2 Into thy presence let my pray'r And to my cries, that ceaseless arc, 3 For cloy'd with woes and trouble store I am a man, but weak alas, And for that name unfit. 5 From life discharg'd and parted quite And like the slain in bloody fight 6 Thou in the lowest pit profound 7 Thy wrath, from which no shelter saves, 8 Thou dost my friends from me estrange, 5 10 15 20 25 S Me to them odious, for they change, 9 Through sorrow and affliction great, Lord, all the day I thee intreat, My hands to thee I spread. 10 Wilt thou do wonders on the dead? Shall the deceas'd arise, And praise thee from their loathsome bed 11 Shall they thy loving kindness tell 13 But I to thee, O Lord, do cry, 14 Why wilt thou, Lord, my soul forsake, 16 Thy fierce wrath over me doth flow, 17 All day they round about me go, 65 70 A PARAPHRASE ON PSALM CXIV.* WHEN the blest seed of Terah's faithful son, 5 10 * This and the following Psalm are Milton's earliest performances. Warton. 9 recoil] The rhymes probably from Sylvester's Du Bartas, ρ. 337. 'Ay Satan aims our constant faith to foil, But God doth seal it, never to recoil.' Dunster. Shake, Earth, and at the presence be aghast 15 PSALM CXXXVI. LET us with a gladsome mind For of Gods he is the God: For his, &c. O let us his praises tell, Who doth the wrathful tyrants quell : Who with his miracles doth make Who by his wisdom did create Who did the solid earth ordain To rise above the watery plain : 5 14 15 20 17 crush] The rhymes from Sylvester's Du Bartas, p. 30. 'And so one humour doth another crush, Till to the ground their liquid pearls do gush.' Dunster. watery plain] P. L. i. 396. Rabba, and her watery plain!' Todd. For his, &c. Who by his all-commanding might For his, &c. And caus'd the golden-tressed sun All the day long his course to run: The horned moon to shine by night, For his, &c. He with his thunder-clasping hand And in despite of Pharaoh fell, He brought from thence his Israel: The ruddy waves he cleft in twain, For his, &c. golden-tressed] Buchanan's trans. of this psalm. 25 30 35 10 45 The golden-tressed sun.' Benlowes's Theophila, p. 42. 31 spangled] See notes on P. L. vii. 384, 581. 36 thunder] Whose thunder-clasping hand.' Benlowes's Theophila, p. 88. 11 fell] Mr. Dunster refers to Sylvester's Du Bartas, for these rhymes, pp. 357, 377, 438, 478. At p. 361 Pharaoh' is called 'fell.' 45 cleft] Sylvester's Du Bartas, p. 48. 'His dreadful voice to save his antient sheep, And p. 967. 'The Erythrean ruddy billows roar.' Dunster. |