THE
MEDITATIVE
POEM
AN ANTHOLOGY OF
SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY
VERSE
EDITED WITH
AN INTRODUCTION
AND NOTES
BY
LOUIS L.MARTZ
'821.08 M58m
i Martz $1-95
xffhe meditative poem
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Tlie Anchor Seventeenth-Century Series presents the
major—and significant minor— texts in English of the
seventeenth century in authoritative and inexpensive edi-
tions. Prepared especially for Anchor Books by a dis~
tinguished group of American and Canadian scholars,
these newly edited texts meet the highest standards of
scholarship and readtibility. Each volume incorporates
the latest textual and critical discoveries, and the series
as a whole is designed to provide a reliable access to
the literature of the seventeenth century.
Louis L. MARTZ is Douglas Tracy Smith Professor of
English and American Literature at Yale University. He is
the author of The Poetry of Meditation (Yale University
Press, 1954; second edition, Yale Paperbound, 1962) and
of a number of articles on modern poetry as well as on
poetry of the Renaissance. His essays, including those
on T. S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Wil-
liams, Emily Dickinson, Edward Taylor, Edmund Spen-
ser, John Donne, and Henry Vaughan, have appeared
widely in scholarly and critical publications.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
An Anthology of
Seventeenth-Century Verse
EDITED WITH AN
INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY
LOUIS L, MARTZ
Anchor Books
Douhleday & Company, Inc.
Garden City, New York
1963
The Anchor Seventeenth-Century Series
is published by Doubleday Anchor Books
under the General Editorship of
Professor J. Max Patrick
New York University
Material from The Poems of John Donne, ed. by Sir Herbert Griei
son; and Thomas Traherne: Centuries, Poems, and Thanksgivings
ed. by H. M. Margoliouth; used by the permission of The Clarendor
Press, Oxford. Materials from The Poems of Edward Taylor, cd. bj
D. E. Stanford; used by the permission of the Yale University Presi
and the Princeton University Press.
This edition has been especially prepared for
Anchor Books and has never appeared in book form.
Copyright © 1963 by Louis L. Martz
All Rights Reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First Petition
CONTENTS
Introduction xvii
EDWARD DAWSON (1576P-1624?)
The Practical Methode of Meditation 3
ROBERT SOUTHWELL (1561-1595)
The Author to his loving Cosen 27
Looke home 28
At home in Heaven 29
Sinnes heavie loade 31
Christs sleeping friends 3a
New Prince, new pompe 34
The burning Babe 35
New heaven, new warre 36
The Virgine Maries conception 38
Her Nativity . 39
The Virgins salutation 40
The Visitation 40
The Nativitie of Christ 41
The Presentation 42
The flight into Egypt 43
Christs returne out of Egypt 43
The death of our Ladie 44
Marie Magdalens complaint at Christs death 45
A vale of teares 47
WILLIAM ALABASTER (1568-1640)
Sonnet i "The night, the starlesse night of
passion" 53
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Sonnet 2 "What meaneth this, that Christ an
hymne did singe" 53
Sonnet 15 "My soule a world is by Contraction" 54
Sonnet 16 "Three sortes of teares doe from myne
eies distraine" 55
Sonnet 19 "Jesu thie love within mee is soe maine" 55
Sonnet 24 "O sweete, and bitter monuments of
paine" 56
Sonnet 37 "Haile gracefull morning of eternall
Daye" 57
Sonnet 32 "Beehould a cluster to itt selfe a vine" 57
Sonnet 33 "Now that the midd Day heate doth
scorch my shame" 58
Sonnet 34 "Now I have found thee, I will ever
more" ^ 59
Sonnet 44 "O starry Temple of unvalted space" 59
Sonnet 45 "Holy, holy, holy Lord unnamed" 60
Sonnet 46 "A way feare with thy projectes, noe
false fyre" 61
Sonnet 70 "The sunne begins uppon my heart to
shine" 61
Sonnet 71 "When without tears I looke on Christ,
I see" 62
fOHN DONNE (1572-1631)
Satire 3 65
Elegy 10 68
Lovers infinitenesse . 69
The Anniversarie 70
Loves growth 72
The Extasie 73
The Funerall 75
The Primrose 76
To Mr Rowland Woodward 77
La Corona 79
Annunciation 80
Nativitie 80
Temple 81
[viii]
CONTENTS
Crucifying 81
Resurrection 82
Ascention 82
Holy Sonnets 1-16 83
A Valediction: forbidding mourning 92
The First Anniversary. An Anatomie of the World 95
The Second Anniversarie. Of the Progres of the Soule 113
Goodfriday, 1613. Riding Westward 130
A nocturnall upon S. Lucies day, Being the shortest
day 131
Holy Sonnets 17-19 133
A Hymne to Christ, at the Authors last going into
Germany 135
Hymn to God my God, in my sicknesse 136
To Christ 138
GEORGE HERBERT (1593-1633)
From The Temple 141
The Dedication 141
The Church-porch (selections) 142
Superliminare 146
The Altar 147
The Thanksgiving 147
The Reprisall 149
The Agonie 150
Sepulchre i$i
Easter 152
Easter wings 156
Affliction (I) 156
Prayer 159
The H. Communion 160
Love I, II 162
[Sonnets from Walton's Life of Herbert, 1670] 164
The Temper 165
The H. Scriptures. I 166
Mattens 167
Even-song 168
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Church-monuments 169
Church-musick 170
Church-lock and key 170 j
The Church-floore 171 ,
The Windows 172 >
The Starre 172
Deniall 174
Vertue 175
The Pearl 176
Affliction (IV) 177
Man 178 i
Life 181
Mortification 182
Decay 183
Jordan 184
Obedience 185
Conscience 187
Sion x88
The British Church 189
The Dawning 190
Dulnesse igx
Peace 192
Confession 194
The bunch of grapes 195
The Storm 195
Grieve not the Holy Spirit, &c. 197
The Familie 198
The Pilgrimage 199
; Praise 201
Longing 202
The Bag 205
The Collar 206
The Priesthood 207
The Search 209
The Crosse 211
The Flower 213
The Glance ^15
Marie Magdalene 2i5
[x]
CONTENTS
The Odour, 2. Cor. 2 216
The Forerunners 218
The Invitation 219
The Banquet 221
A Parodie 223
[Song (Attributed to the Earl of Pembroke.)] 224
The Elixer 225
Death 226
Judgement 227
Heaven 227
Love (III) 228
L'Envoy 229
FRANCIS QUARLES (1592-1644)
From Emblemes, 1635 233
To the Reader 233
Book a, Emblem VII 235
Book 5, Emblem VIII 239
Book 5, Emblem X 243
Book 5, Emblem XI 247
JOHN MILTON (1608-1674)
On the morning of Christs Nativity 251
The Passion 263
On Time 266
Upon the Circumcision 267
At a solemn Musick 268
Sonnets
"How soon hath Time the suttle theef of youth" 269
"When I consider how my light is spent" 269
RICHARD CRASHAW (1612P-1649)
The Weeper 273
On the name of Jesus 279
An Hymne of the Nativity, sung as by the Shep-
heards 286
[xi]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
A Hymne for the Epiphanie. Sung as by the three
Kings 290
An ode which was prefixed to a Prayer booke given
to a young Gentle-woman 298
On Mr. George Herberts booke intituled the Temple
of Sacred Poems, sent to a Gentle-woman 302
In memory of the vertuous and Learned Lady Ma-
dre de Teresa that sought an early Martyrdome 303
The flaming Heart. Upon the booke and picture of
Teresa. As she is usually expressed with a
Seraphim beside her 3°9
An Apologie for the precedent Hymnes on Teresa 312
On the assumption
Charitas nimia, or the deare bargain
ANDREW MARVELL (1621-1678)
A Dialogue, between the Resolved Soul, and Created
Pleasure
On a Drop of Dew
The Coronet
Eyes and Tears
Bermudas 33^
A Dialogue between the Soul and Body 333
To his Coy Mistress 335
The unfortunate Lover 337
The Picture of little T. C, in a Prospect of Flowers 340
The Garden 34*
HENRY VAUGHAN (1621P-1695)
From Silex ScintiUans (1650) 349
The Author's Emblem (concerning himself) 349
The Dedication 350
Regeneration 351
Resurrection and Immortality 354
Religion 357
The Search 359
The British Church 363
The Lampe 364
[xii]
CONTENTS
Mans fall, and Recovery 365
The Showre 366
Vanity of Spirit 367
The Retreate 368
"Come, come, what doe I here?" 369
Midnight 370
The Storm 372
The Morning-watch 373
The Evening-watch 374
"Silence, and stealth of dayesl" 375
Peace 376
The Passion 377
Rom. Cap. 8. ver. 19. "And do they so?" 379
The Relapse 381
The Resolve 382
The Match 383
Rules and Lessons 385
Corruption 390
H. Scriptures 391
Unprofitablenes 392
Christs Nativity 393
Admission 395
Praise 397
Dressing 399
Easter-day 400
Easter Hymn 401
The Holy Communion 402
The Tempest 403
The Pilgrimage 406
The World 407
The Shepheards 409
The Sap 411
Mount of Olives 413
Man 414
"I walkt the other day" 415
Begging 418
From Silex Scintillans (Book a: 1655) 420
Ascension-day 420
[xiii]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Ascension-Hymn 422
"They are all gone into the world of lightl" 423
Cock-crowing 425
The Starre 427
The Palm-tree 428
The Bird 429
The Seed growing secretly 431
"As time one day by me did pass" 433
The Night 434
The Water-fall 436
THOMAS TRAHERNE (1637-1674)
The Salutation 441
Wonder 443
Eden 446
Innocence 448
The Preparative 451
From The Third Century 454
EDWARD TAYLOR (1642P-1729)
Prologue 487
From "Preparatory Meditations before my Approach
to the Lords Supper" 489
i. Meditation 489
2,. Meditation on Can. 1.3. Thy Name is an Oint-
ment poured out 490
5. Meditation. Cant. 2.1. The Lilly of the Vallies 491
[6.] Another Meditation at the same time 492
31. Meditation, i Cor. 3.21.22. All things are yours 493
32. Meditation, i Cor. 3.22. Whether Paul or
Apollos, or Cephas 494
33. Meditation, i Cor. 3.22. Life is youres 496
34. Meditation, i Cor. 3.22. Death is Yours 498
37. Meditation, i Cor. 3.23. You are Christ's 500
39. Meditation, from i Joh. 2.1. If any man sin, we
have an Advocate 502
[xiv]
CONTENTS
40. Meditation, i Joh. 2.2. He is a Propitiation for
our Sin 504
From "Preparatory Meditations." Second Series. 507
36. [Meditation.] Col. 1.18. He is the Head of the
Body 507
48. Meditation. Rev. 1.8. The Almighty 508
65. Meditation. Can. 6.11. To see the Fruits of the
Vally 510
66. Meditation. Joh. 15.13. Greater Love hath no
man than this That a man lay down his Life for
his Friends 512
98. Meditation. Can. 1.2. Thy Love is better than
Wine 514
Meditation 156. Cant. 5.1. Eate oh Friendes and
drink yea drink abundantly oh Beloved 516
Commentary, with Notes 519
Index 555
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Plates
PLATE I* Portrait of John Donne at the age of 18, from the second
edition of Donne's Poems, 1635.
PLATE II. Title page of the first edition of Herbert's Temple, 1633.
PLATE III. Engraved title page of the second edition of Crashaw's
Steps to the Temple, 1648.
PLATE IV. Title page of the first edition of Vaughan's Silex Scin-
tillans, 1650.
Figures
FIG. i. Title page of the second edition of Donne's Anatomie of the
World, 1612.
FIG. 2. Title page of the first edition of Donne's Progres of the
Soule, 1612.
FIGS. 3 and 4. Enlarged reproduction of "Easter wings" as printed
on facing pages in the first edition of Herbert's Temple, 1633.
FIG. 5. Re-rendering of the engraving for Emblem VH, Book 2, in
the first edition of Quarles's Emblemes, 1635.
FIG. 6. Re-rendering of the engraving for Emblem VIII, Book 5, in
the first edition of Quarles's Emblemes, 1635.
FIG. 7. Re-rendering of the engraving for Emblem X, Book 5, in the
first edition of Quarles's Emblemes, 1635.
FIG. 8. Re-rendering of the engraving for Emblem XI, Book 5, in
the first edition of Quarles's Emblemes, 1635.
[rvi]
INTRODUCTION
What is a meditative poem? It is a kind o£ poem that oc-
curs in various periods of the world's history; but for the
seventeenth century, it is enough to say that the meditative
poem is one that bears a close relation to the practice of re-
ligious meditation in that era. The relationship is shown by
the poem's own internal action, as the soul or mind engages
in acts of interior dramatization. The speaker accuses him-
self; he talks to God within the self; he approaches the love
of God through memory, understanding, and will; he sees,
hears, smells, tastes, touches by imagination the scenes of
Christ's life as they are represented on an inward, mental
stage. Such imaginative, introspective meditation has its roots
in the Middle Ages, when every aspect of the later practice
may be found at work, but in scattered forms, chiefly de-
signed for those who had entered into religious vows. The
special achievement of meditation during the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries lies in two developments: first, the man-
ifold tactics of medieval meditation were developed into a
unified and widely accepted method; and secondly, this way
of meditation was viewed and taught as a practice within
the reach of every man, as the Jesuit Edward Dawson clearly
demonstrates in the short treatise— "The Practical Methode of
Meditation" (1614)— placed in this edition as a preface to
the texts. It is important, first of all, to consider the implica-
tions of this method in some detail.
Dawson's treatise, written at the peak of the period's in-
tense concern with the "art of meditation," sums up the
central principles that had gradually come to dominate the
[xvii]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
meditative life of the Continent, primarily through the influ-
ence of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola. Dawson's
treatise is in fact a paraphrase of the Spiritual Exercises, with
adaptations and extensions prompted, as he says, by "approved
Authors and experience/* What he gives here is the essence
of the advice for meditation that was being offered by spirit-
ual counselors throughout Europe, as well as by the under-
ground priests in England, such as Dawson himself. At the
same time this advice was being offered in dozens of popular
treatises on meditation that were circulating in thousands of
copies throughout Europe, and in England as well.
Signs of the impact of this Continental art of meditation
upon England have been explored in my study, The Poetry
of Meditation (Yale University Press, 1954; second edition,
1962); for present purposes, it is enough to rely primarily on
Dawson's neat and compact treatise, which shows by its blunt,
simple, "practical" manner the way in which the art of
meditation might become part of the everyday life of every-
man. The matter-of-fact tone of the treatise, indeed, helps to
convey its central and pervasive assumptions: that man,
whether he will or not, lives in the intimate presence of God,
and that his first duty in life is to cultivate an awareness of
that presence. Thus arises the whole elaborate ceremony of
meditation: the careful preparation of materials the night
before; the "practice of the presence of God," as it was
called, before actual meditation; the preparatory prayers; the
preludes; the deliberate, orderly operation of the "three
powers of the soul"— memory, understanding, will; and the
conclusion in "some affectionate speach" or colloquy with
God or the saints, in which "wee may talke with God as a
servant with his Maister, as a sonne with his Father, as one
friend with another, as a spouse with her beloved bridgrome,
or as a guilty prisoner with his Judge, or in any other man-
ner which the holy Ghost shall teach us." The aim of medita-
tion is to apprehend the reality and the meaning of the pres-
ence of God with every faculty at man's command. The body
must first learn its proper behavior during the ceremony:
hence the detailed advice on whether to kneel, or walk, or sit,
[xviii]
INTRODUCTION
or stand. The five senses must learn how to bend their best
efforts toward this end: hence the elaborately detailed ex-
planation of the Jesuit "application of the senses" to the art
of meditation. Everyday life must come to play its part, for
the meditative man must feel that the presence of God is here,
now, on his own hearth, in his own stable, and in the deep
center of the mind: thus "we may help our selves much to the
framing of spirituall conceites [thoughts], if we apply unto
our matter familiar similitudes, drawne from our ordinary ac-
tions, and this as well in historicall, as spirituall medita-
tions/' That is to say, analogies from the world of daily ac-
tions must be brought to bear upon the history of the life of
Christ, as well as upon such matters as the problem of sin
and the excellence of the virtues.
Among all the varied ways of using the senses and physical
life in meditation, the most important, most effective, and
most famous is the prelude known as the "composition of
place." This brilliant Ignatian invention, to which the Jesuit
Exercises owe a large part of their power, is given its full
and proper emphasis by the Jesuit Dawson: "for on the well
making of this Preludium depends both the understanding
of the mystery, and attention in our meditation." Whatever
the subject may be, the imagination, the image-making power
of man, must endeavor to represent it "so lively, as though
we saw [it] indeed, with our corporall eyes." For historical
matters, such as events in the life of Christ or a saint, we
must visualize the scene in the most vivid and exact detail,
"by imagining our selves to be really present at those places."
In treating spiritual subjects we must gain the same end by
creating "some similitude, answerable to the matter." Thus,
for the Last Things, Death, Judgment, Hell, and Heaven,
the similitude may be created by imagining the scene in de-
tail, by creating, for example, a likeness of one's self on the
deathbed, "forsaken of the Physitians, compassed about with
our weeping friends, and expecting our last agony." But the
similitude may also be much more figurative: the word
"similitude," in seventeenth-century usage, could refer to any
kind of parable, allegory, simile, or metaphor. Thus Dawson,
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
discussing the preparation for meditation, suggests that we
should "begin to take some tast of our meditation" before
the actual performance begins, by stirring up the "affections,"
the emotions, appropriate to each meditation: "Which we
may performe more easily," he adds, "yf we keep in our mind
some similitude answering to the affection we would have."
And later he suggests that, among several dramatic ways of
strengthening these affections, we may sometimes proceed
by "faygning [imagining] the very vertues in some venerable
shape bewayling their neglect." Thus too he notes that, in
the opening similitude for the meditation on sins, "we may
imagine our soule to be cast out of Paradise, and to be held
prisoner in this body of ours, fettered with the chaines of
disordinate Passions, and affections, and clogged with the
burden of our owne flesh." In short, this insistence upon "see-
m&jhe place" and upon the frequent use of "similitudes" in
meditation invites every man to use his image-making faculty
wfth t^e utmost vigor, in order to ensure a concrete, dramatic
setting within . which . the meditative action may develop.
Upon the inward stage of that scene or similitude, the mem-
ory, the understanding, and the will may then proceed to ex-
plore and understand and feel the proper role of the self
in relation to the divine omnipotence and charity. Thus
heaven and earth are brought together in the mind; and hu-
man action is placed in a responsive, intimate relation with
the supernatural.
Only one important qualification needs to be added to the
advice of Dawson. In the Ignatian way, he insists that every
meditation must begin with some vivid "composition," but
we should not be led to expect that every meditative poem
will begin with some vivid scene or symbol. Many do so,
directly or implicitly, with the speaker present, for example,
at some scene in the life of Christ; but many meditative
poems also begin simply with a brief, terse statement of the
problem or theme to be explored:
Why are wee by all creatures waited on?
Why do I languish thus, drooping and dull . . .
[XX]
INTRODUCTION
Come, come, what doe I here?
I Sing the Name which none can say,
But touch't with an interiour Ray,
The Name of our New Peace, our Good,
Our Blisse, and supernaturall Blood,
The Name of all our Lives, and Loves.
What Love is this of thine, that Cannot bee
In thine Infinity, O Lord, Confinde,
Unless it in thy very Person see,
Infinity, and Finity Conjoyn'd?
Such openings, though not mentioned by Dawson, are advised
by other writers for abstract topics, particularly by St. Fran-
$ois de Sales, who notes, "It is true that we may use some
similitude or comparison to assist us in the consideration of
these subjects," but he fears that the making of "such devices"
may prove burdensome, and thus for the meditation of "in-
visible things" he advises one to begin with "a simple pro-
posal" of the theme.* A meditative poem, then, will tend to
open in any one of three ways: (i) with a vivid participation
in some scene in the life of Christ or a saint; (2.) with a
"similitude, answerable to the matter," that is, with some
imaginary setting or metaphorical representation; (3) with
a "simple proposal" of the issue to be considered.
With the event or theme thus firmly presented within a
"recollected" mind fully aware of the presence of God, the
meditative action of the three powers of the soul begins to
develop each "point" (usually three) into which the long
process of meditation (usually lasting an hour) has been
divided during the period of preparation. It will be evident
from Dawson's account that the operation of the memory is
inseparable from and continuous with the opening composi-
*See St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life
[1609], tr. and ed. by John K. Ryan (Image Books, 1955), pp.
83-84. The whole treatise, especially the second part, is of the ut-
most interest to anyone concerned with studying the details of
meditative practice.
[xxi]-
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
tion or proposal; for the role of memory is to set forth the
subject with all its necessary "persons, wordes, and workes."
The understanding then proceeds to analyze ("discourse"
upon) the meaning of the topic, in relation to the individual
self, until gradually the will takes fire and the appropriate
personal affections arise. It is clear too from Dawson's account
that these affections of the will inevitably lead into the
colloquy, where the speaker utters his fears and hopes, his
sorrows and joys, in "affectionate speach" before God. The
full process of meditation always ends with such a colloquy,
but, as Dawson points out, "We may make such manner
of speaches in other places of our meditation, and it will be
best, and almost needfull so to do."
At the same time, the interior drama will tend to have a
firm construction, for the process of meditation, in treating
each "point/* will tend to display a threefold movement,
according with the action of that interior trinity, memory,
understanding, and will. Now and then we may find this
threefold process echoed or epitomized within the borders of
a short poem; or we may find the process suggested at length
in a long poem such as Southwell's "Saint Peters Complaint"
or Crashaw's "On the name of Jesus"; or we may find it sug-
gested by a sequence of short poems, as in the five poems that
open the present selection from Traherne. But what one
should expect to find, more often, is some part of the whole
meditative action, set down as particularly memorable, per-
haps in accordance with the kind of self-examination advised
by Dawson under the heading: "What is to be done after
Meditation." One is urged here to scrutinize carefully the
manner in which one has performed every part of the medi-
tative process, from preparation through colloquy; to examine
closely the distractions, consolations, or desolations that one
may have experienced; and finally, to "note in some little
booke those thinges which have passed in our Meditation, or
some part of them, if we think them worth the paynes."
Most of the poems in this volume, I believe* are the result
of such retrospective examination of the practice of medi-
tation: memorable moments of self-knowledge, affections of
[xrfi]
INTRODUCTION
sorrow and love, colloquies with the divine presence, recol-
lected and preserved through the aid of the kindred art of
poetry.
Meditation points toward poetry, in its use of images, in
its technique of arousing the passionate affections of the will,
in its suggestion that the ultimate reach of meditation is found
in the advice of Paul to the Ephesians: "Be filled with the
Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to
the Lord/' A meditative poem, then, represents the conver-
gence of two arts upon a single object: in English poetry of
the late Renaissance the art of meditation entered into and
transformed its kindred art of poetry. To express its highest
reaches, the art of meditation drew upon all the poetical
resources available in the culture of its day. Southwell, writ-
ing in an era dominated by the uninspired verse of the
poetical miscellanies— with their heavy-footed, alliterative style
and their doggerel ballad-stanzas—could use his meditative
techniques, along with his knowledge of Italian poetry, to
impart a new and startling vigor even to a moribund poetical
mode. Alabaster, writing near the end of the i59os» at the
close of the great era of English sonneteering, could use his
meditative art to transform the Elizabethan sonnet. Donne,
knowing all the devices of current poetry— whether in satire,
love song, sonnet, Ovidian elegy, funeral elegy, courtly com-
pliment, or religious hymn— attained his greatest creations in
those poems where his mastery of the meditative art could
deepen and strengthen these popular modes of poetic art.
Herbert, master of music, adept in every form of Elizabethan
song or sonnet, could turn all these varied forms into a temple
of praise for his Master's presence. And Crashaw, drawn to
the extravagant modes of the Continental Baroque, could
nevertheless, at his best, tame and control his extravaganzas
by the firm structure of a meditation.
What shall we do, then, with the term "metaphysical/*
traditionally applied to most of the poets in this volume? For
critical and historical purposes we should, I believe, attempt
to distinguish between the "metaphysical" and the "medita-
[xxiii]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
tive" qualities in this poetry. Familiarity with Grierson's
pioneer anthology, Metaphysical Lyrics and Poems (1921),
or with Miss Helen Gardner's superb Penguin selection, The
Metaphysical Poets (1957), or with Frank Warnke's re-
cent illuminating study and selection, European Metaphysical
Poetry (1961) will be sufficient to demonstrate that there
was a pervasive poetical style in England as well as on the
Continent, a style that we have come to call "metaphysical."
That style of writing gradually arose, it seems, in response
to a widespread reaction against the efflorescent, expansive,
highly melodious mode of the earlier Renaissance, as found
in Edmund Spenser; it arose also, I believe, in response to a
widespread feeling that the manifold expansions of human
QUtlpok were rapidly moving out of control: expansions
, through recovery of the classics, through a new emphasis
upon the early fathers of the Church, through the advance
of science in all areas, and through the vigorous exploration
of the earth by seamen, traders, and conquistadors. As a re-
sult, in the latter part of the sixteenth century, poetry showed
a tendency to coalesce and concentrate its powers toward the
sharp illumination and control of carefully selected moments
^in experience.
Poems tend to begin abruptly, in the midst of an occasion;
and the meaning of the occasion is explored and grasped
through a peculiar use of metaphor. The old Renaissance
"conceit," the ingenious comparison, is developed into a de-
vice by which the extremes of abstraction and concreteness,
the extremes of unlikeness, may be woven together into a
fabric of argument unified by the prevailing force of "wit."
Wit, in all the rich and varied senses that the word held in
this era: intellect, reason, powerful mental capacity, clever-
ness, ingenuity, intellectual quickness, inventive and construc-
tive ability, a talent for uttering brilliant things, the power
of amusing surprise.
The norm of this "metaphysical" style may be suggested by
one of Thomas Carew's poems, "To my inconstant Mistris," a
poem that shows the strong influence of Donne:
[xxiv]
INTRODUCTION*
When thou, pcx>re excommunicate
From all the joyes of love, shalt see
The full reward, and glorious fate,
Which my strong faith shall purchase me,
Then curse thine owne inconstancy.
A fayrer hand than thine, shall cure
That heart, which thy false oathes did wound;
And to my soul, a soul more pure
Than thine, shall by Loves hand be bound,
And both with equall glory crown'd.
Then shalt thou weepe, entreat, complain
To Love, as I did once to thee;
When all thy teares shall be as vain
As mine were then, for thou shalt bee
Damn'd for thy false Apostasie.
The poem is built upon an original use of the familiar conceit
by which the experience of human love is rendered in reli-
gious terms. Here the faithless lady is excommunicated as a
false apostate from the religion of love, while her lover will
receive the reward of his "strong faith'* by being crowned in
glory, like the saints in heaven. But, paradoxically, his faith
will be demonstrated, his constancy in love rewarded, by the
act of turning to another lady, with a "fayrer hand" and "a
soul more pure/' Inconstancy is thus met with the threat of
counter-inconstancy; and all the rich religious terms take on
in the end a swagger of bravado. The poem thus presents a
brief episode in erotic frustration, a vignette in which the
backlash of the lover's bitterness is conveyed by the immedi-
acy of his language, by the conversational flexibility of actual
speech working within a strict stanza-form. Here we may
see a representative poem in the metaphysical style, com-
posed by a man whose life and works give no evidence of
any significant concern with religious meditation.
Now, to see how the interior discipline of meditation could
work within this "witty" mode of writing, it may be helpful
to select one of the lesser poems of this volume, written by a
[xxv]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
man whose poetical skill is far less than Thomas Carew's: I
choose one of Alabaster's sonnets, dealing with "the ensignes
of Christes Crucifyinge." The sonnet begins with a direct
address to the symbols of the Crucifixion, which the speaker
appears to have directly before his eyes; crying out to them,
fully aware of the paradoxes that they represent, he pro-
poses the question of his own proper response:
O sweete, and bitter monuments of paine
bitter to Christ who all the paine endured
butt sweete to mee, whose Death my life procured
how shall I full express, such loss, such gaine?
