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,
Without Distinction, Order, or Design,
Did in one common Chaos join:
Stupid, unactive, without Form, or Light,
They lay confus'dly huddl'd in their native Night;
Till on the gloomy Deep his Spirit mov'd;
Th' Emanations of the Power Divine,
Did all its Parts with vital Influence bless,
And scatter'd thro' the whole their motive Energies.
Th' active Warmth did ev'ry Part impell,
The heaviest downward made their way,
And to a new made Centre fell,
Where, by their Weight together prest,
They did in one firm Body rest,
On which a Mass of Liquids lay:
The lucid Particles together came,
And join'd in one propitious Flame,
Which round the new-form'd Globe did Light and Heat convey,
And blest it with the welcom Birth of Day:
But to one Sphere the Fire was not confin'd,
Still a sufficient Stock was left behind,
Which thro' the Whole in due proportion went,
And needful Warmth to ev'ry Part was sent.
22.
By Heat excited, Exhalations rose,
And did the Regions of the Air compose:
The thicker Parts our Atmosphere did frame,
While the more subtil took a nobler Flight,
And fill'd with purest Æther the celestial Height,
Then Land appear'd; th' obsequious Floods gave way,
And each within appointed Bounds did stay;
But rude and unadorn'd the new Concretion lay,
Till by a sudden Act of Pow'r Divine,
Th' unshap'd Mass a beauteous Earth became;
Charming it look'd in its gay Infant Dress;
Goodness and Art at once did shine,
And both the God confess.
Thrice blest that Pair, who in the Dawn of Time
Were made Possessors of that happy Clime:
But wretched they soon lost their blissful State,
Undone by their own Folly, not their Fate.
23.
Serene and Calm those early Regions were,
A constant Spring was always there,
And gentle Breezes cool'd the Air,
Rough Winds and Rains they never knew,
But unseen Showr's of pearly Dew,
(Aereal Streams) their Balmy Drops distill'd,
And with prolifick moisture the smooth surface fill'd.
The beauteous Plains perpetual Verdure wore,
With lovely Flow'rs embroider'd o'er.
Flowers so wondrous sweet, so wondrous Fair,
Ne'er grac'd our Earth, never perfum'd our Air,
Peculiar to those happier Fields they were;
Thro' which the winding Rivers make their Way,
The clear unsullied Streams with wanton Play
In Thousand various Figures Stray;
Sometimes concurring Waters make
A little Sea, a Chrystal Lake,
Where for a while in their soft Bed they rest,
Till by succeeding Currents prest,
To distant Parts they gently flow,
And murmur as they go,
As if they wish'd a longer Stay,
And ran unwillingly away:
On their enamel'd banks were seen
Plants ever Beauteous, ever Green;
Plants, whose odoriferous Smell,
Did the since fam'd Sabaean sweets excell.
Nature profusely spread her Riches there,
The fertile Soil prov'd grateful to her Care,
The new unlabour'd Ground large stately Trees did bear,
Trees whose Majestick Tops aspir'd so high,
They almost seem'd to touch the Sky;
Loaden with Blossoms, and with Fruit at once they stood;
At once the Beauties of the Spring and Autumn crown'd the Wood:
At once they did the Bounties of both Seasons wear.
24.
Such was the Earth so Beauteous and so Gay,
Fresh as the Morn, delightful as the Day:
Not the Hesperian Gardens so much fam'd of old,
Where glorious Trees bare vegetable Gold;
Nor that whereof Maeonides has writ,
Alcinous Garden, which its Beauty ow'd
To that great Genius, that transcendent Wit,
Who could the lowest Subject raise,
And make the meanest things deserve Eternal Praise;
Such was Phaeacia , 'till with wondrous Art
He 'mbelish'd ev'ry Part:
His Fancy the rich Dress bestow'd:
To future Times it had been little known,
Having no native Lustre of its own,
Had not his Muse enroll'd its Name,
And laid it up secure within th' Archives of Fame.
Nor these, nor yet those happy Plains,
Virgil describes in his immortal Strains,
Could equal the Perfections of that charming Place,
Which Nature had adorn'd with her exactest Care,
And furnish'd it with every Grace;
Her Skill did every where appear:
All that was lovely, all that lov'd Delight,
Might there be seen in its exalted Height:
In it conspicuously did shine
Th' inimitable Strokes of Art Divine,
The God was seen in every dazling Line.
25.
