joys thy brest shall burn With flaming care until thy corps return Into the bowels of th' inclusive earth From whence thou hadst thy substance and thy birth For base thou art and therefore thou shalt be A food for gnawing worms and not for me As thou art dust to dust thou shalt retire Hereafter let not dust presume t' aspire Strange alteration Oh pernicious fate Too quickly bred in such an Infant state He that but even now enjoy'd a life Ballanc'd with pleasures now is fill'd with strife He whose Majestick Soul was lately crown'd With blest content is now ingulf'd and drown'd In sorrows Ocean He which was before Inrich'd with happiness is now as poor As poverty can make him He which had The countenance of Heav'n to make him glad Is now eclipst he knows not where to run Sin having interpos'd between the Sun And his dark Soul the Center of whose rest Is now remov'd and he survives unblest He which but even now had leave to dwell And revel in Heav'ns eye desires a Cell To entertain him he which liv'd in Peace Is now thrown down and forfeited his Lease Great was his Crime great was his sudden Fall Great was his Tenement his Rent but small Poor Adam's taken by his own decoys Sin is the Sequestrator of all j ys Sad Pilgrim of the world where wilt thou find In the unpathed earth a place so kind To entertain thee Ah where wilt thou keep Thus tumbled from a Precipice so steep The sad unpeopl'd rendezvouz Oh where Wilt thou procure a hand that will unsnare Th'intangled Soul Alas thy wearied life Hath two most sad companions first a Wife Than a bad Conscience what two greater crosses Can hang upon a brest whose cares whose losses Are grown so infinit that no relief But what distills from Heav'n can ease their grief Thou wert the first of men that entertain'd So grand a sorrow thou the first that stain'd So pure a colour thou the first that dwelt In Edens garden thou the first that felt The scourge of fury hadst thou not transgrest Vengeance had found no hand nor grief a brest Ah hadst thou not offended sin had found No habitation nor thy Soul a wound Had not thy hand so wilfully unlock'd The door of Death Destruction had not knock'd At thine impenetrable gates or ventur'd T' approach so near but being open'd enter'd Bold Customer of fate that sought about To come within and turn poor Adam out Thy strength out strength'd his strength made him weak A vessel crack'd how can it chuse but leak Sin prov'd Deaths father mans heart the womb That brought it forth this Deatb shall find a tomb When the Determiner of time hath hurl'd A finis to the volume of the world Till then man mortaliz'd by sin must be A subject unto Deaths Soveraigntie Poor man in what a wilderness of sorrow Dost thou now ramble in where wilt thou borrow A minutes rest On what inclining ear Wilt thou expend thy groans what canst thou hear But dialects of misery to vex hear Thy bankrupt thoughts The fatal disrespects Of Heav'n will blow and toss thee up and down From place to place his still renewed frown Will follow thee therefore provide t' endure The hot pursutes of such a fierce Pursuer Canst thou expect that this thy grand abuse Which runs beyond the limits of excuse Can be forgotten dost thou think t'out-live Thy long-liv'd crimes or hope for power to give Due satisfaction to thy God whose rage Thy heart cannot endure much less asswage Most lachrymable state What canst thou do Oh man that may ingratiate or renew Thy former love Alas thy base condition Makes thee incapable of a Petition Prepare thy self see if thou canst invade His Soul with pray'rs see if thou canst perswade His Heart to yield unto thy sad request And re-inthrone thee with thy former rest Dissect thy Soul with groans anatomize Thy Heart with sighs and let thy winged cries Fly through the Angles of his sacred ear And breed a harmony within the Sphere Of his blest Soul be circumspect and lay The best foundation hear what Heav'n will say Adams Petition to God Incensed Father of eternal light Permit a darkened Soul t' approach the sight Of thine incomparble eye unmask Thy Anger-clouded Soul and let me ask Forgiveness for those loading Crimes which press My stagg'ring Soul I know not whom t' address My apostate self unto but only thee Whom I offended Please to pity me I have no pleasing sacrifice t' attone Thy wrathful Brest except a hearty groan That 's quadrupl'd with grief Oh deign to look Upon the lines of my all-blotted book Although I 'm full of most detested spots Yet Lord I know that thou canst read my blots Oh read them then and let thy mercies run With thy progressive eye I am undone If not forgiven Lord I thee implore To shew some mercy to me thou hast store Decipher all my