Turning to consider the powers that he within himself, his
tongue, his eyes, his soul, he proceeds to explain to himself
how these may be led toward their proper end, by writing in
the book of his soul the record of his sin:
My tonge shall bee my penne, mine eyes shall raine,
teares for my Inke, the place where I was cured
shall bee my booke, where haveing all abjured
and calling heavens to record in that plaine
thus plainely will I write, noe sinne like mine;
And finally, holding fast with tenacious logic to his previous
images, he closes in a plea of colloquy with the Lord, whose
presence has been implicit throughout:
when I have done, doe thou Jesue divine
take upp the tarte spunge of thy passione
and blott itt forth: then bee thy spiritt the Quill
thy bloode the Inke, and with compassione
write thus uppon my soule: thy Jesue still.
Abrupt opening, condensed and compact phrasing, with
touches of colloquial speech, witty development of central
conceits, coalescing the abstract and the concrete, logic, para-
dox—all the essential qualities of the European metaphysical
style are there— yet something more creates the poem's mod-
est success. Essentially the poem depends upon the speaker's
[xxvi]
INTRODUCTION
mastery of the introspective art o£ meditation. He has learned
how to make himself present before the "monuments" of the
Passion, how to concentrate memory, understanding, and will
upon these symbols of Christ's suffering, how to develop the
personal meaning of the Passion through the use of appro-
priate similitudes, how to drive home the meaning for the
self in affectionate colloquy with God. The art of meditation
has provided the techniques by which Alabaster could create
a brief interior drama. It is, I believe, in these techniques of
self-dramatization that we find the peculiar contribution of
the art of meditation to poetry. They are techniques that
may combine with a great variety of poetical styles: early
Elizabethan, metaphysical, Jonsonian, baroque, or Miltonic.
Thus in Alabaster's sonnet we have a rudimentary example
of the convergence of the two arts, the meditative and the
poetic, in a poem written, it seems, about ten years before
John Donne's Holy Sonnets, and over thirty years before the
completion of Herbert's Temple. In a much more complex
way, the same coalescence of the two arts may be found in
the poems of Donne given in the present volume: in his finest
satire, in several of his best love poems, in the greatest of
his funeral elegies, as well as in his Holy Sonnets and the last
hymns. That is not to say that all of Donne's poetry is touched
by this convergence of the meditative art upon the metaphysi-
cal mode; it is only to say that the meditative art is evident,
in varying degrees, in many of the poems upon which Donne's
reputation primarily rests, even in some poems where the art
of meditation is turned, with wit, to secular ends.
An effort to distinguish between the "meditative" and the
"metaphysical" may help to solve the problem of Donne's re-
lation to later poets of the seventeenth century. Though the
explicit indebtedness to Donne is obvious in some of the
secular poetry of the period (such as Carew's), the specific
debts to Donne in the religious poetry of Herbert, Crashaw,
or Vaughan— where one somehow feels a more essential kin-
ship—are much more elusive, or indeed almost non-existent.
The problem cannot be resolved by arguing that Herbert's
poetry centrally descends from Donne, and that since Herbert
[ xxvii ]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
influenced Crashaw and Vaughan, the two latter poets are
thus at least the grandsons of Donne. Several recent studies
have shown Herbert's deep-rooted independence of Donne:
his use of medieval forms and symbols, his mastery of all
varieties of Elizabethan poetry and song, his mastery of the
meditative techniques. What Herbert passed on to Vaughan
was his own great and original creation, which Vaughan him-
self proceeded to use in his own highly original way, combin-
ing Herbert's example with the example of the "Sons" of Ben
Jonson, to whose line he displays his allegiance in his early
secular poems. The few echoes of Donne that we meet in
Vaughan's first volume (1646) are overwhelmed by his domi-
nant experiments in the Jonsonian mode of couplet-rhetoric,
as the opening poem of the volume clearly testifies, a poem
addressed to a certain friend, R. W.:
When we are dead, and now, no more
Our harmles mirth, our wit, and score
Distracts the Towne; when all is spent
That the base niggard world hath lent
Thy purse, or mine; when the loath'd noise
Of Drawers, Prentises, and boyes
Hath left us, and the clam'rous barre
Items no pints f th'Moone, or Starre . . .
When all these Mulcts are paid, and I
From thee, deare wit, must part, and dye;
Wee'Ie beg the world would be so kinde,
To give's one grave, as wee'de one minde;
There (as the wiser few suspect,
That spirits after death affect)
Our soules shall meet, and thence will they
(Freed from the tyranny of clay)
With equal! wings, and ancient love
Into the Elysian fields remove,
Where in those blessed walkes theyle find,
More of thy Genius, and my mind:
First, in the shade of his owne bayes,
Great BEN they'le see, whose sacred Layes,
[xxviii]
INTRODUCTION
The learned Ghosts admire, and throng,
To catch the subject of his Song.
Then Randolph in those holy Meades,
His Lovers, and Atnyntas reads,
Whilst his Nightingall close by,
Sings his, and her owne Elegie;
From thence dismiss'd by subtill roades,
Through airie paths, and sad aboads;
They'le come into the drowsie fields
Of Lethe, which such vertue yeelds,
That (if what Poets sing be true)
The streames all sorrow can subdue.
This steady, terse, and easy handling of the tetrameter
couplet is a hallmark of the Jonsonian mode, and it is a form
into which many of Vaughan's finest poems in Silex Scintillans
are cast. Yet poems in the tetrameter couplet are not at all
characteristic of Donne or Herbert. It is worth noting, too, in
passing, that this Jonsonian use of the tetrameter couplet is
found in Crashaw's poems on St. Teresa (along with varia-
tions into the pentameter) ; and it is also one of Andrew Mar-
veil's favorite forms. This does not mean that we should sub-
stitute Jonson for Donne as the prime poetical model for these
writers; in fact, the influence of Jonson and that of Donne are
almost inseparably intermingled throughout the seventeenth
century, and particularly in Marvell, the most eclectic of
poets. But the appearance of a Jonsonian style in these poets
will provide striking evidence of the way in which the art of
meditation could and did combine with any available mode
in poetry.
To his early practice in the Jonsonian mode, and to the
great example of Herbert, Vaughan added the indispensable
element: his own powerful mode of Augustinian meditation,
probing the memory for glimmerings of the divine light of
Eden, never quite lost in man. Thus too with Traherne, who
carries to an optimistic extreme the Augustinian conviction
that the divine image lies within man's memory, to be un-
covered and restored by meditation. Traheme's "Third Cen-
[xxix]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
tury," with its intermingled prose and poetry, provides a par-
ticularly clear example of the convergence of the two arts.
Crashaw, though resembling Herbert and Jonson in places,
finds his central poetic allegiance in the Continental Baroque.
The kinship that he truly holds with Donne and Herbert does
not lie within poetical traditions, strictly so called; it lies rather
in Crashaw's own underlying mastery of the art of meditation,
by which he often gives the firm and subtle structure of his
"wit of Love" to violent sensory effects that may on the sur-
face seem to escape all reasonable control.
Finally, faraway from England, and even farther away, in
every respect, from the Italy where Richard Crashaw found
his final refuge, the meditative line of the seventeenth century
ends with the Puritan Edward Taylor, writing his "Prepara-
tory Meditations" in the wilderness of Massachusetts, before
offering the Lord's Supper to his company of the Elect. Tay-
lor's chief poetical models appear to have been Herbert and
Quarles, but the rude power of his poetry seems to derive
from his command of the traditional method of meditation,
adapted to his Puritan beliefs. It is an appropriate tribute to
the deep and varied appeal of the art of meditation in this
era that its first significant English poet should have been the
young Jesuit, Robert Southwell, who returned secretly to his
native land after ten years of training by the Counter Refor-
mation, and that the last should have been the Calvinist Tay-
lor, who left England to seek the freedom of his faith in the
New World.
What is a truly meditative poem? The selections that fol-
low will, I hope, answer the question far better than any
preliminary explanation. Part of the pleasure of this volume,
for the editor at least, has been the opportunity to watch,
compare, and estimate the subtly varied ways in which the
meditative action appears in English poetry. For purposes of
contrast, comparison, and controversy, a number of poems
have been included here that may not at first, and perhaps
never will, appear to participate in the meditative genre. Such
a poem is Milton's Nativity Hymn, which reveals its own
peculiar greatness with a special clarity when read in the con-
[xxx]
INTRODUCTION
text of other Nativity poems in this era. A much more in-
trusive poem is Marvell's "To his Coy Mistress," which has
been included because the poem seems to release its mordant
irony of self-destruction with a special force when read within
the present context. A few other intrusive poems have been
included for similar reasons.
In the end, no definition can hope to hold the adventurous
vitality of the meditative ait, as changing, resourceful, and
elusive as the mind in which the meditation is enacted. But
perhaps it is enough to say that the central meditative action
consists of an interior drama, in which a man projects a self
upon a mental stage, and there comes to understand that self
in the light of a divine presence.
Louis L. Martz
Saybrook College
Yale University-
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to thank Mr. Robert Hayes and Miss Susan LifiF for
valuable assistance in the preparation of some parts of this
volume, and also to thank Professor Max Patrick, Mr. Eugene
Eoyang, and Mr. Carl Morse for a great deal of valuable ad-
vice during the planning of the volume and its preparation
for the press. I am indebted to the Pierpont Morgan Library
for providing a photograph of the title page of Herbert's Tem-
ple; to the Bodleian Library for providing photographs of the
original engravings for Quarles's Emblemes; and to the Yale
University Library (especially to Miss Marjorie Wynne)
for providing photographs for the other illustrations in this ;
volume. !
[xxxi]
THE MEDrTATIVE POEM
NOTE
For the most part, unusual words have been glossed only
on their first appearance within the selection from each poet.
The reading of these poems will be aided by remembering
that, throughout, the spellings then and than are used inter-
changeably to indicate either one of these two modern words;
that still frequently means always; and that shew is often
used for show.
The abbreviation OED indicates the Oxford English Dic-
tionary.
[xxxii]
The Practical Methode of Meditation
(1614)
Meditation which we treate of, is nothing els but a diligent
and forcible application of the understanding, to seeke, and
knowe, and as it were to tast some divine matter; from whence
doth arise in our affectionate1 powers good motions,2 incli-
nations, and purposes which stirre us up to the love and ex-
ercise of vertue, and the hatred and avoiding of sinne: it is
the shortest and almost the only way to attaine to Christian
perfection: it is the path which all holy men (of what estate
soever) have troden. Wherfore let those, who desire to enjoy
there company, follow their example.
2. And surely it seemes a thing, even impossible, to arrive
unto any notable degree of perfection without this so neces-
sary a meanes. For perfection beeing nothing els, but the root-
ing out, of vices, and planting of vertues in our soules: unles
we withdraw our affections3 from earthly objects, and settle
them on heavenly, we shall never performe the one, nor at-
taine to the other. And seeing that our affectionate part im-
braceth nothing, unlesse our understanding both know it, and
judge of it, neither can it find out fit objects of heavenly affec-
tions unles it discourse4 on them, nor move therwith the will,
except it consider the goodnes which often lieth hidden in
them; it followeth evidently, that without meditation no man
can attaine to any height of Perfection.
3. Besides, it is the most excellent manner of praising God,
employing every power of our soule, in shewing forth the ex-
cellencies of their Creator, which is the chiefest end of our
creation: neither doth it rest heere, but bringeth a man to
heaven (that so I may say) before his tyme, making him en-
1 affectionate: pertaining to the affections, the emotions.
2 motions: inward promptings, emotions.
3 affections: emotions, inclinations.
4 discourse: to reason.
[3]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
joy (after a sort) even in this life the blessednes of the life to
come: which being nothing els but the seeing, loving, and
enjoying of Gods divine Majesty, we giving our selves by
meditation to the most perfect knowledge, to the straitest
bande5 of love, and the sweetest fruition of God which this
wretched life affoards, we participate in the best manner
which our estate will permit us, of the happines of the Blessed
in heaven.
4. True it is, that through the unhappy estate of this trou-
blesome world, man beeing distracted by other thoughts, and
surprised by other affections, cannot continually, nor without
some little violence, especially at the first, enjoy this so great
a happines: yet may he, joyning his owne diligence to Gods
help, so unite himselfe to his Creator by this exercise, that at
least for some determinate6 time, he may enjoy him with
some familiarity.
5. It will therfore be good for those, who intende to reape
the fruit of this heavenly emploiment, to appointe unto them-
selves, by the counsell of some one skilfull in matters of spirit,
the tyme they meane to spend every day therm, and that
with so stedfast a resolution, that they make conscience [not]
to omit it without urgent occasion; which omission (although
necessary) let them supply at some other tyme of the day, if
it be possible. And let them be but diligent and constant at
the beginning, and it will prove an excercise most full of
spirituall profit and delight, which will aboundantly counter-
vaile the paines bestowed therin.
6. And let those who thinke Meditation to belong only to
Religious persons,7 and that secular ought not or need not
busy themselves therwith, be fully persuaded, that they ar
in an errour very pernicious. For as secular men have more
distractions by reason of their divers worldly employments,
then Religious, more temptations by the continuall presence
of many alluring objects, more imperfections, sinnes, and ill
5 straitest bande: tightest bond.
6 determinate: limited.
7 Religious persons: those who have taken formal religious vows.
[4]
EDWABD DAWSON
habits to conquer: so have they more need to retiase them-
selves by this holy recollection,8 to propose unto themselves
the highest objects most worthy of love, affection, and prose-
cution, to exercise themselves in the acts of the noblest ver-
tues; all which is performed by meditation. And if religious
persons being Gods sworne souldiars, use these weapons, as
thinges belonging to their estate and dignity, secular people
must put them on also, at least for their necessary defence;
and of these many do make great change of life and happy
progresse in vertue by this exercise, even in this cold age of
ours. And although they are more frequent in other Coun-
treys, which enjoy the happy freedome of the service of God,
without feares or contradictions: yet there want not such (and
that of both sexes) even amongest us, who overcomming the
tumults of the world, and the terrors of persecution, do be-
stow daily a good part of their tyme in this important busi-
nes, and continually reap the plentifull fruit of their happy
labours; which number if it may be increased by this my
poore endeavour, I shall thinke it happily bestowed.
7. And although the holy Ghost be the chiefe Maister of
this doctrine, yet it shall not be amisse to set downe some
briefe method of practise, taken out of approved9 Authors
and experience, that so those who have a will to imploy them-
selves therein, bee not deprived (at least of a great part) of
the profit, for want of instructions.
8. We shall heere omit divers divisions which might be
made of meditation, and devide it only into Spirituall and
Historicall, which distinction is taken from the diversitie of
the matter wheron we meditate. Spirituall meditation is that,
wherin the matter is Spirituall, in that sense, as we oppose
Spirituall to corporall, for that it containes for the most part
no corporall actions: such are the Meditations of the end of
man, of sinnes, death, judgment, hell, heaven, the benefits of
God, his infinite perfections, and the like. Historicall Medita-
tion is that, where the matter is some Historic, as the medita-
8 recollection: deliberate withdrawal from distractions; concen-
tration of thought.
$ approved: proved by experience, tested.
[5]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
tions of the life and passion of our Blessed Saviour, of the
vertuous actions of his Blessed Mother, or some other Saint.
Of both which kinds of matter, many spirituall bookes are
full, so that we may easily take our choice, with the counsell
of our spirituall Father: and the fittest of all, will be the holy
Gospell, especially having helped our selves at the beginning
with some larger discourses.
9. For the better order, and more profit, we must begin
with the end wherfore man was created, with the judgments
of God exercised on sinners, with the multitude and greatnes
of our owne sinns, with death, judgment, hell, and the like:
which will help much to the rooting out of vices. Then may
we meditate on the life, and passion of Christ, from whose
vertues we shall receive glorious light, to frame the like, with
his grace, in our selves. And lastly we may contemplate the
glorious mysteries10 of our Saviours Resurrection, Apparitions,
Ascension, and the comming of the Holy Ghost, his excessive
love towardes us, his manifould benefits, and the aboundant
reward prepared for his friends in heaven.
The preparation for Meditation, jf. i.
For the more fruitfull meditating on the divine mysteries,
there is required such puritie of Conscience, that we feele
not remorse of any great sinne; and finding our selves guilty,
we must seeke to cleare our soules, by those remedies which
God hath appointed for that purpose.
2. We must endeavour so to compose our passions, and
affections in a meane, that they be neither too weake, nor
too strong.
3. We must so recollect11 our powers and senses, that will-
ingly we neither thinke on, see, heare, nor admit any thing,
which may breed distraction. Briefly we must so dispose our
10 mysteries: events in the life of Christ or a saint
11 recollect: draw together, concentrate.
[6]
EDWABD DAWSON
selves before our meditation, as we wish to be, when we shall
meditate.
4. The fittest time for Meditation (according to the ex-
ample of the Prophet David) is the morning, when the pow-
ers of our soule are free from other objects. To be therfore
better prepared, we must the night before read over that part
of the booke, or writing twice, or thrice, whence we take our
matter: then devide it into three partes or pointes, more or
fewer as wee please: after that propose unto our selves that
which we meane to make the especiall end of our Medita-
tion. As if we meditate on the sinnes of others, our end may
be shame, and confusion, behoulding Gods judgments ex-
cercised on them for fewer, and lesser offences then we find
in our selves: yf we meditate upon our owne sins, we may
propose for our end Sorrow and Amendment: if on the paines
of hell, feare and horrour: if on the joyes of heaven, joyfull
hope and consolation: yf on the life of Christ, imitation of his
vertues: yf on his Passion, sorrow, and compassion: yf on his
Resurrection, joy and congratulation:12 and thus according
unto the diversitie of the matter, the end or scope13 of our
meditation must be different, which with a litle diligence we
may easily find out: and upon this end must our intention
be especially fixed at the time of meditation.
5. We must also determine with our selves what Prelu-
diums, as they are termed, or preambles we must make (of
which we shall speake in their due place.) And lastly we must
marke well what persons, wordes, and workes are contained
in ech point, yf our matter be historicall. But yf it be spirituall
we must call to minde the chiefe things occurring therin. All
which must be done by a sleight passage14 only, to open the
way for our meditation; and we may find out all the persons,
wordes, and workes, which are expressed, as also all those,
which the decencie15 of the history doth shew unto us; espe-
cially the persons, wordes, and workes of God, the angels,
12 congratulation: rejoicing.
13 scope: aim.
w a sleight passage: a brief passing-over or survey.
15 decencie: appropriateness to the circumstances.
[7]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
and divells, which we may finde in every history fit for medi-
tation, with no small spirituall profit: God, and the holy An-
gels moving and furthering all good things, and the wicked
spirits provoking to evil, and hindering in what they can all
good.
6. Being in bed, before we betake our selves to sleepe, we
must thinke on the houre we meane to rise at, and call to
mind briefly the pointes of our meditation: and the same we
may doe so often as we chance to awake.
7. When we awake in the morning, castinge off all other
thoughts, we must breifly, but with great affection, give God
due thankes for all his benefits, and for those in particuler
received that night, and offer up our selves, and all our ac-
tions of the day following, to his honour and glory, propos-
ing effectually, with helpe of his holy Grace, to avoid sinne,
and imperfection that day, and especially that which -wee en-
deavour most to overcome, by particuler examine16 and care.
After this we may begin to take some tast of our meditation,
and stirre up in our soules somtimes griefe, shame, confusion,
or feare, otherwhiles desire to know with some clearenes the
mysteries of the life and passion of our Saviour, so to imitate
him diligently, and love him fervently; sometimes sorrow and
heavines, so to be compartners with Christ, suffering so many
paines for us; somtimes also joy and comfort, to congratulate17
our Lords glorie, and felicitie; and at other times other affec-
tions agreable unto ech meditation: Which we may performe
more easily, yf we keep in our mind some similitude18 an-
swering to the affection we would have; or yf we repeate
some verse of the psalmes, or other Scripture, or Father,
which may be to that purpose, so we do it with attention and
affection. And if we meditate more then once in one day, in
that quarter of an houre going before our tyme appointed,
we must read over diligently the matter of our meditation,
16 particuler examine: an examination of the self directed toward
the extirpation of some one particular fault.
IT congratulate: rejoice in.
18 similitude: comparison, simile, likeness, parable, allegory: any
concrete representation of a spiritual matter.
[8]
EDWARD DAWSON
devide it, and settle it in our mind, thinking what we are to
do, before whome to appeare, and with whome to talke, and
making such preparation, as we appointed for our mornings
meditation.
The performance of Meditation, jf . 2.
The houre of meditation being come, we may imagine our
selves to be invited by our good Angell, or by some other
Saint to whome we are particulerly devoted, to appeare in
the presence of God: wherefore having made the signe of the
holy Crosse, and sprinkled our selves with holy water, we may
go presently,19 with a kinde of spirituall hunger, to the place
where we meane to make our meditation, and standing from
thence a pace or two, briefly lift up our minde to Almighty
God, imagining him to be so present with us (as truly he is)
that he behouldeth what we are to do, and doth shew unto
us in that very place his most venerable and glorious coun-
tenance.
2. The presence of God is best framed of20 our Understand-
ing, by making an act of faith, wherby we beleeve Almighty
God to be so present there, that he compasseth us round on
every side, as the water compasseth the fish, and yet is also
within us, and the things before us (as he is in all things)
soinwhat like the water which is entred into a sponge, and
this by his divine essence, presence, and power, which pene-
trate the nature of every creature, and give them needrull
helpe for their operations.
3. It helpeth much our attention to conceive the presence
of God after the liveliest manner wee can, and to fix our
meditation as much as humaine frailtie will permit, continu-
ally in the sight of God, perswading our selves, that he is
much pleased to see us proceede with diligence in this spirit-
uall affaire, and much dislikes yf wee performe it negligently,
w presently: immediately.
20 framed of: conceived by.
[9]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
and in this point we must force our selves a little at the first,
untill exercise produce facilitie.
4. Having conceived God thus present, we must next looke
upon our owne unworthines, and with great reverence say,
with the Patriarke Abraham, Loquar ad Dominum meurn,
cum sum pulvis et cinis. I will speake to my Lord, beeing
dust and ashes,21 and with internall adoration, bending the
knees of our hart, kneele downe before our Lord, professing
the presence of the Blessed Trinity with some wordes fitting
that purpose, as Benedicta sit Sancta et Individua Trinitas:
Blessed he the holy, and undevided Trinity, or, Gloria Patri,
et Filio, et Spiritui Bancto: Glorie to the Father, to the Sonne,
and to the holy Ghost, or, Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus
Deus omnipotent, qui erat, qui est, et qui venturus est:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God omnipotent, who was, who is, and
who is to come, or the like. But yf through indisposition or
weaknes of body we find our selves unapt to kneele, we may,
having entred into our meditation, either stand, sit or walke,
or use such situation of body as we shall finde fittest for our
infirmitie. And although we should have our body well dis-
posed to kneele, yet if we find not in our meditation the
comfort we expect, we may change somtune the position
we were in, as from kneeling to sitting, standing, walking,
prostrating our selves upon our face at our Saviours feete etc.
and in travaile either on foote, or otherwise, we may medi-
tate as we goe on our journey, but ordinarily, yf wee be not
otherwaies hindred, kneling is the fittest position to procure
reverence, and devotion.
6. Being on our knees, or otherwaies ready to begin our
meditation, let us acknowledge our selves sinners with as much
inward feeling of heart as we can, asking humbly pardon of
Gods divine Majesty, saying with divotion the foure first
verses of the Miserere Psalme, the Conftteor, or some other
prayer to that purpose.
7. Then encouraging our selves with hope of pardon, we
may behould the majesty of God there present, and acknowl-
21 See Genesis 18:27.
[10]
EDWARD DAWSON
eging the great bande we have to imploy our selves wholy in
his service, make with feeling devotion the preparative Praier;
which is nothing els but a short petition, wherein we aske
helpe of God, that all our powers and actions, and that in
particuler we now goe about, may be sincerely directed, and
performed to the honour of God, and the benefit of our owne
soule.
8. Then must we proceed to the preambles or Preludiuins,
which are three if the matter be historicall, but if it be not of
some history, they are only two.
9. The first Prektdium or Preamble (which is proper onely
to the meditation, made upon some historie) is a breife call-
ing to mind of the mystery we are to meditate, no other-
waies then if we should tell it to another, without any dis-
course22 theron at all.
10. The seconde is common to all Meditations, and is an
imagination of seeing the places where the thinges we medi-
tate on were wrought, by, imagining our selves to -be really
present at those places; which we must endeavour to represent
so lively, as though we saw them indeed, with our corporall
eyes; which to performe well, it will help us much to behould
before-hande some Image wherein that mistery is well rep-
resented, and to have read or heard what good Authors write
of those places, and to have noted well the distance from one
place to another, the height of the hills, and the situation of
the townes and villages. And the diligence we employ heerein
is not lost; for on the well making of this Prelttdium depends
both the understanding of the mystery, and attention in our
meditation.
11. Yf our meditation be of some spirituall matter of which
we spake before which affordes no historie, we must frame
our second Prelttdium according thereunto: as if wee meditate
on sinnes, we may imagine our soule to be cast out of Para-
dise, and to be held prisoner in this body of ours, fettered
with the chaines of disordinate23 Passions, and affections, and
^discourse: reasoning, thought.
23 disordinate: transgressing against moral order, immoderate.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
clogged with the burden o£ our owne flesh. If on Hell, we
may behould with our imagination the length, breadth, and
depth of that horrible place. Yf on Heaven, the spatious
plesantnes of that celestiall Countrie, the glorious companie
of Angels and Saintes. Yf on Gods judgment which must
passe upon us, our Saviour sitting on his Judgment Seate,
and we before him expecting the finall Sentence: if on death,
our selves kied on our bed, forsaken of the Physitians, com-
passed about with our weeping friends, and expecting our
last agony. Thus our second Preludium in these Meditations
which are spirituall (as we call them) must be some similitude,
answerable to the matter.
12. The third Prehidium in all Meditations is a short, but
earnest prayer to Cod. for that thing which we have proposed,
as the scope, and ende of our Meditation, of which we have
already spoken. Having finished these Preludiums, we must
begin the first pointe of our Meditation, exercising thereon
Jhe_thffi§e,,powers~of-our Souley Mernorie, Understanding, and
Will, With our memorie we must (as it were) rehearse unto
our selves in order, that which is conteined in the first point
of the matter we prepared^ calling to mind also such things as
we have read in the holy Scripture, and other good Authors,
or heard of discreet and devout persons, yf it make for the
matter we have in hand; and lay open to the view of our
understanding the persons, wordes, and workes contained in
the first point, if it containe any, if none, at least the most
notable matters therin.
13. Then we must exercise our .understanding, upon that
which the memory hath proposed, and search out &]jgently,
what may be considered alxmt.that present object, iiif erring
one thing from another, framing from thence true, pious, and
spirituall conceipts,24 fit to move our Will to vertuous affec-
tions. Lastly for that the will is naturally inclined and moved
to aflEect2^ those things which the understanding proposetb,
we must procure with all diligence to stir up in our selves
24conceipt$: conceptions, thoughts.
26 affect: be fond of, tend toward, aspire to.
EDWAUD DAWSON
those affections which the operations of our understanding go-
ing before, incline us unto.
14. And having thus exercised the three powers of our
soule upon the first point, we must passe on to the next. But
finding our selves imploied with spirituall profit about that
we have in hand, we must not be soUicitous to passe on fur*
ther, although by our long stay in one point, we should not
have leasure to goe over them all, within our determined
tyme. But it wilbe best to satisfy our selves fully where we
find spirituall comfort, and reserve the rest for an other time
of Meditation. We must also know, that the exercise of our
Memory and Understanding in Meditation, is ordained to the
motion of our will, and must therfore be used with such
moderation as may serve for the moving therof, and no more,
that so our Meditation may be full of pious and good affec-
tions, not vaine and filled with curiosities.
