Classic Poem

Thou Pow'r supreme! by whose command I live,
The grateful tribute of my praise receive:
To thy indulgence I my Being owe,
And all the joys which from that Being flow.
Scarce eighteen suns have form'd the rolling year,
And run their destin'd courses round this sphere,
Since thy creative eye my form survey'd
Midst undistinguish'd heaps of matter laid.
Thy skill my elemental clay refin'd,
The vagrant particles in order join'd:
With perfect symmetry compos'd the whole,
And stamp'd thy sacred image on my soul:
A soul susceptible of endless joy,
Whose frame nor force, nor time can e'er destroy:
Which shall survive, when nature claims my breath,
And bid defiance to the darts of death;
To realms of bliss with active freedom soar,
And live when earth, and skies shall be no more.
Author of life! in vain my tongue essays,
For this immortal gift, to speak thy praise!
How shall my heart it's grateful sense reveal,
Where all the energy of words must fail?
O may its influence in my life appear,
And ev'ry action prove my thanks sincere!

Grant me, great God , a heart to Thee inclin'd:
Increase my faith, and rectify my mind:
Teach me betimes to tread thy sacred ways,
And to thy service consecrate my days.
Still as thro' life's perplexing maze I stray,
Be Thou the guiding star to mark my way.
Conduct the steps of my unguarded youth,
And point their motions to the paths of truth.
Protect me by thy providential care,
And warn my soul to shun the tempter's snare.
Thro' all the shifting scenes of varied life,
In calms of ease, or ruffling storms of grief,
Thro' each event of this inconstant state,
Preserve my temper equal and sedate.
Give me a mind, that nobly can despise
The low designs, and little arts of vice.
Be my religion such as taught by Thee,
Alike from pride and superstition free.
Inform my judgment, regulate my will,
My reason strengthen, and my passions still:
To gain thy favour be my first great end,
And to that scope may ev'ry action tend,
Amidst the pleasures of a prosp'rous state,
Whose flatt'ring charms the untutor'd heart elate,
May I reflect to whom those gifts I owe,
And bless the bounteous hand, from whence they flow.
Or, if an adverse fortune be my share,
Let not it's terrors tempt me to despair:
But fixt on Thee a steady faith maintain,
And own all good, which thy decrees ordain.
On thy unfailing providence depend,
The best protector, and the surest friend!

Thus on life's stage may I my part sustain,
And, at my exit, thy applauses gain.
When thy pale herald summons me away,
Support me in that dread catastrophe:
In that last conflict guard me from alarms,
And take my soul expiring to thy arms.