3. Thou art the Fountain, whence their light does flow; But to thy Will thine own doft owe: For (as at firft) thou didst but fay Let there be Light! and ftrait fprang forth this wondrous Ray. 4. Let now the eastern Princes come and bring Their tributary Offering: There needs no Star to guide their flight, They'll find thee now, great King, by thy own light. 5. And thou, my foul, adore, love, and admire, And follow this bright Guide of fire. Do thou thy hymns and praises bring, Whilft angels with veil'd faces anthems fing. Pompous and folemn is his Pace. And full of Majefty, as is his Face. Who is this mighty Hero, who? 'Tis I, who to my Promise faithful stand; I who the pow'rs of Death, hell, and the grave, Have foil'd with this all-conqu'ring Hand, I who most ready am, and mighty too to fave. II. Why wear'st thou then this scarlet dye? Say, mighty Hero, why? Why do thy garments look all red, Like them that in the Wine-fat tread? "TheWine-prefs I alone have trod," That vaft unwieldy frame, which long did ftand Unmov'd, and which no mortal Angels ftood trembling at the dreadful fight, Concern'd, with what fuccefs I should go thro' The Work I undertook to do; Inrag'd I put forth all my Might, And down the engine prefs'd, the violent force III. The day, the fignal Day is come, When of my enemies I muft vengeance take; The day when death fhall have its doom, And the dark Kingdom with its pow'rs fhall shake. 3 Time in his Calendar mark'd out this day with red, I He folded down the iron leaf, and thus he faid, This Day, if ought I can divine be true, Shall for a fignal victory Be celebrated to pofterity: cend, And with my fingle Arm the conquest won. Loud acclamations filled all heaven's court, The hymning guards above, Strain'd to a higher pitch of joy and love, The great Jehovah prais'd, and the victorious Son. 487. I. AY, bold and daring mind, What noble Subject wilt thou find? Of what great Hero, of what mighty thing, And refcue mortals from th' in-Wilt thou in boundless numbers fing? Sing the unfathom'd depths of love, (For who the wonders done by love fernal Fiend, Break thro' his strongest forts, and all his hoft fubdue." This faid, he shut the adamantine can tell, By Love, which is itself all miracle?) Love's greatest mystery rehearse, Which on the teeming chaos brood- And hatch'd with kindly heat the How God in mercy chose to bleed To refcue Man from mifery ; II. Lo! in Gethsemane I fee him proftrate lie, Prefs'd with the weight of his great The common fluices of the Eyes His tortur'd Body weeps all o'er, took my Fury for my fole fupport, Buds forth a precious gem of purple How ftrange the power of Affli&i- | He faw the foul Ingratitude of those, Who would the labours of his Love on's rod, When in the hands of an incenfed God! Like the commanding wand In Mofes' hand, And as he faw, to waver he began, It works a miracle, and turns the And almoft to repent of his great flood III. And now the tragic fcene's difplay'd, That num'rous hoft of Miferies All cloath'd with thunder, big with death, And fhowers of hot burning wrath, Which fhortly must be poured down. He faw a black and difmal scroll Of Sins, paft, prefent, and to come, With their intolerable Doom; (Which would the more opprefs bis foul, As elements are weighty prov'd When from their native ftation they're remov'd.) love for Man. IV. When lo, a heav'nly Form all bright and fair, Swifter than thought, fhot thro' th' enlightned air. He who ftood next th'imperial throne, And read the counfels of the great Three-one, Who in Eternity's mysterious glass, Saw both what was, what is, and what mufl come to pass; He came with reverence profound, And rais'd his proftrate Maker from the ground, Wip'd off the bloody Sweat With which his face and garments too were wet; And comforted his dark benighted mind With fovereign Cordials of light refin'd. This done, in foft addreffes he began And fhew'd him what must be : How this would new acceffion bring great King. How he fhould fee the Travail o his Soul, and blefs Thofe Sufferings, which had fo goo fuccefs. Ho How great the triumphs of his Vi &tory, How glorious his afcent would be; What weighty blifs in heav'n he should obtain By a few Hours of pain; Where to eternal Ages he (as man) fhould reign. He fpake, confirm'd in mind the Champion ftood; A Spirit divine Thro' the thick veil of Flesh did fhine : All-over powerful he was, all-over good. Pleas'd with his fuccessful flight, And joy'd to hear the hopeful state of man. V. And now that strange prodigious hour, When God would fubject be to human pow'r ; That Hour is come! Th' unerring clock of fate has ftruck; "Twas heard below down to Hell's lowest room; A ray of his Divinity Shot forth with that bold Answer, I am be: They reel and stagger, and fall to the ground; For God was in the found. hearers fear'd: Trembling feiz'd ev'ry joint, and chilnefs ev'ry vein. This little victory he won, That mighty He, Declines all Guards for his defence, But that of his infeparable inng And ftrait th' infernal pow'rs th'ap-A pointed fignal took. Open the fcene, my foul, and fee How wicked mercenary hands. With fwords and flaves encompass'd Once with his pow'rful breath he The rude assaults of hell; fteep afcent! but most to him who bore The burthen of a Cross this way be. fore. Here breath a while, and view The dolefull'it Picture forrow ever drew : The Lord of life, heav'n's darling Son, The great, th' Almighty one, Without ftretch'd arms, nail'd to a curfed tree, Crown'd with fharp thorns, cover'd with infamy, He who before So 2. I view'd the glories of thy Seat above, And thought on ev'ry grace and Charm divine ; And, farther to increase my love, I meafur'd too the heights and depths of thine; Thus there broke forth a strong and vig'rous Flame, And almost melted down my morta! frame. 3. But when thy bloody Sweat and Death I view, I own (dear Lord) the conqueft of thy Love: Thou doft my higheft flights out-do; I in a lower orb, and flower move. Thus in this ftrife's a double Weak nefs fhewn, Thy Love I cannot equal, nor yet bear my own. 489 |