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Poor he became, and left his glorious feat,
To make us humble, and to make us great:
His bus'nefs here was happiness to give

To those, whose malice could not let him live.
Legions of Angels, which he might have us'd,
(For us refolv'd to perish) he refus'd:

While they ftood ready to prevent his lofs,
Love took him up, and nail'd him to the Crofs.
Immortal love! which in his bowels reign'd,
That we might be by fuch great love constrain'd
To make return of love: upon this Pole
Our duty does, and our religion, rowl.
To love is to believe, to hope, to know;
'Tis an effay, a tafte, of heav'n below!

He to proud potentates would not be known; Of those that lov'd him, he was hid from none. 'Till love appear, we live in anxious doubt;

But fmoke will vanifh, when that flame breaks out:
This is the fire that would confume our drofs,
Refine, and make us richer by the lofs.

Could we forbear difpute, and practise love,
We should agree, as Angels do above;
Where love prefides: not vice alone does find
No entrance there, but virtues ftay behind:
Both faith, and hope, and all the meaner train
Of moral virtues, at the door remain.
Love only enters, as a native there;
For, born in heav'n, it does but fojourn here.

He that alone would wife, and mighty, be,
Commands that others love, as well as he.
Love as he lov'd! - How can we foar fo high?
He can add wings, when he commands to fly.

Nor

Nor should we be with this command dismay'd;
He that examples gives, will give his aid:
For, he took flesh, that where his precepts fail,
His practice, as a pattern, may prevail.

His love at once, and dread, inftruct our thought;
As man he fuffer'd, and as GoD he taught.
Will, for the deed, he takes; we may with ease
Obedient be, for if we love, we please.

Weak tho' we are, to love is no hard task
And love for love is all that heav'n does ask.
Love! that would all men juft, and temp'rate, make,
Kind to themselves, and others, for his fake.

'Tis with our minds, as with a fertil ground; Wanting this love, they must with weeds abound, (Unruly paffions) whofe effects are worse Than thorns, and thistles, springing from the curfe.

CANTO IV.

O glory man, or mifery, is born;

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Of his proud foe the envy, or the scorn:: Wretched he is, or happy, in extreme; Base in himself, but great in heav'n's esteem: With love, of all created things the best: Without it, more pernicious than the reft. For, greedy wolves unguarded. sheep devour But while their hunger lafts, and then give o'er: Man's boundless avarice his want exceeds, And on his neighbours, round about him, feeds. His pride, and vain ambition, are so vaft, That, deluge-like, they lay whole nations waste :

Debauches

Debauches, and excess (tho' with less noise)
As great a portion of mankind destroys.
The beasts, and monsters, HERCULES oppreft,
Might, in that age, fome provinces infest:
These more deftructive monfters are the bane
Of ev'ry age, and in all nations reign:
But foon would vanish, if the world were blefs'd
With facred love, by which they are repress'd.

Impendent death, and guilt that threatens hell, Are dreadful guests, which here with mortals dwell; And a vex'd confcience, mingling with their joy Thoughts of defpair, does their whole life annoy: But, love appearing, all those terrors fly;

We live contented, and contented die.

They in whose breast this facred love has place,
Death, as a paffage to their joy, embrace.
Clouds, and thick vapors, which obscure the day,
The fun's victorious beams may chafe away;
Those which our life corrupt, and darken, love
(The nobler ftar!) muft from the foul remove.
Spots are obferv'd in that which bounds the year;
This brighter fun moves in a boundless sphere:
Of heav'n the joy, the glory, and the light;
Shines among Angels, and admits no night.

CANTO

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HIS iron age, (fo fraudulent, and bold!)
Touch'd with this love, would be an age of gold:
Not, as they feign'd, that oaks fhould honey drop,
Or land neglected bear an unfown crop:

Love would make all things eafy, fafe, and cheap;
None for himself would either fow, or reap:
Our ready help, and mutual Love, would yield
A nobler harvest, than the richest field.
Famine, and death, confin'd to certain parts,
Extended are by barrennefs of hearts.
Some pine for want, where others furfeit now;
But then we should the ufe of Plenty know.
Love would betwixt the rich, and needy, ftand';
And spread heav'n's bounty with an equal hand :
At once the givers, and receivers, bless;
Increase their joy, aud make their fuff'rings lefs.
Who for himself no miracle would make,
Difpens'd with fev'ral for the people's fake:
He that, long fafting, would no wonder show,
Made loaves, and fishes, as they eat them, grow.
Of all his pow'r, which boundless was above,
Here he us'd none, but to express his love:
And fuch a love would make our joy exceed,
Not when our own, but other mouths, we feed.
Laws would be useless, which rude nature awe;
Love, changing nature, would prevent the law:
Tigers, and lions, into dens we thrust;

But milder creatures with their freedom trust.

Devils are chain'd, and tremble: but the Spouse
No force, but love, nor bond, but bounty, knows.

Men,

Men, (whom we now fo fierce, and dang'rous fee)
World guardian Angels to each other be:

Such wonders can this mighty love perform;
Vultures to doves, wolves into lambs transform!
Love, what ISAIAH prophefy'd, can do,
Exalt the valleys, lay the mountains low;
Humble the lofty, the dejected raise,

Smooth, and make straight, our rough and crooked ways.
Love, ftrong as death, and like it, levels all;
With that poffeft, the great in title fall:
Themselves efteem but equal to the least,
Whom heav'n with that high character has bleft.
This love, the centre of our union, can
Alone beftow complete repose on man:
Tame his wild appetite, make inward peace,
And foreign ftrife among the nations cease.
No martial trumpet should disturb our rest,
Nor Princes arm, tho' to fubdue the east ;
Where, for the Tomb, fo many Heroes (taught
By those that guided their devotion) fought.
Thrice-happy we, could we like ardor have
To gain his love, as they to win his grave!
Love as he lov'd! A love fo unconfin'd,
With arms extended, would embrace mankind.
Self-love would cease, or be dilated, when
We should behold as many felfs, as men:
All of one family, in blood ally'd,

His pretious blood, that for our ransom dy'd!

CANTO

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