THE SECOIN'D AINIVERSARY.
vOTHI.WG could make me sooner to confess That this world had an everlastinguess, Thau to eonsider, that a year is run, Sinee both this lower world's, and the sun's suu, The lustre, aud the vigour of this al], Did set: "twere blasphemy to sa)', did fall. But as a ship whieh hath struek sali, doth run By fbrce of that force which belote it won: Or as sometimes in a beheaded man, Though at those two red seas, which fi'eely ran, Onc from the truuk, auother from the head, His soul be sailcd to lier eternal bed, His eyes will twinlde, and his tongue will roll, As though ho beckoned, aud called back his soul. He grasps his hands, and he pulls up his feet, And seems to reaêh, and to step forth to meet His sou|; when all these motions which we sw, Are but as ice, wbich crackles at a thaw: Or as a lute, which lu moist weather, rings Her kuell alone, by cracking of ber strings. So struggles this dead world, now she is gone;:For there is motion in corruption. As sonle days are at the creation uamed, Before the sun, the which framed daya, was framed: So after this suu's set, some show appears, And orderly icissitude of years. Yet a new deluge, and of Lethe flood, Hath drowned us all; all have fbrgot all good,
FUNEIAL ELEICS.
Forgetting her, the main reserve of all: ¥ct in this deluge, gross and general, Thou seest me strive for lire my lire shall be, To be hereafter praised, for praising thee lmmortal maid, who though thou would*st refuse The naine of mother, be unto my muse A father, since her chaste ambition Yearly to bring forth such a child as this. These hymns may work on future wits, and so May great-grand-children of thy praises grow. And so, though hOt revive, embahu and spice The world, which else would putre" with vice. For thus, man may extend thy progeny, Until man do but vanish, and hot die. These h)mans, thy issue, ma" increase so long, As till God's great ICite change the song. Thirst for that time, O my insatiate soul, And serve thy thirst, with God's sale sealing bowl. Be tbirsty still, and drink still till thou go To the only:health, to be hydroptie so. Forget this rotten world; and unto thee Let thine own times as an old stor)" be: De uot concerned: study not why nor vhen; Do hot so much as hot believe a man. For tbough to err, be worst; to try truths forth, Is far more business, than this world is worth. Tbe world is but a carcase; thou art ïed By it, but as a worm, that carcase bred; And why should'st thou, poor worm, consider more Vhen this world will grow better than beïore, Than those thy fellow-worms do think upon That earcase's last resurrection. Forger this world, and scarce think of it As of old clothes, ca.t off a year ago. To be drus stupid is alacrity Men thns lethargic have best memory. Look upward; that's towards her, whose happy state We now lainent hot, but congratulate. She, to whom all this world was but a stage, Vhere ail sat hearkening how her youthful age Should be employed, because in ail she did, Some figure of the g,)ldeu rimes was hid.
SVho could hot lack whate'er this world could give, ]3ecause she,vas the form, that ruade it lire; Tor could complain, that this world was unfit To be stayed in, theu when she was in it; She that first tried indifferent desires By virtue, and virtue by religious rires, She fo whose person p,radise adhered, As courts to princes, she whose eyes ensphered Star-light enough, to have marie the soutll control, (Had she been there) tlle starful Northern Pole. She, she is gone! she is gone; when thou know'st this, What fragmentary rubbish this wodd is, Thou know'st, and that it is hot worth a thought; He honours it too much tht thinks it nought. Think then, my soul, that death is but a groom, SVhich brings a taper to the outward room, SVhence thou spiest first a little glimmeri,g light, And after brings it uearer to thy sight: For such approaches doth heaven make in death. Think thyself labouring now with broken breath, And think those brokeu and sort notes to be Divisiou, and thy happiest harmony. Think thee laid on thy death-bed, loose a,d slack; And think that, but uubinding of a pack, To take one precious thing, thy soul, ri'oto thcncc. Thiuk thyself patch'd with fever's violence, Anger thine ague more, by calling it Thy physic; chide the slackness of the fit. Think that thou hear'st thy knel! and think uo more, But that, as bells calrd thêe to ehurch bctbre, So this to the tl'iunq)ha**t church call. thee. Think Satan's serjeants round about thee be, Aud thiuk that but for legacies thev thru»t; Give one thy pride, to another give thv lust: Give theln those sins which they gave thee beforc, Aud trust the immaculate blood to w«,sh thy sore. Think thy fi'iends weeping round, and think that thev "Veep but because they go hOt yet thv way. Think that they close thine eyes, and think in this, That they confess much in the world, amiss, Vho dare hOt trust a dead man's eye with that, Vhich they fi'om God, and angel cover hot.
