whose right hand doth plant The rut'lant starres amidst the Firmament Who pav'st the Ocean with thy orient gem Plant in my soule thy Artimesian stem And like the lotos in Euphrates bosome Be thou the Sun that still re-clears my blossome But ay me what is this I now doe heare Thee say to Mary Mary come not neare And touch me not Art thou that fi'ry bush Which made old Moses stand afar no tush The flames and threats of Sinay now are gone And thou art made our very flesh and bone Yea thou hast bid us touch and taste and feele How good thou art to Isr'els Common-weale And yet as if thou wouldst some distance try Thou stopp'st our wonted famil'arity It is not long since thou endur'dst a touch Which justly tearmed might have been Non-such A Traitor kissed thee a Rascall knave Did with his buffet and his spit out-brave Thy glorious face thy head was crown'd with thorns Thy hands and feet were pierc'd and with proud scorns Of thy unlook'd for death a speare did part The water and the blood from out thy heart Those touches thou endur'dst but ay me now Thou call'st for distance but I know not how It can subsist with thy unchanged love To change a sweet imbracet'a sad remove But pardon me my God for now I finde That too much love hath made her judgment blinde For since she saw thee put in porta mortis Her eyes have still been drown'd in aqua fortis And in her rapture whil'st she cryes Rabboni She turnes her Benjamini to Benoni For though thou still be what thou wast before True God and Man yet art thou now some more Then man and mortall but immortall now Kodesh laihova is writ on thy brow The Vrim and the Thummim on thy breast Tels Aaron's dead and Melchisedeck â—s Priest And since true life hath triumph over death Now must we live no more by sense but faith And by the spirit not the flesh must we Now seek our God and his felicitie Some eight dayes hence Christs Disciples meet And in a private chamber closely sit The doores being shut Christ Jesus commeth in And greets them with his 〈◊〉 then doth begin To rouz their 〈…〉 Soulles from â—eare to â—aith Which oâ— salvaâ—ion 〈…〉 promise hath To waken Thomas from his misbeliefe For lack of faith ' mongst many sins is chiefe Thomas saith he thou hast of late deny'd To trust my Resurrection till my side My hands my feet and all my wounds doe give Thee by thy touch true reason to believe I pitty this thy weaknes for I know The sourse and fountain whence this stream doth flow Is not proud malice but infirmitie The sp'rit speaks faith flesh infidelitie T is true that when those wounds I did receive And from my Crosse was carried to my grave Thou didst not see me for thou rann'st away When Judas by his kisse did me betray But now thou art return'd and so am I Thou from thy fears I from mortality And since I see upon thy fingers end Thy faith and resolution doth depend Come come thy touch not only shall be fed But al 's ' thy other senses satisfied Come come I say behold those wounds of mine And let not misbeliefe ' gainst faith repine Reach here thy fingers boldly touch my hands Touch those my feet see how my side yet stands Wide open with those wounds which did of late My harmlesse body cru'ly penetrate And be not thou a faith lesse Did'mus more But make true faith ov'rflow thy hard hearts shore Thomas no sooner doth stretch out his fingers To touch Christs side when loe from off her hingers Christ pulls his heart which then was hard as stone And with the touch of true contrition Makes him bewaile his infidel'ty more Then he was bent to harden it before O now I finde saith he and cryes aloud Thou art the Christ my very Lord my God O happy Thomas what a happy change Is this which now doth in thy bosome range Of late thou saidst Unlesse I surely see The stamps of death in his mortalitie I will not trust what ever can be sed That he from death can be recovered But now behold what nature could not see Faith doth perceive behold that Mustard tree Of faith in thee hath been most shrewdly shaken Yet from the root it hath not quite been taken O what a forcelesse force of heav'ns high thought This alteration in thy brest hath wrought For one thing thou didst see believe another And this made Faith and Nature joyn together One thing thy eyes did see that he was Man Thy heart believes him God 't is more than can By natures rules or documents of art Couch in thy conscience or confirm thy heart But ô the power of the Almighty who Unto the weak joyns grace and nature so That what weak nature cannot work for want Of strength grace there doth furnish supplement And though that faith doth build her house on that Which to the nat'rall eye 's unseen yet what May help weak nature and procure her strength She doth amasse together and at length From both their Magazens draws forth that store Of grace which Sathan can deface no more Thrice happy Thomas who didst thus believe Because thou saw'st but if that God shall give The grace to such as never saw to trust Thrice happy they their faith shall make them just For when they by the heav'ns great power shall Arise to make their last Judiciall Account their unseen faith shall make them see Death hath no sting Grave hath no vietorie Thus standeth Thomas to the faith converted From him a hard heart by a touch is parted Christ to the rest of those his brethren saith Brethren these times require much strength of faith Harken therefore to what I to you say 'T is long since I first said I goe my way And you were heavy that I so should speak For then your faith was wav'ring faint and weak But now your eares have heard youe eyes have seen What I have suffred yet my wounds be green Gird up your loynes therefore henceforth be strong For he who wrongeth you to me doth wrong And whoso harmeth you he harmeth me I love you as the apple of mine eye Yet must not I alwayes on earth remain I to my Father must return again And to your Father to my God I goe And to your holy one and God also My God is your God and my Father 's yours The gates of hell and all their darkned powr's Shall not be able ' gainst you to prevaile My Scepter and my Rod their strength shall quaile Full forty times brave Titan now hath run About the world and stay'd where he begun Full forty dayes hath he yea each day once Saluted and adieu'd both Horizons Full forty times hath Pha'ton's Chariots wheel Bid Flora both good morrow and farewell Now now 't is time that Jesus should goe hence T' enjoy the throne of his magnificence Not
are gone His foes are fill'd with feare amaze and wonder Like Latmos rent with heav'ns high ratling thunder Seraphick Spirits bow before his face Mortality to glory now gives place And all the Children of his wedding Chamber Whose lips are Corrall and whose locks are Amber Whose eyes Carbuncles are in dark of night Gladly doe now attend this mornings light And from the grave they role away that stone Which Caiaphas had fet his seale upon 'T were strange to see that was could make that sure That heav'ns had destin'd to distemp'tature But now the Scriptures are fulfill'd which say He gives his Angels charge 〈◊〉 thy way To keep thee lest thy foot should either slip Or'gainst a stone at any time should trip Yet was it neither Angels might nor power That did return life to my Saviour But that same Godhead which in him did dwell Restor'd his life and did his death expell For though his soule was from his body cut His Godhead from his Man hood was not shut For that great tye of Hypostatick union Shall never be dissolv'd or lose communion No no Mans nature which he did assume And unite to the Word i' th' Virgins wombe Shall in no after time or taste Confusion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Or by a stronger hand ' plain of Division Or by a change smell any Alteration Or by or death or life have Separation But shall for ay that union retaine Where three are one and one is three againe No sooner doth my Soules brave Sampson draw Gaza's gate-barrs asunder then his aw Maketh earths wieghty globe to reatch and reele About him like Ixyons giddy wheele The dead arise and to the Citty goe As witnesse of his great triumphing show The Lyons to their dens return apace Because great Judah's Lyon shakes his tresse And all the beasts of neighb'ring Forrests feare Whilst they this matchlesse Lyon's roaring heare The chirping birds whose sweet melodious notes Bring sweeter crotchets from their carr'ling throats Then all Apollo's nymphs can straine or sing Unto his Harps delicious fingering Betake themselves unto their wings to flie Rather then in an Earthquakes arms to die The nibling Lambs which graze on Vesta's kirtle And sips her hony suckles and her mirtle Leaving their breakfast bleat and cry and call Each one to gaze anothers festivall Great Neptune and his Thetye now sing dumbe Because the Soveraign of the Seas is come To put a hooke in their nostrills and draw Leucotheo from Achelous maw But above all the long-liv'd Phenix seems As freshly wak'd from her reviving flames To greet him with the rarest welcome that E're Lark or Finch or Linot modulat