ON THE ETERNITY OF THE SUPREME BEING. Christopher Smart 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. T116245 1137 K093079.004 Pearch, G. A collection of poems in four volumes. By several hands. Vol. IV. [The second edition]. London printed for G. Pearch 1770 pp. 293-298. 4v. ; 8⁰.

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ON THE ETERNITY OF THE SUPREME BEING . BY CHRISTOPHER SMART , M. A. HAIL , wond'rous Being , who in power supreme Exists from everlasting , whose great name Deep in the human heart , and every atom The Air , the Earth , or azure Main contains In undecypher'd characters is wrote — IN COMPREHENSIBLE ! — O what can words , The weak interpreters of mortal thoughts , Or what can thoughts ( tho' wild of wing they rove Thro' the vast concave of th' aetherial round ) If to the Heaven of Heavens they'd wing their way Adventurous , like the birds of night they're lost , And delug'd in the flood of dazzling day . — May then the youthful , uninspired Bard Presume to hymn th' Eternal ; may he soar Where Seraph , and where Cherubin on high Resound th' unceasing plaudits , and with them In the grand Chorus mix his feeble voice ? He may — if Thou , who from the witless babe Ordainest honour , glory , strength , and praise , Uplift th' unpinion'd Muse , and deign'st t' assist , GREAT POET OF THE UNIVERSE , his song . Before this earthly Planet wound her course Round Light's perennial fountain , before Light Herself 'gan shine , and at th' inspiring word Shot to existence in a blaze of day , Before " the Morning-Stars together sang , And hail'd Thee Architect of countless worlds Thou art — all-glorious , all-beneficent , All Wisdom and Omnipotence thou art . But is the aera of Creation fix'd At when these worlds began ? Could ought retard Goodness , that knows no bounds , from blessing ever , Or keep th' immense Artificer in sloth ? Avaunt the dust-directed crawling thought , That Puissance immeasurably vast , And Bounty inconceivable , could rest Content , exhausted with one week of action — No — in th' exertion of thy rigteous power , Ten thousand times more active than the Sun , Thou reign'd , and with a mighty hand compos'd Systems innumerable , matchless all , All stampt with thine uncounterfeited seal . But yet ( if still to more stupendous heights The Muse unblam'd her aching sense may strain ) Perhaps wrapt up in contemplation deep , The best of Beings on the noble theme Might ruminate at leisure , Scope immense Th' eternal Power and Godhead to explore , And with itself th' omniscient mind replete . This were enough to fill the boundless All , This were a Sabbath worthy the Supreme ! Perhaps enthron'd amidst a choicer few , Of Spirits inferior , he might greatly plan The two prime Pillars of the Universe , Creation and Redemption — and a while Pause — with the grand presentiments of glory . Perhaps — but all's conjecture here below , All ignorance , and self-plum'd vanity — O Thou , whose ways to wonder at's distrust , Whom to describe's presumption ( all we can — And all we may — ) be glorified , be prais'd . A Day shall come , when all this Earth shall perish , Nor leave behind ev'n Chaos ; it shall come When all the armies of the elements Shall war against themselves , and mutual rage , To make Perdition triumph ; it shall come , When the capacious atmosphere above Shall in sulphureous thunders groan , and die , And vanish into void ; the earth beneath Shall sever to the center , and devour Th' enormous blaze of the destructive flames . Ye rocks , that mock the raving of the floods . And proudly frown upon th' impatient deep , Where is your grandeur now ? Ye foaming waves , That all along th' immense Atlantic roar , In vain ye swell ; will a few drops suffice To quench the inextinguishable fire ? Ye mountains , on whose cloud-crown'd tops the cedars Are lessen'd into shrubs , magnific piles , That prop the painted chambers of the heavens , And fix the earth continual ; Athos , where ; Where , Tenerif's thy stateliness to-day ? What , Aetna , are thy flames to these ? — No more Than the poor glow-worm to the golden sun . Nor shall the verdant vallies then remain Safe in their meek submission ; they the debt Of nature and of justice too must pay . Yet I must weep for you , ye rival fair , Arno and Andalusia ; but for thee More largely and with filial tears must weep , O Albion , O my country ! Thou must join , In vain dissever'd from the rest , must join The terrors of th' inevitable ruin . Nor thou , illustrious monarch of the day ; Nor thou , fair queen of night ; nor you , ye stars , Tho' million leagues and million still remote , Shall yet survive that day ; Ye must submit , Sharers , not bright spectators of the scene . But tho' the earth shall to the center perish , Nor leave behind ev'n Chaos ; tho' the air With all the elements must pass away , Vain as an ideot's dream ; tho' the huge rocks , That brandish the tall cedars on their tops , With humbler vales must to perdition yield ; Tho' the gilt Sun , and silver-tressed Moon With all her bright retinue , must be lost ; Yet Thou , Great Father of the world , surviv'st Eternal , as thou wert : Yet still survives The soul of man immortal , perfect now , And candidate for unexpiring joys . He comes ! He comes ! the awful trump I hear ; The flaming sword's intolerable blaze I see ; He comes ! th' Archangel from above . " Arise , ye tenants of the silent grave , " Awake incorruptible and arise : " From east to west , from the antarctic pole " To regions hyperborean , all ye sons , " Ye sons of Adam , and ye heirs of Heaven — " Arise , ye tenants of the silent grave , " Awake incorruptible and arise . " 'Tis then , nor sooner , that the restless mind Shall find itself at home ; and like the ark , Fix'd on the mountain-top , shall look aloft O'er the vague passage of precarious life ; And , winds and waves and rocks and tempests past , Enjoy the everlasting calm of Heaven : 'Tis then , nor sooner , that the deathless soul Shall justly know its nature and its rise : 'Tis then the human tongue new-tun'd shall give Praises more worthy the eternal ear . Yet what we can , we ought ; — and therefore , Thou , Purge Thou my heart , Omnipotent and Good ! Purge Thou my heart with hyssop , lest like Cain I offer fruitless sacrifice , and with gifts Offend and not propitiate the Ador'd . Tho' Gratitude were blest with all the powers Her bursting heart could long for , tho' the swift , The fiery-wing'd Imagination soar'd Beyond Ambition's wish — yet all were vain To speak Him as he is , who is INEFFABLE . Yet still let reason thro' the eye of faith View Him with fearful love ; let truth pronounce , And adoration on her bended knee With heaven-directed hands confess His reign . And let th' Angelic , Archangelic band With all the Hosts of Heaven , Cherubic forms , And forms Seraphic , with their silver trumps And golden lyres attend : — " For Thou art holy , " For Thou art One , th' Eternal , who alone " Exerts all goodness , and transcends all praise . "