Unharness'd nags, and train'd to hunting now,

290. Ye shall be drudges, beasts of burthen, then!

But hold! I'm yet dependent on the brutes,
And down with taxes' must be yet my cry!
My father's all, bequeathed to me, his son,
I squander'd at the gaming-board, or spent
Amongst the painted Venuses of night!
My goods are scant, and augmentation ask;
Nor care I from what quarter it arrives!
The savage boys contribute to my store;-
They love to feed the man who bids them
march,

300. Nor dream his stomach hungers for their blood!
When time has ripen'd what is now in bud,
I'll quit the ragged wretches in the field,
Just as the ostrich her young progeny!
'Tis now my busy time!"

Here Odin endeth, and goes home to gain
New strength from sleep to meet th'appointed

hour.

ARGUMENT

ΤΟ

BOOK THE SECOND.

A SHORT disquisition on dreams introduces Noah, who, while sleeping, is visited by an ethereal being, by whom he is admonished to fortify his mind against the incursions of many and powerful enemies.-The Patriarch in the company of his sons, conjectures (after the departure of the angel) as to the mission of the celestial guest.-Morning appears, and Noah builds an altar, sacrifices a victim, and offers prayer to God-a cloud hovers propitiously over the altar, and the voice of God is heard.-Noah and his family repair to their diurnal duties, and Mirandah (the Patriarch's adopted daughter) smitten by love of Odin, expresses herself dissatisfied with the divine economy, and converses with Shem, Ham, and Japhet, on the topic of equality. Night advances-Noah sacrifices-the conspirators approach-the Patriarch preaches to them.-His sermon ended, he is pelted with stones by the crowd-the earth opens, and swallows one hundred of the assailants-the surviving rebels slink away in terror.

NOAH.

BOOK THE SECOND.

DREAMS are night's ministers! and well

perform

What she enjoins them! whispering in the ear
Of sleeping mortals tales of busy life!

They tell the pale one, languishing and coy,
Of bridal blessedness! The man of trade,
Whose visage, like his apron, speaks of hours
Consum'd in foetid atmosphere of smoke,
Is magic-stricken! and before him lies

A scene of beauty, picturesque and bright!
10. The pris'ner dreams of hills and flow'ry vales,
And running streams! rememb'ring not the wall
Beyond whose bounds he would, but cannot pass!
The wretch whom want, and penury, and woe,
Seal to the cell where only grief is felt,

Feels an ecstatic rapture of delight,

And treats the wealth of Indies as his own!

But dreams were once more honor'd! and

'twould seem

Within their filmy fabric angels walk'd,
And talk'd to mortals of immortal things!

20. The Patriarch rests upon his bed, and dreamsAnd lo! a voice that whispereth of high Unreach'd realities whose depths profound Are scann'd but partially by seraph thought: "Noah, thou man much favor'd and belov'd, And number'd 'mongst the white-rob'd of the skies,

'Hearken to one whose message is from heav'n!
And stamp'd with all the awfulness of truth!
Quiet and still, much like the summer brook
Meand'ring gently thro' the herbs at ev'n

30. Hath been the tenor of thy meek career:

He, the high God, who, though he made all worlds

That hang in space above archangels' ken,

Yet looks complacent on the veriest worm

That eats its way thro' earth's least polish'd
mould,

He, the high God, hath seen thee strive to be
An imitator in thy lowly sphere

Of his divine benevolence! and knows

That to the poor thy treasures are not barr'd! Thou lovest peace, and little dost surmise 40. Of men whose cry is war, whose hearts are set To give distraction to the world, and raze God's altars to the ground! who tythe withhold! And shout for liberty, while woes on woes, Such as from tyranny alone can spring,

(As venom❜d herbs shoot out from venom'd soil,) Are the base offspring of their lawless souls!

These are the swords with which the Mighty

One,

47. These are the swords, &c.-It is one of the divine prerogatives to educe good from evil, or rather, to make the instrumentality of what is intrinsically corrupt, subserve the great cause of religion and virtue. "The ungodly," says holy David, “are a sword of thine" (Psalm xvii. 13.)—that is, the enemies of