Such it continu'd, till deform'd by Sin:
Guilt call'd down Vengeance from above,
And quickly spoil'd the Workmanship of Love:
Guilt on the Earth a dreadful Deluge brought;
In vain th' offending Race Protection sought,
In vain they from the liquid Mischief fled,
The fatal Cause was still within:
From Mountains Tops they saw the floating Dead:
Th' increasing Waters did their Steps pursue,
And none escap'd but the blest Fav'rite few:
Who rode in Triumph on the watry Waste,
Secure above the swelling Surges plac'd:
Amaz'd they saw the daring Billows rise,
They pass'd the Clouds, and mingl'd with the Skies:
High on th'exalted Waves they look'd around,
But no Remains of their dear Country found;
Th' insulting Floods had cover'd all the Ground:
With Pity they their Brethrens Fate deplore,
And then the Mercies of their God adore;
His Mercy, who such wondrous Diff'rence made,
And gave such pregnant Proofs how much he lov'd:
Who, when no human Pow'r cou'd aid,
Himself their kind Protector prov'd.
While thus employ'd, they saw the Sea subside,
Th' impetuous Waters gradually withdrew;
Nature for their Reception did provide;
And they cou'd once again their native Regions view.
26.
On some bleak Mountains Top they sighing stay'd,
And thence the Horrors of the Plains survey'd:
Those pleasant Plains, once fill'd with all Delight,
Afforded only now a melancholy Sight:
There Trees lay scatter'd, all defil'd with Mud,
And finny Monsters flounc'd where spacious Cities stood:
The Ground with Heaps of Bones was cover'd o'er,
They ev'ry where found something to deplore:
Long on the sad Catastrophe they gaz'd,
At once afflicted, and amaz'd;
And the vindictive Justice of their God rever'd,
That Justice, which so dreadfully appear'd.
At length embolden'd, and the Earth grown dry,
They from th'inhospitable Heights descend;
Th' aerial Kind disperse themselves around,
Their Steps the Flocks and Herds attend,
And seek their Food upon the slimy Ground,
The slimy Ground cou'd not their Wants supply;
Indulgent Nature pity'd their Distress,
And did the Fields with useful Herbage bless:
But Men, unhappy Men, were forc'd to toil,
To plough, to sow, and cultivate the Soil:
The stubborn Earth without their Care,
Nor Fruits, nor Corn, nor the rich Vine would bear:
They to their Labour their Subsistance ow'd,
And all their Plenty on themselves bestow'd.
27.
We, the curst Off-spring of that wandring Race,
Are still condemn'd to this unhappy Place;
This Earth, where we with Tears are usher'd in,
And where our Griefs, do with our Years begin;
Where, without Labour, we can nothing gain,
And where the Purchase equals not the Pain;
Who wou'd with so much Toil th' Incumbrance Life maintain?
But we must live Probationers for Joy,
In noble Deeds our coming Hours employ;
That, when from this bad World releas'd by Fate,
We may be re-admitted to that glorious State,
Where our pure Souls possess'd supreme Delight,
And liv'd within the Verge of everlasting Light.
What, ye blest Spirits, what cou'd you excite
To leave your radiant Seats above?
Could mortal Bodies such Attractives prove?
Was Happiness grown your Disease?
Or were you surfeited with Ease?
O dreadful Lapse! O fatal Change!
Must you, who thro' the higher Orbs could range,
Survey the beauteous Worlds above,
And there adore the Source of Love,
Be here confin'd to Lumps of Clay,
To darksom Cells, remote from your Ætherial Day?
On this vain Theatre of Noise and Strife,
Must you be forc'd to act the Farce of Life:
Our Souls, Good God, to their first Bliss restore,
And let them actuate dull Flesh no more.
28.
'Tis granted; Hark! I hear the Trumpet sound,
The mighty Voice dilates it self around,
And in its Clangor ev'ry lesser Noise is drown'd.
He comes! he comes! with a refining Fire,
The Clouds before him awfully retire:
The parting Skies with haste give way
And show to trembling Men the bright eternal Day:
Lightning and Thunder on his Triumph wait.
With all the fiery Ministers of Fate:
Ten thousand Meteors roll along the Air;
Hot Exhalations waste their Fury there:
And burning Mountains send their Flames on high;
Swift as our Thoughts the scorching Mischiefs fly:
Mixt with thick Smoak the threatning Terrors rise,
And fill with sooty Atoms the dark gloomy Skies:
The Earth does shake, by fierce Convulsions rent,
And searching Fires to ev'ry Part are sent.