Think that they shrond thee up, and think fronl thenee They reinvest thee in white innocence. Think that thy body tors, and (if so low, Thy soul exalted so, thy thoughts ean go,) Think thoe a prince, who of themselves ereat Worms wbieh insensibly devour their state. Think that they bury thee, and think that right Lays thee to sleep but a Saint Lueie's night. Think these things eheerfully; and if thou be I)rosvsy or slaek, remember then that sbe, Slle whose complexion was so even ruade, That whieh of her ingredients should invade The other three, uo fear, no art eon]d guëss: So far were 11 removed from more or less. But as iu mithridate, or just perfnmes, Where all good things beiug met, no one lwesumes To govern, or fo triumph on the rest, On]y boeause all were, no part was best, And as, thongh all do kuow, that qnantities Are nade of lines, md fines from points arise, Noue ean these llnes or quantities unjoiut, And say this is a line, or this a point: So though the elements and humours were In her, one conld hot say, this governs there, Vhose even constitution might have won Any disease to ventnre ou the suu, Rather thau her: and make a spirit tbar, That he too disttniting subject werc. To xvhose proportions if we would compare Cnbe, they are unstable; cireles, angular; 8he who was such a chain as Fate eml,loy '1'o bring mankiud ail fortnnes if e0oys; So tltt, so even wrougbt, as one wonld think, No accident could threateu any link; She, she embraeed a sickness, gave it meat, The purest blood, and breath, that e'ev it eat; And hath tanght us,that though a good man hath Title to heaven, aad plead it by his faith, And though he nmy pretend a eonqnest, sinee Heaven was content to surfer violence, Yea though he plead a long possession too, (For they're in heav on earth, who heaven's works do)
Though he had right and power and place, belote, Yet deuth must usher, and unlocl the door. Think further on thyself, my soul, and think How thou at first wast made but in a sink; Thinl that it argued some infirmity, That those two souls, which then thou foundst in me, Thou fed'st upon, and drew'st into thee both, My second soul of sense, the first of grooEh. Think but how poor thou wast, how obnoxious; Whom a small lump of flesh could poison thus. This curded milk, this poor unlittered whelp My body could, beyond escape or hel p, Infect thee with original sin, and thou Could'st ne]ther then refuse, nor leave it now. Think that no stubborn sullen anchor it, Vhich fixt to a pillar, or a grave, doth sit Bedded, and bathed in all his ordures, dwells So foully as our souls in their first-built cells. Think in how poor a prison thou didst lie After, enabled but to suck, and cry. Think, when 'twas grown to most, twas a poor inn, A province packed tp in two yards of skin, Aud that usurped or threatened with a rage Of sicknesses, or their truc mother, age. But th]nk that death bath now enfranchised thee, Thou hast thy expansion now, and liberty; Thinl that a rusty piece, discharged is flown In pieces, and the bullet is his own, And freely flics: this to thy soul allow, Think thy shell broke, think thy soul hatched but now. And think this slow-paced soul which late d]d cleave To a body, and wcnt but by the body's leave, Twenty perchance or thirty toiles a-day, Dispatches in a minute all the way Betw]xt heaven, and earth; she stays hot in the air, To look what meteors there themselves ærepare She carries no desire to know, nor sense, Vhether the air's middle region be intense For the element of tire, she doth not know, Vhether she past by such a place or no; She baits not at the moon, nor cares to try Vhether in that new worl«], men lire,,nd die.
Venus retards her not, to inquire, how she Can, Çoeing one star) Hesper, and Vesper be; He that charmed Argus eyes, sweet Mercury, XVorks hot on her, who now is grown ail eye XVho if she meet the body of the sun, Goes through, hot staying till his course be run; XVho finds in Mars's camp no corps of guard; Nor is by Jove, nor by his ïather barr'd; But ere she can consider how she went, At once is at, and through the firmament. And as these stars were but so many beads Strung on one string, speed undistinguished leads Her through those spheres, as through the beads, a string, XVhose quick succession makes it still one thing: As doth the pith, which, lest out bodies slack, Strings ïast the little bones of neck, and back; So by the soul doth death string heaven and earth; For when ottr sottl enjoys this her third birth, ((°reatiou gax'e ber one, a second, grace,) tIcaven is as near, and present to her face, As colours are, and objects, in a room XVhcre darkness was belote, when tapers corne. This must, my soul, thy long-short pro..-ress be, To advance these thougbts: remember then that she, She, whose fait body no such prison was, But that a soul might well be pleased to pass An age in her she whose rich beauty lent Mintage to other beauties, for they went Bttt for so much as they were ]ike to her; She, in whose body (if we date prefer This low world, to so high a mark as she,) The western treasure, eastern spicery, Europe, and 3_frica, and the unknown rest Vere easily round, or what in them was best And when we have ruade this large diseovery { }f al], in ber some one part then will be Twenty sueh parts, whose plenty and riches is Enough fo make twenty sueh worlds as this qhe, whom had they known who did first betroth The tutelar angels, and assigned one, both To nations, eities, and to eompanies, To funetions, offices, and dignities,
And to each several ma|l, to hilll, and They wouhl have gh'en ber one tbr every lhnl,; She, of whose soul, if we may sy, 'twas gold, lier body was the electruln, and did hold Many degrees of that; we understood Her by ber 8ight her pure, and eloquent blood Spoke in her cheeks, and so disthlctiv wrought, That one nlight ahnost say, ber body thought She, she, thus richly and largely hous'd, is gonc: And ehides us siow-paccd snaiis who crawl upou ur prisou's prison, earth, nor think us wcli, Longer, than whilst we bare our brittle shell. But "twere but little to have changed out room, If, as we were in this our living tomb Oppressed with ignorance, we still were so. Poor soul, in this thy flesh what dost flou know;- Thou know'st thyseif so little, as thou know'st hot, How thou didst die, hOt how thou wast begot. Thou neither know'st, how thou at first cam'st h'or how thou toek'st ie poison of man's sin. Nor dost thou, (though thou know'st, that thou art By what way thou art lnade immortM, know. Thou art too narrow, wretch, to comprehend Even thyself: yea though thou would'st but bcnd To kuow thy body. lIave hot ail souls thought For many ages, that our body is wrought Of air, and tire, and other elements .knd llOç they think of new ingredients; And one soul flfinks c,ne, and another wav Auother thinks, and "ris au evcn lay. Know'st thou but how the stone doth enter in The bladdeçs cave, and never break the skin Know'st tbou how blood, which to the heart doth flow, Doth from one ventricle to the other go And for the putrid stuff, which thou dost spit, Know'st thon how thy luugs have attracted it There are no passages, o that there is (For ought thou know'st) piereing of sul,stanees. And of those many opinions which men rai»e « f nails and hairs, dost thou know which to ptise Vhat hope bave we to lnow ourselves, when we Know not the least things, which for our use be