And at his foot her starry Spangled Crown As to the righteous owner she throws down For she reviv'd hath thousand years in store But he requickneth lives for evermore In end comes Titan dayes bright shining eye Who lately slept in darknesse Cannopy And from his Orient or Eoan wave Where Neptune doth his steps in pearle engrave Seeing a clearer Sun i' th' West arise To all his Naids and his Napaeis cries Look here and see the rare yea rarest wonder That ever Earth held up or Heav'ns kept under Two Suns arise at once and in one day Two Titans to the world their lights display The one wherof although he rise must fall The other knowes no Occident at all Thus is my Saviour up and mangre hell And all the pow'rs of darknesse there doe dwell A new light life and liberty is given To all that hunger for the light of Heaven 'T is true no article o' th' Christian faith More faithlesse or reluctant en'mies hath Then hath the Doctrine of the Resurrection Whil'st it stands canvass'd by humane direction Yea nature ne'er requir'd a better sport Then tosse this Ball within her Tennis-court For faith it selfe can hardly sound this deep How a scatter'd non ens to an ens can creep Although that Nature and the Scriptures both Have writ the hieroglyphicks of this truth The Phoenix spicie nest her Mistris burneth Yet she from out her fatall Urne returneth When length of time sun-staring Eagles spills They doe revive by casting off their bills Hearbs trees and plants which in the winter wither I' th' spring receive both sap and life together The Corn we sow doth first corrupt and die Yet from that death their grains doe multiply And if 't be true Medaea for the sake Of Jason made old Aesons youth t' awake But Scripture tells us that the first man hath By sinne subdu'd all mankinde unto death And that the second man doth yeeld more grace Requickning that which dy'd by our trespasse And unto Abram's seed the Lord hath said I am the livings God and not the dead Adde unto this that he who first did make All things of nothing can from something take With lesser pain this little world of Man Then when at first he from the dust it span Nor is it just that any coupled paire Who work together should not have like share Of glory after death who in their life ' Gainst Sin and Sathan kept a conjunct strife Why art thou then so sad my Soule and why Art thou cast down with such anxiety Dost not thou know that Christ is made thy head And thou by faith his living member made He is thy husband thou his wedded wife Whil'st he doth live how canst thou doubt of life He is the root and thou his ingraft-branch When thou art judg'd he sitteth on the bench He is our Main which by our faith 's hid pores Refreshing waters to our springs restores And till his never ebbing streams goe dry We need not fear to lack a new supply Naked from out our mothers wombe we come And thither naked must we once goe home Yet we believe earth shall not still enfold Us in her arms that were too base a hold For any in whose soule the sp'rit of grace Hath made his mansion or a dwelling place No sure suppose these putrid tents of clay Wherein we sojourn for a night or day Must be dissolved better buildings we In heav'n shall have For Immortalitie Shall this our Mortall swallow and devoure Our weaknes then shall be exchang'd to power Corruption shall to incorruption turne And shame shak'd off we shall no longer mourn For what by Nature we doe here inherit Shall there renew'd be by th'Eternals Sp'rit Though then the grave unto weak natures taste Relish no better then the hemlocks feast Yet from her arms we reap a richer store Then ever nature did possesse before For there the poore have peace from their oppression There earths horsleeches shrink from their possession There rich and poore the high the low and all To earthly tempest ly no more made thrall But waiting for the return of their Judge In secret for a while lye still and lodge Since then I know that my Redeemer liveth And that he shall perform what faith believeth In all the periods of my lifes poore
wise just good impassive excellent Eternall Monarch All-commanding all End of all ends of Firsts th' Originall Great Light of lights Cause of all causes and Chiefe Life of lifes unseen all-seeing brand Who e'r the Worlds Idaea first was fram'd E'r Eurus blew e'r Seas or Earth was nam'd Ev'n from Eternity did in One combine One Trine-une essence one essentiall Trine Him shalt thou finde e'r Time could stretch his station In unsearch'd deep eternall Observation Fore-know his creatures in their severall ends And severall courses that the same attends Yea as his aye and all fore-seeing eye Fore-knew his creatures from eternity So hath hee made his pleasure and good will A still enflamed Limbeck wherein till Mans waies are so confin'd compos'd control'd That all his Mercure's turn'd to perfect gold This is his work though wondrous in our eyes Ev'n his whose throne transcends our starry skies From contrair's to extract a contrair ' story Whose contestation still effects his glory Thus did he in the worlds first byrth forth bring This universall-All from out nothing And by his word hee made lights glistring Lamp Shine in the midst of darknes shady Camp Thus doth he now in times last time from far Call things that are not ev'n as though they were And makes his Mercy sup'r abound in store Where Sins abundant plenty dwelt before No heare mee Virgin pause for pause thou must Hee that revives the Phoenix from her dust Hee that from darknesse center springs the day Hee that from gates of death doth life display And he who without woman first did make Of Adams rib an Evah for his sake Shall without knowledge of a Man provide To make the' a-sacred Mother Virgin Bride Thus spoke hee and then disappears and now The maid 's alone who on her knees doth bow And with her hands lift up to heav'ns high throne She sighs this sacred exultation Loe here I am thy servant mighty Lord Bee 't unto mee according to thy word If thou on mee hast plac'd thy hearts delight Then let thy hand-maid prosper in thy sight Yet O thou great and everlasting Father How shall I wonder or evanish rather At this thy wondrous work thou dost expresse On mee the chiefest worm of wretchednesse For thou hast look'd upon the base condition Of mee thy servant in so wondrous fashion That henceforth all succeeding times shall call Mee bless'd because of this memoriall Thy mighty hand hath done for mee great things And great 's thy name thou royall King of kings For by the strength of thy right hand thou scatters Man's vain imaginations like spilt waters Thou thrust'st the mighty down from Iv'ry seats And makst the abject to possesse their states Thou fill'st the hungry with thy blessings store And mak'st the full through penury to roare Thou mak'st thy promise a continuall creede To Abraham Isaac Jacob and their feede Yea from the stem of Jesse thou mak'st known To all that feare thee ' thy salvation Bless'd bee thou then thou God of Israel who Hast visit and redeem'd thy people so That by the splendor of that Bright day star Which thou hast made to shine both neer and far The tender mercies of our tender God In wondrous plenty visits us abroad And gives us matter while the world 's great frame Endures to prayse and magnifie thy Name Immanuel or Puerperie CANTO 4o. GReat God who by thy words great pow'r brought From nothing's-Chaos this our all things by rth Great Spirit whose secret certain prescience Fore-knows and guides all humane accidents Eternall Light from whose all-seeing ey Nothing is hid no not eternity If ere thou mad'st my silly simple Soule In sacred rage to rise above the Pole Now now reflect bright Sun thy golden rayes On my poore Moone eclips'd by thy delays Ravish my Spirit Life of my Soule revive My starving thoughts that I may truly give A perfect strain and perfectly record The Incarnation of thy ' ternall Word That so in sacred fury I may limbe Though with a coale the first-born Prince of Time And to the after-age in verse expresse God living suffering rising in the flesh But ay me where shall stripling I begin T' unfold this Daedal ' Labyriuth wherein Nature shall sooner lose her selfe then gain A steddy course amidst this Ocean For nature never hath as yet exprest His first-born being in th'Eternal's brest And how shall humane wisdom now forth tell The second byrth-right of Immanuel 'T is true some doating Atheists big with tumors Of brain-sick Heresies impoys'ning humors Like blinde men groaping in the day have run By light of Nature to display this Sun But all in vain the more they scan this point The more they find their judgements out of joynt Here one conceiting God cannot be born Ebion Hath therefore laught his Deity to scorn Another seeing him true Gods true Son Marcion Denieth him Man by Incarnation A third beholding him both God and Man Euâ—iches Confounds his Natures by a naturall span A fourth enforc'd by force of truth to see Nestor God joyn'd with man in Pers'nall unitie Hath from his true distinguish'd Natures frame