15. We may frame26 our conceites upon divers heades,
which our matter will yielde us: as if it be historicall, we may
consider in the persons there represented, who they be, their
thoughts, and affections, their inwarde vertues, and outward
carriage, with other circumstances. In the words we may con-
sider their first and proper sense, as also the figurative and
translated27 signification, if there be any, and the ende wher-
fore they are spoken. In the workes are to be considered their
nature, what they are, with their circumstances, compre-
hended in this verse usuall amongst those who treate of morall
actions, Quis, Quid, Ubi, Quibus auxiliis, Cur, Quomodo,
Quando, wayghing well what person that is, by whome the
action is done, examining what he speaketh, and doth, where,
with what helpe, or assistance, for what end, in what manner,
and at what tyme.
16. But if our matter be spiritual! and affoard no persons,
with their wordes and workes, we must endeavour to conceive
the matter throughly28 in our understanding, and to find out
26 frame: construct, organize.
27 translated: metaphorical.
28 throughly: thoroughly.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
the true sense and meaning of the wordes, which represent
the matter unto us, and the right nature of the things therin,
represented, and we may help our selves much to the framing
of spiritual! conoeites, if we apply unto our matter familiar
similitudes, drawne from our ordinary actions, and this as
well in historicall, as spirituall meditations.
17- The affections which we ought to procure by these
conceipts are many, and diverse; nor can it be assigned,
which we should alwaies procure, they chiefly depending on
the goif t of the holy Ghost. Yet whilst we attended especially
to the rooting out of vices, which is termed by the Maisters
of spirit via purgativa, the purgative way, we ought to labour
first for great grief e, with shame and confusion for our sinnes,
for ournegligence, and couldnes in Gods service, for careles-
nes and sloth in seeking perfection. Secondly a jFeare of
offending God, of loosing his grace, of not fulfilling our
obligation in answering to his heavenly voice and inspirations,
and of severe punishment for our sinnes. Thirdly, a perfect
hatred of all sinne, ooldnes, and negligence in spirit, of all
earthly things which with-hould us from God, and of our
owne pleasures and contentments.
a. 8. Fourthly, a desire of mortification of our body, our
senses, passions, and inclinations to honour and estimation,
submitting our selves to the lowest persons, accompting20 our
selves the basest of all others, and desiring that others should
esteeme us so. Likewise when we principally endeavour to
plant vertues in our soules, which is termed via illuminativa,
the illuminative way, we must stir up first a love and desire of
all vertues, as also a desire to know the person and actions of
our Blessed Saviour, so to imitate him the better. Secondly a
hope to please God with the help of his holy grace to persevere
in his service, to free our selves from coldnes, and defects, to
attaine perfection in tMq Me, and eternal happines in the life
to come.
19. Thirdly, sorrow and compassion, for the suffering of
our Saviour, for the blindnes and ingratitude of those who
29 accompting: accounting.
EDWABD DAWSON
offend him so often, and greivously. And whilst we cheifly
seeke to unite our _soules to God, which is called via unitiva,
the unitive way, we must stir up in our selves, first an ex-
ceeding love of „ God: Secondly a spirituall rejoycing in his
infinite riches and perfections, as also in the glorie and hap-
pines of our Saviour risen from death, and received into
heaven with triumph and majesty. Thirdly, a gratefull joy for
the charity he hath shewed to mankind, and our selves in
particuler, and for so many and great benefits bestowed upon
his friends. Fourthly, a vehement desire, that Gods name be
knowne and sanctified, that he may reigne over all soules
without resistance, and that his holy will may be fulfilled in
all places: and many more such like affections as we have
heere set downe, the Holy Ghost will teach us, in all these
waies, if we dispose our selves with a great desire of them,
and humility, (altogeather necessary for the receiving of this
divine influence) yet not omitting our owne diligence.
20. We may move and strengthen these affections, by ear-
nest demaunding them of God, either with wordes of the
holy Scripture or some devout saying of our owne. By obsecra-
tion, instantly30 askuag jhem of God for his infinite love, Good-
nes, and mercies sake; for the most gratefull merits of his
beloved sonne, for the sanctitie and puritie of his Blessed
Mother. By gratitude, giving thankes to God for so many
benefits, so many bountifull and assured promises (descend-
ing into particulers.) By oblation, offering our selves to God,
prepared and ready to do whatsoever he hath taught us, to
imitate our Saviour so neere as we can, to suffer whatsoever
for his sake, and to seeke all meanes to please his divine
majestic. By good purposes, intending most firmly in the sight
of the whole Court of heaven to do all that we know, or shall
know to appertaine to the glory of God, to make good use of
his grace, and heavenly succours, to observe perfectly his
Commandements, and fulfill his holy inspirations. By praises,
extolling to the highest degree of our power Gods mercy,
bounty, patience, charity etc. celebrating his divine greatnes,
30 instantly: urgently.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
his infinite wisdome, his unmesurable goodnes, his unspeak-
able power. By reprehending our selves, as slothfull, unde-
vout, harde, ungratefull, and that after so many benefits and
helpes, so many illuminations and incitations to goodnes. By
admiration, wondering at the goodnes, patience, and charity
of God, at our owne negligence, and coldnes in spirit, at tibe
contempt shewed by us, of so many favours, and graces, so
many and cleare inspirations. By framing unto our selves
some person, imagining sometymes that God complaines and
reprehendes them, that he exhorts and promises us helpe,
sometymes imagining that some Saynt, most notable in some
one vertue, laments that he is no more imitated, and some-
tyme that the Divell rejoyceth and triumpheth, that he is
more followed then God, and knowes so well the meanes, to
bring us to sinne, coldnes, and carelesnesse of our perfection
and salvation, sometymes also faygning31 the very vertues in
some venerable shape bewayling their neglect, and contempt:
and many more wayes may we find by the help of the holy
spirit, the chiefest Maister of this heavenly doctrine of Prayer.
Of these wayes we may use more, or lesse, answerable unto
the affections we meane to procure, and according unto our
owne necessity. And in the exercise of them we may very
profitably repeate in our understanding, some affectionate
words of the holy Scripture, or Fathers, or some other that
are full of devotion.
ai. In exercising that which we have hitherto set downe,
we must use such moderation, that we hurte not our head,
or breast, with overmuch force: for besides those corporall
harmes that arise from thence, no small spiritual! evills follow, *
as a certaine languishing and slacknes in meditation, for
feare of hurting our selves, a new coldnes and weakenes in
our affections, small disposition to receive the seedes of divine
inspirations, and influences, facility in leaving of our medita-
tions either of our owne accord, or by the counsell of our
Ghostly32 Father, which evils may be easily avoyded, if we
: feigning, imagining.
32 Ghostly: spiritual.
[16]
EDWAKD DAWSONT
use no violence unto our selves in the acts of meditation. As
if we straine not our breast, if we seeke not to wringe out
teares, if we be not too intentive33 in the actions of our soule,
but use so much diligence in our meditation, as we would
use in talking with some person of much respect, which will
be sufficient if God, who disposeth all thinges sweetly, do not
call us extraordinarily to a more forcible application.
2,2,. At the end of our meditation we must make with our
understanding some affectionate speach or Colloquium to
God, and somtimes also to some Saints which may be either
one or more, according to our devotion, being the conclusion
of our whole meditation, and a reverent departure from the
great Lord of whome we have had so gracious audience, giv-
ing him thankes, offering our selves and ours to him, and de-
manding grace and succour for our selves, our friendes, and
benefactors, and for whom soever we have obligation to pray,
which three thinges we may ordinarily use at the end of every
meditation. We may somtimes also accuse our selves, and
aske pardon, as also impart unto him our affaires, and those
of our freinds intreating counsaile and help for their good
performance, extolling his infinite mercy and love, still follow-
ing the affection we shall then f eele.
23. Jn these, speaches wee may talke with God as a servant
with his Maister, as a sonne with his Father, as one friend
with another, as a spouse with her beloved bridgrome, or as
a guilty prisoner with his Judge, or in any other manner which
the holy Ghost shall teach us.
2,4. Having ended this our speach, we may adde some
vocall prayer, if we will, as the Pater noster, if we speake to
God the Father, the praier Anima Christi, if to the Sonne,
the Hymne Veni Creator r, if to the holy Ghost, Aoe Maria,
or Ave marts Stella, if to the Blessed Virgin, or some other
devout praier, in which we find devotion and comfort.
25. We may make such manner of speaches in other places
of our meditation, and it will be best, and almost needfull so
33 intentive: intent.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
to do, but at the end we must never omit them, and then
only use the vocall praier to conclude them with all.
26. Departing from the place of Meditation, we may make
an internall and externall reverence to God, whose conversa-
tion34 we shall then leave of, with an intent to renew often in
the day the remembrance of that which passed in our
Meditation.
What is to be done after Meditation, jf . 3.
Having ended our Prayer, we may either sitting, standing,
or walking examine the preparation to our Meditation, the
conceyving the presence of God, the making our Preparative
praier, and Preludiums, the exercise of our memory, under-
standing, will, imagination, and appetits,35 and the whole
progresse of our meditation, with our speach at the end, that
so finding our meditation to have succeeded well, we may
proceed in like manner afterwardes, if ill, we may seeke out
the f aultes and amend them.
2,. We may examine the distractions we have suffered, and
the remedies we have used to reclaime our selves, which is
best done, by settling our attention a new to the matter we
have in hand, so soone as we perceive the distraction, or by
humbling our selves before God, with reprehension of our
negligence, or by calling for help against the violence we
endure.
3. We may examine the consolations we have felt, seeking
the occasions of them, and thanking God for them. These
consolations consist in internall light of Gods grace, wherby
we know somthing a new belonging to our salvation, or per-
fections, or els apprehend more clearly and fully such things
already knowen. They consist also in certaine inward mo-
tions, which incline us to love nothing but for the love of
God. In teares also springing from love, or griefe, or any
34 conversation: company, social relations.
35 appetites: here, spiritual appetites, desires, "affections."
[18]
EDWARD DAWSON
other cause belonging to the honour and glorie of God. In
the increase of faith, hope, and charitie, and in joyfull com-
fort which kindles in us the desire of perfection.
4. We may examine the desolations if we have had any,
searching out their causes, beeing sorrowfull for the fault
which we may have committed with purpose of amendment.
Under the name of desolations are comprehended that which
spreades it selfe like a veile before the eies of our soule,
hindring us from the thinges appertayning to the glory of
God, and our owne perfections; That which troubles and
provokes as to seeke for earthly and externall thinges: That
which breedes in us distrust of obtaining perfection, of pray-
ing well, knowing the will of God, and of perseverance in
any good course begon: That which weakens hope, obscures
fayth, and cooles charity. That, which bringes our soule to
spirituall coldnes, slacknes, heavines, and wearines.
5. We may consider whether we have had aboundance of
matter for our discourse or scarcity, endeavoring to find the
causes of both, proposing amendment of the faultes therm
committed. We may examine what affections we have felt,
considering how they have beene stirred up, how longe, and
in what manner they have endured, that we may use the like
good meanes another tyme, and avoid all defects we may
have fallen into. We may also examine what, and how many
good purposes we have made, from whence they have pro-
ceeded, how stedfast and effectuall they have byn, renewing
them againe with new fervour.
6. We may note in some little booke those thinges which
have passed in our Meditation, or some part of them, if we
think them worth the paynes, and thanke Almighty God for
the performance thereof, procuring so to live, as we have
learned them of his divine Wisdome.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
THE
PRACTICAL
Methode of Application of owr
five Senses, by way of ima-
gination to the divine
Having finished the practise of Meditation, which is prin-
cipally performed by the operations of our Memory, Under-
standing, and Will, it shall be good to joyne unto it the man-
ner of Application of our senses, by way of imagination to the
same objects, which we make matter for meditation; and this
the rather, for that it is a branch of meditation, and an ex-
ercise also of no small profit, and will yield us more variety to
avoid tediousnes, as being a thing more easy to performe then
meditation, serving for those who either want skill or ability
to performe the other.
The preparation to the application of our Senses. S- *•
Besides the things set downe in the former practice, which
after their manner must be used also in this, if we have ability
and knowledge, the best preparation will be to meditate ac-
cording unto the directions given upon the same matter that
we meane to apply our senses unto; but for defect of either,
we must read or heare attentively once, or oftener the mat-
ter, observing the number and quality of persons, wordes,
and workes, and other objects of our senses, that so we may
be fully possessed of them all,
2. It will be expedient also to recollect our selves, for the
space of a quarter of an houre, or not much lesse before we
begin, in such sort, that our senses be not distracted, nor im-
ployed (but upon necessity) in any other object, so to be
[so]
EDWAKD DAWSON
more ready and prepared to admit the matter that shall be
proposed unto them.
3. In this same tyme also we may procure to store up in
our soules some affections answerable unto our matter, as
we advised in our former practice, as desire, love, joy, sorrow,
and the like, considering also whither we are to go, what to
do, and with whom to speake.
The actuall application of our Senses, jf . 2.
Those thinges set downe in our former practise, to be done
before the consideration of the points, are heere also to be
used; where we must note, that being to apply our senses to
two or more mysteries at once (which is often used) it will
be best to joyne the Prelttditims togeather, as to make of two
histories one continued, so likewise of two compositions of
places we must make one by imagining our selves successively
present to them both, accompayning the persons from one
place to another, as also to put two petitions into one, and ask
both things in one praier.
2. The exercise of this application is, to propose the object
of some one sense, as of the sight (which is commonly first
begon withall36) as though we truly saw it: then to make
theron a briefe discourse, collecting thence some spirituall
conceipts, with the motion of our wills; as beholding our
Blessed Saviour on the Crosse, having seene him with our
imagination fastned with nailes, crowned with thornes, and
clothed with woundes, we may say thus with our understand-
ing; It was in my Saviours hands to suffer this for my sake or
not, and none indures paine for another but he loves him ex-
cessively; he therfore induring these grievous paines for me,
hath testifyed his aboundant charity, with the most certaine
proof e of suffering for my sake. What do I then? how do I
repay this infinit love of my deare Lord? Why love I not
him above all? why serve I not him faythfully, by fulfilling
36 withall: with.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
his commandements? why indure I not patiently the Crosses
he sends me etc.? we may then strengthen our affections with
good purposes and resolutions, in this manner: I will there-
fore seeke by all meanes possible to love so loving a Lord: I
will imploy my selfe wholly in his service, and undertake the
hardest difficulties for his sake, and most willingly be nayled
with hum to the crosse, nor will I by offending him againe
make his paynes more grievous: so descending to more par-
ticuler affections and purposes, as we shall find our conscience
to have need. And having thus viewed one object, we may
imbrace another, until we have passed over them all, making
thereon the like discourses, with the motion of our affection,
to which end we may make use of the wayes set downe in
our former practice.
3. To have sufficiency of mater in this application of Senses,
it will be needfull to know the principall objects of ech Sense.
4. The sight behoulds colour, light, figure, quantitie, num-
ber, motion, rest, distance, situation or position, and such
other qualities.
5. The hearing perceives the voice, sighes, grones, laughter,
noise, sound, number, motion and the rest.
6. Objects of the tast are meates, and drinkes, and the
diversity therof .
7. The Sense of smelling is imployed about smells, and dis-
tinguisheth their quantity, quality, number and diversity.
8. The touching is exercised upon bodies, perceiving their
quantity, quality, waight, figure, number, motion, rest, dis-
tance, situation.
9. Some of these material objects of our senses are some-
times not to be found in mysteries we meditate upon, espe-
cially the object of tasting and smelling; w_e_may_ then apply
pur senses^figuratively upon spiritual! objects, with a certaine
proportion and relation to corporalL As if we would exercise
our Senses upon the speach of our Saviour, we may imagine
our selves to see the words of Christ proceeding out of his
divine mouth, like a beame of light, reaching unto the eares
and very harts of the auditors, to heare their heavenly sound,
EDWABD DAWSON
which no sooner toucheth the hearers harts, but finding them
stony or horde, doth mollify and devide them.
10. We need not in this application bind our selves to so
strict an order as to begin with the sight, or any other o£ the
senses, and so to apply that first to al the objects therof, but
we may begin where we please, and where the objects are
most apparent: and if one object may be apprehended by
divers senses, it shall be well to apply it to them all, and then
afterward make one short discourse theron, for so shall we
find our understanding better satisfied, and our affection
more forceably moved.
11. We may also apprehend not only those things which
are expressed in the mystery we have in hand, but also those
which may occur, according to the fit decency of the history.
12. Having ended this exercise, we may make one or more
Coloquiums, according to the disposition of oior affection, even
as we make them at the end of our meditation, which we
shall doe the better if we maintaine or renew some of those
lively imaginations, in which we found most spirituall comfort
What we ought to do after the application
of our Senses. /. 3.
We must do all those things which are set downe in our
former practice, to be done after meditation, so far forth as
they appertaine to this exercise.
a. We may examine in particuler how we have appre-
hended the objects of the senses with our imagination,
whether with ease or difficulty, with right, or wrong, cleare
or doubtfull apprehensions, as we said before of Meditation,
purposing to avoid afterwardes that which hath proved ill,
and to continue that which hath succeeded well.
[231
ROBERT SOUTHWELL
1561-1595
The Author to his loving Cosen.
Poets by abusing their talent, and making the follies and
fayninges of love, the customary subject of their base en-
devours, have so discredited this facultie, that a Poet, a Lover,
and a Liar, are by many reckoned but three wordes of one
signification. But the vanity of men, cannot counterpoyse the
authority of God, who delivering many partes of Scripture
in verse, and by his Apostle willing us to exercise our devotion
in Himnes and Spirituall Sonnets,1 warranteth the Arte to bee
good, and the use allowable. And therefore not onely among
the Heathens, whose Gods were chiefely canonized by their
Poets, and their Painim Divinitie Oracled in verse: But even
in the Old and New Testament it hath bene used by men of
greatest Pietie, in matters of most devotion. Christ himselfe by
making a Himne,2 the conclusion of his last Supper, and the
Prologue to the first Pageant of his Passion, gave his Spouse
a methode to immitate, as in the office of the Church it ap-
peareth, and all men a paterne to know the true use of this
measured and footed stile. But the Divell as hee affecteth
Deitie, and seeketh to have all the complements of Divine
honor applied to his service, so hath he among the rest pos-
sessed also most Poets with his idle fansies. For in lieu of
solemne and devout matter, to which in duety they owe their
abilities, they now busy themselves in expressing such pas-
sions, as onely serve for testimonies to how unwoorthy affec-
tions3 they have wedded their wils. And because the best
course to let them see the errour of their workes, is to weave
a new webbe in their owne loome; I have heere layd a few
course threds together, to invite some skillfuller wits to goe
forward in the same, or to begin some finer peece, wherein
it may be seene, how well verse and vertue sute together.
THE AUTHOR TO HIS LOVING COSEN.
1See Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16,
2 See Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26 (cf. Alabaster, Sonnet a).
$ affections: emotions, inclinations.
[27]
MEDITATIVE POEM!
Blame me not (good Cosen) though I send you a blame-
woorthy present, in which the most that can commend it, is
the good will of the writer, neither Arte nor invention, giving
it any credite. If in mee this be a fault, you cannot be fauMesse
that did importune mee to committe it, and therefore you
must beare parte of the pennance, when it shall please sharpe
censures to impose it. In the meane time with many good
wishes I send you these few ditties,4 add you the Tunes, and
let the Meane,5 I pray you, be still a part in all your Musicke.
Looke home.
Retyred thoughts enjoy their owne delights,
As beawtie doth in selfe beholding eye:
Mans mind a myrrour is of heavenly sights,
A breef e wherein all marvailes summed lye.
Of fayrest formes, and sweetest shapes the store, 5
Most gracefull all, yet thought may grace them more.
The mind a creature is, yet can create,
To natures paterns adding higher skill:
Of finest workes wit better could the state,
If force of wit had equall power of will. 10
Devise of mam in working hath no end,
What thought can thinke an other thought can mend.
Mans soule of endles beauties image is,
Drawne by the worke of endlesse skill and might:
This skilfull might gave many sparkes of blisse, 15
And to discerne this blisse a native light.
4 ditties: words to be set to music.
5 Meane: a middle part in any musical composition; also, mod-
eration, "the golden mean.'*
LOOKE HOME.
9, 10 wit: intellect, mental capacity.
1*81
ROBERT SOUTHWEUL
To frame Gods image as his worthes requirde:
His might, his skill, his word, and will conspirde.
All that he had his image should present,
All that it should present he could afford: 20
To that he could afford his will was bent,
His will was followed with performing word.
Let this suffice, by this conceive the rest
He should, he could, he would he did the best.
At home in Heaven.
Faire soule, how long shall veyles thy graces shroud?
How long shall this exile with-hold thy right,
When will thy sunne disperse this mortall cloud?
And give thy gloryes scope to blaze their light?
O that a Starre more fit for Angels eyes, 5
Should pyne in earth, not shine above the skyes.
Thy ghostly beautie offred force to God,
It cheyn'd him in the lynckes of tender love.
It woon his will with man to make abode:
It stai'd his Sword, and did his wrath remove. 10
It made the rigor of his Justice yeeld,
And Crowned mercye Empresse of the f eelde.
This lulTd our heavenly Sampson fast a sleepe,
And laid him in our feeble natures lapp.
This made him under mortall load to creepe: 15
And in our flesh his god head to enwrap.
This made him sojourne with us in exile:
And not disdayne our tytles in his style.
AT HOME IN HEAVEN.
7 ghostly: spiritual.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
This brought him from the ranckes of heavenly quires,
Into this vale of teares, and cursed soyle: 20
From flow'rs of grace, into a world of bryers:
From life to death, from blisse to balefull toyle.
This made him wander in our Pilgrim weede,
And tast our tormentes, to relieve our neede.
O soule do not thy noble thoughtes abase, 25
To lose thy loves in any mortall weight:
Content thyne eye at home with native grace,
Sith God bin self e is ravisht with thy sight.
If on thy beautie God enamored bee:
Base is thy love of any lesse then hee. 3°
Give not assent to muddy minded skill,
That deemes the feature of a pleasing face,
To be the sweetest baite to lure the will:
Not valewing right the worth of Ghostly grace:
Let Gods and Angels censure winne beliefe, 35
That of all bewties judge our soules the chiefe.
Queene Hester was of rare and pearelesse hew,
And Judeth once for beauty bare the vaunt,
But he that could our soules endowments vew,
Would soone to soules the Crowne of beautie graunt, 40
O soule out of thy selfe seeke God alone:
Grace more then thine, but Gods, the world hath none.
23 weede: garment.
26 weight: wight, person, being.
28 sith: since.
30 then: than.
35 censure: judgment, opinion.
38 bare the vaunt: bore the boast.
[30]
ROBERT SOUTHWELI/
Sinnes heavie loade.
O Lord my sinne doth over-charge thy brest,
The poyse thereof doth force thy knees to bow;
Yea flat thou f allest with my faults opprest,
And bloody sweat runs trickling from thy brow:
But had they not to earth thus pressed thee, 5
Much more they would in hell have pestred mee.
This Globe of earth doth thy one finger prop,
The world thou doo'st within thy hand embrace;
Yet all this waight of sweat drew not a drop,
Ne made thee bow, much lesse fall on thy face: 10
But now thou hast a loade so heavy found,
That makes thee bow, yea flat fall to the ground.
O sinne, how huge and heavie is thy waight,
Thou wayest more then all the world beside.
Of which when Christ had taken in his fraight 15
The poyse thereof his flesh could not abide;
Alas, if God himselfe sinke under sinne,
What will become of man that dies therein.
First, flat thou fel'st, when earth did thee receave,
In closet pure of Maries virgin brest; 20
And now thou f all'st of earth to take thy leave,
Thou kissest it as cause of thy unrest:
O loving Lord that so doost love thy foe,
As thus to kisse the ground where he doth goe.
SINNES HEAVES LOAJDE: a meditation (like the next poem) on the
scene in Gethsemane: Matthew 26:36 f.; Mark 14:32 f.; Luke
a poysei poise, weight.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Thou minded in thy heaven our earth to weare, 2g
Doo'st prostrate now thy heaven our earth to blisse;
As God, to earth thou often wert severe,
As man, thou seaFst a peace with Heeding kisse:
For as of soules thou common Father art,
So is she Mother of mans other part. 30
She shortly was to drink thy dearest blood,
And yeeld thy soule a way to sathans cave;
She shortly was thy corse in tombe to shrowd,
And with them all thy deitie to have:
Now then in one thou joyntly yeeldest all, 35
That severally to earth should shortly fall.
O prostrate Christ, erect my crooked minde,
Lord let thy fall my flight from earth obtaine;
Or if I still in earth must needes be shrinde,
Then Lord on earth come fall yet once againe: 40
And eyther yeeld with me in earth to lie,
Or else with thee to take me to the skie.
Christs sleeping friends.
When Christ with care and pangs of death opprest
From frighted flesh a bloody sweate did raine,
And full of feare without repose or rest
In agony did pray and watch in paine
Three sundrie times he his disciples findes 5
With heavy eies, but farre more heavy mindes;
With milde rebuke he warned them to wake:
Yet sleepe did still their drousie sences hold:
As when the sunne the brightest shew doth make
In darkest shrouds the night birdes them infolde, 10
26 blisse: variant spelling of bless, with connotations of the
verb to bliss: to make glad.
ROBERT SOUTHWEL.I*
His foes did watch to worke their cruell spight,
His drousie friendes slept in his hardest plight.
As Jonas sayled once from Joppaes shoare
A boystrous tempest in the aire did broile,
The waves did rage, the thundring heavens did roare, 15
The stormes, the rockes, the lightnings threatned spoile,
The shippe was billowes game, and chaunces pray,
Yet carelesse Jonas mute and sleeping lay:
So now though Judas like a blustring gust,
Doe stirre the furious sea of Jewish ire, 20
Though storming troop es in quarrels most unjust
Against the barke of all our blisse conspire,
Yet these disciples sleeping lie secure,
As though their wonted calme did still endure.
So Jonas once his weary limmes to rest, 25
Did shrowd himselfe in pleasant ivy shade,
But lo, while him a heavy sleep opprest,
His shadowy bowre, to withered stalke did fade,
A cankered worme had gnawen the root away,
And brought the glorious branches to decay. 30
O gratious plant, O tree of heavenly spring,
The paragon for leaf e, for fruit and flower,
How sweete a shadow did thy braunches bring
To shrowd these soules that chose thee for their bower,
But now while they with Jonas fall a sleepe, 35
To spoile their plant an envious worme doth creepe.
Awake ye slumbring wightes lift up your eies,
Marke Judas how to teare your roote he strives,
Alas the glorie of your arbor dies,
Arise and guarde the comforte of your lives, 40
CHBISTS SWEEPING FBJOENDS.
14 broile: straggle in confusion.
[33]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
No Jonas ivy, no Zacheus tree,
Were to the world so great a losse as he.
New Prince, new pompe.
Behold a silly tender Babe,
In JEreesing Winter night;
In homely manger trembling lies,
Alas a pitteous sight:
The Innes are full, no man will yeeld 5
This little Pilgrime bed;
But forc'd he is with silly beasts,
In Crib to shrowd his head.
Despise not him for lying there,
First what he is enquire: 10
An orient pearle is often found,
In depth of dirty mire,
Waigh not his Crib, his wooden dish,
Nor beasts that by him feede:
Waigh not his Mothers poore attire, 15
Nor Josephs simple weede.
This stable is a Princes Court,
The Crib his chaire of state:
The beasts are parcell of his pompe,
The wooden dish his plate. 20
41 Zacheus: see Luke 19:2-6.
NEW PRINCE, NEW POMPE.
i silly: innocent, helpless, deserving of pity; also, poor, simple;
with connotations of the related word seely: fortunate, blessed.
[34]
ROBERT SOUTHWELL.
The persons in that poore attire,
His royall liveries weare,
The Prince himselfe is come from heaven,
This pompe is prized there.
With joy approach o Christian wight, 25
Doe homage to thy King;
And highly prise this humble pompe,
Which he from heaven dooth bring.
The burning Babe.
