Sion it is where thou art praiséd,
Sion, O God, where vows they pay thee:
There all men's prayers to thee raiséd,
Return possessed of what they pray thee.
There thou my sins, prevailing to my shame,
Dost turn to smoke of sacrificing flame.

Oh! he of bliss is not deceivéd, _disappointed._
Whom chosen thou unto thee takest;
And whom into thy court receivéd,
Thou of thy checkrole[65] number makest:
The dainty viands of thy sacred store
Shall feed him so he shall not hunger more.

From thence it is thy threat'ning thunder--
Lest we by wrong should be disgracéd--
Doth strike our foes with fear and wonder,
O thou on whom their hopes are placéd,
Whom either earth doth stedfastly sustain,
Or cradle rocks the restless wavy plain.

Thy virtue stays the mighty mountains, _power._
Girded with power, with strength abounding.
The roaring dam of watery fountains _the "dam of fountains"
Thy beck doth make surcease her sounding. [is the ocean._
When stormy uproars toss the people's brain,
That civil sea to calm thou bring'st again. _political, as opposed
[to natural._