Page:The Seasons - Thomson (1791).djvu/209

 That utter'd by the Demon of the night, Warn the devoted wretch of woe and death.

uproar lords it wide. The clouds commix'd With stars swift-gliding sweep along the sky. All Nature reels. Till Nature's, who oft Amid tempestuous darkness dwells alone, And on the wings of the careering wind Walks dreadfully serene, commands a calm; Then straight air, sea and earth, are hush'd at once.

yet 'tis midnight deep. The weary clouds, Slow-meeting, mingle into solid gloom. Now, while the drowsy world lies lost in sleep, Let me associate with the serious Night, And Contemplation her sedate compeer; Let me shake off th' intrusive cares of day, And lay the meddling senses all aside.

now, ye lying vanities of life! Ye ever-tempting ever-cheating train! Where are you now? and what is your amount? Vexation, disappointment, and remorse. Sad, sickening thought! and yet deluded Man, A scene of crude disjointed visions past, And broken slumbers, rises still resolv'd, With new-flush'd hopes, to run the giddy round.

''of light and life! thou'' ! ''O teach me what is good! teach me'' ! Save me from folly, vanity, and vice, ''From every low pursuit! and feed my soul'' With knowledge, conscious peace, and virtue pure, Sacred, substantial, never-fading bliss!

keener tempests rise: and fuming dun From all the livid east, or piercing north, Thick