"Tear me from quiet, ravish me from night, '
"And make a thankless present of thy light?
"Push into being a reverse of Thee,
"And animate a clod with misery?

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“The beasts are happy; they come forth, and keep 170 "Short watch on earth, and then lie down to fleep. "Pain is for man; and oh! how vast a pain "For crimes, which made the God-head bleed in vain ? "Annull'd his groans, as far as in them lay, "And flung his agonies, and death, away? "As our dire punishment for ever strong, "Our conftitution too for ever young. "Curs'd with returns of vigour, still the same "Powerful to bear, and fatisfy the flame : "Still to be caught, and ftill to be pursued! "To perifh ftill, and ftill to be renew'd!

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"And this, My Help! My God! at thy decree? "Nature is chang'd, and bell should fuccour me.

"And canft Thou then look down from perfect blifs,

"And fee me plunging in the dark abyss ?

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<< Calling Thee Father, in a fea of fire?
"Or pouring blafphemies at Thy defire ?
"With mortals anguish wilt Thou raise Thy name,
"And by my pangs omnipotence proclaim?

"Thou, who canft tofs the planets to and fro, 190 "Contract not Thy great vengeance to my woe; "Crush worlds; in hotter flames fall'n angels lay; "On me Almighty wrath is cast away.

"Call back Thy thunders, Lord, hold-in Thy rage, "Nor with a speck of wretchedness engage:

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"Forget

"Forget me quite, nor ftoop a worm to blame;
"But lofe me in the greatness of Thy name.
"Thou art all Love, all Mercy, all Divine,
“And shall I make those glories cease to shine?
"Shall finful man grow great by his offence,
"And from its course turn back Omnipotence?
"Forbid it! and oh! grant, Great God, at least
"This one, this flender, almost no request;
"When I have wept a thousand lives away,
"When torment is grown weary of its prey,
"When I have rav'd ten thousand years in fire,
"Ten thousand thousand, let me then expire."

Deep anguish! but too late; the hopeless foul
Bound to the bottom of the burning pool,
Though loth, and ever loud blafpheming, owns
He's justly doom'd to pour eternal groans;
Enclos'd with horrors, and transfix'd with pain,
Rolling in vengeance, struggling with his chain :
To talk to fiery tempests; to implore
The raging flame to give its burnings o'er;
To tofs, to writhe, to pant beneath his load,
And bear the weight of an offended GOD.

The favour'd of their Judge in triumph move,
To take poffeffion of their thrones above;
Satan's accurs'd desertion to supply,

And fill the vacant stations of the sky;
Again to kindle long-extinguifh'd rays,

And with new lights dilate the heavenly blaze;

Το crop the roses of immortal youth,

And drink the fountain-head of facred truth;
To swim in feas of blifs, to strike the string,

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And lift the voice to their Almighty KING;

To lofe eternity in grateful lays,

And fill heaven's wide circumference with praise.
But I attempt the wondrous height in vain,

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And leave unfinish'd the too lofty strain :
What boldly I begin, let others end;
My strength exhaufted, fainting I defcend,
And chufe a lefs, but no ignoble, theme,
Diffolving elements, and worlds, in flame.

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The fatal period, the great hour, is come, And nature shrinks at her approaching doom; Loud peals of thunder give the fign, and all Heaven's terrors in array furround the ball; Sharp lightnings with the meteors blaze confpire, 240 And, darted downward, fet the world on fire; Black rifing clouds the thicken'd Æther choke, And spiry flames dart through the rolling smoke, With keen vibrations cut the fullen night, And strike the darken'd sky with dreadful light; From heaven's four regions, with immortal force, Angels drive on the wind's impetuous course, T'enrage the flame: It fpreads, it foars on high, Swells in the ftorm, and billows through the sky: Here winding pyramids of fire afcend, Cities and defarts in one ruin blend;

Here blazing volumes wafted, overwhelm

The fpacious face of a far diftant realm ;

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There,

There, undermin'd, down rush eternal hills,

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The neighbouring vales the vast destruction fills. Hear'ft thou that dreadful crack that found which

broke

250

Like peals of thunder, and the centre shook ?
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 towering monument of God's right hand;
Now duft and smoke, whose brow, fo lately, spread
O'er shelter'd countries its diffusive fhade.

Shew me that celebrated spot, where all
The various rulers of the fever'd ball

Have humbly fought wealth, honour, and redress,
That land which heaven seem'd diligent to bless,
Once call'd Britannia: Can her glories end ?
And can't surrounding feas her realms defend ?
Alas! in flames behold furrounding feas!
Like oil, their waters but augment the blaze.

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Some angel, fay where ran proud Afia's bound?
Or where with fruits was fair Europa crown'd?
Where stretch'd wafte Libya? Where did India's store
Sparkle in diamonds, and her golden ore?

Each loft in each, their mingling kingdoms glow,
And all diffolv'd, one fiery deluge flow :

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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, 280 Inhabitants of fea, or earth, or skies;

All on whom Adam's wisdom fix'd a name,

All plunge, and perish in the conquering flame.

This globe alone would but defraud the fire, Starve its devouring rage: the flakes aspire,

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And catch the clouds, and make the heavens their prey; 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 stream expire,
So fparks that fcatter from the kindling fire;
The devaftations of One dreadful hour

The Great Creator's Six days work devour.

A mighty, mighty ruin! yet One foul

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Has more to boast, and far outweighs the whole; 295
Exalted in fuperior excellence,

Cafts down to nothing, such a vast expence.
Have you not feen th' eternal mountains nod,
An earth diffolving, a defcending God?
What strange furprizes 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 supply

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Heaven's lofs, and with fresh glories fill the sky. 305
Think deeply then, O Man, how great thou art;

Pay thyfelf homage with a trembling heart;
What angels guard, no longer dare neglect,
Slighting thyself, affront not God's refpect.
Enter the facred temple of thy breast,

And gaze, and wander there, a ravish'd gueft;
Gaze on those hidden treasures thou shalt find,
Wander through all the glories of thy mind.

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