MYSTERIOUS visitant! whose beauteous light
Among the wondering stars so strangely gleams;
Like a proud banner in the train of night,
The unblazoned flag of Deity it streams;
Infinity is written in thy beams;
And thought in vain would thro' the pathless sky
Explore thy secret course; thy circle seems
Too vast for time to grasp;-O can that eye
Which numbers hosts like thee, this atom earth descry?
O Thou, my every hope, my only fear;
Father of Lights, round whom the systems roll, With all their suns and comets, sphere on sphere, Thy all-pervading energy, the soul,
Thyself the centre of the mighty whole!
When death shall purge the film of sense away,
And truth with irresistible control
Shall seize my ravish'd mind,—that awful day
How shall my soul sustain,-that infinite survey!
Then shall I shudder at the guilty past,
And feel thy awful presence on my heart;
Was it at thee, Oh God, my sins I cast?
Oh! on my trembling soul thy mercy dart,
For now I feel how terrible thou art!
Thou wert All-present, and I saw thee not;
Thou art my bliss, and yet I said, "Depart;"
Murmured, tho' boundless mercy fixed my lot:-
And wilt thou own the soul that thee so oft forgot?
Oh wondrous thought! the high and holy One,
Inhabiting eternity, will make
The humble soul his dwelling-place; the sun
Whose rising beams on orbs innumerous break,
Does shine as much for the poor reptile's sake:
To Him is nothing great—is nothing small;
He fills a world,-he bids the insect take
His being full of bliss;-He form'd them all;
He guides the Comet's course,-He marks the sparow's fall.
Man-man, tho' in the dust his insect-birth,
Beholds his nature unto God allied,
ADAM'S DESCRIPTION OF HIS
FIRST FEELINGS.
FOR man to tell how human life began
Is hard; for who himself beginning knew?
As new-wak'd from soundest sleep
Soft on the flowery herb I found me laid
In balmy sweat, which with his beams the
Soon dried, and on the reeking moisture fed:
Straight toward Heav'n my wond'ring eyes
I turn'd,
And gaz'd awhile the ample sky, till rais'd
By quick instinctive motion up I sprung,
As thitherward endeavouring, and upright
Stood on my feet; about me round I saw
Hill, dale, and shady woods, and sunny
plains,
And liquid lapse of murm'ring streams; by
Knew not; to speak I tried, and forthwith
spake;
My tongue obeyed, and readily could name
Whate'er I saw. Thou Sun, said I, fair light,
And thou enlighten'd Earth, so fresh and gay,
Ye hills, and dales, ye rivers, woods, and
plains,
And I ye that live and move, fair creatures tell,
Tell, if ye saw, how came I thus, how here?
Not of myself; by some great Maker then,
In goodness and in power pre-eminent :
Tell me, how may I know him, how adore
From whom I have, that thus I move and
live,
And feel that I am happier than I know?
While thus I call'd, and stray'd, I knew not
From where I first drew air, and first beheld
This happy light, when answer none re-
turn'd,
On a green shady bank profuse of flowers,
Pensive I sat me down: there gentle Sleep
these Creatures that liv'd and mov'd, or walk'd First found me, and with soft oppression or flew, Birds on the branches warbling; all things My drowsed sense, untroubled, tho' I thought smil'd, I then was passing to my former state
With fragrance, and with joy my heart o'er- Insensible, and forthwith to dissolve:
ADAM AND EVE IN PARADISE.
Two of far nobler shape, erect and tall,
Godlike erect! with native honour clad
In naked majesty, seem'd lords of all:
And worthy seem'd; for in their looks di-
vine
The image of their glorious Maker shone,
Truth, wisdom, sanctitude, severe and pure;
Severe, but in true filial freedom plac'd,
Whence true authority in men: though both
Not equal, as their sex not equal seem'd :
For contemplation he, and valour form'd;
For softness she, and sweet attractive grace;
He, for God only; she for God in him.
His fair large front, and eye sublime de-
Absolute rule; and hyacinthine locks
Round from his parted forelock manly hung Clust'ring, but not beneath his shoulders broad;
She as a veil, down to the slender waist Her unadorned golden tresses wore Dishevel'd; but in graceful ringlets wav'd, As the vine curls her tendrils, which imply'd Subjection, but requir'd with gentle sway; And by her yielded, by him best receiv'd.
ADAM'S DESCRIPTION OF EVE. MILTON.
With what all Earth or Heaven could bestow
To make her amiable: on she came,
Led by her Heav'nly Maker, though unseen,
And guided by his voice.
Grace was in all her steps, Heav'n in her
In every gesture dignity and love.
Moved our first Parents in their happy
Favour'd of Heav'n so highly to fall off
WITH him his noblest sons might not compare
In godlike features and majestic air;
Not out of weakness rose his gradual frame,
Perfect from his Creator's hand he came ;
And as in form excelling, so in mind
The sire of men transcended all mankind.
A soul was in his eye, and in his speech
A dialect of heaven, no art could reach;
For oft of old, to him the ev'ning breeze
Had borne the voice of God among the trees,
Angels were wont their songs with his to
blend,
And talk with him as their familiar friend.
But deep remorse for that mysterious crime
Whose dire contagion, through elapsing time
Diffus'd the curse of death beyond control,
Had wrought such self-abasement in his soul,
That he, whose honours were approach'd by
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