Then leave complaints: fools only strive To make a great an honest hive. T' enjoy the world's conveniences, Be famed in war, yet live in ease, Without great vices, is a vain Utopia seated in the brain. * * * * * ISAAC WATTS THE HAZARD OF LOVING THE CREATURES Where'er my flattering passions rove, I find a lurking snare; 'Tis dangerous to let loose our love Beneath th' eternal fair. Souls whom the tie of friendship binds, And things that share our blood, Seize a large portion of our minds, And leave the less for God. Nature has soft but powerful bands, And reason she controls; While children with their little hands Hang closest to our souls. Thoughtless they act th' old Serpent's part; What tempting things they be! Lord, how they twine about our heart, And draw it off from Thee! Our hasty wills rush blindly on Where rising passion rolls, And thus we make our fetters strong To bind our slavish souls. Dear Sovereign, break these fetters off. And set our spirits free; God in Himself is bliss enough; For we have all in Thee. THE DAY OF JUDGMENT When the fierce north-wind with his airy forces, Bears up the Baltic to a foaming fury; And the red lightning with a storm of hail comes Rushing amain down; How the poor sailors stand amazed and tremble, While the hoarse thunder, like a bloody trumpet, Roars a loud onset to the gaping waters, Quick to devour them. Such shall the noise be, and the wild disorder (If things eternal may be like these earthly), Such the dire terror when the great Archangel Shakes the creation; Tears the strong pillars of the vault of heaven, Breaks up old marble, the repose of princes. See the graves open, and the bones arising, Flames all around them! Hark, the shrill outcries of the guilty wretches! Lively bright horror and amazing anguish Stare through their eyelids, while the living worm lies Gnawing within them. Thoughts like old vultures, prey upon their heart-strings, And the smart twinges, when the eye beholds the Lofty Judge frowning, and a flood of vengeance Rolling afore Him. Hopeless immortals! how they scream and shiver, While devils push them to the pit wide-yawning Hideous and gloomy, to receive them headlong Down to the centre! Stop here, my fancy: (all away, ye horrid Doleful ideas!) come, arise to Jesus, How He sits God-like! and the saints around Him Throned, yet adoring! O may I sit there when He comes triumphant, Dooming the nations! then arise to glory, While our hosannas all along the passage Shout the Redeemer. O GOD, OUR HELP IN AGES PAST O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years for to come, Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal home: Under the shadow of Thy throne, Thy saints have dwelt secure; Sufficient is Thine arm alone, And our defense is sure.