Let none henceforth of providence complain, night; As if the world of spirits lay unknown, Fenc'd round with black impenetrable [thence What tho' no shining angel darts from With leave to publish things conceal'd from sense, 「told, In language bright as theirs, we are here When life its narrow round of years hath roll'd, What 'tis employs the bless'd, what makes their bliss; Songs such as WATTS's are, and love like his. But then, dear Sir, be cautious how you use [muse, To transports so intensely rais'd your Lest, whilst th' ecstatic impulse you obey, The soul leapout, and drop the dullerclay. Sept. 4, 1706. HENRY GROVE. ww TO DR. WATTS. On the fifth Edition of his Horæ Lyrica. "SOVEREIGN of sacred verse; accept the lays [praise, Of a young bard that dares attempt thy A muse, the meanest of the vocal throng, New to the bays, nor equal to the song, Fir'd with the growing glories of thyfame, Joins all her powersto celebrate thyname. No vulgar themes thy pious muse engage, No scenes of lust pollute thy sacred page. You in majestic numbers mount the skies, And meet descending angels as you rise, Whose just applauses charm the crowded Sic spirat, sic optat Tui amantissimus BRITANNICUS. BOOK 1.-Sacred to Devotion and Piety. Worshipping with Fear. 1 WHO dares attempt th' eternal name With notes of mortal sound? Whilst the young notes and vent'rous Dangers and glories guard the theme, 2 If thou my daring flight forbid And spread despair around. 2 Destruction waits t' obey his frown, Celestial King, our spirits lie, 4 When shall we see the Great Unknown, 6 Angels are lost in sweet surprise 7 When mercy joins with majesty • Thy works the strongest seraph sings 9 Created powers, how weak they be! Asking Leave to Sing. 1 YET, mighty God, indulge my tongue, Nor let thy thunders roar, song To worlds of glory soar. The muse folds up her wings; Or at thy word her slender reed Attempts almighty things. 3 Her slender reed inspir'd by thee Bids a new Eden grow, With blooming life on every tree, And spreads a heav'n below. Dress thee in steel to meet his wrath; His sharp artillery from the north Shall pierce thee to the soul, and shake thy mortal frame. Sublime on winter's rugged wings And scatters fate on swains and kings; So roses grow on thorns, and honey wears a sting. Grow pale; and, quivering at his 2 In vain we seek a heaven below the dreadful cold, Give their own blasphemies the lie. sky; The world has false, but flatt'ring charms; Its distant joys show big in our esteem, When the hot dog-star fires the realms on high, 4 The mischiefs that infest the earth, Drought and disease, and cruel Are but the flashes of a wrathful eye In vain our parching palates thirst, For vital food in vain we cry, The verdant fields are burnt to dust, You deal yourvarious plagues abroad. • Hail, whirlwinds, hurricanes and floods That all the leafy standards strip, And bear down with a mighty sweep The riches of the fields, and honours of the woods; Storms, that ravage o'er the deep, And bury millions in the waves; Earthquakes, that in midnight-sleep Turn cities into heaps, and make our beds our graves! While you dispense your mortal harms, 'Tis the Creator's voice that sounds your loud alarms, When guilt with louder cries provokes a God to arms. O for a message from above To bear my spirits up! But lessen still as they draw near the eye; In our embrace the visions die, 3 Earth, with her scenes of gay delight, For fools to gaze upon; nigh, Coarse and confus'd the hideous figures lie, Dissolve the pleasure, and offend the eye. 4 Look up, my soul, pant toward th' eternal hills; Those heav'ns are fairer than they seem; There pleasures all sincere glide on in crystal rills, There not a dreg of guilt defiles, Nor grief disturbs the stream. ThatCanaan knows no noxious thing, No curs'd soil, no tainted spring, Nor roses grow on thorns, nor honey wearsa sting. Or round this dusty clod; Nothing, mysoul, that's worth thy joys, • Or lovely as thy God. 3 'Tis heav'n on earth to taste his love, 4 Why move my years in slow delay? O God of ages! why? Let the spherescleave, and makemyway 5 Dear sov'reign, break these vital strings God's Dominion and Decrees. 1 KEEP silence, all created things, And wait your Maker's nod: The muse stands trembling while she sings The honours of her God. 2 Life, death, and hell, and worlds un known Hang on his firm decree : . He sits on no precarious throne, 3 'Th' almighty voice bid ancient night 4 Now wisdom with superior sway 5 He spake: The sun obedient stood, 6 Lord of the armies of the sky, 7 Chain'd to his throne a volume lies, 8 His providence unfolds the book, 9 Here he exalts neglected worms 10 Not Gabriel asks the reason why, 11 My God, I never long'd to see What gloomy lines are writ for me, Or what bright scenes shall rise. 12 In thy fair book of life and grace May I but find my name, Recorded in some humble place Beneath my Lord the Lamb. Self-Consecration. 1 IT grieves me, Lord, it grieves me sore, That I have lived to thee no more, And wasted half my days; Myinward pow'rs shall burn and flame, With zeal and passion for thy name, I would not speak, but for my God, nor move, but to his praise. 2 What are my eyes but aids to see The glories of the deity Inscrib'd with beams of light 3 Mine ears are rais'd when Virgil sings And yet my heart so stupid lie when 4 Change me, O God; my flesh shall be chime, My cheerful pulse shall beat the time, And sweet variety of sound shall in thy praise conspire. 5 The dearest nerve about my heart, Should it refuse to bear a part, With my melodious breath, I'd tear away the vital cord, A bloody victim to my Lord, And live without that impious string, or shew my zeal in death. The Creator and Creatures. 1 GOD is a name my soul adores, 2 From thy great self thy being springs: 3 Thyvoice produc'd the seas and spheres, 4 Still restless nature dies and grows; From change to change the creatures run: Thy being no succession knows, 5 A glance of thine runs thro' the globes, Broad sheets of light composethyrobes; • Thrones and dominions round theefall, 2 Those mighty orbs proclaim thy pow'r, 4 But when we view thy strange design 5 Our thoughts are lost in reverend awe; Who can approach consuming flame? 6 Here the whole Deity is known, The Nativity of Christ. 1 " SHEPHERDS, rejoice, lift up your eyes, And send your fears away; 2 Jesus, the God whom angels fear, a No gold, nor purple swaddling bands, 4 Go, shepherds, where the infant lies, 5 Thus Gabriel sang, and straight around 6 "Glory to God that reigns above, Lord! and shall angels have theirsongs, • Glory to God that reigns above, We join to sing our Maker's love, God glorious, and sinners saved. Nor dares a creature guess 7 When sinners broke the Father's laws, 9 O may I bear some humble part The humble enquiry. A French sonnet imitated, 1695. 1 GRACE rules below, and sits enthron'd And drop and die in boundless seas of 2 But me, vile wretch! should pitying And flash and burn me thro' the 3 Yea, Lord, my guilt to such a vastness throne. 4 Thine honour bids, "Avenge thy in- 1 FATHER, how wide thy glory shines! 5 Should heav'n grow black, almighty How high thy wonders rise! Known thro' the earth by thousand signs, By thousand thro' the skies. thunder roar, And vengeance blast me, I could plead no more, But own thy justice dying, and adore. |