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A COMMENT ON SOME PASSAGES IN THE BOOK of JOB.
BOSTON: Printed by ISAIAH THOMAS, at his Printing-Office near the MILL-BRIDGE. MDCCLXXIII.
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A COMMENT ON SOME PASSAGES IN THE BOOK of JOB.
IMPERIAL JOB grew old without a care;
Vast were his stores, and sumptuous was his fare.
Of num'rous herds and spacious fields possest,
What monarch could be more securely blest?
Nor was his wealth, the wealth of fields alone;
His heart with every grace divinely shone.
Each comfort heaven unweariedly bestow'd;
With each paternal joy his bosom glow'd.
But now he must his blessedness forego,
And groan beneath variety of woe:
Now he's the victim of Satanic rage,
And nature seems malignant war to wage:
His fields are burnt; his flocks, his Sons, are slain;
His body scar'd and spotted o'er with pain.
He wept; he sunk; yet bowing to the rod,
His soul adores a more immediate GOD:
[Page 4] He shudder's to reproach his maker's name
Tho' by his foolish wife urg'd to blaspheme,
In all the various emphasis of grief,
His friends confess his woes beyond relief;
Each with his mantle rent sits on the ground;
They smite their breasts; the skies with groans resound.
Seven days were all in awful stillness spent
'Till JOB thus gave his long prest anguish vent,
"Perish the day wherein I was conceiv'd;
"In each revolving year, of light bereav'd,
"Be it forgot; let horrid darkness lower
"Thro' all the night, and chase the dawning hour,
"Be it accurst; because a child it gave
"A child of grief, nor saw the womb my grave,
"Wherefore did GOD then spare me, in his ire?
"Oh! had I been permitted to expire!
"Then should I now have slumber'd with the just;
"Where kings and slaves partake an equal dust;
"Where all the wicked are forbid to reign;
"And where th' oppressed poor, no more complain:
"Where groaning prisoners find a full release
"And men no longer are at war with peace: *
"There are they hush'd: together there they rest;
"In all the quiet of oblivion blest."
His strange complaints astounded all his friends;
His murmurs they reprove, and he defends;
[Page 5] The secret paths of providence they scan,
And vindicate the ways of GOD to man; *
Declare th' upright are uniformly blest,
And none but sinners are, like JOB, distrest.
Still he complains, impatient of his smart,
And pleads his fixt integrity of heart:
Nor hesitates to crave, devoutly crave ‡
Immediate death, in longings for the grave.
And now they both with rising wrath reply,
Till the debate is silenc'd from the sky;
A black'ning whirlwind did the voice invest,
While these rebukes, in thunder, were exprest.
Who dares in such deep counsels to contend
And darken themes he cannot comprehend?
Who censures me? what reptile of the dust,
Presumes to tell his maker what is just §;
Gird up thy mind; prepare almighty man,
Infinite deeds and purposes to scan.
Where didst thou dwell, when from the bed of night,
Chaos uprose adorn'd with beauteous light:
Who hung this earth in boundless space, declare,
And who invests it with its robe of air?
Who shap'd and fix'd the mighty corner stone,
When all the morning stars so brightly shone;
When sons of GOD their acclamations rais'd
[Page 6] That Heaven was rock'd with thunder as they prais'd.
Say, did thy span, its broad circumf'rence bound,
Its form, design, and fashion it around?
Who balances the clouds, the seasons guides,
Controuls the winds, and regulates the tides?
Survey the far-extended, azure main;
Canst thou that boist'rous world at pleasure rein?
Who hath the waves, with doors and bars confin'd?
And who can with a word the ocean bind.
Dost thou arrest it in its rage and say,
Here come, but here proud billows be your stay;
Hast thou yet div'd those lengths beneath the day,
And seen what gems and rubies pave the sea;
Those radiant walks, when has thy bold foot trod?
And search'd at large beneath th' incumbent flood:
Hast thou beheld the centre all display'd?
With upper, nether, and surrounding shade,
Beset, the vale of death pass'd to his gate,
And stood within the dark retreats of fate?
That shade immensely deep what eye can see; *
Yet shades as deep conceal my ways from thee?
Dost thou pronounce where day light first shall gleam?
And where the sun shall pour his fiercest beam?
Canst thou arrest him, on his argent way
And thy earth gladden with perpetual day?
Or when he holds the summit of the skies
Call and make universal midnight rise?
[Page 7] Where dwells the light? trace its resplendent home? *
And darkness where? in what tenebrious dome?
Say, for thou canst, since thou wast early born?
Before I arch'd the eye-lids of the morn.
Say, since the vast profound, the lofty sky,
And the wide earth hides nothing from thine eye; ‡
Hast thou survey'd the treasures of the snow?
By whom surcharg'd do northern tempests blow?
These are my rod; these, JOB, my scourges are,
When bold iniquities the vengeance dare.
Who makes the wilderness with verdure bloom,
And wafte upon the air, its rich perfume?
