But I attempt the wond'rous height in vain,
And leave unfinish'd the too lofty ftrain;
What boldly I begin, let others end;
My ftrength exhaufted, fainting I defcend,
And chufe a lefs, but no ignoble, theme,
Diffolving elements, and worlds, in flame.
The fatal period, the great hour is come,
And nature fhrinks at her approaching doom,
Loud peals of thunder give the fign, and all
Heav'n's terrors in array furround the ball;
Sharp lightnings with the meteors blaze confpire,
And, darted downward, fet the world on fire;
Black rifing clouds the thicken'd Æther choke,
And fpiry flames dart through the rolling smoke,
With keen vibrations cut the fullen night,
And ftrike the darken'd fky with dreadful light;
From heav'n's four regions, with immortal force,
Angels drive on the winds impetuous course,
'I'enrage the flame: It fpreads, it foars on high,
Swells in the ftorm, and billows through the fky:
Here winding pyramids of fire ascend,
Cities and defarts in one ruin blend;
Here blazing volumes wafted, overwhelm
The fpacious face of a far diftant realm;
There, undermin'd, down rufh eternal hills,
The neighb'ring vales the vaft deftruction fills.
Hear'ft thou that dreadful crack? that found
Like peals of thunder, and the center fhook?
What wonders must that groan of nature tell?
Olympus there, and mightier Atlas, fell;
Which feem'd above the reach of fate to stand,
A tow'ring monument of God's right hand :
Now duft and fmoke, whose brow fo lately fpread
O'er fhelter'd countries its diffufive fhade.
Shew me that celebrated spot, where all The various rulers of the fever'd ball Have humbly fought wealth, honor, and redrefs, That land which heav'n feem'd diligent to blefs, Once call'd Britannia: Can her glories end? And can't furrounding feas her realms defend ? Alas! in flames behold furrounding feas; Like oil, their waters but augment the blaze.
Some angel fay, Where ran proud Afia's bound? Or where with fruits was fair Europa crown'd? Where stretch'd waste Lybia? Where did India's ftore
Sparkle in diamonds, and her golden orc ?
Each loft in each, their mingling kingdoms glow,
And all diffolv'd, one fiery deluge flow:
Thus earth's contending monarchies are join'd,
And a full period of ambition find.
And now whate'er or fwims, or walks, or flies, Inhabitants of fea, or earth, or fkies;
All on whom Adam's wifdom fix'd a name,
All plunge, and perish in the conq'ring flame:
This globe alone would but defraud the fire, Starve its devouring rage: the flakes afpire,
And catch the clouds, and makes the heav'n their
The fun, the moon, the ftars, all melt away;
All, all is loft; no monument, no fign,
Where once fo proudly blaz'd the gay machine.
So bubbles on the foaming ftream expire,
So fparks that fcatter from the kindling fire;
The deveftations of one dreadful hour
The Great Creator's fix days work devour;
A mighty, mighty ruin! yet one foul
Has more to boast, and far outweighs the whole;
Exalted in fuperior excellence,
Cafts down to nothing, fuch a vast expence.
Have ye not feen th' eternal mountains nod,
An earth diffolving, a defcending God?
What ftrange furprifes through all nature ran?
For whom these revolutions, but for man?
For him, Omnipotence new measures takes,
For him, through all eternity awakes;
Pours on him gifts fufficient to fupply
Heav'n's lofs, and with fresh glories fill the fky.
Think deeply then, O man, how great thou art Pay thy felf homage with a trembling heart; What angels guard, no longer dare neglect, Slighting thyfelf, affront not God's refpe&t. Enter the facred temple of thy breast, And gaze, and wander there, a ravifh'd gueft;
Gaze on those hidden treasures thou fhalt find,
Wander through all the glories of thy mind.
Of perfect knowledge, fee, the dawning light
Foretels a noon moft exquifitely bright!
Here, fprings of endless joy are breaking forth!
There, buds the promise of celestial worth!
Worth, which must ripen in a happier clime,
And brighter fun, beyond the bounds of time,
Thou, minor, canst not guess thy vast estate,
What ftores, on foreign coafts, thy landing wait:
Lofe not thy claim, let virtue's paths be trod;
Thus glad all heav'n, and pleafe that bounteous God,
Who, to light thee to pleasures, hung on high
Yon radiant orb, proud regent of the sky:
That fervice done, its beams fhall fade away,
And God fhine forth in one Eternal Day.
H Life, thou nothing's younger brother!
So like, that one may take one for the other!
In all the cobwebs of the fchoolmen's trade
We no fuch nice diftinction woven fee,
As 'tis to be, or not to be.
Dream of a fhadow! a reflection made
From the falfe glories of the watry rou,
Is a more folid thing than thou. Vain weak-built ifthmus! which doft proudly rife Up between two eternities;
Yet canft not wave, nor wind fuftain,
But broken and o'erwhelm'd the oceans meet again.
And with what rare inventions do we strive,
Curfelves then to survive?
Some with vast coftly tombs would purchase it,
And by the proofs of death pretend to live.
Here lies the great-False marble where ?
Nothing but fmall and fordid duft lies there.
Some build enormous mountain palaces,
The fools and architects to please:
A lafting life in well-hewn ftone they rear:
So he who on the Egyptian fhore
Was flain fo many hundred years before,
Lives ftill (O life most happy and most dear!
O life that epicures envy to hear!)
Lives in the ruins of his amphitheatre.
Cæfar an higher place does claim
In the feraphic entity of fame:
He fince that toy his death
Does fill all mouths, and breaths in all mens breath.
-The two immortal fyllables remain;
But O! ye learned men explain,
What effence, what existence this
In fix poor letters is ?
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