And sensual throng, to grovelling hopes resigned In that diviner fane where Love's pure fire PRINGLE. NATURE. O sit on rocks, to muse o'er flood and fell, And mortal foot hath ne'er or rarely been, Converse with Nature's charms, and view her stores unrolled. BYRON. NATURE. NATURE! all thy seasons please the eye It is his presence that diffuses charms 'Tis this that makes the barren waste appear A fruitful field, each grove a paradise. Yes! place me 'mid far stretching woodless wilds, Where no sweet song is heard, the heath-bell there Would please my weary sight, and tell of Thee! There would my gratefully uplifted eye Survey the heavenly vault, by day, by night, When glows the firmament from pole to pole; There would my overflowing heart exclaim, "The heavens declare the glory of the Lord, The firmament shows forth his handiwork!" GRAHAME. NATURE. HE God of Nature and of Grace His goodness through the earth we trace, His grandeur in the spheres. Behold this fair and fertile globe, By him in wisdom planned; Lift to the firmament your eye, He bows the heavens-the mountains stand 'Tis Eden where He trod. The forests in his strength rejoice; As once of old, the Lord God's voice Here on the hills he feeds his herds, Oh, could we catch their strains! -Mount with the lark, and bear our song Or, with the nightingale, prolong In every stream his bounty flows, In every breeze his spirit blows, -The breath of life and health. His blessings fall in plenteous showers, That teems with foliage, fruit, and flowers, If God hath made this world so fair, MONTGOMERY. NATURE. WH, Nature! all sufficient, over all! Enrich me with the knowledge of thy works! World beyond world, in infinite extent, Thrust, blooming, thence the vegetable world; A search the flight of time can ne'er exhaust! In sluggish streams about my heart, forbid THOMSON. ACTION A LAW OF NATURE. HE opening morn, resplendent noon, vesper, and night's silent moon Tell nought remains at rest. The comet, wandering far on high, 'Midst countless planets placed, Rolls ceaseless through the boundless sky, For nought remains at rest. The tide returns, and ebbs again, The river hies with haste, With rills and springs into the main— For nought remains at rest. The various seasons as they rise,- Bright summer, autumn, winter's skies, Thus day, and night, and star, and flood, That, through the wondrous works of God, If action, then, be nature's law, Be this great truth impressed: That life in deeds of love should flow All blessing, and all blest. DAVID GRANT. GOD THE AUTHOR OF NATURE. HERE lives and works A soul in all things, and that soul is God. That make so gay the solitary place, He sets the bright procession on its way, And marshals all the order of the year; He marks the bounds which winter may not pass, And blunts his pointed fury; in its case, Uninjured, with inimitable art; And, ere one flowery season fades and dies, Who wore the platted thorns with bleeding brows, But shows some touch, in freckle, streak, or stain, |