[Page 309]

SACRED ODE.

1 HARK! thro' yon' fretted vaults and lofty spires
2 Peal the deep organs to the sacred quires;
3 And now, the full, the loud hosannas rise,
4 Float in the winds, and roll along the skies:
5 The solemn sounds Devotion's ardour raise;
6 Now mounts the spirit with diviner blaze:
7 Heaven opens: earth recedes: and Nature feels
8 The ray that fir'd the prophet's glowing wheels:
9 In fiery pomp bright seraphs quit the sky,
10 And wrap the soul in holy extasy;
11 While round the saphire throne th' ethereal train
12 Adoring prostrate raise the lofty strain:
I.
13 Arise, O Lord, arise;
14 In all thy awful glory stand confest;
15 In thee for ever blest,
16 Behold thy servants veil their dazzled eyes.
17 Night hath for thee no shades;
18 Alike to thee appears the orient day;
19 While one vast light, one inexhausted ray
20 Of thy effulgent power the whole pervades.
21 Then whither shall we stray,
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22 Where of thy forming hand no trace is found?
23 Above, beneath, around,
24 The mighty voice is heard;
25 Where'er the hills are rear'd,
26 Where spreads the vaulted sky,
27 Or foams the deep profound;
28 Thro' Nature's utmost bound
29 To us her works reply,
30 Proclaim a parent God, a present Deity.
II.
31 Creation's praise is least;
32 Nature's Restorer, to preserve is thine;
33 Whose awful voice divine
34 Created all: when Discord heard, and ceas'd;
35 For it is thine to bind
36 The moral chain of Order's perfect law,
37 And to their course the swerving motions draw
38 Of changeful things, and erring human kind.
39 Death with insatiate jaw
40 Gnash'd oft his iron phang, and by his side
41 Stalking with ample stride
42 Vice rear'd his giant size
43 Up-towering to the skies.
44 The mourning earth was waste;
45 Confusion roll'd her tide;
46 When down the Virtues glide;
47 Soft Mercies urg'd their haste,
48 And o'er the bleeding world the sacred mantle cast.
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III.
49 Beyond created sense
50 Mysterious goodness, hid in deepest night!
51 In vain our feeble sight
52 Would pierce the gloom, O mighty Providence.
53 Where the deep mazes meet
54 Beneath thy awful throne no eye hath seen,
55 Where wrapt in darkness sits thy power serene,
56 And the loud thunders roll beneath thy feet.
57 O, when shall close the scene?
58 And Hope be lost in Truth's wide bursting ray?
59 O haste, auspicious day.
60 O haste to light on earth
61 Great Nature's second birth;
62 New inmate of the skies,
63 When man renew'd shall shine
64 With innocence divine;
65 And blest Obedience rise
66 To snatch the palm that crowns her faithful victories.

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): SACRED ODE.
Themes: God; religion
Genres: ode
References: DMI 32533

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Source edition

Pearch, G. A collection of poems in four volumes. By several hands. Vol. II. [The second edition]. London: printed for G. Pearch, 1770, pp. 309-311. 4v. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T116245; DMI 1135; OTA K093079.002) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [(OC) 280 o.789].)

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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.