13 For great thy mercy is tow'rd me, And thou hast freed my soul, Ev'n from the lowest hell set free, From deepest darkness foul. 14 O God, the proud against me rise, And violent men are met To seek my life, and in their eyes No fear of thee have set. 15 But thou, Lord, art the God most mild, Readiest thy grace to shew, Slow to be angry, and art styl'd Most merciful, most true. 16 O turn to me thy face at length, And me have mercy on, Unto thy servant give thy strength, And save thy handmaid's son. 17 Some sign of good to me afford, And let my foes then see, And be asham'd, because thou, Lord, 45 50 55 60 PSALM LXXXVII. 1 AMONG the holy mountains high Is his foundation fast, 2 Sion's fair gates the Lord loves more Of Jacob's land, though there be store, 5 3 City of God, most glorious things Of thee abroad are spoke; 4 I mention Egypt, where proud kings Did our forefathers yoke. I mention Babel to my friends, Philistia full of scorn, And Tyre with Ethiop's utmost ends, Lo this man there was born: 5 But twice that praise shall in our ear Be said of Sion last, This and this man was born in her, High God shall fix her fast. 6 The Lord shall write it in a scroll That ne'er shall be out-worn, When he the nations doth inroll, That this man there was born. 7 Both they who sing, and they who dance, In thee fresh brooks, and soft streams glance, PSALM LXXXVIII. 1 LORD God, that dost me save and keep, All day to thee I cry; And all night long before thee weep, Before thee prostrate lie. 2 Into thy presence let my pray'r With sighs devout ascend, And to my cries that ceaseless are, Thine ear with favour bend, 10 15 20 25 5 3 For cloy'd with woes and trouble store 4 Reckon'd I am with them that Down to the dismal pit, I am a man, but weak alas, And for that name unfit. pass 5 From life discharg'd and parted quite And like the slain in bloody fight Whom thou rememberest no more, Them from thy hand deliver'd o'er 6 Thou in the lowest pit profound Where thickest darkness hovers round, In horrid deeps to mourn. 7 Thy wrath, from which no shelter saves, Full sore doth press on me; a Thou break'st upon me all thy waves, a And all thy waves break me. 8 Thou dost my friends from me estrange, And mak'st me odious, Me to them odious, for they change, And I here pent up thus. * Heb. A man without manly strength. a The Heb. bears both. 35 9.-trouble store] So edition Fenton, read sore. T. War 1678. Tonson, Tickell, and ton. 9 Through sorrow, and affliction great, Mine eye grows dim and dead, Lord, all the day I thee intreat, My hands to thee I spread. 10 Wilt thou do wonders on the dead, Shall the deceas'd arise And praise thee from their loathsome bed With pale and hollow eyes ? 11 Shall they thy loving kindness tell 12 In darkness can thy mighty hand Thy justice in the gloomy land Of dark oblivion? 13 But I to thee, O Lord, do cry, Ere yet my life be spent, And up to thee my pray'r doth hie, Each morn, and thee prevent. 14 Why wilt thou, Lord, my soul forsake, And hide thy face from me? 15 That am already bruis'd, and shake With terror sent from thee? Bruis'd, and afflicted, and so low As ready to expire, While I thy terrors undergo Astonish'd with thine ire. 16 Thy fierce wrath over me doth flow, Thy threat'nings cut me through: Heb. Præ Concussione. 40 45 50 55 60 65 17 All day they round about me go, Like waves they me pursue. 18 Lover and friend thou hast remov'd, They fly me now whom I have lov'd, A Paraphrase on PSALM CXIV.* 70 This and the following Psalm were done by the Author at fifteen years old. WHEN the blest seed of Terah's faithful son After long toil their liberty had won, 5 And pass'd from Pharian fields to Canaan land, *This and the following Psalm are Milton's earliest performances. The first he afterwards translated into Greek. In the last are some very poetical expressions, The golden-tressed sun, God's thunder-clasping hand, the moon's spangled sisters bright, above the reach of mortal eye, &c. 10 I will here throw together some of the most striking stanzas in Milton's Psalms. T. Warton. 13. Why fled the ocean? And why skipp'd the mountains ?] The original is weakened. The question should have been asked by an address, or an appeal, to the sea and mountains. T. Warton. |