SMART, Christopher

A Song to David ( Excerpts)

…..

Sweet is the dew that falls betimes,

And drops upon the leafy limes;

Sweet Hermon's fragrant air:

Sweet is the lily's silver bell,

And sweet the wakeful tapers smell

That watch for early pray'r.

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Sweet the young nurse with love intense,

Which smiles o'er sleeping innocence;

Sweet when the lost arrive:

Sweet the musician's ardour beats,

While his vague mind's in quest of sweets,

The choicest flow'rs to hive.

…..
Strong is the horse upon his speed;

Strong in pursuit the rapid glede,

Which makes at once his game:

Strong the tall ostrich on the ground;

Strong thro' the turbulent profound

Shoots xiphias to his aim.

…..

Beauteous the fleet before the gale;

Beauteous the multitudes in mail,

Rank'd arms and crested heads:

Beauteous the garden's umbrage mild,

Walk, water, meditated wild,

And all the bloomy beds.

Beauteous the moon full on the lawn;

And beauteous, when the veil's withdrawn,

The virgin to her spouse:

Beauteous the temple deck'd and fill'd,

When to the heav'n of heav'ns they build

Their heart-directed vows.

…..

Glorious the sun in mid career;

Glorious th' assembled fires appear;

Glorious the comet's train:

Glorious the trumpet and alarm;

Glorious th' almighty stretch'd-out arm;

Glorious th' enraptur'd main:

…...

Glorious—more glorious is the crown

Of Him that brought salvation down

By meekness, call'd thy Son;

Thou that stupendous truth believ'd,

And now the matchless deed's achiev'd,

Determin'd, dar'd, and done.

…..

For adoration seasons change,

And order, truth, and beauty range,

Adjust, attract, and fill:

The grass the polyanthus checks;

And polish'd porphyry reflects,

By the descending rill.

…..

For adoration, beyond match,

The scholar bullfinch aims to catch

The soft flute's iv'ry touch;

And, careless on the hazel spray,

The daring redbreast keeps at bay

The damsel's greedy clutch.

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