How oft defir'd to fly from Ifrael's throne,
And live in shades with her and love alone?
How oft, all night, purfu'd her in my dreams,
O'er flow'ry vallies, and through cryftal ftreams;
And waking, view'd with grief the rifing fun,
And fondly mourn'd the dear delufron gone?
When thus the gather'd storms of wretched love,
In my fwoln bosom, with long war had ftrove;
At length they broke their bounds: at length their
force
Bore down whatever met its ftronger course :
Laid all the civil bonds of manhood waste :
And scatter'd ruin, as the torrent past.
So from the hills, whose hollow caves contain`
The congregated fnow, and fwelling rain;
Till the full stores their ancient bounds difdain ;
Precipitate the furious torrent flows:
In vain would fpeed avoid, or ftrength oppofe; Towns, forefts, herds, and men promifcuousdrown'd,
With one great death deform the dreary ground:
The echo'd woes from diftant rocks refound.
And now, what impious ways my wishes took;
How they the monarch, and the man forfook;
And how I follow'd an abandon'd will,
Through crooked paths, and fad retreats of ill;
How Judah's daughters now, now foreign flaves,
By turns my prostituted bed receives :
Through tribes of women how I loosely rang'd
Impatient; lik'd to-night, to-morrow chang'd;
And by the inftinct of capricious luft,
Enjoy'd, difdain'd, was grateful, or unjust:
Obe thefe fcenes from human eyes conceal'd,
In clouds of decent filence justly veil'd!
O, be the wanton images convey'd
To black oblivion, and eternal fhade!
Or let their fad epitome alone,
And outward lines to future age be known,
Enough to propagate the fure belief,
That vice engenders fhame; and folly broods o'er
Bury'd in floth, and loft in eafe I lay :
The night I revell'd; and Islept the day.
New heaps of fewel damp'd my kindling fires
And daily change extinguish'd young defires.
By its own force deftroy'd, fruition ceas'd;
And always weary'd, I was never pleas'd.
No longer now does my neglected mind
Its wonted stores, and old 'ideas find.
Fix'd judgment there no longer does abide,
To take the true, or fet the false aside.
No longer does fwift mem'ry trace the cells,
Where springing wit, or young invention dwells.
Frequent debauch to habitude prevails :
Patience of toil, and love of virtue fails.
By fad degrees impair'd my vigor dies;
Till I command no longer ev'n in vice.
The women on my dotage build their fway:
They afk; I grant: they threaten; I obey.
In regal garments now I gravely ftride,
Aw'd by the Perfian damfel's haughty pride.
Now with the loofer Syrian dance, and fing,
In robes tuck'd up, opprobrious to the king.
Charm'd by their eyes, their manners I acquire, And fhape my foolishness to their defire.
Seduc'd and aw'd by the Philistine dame,
At Dagon's fhrine I kindle impious flame.
With the Chaldean's charms her rites prevail
And curling frankincense afcends to Baal.
To each new harlot I new altars dress;
And ferve her god, whose person I caress.
Where, my deluded fenfe, was flown?
Where the high majesty of David's throne?
Where all the maxims of eternal truth,
With which the living GoD inform'd my youth ?
When with the lewd Egyptian I adore
Vain idols, deities that ne'er before
In Ifrael's land had fix'd their dire abodes,
Beaftly divinities, and droves of gods :
Ofiris, Apis, pow'rs that chew the cud,
And dog Anubis, flatt'rer for his food:
When in the woody hill's forbidden shade
I carv'd the marble, and invok'd his aid:
When in the fens to fnakes and flies, with zeal
Unworthy human thought, I proftrate fell;
To fhrubs and plants my vile devotion paid;
And fet the bearded leek, to which I pray'd:
When to all beings facred rites were giv❜n;
Forgot the Arbiter of earth and heav'n.
Through these fad fhades, this chaos in my foul,
Some feeds of light at length began to roll.
The rifing motion of an infant ray
Shot glimm'ring thro' the cloud, and promis'd day.
And now one moment able to reflect,
I found the king abandon'd to neglect,
Seen without awe, and ferv'd without refpect.
I found my fubjects amicably join,
To leffen their defects by citing mine.
The priest with pity pray'd for David's race ;
And left his text, to dwell on my disgrace.
The father, whilst he warn'd his erring fon,
The fad examples which he ought to shuns
Defcrib'd, and only nam'd not Solomon.
Each bard, each fire did to his pupil fing,
A wife child better than a foolish king.
Into myself my reafon's eye I turn'd;
And as I much reflected, much I mourn'd.
A mighty king I am, an earthly god:
Nations obey my word, and wait my nod,
I raise or fink, imprison or fet free;
And life or death depends on my decree.
Fond the Idea, and the thought is vain:
O'er Judah's king ten thousand tyrants reign,-
Legions of luft, and various pow'rs of ill
Infult the mafter's tributary will:
And he, from whom the nations should receive
Juftice and freedom, lies himself a flave,
Tortur'd by cruel change of wild defires,
Lafh'd by mad rage, and fcorch'd by brutal fires.
O Reason! once again to thee I call :
Accept my forrow, and retrieve my fall.
Wisdom, thou fay'ft, from heav'n receiv'd her birth;
Her beams tranfmitted to the fubject earth.
Yet this great emprefs of the human foul
Does only with imagin'd pow'r control;
If restless paflion by rebellious fway
Compels the weak ufurper to obey.
O troubled, weak, and coward, as thou art!'
Without thy poor advice the lab'ring heart
To worfe extremes with fwifter fteps would run,
Not fav'd by virtue, yet by vice undone.
Oft have I faid, the praise of doing well
Is to the ear, as ointment to the smell.
Now if fome flies perchance, however small,
Into the alabafter urn fhould fall;
The odours of the fweets inclos'd, would die ;
And ftench corrupt (fad change!) their place fupply
So the leaft faults, if mix'd with faireft deed,.
Of future ill become the fatal feed:
Into the balm of pureft virtue caft,
Annoy all life with one contagious blast.
Loft Solomon.! pursue this thought no more:
Of thy paft errors recollect the ftore:
And filent weep, that while the deathlefs muse
Shall fing the juft; fhall o'er their head diffuse
Perfumes with lavifh hand; the fhall proclaim
Thy crimes alone; and to thy evil fame
Impartial, fcatter damps and poisons on thy name.
Awaking therefore, as who long had dream'd,
Much of my women, and their gods afham'd,
From this abyss of exemplary vice
Refolv'd, as time might aid my thought, to rife;
Again I bid the mournful goddess write
The fond pursuit of fugitive delight:
Bid her exalt her melancholy wing,
And rais'd from earth, and fav'd from paffion fing
Of human hope by crofs event destroy'd,
Of useless wealth, and greatnefs unenjoy'd,
Of luft and love, with their fantastic train,
Their wishes, fmiles, and looks deceitful, all in vain
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