Hail thou most sacred venerable thing! What Muse is worthy thee to sing? Thee, from whose pregnant universal womb All things, ev'n Light, thy rival, first did come. What dares he not attempt that sings of thee, Thou first and greatest mystery? Who can the secrets of thy essence tell? Thou, like the light of God, art inaccessible. Before great Love this monument did raise, This ample theatre of praise; Before the folding circles of the sky Were tuned by Him, Who is all harmony; Before the morning Stars their hymn began, Before the council held for man, Before the birth of either time or place, Thou reign'st unquestion'd monarch in the empty space. Thy native lot thou didst to Light resign, But still half of the globe is thine. Here with a quiet, but yet awful hand, Like the best emperors thou dost command. To thee the stars above their brightness owe, And mortals their repose below: To thy protection fear and sorrow flee, And those that weary are of light, find rest in thee. _J. Norris of Bemerton_ CL _A VISION_ I saw Eternity the other night, Like a great ring of pure and endless light, All calm, as it was bright:-- And round beneath it, Time, in hours, days, years, Driven by the spheres, Like a vast shadow moved; in which the World And all her train were hurl'd. _H. Vaughan_ CLI _ALEXANDER'S FEAST, OR, THE POWER OF MUSIC_ 'Twas at the royal feast for Persia won By Philip's warlike son-- Aloft in awful state The godlike hero sate On his imperial throne; His valiant peers were placed around, Their brows with roses and with myrtles bound, (So should desert in arms be crown'd); The lovely Thais by his side Sate like a blooming Eastern bride In flower of youth and beauty's pride:-- Happy, happy, happy pair! None but the brave None but the brave None but the brave deserves the fair! Timotheus placed on high Amid the tuneful quire With flying fingers touch'd the lyre: The trembling notes ascend the sky And heavenly joys inspire. The song began from Jove Who left his blissful seats above-- Such is the power of mighty love! A dragon's fiery form belied the god; Sublime on radiant spires he rode When he to fair Olympia prest, And while he sought her snowy breast, Then round her slender waist he curl'd, And stamp'd an image of himself, a sovereign of the world. --The listening crowd admire the lofty sound; A present deity! they shout around: A present deity! the vaulted roofs rebound: With ravish'd ears The monarch hears, Assumes the god; Affects to nod And seems to shake the spheres.