- [Editor's Note: This poem was written during Smart's periods of madness between 1757 and 1763; on the basis of this poem, Robert Browning equated Smart's lyric gifts with those of Milton and Keats:
- "Smart only out of throngs between Milton and Keats that donned the singing-dress--
- Smart, solely of such songmen, pierced the screen
- 'Twixt word and thing, lit language straight from soul . . . ."
- The poem, clearly not the work of a deranged mind, has a complex structure; this outline follows that of R. Brittain:
- Stanzas I-III: Invocation
- IV-XVII: David's 12 virtues
- XVIII-XXVI: Subjects of David's songs
- XXVII-XXIX: David's accomplishments through singing
- XXX-XXXVIII: David's knowledge (based on the 7 days of creation)
- XXXIX: Transition to new section
- XL-XLVIII: Meditation on the Decalogue
- XLIX-LI: Transition to new section--a praise of God
- LII-LXIII: The seasons and their use
- LXIV: Transition
- LXV-LXXI: The five senses
- LXXII-LXXXVI: The five degrees--Gratitude, Faith, Prayer, Purity
- of Heart, and Salvation through Christ.]
- I
- O THOU, that sit'st upon a throne,
- With harp of high majestic tone,
- To praise the King of kings;
- And voice of heav'n-ascending swell,
- Which, while its deeper notes excell,
- Clear, as a clarion, rings:
- II
- To bless each valley, grove and coast,
- And charm the cherubs to the post
- Of gratitude in throngs;
- To keep the days on Zion's mount,
- And send the year to his account,
- With dances and with songs:
- III
- O Servant of God's holiest charge,
- The minister of praise at large,
- Which thou may'st now receive;
- From thy blest mansion hail and hear,
- From topmost eminence appear
- To this the wreath I weave.
- IV
- Great, valiant, pious, good, and clean,
- Sublime, contemplative, serene,
- Strong, constant, pleasant, wise!
- Bright effluence of exceeding grace;
- Best man!--the swiftest and the race,
- The peril, and the prize!
- V
- Great--from the lustre of his crown,
- From Samuel's horn, and God's renown,
- Which is the people's voice;
- For all the host, from rear to van,
- Applauded and embrac'd the man--
- The man of God's own choice.
- VI
- Valiant--the word, and up he rose;
- The fight--he triumph'd o'er the foes,
- Whom God's just laws abhor;
- And, arm'd in gallant faith, he took
- Against the boaster*, from the
brook, [Goliath]
- The weapons of the war.
- VII
- Pious--magnificent and grand;
- 'Twas he the famous temple plann'd;
- (The seraph in his soul:)
- Foremost to give his Lord His dues,
- Foremost to bless the welcome news,
- And foremost to condole.
- VIII
- Good--from Jehudah's genuine vein,
- From God's best nature good in grain,
- His aspect and his heart;
- To pity, to forgive, to save,
- Witness En-gedi's conscious cave,
- And Shimei's blunted dart.
- IX
- Clean--if perpetual prayer be pure,
- And love, which could itself inure
- To fasting and to fear--
- Clean in his gestures, hands, and feet,
- To smite the lyre, the dance complete,
- To play the sword and spear.
- X
- Sublime--invention ever young,
- Of vast conception, tow'ring tongue,
- To God th'eternal theme;
- Notes from yon exaltations caught,
- Unrival'd royalty of thought,
- O'er meaner strains supreme.
- XI
- Contemplative--on God to fix
- His musings, and above the six
- The Sabbath-day he blest;
- 'Twas then his thoughts self-conquest prun'd,
- And heav'nly melancholy tun'd,
- To bless and bear the rest.
- XII
- Serene--to sow the seeds of peace,
- Rememb'ring, when he watch'd the fleece,
- How sweetly Kidron purl'd--
- To further knowledge, silence vice,
- And plant plant perpetual paradise,
- When God had calm'd the world.
- XIII
- Strong--in the Lord, Who could defy
- Satan, and all his pow'rs that lie
- In sempiternal night;
- And hell, and horror, and despair
- Were as the lion and the bear
- To his undaunted might.
- XIV
- Constant--in love to God, THE TRUTH,
- Age, manhood, infancy, and youth--
- To Jonathan his friend
- Constant, beyond the verge of death;
- And Zilba, and Mephibosheth,
- His endless fame attend.
