THE LAST DAY. IN THREE BOOKS. Venit summa dies.-VIRG. BOOK I. Ipse pater, media nimborum in nocte, corusca VIRG. WHILE others sing the fortune of the great; And gasping nature's last tremendous groan; VOL. II. 1 The Duke of Marlborough. B Is far beneath my daring: I look down Of every various order, place, and kind, But chiefly thou, great Ruler! Lord of all! Man, bear thy brow aloft, view every grace In God's great offspring, beauteous nature's face: See spring's gay bloom; see golden autumn's store; See how earth smiles, and hear old ocean roar. Leviathans but heave their cumbrous mail, It makes a tide, and wind-bound navies sail. Here, forests rise, the mountain's awful pride; Here, rivers measure climes, and worlds divide; There, valleys fraught with gold's resplendent seeds, Hold kings, and kingdoms' fortunes, in their beds: There, to the skies, aspiring hills ascend, And into distant lands their shades extend. View cities, armies, fleets; of fleets the pride, See Europe's law, in Albion's channel ride. View the whole earth's vast landscape unconfin'd, Or view in Britain all her glories join'd. |