We sec in authors, too stiff to recant, A hundred controversies of an ant; And yet one watehes, starves, freezes, and sweats, To know but eateehisms and alphabets Of uneoneerning things, matters of faet; How others on out stage their parts did aet; XVhat Coeur did, yea, and what Cieero said, XVhy gra.s is green, or why ont biood is red, Are mysteries which none have reached nnto. In this low form, poor soul, what wilt thon do. $$'hcn wilt thou shake off this pedantT, Of being taught by sense, and fantasy. Thou look'st through spectacles; small things seom great 7elow; but up unto the watch-tower get, And sec all things despoiled of fallacies: Thon shalt hot peep through lattices of eyes, Nor hear through labyrinths of ears, nor learn Bv circuit, or collections to discern. In heaven thou straight kuow'st ail, concerning it, And witat conccr,s it hot, shalt straight forger. There thon (but in no other school) lnay'st be Perehance, as learncd, and as full, as she, She who all libraries had throughly read At home in her own tltoughts, and practised.qo nmeh good as would make as nmny more:,qhe whose example they nmst all implore, XVho wouhl or do, or think well, and coufess That all the virtuous actions they express, Are but a new, and worse edition Of ber some one thought, or one action:.qhe who in the art of knowing heaven, was grown tlere upon earth, to such perfection, That she hath, ever since fo heaven she came, (ln a far fairer point,) but read the saine: She, she hOt satisfied with all tltis weight, (For so lnuch knowledge, as would over-freight A nother, did but ballast her) is gone As well to enjoy, as get perfection. And calls us after her, in that site took, (Taking herself) our best, and worthiest book. l{eturn hot, my sonl, from this ecstasy, And meditation of wltat thou shalt be,
To earthly thoughts, till it to thee appear, Vith whom thy conversation must be there, With whom wilt thou converse. what station Caust thou choose out, ïree ïrom infection, That wiLl hot give thee theirs, nor drink in thine, t Shalt thou hot find a spungy slaek divine, Drink and suek in the instructions of great men, And for the word of God, vent them again. A re there hot soue courts (and then, no things be So like as courts) which in this let us sec, That wits, and tongues of libellers are weak, Because they do more ill, than these eau speak. The poison's gone through ail, poisons affect Chiefly the ehiefest parts, but soue effect In halls, and hairs, yea excrements, will show; So lies the poison of sin in the most low. Up, up, my drowsy soul, where thy new car Shall in the angels" songs no diseord heur; Where thou shalt seo the blessed mother-maid Joy in hot being that, which men have said; Where she's exalted more for being good, Than for ber interest of motherhood. Up fo those patriarehs, which did longer sit Expeeting Christ, than thefve enjoyed him yet. Up to those prophets, whieh now gladly sec Their propheeies grown to be history. Up to the apostles, who did bravely run Al1 the sun's course, with more light than the sun. Up to those martyrs, who did ealmly bleed Oil to the apostles" lamps, dew to their seed. Up to those virgins, who thought, that almost They ruade joint-tenants with the Holy Ghost, Il" they to any should his temple give. Up, up, for in that squadron there doth lire She, svho bath carried thither new degrees (As to their number) to their diemfities. She, who being to herself a state, enjoy'd Ail royalties which any state employ'd; For she ruade wars, and triumph'd; reason still Did hot o'erthrow, but rectiïy her wiil: And she ruade peace, for no peace is like this, That beauty and chastity together kiss:
She did high justice, for she crucified Every first motion of rebellious pride; And she gave pardons, and,vas liberal, For only herself except, she pardonM ail: She coined, in this, that ber impression gave To ail our actions ail the worth they bave: She gave protections; the thoughts of ber breast Satan's rude oflicers could ne'er arrest. As these prerogatives being met in one, Made her a sovereign state; religion 5Ie her a church; and these two made ber ail. She who was ail this ail, and could hot fMI To worse by company, (for she was still lIore antidote, than ail the world was ill.) She, she doth leave it, and by dcath, survive Ail this, in heaven; whether who doth hot strive The more, because she's there, he doth hot know That accidental joys in heaven do grow. But pause, my soul; and study ere thou fMI On accidental jobs, th" essential. Still before accessories do abide A trial, must the principal be tried. And what essential joy can'st thou expect Here upon earth. Vhat permanent eflct Of transitory causes. Dost thou love Beauty . (And beauty worthiest is to more) Poor cozened cozener, that she, and that thou, Vhich did begin to love, are neither now; You are both fluid, changed since yesterday; ext day repairs, (but ill) last day's decay. or are, (although the river keep the name) Yesterday's waters, and to-day's the saine. So flows ber face, and thine eyes; neither now That saint nor pilgrim, which your loving vow Concerned, remains; but whilst you think you be Constant, you are hourly in inconstancy. H onour may bave pretence nnto out love, Because that God did lire so long above Vithout this honour, and then loved it so, That he at last ruade creatures to bestow Honour on him; hot that he needetl it, But that, to his hands, man might ow more fit.
But since all honours from inferiors flow, (For they do gire if; princes do but shou- V'hom they would have no honoured) and that this ()n sucb opinions, and capacities Is built, as fise and faII, to more and lcss: Alas, 'tis but a casual llappiness. Hath erer any man to himself assign'd This or that happiness fo arrest his mind, But that another lllaU which takes a worse, Thinls They wbo did labour BabeFs tower to erect, Might have considcred, that for that cflèct, Ail this who}e solid earth couhl not allow Sot thrnish tbrth materials enough; Aud that his centre to raise sucll a place Vas far too littlê, to bave been the base; 1'o more aflbrds this world foundatiou To erect truc joy, were ail thc means in one. But as the heathen luade them several gods, Of ail God's benefits, and ail his rods, (For as the wine, and corn, and onion. are Gods uuto them, so agues bê, and war) And as by changing that whole preeious gold To such small eopper coins, they lost the ohl. And lost their only God, who ever Be sought alone, and no in such a thrut: So much mankind true bappiness ulistakes 1'o joy enjoys that man, that nmuv nlakes. Then, soul, to thy first pitch work np again Know that ail lines which eirclês do contaill, For once that they the centre touch, do touch Twiee the cireumfêrenee; and be thou such; Double on heaven tby tlloughts ouearth employed Ail will hOt serve; ortie" who have enjoyed The s_ight of God, in fulness, eau think it; For it is both the object, and the wit. This is essential joy, where neither he Can surfer diminution, uor we; 'Tis such a tidl, and sueh a lling good; Had th" angels once looked on bim, tlley had stood. To fill the place of one of theln, or more, She whom we celebrate, is gone before.