- XV
- Pleasant--various as the year;
- Man, soul, and angel, without peer,
- Priest, champion, sage, and boy;
- In armor, or in ephod clad,
- His pomp, his piety was glad;
- Majestic was his joy.
- XVI
- Wise--in recovery from his fall,
- Whence rose his eminence o'er all,
- Of all the most revil'd;
- The light of Israel in his ways,
- Wise are his precepts, prayer and praise,
- And counsel to his child.
- XVII
- His muse, bright angel of his verse,
- Gives balm for all the thorns that pierce,
- For all the pangs that rage;
- Blest light, still gaining on the gloom,
- The more than Michal of his bloom,
- Th'Abishag of his age.
- XVIII
- He sung of God--the mighty source
- Of all things--the stupendous force
- On which all strength depends;
- From Whose right arm, beneath Whose eyes,
- All period, pow'r, and enterprise
- Commences, reigns, and ends.
- XIX
- Angels--their ministry and meed,
- Which to and fro with blessings speed,
- Or with their citherns wait;
- Where Michael with his millions bows,
- Where dwells the seraph and his spouse
- The cherub and her mate.
- XX
- O David, scholar of the Lord!
- Of God and Love--the Saint elect
- For infinite applause--
- To rule the land, and briny broad,
- To be laborious in His laud,
- And heroes in His cause.
- XXI
- The world--the clust'ring spheres He made,
- The glorious light, the soothing shade,
- Dale, champaign, grove, and hill;
- The multitudinous abyss,
- Where secrecy remains in bliss,
- And wisdom hides her skill
- XXII
- Trees, plants, and flow'rs--of virtuous root;
- Gem yielding blossom, yielding fruit,
- Choice gums and precious balm;
- Bless ye the nosegay in the vale,
- And with the sweetness of the gale
- Enrich the thankful psalm.
- XXIII
- Of fowl--e'en ev'ry beak and wing
- Which cheer the winter, hail the spring,
- That live in peace or prey;
- They that make music, or that mock,
- The quail, the brave domestic cock,
- The raven, swan, and jay.
- XXIV
- Of fishes--ev'ry size and shape,
- Which nature frames of light escape,
- Devouring man to shun:
- The shells are in the wealthy deep,
- The shoals upon the surface leap,
- And love the glancing sun.
- XXV
- Of beasts--the beaver plods his task,
- While the sleek tigers roll and bask,
- Nor yet the shades arouse:
- Her cave the mining coney*
scoops; [hare]
- Where o'er the mead the mountain stoops,
- The kids exult and browse.
- XXVI
- Of gems--their virtue and their price,
- Which hid in earth from man's device,
- Their darts of lustre sheathe;
- The jasper of the master's stamp,
- The topaz blazing like a lamp,
- Among the mines beneath.
- XXVII
- Blest was the tenderness he felt
- When to his graceful harp he knelt,
- And did for audience call;
- When Satan with his hand he quell'd
- And in serene suspense he held
- The frantic throes of Saul.
- XXVIII
- His furious foes no more malign'd
- As he such melody divin'd,
- And sense and soul detain'd;
- Now striking strong, now soothing soft,
- He sent the godly sounds aloft,
- Or in delight refrain'd.
- XXIX
- When up to heav'n his thoughts he pil'd
- From fervent lips fair Michal smil'd,
- As blush to blush she stood;
- And chose herself the queen, and gave
- Her utmost from her heart, "so brave,
- And plays his hymns so good."
- XXX
- The pillars of the Lord are seven,
- Which stand from earth to topmost heav'n;
- His wisdom drew the plan;
- His WORD accomplish'd the design,
- From brightest gem to deepest mine,
- From CHRIST enthron'd to man.
- XXXI
- Alpha, the cause of causes, first
- In station, fountain, whence the burst
- Of light, and blaze of day;
- Whence bold attempt, and brave advance,
- Have motion, life, and ordinance
- And heav'n itself its stay.
- XXXII
- Gamma supports the glorious arch
- On which angelic legions march,
- And is with sapphires pav'd;
- Thence the fleet clouds are sent adrift,
- And thence the painted folds, that lift
- The crimson veil, are wav'd.
