The Poetical Works of Edward Young | Page 5

an upper chamber to the tomb.?No spot on earth but has supplied a grave,?And human skulls the spacious ocean pave.?All's full of man; and at this dreadful turn,?The swarm shall issue, and the hive shall burn.?Not all at once, nor in like manner, rise:?Some lift with pain their slow, unwilling eyes:?Shrink backward from the terror of the light,?And bless the grave, and call for lasting night.?Others, whose long-attempted virtue stood?Fix'd as a rock, and broke the rushing flood,?Whose firm resolve, nor beauty could melt down,?Nor raging tyrants from their posture frown;?Such, in this day of horrors, shall be seen?To face the thunders with a godlike mien;?The planets drop, their thoughts are fixt above;?The centre shakes, their hearts disdain to move;?An earth dissolving, and a heaven thrown wide,?A yawning gulf, and fiends on every side,?Serene they view, impatient of delay,?And bless the dawn of everlasting day.?Here, greatness prostrate falls; there, strength gives place; Here, lazars smile; there, beauty hides her face.?Christians, and Jews, and Turks, and Pagans stand,?A blended throng, one undistinguish'd band.?Some who, perhaps, by mutual wounds expir'd,?With zeal for their distinct persuasions fir'd,?In mutual friendship their long slumber break,?And hand in hand their Saviour's love partake.?But none are flush'd with brighter joy, or, warm?With juster confidence, enjoy the storm,?Than those, whose pious bounties, unconfin'd,?Have made them public fathers of mankind.?In that illustrious rank, what shining light?With such distinguish'd glory fills my sight??Bend down, my grateful muse, that homage show,?Which to such worthies thou art proud to owe.?Wickham! Fox! Chichley! hail, illustrious names,(3)?Who to far distant times dispense your beams;?Beneath your shades, and near your crystal springs,?I first presum'd to touch the trembling strings.?All hail, thrice honour'd! 'Twas your great renown?To bless a people, and oblige a crown.?And now you rise, eternally to shine,?Eternally to drink the rays divine.?Indulgent God! Oh how shall mortal raise?His soul to due returns of grateful praise,?For bounty so profuse to humankind,?Thy wondrous gift of an eternal mind??Shall I, who, some few years ago, was less?Than worm, or mite, or shadow can express,?Was nothing; shall I live, when every fire?And every star shall languish and expire??When earth's no more, shall I survive above,?And thro' the radiant files of angels move??Or, as before the throne of God I stand,?See new worlds rolling from his spacious hand,?Where our adventures shall perhaps be taught,?As we now tell how Michael sung or fought??All that has being in full concert join,?And celebrate the depths of love divine!?But oh! before this blissful state, before?Th' aspiring soul this wondrous height can soar,?The Judge, descending, thunders from afar,?And all mankind is summon'd to the bar.?This mighty scene I next presume to draw:?Attend, great Anna, with religious awe.?Expect not here the known successful arts?To win attention, and command our hearts:?Fiction, be far away; let no machine?Descending here, no fabled god, be seen;?Behold the God of gods indeed descend,?And worlds unnumber'd his approach attend!?Lo! the wide theatre, whose ample space?Must entertain the whole of human race,?At heaven's all-powerful edict is prepar'd,?And fenc'd around with an immortal guard.?Tribes, provinces, dominions, worlds, o'erflow?The mighty plain, and deluge all below:?And every age, and nation, pours along,?Nimrod and Bourbon mingle in the throng:?Adam salutes his youngest son; no sign,?Of all those ages, which their births disjoin.?How empty learning, and how vain is art,?But as it mends the life, and guides the heart!?What volumes have been swell'd, what time been spent,?To fix a hero's birth-day, or descent!?What joy must it now yield, what rapture raise,?To see the glorious race of ancient days!?To greet those worthies who perhaps have stood?Illustrious on record before the flood!?Alas! a nearer care your soul demands,?C?sar unnoted in your presence stands.?How vast the concourse! not in number more?The waves that break on the resounding shore,?The leaves that tremble in the shady grove,?The lamps that gild the spangled vaults above:?Those overwhelming armies, whose command?Said to one empire, fall; another, stand:?Whose rear lay wrapt in night, while breaking dawn?Rous'd the broad front, and call'd the battle on:?Great Xerxes' world in arms, proud Cann?'s field,?Where Carthage taught victorious Rome to yield,?(Another blow had broke the fates' decree,?And earth had wanted her fourth monarchy,)?Immortal Blenheim, fam'd Ramillia's host,?They all are here, and here they all are lost:?Their millions swell to be discern'd in vain,?Lost as a billow in th' unbounded main.?This echoing voice now rends the yielding air,?For judgment, judgment, sons of men, prepare!?Earth shakes anew; I hear her groans profound;?And hell through all her trembling realms resound.?Whoe'er thou art, thou greatest power of earth,?Blest with most equal planets at thy birth;?Whose valour drew the most successful sword,?Most realms united in one common lord;?Who, on the day of triumph, saidst, Be thine?The skies, Jehovah, all this world is mine:?Dare not to lift thine eye--Alas! my muse,?How art thou lost! what numbers canst thou choose??A sudden blush inflames the waving sky,?And