She, who had here so nmch essential joy, As no chance could distract, much less destroy; ,Vho with God's presence was acquainted so, (Hearin t, and speaking to hinl) as to know His face in any natural stone, or tree, Better than when in images they be: XVho kept by diligent devotion, God's image, in suc]a reparation, Within her heart, that what deeay was grown, Vas ber fil'st parents" fault, and hot her own: Who being solieited to any aet, Still heard God pleading his sale preeontract; Who by a faithful confidence, was here Betrothed fo God, and nov is nmrried there; Whose tvilights were more clear, than out mid-day; Who dreamt devoutlier, than most use to pray; Who being here filled with graee, yet strove to be, Both where more grace, and more capacity At once is giren: she to hea'en is gone, Vho ruade tllis world in some proportiou A hea'en, aud here, beeame unto t|s ail. Joy, (as out joys adroit) essential. But could this low world joys essential touch, lteaven's aecidental joys would pass them much. How poor and lame muet then our casual be. If thy prince will his subjects fo call thee My Lord, and this do swell thee, thou art than, By being greater, grown to be less man. Vhen no physician of redress ean speak, A joyïul easual violence may break A daugerous apostcm* in t]ay breast; And whilst thou joyest in this, the dangerous test, The bag may fise up, aud so 8trangle thee. Vhate'er was casual, may ever be. Vhat should tle nature change. or make the saine Certain, which was but easual, when it came. Ail casual joy doth loud and plainly sav, Only by Colning, that it ean away. Only in heaven joy's strength is never spent; And accideutal things are permanent..loy of a soul's arri'al ne'er decays; For that soul ever jo.vs and ever stays. An abscess» arfdwrrlla, corrupted into impostume.Joro. VO1.. VI. L
Joy that their last great consummation Approaches in the resurrection ç SVhen earthly bodies more celestial Shall be, than angels were, tbr they could rail; This kind of joy doth every day adroit Degrees of growth, but none of Iosing it. In this fresh joy, "ris no small part, that she, She, in whose goodness, he that names degree, Doth injure ber; ('tis loss to be called best, There where the stuff is hot such as the rest) She, who left such a body, as evcn she Only in heaven could learn, how it can be Made better; for she rather was two souls, Or like to fidl on-both-sides-written rolls, Vhere eyes might read upon the outward skin. As strong records for God, as minds within, She, who by making full perfection ow, Pieces a circle, and still keep. it so, Longed for, and longing for it, to heaven is gone, Vhere she reeeives, and gives addition. ttere in a place, where misdevotion frames A thousand prayers to saints, whose very names The ancient church knew hot, heaven knows hOt yet: And where, what laws of poetry admit, Laws of religion have at least the saine, hnmortal maid, 1 might invoke thy naine; Could any saint provoke that appetite, Thou here should'st make me a French conrertite. But thou would'st hOt; nor wotdd'st thou be content, To take this. tbr my second year's truc rent. Did this coin bear any other stamp, than his, That gave thee power to do, me, to sa S this, Since his will is, that to posterity, Thou shotdd'st for lire, and death, a pattern be, And that the world should notice have of this, The purpose, and the authority is his; Thou art the proclamation; and I ara Tbe trumpet, at whose volte the people came.
Lxoxo thou art too narrow and too weak To case us now; great sorrow cannot sI0eak; If we couhl sigh out accents, and weep vords. Grief wears, and lessens, that tears breath affords. Sad hearts, the less they seem, the more they are, (So guiltiest men stand mutest at the bar) ot that they know hot, feel hot their estate, But extreme sense hath ruade them desperate; Sorrow, to whom we owe all that we Tyrant in the tïfth and greatest monarchy, Vas"t, that she did possess ail hearts before, Thon hast killed her, to make thy empire more . Knew'st thon some wou]d, that knew her hot, lainent, As in a deluge perish th innocent Vast bot enough to have that palace won, But thou must raze it too, that was undone. Hadst thou stayed there, and lookd out at her eyes, Ail had adored thee that now from thee flies, For they let out more light, than they took in, They told hot when, but did the day begiu; She was too sapphirine, and clear to thee; Clay, flint, and jet now thy fit dweIlings be; Alas, she was too pure, but hOt too weak; Vhoe'er saw crystal ordnance but would break. And if we be thy conquest, by her rail Thou hast lost thy end, for in ber perish ail; Or, if we lire, we lire but to rebel, They know her better now, that knew her well; If we shotdd vapour out, and pine, and die; Since she first went, that were not misery; She changed out wodd with hers; now she is gone, Mirth and prosperity is oppression; For of ail moral virtues she was all The ethics speak of virtues cardinal; Her soul vas paradise; the cherubin Set to keep it was grace, that kept out sin; She had no more than let in death, for we Ail reap eonsumption from one fruitful tree;
God took her henee, lest some of us should love Her, like that plant, hiln aud his laws above, And when we tears, he merey shed in this, ïo raise out minds to heaven where now she ,Vho if ber virtues would bave let her stay We had had a saint, have now u holiday; Her heart was that soErange bush, where saered tire, Religion, did hot consume, but inspire Sueh piety, so chaste use of God's day, That what we turn to feast, she turued to pray, And did prefigure here, in devout taste, The test of her high Sabbath, whieh shall last; Angels did hand ber up, who next God dwell, (For she was of that order whence most fcll) Her body left with us, lest some had said. She could hot die, except they saw her dead; For from less vioEue, and less beauteou.-:ness, The Gentiles framed them gods and goddesses. The ravenous earth, that now wooes her to be Earth too, will be a lemnia*; and the tree That wraps that crystal in a wooden tomb, Shall be took up spruce, filled with diamond; And we her sad glad friends all bear a part Of grief, for ail would waste a Stoic's heart.
III.
