hunger and thirst, heat and weariness, while 887 Son, Heir, and Lord, to him dominion given 891 I will sing Jehovah: for he hath triumphed gloriously. In the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. who into glory him received. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power; when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Hebrews, i. 3.) And having, by myself, performed that great transaction, which is the cleansing away of our sins he is now set down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, of that glorious and excellent Being, who reigns supreme in the heaven of heavens. END OF THE SIXTH BOOK. BOOK VII. 1 Descend from heav'n Urania, One of the nine muses: 4 6 1 the daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. Urania presided over astronomy. whose voice divine Following, above th' Olympian hill I soar, Doth not Wisdom cry; and Understanding put forth her voice? When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no foundations abounding with water. Then I was by him, as one brought up with him; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him: rejoicing in the habitable parts of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. Prov. viii. 1, 24, 30. Above the flight of Pegasean wing. Pegasus, a winged horse, who fixed his residence on Mount Helycon: the poets say, that, on striking the earth with his foot, he raised a fountain called Hyppocrene; he was given to Bellerophon to conquer the Chimera: no sooner was this monster destroyed, than Pagasus threw his rider; because he attempted to fly to heaven. Pagasus was placed among the constellations. Nor of the muses nine, Unutterably bless'd He whom the muses love! a melting voice T 7 Flows ever from his lip; and is there one Awakes the strain; he sings the mighty deeds In heaven; and, strait, though stricken to the He shall forget, nor aught of all his griefs Of old Olympus dwell'st. HESIOD, The A mountain of Macedonia and Thessaly. ancients supposed that it touched the heavens with its top; and, from that circumstance, they have placed the residence of the gods there, and have made it the court of Jupiter. 13 Into the heaven of heavens I have presum'd, They dwell in mansions beautified, and shine So, through their parted lips, a lovely voice Of deathless gods; and lovely is their voice. The melody of their hummings; and, beneath Arises, as, tumultuous, they pass on, To greet their awful sire. 18 Bellerophon HESIOD. The son of Glaucus, king of Emphyre, being at the court of Prœtus, king of Argos, gave him some cause for displeasure; but Prœtus, unwilling to violate the laws of hospitality by punishing Bellerophon, sent him to Jobates, king of Lycia with a letter, in which he requested the king to punish, with death, the man who had so dishonourably treated his family. Jobates, to satisfy his son in law, sent Bellerophon to conquer the Chimera; in which dangerous expedition he hoped that he should perish. But Minerva supported him; and, with the aid of the winged horse, Pegasus, he conquered the monster and returned victorious. Jobates sent him in many perils; but the gods protected him. Jobates no longer sought to destroy him; but gave him his daughter in marriage, and made him successor to the throne of Lycia. 19 Dismounted, on the Aleian field I fall A field in Cilicia; where, it is reported, Perseus wandered after his fall from heaven, and died of hunger. 33 Of Bacchus and his revelers, The festivals of Bacchus, generally called orgies. Bachanalia, or Dyonysia, were introduced into Greece, from Egypt, by Danaus and his daughters. 34 Of that wild rout that tore the Thracian bard Orpheus lost his wife Eurydice; and the Thra cian women, whom he had offended by his coldness, while they were celebrating the orgies of Bacchus, tore him in pieces and threw his head into the Hebrus. 35 In Rodope, A mountain in Thrace. 79 Immutably his sov'reign will, 121 121 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they were created, (Rev. iv. 11.) And infinitely worthy he is to receive it: he who is the Almighty Creator: he who is the ever-present and ever-gracious supporter of all! Thou art worthy, O Lord; thou alone art worthy. and, though thou with-holdest from us the face of thy throne, while we dwell iu these tabernacles of clay; yet, as we are thy creatures, thy rational creatures, we partake of thy protection and bounty; and, feeble as our faculties are, and dark as the world is in which they dwell, we are able to discover thee as our Almighty Creator, our constant preserver, our never-failing benefactor. nor let thine own inventions hope Things not reveal'd, Lo, this only have I found, that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. Eccles. viii. 29. which th' invisible king Only omniscient hath suppressed in night, Of that day and that hour knoweth no man; no, not the angels which are in heaven; neither the Son, but the Father only. Matt. xxiv. 39. |