Infult the banish'd Wanderer: On the goes
Neglected and forlorn: Difeafe, and Cold,
And Famine, worst of Ills, her Steps attend:
Yet patient, and to Heav'ns juft Will refign'd,
She ne'er is feen to weep, or heard to figh.
Now turn your Eyes to yon fweet-fmelling Bow'r, Where flush'd with all the Infolence of Wealth Sits pamper'd Vice! for him the Arabian Gale Breathes forth delicious Odours; Gallia's Hills For him pour Nectar from the purple Vine; Nor think for thefe he pays the Tribute due To Heav'n: Of Heaven he never names the Name, Save when with Imprecations dark and dire He points his Jeft obfcene. Yet buxom Health Sits on his rofy Cheek; yet Honour gilds His high Exploits; and downy-pinion'd Sleep Sheds a foft Opiate o'er his peaceful Couch,
See'ft thou this, righteous Father! See't thou this,
And wilt thou ne'er repay? Shall Good and Ill
Be carried undiftinguish'd to the Land
Where all Things are forgot ;-Ah! no; the Day
Will come, when Virtue from the Cloud fhall burst
That long obfcur'd her Beams; when Sin fhall fly
Back to her native Hell; there fink eclips'd
In penal Darkness; where no Star shall rise,
Nor ever Sunshine pierce th' impervious Gloom.
N that great Day the folemn Trump shall found,
(That Trump which once in Heaven, on Man's Revolt
Convok'd th' aftonish'd Seraphs ;) at whose Voice
Th' unpeopled Graves fhall pour forth all their Dead.
Then fhall th' affembled Nations of the Earth
From ev'ry Quarter at the Judgment Seat
Unite; Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks,
Parthians; and they who dwell on Tyber's Banks,
Names fam'd of old: or who of later Age,
Chinese and Ruffian, Mexican and Turk,
Tenant the wide Terrene; and they who pitch
Their Tents on Niger's Banks; or where the Sun
Pours on Golconda's Spires his early Light,
Drink Ganges' facred Stream. At once fhall rife
Whom diftant Ages to each others Sight
Had long denied: Before the Throne shall kneel
Some great Progenitor, while at his Side
Stands his Defcendant through a thousand Lines.
Whate'er their Nation, and whate'er their Rank,
Heroes and Patriarchs, Slaves and sceptered Kings,
With equal Eye the God of All shall fee,
And judge with equal Love.
OW fhall the Mufe, her Numbers all too weak,
Tell how that reftlefs Element of Fire
wage with Seas and Earth inteftine War, And deluge all Creation? Whether (fo
Some think) the Comet, as thro' Fields of Air
Lawless he wanders, fhall rush headlong on,
Thwarting th' Ecliptic where th' unconscious Earth
Rolls in her wonted Courfe; whether the Sun
With Force centripetal into his Orb
Attract her long reluctant; or the Caves,
Thofe dread Volcanos where ungend'ring lye
Sulphureous Minerals, from their dark Abyss
Pour Streams of liquid Fire; while from above,
As erft on Sodom, Heav'n's averging Hand
Rains fierce Cumbustion.-
Of Art, the Toil of Ages? Where are now
Th' Imperial Cities, Sepulchres, and Domes,
Trophies and Pillars? Where is Egypt's Boaft,
Those lofty Pyramids which high in Air
Rear'd their aspiring Heads, to distant Times
Of Memphian Pride, a lafting Monument?
Tell me where Athens rais'd her Towers ?-Where
Thebes
Open'd her hundred Portals ?—Tell me where
*Stood Sea-girt Albion ?—Where Imperial Rome
Propt by feven Hills, fat like a scepter'd Queen,
And aw'd the tributary World to Peace?
Shew me the Rampart, which o'er many a Hill
Thro' many a Valley ftretch'd its wide Extent,
Rais'd by that mighty Monarch, to repel
The roving Tartar, when with Infult rude
'Gainft Pekin's Towers he bent th' unerring Bow.
But what is mimic Art? ev'n Nature's Works, Seas, Meadows, Paftures, the meand'ring Streams, And everlasting Hills shall be no more.
No more fhall Teneriff cloud-piercing Height
O'er-hang th' Atlantic Surge.-Nor that fam'd Cliff
Thro' which the Perfian fteer'd with many a Sail
Throw to the Lemnian Isle its Evening Shade
O'er half the wide Ægean -Where's Ararat,
That Hill on which the faithful Patriarch's Ark,
Which seven long Months had voyag'd o'er its Top,
First rested, when the Earth with all her Sons,
As now by streaming Cataracts of Fire,
Was whelm'd by mighty Waters ?—All at once
Are vanish'd and diffolv'd; no Trace remains,
No Mark of vain Distinction: Heaven itfelf
That azure Vault with all those radiant Orbs
Sinks in the universal Ruin loft-
No more fhall Planets round their central Sun
Move in harmonious Dance; no more the Moon
Hang out her Silver Lamp; and those fix'd Stars
Spangling the golden Canopy of Night,
Which oft the Tufcan with his optic Glass
Call'd from their wond'rous Height, to read their
Names
And magnitude, fome winged Minister
Shall quench; and (surest Sign that all on Earth Is loft) fhail rend from Heaven the myftic Bow.
Such is that awful, that tremendous Day, Whofe Coming who shall tell? for as a Thief Unheard, unfeen, it steals with filent Pace Thro' Night's dark Gloom.-Perhaps as here I fit, And rudely carol these incondite Lays,
Soon fhall the Hand be check'd, and dumb the Mouth That lifps the fault'ring Strain.-O! may it ne'er Intrude unwelcome on an ill-spent Hour;
But find me wrapt in Meditations high,
Hymning my great Creator!
"O everlasting King! to Thee I kneel,
"To Thee I lift my Voice. With fervent Heat "Melt all ye Elements! And Thou, high Heaven, "Shrink, lik a fhrivell'd Scroll! But think, O "Lord,
"Think on the best, the nobleft of thy Works ; "Think on thine own bright Image! Think on "Him
"Who dy'd to fave us from thy righteous Wrath; "And 'midft the Wreck of Worlds remember "Man."
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