Giv'n him two Hypostatick persons theame Which like Hippocrates undissever'd twins Together quicken live dye ends begins But hath not Esay much more cleerly told To Judahs King that Time should once unfold Esay 7.14 From out a Virgins womb a glorious Prince Whose Passion should expiate our offence Immanuel God with us and even Man of the Virgin and a God from Heaven Not God alone but Man also or rather God of himselfe Sonne gotten of the Father Both God and Man in whom both reall Natures Of God and Man distinguish'd by true features And severall functions stands dissever'd so As no division can their seat ore-throw And so distinguish'd that albe't there be Two Natures there distinguish'd really Yet to averre two Persons thereupon Were Sathans dark prevarication No no Immanuel and that God with us Our Advocate our Judge and our Jesus Abiding what he was e'r Time become In Time what he was not and being the same Was in our flesh without Confusions wonder Or rending of his Person ev'r asunder Inaugurate by Heav'ns dread Monarchs love A Prophet Priest and Prince for our behove A Prophet by whose documents we learne The things which Nature never could discerne By force of Reason for th' Almighty did In secret silence his best Counsels hide Till his Eternall word made flesh should frame The glorious promulgation of the same A Priest also the Virgins Sonne must be T' accomplish the Almighties dread Decree Of Mercy and of Justice both so that Th' Almighty might in both b'inviolat A Soveraign Prince he needs must be also To lead Captivity captive and ore-throw That Prince of Darknesse who by Sinnes proud hands Kept both our life and liberty in bands That as by him our feares our foes and all Captivities are captivate and thrall So he in God may make us
to possesse True Joy true Peace true Life and Righteousnesse Stay then poor Muse thy course soare not too high To search out that unsearched mysterie To know whose great unparalell'd perfection No Flesh hath yet attain'd by flesh-direction Content thy selfe in modesty to view His birth and at his Pedestall to bow Whose glorious light our darknesse doth expell And being God youchsafes with Men to dwell Come then and in a safe approach behold Him whom the heav'n of heav'ns could not enfold Now couch'd within a Crib and make poor beasts The witnesse of his Genethliack feasts A wake then Bethleem let me aske thee where Are all thy pleasant shades and dainty fare Thy sumptuous tables and thy quilt-strawd beds Whereon thy guests of late did rest their heads Where 's now thy pomp thou house of David where Are love and mercy banished that there Where Davids seed and Davids Lord likewise Should dwell thou shouldst his Royalty despise O sure I am it cannot be but now The house of David only doth allow His name but not his nature for I see Ev n in the throng of his Posteritie His Darling thrust to doores and forc'd to lay The worlds dread Soveraign in a cratch of clay But ô the deepnes and the riches both Of Wisedome and of Providence that doth Shine in thy wayes ô God whil'st thou dost make Thy Counsels known for our salvations sake This pur-blind world doth think that Fortune guides And Chance governs the ever-changing tides Of humane actions but 't is nothing so Live as wee list and goe where ere we goe Th'ore-ruling pleasure of thy secret will Governs our actions both in good and ill In Nazareth Christ was conceiv'd but loe In Bethleem he must be born and shew Himself first Man and there first breath our ayre Who makes the bread of Life our Soules rich fare That as he was a Naz'rite by conception Both separate from sinne and sins infection So he in Bethleems magazen might len ' The bread of life unto the sonnes of men One place must not engrosse him who was born For all no that were mock'ry and base scorn T'intrench his splendor in one private place Whose rayes must cherish all the world with grace Rome then was Stage where worldly honors grew Athens the Ocean where the Arts did flow Jerusalem the great Pontificate Where Rabbins in the Chaire of Moses sate But lo for Bethleems sake he now disdaines The trophies of those Metropolitans Not that the place could adde to his renown For Place can neither dignifie nor crown The Person but the Person doth decore And make the Place more splendid then before So he who from out Darknesse did display The worlds first lustre and baptiz'd it Day Ev'n he who from out Deaths devouring jawes And from the roaring Lions cruell pawes Makes lifes sweet well-spring richly to abonnd From Penuries despised womb and wound Makes Righteousnesse and Mercy Truth and Peace Each one another sweetly to embrace In whatsoever chance or change therefore This mortall life involve me the rich store Of his refining Providence shall still Enrich my Table and my Cup full-fill Yea make me sleep in safe and quiet rest Because he turneth all things to my best Yet let me stay a while and view this change Which through the world in Triumphs pomp doth range And makes fair Sions sons like Sinayes Clown To yeeld due homage to a Strangers Crown O God whence comes this wondrous alteration Whence springs the current of this desolation That they who erst were blest in fleecy flocks Whose Rivets were of milke whose steepest Rocks Distill'd a hony sweeter then the Mead Whereon their nibling troops did prank and feed Being blest at home abroad and in each plaine Blest by the ayre by sun-shine and by raine Whose force did daunt the Earth with trembling aw Whose Scepter writ their neighboring States their law Whose terrour made their proudest enemies then ' Gainst them march one way flye before them ten Should now as Vassals sigh and pant and groan Under the load of strange Subjection And bow their necks to bear the grievous Loans Of Tributes Taxes Impositions O now I see 't is not so much thy Care Great Caesar to augment thy glories share That these importning cruell Subsidies Like roaring thunders through the world now flies As 't is th' Almighties pleasure now even now Because the time is full from heav'n t' allow The worlds great Monarchy to thee that so The sonnes of Jacob may discern and know The visitation of their look'd for Grace And wisely learn the things which preach their Peace For I must tell thee Israel that since Thy Diadem's subdu'd t' a forraign Prince And since the Helm of thy Government stands Within the circuit of a Strangers hands The time is come that Shilo's golden ray Should light thy darknesse and begild thy day And that the Star of Jacob now should shine Not in an earthly grandeur but divine Hence hence it comes yet in obedience strain The Virgin goes to Nazareth amain But ore-charg'd by her burthen 's forc'd to stay And beare her Sonne at Bethleem by the way Where ô what 's Caesars Caesar hath and what Is due to God to God is consecrate For Caesar hath his penny God his Son The Devill his bane Man his salvation What shall I then dis-know thee ô thou Prince Of my salvation since for my offence Thou art subjected to these foule despisings That Sinne or Sathan send from their devisings In this so great and rare Nativity Let Junctyne Origen or great Ptolemie Copernicus or Tichâ—bra or they Who with the starry Influence doe play Look on this Non-such-birth and if they can Display his midnight or meridian It feares me much their judgements shall come short Of what this Theam and Birthright doth import For rule the Cuspe of his eight house who will His death shall our deaths Dominator kill And maugre hell and earth which him assaile He breaks the Dragons head and curbs his taile Isa 7.14 Isa 11.10 Gen. 49.9 Gen. 49.23 For Virgo beares him he in Libra lives The Archers wound him Leo him revives For though mans reason cannot think but all His Starres were dignifi'd both great and small Yet lo his Mother voyd of friend and Kinne Must make a Stable her bed-chambers Inne The Parlours all are fill'd with uncouth guests Their Chambers all are stuff'd with sumptuous feasts Proud pomp stern ryot foule and loath'd excesse Have took up Bethleems roomes both more and lesse And Superfluity dances such a round That for Necessity no place is found But she whose table in the heav'ns was deckt Must beare her Sonne disdain'd and disrespect Now now the Oxe may say I know my owner Now sayes the Asse This is my masters corner But Israel and Bethleem cannot know What homage to their Saviour they ow For every Prophet's honor'd save at home And he although amongst his own he come Yet was he
