No Senfe of Fear his dauntless Soul allays;
'Tis dreadful to behold his Noftril blaze;
To paw the Vale he proudly takes Delight,
And triumphs in the Fulnefs of his Might;
High-rais'd he fnuffs the Battle from afar,
And burns to plunge amid the raging War;
And mocks at Death, and throws his Foam around,
And in a Storm of Fury shakes the Ground.
How does his firm, his rifing Heart advance
Full on the brandish'd Sword, and shaken Lance;
While his fixt Eye-balls meet the dazling Shield,
Gaze, and return the Lightning of the Field!
He finks the Senfe of Pain in gen'rous Pride,
Nor feels the Shaft that trembles in his Side;
But neighs to the fhrill Trumpet's dreadful Blaft
Till Death; and when he groans, he groans his laft.

But, fiercer ftill, the Lordly Lion stalks,
Grimly Majestic in his lonely Walks;
When round he glares, all living Creatures fly;
He clears the Defart, with his rolling Eye.
Say, Mortal, does he roufe at thy Command,
And roar to Thee, and live upon thy Hand?
Doft thou for him in Forefts bend thy Bow,
And to his gloomy Den the Morfel throw,
Where bent on Death lie hid his tawny Brood,
And, couch'd in dreadful Ambush, pant for Blood;
Or, ftretch'd on broken Limbs, confume the Day,
In Darkness wrapt, and flumber o'er their Prey?
By the pale Moon they take their deftin'd Round,
And lash their Sides, and furious tear the Ground.
Now Shrieks, and dying Groans, the Defart fill;
They rage, they rend, their rav'nous Jaws diftil
With crimson Foam; and, when the Banquet's o'er,
They ftride away, and paint their Steps with Gore;
In Flight alone the Shepherd puts his Truft,
And fhudders at the Talon in the Duft.

Mild is my Behemoth,. tho' large his Frame;
Smooth is his Temper, and repreft his Flame,
While unprovok'd. This Native of the Flood
Lifts his broad Foot, and puts afhore for Food;
Earth finks beneath him, as he moves along
To feek the Herbs, and mingle with the Throng.
See, with what Strength his harden'd Loins are bound,
All over Proof, and shut against a Wound.

How like a Mountain Cedar moves his Tail!

Nor can his complicated Sinews fail.

Built high and wide, his folid Bones furpafs
The Bars of Steel; his Ribs are Ribs of Brass;
His Port majestic, and his armed Jaw,

Give the wide Foreft, and the Mountain, Law.
The Mountains feed him; there the Beasts admire
The mighty Stranger, and in Dread retire:
At length his Greatnefs nearer they survey,
Graze in his Shadow, and his Eye obey.
The Fens and Marfhes are his cool Retreat,
His Noontide Shelter from the burning Heat;
Their fedgy Bofoms his wide Couch are made,
And Groves of Willows give him all their Shade.
His Eye drinks Jordan up, when, fir'd with Drought,
He trufts to turn its Current down his Throat;
In leffen'd Waves it creeps along the Plain :
He finks a River, and He thirfts again.

Go to the Nile, and, from its fruitful Side,
Caft forth thy Line into the fwelling Tide:
With flender Hair Leviathan command,
And ftretch his Vaftnefs on the loaded Strand.
Will he become Thy Servant, will he own
Thy Lordly Nod, and tremble at Thy Frown?
Or with his Sport amufe thy leifure Day,
And, bound in Silk, with thy foft Maidens play?

Shall pompous Banquets fwell with fuch a Prize,
And the Bowl journey round his ample S.ze?

Or

Or the debating Merchants share the Prey,
And various Limbs to various Marts convey?
Thro' his firm Skull what Steel its Way can win?
What forceful Engine can fubdue his Skin?
Fly far, and live; tempt not his matchlefs Might;
The Bravest shrink to Cowards in his Sight;
The Rafheft dare not rouse him up: Who then
Shall turn on Me, among the Sons of Men ?

Am I a Debtor? Haft thou ever heard
Whence come the Gifts which are on Me conferr'd?
My lavish Fruit a thousand Valleys fills,

And Mine the Herds, that graze a thousand Hills:
Earth, Sea, and Air, All Nature is my own;
And Stars and Sun are Duft beneath my Throne.
And dar'ft Thou with the World's great Father vye,
Thou, who doft tremble at my Creature's Eye?

At full my huge Leviathan fhall rife,
Boaft all his Strength, and spread his wond'rous Size.
Who, great in Arms, e'er ftripp'd his fhining Mail,
Or crown'd his Triumph with a fingle Scale?
Whofe Heart fuftains him to draw near? Behold,
Destruction yawns; his fpacious Jaws unfold,
And, marshal'd round the wide Expanse, disclose
Teeth edg'd with Death, and crouding Rows on Rows:
What hideous Fangs on either Side arise!

And what a deep Abyss between them lies!
Mete with thy Lance, and with thy Plumbet found,
The One how long, the Other how profound.

His Bulk is charg'd with such a furious Soul,
That Clouds of Smoke from his spread Noftrils roll,
As from a Furnace; and, when rous'd his Ire,
Fate iffues from his Jaws in Streams of Fire.
The Rage of Tempefts, and the Roar of Seas,
Thy Terror, this thy great Superior please;
Strength on his ample Shoulder fits in State;
His well-join'd Limbs are dreadfully complete;

His Flakes of folid Flesh are flow to part;
As Steel his Nerves, as Adamant his Heart.

When, late-awak'd, He rears him from the Floods,
And, ftretching forth his Stature to the Clouds,
Writhes in the Sun aloft his fcaly Height,

And ftrikes the diftant Hills with tranfient Light,
Far round are fatal Damps of Terror spread,
The Mighty fear, nor blush to own their Dread.

Large is his Front; and, when his burnifh'd Eyes
Lift their broad Lids, the Morning seems to rife.

In vain may Death in various Shapes invade,
The fwift-wing'd Arrow, the descending Blade;
His naked Breaft their Impotence defies;
The Dart rebounds, the brittle Fauchion flies.
Shut in Himself, the War without he hears,
Safe in the Tempeft of their rattling Spears;
The cumber'd Strand their wafted Vollies ftrow;
His Sport, the Rage and Labour of the Foe.

His Paftimes like a Caldron boil the Flood,
And blacken Ocean with the rifing Mud;
The Billows feel him, as he works his Way;
His hoary Footsteps fhine along the Sea;

The Foam high-wrought, with White, divides the Green,
And distant Sailors point where Death has been.

His Like Earth bears not on her spacious Face:
Alone in Nature ftands his dauntless Race,
For utter Ignorance of Fear renown'd.
In Wrath he rolls his baleful Eye around;
Makes every fwoln, difdainful Heart fubfide;
And holds Dominion o'er the Sons of Pride.

Then the Chaldean eas'd his lab'ring Breast, With full Conviction of his Crime opprest.

"Thou

"Thou canft accomplish All Things, Lord of Might! "And ev'ry Thought is naked to thy Sight. "But oh! Thy Ways are wonderful, and lie

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Beyond the deepest Reach of mortal Eye.
"Oft have I heard of thine Almighty Pow'r;
But never faw Thee till this dreadful Hour.
O'erwhelm'd with Shame, the Lord of Life I fee;
Abhor myself, and give my Soul to Thee.

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Nor fhall my Weakne's tempt Thine Anger more: "Man was not made to Question, but Adore.”