456

"COME now, ye bleft! by heav'n, by me approv❜d! "Ye bleft of God! my darlings, my belov❜d! "Poffels whate'er your vaft defires can claim; "Be endless praises your eternal theme:

"Tho' once you figh'd, be all your fighs no more; "Tho' once you wept, your mourning days are o'er: "Now raise the song, begin th' immortal ftrain; 461 "Guard them, ye angels, to th' etherial plain;

"Their harp, their voice let softer themes employ, "And touch the heart, and crown the head with joy.

"FOR this I left these fkies, to dwell below; 465 "For this my foul felt all the ftings of Woe; "For this the fpear, with reeking purple dy'd, "Op'd a wide wound, and lodg'd within my fide "For this defpis'd, forfook, deny'd, I stood,

«Pour'd ceaseless groans, and bought it with my blood;

Delightful prize!-to tafte its sweets, is thine: 471 "Yours all the bliss; to know the pain, was mine. "But lo! your vaft reward at length is nigh; "That dazzling Crowd awaits you in the sky! "Now boundless bliss thall all your grief repay, 475 Wipe off your tears, and give your fighs away.”

HERE

455. Come now, ye bleft, &c.] See Matth. xxv. 34,

464. —and crown the head with joy, &c.] See Ifaiah xxxv. 10.

HERE paufe:-no more by man can be expreft;
Ye faints, ye wond'ring feraphs tell the rest:
As thro' the clouds fome tow'ring eagle fprings,
And flies like lightning on impetuous wings;
He views unmov'd the burning fun display'd:
The waving fire plays harmless round his head;
Quick as a thought of the aëreal mind,

480

To heav'n he mounts, and leaves the stars behind:
Thus, rapt at once from our attending view, 485
Thro' the broad gates the rifing Concourfe flew ;
Till far remov'd, scarce to the diftant fight
The Triumph glow'd, with fainter glories bright;
Afcending ftill, till it appear'd no more:

We look'd, and all the fwimming fcene was o'er. 490

BUT now (more charming than the rifing fun) The blooming angel fmil'd, and thus begun : Sweet as the tow'ring lark's mellifluous fong, The melting accents warbled on his tongue!.

""Tis done :-for now that fhining train remov'd

Enjoy the blifs, and praise the God they lov'd; 496

They live, they reign, eternally ferene,

"With not one cloud to interpose between ;

Say, when thy gazing eyes furvey'd the whole, "Did dawning rapture beam upon thy foul?

500

"Burns

"Burns not thy fwelling breast to join the choir ? "Is ev'ry Paffion wing'd with fond defire?

Would'st thou, with transport fir'd to mount above, "Ascend? and melts not ev'ry thought with love?"

THEN (all his frame with heav'nly glories bright Each lovely feature glowing with delight!)

506 He thus burst out;-"O! who thy name can praife! "What Angel's voice can tell thy wond'rous ways! "Lo! on each lip the HALLELUJAH dies; "We faint; an awful Rev'rence fills the fkies: 510 "All, humbly bending to Almighty pow'r, "In proftrate filence tremble and adore!"

He said:—and mounting to the realms of day, Spread his refplendent wings, and foar'd away.

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OD E S,

&c.

F 2