Hark! how the troubled Sea does roar!
Its scalding Waters beat against the Shore:
The Fishes leave their oozy Bed;
With Haste they swim to Land,
But find no Rest upon the burning Sand:
Both Land and Water equally they dread,
And on the glowing Beach in mighty Sholes lie dead.
The feather'd Kind forsake their lofty Heights,
And from the sultry Regions of the Air,
By speedy Flights
For Refuge to the Earth repair,
Where, with sing'd Wings they gasping lie;
The lowing Herds fall panting by,
And Beasts of Prey with strugling Fury die.
The brute Creation one great Holocaust is made,
And altogether on the burning Altar laid.
29.
By flaming Horrors ev'ry where pursu'd,
From Place to Place, poor frighted Mortals run;
Where e'er they go, their Danger is renew'd,
They can't the swift Destruction shun:
Tortur'd with Heat they fainting fall,
And cast despairing Glances round;
The Children on their Parents call;
The wretched Parents sighing lie,
And see their tender Off-spring die:
With loud Complaints they fill the Air;
The heav'nly Vault returns the Sound,
And spreads the mournful Accents round:
In vain they groan, in vain they cry,
In vain their Screeches pierce the Sky,
Alas! no Help, no Aid is nigh:
The common Vengeance all must share,
And with the Earth, the fiery Trial bear;
Both rich, and poor, must leave their mingl'd Ashes there.
30.
See! see! she's now a Sea of Fire,
A vast enormous Blaze!
The neighb'ring Worlds the Prodigy admire,
And on the new-form'd Glory gaze:
The Fire has all her Dross calcin'd,
Ev'ry Part is now refin'd:
Justice appeas'd, to Love gives way,
Love will once more its Pow'r display,
And the Foundations of a second Fabrick lay.
'Tis done! 'tis done! an Earth does rise,
Encompas'd round with purer Skies;
An Earth, much better than the first,
Than that, which for our sake was curst:
Much more beauteous, much more fine,
Much more of Skill Divine
Does in the charming Texture shine:
No inequalities of Air,
No noxious Vapors govern there;
The brighten'd Skies unclouded Lustre wear.
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,
Without Distinction, Order, or Design,
Did in one common Chaos join:
Stupid, unactive, without Form, or Light,
They lay confus'dly huddl'd in their native Night;
Till on the gloomy Deep his Spirit mov'd;
Th' Emanations of the Power Divine,
Did all its Parts with vital Influence bless,
And scatter'd thro' the whole their motive Energies.
Th' active Warmth did ev'ry Part impell,
The heaviest downward made their way,
And to a new made Centre fell,
Where, by their Weight together prest,
They did in one firm Body rest,
On which a Mass of Liquids lay:
The lucid Particles together came,
And join'd in one propitious Flame,
Which round the new-form'd Globe did Light and Heat convey,
And blest it with the welcom Birth of Day:
But to one Sphere the Fire was not confin'd,
Still a sufficient Stock was left behind,
Which thro' the Whole in due proportion went,
And needful Warmth to ev'ry Part was sent.
22.
By Heat excited, Exhalations rose,
And did the Regions of the Air compose:
The thicker Parts our Atmosphere did frame,
While the more subtil took a nobler Flight,
And fill'd with purest Æther the celestial Height,
Then Land appear'd; th' obsequious Floods gave way,
And each within appointed Bounds did stay;
But rude and unadorn'd the new Concretion lay,
Till by a sudden Act of Pow'r Divine,
Th' unshap'd Mass a beauteous Earth became;
Charming it look'd in its gay Infant Dress;
Goodness and Art at once did shine,
And both the God confess.
Thrice blest that Pair, who in the Dawn of Time
Were made Possessors of that happy Clime:
But wretched they soon lost their blissful State,
Undone by their own Folly, not their Fate.
23.
Serene and Calm those early Regions were,
A constant Spring was always there,
And gentle Breezes cool'd the Air,
Rough Winds and Rains they never knew,
But unseen Showr's of pearly Dew,
(Aereal Streams) their Balmy Drops distill'd,
And with prolifick moisture the smooth surface fill'd.
The beauteous Plains perpetual Verdure wore,
With lovely Flow'rs embroider'd o'er.