in so fearfull fashion That they no sooner feel their grievous yoak But to the Sea they run and there they choak O glorious thou who to the world didst come T' unlose those snares which Sathan thrusts on some And leav'st some others to those sp'rituall bands Which in eternall darknesse prison stands Restrain our enemies rage controll his power Lest his assaults doe our poore soules devoure Ne'er did a swarm of hony sucking Bees Pursue a Waspe from out their Colonies With greater spight or more enraged spleen Then doth that blockish beastly Gadaren Republick thrust my Saviour from their coast Because of these few swine which they had lost O the blind change and choise o' th' sonnes of men Who ere they lose this worlds poore pelf will len ' Their Soules a pray to Sathan and betray A lasting glory for a moments pay With speed therefore my Saviour homeward goeth Because they loth'd his power and his truth And there behold a croud of sick folks lie A waiting him to cure their Maladie For some ev'n from their mothers wombe lay lame Some Leprous some Lethargique and some maim Some with an Apoplexy were o'retaken Some with a paralitioue blow were shaken Some with a Dissenterie doe decay Some with a Calcule on their reines doe cry Here one had eyes but now he 's dark and blind Here one was wise but now 's distract in mind A menstruall flux doth here distain a woman A burning Ague to another's common All those he healeth and so doing hath Gain'd many a Pros'lyte to the Christian faith But above all I stand amaz'd to spy How at Bethesdaes poole huge heaps doe lye Of poor weak sick diseased persons who Attend her motions and her watry flow For here an Angell at some speciall season Beyond all reach of humane sense and reason By moving of the waters gave release To all that were diseas'd in any case Providing alwaies that they stepping down Should drench themselves in her first motion An hieroglyphick of our Baptims washing Whose watry streames can never cleanse our tashing Unlesse th'Arch-angell of the Covenant Joyne his dread power to the Element A man oppress'd full eight and thirty yeere With strange diseases is at last brought here On whom Christ Jesus having fix'd his eyes Doth not enquire what were his maladies Where those his griefs did hold him or how long He had been bound with that infirm'ties thong But only asks him if he would be cured Of that saith he great Master be assured I hunger for my health but can not stirre To taste this waters first distemperature I cannot helpe my self and none I have To help me when their helping hand I crave Another alwayes stepping down before me Is cur'd and I as if all did abhorre me Must this my griefe and languishing sustain Till he who wounds me binde me up again Rise rise then saith my Saviour rise and walk I pitty thy distresse I heare thy talk The poore man riseth as Christ doth appoint And is restor'd to health in every joynt Behold saith Christ poore man now thou art whole And from thy crown unto thy very sole There is no bruise goe goe and sinne no more Lest worse befall thee then thou felt'st before Glad should I be if my poore Muse had breath To follow my Redeemer in that path Of strange stupendious miracles whereby In flesh he did expresse his Deity But wearied now she needs must rest a while And draw away her Pencill from that toile Which he from place to place did undertake To ease our sorrows for his mercies sake Only this one poore thing she must relate How he did Lâ—â—arus re-animate That in his Resurrection we may see Our Resurrections rich felicity As Chyrstall brooks have still the broader course The neerer they approach great Neptunes sourse So now the neerer that my Saviours dayes Draw to an end the more he still displayes His heav'nly wisedome and mirac'lous power When opportun'ty did the same procure Sicknes to man is prodrom of his death From which no nat'rall man exemption hath Even Lazarus whom Jesus lov'd is now Sick to the death and to the grave must bow Whil'st he is sick his sister Mary sendeth A messenger to Christ who first attendeth Him in his doctrine and thereafter saith Sir he whom thou dost love now almost pay'th His debt to Nature by his death for loe A burning Ague worketh his o'rethrow I know thou lov'st him and he loveth chee Let then thy love to him extended be For thou art love it selfe and from thy love It is that we doe live or breath or move I know saith Christ he 's sick but not to death Although this fit of Fever out his breath Yet shall the glory of the Lord appeare In his return to this lifes hemispheare And that the Sonne of God may glory have Let him be sick yea fick unto the grave A little after to his friends he saith Let us goe hence my staying here delay'th The work of God for Lâ—zarus our friend Lies fast asleep and I doe fully mind T' awake him up again for none but I Can rouze him from the graves deep Lethargy If he doe sleep say his Disciples then He shall be well for sleep doth soften pain But here they doe mistake they meant that sleep Which on our weâ—ried eyes doth softly creep But Christ did mean that sleep which in the grave Shall on each mortall man dominion have No no saith Christ to speak the truth indeed Our brother's dead and death doth on him feed And I am glad for your sakes that I was Not there when death o'return'd his short hour-glasse Alas my Saviour how canst thou be glad To see man under his afflictions sad Dost thou delight in our distresses no Thou tak'st no pleasure in our griefes or woe But as a loving father who doth see His only sonne in that perplexity Where wounds and blowes on th' one side threaten death And Triumph on the other promiseth Eternall honour hath more joy to know The fame which from out those his wounds shall flow Than he is sad to see his crimson blood Expatiat like a Dalmatian flood So from our light afflictions whil'st thou spies The trophies of thy glory to arise Thou dost much more rejoyce than thou canst grieve To see us wrestle and in end survive To Bethany he hasteth then for there Mary and Martha had their chiefe repaire And being come Mary with speed doth run To greet th'approach of this Imperiall Sun She sees him and down at his feet doth fall Master saith she hadst thou been here at all My brother had not dy'd Mary saith he Thy brother shall rise up again trust me I know saith she that at the gen'rall doome He shall arise and unto Judgment come Mary saith he hold but thy peace and thou Shalt see Gods glory manifested now Where have you laid him come come let me see They point the place He with a
tear-drown'd eye Weeps out his soules sad sorrowes but for what They neither know nor can prognosticat Is this the grave saith he where Laz'rus lyeth Is this the Tomb which his dead corps implyeth It is say they then roll away this stone Which holds him in his dusty mansion No no saith Martha now the time is past This is the fourth day since we made it fast Corruption e're now hath made him stench His putrifaction no perfume can quench What Martha saith he have not I e're now Told thee that if by faith thou shouldst subdue Thy soule thou shouldst behold the pow'r of God Change Moses serpent to an usefull rod They roll away the stone to heav'n doth he Lift up his heart his hand and weeping eye And with a loud voyce he doth thus encall His Fathers hearing O great All of all O dread Creator and ô loving Father From whom all creatures doe their essence gather I thank thee that thou now hast heard me nay I know that thou dost heare me every way But that this people may believe that thou Who in thy selfe art very truth and true Hast sent me thy right hands great strength to prove And to the sonnes of men make known thy love To thee I cry'd and yet to thee doe cry That thou wouldst their hard hearts once mollifie This said he straight on Lazarus doth call Come forth come forth stay no more there at all I have the keyes of life and death therefore To thee my quickning spirit I restore No sooner hath he spoke these words then he Who lay in death and graves captivitie Comes forth bound hand and foot with those poor ties Which laugh to scorn lifes superfluities Now loose him saith he loose him let him goe For God is Lord of life and death also O what a world of miracles doe here In coacervat troops of pow'r appeare He weeps and spends his teares this tells he 's Man His word awakes the dead God only can He makes the bound to walk and blind to see All this t' expresse his sacred Deity Yet will not loose the bonds nor move the stone Himselfe but gives to men direction To act that part that by this Riddle he May teach the sonnes of men a mysterie That he who without man did man first make Will not man but by man save or forsake Qui fecit te sine te non servat te sine te For though God works his work mirac'lously Yet t'ordinary meanes he doth man ty And now in end to shew how Christ of late The deafe and dumb did both re-consolate How for the payment of a Tributes penny A Dolphine from the deep affords him money How graciously th' Adulteresse is freed And both from sinne and shame stands purifi'd How that poor man who from the wombe was blinde By clay and spittle doth his eye-sight finde How Jairus daughter and the widdows sonne Of Naine were reviv'd how he alone Did feed five thousand with five barly loaves How dry-foot on the Seas proud waves he roaves I dare not longer undertake to tell Lest under such a weight my spirits faile Let this suffice those few which here be shown Make both his Godhead and his Manhead known The Proselyt's CANTO 5o. AS when a grave and sage Gymnosophist Minding to put his Scholler to the list Of