The Christian Triumph.
59
And rescue both? Both rescue! Both exalt!
O how are both exalted by the Deed!
The wond'rous Deed! or shall I call it more?
A Wonder in Omnipotence itself!
A Mystery, no less to Gods than Men!
Not, thus, our Infidels th'Eternal draw,
A God all o'er, consummate, absolute,
Full-orb'd, in his whole Round of Rays complete:
They set at Odds Heav'n's jarring Attributes;
And, with one Excellence, another wound;
Maim Heav'n's Perfection, break its equal Beams,
Bid Mercy triumph over—God himself,
Undeify'd by their opprobrious Praise:
A God All Mercy, is a God unjust.
Ye brainless Wits! ye baptiz'd Infidels!
Ye worse for mending! wash'd to fouler Stains!
The Ransom was paid down; the Fund of Heav'n,
Heav'n's inexhaustible, exhausted Fund,
Amazing, and amaz'd, pour'd forth the Price,
All Price beyond: Tho' curious to compute,
Archangels fail'd to cast the mighty Sum;
Its Value vast ungraspt by Minds Create,
For ever hides, and glows in, the Supreme.
And was the Ransom paid? It was: And paid
(What can exalt the Bounty more?) for You.
The Sun beheld it—No, the shocking Scene
Drove back his Chariot: Midnight veil'd his Face;
Not such as This; not such as Nature makes;
A Midnight, Nature shudder'd to behold;
A Midnight new! a dread Eclipse (without
Opposing Spheres) from her Creator's Frown!
Sun! didst thou fly thy Maker's Pain? Or start
At that enormous Load of human Guilt,
Which bow'd his blessed Head; o'erwhelm'd his Cross;
Made groan the Centre; burst Earth's marble Womb,
O how are both exalted by the Deed!
The wond'rous Deed! or shall I call it more?
A Wonder in Omnipotence itself!
A Mystery, no less to Gods than Men!
Not, thus, our Infidels th'Eternal draw,
A God all o'er, consummate, absolute,
Full-orb'd, in his whole Round of Rays complete:
They set at Odds Heav'n's jarring Attributes;
And, with one Excellence, another wound;
Maim Heav'n's Perfection, break its equal Beams,
Bid Mercy triumph over—God himself,
Undeify'd by their opprobrious Praise:
A God All Mercy, is a God unjust.
Ye brainless Wits! ye baptiz'd Infidels!
Ye worse for mending! wash'd to fouler Stains!
The Ransom was paid down; the Fund of Heav'n,
Heav'n's inexhaustible, exhausted Fund,
Amazing, and amaz'd, pour'd forth the Price,
All Price beyond: Tho' curious to compute,
Archangels fail'd to cast the mighty Sum;
Its Value vast ungraspt by Minds Create,
For ever hides, and glows in, the Supreme.
And was the Ransom paid? It was: And paid
(What can exalt the Bounty more?) for You.
The Sun beheld it—No, the shocking Scene
Drove back his Chariot: Midnight veil'd his Face;
Not such as This; not such as Nature makes;
A Midnight, Nature shudder'd to behold;
A Midnight new! a dread Eclipse (without
Opposing Spheres) from her Creator's Frown!
Sun! didst thou fly thy Maker's Pain? Or start
At that enormous Load of human Guilt,
Which bow'd his blessed Head; o'erwhelm'd his Cross;
Made groan the Centre; burst Earth's marble Womb,
With
