Whence flow these solemn sounds? this raptur'd…

Whence flow these solemn sounds? this raptur'd strain? Cherubick notes my wond'ring ear detain! Yet 'tis a mortal's voice: 'Tis HERVEY sings: Sublime he soars on Contemplation's wings: In ev'ry period breathes ecstatick thought— HERVEY, 'twas Heav'n thy sacred lessons taught. Celestial visions bless thy studious hours, Thy lonely walks, and thy sequester'd bow'rs. What fav'ring pow'r, dispensing secret aids, Thy cavern'd cell, thy curtain'd couch, pervades? Still hov'ring near, observant of thy themes, In whispers prompts thee, or inspires thy dreams? JESUS! effulgence of paternal light! Ineffably divine! supremely bright! Whose energy according worlds attest, Kindled these ardours in thy glowing breast. We catch thy flame, as we thy page peruse; And faith in every object JESUS views. We in the bloomy breathing garden trace Somewhat—like emanations of his grace: Yet must all sweetness and all beauty yield. Idume's grove, and Sharon's flow'ry field, Compar'd with JESUS: Meanly, meanly shows The brightest lily, faint the loveliest rose. Divine instructor! lead thro' midnight glooms, To moralizing stars, and preaching tombs: Thro' the still void a Saviour's voice shall break, A ray from Jacob's star the darkness streak: To him the fairest scenes their lustre owe; His cov'nant brightens the celestial bow; His vast benevolence profusely spreads The yellow harvests, and the verdant meads. Thy pupil, HERVEY, a Redeemer finds In boundless oceans, and in viewless winds: He reins at will the furious blast, and guides The rending tempests, and the roaring tides. O give, my soul, thy welfare to his trust: Who rais'd the world, can raise thy sleeping dust! He will, he will, when nature's course is run, Midst falling stars, and an extinguish'd sun: He will with myriads of his saints appear. O may I join them, though the meanest there! Tho' nearer to the throne my HERVEY sings; Tho' I at humbler distance strike the strings; Yet both shall mingle in the same employ, Both drink the fulness of eternal joy.