sins and let them not Bear record in thy Rouls but rest forgot Revoke this Act of death that I may sing Th' admired mercies of so blest a King Oh lift me up that now am thrown below Make not my Soul the Custom-house of woe Oh hear these bitter groans that I have spent And send some comfort from thy Parliament Gods Reply Thou Skelleton of baseness hie thee hence Disturb me not return I say from whence Thou cam'st at first thou shalt as soon remove A mountain as my mind I cannot love No nor I will not nothing shall intreat My resolutions for my fury 's great Begone proud Rebel do not think thy prayers Thy vows thy groans thy sighs thy sobs thy tears Shall make my brest their receptacle No How can I be a friend to such a foe Surcease thy importunities let fall Thy high desires I will not hear thee call Thy Sins have bart'd my ears I 'le not be won With thy base airy words for thou hast spun The thread of thy destruction therefore wear What thou hast labour'd for and so forbear T'intrench upon my patience 't is in vain To seek for that which thou shalt not obtain And is it thus that Heav'n will not regard My cryes Ah me and must my groans be heard With disrespect by him whose tongue affords Nothing but grief involv'd with bitter words Alas alas what greater woe can crowd Into a brest than to be disavow'd By Gods high voice whose most enraged breath Darts forth the Arrows of eternal death What shall I do Oh whither shall I run To hide my self until the glorious Sun Of his affections usher in the day Of welcom Joy Oh whither shall I stray If I am silent then my silence turns My thoughts to fire If speak my speech returns Trebl'd with wo into the brazen Tower Of my sad heart my language has no power To work upon his ears my words like balls Banded and thrown against th' obdurate walls Unyielding brest bounds back again and breaks Into
discharge his sorrow at his eyes XVI Sins that do float in tears are often drown'd In their own floods When real sighs abound They raise a tempest and our sins are tost Against the rocks of Mercy till they 're lost When sins beleaguer us with hostile fears There 's no Artillery like Davids tears XVII Curst like the Fig-tree is that barren eye That in a flood of Sins is alwayes dry Teares are the choicest Jewels which are set Like Orient Pearls in Heaven's rich Cabinet When Faith implores th' Almighty One that lent A vent for tears will send us tears to vent XVIII Faith is the Souls best Orator 't is known There is no Musick like a faithful groan A Whisp'ring faith will find a ready ear When a loud-thundring faithless voice must steer From whence it came no audience will be given A soft tongu'd Faith on Earth speaks loud in Heaven XIX Faith feeds the hungry and it safe-guards those That fear the danger of incensed Foes T is Heavens proof-armor he that wears this shield May safely meet Goliah in the Field 'T is heavenly mirth to hear a David sing 'T was Faith that kill'd Goliah not a sling XX. The precious balsom of a sound belief Expels the poyson of a raging grief The womans bloody issue could not be Cur'd but by Faiths Divine Chirurgery When grief assailes the patient must be sure T' apply warm prayers and Faith will end the cure XXI Reason and Faith are Combatants the One Demands a why the other will be known Without a reason for the powerful hand Of Faith can fight where reason cannot stand He that believes what 's possible can strain His Faith no higher than a humane brain XXII Faith is the mindes establisher should we Believe but what we understand and see We should prove Infidels had Abraham try'd His Faith by humane sence his Faith had dy'd But barren Sarah when her time was run Blest aged Abraham with a smiling Son XXIII When our estranged ashes shall lye hid In their corruptions reason will forbid Their re-uniting but a faithful eye Sees them inclining to their unity If we observe we shall be sure to find T hat Faith sees best when humane reason 's blind XXIV A well-deserving eye shall always find Faith and Theology as close combin'd As Marth ' and Mary were who strive to smother The one must needs extirpate the other Accurst be they that separate such friends Destroy the consort and the musick ends XXV Th' inflamed Lamp shines in a darksome night And fills each corner with a trembling light But when extinguisht our benighted eye Leaves every object in obscurity So shining Faith snuft out by sin expires And leaves us muffl'd in our dark desires XXVI Faith 's a Monoculist and can descry The Sun of Glory with a single eye It comprehendeth all things every place Where she aboads is beautifi'd with grace He 's like a pregnant Land that knows no dearth But brings forth many