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"Him Israel loves, him neighbouring countries fear; "You but the name and empty title bear. "And yet the traitor lives, lives in thy court; "The court that must be his; where he shall sport "Himself with all thy concubines, thy gold,

Thy costly robes, thy crown. Wert thou not told "This by proud Samuel, when at Gilgal he

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"With bold false threats from God affronted thee? "The dotard ly'd; God said it not, I know; "Not Baal or Moloch would have us'd thee so. "Was not the choice his own? did not thy worth "Exact the royal lot, and call it forth ? "Hast thou not since (my best and greatest son!) "To him, and to his perishing nation, done "Such lasting benefits as may justly claim "A sceptre as eternal as thy fame ?

"Poor prince! whom madmen, priests, and boys, "invade ;

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By thine own flesh, thy' ungrateful son, betray'd! "Unnatural fool! who can thus cheated be "By friendship's name, against a crown and thee! "Betray not too thyself; take courage, call

Thy' enchanted virtues forth, and be whole Saul. "Lo! this great cause makes thy dead fathers rise, "Breaks the firm scals of their clos'd tombs and eyes. "Nor can their jealous ashes, whilst this boy "Survives, the privilege of their graves enjoy. "Rise quickly, Saul! and take that rebel's breath, "Which troubles thus thy life, and ev'n our death:

"Kill him, and thou 'rt secure; 't is only he "That's boldly interpos'd 'twixt God and thee, "As earth's low globe robs the high moon of light; "When this eclipse is past, thy fate's all bright. 300 "Trust me, dear son! and credit what I tell; "I've seen thy royal stars, and know them well. "Hence, fears and dull delays! is not thy breast "(Yes, Saul, it is) with noble thoughts possest? "May they beget like acts!" With that she takes 305 One of her worst, her best-beloved snakes:

Softly, dear worm! soft and unseen," said she, "Into his bosom steal, and in it be

"My viceroy." At that word she took her flight, And her loose shape dissolv'd into the night.

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Th' infected king leapt from his bed amaz'd, Scarce knew himself at first, but round him gaz'd; And started back at piec'd-up shapes, which fear And his distracted fancy painted there: Terror froze up his hair, and on his face

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Showers of cold sweat roll'd trembling down apace.
Then knocking with his angry hands his breast,
Earth with his feet, he cries, "Oh! 't is confest;
"I've been a pious fool, a woman-king;

"Wrong'd by a seer, a boy, every thing.
"Eight hundred years of death is not so deep,
"So unconcern'd, as my lethargick sleep.
"My patience even a sacrilege becomes,

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"Disturbs the dead, and opes their sacred tombs. "Ah! Benjamin, kind father! who for me "This cursed world endur'st again to see!

"All thou hast said, great vision! is so true, "That all which thou command'st, and more, I'll do: "Kill him! yes, mighty ghost! the wretch shall die, "Though every star in heaven should it deny; 330 "Nor mock th' assault of our just wrath again, "Had he ten times his fam'd ten thousand slain. "Should that bold popular madman, whose design "Is to revenge his own disgrace by mine,

"Should my ungrateful son oppose th' intent, 335 "Should mine own heart grow scrupulous and relent, "Curse me, just Heaven! (by which this truth I swear) "If I that seer, my son, or self, do spare. "No, gentle ghost! return to thy still home; "Thither, this day, mine and thy foe shall come. 349 "If that curst object longer vex my sight, "It must have learnt t' appear as thou to-night." Whilst thus his wrath with threats the tyrant fed, The threaten'd youth slept fearless on his bed; Sleep on, rest quiet as thy conscience take, For, though thou sleep'st thyself, thy God's awake. Above the subtle foldings of the sky;

Above the well-set orbs' soft harmony;

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Above those petty lamps that gild the night;
There is a place o'erflown with hallow'd light; 350
Where heaven, as if it left itself behind,

Is stretch'd-out far, nor its own bounds can find:
Here peaceful flames swell up the sacred place,
Nor can the glory contain itself in th' endless space;
For there no twilight of the sun's dull ray
Glimmers upon the pure and native day;

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No pale-fac'd moon does in stol'n beams appear,
Or with dim taper scatters darkness there;
On no smooth sphere the restless seasons slide,
No circling motion doth swift time divide;
Nothing is there to come, and nothing past,
But an eternal Now does always last.
There sits th' Almighty, First of all, and End;
Whom nothing but himself can comprehend;
Who with his word commanded all to be,
And all obey'd him, for that word was He:
Only he spoke, and every thing that is
From out the womb of fertile nothing ris'.
Oh, who shall tell, who shall describe thy throne,
Thou great Three-One!

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There thou thyself dost in full presence show,
Not absent from these meaner worlds below;
No, if thou wert, the elements' league would cease,
And all thy creatures break thy Nature's peace;
The sun would stop his course, or gallop back, 375
The stars drop out, the poles themselves would crack;
Earth's strong foundations would be torn in twain,
And this vast work all ravel out again
To its first nothing: for his spirit contains
The well-knit mass; from him each creature gains
Being and motion, which he still bestows;
From him th effect of our weak action flows:
Round him vast armies of swift angels stana,
Which seven triumphant generals command;
They sing loud anthems of his endless praise,
And with fix'd eyes drink-in immortal rays:

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Of these he call'd-out one; all heaven did shake,
And silence kept whilst its Creator spake.

"Are we forgotten then so soon? can he

"Look on his crown, and not remember me 390 "That gave it? can he think we did not hear "(Fond man!) his threats? and have we made the 66 ear,

"To be accounted deaf? No, Saul! we heard; "And it will cost thee dear: the ills thou 'st fear'd, "Practis'd, or thought on, I 'll all double send; 395 "Have we not spoke it, and dares man contend? 66 Alas, poor dust! didst thou but know the day "When thou must lie in blood at Gilboa,

"Thou, and thy sons, thou wouldst not threaten "still;

"Thy trembling tongue would stop against thy will. "Then shall thine head fix'd in curst temples be, "And all their foolish gods shall laugh at thee. “That hand which now on David's life would prey,' "Shall then turn just, and its own master slay; "He whom thou hat'st, on thy lov'd throne shall sit, "And expiate the disgrace thou dost to it. 406 "Haste then; tell David what his king has sworn, "Tell him whose blood must paint this rising morn; "Yet bid him go securely, when he sends;

""T is Saul that is his foe, and We his friends: 410 "The man who has his God, no aid can lack, "And We, who bid him go, will bring him back.” He spoke; the heavens seem'd decently to bow, With all their bright inhabitants; and now