Specimens with Memoirs of the Less-known British Poets Part 113

1 O thou, that sitt'st upon a throne, With harp of high, majestic tone, To praise the King of kings: And voice of heaven, ascending, swell, Which, while its deeper notes excel, Clear as a clarion rings:

2 To bless each valley, grove, and coast, And charm the cherubs to the post Of grat.i.tude in throngs; To keep the days on Zion's Mount, And send the year to his account, With dances and with songs:

3 O servant of G.o.d's holiest charge, The minister of praise at large, Which thou mayst now receive; From thy blest mansion hail and hear, From topmost eminence appear To this the wreath I weave.

4 Great, valiant, pious, good, and clean, Sublime, contemplative, serene, Strong, constant, pleasant, wise!

Bright effluence of exceeding grace; Best man! the swiftness and the race, The peril and the prize!

5 Great--from the l.u.s.tre of his crown, From Samuel's horn, and G.o.d's renown, Which is the people's voice; For all the host, from rear to van, Applauded and embraced the man-- The man of G.o.d's own choice.

6 Valiant--the word, and up he rose; The fight--he triumphed o'er the foes Whom G.o.d's just laws abhor; And, armed in gallant faith, he took Against the boaster, from the brook, The weapons of the war.

7 Pious--magnificent and grand, 'Twas he the famous temple planned, (The seraph in his soul:) Foremost to give the Lord his dues, Foremost to bless the welcome news, And foremost to condole.

8 Good--from Jehudah's genuine vein, From G.o.d's best nature, good in grain, His aspect and his heart: To pity, to forgive, to save, Witness En-gedi's conscious cave, And Shimei's blunted dart.

9 Clean--if perpetual prayer be pure, And love, which could itself inure To fasting and to fear-- Clean in his gestures, hands, and feet, To smite the lyre, the dance complete, To play the sword and spear.

10 Sublime--invention ever young, Of vast conception, towering tongue, To G.o.d the eternal theme; Notes from yon exaltations caught, Unrivalled royalty of thought, O'er meaner strains supreme.

11 Contemplative--on G.o.d to fix His musings, and above the six The Sabbath-day he blessed; 'Twas then his thoughts self-conquest pruned, And heavenly melancholy tuned, To bless and bear the rest.

12 Serene--to sow the seeds of peace, Remembering when he watched the fleece, How sweetly Kidron purled-- To further knowledge, silence vice, And plant perpetual paradise, When G.o.d had calmed the world.

13 Strong--in the Lord, who could defy Satan, and all his powers that lie In sempiternal night; And h.e.l.l, and horror, and despair Were as the lion and the bear To his undaunted might.

14 Constant--in love to G.o.d, the Truth, Age, manhood, infancy, and youth; To Jonathan his friend Constant, beyond the verge of death; And Ziba, and Mephibosheth, His endless fame attend.

15 Pleasant--and various as the year; Man, soul, and angel without peer, Priest, champion, sage, and boy; In armour or in ephod clad, His pomp, his piety was glad; Majestic was his joy.

16 Wise--in recovery from his fall, Whence rose his eminence o'er all, Of all the most reviled; The light of Israel in his ways, Wise are his precepts, prayer, and praise, And counsel to his child.

17 His muse, bright angel of his verse, Gives balm for all the thorns that pierce, For all the pangs that rage; Blest light, still gaining on the gloom, The more than Michal of his bloom, The Abis.h.a.g of his age.

18 He sang of G.o.d--the mighty source Of all things--the stupendous force On which all strength depends; From whose right arm, beneath whose eyes, All period, power, and enterprise Commences, reigns, and ends.

19 Angels--their ministry and meed, Which to and fro with blessings speed, Or with their citterns wait; Where Michael, with his millions, bows, Where dwells the seraph and his spouse, The cherub and her mate.

20 Of man--the semblance and effect Of G.o.d and love--the saint elect For infinite applause-- To rule the land, and briny broad, To be laborious in his laud, And heroes in his cause.

21 The world--the cl.u.s.tering spheres he made, The glorious light, the soothing shade, Dale, champaign, grove, and hill; The mult.i.tudinous abyss, Where secrecy remains in bliss, And wisdom hides her skill.

22 Trees, plants, and flowers--of virtuous root; Gem yielding blossom, yielding fruit, Choice gums and precious balm; Bless ye the nosegay in the vale, And with the sweetness of the gale Enrich the thankful psalm.

23 Of fowl--even every beak and wing Which cheer the winter, hail the spring, That live in peace, or prey; They that make music, or that mock, The quail, the brave domestic c.o.c.k, The raven, swan, and jay.