off-springs at one birth XXVII Faith can unnaturalize a Lion and Make him lye subject to a strict command Or Daniel had not liv'd his Lamb had power To make the Lions tremble not devour Be pleas'd Oh Lord to look upon our Sion And send this Lamb to chase away our Lion XXVIII When once despised Faith is laid aside Needs must the Fabrick of Religion slide An unpropt-house with danger is enjoy'd And Pallaces prove rubbish when destroy'd Oh how unblest is that declining Nation Where Faith 's quite lost Religion 's out of fashion XXIX Faith and Religion like the Turtle-dove Having lost her first admits no second love The troubled Ocean is not eas'ly still'd 'T is far more easie to destroy than build When Faction thrives Religion starves at nurse Who sins with Aegypt must have Aegypts curse XXX Sure sad Religion cannot chuse but groan Under deformity when every one Shall dress her at his pleasure is it good To cancel that which Martyrs seal'd with blood Sure no it is not blessings are despis'd When pure Religion 's so much Proteuniz'd XXXI I 'd rather want a blessing than abuse The blessing that I have th' apostate Jewes Can evidence this truth for whilst they stood To save the evil they destoy'd the good Did it not add to Pilates sin who cry'd I find no fault and yet our Saviour dy'd XXXII Had Judas known the blessings he possest In being private to our Saviours breast Sure then his most inordinate desires Had found no fuel to maintain his fires Best things in their corruption prove the worst Truth speaks aloud for Judas was accurst XXXIII Alas how fondly did our thoughts despise These sacred joys which now we chiefly prize Because we want them and we sadly prove The want of blessings tutors us to love The blessings that we had if I transgress Let David witness what my thoughts express XXXIV Th' unfathom'd gulf of mans unsatiate mind Proves most outragious when 't is most confin'd I could perswade my self if 't were a sin Not to be sinful Man would soon begin To practise goodness for the flesh would be Oppugnant to the Spirits faculty XXXV The raging fire the more it is deprest The more it burns our Parent Eve transgrest Because she was forbid although she knew What unavoided danger would accrew Yet her unsatisfi'd desires were such She could not chuse but tast as well as touch XXXVI Faction's the worst of Evils 't is a sin Beyond addition when we once begin To fall to Heresie we know not how Nor what to act alas we can allow A firm respect to nothing for to day We hug what we to morrow cast away XXXVII If we observe it may be quickly seen How great a disproportion is between The Schools of God and Nature we conceive In Natures Schooles before we can believe But in the Schools of God we must aspire First to believe conceive and then admire XXXVIII Affliction is the Christians badge who knows Earths greatest pleasure find her greatest wees Alas what are th' injoyments of this life But fleeting shadows which denote a strife If Davids troubles sojourn in my brest Lord give me Davids heart and I am blest XXXIX He that endures Affliction must abide The harsh directions of his knowing Guide For they that travel in this world must take Affliction by the hand or else they 'l make A fruitless journey He 's a senseless slave That dances with Earth's Musick to his grave XL. Affliction is sins Nursery and they That kill the Brat must take the Nurse away If not they must expect what 's much more worse For sin is known to be the Devils Nurse Then may they cry with lamentable breath No wages will content the Nurse but death XLI Wouldst thou prevent affliction then draw near I 'le tell thee how when sin begins t' appear Drown it in teares teares of a heavenly race He that includes a sin excludes a Grace Sin often growes too aged for relief
very looks disgrac'd The Face of Beauty to whose thriftless hand He gave that Government with this Command Of all the Trees that here thou dost behold Thy lips being authoriz'd thou mayst be bold To taste with freedom only one which I Conjure thee from therefore restrain thine eye From lusting after it if not thy breath Shall glut it self in everlasting death Forget not my Commands but let thy brest Be always faithful and thou shalt be blest Thus the Recorder having spoke at large This well-deliver'd although ill-kept Charge He after said It is not good that man should be alone Without a help I le therefore make him one Oh sacred prudence Here we may discern A sweet conjunction here our Souls may learn Wisdom and Love both which if not enjoyd Pleasures prove vanities and blessings void Heav'n whose unidle art-full hand had set Man as a Jewel in his Cabinet Thought it unfit that those