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HORE LYRICÆ.

BOOK I.

SACRED TO DEVOTION AND PIETY.

WORSHIPPING WITH FEAR.

WHO dares attempt the' Eternal Name,
With notes of mortal sound?
Dangers and glories guard the theme,
And spread despair around.

Destruction waits to' obey his frown,
And Heaven attends his smile;
A wreath of lightning arms his crown,
But love adorns it still.

Celestial King! our spirits lie
Trembling beneath thy feet,
And wish, and cast, a longing eye,

To reach thy lofty seat.

When shall we see the Great Unknown,

And in thy presence stand?

Reveal the splendors of thy throne,

But shield us with thy hand.

In thee what endless wonders meet!

What various glory shines!
The crossing rays too fiercely beat
Upon our fainting minds.

Angels are lost in sweet surprise,
If thou unveil thy grace;

And humble awe runs through the skies,
When wrath arrays thy face.

When mercy joins with majesty

To spread their beams abroad, Not all their fairest minds on high Are shadows of a Gon.

Thy works the strongest seraph sings
In a too feeble strain,

And labours hard on all his strings,
To reach thy thoughts in vain.

Created powers how weak they be!
How short our praises fall!
So much akin to nothing we,
And thou the' Eternal All.

ASKING LEAVE TO SING.

YET, mighty GoD, indulge my tongue,

Nor let thy thunders roar,

Whilst the young notes and ventrous song To worlds of glory soar.

If thou my daring flight forbid
The Muse folds up her wings;
Or at thy word her slender reed
Attempts Almighty things.

Her slender reed, inspir'd by thee,
Bids a new Eden grow,

With blooming life on every tree,
And spreads a Heaven below.

She mocks the trumpet's loud alarms
Fill'd with thy dreadful breath;
And calls the' angelic hosts to arms,
To give the nations death.

But when she tastes her Saviour's love,

And feels the rapture strong, Scarce the divinest harp above

Aims at a sweeter song.

GOD'S DOMINION AND DECREES.

KEEP silence, all created things,

And wait your Maker's nod:

The Muse stands trembling while she sings
The honours of her GoD.

Life, death, and hell, and worlds unknown,
Hang on his firm decree:

He sits on no precarious throne,

Nor borrows leave to be.

The' Almighty voice bid ancient night Her endless realm resign,

And lo! ten thousand globes of light

In fields of azure shine.

Now wisdom with superior sway
Guides the vast moving frame,
Whilst all the ranks of being pay
Deep rev'rence to his Name.

He spake; the sun obedient stood,
And held the falling day :

Old Jordan backward drives his flood,
And disappoints the sea.

Lord of the armies of the sky,
He marshals all the stars;
Red comets lift their banners high,
And wide proclaim his wars.

Chain'd to his throne a volume lies,
With all the fates of men,
With every angel's form and size
Drawn by the' Eternal Pen.

His Providence unfolds the book, And makes his counsels shine: Each opening leaf, and every stroke, Fulfils some deep design.

Here he exalts neglected worms
To sceptres and a crown;
Anon the following page he turns,
And treads the monarch down.

Not Gabriel asks the reason why,
Nor Gon the reason gives;
Nor dares the favourite angel pry
Between the folded leaves.

My God, I never long'd to see
My fate with curious eyes,
What gloomy lines are writ for me,
Or what bright scenes shall rise.

In thy fair book of life and grace
May I but find my name,
Recorded in some humble place
Beneath my Lord, the Lamb?

DIVINE JUDGMENTS.

NoT from the dust my sorrows spring,
Nor drop my comforts from the lower skies;
Let all the baneful planets shed

Their mingled curses on my head,

How vain their curses, if the' Eternal King
Look through the clouds, and bless me with his eyes.
Creatures with all their boasted sway

Are but his slaves, and must obey;

They wait their orders from above,

And execute his word, the vengeance, or the love.

'Tis by a warrant from his hand

The gentler gales are bound to sleep:

The north-wind blusters, and assumes command Over the desert and the deep;

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