In darkness can thy mighty hand Or wondrous acts be known? Thy justice in the gloomy land Of dark oblivion?
But I to thee, O Lord, do cry, Ere yet my life be spent,
And up to thee my pray'r doth hie, Each morn, and thee prevent.
Why wilt thou, Lord, my soul forsake, And hide thy face from me, That am already bruised, and shake With terror sent from thee?
Bruised and afflicted, and so low As ready to expire, While I thy terrors undergo Astonish'd with thine ire.
Thy fierce wrath over me doth flow, Thy threat'nings cut me through: All day they round about me go, Like waves they me pursue.
Lover and friend thou hast removed, And sever'd from me far: They fly me now whom I have loved, And as in darkness are.
A PARAPHRASE ON PSALM CXIV.1
WHEN the blest seed of Terah's faithful son, After long toil their liberty had won, And past from Pharian fields to Canaan land, Led by the strength of the Almighty's hand, Jehovah's wonders were in Israel shown, His praise and glory was in Israel known. That saw the troubled sea, and shivering fled,
1 This and the following Psalm are Milton's earliest performances.-WAR
TON. The first he afterwards translated into Greek.
And sought to hide his froth-becurled head Low in the earth; Jordan's clear streams recoil, As a faint host that had received the foil.1 The high, huge-bellied mountains skip like rams Amongst their ewes, the little hills like lambs.
Why fled the ocean? And why skipt the mountains ? Why turned Jordan toward his crystal fountains ? Shake, Earth, and at the presence be aghast Of him that ever was, and aye shall last
That glassy floods from rugged rocks can crush, And make soft rills from fiery flint-stones gush.
LET us with a gladsome mind Praise the Lord, for he is kind, For his mercies aye endure, Ever faithful, ever sure.
Let us blaze his name abroad,
For of Gods he is the God: For his, &c.
O let us his praises tell,
Who doth the wrathful tyrants quell:
Who with his miracles doth make
Amazed heav'n and earth to shake: For his, &c.
Who by his wisdom did create
The painted heavens so full of state:
Who did the solid earth ordain To rise above the watery plain: For his, &c.
Who by his all-commanding might Did fill the new-made world with light: For his, &c.
And caused the golden-tressed sun All the day long his course to run: For his, &c.
The hornèd moon to shine by night, Amongst her spangled sisters bright: For his, &c.
He with his thunder-clasping hand Smote the first-born of Egypt land: For his, &c.
And in despite of Pharaoh fell, He brought from thence his Israel: For his, &c.
The ruddy waves he cleft in twain, Of the Erythræan main :1
The floods stood still like walls of glass, While the Hebrew bands did pass :
But full soon they did devour
The tawny king with all his power:
His chosen people he did bless In the wasteful wilderness:
In bloody battle he brought down Kings of prowess and renown: For his, &c.
He foil'd bold Seon and his host, That ruled the Amorrean coast: For his, &c.
All living creatures he doth feed,
And with full hand supplies their need.
Let us therefore warble forth
His mighty majesty and worth: For his, &c.
That his mansion hath on high Above the reach of mortal eye: For his mercies aye endure, Ever faithful, ever sure.
Ἰσραὴλ ὅτε παῖδες, ὅτ ̓ ἀγλαὸ φῦλ ̓ Ἰακώβου Αἰγύπτιον λίπε δῆμον, ἀπεχθέα, βαρβαρόφωνον, Δὴ τότε μοῦνον ἔην ὅσιον γένος υἷες Ἰοῦδα. Ἐν δὲ θεὸς λαοῖσι μέγα κρείων βασίλευεν. Εἶδε, καὶ ἐντροπάδην φύγαδ' ἐῤῥώησε θάλασσα Κύματι εἰλυμένη ῥοθίῳ, ὁδ ̓ ἄρ ̓ ἐστυφελίχθη Ιρὸς Ἰορδάνης ποτὶ ἀργυροειδέα πηγήν. Εκ' δ' ὄρεα σκαρθμοῖσιν ἀπειρέσια κλονέοντο, ̔Ως κριοὶ σφριγόωντες ἐϋτραφερῷ ἐν ἀλωῆ.
Βαιοτέραι δ ̓ ἅμα πάσαι ἀνασκίρτησαν ἔρίπναι, Οἷα παραὶ σύριγγι φίλῃ ὑπὸ μητέρι ἄρνες. Τίπτε σύγ ̓, αἰνὰ θάλασσα, πέλωρ φύγαδ ̓ ἐῤῥώησας Κύματι εἰλυμένη ῥοθίῳ. τί δ ̓ ἄρ ̓ ἐστυφελίχθης Ιρὸς Ἰορδάνη ποτὶ ἀργυροειδέα πηγήν; Τίπτ ̓ ὄρεα, σκαρθμοῖσιν ἀπειρέσια κλονέεσθε, Ως κριοὶ σφριγόωντες ἐϋτραφερῷ ἐν ἀλωῇ; Βαιοτέραι τὶ ὁ ἀρ' ύμμες ἀνασκιρτήσατ ̓ ἔρίπναι, Οἷα παραὶ σύριγγι φίλῃ ὑπὸ μητέρι ἄρνες; Σείεο γαῖα τρέουσα θεὸν μεγάλ ̓ ἐκτυπέοντα Γαῖα, θεὸν τρείουσ ̓ ὕπατον σέβας Ισσακίδαο,
Ος τε καὶ ἐκ σπιλάδων ποταμοὺς χέε μορμύροντας, Κρήνηντ ̓ ἀέναον πέτρης ἀπὸ δακρυοέσσης.
Philosophus ad regem quendam, qui eum ignotum et insontem inter reos forte captum inscius damnaverat, τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ πορευόμενος, hæc subito misit.
Ω ἄνα, εἰ ὀλέσης με τὸν ἔννομον, οὐδέ τιν ̓ ἀνδρῶν Δεινὸν ὅλως δράσαντα, σοφώτατον ἴσθι κάρηνον ̔Ρηϊδίως ἀφέλοιο, τὸ δ ̓ ὕστερον αὖθι νοήσεις, Μαψιδίως δ ̓ ἀρ ̓ ἔπειτα τεὸν πρὸς θυμὸν ὀδυρὴ, Τοιόνδ ̓ ἐκ πόλιος περιώνυμον ἄλκαρ ὀλέσσας.
In Effigiei ejus Sculptorem.
Αμαθεϊ γεγράφθαι χειρὶ τήνδε μὲν εἰκόνα, Φαίῃς τάχ ̓ ἂν, πρὸς εἶδος αὐτοφυὲς βλέπων. Τὸν δ ̓ ἐκτυπωτὸν οὐκ ἐπιγνόντες, φίλοι, Γελάτε φαύλον δυσμίμημα ζωγράφου.
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