delights which he Had made by his most powerful Love should be Monopoliz'd by one he therefore laid Adam asleep and having done he made Out of a crooked Rib strange kind of Art A woman fair compleat in every part Nay and a helper too for in conclusion She helpt poor Adam to his own confusion Oh most detested deed Unconstant wife To prove a Traitor to thy Husbands life As soon as made Fond wretch could nothing suit With thy nice palate but forbidden fruit Ah could thy longing lie no longer hid What didst thou long because thou wert forbid Was there no tree that could content thy eye But only that which was forbidden Fie Oh shame to think thou shouldst so quickly waste Thine hours of pleasure for a minutes taste Couldst thou not like or fall in love with any But that Heav'n had but one thou hadst many Wherewith to please thine appetite and yet Wouldst thou prove so ambitious as to sit Upon the highest twigg Ah could th' advice Of Satan tempt thee to this avarice With so much ease and make thee rashly do So foul a deed and tempt thy Adam too Preposterous wretch how hast thou spread a cloud Over thy head what didst thou think to shrowd Thy self from vengeance Having eat thy death Couldst thou expect to live Oh no thy breath Offended Heav'n but ah hadst thou but thought Before thy heart had entertain'd a fault So great as this what 't was to die thy mind Had made thee more abstemious and confin'd Thy base inordinate desires thy meat Had prov'd delightful and thy comforts great But now unhahpy now thy crimes have made Thy Soul Deaths Debtor and thou art betrayd By thine own self therefore prepare to meet Thy wrathful Judge 't is said stoln goods are sweet But thine prov'd sour the fruits w ch thou hast stole Sugar'd thy mouth but wormwoodiz'd thy soul When thou hadst eaten Ah! why didst thou not Tremble to death to think thou hadst forgot Thy Gods Commands that his Judgments must Follow thy Soul and blow thee into dust Thus Eve thus Adam having vilipended Their Gods Commands their happines soon ended Their joys were turn'd to mourning their light Was turn'd to darkness and their day to night Both being too much conscious fled with speed To hide themselves from God but not the deed Even as some poor distressed wretch desires To hide himself from the enraged fires Of his incensed Foe runs up and down To shun the rage of a condemned frown At last observing his enquiring Foe Approach the place lies still and dares not blow For fear the wordless Eccho of his breath Should soon betray him to a sudden death Being at last descry'd his throbbing heart Gives an Alarum to each trembling part Fear like an Earthquake then begins to shake His loosen'd joynts he knows not how to make A ready answer to his foes demands But as a sad convicted man he stands Subjected to his will that can dispence With nothing but with death to calm th' offence Even so Guilt-loaded Adam having done A deed so foul prepares himself to run To some close shelter where he might immure His naked body and repose secure But ah in vain in vain he strove to hide Himself from God that need implore no guide To teach him where his sad offender lay He needs must find when sin hath chalk'd th' way But when Heav'ns shril-enquiring voice surrounded The ears of Adam Adam was confounded With deep distress his heart began to call His quivering Senses to a Funeral Fear like a powerful fire began to thaw His frozen thoughts and keep his Soul in awe He breath'd in a Dilemma and could find No Sanctuary for a perjur'd mind At last the Language of th' Eternal God Storm'd his Sin-armed Soul and like a Rod Whipt him from his security and cry'd Adam where art thou Adam thus reply'd I heard thee walking in the pleasing shade Of the cool ev'ning and I was afraid And hid my self because I must confess I blusht to see my shameful nakedness GOD. Tell me thou trembling wretch how dost thou know That thou art naked say who told thee so What has thy lips usurp'd the fruit which I Conjur'd thee not to touch if so reply Adam The woman which thou gav'st me gave to me And I did eat of the forbidden tree GOD. Unconstant woman Ah why hast thou run Beyond thy bounds what 's this that thou hast done Woman The Serpents flowing language swel'd too great For my low banks he tempted and I eat Gods Curse against the Serpent Because thou hast thus subtilty deluded The lustful woman thou shalt be excluded From future good more shall thy curses yield Than all the Beasts and Cattel in the field Thy belly shall because thou hast done this Give to the earth a life-remaining kiss Thou shalt not taste of any thing that 's good Dust shall supply the place of wholsome food Curst be thy ways thou shalt no