Yet fhall my grateful strings
For ever praife thy name,
For ever thee proclaim,
Thee everlasting God, the mighty king of kings.
TO BELINDA, on her Sickness and Recover
URE never pain fuch beauty wore,
Or look'd fo amiable before!
You graces give to a difeafe,
Adorn the pain, and make it please;
Thus burning incense sheds perfumes,
Still fragrant as it ftill confumes.
Nor can even fickness, which difarms
All other nymphs, destroy your charms;
A thoufand beauties you can fpare,
And ftill be faireft of the fair.
But fee! the pain begins to fly,
Though Venus bled, fhe could not die ;
See! the new Phoenix point her eyes,
And lovelier from her afhes rife :
Thus rofes, when the ftorm is o'er,
Draw beauties from th' inclement fhower..
Welcome hours which thus repay
What envious fick nefs ftole away!
Welcome as thofe which kindly bring,
And ufher in the joyous spring;
That to the finiling earth reftore
The beauteous herb, and blooming flower,
And give her all the charms fhe loft
By wintery storms, and hoary frost!
And yet how well did she sustain,
And greatly triumph o'er her pain!
So flowers, when blafting winds invade,
Breathe sweet, and beautifully fade.
Now in her cheeks, and radiant eyes,
New blushes glow, new lightnings rife
Pehold a thoufand charms fucceed,
For which a thousand hearts must bleed!
Brighter from her difeafe fhe fhines,
As fire the precious gold refines.
Thus when the filent grave
Pregnant with life, as fruitful wombs;
When the wide feas, and fpacious earth,
Resign us to our second birth;
Our moulder'd frame rebuilt affumes
New beauty, and for ever blooms ;
And, crown'd with youth's immortal pride,
We angels rife, who mortals dy'd.
TO BELIND A, On her Apron embroidere with Arms and Flowers.
HE liftening trees Amphion drew
To dance from hills, where once they grew; But you exprefs a power more great,
The flowers you draw not, but create.
Behold your own creation rife,
And finile beneath your radiant eyes!
'Tis beauteous all! and yet receives
From you more graces than it gives.
But fay, amid the fofter charms
Of blooming flowers, what mean these arins?
So round the fragrance of the rofe,
The pointed thorn, to guard it, grows.
But cruel you, who thus employ
Both arms and beauty to deftroy !
So Venus marches to the fray
In armour, formidably gay.
VARIATION.
The lovely Flora paints the earth,
And calls the morning flowers to birth
But you display a power more great;
She calls forth flowers, but you cicate.
It is a dreadful pleasing sight!
The flowers attract, the arms affright;
The flowers with lively beauty bloom,
The arms denounce an instant doom.
Thus when the Britons in array
Their enfigns to the fun difplay,
In the fame flag are lilies fhown,
And angry lions sternly frown;
On high the glittering ftandard flies,
And conquers all things---like your eyes.
Part of the XXXVIII and XXXIX Chapters of JO B.
A PARAPHRASE.
NOW from the fplendors of his bright abode
On wings of all the winds th' Almighty rode,
And the loud voice of thunder spoke the God.
Cherubs, and feraphs from cœleftial bowers,
Ten thousand thousand! bright, ethereal powers!
Miniftrant round, their radiant files unfold,
Arm'd in eternal adamant, and gold!
Whirlwinds and thundrous ftorms his chariot drew
"Tween worlds and worlds, triumphant as it flew :
He ftretch'd his dark pavilion o'er the floods,
Bade hills fubfide, and rein'd th' obedient clouds,
Then from his awful gloom the godhead spoke,
And at his voice affrighted nature fhook.
Vain man! who boldly with dim reason's ray
Vies with his God, and rivals his full day!
* But tell me now, fay how this beauteous frame
Of all things, from the womb of nothing came;
When nature's Lord with one Almighty call
From no-where rais'd the world's capacious ball?
Say if thy hand directs the various rounds
Of the vaft earth, and circumfcribes the bounds?
How orbs oppos'd to orbs amid the sky,
In concert move, and dance in harmony?
What wondrous pillars their foundations bear
When hung self-balanc'd in the fluid air?
Why the vast tides fometimes with wanton play
In fhining mazes gently glide away;
Anon, why fwelling with impetuous ftores.
Tumultuous tumbling, thunder to the shores?
By thy command does fair Aurora rife,
And gild with purple beams the blushing skies
The warbling lark falutes her chearful ray,
And welcomes with his fong the rifing day;
The rifing day ambrofial dew diftils,
Th' ambrofial dew with balmy odour fills
The flowers, the flowers rejoice, and nature fimiles.
* But tell me, mortal, when th' Almighty said, Be made, ye worlds! how worlds at once were made; When hofts of angels wrapt in wonder fung
His praife as order from diforder sprung;
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