God works unseen behind his own Creation.

Or disregard our follies, or that sit
Amused spectators of this bustling stage.
Thee we reject, unable to abide

Thy purity, till pure as thou art pure,

Made such by thee, we love thee for that cause
For which we shunned and hated thee before.
Then we are free. Then liberty, like day,
Breaks on the soul, and by a flash from heaven
Fires all the faculties with glorious joy.

A voice is heard, that mortal ears hear not
Till thou hast touched them; 'tis the voice of song,
A loud Hosanna sent from all thy works;
Which he that hears it with a shout repeats,
And adds his rapture to the general praise.
In that blest moment Nature, throwing wide
Her veil opaque, discloses with a smile

The author of her beauties, who, retired
Behind his own creation, works unseen
By the impure, and hears his power denied.
Thou art the source and centre of all minds,

God the giver of all good.

Their only point of rest, eternal Word!
From thee departing, they are lost, and rove
At random, without honour, hope, or peace.
From thee is all that sooths the life of man,
His high endeavour, and his glad success,
His strength to suffer, and his will to serve.
But oh, thou bounteous giver of all good,
Thou art of all thy gifts thyself the crown!
Give what thou can'st, without thee we are poor;
And with thee rich, take what thou wilt away.

THE TASK.

BOOK VI.

THE WINTER WALK AT NOON.

THE ARGUMENT.

Bells at a distance.-Their effect.-A fine noon in winter.—A sheltered walk.-Meditation better than books.—Our familiarity with the course of nature makes it appear less wonderful than it is.—The transformation that spring effects in a shrubbery described.-A mistake concerning the course of nature corrected.-God maintains it by an unremitted act.-The amusements fashionable at this hour of the day reproved.—Animals happy, a delightful sight.—Origin of cruelty to animals.—That it is a great crime proved from scripture. -That proof illustrated by a tale.—A line drawn between the lawful and unlawful destruction of them.-Their good and useful properties insisted on.—Apology for the encomiums bestowed by the author on animals.-Instances of man's extravagant praise of man.-The groans of the creation shall have an end.-A view taken of the restoration of all things.-An invocation and an invitation of him who shall bring it to pass.The retired man vindicated from the charge of uselessness.-Conclusion,

THERE is in
And, as the

With melti

Some chord i

ith sounds;
is pleas'd

risk, or grave:

t we hear

VOL. II.

~F