more be seen By me I will put enmity between Thy seed and hers hereafter thou shalt feel A bruised head and she a bruised heel Gods Curse against the Woman And as for thee oh Woman I 'le enlarge Thy grief and thy conception I 'le discharge Thy joyes and load thee with a weighty grief Thy pains in child-bed shall find no relief Thou shalt desire thy Husband and his hand Shall over-rule thee with a strict command Adams Curse Rebellious Adam unto thee I 'le give A Life as bad as Death for thou shalt live To see thy sorrows more and more abound And for thy sake I 'le curse the loathed ground For thou hast hark'ned to the conquering voice Of thy frail wife and made my fruit thy choice And sepulchred my words within the grave Of thy false heart begon thou self-made slave The thorny ground shall give a large increase To thy laborious hand the name of Peace Shall prove a stranger to thy ears and thou Shalt eat thy bread with a sweat-dropping brow I 'le murther all thy
the terror Of thine own Conscience which will alway stare Upon thy face and load thee with despair 'T is not a Habeas Corpus will remove The body of thy sin none can disprove The Will of God what he resolves to do Must neither be withstood nor div'd into It lies beyond thy power to perswade Thy God to pity whom thy Sins have made A wrathful Judge what he intends must be Derived from himself and not from thee For thou hast nothing in thee worth the name Of good because thy glory 's turn'd to shame Thou art corrupt and vile in every part And who can know the evil of thy heart Which like the Ocean that no art nor eye Can search her bottom or her banks descry Therefore til heav'n shall please to change the state Of thy condition Reason bids thee wait For be assur'd the promis'd seed will spread It self abroad and bruise the Serpents head Even as the Fountain whose exuberous brest Is always fluent and admits no rest But with a cheerful willingness she sends Her Christal tokens to her smaller friends Even so our God dâ—stilleth from above The healing streams of his refreshing love For ah the lustre of his Sun-bright eye Is drown'd in tears when our sad Souls prove dry Oh admiration that a God so just Should rain down flouds upon a heap of dust Oh Mercy that so much incens'd a God Should send forth Mercy and keep in his Rod His Soul is fill'd with pity and his eyes Begin to view th' unsariate miseries Of Adams down-cast off-spring Though his ear Seems unto us resolved not to hear Their bitter cries nor note the sad Devotions Of their contristed hearts yet by the Motions Of his blest Soul he sends his Son and Heir Into this wretched world that he might bear The Cross of our Transgressions and expel The clouds of Sin and conquer Death and Hell Thus by his death we liv'd and by his grief Our new-calm'd Souls were furnisht with relief Oh sudden change That winde which did before Drive wretched man upon the threatning shore Of unavoiding ruine fills the sails Of his desires with mild and prosperous gales The Boreas of his sin does now surcease His full-mouth'd blasts and Zephyrus speaks peace Unto his ship wrack'd Soul and now he rides Upon the new-tam'd backs of pleasing Tydes Oh that my tongue were able to rehearse The love of God with an Angelike Verse Oh that some Heav'nly Deity would fill The black mouth'd concave of my wandring quil With pure celestial Ink that I might write In heav'nly characters and learn t' indite Jehovahs praises in a style as high As my desires and make the lofty Skie Eccho with Hallelujahs that the Earth May like a Mid wife hug the joyful birth Of every word and make each corner ring With peals of joy the Glories of our King Is man deliver'd from the painful womb Of his foul sin and raised from the tomb Of everlasting death and shall not we Applaud that hand which set such pris'ners free What shall we be afraid to crack and break The chains of silence and attempt to speak The dialects of Angels No let 's call Upon his name that rais'd us from a Fall Let 's stretch our lungs with a warbling breath Sing to the life how we were rais'd from death And when our tongues are wearied let 's express By heav'nly signs our real thankfulness But stay where runs my quill what have I lost My self in raptures or else am I tost Into the Air of pleasure by the wind Of true delight If passion proves so kind I am content Oh may I always rest Adorn'd and crown'd with a heav'n ravisht brest O love ineffable Must wretched Man The spawn of baseness and the unmeasur'd span Of everlasting infancy be made Loves object Must th' Almighty's love be said To dwell in Man whose tongue cannot deliver The least of thanks unto so great a Giver Will the Sun-gazing