12. In darkness can thy mighty hand

Or wonderous acts be known?

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 prayer 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 terrour sent from thee?

Bruis'd, and afflicted, and so low
As ready to expire;

While I thy terrours undergo,
Astonish'd with thine ire.

16. Thy fierce wrath over me doth flow;
Thy threatenings cut me through:
17. All day they round about me go,

Like waves they me pursue.

18. Lover and friend thou hast remov'd,
And sever'd from me far:

They fly me now whom I have lov'd,
And as in darkness are.

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 shown,
His praise and glory was in Israel known.
That saw the troubled Sea, and shivering fled,.
And sought to hide his froth-becurled head
Low in the earth; Jordan's clear streams recoil,
As a faint host, that hath receiv'd the foil.
The high huge-bellied mountains skip, like rams
Amongst the ewes; the little hills, like lambs.
Why fled the ocean? And why skipt the mountains?
Why turned Jordan toward his crystal fountains?
Shake, Earth; and at the presence be aghast
Of Him that ever was, and aye 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 aye endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure.
Let us blaze his name abroad,

For of Gods he is the God.

For his &c.

O, let us his praises tell,

Who doth the wrathful tyrants quell.

For his &c.

Who with his miracles doth make

Amazed Heaven, and Earth to shake.

For his &c.

Who, by his wisdom, did create

The painted heavens so full of state.

For his &c.

Who did the solid earth ordain

To rise above the watry plain.

For his &c.

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

And caus'd 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 Israël.
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.

In bloody battle he brought down
Kings of prowess and renown.
For his &c.

He foil'd bold Seon and his host,
That rul'd the Amorrëan coast.

For his &c.

And large-limb'd Og he did subdue,
With all his over-hardy crew.

For his &c.

And, to his servant Israël,

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 the 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 mighty majesty and worth.

For his &c.