English

Accursed Pride taught Angels to rebel,
Govern'd by That, immortal Spirits fell
From Heav'nly Seats, and Mansions all Divine,
Where they did with a spotless Brightness shine;
Where Light, as glorious as Meridian Day,
Did all around its lustrous Beams display,
And where Delights, for Mortals much too high,
Did them with unexhausted Joys supply,
They sunk to Realms of Darkness and Despair.
No Light but that of livid Flames was there;
A pale, a dismal, melancholy Sight:
All there was Horror, all did there affright,

O let us rather sink into the Earth,
Into that Dust from whence we came,
And, mindful of our humble Birth,
All unbecoming Thoughts disclaim.
As well may Flies their Exaltation boast,
Because they in the Sun-beams play;
Because they feel the Warmth of each reviving Day,
Extend their Silken Wings, and o'er the flo'wry Meadows stray.
As well may Ants with a prepost'rous Pride

81.

Look, dearest Saviour, with a pitying Eye,
On those for whom thou didst with so much
Kindness die:
Raise our dull Souls above the Joys of Sense,
Above those Trifles Earth can give:
And when by Death we're summon'd hence,
Let us for ever in thy Presence live;
In thy lov'd Presence, where is all Delight,
All that can charm the Mind, or please the Sight,
All, all that can the most aspiring Soul invite:
And ye blest Spirits who have liv'd below,

71.

To th' Intemperate, Abstinence commend,
Tell them what Mischiefs vicious Lives attend:
How soon Excesses will their Health destroy,
That chiefest Blessing here below;
That unexhausted Spring of Joy,
Without which, all things else inspid grow.
Tell them tho' now they kind Instructions slight,
And their unhappy Conduct praise;
Yet when they're to Diseases made a Prey,
They'll then for their retrieveless Follies mourn,

61.

Frogs in vast Numbers from the Rivers came,
And with loud Crokings their Ascent proclaim:
With hideous Clamors they the Land invade,
The Temples fill'd, and in the Royal Chambers stay'd:
While on their loathsom Guests the People gaze,
Succeeding Wonders heighten their Amaze:
Dry earthy Particles prolifick prove,
Each animated Dust does move:
On Men and Beasts the eager Insects seise,
And with a bloody Feast their hungry Stomachs please:
These soon were follow'd by vast Swarms of Flies,

51.

The kind Redeemer in his Grave is laid;
For us he has a mighty Ransom paid,
And for our Sins full Satisfaction made.
With liveliest Colours in our Thoughts we'll paint
The buried Son, and the lamenting Saint;
By him she sits, with num'rous Woes opprest,
And wrings her Hands, and beats her snowy Breast:
With Sorrows, such as she ne'er felt before,
And Floods of Tears, she does her Loss deplore;
Fain wou'd she speak, but Words can find no way,
She must the Motions of her Grief obey,

41.

Come all ye Beasts, your Homage pay,
You of the fierce devouring Kind,
Who chiefly live on Prey;
And all the Night intent on Spoil,
Range up and down with restless Toil.
Where if by chance you wretched Trav'lers find,
Who are by Fate your Prey design'd,
On them without Remorse you seize,

31.

There Plenty spreads her Wings around,
And broods upon the fertile Ground:
Without Expence, or Toil, or Care,
The fruitful Ground does all things bear:
It has an unexhausted Store;
The greedy cannot wish for more:
Sparkling Gems, and golden Oar,
Useful Corn, and gen'rous Wine,
Woods of Cedar, Oak, and Pine,
And lofty Groves for ever green,
With Beds of fragrant Flow'rs between;
Pure chrystal Springs, sweet cooling Streams,
Such as were once the Poets Themes.

21.

Zeal tun'd their Harps, by it inspir'd they sung;
The charming Sound thro' all th' Empyrean rung:
Their God they with unweary'd Ardor bless'd,
And in their sacred Hymns his Praise express'd:
His Wisdom, Pow'r, and Goodness they admire,
These were the constant Themes of all th'Angelick Quire:
All these they saw on his new Work Imprest:
They saw his pow'rful Fiat soon obey'd;
He spoke, and streight that mighty Mass was made,
Where Earth and Water, Air and Fire,

11.

Sometimes disturb'd, they ruffle all the Air,
And neither Earth, nor Ocean spare:
The mounting Waves with loud Confusion roar,
And furious Surges dash against the Shore:
The stately Cedar bends her awful Head;
The meaner Trees can no Resistance make;
Their broken Branches all around are spread,
And all their leafy Honours shed:
The frighted Birds their shatter'd Nests forsake:
Their verdant Food the trembling Cattle shun,
And urg'd by Fear to gloomy Coverts run.