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7 Resign the honours of their form at Winter's stormy blast,

And leave the naked, leafless plain,

a desolated waste.

8 Yet soon reviving plants and flow'rs anew shall deck the plain:

The woods shall hear the voice of Spring, and flourish green again.

9 But shall succeeding Springs revive,
the ashes of the urn?

When man forsakes this earthly scene,
'tis never to return.

10 The mighty flood that rolls along,
its torrents to the main,

Can ne'er recal its waters lost,
from that abyss again.

11 So, days and years, and ages past,
descending down to night,

Can henceforth never more return
back to the gates of light;

12 Nor shall the race of man return
from death's surrounding shade;
Until the rending heavens awake
the slumbers of the dead.

13 Yet shall that day of pow'r arise,
with glory on the tomb,

When ruin'd man shall be restor❜d,
and each receive his doom.

14 And till the great deliv'rance comes,
there is a bless'd abode,

Where dwell the spirits of the just,
in safety with their God.

15 Cheer'd by such hopes, with patient mind, I'll wait heaven's high decree,

Till the appointed period come,
when death shall set me free.

10.

JOB XVI. 22.

1 BEHOLD the path that mortals tread
Down to the regions of the dead;
Nor will the fleeting moments stay,
Nor can we measure back our way.

2 Our kindred and our friends are gone,
And in their doom, we see our own;
Feeble as theirs my mortal frame,
The same my way, my house the same.

3 From vital air, from cheerful light,
To the cold grave's perpetual night;
From scenes of duty, means of grace,
Must I to God's tribunal pass.

Important journey! awful view,

How great the change, the scenes how new;
The golden gates of heav'n display'd,
Or hell's fierce flames, and gloomy shade.

5 Awake, my soul! thy way prepare,
And lose in this each mortal care;

With steady feet, pursue the road
Which, through the grave, conducts to God.

11.

JOB xxvi. 6, to the end.

1 WHILE Nature's universal frame,

its Maker's pow'r reveals,

His throne, remote from mortal eyes,
an awful cloud conceals:

2 From where the rising day ascends,
to where it sets in night,

He compasses the floods with bounds, and checks their tow'ring might.

3 The pillars that support the sky tremble at his rebuke;

Through all its caverns quakes the earth, as though its centre shook.

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4 He bring the waters from their beds, although no tempest blows;

And smites the kingdom of the proud, without the hand of foes.

5 Few of his works can we survey; these few our skill transcend; But the full thunder of his pow'r, what heart can comprehend?

12.

PSALM xix. 1-3.

1 THE spacious firmament on high,

With all the blue ethereal sky,

And spangled heavens, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim.

2 Th' unweary'd sun, from day to day,
Does his Creator's pow'r display;
And publishes to ev'ry land
The work of an almighty hand.

3 Soon as the ev'ning shades prevail,
The moon takes up the wondrous tale,
And, nightly, to the list'ning earth
Repeats the story of her birth.

4 While all the stars that round her burn,
And all the planets in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roll,
And spread the truth from pole to pole.

5 What though in solemn silence all

Move round the dark terrestrial ball?
What though no real voice nor sound,
Amidst their radiant orbs be found?

6 In reason's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice;
For ever singing, as they shine,
"The hand that made us is divine."

13.

PSALM Xxiii.

1 THE Lord my pasture shall prepare, And feed me with a shepherd's care; His presence shall my wants supply, And guard me with a watchful eye: My noon-day walks he shall attend, And all my midnight hours defend.

2 When in the sultry glebe I faint, Or on the thirsty mountain pant, To fertile vales and dewy meads,

My weary wand'ring steps he leads; Where peaceful rivers, soft and slow, Amid the verdant landscape flow.

3 Though in the paths of death I tread, With gloomy horrors overspread; My stedfast heart shall fear no ill,

For thou, O Lord! art with me still: Thy friendly crook shall give me aid, And guide me through the dreadful shade,

4 Though in a bare and rugged way,
Through devious, lonely wilds I stray,
Thy bounty shall my pains beguile,
The barren wilderness shall smile;
With sudden greens and herbage crown'd,
And streams shall murmur all around.

1

14.

PSALM liv. 11.

ETERNAL Source of every joy,
Well may thy praise our lips employ;
When in thy temple we appear,

Whose goodness crowns the circling year.

2 The sun is taught by thee to rise, And darkness when to veil the skies; And as the wheels of nature roll

Thy hand supports the steady pole.

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