"Lord, when thou didst on _Sinai_ pitch,
And shine from _Paran_, when a firie Law,
Pronounc'd with thunder and thy threats, did thaw
Thy People's hearts, when all thy weeds were rich,
And Inaccessible for light,
Terrour, and might;--
How did poore flesh, which after thou didst weare,
Then faint and fear!
Thy Chosen flock, like leafs in a high wind,
Whisper'd obedience, and their heads inclin'd."
The idea in the last lines, we may suppose, was suggested by what Isaiah
says of the effect produced on Ahaz and the men of Judah, when they
heard that Rezin, king of Syria, had joined Israel against them. "And
his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, _as the trees of the
wood are moved by the winds_."