The Fettered Mind

Ah! should this immortal mind,
Enslav'd by sense, be thus confin'd,
And never, never rise?
Why thus amus'd with empty toys,
And sooth'd with visionary joys,
Forget her native skies?

The mind was form'd to mount sublime,
Beyond the narrow bounds of time,
To everlasting things;
But earthly vapours cloud her sight,
And hang with cold oppressive weight
Upon her drooping wings.

The world employs its various snares,
Of hopes and pleasures, pains and cares,
And chain'd to earth I lie:
When shall my fetter'd pow'rs be free,
And leave these.seats of vanity,
And upward learn to fly.

Bright scenes of bliss, unclouded skies,
Invite my soul: O could I rise,
Nor leave a thought below j.
I'd bid farewel to anxious care,
And say to ev'ry tempting snare,
Heav'n calls, and I must go.

Heav'n calls! and can I yet delay?
Can aught on earth engage my stay?
Ah wretched, ling'ring heart!
Come, Lord, with strength, and life, and light,
Assist, and guide my upward flight,
And bid the world depart.

One word of thy resistless pow'r
Can bid my joyful spirit soar,
And scorn the feeble chain:
Come, bear my raptur'd thoughts above,
On pinions of seraphic love;
And earth shall tempt in vain.

In vain, her syren voice may try,
To lure me downward from the sky,
To this dark vale of tears;
How will her transient glories fade,
And unregarded sink in shade,
When heav'n's bright dawn appears?

So, wand'ring meteors of the night,
Amuse the weary traveller's sight,
With fair deceitful ray;
But all their glimm'ring lustre flies,
And ev'ry gay delusion dies,
When Phoebus wakes the day.