Ocean, fubmiffive, fmooths her furrow'd Face, And each fubfiding Wave finds its appointed Place. By him the Seasons change, the Vapours rife, The Dews defcend, and Thunders rend the Skies: He bids the Lightning give the fatal Stroke, Burn up the Fields, or rive the knobbed Oak.. With feather'd Snows he whitens all the Plains, And fends the Frofts to bind the Floods in Chains, By him the Groves renew their fallen Leaves: By him the joyfulHind binds up theGoldenSheaves. "Tis He with juicy Clufters loads the Vine, And gives the Prefs to over-flow with Wine. From him theFLOW'RS receive their beauteous Dyes, From him with various Odours fill the Skies: He with Vermilion Blushes paints the Rose, He the Carnation's Elegance beftows, Its glittering White to him the Lilly owes. 'Twas he first ting'd the Violet with Blue, And all its Glories on the Tulip drew. Behold Behold the Forest TREES, a beauteous Scene! Diff'rent their Structure, various is their Green : The graceful Pine, the princely Cedar rife, Proud Sons of Earth! and lift them to the Skies. In colder Climes, their stately Heads as high, Fierce Winter Storms the ftubborn Oaks defy; With Loads of Acorns over-fpread the Ground, And see their Offspring rifing wide around. Behold their leafy Tops, how fair they show! Know'st thou the Laws whereby their Juices flow Upward 'gainst Nature's Course? What Pipes convey Those gen'rous Streams which make them fresh and gay ? Does this seem strange?--Much ftranger yet remains. Nothing brings forth but what itself contains: "Tis Nature's conftant Law that ev'ry Thing From Parents like itself, in order, fpring: She no fpontaneous Production knows, But Life, in regular Progreffions, flows. Each Each Seed includes a Plant: that Plant, again, Has other Seeds which other Plants contain : Those other Plants have all their Seeds, and Thofe More Plants again, fucceffively, inclose. Thus, ev'ry fingle Berry that we find, Has, really, in itself whole Forests of its Kind. Empire and Wealth one Acorn may dispense, By Fleets to fail a thousand Ages hence. Each Myrtle Seed includes a thousand Groves, Where future Bards may warble forth their Loves. Thus ADAM's Loins contain'd his large Posterity, All People that have been, and all that e'er fhall be. Amazing Thought! what Mortal can conceive Such wond'rous Smallnefs ?-Yet, we must believe What REASON tells: for REASON's piercing Eye Difcerns those Truths our Senfes can't descry. From From Things inanimate withdraw thine Eyes, For, wide around Thee, living Wonders rife : The various Kinds which cut the briny Main, The Foreft range, or grafe upon the Plain, The feather'd Tribes which fly from Land to Land, And Infects, num'rous as the Grains of Sand. All these declare from whence their Being came, Their Maker's Goodness and his Pow'r proclaim, And callThee forth,with them,topraise his Name. For every Creature does his Bounty share, Though Man pretends that He has all his Care. GOD gives the Strength whereby the LION reigns, And drives the Torrent boiling through his Veins. When with his Roar the Defart echoes round, And trembling Beasts affrighted hear the Sound, He gives the Voice :—his raging Thirst supplies, And with fufficient Food his Hunger fatisfies. As As Light'ning fwift, and panting for the Course, With Iron Sinews he has arm'd the HORSE: Hark! from a-far the Trumpet's sprightly found! His restless Hoofs, impatient, fpurn the Ground: He fnorts: he foams: Fire flashes from his Eyes, And from his Noftrils curling Volumes rise. Furious, he grafps the Distance in his Mind, Bounds cross the Plains, and leaves the Winds behind: Headlong o'er all he drives, devoid of Fear, Mocks at the brandish'd Sword, and fcorns the lengthen'd Spear. He gives the tow'ring EAGLE Wings to rise, High o'er the Clouds, to pure etherial Skies. Aloft, on craggy Cliffs, fhe builds her Nest, Secure from Foes, with endless Quiet bleft. Unheard the Surges break upon the Shores, And all below, unheard, the raging Tempest roars: Hence, wide around, her piercing Eyes survey, And far beneath mark out the deftin'd Prey : |