As I in hoarie Winters night
Stoode shivering in the snow,
Surprised I was with sodaine heate,
Which made my hart to glow;
And lifting up a f earefull eye, 5
To view what fire was neare,
A pretty Babe all burning bright
Did in the ayre appeare;
Who scorched with excessive heate,
Such floods of teares did shed, 10
As though his floods should quench his flames,
Which with his teares were fed:
Alas (quoth he) but newly borne,
In fierie heates I frie,
Yet none approach to warme their harts 15
Or feele my fire, but I;
22 livories; liveries, uniforms.
THE BURNING BABE.
x hoarie: white, with associations of hoarfrost.
Us]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
My f aultlesse breast the furnace is,
The fuell wounding thornes:
Love is the fire, and sighs the smoake,
The ashes, shame and scornes; 20
The f ewell Justice layeth on,
And Mercie blowes the coales,
The mettall in this furnace wrought,
Are mens defiled soules:
For which, as now on fire I am 25
To worke them to their good,
So will I melt into a bath,
To wash them in my blood.
With this he vanisht out of sight,
And swifty shrunk away, 3°
And straight I called unto minde,
That it was Christmasse day.
New heaven, new warre.
Come to your heaven you heavenly quires,
Earth hath the heaven of your desires;
Remove your dwelling to your God,
A stall is now his best abode;
Sith men their homage doe denie, 5
Come Angels all their fault supplie.
His chilling cold doth heate require,
Come Seraphins in liew of fire;
This little Arke no cover hath,
Let Cherubs wings his body swath: 10
NEW HEAVEN, NEW WABRE: See NOTE.
9-10 See Exodus 25:10-22.
[36]
ROBERT SOUTHWELI,
Come Raphaell, this Babe must eate,
Provide our little Tobie meate.
Let Gabriell be now his groome,
That first took up his earthly roome;
Let Michaell stand in his defence, 15
Whom love hath linck'd to feeble sence,
Let Graces rock when he doth crie,
And Angels sing his lullabie.
The same you saw in heavenly seate,
Is he that now sucks Maries teate; 20
Agnize your King a mortall wight,
His borrowed weede lets not your sight:
Come kisse the manager where he lies,
That is your blisse above the skies.
This little Babe so few dayes olde, 25
Is come to ryfle sathans folde;
All hell doth at his presence quake,
Though he himself e for cold doe shake:
For in this weake unarmed wise,
The gates of hell he will suprise. 30
With teares he fights and winnes the field,
His naked breast stands for a shield;
His battering shot are babish cryes,
His Arrowes lookes of weeping eyes,
His Martiall ensignes cold and neede, 35
And feeble flesh his worriers steede.
11-12 See the apocryphal book of Tobit 5-6.
21 Agnfae: acknowledge,
22 weede: clothing (flesh); lets: hinders.
29 in this . „ . wise: in this manner,
[37]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
His Campe is pitched in a stall,
His bulwarke but a broken wall:
The Crib his trench, hay stalks his stakes,
Of Sheepheards he his Muster makes; 40
And thus as sure his foe to wound,
The Angells trumps alarum sound.
My soule with Christ joyne thou in fight,
Sticke to the tents that he hath pight;
Within his Crib is surest ward, 45
This little Babe will be thy guard:
If thou wilt f oyle thy foes with joy,
Then flit not from this heavenly boy.
The Virgine Maries conception.
Our second Eve puts on her mortall shroude,
Earth breeds a heaven, for Gods new dwelling place,
Now riseth up Elias little cloude
That growing, shall distill the showre of grace:
Her being now begins, who ere she end, 5
Shall bring the good that shall our ill amend.
Both Grace and Nature did their force unite,
To make this babe the summe of all their best,
Our most, her least, our million, but her mite:
She was at easiest rate worth all the rest, 10
What grace to men or Angels God did part,
Was all united in this infants heart.
Four only weights bred without fault are namde
And al the rest conceived were in sinne
Without both man and wife was Adam framde 15
Of man, but not of wife did Eve beginne,
THE VIRGINE MARIES CONCEPTION.
3-4 See i Kings 18141—45.
[38]
ROBERT SOUTHWELL
Wife without touch of man Christs mother was,
Of man and wife this babe was bred in grace.
Her Nativity.
Joy in the rising of our Orient starre,
That shal bring forth the Sunne that lent her light,
Joy in the peace that shall conclude our warre,
And soone rebate the edge of Sathans spight,
Load-starre of all engolf d in worldly waves, 5
The card and compasse that from ship-wracke saves:
The Patriarchs and Prophets were the flowers,
Which Time by course of ages did distill,
And culld into this little cloud the showers,
Whose gratious drops the world with joy shall fil, 10
Whose moisture suppleth every soule with grace,
And bringeth life to Adams dying race.
For God on earth she is the royall throne,
The chosen cloth to make his mortall weede
The quarry to cut out our corner stone, 15
Soile ful of fruit, yet free from mortall seede,
For heavenly flowre shee is the Jesse rod,
The child of man, the parent of a god.
HER NATIVITY.
4 rebate: blunt, dull.
6 card: compass card, marking directions and degrees.
17 See Isaiah 11:1.
[39]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
The Virgins salutation.
Spell Eva backe and Aoe shall you finde,
The first began, the last reverst our harmes,
An Angels witching wordes did Eva blinde,
An Angels Aoe disinchants the charmes,
Death first by womans weakenes entred in, 5
In womans vertue life doth now begin.
O Virgin breast the heavens to thee incline,
In thee their joy, and soveraigne they agnize,
Too meane their glory is to match with thine,
Whose chaste receit God more then heaven did prize, 10
Haile fairest heaven, that heaven and earth dost blisse,
Where vertues starres God sunne of justice is.
With hauty minde to godhead man aspirde,
And was by pride from place of pleasure chac'de,
With loving minde our manhood God desired, 15
And us by love in greater pleasure plac'de,
Man labouring to ascend procurde our fall,
God yeelding to discend cut off our thrall.
The Visitation.
Proclaimed Queene and mother of a God,
The light of earth, the soveraigne of Saints,
With Pilgrim f oote, up tyring hils she trod,
And heavenly stile with handmaids toile acquaints,
Her youth to age, her health to sicke she lends,
Her heart to God, to neighbour hand she bends.
THE VIRGINS SALUTATION.
10 receit: place of reception.
[40]
HOBERT SOTTTHWELIr
A prince she is, and mightier prince doth beare.
Yet pompe of princely traine she would not have,
But doubtles heavenly Quires attendant were,
Her child from harme her selfe from fall to save, 10
Word to the voice, song to the tune she brings,
The voice her word, the tune her dittie sings.
Eternal lights inclosed in her breast,
Shot out such piercing beames of burning love,
That when her voice her cosens eares possest, 15
The force thereof did force her babe to move,
With secret signes the children greet each other,
But open praise each leaveth to his mother.
The Nativitie of Christ.
Beholde the father, is his daughters sonne:
The bird that built the nest, is hatched therein:
The olde of yeares, an houre hath not out runne:
Eternall life, to live doth now beginne.
The word is dumme: the mirth of heaven doth weepe: 5
Might feeble is: and force doth faintly creepe.
O dying soules, beholde your living spring:
O dasled eyes, behold your sonne of grace:
Dull eares, attend what word this word doth bring:
Up heavie hartes: with joye your joye embrace, 10
From death, from darke, from deafenesse, from dispaires:
This life, this light, this word, this }oy repaires.
Gift better then himselfe, God doth not know:
Gift better then his God, no man can see:
This gift doth here the gever geven bestow: igj
Gift to this gift let each receiver bee.
God is my gift, himselfe he freely gave me:
Gods gift am I, and none but God shall have me.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Man altered was by sinne from man to beast:
Beastes foode is haye, haye is all mortall flesh: 2,0
Now God is flesh, and lies in Manger prest:
As haye, the brutest sinner to refresh.
O happie fielde wherein this fodder grew,
Whose tast, doth us from beasts to men renew.
The Presentation.
To be redeemd the worlds Redeemer brought,
Two silly turtle doves for ransome paies,
O ware with empires worthy to be bought,
This easie rate doth sound not drowne thy praise,
For sith no price can to thy worth amount, 5
A dove, yea love, due price thou doest account.
Old Simeon, cheape penny worth and sweete,
Obteind when thee in armes he did imbrace,
His weeping eies thy smiling lookes did meete,
Thy love his heart, thy kisses blest his face, 10
O eies, O hart, meane sights and loves avoyde,
Base not your selves, your best you have enjoyde:
O virgin pure thou dost these doves present
As due to law, not as an equall price,
To buy such ware thou wouldst thy life have spent, 15
The world to reach his worth could not suffice,
If God were to be bought, not worldly pelfe,
But thou wert fittest price next God himselfe.
[4*1
ROBERT SOUTHWELL
The flight into Egypt.
Alas our day is f orst to flie by night
Light without light, and sunne by silent shade,
O nature blush that suffrest such a wight,
That in thy sunne this darke eclipse hath made,
Day to his eies, light to his steps denie, 5
That hates the light which graceth every eie.
Sunne being fled the starres do leese their light,
And shining beames, in bloody streames they drench.
A cruell storme of Herods mortall spight
Their lives and lightes with bloody showers doth quench, 10
The tyrant to be sure of rnurdring one,
For f eare of sparing him doth pardon none.
O blessed babes, first flowers of Christian spring,
Who though untimely crept faire garlandes frame
With open throats and silent mouthes you sing 15
His praise whom age permits you not to name,
Your tunes are teares, your instruments are swords,
Your ditty death, and blood in liew of wordes.
Christs returne out of Egypt.
When death and hell their right in Herod claime,
Christ from exile returnes to native soile:
There, with his life more deepely death to maime
Then death did life by all the infantes spoile.
He shewed the parents that their babes did mone,
That all their lives were lesse then his alone.
[43]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
But hearing Herods sonne to have the crowne,
An impious offspring of a bloudy sire,
To "Nazareth (of heaven beloved) towne,
Flowre to a flowre he fitly doth retire. 10
For flower he is and in a flower he bred,
And from a thorae now to a flowre he fled.
And wel deservd this flower his fruit to view
Where he invested was in mortall weede,
Where first unto a tender bud he grew 15
In virgin branch unstaind with mortall seede.
Young flower, with flowers, in flower well may he be:
Ripe fruit he must with thornes hang on a tree.
The death of our Ladie.
Weepe living thinges, of lif e the mother dyes,
The world doth loose the summ of all her blisse,
The Quene of Earth, the Empresse of the skyes,
By maryes death mankind an orphan is,
Lett nature weepe yea lett all graces mone,
Their glory grace and gif tes dye all in one.
It was no death to her but to her woe
By which her joyes beganne, her greives did end,
Death was to her a frende, to us a foe,
Life of whose lives did on her life depende.
Not pray of death but praise to death she was
Whose uglye shape seemd glorious in her face.
CHHISTS BETUBNE OUT OF EGYPT.
9, 10 The word Nazareth was interpreted as meaning "flower."
14 invested: clothed.
[44]
ROBERT SOUTHWELL
Her face a heaven, two pianettes were her eyes
Whose gracious light did make owe clearest day,
But one such heaven there was and loe it dyes,
Deathes darke Eclipse hath dymmed every ray.
Sunne hide thy light, thy beames untimely shine,
Trew light sith wee have lost we crave not thine.
Marie Magdalens complaint at
Christs death.
Sith my life from life is parted:
Death come take thy portion.
Who survives, when life is murdred,
Lives by meere extortion.
All that live, and not in God: 5
Couch their life in deaths abod.
Seely starres must needes leave shining,
When the sunne is shaddowed.
Borrowed streames refraine their running,
When head springs are hindered. 10
One that lives by others breath,
Dieth also by his death.
O true life, sith thou hast left me,
Mortall life is tedious.
Death it is to live without thee, 15
Death, of all most odious.
Turne againe or take me to thee,
Let me die or live thou in mee.
MARIE MAGflDALENS COMPLAINT.
4 meere: absolute, nothing less than.
7 seely: see fn. above on silly ("New Prince, new pompe").
[45]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Where the truth once was, and is not,
Shaddowes are but vanitie: 20
Shewing want, that helpe they cannot:
Signes, not salves of miserie.
Paynted meate no hunger f eedes,
Dying life each death exceedes.
With my love, my life was nestled 25
In the sonne of happinesse:
From my love, my life is wrested
To a world of heavinesse.
O, let love my life remove,
Sith I live not where I love. 30
O my soule, what did unloose thee
From thy sweete captivitie?
God, not I, did still possesse thee:
His, not mine, thy libertie.
O, too happie thrall thou wart, 35
When thy prison, was his hart.
Spitefull speare, that breakst this prison,
Seate of all felicitie,
Working thus, with double treason,
Loves and lifes deliverie: 40
Though my life thou drav'st away,
Maugre thee my love shall stay.
sS heavinesse: sadness, grief, affliction.
41 drav'st: drovest, drove.
43 maugre: in spite of.
[46]
ROBERT SOUTHWELL
A vale of teares.
A Vale there is enwrapt with dreadfull shades,
Which thicke of mourning pines shrouds from the sunne,
Where hanging clifts yeld short and dumpish glades,
And snowie floud with broken streames doth runne,
Where eie-roume is from rockes to cloudie side, 5
From thence to dales with stonie ruines strow'd,
Then to the crushed waters frothie frie,
Which tumbleth from the tops where snow is thow'd:
Where eares of other sound can have no choice,
But various blustring of the stubburne winde 10
In trees, in caves, in straits with divers noise,
Which now doth hisse, now howle, now roare by kinde:
Where waters wrastle with encountring stones,
That breake their streames, and turne them into foame,
The hollow clouds full fraught with thundring groans, 15
With hideous thumps discharge their pregnant wombe.
And in the horror of this f earfull quier,
Consists the musicke of this dolefull place;
All pleasant birds their tunes from thence retire,
Where none but heavy notes have any grace. 20
Resort there is of none but pilgrim wights,
That passe with trembling foot and panting heart,
With terror cast in cold and shivering frights,
They judge the place to terror framde by art:
A VALE OF TEARES.
&o heavy: sad, dejected.
[47]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Yet natures worke it is of arte untouclit, 25
So strait indeed, so vast unto the eie,
With such disordred order strangely coucht,
And so with pleasing horror low and hie,
That who it viewes must needs remaine agast,
Much at the worke, more at the makers might, 30
And muse how Nature such a plot could cast,
Where nothing seemed wrong, yet nothing right:
A place for mated minds, an onely bower,
Where every thing doth sooth a dumpish mood.
Earth lies forlorne, the cloudie side doth lower, 35
The wind here weepes, here sighes, here cries aloude.
The strugling floud betweene the marble grones,
Then roring beates upon the craggie sides,
A little off a midst the pibble stones,
With bubling streames and purling noise it glides. 40
The pines thicke set, hie growne, and ever greene,
Still cloath the place with sad and mourning vaile.
Here gaping cliffe, there mossie plaine is seene,
Here hope doth spring, and there againe doth quaile.
Huge massie stones that hang by tickle stay, 45
Still threaten fall, and seeme to hang in f eare,
Some withered trees ashamde of their decay,
Beset with greene, are forcde gray coats to weare.
26 strait: confined, narrow.
33 mated: matched; also, confounded, rendered **helpless by
terror, shame, or discouragement" (OED).
45 tickle: unsteady, insecure.
[48]
ROBERT SOTJTHWEXI.
Here christall springs crept out of secret vaine,
Strait finde some envious hole that hides their grace. 50
Here seared tufts lament the want of raine,
There thunder wracke gives terror to the place.
All pangs and heavie passions here may find
A thousand motives suitly to their grief es,
To feed the sorrowes of their troubled minde, 55
And chase away dame pleasures vaine relief es.
To plaining thoughts this vaile a rest may bee,
To which from worldly joyes they may retire.
Where sorrow springs from water, stone and tree,
Where everie thing with mourners doth conspire. 60
Set here my soule maine streames of teares a floate,
Here all thy sinfull f oiles alone recount,
Of solemne tunes make thou the dolefulst note,
That to thy ditties dolor may amount.
When Eccho dotiti repeat thy plainfull cries, 65
Thinke that the verie stones thy stones bewray,
And now accuse thee with their sad replies,
As heaven and earth shall in the latter day,
50 strait: confined; also, straightway, at once.
52 wracke: rack, cloud, storm; perhaps also, destruction.
54 suitly: suitable.
61 maine: powerful, mighty.
62 foiles: defeats, disgraces.
65 plainfull: full of distress, having a mournful sound.
66 bewray: betray.
[49]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Let former faults be fuell of the fire,
For griefe in Limbecke of thy heart to still 70
Thy pensive thoughts, and dumps of thy desire,
And vapoure teares up to thy eies at will.
Let teares to tunes, and paines to plaints be prest,
And let this be the burthen of thy song,
Come deepe remorse, possesse my sinfull brest: 75
Delights adue I harbourd you to long.
70 Limbecke: alembic, apparatus used for distilling; still; dis-
till.
71 dumps: fits of melancholy, mournful songs.
WILLIAM ALABASTER
1568-1640
1.
The night, the starlesse night of passion
from heaven begann on heaven beneath to fall
when Christ did sound the onsett mertiall,
A sacred hymne, uppon his foes to runn
that with the fierie Contemplacion 5
of love and Joy, his soule and sences all
surchardged, might not dread the bitter thrall
of paine and greife, and torments all in one.
Then since my holie vowes have undertooke
to take the portract of Christs death in mee 10
then lett my love with sonnetts fill this booke
with hymnes to give the onsett as did hee
That thoughts enflamed, with such heavenlie muse
The Coldest Ice of feare, may not refuse. ( i J)
What meaneth this, that Christ an hymne did singe,
an hymne triumphantt, for an happie fight
as if his enemies weare putt to flight
when yett hee was not com'd within the ringe?
soe gyaunt-Iike did this victorious Kinge 5
exult to runn the race, he had in sight
that he anticipated with delight
The present paines which should such glories bringe.
SONNET i.
4 See Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26.
7 thrall: thralldom.
10 portract: portrait, image, likeness (spelling indicates deriva-
tion from Latin protractus).
SONNET 2.
4 com'd; archaic use of past participle.
[53]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
o what a previledge of f avoure tis
to suffer for god's cause, when Christ doth give 10
a grace of thankes: for haveinge gotten this;
and wheare for other guifts, wheareby wee live,
when theis bee had, the rent, of thankes we render,
for sufferinges beforehand wee must tender,
My soule a world is by Contraccion,
the heavens therein is my internal! sence
moved by my will as an intelligence,
my hart the Element, my love the sonne;
and as the sonne about the earth doth run 5
and with his beames doth drawe thin vapours thence
which after in the aire, doe Condence
and power downe raine, uppon the earth anon
soe moves my love about the heavenlie spheare
and draweth thence with an attractive fire 10
the purest argument witt can desire
whereby devotion after may arise
and theis conceiptes digest, by thoughts retire
are turned into aprill showers of teares. (15!)
12-14 "for other gifts we render thanks after receiving them,
but for sufferings we must tender (offer) thanks beforehand."
SONNET 15: see NOTE.
1 world: universe (the Ptolemaic system).
2 internal} sence: general perceptive faculty of the mind or
soul.
3 intelligence: angel or spirit supposed to move each sphere
in the Ptolemaic system.
4 Element: sky.
11 argument: subject matter, theme; witt: understanding, intel-
lect, reason.
13 conceiptes: thoughts, conceptions; digest: digested; thoughts
retire: thought's retirement, withdrawal from distractions,
[54]
WILLIAM ALABASTER
16.
Three sortes of teares doe from myne eies distraine:
the first are bitter, of Compunction,
the seacond brynish, of Compassion,
the third are sweete, which from devoutnes raine,
and theis deversities they doe obteine 5
by difference of place, from which they runn;
the first come from the meditacion
of all my sinnes which made a bitter vaine,
the next passe through the sea of others teares
and soe that saltnesse in the tast appeares, 10
the third doth issue from Christs wounded side
and thence such sweetenes in them doth abide.
Never did Contraries soe well agree
for th'one without th'other will not bee. ( i6J)
Jesu thie love within mee is soe maine
and my poore hart soe narrow of Content
that with thie love, my hart well-nie is rent
and yett, I love to beare such loveinge paine.
0 take thie Crosse, and nailes, and therewith straine
my harts desire, unto his full extent
that thie deare love, may not therein bee pent
but thoughts may have free scope, thie love to explaine.
SONNET 16.
1 distraine: strain or press (themselves) forth.
8 vaine: vein.
SONNET 19.
i inaine: powerful.
[55]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
o now my hart more paineth then before
because it can receive and hath noe more. 10
oh fill this emptines or ells I dye,
now stretch my hart againe and now supply,
now I want space, now grace, to end this smart
since my hart holdes not thee, hold thou my hart, (^oj)
24.
O sweete, and bitter monuments of paine
bitter to Christ who all the paine endured
butt sweete to mee, whose Death my life procured
how shall I full express, such loss, such gaine?
My tonge shall bee my penne, mine eyes shall raine, 5
teares for my Inke, the place where I was cured
shall bee my booke, where haveing all abjured
and calling heavens to record in that plaine
thus plainely will I write, noe sinne like mine;
when I have done, doe thou Jesue divine 10
take upp the tarte spunge of thy passione
and blott itt forth: then bee thy spiritt the Quill
thy bloode the Inke, and with compassione
write thus uppon my soule: thy Jesue still. ( iB)
9 then: than.
SONNET 24.
6 place: see NOTE.
[56]
WILLIAM ALABASTER
37-
Haile gracefull morning of eternall Daye
the periode of Judaes throned righte
and latest minute of the Legall nighte
whome wakefull Prophetts spied, f arre awaye
chasinge the night from the worldes Easterne bay. 5
within whose pudent lapp, and rosall plighte
conceived was the Sonne of unborne lighte
whose light gave beeing, to the worldes arraye,
unspotted morninge whome noe mist of Sinne
nor cloude of humane mixtuer did obscuer, 10
strange morninge that since day hath entred inne
before, and after doth a like enduer
and well it seemes a Day that never wasteth
should have a morning that for ever lasteth. (46)
32-
Beehould a cluster to itt selfe a vine
behould a vine extended in one cluster
whose grapes doe swell with grace and heavenly luster
clyming uppon a crosse with lovely twine
sent downe to earth from Canaan divine 5
to styrr us upp unto our warlike muster
to take that garden where this Cluster grew
whose nectar sweete the Angells doth bedewe;
see how the purple bloode doth from it draine
SONNET 37: ms. B has heading: "to the blessed virgine.'*
3 Legall nighte: era of the Law of the Old Testament.
6 pudent: modest; rosall plighte: roseate fold or pleat (womb).
SONNET 32: see NOTE.
is/]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
with thornes, and whippes, and nail.es, and speare diffus'd; 10
drinke, drinke apace, my Soule, that Soveraigne raine
by which heaven is into my spiritt infusd.
O drinke to thirst, and thirst to drinke that treasuer,
where the onely danger is to keepe a measuer. ($B)
33-
Now that the midd Day heate doth scorch my shame
with lightning of f onde lust I will retyer
under this vine whose armes with wandring spyer
doe clyme uppon the cross, and on the same,
devise a coole repose from lawless flame. 5
whose leaves are intertwist with love entyer
that Enveyes eye cannot transfuse her fyer,
but is rebated on the shadye frame
and youthfull vigor from the leaved tyer
doth streame uppon my soule a new desyer. 10
List, list! the dittyes of sublimed fame
which in the Closett of those leaves the Quire
of heavenly birds doe warble to his name.
O where was I, that was not where I am. (SB)
SONKET 33: see NOTE.
2 fonde: foolish, infatuated.
3 spyer: spiral; also with ref. to spire in the old meaning of
stem or shoot of a plant.
9 tyer: tier.
[58]
WILLIAM ALABASTER
34-
Now I have found thee, I will ever more
embrace this standerd where thou sitest above:
feed greedy eyes, and from hence never rove,
sucke hungrye Soule of this eternall store.
Issue my hearte from thy two leaved dore 5
And lett my lipps from kissinge not remove.
O that I were transformed into Love
and as a plante might springe upp in his flowre
like wandring Ivy, or sweete hony suckle
how would I with my twine aboute it bucHel 10
And kiss his f eete with my ambitiouse bowes
and clime alonge uppon his sacred brest
and make a garland for his wounded browes!
Lord, soe I am if here my thoughtes might rest.
44-
O starry Temple of unvalted space
and flooer unbounded, built of just desier
not reared upp by pillares straighning spyer
for whether should it rise withoute a base
or whether should it fall, whose tearme, and space
is God him self e? when shall my soule aspyer
to heare the musick of thy heavenly quire
SONNET 34: see NOTE.
ix bowes: boughs.
SONNET 44.
4, 5 whether; whither.
5 tearme: term, end, boundary.
[59]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
and beare a part of that melodiouse grace
wheras Apostles, Martyres, and confessores
Archangles, Angles, Virgines, and Professores 10
doe make a consorte of combined voices
with due breath'd aire of Love, that heaven doth ringe
and pay againe theyr unconfused noises
with interest ever: list, I heare them singe. (i6B)
45-
Holy, holy, holy Lord unnamed
but of thy self e, unknowen but by thee
three persones in one God, one God in three
by whose diffusive bountyes love inflamed
the Theater of worldly pompe was framed 5
within whose margent thinges distinguishd bee
so many glasses of thy majesty.
by whome though ill (which is not) was unnamed
yet is not from thy prospect disclamed
to thee thy children with deare unity 10
doe pay the rente of honour for thy mercye
of whose poore kindred thou art not ashamed.
O bring us all to this fraternety
holy holy, holy Lord unnamed. ( i/B )
9 wheras: where; confessores: those who have maintained their
faith under persecution, but have not suffered martyrdom.
10 Professores: those who have openly professed their belief
or vows.
11 consorte: harmony, band of musicians.
12 due breathed: properly breathed, with a play on aire, song.
14 See NOTE.
SONNET 45: see NOTE.
6 margent: margin, boundary (of the universe). ;
7 glasses: mirrors (each individual thing reflects the majesty
of God).
[60]
WILLIAM ALABASTER
46.
A way f eare with thy projectes, noe false fyre
which thou doest make, can ought my courage quaile
or cause mee leward come, or strike my sayle;
what if the world doe frowne att my retyre,
what if denyall dash my wish'd desire 5
and purblind pitty doe my state bewaile
and wonder cross it selfe, and free speech raile
and greatnes take it not, and death shew nigher?
Tell him, my Soule, the feares that make mee quake:
the smothering brimstone, and the burninge lake, 10
life feeding Death, Death ever life devowring,
tormentes not moved, unheard, yett still roaring,
God lost, hell fownd: ever, never begune:
now bidd mee into flame from smoake to runne. (i8B)
70.
The sunne begins uppon my heart to shine:
now lett a cloude of thoughts in order traine
As dewy spangles wonte, and entertaine
in many drops his Passione Divine
that on them, as a rainbow may recline 5
SONNET 46.
1 projectes: notions, speculations.
3 leward: see NOTE.
12 not moved: not removed, eternal.
SONNET 70: see NOTE.
a traine: lengthen out, spin out (one after another).
3 wonte: are accustomed (to do); entertaine: receive, admit to
consideration.
[61]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
the white of Innocence, the black of paine,
the blew of stripes, the yellow of disdaine
And purple which his blood doth weell designe
And lett those thousand thoughts powre on mine eyes
a thousand tears, as glasses to beehould him, 10
And thousand tears, thousand sweete words devise
uppon my lipps, as pictures to unfold him.
Soe shall reflect three rainbowes from one sunne:
thoughts, tears, and words, all end in Actione. (4oB)
When without tears I looke on Christ, I see
only a story of some passion
which any common eye may wonder on
butt if I look through tears Christ smiles on mee
yea there I see my selfe: and from that tree 5
he bendeth downe to my devotione
And from his side the blood doth spinn, wheron
my hart, my mouth, mine eyes still sucking bee.
