Classic Poem

Fountain of Good! from Thee incessant flow
The Streams of Bliss that cheer the World below.
The Charms of Nature in her fairest Dress
Are but faint Copies of Thy fairer Face.
As some sweet Flow'r, when vernal Suns insuse
The vegetative Soul, and fertile Dews,
Impearl the Grass, its painted Foliage spreads,
Blooms fair and gay, and fragrant Odours sheds;
But when the Sun withdraws his genial Ray,
Contracts its Beauties, droops and pincs away:
So at Thy Smiles, the wide Creation blooms;
But should'st Thou frown, Horrors and dismal Glooms
Would cover All; Deformity would reign;
All Nature die, and Chaos come again.

Unnumber'd Worlds, thro' boundless Æther lost,
Are clad by Thee in all their Charms they boast.
Impell'd by Thee, the mighty Spheres roll on,
And Nature's ample Wheels harmonious run.
Thy Glory twinkles thro' the Midnight Sky,
From thousand Golden Lamps suspended high
In azure Vaults. Yon' boundless Source of Day,
That flames from Age to Age without Decay,
That cheers surrounding Worlds with vital Rays,
Is but a Gleam from Thee; whose brighter Face,
Dazzles the Eyes of Angels as they gaze.
Who fit'st enthron'd, insufferably bright,
In the Recesses of eternal Light.

Thy Goodness in the vernal Seasons blooms;
From Thee the Rose derives its rich Perfumes.
By Thee the Groves are in their Verdure clad,
And Plains and Vales with flow'ry Carpets spread.
Eternal All! what is this lovely Frame
But a faint Transcript of Thy glorious Name?

The soft enchanting Smile, the sparkling Eye,
The charming Voice, the Strains of Harmony,
The graceful Conduct, the unbounded Aim
Of noble Minds, the Patriot's gen'rous Flame,
Th' exalted Genius, the celestial Fire
Of Piety, Thy Spirit did inspire.

'Twas thou Fidelio form'd in Friendship's Mould,
And stampt the social Virtues on his Soul;
The candid Temper, and the Heart sincere,
Thee their divine Original declare.

When Chara , the Companion of my Life,
The chastest, mildest, tenderest, kindest Wife;
The Honour and the Beauty of her Sex;
Whom every Grace and every Virtue decks:
When she blooms on my Sight in all her Charms,
And every correspondent Passion warms;
I farther look; and thro' this radiant Glass
Gaze on the brighter Beauties of thy Face.

Thus Mortals read some Letter of thy Name,
On every Pin in this amazing Frame:
View some reflected Beams of Charms Divine
Break thro' Thy Works, and with bright Radiance shine.
But O! how far the loveliest Creatures fall
Beneath th' immensely bright Original!
Thou Excellence unknown, divinely fair!
Shew us what uncreated Beauties are.
Reveal thyself ! Let trembling Mortals see
Th' unrival'd Glories that beam forth in Thee.
The borrow'd Beauties of Thy Works but raise
The restless Pant to view Thy brighter Face;
But warms the eager Wish, that breaks thro'all
The Ranks of Creatures to th' Original:
But O! 'tis Thou, 'tis Thou alone canst fill
The boundless Wish, and bid the Pant be still.
Without Thee, every Charm insipid grows,
And the aspiring Soul finds no Repose.
In Quest of Thee she flies; in Quest of Thee
Roves thro' the Mazes of Immensity,
Restless, bewilder'd. O my only Joy!
Reveal Thyself; these Cravings satisfy:
Fill this unbounded Void; nor let me more
For solid Bliss created Bounds explore.

Oh! if Thy Goodness will not satisfy
These boundless Aims, why were they rais'd so high?
Why was I curs'd with this immortal Mind,
This Dignity of Thought, these Pow'rs refined;
O! why, if Thou wilt ever, ever hide
Thyself, and leave them still unsatisfy'd?

Far better had I flourish'd for a Day
A fading Flow'r beneath the quick'ning Ray
Of vernal Suns; or with my Fellow-Brutes
Roam'd o'er the trackless Waste in low Pursuits,
Graz'd the green Mead, or unmolested lain,
And stretch'd my careless Bulk in some wild Den,
Sleeping dull Life away; nor fear'd my Doom
From Evil past, or present or to come.
O envy'd Lot to mine! if I must pass
My Immortality far from Thy Face;
Whether on Earth, in Air, or Heaven I dwell,
If Thou art absent, every Place is Hell.

Advance me to the Grandeur of a Throne,
And let me call the Universe my own;
Let Planetary Worlds my Nod obey,
And Earth and Ocean reverence my Sway:
Yet, if depriv'd of Thy auspicious Smile,
I shall be curst, abandon'd, wretched still.

Let Heaven her sparkling Portals wide display.
And take me to the Realms of endless Day;
Angelic Harps their sweetest Notes employ.
And round me Rivers flow of heav'nly Joy,
My Soul would sicken at the hateful Sight,
If hid from Thee, sole Spring of my Delight
The Light offensive to my Eyes would glare,
And heavenly Notes grate harsh upon my Ear.
But if refresh'd with Thy propitious Face,
My Soul would find a Heav'n in ev'ry Place.

Thy Presence would eternal Pains beguile,
And cause the Realms of Desolation smile.
A Beam from Thee would kindle into Light
The solid Glooms of everlasting Night;
Not even infernal Horrors could affright.

O! then, where e'er Thou fix my last Abode,
Be it in Reach of Thy sweet Smiles, my God !
Be Thou my Portion, Thou my Bliss, my A LL ;
I care not to whose Share the Creatures fall;
I have enough in Thee, th' immense Original.