That steeple guides thy doubtful sight Time was, like thee they life possess'd, Those graves with bending osier bound, That nameless heave the crumbled ground, Quick to the glancing thought disclose Where toil and poverty repose. The flat smooth stones that bear a name, (The chissel's slender help to fame, Which ere our set of friends decay, Their frequent steps may wear away ;) The marble tombs that rise on high, Whose dead in vaulted arches lie, Whose pillars swell with sculptur'd stones, Arms, angels, epitaphs, and bones, These, all the poor remains of state, Adorn the rich, or praise the great ; Who, while on earth, in fame they live, Ha! while I gaze, pale Cynthia fades, The bursting earth unveils the shades! All slow, and wan, and wrapp'd with shrouds They rise in visionary crowds, And all with sober accent cry, Think, mortal, what it is to die! Now from yon black and fun'ral yew (Ye ravens, cease your croaking din, When men my scythe and dart supply, They view me like the last of things; A port of calms, a state of ease, Why then thy flowing sable stoles, Deep pendant cypress, mourning poles, Loose scarfs to fall athwart thy weeds, Long palls, drawn hearses, cover'd steeds, And plumes of black, that as they tread, Nod o'er th' escutcheons of the dead? Nor can the parted body know, Nor wants the soul those forms of woe: As men who long in prison dwell, With lamps that glimmer round the cell, Whene'er their suffering years are run, Spring forth to greet the glitt'ring sun: Such joy, though far transcending sense, Have pious souls at parting hence. On earth, and in the body plac'd, A few and evil years they waste; But when their chains are cast aside, See the glad scene unfolding wide, Clap the glad wing, and tow'r away, And mingle with the blaze of day. MESSIAH. POPE. YE nymphs of Solyma! begin the song : Wrapt into future times the bard begun, A virgin shall conceive, a virgin bear a Son! From Jesse's root behold a branch arise, Whose sacred flow'r with fragrance fills the skies: Th' ethereal spirit o'er its leaves shall move, And on its top descend the mystic dove. Ye heav'ns! from high the dewy nectar pour, And in soft silence shed the kindly show'r! The sick and weak, the healing plant shall aid, From storms a shelter, and from heat a shade. All crimes shall cease, and ancient fraud shall fail ; Returning justice lift aloft her scale; Peace o'er the world her olive-wand extend, And white-rob'd innocence from heav'n descend. years, Swift fly the and rise th expected morn ; See nodding forests on the mountains dance, |