Till in thy light thy future face we see,
Shine in thy strength, and share thy dignity,
Absorb'd, behold the scene thy love displays;
Lost in its beams, and shadow'd by its rays,
The growing wonders ev'ry moment view,
For ever op'ning-and for ever new!

PRESERVATION BY LAND AND SEA.

A DIVINE ODE.

ADDISON.

How

are thy servants blest, O LORD!

How sure is their defence!

Eternal Wisdom is their guide,

Their help Omnipotence.

In foreign realms, and lands remote,
Supported by thy care,

Thro' burning climes I pass'd unhurt,
And breath'd in tainted air.

Thy mercy sweeten'd every soil,
Made every region please,

The hoary Alpine hills it warm'd,

And smooth'd the Tyrrhene seas.

Think, O my soul, devoutly think,
How with affrighted eyes
Thou saw'st the wide extended deep
In all its horrors rise!

Confusion dwelt in every face,
And fear in every heart,

When waves on waves, and gulfs in gulfs
O'ercame the pilot's art.

Yet then from all my griefs, O LORD!
Thy mercy set me free,
Whilst in the confidence of pray'r
My soul took hold on thee;

For tho' in dreadful whirls we hung
High on the broken wave,

I knew thou wert not slow to hear,
Nor impotent to save:

The storm was laid, the winds retir'd,

Obedient to thy will;

The sea, that roar'd at thy command,
At thy command was still.

In midst of danger, fear, and death,
Thy goodness I'll adore,

And praise thee for thy mercies past,
And humbly hope for more.

My life, if thou preserv'st my life,

Thy sacrifice shall be;

And death, if death must be my doom,
Shall join my soul to thee.

A

SOLILOQUY.

ON THE

IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL,

ADDISON.

It must be so-Plato, thou reason'st well!
Else whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire,
This longing after immortality?

Or whence this secret dread, this inward horror
Of falling into nought? Why shrinks the soul
Back on herself, and startles at destruction?
'Tis the Divinity that stirs within us;

"Tis Heaven itself that points out an hereafter,

And intimates eternity to man.

Eternity! thou pleasing, dreadful thought!
Through what variety of untry'd being,

Through what new scenes and changes must we pass!

The wide, th' unbounded prospect lies before me;
But shadows, clouds, and darkness rest upon it.
Here will I hold-If there's a Pow'r above us,
(And that there is, all nature cries aloud
Through all her works) He must delight in virtue;
And that which He delights in must be happy.

A

PARAPHRASE

ON

PART OF THE NINETEENTH PSALM.

THE

ADDISON.

HE spacious firmament on high,

With all the blue ethereal sky,

And spangled heavens, and shining frame,

Their Great Original proclaim:

Th' unwearied sun, from day to day,
Does his Creator's power display,

And publishes to every land

The work of an Almighty hand.

Soon as the ev'ning shades prevail,
The moon takes up the wondrous tale,
And nightly to the list'ning earth
Repeats the story of her birth:

Whilst all the stars that round her burn,
And all the planets in their turn,

Confirm the tidings as they roll,

And spread the truth from pole to pole.

What though in solemn silence, all
Move round the dark terrestrial ball!
What though no real voice nor sound
Amid their radiant orbs be found!
In reason's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice;
For ever singing as they shine,
"The Hand that made us is divine.”

THE

TWENTY-THIRD PSALM.

ADDISON.

THE LORD my pasture shall prepare, And feed me with a shepherd's care: His presence shall my wants supply, And guard me with a watchful eye;