Classic Poem

This wild chaotic mass of every dye,
Where teeming Principles of Order lie,
Is surely emblem of the scene
Ere out of dark Confusion rose
The variegated orb terrene
Amidst the Æther where it flows!

See! as the Vision fills the Artist's mind
All to its impulse plastic is resigned!
Beauteous Prospects vast expand,
Here foaming surfy billows rise,
There stretches Verdure out in land,
Or brilliant Radiance streams in Skies.

The cumbrous ALPS ascend, whose tops explore
The regions day-eyed Eagles fear to soar!
Streams tumbling from the flinty rock
In white meanders lead the eye,
And then, its keenest search to mock,
Through deep time-fretted Caverns fly.

Here spikey Furze conceals the barren Down,
Or distant Forests spread their mellow brown.
And now the soft Jonquils unfold,
Midst the low beauties of the Vale,
Their robes of imitative gold,
To fill with sweets the buoyant gale.

Now, spread o'er beauteous slopes, the nect'rous Vine
Bids rich festoons of luscious Purple shine.
The gorgeous orange here doth swell,
The groves of genial climes t' illume,
Soft colours tinge the Nonpareil,
Or the rich Peach's tint assume.

See! rise amidst this scene, thus deck'd so high,
The Form Divine, of soul-illumined eye!
Here springs a Beauty , there a S AGE ,
Now, H EROES from the mass emerge!
Here, Benefactors of their age,
There, scowls a Conqueror—mission'dscourge!

But, who shall e'er that gorgeous scene design,
Where C HAOS , yielding to the T HOUGHT Divine,
Arranged its real Shade and Light!
As objects, by omniscient skill,
For Man were bid divide, unite,
Obedient to J EHOVAH 's Will!