You that are she, and you that»s double she, In her dead face, half of yourself shall see; She was the other part, for so they do Vhich build them friendships, become one of two; So two, that but themselves no third tan fit, Vhich were to be so, when they were not yet Twins, though their birth Cusco, and Musco take, As divers stars one constellation make, Paired like two eyes, have equal motion, so Both but one means to see, one way to go;
Had),ou died first, a carcase she had been; And we your rich tomb in ber face had seen; She like the soul is gone, and you here stay Not a lire friend » but the other hall of clay And sinee you act that part, as men say, here Lies such prince, when but one part is there; Ad do ail honour: and devotion due Uto the whole, so we all revercnce you For such a friendship who would hot adore In you, who are ail what both was before, Not all, as if some perished by this. But so, as all in you contracted is; As of this ail, though many parts decay. The pure which elemented them shall stay And though difl'u.ed, and spread in infinite, Shall recollect, and in one ail unite: So madam, as ber soul to heaven is fled. IIer flesh tests in the earth, as in the bed; Hcr virtues do, as to their proper sphere, Return to dwell with you, of whom thcy were; As perfect motions are all circular, So they to you, their sea, whence less streams are; She was ail spices, you all metals; so In you two we did both rich lndies know; And as no tire nor rust can spend or waste One drachm of gohl, but what was first shall last, Though it be forced in water, eartb, salt, air, Exlmnsed in infinite, none will impair; So to yourself you may additions takc, But nothing can you less, or changed make. Seek hot in seeking new, to scem to doubt, That you can match ber, or hot be without; But let some faithful book in ber room be, Yet but of Judith no such book as she.
ELEGY ON THE LORD Co
SoRnow, who to thls bouse scarce knew the way: Oh, heir of it, out all is his prey. This strange chance claims strange wonder, and to us l'othing can bc so strange, as fo weep thus
"Tis well his life's loud speaking works deserve, And give praise too: out cold tongues could hOt serve; "Tis well, he kept tears from our eyes before, That, to fit this deep iii, we might have storo. Oh, if a sweet-briar climb up by a tree, ] f to a paradise that transplanted be, Or feWd, and burnt for holy sacrifice, Yet that must wither, which by it did fise, As we for him dead: though no family E'er rigg'd a soul for heaven's discovery ïth xvhom more venturers more boldly date Venture their states, with him in joy to share. We lose what all friends los-ed, him, he gains now But lire by death, which worst foes would allow, If he could have foes, in whose practice grew AI1 virtues, whose naine subtle schoolmen knew; Vhat case, can hope that we shall see him, beget, Vhen we must die first, and cannot die yet . Iii.,_" cbildren are his pictures: Oh, they bo Pictures of him dead, senseless, cold as he. Here needs no marble tomb, since he is gone, He, and about him, his, are turn'd to stone.
Mx is the world, and death the ocean, To which God gives the lower parts of man. This sea environs ail, and though as yet God bath set marks and bounds "twixt us and it, Yet doth it roar, and gnaw, and still pretend, And breaks our bank, whene'er t takes a friend. Then out land waters (tears of passion) vent; Our waters, then, above out firmament. (Tears which out soul doth for ber sins let fall) Take ail a brackish taste, and ïuneral. And even those tears which should wash sin, are sin. Ve, after Godes xVoa, drown the world again. Nohing bnt man of ail envenom'd things Doth work upon itself, with inborn stings.
Tears are fa]se pectac]es, we cannot see Through passion's mist, what we are, or what he. In her this sea of death hath ruade no brech, But as the tide doth wash the slimy beach, And leaves embroider'd works upon the sand: Se is lier flesh refined by death's cold hand. As men of China, after an age's stay De take np porcelain, whcre they buried clay: Se at his grave, her limbeck, which refines The diamonds, rubies, sapphires, pearls, and mines Of which this flesh was, lier seul shall inspire Flcsh of such stufl as God, when his last tire Almuls t]lis Wol'ld, te recompense it, shall Make and naine then th" elixir of this ail. They say tho sea, when it gains, loseth too; If carnal death (tho younger brother) de Usurp the body, out seul (which subject is Te th" elder death, by sin) is fi'eed by this; They perish both, when they attempt the just: Foi" graves out trophies ari, and both, death's dust. Se, unobnoxious new, sho hath buried both; For none te death sins, that te sin is loth. Ner de thoy die, which are net loth te die; Se hath she this, and that virginity. Grace was in lier extromely diligent, That kept lier frein sin, yet ruade ber repent. Of what small spots pure white complains! Alas, How little poison cracks a crystal glass! She sinn'd, but just enough te let us seo That extreme truth lack'd littlo of a fie, Making onissions, acts; laying tho touch Of sin, on thiugs that sonetimes may be such. As Moses" cherubins, whose ltatures de Surpass all speed, by him are winged too: Se would hot seul Olready iii heav'n) seem then, Te climb by tears, the common stairs of men. How fit she was for God, I am content Te speak, that death his vain baste may repent. How fit for us, how even and how sweet, How good in all hei titles, and how meet, Te haro reformed this forward heresy, That women caa no parts of friendship be;
How moral, how divine, shall hOt be told, Lest they that hear her virtues, think her old; And lest we take death's part, and make him glad Of such a prey, and to his triumph add.
