# On the Goodness of the Supreme Being

* ON THE GOODNESS OF THE SUPREME BEING.
* POETICAL ESSAY.
* By CHRISTOPHER SMART,
* M. A. Of Pembroke Hall in the University of Cambridge.<>
* TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF DARLINGTON
* THIS ESSAY ON The GOODNESS of the SUPREME BEING.
* Is Inscribed, By His Lordship's Most obliged,
* And obedient Servant,
* C. SMART.
* Orpheus, forso the Gentiles call'd thy name,
* Israel's sweet Psalmist, who alone couldst wake
* Th'inanimate to motion; who alone
* The joyful hillocks, the applauding rocks,
* 5 And floods with musical persuasion drew;
* Thou who to hail and snow gav'st voice and sound,
* And mad'st the mute melodious! — greater yet
* Was thy divinest skill, and rul'd o'er more
* Than art or nature; for thy tuneful touch
* 10 Drove trembling Satan from the heart of Saul,
* And quell'd the evil Angel: — in this breast
* Some portion of thy genuine spirit breathe,
* And lift me from myself, each thought impure
* Banish; each low idea raise, refine,
* 15 Enlarge, and sanctify; — so shall the muse
* Above the stars aspire, and aim to praise
* Her God on earth, as he is prais'd in heaven.
* Immense Creator! whose all-powerful hand
* Fram'd universal Being, and whose Eye
* 20 Saw like thyself, that all things form'd were good;
* Where shall the tim'rous bard thy praise begin,
* Where end the purest sacrifice of song,
* And just thanksgiving? — The thought — kindling light,
* Thy prime production, darts upon my mind
* 25 Its vivifying beams, my heart illumines,
* And fills my soul with gratitude and Thee.
* Hail to the chearful rays of ruddy morn,
* That paint the streaky East, and blithsome rouse
* The birds, the cattle, and mankind from rest!
* 30 Hail to the freshness of the early breeze,
* And Iris dancing on the new--fall'n dew!
* Without the aid of yonder golden globe
* Lost were the garnet's lustre, lost the lilly,
* The tulip and auricula's spotted pride;
* 35 Lost were the peacock's plumage, to the sight
* So pleasing in its pomp and glossy glow.
* O thrice-illustrious! were it not for thee
* Those pansies, that reclining from the bank,
* View thro' th'immaculate, pellucid stream
* 40 Their portraiture in the inverted heaven,
* Might as well change their triple boast, the white,
* The purple, and the gold, that far outvie
* The Eastern monarch's garb, ev'n with the dock,
* Ev'n with the baneful hemlock's irksome green.
* 45Without thy aid, without thy gladsome beams
* The tribes of woodland warblers wou'd remain
* Mute on the bending branches, nor recite
* The praise of him, who, e'er he form'd their lord,
* Their voices tun'd to transport, wing'd their flight,
* 50And bade them call for nurture, and receive;
* And lo! they call; the blackbird and the thrush,
* The woodlark, and the redbreast jointly call;
* He hears and feeds their feather'd families,
* He feeds his sweet musicians, — nor neglects
* 55Th'invoking ravens in the greenwood wide;
* And tho' their throats coarse ruttling hurt the ear,
* They mean it all for music, thanks and praise
* They mean, and leave ingratitude to man;--
* But not to all,--for hark! the organs blow
* 60Their swelling notes round the cathedral's dome,
* And grace th'harmonious choir, celestial feast
* To pious ears, and med'cine of the mind;
* The thrilling trebles of the manly base
* Join in accordance meet, and with one voice
* 65All to the sacred subject suit their song:
* While in each breast sweet melancholy reigns
* Angelically pensive, till the joy
* Improves and purifies; — the solemn scene
* The Sun thro' storied panes surveys with awe,
* 70And bashfully with-holds each bolder beam.
* Here, as her home, from morn to eve frequents
* The cherub Gratitude; — behold her eyes!
* With love and gladness weepingly they shed
* Extatic smiles; the incense, that her hands
* 75Uprear, is sweeter than the breath of May
* Caught from the nectarine's blossom, and her voice
* Is more than voice can tell; to him she sings,
* To him who feeds, who clothes and who adorns,
* Who made and who preserves, whatever dwells
* 80In air, in stedfast earth, or fickle sea.
* O He is good, he is immensely good!
* Who all things form'd, and form'd them all for man;
* Who mark'd the climates, varied every zone,
* Dispensing all his blessings for the best
* 85In order and in beauty: — raise, attend,
* Attest, and praise, ye quarters of the world!
* Bow down, ye elephants, submissive bow
* To him, who made the mite; tho' Asia's pride,
* Ye carry armies on your tow'r-crown'd backs,
* 90And grace the turban'd tyrants, bow to him
* Who is as great, as perfect and as good
* In his less-striking wonders, till at length
* The eye's at fault and seeks th'assisting glass.
* Approach and bring from Araby the blest
* 95The fragrant cassia, frankincense and myrrh,
* And meekly kneeling at the altar's foot
* Lay all the tributary incense down.
* Stoop, sable Africa, with rev'rence stoop,
* And from thy brow take off the painted plume;
* 100 With golden ingots all thy camels load
* T'adorn his temples, hasten with thy spear
* Reverted, and thy trusty bow unstrung,
* While unpursu'd the lions roam and roar,
* And ruin'd tow'rs, rude rocks and caverns wide
* 105 Remurmur to the glorious, surly sound.
* And thou, fair Indian, whose immense domain
* To counterpoise the Hemisphere extends,
* Haste from the West, and with thy fruits and flow'rs,
* Thy mines and med'cines, wealthy maid, attend.
* 110More than the plenteousness so fam'd to flow
* By fabling bards from Amalthea's horn
* Is thine; thine therefore be a portion due
* Of thanks and praise: come with thy brilliant crown
* And vest of fur; and from thy fragrant lap
* 115 Pomegranates and the rich ananas pour.
* But chiefly thou, Europa, seat of grace
* And Christian excellence, his goodness own,
* Forth from ten thousand temples pour his praise;
* Clad in the armour of the living God
* 120 Approach, unsheath the spirit's flaming sword;
* Faith's shield, Salvation's glory, — compass'd helm
* With fortitude assume, and o'er your heart
* Fair truth's invulnerable breast-plate spread;
* Then join the general chorus of all worlds,
* 125 And let the song of charity begin
* In strains seraphic, and melodious pray'r.
* ``O all-sufficient, all beneficent,
* ``Thou God of Goodness and of glory, hear!
* ``Thou, who to lowliest minds dost condescend,
* 130``Assuming passions to enforce thy laws,
* ``Adopting jealousy to prove thy love:
* ``Thou, who resign'd humility uphold,
* ``Ev'n as the florist props the drooping rose,
* ``But quell tyrannic pride with peerless pow'r,
* 135 ``Ev'n as the tempest rives the stubborn oak.
* ``O all-sufficient, all-beneficent,
* ``Thou God of Goodness, and of glory, hear!
* ``Bless all mankind, and bring them in the end
* ``To heav'n, to immortality, and Thee! 1756

## Notes

* ↑ Note: See this conjecture strongly supported by Delany, in his Life of David. [The note is probably by the Author].
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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