1.

Ascend my Soul, and in a speedy Flight
Haste to the Regions of eternal Light;
Look all around, each dazling Wonder view,
And thy Acquaintance with past Joys renew.
Thro all th' Æthereal Plain extend thy Sight,
On ev'ry pleasing Object gaze;
On rolling Worlds below,
On Orbs which Light and Heat bestow:
And thence to their first Cause thy Admiration raise
In sprightly Airs, and sweet harmonious Lays.
Assist me, all ye Works of Art Divine,
Ye wondrous Products of Almighty Pow'r,
You who in lofty Stations shine,
And to your glorious Source by glad Approaches tow'r:
In your bright Orders all appear;
With me your grateful Tribute pay,
Before his Throne your joint Devotions lay.
Ye charming Off-springs of the Earth draw near,
And for your Beauties pay your Homage here,
Let all above, and all below,
All that from unexhausted Bounty flow,
To Heav'n their joyful Voices raise,
In loud melodious Hymns of Praise.
When Time shall cease, and each revolving Year,
Lost in Eternity shall disappear,
The blest Employment ever shall remain,
And God be sung in each immortal Strain.

2.

O ye bright Ministers of Pow'r Divine,
In whom the Deity in Miniature does shine;
Ye first Essays of his creating Skill,
Who guard his Throne, and execute his Will,
Adore his Goodness, whose unweary'd Love
Call'd into Act that great Design,
That kind Idea to Perfection brought,
Which long had lain in his eternal Thought;
Who, when of all Felicity possest,
And in himself supremely blest,
To make his wondrous Bounty known,
Was pleas'd to raise
From nothing mighty Monuments of Praise:
Such as convincing Evidences prove
Of the Benignity Divine,
And in their blissful State above
With a resplendent Lustre shine:
Forms much more beautiful than Light,
And full of Charms to us unknown,
Of Charms peculiar to themselves alone:
Adorn'd with Glory not to be express'd;
With Glory much too bright,
To be the Object of a mortal Sight.
Active as Air, as Æther pure,
Exempt from Passions, and from Pain secure,
From cumb'rous Earth, and all its Frailties free,
Happy, and crown'd with Immortality,
And knowing as created Minds can be.
Blessings like yours, extatick Euges claim;
Thro' the celestial Courts your Thanks proclaim;
In highest Raptures, loudest Songs of Joy,
And Hallelujahs, your Eternity employ.

3.

Ye glorious Plains of pure unshaded Light,
Which far above the gloomy Verge of Night
Extended lie, beyond the sharpest Ken of Sight;
Whose Bounds exceed the utmost Stretch of Thought,
Where vast unnumber'd Worlds in fluid Æther roll,
And round their radiant Centers move,
Making by Steps unequal, one continu'd Dance of Love:
Extol his Wisdom, who such Wonders wrought,
Who made, and like one individual Soul
Fills ev'ry Part, and still preserves the Mighty Whole.

4.

Ye Products of condensing Cold,
Ye Clouds, who liquid Treasures hold,
Who from your wat'ry Stores above,
(Where wafted by concurring Winds you move)
On the glad Earth your Bounties pour,
And make it rich with each prolifick Show'r:
Not so you fall, as when you were design'd
To punish the rebellious Race of human Kind:
Then, with impetuous haste stupendous Cataracts fell,
Descending Spouts, ascending Torrents met;
And mingled Horrors did the Vict'ry get:
Nature could not their mighty Force repel;
Beauty and Order from her Surface fled,
While o'er the Ball the liquid Ruin spread:
Now in mild Show'rs you make your kind Descent,
Refresh the Earth, and all our Wants prevent;
From lofty Mountains in Meander's slide,
And roll by grassy Banks your Silver Wealth along;
Let those celestial Springs from whence you are supply'd
Their silent Homage pay;
And till that fatal Hour the grateful Task prolong,
When fierce devouring Flames shall force their dreadful Way,
And make this beauteous Globe their Prey;
From which sulphureous Steams shall rise
And chase the congregated Vapors from the Skies.

5.

Ye blest Inhabitants of Light,
Who from your shining Seats above,
Are often sent on Embassies of Love:
To distant Worlds you take your willing Flight,
And in the noblest Charity delight:
From the blest Source of Good, like Rays you flow,
And kindly spread your Influence below:
In vain the Great their mighty Deeds proclaim,
And think the highest Praise their Due,
And to themselves ascribe that Fame
Which wholly owing is to you:
In vain the grave considering Wise
Unto themselves Applauses give,
And think they by their own Endeavours rise,
And rich and honour'd live:
The whole unto your Care they owe,
From it each prosp'rous Turn, each blest Event doth flow:
That tender Care, which over all presides,
And for the common Good of Man provides.
Your high Prerogatives with Joy confess;
In lofty Strains your kind Creator bless:
In unforc'd, grateful, and exalted Lays:
You know him best, and ought him most to praise.

6.

