[Page 160]

WRITTEN AT MIDNIGHT IN A THUNDER STORM.

BY THE SAME.
1 LET coward Guilt with pallid Fear,
2 To sheltering caverns fly,
3 And justly dread the vengeful Fate
4 That thunders thro' the sky;
5 Protected by that hand, whose law
6 The threatening storms obey,
7 Intrepid Virtue smiles secure,
8 As in the blaze of day.
9 In the thick clouds tremendous gloom,
10 The lightnings lurid glare,
11 It views the same all-gracious power
12 That breathes the vernal air.
13 Thro' Nature's ever-varying scene,
14 By different ways pursued,
15 The one eternal end of heaven
16 Is universal good.
[Page 161]
17 With like beneficent effect
18 O'er flaming Aether glows,
19 As when it tunes the linnet's voice,
20 Or blushes in the rose.
21 By Reason taught to scorn those fear,
22 That vulgar minds molest;
23 Let no fantastic terrors break
24 My dear Narcissa's rest.
25 Thy life may all the tenderest care
26 Of Providence defend;
27 And delegated angels round
28 Their guardian wings extend.
29 When, thro' creation's vast expanse,
30 The last dread thunders roll,
31 Untune the concord of the spheres,
32 And shake the rising soul;
33 Unmov'd may'st thou the final storm
34 Of jarring worlds survey,
35 That ushers in the glad serene
36 Of everlasting day.

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Title (in Source Edition): WRITTEN AT MIDNIGHT IN A THUNDER STORM.
Author: Elizabeth Carter
Themes: night; weather; God; fate; fortune; providence
Genres: meditation
References: DMI 32291

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Source edition

Pearch, G. A collection of poems in four volumes. By several hands. Vol. I. [The second edition]. London: printed for G. Pearch, 1770, pp. 160-161. 4v. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T116245; DMI 1122; OTA K093079.001) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [(OC) 280 o.788].)

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