Pain cannot move it, danger cannot scare;
Pleasure and wealth, in its esteem, are dust;
It loves thee, e'en when least inclined to spare
Its tenderest feelings, and avows thee just.
'Tis all thine own; my spirit is so too,
An undivided offering at thy shrine;
It seeks thy glory with no double view,
Thy glory with no secret bent to mine.
Love, holy Love! and art thou not severe,
To Night me, thus devoted, and thus fix'd ?
Mine is an everlasting ardour, clear
From all self-bias, generous and unmix’d.
But I am filent, seeing what I see-
And fear, with cause, that I am self-deceived;
Not e'en my faith is from suspicion free,
And, that I love, seems not to be believed.
Live Thou, and reign for ever, glorious Lord !
My last, least offering, I present thee now ;-
Renounce me, leave me, and be still adored !
Slay me, my God, and I applaud the blow.

29. WATCHING UNTO GOD IN THE

NIGHT SEASON.

LEEP at last has fled these eyes,
Nor do I regret his flight,
More alert my spirits rise,
And
my

heart is free and light.

Nature filent all around,
Not a single witness near ;
God as soon as sought is found;
And the flame of love burns clear.

Interruption, all day long,
Checks the current of my joys;
Creatures press me with a throng,
And perplex me with their noise.

Undisturbid I muse all night
On the first Eternal Fair;
Nothing there obstructs delight,
Love is renovated there.

Life, with its perpetual stir, Proves a foe to Love and me; Fresh entanglements occurComes the night and sets me free. Never more, sweet Neep, suspend My enjoyments, always new : Leave me to possess my friend; Other

eyes

and hearts subdue.

may wake

Hush the world, that I
To the taste of pure delights ;
Oh the pleasures I partake-
God, the partner of my nights!
David, for the self-fame cause,
Night preferr'd to busy day :
Hearts whom heavenly beauty draws
Wish the glaring sun away.

Sleep, self-lovers, is for

you ; — Souls that love celestial know Fairer scenes by night can view Than the sun could ever show.

30. ON THE SAME.

EASON of my purest pleasure,

Sealer of observing eyes !

When, in larger, freer measure, I can commune with the skies; While, beneath thy shade extended,

Weary man forgets his woes; I, my daily trouble ended,

Find, in watching, my repose.

Silence all around prevailing,

Nature hush'd in flumber sweet, No rude noise mine ears affailing,

Now my God and I can meet : Universal nature slumbers,

And my soul partakes the calm, Breathes her ardour out in numbers,

Plaintive song or lofty pfalm.

Now my passion, pure and holy,

Shines and burns without restraint; Which the day's fatigue and folly

Cause to languish, dim and faint: Charming hours of relaxation !

How I dread the ascending sun ! Surely, idle conversation

Is an evil, match'd by none.
Worldly prate and babble hurt me;

Unintelligible prove;
Neither teach me nor divert me;

I have ears for none but Love.
Me they rude esteem, and foolish,

Hearing my absurd replies; I have neither art's fine polish,

Nor the knowledge of the wise. Simple souls, and unpolluted,

By conversing with the great,
Have a mind and taste, ill suited

To their dignity and state ;
All their talking, reading, writing,

Are but talents misapplied ;
Infants' prattle I delight in,

Nothing human choose beside. 'Tis the secret fear of sinning

Checks my tongue, or I should say, When I see the night beginning,

I am glad of parting day; Love this gentle admonition Whispers soft within

my

breast; “ Choice befits not thy condition,

Acquiescence suits thee best.”
Henceforth, the repose and pleasure

Night affords me I resign;
And thy will shall be the measure,

Wisdom infinite of mine : Wishing is but Inclination

Quarreling with thy decrees; Wayward nature finds the occasion

'Tis her folly and disease.

Night, with its sublime enjoyments,

Now no longer will I choose ; Nor the day with its employments,

Irksome as they seem, refuse; Leffons of a God's inspiring

Neither time nor place impedes ; From our wishing and desiring

Our unhappiness proceeds.

31. ON THE SAME.

IGHT! how I love thy silent shades,

My spirits they compose ;
The bliss of heaven

my

soul pervades, In spite of all my woes. While sleep instils her poppy

dews
In every slumbering eye,
I watch, to meditate and muse,

In blest tranquillity.
And when I feel a God imrnense

Familiarly impart,
With every proof he can dispense,

His favour to my heart;