INVOCATION TO HORROR. Hannah Cowley (née Parkhouse) Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Broad Street Oxford OX1 3BG UK
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
Taylor Institution Library St Giles' Oxford OX1 3NA UK info@eighteenthcenturypoetry.org https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/
Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. T90094 K073164.000 Cowley, Mrs. (Hannah), 1743-1809. The Poetry of Anna Matilda. London printed by John Bell, British Library, Strand, Bookseller to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. M DCC LXXXVIII. 1788 pp. []-43. [8],139,[1]p.; 8⁰.

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INVOCATION TO HORROR . FAR be remov'd each painted scene ! What is to me the sapphire sky ? What is to me the earth's soft dye ? Or fragrant vales which sink between Those velvet hills ? yes , there I see — ( Why do those beauties burst on me ? ) Pearl dropping groves bow to the sun ; Seizing his beams , bright rivers run That dart redoubled day : Hope ye vain scenes to catch the mind To torpid sorrow all resign'd , Or bid my heart be gay ? False are those hopes ! — I turn — I fly , Where no enchantment meets the eye , Or soft ideas stray . HORROR ! I call thee from the mould'ring tower , The murky church-yard , and forsaken bower , Where , 'midst unwholesome damps The vap'ry gleamy lamps Of ignes fatui shew the thick-wove night , Where morbid MELANCHOLY sits , And weeps , and sings , and raves by fits , And to her bosom strains the fancied sprite . Or , if amidst the arctic gloom , Thou toilest at thy sable loom , Forming the hideous phantoms of Despair — Instant thy grisly labours leave , With raven wing the concave cleave , Where floats , self-borne , the dense nocturnal air . Oh ! bear me to th' impending cliff Under whose brow the dashing skiff Beholds Thee seated on thy rocky throne ; There , 'midst the shrieking wild wind's roar , Thy influence , HORROR , I'll adore , And , at thy magic touch , congeal to stone . Oh ! hide the Moon's obtrusive orb , The gleams of ev'ry star absorb , And let CREATION be a moment thine ! Bid billows dash ; let whirlwinds roar , And the stern , rocky-pointed shore , The stranded bark , back to the waves resign ! Then , whilst from yonder turbid cloud , Thou roll'st thy thunders long , and loud , And light'nings flash upon the deep below , Let the expiring Seaman's cry , The Pilot's agonizing sigh Mingle , and in the dreadful chorus flow ! HORROR ! far back thou dat'st thy reign ; Ere KINGS th' historic page could stain With records black , or deeds of lawless power ; Ere empires Alexanders curst , Or Faction , mad'ning Caesars nurst , The frighted World receiv'd thy awful dower ! Whose pen JEHOVAH's self inspir'd ; He , who in eloquence attir'd , Led Israel's squadrons o'er the earth , Grandly terrific , paints thy birth . Th' ALMIGHTY , 'midst his fulgent seat on high , Where glowing Seraphs round his footstool fly , Beheld the wanton cities of the plain , With acts of deadly name his laws disdain ; He gave th' irrevocable sign , Which mark'd to man the hate divine ; And sudden from the starting sky The Angels of his wrath bid fly ! Then , HORROR ! thou presided'st o'er the whole , And fill'd , and rapt , each self-accusing soul ! Thou did'st ascend to guide the burning shower — On THEE th' Omnipotent bestow'd the hour ! 'Twas thine to scourge the sinful land , 'Twas thine to toss the fiery brand ; Beneath thy glance the temples fell , And mountains crumble at thy yell . ONCE MORE thou'lt triumph in a fiery storm ; ONCE MORE the Earth behold thy direful form ; Then shalt thou seek , as holy prophets tell , Thy native throne amidst th' eternal shades of HELL ! ANNA MATILDA .