publick dispute whence he hopes to gaine The honour of his long turmoyling paine Prescribes him first some disputable Theam To be contested in the Acadeam Which being toss'd in Dialectique manner By quircks and Sophismes of a subtill strainer Gives correspondent hopes or fears of what The publick The'ter can emarginat So Nicodemus having oft times heard Of that rich glory and that rich reward Which Christ had promis'd to all such as should By his directions be govern'd and rul'd Goes privily by night to him to try Who was the stronger Christ or th' Pharisie Master saith he I see thou art a man Come out from God for certainly none can Or speake or doe as thou hast spoke and done Without some divine inspiration Is' t so saith Christ brave Nicodemus now I needs must tell thee what thou dost not know Except a man be born again 't is sure He shall not enter in at Glories doore Be born again saith he what 's this I heare VVhat man can make this paradox appeare Can he that 's old return to 's mothers wombe And thence being born again a childe become This Maxim seemeth very strange to me It over-tops my weak capacity VVhat dost thou think this strange doth Christ then say That man must needs be born again Nay nay Unlesse a man be born again by water And by the Spirits inward hid lavacre He cannot enter in Gods kingdome for What 's born of flesh is flesh and what is more What is born of the Spirit 's likewise Spirit VVithout this birth no man can heav'n inherit The winde blows where it lists thou hear'st the sound Thereof but canst not tell where 't may be found From whence it comes or whither it doth goe So hidden are his waves who makes it blow Come come saith Necodemus tell me where Thou canst be bold this Doctrine to averre Thou speak'st to me of being born again But of a new birth I conceive no strain Thou prat'st to me of heav'ns great Kingdome but Of that Monarchick state I see no jot Make me then see a reason and a cause Of what thou speak'st else hold thy peace and pause VVell Nicodemus now of truth I see That Nature is to Grace an Enemie And what the nat'rall man thinks wisdome that Doth God as folly excommunicat And what the Lord counts wisdome that doth Nature Abhorre as voyd of her perfections feature VVhat if I should be bold but to demand Of thee this question what strong pow'r and hand Did frame thee in thy mothers womb when yet In darknesse as a Non-ens thou didst sit Whose fingers there condens'd thy bones what power Did fill thy veines with Bozra's crimson shower VVho made thy nerves and artyrs so to tie Thy bodies compact and societie Who fram'd thy braines great Chaos liver spleen Thy boyling choller or thy moyst'ning phleagm VVho made thy eyes so watchfull Centinels VVho made thy nose Judge of so various smels VVho made thy tongue to speak or eares to hear VVho made thy knees to bow or back to bear And last of all whence hadst thou that poor breath Whose presence lends thee life whose absence death Whose influence warms thee with celestiall fire And whose unmoved motion doth aspire In a poor minute to run round about Earths drossie globe and Seas green glassie spout Then in an eyes poor twinkle strives to know The treasures of the windes hail rain and snow Thence falling down doth view that woefull deep Wherein the Vessels of Gods wrath doe weep Thence scaling all the heav'ns doth scan the course Of all the Stars in their imperiall sourse Thence soaring higher
flies above the Pole And all the Stars where Charles great wain doth role And in the highest heav'ns doth steale a glance Of great Jehova's glorious countenance And with a ravish'd strain doth strive to see His one true Essence and his persons three That in the volume of his face she may The programs of his frowns and favour spy All those within thy hollow bosome dwell And yet by natures help thou canst not tell Nor when nor where nor how this bulk was made Begun advanc'd inlarg'd or finished Why dost thou then require that nature should Investigate or labour to unfold The secret footsteps and that hidden way Wherein th' Almighty doth his pow'r display Dost thou not know that in thee two men dwell The spirit and the flesh whose tides doe swell So boistrously each one against the other That cruell Cain when he had kill'd his brother Was never stuff'd with more vindictive spleen Then doe these two betwixt them entertain Water hath no more force to drown the fire Fire to drink water doth no more aspire Ayre in earths caverns hath not such a roar Earth doth no more ayres levity abhorre Heat against cold and moysture against drougth Doth not so largly ope their yawning mouth The light with darknes keeps no better coyle Death striving against life hath no such toyle As have these two whil'st their unstay'd desire To ruine one another doth aspire Hence doth arise so fierce a conflict that Unlesse the one the other subjugat With laboring Rebecca in her push Man may exclaime If so why am I thus For loe the good man would he cannot doe And th' ill he would not that he 's thrust unto Yet whosoever to the flesh shall give Obedience and in her Statutes live Shall from the flesh reape nothing but corruption And drink the bitter dregs of her destruction But he who by the spirit is made free From carnall lusts and their captivitie Shall by th' obedience of the Sp'rit have peace When all the turmoiles of the flesh shall cease But ay me now I see this world is gone And drown'd i th' deep of induration For though the light hath plentifully shin'd In all her corners yet men have repin'd Against the light and made their deeds so evill That they are slaves to Belial and the Devill Thus hath he gravell'd Nicodemus sp'rit And of a Pharisee made a Proselyte For nature being convinc'd must hold her peace And humane reason unto God give place Hence forth from Judah he doth take his way And in Samaria purposeth to stay Faint in his journey by the extream heat Which Earth to Titan did reveberat He comes to Sichars well but all in vain One drop of water he can not obtain Here down he sits straight from Samaria come A woman to draw water for her home Woman saith he I thirst extreamly pray Lend me some water this my thirst t' alay The jorney's long and eke the season hot Let me then drink some water from thy pot Some water saith she that is strange ô man That thou a Jew I a Samaritan Canst seek refreshment or a drink from me Those keep no commerce nor societie Woman saith he ô that thou couldst but know That gift of God and who it is that now Doth beg of thee some water for his thirst Surely thou shouldst have been my begger first And I to thy petition would have given A cup of better water brought from Heaven For who so drinks this water thirsts again But who tastes my unemptied Ocean Shall never thirst for from th' Eternal's throne It spring'th and tak'th eternall motion Master saith she you talk to me of water Whose bubling sourse some better streams doth scatter But to my taste I never yet could see A welspring of more pretious dignitie Our Father Jacob dig'd this well of old He drunk of it his children al 's ' were bold To fet it to their Cattels use art thou Greater then they I pray thee let me know That when I thirst hereafter I may drink And draw the waters of that better brink Goe saith he then and make thy husband come That when thou drink'st he also may have some I have no husband saith she Now I heare Thee speak the truth for it is more then clear That husbands five thou hast already had And he whom now thou hast thou hast not wed Thus hast thou sinn'd and in thy sinne dost lye Drunk with the dregs of sinnes security Yet though sinnes seed time seem a delicate Her harvest and her gleaning's desolate Master saith she a Prophet now thou art For thou display'st the secrets of my heart Messiah when he comes can doe no more But tell us all things this thou dost before I am the man saith he expect no other The only sonne of God by flesh thy brother Yea amongst many brethren the first borne And of great David's house th' exalted horne Shee hears those words and leaves her water pot Behinde her and to poore Samaria's lot She hies her self with all the speed she can And cals them from their trades each man by man Come come saith she now blessed be the Lord He hath made true the tenure of his word Which promiseth that in the end of time Messiah's blood should expiat our crime Come I have found him and what 's strange behold What I have done in all my life h' hath told Yea he hath fann'd the secrets of my heart And made my soule by griefe for sinne to smart I never heard so grave and learn'd a Preacher So strickt a schoole-man and so wise a Teacher Ne're doth the Phaenix when she first doth flie From out her Urn with self-bred infancie With richer troops attempt her first-wing'd march Along the conclave of th'ethereall Arch Than now my Saviour from Samaria â—â—th T' attend his doctrine and enrich their faith He seeth them hunger and he opes his mouth To feed them with those clusters of his truth Your fathers saith he worship'd in this mountain Here did they dig sweet water from this fountain But now the time drawes neere and is at hand When neither here nor in Judaea's land God shall be serv'd alone through all the world The chariot of his glory shall be hurl'd God is a Spirit all that doe him feare In sp'rit and truth unto him must draw neare You worship what you know not ô but we Know whom we worship in sinceritie And though salvation's to the Jewes first shown Yet shall the Gentiles for Gods sonnes be known O now say they unto the woman we Believe him not for what you testifie But having heard him with our eares our selfe On him we build our soules eternall health For now we see he is that Christ should come To ransome Israel with a pretious summe Thus turning to Judaea's coasts again Great multitudes doe follow him amain For they by him mirac'lously were fed VVhen in the desert they were hungered But whil'st he doth their hidden