Flowers so wondrous sweet, so wondrous Fair,
Ne'er grac'd our Earth, never perfum'd our Air,
Peculiar to those happier Fields they were;
Thro' which the winding Rivers make their Way,
The clear unsullied Streams with wanton Play
In Thousand various Figures Stray;
Sometimes concurring Waters make
A little Sea, a Chrystal Lake,
Where for a while in their soft Bed they rest,
Till by succeeding Currents prest,
To distant Parts they gently flow,
And murmur as they go,
As if they wish'd a longer Stay,
And ran unwillingly away:
On their enamel'd banks were seen
Plants ever Beauteous, ever Green;
Plants, whose odoriferous Smell,
Did the since fam'd Sabaean sweets excell.
Nature profusely spread her Riches there,
The fertile Soil prov'd grateful to her Care,
The new unlabour'd Ground large stately Trees did bear,
Trees whose Majestick Tops aspir'd so high,
They almost seem'd to touch the Sky;
Loaden with Blossoms, and with Fruit at once they stood;
At once the Beauties of the Spring and Autumn crown'd the Wood:
At once they did the Bounties of both Seasons wear.
24.
Such was the Earth so Beauteous and so Gay,
Fresh as the Morn, delightful as the Day:
Not the Hesperian Gardens so much fam'd of old,
Where glorious Trees bare vegetable Gold;
Nor that whereof Maeonides has writ,
Alcinous Garden, which its Beauty ow'd
To that great Genius, that transcendent Wit,
Who could the lowest Subject raise,
And make the meanest things deserve Eternal Praise;
Such was Phaeacia , 'till with wondrous Art
He 'mbelish'd ev'ry Part:
His Fancy the rich Dress bestow'd:
To future Times it had been little known,
Having no native Lustre of its own,
Had not his Muse enroll'd its Name,
And laid it up secure within th' Archives of Fame.
Nor these, nor yet those happy Plains,
Virgil describes in his immortal Strains,
Could equal the Perfections of that charming Place,
Which Nature had adorn'd with her exactest Care,
And furnish'd it with every Grace;
Her Skill did every where appear:
All that was lovely, all that lov'd Delight,
Might there be seen in its exalted Height:
In it conspicuously did shine
Th' inimitable Strokes of Art Divine,
The God was seen in every dazling Line.
25.
Such it continu'd, till deform'd by Sin:
Guilt call'd down Vengeance from above,
And quickly spoil'd the Workmanship of Love:
Guilt on the Earth a dreadful Deluge brought;
In vain th' offending Race Protection sought,
In vain they from the liquid Mischief fled,
The fatal Cause was still within:
From Mountains Tops they saw the floating Dead:
Th' increasing Waters did their Steps pursue,
And none escap'd but the blest Fav'rite few:
Who rode in Triumph on the watry Waste,
Secure above the swelling Surges plac'd:
Amaz'd they saw the daring Billows rise,
They pass'd the Clouds, and mingl'd with the Skies:
High on th'exalted Waves they look'd around,
But no Remains of their dear Country found;
Th' insulting Floods had cover'd all the Ground:
With Pity they their Brethrens Fate deplore,
And then the Mercies of their God adore;
His Mercy, who such wondrous Diff'rence made,
And gave such pregnant Proofs how much he lov'd:
Who, when no human Pow'r cou'd aid,
Himself their kind Protector prov'd.
While thus employ'd, they saw the Sea subside,
Th' impetuous Waters gradually withdrew;
Nature for their Reception did provide;
And they cou'd once again their native Regions view.
26.
On some bleak Mountains Top they sighing stay'd,
And thence the Horrors of the Plains survey'd:
Those pleasant Plains, once fill'd with all Delight,
Afforded only now a melancholy Sight:
There Trees lay scatter'd, all defil'd with Mud,
And finny Monsters flounc'd where spacious Cities stood:
The Ground with Heaps of Bones was cover'd o'er,
They ev'ry where found something to deplore:
Long on the sad Catastrophe they gaz'd,
At once afflicted, and amaz'd;
And the vindictive Justice of their God rever'd,
That Justice, which so dreadfully appear'd.
At length embolden'd, and the Earth grown dry,
They from th'inhospitable Heights descend;
Th' aerial Kind disperse themselves around,
Their Steps the Flocks and Herds attend,
And seek their Food upon the slimy Ground,
The slimy Ground cou'd not their Wants supply;
Indulgent Nature pity'd their Distress,
And did the Fields with useful Herbage bless:
But Men, unhappy Men, were forc'd to toil,
To plough, to sow, and cultivate the Soil:
The stubborn Earth without their Care,
Nor Fruits, nor Corn, nor the rich Vine would bear:
They to their Labour their Subsistance ow'd,
And all their Plenty on themselves bestow'd.
