Invocation of Divine aid.
There is a feeling which to energy
Can wake the humblest of the sons of song,
And rouse to daring ardor all his powers
Of dormant fancy, spite of indolence,
Spite even of fear that hostile tongues may rail
Against his anxious labours, or neglect,
Cold withering at his heart, be the sad doom
Assigned him by a supercilious world.
'Tis that fond wish for an enduring name,
Which urges every warm aspiring mind
To works of excellence and deeds of praise.
Oh ! blame me not, ye censors of the age,
If I confess that wish inspires me now !
I feel it now overcome the lethargy
In which my slothful muse has long been bound
Now, with unwonted courage, it defies
The terrors of derision's bitter taunt,
And that most dreaded doom, the public scorn,
Which grasps and mangles daring vanity.
Bold and determined, now my spirit spreads
Adventurous pinions for an arduous flight,
More arduous than has oft been tried by man,
And with due strength successfully sustained.
Oh! to sustain it till the height be gained
To which so earnestly my soul aspires,
No hope have I but in His mighty aid,
Who bore the bard of Paradise to Heaven,
And there disclosed to him such scenes sublime
And glorious wonders, secrets fit for gods,
As human thought had ne'er before conceived.
Assist me, Thou, whom in his matchless song,
With such acceptance, that great Bard invoked !
Fain would I hope that 'tis from Thee proceeds
The keen desire that animates my soul,
A task so high and venturous to attempt.
My song, which to thy glory I devote,
Would to th' unthinking sons of men unfold
The awful terrors of thy mighty arm,
When raised to vengeance on obdurate guilt,
Shown in the story of that world perverse,
Which, rioting in insolence and crime,
Drew down, at length, the fatal penalty
Of which thy saints had warned it oft in vain.
In pride, and lust, and impious hardihood,
It wallowed long, contemning all thy threats,
Till in full power, thy awful justice rose,
And bade the torrent doom of waters pour
Engulfing ruin on the guilty race ;
Saving of all the human kind alone,
Him and his household, who alone had been,
In faith and in obedience, true to Thee.
Such is the theme which I aspire to sing;
Vast as it is and feeble though I be,
If Thou assist I shall not sing in vain
