TRANSLATION

ON THE ICE ISLANDS

SEEN FLOATING IN THE GERMAN OCEAN [Written March 19, 1799. Published by Hayley, 1803.] WHAT portents, from what distant region, ride, Unseen till now in ours, th' astonish'd tide?

İn

ages past, old Proteus, with his droves

Of sea-calves, sought the mountains and the groves:
But now, descending whence of late they stood,
Themselves the mountains seem to rove the flood.
Dire times were they, full-charg'd with human woes;
And these, scarce less calamitous than those.
What view we now? More wondrous still! Behold!
Like burnish'd brass they shine, or beaten gold; 10
And all around the pearl's pure splendour show,
And all around the ruby's fiery glow.

19

Come they from India? where the burning earth,
All-bounteous, gives her richest treasures birth;
And where the costly gems, that beam around
The brows of mightiest potentates, are found?
No. Never such a countless dazzling store
Had left unseen the Ganges' peopled shore.
Rapacious hands, and ever-watchful eyes,
Should sooner far have mark'd and seiz'd the prize.
Whence sprang they then? Ejected have they come
From Ves'vius', or from Ætna's burning womb?
Thus shine they self-illum'd, or but display
The borrow'd splendours of a cloudless day?
With borrow'd beams they shine. The gales that
breathe

Now land-ward, and the current's force beneath,
Have borne them nearer: and the nearer sight,
Advantag'd more, contemplates them aright.
Their lofty summits, crested high, they show,
With mingled sleet and long-incumbent snow.
The rest is ice. Far hence, where, most severe,
Bleak winter well-nigh saddens all the year,
Their infant growth began. He bade arise
Their uncouth forms, portentous in our eyes.
Oft as, dissolv'd by transient suns, the snow
Left the tall cliff, to join the flood below,
He caught and curdled, with a freezing blast,
The current, ere it reach'd the boundless waste.
By slow degrees uprose the wondrous pile,
And long-successive ages roll'd the while;
Till, ceaseless in its growth, it claim'd to stand
Tall as its rival mountains on the land.

30

40

Thus stood-and, unremovable by skill
Or force of man, had stood the structure still;
But that, tho' firmly fixt, supplanted yet
By pressure of its own enormous weight,

It left the shelving beach-and, with a sound
That shook the bellowing waves and rocks around,
Self-launch'd, and swiftly, to the briny wave,
As if instinct with strong desire to lave,
Down went the pond'rous mass. So bards of old,
How Delos swam th' Ægean deep, have told.
But not of ice was Delos. Delos bore

50

Herb, fruit, and flow'r. She, crown'd with laurel, wore,

E'en under wintry skies, a summer smile;

And Delos was Apollo's fav'rite isle.

But, horrid wand'rers of the deep, to you
He deems Cimmerian darkness only due.
Your hated birth he deign'd not to survey,
But, scornful, turn'd his glorious eyes away.
Hence! Seek your home; no longer rashly dare
The darts of Phoebus, and a softer air;
Lest ye regret, too late, your native coast,
In no congenial gulf for ever lost!

THE CASTAWAY

[Written March 20, 1799. Published by Hayley, 1803.]
OBSCUREST night involv'd the sky,
Th' Atlantic billows roar'd,
When such a destin'd wretch as I,
Wash'd headlong from on board,
Of friends, of hope, of all bereft
His floating home for ever left.

60

6

No braver chief could Albion boast
Than he with whom he went,

Nor ever ship left Albion's coast,
With warmer wishes sent.

He lov'd them both, but both in vain,

Nor him beheld, nor her again.

12

Not long beneath the whelming brine,
Expert to swim, he lay;

Nor soon he felt his strength decline,
Or courage die away;

But wag'd with death a lasting strife,
Supported by despair of life.

61 no] nor Hayley (1803),

18

He shouted

nor his friends had fail'd

To check the vessel's course,

But so the furious blast prevail'd,

That, pitiless perforce,

They left their outcast mate behind,
And scudded still before the wind.
Some succour yet they could afford;
And, such as storms allow,
The cask, the coop, the floated cord,
Delay'd not to bestow.

But he (they knew) nor ship, nor shore,
Whate er they gave, should visit more.

