The Complaint and Relief

When pensive thought recals the scenes of life,
And full in view the varied landscape rises;
While mem'ry draws the line, and fancy paints
The mingled light and shade in due proportion;
Intruding melancholy often blends
Her sable dye, and deepens every shade,
Till all appears a mourning piece of woe;
And my impatient heart at length exclaims,
Ah, what is life? what glimpse of real joy
Has ever smil'd to bless the gloomy scene?
Anxieties, and fears, and pains, and sorrows,
Thick interwoven, rise in every part,
Through all the dreary wild: If e'er delights
Seem'd buckling here and there amid the thorns,
Touch'd by the wasting canker, soon they fell;
Or nipp'd by chilling wintry blasts, declin'd:
Nor one fair blossom ever cheer'd my sight.

So withers all my bloom of life away!
So pain and sickness waste this sinking frame!
The ling'ring hours roll heavily along,
All dark and sad; save where some transient gleam
Lights a short blaze, and vanishes away,
Birth of a moment! — Such is mortal bliss!—
Is mortal bliss no more? is this the all
Of happiness that earth can e'er bestow?
A momentary ray I a short-liv'd meteor!
Let me reflect again — were blooming health,
That best, that dearest earthly blessing mine;
Were pleasure mine, and all its tempting charms
Still brighten'd with unsullied innocence;
Should fortune smile auspicious on my life,
And lavish pour her gifts beneath my feet;
Could all the gifts of fortune, health, or pleasure,
Give permanent delight, or solid bliss?
Ah no! they all are empty, vain, and fleeting!
Earth's fairest gifts united, can't bestow
One happy hour of real satisfaction.
Can air suffice the craving appetite,
Or empty shadows yield substantial good?

Man has desires, capacious as his soul,
Desires, which earthly joys can never fill.
Can mortal food sustain the immortal mind,
Or her unbounded wishes fix on ought
Below the skies, as equal happiness?

No, were the brightest scenes of mortal bliss
Display'd before me, crown'd with young delights;
Should smiling pleasures rise in fair succession,
The earth all blooming, all serene the sky;
The thoughts of death would cloud the gay meridian
With midnight shades! — And see, the tyrant comes
His arrow flies! — Down sinks the golden scene
In everlasting darkness!

But Oh i the soul, that never-dying part,
Survives the ruin! then her vast concerns
Appear in all their infinite importance.
On worlds unknown, amaz'd the stranger enters,
Heir to eternity of bliss, or woe.
Eternity — delightful, dreadful name!
What mind can grasp the infinite idea?

Eternity of woe I tremendous sound,
Fraught with despair! unutterable horror!
What heart can bear the distant apprehension
Of the ten thousandth part of half its terrors?

Eternity of bliss! transporting thought!
But thought can never reach the faintest shadow
Of joys forever bright, forever full!

What awful, infinite concerns depend
On this poor, slender, trembling thread of life!
Time — how inestimable is the treasure!
How precious every day, and every hour!
And could my foolish, my repining heart
Complain, they move too heavy? Gracious God,
Forgive the rash complaint, the guilty folly!
By thee instructed, O may I employ
The fleeting remnant of my precious time
In that important work for which 'tis giv'n,
In preparation for eternity.
Confiding still in thy almighty arm,
My God, my strength, (all impotence myself,)
On thee I lean: O make me persevere,
And ardent striving grasp the blessed hope
Thy sacred word displays — the blessed hope
Of life eternal through a Saviour's death!
Be this my refuge, my unfailing comfort,
In every painful hour! O may thy spirit
Apply that healing balm for every wound,
A dying Saviour's blood! that full atonement
For all my guilt! that source of purity
To sinful souls! that antidote for death!
That fountain of immortal happiness!
And nought below immortal happiness
Can satiate the desires, the vast desires,
Which animate the soul, which bid it rise
Above this dying globe, this nest of worms.
And may a worm, a little particle
Of breathing dust, (for such the frame that holds
This soul, this vital spark of heavenly flame,)
Aspire to mix with angels? Yes, for m?n,
For sinful man renew'd, hath heaven decreed
A place amongst those spotless sons of light.
The rebel-angels from their glory fell,
Whelm'd in the depth of everlasting woe,
Without one ray of mercy; while for man—
Here let me pause and wonder — while for man,
For guilty, rebel man, the Saviour bled!
For traitors, doom'd to never-ending torture,
He bled to purchase life, and happiness!
Redeeming love and mercy is the source,
The boundless ocean of immense delight,
Where all our thoughts are lost in vast amazement.
Redeeming love is the delightful theme
Which tunes the golden harps of paradise
To notes of extasy! to endless rapture!
This can irradiate all the gloomy scenes
Of mortal life, and tune the jarring strings
Of nature! — This can change the deepest groans
Of pain and sorrow, all to harmony,
And joy, and praise! — O may its sacred power
Reach this poor languid heart, enkindle life
Through all my fainting frame, and raise my soul
To join with angels in the strains of heaven!

My Saviour God, O loveliest, dearest name,
That e'er my ear receiv'd, or tongue pronounc'd!
While hoping, yet almost afraid to hope,
That thou art mine, I breathe the charming sounds
In faultering accents; wilt thou, gracious, seal
My humble claim, exalt my trembling hope
To full assurance? Let thy holy spirit
With pow'rful and convincing attestation
Confirm my wav'ring faith, reveal my name,
My worthless name, in thy fair book of life,
In everlasting characters engraved.
Disperse my fears, and till my inmost soul
With joy unspeakable and full of glory.

O blissful state! on earth my wish supreme!
Sweet prelibation of immortal joys!
Possess'd of this, I could resign the world,
Nor heave a sigh, nor shed one parting tear.
Then death were welcome, and the frowning aspect
Of nature's foe would change to heav'nly smiles.
Then would I spurn the globe, and rise attended
By guards celestial to the realms of bliss:
To thy bright presence, O my Saviour God;
To dwell forever in the vast delights
Thy smiles bestow! there in transporting strains
To join the heavenly chorus; all my powers
Uniting in immortal praise, and honours,
To thy ador'd, to thy exalted name.
There Jesus and salvation, boundless theme,
Shall swell the boundless song; and tune the notes
To extasy! the rapture-breathing strain
Unmeasur'd, but by vast eternity.