Classic Poem

1.

Hear, Lord, my pray'r, and let my cries
Accepted to thy Throne arise:
O turn not Thou thy face away,
Nor longer my relief delay;

2.

Lord, mark my sorrows from on high,
And pitying to my call reply;
Fast as the mounting smoke decays,
On times light pinion flit my days:

3.

My bones the hearth's fierce heat sustain;
My heart the herbage of the plain
Resembles, o'er whose leaves have past
The fervors of the southern blast.

4.

For ah! forgetful of my food,
Incessant o'er my griefs I brood,
While struggling groans their weight proclaim,
And waste with toil my languid frame.

5.

Not the wide Desert's confines drear
Laments of louder accent hear,
When midst the solitary gloom
The Birds of Night their plaints resume;

6.

When, 'midst its fens, with dismal note
The Pelican distends her throat,
Or to the winds in lengthen'd strains
The self-sequestring Owl complains;

7.

Nor vents its sister-bird a moan
So deep, when on the roof alone
She sits; whose woes, like mine, affright
The silence of the tedious night.

8.

From Morn, till Eve extend its veil,
Reproaches keen my ears assail;
And, leagu'd by mutual oaths, my soes
With fierce intent my steps inclose.

9.

See ashes, scatter'd o'er my head,
Mix, undistinguish'd, with my bread;
By Languor, Care, and Grief oppress'd,
With groans perpetual heaves my breast.

10.

See mingled tears my cup supply;
Since first thy wrathful Arm on high
Caught me amaz'd, and swiftly round
Reverting hurl'd me on the ground.

11.

As fades the shadow of the sun,
With quick decline my moments run,
My life, just verging to its close,
With rapid course unheeded flows.

12.

My form is wasted, and my face,
Its vernal bloom and youthful grace
Extinguish'd, withers on the eye,
As plants beneath a hostile sky.

13.

But Thou, Blest Guard of Israel 's fold,
Shalt ages see on ages roll'd,
And, thron'd above, to endless days
Extend thy honour, name, and praise.

14.

O rise, (th' appointed hour is come;)
Rise, mightiest Lord, thy Charge assume;
And let sad Sion 's seat no more
The absence of thine aid deplore.

15.

How lovely to thy Servants' eyes,
How lovely ev'n in ruin lies.
Her hallow'd Wall, her sacred Shrine,
The Seat of Majesty divine!

16.

Thy servants, Lord, a pensive Throng,
Walk her defenceless streets along,
And, as her scatter'd wastes appear,
Drop on her dust the pitying tear.

17.

How, Lord, shall each from day to day,
The terrors of thy wrath display!
How shall thy Name, great Sire, its dread
Through Earth's awaken'd regions spread!

18.

How shall her Kings with deep dismay
Thy boundless Majesty survey,
When Salem 's structures from their fall
Thy hand, propitious, shall recal.

19.

While down th' eternal Glory pours,
Incircles with its blaze her tow'rs,
And speaks thy favour (oft implor'd,)
To Israel 's exil'd Tribes restor'd!

20.

Thy Acts the faithful pen shall trace,
And Myriads of the human Race,
Yet strangers to the birth, thy fame
In Songs of loudest note proclaim.

21.

For He, beneath whose sacred seat
The starry Orbs their course repeat,
Th' eternal Ruler of the sky,
Has cast on Earth his equal eye.

22.

He deigns the injur'd cause to own,
To hear the helpless Captive's groan,
The Souls to death consign'd to save,
And snatch them from the greedy grave.

23.

For this through Sien 's ample bound
Jebovah 's Name shall oft resound,
Thy shouts, distinguish'd Salem , raise,
And wake thy tongue to hymns of praise:

24.

See to thy Courts the Nations flow,
His just dominion taught to know,
And, Each with Thee in compact join'd,
Their hearts to his obedience bind.

25.

'Twas He, whose unresisted force
In mid progression stop'd my course;
My healthful vigour rest away;
And hasten'd to its eve my day.

26.

Spare, mightiest Lord! nor thus, I cried,
My brittle chain of years divide,
O Thou, of Life th' exhaustless Spring,
Invisible, Immortal King!

27.

Thy hand the Earth's foundation laid,
Thy hand the Heav'n aloft display'd,
Ere yet along the vast profound
The restless Months began their round:

28.

That Earth, that Heav'n's stupendous frame,
Corruption with permitted claim
Shall seize: But Thou, from Age secure,
Shalt self-existent still endure.

29.

These, as the labours of the loom,
Shall time with gradual force consume;
Till Thou again thy Hand apply,
And fold them up, and lay them by;

30.

Thou, Lord, whose hand their texture spun,
When Time its stated course has run,
Shalt brighter Scenes disclose to view,
And Nature's varied face renew.

31.

But varyings Thou hast none: Thy rays
With undiminish'd lustre blaze;
Thy years shall circumscription spurn,
And back upon themselves return.

32.

Thee, Lord, their sure Protector, Thee
Thy Saints their strong Support shall see;
And, rang'd in long succession, share
The gifts of thy paternal Care.