Eagle that soars high Descend t' assist the web-infolded Fly Will he that hearkens with a willing ear To pleasing musick turn away to hear Confounding discords or will any woo A perjur'd enemy to come and go Into his Courts will any hand forbear To strike at him that labors to impair His worth and contumeliously upbraid His upright deeds Will he that is betray'd Affect the Trayor and with patience sue For reconcilement when as death is due All this blest Heav'n will do that he might place Vain man within the Covenant of Grace Consider man how often hath this Mirror Of pure affection woo'd thee from thine error Thou inconsiderate dust which every winde Can puff away how canst thou prove unkinde To such a Lover that delights to spin His bowels out to nourish thee within His milky bosom Shall his bounty crave Thy base acceptance Shall he be a slave To his own slaves Ah shall thy God implore And beg of beggars to receive his store Does he whom Heav'n and Earth cannot contain No nor the Heav'n of Heav'ns stoop down to gain Thy dull respects And ah wilt thou not raise Thy stupid Soul an inch to give him praise Thy fervent Prayers he always will admit Then how canst thou remember to forget A God so mindful How canst thou forbear To numerate his love without a tear How can thine eyes when thou observ'st the Sun Refuse to weep to see him daily run His painful Progress and rejoyce to greet The Earth with lustre to direct thy feet Thy sinful feet which every moment slide Into Rebellion loaded with thy pride How canst thou choose when thou behol'dst the ground Whereon thou tread'st but voluntary drown'd Thy self in briny flouds to think what care Indulgent Heav'n hath taken to prepare For thee before thou wert and how his hand Hath for thy profit fertiliz'd the Land How can thy rocky heart refuse to vent A stream of bloud when thou beholdst th'extent Of the unbounded Ocean how it hides Within the bosom of her swelling Tydes Diversities of Fish which live to seed Thy gulf of gluttony at time of need Uncloud thy thoughts O Man and thou shalt set He who ordained all these things for thee Created thee for him that thou mayst give The praise to him that lends thee leave to live Be serious Man consider how thou hast Converted all these blessings into waste Know that the great Edificer of things Furnisht thy Soul with Reason gave thee wings To fly above all mortals and hath crown'd Thy head with heaps of Honor and hath bound Inferior creatures prentice to thy will And this he did because thou shouldst fulfill Thy Gods Commands but thou that wert the best Hast made thy self more loathsome than the rest And by thy most derested deviation Abus'd thy glory of thy free Creation Though the Majestick Eagles will despise To be assistant to th' intangled Flies Yet Heav'n will from his lofty Throne descend And with a speedy cheerfulness defend The sons
A spiny Crown remember how it tore His sublime Front remember how they broach'd His brest with Spears and shamefully reproach'd His spotless fame remember how they nail'd His spreading hands remember how they scal'd His Ivory Walls remember how they spawl'd Upon his face remember how they bawl'd And banded at his Agony whilst he Prov'd patient Martyr to their tyranny Remember when he came unto the brink Of death they gave him vinegar to drink Nay more because they vowd to empty all Their poys'ned malice out they gave him Gall. Oh bitter deed Oh most abhorred Crimes Too nearly parallel'd in these our times Thus having put a period to their plots They thought it good to cast their hellish lots For his I dare not say mean clothes I know They were our Saviours to whose worth we owe Perpetual thanks 't was his well finished breath Redeem'd our Souls from everlasting death Here 's Love O man that does as far transcend Thy thoughts as thy deserts that heav'n shu'd send His Son and Heir to be incarnated And suffer death for thee that wert as dead As sin could make thee 't was for thy offence He dy'd Ah how how canst thou recompence Such high-bred Favors Favors unexpected Deserve to be imbrac'd and not neglected Do not rash Soul like Cleopatra nurse Imbosom'd Vipers blessings prove a curse If once abus'd Ingratitude cuts off Th'intail of Love it is a shame to scoff At Benefactors after thou art fed Wilt thou contemn the hand that gave thee bread Wouldst thou not love that friend that should bestow A super anuated crust and shew Respect unto thee when the ebbing tyde Of Fortune runs so low that thou mayst ride Upon the sands of Poverty Fond Man Strive to be grateful study how to scan The mercies of thy God remember how He feeds thy Soul with Manna learn to bow Th' unruly thoughts with admiration