DrATn I recant, and say unsaid by me VChat ere hath slippM, that might dimiui.h thee. Spiritual treason, athcism "ris to say, That any can thv summons disobey. The earth's face is but thy table: there are et Plants, cattle, men; dishes for dcath to eat. In a rude hunger now he millions draws ]nto his bloody, or play, or starved jaws. low he will seem to si*are, and doth more wast, Eating the best first, well preserv'd to last. Now wantonly he spoils, and eats us hot, But breaks off friends, and lets us ],iecemeal rot. Nor wi]l this earth serve him; he sinks the dcep Vhere harmless fish monastic silencc keep. Vho (were death dead) by roes of living sand, Iight spunge that elemeut, and make it laud. He rounds the air, and breaks the hvnmie notes Iu birds, heaven's choristcrs, organic throats, Vrhich (if they did hot die) might seem to be A tenth rank in the heavenly hierarchv. O strong and lo»g-liv'd death, how camest thou in And how without creation did'st begin. Thou hast, and shalt see dead, belote thou diest, Ail the four monarchie., and antichrist. How could I think thee nothing, that see now In ail this ail, nothing else is, but thou. Our births and lire, vices, and virtues, be XVasteful consumptions, and degrees of thee. For we, to lire, our bellows wear, and breath, or are we mortal, dying, dead, but death. And though thou beest, O mighty bird of prey. So much reclaimed bv (;od, that tbou-nmst
Ail that thou kill'st at hi feet, yet doth he Reserve but few, and leaves the most to thee. Aud of those tw, now thou hast overthrown One whom thy blov, makes, hOt ours, nor thinc owu. She was more stories high: bopeless to corne To ber soul, thou hast offered at ber ]owcr room. Her soul and body was a king and cturt: But thou hast both of captah, mist aud fort. As houcs rail hot, thou-h the king rcmove, Bodies of saints rest fo," thei," souls abovc. Death gets 'twixt souls and bodies sueh a placc As sin insiuuates "t,vixt just men and ,race; Both work a separation, mlo di'orce. Her soul is gone to usher up lier corse, Vhicb shall be almost another soul, tbr therc Bodies are purer, thau best souls are here. Beeause in ber, ber virtues did outgo l[er years, would'st thou, O emulous death, do so: And kill ber young to thy loss. must the cost Of bcauty, and wit, apt to do harm, bc lost,' XVhat though thon ïound'st ber proof "gainst sins of youth, Ih, every age a diverse sin purueth. Thou shou|d'st have stay'd, and taken better hold; Shortly ambitions, covetous, whcn old, Shc might ha'e proved: and such devotion Might once have strav'd to superstition. If ail her virtues must bave grown, yet nlight Abundant virtue bave bred a proud delight. Ilad she persever'd just, there would lla,'c bcen Some that would sin, misthinking shc did sin. Sueh as would call |tel" ïriendship, l,»ve, and feign To sociablcness, a naine profane: Or sin, by tempting, or, not daring that, By wishing, though they never told lier xvhat. Thus might'st thon bave slain more souls, had'st thou hOt crost Thyselï, and to triumph, thine army lost. Yet though these ways be lost, thou hast left one, XVbich is, immoderatc grief that she is gone. But we may 'scape that sin, yet weep as much: Out teal's are due, because we are not such. Some tears that knot of fi'iends ber death ruust eost, ]lccause the chMn is broke, but no liuk lost
To the (.;»u.teoo of Bedford. lladam» I Avr learned by those laws wherein I ana a little conversant, that he whlch bestows any cost upon the dead, obliges him which la dead, but hot the heir; I do not therefore send this pal)er fo your ladyship, that you should tlaa.nk me for it, or think that I thauk you in if; your favours and benefits fo me are so much above my merlt.s that they are even above my gatitude, if that were fo be judged by Wol'ds which must express it: But, madam, since your noble brother's fortune being yours, the evidences also concerning it are yours, so lais virtue being yours, the evidences concerning it, belong also to you, of which by your acceptance this may be one piece, in which quality I humbly prescnt it» and as a testimony how entirely your ïandly possesseth ¥om- ladyship's most humble and thankful servant, Jon.x D o."." ..
FAII SOU], whieh wast, not only, as all souls be. Then when thou wast infused, harmony, But did'st continue so; and now dost bear Al)art in God's great organ, this vhole spherc: If looking up to God, or down to us, Thou find that any way is l)ervious, "Twixt heaven and earth, and that man's actions do Corne to your knowledge, and affections too, Sec, and with joy, me to that good degree Of goodness grown, that I can study thee, And, by these meditations refin'd, Can unapparel and enlarge my miud, And so can make by this sort extasy, This l)lace a mEp of heaven, lnyself of thee. Thou seest me here at midnight, nov ail test; Time's dead low water; when ail minds divest To-morrov's business, when the labourers bave Such rest in bed, tbat their last church-yard grave, Subject to change, will scarce be a t)Te of this, Nov when the client, whose last hearing is To-morrow, sleeps, when the condemned man, (Vho when he opes his eyes, must shut them than Again by death,) although sad watch he keep, Doth practise dying by a little sleep,
Thou at this midnight see'st me, and as soon As that sun rises to me, midnight's noon, Ail the world grows transparent, and I see Through ail, both church and state, in seeing thee; And I discern by favour of this light, Myself, the hardest object of the sight. God is the glass; as thou when thou dost see Him who sees ail, see'st ail concerning thee, So, yet unglorified, I comprehend Ail, in these mirrors of thy ways, and end; Though God be out true glass, through which we see AIl, since the being of ail things is he, Yet are the trmks which do to us derix'e Things, in proportion fit by perspective, Deeds of good me, for by their living hel'e, Virtues, indeed remote, seem to be near; But where can I aPàrm, or where arrest My thonghts on his deeds. which shall I call best. t Fo" fluid s'irtue cannot be look'd on, lor cat edure a contemplatiol; As bodics change, and as I do hot -ear Those spirits, hmnours, blood I did last yea': Ad, as if on a stream I fix mine eye, That drop, which I looked on, is presently Pushed with more waters from my sight, and gone, So in this sea of virtues, can no one Be insisted on; virtues, as rivers, pass, S'et still remains that virtuous man there was; And as if man feeds on man's flesh, and so Part of his body to another owe, $et at the last two perfect bodies fise, Because God knovs where e-ery atom lies; So, if one knowledge were ruade of ail those, SVho knew his minutes well, he mi.ht dispose His virtues into names, and ranks; but I Should injure nature, x'irtue: and destiny, Should I divide and discontinue so, Virtue, which did in one entireness grow. For as he that would say, spirits are fram'd Of ail the purest parts that can be nain'd, Honours hot spirits hall so much, as he SVhich says, they bave no parts, but simple be;