Like as in Optick workes, one thing appears
in open gaze, in Closer other wise: 10
Then since tears see the best I aske in tears
Lord either thaw mine eyes to tears, or freeze
my tears to eyes, or lett my hart tears bleede
or bringe, where eyes, nor tears, nor blood shall neede. (4iB)
8 "And purple which well signifies his blood.'*
14 all end in Actione: the aim of meditation is to produce
"good acts'*; see NOTE.
SONNET 71: see NOTE.
2, passion: suffering; see NOTE.
9 Optick workes: drawings or constructions designed according
to the rules of optics or perspective.
14 shall neede: shall be necessary.
JOHN DONNE
1572-1631
Satire 3.
Kinde pitty chokes my spleene; brave scorn forbids
Those teares to issue which swell my eye-lids;
I must not laugh, nor weepe sinnes, and be wise,
Can railing then cure these worne maladies?
Is not our Mistresse faire Religion, 5
As worthy of all our Soules devotion,
As vertue was to the first blinded age?
Are not heavens joyes as valiant to asswage
Lusts, as earths honour was to them? Alas,
As wee do them in meanes, shall they surpasse 10
Us in the end, and shall thy fathers spirit
Meete blinde Philosophers in heaven, whose merit
Of strict life may be imputed faith, and heare
Thee, whom hee taught so easie wayes and neare
To follow, damn'd? O if thou dar'st, feare this; 15
This feare great courage, and high valour is.
Dar'st thou ayd mutinous Dutch, and dar'st thou lay
Thee in ships woodden Sepulchers, a prey
To leaders rage, to stormes, to shot, to dearth?
Dar'st thou dive seas, and dungeons of the earth? no
Hast thou couragious fire to thaw the ice
Of frozen North discoveries? and thrise
Colder then Salamanders, like divine
Children in th'oven, fires of Spaine, and the line,
Whose countries limbecks to our bodies bee, 25
Canst thou for gaine beare? and must every hee
Which cryes not, Goddesse, to thy Mistresse, draw,
Or eate thy poysonous words? courage of strawl
O desperate coward, wilt thou seeme bold, and
SATTBJS 3.
23-24 divine Children: see Daniel 3; and the Song of the Three
Holy Children, in the Apocrypha.
24 the line: the equator.
25 limbecks: alembics, apparatuses for distilling.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM:
To thy foes and his (who made thee to stand 30
Sentinell in his worlds garrison) thus yeeld,
And for forbidden warres, leave th'appointed field?
Know thy foes: The foule Devill (whom thou
Strivest to please,) for hate, not love, would allow
Thee faine, his whole Realme to be quit; and as 35
The worlds all parts wither away and passe,
So the worlds self e, thy other lov'd foe, is
In her decrepit wayne, and thou loving this,
Dost love a withered and worne strumpet; last,
Flesh (it selfes death) and joyes which flesh can taste, 40
Thou lovest; and thy faire goodly soule, which doth
Give this flesh power to taste joy, thou dost loath.
Seeke true religion. O where? Mirreus
Thinking her unhous'd here, and fled from us,
Seekes her at Rome, there, because hee doth know 45
That shee was there a thousand yeares agoe,
He loves her ragges so, as wee here obey
The statecloth where the Prince sate yesterday.
Crantz to such brave Loves will not be inthralTd,
But loves her onely, who at Geneva is calTd 50
Religion, plaine, simple, sullen, yong,
Contemptuous, yet unhansome; As among
Lecherous humors, there is one that judges
No wenches wholsome, but course country drudges.
Graius stayes still at home here, and because 55
Some Preachers, vile ambitious bauds, and lawes
Still new like fashions, bid him thinke that shee
Which dwels with us, is onely perfect, hee
Imbraceth her, whom his Godfathers will
Tender to him, being tender, as Wards still 60
Take such wives as their Guardians offer, or
35 faine: willingly, gladly; quit: rid of (you).
38 wayne: waning.
48 statecloth: a canopy over a throne.
49 brave: finely dressed, showy,
53 humors: dispositions.
[66]
JOHN DONNE
Pay valewes. Carelesse Phrygius doth abhorre
All, because all cannot be good, as one
Knowing some women whores, dares marry none.
Graccus loves all as one, and thinkes that so 65
As women do in divers countries goe
In divers habits, yet are still one kinde,
So doth, so is Religion; and this blind-
nesse too much light breeds; but unmoved thou
Of force must one, and forc'd but one allow; 70
And the right; aske thy father which is shee,
Let him aske his; though truth and falshood bee
Neare twins, yet truth a little elder is;
Be busie to seeke her, beleeve mee this,
Hee's not of none, nor worst, that seekes the best. 75
To adore, or scorne an image, or protest,
May all be bad; doubt wisely; in strange way
To stand inquiring right, is not to stray;
To sleepe, or runne wrong, is. On a huge hill,
Cragged, and steep, Truth stands, and hee that will 80
Reach her, about must, and about must goe;
And what the hills suddennes resists, winne so;
Yet strive so, that before age, deaths twilight,
Thy Soule rest, for none can worke in that night.
To will, implyes delay, therefore now doe: 85
Hard deeds, the bodies paines; hard knowledge too
The mindes indeavours reach, and mysteries
Are like the Sunne, dazling, yet plaine to all eyes.
Keepe the truth which thou hast found; men do not stand
In so ill case here, that God hath with his hand 90
Sign'd Kings blanck-charters to kill whom they hate,
Nor are they Vicars, but hangmen to Fate.
Foole and wretch, wilt thou let thy Soule be tyed
To mans lawes, by which she shall not be tryed
62 Pay valewes: pay a sum of money for refusing the marriage.
67 habits: clothing.
71 See Deuteronomy 32:7.
82 suddennes: steepness.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
At the last day? Oh, will it then boot thee 95
To say a Philip, or a Gregory,
A Harry, or a Martin taught thee this?
Is not this excuse for mere contraries,
Equally strong? cannot both sides say so?
That thou mayest rightly obey power, her bounds know; 100
Those past, her nature, and name is chang'd; to be
Then humble to her is idolatxie.
As streames are, Power is; those blest flowers that dwell
At the rough streames calme head, thrive and do well,
But having left their roots, and themselves given 105
To the streames tyrannous rage, alas, are driven
Through mills, and rockes, and woods, and at last, almost
Consumed in going, in the sea are lost:
So perish Soules, which more chuse mens unjust
Power from God claym'd, then God himself e to trust. no
Elegy 10-
Image of her whom I love, more then she,
Whose faire impression in my faithful heart,
Makes mee her Medall, and makes her love mee,
As Kings do coynes, to which their stamps impart
The value: goe, and take my heart from hence, 5
Which now is growne too great and good for me:
Honours oppresse weake spirits, and our sense
Strong objects dull; the more, the lesse wee see.
When you are gone, and Reason gone with you,
95 boot thee: do you good, be of profit to you.
96, 97 Philip II of Spain; Pope Gregory XIII or XIV; Henry
Vm of England; Martin Luther.
98 mere: absolute.
ELEGY 10.
i Image; mental conception, idea; see NOTE.
[68]
JOHN DONNE
Then Fantasie is Queene and Soule, and all; 10
She can present joyes meaner then you do;
Convenient, and more proportionall.
So, if I dreame I have you, I have you,
For, all our joyes are but f antasticall.
And so I scape the paine, for paine is true; 15
And sleepe which locks up sense, doth lock out all.
After a such fruition I shall wake,
And, but the waking, nothing shall repent;
And shall to love more thankfull Sonnets make,
Then if more honour, teares, and paines were spent. 20
But dearest heart, and dearer image stay;
Alas, true joyes at best are dreame enough;
Though you stay here you passe too fast away:
For even at first lifes Taper is a snuffe.
Fill'd with her love, may I be rather grown 25
Mad with much heart, then ideott with none.
Lovers infinitenesse.
If yet I have not all thy love,
Deare, I shall never have it all,
I cannot breath one other sigh, to move;
Nor can intreat one other teare to fall.
And all my treasure, which should purchase thee, 5
Sighs, teares, and oathes, and letters I have spent,
Yet no more can be due to mee,
Then at the bargaine made was ment,
If then thy gift of love were partial!,
10 Fantasie: imagination: "the faculty of forming mental rep-
resentations of things not actually present" (OED).
II meaner: more moderate,
is Convenient: suitable.
14 fantasticall: existing only in the imagination.
24 snuffe: a snuffed-out wick; a candle end.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
That some to mee, some should to others fall, 10
Deare, I shall never have Thee AIL
Or if then thou gavest mee all,
All was but AH, which thou hadst then,
But if in thy heart, since, there he or shall,
New love created bee, by other men, 15
Which have their stocks intire, and can in teares,
In sighs, in oathes, and letters outbid mee,
This new love may beget new f eares,
For, this love was not vowed by thee.
And yet it was, thy gift being generall, 20
The ground, thy heart is mine, what ever shall
Grow there, deare, I should have it all.
Yet I would not have all yet,
Hee that hath all can have no more,
And since my love doth every day admit 25
New growth, thou shouldst have new rewards in store;
Thou canst not every day give me thy heart,
If thou canst give it, then thou never gavest it:
Loves riddles are, that though thy heart depart,
It stayes at home, and thou with losing savest it: 30
But wee will have a way more liberall,
Then changing hearts, to joyne them, so wee shall
Be one, and one anothers All.
The Anniversarie.
All Kings, and all their favorites,
All glory of honors, beauties, wits,
The Sun it selfe, which makes times, as they passe,
Is elder by a yeare, now, then it was
When thou and I first one another saw:
All other things, to their destruction draw,
Only our love hath no decay;
[70]
JOHN DONNE
This, no to morrow hath, nor yesterday,
Running it never runs from us away,
But truly keepes his first, last, everlasting day. 10
Two graves must hide thine and my coarse,
If one might, death were no divorce.
Alas, as well as other Princes, wee,
(Who Prince enough in one another bee,)
Must leave at last in death, these eyes, and eares, 15
Oft fed with true oathes, and with sweet salt teares;
But soules where nothing dwells but love
(All other thoughts being inmates) then shall prove
This, or a love increased there above,
When bodies to their graves, soules from their graves 20
remove.
And then wee shall be throughly blest,
But wee no more, then all the rest;
Here upon earth, we'are Kings, and none but wee
Can be such Kings, nor of such subjects bee;
Who is so safe as wee? where none can doe 25
Treason to us, except one of us two.
True and false feares let us refraine,
Let us love nobly, and live, and adde againe
Yeares and yeares unto yeares, till we attaine
To write threescore: this is the second of our raigne. 30
THE ANNIVERSAHTJE.
11 coatsei corpse.
18 inmates: lodgers, subtenants.
2,1 throughly: thoroughly.
37 Tefraine: restrain. .
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Loves growth.
I scarce beleeve my love to be so pure
As I had thought it was,
Because it doth endure
Vicissitude, and season, as the grasse;
Me thinkes I lyed all winter, when I swore, 5
My love was infinite, if spring make'it more.
But if this medicine, love, which cures all sorrow
With more, not onely bee no quintessence,
But mixt of all stuffes, paining soule, or sense,
And of the Sunne his working vigour borrow, 10
Love's not so pure, and abstract, as they use
To say, which have no Mistresse but their Muse,
But as all else, being elemented too,
Love sometimes would contemplate, sometimes do.
And yet no greater, but more eminent, 15
Love by the spring is growne;
As, in the firmament,
Starres by the Sunne are not inlarg'd, but showne.
Gentle love deeds, as blossomes on a bough,
From loves awakened root do bud out now. 20
If, as in water stir'd more circles bee
Produc'd by one, love such additions take,
Those like so many spheares, but one heaven make,
For, they are all concentrique unto thee;
And though each spring doe adde to love new heate, 25
LOVES GROWTH.
i pure: in a scientific sense, unmixed: a "pure essence."
8 quintessence: an essence extracted from all things, with cura-
tive power.
[72]
JOHN DONNE
As princes doe in times of action get
New taxes, and remit them not in peace,
No winter shall abate the springs encrease.
The Extasie.
Where, like a pillow on a bed,
A Pregnant banke swel'd up, to rest
The violets reclining head,
Sat we two, one anothers best.
Our hands were firmely cimented 5
With a fast balme, which thence did spring,
Our eye-beames twisted, and did thred
Our eyes, upon one double string;
So to'entergraft our hands, as yet
Was all the meanes to make us one, 10
And pictures in our eyes to get
Was all our propagation.
As 'twixt two equal Annies, Fate
Suspends uncertaine victorie,
Our soules, (which to advance their state, 15
Were gone out, ) hung 'twixt her, and mee.
And whiTst our soules negotiate there,
Wee like sepulchrall statues lay;
All day, the same our postures were,
And wee said nothing, all the day. 20
If any, so by love refin'd,
That he soules language understood,
And by good love were growen all minde,
Within convenient distance stood,
He (though he knew not which soule spake, 25
Because both meant, both spake the same)
Might thence a new concoction take,
THE EXTASIE: a mystical state; see NOTE.
27 concoction: a process of purification or maturing by heat.
[73]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
And part f arre purer then he came.
This Extasie doth unperplex
(We said) and tell us what we love, 30
Wee see by this, it was not sexe,
Wee see, we saw not what did move:
But as all several! soules containe
Mixture of things, they know not what,
Love, these mixt soules doth mixe againe, 35
And makes both one, each this and that.
A single violet transplant,
The strength, the colour, and the size,
(All which before was poore, and scant,)
Redoubles still, and multiplies. 40
When love, with one another so
Interinanimates two soules,
That abler soule, which thence doth flow,
Defects of lonelinesse controules.
Wee then, who are this new soule, know, 45
Of what we are composed, and made,
For, th'Atomies of which we grow,
Are soules, whom no change can invade.
But O alas, so long, so farre
Our bodies why doe wee forbeare? 50
They'are ours, though they'are not wee, Wee are
The intelligences, they the spheare.
We owe them thankes, because they thus,
Did us, to us, at first convay,
Yeelded their forces, sense, to us, 55
Nor are drosse to us, but allay.
33 severaU: separate, individual.
47 Atomies: atoms.
52 intelligences: angels or spirits supposed to move the spheres
in the Ptolemaic system; spheare: "one or other of the concentric,
transparent, hollow globes imagined by the older astronomers as
revolving round the earth and respectively carrying with them the
several heavenly bodies" (OED). Here used collectively for the
"heavens."
56 allay: alloy.
[74]
JOHN DONNE
On man heavens influence workes not so,
But that it first imprints the ayre,
Soe soule into the soule may flow,
Though it to body first repaire. 60
As our blood labours to beget
Spirits, as like soules as it can,
Because such fingers need to knit
That subtile knot, which makes us man:
So must pure lovers soules descend 65
Taffections, and to faculties,
Which sense may reach and apprehend,
Else a great Prince in prison lies.
To'our bodies turne wee then, that so
Weake men on love reveal'd may looke; 70
Loves mysteries in soules doe grow,
But yet the body is his booke.
And if some lover, such as wee,
Have heard this dialogue of one,
Let him still marke us, he shall see 75
Small change, when we'are to bodies gone.
The Funerall.
Who ever comes to shroud me, do not harme
Nor question much
That subtile wreath of haire, which crowns my arme;
The mystery, the signe you must not touch,
For 'tis my outward Soule, 5
Viceroy to that, which then to heaven being gone,
Will leave this to controule,
And keepe these limbes, her Provinces, from dissolution.
62 Spirits: vapors arising from the blood, thought to link soul
and body.
THE FXJNERAIX.
3 subtile: of fine texture; also, cleverly devised.
[75]
THE MEBITATTVE POEM
For if the sinewie thread my braine lets fall
Through every part, 10
Can tye those parts, and make mee one of all;
These haires which upward grew, and strength and art
Have from a better braine,
Clan better do'it; Except she meant that I
By this should know my pain, 15
As prisoners then are manacled, when they'are condemned to
die.
What ere shee meant by'it, bury it with me,
For since I am
Loves martyr, it might breed idolatrie,
If into others hands these Reliques came; 2,0
As 'twas humility
To afford to it all that a Soule can doe,
So,'tis some bravery,
That since you would save none of mee, I bury some of you.
The Primrose.
Upon this Primrose hill,
Where, if Heav'n would distill
A shoure of raine, each severall drop might goe
To his owne primrose, and grow Manna so;
And where their forme, and their infinitie 5
Make a terrestriall Galaxie,
As the small starres doe in the side:
I walke to finde a true Love; and I see
That 'tis not a mere woman, that is shee,
But must, or more, or lesse then woman bee. 10
as bravery: a proud or defiant action: bravado.
THE PRIMROSE: see NOTE.
8 a true Love: "a name for the Herb Paris (Paris quadrifolia),
tibe whorl of four leaves with the single flower or berry in the
midst suggesting the figure of a true-love knot" (OED).
9 a mere woman: a perfect or "absolute'* woman.
[76]
JOHN DONNE
Yet know I not, which flower
I wish; a sixe, or foure;
For should my true-Love lesse then woman bee,
She were scarce any thing; and then, should she
Be more then woman, shee would get above 15
All thought of sexe, and thinke to move
My heart to study her, and not to love;
Both these were monsters; Since there must reside
Falshood in woman, I could more abide,
She were by art, then Nature falsify'd. zo
Live Primrose then, and thrive
With thy true number five;
And women, whom this flower doth represent,
With this mysterious number be content;
Ten is the farthest number; if halfe ten 25
Belonge unto each woman, then
Each woman may take halfe us men;
Or if this will not serve their turne, Since all
Numbers are odde, or even, and they fall
First into this, five, women may take us all 30
To Mr Rowland Woodward.
Like one who'in her third widdowhood doth prof esse
Her self e a Nunne, tyed to retirednesse,
So'aff ects my muse now, a chast f allownesse;
Since shee to few, yet to too manyliath showne
How love-song weeds, and Satyrique thornes are growne 5
Where seeds of better Arts, were early sown.
The five-petalled rose is a traditional symbol of the Vir-
gin Mary, the perfect woman*
[77]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Though to use, and love Poetrie, to mee,
Betroth'd to no'one Art, be no'adulterie;
Omissions of good, ill, as ill deeds bee.
For though to us it seeme/and be light and thinne, 10
Yet in those faithfull scales, where God throwes in
Mens workes, vanity weighs as much as sinne.
If our Soules have stain'd their first white, yet wee
May cloth them with faith, and deare honestie,
Which God imputes, as native puritie. 15
There is no Vertue, but Religion:
Wise, valiant, sober, fust, are names, which none
Want, which want not Vice-covering discretion.
Seeke wee then our selves in our selves; for as
Men force the Sunne with much more force to passe, 20
By gathering his beames with a christall glasse;
So wee, If wee into our selves will turne,
Blowing our sparkes of vertue, may outburne
The straw, which doth about our hearts sojourne.
You know, Physitians, when they would infuse 25
Into any'oyle, the Soules of Simples, use
Places, where they may lie still warme, to chuse.
So workes retirednesse in us; To rome
Giddily, and be every where, but at home,
Such freedome doth a banishment become. 30
TO MH ROWLAND WOODWABD.
18 want: lack.
23 outburne: burn longer than, burn more brightly than; per-
haps also, burn away.
&6 Soules of Simples: essences of medicinal plants.
[78]
JOHN DONNE
Wee are but fanners of our selves, yet may,
If we can stocke our selves, and thrive, uplay
Much, much deare treasure for the great rent day.
Manure thy self e then, to thy self e be'approv'd,
And with vaine outward things be no more mov'd, 35
But to know, that I love thee'and would be lov*d.
La Corona.
i. Deigne at my hands this crown of prayer and praise,
Weav'd in my low devout melancholic,
Thou which of good, hast, yea art treasury,
All changing unchanged Antient of dayes;
But doe not, with a vile crowne of fraile bayes, 5
Reward my muses white sincerity,
feut what thy thorny crowne gain'd, that give mee,
A crowne of Glory, which doth flower alwayes;
The ends crowne our workes, but thou crown'st our ends,
For, at our end begins our endlesse rest; 10
The first last end, now zealously possest,
With a strong sober thirst, my soule attends.
'Tis time that heart and voice be lifted high,
Salvation to all that wfll is nigh.
31 farmers: those who cultivate land not owned by themselves.
34 manure: cultivate.
XA CORONA: see NOTE.
1.1 Deigne: think worthy of acceptance.
5 bayes: laurels, the crown of poetic achievement.
6 sincerity: with ref. to Latin sincerus: clean, pure.
12 attends: awaits.
[79]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Annunciation.
a. Salvation to all that will is nigh;
That AH, which alwayes is All every where,
Which cannot sinne, and yet all sinnes must beare,
Which cannot die, yet cannot chuse but die,
Loe, faithfuU Virgin, yeelds himselfe to lye 5
In prison, in thy wombe; and though he there
Can take no sinne, nor thou give, yet he'will weare
Taken from thence, flesh, which deaths force may trie.
Ere by the spheares time was created, thou
Wast in his minde, who is thy Sonne, and Brother; 10
Whom thou conceiv'st, conceived; yea thou art now
Thy Makers maker, and thy Fathers mother;
Thou*hast light in darke; and shutst in little roome,
Immensity cloysterd in thy deare wombe.
Nativitie.
3. Immensitie cloysterd in thy deare wombe,
Now leaves his welbelovM imprisonment,
There he hath made himselfe to his intent
Weake enough, now into our world to come;
But Oh, for thee, for him, hath th'Inne no roome? 5
Yet lay him in this stall, and from the Orient,
Starres, and wisemen will travell to prevent
Th'eflFect of Herocts jealous generall doome.
Seest thou, my Soule, with thy faiths eyes, how he
Which fils all place, yet none holds him, doth lye? 10
Was not his pity towards thee wondrous high,
That would have need to be pittied by thee?
Kisse him, and with him into Egypt goe,
With his kinde mother, who partakes thy woe.
3.7 prevent: anticipate, come before.
[so]
JOHN DONNE
Temple.
4. With his kinde mother who partakes thy woe,
Joseph turne backe; see where your child doth sit,
Blowing, yea blowing out those sparks of wit,
Which himself e on the Doctors did bestow;
The Word but lately could not speake, and loe, 5
It sodenly speakes wonders, whence comes it,
That all which was, and all which should be writ,
A shallow seeming child, should deeply know?
His Godhead was not soule to his manhood,
Nor had time mellowed him to ting ripenesse, 10
But as for one which hath a long taske, 'tis good,
With the Sunne to beginne his businesse,
He in his ages morning thus began
By miracles exceeding power of man.
Crucifying.
5. By miracles exceeding power of man,
Hee faith in some, envie in some begat,
For, what weake spirits admire, ambitious, hate;
In both affections many to him ran,
But Oh! the worst are most, they will and can, 5
Alas, and do, unto the immaculate,
Whose creature Fate is, now prescribe a Fate,
Measuring self e-lifes infinity to'a span,
Nay to an inch. Loe, where condemned hee
Beares his owne crosse, with paine, yet by and by 10
When it beares him, he must beare more and die.
Now thou art lifted up, draw mee to thee,
And at thy death giving such liberall dole,
Moyst, with one drop of thy blood, my dry soule.
5.4 affections: emotions.
8 span: the extent of a hand: nine inches.
[81]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Resurrection.
6. Moyst tenth one drop of thy blood, my dry soule
Shall (though she now be in extreme degree
Too stony hard, and yet too fleshly,) bee
Freed by that drop, from being starved, hard, or foule,
And life, by this death abled, shall controule 5
Death, whom thy death slue; nor shall to mee
Feare of first or last death, bring miserie,
If in thy little booke my name thou enroule,
Flesh in that long sleep is not putrified,
But made that there, of which, and for which 'twas; 10
Nor can by other meanes be glorified.
May then sinnes sleep, and deaths soone from me passe,
That wak't from both, I againe risen may
Salute the last, and everlasting day.
Ascention.
7. Salute the last and everlasting day,
Joy at the uprising of this Sunne, and Sonne,
Yee whose just teares, or tribulation
Have purely washt, or burnt your drossie clay;
Behold the Highest, parting hence away, 5
Lightens the darke clouds, which hee treads upon,
Nor doth hee by ascending, show alone,
But first hee, and hee first enters the way.
O strong Ramme, which hast batter'd heaven for mee,
Mild Lambe, which with thy blood, hast mark'd the path; 10
Bright Torch, which shin'st, that I the way may see,
Oh, with thy owne blood quench thy owne just wrath,
And if thy holy Spirit, my Muse did raise,
Deigne at my hands this crowne of prayer and praise.
6.4 starv'd: probably in the sense of withered.
5 abled: given strength or power.
JOHN DONNE
Holy Sonnets.
i.
Thou hast made me, And shall thy worke decay?
Repaire me now, for now mine end doth haste,
I runne to death, and death meets me as fast,
And all my pleasures are like yesterday;
I dare not move my dimme eyes any way, 5
Despaire behind, and death before doth cast
Such terrour, and my feeble flesh doth waste
By stone in it, which it t'wards hell doth weigh;
Onely thou art above, and when towards thee
By thy leave I can looke, I rise againe; 10
But our old subtle foe so tempteth me,
That not one houre my self e I can sustaine;
Thy Grace may wing me to prevent his art,
And thou like Adamant draw mine iron heart.
2.
As due by many titles I resigne
My selfe to thee, O God, first I was made
By thee, and for thee, and when I was decay'd
Thy blood bought that, the which before was thine;
I am thy sonne, made with thy selfe to shine, 5
Thy servant, whose paines thou hast still repaid,
HOLY SONNETS: see NOTE.
1.13 prevent: anticipate, forestall, balk.
14 Adamant: a stone of extreme hardness; also, of magnetic
power.
2.1 titles: in legal usage, the proofs of ownership; resigne: give
up, hand over.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Thy sheepe, thine Image, and, till I betray'd
My self e, a temple of thy Spirit divine;
Why doth the devill then usurpe on mee?
Why doth he steale, nay ravish that's thy right? 10
Except thou rise and for thine owne worke fight,
Oh I shall soone despaire, when I doe see
That thou lov'st mankind well, yet wilt'not chuse me,
And Satan hates mee, yet is loth to lose mee.
O might those sighes and teares retume againe
Into my breast and eyes, which I have spent,
That I might in this holy discontent
Mourne with some fruit, as I have mourn'd in vaine;
In mine Idolatry what showres of raine 5
Mine eyes did waste? what griefs my heart did rent?
That sufferance was my sinne; now I repent;
'Cause I did suffer I must suffer paine.
Th'hydroptique drunkard, and night-scouting thiefe,
The itchy Lecher, and selfe tickling proud 10
Have the remembrance of past joyes, for relief e
Of comming ills. To (poore) me is allow'd
No ease; for, long, yet vehement griefe hath beene
Th'effect and cause, the punishment and sinne.
10 that's: that which is.
3.6 rent: rend, tear.
7 sufferance: suffering pain; also, permission, consent (to en-
gage in such follies).
8 suffer: suffer grief (in love); also, allow, permit.
9 night-scouting: lurking in the night.
10 selfe tickling proud: the proud man who finds pleasure in
admiring himself.
JOHN IX>NNE
4-
Oh my blacke Senile! now thou art summoned
By sicknesse, deaths herald, and champion;
Thou art like a pilgrim, which abroad hath done
Treason, and durst not turne to whence hee is fled,
Or like a thiefe, which till deaths doome be read, 5
Wisheth himself e delivered from prison;
But damn'd and hal'd to execution,
Wisheth that still he might be imprisoned.
Yet grace, if thou repent, thou canst not lacke;
But who shall give thee that grace to beginne? 10
Oh make thy self e with holy mourning blacke,
And red with blushing, as thou art with sinne;
Or wash thee in Christs blood, which hath this might
That being red, it dyes red soules to white.
I am a little world made cunningly
Of Elements, and an Angelike spright,
But black sinne hath betraid to endlesse night
My worlds both parts, and (oh) both parts must die.
You which beyond that heaven which was most high 5
Have found new sphears, and of new lands can write,
Powre new seas in mine eyes, that so I might
4-1-2 The image is that of being summoned in the legal sense
to undergo a trial by combat, in which sickness is the champion
or official representative of death,
7 damn'd: condemned.
