For thee he dies. Beneath thy sins and mine (Horrible load!) the sinless Saviour groans, And in fierce anguish of his soul expires; Adoring angels pry with bending head, Searching the deep contrivance, and admire This infinite design. Here peace is made "Twixt God the Sovereign, and the rebel man : Here Satan, overthrown with all his hosts, In second ruin rages and despairs;
Malice itself despairs. The captive prey, Long held in slavery, hopes a sweet release; And Adam's ruin'd offspring shall revive, Thus ransom'd from the greedy jaws of death.' The fair disciple heard; her passions move Harmonious to the great discourse, and breathe Refin'd devotion: while new smiles of love Repay her teacher. Both with bended knees Read over the covenant of eternal life
Brought down to men; seal'd by the sacred Three In Heaven; and seal'd on earth with God's own blood.
Here they unite their names again, and sign Those peaceful articles. (Hail, bless'd co-heirs Celestial! ye shall grow to manly age, And spite of earth and hell, in season due Possess the fair inheritance above.) With joyous admiration they survey The gospel treasures infinite, unseen By mortal eye, by mortal ear unheard, And unconceiv'd by thought: riches divine And honours which the' Almighty Father God Pour'd with immense profusion, on his Son, High treasurer of Heaven. The Son bestows The life, the love, the blessing, and the joy,
On bankrupt mortals, who believe and love His name. Then, my Charissa, all is thine.'— 'And thine, my Mitio, (the fair saint replies.) Life, death, the world below, and worlds on high, And place, and time, are ours; and things to come, And past, and present, for our interest stands Firm in our mystic head, the title sure.
"Tis for our health and sweet refreshment (while We sojourn, strangers, here) the fruitful earth Bears plenteous; and revolving seasons still Dress her vast globe in various ornament. For us this cheerful sun and cheerful light Diurnal shine. This blue expanse of sky Hangs a rich canopy above our heads, Covering our slumbers, all with starry gold Inwrought, when night alternates her return. For us Time wears his wings out: Nature keeps Her wheels in motion: and her fabric stands. Glories, beyond our ken of mortal sight, Are now preparing, and a mansion fair Awaits us, where the Saints unbodied live. Spirits releas'd from clay, and purg'd from sin : Thither our hearts with most incessant wish Panting aspire; when shall that dearest hour Shine and release us hence, and bear us high, Bear us at once unsever'd, to our better home? O bless'd connubial state! O happy pair, Envied by yet unsociated souls
Who seek their faithful twins! your pleasures rise, Sweet as the morn, advancing as the day,
Fervent as glorious noon, serenely calm
As summer-evenings. The vile sons of earth Grovelling in dust with all their noisy jars Restless, shall interrupt your joys no more
Than barking animals affright the moon Sublime, and riding in her midnight way. Friendship and love shall undistinguish'd reign O'er all your passions with unrival'd sway, Mutual and everlasting: friendship knows No property in good, but all things common That each possesses, as the light or air
In which we breathe and live: there's not one
Can lurk in close reserve, no barriers fix'd,
But every passage open as the day
To one another's breast, and inmost mind.
Thus by communion your delight shall grow, Thus streams of mingled bliss swell higher as they flow,
[glow. Thus angels mix their flames, and more divinely
SHOULD SOVereign love before me stand, With all his train of pomp and state; And bid the daring Muse relate His comforts and his cares;
Mitio, I would not ask the sand
For metaphors to' express their weight, Nor borrow numbers from the stars: Thy cares and comforts, sovereign love Vastly outweigh the sand below, And to a larger audit grow
Than all the stars above.
Thy mighty losses and thy gains Are their own mutual measures; Only the man that knows thy pains Can reckon up thy pleasures.
Say, Damon, say how bright the scene. Damon is half-divinely bless'd,
Leaning his head on his Florella's breast,
Without a jealous thought, or busy care between: Then the sweet passions mix and share; Florella tells thee all her heart,
Nor can thy soul's remotest part
Conceal a thought or wish from the beloved fair. Say, what a pitch thy pleasures fly,
When friendship all-sincere grows up to e cstasy; Nor self contracts the bliss, nor vice pollutes the While thy dear offspring round thee sit,
Or sporting innocently at thy feet,
Thy kindest thoughts engage:
Those little images of thee,
What pretty toys of youth they be, And growning props of age!
But short is earthly bliss! the changing wind Blows from the sickly South, and brings Malignant fevers on its sultry wings,
Relentless Death sits close behind :
Now gasping infants, and a wife in tears, With piercing groans salute his ears, Through every vein the thrilling torments roll; While sweet and bitter are at strife
In those dear nurseries of life,
Those tenderest pieces of his bleeding soul.
The pleasing sense of love awhile
Mix'd with the heart-ache, may the pain beguile, And make a feeble fight:
Till sorrows like a gloomy deluge rise, Then every smiling passion dies, And hope alone with wakeful eyes, Darkling and solitary waits the slow-returning light.
Here then let my ambition rest, May I be moderately bless'd When I the laws of Love obey: Let but my pleasure and my pain In equal balance ever reign,
Or mount by turns and sink again, And share just measures of alternate sway.
So Damon lives, and ne'er complains; Scarce can we hope diviner scenes
On this dull stage of clay :
The tribes beneath the northern bear Submit to darkness half the year, Since half the year is day.
JUST AFTER MR. DRYDEN, 1700.
DRYDEN is dead. Dryden alone could sing The full grown glories of a future king. Now Glo'ster dies: thus lesser heroes live By that immortal breath that poets give ;
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