HORE LYRICÆ.

SACRED

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Devotion and Piety.

BOOK I.

G 3

SACRED

ΤΟ

DEVOTION AND
AND PIETY.

WORSHIPPING WITH FEAR.

WHO dares attempt th' Eternal Name
With notes of mortal sound?
Dangers and glories guard the theme,
And spread despair around.

Destruction waits upon his frown,
And heaven attends his smile;
A wreath of lightning arms his crown,
But love adorns it still.

Celestial King, our spirits lie

Trembling beneath thy feet, And wish, and cast a longing eye To reach thy lofty seat.

In thee what endless wonders meet!
What various glory shines!
The crossing rays too fiercely beat
Upon our fainting minds.

Angels are lost in sweet surprise,
If thou unveil thy grace;

And humble awe runs through the skies,
When wrath arrays thy face.

When mercy joins with majesty

To spread their beams abroad, Not all their fairest minds on high Are shadows of a God.

Thy works the strongest seraph sings
In a too feeble strain,

And labours hard on all his strings
To reach thy thoughts in vain.

Created powers, how weak they be!
How short our praises fall!
So much akin to nothing we,
And thou th' Eternal All.

GOD'S DOMINION AND DECREES.

KEEP silence, all created things,

And wait your Maker's nod :

The muse stands trembling while she sings

The honours of her God.

Life, death, and hell, and worlds unknown, Hang on his firm decree:

He sits on no precarious throne,

Nor borrows leave to be.

The Almighty voice bid ancient night

Her endless realm resign,

And lo, ten thousand globes of light

In fields of azure shine.