5.1 cunningly: skillfully.
a spright: spirit.
5-6 With ref. to the astronomical controversies of Donne's
time, when the theory of the Ptolemaic universe, with its con-
centric spheres, was being questioned, altered, and rejected.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Drowne my world with my weeping earnestly,
Or wash it, if it must be drown'd no more:
But oh it must be burnt! alas the fire 10
Of lust and envie have burnt it heretofore,
And made it fouler; Let their flames retire,
And burne me 6 Lord, with a fiery zeale
Of thee and thy house, which doth in eating heale.
6.
This is my playes last scene, here heavens appoint
My pilgrimages last mile; and my race
Idly, yet quickly runne, hath this last pace,
My spans last inch, my minutes latest point,
And gluttonous death, will instantly unjoynt 5
My body, and soule, and I shall sleepe a space,
But rny'ever-waking part shall see that face,
Whose feare already shakes my every joynt:
Then, as my soule, tolieaven her first seate, takes flight
And earth-borne body, in the earth shall dwell, 10
So, fall my sinnes, that all may have their right,
To where they'are bred, and would presse me, to hell.
Impute me righteous, thus purg'd of evill,
For thus I leave the world, the flesh, the devill.
At the round earths imagin'd corners, blow
Your trumpets, Angells, and arise, arise
From death, you numberlesse infinities
Of soules, and to your scattred bodies goe,
All whom the flood did, and fire shall o'erthrow,
All whom warre, dearth, age, agues, tyrannies,
13—14 See Psalm 69:9.
6.9 seate; place of residence.
7.1— 2 See Revelation 7:1.
[86]
JOHN DONNE
Despaire, law, chance, hath slaine, and you whose eyes,
Shall behold God, and never tast deaths woe.
But let them sleepe, Lord, and mee mourne a space,
For, if above all these, my sinnes abound, 10
'Tis late to aske abundance of thy grace,
When wee are there; here on this lowly ground,
Teach mee how to repent; for that's as good
As if thou'hadst seaFd my pardon, with thy blood.
8.
If faithfull soules be alike glorifi'd
As Angels, then my fathers soule doth see,
And adds this even to full f elicitie,
That valiantly I hels wide mouth o'rstride:
But if our mindes to these soules be descry'd 5
By circumstances, and by signes that be
Apparent in us, not immediately,
How shall my mindes white truth by them be try'd?
They see idolatrous lovers weepe and mourne,
And vile blasphemous Conjurers to call 10
On Jesus name, and Pharisaicall
Dissemblers feigne devotion. Then turne
O pensive soule, to God, for he knowes best
Thy true griefe, for he put it in my breast.
If poysonous mineralls, and if that tree,
Whose fruit threw death on else immortall us,
If lecherous goats, if serpents envious
8.1-2 "If faithfull souls in heaven are, like Angels, endowed with
the power of intuitive knowledge'* (as opposed to human modes
of perception on earth).
8 try'd: proven, tested.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Cannot be damn'd; Alas; why should I bee?
Why should intent or reason, borne in mee, 5
Make sinnes, else equall, in mee more heinous?
And mercy being easie, and glorious
To God; in his sterne wrath, why threatens hee?
But who am I, that dare dispute with thee
0 God? Ohl of thine onely worthy blood, 10
And my teares, make a heavenly Lethean flood,
And drowne in it my sinnes blacke memorie;
That thou remember them, some claime as debt,
1 thinke it mercy, if thou wilt forget.
10.
Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not soe,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill mee.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee, 5
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow.
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell, 10
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.
11.
Spit in my face you Jewes, and pierce my side,
Buffet, and scoffe, scourge, and crucifle mee,
For I have sinn'd, and sinn'd, and onely hee,
10.8 deliverie: release, liberation.
[88]
JOHN DONNE
Who could do no iniquitie, hath dyed:
But by my death can not be satisfied 5
My sinnes, which passe the Jewes impiety:
They kill'd once an inglorious man, but I
Crucifie him daily, being now glorified.
Oh let mee then, his strange love still admire:
Kings pardon, but he bore our punishment. 10
And Jacob came cloth'd in vile harsh attire
But to supplant, and with gainfull intent:
God cloth'd himselfe in vile mans flesh, that so
Hee might be weake enough to suffer woe.
Why are wee by all creatures waited on?
Why doe the prodigall elements supply
Life and food to mee, being more pure then I,
Simple, and further from corruption?
Why brook'st thou, ignorant horse, subjection? 5
Why dost thou bull, and bore so seeMy
Dissemble weaknesse, and by'one mans stroke die,
Whose whole kinde, you might swallow and feed upon?
Weaker I am, woe is mee, and worse then you,
You have not sinn'd, nor need be timorous. 10
But wonder at a greater wonder, for to us
Created nature doth these things subdue,
But their Creator, whom sin, nor nature tyed,
For us, his Creatures, and his foes, hath dyed.
11.5 satisfied: atoned for.
11-12 See Genesis 27.
12.4 Simple: of a single substance, not mixed.
6 seelily: sillily, foolishly.
[89]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
What if this present were the worlds last night?
Marke in my heart, O Soule, where thou dost dwell,
The picture of Christ crucified, and tell
Whether that countenance can thee affright,
Teares in his eyes quench the amasing light, 5
Blood fills his frownes, which from his pierc'd head fell.
And can that tongue adjudge thee unto hell,
Which pray'd f orgivenesse for his foes fierce spight?
No, no; but as in my idolatrie
I said to all my profane mistresses, 10
Beauty, of pitty, foulnesse onely is
A signe of rigour: so I say to thee,
To wicked spirits are horrid shapes assign'd,
This beauteous forme assures a pitious minde.
14.
Batter my heart, three person'd God; for, you
As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow mee/and bend
Your force, to breake, blowe, bum and make me new.
I, like an usurpt towne, to'another due, 5
Labour to'admit you, but Oh, to no end,
Reason your viceroy in mee, mee should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weake or untrue.
Yet dearely'I love you/and would be loved f aine*
But am betroth'd unto your enemie: 10
Divorce mee/untie, or breake that knot againe,
13.5 amasing: terrifying, stupefying.
14.1-4 Note the precise allusions to the three persons of the
Trinity: God the Father knocks, but should break; the Holy Spirit
breathes, but should blow; and the Son (sun) shines, but should
burn.
[90]
JOHN DONNE
Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I
Except you'enthrall mee, never shall be free,
Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee.
Wilt thou love God, as he thee! then digest,
My Soule, this wholsome meditation,
How God the Spirit, by Angels waited on
In heaven, doth make his Temple in thy brest.
The Father having begot a Sonne most blest, 5
And still begetting, (for he ne'r begonne)
Hath deign'd to chuse thee by adoption,
Coheire to'his glory, 'and Sabbaths endlesse rest.
And as a robb'd man, which by search doth finde
His stolne stuflFe sold, must lose or buy 'it againe: 10
The Sonne of glory came downe, and was slaine,
Us whom he'had made, and Satan stolne, to unbinde.
'Twas much, that man was made like God before,
But, that God should be made like man, much more.
1 6.
Father, part of his double interest
Unto thy kingdome, thy Sonne gives to mee,
His joynture in the knottie Trinitie
Hee keepes, and gives to me his deaths conquest.
This Lambe, whose death, with life the world hath blest, 5
Was from the worlds beginning slaine, and he
Hath made two Wills, which with the Legacie
Of his and thy kingdome, doe thy Sonnes invest.
16.1 interest: legal claim to or participation in ownership.
3 joynture: right to an estate held in joint tenancy.
7 two Wills: the Old and the New Testaments.
8 invest: place in possession of.
[91]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Yet such are thy laws, that men argue yet
Whether a man those statutes can fulfill; 10
None doth; hut all-healing grace and spirit
Revive againe what law and letter kill.
Thy lawes abridgement, and thy last command
Is all but love; Oh let this last Will stand!
A Valediction: forbidding mourning.
As virtuous men passe mildly away,
And whisper to their soules, to goe,
Whilst some of their sad friends doe say,
The breath goes now, and some say, no:
So let us melt, and make no noise, 5
No teare-floods, nor sigh-tempests move,
T*were prophanation of our joyes
To tell the layetie our love.
Moving of th'earth brings harmes and feares,
Men reckon what it did and meant, 10
But trepidation of the spheares,
Though greater farre, is innocent.
14 all but love: but in the sense of only: "nothing but love";
see John 13:34.
A VALEDICTION: FORBIDDING MOURNING.
11 trepidation: a technical term from Ptolemaic astronomy,
describing the movement attributed to the ninth sphere in order
to explain the "precession of the equinoxes." Here contrasted with
the earthquakes of line 9.
12 innocent: harmless.
[92]
JOHN DONNE
Dull sublunary lovers love
(Whose soule is sense) cannot admit
Absence, because it doth remove 15
Those things which elemented it.
But we by a love, so much refin'd,
That our selves know not what it is,
Inter-assured of the mind,
Care lesse, eyes, lips, and hands to misse. 2,0
Our two soules therefore, which are one,
Though I must goe, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
Like gold to ayery thinnesse beate.
If they be two, they are two so 25
As stiffe twin compasses are two,
Thy soule the dBxt foot, makes no show
To move, but doth, if the'other doe.
And though it in the center sit,
Yet when the other far doth rome, 30
It leanes, and hearkens after it,
And growes erect, as that comes home.
Such wilt thou be to mee, who must
Like th'other foot, obliquely runne;
Thy firmnes makes my circle just, 35
And makes me end, where I begunne.
14 admit: permit, allow.
[93]
The FirH Anniuerfarie.
ANATOMIE
of the World.
BY OCCASION OF
the untimely death ofMiJlris
ELIZABETH DRVRY,
the frailtie and the decay of
this whole World is
rcprcfcntcd.
L O N D O X,
, and are
to be fold at his fnop in Pauls Church-yard at the
figne of the Bull-head* 1 6\ x.
FIGUBE i. Title page of the second edition of Donne's An
Anatomie of the World, 1612.
The First Anniversary.
An Anatomie of the World.
When that rich Soule which to her heaven is gone,
Whom all they celebrate, who know they have one,
(For who is sure he hath a Soule, unlesse
It see, and judge, and follow worthinesse,
And by Deedes praise it? hee who doth not this, 5
May lodge an In-mate soule, but 'tis not his. )
When that Queene ended here her progresse time,
And, as t'her standing house to heaven did climbe,
Where loath to make the Saints attend her long,
She's now a part both of the Quire, and Song, 10
This World, in that great earthquake languished;
For in a common bath of teares it bled,
Which drew the strongest vitall spirits out:
But succour'd then with a perplexed doubt,
Whether the world did lose, or gaine in this, 15
(Because since now no other way there is,
But goodnesse, to see her, whom all would see,
All must endeavour to be good as shee,)
This great consumption to a fever turn'd,
And so tihe world had fits; it joy'd, it mourn'd; 20
And, as men thinke, that Agues physick are,
And th'Ague being spent, give over care,
So thou sicke World, mistak'st thy self e to bee
Well, when alas, thou'rt in a Lethargie.
Her death did wound and tame thee than, and than 25
Thou might'st have better spar'd the Sunne, or Man.
THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY: Anatomie: a dissection; see NOTE.
if. Marginal gloss: The entrie into the worke.
7 progresse: the formal journey of a monarch.
8 standing house: permanent dwelling place.
13 vitall: life-giving.
21 physick: curative treatment.
[95]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
That wound was deep, but 'tis more misery,
That thou hast lost thy sense and memory.
'Twas heavy then to heare thy voyce of mone,
But this is worse, that thou art speechlesse growne. 30
Thou hast forgot thy name, thou hadst; thou wast
Nothing but shee, and her thou hast o'rpast.
For as a child kept from the Font, untill
A prince, expected long, come to fulfill
The ceremonies, thou unnam'd had'st laid, 35
Had not her cormning, thee her Palace made:
Her name defined thee, gave thee forme, and frame,
And thou forgett'st to celebrate thy name.
Some moneths she hath beene dead (but being dead,
Measures of times are all determined) 40
But long she'ath beene away, long, long, yet none
Offers to tell us who it is that's gone.
But as in states doubtfull of future heires,
When sicknesse without remedie empaires
The present Prince, they're loth it should be said, 45
The Prince doth languish, or the Prince is dead:
So mankinde feeling now a generall thaw,
A strong example gone, equall to law,
The Cyment which did faithfully compact,
And glue all vertues, now resolv'd, and slack'd, 50
Thought it some blasphemy to say shVas dead,
Or that our weaknesse was discovered
In that confession; therefore spoke no more
Then tongues, the Soule being gone, the losse deplore.
But though it be too late to succour thee, 55
Sicke World, yea, dead, yea putrified, since shee
29 heavy: sad, melancholy.
32 o'rpast: passed over, neglected.
37 frame: construction, order.
40 determined: ended.
50 resolv'd: loosened, dissolved.
52 discovered: revealed.
[96]
JOHN DONNE
Thy'intrinsique balme, and thy preservative,
Can never be renew'd, thou never live,
I (since no man can make thee live) will try,
What wee may gaine by thy Anatomy. 60
Her death hath taught us dearely, that thou art
Corrupt and mortall in thy purest part.
Let no man say, the world it selfe being dead,
*Tis labour lost to have discovered
The worlds infirmities, since there is none 65
Alive to study this dissection;
For there's a kinde of World remaining still,
Though shee which did inanimate and fill
The world, be gone, yet in this last long night,
Her Ghost doth walke; that is, a glimmering light, 70
A faint weake love of vertue, and of good,
Reflects from her, on them which understood
Her worth; and though she have shut in aU day,
The twilight of her memory doth stay;
Which, from the carcasse of the old world, free, 75
Creates a new world, and new creatures bee
Produc'd: the matter and the stuff e of this,
Her vertue, and the forme our practice is:
And though to be thus elemented, arme
These creatures, from home-borne intrinsique harme, 80
(For all assum'd unto this dignitie,
So many weedlesse Paradises bee,
Which of themselves produce no venemous sinne,
Except some forraine Serpent bring it in)
Yet, because outward stormes the strongest breake, 85
And strength it selfe by confidence growes weake,
This new world may be safer, being told
The dangers and diseases of the old:
57 intrinsique balme: inward or inherent preservative essence
(alchemical conception).
67 f. Marginal gloss: What life the world hath stil.
81 assum'd: raised up, received.
88 f. Marginal gloss: The sicknesses of the World.
[97]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
For with due temper men doe then f orgoe,
Or covet things, when they their true worth know. 90
There is no health; Physitians say that wee,
At best, enjoy but a neutralitie.
And can there bee worse sicknesse, then to know
That we are never well, nor can be so?
Wee are borne ruinous: poore mothers cry, 95
That children come not right, nor orderly;
Except they headlong come and fall upon
An ominous precipitation.
How witty's ruinel how importunate
Upon mankinde! it laboured to frustrate 100
Even Gods purpose; and made woman, sent
For mans reliefe, cause of his languishment.
They were to good ends, and they are so still,
But accessory, and principall in ill;
For that first marriage was our funerall: 105
One "woman at one blow, then kilTd us all,
And singly, one by one, they kill us now.
We doe delightfully our selves allow
To that consumption; and profusely blinde,
Wee kill our selves to propagate our kinde. no
And yet we do not that; we are not men:
There is not now that mankinde, which was then,
When as the Sunne and man did seeme to strive,
( Joynt tenants of the world) who should survive;
When, Stagge, and Raven, and the long-lr/d tree, 115
Compared with man, dy'd in minoritie;
When, if a slow pac*d starre had stolne away
From the observers marking, he might stay
Two or three hundred yeares to see't againe,
And then make up his observation plaine;
89 temper: disposition, mental composure.
91 f. Marginal gloss: Impossibility of health.
99 witty: ingenious, clever.
ii4f. Marginal gloss: Shortnesse of life.
116 minoritie: childhood.
[98]
JOHN DONNE
When, as the age was long, the sise was great;
Mans growth conf ess'd, and recompenc'd the meat;
So spacious and large, that every Soule
Did a faire Kingdome, and large Realme controule:
And when the very stature, thus erect, 125
Did that soule a good way towards heaven direct.
Where is this mankinde now? who lives to age,
Fit to be made Methusalem his page?
Alas, we scarce live long enough to try
Whether a new made clocke run right, or lie. 130
Old Grandsires talke of yesterday with sorrow,
And for our children wee reserve to morrow.
So short is life, that every peasant strives,
In a torne house, or field, to have three lives.
And as in lasting, so in length is man 135
Contracted to an inch, who was a spanne;
For had a man at first in forrests stray'd,
Or shipwrack'd in the Sea, one would have laid
A wager, that an Elephant, or Whale,
That met him, would not hastily assaile 140
A thing so equall to him: now alas,
The Fairies, and the Pigmies well may passe
As credible; mankinde decayes so soone,
We'are scarce our Fathers shadowes cast at noone:
Onely death addes four length: nor are wee growne 145
In stature to be men, till we are none.
But this were light, did our lesse volume hold
All the old Text; or had wee chang'd to gold
Their silver; or disposed into lesse glasse
Spirits of vertue, which then scattered was. 150
But 'tis not so: w'are not retir'd, but dampt;
122 confessed: manifested, made known; meat: food.
134 three lives: past, present, and future, by owning some
small property. Also, the duration of a lease.
136 f. Marginal gloss: Smalnesse of stature.
147 light: trivial, of no importance.
151 retir'd: condensed, contracted; dampt: extinguished, stifled.
[99]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
And as our bodies, so our mindes are crampt:
*Tis shrinking, not close weaving that hath thus,
In minde, and body both bedwarfed us.
Wee seeme ambitious, Gods whole worke t'undoe; 155
Of nothing hee made us, and we strive too,
To bring our selves to nothing backe; and wee
Doe what wee can, to do't so soone as hee.
With new diseases on our selves we warre,
And with new Physicke, a worse Engin farre. 160
Thus man, this worlds Vice-Emperour, in whom
All faculties, all graces are at home;
And if in other creatures they appeare,
They're but mans Ministers, and Legats there,
To worke on their rebellions, and reduce 165
Them to Civility, and to mans use:
This man, whom God did wooe, and loth t'attend
Till man came up, did downe to man descend,
This man, so great, that all that is, is his,
Oh what a trifle, and poore thing he isl 170
If man were any thing, he's nothing now:
Helpe, or at least some time to wast, allow
This other wants, yet when he did depart
With her whom we lament, hee lost his heart.
She, of whom th'Ancients seem'd to prophesie, 175
When they calTd vertues by the name of shee;
Shee in whom vertue was so much refin'd,
That for Allay unto so pure a minde
Shee tooke the weaker Sex; shee that could drive
The poysonous tincture, and the staine of Eve, 180
Out of her thoughts, and deeds; and purifie
All, by a true religious Alchymie;
Shee, shee is dead; shee's dead: when thou knowest this,
160 Engin: device.
166 Civility: a civilized condition.
167 attend: wait.
173 depart-, part.
[100]
JOHN DONNE
Thou knowest how poore a trifling thing man is.
And leam'st thus much by our Anatomic, 185
The heart being perish'd, no part can be free.
And that except thou feed (not banquet) on
The supernatural! food, Religion,
Thy better Growth growes withered, and scant;
Be more then man, or thou'rt lesse then an Ant. 190
Then, as mankinde, so is the worlds whole frame
Quite out of joynt, almost created lame:
For, before God had made up all the rest,
Corruption entred, and deprav'd the best:
It seis'd the Angels, and then first of all 195
The world did in her cradle take a fall,
And turn'd her braines, and tooke a generall maime,
Wronging each joynt of th'universall frame.
The noblest part, man, felt it first; and than
Both beasts and plants, curst in the curse of man. 200
So did the world from the first houre decay.
That evening was beginning of the day,
And now the Springs and Sommers which we see,
Like sonnes of women after fiftie bee.
And new Philosophy calls all in doubt, 205
The Element of fire is quite put out;
The Sun is lost, and th'earth, and no mans wit
Can well direct him where to looke for it.
And freely men conf esse that this world's spent,
When in the Planets, and the Firmament 210
They seeke so many new; they see that this!
Is crumbled out againe to his Atomis.
'Tis all in peeces, all cohaerence gone;
187 banquet: eat lightly: in old usage a banquet could indi-
cate a "snack" between meals, or a "course of sweetmeats, fruit,
and wine, served either as a separate entertainment, or as a con-
tinuation of the principal meal." (OED)
200 f. Marginal gloss: Decay of nature in other parts.
205 Philosophy: natural philosophy, science.
207 wit: intellect, mental capacity.
[101]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
All just supply, and all Relation:
Prince, Subject, Father, Sonne, are things forgot,
For every man alone thinkes he hath got
To be a Phoenix, and that there can bee
None of that kinde, of which he is, but hee.
This is the worlds condition now, and now
She that should all parts to reunion bow, 2,2,0
She that had all Magnetique force alone,
To draw, and fasten sundred parts in one;
She whom wise nature had invented then
When she observed that every sort of men
Did in their voyage in this worlds Sea stray, 235
And needed a new compasse for their way;
She that was best, and first originall
Of all faire copies, and the generall
Steward to Fate; she whose rich eyes, and brest
Guilt the West Indies, and perfum'd the East; 230
Whose having breathed in this world, did bestow
Spice on those lies, and bad them still smell so,
And that rich Indie which doth gold interre,
Is but as single money, coyn'd from her:
She to whom this world must it selfe refer, 2135
As Suburbs, or the Microcosme of her,
Shee, shee is dead; shee's dead: when thou knowst this,
Thou knowst how lame a cripple this world is.
And learn'st thus much by our Anatomy,
That this worlds generall sickenesse doth not lie 240
In any humour, or one certaine part;
But as thou sawest it rotten at the heart,
Thou seest a Hectique feaver hath got hold
Of the whole substance, not to be contrould,
And that thou hast but one way, not t'admit 245
The worlds infection, to be none of it.
214 just supply: proper support or fulfilling of needs,
aao bow: incline, direct.
341 humour: one of the four chief fluids of the body, according
the old physiology.
JOHN DONNE
For the worlds subtilst immaterial! parts
Feele this consuming wound, and ages darts.
For the worlds beauty is decaf d, or gone,
Beauty, that's colour, and proportion.
We thinke the heavens enjoy their Sphericall,
Their round proportion embracing all.
But yet their various and perplexed course,
Observed in divers ages, doth enforce
Men to finde out so many Eccentrique parts, 255
Such divers downe-right lines, such overthwarts,
As disproportion that pure forme: It teares
The Firmament in eight and forty sheeres,
And in those Constellations there arise
New starres, and old doe vanish from our eyes: 360
As though heav'n suffered earthquakes, peace or war,
When new Townes rise, and old demolish't are*
They have impal'd within a Zodiake
The free-borne Sun, and keepe twelve Signes awake
To watch his steps; the Goat and Crab controule, 265
And fright him backe, who else to either Pole
(Did not these Tropiques fetter him) might runne:
For his course is not round; nor can the Sunne
Ferfit a Circle, or maintaine his way
One inch direct; but where he rose to-day 370
247 subtilst: most rarefied, thinnest,
350 f. Marginal gloss: Disformity of parts.
253 perplexed; involved, tangled.
5156 downe-right: vertical; overthwarts: transverse lines (with
ref, to the increasing complications made in the Ptolemaic system
in an effort to account for new astronomical observations).
258 sheeres; shares, parts; with reference to the forty-eight con-
stellations of the old astronomy (perhaps also with allusion to or
confusion with the word shires?).
363 impal'd: fenced in, as with a paling.
265 Goat and Crab: the zodiacal signs of Capricorn and
Cancer.
269 Perfit: perfect.
[103]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
He comes no more, but with a couzening line,
Steales by that point, and so is Serpentine:
And seeming weary with his reeling thus,
He meanes to sleepe, being now falne nearer us.
So, of the Starres which boast that they doe runne 275
In Circle still, none ends where he begun.
All their proportion's lame, it sinkes, it swels.
For of Meridians, and Parallels,
Man hath weav'd out a net, and this net throwne
Upon the Heavens, and now they are his owne. 280
Loth to goe up the hill, or labour thus
To goe to heaven, we make heaven come to us.
We spur, we reine the starres, and in their race
They're diversly content t'obey our pace.
But keepes the earth her round proportion still? 285
Doth not a Tenarif , or higher Hill
Rise so high like a Rocke, that one might thinke
The floating Moone would shipwracke there, and sinke?
Seas are so deepe, that Whales being strooke to day,
Perchance to morrow, scarce at middle way 290
Of their wish'd journies end, the bottome, die.
And men, to sound depths, so much line untie,
As one might justly thinke, that there would rise
At end thereof, one of th'Antipodies:
If under all, a Vault infernal! bee, 295
(Which sure is spacious, except that we
Invent another torment, that there must
Millions into a strait hot roome be thrust)
Then solidnesse, and roundnesse have no place.
Are these but warts, and pock-holes in the face 300
271 couzening: cozening, cheating, deceiving.
286 Tenarif: the peak of Tenerife, highest (c. 12,200 ft.) in
the Canary Islands.
289 strooke: struck.
298 strait: narrow, small.
[104]
JOHN DONNE
Of th'earth? Thinke so: but yet confesse, in this
The worlds proportion disfigured is;
That those two legges whereon it doth rely,
Reward and punishment are bent awry.
And, Oh, it can no more be questioned, 305
That beauties best, proportion, is dead,
Since even grief e it self e, which now alone
Is left us, is without proportion.
Shee by whose lines proportion should bee
Examined, measure of all Symmetree, 310
Whom had that Ancient seen, who thought soules made
Of Harmony, he would at next have said
That Harmony was shee, and thence infer,
That soules were but Resultances from her,
And did from her into our bodies goe, 315
As to our eyes, the formes from objects flow:
Shee, who if those great Doctors truly said
That the Arke to mans proportions was made,
Had been a type for that, as that might be
A type of her in this, that contrary 320
Both Elements, and Passions liv'd at peace
In her, who caus'd all Civill war to cease.
Shee, after whom, what forme so'er we see,
Is discord, and rude incongruitie;
Shee, shee is dead, shee's dead; when thou knowst this 325
Thou knowst how ugly a monster this world is:
And learn'st thus much by our Anatomie,
That here is nothing to enamour thee:
And that, not only faults in inward parts,
Corruptions in our braines, or in our hearts, 330
Poysoning the f ountaines, whence our actions spring,
Endanger us: but that if every thing
Be not done fitly'and in proportion,
303 f. Marginal gloss: Disorder in the world.
311 that Ancient: probably a reference to Pythagoras, or
perhaps to Aristoxenus.
312 at next: directly after.
314 Resultances: products, emanations.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
To satisfie wise, and good lookers on,
(Since most men be such as most thinke they bee) 335
They're lothsome too, by this Deformitee.
For good, and well, must in our actions meete;
Wicked is not much worse than indiscreet.
But beauties other second Element,
Colour, and lustre now, is as neere spent. 340
And had the world his just proportion,
Were it a ring still, yet the stone is gone.
As a compassionate Turcoyse which doth tell
By looking pale, the wearer is not well,
As gold falls sicke being stung with Mercury, 345
All the worlds parts of such complexion bee.
When nature was most busie, the first weeke,
Swadling the new borne earth, God seem'd to like
That she should sport her selfe sometimes, and play,
To mingle, and vary colours every day: 350
And then, as though shee could not make inow,
Himselfe his various Rainbow did allow.
Sight is the noblest sense of any one,
Yet sight hath only colour to feed on,
And colour is decai'd: summers robe growes 355
Duskie, and like an oft dyed garment showes.
Our blushing red, which us'd in cheekes to spred,
Is inward sunke, and only our soules are red.
Perchance the world might have recovered,
If she whom we lament had not beene dead: 360
But shee, in whom all white, and red, and blew
(Beauties ingredients) voluntary grew,
As in an unvext Paradise; from whom
Did all things verdure, and their lustre come,
Whose composition was miraculous, 365
338 indiscreet: lacking sound judgment.
343 Turcoyse: a turquoise gem.
346 complexion: disposition, constitution.
351 inow: enough.
