Our Mothers are but Widows under Chains
Of Wedlock, and of all their Nuptial Gains,
None of the Mother but the Pangs remains.
IV...

Famifh'd with Want, we Wilds and Defarts tread,
And fainting, wander for our needful Bread,
Where Wolves and Tygers round in Ambush lie,
And Hofts with naked Swords ftand threatning by.
But keener Hunger, more a Beaft of Prey,
More sharp than thefe, more ravenous than they,
[our bitter Way.
Thro'Swords, and Wolves, and Tygers, breaks

The Fowls, and Beafts, and ev'ry Sylvan Kind,
Down to the meanest Infects Heav'n defign'd,
To be the Slaves of Man, were always free
Of Waters, Woods, and common Air; but we,
WeSlaves, and Beafts, and more than Infects vile,
That half-born wanton on the Banks of Nile,

Are

Are glad to buy the Leavings they can spare

Of Waters, Woods, and the more common Air. VI.

WithLoads of Chains our Foes pursue theirStroke,
And lug our aking Necks beneath their Yoke:
No Intermiffion gives the Weary Breath,

But endless Drudging drags us on to Death.
Our Cries afcend, and like a Trumpet blow,
All Egypt and Affyria hear our Woe:

Here, Nights we labour; there, whole Days we [fweat,

And barely earn the heartless Bread we eat.

VII.

Our old Fore-Fathers finn'd, and are no more, They pawn'd their Children to defray their Score. Thrice happy they! by Death from Suffering freed, But all our Fathers Scourges lafh their Seed. Vengeance, at which great Zion's Entrails shakes, Shoots thro' the inmost of the Soul, and rakes,

Where

Where Pride lurks deepeft, there we feel our Pain,
Our Slaves are Masters, and our Menials reign.
Whilft we unrefcu'd fend our Cries around,
To feek Relief, but no Relief is found.

VIII.

Look on our Cheeks, and in each Furrow trace

Pale Famine, staring in the meagre Face.

The driving Tempest lets its Fury go,

And

pours upon us, in a Burst of Woe.

The Signs of conscious Guilt our Brows impart, Black as our Sin, and harden'd as our Heart." IX.

From Zion's Mount the humble Matrons cry,

With mournful Eccho's, Juda's Maids reply, Beneath our haughty Foes deftructive Hands Our Great Ones fall; not facred Age withstands Their impious Scoffs; our Youth,in bloomy Prime Compell'd, fubmit to their indecent Crime,

[their Time. And Children whelm'd with Labour, fall before

P

Thus Prince and People, Infancy and Age,

་

Promifcuous Objects of an impious Rage,

But ferve to haunt us wherefoe'er we go,

With horrid Scenes of Universal Woe.

X.

Old Men no more in Zion's Council fit,
Nor young in Conforts of her Mufick meet;
Such foolish Change fond Profligates devife,
The Old turn Singers, and the Young advise;
Perverted Order to Confufion runs,

And all th' inverted Mufick ends in Groans;
Zion, thy ancient Glories are decay'd,

Thy Lawrels wither, and thy Garlands fade;
Oh Sin! 'tis thou haft this Destruction made.

XI.

'Tis Zion then, tis Zion we deplore,

For her we grieve, for Zion is no more;

Our Eyes condole in Tears, and jointly smart
With all the Anguish of an aking Heart:

Who can refrain, to fee the woful Sight,
All Nations Envy, and the World's Delight,
Now grown à Defart, where the Foxes range,
And howling Wolves lament the dismal Change.
XII.

But the firm Footstool of thy Throne shall be
Th'unshaken. Base of fix'd Eternity.

Great God! by thee must we forfaken lie,
Or loft for ever, in Oblivion die.

Turn but to us, O Lord, we'll mend our Ways,
Ah! once restore the Joys of ancient Days;
E'en tho' we feem the Outcasts of thy Care,
Refuse of Death, and Gleanings of the War,
Resume the Father, and let Sinners know,
Thy Mercy's greater than thy People's Woe.