The Relapse.
83
And gives him to the Tumult of the World.
Hail, precious Moments! stol'n from the black Waste
Of murder'd Time! Auspicions Midnight! Hail!
The World excluded, ev'ry Passion hush'd,
And open'd a calm Intercourse with Heav'n,
Here the Soul sits in Council; ponders past,
Predestines future Action; sees, not feels,
Tumultuous Life, and reasons with the Storm;
All her Lyes answers, and thinks down her Charms.
What aweful Joy! What mental Liberty!
I am not pent in Darkness; rather say
(If not too bold) in Darkness I'm embow'r'd.
Delightful Gloom! the clust'ring Thoughts around.
Spontaneous rise, and blossom in the Shade;
But droop by Day, and sicken in the Sun.
Thought borrows Light elsewhere; from that First Fire,
Fountain of Animation! whence descends
Urania, my celestial Guest! who deigns
Nightly to visit me, so mean; and now
Conscious how needful Discipline to Man,
From pleasing Dalliance with the Charms of Night
My wand'ring Thought recalls, to what excites
Far other Beat of Heart; Narcissa's Tomb!
Or is it feeble Nature calls me back,
And breaks my Spirit into Grief again?
Is it a Stygian Vapour in my Blood?
A cold, slow Puddle, creeping thro' my Veins?
Or is it thus with all Men -Thus with all.
What are we? How unequal! Now we soar,
And now we sink; to be the same, transcends
Our present Prowess. Dearly pays the Soul
For lodging ill; too dearly rents her Clay.
Reason, a baffled Counsellor! but adds
The Blush of Weakness, to the Bane of Woe.
The noblest Spirit sighting her hard Fate,
Hail, precious Moments! stol'n from the black Waste
Of murder'd Time! Auspicions Midnight! Hail!
The World excluded, ev'ry Passion hush'd,
And open'd a calm Intercourse with Heav'n,
Here the Soul sits in Council; ponders past,
Predestines future Action; sees, not feels,
Tumultuous Life, and reasons with the Storm;
All her Lyes answers, and thinks down her Charms.
What aweful Joy! What mental Liberty!
I am not pent in Darkness; rather say
(If not too bold) in Darkness I'm embow'r'd.
Delightful Gloom! the clust'ring Thoughts around.
Spontaneous rise, and blossom in the Shade;
But droop by Day, and sicken in the Sun.
Thought borrows Light elsewhere; from that First Fire,
Fountain of Animation! whence descends
Urania, my celestial Guest! who deigns
Nightly to visit me, so mean; and now
Conscious how needful Discipline to Man,
From pleasing Dalliance with the Charms of Night
My wand'ring Thought recalls, to what excites
Far other Beat of Heart; Narcissa's Tomb!
Or is it feeble Nature calls me back,
And breaks my Spirit into Grief again?
Is it a Stygian Vapour in my Blood?
A cold, slow Puddle, creeping thro' my Veins?
Or is it thus with all Men -Thus with all.
What are we? How unequal! Now we soar,
And now we sink; to be the same, transcends
Our present Prowess. Dearly pays the Soul
For lodging ill; too dearly rents her Clay.
Reason, a baffled Counsellor! but adds
The Blush of Weakness, to the Bane of Woe.
The noblest Spirit sighting her hard Fate,
In