Nor, cruel as it seem'd, could he
Their haste himself condemn,
Aware that flight, in such a sea,
Alone could rescue them;

Yet bitter felt it still to die
Deserted, and his friends so nigh.

He long survives, who lives an hour
In ocean, self-upheld;

And so long he, with unspent pow'r,
His destiny repell'd;

And ever, as the minutes flew,

Entreated help, or cried-Adieu !

At length, his transient respite past,
His comrades, who before
Had heard his voice in ev'ry blast,

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Could catch the sound no more.
For then, by toil subdued, he drank
The stifling wave, and then he sank.
No poet wept him: but the page
Of narrative sincere,

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That tells his name, his worth, his age,
Is wet with Anson's tear.

And tears by bards or heroes shed
Alike immortalize the dead.

54

I therefore purpose not, or dream,
Descanting on his fate,

To give the melancholy theme
A more enduring date:

But misery still delights to trace

Its semblance in another's case.

60

No voice divine the storm allay'd,

No light propitious shone;

When, snatch'd from all effectual aid,
We perish'd, each alone :

But I beneath a rougher sea

And whelm'd in deeper gulphs than he.

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[The sixty-seven Olney Hymns composed by Cowper were mostly written during 1771 and 1772; two, however (Nos. xlvi. and xlvii.), were apparently written in 1763, and one (No. xxxv.) in Jan. 1773, just before an attack of insanity. The remaining 281 hymns in the collection were written by Newton. The Hymns were published in one volume, divided into three books, in 1779, Cowper's hymns being distinguished from Newton's by the affixing of the letter C. The original numbers of the hymns are here placed in brackets at the head of each hymn.]

I. [BK. 1. iii.]

WALKING WITH GOD.

Gen. v. 24

OH! for a closer walk with GOD,
A calm and heav'nly frame;
A light to shine upon the road
That leads me to the Lamb!

Where is the blessedness I knew
When first I saw the LORD?

Where is the soul-refreshing view
Of JESUS, and his word?

8

What peaceful hours I once enjoy'd!
How sweet their mem'ry still!
But they have left an aching void,
The world can never fill.

Return, O holy Dove, return,

Sweet messenger of rest;

I hate the sins that made thee mourn,

And drove thee from my breast.

The dearest idol I have known,

Whate'er that idol be;

Help me to tear it from thy throne,

And worship only thee.

So shall my walk be close with GOD,
Calm and serene my frame;

So purer light shall mark the road
That leads me to the Lamb.

II. [BK. I. vi.]

JEHOVAH-JIREH, THE LORD WILL PROVIDE
Gen. xxii. 14

THE saints should never be dismay'd,

Nor sink in hopeless fear;

For when they least expect his aid,

The Saviour will appear.

16

24

This Abraham found, he rais'd the knife,
GOD saw, and said, "Forbear;

Yon ram shall yield his meaner life,
Behold the victim there."

Once David seem'd Saul's certain prey;

But hark! the foe's at hand',

Saul turns his arms another way,

To save th' invaded land.

When Jonah sunk beneath the wave

2

He thought to rise no more 2;

But God prepar'd a fish to save,
And bear him to the shore.

Blest proofs of pow'r and grace divine,

That meet us in his word!

May ev'ry deep-felt care of mine

Be trusted with the LORD.

Wait for his seasonable aid,

And tho' it tarry wait:

The promise may be long delay'd,

But cannot come too late.

III. [BK. I. xiv.]

8

16

24

JEHOVAH-ROPHI, I AM THE LORD THAT HEALETH
THEE. Exod. xv.

HEAL US, EMMANUEL, here we are,
Waiting to feel thy touch;
Deep-wounded souls to thee repair,
And, Saviour, we are such.

Our faith is feeble, we confess,
We faintly trust thy word;
But wilt thou pity us the less?
Be that far from thee, LORD!

Remember him who once apply'd
With trembling for relief;

แ

"Lord, I believe," with tears he cry'd3,

"O help my unbelief."

She too, who touch'd thee in the press,
And healing virtue stole,

Was answer'd, "Daughter, go in peace',
Thy faith hath made thee whole.

1 1 Sam. xxiii. 27. 2 Jonah i. 17. 3 Mark ix. 24.

v. 34.

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16

4 Mark

[The references throughout come from the first edition.]