Classic Poem

God of my fathers! stretch thy oft-try'd hand,
And yet, once more, redeem thy chosen land:
Once more, by wonders , make thy glories known,
And, 'midst thy anger , be thy mercy shown!
O! I have heard thy dreadful actions told,
And my soul burns thy terrors to unfold.

A T Israel's call, the' almighty's thunder hurl'd,
From Paran 's summit, shook th'astonish'd world;
The flaming heav'ns blaze, dreadful, through the sky ,
And earth's dark regions gleam, beneath his eye .
High, in his undetermin'd hands, he bore
Judgment's heap'd horn, and mercy's struggling store;
Meagre, before him, Death , pale horror! trod,
And, grinning shadowy, watch'd the almighty nod:
Gath'ring, beneath his feet flash'd lightnings broke,
And, the aw'd mountain shook, conceal'd in smoke.
He stood ; and, while the measur'd earth he ey'd,
The starting nations dropt their conscious pride ;
High-boasting Cushan struck her tents, in shame ,
And Midian groan'd, beneath repented fame .
He mov'd ; and, from their old foundations rent,
The everlasting hills , before him, bent;
He stept ; and all th' uprising mountains stray,
And roll, in earthquakes , to escape his way:
From their enormous chasms , with roaring tide,
Earth-cleaving rivers spout, and deluge wide:
The sea , alarm'd, climb'd fast, its god to spy,
And, in outragious triumph , swept the sky.
Conscious of wrath divine, the sun grew pale,
And, o'er his radiance , drew a gloomy veil .

T HUS did my God (to save th' endanger'd land)
March forth, indignant, with vindictive hand;
This, when I hear, chill blasts my soul o'erspread,
And my lips quiver, with the rising dread:
Trembling all o'er, my limbs I faintly draw,
And my bones crumble , with ideal awe .
Now, tho' the fig-tree ne'er should blossom yield,
Tho' sterile coldness curse th'unrip'ning field ;
Tho' vines , and alives , fail their loady chear ,
Nor fainting herds out-live the pining year ;
Yet, shall my soul, in God 's sure aid, rejoice ,
And earth's high sov'reign claim my heav'n-tun'd voice .