FIRE, AIR, EARTH, AND SEA, PRAISE YE THE LORD. EARTH, thou great footstool of our God, Our house, our parent, and our nurse; Fire, thou swift herald of his face, Levels a palace with the sand, Blending the lofty spires in ruin with the base: Bright arrows that his sounding quivers bear Lightnings, adore the sovereign arm that flings His vengeance, and your fires, upon the heads of kings. Thou vital element, the air, Whose boundless magazines of breath Our fainting flame of life repair, And save the bubble, man, from the cold arms of death. And ye whose vital moisture yields Life's purple stream a fresh supply; Sweet waters, wand'ring through the flowery fields, Or dropping from the sky; Confess the Power whose all-sufficient name Nor needs your aid to build, or to support our frame. Now the rude air, with noisy force, And sweep the sailors' hopes away, Vain hopes, to reach their kindred on the shores! Be still, ye floods, and know your bounds of sand, The winds are in his fist, the waves at his command. From the eternal emptiness His fruitful word, by secret springs, Drew the whole harmony of things Old Nothing knew his powerful hand, Fire, air, and earth, and sea heard the creating call, And leap'd from empty nothing to this beauteous all: And still they dance, and still obey The orders they receiv'd the great creation day. THE FAREWELL. DEAD be my heart to all below, Here I renounce my carnal taste All earthly joys are overweigh'd Be gone for ever, mortal things! Then mighty molehill, earth, farewell! Angels aspire on lofty wings, And leave the globe for ants to dwell. Come, heaven, and fill my vast desires, My soul pursues the sovereign good: She was all made of heavenly fires, Nor can she live on meaner food. GOD ONLY KNOWN TO HIMSELF. STAND, and adore! how glorious he We gaze, and we confound our sight Plung'd in the abyss of dazzling light. Thus sacred One, almighty Three, What lofty numbers shall we frame Seraphs, the nearest to the throne, Begin, and speak the great Unknown: Attempt the song, wind up your strings, To notes untry'd, and boundless things. You whose capacious powers survey Is seen, or known, or thought, by you! How flat your highest praises fall Weak creatures we, that strive in vain Great God, forgive our feeble lays, PARDON AND SANCTIFICATION. My crimes awake; and hideous fear Guilt meets my eyes with horrid glare, Almighty vengeance frowns on high, And flames array the throne; While thunder murmurs round the sky, Impatient to be gone. |