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Than that night rifes from his absent ray,
And his returning luftre kindles day?

But we expect the morning red in vain :
'Tis hid in vapours, or obfcur'd by rain.
The noon-tide yellow we in vain require :
'Tis black in florm, or red in light'ning fire.
Pitchy and dark the night fometimes appears,
Friend to our woe, and parent of our fears:
Our joy and wonder fometimes fhe excites,
With stars unnumber'd, and eternal lights.
Send forth, ye wife, fend forth your lab'ring thought:
Let it return with empty notions fraught,

Of airy columns ev'ry moment broke,

Of circling whirlpools, and of fpheres of fmoke:
Yet this folution but once more affords

New change of terms, and fcaffolding of words:
In other garb my queftion I receive;
And take the doubt the very fame I gave.
Lo as a giant ftrong the lufty fun

Multiply'd rounds in one great round does run,
Twofold his course, yet conftant his career,
Changing the day, and finishing the year.
Again when his defcending orb retires,
And earth perceives the abfence of his fires;
The moon affords us her alternate ray,
And with kind beams diftributes fainter day:
Yet keeps the ftages of her monthly race,
Varicus her beams, and changeable her face.
Each planet fhining in its proper fphere,
Does with juft fpeed his radiant voyage steer:
Each fees his lamp with diff'rent luftre crown'd:
Each knows his courfe with diff'rent periods bound:

And in his paffage thro' the liquid space,

Nor haftens, nor retards his neighbour's race.
Now shine these planets with fubftantial rays?
Does innate luftre gild their measur'd days?
Or do they (as your schemes, I think, have shown)
Dart furtive beams, and glory not their own,
All fervants to that fource of light, the fun?
Again I fee ten thousand thousand ftars,

Nor caft in lines, in circles, nor in fquares :
(Poor rules, with which our bounded mind is fill'd,
When we would plant, or cultivate, or build)
But fhining with fuch vast, such various light,
As fpeaks the hand, that form'd them, infinite:
How mean the order and perfection fought
In the best product of the human thought,
Compar'd to the great harmony that reigns
In what the spirit of the world ordains!

Now if the fun to earth transmits his ray,
Yet does not fcorch us with too fierce a day;
How fmall a portion of his pow'r is giv'n
To orbs more distant, and remoter heav'n?
And of thofe stars, which our imperfect eye
Has doom'd, and fix'd to one eternal sky,
Each by a native stock of honour great,
May dart ftrong influence, and diffufe kind heat,
Itself a fun; and with transmissive light
Enliven worlds deny'd to human fight:
Around the circles of their ambient skies

New moons may grow or wane, may fet or rife;
And other stars may to those funs be earths;
Give their own elements their proper births;

Divide their climes, or elevate their pole;
See their lands flourish, and their oceans roll;
Yet thefe great orbs thus radically bright,
Primitive founts, and origins of light,
May each to other (as their diff'rent sphere
Makes or their diftance, or their height appear)
Be feen a nobler, or inferior ftar;

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And in that fpace, which we call air and fky,
Myriads of earths, and moons, and funs may lie
Unmeafar'd, and unknown by human eye.
In vain we measure this amazing sphere,
And find and fix its centre here or there;
While its circumf'rence fcorning to be brought
Ev'n into fancy'd space, illudes our vanquish'd thought.
Where then are all the radiant monsters driv'n
With which your gueffes fill'd the frighten'd heav'n ?
Where will their fictious images remain ?
In paper fchemes, and the Chaldean's brain.

This problem yet, this offspring of a guess,
Let us for once a child of truth confefs;
That thefe fair ftars, thefe objects of delight
And terror, to our fearching dazl'd fight,
Are worlds immenfe, unnumber'd, infinite:
But do these worlds difplay their beams, or guide
Their orbs, to ferve thy ufe, to please thy pride?
Thyself but duft: thy ftature but a span,
A moment thy duration; foolish man!
As well may the minutest emmet say,
That Caucafus was rais'd to pave his way:
The fnail, that Lebanon's extended wood
Was deftin'd only for his walk, and food;

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The vileft cockle, gaping on the coaft
That rounds the ample feas, as well may boast,
The craggy rock projects above the sky,
That he in fafety at its foot may lie;

And the whole ocean's confluent waters fwell
Only to quench his thirst, or move and blanch his fhell.
A higher flight the vent'rous Goddess tries,
Leaving material worlds, and local fkies:
Enquires, what are the beings, where the fpace,
That form'd and held the angels ancient race.
For rebel Lucifer with Michael fought
(I offer only what tradition taught)

Embattl'd cherub against cherub rose ;

Did fhield to fhield, and pow'r to pow'r oppofe :
Heav'n rung with triumph: hell was fill'd with woes.
What were thefe forms of which your volumes tell,
How fome fought great, and others recreant fell:
These bound to bear an everlafting load,

Durance of chain, and banishment of God;
By fatal turns their wretched ftrength to tire;
To fwim in fulph'rous lakes, or land on folid fire;
Whilft those exalted to primaeval light,

Excefs of bleffing and fupreme delight,
Only perceive fome little paufe of joys

In those great moments, when their God employs
Their ministry, to pour his threaten'd hate
On the proud king, or the rebellious ftate:
Or to reverfe Jehovah's high command,
And fpeak the thunder falling from his hand,
When to his duty the proud king returns,
And the rebellious ftate in aíhes mourns.

How can good angels be in heav'n confin'd ;

Or view that prefence, which no fpace can bind ?
Is God above, beneath, or yon', or here?
He who made all, is he not ev'ry where?
Oh how can wicked angels find a night
So dark to hide 'em from the piercing light,
Which form'd the eye, and gave
the pow'r of fight?

What mean I now of angel, when I hear

Firm body, fpirit pure, or fluid air?

Spirits to action fpiritual confin'd,

Friends to our thought, and kindred to our mind, Should only act and prompt us from within,

Nor by external eye be ever feen.

Was it not therefore to our fathers known,
That thefe had appetite, and limb, and bone?
Elfe how could Ab:am wash their weary'd feet;
Or Sarah please their tafte with fav'ry meat?
Whence should they fear? or why did Lot engage
To fave their bodies from abufive rage?
And how could Jacob in a real fight,
Feel or refift the wrestling angel's might?
How could a form its ftrength with matter try?
Or how a fpirit touch a mortal's thigh?

Now are they air condens'd, or gather'd rays? How guide they then our pray'r, or keep our ways, By ftronger blafts still subject to be toft,

By tempefts scatter'd, and in whirlwinds loft?

Have they again (as facred fong proclaims)
Subftances real, and exifling frames?
How comes it, fince with them we jointly fhare
The great effect of one Creator's care;

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