I fee, I fee, the Judge's frowning brow;
Say not, 'tis diftant; I behold it now;
I faint, my tardy blood forgets to flow,
My foul recoils at the ftupendous woe;

That woe, thofe pangs, which from the guilty breast,
In thefe, or words like these, shall be expreft.
"Who burft the barriers of my peaceful grave?
"Ah! cruel death, that would no longer fave,
"But grudg'd me e'en that narrow dark abode,
"And caft me out into the wrath of God;

"Where shrieks, the roaring flame, the rattling chain,
"And all the dreadful eloquence of pain,
"Our only fong; black fire's malignant light,
"The fole refreshment of the blafted fight.

"Muft all those pow'rs, heav'n gave me to supply

My foul with pleasure, and bring in my joy, "Rise up in arms against me, join the foe,

Senfe, reafon, memory, increase my woe?

"And shall my voice, ordain'd on hymns to dwell,
"Corrupt to groans, and blow the fires of hell?
"Oh! muft I look with terror on my gain,
"And with existence only measure pain?
"What! no reprieve, no least indulgence giv'n,
"No beam of hope, from any point of heav'n!
"Ah Mercy! Mercy! art thou dead above?
"Is Love extinguish'd in the Source of Love?
"Bold that I am, did heav'n stoop down to hell?
"Th' expiring Lord of life my ransom seal?
"Have I not been industrious to provoke ?
"From his embraces obftinately broke?
"Purfu'd, and panted for his mortal hate,
"Earn'd my destruction, labour'd out my fate?
"And dare I on extinguish'd Love exclaim ?

"Take, take full vengeance, rouze the flack'ning flame;

"Juft

σε

Juft is my lot-but oh! muft it transcend "The reach of time, despair a distant end ? "With dreadful growth fhoot forward, and arise, "Where thought can't follow, and bold fancy dies? "NEVER! where falls the foul at that dread found? "Down an abyfs how dark, and how profound ? "Down, down, (I ftill am falling, horrid pain!) "Ten thousand thousand fathoms still remain ; "My plunge but still begun-And this for fin? "Could I offend, if I had never been, "But ftill increas'd the fenseless happy mass, "Flow'd in the stream, or shiver'd in the grass? "Father of mercies! why from filent earth "Did'st thou awake, and curse me into birth? Tear me from quiet, ravish me from night, "And make a thankless present of thy light? "Push into being a reverse of Thee,

"And animate a clod with misery?

"The beasts are happy; they come forth, and keep "Short watch on earth, and then lie down to fleep. "Pain is for man; and oh! how vast a pain "For crimes, which made the Godhead bleed in vain! "Annull'd his groans, as far as in them lay,

And flung his agonies, and death, away! "As our dire punishment for ever strong, "Our conftitution too for ever young. "Curs'd with returns of vigour, ftill the fame "Pow'rful to bear, and fatisfy the flame : "Still to be caught, and still to be pursu'd! "To perish ftill, and still to be renew'd!

"And this, My Help! My God! at thy decree? "Nature is chang'd, and hell should fuccour me. "And can'ft Thou then look down from perfect bliss, "And fee me plunging in the dark abyss?

Calling

"Calling Thee Father, in a fea of fire?

"Or pouring blafphemies at Thy defire ?
"With mortals anguish wilt Thou raise Thy name,
"And by my pangs omnipotence proclaim?

"Thou, who canft tofs the planets to and fro,
"Contract not Thy great vengeance to my woe;
"Crush worlds; in hotter flames fall'n angels lay;
"On me Almighty wrath is caft away.
"Call back Thy thunders, Lord, hold in Thy rage,
"Nor with a speck of wretchedness engage:

Forget me quite, nor ftoop a worm to blame; "But lose me in the greatness of Thy name. "Thou art all Love, all Mercy, all Divine, "And fhall I make those glories cease to shine? "Shall finful man grow great by his offence,

And from its course turn back Omnipotence?
"Forbid it! and oh! grant, Great God, at least
"This one, this flender, almost no request;
"When I have wept a thousand lives
away,
"When torment is grown weary of its prey,
"When I have rav'd ten thousand years in fire,
"Ten thousand thousand, let me then expire."