Sois it of virtue; for a point and one Are much entirer than a million. And had rate lueant to have his virtues told. It would have let him lire to have been old, So then, that virtue in seasoa, and then this, We mlght have seen, and said, that now he i. XVitty, now wise, now temperate, now just: Iii good short lires, virtues are fain to thrust, And tobe sure hetimes to get a place, Vfhen they would exercise, lack rime, alld space. So was it in this person, tbreed tobe For lack of rime, his own epitome. So to exhihit in few vears as much, As all the long hreath'd chronicles tan touch; As when an angel down from heaven dotll fly, Our quiek thought caunot keep him eompany, We cannot think, now he is at the suu, Now through the moon, now he throngh the air doth run. Yet when he's corne, we know he di,l repair To all twixt heaven aud earth, suit, moon and air. And as this angel in an in.-_'tant, knows, And)'et we know, this sudden knowledge grows By qnick amassing several forms of thing, Which he successively to order brings; When they, whose slow-paced lame thouhts cannot go So fast as he, thiuk that he doth hot so; Jnt as a perfect reader doth hot dwell, On every syllable, uor stay fo spell, Yet without doubt he doth di.tinctly see And lay together every A, and B; So, in short lived good men, is hot undertood Each several virtue, but the eompound good. Fol', the)" all virtue"s paths in that paee tread, As angels go, and know, and as lnen read. O why should then these men, these lumps of balm Sent thither, the world's tempest to becalm, Beibre by deeds they are diffused and spread, And so make us alive, themselves be dead. O soul, O circle, xvhy so quickly be Thy ends, th.v birth and death, elosed up in thee.t Since one ibot of thy eompass still was plaeed In heaven, the other might sçcurely have paced
In the most large extent, through every path: Vhich the whole wor]d, or man, the abridgment bath. Thon know'st, that though the tropic circles bave (Yea and those small oncs wheh the poles engrave,) Ail the same roundness, evenness, and ail The endlessness of the equinoctial; Yet, when we corne to measnre distances, How here, how there, the sun aflcted is, XVhen he doth faintlv work, and when prevail, Only great circles then eau be our scale: So, though thy eircle to thyself express Ail, tendiug to thy endless happiness, And we by out good use of it may try, Both how to lire well young, and how to die. Yet since we lnust be old, and age endures ttis torrid zone at court, and calentures Of hot ambitions, irreligi«u's ice, Zeal's agues; and hydroptic avarice, Infirmities which need the seale of truth. As well, as lust and ignorance of youth; Vhy did'st thon hot tbr these give mediciues too, And by thv doing tell us what fo do Though as small pocket-clocks, whose evcry wheel Doth earh mismotiun and distemper feel, Whose hauds get shaking palsies, and whose string (llis sinews) slackens, and whose soul, the spri, Expires, or la,guishes, whose puise, the ff.v, Either beats hot, or beats unevenly, Vhose volte, the bell, doth rattle, or grow dmld», Or idle, as men, which to their last hours corne, If these clocks be hot wound, or be wound still. Or be not set, or set af every will; So, youth is easiest to de,:truction, If then we follow ail, or follow none; Yet, as in great clocks, which it steeples chirac, Placed to iuform whole towns, to employ their rime, An error doth lnore barre, being general, When small clocks" faults, only on the wearer fall. So work the faults of age, on which the eye Of children, servants, or the state rely. Why would'st not thon then, which had'st such a soul, A dock so truc, as might the sun controul,
And daily hadst from him, who gave it thee, Instructions, such as it could never be Disordered, stay here, as a genera! And great sun-dial, to have set us ail. O why would'st thou be any instrument To this unnatural course, or why consent To this, hot miracle, but prodigy, That when the ebbs longer than flowings be, Virtue, whose flood did with his youth begin, Should so much faster ebb out, than flow in. Though ber flood was blown in, by thy first breath, Ail is at once sunk ia the whirlpool death. V(hich word I svould not name, but that I see Death, else a desert, grown a court by thee. Now I grow sure, that if a man would have Good company, his entry is grave. Methinks all cities, now, but ant-hills be, SVhere when the sevcral labourers I see, For children, house, provision, taking pai, They are all but ants, carrying eggs, straw, and grain*; And church-yards are out cities, unto which The most repair, that are in goodness rich. There is the best concourse, and confluence, There are the holy subtu'bs, and from thence Begins God's city, 1New Jerusalem, SVhich doth extend her utmost gates to them; At that gate then, triumphant soul, dost thou Begin thy triumph; but since laws allow That at the triumph da)', the people may, All that they will, "gainst the triumI»her say, Let me here use that freedom, and express BIy grief, though not to make thy triumph less. ]3y law, to triumphs none admitted be, Till they as magistrates get victory, Though then to thy force, all youth's foes did yield, Yet till fit time had b])ught thee to that field To which thy tank in this state destined thee, That there thy counsels might get victory,
Speaking of the consternation at Queen Elizsbeth's death, he ays, "V'hen ex-ery one of you in the city were running p and clown Iike auts with their eggs bigger than themselves, every man with his bags, Almighty God sent don his spirit of unity."—Szs, c.iv.
And so in that capacity remove All jealousies 'twixt prince and subjects' love, Thou could'st no title to this triumph hure, Thou didst intrude ou death, usurp'st a grave. That (though victoriously) thou hadst fought as yet But with thiue own affections, with the heat Of youth's desires, and colds of ignorance, But till thou should'st successfùly advance Thine arms 'gainst tbreigu enemies, which are Both envy, and cclamation popular, (For both these engines equally defeat, Though by a divers mine, those which are great,) Till then thy war was but a ciril war, For whlch to triumph, noue admitted are; 1o more are they, who thouh with good succcss, lu a defensive war, their power express. Belote men triumph, the dominion Must be enlarged, and bot preservcd alone; XVhy shouldst thon then, whose battles were to win Thyself, from those straits nature put thee in, And fo delivcr up to God that state, Of which he gave thee the vicariate, (XVhich is thy soul and body) as entire As he, who take endeavom-s, doth require, But didst hot stay, to eularge his kingdom too, By making others, what thou didst, to do: XVhy should'st thon triumph now, when heaven no morc Hath got. hy gcttin thee, than it had before. For heaven and thotl, even whe thou lived'st here, Of one another in possession were; But this from trimnl,h most disables thee, That that place which is eonquered, must be Left sale from present war, and likely doubt Of inlmil»ent COnln»otions to break out. And hath ho lcft us so. or tan it be His territory was no more than he. 1'o, we were ail his charge; the Diocis Of ev'ry exemplar man, the whole worhl is, And he was joined in commission With tutelar angels, sent to every one. But though this freedom fo upbraid, and cllide Him who triumphed, were lawful, it wàs tied
Vith this, that it might never referenee have Unto the senate, who this triumph gave; lIen might at Pompey jest, but they might hot At that authority, by which he got Leave to triumph, before, by age, he nfight: So, though, triumphant soul. I date to writc, Moved with a reverential anger, thu., That thou so early would'st abandon u«; 't'et I ara far from daring to dispute Vith that great sovereignty, whose absolute Pregative bath thus di.-:pensed with thee, 'Gainst nature's laws, which just impugners be Of early triumphs; and I (though with pain) Lessen out h,ss, to magnify thy gain Of tl'iumph, whell 1 say, it was more fit, That ail lnen shouhl lack thee, tllan thou lack it. Tllough then in our tilne, be hot suftbred That testimouy of love, mltO the dead, To die with them, and in their graves be hid, As Saxon wives, and French soldurii* did; And though in no degree I tan express, Grief in gl'eat Alexander's great excess, Vho at his friend's death, lnade whole towns di'est Their walls and buhvarks which became them best: Do not, fidr soul. this sacrifice refuse, That in thy grave I do inter my Muse, Vho, by lny grief, great as thy worth, being cast Behindhand, yet hath spoke, and poke her last.
