ORPHEUS.

THERE is a strange mixture of Paganism and Christianity in the spurious fragments which pass under the name of Orpheus. They contain many sublime conceptions, which could have been derived only from the sacred Scriptures. The unity and spirituality of the Deity, and his superiority to fate, are directly opposed to every system of Pagan mythology. In the first of the fragments here translated, the use of ayysho, in the sense of heavenly messengers, fixes its date within the Christian era.

FROM A FRAGMENT ASCRIBED TO ORPHEUS.

EARTH, air, and ocean own thy sway, O God,
And high Olympus trembles at thy nod!
In realms of night, the dead thy laws fulfil;
The Fates obedient execute thy will:

Thine anger shakes the spheres. In cloud and storm,
Mingled with fire, thou veil'st thine awful form.

But high in heaven, beyond where planets roll,
In life, and light, and joy beyond control,
Where circling angels hymn thy holy praise,
And dwell in light too strong for mortal gaze,
Thy throne, O God, is fixed.

FROM A FRAGMENT ASCRIBED TO ORPHEUS.

"T Is God alone, to whom belong
The tributes of the poet's song:
On him corruption has no power,
For him awaits no fatal hour.

Terrible God, who dwell'st alone,

Thick clouds and dark surround thy throne;
Yet come, in mercy's mildest form,
Come, and my breast with rapture warm!

I sing thy power, which first ordained
The world, from chaos late regained.

1808.

DEITY.

TRANSLATION OF A HYMN ASCRIBED TO ORPHEUS.

I SPEAK to ears initiate. Far removed
Be every vulgar eye. Thou only, moon,
Rolling full-orbed in silent majesty,

Witness my song. I utter truths sublime;

Truths which the soul exalt. In mute attention Listen; for I proclaim a Deity.

The Almighty One, self-born, all-glorious, Exists; Creator blest, wide nature's Sovereign,

Invisible to mortal eye; but he,

Watchful, for ever guards his boundless works. He, of his goodness, chastens man. He sends War, famine, pestilence. He, he alone, Uncounselled, governs and directs the whole.

O come with me, my friend, adoring trace
In all his works the footsteps of a God.
His hand sustains, his powerful arm upholds
Creation; he himself invisible,

For clouds and darkness shroud him. He, removed
High in the heaven of heavens, dwells not with man.

No eye can see him, save the Son beloved,
Of wondrous origin, Chaldea's hope.

God in the heavens resides. The rolling world,
The star-bespangled firmament, the sun,
Evening's mild lamp, creation's utmost bounds
Extended lie before him. He directs

The ceaseless flow of ocean. He, in storms,
Rides on the whirlwind, hurls the fire of Heaven.

God in the heavens resides. He spreads his arms
To ocean's utmost bounds. At his approach
The mountains tremble; from their bases leap
The everlasting hills. To his high power
Earth bows submissive; He, the first and last.

No more. I tremble to proclaim his power.
God, from on high, the universe sustains.
My friend, restrain thy lips. In silent awe
Bow, and adore the wonder-working God.

1808.