Thinking next Moment to be crush'ḍ
I wak'd, and thus my Fears were hufh'd.
Inftead of fractur'd Skull I find
I'm where my Head last Night reclin'd.
How came this Dream into my Head?
Perhaps I've lain too long in Bed.
And should have flept away the Light,
Had it not been for this fore Fright.
'Tis plainly fo—I see the SUN
Already has his Race begun :
Diffufing, with his golden Rays,
His great Creator's lofty Praise.
Shake off your Sleep, my drowsy Eyes,
Begin thy Race, bright Phoebus cries;
Me, in my Course, unwearied fee;
Rife, fluggish Man, and follow me ;
For Sleep my Light was never given,
But to mark out your Road to Heaven.
Advice to obfcene Writers on Glass.
ITH Rhymes obfcene no more the Glass
pollute,
Nor make the guiltless Gem turn Prostitute.
On the pure Glass fair Virtue's Precepts write;
So fhall the Di'mond fhine with heav'nly Light:
A Paraphrafe on the feven firft Verfes of the Prophecy of Nahum.
Published in the New Univerfal Magazine, for O&. 1752.
ONG had proud * Nimrod's stately City stood,
Increas'd by Spoil, and ftain'd with human
Blood.
Long had juft Heaven obferv'd her crying Guilt,
And measur'd o'er the Blood which she had spilt.
When, fent from GoD, Nahum the Prophet goes,
And tells the City her impending Woes.
Arm'd with juft Vengeance, fee the jealous GoD, With angry Looks affume his iron Rod, Refolv'd to punish his rebellious Foes,
And strike their stubborn Hearts with piercing Woes.
Vengeance, tho' flow, awakes to give the Blow;
Which falls the heavier, as it comes more flow.
Th' eternal King 'tis Madness to defy,
Of humble Souls he'll only hear the Cry.
Almighty Power detains the Rebel Worm,
And fiery Vengeance chides the lagging Storm.
When lo! th' Almighty mounts the angry Skies, Wrapt in a Whirlwind he impetuous flies; Tempests and Storms obey his powerful Nod, And Clouds are Duft beneath the Feet of God. At his Rebuke the Ocean finks his Head, Rivers and Seas leave but an empty Bed : Depriy'd at once of their late copious Store, The parched Bafons gape from Shore to Shore.
Bashan, for Oaks renown'd, and lowing Herds,
Smitten by Heaven, a doleful Scene affords :
The forked Light'nings rend the knotted Oak,
And groaning Beafts expire beneath the Stroke;
Fair Lebanon, whofe Cedars long had stood
Th' unrivall❜d Glory of the nodding Wood,
Mourns a like Fate:-
From their deep Roots the lofty Trunks are torn,
And thro' the Air to distant Hills are borne.
The flow'ry Carmel, dreft in vernal Bloom,
O'er Hills, thro' Vales, diffufing fweet Perfume;
Opening new Beauties to the folar Ray,
'Receives the Shock, and languishes away.
Look how th' affrighted Mountains reel and quake !
The Hills diffolve, and form a fiery Lake:
His Prefence fets the diftant Poles on Fire,
And Earth and Heavens in Smoke and Flames expire.
Say then, what Mortal can abide his Rage,
Or who can with incenfed Wrath engage?
In fiery Streams his Fury makes it's Way,
Burfts the firm Rocks and rolls them in the Sea.
These are the Terrors of my GOD-but hold-
A brighter Scene I haften to unfold.
Vengeance awaits the guilty Wretch alone;
The Pious need not dread the awful Throne:
Goodness in all its gentle Forms appears,
To prompt their Hopes, and banish all their Fears.
GOD knows the Juft, and will be the Defence
Of thofe that truft in his Omnipotence;
In Times of greatest Danger they shall find
A Father, Friend, and Judge fupremely kind.
1. W From Egypt's cruel Bondage freed,
HAT Joy poffeft the chofen Seed!
And Terrors of the Main;
Secure they ftand upon the Shore,
Since Pharaoh's Hofts are now no more,
And all their Threat'nings vain.
2. Wonder and Love their Breasts infpire,
Whilft Mofes leads the holy Choir,
A lofty Song to raise :
The Matrons and the Virgins too,
Like pious Zeal and Duty fhew,
And tune their Harps to Praise.
3. I'll fing, the glorious Leader cries,
The Wonders done before our Eyes,
Nor longer Silence keep :
GOD is my Strength, and he my Song;
Repeat his mighty Acts, my Tongue,
His Wonders in the Deep.
4. He is our God, our Father's God,
For him we'll find a fit abode."
All Idols we difclaim.
Exalt the LORD, the GOD of War,
Who can with him in Arms compare?
JEHOVAH is his Name!
5. Proud Pharaoh's Chariots, and his Hoft, The haughty Monarch's Joy and Boast, He caft beneath the Wave:
His chofen Captains too are drown'd,
For great Exploits of War renown'd;
Nor could their Courage fave.
6. The Depths incens'd foon ftopt the Chace,
And cover'd o'er the cruel Race,
In their full Thirft of Blood:
They fell, they fank, as doth the Stone,
Which to the Bottom haftens down,
Amid the yielding Flood.
7. Thy Right-Hand, LORD, for Vengeance rais'd, The Sons of Egypt, fore amaz'd,
And spread thy Glories far:
Thy strong Right-Hand with dreadful Blow,
In Pieces dafh'd th' infulting Foe,
That dar'd the wat'ry War.
8. In vain the Rebels feek to fly,
In vain they to their Idols cry,
No Arm had they to fave:
Not fooner, by fome rapid Fire,
The Chaff is burnt, than they expire.
Amid their watʼry Grave.
9. Thou, LORD, didft blow, and at thy Blaft
The mighty Deep was cleft in Hafte;
The Waves like Mountains rife ;
The rolling Floods now ceafe to flow,
Congeal'd like Rocks of Ice and Snow,
Beneath the northern Skies.
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