Shall vain boasts silence us? no speaker rise ?
No honest tongue thy insolence chastise?
Thy boldness clamours to the throne divine,
"Pure is my conscience, spotless virtue mine.""
O would the Almighty, to thy wish appear!
Expose thy guilt, and thunder in thy ear
Vengeance, that wisdom from our world conceals,
Double the worst which here the sinner feels:
Taught then, that justice hath requir'd, as yet,
Not half the value of thy penal debt.
Wouldst thou th' Eternal with thy line explore ?
Fathom almighty thought and find its shore ?
Go mete heaven's height, the depth of Hades sound,
Span the wide earth, and reach o'er ocean's bound.
He smites, imprisons, executes what tongue
Shall dare to mutter, "hast thou done no wrong ?”
He knows impostors, shall he not requite
The sin clandestine, acted in his sight?
That fools may be reclaim'd, sound sense supply'd,
To fill the world with ignorance and pride;
And nature's as the Zebra's colt untam'd,
Subdu'd by reason, into men be fram'd.
Thou, therefore, quell thy haughty spirit; bend,
Bend thy stiff knee; thy suppliant hands extend:
Shake out the bribe, the unrighteous gain expel
Nor suffer rapine in thy tents to dwell;
Unclouded then, and unconfus'd with fear,
Thy face erect and sparkling shall appear:
Woe in thy memory shall leave no trace,
Like violent waters vanish'd from their place:
A happier age succeeds: emerging soon
Fair as the morn, more luminous than noon :
For thou, known favourite of celestial pow'r,
Safe in the waking and the slumb'ring hour,
Around thy wells, thy crouching flocks around,
Shall range thy tents along the grassy ground:
No terror shall thy peaceful camp alarm,
And princely chiefs shall court thy powerful arm.
Lo, God, impartial in his frown and smile,
Nor hates the worthy nor befriends the vile :
Nor thee will leave, till laughter in thy eyes
Shall sparkle, and the hymn triumphant rise:
While on thy foes he pours eternal shame,
O'erthrows the wicked and uproots their name.
But stubborn sinners watch with wearied eyes,
Help, far away from their distresses flies,
And death's black shades, their last sad refuge, rise.
SEC. 1. Job replies that although he knows his cause to be good und free of guilt, proceeds earnestly soliciting from the Almighty his compassionate attention, enters into a description of his miserable situation, and humbly begs relief.
I, THEN, shall I, against a' pow'r so great
Presume to rise, and study bold debate?
My cause, though just, I never will defend
Were he the plaintiff, but a suppliant bend :
Or should I bring the hardy action, he
Humble his greatness in responsive plea;
I never would believe my voice had found
Audience of him: who smete me to the ground
With tempest unprovok'd ; and urges still,
Not suffering me to breathe, with sharpest ill.
Can force avail? th' almighty shakes the rod :
Can justice? who shall be the judge of God?
Though just my cause, e'en innocence must wear
A blush before him, if disputing there :
With him disputing, virtue's plea is vain,
The plea itself the pleader will arraign.
My heart, and surely my own heart I know,
Tells me I'm upright; yet my portion's woe.
Woe is my portion in severe degree
And life is made a heavy load to me.
Sick, sick of living, my complaint I'll loose,
I will the anguish of my soul effuse:
Will say to God, condemn me not untry'd ;
Ah! why from me my accusation hide!
Canst thou by arbitrary will be led ?
Lay guilt's demerits on my guiltless head?
Hate thy own workmanship? and dart thy ray
On daring sinners, who blaspheme thy sway
Is man's gross eye, and partial vision, thine ?
Live human passions in the mind divine ?
Is thy existence like a mortal's span ?
Are thy years bounded as the years of man?
That time and torture must to thee reveal
Suspected treason, which my wiles conceal.
Thy knowledge clears me; yet thy boundless might,
By none evaded or by force or flight,
Destroys my frame; which thy own matchless art
Fashion'd with curious ties of part to part.
Remember, O remember, that like clay
Whose shapes the workman's plastic will obey,
My form thou mouldest from its earthy grain;
And thou wilt crumble me to earth again.
O think of those kind moments, when began
Thy hands to sketch the rudiment of man;
Curdled the milky drop, my limbs defin❜d,
With flesh and skin my tender substance lin'd,
With sinews brac'd, and fenc'd with solid bone:
Compacted thus, to natal vigour grown,
Thy care educ'd me, and thy favour crown'd ;
And still thy power upholds on living ground.
Yet, well I know, the secret of thy mind
These evils, in reserve, for me design'd;
Resolv'd to follow me with watchful eyes,
Each sin to notice, and each sin chastise:
If wicked, the predestin'd woe comes down ;
Righteous, I droop beneath thy fatal frown,
Full of confusion, and o'erwhelm'd with scorn,
By all beholders, as a wretch forlorn.
Chas'd like a lion, hotly chas'd by thee,
Thy plagues, stupendous plagues, were heap'd on me.
Jav'lins, on jav'lins hurl'd, the war renew,
And woes succeeding woes my life pursue.
Why did I breathe? O happy had I been,
Had I this world of sorrow never seen!
A being, and no being; from the womb.
Hurried in midnight silence to the tomb.
Ah! 'tis a little, which of life remains ;
0 spare that little, O remove my pains:
Ere, never to return, my foot descends
To realms where death his horrid shade extends :
Realms, which in shades of dolesome darkness lie;
Cold dense obscurity, without a sky;
Without a twinkling star, and where the light
Is one eternal noon of dismal night.
My days are speeding with a courier's haste,
A glance at pleasure, not allow'd to taste;
Swift as the rush boat down the swelling Nile,
Swift as an eagle darts upon the spoil.
If sweet hope whisper, "thy lamenting tongue
"The style of sorrow shall forget ere long;
"Thy brow remove its cloudy veil, like morn,
“And placid smile thy open face adorn :"
Then all my suff'rings rise; I sink with fear,
Despairing thy absolving voice to hear.
Yes, I am wicked- -wherefore waste I time,
In fruitless labor to disprove my crime?
Unsullied as if wash'd in melted snow,
These harmless hands I never blush'd to show:
Yet drown'd in mire by thee I'm so impure,
Not my own garments will my touch endure.
Is he a man, my fellow, can we meet
Parties in doubtful strife, at judgment's seat?
Who shall, as arbiter between us stand,
To lay on both his reprehensive hand?
Let him remove his rod, nor let the blaze
Of Godhead stun me with his dreadful rays;
Then fearless I would plead: but thus distrest,
All is confusion in my guiltless breast.
SEC. 1. & II.-Contains a further fiery speech from Eliphaz with bitter sarcasms, reproaches, &c.-in the 3d section he however advises Job to humble himself before God, who in the end would bestow on him his grace and favour.
THE Temanite then said, What storm is this,
From our wise man of pride and emptiness!
This wisdom's language? Is a wise man's mind
Big with the poison of an eastern wind ?
When man is wise, he then again replied,
'Tis for himself: does Heav'n the gain divide?
Must God high value on thy virtue set ?
If thou art just, is providence in debt?
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