24 Of fishes--every size and shape, Which nature frames of light escape, Devouring man to shun: The sh.e.l.ls are in the wealthy deep, The shoals upon the surface leap, And love the glancing sun.

25 Of beasts--the beaver plods his task; While the sleek tigers roll and bask, Nor yet the shades arouse; Her cave the mining coney scoops; Where o'er the mead the mountain stoops, The kids exult and browse.

26 Of gems--their virtue and their price, Which, hid in earth from man's device, Their darts of l.u.s.tre sheath; The jasper of the master's stamp, The topaz blazing like a lamp, Among the mines beneath.

27 Blest was the tenderness he felt, When to his graceful harp he knelt, And did for audience call; When Satan with his hand he quelled, And in serene suspense he held The frantic throes of Saul.

28 His furious foes no more maligned As he such melody divined, And sense and soul detained; Now striking strong, now soothing soft, He sent the G.o.dly sounds aloft, Or in delight refrained.

29 When up to heaven his thoughts he piled, From fervent lips fair Michal smiled, As blush to blush she stood; And chose herself the queen, and gave Her utmost from her heart--'so brave, And plays his hymns so good.'

30 The pillars of the Lord are seven, Which stand from earth to topmost heaven; His wisdom drew the plan; His Word accomplished the design, From brightest gem to deepest mine, From Christ enthroned to man.

31 Alpha, the cause of causes, first In station, fountain, whence the burst Of light and blaze of day; Whence bold attempt, and brave advance, Have motion, life, and ordinance, And heaven itself its stay.

32 Gamma supports the glorious arch On which angelic legions march, And is with sapphires paved; Thence the fleet clouds are sent adrift, And thence the painted folds that lift The crimson veil, are waved.

33 Eta with living sculpture breathes, With verdant carvings, flowery wreathes Of never-wasting bloom; In strong relief his goodly base All instruments of labour grace, The trowel, spade, and loom.

34 Next Theta stands to the supreme-- Who formed in number, sign, and scheme, The ill.u.s.trious lights that are; And one addressed his saffron robe, And one, clad in a silver globe, Held rule with every star.

35 Iota's tuned to choral hymns Of those that fly, while he that swims In thankful safety lurks; And foot, and chapiter, and niche, The various histories enrich Of G.o.d's recorded works.

36 Sigma presents the social droves With him that solitary roves, And man of all the chief; Fair on whose face, and stately frame, Did G.o.d impress his hallowed name, For ocular belief.

37 Omega! greatest and the best, Stands sacred to the day of rest, For grat.i.tude and thought; Which blessed the world upon his pole, And gave the universe his goal, And closed the infernal draught.

38 O David, scholar of the Lord!

Such is thy science, whence reward, And infinite degree; O strength, O sweetness, lasting ripe!

G.o.d's harp thy symbol, and thy type The lion and the bee!

39 There is but One who ne'er rebelled, But One by pa.s.sion unimpelled, By pleasures unenticed; He from himself his semblance sent, Grand object of his own content, And saw the G.o.d in Christ.

40 Tell them, I Am, Jehovah said To Moses; while earth heard in dread, And, smitten to the heart, At once above, beneath, around, All nature, without voice or sound, Replied, O Lord, Thou Art.

41 Thou art--to give and to confirm, For each his talent and his term; All flesh thy bounties share: Thou shalt not call thy brother fool; The porches of the Christian school Are meekness, peace, and prayer.

42 Open and naked of offence, Man's made of mercy, soul, and sense: G.o.d armed the snail and wilk; Be good to him that pulls thy plough; Due food and care, due rest allow For her that yields thee milk.

43 Rise up before the h.o.a.ry head, And G.o.d's benign commandment dread, Which says thou shalt not die: 'Not as I will, but as thou wilt,'

Prayed He, whose conscience knew no guilt; With whose blessed pattern vie.

44 Use all thy pa.s.sions!--love is thine, And joy and jealousy divine; Thine hope's eternal fort, And care thy leisure to disturb, With fear concupiscence to curb, And rapture to transport.

45 Act simply, as occasion asks; Put mellow wine in seasoned casks; Till not with a.s.s and bull: Remember thy baptismal bond; Keep from commixtures foul and fond, Nor work thy flax with wool.

46 Distribute; pay the Lord his t.i.the, And make the widow's heart-strings blithe; Resort with those that weep: As you from all and each expect, For all and each thy love direct, And render as you reap.

47 The slander and its bearer spurn, And propagating praise sojourn To make thy welcome last; Turn from old Adam to the New: By hope futurity pursue: Look upwards to the past.

48 Control thine eye, salute success, Honour the wiser, happier bless, And for thy neighbour feel; Grutch not of mammon and his leaven, Work emulation up to heaven By knowledge and by zeal.