From the Hymns.

TO THE MOON.

HEAVENLY Selene! goddess queen! that shedd'st abroad

the light!

Bull-horned moon! air-habiting! thou wanderer through the night!

Moon, bearer of the nightly torch! thou star-encircled

maid!

Female, at once, and male the same; still fresh, and still

decay'd!

Thou! that in thy steeds delightest, as they whirl thee through the sky!

Clothed in brightness! mighty mother of the rapid years

that fly!

Fruit-dispenser! amber-visaged! melancholy, yet serene ! All-beholding! sleep-enamour'd! still with trooping planets

seen!

Quiet-loving! who in pleasaunce, and in plenty takest delight!

Joy-diffusing! fruit-maturing! sparkling ornament of night!

Swiftly-pacing! ample-vested! star-bright! all-divining

maid!

Come benignant! come spontaneous! with thy starry sheen

array'd!

Sweetly-shining! save us, virgin! give thy holy suppliants

aid!

FROM THE ORPHIC REMAINS.

I.

ONE self-existent lives: created things

Arise from him; and he is all in all.
No mortal sight may see him; yet himself
Sees all that live. He out of good can bring
Evil to men: dread battle; tearful woes;

He, and no other. Open to thy sight

Were all the chain of things, could'st thou behold

The Godhead, ere as yet he step'd on earth.
My son! I will display before thine eyes

His footsteps, and his mighty hand of power.
Himself I cannot see. The rest is veil'd
In clouds; and ten-fold darkness intercepts
His presence. None discerns the Lord of men,
But he, the sole-begotten, of the tribe
Of old Chaldæans: he, to whom was known
The path of stars, and how the moving sphere
Rolls round this earth, in equal circle framed,
Self-balanced on her centre. 'Tis the God,

Who rules the breathing winds, that sweep around
The vault of air, and round the flowing swell

Of the deep, watery element; and shows

Forth, from on high, the glittering strength of flame.
Himself, above the firmament's broad arch,

Sits, on a throne of gold: the round earth lies
Under his feet. He stretches his right hand

To th' uttermost bounds of ocean, and the root
Of mountains trembles at his touch; nor stands
Before his mighty power. For he, alone,
All-heavenly is, and all terrestrial things

Are wrought by him. First, midst, and last, he holds
With his omniscient grasp. So speaks the lore
Of ancient wisdom: so the man, who sprang

Forth from the cradling waters, speaks: who took
The double tables of the law from God;

Other to speak, were impious. Every limb

I tremble, and my spirit quakes within.

II.

JOVE is the first and last; who th' infant thunder hurl'd; Jove is the head and midst; the framer of the world, Jove is a male; a nymph of bloom immortal, Jove:

Jove is the base of earth, and starry Heaven above.

Jove is the breath of all; the force of quenchless flame;
The root of ocean Jove; the sun and moon the same.
Jove is the king, the sire, whence generation sprang;
One strength, one Demon, great, on whom all beings
hang;

His regal body grasps the vast material round;

There fire, earth, air, and wave, and day, and night are

found;

Wisdom, first maker, there, and joy-prolific Love;
All these concentering fill the mighty frame of Jove.

III.

HEAR me, thou! for ever whirling round the rolling Heavens on high!

Thy far-travelling orb of splendour, midst the whirlpools

of the sky!

Hear, effulgent Jove, and Bacchus! father both of earth

and sea!

Sun all-various! golden beaming! all things teeming out of thee!