Where does mist, and where does frost a fire shew,
And who arrays the fields in glitt'ring dew?
Who feeds the fountain, parent of the main?
From whom descend the pearly streams of rain?
Dost thou ordain the seasons of the year,
When plains a green or hoary garment wear?
When breezes waft the odours of the spring
And when their yellow treasures harvests bring.
When clouds with snow and hail impregnate lower,
Or earth replenish with a vernal shower.
Didst thou the rainbow fix? its hues impart?
Those hues that distance the exploits of art?
[Page 8] On verdant fields, who sends his eastern blast
And lays at once the wealth of harvests waste.
By whom instructed do the planets know,
Where orient or meridian beams must glow?
Canst thou the influence of Orion bind,
And free the year, in his cold bands confin'd?
The Pleiades sweet efficacy, loose,
Or freeze, or thaw the seasons, as you choose?
Bid Mazaroth prevent or chase the day
And guide Arcturus on his spangled way?
Who makes the blazing comet round the sun,
In its immensely devious orbit run?
Dost thou replenish their exhausted fire,
And do they roll to execute thine ire?
Who doth the curious form of man inspire,
With vital and with intellectual fire?
What wond'rous power, declare, produc'd the mind,
And taught it to expatiate unconfin'd?
Nurtur'd by whom, does tender reason grow?
Kindled by whom, does infant passion glow?
Who wings progressive thought, those thoughts that fly
So wide around, so far beneath, on high?
A babble blown of error, weakness, fear,
Shall man that phantom of a shadow dare, *
My reign to censure, and my conduct blame,
Who sun and moon, and all the etherial frame.
Uphold; bid swarms of gilded infects play
Those clouds of insects that eclipse the day.
[Page 9] With equal eye on emmets who look down
Or raptur'd cherubs, that surround my throne?
Now righteous JOB, a full reply prepare,
Th' Almighty spoke, and thunder rent the air.
Then the Chaldean bow'd with sore dismay
Abasht he spoke, while on low earth he lay.
Lo! I am vile; my lips have once rebell'd,
But hence my murmurs shall be all expell'd.
In fearful blackness, was the day supprest,
While from the whirlwind JOB was still addrest.
Canst thou with mighty thunderings shake a land?
Do light'nings sport or wound at thy command?
Canst thou make earth to its deep centre cleave?
And swallow generations in one grave?
Are regions, at thine awful anger, hurl'd?
Or canst thou with a deluge drown the world?
The excellency of thy strength display,
And see oppressors prostrate with dismay;
Look down on all who persecute the just,
And trample them together in the dust.
Then with thy GOD contend; then will I own
Thy bliss, and being lodg'd in thee alone.
Who feeds the ravens, and their hungry brood,
When they with hoarse complainings, call on GOD? *
Who banish'd from the Ostrich's harden'd breast,
Each soft inquietude towards her nest?
Hatch'd by their parent, the prolific sun,
Alone, th' unfledg'd weak brood are left to run.
[Page 10] In flight she scorns the steed; than winds more fleet;
She triumphs in th' alertness of her feet.
The Peacock, JOB, is exquisitely fair,
When clouds forsake and when invest the air.
His gems now brighten'd by a noon-tide ray,
He proudly waves his feathers to the day;
A strut majestically slow, assumes,
And glories in the beauty of his plumes.
His train uprear'd! his wings! his tap'ring chest!
With glowing green, and gold, and azure drest,
Survey; the starry ranges as they shine,
Proclaim the hand that made him all divine.
The Hawk, before autumnal tempests rise,
Pursues the summer thro' the southern skies;
She sees ill days approach with prescient ken
And early leaves the winter's rage to men. *
Thoughts only reach the eagle's lofty way,
Whence she distinctly views her scaly prey.
On cliffs aerial she holds her throne, §
And sees their strength impregnably her own.
On yellow pinions born her ample size
Full to th' already promis'd victim flies, ‖
The height repass'd, she nimbly hovers o'er
Her untorn host, in raptures of its gore;
The reeking entrails quiver on their claw;
The dainty meets the cravings of their maw.
[Page 11] Hale is the offspring of the goat and hind,
Free from the frailties of the human kind.
Canst thou declare how many moons revolve,
While they the pangs of pregnancy absolve?
Skill'd in the physic of the field they know,
Where to find case, when with vast pain they bow;
They leave their young thro' the wide earth to stray;
I guide them on their solitary way.
Go to the ant; learn of its ways, be wise:
It early heaps its stores, lest want surprize.
Skill'd in the various year, the prescient sage,
Beholds the summer chill'd in winter's rage:
Survey its arts; in each partition'd cell
Economy and plenty deign to dwell.
Who first the art of distillation knew?
From pois'nous flowers educ'd nectareous dew?
Behold the ass range thro' the desart free,
And wildly triumph in his liberty.
Shall he on distant embassies, be rode?
Has he, by mighty monarchs, been bestrode?
On thee, with hungry braying does he call
For food; and court admission to thy stall?