Deep anguish! but too late; the hopeless foul
Bound to the bottom of the burning pool,
Though loth, and ever loud blafpheming, owns
He's justly doom'd to pour eternal groans;
Enclos'd with horrors, and transfix'd with pain,
Rolling in vengeance, ftruggling with his chain :
To talk to fiery tempests; to implore
The raging flame to give its burnings o'er;
To tofs, to writhe, to pant beneath his load,
And bear the weight of an offended God.
The favour'd of their Judge, in triumph move
To take poffeffion of their thrones above;

Satan's

Satan's accurs'd defertion to fupply,

And fill the vacant stations of the sky;
Again to kindle long-extinguish'd rays,
And with new lights dilate the heav'nly blaze;
To crop the roses of immortal youth,

And drink the fountain-head of sacred truth;
To fwim in feas of blifs, to ftrike the string,
And lift the voice to their Almighty KING;
To lose eternity in grateful lays,

And fill heav'n's wide circumference with praise.
But I attempt the wond'rous height in vain,
And leave unfinish'd the too lofty strain :
What boldly I begin, let others end;
My ftrength exhaufted, fainting I defcend,
And chufe a lefs, but no ignoble, theme,
Diffolving elements, and worlds, in flame.

The fatal period, the great hour, is come,
And nature shrinks at her approaching doom;
Loud peals of thunder give the fign, and all
Heav'n's terrors in array furround the ball;
Sharp lightnings with the meteors blaze confpire,
And, darted downward, fet the world on fire;
Black rifing clouds the thicken'd Æther choke,
And spiry flames dart through the rolling smoke,
With keen vibrations cut the fullen night,
And ftrike the darken'd sky with dreadful light;
From heav'n's four regions, with immortal force,
Angels drive on the wind's impetuous course,
T'enrage the flame: It spreads, it foars on high,
Swells in the ftorm, and billows through the sky:
Here winding pyramids of fire afcend,

Cities and defarts in one ruin blend;
Here blazing volumes wafted, overwhelm
The spacious face of a far diftant realm;

D 4

There,

There, undermin'd, down rush eternal hills,

The neighb'ring vales the vast destruction fills.

Hear'ft thou that dreadful crack? that found which broke
Like peals of thunder, and the centre shook?
What wonders muft that groan of nature tell?
Oylmpus there, and mightier Atlas, fell;
Which feem'd above the reach of fate to ftand,
A tow'ring monument of God's right hand;
Now duft and fmoke, whofe brow, fo lately, spread
O'er fhelter'd countries its diffufive fhade.

Shew me that celebrated fpot, where all
The various rulers of the fever'd ball
Have humbly fought wealth, honour, and redress,
That land which heav'n seem'd diligent to bless,
Once call'd Britannia: Can her glories end?
And can't surrounding feas her realms defend?
Alas! in flames behold furrounding feas!
Like oil, their waters but augment the blaze.

Some angel fay, Where ran proud Afia's bound?
Or where with fruits was fair Europa crown'd?
Where ftretch'd wafte Lybia? Where did India's shore
Sparkle in diamonds, and her golden ore?

Each loft in each, their mingling kingdoms glow,
And all diffolv'd, one fiery deluge flow:
Thus earth's contending monarchies are join'd,
And a full period of ambition find.

And now whate'er or fwims, or walks, or flies,
Inhabitants of fea, or earth, or skies;
All on whom ADAM'S wisdom fix'd a name,
All plunge, and perish in the conquʼring flame.
This globe alone would but defraud the fire,
Starve its devouring rage: the flakes afpire,
And catch the clouds, and make the heav'ns their prey;
The fun, the moon, the ftars, all melt away;