sight and at this roaring call The three Disciples to the earth down fall And like a man who with the Palsie's taken Their sp'rits are troubled and their senses shaken But he who 's rich in mercy drawing neer First touches them and so disbands their fear Then bids them rise they by 's word made strong Doe hope their former comforts to prolong But ah in vaine Jesus stands there alone His Glory Moses and Eliah's gone O what a cloud of witnesse standing here Our humane frailty to the world mak'th clear Those Saints of late did sleep then were o're joy'd Then with a quiv'ring feare were overcloy'd Now recomforted but God know'th how long 'T is strange to see what a tumultuous throng Of changes and vicissitudes lay'th hold On him who lives and moves upon the mold For nothing's stable here beneath the sun Perfection's cloyed with imperfection Strength is contempered with humane weaknes Wisdome with follie health with smarting sicknes But when we shall arise to our better rest And in our Masters glory shall be plac'd Then shall our imperfections flye away And true perfection shall recleare our day For then the glory of our God shall hide The spots and wrinkles of his virgin-bride And what in her is now with weaknes mix'd Shall then in never fading strength be fix'd For being chang'd unto his image we Shall sigh no more because of miserie But being exalted to our all in all Our joyes shall flourish still and never fall The Hosanna CANTO 7o. NE'er did my Saviour keep such pompe and state Ne'er was his traine so populous and great Ne'er did he take such Majesty upon him Ne'er was so many eyes at once fix'd on him As now while as the day draw'th neer wherein His night of death should our lifes day begin Till now he path'd his journeys all on foot And measur'd Judahs cirruits all about Without or noise or traine or Prince-like stage To attend him in a royall equipage But now being ready his pure blood to spend And bring our soules Redemption to an end He cloaths himselfe with Majesty indeed As best befitted royall Davids seed From Bethphage therefore he two servants sends To Syons suburbs and thus saith There stands An Asse and by her side her Colt unty de Goe bring them hither for I now must ride If any aske of you why doe you so Say I have need and they shall let you goe His two disciples goe and as he told So finde they all things therefore they make bold And bring the Asse unto him with all haste So forth he go'th to keep the Passeov'rs feast The asse and colt whereon he rides his store Of pomp and acclamations were before Prognosticat by Zachary and all According to the Scriptures verdict fall The Colt whereon he rides did ne'er till now Her tender back to any burthen bow Yet to his burthen now she stoopeth down As one accustom'd to subjection The best apparell which the people wore Are made his foot-cloths Some doe run before Some follow after bowes are pluck'd from trees Applauding clangor to the heav'n up-flies And noble Palm-tree sprigs are thrown i' th way That all succeeding times may blesse that day Hosannah to the Highest is their word And bless'd be he that commeth from the Lord And yet in all this masque and royall guise There 's nothing but a croud of mysteries For by the Asse the Jewes are understood And by the Colt the Gentiles for the food Of sp'rituall bread and water first must flow From Judah's fountaine and thereafter goe Unto the way of all the Gentiles that God may in both be truly celebrate The Jewes indeed like to this Asse ev'n now Their necks to Moses legall yoak did bow The Gentiles like the Colt have not as yet Submitted their proud necks t'obtemper it Chrysostom But having snuff'd the winde up at their pleasure Hieronim Now in their month are catch'd toth ' Gospels treasure The garments with the which th'Apostles loath'd Those beasts declare their doctrine which betroth'd Remigius Both Jew and Gentile to espouse that Lamb Who into th' world for their re-union came Hilarius The garments which the people throw i' th' way That after-love unto the Truth display Whereby th'Apostles and the Martyrs shall Seale with their blood Truths testimoniall The Palm-tree sprigs which from their stems are cut And cast into the way doe point us out The Fathers faith and constant hope who by The storms of worldly torments though they dye Yet cannot be cut from that root and stem From which they hope an eternall di'dem Hosanna to the Sonne of David shew'th That he is true man and what more he ow'th To heaven by 's heav'nly generation Is shut up in the highest acclamation O thou the fairest ' mongst the sonnes of men In majesty and triumph ride thou then Because that truth and righteousnes thou brings And thy right hand shall teach terrible things In this so rich a pomp and pompous store Unto Jerus'lem rides my Saviour Jerus'lem was of old the royall seat Of Kings Priests Prophets dul'inaugurat Kings there did raigne for there was Davids throne Priest there did offer their oblation A midst their streers and on their sacred Temple The Prophets fix'd their oracles so ample Hither doth now the great Messiah come King Priest and Prophet that to all and some He might make known the path of life and be King Priest and Prophet to eternity As King he rides along their streets and there The clangors of Hosanna pierce the aire As Priest unto the Temple straight he goes And thence the Rancour table he orethrowes And as a Prophet there he doth foretell The finall fall and foyl of Israel Oft hath he view'd Jerusalem ere now With small regard or aspect of her crew But now the City 's mov'd both more and lesse And earnestly doe cry who 's this who 's this As when the Sages at the first brought newes That there was born a Monarch to the Jewes Herod and all the town were in commotion To heare from strangers mouths so strange a notion So now while as they see him cast aside The rags of basenes and in pomp to ride In fear and in commotions path they range And what before seem'd nought doth now seem strange Such be our soules in their still changing state While as we sit secure and desolate bound in the fetters of iniquity We dream no change nor new oeconomy But when with our corruptions Grace doth ruffle And our impostors she to door doth shuffle Straight all the anvels of our trembling heart Doe from their rest retire and finde it smart What mean'th this strangenesse Suleme tell menow With bayes hath he not crown'd thy wrinkled brow Hath he not wedded thee for his ture Bride And left the widow-world to weep beside Hath he not given thee thy wedding token Hath he not earl ' and late in thy street spoken Hath he not
though the Dev'll rook place Within his soule and made him seven times more The sonne of Sathow then he was before Let all such then as in Gods house appeare Eat of his bread and drink his wine with feare For as one house together cannot hold The God of Jacob and base Dagons mold So in mans secret soule or hidden heart God will have nothing if the Dev'll have part If Jerubbael serve the Lord above He must cut down his fathers heath'nish grove If Tarshish ships would safe sale home to shore A flying Jonas they must hug no more And if a Lawyer would goe safe to heaven He must forget or five or six or seaven For God is one and loveth no division A gracious Union is his best provision Were Achan living he would tell thee truth That poverty excells that wealth which doth Mans honour unto shame and sorrow sell And well-nigh makes his soule a slave to hell Rejected Saul who spared Am'lecks flock Were he alive would still hold Samuels cloak And never let him goe till he got grace By true repentance to redeem his race Bless'd is the man who since he naked come Into the world and naked must turn home Doth by the shelter of his quiet fire Make food and raiment curb his vast desire For Worlds Empires Courts Crowns Kings Are rich in cares when Rest hath better things But peace of Conscience makes the soule rejoyce More then the world and all her fading toyes The Agonie CANTO 2o. WHat man is he would truly know Christs Passion Then let him read that Lecture in this fashion First as a Story next a Gospell then A Pattern