Embow’r the social laugh.

LIX.

Now labour his reward receives,

For ADORATION counts his sheaves

To peace, her bounteous prince;

The nectarine his strong tint imbibes,

And apples of ten thousand tribes,

And quick peculiar quince.

LX.

The wealthy crops of whit’ning rice,

Mongst thyine woods and groves of spice,

For ADORATION grow;

And, marshall’d in the fenced land,

The peaches and pomegranates stand,

Where wild carnations blow.

LXI.

The laurels with the winter strive;

The crocus burnishes alive

Upon the snow-clad earth:

For ADORATION myrtles stay

To keep the garden from dismay,

And bless the sight from dearth.

LXII.

The pheasant shows his pompous neck;

And ermine, jealous of a speck,

With fear eludes offence:

The sable, with his glossy pride,

For ADORATION is descried,

Where frosts the wave condense.

LXIII.

The chearful holly, pensive yew,

And holy thorn, their trim renew;

The squirrel hoards his nuts:

All creatures batten o’er their stores,

And careful nature all her doors,

For ADORATION shuts.

LXIV.

For ADORATION, DAVID’s psalms

Lift up the heart to deeds of alms;

And he, who kneels and chants,

Prevails his passions to controul,

Finds meat and med’cine to the soul,

Which for translation pants.

LXV.

For ADORATION, beyond match,

The scollar bulfinch aims to catch

The soft flute’s iv’ry touch;

And, careless on the hazle spray,

The daring redbreast keeps at bay

The damsel’s greedy clutch.

LXVI.

For ADORATION, in the skies,

The Lord’s philosopher espies

The Dog, the Ram, and Rose;

The planet’s ring, Orion’s sword;

Nor is his greatness less ador’d

In the vile worm that glows.

LXVII.

For ADORATION on the strings

The western breezes work their wings,

The captive ear to sooth. —

Hark! ’tis a voice-how still, and small —

That makes the cataracts to fall,

Or bids the sea be smooth.

LXVIII.

For ADORATION, incense comes

From bezoar, and Arabian gums;

And on the civet’s furr.

But as for prayer, or e’re it faints,

Far better is the breath of saints

Than galbanum and myrrh.

LXIX.

For ADORATION from the the down,

Of dam’sins to th’ anana’s crown,

God sends to tempt the taste;

And while the luscious zest invites,

The sense, that in the scene delights,

Commands desire be chaste.

LXX.

For ADORATION, all the paths

Of grace are open, all the baths

Of purity refresh;

And all the rays of glory beam

To deck the man of God’s esteem,

Who triumph o’er the flesh.

LXXI.

For ADORATION, in the dome

Of Christ the sparrow’s find an home;

And on his olives perch:

The swallow also dwell with thee,

O man of God’s humility,

Within his Saviour CHURCH.

LXXII.

Sweet is the dew that falls betimes,

And drops upon the leafy limes;

Sweet Hermon’s fragrant air:

Sweet is the lilly’s siluer bell,

And sweet the wakeful tapers smell

That watch for early pray’r.

LXXIII.

Sweet the the young nurse with love intense,

Which smiles o’er sleeping innocence;

Sweet when the lost arrive:

Sweet the musician’s ardour beats,

While his vague mind’s in quest of sweets,

The choicest flow’rs to hive.