352 See Genesis 9:13.
JOHN DONNE
Being all colour, all Diaphanous,
(For Ayre, and Fire but thick grosse bodies were,
And liveliest stones but drowsie, and pale to her,)
Shee, shee, is dead: shee's dead: when thou know'st this,
Thou knowst how wan a Ghost this our world is: 370
And learn'st thus much by our Anatomie,
That it should more affright, then pleasure thee.
And that, since all f aire colour then did sinke,
*Tis now but wicked vanitie, to thinke
To colour vicious deeds with good pretence, 375
Or with bought colors to illude mens sense.
Nor in ought more this worlds decay appeares,
Then that her influence the heav'n forbeares,
Or that the Elements doe not f eele this,
The father, or the mother barren is. 380
The cloudes conceive not raine, or doe not powre,
In the due birth time, downe the balmy showre;
Th'Ayre doth not motherly sit on the earth,
To hatch her seasons, and give all things birth;
Spring-times were common cradles, but are tombes; 385
And false-conceptions fill the generall wombes;
Th'Ayre showes such Meteors, as none can see,
Not only what they meane, but what they bee;
Earth such new wormes, as would have troubled much
Th'^Egyptian Mages to have made more such. 390
368 to her: compared to her.
375 f. Marginal gloss: Weaknesse in the want of correspond-
ence of heaven and earth.
376 illude: deceive.
377 ought: aught, anything.
378-80 With reference to the supposed influence of the stars
upon the growth of things on earth: either the influence is no longer
exerted, or the elements no longer feel it: heav'n being the father,
earth, the mother.
390 Mages: magicians, wizards.
[107]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
What Artist now dares boast that he can bring
Heaven hither, or constellate any thing,
So as the influence of those starres may bee
Imprisoned in an Hearbe, or Charme, or Tree,
And doe by touch, all which those stars could doe? 395
The art is lost, and correspondence too.
For heaven gives little, and the earth takes lesse,
And man least knowes their trade and purposes.
If this commerce twixt heaven and earth were not
Embarr'd, and all this traffique quite forgot, 400
She, for whose losse we have lamented thus,
Would worke more fully'and pow'rfully on us:
Since herbes, and roots, by dying lose not all,
But they, yea Ashes too, are medicinall,
Death could not quench her vertue so, but that 405
It would be (if not follow'd) wondred at:
And all the world would be one dying Swan,
To sing her funerall praise, and vanish than.
But as some Serpents poyson hurteth not,
Except it be from the live Serpent shot, 410
So doth her vertue need her here, to fit
That unto us; shee working more then it.
But shee, in whom to such maturity
Vertue was growne, past growth, that it must die;
She, from whose influence all Impressions came, 415
But, by Receivers impotencies, lame,
Who, though she could not transubstantiate
All states to gold, yet guilded every state,
So that some Princes have some temperance;
391 Artist: astrologer, one expert in occult "sciences."
392 constellate: to construct a magical charm or talisman un-
der the power of a particular constellation or star.
394 Charme: talisman.
396 correspondence: relationship (between the stars and the
earth).
398 trade: mutual communication, interchange: cf. commerce,
traffique, lines 399-400.
[108]
JOHN DONNE
Some Counsellers some purpose to advance 420
The common profit; and some people have
Some stay, no more then Kings should give, to crave;
Some women have some taciturnity,
Some nunneries some graines of chastitie.
She that did thus much, and much more could doe, 425
But that our age was Iron, and rustle too,
Shee, shee is dead; shee's dead; when thou knowst this,
Thou knowst how drie a Cinder this world is.
And learn'st thus much by our Anatomy,
That 'tis in vaine to dew, or moUifie 430
It with thy teares, or sweat, or blood: no thing
Is worth our travaile, griefe, or perishing,
But those rich joyes, which did possesse her heart,
Of which she's now partaker, and a part.
But as in cutting up a man that's dead, 435
The body will not last out, to have read
On every part, and therefore men direct
Their speech to parts, that are of most effect;
So the worlds carcasse would not last, if I
Were punctuall in this Anatomy; 440
Nor smels it well to hearers, if one tell
Them their disease, who faine would think they're well.
Here therefore be the end: And, blessed maid,
Of whom is meant what ever hath been said,
Or shall be spoken well by any tongue, 445
Whose name refines course lines, and makes prose song,
Accept this tribute, and his first yeares rent,
Who till his darke short tapers end be spent,
422 stay: restraint.
426 Iron: the last of the four mythological ages of the world,
which has declined from golden, silver, and bronze to iron.
435 Marginal gloss: Conclusion.
436-37 to have read On: to have instruction (lectures) given
on.
440 punctuall: detailed, dealing with small points.
[109]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
As oft as thy feast sees this widowed earth,
Will yearely celebrate thy second birth, 450
That is, thy death; for though the soule of man
Be got when man is made, 'tis borne but than
When man doth die; our body's as the wombe,
And, as a Mid-wife, death directs it home.
And you her creatures, whom she workes upon, 455
And have your last, and best concoction
From her example, and her vertue, if you
In reverence to her, do thinke it due,
That no one should her praises thus rehearse,
As matter fit for Chronicle, not verse; 460
Vouchsafe to call to minde that God did make
A last, and lasting'st peece, a song. He spake
To Moses to deliver unto all,
That song, because hee knew they would let fall
The Law, the Prophets, and the History, 465
But keepe the song still in their memory:
Such an opinion (in due measure) made
Me this great Office boldly to invade:
Nor could incomprehensiblenesse deterre
Mee, from thus trying to emprison her, 470
Which when I saw that a strict grave could doe,
I saw not why verse might not do so too.
Verse hath a middle nature: heaven keepes Soules,
The Grave keepes bodies, Verse the Fame enroules.
449 feast: saint's day.
461-64 See Deuteronomy 31:19-30 and 32.
Uxo]
The Second Anniuerfarie.
O F
THE PROGRES
of the Soule.
Wherein :
BY OCCASION OF THE
Religious Death of Miftris
ELIZABETH DavRY,
the incommoditics of the Soule
in this life and her exalt alien itt
the next, arcContcm-
LONDON,
Printed by M. $rad *><x>d f or $. Madam, and arc
to be fould « his (hop in Pauls Church-yard at
ihc fignc of the BuU*head,
FIGURE 2. Title page of the first edition of Donne's Progres of
the Soule,
The Second Anniversarie.
Of the Progres of the Soule.
Nothing could make me sooner to confesse
That this world had an everlastingnesse,
Then to consider, that a yeare is runne,
Since both this lower world's, and the Sunnes Sunne,
The Lustre, and the vigor of this All, 5
Did set; 'twere blaspnemie to say, did fall.
But as a ship which hath strooke saile, doth runne
By force of that force which before, it wonne:
Or as sometimes in a beheaded man,
Though at those two Red seas, which freely ranne, 10
One from the Trunke, another from the Head,
His soule be sail'd, to her eternall bed,
His eyes will twinckle, and his tongue will roll,
As though he beckned, and cal'd backe his soule,
He graspes his hands, and he pulls up his feet, 15
And seemes to reach, and to step forth to meet
His soule; when all these motions which we saw,
Are but as Ice, which crackles at a thaw:
Or as a Lute, which in moist weather, rings
Her knell alone, by cracking of her strings: 20
So struggles this dead world, now shee is gone;
For there is motion in corruption.
As some daies are at the Creation nam'd,
Before the Sunne, the which fram'd daies, was fram'd,
So after this Sunne's set, some show appeares, ag
And orderly vicissitude of yeares.
THE SECOND ANNTVEHSABiE: title page: Progres: a journey, along
with the abstract meaning of "advancement"; incommodittes: trou-
bles, disadvantages.
if. Marginal gloss: The entrance.
13 twinckle: wink, blink.
24 •fram'd: created.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Yet a new Deluge, and of Lethe flood,
Hath drown'd us all, All have forgot all good,
Forgetting her, the maine reserve of all.
Yet in this deluge, grosse and generall, 30
Thou seest me strive for life; my life shall bee,
To be hereafter prais'd, for praysing thee;
Immortall Maid, who though thou would'st refuse
The name of Mother, be unto my Muse
A Father, since her chast Ambition is, 35
Yearely to bring forth such a child as this.
These Hymnes may worke on future wits, and so
May great Grand children of thy prayses grow.
And so, though not revive, embalme and spice
The world, which else would putrifie with vice. 40
For thus, Man may extend thy progeny,
Untill man doe but vanish, and not die.
These Hymnes thy issue, may encrease so long,
As till Gods great Venite change the song.
Thirst for that time, O my insatiate soule, 45
And serve thy thirst, with Gods safe-sealing Bowie.
Be thirstie still, and drinke still till thou goe;
Tis th'only Health, to be Hydropique so.
Forget this rotten world; And unto thee
Let thine owne times as an old storie bee, 50
Be not concern'd: studie not why, nor when;
Doe not so much as not beleeve a man.
For though to erre, be worst, to try truths forth,
Is far more businesse, then this world is worth.
The world is but a carkasse; thou art fed 55
By it, but as a worme, that carkasse bred;
And why should'st thou, poore worme, consider more,
When this world will grow better then before,
Then those thy fellow wormes doe thinke upon
45 f. Marginal gloss: A just disestimation of Ms world, dis-
estimation: action of disesteeming, despising.
46 Bowie: the Eucharist.
48 Hydropique: having an insatiable thirst, dropsical.
JOHN DONNE
That carkasses last resurrection. 60
Forget this world, and scarce thinke of it so,
As of old clothes, cast off a yeare agoe.
To be thus stupid is Alacritie;
Men thus Lethargique have best Memory.
Look upward; that's towards her, whose happy state 65
We now lament not, but congratulate.
Shee, to whom all this world was but a stage,
Where all sat harkning how her youthfull age
Should be emploi'd, because in all shee did,
Some Figure of the Golden times was hid. 70
Who could not lacke, what e'r this world could give,
Because shee was the forme, that made it live;
Nor could complaine, that this world was unfit
To be staid in, then when shee was in it;
Shee that first tried indifferent desires 75
By vertue, and vertue by religious fires,
Shee to whose person Paradise adher'd,
As Courts to Princes, shee whose eyes ensphear'd
Star-light enough, t'have made the South controule,
(Had shee beene there) the Star-full Northerne Pole, 80
Shee, shee is gone; she is gone; when thou knowest this,
What fragmentary rubbidge this world is
Thou knowest, and that it is not worth a thought;
He honors it too much that thinkes it nought.
Thinke then, My soule, that death is but a Groome, 85
Which brings a Taper to the outward roome,
Whence thou spiest first a little glimmering light,
And after brings it nearer to thy sight:
For such approaches doth heaven make in death.
Thinke thy selfe labouring now with broken breath, 90
66 congratulate: rejoice at.
72 forme: in Scholastic philosophy, the essential, creative prin-
ciple of a thing.
75 indifferent: neutral, midway between excess and defect.
85 £. Marginal gloss: Contemplation of our state in our death-
bed.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
And thinke those broken and soft Notes to bee
Division, and thy happyest Harmonic.
Thinke thee laid on thy death-bed, loose and slacke;
And thinke that, but unbinding of a packe,
To take one precious thing, thy soule from thence. 95
Thinke thy self e parch'd with fevers violence,
Anger thine ague more, by calling it
Thy Physicke; chide the slacknesse of the fit.
Thinke that thou hear'st thy knell, and think no more,
But that, as Bels cal'd thee to Church before, 100
So this, to the Triumphant Church, calls thee.
Thinke Satans Sergeants round about thee bee,
And thinke that but for Legacies they thrust;
Give one thy Pride, to'another give thy Lust:
Give them those sinnes which they gave thee before, 105
And trust th'immaculate blood to wash thy score.
Thinke thy friends weeping round, and thinke that they
Weepe but because they goe not yet thy way.
Thinke that they close thine eyes, and thinke in this,
That they confesse much in the world, amisse, no
Who dare not trust a dead mans eye with that,
Which they from God, and Angels cover not.
Thinke that they shroud thee up, and think from thence
They reinvest thee in white innocence.
Thinke that thy body rots, and (if so low, 115
Thy soule exalted so, thy thoughts can goe,)
Think thee a Prince, who of themselves create
Wormes which insensibly devoure their State.
Thinke that they bury thee, and thinke that rite
Laies thee to sleepe but a Saint Lucies night. 120
Thinke these things cheerefully: and if thou bee
92 Division: a musical term indicating a rapid passage of mel-
ody, a run.
102 Sergeants: minor officials who perform arrests or otherwise
carry out judgments and official commands.
114 reinvest: reclothe.
120 See NOTE on Donne's "Nocturnall."
JOHN DONNE
Drowsie or slacke, remember then that shee,
Shee whose Complexion was so even made,
That which of her Ingredients should invade
The other three, no Feare, no Art could guesse: 125
So far were all removed from more or lesse.
But as in Mithridate, or just perfumes,
Where all good things being met, no one presumes
To governe, or to triumph on the rest,
Only because all were, no part was best. 130
And as, though all doe know, that quantities
Are made of lines, and lines from Points arise,
None can these lines or quantities unjoynt,
And say this is a line, or this a point,
So though the Elements and Humors were 135
In her, one could not say, this govemes there.
Whose even constitution might have wonne
Any disease to venter on the Sunne,
Rather then her: and make a spirit feare,
That hee to disuniting subject were. 140
To whose proportions if we would compare
Cubes, th'are unstable; Circles, Angular;
She who was such a chaine as Fate employes
To bring mankinde aU Fortunes it enjoyes;
So fast, so even wrought, as one would thinke, 145
No Accident could threaten any linke;
Shee, shee embrac'd a sicknesse, gave it meat,
The purest blood, and breath, that e'r it eate;
And hath taught us, that though a good man hath
Title to heaven, and plead it by his Faith, 150
123 Completion: in the old physiology, the combination in the
body of the four qualities, cold, hot, moist, dry, associated with
the four elements; or the combination of the four "humors": blood,
phlegm, choler (yellow bile), and melancholy (black bile).
127 Mithridate: an old medicine with many ingredients, re-
garded as a universal antidote.
138 venter: venture.
147 meat: food.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
And though he may pretend a conquest, since
Heaven was content to suffer violence,
Yea though hee plead a long possession too,
(For they're in heaven on earth who heavens workes do)
Though hee had right and power and place, before, 155
Yet Death must usher, and unlocke the doore.
Thinke further on thy self e, my Soule, and thinke
How thou at first wast made but in a sinke;
Thinke that it argued some infirmitie,
That those two soules, which then thou foundst in me, 160
Thou fedst upon, and drewst into thee, both
My second soule of sense, and first of growth.
Thinke but how poore thou wast, how obnoxious;
Whom a small lumpe of flesh could poyson thus.
This curded milke, this poore unlittered whelpe 165
My body, could, beyond escape or helpe,
Infect thee with Originall sinne, and thou
Couldst neither then refuse, nor leave it now.
Thinke that no stubborne sullen Anchorit,
Which fixt to'a pillar, or a grave, doth sit 170
Bedded, and bath'd in all his ordures, dwels
So fowly as our Soules in their first-built Gels.
Thinke in how poore a prison thou didst lie
After, enabled but to suck, and crie.
Thinke, when'twas growne to most/twas a poore Inne, 175
A Province pack'd up in two yards of skinne,
And that usurp'd or threatned with the rage
Of sicknesses, or their true mother, Age.
151 pretend: put forward a claim to.
152 See Matthew 11:12.
157 f. Marginal gloss: Incommodities of the Soule in the Body.
158 sinke; cesspool, sewer.
160-62 With ref. to the old conception of the "vegetative" soul
in plants, the "sensible" or "sensitive" soul in animals, and the
"rational" soul in man, which includes the other two kinds of
"soul."
163 obnoxious: exposed to harm.
165 unlittered: unborn, as of animals.
JOHN DONNE
But thinke that Death hath now enfranchised thee,
Thou hast thy'expansion now, and Hbertie; 180
Thinke that a rustie Peece, discharg'd, is flowne
In peeces, and the bullet is his owne,
And freely flies: This to thy Soule allow,
Thinke thy shell broke, thinke thy Soule hatched but now.
And think this slow-pac'd soule, which late did cleave 185
To'a body, and went but by the bodies leave,
Twenty, perchance, or thirty mile a day,
Dispatches in a minute all the way
Twixt heaven, and earth; she stayes not in the ayre,
To looke what Meteors there themselves prepare; 190
She carries no desire to know, nor sense,
Whether th'ayres middle region be intense;
For th'Element of fire, she doth not know,
Whether she past by such a place or no;
She baits not at the Moone, nor cares to trie 195
Whether in that new world, men live, and die.
Venus retards her not, to'enquire, how shee
Can, (being one starre) Hesper, and Vesper bee;
Hee that charm'd Argus eyes, sweet Mercury,
Workes not on her, who now is growne all eye; 200
Who, if she meet the body of the Sunne,
Goes through, not staying till his course be runne;
Who findes in Mars his Campe no corps of Guard;
Nor is by Jove, nor by his father barr'd;
But ere she can consider how she went, 205
At once is at, and through the Firmament.
179 enfranchis'd: set free.
180 f. Marginal gloss: Her liberty by death.
189-206 A summation of the old Ptolemaic view of a con-
centric universe: first, the regions of earth, water, air, and fire; then
on to the spheres of the Moon, Venus, Mercury (Donne reverses
the traditional order of Mercury and Venus), Sun, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, and the Firmament of fixed stars.
192 intense: violent, turbulent.
195 baits: pauses for rest and refreshment, as at an inn.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
And as these starres were but so many beads
Strung on one string, speed undistinguished leads
Her through those Spheares, as through the beads, a string,
Whose quick succession makes it still one thing: 210
As doth the pith, which, lest our bodies slacke,
Strings fast the little bones of necke, and backe;
So by the Soule doth death string Heaven and Earth;
For when our Soule enjoyes this her third birth,
(Creation gave her one, a second, grace,) 215
Heaven is as neare, and present to her face,
As colours are, and objects, in a roome
Where darknesse was before, when Tapers come.
This must, my Soule, thy long-short Progresse bee;
To'advance these thoughts, remember then, that shee, 220
Shee, whose faire body no such prison was,
But that a Soule might well be pleas'd to passe
An age in her; she whose rich beauty lent
Mintage to others beauties, for they went
But for so much as they were like to her; 225
Shee, in whose body (if we dare preferre
This low world, to so high a marke as shee,)
The Westerne treasure, Easterne spicerie,
Europe, and Afrique, and the unknowne rest
Were easily found, or what in them was best; 230
And when wliave made this large discoverie
Of all, in her some one part there will bee
Twenty such parts, whose plenty and riches is
Enough to make twenty such worlds as this;
Shee, whom had they knowne who did first betroth 235
The Tutelar Angels, and assign'd one, both
To Nations, Cities, and to Companies,
To Functions, Offices, and Dignities,
208 undistinguished: without any distinct parts: that is, without
pause or variation.
226 preferre: advance, promote.
236 Tutelar: tutelary, guardian.
238 Dignities: high offices or ranks.
[120]
JOHN DONNE
And to each severall man, to him, and him,
They would have given her one for every limbe; 240
She, of whose soule, if wee may say, 'twas Gold,
Her body was th'Electrum, and did hold
Many degrees of that; wee understood
Her by her sight; her pure, and eloquent blood
Spoke in her cheekes, and so distinctly wrought, 245
That one might almost say, her body thought;
Shee, shee, thus richly and largely hous'd, is gone:
And chides us slow-pac'd snailes who crawle upon
Our prisons prison, earth, nor thinke us well,
Longer, then whil'st wee beare our brittle shell. 250
But 'twere but little to have changed our roome.
If, as we were in this our living Tombe
Oppress'd with ignorance, wee still were so.
Poore soule, in this thy flesh what dost thou know?
Thou know'st thy selfe so little, as thou know'st not, 255
How thou didst die, nor how thou wast begot.
Thou neither know'st, how thou at first cam'st in,
Nor how thou took'st the poyson of mans sinne.
Nor dost thou, (though thou know'st, that thou art so)
By what way thou art made immortall, know. 260
Thou art too narrow, wretch, to comprehend
Even thy selfe: yea though thou wouldst but bend
To know thy body. Have not all soules thought
For many ages, that our body'is wrought
Of Ayre, and Fire, and other Elements? 265
And now they thinke of new ingredients,
And one Soule thinkes one, and another way
Another thinkes, and 'tis an even lay.
Knowst thou but how the stone doth enter in
The bladders cave, and never breake the skinne? 270
Know'st thou how blood, which to the heart doth flow,
Doth from one ventricle to th'other goe?
242 Electrum: an alloy of gold and silver.
251 f. Marginal gloss: Her ignorance in this life and knowledge
in the next.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
And for the putrid stuffe, which thou dost spit,
Know'st thou how thy lungs have attracted it?
There are no passages, so that there is 275
(For ought thou know'st) piercing of substances.
And of those many opinions which men raise
Of Nailes and Haires, dost thou know which to praise?
What hope have wee to know our selves, when wee
Know not the least things, which for our use be? 2,80
Wee see in Authors, too stiff e to recant,
A hundred controversies of an Ant;
And yet one watches, starves, freeses, and sweats,
To know but Catechismes and Alphabets
Of unconcerning things, matters of fact; 285
How others on our stage their parts did Act;
What Caesar did, yea, and what Cicero said.
Why grasse is greene, or why our blood is red,
Are mysteries which none have reach'd unto.
In this low forme, poore soule, what wilt thou doe? 290
When wilt thou shake off this Pedantery,
Of being taught by sense, and Fantasie?
Thou look'st through spectacles; small things seeme great
Below; But up unto the watch-towre get,
And see all things despoyl'd of fallacies: 295
Thou shalt not peepe through lattices of eyes,
Nor heare through Labyrinths of eares, nor learne
By circuit, or collections to discerne.
In heaven thou straight know'st all, concerning it,
And what concernes it not, shall straight forget. 300
There thou (but in no other schoole) maist bee
Perchance, as learned, and as full, as shee,
Shee who all libraries had throughly read
At home in her owne thoughts, and practised
So much good as would make as many more: 305
Shee whose example they must all implore,
383 watches: stays awake.
292 Fantasie: the mental faculty that apprehends the objects
of sensory perception.
299 straight: straightway, immediately.
JOHN DONNE
Who would or doe, or thinke well, and conf esse
That all the vertuous Actions they expresse,
Are but a new, and worse edition
Of her some one thought, or one action: 310
She who in th'art of knowing Heaven, was growne
Here upon earth, to such perfection,
That she hath, ever since to Heaven she came,
(In a far fairer print,) but read the same:
Shee, shee not satisfied with all this waight, 315
(For so much knowledge, as would over-fraight
Another, did but ballast her) is gone
As well t'enjoy, as get perfection.
And cals us after her, in that shee tooke,
(Taking her selfe) our best, and worthiest booke. 320
Returne not, my Soule, from this extasie,
And meditation of what thou shalt bee,
To earthly thoughts, till it to thee appeare,
With whom thy conversation must be there.
With whom wilt thou converse? what station 325
Canst thou choose out, free from infection,
That will nor give thee theirs, nor drinke in thine?
Shalt thou not finde a spungje slacke Divine
Drinke and sucke in th'instructions of Great men,
And for the word of God, vent them agen? 330
Are there not some Courts (and then, no things bee
So like as Courts) which, in this let us see,
That wits and tongues of Libellers are weake,
Because they do more ill, then these can speake?
The poyson's gone through all, poysons affect 335
Chiefly the chiefest parts, but some effect
In nailes, and haires, yea excrements, will show;
So will the poyson of sinne in the most low.
320 f . Marginal gloss : Of our company in this life, and in the
next.
324 conversation: action of living among people: society.
325 converse: associate with.
331 Courts: referring to the body of courtiers surrounding a
sovereign.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Up, up, my drowsie Soule, where thy new eare
Shall in the Angels songs no discord heare; 340
Where thou shalt see the blessed Mother-maid
Joy in not being that, which men have said.
Where she is exalted more for being good,
Then for her interest of Mother-hood.
Up to those Patriarchs, which did longer sit 345
Expecting Christ, then they'have enjoy'd him yet.
Up to those Prophets, which now gladly see
Their Prophesies growne to be Historic.
Up to th'Apostles, who did bravely runne
All the Suns course, with more light then the Sunne. 350
Up to those Martyrs, who did calmly bleed
Oyle to th'Apostles Lamps, dew to their seed.
Up to those Virgins, who thought, that almost
They made joyntenants with the Holy Ghost,
If they to any should his Temple give. 355
Up, up, for in that squadron there doth live
She, who hath carried thither new degrees
(As to their number) to their dignities.
Shee, who being to her self e a State, injoy'd
All royalties which any State employ'd; 360
For shee made warres, and triumph'd; reason still
Did not o'rthrow, but rectifie her will:
And she made peace, for no peace is like this,
That beauty, and chastity together kisse:
She did high justice, for she crucified 365
Every first motion of rebellious pride:
And she gave pardons, and was liberall,
For, onely her selfe except, she pardon'd all:
Shee coy'nd, in this, that her impressions gave
To all our actions all the worth they have: 370
She gave protections; the thoughts of her brest
Satans rude Officers could ne'r arrest.
342 "Men have said" that Mary was conceived without sin,
but Donne here implies the Protestant denial of the doctrine of
Immaculate Conception.
346 Expecting: awaiting (along with modern sense).
[124]
JOHN DONNE
As these prerogatives being met in one,
Made her a soveraigne State; religion
Made her a Church; and these two made her all. 375
She who was all this All, and could not fall
To worse, by company, (for she was still
More Antidote, then all the world was ill,)
Shee, shee doth leave it, and by Death, survive
All this, in Heaven; whither who doth not strive 380
The more, because shees there, he doth not know
That accidentall joyes in Heaven doe grow.
But pause, my soule; And study, ere thou fall
On accidentall joyes, th'essentiall.
Still before Accessories doe abide 385
A triall, must the principall be tride.
And what essentiall joy can'st thou expect
Here upon earth? what permanent effect
Of transitory causes? Dost thou love
Beauty? (And beauty worthy'st is to move) 390
Poore cousened cousenor, that she, and that thou,
Which did begin to love, are neither now;
You are both fluid, chang'd since yesterday;
Next day repaires, (but ill) last dayes decay.
Nor are, (although the river keepe the name) 395
Yesterdaies waters, and to daies the same.
So flowes her face, and thine eyes, neither now
That Saint, nor Pilgrime, which your loving vow
Concern'd, remaines; but wmTst you thinke you bee
Constant, you'are hourely in inconstancie. 400
Honour may have pretence unto our love,
Because that God did live so long above
Without this Honour, and then lov'd it so,
That he at last made Creatures to bestow
382 accidentall: non-essential, incidental.
384 f. Marginal gloss: Of essentiall joy in this life and in the
next.
391 cousenor: cozener, deceiver.
401 pretence: claim.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Honour on him; not that he needed it, 405
But that, to his hands, man might grow more fit.
But since all Honours from inf eriours flow,
(For they doe give it; Princes doe but show
Whom they would have so honorM) and that this
On such opinions, and capacities 410
Is built, as rise and fall, to more and lesse:
Alas, 'tis but a casuall happinesse.
Hath ever any man to'himselfe assigned
This or that happinesse to'arrest his minde,
But that another man which takes a worse, 415
Thinks him a foole for having tane that course?
They who did labour Babels tower to'erect,
Might have considered, that for that effect,
All this whole solid Earth could not allow
Nor furnish forth materialls enow; 420
And that this Center, to raise such a place,
Was farre too little, to have beene the Base;
No more affords this world, foundation
To erect true joy, were all the meanes in one.
But as the Heathen made them several! gods, 425
Of all Gods Benefits, and all his Rods,
(For as the Wine, and Corne, and Onions are
Gods unto them, so Agues bee, and Warre)
And as by changing that whole precious Gold
To such small Copper coynes, they lost the old, 430
And lost their only God, who ever must
Be sought alone, and not in such a thrust:
So much mankinde true happinesse mistakes;
No Joy enjoyes that man, that many makes.
412 casuall: subject to chance, uncertain; also, non-essential,
"accidental."
