SILVER Empress of the night,
Smiling Cynthia chaste and bright,
Listen to my artless lays,
While I bless thy friendly rays.
Solemn grandeur gilds thy throne,
Earth and heav’n thy influence own;
Moving thro’ a trackless way,
Night receives thy borrow’d ray.
But while busy men below,
Their sublimest joys forego;
And confin’d to earth remain,
Thy pure beams are spent in vain.
Contemplation only knows,
All the joy thy light bestows;
She alone with power divine,
Offers incense at thy shrine.
Thine are regions blest indeed,
Winds nor tides thy course impede;
Whence thy silvery beams descend,
And the pensive mind befriend.
But the frequent clouds below,
Shade the fountain whence they flow;
While thy orb for ever bright,
Thro’ them sends a shadowy light.
Magnet of the azure skies,
Which invites the soul to rise;
Be a helm my thoughts to steer,
To thy ever tranquil sphere.
Bountiful alike to all,
Heav’n directs thy rolling ball;
Traversing the realms of space,
Running still its destin’d race.
Light in all its glory reigns,
On thy soft celestial plains;
Light which first to man was giv’n
By the gracious word of Heav’n.
But tho’ smiling, good, and fair,
Better far beyond compare;
Is that pure unsullied ray,
Dawn of heav’n’s eternal day.
Man is born a prey to sin,
Shades and darkness dwell within;
Till the glorious morn arise,
Which illumes our mental skies.
Wond’rous gift bestow’d on man,
Crowning God’s stupendous plan;
Gracious purpose of his love,
What could more his bounty prove.
Let us seek this inward light,
And improve the gift of sight;
Let us all our spirits raise,
In eternal hymns of praise.
(Elizabeth Bath)
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