11

35

40

45

& Thou dost my friends from me estrange,

And mak'st me odious,
Me to them odious, for they change,

And I bere pent up thus.
9 Through sorrow, and affliction great,

Mine eyes grow dim and dead,
Lord, all the day I thee entreat,

My hands to thee I spread.
10 Wilt thou do wonders on the dead?

Shall the deceased arise,
And praise thee from their loathsome bed

With pale and hollow eyes ?
11 Shall they thy loving kindness tell

On whom the grave huth hold ?
Or they who in perdition dwell,

Thy faithfulness unfold ?
12 In darkness can thy mighty hand

Or wondrous acts be known?
Thy justice in the gloomy land

Of durk oblivion ?
13 But I to thee, O Lord, do cry,

Ere yet my life be spent,
And up to thie my pray'r doth hie

Each norn, and thee prevent.
14 Why wilt thou, Lord, my soul forsake,

And hide thy face from me;
15 That am already bruised, and * shake

With terror sent from thee?
Bruised, illid 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’uinus cut me through :
17 All day they round about me go,

Like waves they me pursue.

Heb. Pre concussione.

18 Lover and friend thou bast removed,

And severed from me far:
They fly me now whom I have loved,

And as in darkness are.

70

A PARAPHRASE ON PSALM CXIV. 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,
And past from Pharian fields to Canaan land,
Led by the strength of the Almighty's hand,
Jehovah's wonders were in Israel shewn,

5
His praise and glory was in Israel known.
That saw the troubled sea, and shivering fled,
And sought to hide his fruth-becurled head
Low the earth ; Jordan's clear streams recoil,
As faint host that hath received the foil.

10 The high, huge-bellied mountains skip like rams Amongst their ewes, the little hills like lambs. Why fled the ocean? and why skipt the mountains ? Why turned Jordan tow'rd his crystal fountains ? Shake, earth, and at the presence be aghast 15 Of Him that ever was, and ay shall last; That glassy floods from rugged rocks can crush, And make soft rills from fiery flint-stones gush.

PSALM CXXXVI.

Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord, for he is kind ;

For his mercies ay endure,

Ever faithful, ever sure.
Let us blaze his name abroad,
For of gods he is the God;

For his, &c.
0, let us his praises tell,
Who doth the wrathful tyrants quell;

For his, &c.

10

20

30

Who with his miracles doth make
Amazed Heav'n and Earth to shake;

For his, &c.
Who by his wisdom did create
The painted Heav’us so full of state ;

For his, &c.
Who did the solid Earth ordain
To rise above the watery plain ;

For his, &c.
Who by his all-commanding might
Did fill the new-made world with light;

For his, &c.
And caused the golden-tressed sun
All the day long his course to run ;

For his, &c.
The horned moon to shine by night,
Amongst her spangled sisters bright;

For his, &c.
He with his thunder-clasping hand
Smote the first-born of Egypt land;

For his, &c.
And in despite of Pharaoh fell,
He brought from thence his Israel

For his, &c.
The ruddy waves he cleft in twain
Of the Erythræan main;

For his, &c
The floods stood still like walls of glass,
While the Hebrew bands did

pass;
For his, &c.
But full soon they did devour
The tawny king with all his power;

For his, &c.
His chosen people he did bless
In the wasteful wilderness

For his, &c.

40

70

In bloody battle he brought down
Kings of prowess and renown;

For his, &c.
He foil'd bold Seon and his host,
That ruled the Amorrean coast;

For his, &c.
And large-limb'a Og he did subdue,
With all his over-hardy crew;

For his, &c.
And to his servant Israel
He gave their land therein to dwell;

For his, &c.
He hath with a piteous eye
Beheld us in our misery;

For his, &c.
And freed us from our slavery
Of the invading enemy;

For his, &c.
All living creatures he doth feed,
And with full hand supplies their need;

For his, &c.
Let us therefore warble forth
His inighty majesty and worth;

For his, &c.
That bis ipansion hath on high
Above the reach of mortal eye;

For his mercies ay endure,
Ever faithiul, erer aure.

JOANNIS MILTONI

LONDINENSIS

POEMATA.

Quorum pleraque intra Annum Ætatis

Vigesimum conscripsit.

Hæc quæ sequuntur de Authore testimonia, tametsi

ipse intelligebat non tam de se quam supra se esse dicta, eo quod præclaro ingenio viri, nec non amici ita fere solent laudare, ut omnia suis potius virtuti. bus, quam veritati congruentia nimis cupide affingant, noluit tamen horum egregiam in se voluntatem non esse notam; cum alii præsertim ut id faceret magnopere suaderent. Dum enim nimiæ laudis invidiam totis ab se viribus amolitur, sibique quod plus æquo est non attributum esse mavult, judicium interim hominum cordatorum atque illustrium quin

summo sibi honori ducat, negare non potest. Joannes Baptista Mansus, Marchio Villensis, Nea

politanus, ad Joannem Miltonium Anglum. Ut mens, forma, decor, facies, mos, si pietas sic, Non Anglus, verùm hercle Angelus ipse fores. Ad Joannem Miltonem Anglum triplici poeseos lau

rea coronandum, Graca nimirum, Latina, atque

Hetrusca, epigramma Joannis Salsilli Romani. Cede Meles, cedat depressa Mincius urna;

Sebetus Tassum desinat usque loqui :
At Thamesis victor cunctis ferat altior undas,

Nam per te, Milto, par tribus unus erit.

Ad Joannem Miltonum.
GRÆCIA Mæonidem, jactet sibi Roma Maronem,
Anglia Miltonum jactat utrique parem.

Selvaggi