Classic Poem

I.

Now thro' a Desart World I stray
Expos'd to rav'ning Beasts a Prey,
While I to Heav'nly Canaan beat my Way

II.

Cast on this wild Terrestrial Isle,
'Mid'st base-born Natives of the Soil,
I'strive thro' various Deaths with endless Toil.

III.

Passing the Burning Waste along
I'm by the fiery Serpent stung,
Hurt by his Teeth, or by his pois'nous Tongue.

IV.

Opprest with rig'rous Heat I stand,
Viewing with eager Eyes the Land,
And for the Fountain, search in vain the Sand.

V.

How much the Springs above I want,
I long, I languish, gasp and pant
For the blest Streams, which Heav'n alone can grant.

VI.

Let me my ardent Wish obtain,
Let me the happy Regions gain,
Where Living Waters blissful Life sustain.

VII.

Where Rivers of Delights are spread,
And Floods of endless Joys are fed,
By unpolluted Pleasure's Fountain Head.