And fated to furvive the tranfient fun!

By mortals, and immortals, feen with awe!
A ftarry crown thy raven brow adorns,

An azure zone thy waift; clouds, in heaven's loom
Wrought through varieties of shape and shade,

In ample folds of drapery divine,

555

Thy flowing mantle form; and, heaven throughout,

Voluminously pour thy pompous train.

Thy gloomy grandeurs (nature's most august,

Infpiring afpect!) claim a grateful verfe;
And, like a fable curtain ftarr'd with gold,

560

Drawn o'er my labours past, shall close the scene.
And what, O man! fo worthy to be fung?
What more prepares us for the fongs of heaven?
Creation, of archangels is the theme!

What, to be fung, fo needful? What fo well
Celestial joys prepare us to sustain ?

565

570

The foul of man, His face defign'd to fee,
Who gave
thefe wonders to be feen by man,
Has here a previous scene of objects great,
On which to dwell; to ftretch to that expanfe
Of thought, to rife to that exalted height
Of admiration, to contract that awe,
And give her whole capacities that strength,
Which beft 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! whofe face unveil'd confummates

blifs;

Redundant blifs! which fills that mighty void,

575

580

The

The whole creation leaves in human hearts!
Thou, who didft touch the lip of Jeffe's fon,
Rapt in fweet contemplation of these fires,
And fet his harp in concert with the spheres ;
While of thy works material the Supreme
I dare attempt, affift my daring fong,
Loose me from earth's inclofure, from the fun's
Contracted circle fet my heart at large;
Eliminate my spirit, give it range

Through provinces of thought yet unexplor'd;
Teach me, by this ftupendous fcaffolding,
Creation's golden steps, to climb to Thee.
Teach me with art great nature to control,

185

590

And fpread a luftre o'er the shades of night.

595

Feel I thy kind affent? and fhall the fun

Be feen at midnight, rifing in my fong?

600

605

Lorenzo! come, and warm thee: thou, whofe heart, Whose little heart, is moor'd within a nook Of this obfcure terreftrial, anchor weigh. Another ocean calls, a nobler port; I am thy pilot, I thy profperous gale. Gainful thy voyage through yon azure main; Main, without tempeft, pirate, rock, or fhore; And whence thou may' import eternal wealth; And leave to beggar'd minds the pearl and gold. Thy travels doft thou boaft o'er foreign realms? Thou ftranger to the world! thy tour begin; Thy tour through nature's univerfal orb. Nature delineates her whole chart at large, On foaring fouls, that fail among the spheres ;,

C 3

610

And

And man how purblind, if unknown the whole !›
Who circles fpacious 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 celeftial fire,

And kindle our devotion at the fars;

62@

A theft, that fhall not chain, but fet thee free.
Above our atmosphere's inteftine wars,
Rain's fountain-head, the magazine of hail;
Above the northern nefts of feather'd fnows,
The brew of thunders, and the flaming forge
That forms the crooked lightning; above the caves
Where infant tempefts wait their growing wings, 625.
And tune their tender voices to that roar,

Which foon, perhaps, shall shake a guilty world;
Above mifconftrued omens of the sky,

Far-travel'd comets' calculated blaze;

Elance thy thought, and think of more than man. 630.
Thy foul, till now, contra&ed, wither'd, shrunk,
Blighted by blafts of earth's unwholsome air,
Will bloffom here; fpread all her faculties
To thefe bright ardours; every power unfold,
And rife into fublimities of thought..

635

Stars teach, as well as fhine. At nature's birth,

Thus their commiffion ran-"Be kind to man.”,

Where art thou, poor benighted traveller!

The Stars will light thee; though the Moon fhould fail. Where art thou, more benighted! more aftray!

*Night the Eighth..

640

In

In ways immoral? The Stars call thee back;

And, if obey'd their counsel, set thee right.

This profpect vaft, what is it?-Weigh'd aright 'Tis nature's fyftem 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 leffons; fome that may surprize
An un-adept in myfteries of Night;
Little, perhaps, expected in her school,
Nor thought to grow on planet, or on star.
Bulls, lions, fcorpions, monsters here we feign;
Ourselves more monftrous, not to fee what here

645

650

655

Exifts 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 whofe eternity?-Lorenzo ! Thine;

Mankind's eternity. Nor Faith alone,

Virtue grows here; here fprings the fovereign cure.

Of almost every vice; but chiefly Thine;

Wrath, Pride, Ambition, and impure Defire.
Lorenzo! Thou canft wake at midnight too,
Though not on Morals bent: Ambition, Pleafure!
Those tyrants I for Thee fo * lately fought,

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* Night the Eighth.

665

Afford

Afford their harafs'd flaves but flender reft.

Thou, to whom midnight is immoral noon,

(70

675

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 ftars: For other ends they shine,.
Than to light revellers from shame to fhame,
And, thus, be made accomplices in guilt..

Why from yon arch, that infinite of space,
With infinite of lucid orbs replete,
Which set the living firmament on fire,
At the first glance, in fuch an overwhelm
Qf wonderful, on man's astonish'd sight,
Rufhes omnipotence?-To curb our pride;
Our reafon roufe, and lead it to that power,

680.

685

And bind our chafte affections to his throne.
Thus the three virtues, leaft alive on earth,

Whofe love lets down these filver chains of light;
To draw up man's ambition to himself,

690

And welcom'd on heaven's coaft with most applause,
An humble, pure, and heavenly-minded heart,

Are here infpir'd:—And canft thou gaze too long? 695-
Ner ftands thy wrath depriv'd of its repooof,
Or un-upbraided by this radiant choir.
The planets of each fyftem reprefent
Kind neighbours; mutual amity prevails ;.

Sweet