C.D. Warner, et al., comp.
The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
The Resignation
By Thomas Chatterton (17521770)
O G
Whose eye this atom-globe surveys,
To thee, my only rock, I fly,—
Thy mercy in thy justice praise.
The shadows of celestial night,
Are past the power of human skill;
But what the Eternal acts is right.
When anguish swells the dewy tear—
To still my sorrows, own thy power,
Thy goodness love, thy justice fear.
Encroaching, sought a boundless sway,
Omniscience could the danger see,
And Mercy look the cause away.
Why drooping seek the dark recess?
Shake off the melancholy chain;
For God created all to bless.
The rising sigh, the falling tear,
My languid vitals’ feeble rill,
The sickness of my soul declare.
I’ll thank the Inflictor of the blow—
Forbid the sigh, compose my mind,
Nor let the gush of misery flow.
Which on my sinking spirit steals,
Will vanish at the morning light,
Which God, my East, my Sun, reveals.