Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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ID |
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Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
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A18722
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Churchyards challenge
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Churchyard, Thomas, 1520?-1604.
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1593
(1593)
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STC 5220; ESTC S104961
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155,134
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297
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For my right hand is here to helpe thée now Blush not to sée the raging worlds despite The bloudy are nor scaffolde full of bils My mercy seat shall be thy chiefe delihte And though on earth thine enimies haue their wils I am the God that stormes and tempests stils In quiet calme passe gently thou away And suffer much yet doe but little say Death is the end of all that beareth life Not one shall scape this world is but a dreame The seeds of sinne brings forth but flowres of strife In painted robes lies many a rotten seame It is but griefe to guide and rule a Realme Great charge and care a great accompt must make And when I frown the whole round world I shake I cause one wight to take anothers place To chop off heads to kill to hang and draw And when I take from rulers new my grace His head againe shall yeeld to sword and law Men blowes the cole but I put fire in straw And where doth fall the flame of my great â—e All things consumes to cinders in that fire Come Murton come and play thy pageant well Thou goest before perhaps a yeare or twaine But after thee shall passe to heauen or hell A number more that mercy now remaine World hath no stay I tell â—hee all is vaine Both raigne and rule and regall power most hie When bastards dreame in durt and dust shall lie My God thus sayd with that my sprites reuiude My wits were armde my sence redoubled than And with my flesh the holy Ghost he striude By Angels force but not by might of man A marulous stirre in stomacke then beganne For to subdue the â—arrein corps of care And burthend breast that sinfull body bare Now hope in hast made heauy heart full light The feare was fled that comes by course of law Gods promise wrought through mercy grace and might A noble worke in me cleare conscience saw A fig for death his force not worth a straw Qd. I a rush for worlds reproach and shame For written is in booke of life my name The Preachers then began to wéepe for ioy Your firme beliefe my Lord shall make you frée Qd they and sure your soule is from annoy Both in this world and where swéete Angels be And where right soone you shall Gods glory see Not with bare view but with immortall eies As body shall at latter day arise Then knéeld I downe and to the cloudes I looke The thought and care the while of world was past And I in God such ioy and pleasure tooke That at my héeles all earthly pompe I cast By this the houre of death approached fast The Gard gaue sign with halbards bright in hand I must prepare on Skaffold streight to stand The stréetes were full of souldiers armed well With shot and match and all belongs for warre I saw in house I could no lonâ—er dwell For people said the day was spent full farre Then ope the doore qd I draw backe the barre I will goe hence to better home I trust Here is no hope I see that die I must To comfort sence and strengthen vitall sprete I tasted foed and dranke a draught of wine And pawsde a while as I thought fit and méete But sure no dread of death within mine eine Was seene for God by speciall grace deuine Held vp my heart and head as high to shoe As when from home I did a walking goe Milde words I gaue when bitter spéech I hard So passed through them all with manly chéere And did no more this world nor earth regard Then though in deede I neuer had beene here But when in sight the Skaffold did appeare My minde was bent to fight the battle out And conquere death and banish feare and dout So stept I vp on Skaffold lightly than Where sundry came to aske me many a thing I lookte to God and made small count of man Saue that alowd I saide God blesse the King God giue him grace in peace the state to bring And shunne the harmes and dangers ore his head To finde on earth long life when I am dead Had I serud God aswell in euery sort As I did serue my king and maister still My scope had not this season beene so short Nor world haue â—ad the power to doe me ill But loe I liude against my makers will That feeles my flesh that feeles my soule alas That fault I feare where now my soule shall passe That that good Lord forgiue whilst breath I haue It is the sinne that to this world I brought It buried shall be with my flesh in graue It is a sore and sickenesse of the thought It is most vaine a wretched thing of nought A wicked wound that death doth heale alone Dwels last in flesh and first was bred in bone Pray you for me that sets your sinnes by mine And such as doe professe the faith I hold Marke who I am that here by power diuine Am forst this daie my conscience to vnfolde Looke neerely both to your owne Faults vntolde And pray as well for me with humble minde As for your selues that here I leaue behinde My matter stands before the iudge of all Men haue condemnd my body to the tort When that great iudge will for a reckning call Both you and I shut vp in sentence short Shall soone be known who gaines the best report There accuse ne small nor great this day My part is plaide and I must passe my way The faith this howre that all the Realme doth know I die in here and seale it with my blood To other faith beware bend not your bowe The râ—tten string will breake and doe no good Whilst in this land such trash aâ—d tromprie stood God was not pleasd the King not serude aright And we did walke in darkenes stead of light Good â—earers all my babes and children deere I brought you vp full long in this beliefe Your regent ones now preacheth to you here Chaunge not my barns religion to your griefe Serue first your God next honor King as chiefe This lesson keepe and so good friends adiew The dead from quicke so takes his leaue of you Thus full resolude temptation to resist Great time I stood and talkte in stoutest shoe Of sondry things as freely as I list But waying then that hence the soule must goe And that my necke must bide the blouddy bloe I stretched armes as hie as I could heaue So turnd my backe and did the audience leaue The heauenly hope that heart doth long vphold Did hale me hence and bad dispatch in haste As firme as rocke I stood say what they would For after this I spake no word in waste Then downe I lay and balefull blocke embraste And there receiude the blow as are did fall That cut me cleaue from cares and cumbers all The gasping head as in the Lorde I slept A vision had ye may the fame suppose I dreamde it saw how friende