Will the strong unicorn, yok'd with thy steed,
Bring to thy door, the produce of thy seed?
In battle rang'd behold the martial horse
His stately prancings, and his furious force:
With ardent longings for encounter, mad
He rears his high sleek neck with thunder clad;
Collected flames from his wide nostrils roll,
Such fury actuates his warlike soul.
His eye on prostrate hosts already paws,
And from the vale a radiant trophy draws.
[Page 12] The war in sight he swallows up the ground
And scarce for joy believes the trumpet's sound,
By the keen faulchion pierc'd he neighs disdain;
In transports of his pride, forgets the pain;
Transfix'd in every part, he groans to yield;
And dies to see the foe possess the field.
From his dark den, the mighty lion stalks,
While streams of gore, mark his nocturnal walks.
He makes the frighted desart all his own:
What blooming sweets are seen by him alone?
With hunger pain'd he casts a rolling glare;
The couchant herds are half consum'd with fear.
The spacious concave when his roarings rend,
What voice in thunder shall with his contend?
Led by the moon, the ground they lash, they tear:
While melancholy shrieks disturb the air.
The quivering limbs they to their brood convey,
And o'er a bloody banquet, waste the day:
Survey their strength; their talon shakes the plain,
Fierce majesty sits on their bushy main;
From their large eye-balls darts a distant light;
Tho' strong, they overcome the swift in flight.
See Behemoth emerge from out the flood,
And slowly cross the burden'd strand for food.
His stature how incomparably great!
His nerves how solid, strong, and complicate!
That sword alone thro' his wide ribs shall pass,
Which penetrates the bars of triple brass.
Sinews and bones of steel, his heart defend;
When mov'd his tail, a cedar seems to bend.
His shadow boasts a large extent, and shields
From noon-tide heat, the natives of the fields,
[Page 13] The produce of the hills, is his repast,
While there he roams, the beasts retreat aghast;
But soon around the harmless monster play,
Forget to graze, and with new joy survey.
His vastness all outstretch'd upon the glade,
Whole groves can scarce invest him with their shade.
Burning to slake his thirst, his glaring eye,
See rivers sunk, his longing to supply;
Jordan is swallow'd up with vast desire;
And only serves afresh his drought to fire.
Go, cast thy hook, into the swelling Nile;
With slender hair, Leviathan, to foil:
Go; with thy silken net the monster bind,
And see his greatness writhe by thee confin'd;
Will he with supplications court release?
Or with his mighty sports thy maidens please?
Shall the glad merchants own so rich a prey,
And to sea-fever'd marts their shares convey?
Let kings against him join, in furious war
And seek one fang or scale to load their car.
Incapable of wound, he knows no fear,
Nor can be wak'd by the rebounding spear.
To scatter death, he fiercely takes delight,
When once the strong, provoke him to the fight.
The stoutest, JOB, are not ashamed to flee,
Who then shall ever dare to turn on me?
Am I indebted for the gifts I own?
Behold whatever lives, is mine alone.
Where'er the zephyr breathes, or genial shower
The parched meadow glads; or fragrant flower
Perfumes the plain; where'er the orient dew
Adorns with pearl each sweetly blushing hue;
[Page 14] Where'er the fruitage shoots, or loaded tree
All breathe, glad, perfume, blush and shoot from me.
See my Leviathan prepare to rise,
And heave his ample stature to the skies:
His scaly height majestically rolls,
His eye the nations of the flood controuls,
Broad as the morn, when it begins to rise.
His adamantine skin, the spear defies.
Whene'er he breathes, the frighted floods retire,
He breathes a cloud of mingled smoke and fire.
Survey with fear: What fangs! What scales are seen!
So close no air can edge its way between.
His harden'd jaws, like spacious doors, unfold;
His teeth the mighty with dismay, behold.
When for his sport, he stains the waves with mud;
Behold vast stones uprais'd swim thro' the flood.
The ocean with the skies, a tempest blends,
When thro' the deep his hoary way he bends:
The distant mariner the track descries,
And from the furrow'd foam, with terror flies.
His hugeness now buoyant on the streams,
His scales pour back against the sun, his beams.
Is ought on earth so strong, beyond compare,
So utterly incapable of fear!
Then the Chaldean all his crime deplor'd;
Trembling he ceas'd to murmur, and ador'd.
Thy might is wonderful, great king of kings,
Thou canst perform unutterable things.
Thine ire if once incens'd who can endure;
To thee compar'd arch-seraphs are impure.
From thy pervading eye is ought conceal'd;
Lo! every thought before thee stands reveal'd.
[Page 15] How deeply are thy counsels hid from men?
Thy wond'rous purposes surpass their ken.
Should Heaven's bright host aspire to reign with thee;
And with thy godhead claim equality;
Thou might'st on all that vast refulgent train,
Look from thy throne, with infinite disdain.
This have I heard; but never could I see
Till now, thy wisdom, might and purity.
Hence my rebellious thoughts shall all be slain,
My work shall be to worship not complain.
FINIS.