Portentous deem'd. Amid the radiant orbs,
That more than deck-that animate-the sky,
The life-infusing suns of other worlds;
Lo! from the dread immensity of space
Returning, with accelerated course,
The rushing comet to the Sun descends;
And as he sinks below the shading earth,
With awful train projected o'er the heavens,
The guilty nations tremble. But, above
Those superstitious horrors that enslave

1705

1710

The fond sequacious herd, to mystic faith

And blind amazement prone, the' enlighten'd few,

Whose god-like minds Philosophy exalts,

1715

The glorious stranger hail. They feel a joy

Divinely great they in their powers exult,

That wondrous force of thought, which mounting spurns

This dusky spot, and measures all the sky;

While, from his far excursion through the wilds

1720

Of barren ether, faithful to his time,

They see the blazing wonder rise anew,
In seeming terror clad, but kindly bent
To work the will of all-sustaining Love:
From his huge vapoury train perhaps to shake
Reviving moisture on the numerous orbs,
Through which his long ellipsis winds; perhaps
To lend new fuel to declining suns,
To light up worlds, and feed the' eternal fire.

With thee, serene Philosophy, with thee,

1725

1730

And thy bright garland, let me crown my song!

Effusive source of evidence, and truth!

A lustre shedding o'er the' ennobled mind,

Stronger than summer-noon, and pure as that,

Whose mild vibrations soothe the parted soul,

1735

New to the dawning of celestial day.

Hence through her nourish'd powers, enlarg'd by thee,

She springs aloft, with elevated pride,

Above the tangling mass of low desires,

That bind the fluttering crowd; and, angel-wing'd,

1740

The heights of science and of virtue gains,

Where all is calm and clear; with Nature round,

Or in the starry regions, or the' abyss,

To Reason's and to Fancy's eye display'd:

The First up-tracing, from the dreary void,

1745

The chain of causes and effects to Him,
The world-producing Essence, who alone
Possesses being; while the Last receives

The whole magnificence of heaven and earth,
And every beauty, delicate or bold,

1750

Obvious or more remote, with livelier sense,
Diffusive painted on the rapid mind.

Tutor'd by thee, hence Poetry exalts
Her voice to ages; and informs the page
With music, image, sentiment, and thought,
Never to die! the treasure of mankind!
Their highest honour, and their truest joy!

Without thee what were unenlighten'd man?
A savage roaming through the woods and wilds,
In quest of prey; and with the' unfashion'd fur
Rough-clad; devoid of every finer art,
And elegance of life. Nor happiness
Domestic, mix'd of tenderness and care,
Nor moral excellence, nor social bliss,

1755

1760

Nor guardian law were his; nor various skill

1765

To turn the furrow, or to guide the tool
Mechanic; nor the heaven-conducted prow
Of Navigation bold, that fearless braves
The burning line or dares the wint'ry pole;
Mother severe of infinite delights!
Nothing, save rapine, indolence, and guile,

1770

And woes on woes, a still-revolving train!

Whose horrid circle had made human life

Than non-existence worse: but, taught by thee,

Ours are the plans of policy and peace;

1775

To live like brothers, and, conjunctive, all

Embellish life. While thus laborious crowds

Ply the tough oar, Philosophy directs

The ruling helm; or like the liberal breath

Of potent Heaven, invisible, the sail

1780

Swells out, and bears the' inferior world along.

Nor to this evanescent speck of earth

Poorly confin'd, the radiant tracts on high

Are her exalted range; intent to gaze

Creation through; and, from that full complex
Of never-ending wonders, to conceive

1785

Of the Sole Being right, who spoke the Word,

And Nature mov'd complete. With inward view,
Thence on the' ideal kingdom swift she turns
Her eye, and instant, at her powerful glance,
The' obedient phantoms vanish or appear;
Compound, divide, and into order shift,
Each to his rank, from plain perception up
To the fair forms of Fancy's fleeting train:
To reason then, deducing truth from truth;
And notion quite abstract; where first begins
The world of spirits, action all, and life
Unfetter'd, and unmix'd. But here the cloud,
So wills Eternal Providence, sits deep.

1790

1795

Enough for us to know that this dark state,

1800

In wayward passions lost, and vain pursuits,

This Infancy of Being, cannot prove

The final issue of the works of God,

By boundless Love and perfect Wisdom form'd,

And ever rising with the rising mind.

1805