Proceed who dares! I tremble as I write
The whole creation swims before my sight;
I see, I see, the Judge's frowning brow;
Say not, 'tis distant; I behold it now:

I faint, my tardy blood forgets to flow,
My soul recoils at the stupendous woe;

That woe, those pangs which from the guilty breast,
In these, or words like these, shall be express'd.

"Who burst the barriers of my peaceful grave? "Ah, cruel Death! that would no longer save, "But grudg'd me e'en that narrow dark abode, "And cast me out into the wrath of GOD; "Where shrieks, the roaring flame, the rattling "chain,

"And all the dreadful eloquence of pain,
"Our only song; black fire's malignant light,
"The sole refreshment of the blasted sight.

"Must all those pow'rs Heav'n gave me to supply "My soul with pleasure, and bring in my joy, "Rise up in arms against me, join the foe, "Sense, reason, memory, increase my woe? "And shall my voice ordain'd on hymns to dwell, "Corrupt to groans, and blow the fires of hell? "O! must I look with terror on my gain,

And with existence only measure pain?

« Forget me quite, nor stoop a worm to blame; “But lose me in the greatness of thy name. "Thou art all love, all mercy, all divine, "And shall I make those glories cease to shine? “Shall sinful man grow great by his offence, "And from its course turn back Omnipotence?

"Forbid it! and O grant, Great GOD, at least “This one, this slender, almost no request: “When I have wept a thousand lives away, “ When torment is grown weary of his prey, “When I have rav'd ten thousand years in fire, "Ten thousand thousands, let me then expire!"

Deep anguish! but too late! the hopeless soul Bound to the bottom of the burning pool, Though loth, and ever loud blaspheming, owns He's justly doom'd to pour eternal groans; Enclos'd with horrors, and transfix'd with pain, Rolling in vengeance, struggling with his chain; To talk to fiery tempests; to implore The raging flame to give its burnings o'er ; To toss, to writhe, to pant beneath his load, And bear the weight of an offended GOD.

The favor'd of their Judge in triumph move, To take possession of their thrones above;

Satan's accurs'd desertion to supply,
And fill the vacant stations of the sky;
Again to kindle long-extinguish'd rays,
And with new lights dilate the heavenly blaze;
To crop the roses of immortal youth,
And drink the fountain-head of sacred truth;
To swim in seas of bliss, to strike the string,
And lift their voice to their Almighty King;
To lose eternity in grateful lays,

And fill heaven's wide circumference with praise.

But I attempt the wondrous height in vain,
And leave unfinish'd the too lofty strain;
What boldly I begin, let others end;
My strength exhausted, fainting I descend,
And choose a less, but no ignoble theme,
Dissolving 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 sign, and all
Heaven's terrors in array surround the ball:
Sharp lightnings with the meteor's blaze conspire,
And, darted downward, set the world on fire;
Black rising clouds the thicken'd ether choke,
And spiry flames dart thro' the rolling smoke,
With keen vibrations cut the sullen night,
And strike the darken'd sky with dreadful light;

From heaven's four regions, with immortal force,
Angels drive on the wind's impetuous course,

T'enrage the flame: it spreads, it soars on high,
Swells in the storm, and billows through the sky:
Here winding pyramids of fire ascend,
Cities and deserts, in one ruin blend;
Here blazing volumes wafted overwhelm
The spacious face of a far distant realm;
There, undermin'd, down rush eternal hills,
The neighb'ring vale the vast destruction fills.

Hear'st thou that dreadful crack? that sound
which broke

Like peals of thunder, and the centre shook?
What wonders must that groan of nature tell!
Olympus there, and mightier Atlas, fell;
Which seem'd above the reach of fate to stand,

A tow'ring monument of GOD's right-hand:

⚫ Now dust and smoke, whose brow so lately spread O'er shelter'd countries its diffusive shade.

Shew me the celebrated spot, where all
The various rulers of the sever'd ball

Have humbly sought wealth, honour, and redress,
That land which heaven seem'd diligent to bless,
Once call'd Britannia: can her glories end?
And can't surrounding seas her realm defend?

Alas! in flames behold surrounding seas;
Like oil, their waters but augment their blaze.

Some angel say, Where ran proud Asia's bound? Or where with fruits was fair Europa crown'd? Where stretch'd waste Lybia? Where did India's

store

Sparkle in diamonds, and her golden ore?
Each lost in each their mingling kingdoms glow,
And all dissolv'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 swims, or walks, or flies, Inhabitants of sea, or earth, or skies; All on whom Adam's wisdom fix'd a name, All plunge, and perish in the conq'ring flame.

This globe alone would but defraud the fire,
Starve its devouring rage: the flakes aspire,
And catch the clouds, and make the heavens their
prey;

The sun, the moon, the stars, all melt away:
All, all is lost; no monument, no sign,

Where once so proudly blaz'd the

gay machine.

So bubbles on the foaming stream expire,

So sparks that scatter from the kindling fire;