27.
We, the curst Off-spring of that wandring Race,
Are still condemn'd to this unhappy Place;
This Earth, where we with Tears are usher'd in,
And where our Griefs, do with our Years begin;
Where, without Labour, we can nothing gain,
And where the Purchase equals not the Pain;
Who wou'd with so much Toil th' Incumbrance Life maintain?
But we must live Probationers for Joy,
In noble Deeds our coming Hours employ;
That, when from this bad World releas'd by Fate,
We may be re-admitted to that glorious State,
Where our pure Souls possess'd supreme Delight,
And liv'd within the Verge of everlasting Light.
What, ye blest Spirits, what cou'd you excite
To leave your radiant Seats above?
Could mortal Bodies such Attractives prove?
Was Happiness grown your Disease?
Or were you surfeited with Ease?
O dreadful Lapse! O fatal Change!
Must you, who thro' the higher Orbs could range,
Survey the beauteous Worlds above,
And there adore the Source of Love,
Be here confin'd to Lumps of Clay,
To darksom Cells, remote from your Ætherial Day?
On this vain Theatre of Noise and Strife,
Must you be forc'd to act the Farce of Life:
Our Souls, Good God, to their first Bliss restore,
And let them actuate dull Flesh no more.
28.
'Tis granted; Hark! I hear the Trumpet sound,
The mighty Voice dilates it self around,
And in its Clangor ev'ry lesser Noise is drown'd.
He comes! he comes! with a refining Fire,
The Clouds before him awfully retire:
The parting Skies with haste give way
And show to trembling Men the bright eternal Day:
Lightning and Thunder on his Triumph wait.
With all the fiery Ministers of Fate:
Ten thousand Meteors roll along the Air;
Hot Exhalations waste their Fury there:
And burning Mountains send their Flames on high;
Swift as our Thoughts the scorching Mischiefs fly:
Mixt with thick Smoak the threatning Terrors rise,
And fill with sooty Atoms the dark gloomy Skies:
The Earth does shake, by fierce Convulsions rent,
And searching Fires to ev'ry Part are sent.
Hark! how the troubled Sea does roar!
Its scalding Waters beat against the Shore:
The Fishes leave their oozy Bed;
With Haste they swim to Land,
But find no Rest upon the burning Sand:
Both Land and Water equally they dread,
And on the glowing Beach in mighty Sholes lie dead.
The feather'd Kind forsake their lofty Heights,
And from the sultry Regions of the Air,
By speedy Flights
For Refuge to the Earth repair,
Where, with sing'd Wings they gasping lie;
The lowing Herds fall panting by,
And Beasts of Prey with strugling Fury die.
The brute Creation one great Holocaust is made,
And altogether on the burning Altar laid.
29.
By flaming Horrors ev'ry where pursu'd,
From Place to Place, poor frighted Mortals run;
Where e'er they go, their Danger is renew'd,
They can't the swift Destruction shun:
Tortur'd with Heat they fainting fall,
And cast despairing Glances round;
The Children on their Parents call;
The wretched Parents sighing lie,
And see their tender Off-spring die:
With loud Complaints they fill the Air;
The heav'nly Vault returns the Sound,
And spreads the mournful Accents round:
In vain they groan, in vain they cry,
In vain their Screeches pierce the Sky,
Alas! no Help, no Aid is nigh:
The common Vengeance all must share,
And with the Earth, the fiery Trial bear;
Both rich, and poor, must leave their mingl'd Ashes there.
30.
See! see! she's now a Sea of Fire,
A vast enormous Blaze!
The neighb'ring Worlds the Prodigy admire,
And on the new-form'd Glory gaze:
The Fire has all her Dross calcin'd,
Ev'ry Part is now refin'd:
Justice appeas'd, to Love gives way,
Love will once more its Pow'r display,
And the Foundations of a second Fabrick lay.
'Tis done! 'tis done! an Earth does rise,
Encompas'd round with purer Skies;
An Earth, much better than the first,
Than that, which for our sake was curst:
Much more beauteous, much more fine,
Much more of Skill Divine
Does in the charming Texture shine:
No inequalities of Air,
No noxious Vapors govern there;
The brighten'd Skies unclouded Lustre wear.
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