CHVRCHYARDS Challenge LONDON Printed by Iohn Wolfe 1593. To the right honourable Sir Iohn VVolley Knight Secretary for the Latin tung to the Queenes Maiestie and one of her priuie Councell Thomas Churchyard wisheth increase of honor blessednes of life and abundance of worldly felicitie and heauenly happines THe long trauell and tracing out of life in this wearisome pilgrimage right honorable hauing brought me now almost to the ende of my iourney makes me glad with a restles desire to be rid of the burthens of my minde and the labours of my body the one neuer free from studie and the other seldome voide of toyle and yet both of them neither brought great benefite to the life nor blessing to the soule in which small rest and vnquietnes many sorrowfull discourses in my dayes I haue written and numbers of bookes I haue printed and because they shall not be buried with me I challenge them all as my children to abide behinde me in the worlde to make them inheritors of such fame dispraise as their father which begat them on sweet inuention heere enioyes or deserues hoping they shall not be called bastards nor none aliue will be so hardy as to call them his babes that I haue bred in my bowels brought forth and fostred vp so carefully at mine owne charges and hazard of an enuious worlde And now indeede for that diuers of disdainfull disposition doo or may hinder the good reporte of those labors which I thinke well bestowed among my freends I haue set forth while I am liuing a great number of my works in this booke named my Challenge that after my death shalbe witnesses they were mine owne dooings not for any great matter in them but for the iustnes of troth and true triall of all my honest exercises and so to purchase credit and the more freends and fauourers to prop vp my poore reputation I not only dedicate this booke and all therein to your honor but haue made also in the same booke diuers dedications to sundry honorable and worshipfull personages protesting that there is nothing heerein but came from mine owne deuice which inuencions spoken as becomes me shal be in all honest sorte defended by pen or any way I may to the vttermost of my breath or abilitie ioying much with all gladnes of hart that they are presented to so honourable a personage and one of such singuler learning whose worth and value by a worthy and vertuous Princes is seene into and throwly considered of which gracious Queene hath alwaies made her princely choice in such an excellent and vnspeakable maner as God himselfe should deuinely appoint and direct to our great wealth and his great glory and in whose râ—re commendation all the pen men of the world may write Now good sir vnder your excellent fauour and countenance I shielde my presumption and boldenes that hath offred a booke of so many discourses to the iudgement of such a multitude that quickly can discouer the weakenes of my labors but hauing ventured so farre as to publishe them in print I must now of necessitie commit them to the common opinion of the world So in hope the best will fall out I present you with my studies and take leaue of your honor desiring of God what goodnes can be wished to be alwaies at your commaundement Dutifully and loyally in all at commaundement Thomas Churchyard To the worthiest sorte of People that gently can reade and iustly can iudge GOod Reader if my presumption were so great that I thought my booke might passe without your fauourable iudgement mine error were as much as my ouer-weening and yet to vse perswasions in purchasing your good liking I should passe the bounds of common reason and fall into the danger of adulation for your good wils are rather won with good matter then bare wordes and say what I can to gaine your affection toward my worke you will speake what seemeth best in your owne conceites For among many thousands are many of deepe consideration and some vndoubtedly of as shallow iudgement so that the one or the other cannot nor will not be led and caried away with any deuice of my pen though all the hye spirits and excellency of Poetry might drop out of the quill I writ withall wherefore now I must as well abide the hazard of your censure as I haue boldely vnfolded my selfe to the worlde there is now no crauing of pardon nor pleading for your furtherance to encrease my good fame my works must abide waight they are thrust into the ballance and I of necessitie must content me with your allowance and what price pleaseth you to set on my marchandise but if they proue too light in the skales I pray you helpe them with some graine of good skill that they be not condemned as trifles because they haue cost me great labour and study and put me to no little charges I freely offer them to you for three or foure causes the one to keep the reputation of a writer the second to pleasure my freendes with the reading of new inuentions and thirdly to desire my foes to giue me true reporte of those workes I haue made and last of all to affirme that euery thing in this my booke of Challenge is mine owne dooing which iustlye no man can deny Not boasting thereof as matter worthy memory but claiming a better regarde then enuy would giue me I stand to the praise or dispraise of all I haue done maruelling much that in my life time any one would take from me the honest laudation I deserue I striue no further in that point but commit to God and good people the indifferency and iustnes of my cause and the best is which shall beare it selfe the wise of the worlde and worthiest of knowledge and capacitie are the only Iudges shall yeeld me my right the rest are but hearers and lookers on whose voices may make a great noise but giues so vncertaine a sound they can doo no great harme because of nature and condition they neuer doo no great good Now my pleading time is past my booke must appeare in that bare fashion as I haue formed the matter I hope it shall not walke so nakedly abroade but shalbe able to abide the coldenes of ill will and the extreame heate of hatefull mens disposition God the giuer of goodnes guide my verses so well that they neuer happen into their hands that loues me not and make my prose and plainenes of speech be as welcome to the Reader as it was well ment of the writer So with double and treble blessing Farwell FINIS My next booke shalbe the last booke of the Worthines of Wales And my last booke called my Vltimum Vale shalbe if it please God twelue long tales for Christmas dedicated to twelue honorable Lords Heere followes the seuerall matters contained in this booke THe tragedie of the Earle of Morton The tragedie of sir Simon Burley A discours that a man