'Long shall Britannia (that must be her name) Be first in conquest, and preside in fame; Long shall her favour'd monarchy engage The teeth of Envy and the force of Age; Rever'd and happy, she shall long remain Of human things least changeable, least vain; Yet all must with the general doom comply, And this great glorious power, though last, must die. 'Now let us leave this earth, and lift our eye To the large convex of yon azure sky : Behold it like an ample curtain spread, Now streak'd and glowing with the morning red; And choosing sable for the peaceful night. Than that the sun illuminates the sky? But we expect the morning red in vain, 'Tis hid in vapours, or obscur'd by rain: The noontide yellow we in vain require, 'Tis black in storm, or red in lightning fire. Pitchy and dark the night sometimes appears, Friend to our woe, and parent of our fears, Our joy and wonder sometimes she excites, With stars unnumber'd and eternal lights. Send forth, ye wise, send forth your labouring thought, Let it return, with empty notions fraught Of airy columns every moment broke, Of circling whirlpools, and of spheres of smoke; New change of terms, and scaffolding of words; In other garb my question I receive, Multiplied rounds in one great round does run; 'Now if the sun to earth transmits his ray, Around the circles of their ambient skies Lay each to other (as their different sphere And in that space which we call air and sky, } 'In vain we measure this amazing sphere, And find and fix its centre here or there, Whilst its circumference, scorning to be brought Even into fancied space, illudes our vanquish'd thought. 'Where, then, are all the radiant monsters driven, With which your guesses fill'd the frighten'd Heaven Where will their fictious images remain ? In paper schemes, and the Chaldean's brain? "This problem yet, this offspring of a guess, Let us for once a child of Truth confess; That these fair stars, these objects of delight And terror to our searching dazzled sight, Are worlds immense, unnumber'd, infinite; But do these worlds display their beams, or guide Their orbs, to serve thy use, to please thy pride? Thyself but dust, thy stature but a span, A moment thy duration, foolish man! As well may the minutest emmet say That Caucasus was rais'd to pave his way; The snail, that Lebanon's extended wood Was destin'd only for his walk and food; The vilest cockle, gaping on the coast That rounds the ample seas, as well may boast The craggy rock projects above the sky, That he in safety at its foot may lie; And the whole ocean's confluent waters swell, Only to quench his thirst, or move and blanch his shell. 'A higher flight the ventrous goddess tries, Leaving material worlds and local skies; Inquires what are the beings, where the space, That form'd and held the angel's ancient race? For rebel Lucifer with Michael sought (I offer only what tradition taught) Embattled cherub against cherub rose, Did shield to shield, and power to power oppose; Heaven rung with triumph, hell was fill'd with woes. What were these forms, of which your volumes tell How some fought great, and others recreant fell? These bound to bear an everlasting load, Durance of chain, and banishment of God; By fatal turns their wretched strength to tire, To swim in sulphurous lakes, or land on solid fire; While those, exalted to primeval light, Excess of blessing, and supreme delight, Only perceive some little pause of joys, In those great moments when their God employs So dark to hide them from that piercing light, Which form'd the eye, and gave the power of sight? 'What mean I now of angel, when I hear Firm body, spirit pure, or fluid air? Spirits, to action spiritual 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 seen. Was it not therefore to our fathers known Feel or resist the wrestling angel's might? |