560

And fated to survive the transient fun!
By mortals, and immortals, seen with awe!
A starry crown thy raven brow adorns,

555
An azure zone thy waist; clouds, in heaven's loom
Wrought through varieties of shape and fhade,
In ample folds of drapery divine,
Thy flowing mantle form; and, heaven throughout,
Voluminously pour thy pompous train.
Thy gloomy grandeurs (nature's most august,
Inspiring aspect !) claim a grateful verse ;
And, like a fable curtain starr'd with gold,
Drawn o'er my labours past, shall close the scene.

And what, О man! so worthy to be sung? 565
What more prepares'us for the fongs of heaven?
Creation, of archangels the theme !
What, to be sung, fo needful? What fo well
Celestial joys prepare us to sustain ?
The soul of man, His face design'd to see,
Who
gave

these wonders to be seen by man,
Has here a previous scene of objects great,
On which to dwell; to stretch to that expanse
Of thought, to rise to that exalted height
Of admiration, to contract that awe,

575
And give her whole capacities that strength,
Which best may qualify for final joy.
The more our fpirits are inlarg’d on earth,
The deeper draught shall they receive of heaven.

Heaven's King! whose face unveil'd consummates

570

bliss;

580

Redundant bliss! which fills that mighty void,

The

The whole creation leaves in human hearts !
Thou, who didst touch the lip of Jeffe’s fon,
Rapt in sweet contemplation of these fires,
And fèt his harp in concert with the spheres ; 585
While of thy works material the Supreme
I dare attempt, aslift my daring song,
Loose me from earth’s inclosure, from the sun's
Contraited circle set my heart at large;
Eliminate my spirit, give it range

590
Through provinces of thought yet unexplor'd;
Teach me, by this stupendous scaffolding,
Creation's golden steps, to climb to Thee.
Teach me with art great nature to control,
And spread a lustre o’er the shades of night. 595
Feel I thy kind allent ? and shall the sun
Be seen at midnight, rising in my song ?

Lorenzo! come, and warm thee: thoit, whose heart, Whose little heart, is moor’d within a nook Of this obscure terrestrial, anchor weigh.

600
Another ocean calls, a nobler port;
I am thy pilot, I thy prosperous gale.
Gainful thy voyage through yon azure main;
Main, without tempest, pirate, rock, or shore ;
And whence thou mnay'fc import eternal wealth;
And leave to beggar'd minds the pearl and gold.
Thy travels doft thou boast o'er foreign realms ?

Thou stranger to the world! thy tour begin;
Thy tour through nature's universal orb.
Nature delineates her whole chart at large,

610 On foaring souls, that fail among the spheres ;,

And

605

C 3

And man how purblind, if unknown the whole !
Who circles spacious earth, then travels here,
Shall own,

he never was from home before !
Come, my * Prometheus, from thy pointed rock 615
Of false ambition if unchain'd, we ’ll mount ;-
We 'll, innocently, steal celestial fire,
And kindle our devotion at the stars;
A theft, that shall not chain, but set thee free.
Above our atmosphere's intestine wars,

62@ Rain's fountain-head, the magazine of hail; Above the northern nests of feather’d snows, The brew of thunders, and the flaming forge That forms the crooked lightning ; above the caves Where infant tempests wait their growing wings, 625. And tune their tender voices to that roar, Which foon, perhaps, fhall shake a guilty world; Above misconstrued omens of the sky, Far-travel'd comets' calculated blaze; Elance thy thought, and think of more than man. 63a Thy soul, till now, contra&led, wither’d, shrunk, Blighted by blasts of eartb's unwholsome air, Will blossom here; spread all her faculties To these bright ardours ; every power unfold, And rise into sublimities of thought., Stars teach, as well as shine. At nature's birth, Thus their commission ran" Be kind to man,” , Where art thou, poor benighted traveller! The Stars will light thee; though the Moon should fail. Where art thou, more benighted ! more astray! 640

* Night the Eighth..

635

645

655

In

ways immoral? The Stars call thee back ;: And, if obey'd their counsel, set thee right,

This prospect vast, what is it?-Weigh'd aright 'Tis nature's system of divinity, And every student of the Night inspires. 'Tis elder Scripture, writ by God's own hand : Scripture authentic! uncorrupt by man. Lorenzo! with my Radius (the rich gift Of thought nocturnal!) I 'll point out to thee Its various lessons ; fome that may surprize 650 An un-adept in mysteries of Night; Little, perhaps, expected in her school, Nor thought to grow on planet, or on ftar. Bulls, lions, scorpions, monsters here we feign ; Ourselves more monstrous, not to see what here Exists indeed ;-a lecture to mankind.

What read we here?-Th’existence of a God? Yes; and of other beings, man above ;. Natives of Æther ! Sons of higher climes ! And, what may move Lorenzo's wonder more, 660 Eternity is written in the skies. And whose eternity ?-Lorenzo ! Thine; Mankind's eternity. Nor Faith alone, Virtue grows here ; bere springs the sovereign cure Of almost every vice; but chiefly Thine ; 665 Wrath, Pride, Ambition, and impure Desire.

Lorenzo ! Thou canst wake at midnight too, Though not on Morals bent : Ambition, Pleasure ! Those tyrants I for Thee fo * lately fought,

Afford * Night the Eighth.

C4

(70

675

Afford their harass'd llaves but flender rest.
Thou, to whom midnight is immoral noon,
And the fun’s noon-tide blaze, prime dawn of day;
Not by thy climate, but capricious crime,
Commencing one of our Antipodes !
In thy nocturnal rove, one moment halt,
'Twixt stage and stage, of riot, and cabal;
And lift thine eye, (if bold an eye to lift,
If bold to meet the face of injur'd heaven)
To yonder stars: For other ends they shine,
Than to light revellers from shame to shame,

680 And, thus, be made accomplices in guilt.

Why from yon arch, that infinite of space,
With infinite of lucid orbs replcte,
Which set the living firmament on fire,
At the first glance, in such an overwhelm
Of wonderful, on man’s astonish'd fight,
Ruhes omnipotence? To curb our pride ; .
Our recfon rouse, and lead it to that power,
Whose love lets down these silver chains of light;
'To draw up man's ambition to bimself,
And bind our chose affections to his throne.
Thus the three virtues, leaft alive on earth,
And welcom’d on heaven's coast with most applause,
An humble, pure, and heavenly-minded heart,
Are here inspir’d:-And canst thou gaze too long ? 695

Nur stands thy wratí deprivid of its repooof,
Or un-upbraided by this radiant choir.
The planets of each system represent
Kind neighbours; mutual amity prevails;

Sweet

685

690