what a deep abyfs between them lies!
Mete with thy lance, and with thy plumbet
Lound,

The one how long, the other how profound. 350
His bulk is charg'd with fuch a furious foul,
That clouds of imoke from his fpread noftrils roll,
As from a furnace; and, when rous'd his ire,
Fate iffues from his jaws in ftreams of fire.
The rage of tempefts, and the roar of feas, 365
Thy terror, this thy great Superior pleafe;
Strength on his ample fhoulder fits in state;
His well-join'd limbs are dreadfully complete;
His fakes of folid flefh are flow to part;
As feel his nerves, as adamant his heart.
When, late awak'd, he rears him from the
foods,

370

And, ftretching forth his ftature to the clouds, 20 2

Each rifing agony, each dreadful grace,
Yet warm tranfplanting to his Saviour's face.
Oh glorious theft! oh nobly wicked draught!
With its full charge of death each leature fraught:
Such wondrous force the magic colours boat,
From his own fkill he ftarts in horror loft.

His paftimes like a cauldron boit the flood, And blacken ocean with the rifing mud; The billows feel him, as he works his way; His hoary footfteps thine along the sea ; The foam high-wrought with white divides the green,

390

And diftant failors point where death has been.

305

His like earth bears not on her spacious face; Alone in nature ftands his dauntless race, For utter ignorance of fear renown'd, In wrath he rolls his baleful eye around: Makes every fwoln, difdainful heart, fubfide," And holds dominion o'er the fons of pride.

400

Then the Chaldæan eas'd his labouring breast, With full conviction of his crime oppreft. "Thou canst accomplish All things, Lord of Might:

"And every thought is naked to Thy fight. "But, oh! Thy ways are wonderful, and lie "Beyond the deepest reach of mortal eye. "Oft have I heard of Thine Almighty Power; "But never faw Thee till this dreadful hour. 406 "O'erwhelm'd with fhame, the Lord of life I fee,

"Abhor myfelf, and give my foul to Thee Ner fhall my weaknefs tempt Thine anger

more:

TO MR. ADDISON,

ON

THE TRAGEDY OF CATO. THAT do we feel is Cato then become A greater name in Britain chan in Rume? Does mankind no admire his virtues more. Though Lucan, Horace, Virgil, wrote before? How will pofterity this truth explain? "Cato begins to live in \nna's reign," The world's great chiefs, in council or in arms, Rife in your lines with more exalted charms; Illuftrious deeds in diftant nations wrought, And virtues by departed heroes taught, Raife in your foul a pure immortal flame, Adorn your life, and confecrate your fame; To your renown all ages you fubdue, And Cæfar fought, and Cato bled for you.

HISTORICAL EPILOGUE

A

TO THE BROTHERS.

A TRAGEDY.

N Epilogue, through custom, is your right, But ne er perhaps was needful till this night: To-night the virtuous falls, the guilty flies, Guilt's dreadful clofe our narrow fcene denies. What ample vengeance gluts Demetrius fhade; In hiftory's authentic record read Vengeance fo great, that when his tale is told, With pity fome ev'n Perfeus may be hold.

Perfeus furviv'd, indeed, and fill'd the throne, But ceafelefs cares in conqueft made him groan: Nor reign'd he long; from Rome fwift thunder flew,

And headlong from his throne the tyrant threw: Thrown headlong down, by Rome in triumph

led,

For this night's deed his perjur'd bofom bled: His brother's ghost each moment made him start, And all his father's anguifh rent his heart.

When, rob'd in black, his children round him
hung,

And their rais'd arms in early forrow wrung;
The younger fail'd, unconfcious of their woe;
At which thy tears, O Rome! began to flow;
So fad the fcene! What then muft Perfeus feel,
To fee Jove's race attend the victor's wheel:
To fee the flaves of his worst foes increate,
From fuch a fource! An emperors embrace!
He ficken'd foon to death; and what is worfe,
He well defer'd, and felt, the coward's curfe;