In the dark Backward of six thousand Years,
(So Moses writes and all our Christian Seers)
The World, a rude, unfashion'd Embryo lay
Eternal Night, without a glimpse of Day;
Earth, Seas, and Heaven, in one blind Chaos thrown,
And Years, and Months, and Days were Names unknown;
'Till God mark'd out th' interminable Space,
And stamp'd Creation on the formless Mass;
Wide o'er the Void his genial Wings he spread,
And entity uprear'd its infant head;
Prone to her Center sunk the Earth below,
And o'er her Face the rising Waters flow.

Let there be Light, said God; and sudden light
Sprung from the Deep, and burst the womb of Night,
Dreadful it gleam'd along the barren Waste,
Hell startled, and old Chaos stood aghast;
From the dusk gloom he call'd the chearful Light,
Prescrib'd its Bounds, and wing'd it for the flight.
God saw, approv'd, and bless'd the spreading Ray;
And the first Ev'ning clos'd the first--created Day.

Again th' Almighty said; let Us prepare
A wide expanse of undulating Air;
And let it be, the Waters to remove
Beneath the Firmament, from those above:
He spoke benign; and with his out--stretch'd Hand
Establish'd the immutable Command:
Forthwith thin Vapours from the Gulph arise,
Cloud after Cloud, and thicken into Skies;
God saw and bless'd: while choral Angels play,
And crown with joyful Hymns the second Day.

Still was the Earth in ambient Oceans drown'd,
Nor knew the Waters their appointed bound:
When thus again Heaven's all--sufficient Lord
Thro' the dark Void pronounc'd his pow'rful Word;
Hear and obey, ye Waters, that below
The Firmament in wild disorder flow;
Be gather'd into one capacious Bed,
And let Dry--Land upheave her naked Head:
Th' Almighty thus; and sudden at the Word,
Obedient down the Hills the Torrents pour'd;
Thro' porous Veins impetuous Waters sweep,
And headlong crowd into a Chrystal heap:
Low sunk beneath, the hollow'd Earth provides
An ample Basin for the rushing Tides.
Emerging Hills and broken Rocks arise,
And lift their craggy Summits to the Skies.
God saw it, and confirm'd the wise Decree,
He nam'd the Dry--land, Earth; the Waters, Sea:
And said, Let lusty verdure cloath the Earth,
And let the Fields conceive a various Birth;
Let tender Grass, and painted Flow'rs arise,
And to the Season trust their gaudy Dies:
Let lofty Trees their shady Honours spread,
And fragrant Herbs perfume the springing Mead.

Scarce had he spoke, when lo! the quick'ning Ground
Spontaneous smil'd, with vernal Beauties crown'd:
Flow'r, Herb, and Grass, arise; and o'er the Plain
Mature for Harvest waves the bearded Grain;
Unplanted Trees drive deep their branching Roots,
Spread in the Air, and bend with golden Fruits.
God saw it, that 'twas good, and bless'd it all,
And the third Day beheld the Shadows fall.

Again, said God; let radiant Orbs appear
Thro' the wide Kingdoms of the Hemisphere;
Alternate Day and Darkness to divide,
And o'er the Seasons of the Year preside.

And God created two vast Orbs of Light,
To bear dividual Rule by Day and Night:
And first the Sun, an huge, unweildy sphere
He fixt aloft, to lead the circling year;
To spread around his lustre, and bestow
Prolific influence on the World below.
To the bright Car he join'd the flaming Horse,
Furnish'd with Light; and pointed out his Course:
With gen'rous Courage, from the Barrier freed,
O'er the wide Azure, bounds th'aethereal Steed;
Till from afar he views the less'ning East,
And hastens down the ruddy--colour'd West;
There forms, in halcyon waves, a downy bed,
To rest his weary limbs, and quench his burning head.

Oppos'd to him the silver Moon displays
Her spotted Orb, and burns with fainter Rays;
With level'd Aspect views his golden Urn,
Feasts on his Beams, and fills her famish'd Horn;
Which the Almighty fashion'd, to preside
O'er Winds and Waves, and rule the angry Tide;
With spangling Stars to join her trembling Light,
And share the gloomy Empire of the Night:
Of spangling Stars sprung forth, at his Command,
And roll'd their destin'd Orbs, a num'rous Band,
Darkness repuls'd, Day scarce could Night out--vye,
And on the World bestow a brighter Sky.
God saw, approv'd, and bless'd what he had made,
And the fourth Day receiv'd the falling Shade.

And God said; let the fruitful Waters teem,
And moving Creatures glide thro' ev'ry Stream;
Let feather'd Fowl thro' fluid Kingdoms fly,
And with their Pinions fan the floating Sky.

He spoke; and strait the pregnant Seas brought forth
And ev'ry Billow teem'd a scaly Birth;
The huge Leviathan from Side to Side,
Tumbled along, and flounc'd the thundring Tide;
On the smooth Calm the arching Dolphins play,
And shape, in sportive Chace, their liquid way.