think How often and how much imbitter'd drink Thy Saviour drank with what a doleful cry He beg'd of God to let that cup pass by But knowing that his pleasure must be done He prov'd himself his most obedient Son And wilt thou not copy wretch drink one poor sup Of bitter drink for him that drank a cup To sweeten thine thou need'st not fear nor scorn To taste because Heav'ns sacred Vnicorn Hath purg'd the wa'ers and they must be sweet Except they 're reimpoys'ned by thy feet If so what wilt thou do where wilt thou find An Antidote for an invenom'd mind It is reported if the Spider chance To meet the obvious Toad they 'l both advance Their inward force and mutually proclaim An open War brave Combatants of fame And having fummon'd their imbowel'd might March boldly on and both incens'd they fight The Toad being heavy loaded cannot go Or wheel about like his encountring foe But keeps his ground makes a small resistance The Spider scorning to be kept at distance Falls in upon him and with nimble rage Assaults his foe who now begins t' asswage His former fury and would fain retreat From his small Foe whose strength is grown too great For opposition being thus distress'd He crawls away and with a crop-sick brest Seeks for relief and by and by discries A Plantain leaf within whose veins there lies A secret Antidote which did at length Expel his poyson and renew his strength Having disgorg'd himself he soon returns Into the Camp where for a time he burns To be in action and at last he sees The crafty Spider creeping by degrees To seize upon him then his courage fails He knows not what to do his foe assails With all his might constraining him to yield The conquest and with shame to quit the field Then he begins to seek and hunt about To find the soveraign healing Plantain out Which had before reliev'd him and supply'd His wants but that being gone he burst and dy'd Even so if Hells black Spider chance to crawl From his infernal Web into the Hall Of this all-dusty World he soon prepares Himself to sight and suddenly declares That he the grim-look'd General of Hell Dares to encounter any Souls that dwell Within the limits of the spacious Earth And in a moment qualifie their mirth Thus Satan boasts and if he chance to meet A single Soul he 'l thus begin to greet A DIALOGUE Between the Soul and Satan Sat. SOul th' art well met Soul 'T is true for I am well Sat. Say whither art thou going Soul Not to Hell Sa. Pish talk no more of that but tel me whither Thou go st come prithee let 's go both together Soul A pretty motion when I want a guide I 'le send for thee till then thou art deny'd To be my Usher Sat. Prethee tell me why Thou art so obstinate as to deny So free a courtesie as I have shown Mischance oft falls to them that walk alone Be not so much a verse as to neglect This opportunity I can protect Thy feet from sliding dangers still attend Those that despise the favors of a friend Sou. A friend how canst thou prove that title Sat. How As thus because I 'm willing to allow The best assistance of my ready arm To guide nay and protect thee from all harm Therefore a friend So. What you pretend to show Is but external he that can bestow Internal friendship on a Soul distress'd Is a true friend no matter for the rest If Heav'n will guide my Soul I shal not stray Or fear the evils of a dangerous way But as for you I needs must borrow leave To say your friendship 's onely to deceive Conâ—â—â—ion paths your ways and if I run By your advise Ineeds must be undone God bids me fly from sin if I refuse Obedience to his will I shall abuse His just commands then will my sorrows cry When Mercy stops Judgment begins to fly Sat. Desist fond Soul and labor to divorce Thy lips from this too fabulous discourse Guild not thy words with vanity perswade These thoughts which are erroneous to evade Thy serious mind advise and thou shalt see My ways are best be principl'd by me Let not the swing of passion strike thee down But follow me 't is I must give a Crown To thy deserts 't is I that can advance Thy down-cast Soul above the reach of chance 'T is I mistaken Soul 't is I alone That must conduct thee to the sublime throne Of true Salvation 't is my hand must bring Thy trembling Soul before th'all-judging King Of Heaven and Earth it is my power can fill Thy heart with joy believe me and I will Trust not the babling languages of those That seem thy friends but are thy greatest foes They 'r great to thy destruction they 'l connive stories And fawn nay almost bury thee alive They 'l talk of Heavn and Hell they 'l tell thee Of endless boundless unconceived glories They 'l tell thee of Eternity and woo Thy Soul out of thy ears if thou ' lt