Angels peep round to view this mystic thing,
And Halleluiah round, all Halleluiah sing.

No longer could good David quiet bear
The' unwieldy pleasure which o'erflow'd him here:
It broke the fetters, and burst ope

his

eye; Away the timorous forms together fly: Fix'd with amaze he stood; and time must take, To learn if yet he were at last awake. Sometimes he thinks that Heaven this vision sent, And order'd all the pageants as they went; Sometimes, that only 'twas wild Phansy's play, The loose and scatter'd relics of the day.

When Gabriel (no bless'd spirit more kind or fair) Bodies and clothes himself with thicken'd air; All like a comely youth in life's fresh bloom; Rare workmanship, and wrought by heavenly

loom ! He took for skin a cloud most soft and bright That e'er the mid-day sun pierced through with Upon his cheeks a lively blush he spread, slight; Wash'd from the morning beauties' decpest red; An harmless flaming meteor shone for hair, And fell adown his shoulders with loose care; He cuts out a silk mantle from the skies, Where the most spritely azure pleased the eyes ; This he with starry vapours spangles all, Took in their prime, ere they grow ripe and fall : Of a new rainbow, ere it fret or fade, The choicest piece took out, a scarf is made : Small streaming clouds he does for wings display, Not virtuous lovers’ sighs more soft than they ; These he gilds o'er with the sun's richest rays, Caught gliding o'er pure streams on which he plays.

Thus drest, the joyful Gabriel posts away, And carries with him his own glorious day,

Through the thick woods: the gloomy shades

awhile
Put on fresh looks, and wonder why they smile;
The trembling serpents close and silent lie;
The birds obscene far from his passage fly;
A sudden spring waits on him as he goes,
Sudden as that by which creation rose :
Thus he appears to David; at first sight
All earth-bred fears and sorrows take their flight.
In rushes joy divine, and hope, and rest;
A sacred calm shines through his peaceful breast.
“Hail, man beloved! from highest heaven," said he;
My mighty master sends thee health by me.
The things thou saw'st are full of truth and light,
Shaped in the glass of the divine foresight:
Even now old Time is harnessing the years
To

go in order thus. Hence, empty fears !
Thy fate's all white; from thy bless'd seed shall

spring
The promised Shilo, the great mystic King :
Round the whole earth his dreaded name shall

sound,
And reach to worlds that must not yet be found :
The Southern clime him her sole lord shall style,
Him all the North, even Albion's stubborn isle,
My fellow-servant, credit what I tell.”
Straight into shapeless air unseen he fell.

THE

THIRD BOOK

OF

THE DAVID EIS.

r.

DAVID EIS.

BOOK III.

The argument. David's flight to Nob, and entertainment there by the High

Priest ; from thence to Gath in disguise, where he is discovered and brought to Achis : he counterfeits himself mad, and escapes to Adullam- A short enumeration of the forces which come thither to him-A description of the kingdom of Moab, whither David flies; bis entertainment at Moab's court: a digression of the history of Lot, father of the Moabites, represented in picture-Melchor's song at the feast-Moab desires Joab to relate the story of David; which he does : his extraction; his excellency in poesy, and the effects of it in curing Saul's malady—The Philistines' army encamped at Dammin; the description of Goliah and his arms ; his challenge to the Israelites : David's coming to the camp ; his speech to Saul, to desire leave to fight with Goliah : several speeches àpon that occasion—The combat and slaughter of Goliah, with the defeat of the Philistines' army-Saul's envy to David – The characters of Merab and Michal-The love between David and Michal: his song at her window ; his expedition against the Philistines, and the dowry of two hundred foreskins for Michal, with whom he is married-The solemnities of the wedding-Saul's relapse, and the causes of David's flight into the kingdom of Moab.

RAISED with the news he from high Heaven

receives, Straight to his diligent God just thanks he gives; To divine Nob he directs then his flight, A small town, great in fame, by Levi's right;