The Resignation
Thomas Chatterton
1752 to 1770
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O God, whose thunder shakes the sky,
Whose eye atom globe surveys,
To thee, my only rock, I fly,
Thy mercy in thy justice praise.
The mystic mazes thy will,
The shadows of celestial light,
Are past pow'r of human skill,—
But what th' Eternal is right.
O teach me in the trying hour,
anguish swells the dewy tear,
To still my sorrows, thy pow'r,
Thy goodness love, thy justice fear.
If this bosom aught but Thee
Encroaching sought a boundless sway,
Omniscience could the danger see,
And Mercy look the away.
Then why, my soul, dost thou complain?
Why seek the dark recess?
Shake off the melancholy chain.
God created all to bless.
But ah! my breast human still;
The rising sigh, the falling tear,
My vitals' feeble rill,
The sickness of my soul declare.
yet, with fortitude resigned,
I'll thank th' inflicter of blow;
Forbid the sigh, compose my mind,
Nor let gush of mis'ry flow.
The gloomy mantle of the night,
Which on my sinking spirit steals,
Will vanish at morning light,
Which God, my East, my sun reveals.