Behind her close he came; her arm he press'd,
Her arm just raised to pierce her beauteous breast. p. 302.

Chiswick:

PRINTED BY C. WHITTINGHAM;

FOR CHARLES S. ARNOLD, TAVISTOCK STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON.

1824.

THENT

ELEGANT EXTRACTS.

PART XII.

Translations.

ODE TO JEHOVAH.

FROM THE HEBREW OF MOSES

IN high Jehovah's praise, my strain
Of triumph shall the chorus lead,
Who plunged beneath the rolling main
The horseman with his vaunted steed.
Dread breaker of our servile chains,
By whom our arm in strength remains,
The scented algum forms thy car!

Our fathers' God! Thy name we raise
Beyond the bounds of mortal praise,
The Chieftain and the Lord of war.

Far in the caverns of the deep

Their chariots sunk to rise no more;

And Pharaoh's mighty warriors sleep
Where the Red Sea's huge monsters roar.
Plunged like a rock amid the wave,

Around their heads the billows lave;

It is scarcely necessary to say that this is a paraphrastic version of Exodus, chap. xv. v. 1-19; much of the sublimity of which Dr. Leyden has certainly failed to preserve.

VOL. VI.

CC

Down, down the yawning gulf they go,
Dash'd by Thy high-expanded hand
To pieces on the pointed sand,
That strews the shelving rocks below.
What lambent lightnings round Thee gleam,
Thy foes in blackening heaps to strew!
As o'er wide fields of stubble stream
The flames, in undulation blue.
And lo! the waters of the deep
Swell into one enormous heap,
Collected at Thy nostrils' breath.

The bosom of the abyss reveal'd,
Wall'd with huge crystal waves congeal'd,
Unfolds the yawning jaws of death.

'Swift steeds of Egypt, speed your course,
And swift, ye rapid chariots, roll!
Not ocean's bed impedes our force;
Red vengeance soon shall glut our soul;
The sabre keen shall soon embrue
Its glimmering edge in gory dew.'-
Impatient cried the' exulting foe;-
When like a ponderous mass of lead
They sink-and sudden, o'er their head
The bursting waves impetuous flow.
But Thou, in whose sublime abode
Resistless might and mercy dwell,
Our voices, high o'er every god,
With grateful hearts Thy praises swell!
Outstretch'd we saw thy red right hand,
The earth her solid jaws expand;
Adown the gulf alive they sink:-
While we, within the' incumbent main,
Behold the tumbling floods in vain
Storm on our narrow pathway's brink.

But, far as Fame's shrill notes resound,
With dire dismay the nations hear;
Old Edom's sons with laurels crown'd,
And Moab's warriors melt with fear.
The petrifying 'tale disarms

The might of Canaan's countless swarms, Appall'd their heroes sink supine;

No mailed band with thrilling cries
The might of Jacob's sons defies,
That moves to conquer Palestine.
Nor burning sands our way impede,
Where nature's glowing embers lie;
But led by Thee, we safely tread
Beneath the furnace of the sky.
To fields, where fertile olives twine
Their branches with the clustering vine
Soon shalt Thou Jacob's armies bring;
To plant them by Thy mighty hand
Where the proud towers of Salem stand;
And ever reign their God and King.
Far in the deep unfathom'd caves

Lie strew'd the flower of Mazur's land,
Save when the surge, that idly raves,
Heaves their cold corses on the sand.
With courage unappall'd, in vain
They rush'd within the channel'd main,
Their heads the billows folded o'er:
While Thou hast Israel's legions led
Through the green ocean's coral bed,
To ancient Edom's palmy shore.

DR. LEYDEN.