Thou glorious Sun, bright Author of our Day,
Whose dazling Beams around themselves display,
And to the frozen Poles thy needful Heat convey.
From their long Night the shiv'ring Natives rise,
And see vast Trains of Light adorn their Skies.
Before thy Fire the vanquish'd Cold Retires,
And Nature at the sudden Change admires:
Then their lost Verdure Woods and Fields regain,
And Seas and Rivers break their Icy Chain.
How blest are they who in Warm Climes are born!
Those happy Climes thy Rays do most adorn!
Where balmy Sweets their fragrant Off'rings pay,
And warbling Birds salute the rising Day:
Where vital Warmth does sprightly Thoughts inspire,
Thoughts brisk, and active as thy Rays:
Th'immortal Homer felt thy Fire,
That wondrous Bard! whom all succeeding Ages praise.
To the first Cause, the uncreated Light,
The radiant Source of everlasting Day,
The Center whence thy Glories flow,
Those dazling Splendors we admire below,
With us thy Adoration pay.
And thou, fair Orb, whose Beauties still invite;
Who with thy paler Beams of borrow'd Light,
Bring'st back the Solar Rays to bless our Night:
From thee reflected, on the Earth they shine,
And make the awful Prospect seem Divine:
Thy welcom Light the Northern Climates see,
Their tedious Night is pleasant made by thee:
From that exalted Walk above,
Where round our Globe thou solemnly dost move,
Admire and laud thy mighty Maker's Love.

7.

Ye glitt'ring Stars, who float in liquid Air,
Both ye that round the Sun in diff'rent Circles move,
And ye that shine like Suns above;
Whose Light and Heat attending Planets share:
In your high Stations your Creator praise,
While we admire both him and you;
Tho' vastly distant, yet our Eyes we raise,
And wou'd your lofty Regions view;
Those immense Spaces which no Limits know,
Where purest Æther unconfin'd doth flow;
But our weak Sight cannot such Journies go:
'Tis Thought alone the Distance must explore;
Nothing but That to such a Height can soar,
Nothing but That can thither wing its Way,
And there with boundless Freedom stray,
And at one View Ten thousand sparkling Orbs survey,
Innumerable Worlds and dazling Springs of Light.
O the vast Prospect! O the charming Sight!
How full of Wonder, and Delight!
How mean, how little, does our Globe appear!
This Object of our Envy, Toil and Care,
Is hardly seen amidst the Croud above;
There, like some shining Point, do's scarce distinguish'd move.

8.

Yet Man by his own Thoughts betray'd,
Curst with Self-love, not with Reflexion blest,
If of a great Estate possest,
Is to his Vanity a Victim made;
No longer he himself does know,
And looks with Scorn on all below:
But if by chance a Kingdom is his Share,
And he a Diadem does wear,
Full of himself, and heightned by his Pride,
He to Divinity does tow'r,
And from his visionary Sphere of Pow'r
Commands his Subjects with imperious Sway,
And forces them his Passions to obey:
Humor, not Reason, is most times his Guide:
Too great to be advis'd, by Vice and Folly led,
He will the dang'rous Paths of slippery Grandeur tread,
And rashly mount that steep Ascent he ought to dread.
Mistaken Wretch! what is this worthless All
Which does thy heated Fancy move?
If thou the whole thy own couldst call,
'Twere but a Trifle if compar'd with those above;
Which may, perhaps, the happy Mansions be
Of Creatures much more noble, much more wise than we.

9.

Ye Exhalations that from Earth arise,
Whose minute Parts cannot be seen,
Till they're assembled in the lower Skies;
Where being condens'd, they fall again
In gentle Dews, or Show'rs of Rain.
To you we owe those Fruits our Gardens yield,
And all the rich Productions of the Field:
But Oh! how much are you by those desir'd,
Who are with scorching Sun-beams fir'd?
The swarthy Natives of the Torrid Zone,
Who live expos'd to the fierce burning Rays,
And wou'd in dazling Brightness waste their Days,
Did you not sometimes cast a Shade between,
And from their Sight th' excessive Glory skreen:
Your well tim'd Bounty they must ever own;
On them you annual Kindnesses bestow,
Their Air you cool, and all their Ground o'erflow.
As you descend, that God adore,
Unto whose Pow'r you owe your unexhausted Store.

10.

Ye blust'ring Winds, who spacious Regions sway,
As thro' your airy Realms you force your Way,
High as the starry Arch your Voices raise,
And with loud Sounds your great Creator praise,
Whose wondrous Pow'r your Motion does declare:
Strange! that such little Particles of Air,
Such Nothings as escape our Sight,
With so much Strength, such wondrous Force shou'd move,
So pow'rful in their Operations prove!
Sometimes imprison'd in the Vaults below,
You all the dreadful Marks of Fury show;
The Earth you shake, make mighty Cities reel,
And ev'ry Part the dire Concussion feel.
Chasms you cause, and helpless Mortals fright,
Who trembling sink int' everlasting Night:
With dying Accents on their Friends they call,
They hear, and in one common Ruin fall:
The pale Survivors panting fly,
And with loud Screeches rend the Skie;
To neighbouring Hills they take their hasty Flight,
But Hills, alas! can no Protection yield,
They can't themselves from the devouring Mischief shield:
Pursu'd by Terrors, lost in wild Amaze,
They on surrounding Horrors gaze:
With Sighs and Groans, and with repeated Cries,
They prostrate fall, and with imploring Eyes,
All bath'd in Tears, from Heav'n they beg Relief,
From Heav'n which sees, and only can asswage their Grief.