- XXXIII
- Eta with living sculpture breathes,
- With verdant carvings, flow'ry wreathes,
- Of never-wasting bloom;
- In strong relief his goodly base
- All instruments of labor grace,
- The trowel, spade, and loom.
- XXXIV
- Next Theta stands to the Supreme--
- Who form'd, in number, sign, and scheme,
- Th'illustrious lights that are:
- And one address'd his saffrom robe,
- And one, clad in a silver globe,
- Held rule with ev'ry star.
- XXXV
- Iota's tun'd to choral hymns
- Of those that fly, while he that swims
- In thankful safety lurks;
- And foot*, and chapitre*, and
niche, [a column's base and capital]
- The various histories enrich
- Of God's record'd works.
- XXXVI
- Sigma presents the social droves,
- With him that solitary roves,
- And man of all the chief;
- Fair on whose face, and stately frame,
- Did God impress His hallow'd name,
- For ocular belief.
- XXXVII
- OMEGA! GREATEST and the BEST,
- Stands sacred to the day of rest,
- For gratitude and thought;
- Which bless'd the world upon his pole,
- And gave the universe his goal,
- And clos'd th'infernal draught.
- XXXVIII
- O DAVID, scholar of the Lord!
- Such is thy science*, whence
reward [knowledge]
- And infinite degree;
- O strength, O sweetness, lasting ripe!
- God's harp thy symbol, and thy type
- The lion and the bee!
- XXXIX
- There is but One who ne'er rebell'd,
- But One by passion unimpell'd,
- By pleasures unentic'd;
- He from Himself His semblance sent,
- Grand object of His own content,
- And saw the God in CHRIST.
- XL
- Tell them, I am, JEHOVAH said
- To MOSES; while earth heard in dread,
- And, smitten to the heart,
- At once above, beneath, around,
- All Nature, without voice or sound,
- Repli'd, "O Lord, THOU ART."
- XLI
- Thou art--to give and to confirm,
- For each his talent and his term;
- All flesh thy bounties share:
- Thou shalt not call thy brother fool;
- The porches of the Christian school
- Are meekness, peace, and pray'r.
- XLII
- Open, and naked of offence,
- Man's made of mercy, soul, and sense;
- God arm'd the snail and
wilk*; [whelk]
- Be good to him that pulls thy plough;
- Due food and care, due rest, allow
- For her that yields thee milk.
- XLIII
- Rise up before the hoary head,
- And God's benign commandment dread,
- Which says thou shalt not die:
- "Not as I will, but as Thou wilt,"
- Pray'd He Whose conscience knew no guilt;
- With Whose bless'd pattern vie.
- XLIV
- Use all thy passions!--love is thine,
- And joy, and jealousy divine;
- Thine hope's eternal fort,
- And care thy leisure to disturb,
- With fear concupiscence to curb,
- And rapture to transport.
- XLV
- Act simply, as occasion asks;
- Put mellow wine in season'd casks;
- Till not with ass and bull:
- Remember thy baptismal bond;
- Keep from commixtures foul and
fond*, [foolish]
- Nor work thy flax with wool.
- XLVI
- Distribute: pay the Lord His tithe,
- And make the widow's heart-strings blythe;
- Resort with* those that
weep: [to go to]
- As you from all and each expect,
- For all and each thy love direct,
- And render as you reap.
- XLVII
- The slander and its bearer spurn,
- And propagating praise sojourn
- To make thy welcome last;
- Turn from Old Adam to the New;
- By hope futurity pursue;
- Look upwards to the past.
- XLVIII
- Control thine eye, salute success,
- Honor the wiser, happier bless,
- And for thy neighbor feel;
- Grutch* not of Mammon and his
leav'n, [to envy]
- Work emulation up to heav'n
- By knowledge and by zeal.
- XLIX
- O DAVID, highest in the list
- Of worthies, on God's ways insist,
- The genuine word repeat:
- Vain are the documents of men,
- And vain the flourish of the pen
- That keeps the fool's conceit.
- L
- PRAISE above all--for praise prevails;
- Heap up the measure, load the scales,
- And good to goodness add:
- The gen'rous soul her Saviour aids,
- But peevish obloquy degrades;
- The Lord is great and glad.
On to Stanzas 51-86