While Embryo Fowl distend the tepid Shells,
Mature for Life, and burst their scanty Cells;
Or loosly rang'd, or firmly wedg'd they rise,
A feather'd Cloud, and blacken half the Skies.
The strong--pounc'd Eagle, with unwearied Sight;
Tow'rs the bright Sun to his Meridian height.
The elegiac Nightingale prepares
Her ev'ning Song, and sinks in solemn airs.
The Lark melodious, poiz'd on levell'd Wings,
Hangs in mid Air, and brisker Carols sings;
Borne on the Breeze her silver Warblings float,
And the Creator swells in every Note:
The crested Cock, with a majestick Mien.
Pains his shril Voice, and struts along the Green.
With leathern Oars the silver Swan divides
The Lake, and proudly o'er the Mirrour rides.
While that fair Bird, whose varied Plumes unfold
Myriads of starry Eyes, and Gems of Gold,
With conscious Pride spreads forth his gorgeous Train,
And with brocaded Pinions sweeps the Plain.
God saw that it was good; and, gracious, said,
(In mantling Thunder and in Winds array'd)
Be fruitful, O! ye Creatures, that repair
On painted Wings thro' Fields of buoyant Air;
Be fruitful, O! ye Creatures, that divide
The restless Waves, and cleave the briny Tide;
Female, and Male increase; with genial Seed
Replenish ev'ry Stream, and multiply your Breed.
While yet he spoke, the youthful Sun descends,
And the fifth Day in gloomy Darkness ends.

Once more th' Almighty said; let fruitful Earth
Unfold her Womb, and teem with num'rous Birth:
Let Cattle in the Field expect their Food,
And savage Beasts frequent the lonely Wood;
Let reptile Animals a minim Race,
And various Insects swarm in every Place.

Straitway the Earth impregnated, conceives,
And the swoln Glebe with num'rous Offspring heaves;
The shaggy Lyon, and the bristled Boar
Rise into Life, and thro' the Desart roar;
The Ox and Tyger crowd the peaceful Plain,
And the fleet Courser shakes his flowing Mane;
The vast Behemoth, of enormous Size,
Starts from the Glebe, and rolls his glaring Eyes;
Behemoth, largest of all Nature's Race,
With Ribs of Iron, and with Nerves of Brass;
His Loins are stronger than the temper'd Mail,
And like a Cedar moves his length of Tail.

Still there remains, said God, the noblest part,
The Boldest Effort of creating Art:
After our Likeness, let us draw the Plan,
And in our Image build immortal Man;
Man o'er the Riches of the Earth to reign,
Of trackless Air, and vast unbounded Main;
Endow'd with Reason, and a pow'r to will,
Inclin'd to Good, tho' not restrain'd from Ill.

And from the Dust God shap'd the human Frame,
And in his Nostrils breath'd the living Flame;
Female and Male he shap'd them; to command,
Earth, Air, and Seas, and bless his righteous Hand;
The Brute machine confess'd th' informing Ray,
And infant Motion warm'd the struggling Clay:
Wak'd into Life, his Eyes begin to roll,
His Heart to beat, to meditate his Soul;
Erect to Heav'n he lifts his ardent Sight,
Charm'd with those glorious Orbs, and Worlds of rolling Light.

FEMALE and Male God shap'd the human Frame
Incorporate, consubstantial, and the Same;
In the Man's Side, his Consort, Woman, lay,
Not yet call'd forth to view the chearful Day;
But Adam slept; for God his Eye--lids press'd,
And took the beauteous Female from his Breast;
From a stol'n Rib the shining Creature rose,
Fresh, fair, and spotless as the falling Snows,
Sparkling and gay as the primoeval Light,
Soft to the Touch and lovely to the Sight;
With polish'd Features, but an artless Mind,
Unequal Fate! to damn and bless Mankind.
Like fragant Flow'rs she breathed, commanding Love,
And her Eyes glitter'd, like the Stars above,
So charming was the Mother of our Race,
That Angels gaz'd in transport on her Face.

When thus, in Words, which loud as Thunder, broke,
Th' Almighty to his new Vicegerent spoke;
While list'ning Seraphs on each Accent hung,
And Heav'ns high Domes with hallow'd Ios rung.

''Hail, thou great master--piece of Skill Divine,
''In whom the Features of thy Maker shine;
''For thee alone this spatious Globe was made,
''And the dark searchless Plan of Nature laid;
''For Thee the Seasons and the Year roll round,
''With beauteous Flow'rs and plenteous Harvests crown'd;
''The Wind, subservient to thy Grandeur blows,
''Each Tree bears Fruit, and every River flows;
''For thee is made, whatever may conduce
''To Pleasure, Profit, Ornament and Use;
''Fish, Fowl and Cattle shall obey thy Word,
''And Woman own thee her despotick Lord.

''Enrich'd with Blessings mount thy earthly Throne,
''Subject to thy Creator God alone:
''Female and Male in nuptial Bands be join'd,
''Preserve your Image and improve your kind.

Thus spake, and ceas'd the dread, omnific God,
And up the Heav'n of Heav'ns triumphant rode;
From whence reclin'd the new--born World he view'd,
His handy Labour, and pronounc'd it Good;
The western Sun now shot a feeble Light,
And the sixth Day was wrapt in Shades of Night.