'LRGI ' ON ]It|NCE Loo te me fith, nd ]oek my fith, God; For both my centres feel this period. Of xveight one centre, one of greatness is; And report tht centre, fith is this; For into our report flow, and there de end Ail, tht this naturel worId doth comprehend: Quotian thing and equidistant hence, Shut in, for man, in one cioeuerence. But for th' enormous greatnesses, which are Se dispmpoaioned, and se angular, As is God's essence, plce and providenc Where, how, when, what seuls de, depaed hence, These things (eccentric else) on faith de strike; Yet neither aH, ner upon all, alike. For reason, put te her best exteion, Almost mec faith, and makes both centres one. And nothing ever cme se near te this, As oentemption of tht prince we miss. For ll that faith might credit mkind could, eason still seconded, that this prince wotfld. If then least moving of the centre, make More, than if whole heH belched, the wodd te shake, What must this de, centres distrt se, That we sec net wht te believe or know Was it net well believed till new, that he, Vhose reputation w an s, On neighbour stes, which knew net why wake, Till he &scovered what wys he would take; For whom wht prinoes angled, when they tried, Met torpedo, and were stupified; And others studies, how he would be bent, Vas his eat fthers eatest inrument, And tivst spirit, te convey and tic This so of pe, through Chrlstianity; Vas it net well believed, that he wod make This general perce, th" Eternal overtake, And that his times might bave stretched out se far, As te touch those, of which they emblems are [
For to confirm this just belief, that now The last days came, we saw heaven did allow, That, but from his aect and exercise, In peaceful times, rumours of war did rise. But now this faith is heresy: we must Still stay, and vex out great-grandmother, dust. Oh, is God prodigal. Hath he spent his store Of plagues, on us, and only now, when more XVould ease us much, doth he grudge misery; And will hot let's enjoy our curse, to die. As for the earth, thrown lowest down of ail, T'were an ambition to desire to fall, So God, in out desire to die, doth know Our plot for ease, in being wretched so. Therefore we live; though such a lire we have, As but so many mandrakes on his grave. Vhat had his growth, and generation done, XVhen, what we are, his putrefaction Sustains in us; earth, which griefs animate; or hath our world now, other soul than that. And could grief get so high as heaven, that quire, Forgetting this their new joy, would desire (Vith grief to see him) he had stayed below, To rectify out errors they foreknow. Is th" other centre, reason, faster then. Vhere should we look for that, now we are hot men. For if out reason be our connexion Of causes, now to us there can be none. For, as if ail the substances were spent, "Twere madness, to inquire of accident, So is't to look for reason, he being gone, The only subject reason wrought upon. If fate have such a chain, whose divers links Industrious man discerneth, as he thinks, Vhen miracle doth corne, and so steal in A new link, man knows hot, where to begin: At a nmch dealer fault must reason be, Death having broke off such a link as he. But now, for us, with busy proof to come, That we bave no reason, would prove we had some. So would just lamentations: therefore we llay safelier say, that we are dead, than he.
Se, if our griefs we de net well declare, We have double excuse; he is net dead; and we are. Yet I would net die yet; for though I ho Too narrow, te think him as he is he, (Our soul's best baiting, and mid-period, In her long journey, of considering God) Yet, (no dishonour) I can reach him thus, As he embraced the rires of love, with us. Oh may I, (since I lire) but see, or hear, That she-intelligence,vhich moved this sphere, pardon fate my lire: whoe»er thou be Which hast the noble conscience thou art she, conjure thee by ail the charms he spoke, By the oaths, which only you two never broke, By all the seuls ye sighed, that iï you see These lines, you wish, I knew your history, Se mucb, as you two mutual heavens were here, were an angel, singing what you vere.
A HeI TO THE SAINTS,.AND TO IARQUES8 HAILTON. VHTHER that soul whicb now cornes up to you Fill any former rank or make a new, Vhcther it take a name named there before, Or be a naine itself, and order more Than was in heavcn till now; (for may hot he Be so, if evcry several angel bc
A kind alone.) whatever order grow Greater by him in heaven, we do hot so; Oue of your orders grows by his access; But by his loss ow ail our orders less; The nme of father, master, friend, the naine Of subject and of prince, in one are lame; Fuir mirth is damped, and conversation black, The household widowed, and the garter slaek; The chapel wants an ear, council a tongue; Story, a theme; and music laeks a song; Blest order that hath him, tlle loss of him Gangred* ail orders here; all lost a limb. lever ruade body such haste to confess Vhat a soul was; all former comeliness Fled, in a minute, when tlle soul was gone, And, having lost that beauty, would have none, So fell out monateries, in oue instant grown lot to less houses, but, to heaps of stone; So sent this body that fuir form it wore, Unto the sphere of forms, and doth (belote His soul shall fill up his sepulchral stone,) Anticipate a resurrection; For, as in his fume, now, his soul is here, So, in the form thereof his body's there; And if, fuir soul, hot with first iunocents Thy station be, but with the penitents, (And who shall dare to ask, then, xvhen I aih Dyed searlet in the blood of that pure Lamb, XVhether that colour, which is scarlet then, ,Vere black or white before in eyes of men .) When thou rememb'rest what fins thou didst find Amongst those many fi'ieds now left behind, And seest such sinners as they are, xvith thee Got thither by repentance, let it be Thy wish to wish ail there, to wish them clean; Wish him a David, her a Magdalen.