last a Benefit to men A story first it is where men may know That God in heav'n governs the world below A Gospell 't is which teacheth us how God Converts our serpents to an usefull rod A pattern 't is which doth in all our crosses Command that patience counterpoise our losses A benefit at last it brings to such As by true faith his garments hem doe touch O that we could first know aright then trust Then imitate then hold him as hee 's just So should we be learn'd Schollers faithfull Saints Obsequious Servants rich Participants But ah our wishes and our weak desires Cannot suffice to blow those zeal-bred fires Which on Jove's sacred altars still should burn And our oblations unto ashes turn Come therefore let us view that Paschall Lamb Whose blood disdain'd the cursed tents of Ham And drenching Goshens doors with wraths proud hand Did smite the first-born in all Misraims land But ay me where shall I begin to wonder At thee dread Monarch mighty sonne of thunder Eternities sole word and first-born sonne Heav'ns promis'd Earth accomplish'd Holy one Thy majesty the very heav'ns admire Thy power in the world doth still appeare Thy Justice all the damn'd in hell doe know Onely to man thou dost thy Mercy show Come then great thou mans preordain'd peace-maker Teach me the fittest way how I may sacre My pen r'expresle the fearfull agonie Thou suffer'dst for us in Gethsemanie Time place and person are the fittest square To make this building truly regular If any shall enquire the period when Thou didst begin to suffer for us men Scripture doth say it was a darkned houre While as the sonnes of darknesse had most power The place is known Gethsemans garden for 'T was meet that where Adam did fall before There thou the second should'st in bloody sweat Repaire the forfeit of our lost estate The person who sustains this weight of woe Is very God and very Man also God that his worth might Gods wrath sarisfie Man that in weaknes he might smart and dye O but this time and houre must yet be shown A little more sometimes 't is call'd thy own Sometime 't is theirs That we may know the right Disperse our cloudy doubt and give us light To speak the truth at first this houre was theirs Then thine then ours on these three paire of staires Time tripping up and down hath made the sourse Of our redemption to perfect her course Their time it was of sinne and sinfull wrath Such was the power both of sinne and death Thy houre it was of suffering and of smart For feare and anguish did oppresse thy heart Our houre it also was for then began The expiation of the sinnes of man Their houre of darknesse and thy houre of death Our houre of life and liberty from wrath When thou great master first at Cene's wedding Turn'd water into wine at Maries bidding I heard thee check her and in seeming wrath As if she had ev'n sinned to the death Say woman what have I to doe with thee My houre is not yet come get thee from me Of late when from a steep high mountain they Intend to throw thee down thou shrunk'st away And giving place unto their furious sume Thou told'st them that thy houre was not yet come Since then when high-Priests Pharisees and all Thy foes together did conspire thy fall Thou told'st them as a program of their doome They toyl'd in vain thy houre was not yet come How many houres of honor hast thou had How many times hast thou been worshipped When Sages from the East did presents bring And layd them at thy feet as Juries King VVhen in the desert Angels brought thee meat And by their service did proclaim thy State When on mount Tabor thy bright face did shine And heav'ns proclam'd thee heire of their divine Inheritance when Salems strders didring With loud Hosannaes to thee as their King Although those houres were all and alwayes great Yet did'st thou not account their pompe or state Worthy to have the note of thy great houre But when thou com'st to make our sweet thy sowre That houre thou tak'st and only counts it thine Because in it thy Father did propine That cup of wrath to thee men should have drunk If thou from his fierce wrath hadst fled or shrunk While thou with thy great Father and his Spirit Before all time did'st all times praise in herit All houres were thine all times and all times motion Did bow their knees to thee at thy devotion Yea when unto thy Image man was made And for his use the world was furnished Thou mad'st the Stars the Sun and Moon to shine And servefor poore mans use but not for thine Man had and hath all times at his command Sometime he sits and sometime he doth stand Sometime he laughts and sometime sadly weeps Sometime he watcheth some time sweetly sleeps Sometime he builds sometime he doth destroy Sometime he 's dumpish sometime rapt with joy All those doe stand subdu'd unto man's will At his direction their tides band fill But thou no time hast chosen save this one Poore houre of darknesse this thou call'st thine own Nor dost thou so for thine own sake but that Thou being a Lambe of God immaculat In this dark houre of suff ring thou
all wrath that did begin This wofull combat in thy soule for loe What we should suffer thou didst undergoe Hence were thy griefes thy bloody sweats and teares Hence were thy supplicavions and thy feares Hence were th' affrighting passions of thy soule As man alone thou could'st not them controle The spirit of man infirm'ty may sustaine But who can beare th' Almighties deep disdaine To see the Sonne of God sweat drops of blood 〈…〉 And yet no wonder though â— wond'rous cause Produce effect that reason quite dissâ—nowes If hell and death have pains in tollâ—â—able If flesh be weak and humane faith be feeble What wonder was it though with flesh aray'd Thou of th'Eternalls wrath wa st so dismay'd The wonder is how thou our true Phisition Knowing our sicknesse and our sad condition Cor Id'st by the drinking of our poyson'd Cap Refresh our soules and eke revive our hope O that in this thy wofull agonie We could but read our own perplexitie So should our sighs and teares in time prevent Th' eternall throbbings of deaths punishment But since we cannot as we would recall Our mispent time and so repaire our fall O teach us in our lives to follow thee That with thee we may finde conformitie Of comfort in our crosse so shall thy grace Once make us to enjoy thee face to face Yea let the path or way be what it will Let griefe and toile and tears and torment still Beat down our outward Man yet let us make Our inner man more strong by faith and take Example by thee both in life and death To seek Gods favour and to 〈◊〉 his wrath The Surpryse CANTO 3o. THrice hath the Sonne of righteousnes display'd The soure-sweet symptoms of a soule dismay'd And thrice hath zeale-bred pray'rs prevayling power Recleer'd th'eclypses of his darkned houre Thrice hath he bidden his Discyples pray Lest to tentation they should one the way But while he checks their watch they 're still asleep Droun'd in the bottome of secur'ties deep So frequent are our foyles our faith â— unsteady That flesh is ever weak though th'spirit's ready Yet once more will he rouze them from their rest And print this farewell Sermon in their breast My friends saith he oft have I bid you watch Lest Sathan in his snare your soules should catch But you havedroup'd you have been drouzy still Hence forth goe sleep and take your rest at will For th' houre is come The Sonne of Man 's betray'd The Traitounis at hand and for his avde An armed Legion com'th yet none can take My life from me but for my poore sheeps sake I lay it down and take it up againe And by my willing death you life retain Arise let us goe hence Scarse are they gone When loe the traitor and his legion Come all along and to my Saviour goe First to surprize him then work his ov'r throw And first comes Judus in a poore Lambs fleece Though inwardly a raying Wolfe be is Throwing his arms about his Masters neck Doth greet him with this foule dissembling check Haile Master to his word he joyns a kisse And by that signall tells the troupe who h 'is But ô my Saviour meekly doth enquire Friend wherefore com'st thou so dost thou desire By this thy kisse to kill the Sonne of Man The task is foule goe on doe what thou can Hadst thou but as a stranger been suborn'd Thus to betray me I could well have born 't Or hadst thou as a causlesse hatefull foe Conspir'd to work and perpetrate my woe I would not then have grudged But to see Him who did dip his hand i th' dish with me And him who in my bosome lately lay Lift up his heele against me and betray Me to the death 't is strange but Father what Thou hast begun continue consummat Fie on thee Judas Sathans first born sonne Hadst thou but kept one spark of grace within Thy hellish breast these words of friendly love Might have suffic'd thy treach'rous heart to move And pull'd thee down upon thy soules bow'd knees To beg the pardon of thy treacheries But ah as one poore bubbling drop alone Can hardly gutter flint or Porphire stone So hardly can one word though ne'er so â—â—ue An indur'd heart to sense of sinne subdue Whil'st thus