II. I. I hear thy vaunt'" My wisdom plann'd the "deed, "Mine arm atchieved: be mine the praise. "I frown'd; affrighted realms recede : "My hand their treasured nest on high "Reach'd: as eggs the shepherd-boy "Sweeps up, I swept the earth: none dared to << raise "The wing, nor ope the beak, nor roll th' exploring "eye." REFERENCES. 2d Strophe, ver. 13. For he saith, "By the strength of my "hand I have done it; and by my wisdom; for I am prudent : " and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed "their treasures: and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant "man. 14. And my hand has found, as a nest, the riches of the "people and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered "all the earth: and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped." II. 2. Fool! Shall the axe o'er Hermon's piny shade, 6 • Scorning the hewer's arm, prevail? • The saw without its master's aid, • The pomp of Lebanon assail? Say'st Thou,'" Untired with whirlwind pace "By native strength my foes I chase?" • Proud chief! My breath supplies thy force: My scourge incites thee to the race: My curb is in thy jaws, and guides thy frantic ' course.' REFERENCES. 2d Antistrophe, ver. 15. Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? As if the rod should shake itself against them that lifted it up or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood. The concluding image of the Antistrophe is borrowed from Isaiah, chap. xxxvii. ver. 29., in which chapter the completion of the present prophecy is recorded. See Bishop Lowth's Notes on both chapters. II. 3. On Thee, on thine, I vindicate My Name. See my red Vengeance hurl'd! Prince, people, fall: as when the Sylvan world Shuddering views the ethereal flame. The low-spread thorn, the cedar's height, The huge oak sinks beneath the burning flood. Ranging the scorched realms, a child may write 'The scatter'd reliques of the wood.' REFERENCES. 2d Epode, ver. 16. Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. 17. And the Light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day: 18. And shall consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, both soul and body; and they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth. 19. And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them. WRITTEN FOR THE USE OF A DECIDEDLY PIOUS YOUNG PERSON, OPPRESSED BY RELIGIOUS DEJECTION. FATHER! Thy mourning suppliant hear; I fall by sin and anguish tost, If Thou withhold Thine aid : My comfort, strength, and hope are lost In grief's returning shade.. That soul in deed, or thought, or word, To sudden guilt betray; O may Thy Spirit's guardian care The new transgression shew: Yet free my bosom from the snare Of overwhelming woe. Let me the soothing balm begin And while I grieve that I am sin, Give me to yield with mind serene The ripening fruits of grace, Nor with a veil of sackcloth screen Religion's tranquil face. Teach me by living faith the Of penitence to feel, power Nor rend anew, in sorrow's hour, The wounds Thy love would heal; |