Now speed, By Asia's eastern bounds, still to the North, Where the vast continents of either world Approach: Beyond, 'tis silent boundless ice, Impenetrable barrier, where all thought Is lost; where never yet the eagle flew, Nor roamed so far the white bear through the waste.
But thou, dread POWER! whose voice from chaos called 140 The earth, who bad'st the Lord of light go forth, Ev'n as a giant, and the sounding seas Roll at thy fiat: may the dark deep clouds, That thy pavilion shroud from mortal sight, So pass away, as now the mystery, Obscure through rolling ages, is disclosed; How man, from one great Father sprung, his race Spread to that severed continent! Ev'n so, FATHER, in thy good time, shall all things stand Revealed to knowledge.

150 As the mind revolves The change of mighty empires, and the fate Of HIM whom Thou hast made, back through the dusk Of ages Contemplation turns her view: We mark, as from its infancy, the world Peopled again, from that mysterious shrine That rested on the top of Ararat, Highest of Asian mountains; spreading on, The Cushites from their mountain caves descend; Then before GOD the sons of Ammon stood 160 In their gigantic might, and first the seas Vanquished: But still from clime to clime the groan Of sacrifice, and Superstition's cry, Was heard; but when the Dayspring rose of heaven, Greece's hoar forests echoed, The great Pan Is dead! From Egypt, and the rugged shores Of Syrian Tyre, the gods of darkness fly; Bel is cast down, and Nebo, horrid king, Bows in imperial Babylon: But, ah! Too soon, the Star of Bethlehem, whose ray 170 The host of heaven hailed jubilant, and sang, Glory to God on high, and on earth peace, With long eclipse is veiled.
Red Papacy Usurped the meek dominion of the Lord Of love and charity: vast as a fiend She rose, Heaven's light was darkened with her frown, And the earth murmured back her hymns of blood, As the meek martyr at the burning stake Stood, his last look uplifted to his GOD! 180 But she is now cast down, her empire reft.
They who in darkness walked, and in the shade Of death, have seen a new and holy light, As in th' umbrageous forest, through whose boughs, Mossy and damp, for many a league, the morn With languid beam scarce pierces, here and there Touching some solitary trunk, the rest Dark waving in the noxious atmosphere: Through the thick-matted leaves the serpent winds His way, to find a spot of casual sun; 190 The gaunt hyaena through the thicket glides At eve: then, too, the couched tiger's eye Flames in the dusk, and oft the gnashing jaws Of the fell crocodile are heard.

At length, By man's superior energy and toil, The sunless brakes are cleared; the joyous morn Shines through the opening leaves; rich culture smiles Around; and howling to their distant wilds The savage inmates of the wood retire.
Such is the scene of human life, till want 200 Bids man his strength put forth; then slowly spreads The cultured stream of mild humanity, And gentler virtues, and more noble aims Employ the active mind, till beauty beams Around, and Nature wears her richest robe, Adorned with lovelier graces.

Then the charms Of woman, fairest of the works of Heaven, Whom the cold savage, in his sullen pride, Scorned as unworthy of his equal love, With more attractive influence wins the heart 210 Of her protector.

Then the names of sire, Of home, of brother, and of children, grow More sacred, more endearing; whilst the eye, Lifted beyond this earthly scene, beholds A Father who looks down from heaven on all! O Britain, my loved country! dost thou rise Most high among the nations! Do thy fleets Ride o'er the surge of ocean, that subdued Rolls in long sweep beneath them! Dost thou wear Thy garb of gentler morals gracefully! 220 Is widest science thine, and the fair train Of lovelier arts! While commerce throngs thy ports With her ten thousand streamers, is the tract Of the undeviating ploughshare white That rips the reeking furrow, followed soon By plenty, bidding all the scene rejoice, Even like a cultured garden! Do the streams That steal along thy peaceful vales, reflect Temples, and Attic domes, and village towers! Is beauty thine, fairest of earthly things, 230 Woman; and doth she gain that liberal love And homage, which the meekness of her voice, The rapture of her smile, commanding most When she seems weakest, must demand from him, Her master; whose stern strength at once submits In manly, but endearing, confidence, Unlike his selfish tyranny who sits The sultan of his harem! Oh, then, think How great the blessing, and how high thy rank 240 Amid the civilised and social world! But hast thou no deep failings, that may turn Thy thoughts within thyself! Ask, for the sun That shines in heaven hath seen it, hath thy power Ne'er scattered sorrow over distant lands! Ask of the East, have never thy proud sails Borne plunder from dismembered provinces, Leaving the groans of miserable men Behind! And free thyself, and lifting high The charter of thy freedom, bought with blood, 250 Hast thou not stood, in patient apathy, A witness of the tortures and the chains That Afric's injured sons have known! Stand up; Yes, thou hast visited the caves, and cheered The gloomy haunts of sorrow; thou hast shed A beam of comfort and of righteousness On isles remote; hast bid the bread-fruit shade Th' Hesperian regions, and has softened much With bland amelioration, and with charms Of social sweetness, the hard lot of man.