he spâ—â—ks to Judas all the â—est Of that proud rable have themselves addrest To apprehend him straight way He but saith Whom seek you friends Jesus of Nar areth Say they he answers Surely I am he Which words import he 's God and Man trulie Iam did from the burning bush foretell The safe redemption of his Israel And this word He doth his human'ty show Who by his death should satisfie the Law For he 's the Man and truly onely He Who gives man life and imâ—ortalitie No sooner hath he spoke â—hose words I 'm he When by those words consounded back they flie And to the ground doe fall such was the power And piercing virtue of my Saviour He doth enquire againe Whom would you have Jesus say they the man of Naxareth I surely am the man saith he the truth I have already told you from my mouth If me you seek then let those goe their way From you I shall not flie but with you stay For what is writ of me fulfill I must Let those goe safe lot me sustain the worst Not long agoe my Saviour hath foretold The times were comming in the which men should Of two coats sell the one and buy a sword Peter remembreth this Prophetione Word And seeing Matchas proudly lay his hand Upon his Master draweth forth his brand And ayminght proud Malchus head that blow Did crop his eare and cut it quite in two Surely the sword of Peter was but just Who stops his ear to God and man doth trust May justly lose his eare his eye his hand And all his body that doth God withstand But Peter here doth wrong could he but know 't He beats the stone and quts the hand did throw 't The blow on Judas should have been moresure Who th' Author was of this distemp'rature Malchus but acts false Judas falser plot 'T is pitty Judas had not Malchus lot Yet that poore Peter now may wisely know That good intention's not enough to show The actions good and that shows cannot hide The hidden frailty of a self-sick pride Christ bids him put his transhing sword againe Into his place for humane streng this vaine And he who by the sword his will doth cherish Shall sometime by the sword both fall and perish Dost thou not know saith he that what a cup My father doth propine I must drink up Thouh it were ne'er so bitter were 't not so This world should perish in an endlesse woe Or dost thou think that if I pleas'd t' escape I could not this earths drossie globe ov'rleap And riding on a thousand Cherubs wings Prepareany ineseue with the King of Kings Or think'st thou not but if I lov'd t'remove I
top which thou didst lately saile What wonder is' t though stripling I be shaken And with a tempest trespasse be ov'rtaken But bless'd be God thy fall was not so soule But true repentance hath restor'd thy soule That all the world may know As sinne breeds death The promise of true life Repentanee hath Look how a well-rig'd Pinnace set to sea With blind and Maine and Misaens liberty Lacking a Pilot who by due regard Should sit at stern and point her treâ—bling card Whil'st Dolphin-like she skips against the skies As if she would Joves starry throne surprise And like a Triton in the glassie field Dives down again and being forc'd to yield To Neptunes rage she visits Pluto's cell As if she sought Euridice from hell But recomforted by sweet Zephyr's gailes Whose following favours fill her empty sailes In short time she attains her wished shore Where winters tempests threaten her no more So fareth it with the irres'lute brests Of Adams off-spring who doe build their rests On their own strength no sooner doe they scale The Barracad's of Fortunes slippry ball When either fainting feare be-leads their heels And so they sink Or else their Chariot wheels Drawn by presumptuous Palfries trot so fast That hardly can they shun a fall at last Unlesse some strong strong hand doe curb their rein And so their ruine and their shame restrain For whil'st th' impetuous fancies of fraile man Sets him to try the worlds vain Ocean Unlesse a steddier hand than is his own Doe guide his course he 's either quite orethrown Or dash'd in peeces ' gainst some sturdy rock So furious be the flames of Sathans shock Thrice happy he whom Jacobs God doth guide And in his secret tent doth alwayes hide Thrice happy he whose heart kept in Gods hand Doth neither faintly fall nor proudly stand But in a due contemp'rature of Grace 'Twixt faith and feare doth wisely run his race O surely such a one when windes doe blow When seas doe rage and earth no rest doth know Shall by the secret influence of heaven So steare his course and hold his ballance even That neither death nor life nor wealth nor want Nor weale nor woe can crush his Covenant But holding still the gripes of grace h' hath got Still eyes his Pole and so he finketh not The Assize CANTO 4o. OF late I heard the High Priests Cock crow day Of late I saw Aurora shrink away From Darknesse center to th' Eoan plain T'enamell Heav'ns and guild the Ocean But ay me scarcely could the pearly morn With opall light our earthly globe adorn When loe Ixyons dark condensat cloud Did Pha'ton Titans Coach-man so oreshroud That one should think two nights combin'd in ire Had met together to drown out Sols fire A presage sure that ere that Sun should set A brighter Sun should be exanimat Yet hopefull day hath over come that shade And Titans rayes reclear'd made Flora glad But all this while since yester-nights surprise Till now that Phaebus 'gins to deck the skies My Saviour hath been bound with twisted cords Beaten with blowes wrong'd by sarcastick words Fond Jews and foolish Souldiers tell me why You doe outbrave him with such cruelty Had he not by his own will more been ty'd Then by the Cart-ropes of your swelling pride He like to Sampson might have burst your flax And made your bonds to melt away like wax But now what eye can choose but weep to see Those hands which fram'd the heav'ns the earth the sea And by his dainty singers framed man More nearly fine then art or nature can Thus wrung and wrested with a cord or rope Even whil'st Arachne-like he spins our hope But ah me Mans hard heart 's indured so That he can no compassions strain allow On him who from the heav'ns vouchsafes to take Our nature for our Soules redemptions sake Now Annas High-Priest and his sonne in law Great Caiaphas unto a Councell draw The whole Sanhaedrin Pharisees and all Whose suffrage can or life or death empale To judge the just one by injustice He Submits himself to all their tyrannie But ô you fooles and hypocrites wherefore Serves all this tumult and this mut'nous stirre One blow in secret might have finished Your wrath against him such the Baptist had But now I see Envy and Malice both Concurre together to oppresse the Truth And under shew of truth and justice must Sentence be giv'n unjustly ' gainst the just And since the Scriptures be not yet fulfill'd His blood in secret must not now be spill'd The Bench is set the Judges are conveen'd The guiltlesse is accus'd and guilty deem'd False witnesse now are sought and many come The hall is full there is no empty room At last two sonnes of Bielal are brought They witnesse ' gainst him what he never thought Thou sayd'st deceiver say they Let this Temple Be quite destroy'd and in three dayes more ample I will re-build it Fourty years and six Were spent in squaring stones and carving sticks To build it first and now thou say'st in three Dayes space thou wilt repair 't more sumptuously What canst thou doe it But he holds his peace And answers not to that their forged case And wisely doth he so for bruise a fool Even in a morter yet his folly still Shall cleave unto him wrangling is a vice And to the truth brings often prejudice The High-Priest seeing this saith I adjure Thee by the living God to tell me sure If that thou be the Christ the sonne of God Say either yea or nay and there he stood Jesus replies Thou say'st it I am he This world another Saviour shall not see And that thou may'st my words the more believe I tell thee that hereafter God shall give The Sonne of Man this honour to sit down At his right hand in glory and renown And thou shalt see him come again from thence To judge this world by righteous recompence At those words Caiaphas his cloaths doth rend Ev'n from their top unto their lower end Although against the laws expresse commend Lev. 21. â—â— Which to the contrair tyes the High Priests handâ— O now I see there 's an appointed time And for each thing beneath the Sun a Prime A time to laugh and so a time to weep A time to travell and a time to sleep A time to build a time eke to destroy A time to sorrow and a time to joy A time to rest a time to run our race A time to speak a time to hold our peace Whil'st foolish Ruffians did their cavill spue He neither said that they were false or true But now whil'st he his Fathers name doth heare Setting aside of humane force all feare He boldly speaks the truth and doth display The hidden Godhead in his flesh did lie The High Priest hath his robe no sooner tore When thus he speaks What need we any more To cite a witnesse ' gainst him hath not he Blasphemed God before us impiously