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ODE ON HIS MAJESTY'S RECOVERY.
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ODE ON HIS MAJESTY'S RECOVERY; BY THE AUTHOR OF SYMPATHY AND HUMANITY.
LONDON: PRINTED AT THE LOGOGRAPHIC PRESS; AND SOLD BY J. WALTER, No. 169, OPPOSITE OLD BOND-STREET, PICCADILLY.
M.DCC.LXXXIX.
ODE.
[]AVAUNT, ye Deities profane,
And all ye ſhadowy Powers,
Imagination's airy Train,
That dwell in fabled Bowers!
Thou Heliconian Fount,
Whence Poeſy's rich Torrents flow;
And thou, Parnaſſian Mount,
Where Fancy ſees her Myrtles blow!
[2]
I bear no votive Off'ring to your Shrine,
No Incenſe to the bard-created Nine.
Nor e'en to thee, O Jove, whoſe high-thron'd State,
The Muſe of Greece has drawn ſublimely great,
High o'er the Pagan Heav'n, whilſt the bleſt Synod near,
Hymn the dread Thunderer's Name throughout th' ima⯑gin'd Sphere!
Thee, holy Power! whoſe awe-impreſſing Sway,
Earth, Air, and Sea, and Heav'n's bright Realms obey;
ESSENCE OF TRUTH! Thee, in thy bleſt Abode,
Sole we invoke—the ſole, the LIVING GOD!
O LIVING GOD! from Thee alone,
Bright beaming from thy Sapphire Throne,
Can heav'nly Inſpiration flow,
And give our melting Hearts with holy Flames to glow!
[3]
For, ah! not Touch of Wizard Wand,
Nor wild Romance from Legends old,
Nor moon-light Spell of Elfin Band,
Nor Spectre-Tales, by Poets told;
Nor Necromancer's magic Skill,
Whoſe Voice the Hero's Blood can chill;
Nor Knights, in terrible Array,
Did e'er ſuch wond'rous Acts diſplay,
As thoſe which late Britannia ſaw,
Her trembling Heart deep ſtruck with pious Awe,
Now to Agony oppreſt,
And now to Rapture bleſt,
When with her Parent King ſhe felt th' Almighty Rod,
And the reſtoring Arm, of Thee the LIVING GOD!
Yes, GOD of Gods! 'twas thine to try—
Judgment and Righteouſneſs thy Throne uphold,
Tho' Clouds and Darkneſs are around Thee roll'd,
—A choſen Nation's Sympathy.
[4]
Deſtiny thy dread Command,
As erſt in Iſrael's Land,
Obey'd, and came from Heav'n to prove,
A mighty People's Loyalty and Love.
Streaming oft from Beauty's Eye,
O filial Love! thy graceful Tear was ſeen,
Thy Pray'r was heard—and many a Sigh,
Broke from the faithful Boſom of a QUEEN:
From Breaſt to Breaſt the Softneſs ſtole,
And Sorrow touch'd the PRINCELY Soul;
PUBLIC ALLEGIANCE join'd the Pray'r,
With FEALTY unchang'd, amidſt ſevere Deſpair!
Then, LIVING GOD, 'twas Thine to prove,
By Grief ſincere, an Empire's Love!
Thine by Adverſity to try,
A mighty People's Loyalty.
[5]And who, Thou GOD of Gods, ſave Thee, can tell,
How Albion to her inmoſt Heart was cheer'd;
Ah! who but Thou her Extacy reveal,
When thy RESTORING CHERUBIM appear'd?
Not Egypt's ſuff'ring Tribe of yore,
Plague-ſtruck, a keener Anguiſh bore,
When, with our Parent King, we felt th' Almighty Rod;
Nor ſuch ſoul-born Tranſport knew,
In the Hour the Peſt withdrew,
As when that King was ſav'd by Thee the LIVING GOD!
Strike the Lyre to bliſsful Meaſure,
Albion holds once more her Treaſure;
Brunſwick's illuſtrious Star now ſhines again!
Let the Notes thro' Earth reſound,
Waft them, triumphant Winds, acroſs the Main,
'Till ev'ry Land returns the Sound:
[6]For ev'ry Land—O Theme without Alloy!—
In one full Chorus joins Britannia's Joy!
Now ſwell the Chords, and in ſublimer Numbers own,
The mighty Bleſſing comes from Heaven alone!
Avaunt! ye Deities profane,
And all ye ſhadowy Powers;
Imagination's airy Train,
That dwell in fabled Bowers!
We know 'tis GOD, the LIVING GOD that giveth
To our Pray'rs a Parent King;
We know, we know, that "OUR REDEEMER liveth,"
TO HIM—the MIGHTY ONE we ſing!
O for the heav'n-inſtructed David's Lyre!
O for the wrapt Iſaiah's hallow'd Fire!
[7]That ſo the ſacred Airs of Harmony may riſe,
And waft a Nation's Incenſe to the Skies,
'Till Angels catch the Strain, and with Arch-angels ſing,
GLORY TO GOD ON HIGH—TO HEAV'N'S ETERNAL KING!
THE END.
- Citation Suggestion for this Object
- TextGrid Repository (2020). TEI. 4696 Ode on His Majesty s recovery by the author of Sympathy and humanity. University of Oxford Text Archive. . https://hdl.handle.net/21.T11991/0000-001A-5E07-4