Part 113 (1/2)

1 O thou, that sitt'st upon a throne, With harp of high, majestic tone, To praise the King of kings: And voice of heaven, ascending, swell, Which, while its deeper notes excel, Clear as a clarion rings:

2 To bless each valley, grove, and coast, And charm the cherubs to the post Of grat.i.tude in throngs; To keep the days on Zion's Mount, And send the year to his account, With dances and with songs:

3 O servant of G.o.d's holiest charge, The minister of praise at large, Which thou mayst now receive; From thy blest mansion hail and hear, From topmost eminence appear To this the wreath I weave.

4 Great, valiant, pious, good, and clean, Sublime, contemplative, serene, Strong, constant, pleasant, wise!

Bright effluence of exceeding grace; Best man! the swiftness and the race, The peril and the prize!

5 Great--from the l.u.s.tre of his crown, From Samuel's horn, and G.o.d's renown, Which is the people's voice; For all the host, from rear to van, Applauded and embraced the man-- The man of G.o.d's own choice.

6 Valiant--the word, and up he rose; The fight--he triumphed o'er the foes Whom G.o.d's just laws abhor; And, armed in gallant faith, he took Against the boaster, from the brook, The weapons of the war.

7 Pious--magnificent and grand, 'Twas he the famous temple planned, (The seraph in his soul:) Foremost to give the Lord his dues, Foremost to bless the welcome news, And foremost to condole.

8 Good--from Jehudah's genuine vein, From G.o.d's best nature, good in grain, His aspect and his heart: To pity, to forgive, to save, Witness En-gedi's conscious cave, And s.h.i.+mei's blunted dart.

9 Clean--if perpetual prayer be pure, And love, which could itself inure To fasting and to fear-- Clean in his gestures, hands, and feet, To smite the lyre, the dance complete, To play the sword and spear.

10 Sublime--invention ever young, Of vast conception, towering tongue, To G.o.d the eternal theme; Notes from yon exaltations caught, Unrivalled royalty of thought, O'er meaner strains supreme.

11 Contemplative--on G.o.d to fix His musings, and above the six The Sabbath-day he blessed; 'Twas then his thoughts self-conquest pruned, And heavenly melancholy tuned, To bless and bear the rest.

12 Serene--to sow the seeds of peace, Remembering when he watched the fleece, How sweetly Kidron purled-- To further knowledge, silence vice, And plant perpetual paradise, When G.o.d had calmed the world.

13 Strong--in the Lord, who could defy Satan, and all his powers that lie In sempiternal night; And h.e.l.l, and horror, and despair Were as the lion and the bear To his undaunted might.

14 Constant--in love to G.o.d, the Truth, Age, manhood, infancy, and youth; To Jonathan his friend Constant, beyond the verge of death; And Ziba, and Mephibosheth, His endless fame attend.

15 Pleasant--and various as the year; Man, soul, and angel without peer, Priest, champion, sage, and boy; In armour or in ephod clad, His pomp, his piety was glad; Majestic was his joy.

16 Wise--in recovery from his fall, Whence rose his eminence o'er all, Of all the most reviled; The light of Israel in his ways, Wise are his precepts, prayer, and praise, And counsel to his child.

17 His muse, bright angel of his verse, Gives balm for all the thorns that pierce, For all the pangs that rage; Blest light, still gaining on the gloom, The more than Michal of his bloom, The Abis.h.a.g of his age.

18 He sang of G.o.d--the mighty source Of all things--the stupendous force On which all strength depends; From whose right arm, beneath whose eyes, All period, power, and enterprise Commences, reigns, and ends.

19 Angels--their ministry and meed, Which to and fro with blessings speed, Or with their citterns wait; Where Michael, with his millions, bows, Where dwells the seraph and his spouse, The cherub and her mate.

20 Of man--the semblance and effect Of G.o.d and love--the saint elect For infinite applause-- To rule the land, and briny broad, To be laborious in his laud, And heroes in his cause.

21 The world--the cl.u.s.tering spheres he made, The glorious light, the soothing shade, Dale, champaign, grove, and hill; The mult.i.tudinous abyss, Where secrecy remains in bliss, And wisdom hides her skill.

22 Trees, plants, and flowers--of virtuous root; Gem yielding blossom, yielding fruit, Choice gums and precious balm; Bless ye the nosegay in the vale, And with the sweetness of the gale Enrich the thankful psalm.

23 Of fowl--even every beak and wing Which cheer the winter, hail the spring, That live in peace, or prey; They that make music, or that mock, The quail, the brave domestic c.o.c.k, The raven, swan, and jay.

24 Of fishes--every size and shape, Which nature frames of light escape, Devouring man to shun: The sh.e.l.ls are in the wealthy deep, The shoals upon the surface leap, And love the glancing sun.

25 Of beasts--the beaver plods his task; While the sleek tigers roll and bask, Nor yet the shades arouse; Her cave the mining coney scoops; Where o'er the mead the mountain stoops, The kids exult and browse.

26 Of gems--their virtue and their price, Which, hid in earth from man's device, Their darts of l.u.s.tre sheath; The jasper of the master's stamp, The topaz blazing like a lamp, Among the mines beneath.