Not these; for these thou leavest to a mind
Bemaz'd in error and with passion blind :
These thou wilt ne'er exalt, nor such ordain
Thy cause to argue, and thy ways explain,
Whoe'er with libel stabs his weeping friend,
His race shall friendless to the grave descend:
This bold defamer shews me for a sign,
A dire example of the wrath divine :
Hence my wan look, and eye with sorrow dim,
Hence like a shadow seems each wasted limb.
Doubtless the just, astonish'd at the sight,
'Gainst the proud scorner will their zeal excite :
The friends of virtue will their way pursue,
And fearless innocence its force renew.
But you, all you, repent; your thoughts revise,
Shall I not find e'en one among you wise?

-O life, farewell

'Tis past-
-my blissful schemes
Are broken off- -ah too, too pleasing dreams!
All-cheering sun, adieu, sepulchral night,
Blot the bright vision; and be thou my light;
My hope another bed, another home,
A bed of darkness and my house the tomb.
Thou art my father, grave; my mother's claim
Be thine, O worm, and thine a sister's name.
My hope! where is it? who my hope shall see ?
It shall descend the winding grots with me:
Behold and wonder! there my hope and I
On the same couch of dust reposing lie.

SEC. III.

I KNOW that he whose years can ne'er decay,
Will from the grave redeem my sleeping clay;
When the last rolling sun shall leave the skies,
I shall revive and o'er the dust arise:

22*

Then shall this mangled skin new form assume,
This flesh then flourish in immortal bloom:
My raptur'd eyes the judging God shall see,
Estrang'd no more, but friendly then to me.
How does the lofty hope my soul inspire!
I burn, I faint with vehement desire.
Be warn'd, no more my innocence pursue :
Its cause shall triumph in that just review.

Tremble; these wrongs th' avenging sword demand
The sword which arms the Almighty Ruler's hand :
You then shall know, that injur'd virtues sigh
Found audience with an equal Judge on high.

CHAP. VIII.

Job denies the guilt imputed to him by his friends, places full confidence in the undeviating justice of God-expresses his admiration on the immensity of his power.

WHY are your thoughts, my friends, resolv'd in wrong, Harsh answers still spring forward on your tongue; Cease then; nor falsities for comforts vend,

Alike to truth unfaithful and your friend,

Of whom hast thou harangu'd? whose breath hath cast
Such wond'rous wisdom from your mouths at last 2
Jehovah will in pity set me free,

And let me once again his mercy see.
To him my fervent supplications cry,
Nor will his ear be deaf, nor pitiless his eye.
Guide me, O guide me, to the near recess,
E'en to his throne of judgment I would press
A thousand reas'nings, regular and strong
The flow of innocence shall fill my tongue;

His answer, welcome to my longing ear,
Would the cause of these strange suff'rings clear.
Will he confound me with his dreadful might ♪
No, but my courage at his bar excite :
There bold integrity may urge its plea,
And there shall triumph be ordain'd for me.
Ah! should I journey this terrestrial round,
He no where in its eastern coast be found.
In vain I seek him on the western shore,
In vain his footsteps in the north explore,,
Or in the south: He, working in his might,
Wrapt in impervious shades eludes my sight ş
But, not unknowing in my ways, he knows
My truth his utmost proving undergoes,
As gold the furnace; and like gold shall rise,
Emerging, with new lustre, to his eyes.

CHAP. IX.

First section contains a fiery speech from Zophar to Job, calculated to exasperate the wounds already advanced by Eliphaz and Bildad, it appears, for the sole purpose of provoking him to further excesses of complaint, which occasions Job's justification in a subsequent chapter.-Second section contains the introduction of Elihu, with a speech to Job, similar to those given by his associates.

THEREFORE, the fierce Naamathite replied,
My thoughts, returning with impetuous tide,
Impel one answer more, nor needs my ear
Thy warning, nor thy menace will i fear.
Art thou unknowing, that the voice of time,
Since man was planted in this earthly clime,

Proclaims, the song of profligates is short,
Th' oppressor's festal but a moment's sport ?
Advancing, and advancing let him rise
Till his proud climax touch the starry skies
Behold his fall! like his own odour tost
Into oblivion, from the world he's lost.
And wond'ring throngs, who saw his envied height,
Ask "whither has the meteor wing'd his flight ?”
He's vanish'd as a dream; he's chas'd away,
Like a night-vision by the waking day.
No eye that glanc'd him shall the glance renew,
His place no more its haughty master view.
For full of manhood's sap, his bones robust
Lie in the grave, and with him rot in dust:
Heirs of his woes, his helpless orphans flee
For shelter to the huts of poverty.
His crime is witness'd by the stormy skies,
The hostile earth against his crime will rise.
And his whole fortune that avenging day
Like torrents rattling down the rocks shall melt away.

SEC. II.-Speech of Elihu.

ATTEND, O Job; with no unheeding soul
Receive my reas'nings, patient of the whole :
Unmix'd with passion, from a tongue sincere,
No mean monition shall invite thy ear,
That forming spirit which all flesh inspires,
Breathes in my lungs and feeds the vital fires
Me answer, if thou canst, thy plea dispose,
Stand firm, and with thy fellow-mortal close.
I to thy wish arise, for God I speak;
Fashion'd like thee of elements as weak.
My arm no thunder wields, my face displays
No Godhead terrors and o'erwhelming blaze,

I've hear'd thee vaunt thy pureness, heard thee claim Unsullied virtue and a faultless name; Hear'd thee accuse thy God, of hate complain, And studied quarrel, and his cruel chain; Are these a just man's murmurs ? Mortal know * God reigns above, our blindness creeps below: Why dost thou wrangle with a Power, whose thron Will justify its mystic ways to none? Trembles his empire, if thy sins increase ? Or to thy virtue must he owe his peace? Thy sins, vain worm, a fellow-worm may wound Thy virtue bless a brother of the ground; Thou say'st," He gives no midnight song to me, His healing day I ne'er alas! shall see." Submit, and hope: thy cause before him lies,. As yet unchasten'd for his stout replies, Nor lightly chasten'd Job exalts his tone, Loquacious trifler with vain-glory blown.

CHAP. X.

-SEC. 1.-An air of sad solemnity is diffused over the principal part of this chapter, in a train of gloomy ideas, rising successively in a mind like Job's, from the reflections of his friends,-proceeds in exhibiting the deplorable condition of man in the grave, and supplicates relief from the Almighty.

FRAIL native of the womb, his age a span,
Fill'd full of trouble, is the life of man;
A tender flow'ret gather'd in its prime;
A shadow gliding o'er the plain of time.
Does this weak thing employ thy jealous eye?
Its faults the business of thy bar supply?