416 tane: taken.
420 enow: enough.
421 Center: the earth, as center of the old universe.
426 Rods: punishments.
427 Corne: grain.
432 thrust: crowd.
JOHN DONNE
Then, Soule, to thy first pitch worke up againe; 435
Know that all lines which circles doe containe,
For once that they the Center touch, doe touch
Twice the circumference; and be thou such;
Double on heaven thy thoughts on earth emploid;
All will not serve; Only who have enjoy'd 440
The sight of God, in fulnesse, can thinke it;
For it is both the object, and the wit.
This is essentiall joy, where neither hee
Can suffer diminution, nor wee;
'Tis such a full, and such a filling good, 445
Had th' Angels once look'd on him, they had stood.
To fill the place of one of them, or more,
Shee whom wee celebrate, is gone before.
She, who had Here so much essentiall joy,
As no chance could distract, much lesse destroy; 450
Who with Gods presence was acquainted so,
(Hearing, and speaking to him) as to know
His face in any naturall Stone, or Tree,
Better then when in Images they bee:
Who kept by diligent devotion, 455
Gods Image, in such reparation,
Within her heart, that what decay was growne,
Was her first Parents fault, and not her owne:
Who being solicited to any act,
Still heard God pleading his safe precontract; 460
Who by a f aithfull confidence, was here
Betroth'd to God, and now is married there;
Whose twilights were more cleare, then our mid-day;
Who dreamt devoutlier, then most use to pray;
Who being here fil'd with grace, yet strove to bee, 465
Both where more grace, and more capacitie
At once is given: she to Heaven is gone,
Who made this world in some proportion
464 use to: are accustomed to.
470 admit: permit, allow.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
A heaven, and here, became unto us all,
Joy, (as our joyes admit) essential!. 470
But could this low world joyes essentiall touch,
Heavens accidentall joyes would passe them much.
How poore and lame, must then our casuall bee?
If thy Prince will his subjects to call thee
My Lord, and this doe swell thee, thou art than, 475
By being a greater, growne to bee lesse Man.
When no Physitian of redresse can speake,
A joyfull casuall violence may breake *
A dangerous Apostem in thy breast;
And wrnTst thou joyest in this, the dangerous rest, 480
The bag may rise up, and so strangle thee.
What e'r was casuall, may ever bee.
What should the nature change? Or make the same
Certaine, which was but casuall, when it came?
All casuall joy doth loud and plainly say, 485
Only by comming, that it can away.
Only in Heaven joyes strength is never spent;
And accidentall things are permanent.
Joy of a soules arrivall ne'r decaies;
For that soule ever joyes and ever staies. 49°
Joy that their last great Consummation
Approaches in the resurrection;
When earthly bodies more celestiall
Shall be, then Angels were, for they could fall;
This kinde of joy doth every day admit 495
Degrees of growth, but none of losing it.
In this fresh joy, 'tis no small part, that shee,
Shee, in whose goodnesse, he that names degree,
Doth injure her; (Tis losse to be cal'd best,
There where the stuff e is not such as the rest) 500
Shee, who left such a bodie, as even shee
Only in Heaven could learne, how it can bee
471 f. Marginal gloss: Of accidentall joys in both places.
479 Apostem: a large abscess.
JOHN DONNE
Made better; for shee rather was two soules,
Or like to full, on both sides written Rols,
Where eyes might reade upon the outward skin, 503
As strong Records for God, as mindes within;
Shee, who by making full perfection grow,
Peeces a Circle, and still keepes it so,
Long'd for, and longing for it, to heaven is gone,
Where shee receives, and gives addition. 510
Here in a place, where mis-devotion frames
A thousand Prayers to Saints, whose very names
The ancient Church knew not, Heaven knows not yet:
And where, what lawes of Poetry admit,
Lawes of Religion have at least the same, 515
Immortall Maide, I might invoke thy name.
Could any Saint provoke that appetite,
Thou here should'st make me a French convertite.
But thou would'st not; nor would'st thou be content,
To take this, for my second yeares true Rent, 520
Did this Coine beare any other stampe, then his,
That gave thee power to doe, me, to say this.
Since his will is, that to posteritie,
Thou should'st for life, and death, a patterne bee,
And that the world should notice have of this, 525
The purpose, and th'Authoritie is his;
Thou art the Proclamation; and I am
The Trumpet, at whose voyce the people came.
511 The poem is being composed in France, in December 1611,
or early in 1612. Marginal gloss: Conclusion.
518 convertite: convert.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Goodfriday, 1613. Riding Westward.
Let mans Soule be a Spheare, and then, in this,
The intelligence that moves, devotion is,
And as the other Spheares, by being growne
Subject to forraigne motions, lose their owne,
And being by others hurried every day, 5
Scarce in a yeare their naturall forme obey:
Pleasure or businesse, so, our Soules admit
For their first mover, and are whirld by it.
Hence is't, that I am carryed towards the West
This day, when my Soules forme bends toward the East. 10
There I should see a Sunne, by rising set,
And by that setting endlesse day beget;
But that Christ on this Crosse, did rise and fall,
Sinne had eternally benighted all.
Yet dare Talmost be glad, I do not see 15
That spectacle of too much weight for mee.
Who sees Gods face, that is self e life, must dye;
What a death were it then to see God dye?
It made his owne Lieutenant Nature shrinke,
It made his footstoole crack, and the Sunne winke. 2,0
Could I behold those hands which span the Poles,
And turne all spheares at once, peirc'd with those holes?
Could I behold that endlesse height which is
Zenith to us, and our Antipodes,
Humbled below us? or that blood which is 25
The seat of all our Soules, if not of his,
Made durt of dust, or that flesh which was worne
GOODFRIDAY, 1613: For the opening imagery see Alabaster's Son-
net 15 and Donne's "Extasie," line 52.
6, 10 forme: essential creative principle.
20 footstoole: the earth: see Isaiah 66:1.
2,6 seat: residence, abode.
JOHN DONNE
By God, for his apparell, rag'd, and tome?
If on these things I durst not looke, durst I
Upon his miserable mother cast mine eye, 30
Who was Gods partner here, and furnish'd thus
Half e of that Sacrifice, which ransom'd us?
Though these things, as I ride, be from mine eye,
They'are present yet unto my memory,
For that looks towards them; and thou look'st towards mee,
0 Saviour, as thou hang'st upon the tree; 36
1 turne my backe to thee, but to receive
Corrections, till thy mercies bid thee leave.
O thinke mee worth thine anger, punish mee,
Burne off my rusts, and my deformity, 40
Restore thine Image, so much, by thy grace,
That thou may'st know mee, and I'll turne my face.
A nocturnall upon S. Lucies day,
Being the shortest day.
Tis the yeares midnight, and it is the dayes,
Lucies, who scarce seaven houres herself unmaskes,
The Sunne is spent, and now his flasks
Send forth light squibs, no constant rayes;
The worlds whole sap is sunke: 5
The generall balme th'hydroptique earth hath drunk,
Whither, as to the beds-feet, life is shrunke,
Dead and enterr'd; yet all these seeme to laugh,
Compar'd with mee, who am their Epitaph.
38 leave: "leave off," cease.
A NOCTUBNAIX UPON S. LutieS DAY: SCO NOTE.
3 flasks: cases to hold gunpowder.
4 squibs: fireworks.
6 balme: balsam: in alchemical usage, a preservative essence
supposed to exist in all organic bodies.
[131]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Study me then, you who shall lovers bee 10
At the next world, that is, at the next Spring:
For I am every dead thing,
In whom love wrought new Alchimie.
For his art did expresse
A quintessence even from nothingnesse, 15
From dull privations, and leane emptinesse:
He ruin'd mee, and I am re-begot
Of absence, darknesse, death; things which are not.
All others, from all things, draw all that's good,
Life, soule, forme, spirit, whence they beeing have; 20
I, by loves limbecke, am the grave
Of all, that's nothing. Oft a flood
Have wee two wept, and so
Drownd the whole world, us two; oft did we grow
To be two Chaosses, when we did show 25
Care to ought else; and often absences
Withdrew our soules, and made us carcasses.
But I am by her death, (which word wrongs her)
Of the first nothing, the Elixer grown;
Were I a man, that I were one, 30
I needs must know; I should pref erre,
If I were any beast,
Some ends, some means; Yea plants, yea stones detest,
And love; All, all some properties invest;
If I an ordinary nothing were, 35
As shadow, a light, and body must be here.
14 expresse: press out.
29 Elixer: the quintessence, the essential principle ( of the orig-
inal "nothing" that preceded Creation).
34 properties: distinctive qualities or attributes; invest: envelop:
that is, "some qualities belong to all things."
JOHN BONNE
But I am None; nor will my Sunne renew.
You lovers, for whose sake, the lesser Sunne
At this time to the Goat is runne
To fetch new lust, and give it you, 40
Enjoy your summer all;
Since shee enjoyes her long nights f estivall,
Let mee prepare towards her, and let mee call
This houre her Vigill, and her Eve, since this
Both the yeares, and the dayes deep midnight is. 45
Holy Sonnets.
Since she whom I lov'd hath payd her last debt
To Nature, and to hers, and my good is dead,
And her Soule early into heaven ravished,
Wholly on heavenly things my mind is sett.
Here the admyring her my mind did whett 5
To seeke thee God; so streames do shew their head;
But though I have found thee, and thou my thirst hast fed,
A holy thirsty dropsy melts mee yett.
39 Goat: the Tropic of Capricorn, or the zodiacal sign of
Capricorn.
42 festival!: feast: the feast day of a saint.
43 prepare: place oneself in a state of mental readiness; to-
wards implies a metaphor of preparing oneself for a journey: "get
ready to go to."
44 Vigill, Eve: the evening before a saint's day: see OED,
Vigil, i, b: "A devotional watching, esp. the watch kept on the
eve of a festival or holy day; a nocturnal service or devotional ex-
ercise." The definition aptly sums up the total impact of the poem.
HOLY SONNETS.
17.1 Donne's wife, Anne, died on August 15, 1617, in her
thirty-third year.
[3-33]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
But why should I begg more Love, when as thou
Dost wooe my soule for hers; offring all thine: 10
And dost not only f eare least I allow
My Love to Saints and Angels, things divine,
But in thy tender jealosy dost doubt
Least the World, Fleshe, yea DeviU putt thee out.
18.
Show me deare Christ, thy spouse, so bright and clear.
What! is it She, which on the other shore
Goes richly painted? or which rob'd and tore
Laments and mournes in Germany and here?
Sleepes she a thousand, then peepes up one yeare? 5
Is she self e truth and errs? now new, now outwore?
Doth she, and did she, and shall she evermore
On one, on seaven, or on no hill appeare?
Dwells she with us, or like adventuring knights
First travaile we to seeke and then make Love? 10
Betray kind husband thy spouse to our sights,
And let myne amorous soule court thy mild Dove,
Who is most trew, and pleasing to thee, then
When she'is embraced and open to most men.
Oh, to vex me, contraryes meet in one:
Inconstancy unnaturally hath begott
A constant habit; that when I would not
I change in vowes, and in devotione.
As humorous is my contritione
13 doubt; fear.
18.1 spouse: the Church.
6 self e truth: truth itself.
10 trana&e: work hard; also, traveL
19.5 "humorous: capricious.
JOHN DONNE
As my prophane Love, and as soone forgott:
As ridlingly distemper'd, cold and hott,
As praying, as mute; as infinite, as none.
I durst not view heaven yesterday; and to day
In prayers, and flattering speaches I court God: 10
To morrow I quake with true f eare of his rod.
So my devout fitts come and go away
Like a fantastique Ague: save that here
Those are my best dayes, when I shake with feare.
A Hymne to Christ, at the Authors last
going into Germany.
In what tome ship soever I embarke,
That ship shall be my embleme o£ thy Arke;
What sea soever swallow mee, that flood
Shall be to mee an embleme of thy blood;
Though thou with clouds of anger do disguise 5
Thy face; yet through that maske I know those eyes,
Which, though they turne away sometimes,
They never will despise.
I sacrifice this Hand unto thee,
And all whom I lov'd there, and who lov'd mee; 10
When I have put our seas twixt them and mee,
Put thou thy sea betwixt my sinnes and thee.
As the trees sap doth seeke the root below
In winter, in my winter now I goe,
Where none but thee, th'Eternall root 15
Of true Love I may know.
7 ridlingly distempered: bewilderingly, perplexingly disordered.
A HYMNE TO CHBiST: Donne left England for Germany in May 1619,
as chaplain to Lord Doncaster on a diplomatic mission; he re-
turned in January 1620.
[135]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Nor thou nor thy religion dost controule,
The amorousnesse of an harmonious Soule,
But thou would'st have that love thy selfe: As thou
Art jealous, Lord, so I am jealous now, 20
Thou lov'st not, till from loving more, thou free
My soule: Who ever gives, takes libertie:
O, if thou car'st not whom I love
Alas, thou lov'st not mee.
Seale then this bill of my Divorce to All, 25
On whom those fainter beames of love did fall;
Marry those loves, which in youth scattered bee
On Fame, Wit, Hopes (false mistresses) to thee.
Churches are best for Prayer, that have least light:
To see God only, I goe out of sight: 30
And to scape stormy dayes, I chuse
An Everlasting night
Hymne to God my God, in my sicknesse.
Since I am cornming to that Holy roome,
Where, with thy Quire of Saints for evermore,
I shall be made thy Musique; As I come
I tune the Instrument here at the dore,
And what I must doe then, thinke here before. 5
Whilst my physitians by their love are growne
Cosmographers, and I their Mapp, who lie
Flat on this bed, that by them may be showne
That this is my South-west discoverie
Per fretum febris, by these streights to die, 10
HYMNE TO GOD MY GOD.
10 Per fretum febris: fretum means both strait and raging heat
(of fever); streights: straits, difficult circumstances.
[136]
JOHN DONNE
I joy, that in these straits, I see my West;
For, though theire currants yeeld returne to none,
What shall my West hurt me? As West and East
In all flatt Maps (and I am one) are one,
So death doth touch the Resurrection. 15
Is the Pacifique Sea my home? Or are
The Easterne riches? Is Jerusalem?
Anyan, and Magellan, and Gibraitarey
All streights, and none but streights, are wayes to them,
Whether where Japhet dwelt, or Cham, or Sem. 20
We thinke that Paradise and Calvarie,
Christs Crosse, and Adams tree, stood in one place;
Looke Lord, and finde both Adams met in me;
As the first Adams sweat surrounds my face,
May the last Adams blood my soule embrace. as
So, in his purple wrapp'd receive mee Lord,
By these his thoraes give me his other Crowne;
And as to others soules I preach'd thy word,
Be this my Text, my Sermon to mine owne,
Therfore that he may raise the Lord throws down. 30
12 currants: there may be a play here on the current or cir-
culation of money (currency).
18 the "Straits of Anyan** were supposed to separate America
and Asia, according to old geographers.
ao The three sons of Noah, who, according to tradition, in-
herited the world as follows: Europe (Japhet); Africa (Ham); and
Asia (Shem).
2,2, place: region: see Miss Gardner's discussion, Divine Poems,
PP. 135-37-
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
To Christ.
Wilt thou forgive that sinn, where I begunn,
Which is my sinn, though it were done before?
Wilt thou forgive those sinns through which I runn
And doe them still, though still I doe deplore?
When thou hast done, thou hast not done, 5
for I have more.
Wilt thou forgive that sinn, by which I'have wonne
Others to sinn, & made my sinn their dore?
Wilt thou forgive that sinn which I did shunne
A yeare or twoe, but wallowed in a score? 10
When thou hast done, thou hast not done,
for I have more.
I have a sinn of f eare that when I have spunn
My last thred, I shall perish on the shore;
Sweare by thy self that at my Death, thy Sunn 15
Shall shine as it shines nowe, & heretofore;
And having done that, thou hast done,
I have noe more.
TO CHBIST: see NOTE.
GEORGE HERBERT
1593-1633
From THE TEMPLE (1633)
The Dedication.
Lord, my first fruits present themselves to thee;
"Yet not mine neither: for from thee they came,
And must return. Accept of them and me,
And make us strive, who shall sing best thy name.
Turn their eyes hither, who shall make a gain:
Theirs, who shall hurt themselves or me, refrain.
THE DEDICATION.
6 refrain: prevent, stop.
The Church-porch.
Perirrhanterium.
Thou, whose sweet youth and early hopes inhance
Thy rate and price, and mark thee for a treasure;
Hearken unto a Verser, who may chance
Ryme thee to good, and make a bait of pleasure.
A verse may finde him, who a sermon flies, 5
And turn delight into a sacrifice.
Beware of lust: it doth pollute and foul
Whom God in Baptisme washt with his own blood.
It blots thy lesson written in thy soul;
The holy lines cannot be understood. 10
How dare those eyes upon a Bible look,
Much lesse towards God, whose lust is all their book?
"Abstain wholly, or wed. Thy bounteous Lord
Allows thee choise of paths: take no by-wayes;
But gladly welcome what he doth afford; 15
Not grudging, that thy lust hath bounds and staies.
Continence hath his joy: weigh both; and so
If rottennesse have more, let Heaven go.
If God had laid all common, certainly
Man would have been th' incloser: but since now 20
God hath impal'd us, on the contrarie
Man breaks the fence, and every ground will plough.
THE CHURCH-PORCH: Perirrhanterium: a brush (aspergillum) used
for sprinkling holy water.
a, rate: valuation.
16 staies: stays, restraints.
21 impal'd us: fenced us in (with ref. to practice of enclosing,
for private use, lands that were formerly common).
GEORGE HEKBEBT
O what were man, might he himself misplace!
Sure to be crosse he would shift feet and face.
Drink not the third glasse, which thou canst not tame, 25
When once it is within thee; hut before
Mayst rule it, as thou list; and poure the shame,
Which it would poure on thee, upon the floore.
It is most just to throw that on the ground,
Which would throw me there, if I keep the round. 30
He that is drunken, may his mother loll
Bigge with his sister: he hath lost the reins,
Is outlawd by himself: all kinde of ill
Did with his liquour slide into his veins.
The drunkard forfets Man, and doth devest 35
All worldly right, save what he hath by beast.
Slight those who say amidst their sicldy healths,
Thou liv'st by rule. What doth not so, but man?
Houses are built by rule, and common-wealths. 135
Entice the trusty sunne, if that thou can,
From his Ecliptick line: becken the skie.
Who lives by rule then, keeps good companie.
Who keeps no guard upon himself, is slack,
And rots to nothing at the next great thaw. 140
Man is a shop of rules, a well trussed pack,
Whose every parcell under-writes a law.
Lose not thy self, nor give thy humours way:
God gave them to thee under lock and key.
24 crosse: perverse.
27 list: wish, choose.
30 keep the round: keep on drinking each round of liquor.
35 devest: a legal term: take away, annuL
142 parcell: part; under-writes: agrees to, confirms by sig-
nature.
TEDS IMEDrTATIVE POEM
By all means use sometimes to be alone. 145
Salute thy self: see what thy soul doth wear.
Dare to look in thy chest; for 'tis thine own:
And tumble up and down what thou find'st there.
Who cannot rest till hee good fellows finde,
He breaks up house, turns out of doores his minde. 150
When once thy foot enters the church, be bare.
God is more there, then thou: for thou art there
Onely by his permission. Then beware, 405
And make thy self all reverence and fear.
Kneeling ne're spoil'd silk stocking: quit thy state.
All equall are within the churches gate.
Resort to sermons, but to prayers most:
Praying *s the end of preaching. O be drest; 410
Stay not for th* other pin: why thou hast lost
A joy for it worth worlds. Thus hell doth jest
Away thy blessings, and extreamly flout thee,
Thy clothes being feist, but thy soul loose about thee.
In time of service seal up both thine eies, 415
And send them to thine heart; that spying sinne,
They may weep out the stains by them did rise:
Those doores being shut, all by the eare comes in.
Who marks in church-time others symmetric,
Makes all their beautie his deformitie. 420
145 use: observe as custom or practice.
146 Salute: greet
148 tumble: search through by turning over (with a play on
the word chest).
407 quit thy state: give up your formal dignity.
409 resort to: attend, go to.
[144]
GEORGE HERBERT
Let vain or busie thoughts have there no part:
Bring not thy plough, thy plots, thy pleasures thither.
Christ purg'd his temple; so must thou thy heart.
All worldly thoughts are but theeves met together
To couzin thee. Look to thy actions well: 425
For churches are either our heav'n or helL
Judge not the preacher; for he is thy Judge:
If thou mislike him, thou conceiv'st him not.
God calleth preaching folly. Do not grudge
To pick out treasures from an earthen pot. 430
The worst speak something good: if all want sense,
God takes a text, and preacheth patience.
He that gets patience, and the blessing which
Preachers conclude with, hath not lost his pains.
He that by being at church escapes the ditch, 435
Which he might fall in by companions, gains.
He that loves Gods abode, and to combine
With saints on earth, shall one day with them shine.
Jest not at preachers language, or expression:
How know'st thou, but thy sinnes made him miscarrie?
Then turn thy faults and his into confession: 440
God sent him, whatsoe're he be: O tarry,
And love him for his Master: his condition,
Though it be ill, makes him no ill Physician.
None shall in hell such bitter pangs endure, 445
As those, who mock at Gods way of salvation.
Whom oil and balsames kill, what salve can cure?
They drink with greedinesse a full damnation.
425 couzin: cozen.
428 conceiv*$t him not", do not understand
429 See i Corinthians 1:21.
447 balsames: balms, medicinal salves.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
The Jews refused thunder; and we, folly.
Though God do hedge us in, yet who is holy? 450
Summe up at night, what thou hast done by day;
And in the morning, what thou hast to do.
Dresse and undresse thy soul: mark the decay
And growth of it: if with thy watch, that too
Be down, then winde up both; since we shall be 455
Most surely judg'd, make thy accounts agree.
In brief, acquit thee bravely; play the man.
Look not on pleasures as they come, but go.
Deferre not the least vertue: lifes poore span
Make not an ell, by trifling in thy wo. 460
If thou do ill; the joy fades, not the pains:
If well; the pain doth fade, the joy remains.
Superliminare.
Thou, whom the former precepts have
Sprinkled and taught, how to behave
Thy self in church; approach, and taste
The churches mysticall repast.
Avoid profanenesse; come not here: 5
Nothing but holy, pure, and cleare,
Or that which groneth to be so,
May at his perill further go.
449 See Exodus 19:16 and i Corinthians 1:18.
SUPEKLIMINAJRE: a lintel (i.e., the inscription on the lintel over the
church door).
5 Avoid: probably in sense of "go away": a direct address to
"profanenesse" as a personified quality.
GEORGE HEBBEBT
The Altar.
A broken ALTAR, Lord, thy servant reares,
Made of a heart, and cemented with teares:
Whose parts are as thy hand did frame;
No workmans tool hath touch'd the same.
A HEART alone 5
Is such a stone,
As nothing but
Thy powr doth cut.
Wherefore each part
Of my hard heart 10
Meets in this frame,
To praise thy name.
That if I chance to hold my peace,
These stones to praise thee may not cease.
O let thy blessed SACRIFICE be mine, 15
And sanctifie this ALTAR to be thine.
The Thanksgiving.
Oh King of grief I (a title strange, yet true,
To thee of all kings onely due)
Oh King of wounds! how shall I grieve for thee,
Who in all grief preventest me?
THE ALTAR.
3 -frame: construct, create.
11 frame: structure.
THE THANKSGIVING.
i grief: suffering, injury (along with modern sense).
4 preventest: anticipates.
[147]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Shall I weep bloud? why thou hast wept such store 5
That all thy body was one doore.
Shall I be scourged, flouted, boxed, sold?
Tis but to tell the tale is told.
My God, my God, why dost thou part from me?
Was such a grief as cannot be. 10
Shall I then sing, skipping thy dolefull storie,
And side with thy triumphant glorie?
Shall thy strokes be my stroking? thorns, my flower?
Thy rod, my posie? crosse, my bower?
But how then shall I imitate thee, and 15
Copie thy fair, though bloudie hand?
Surely I will revenge me on thy love,
And trie who shall victorious prove.
If thou dost give me wealth; I will restore
All back unto thee by the poore. 20
If thou dost give me honour; men shall see,
The honour doth belong to thee.
I will not marry; or, if she be mine,
She and her children shall be thine.
My bosome fnend, if he blaspheme thy name, 25
I will tear thence his love and fame.
One half of me being gone, the rest I give
Unto some Chappell, die or live.
As for thy passion— But of that anon,
When with the other I have done. 30
For thy predestination Tie contrive,
That three yeares hence, if I survive,
Fie build a spittle, or mend common wayes,
But mend mine own without delayes.
Then I will use the works of thy creation, 35
5 store: abundance.
14 posie: bouquet.
17 revenge me: the expression is deliberately extravagant, im-
plying a fervent desire to "pay back."
33 spittle: hospital, poorhouse; common wayes: public high-
ways.
[148]
GEORGE HERBERT
As if I us'd them but for fashion.
The world and I will quarrell; and the yeare
Shall not perceive, that I am here.
My musick shall finde thee, and ev'ry string
Shall have his attribute to sing; 40
That all together may accord in thee,
And prove one God, one harmonie.
If thou shalt give me wit, it shall appeare,
If thou hast giv'n it me, 'tis here.
Nay, I will reade thy book, and never move 45
Till I have found therein thy love;
Thy art of love, which Tie turn back on thee,
O my deare Saviour, Victorie!
Then for thy passion— I will do for that—
Alas, my God, I know not what. 50
The Reprisall.
I have considered it, and finde
There is no dealing with thy mighty passion:
For though I die for thee, I am behinde;
My sinnes deserve the condemnation.
O make me innocent, that I 5
May give a disentangled state and free:
And yet thy wounds still my attempts defie,
For by thy death I die for thee.
Ahl was it not enough that thou
By thy eternall glorie didst outgo me? 10
Couldst thou not griefs sad conquests me allow,
But in all victories overthrow me?
43 wit: intellectual power, mental creativity.
THE REPRISAUU
6 disentangled state: an estate free of debts.
[149]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Yet by confession will I come
Into the conquest. Though. I can do nought
Against thee, in thee I will overcome 15
The man, who once against thee fought.
The Agonie.
Philosophers have measur'd mountains,
Fathom'd the depths of seas, of states, and kings,
WalkM with a staff e to heav'n, and traced fountains;
But there are two vast, spacious things.
The which to measure it doth more behove: 5
Yet few there are that sound them; Sinne and Love.
Who would know Sinne, let him repair
Unto mount Olivet; there shall he see
A man so wrung with pains, that all his hair,
His skinne, his garments bloudie be. 10
Sinne is that presse and vice, which forceth pain
To hunt his cruell food through ev'ry vein.
Who knows not Love, let him assay
And taste that juice, which on the crosse a pike
Did set again abroach; then let him say 15
If ever he did taste the like.
Love is that liquour sweet and most divine,
Which my God feels as bloud; but I, as wine.
THE AGONIE.
z Philosophers: students in all branches of "philosophy," esp.
science, "natural philosophy/*
3 staffe: a measuring rod, with a play on the divining rod, used
to discover water.
5 it doth more behove: it is more necessary.
7 repair: go.
13 assay: test the quality of.
[ISO]
GEORGE HERBERT
Sepulchre.
O blessed bodie! Whither art them thrown?
No lodging for thee, but a cold hard stone?
So many hearts on earth, and yet not one
Receive thee?
Sure there is room within our hearts good store; 5
For they can lodge transgressions by the score:
Thousands of toyes dwell there, yet out of doore
They leave thee.
But that which shews them large, shews them unfit.
What ever sinne did this pure rock commit, 10
Which holds thee now? Who hath indited it
Of murder?
Where our hard hearts have took up stones to brain thee,
And missing this, most falsly did arraigne thee;
Onely these stones in quiet entertain thee, 15
And order.
And as of old, the law by heav'nly art
Was writ in stone; so thou, which also art
The letter of the word, find'st no fit heart
To hold thee. 20
Yet do we still persist as we began,
And so should perish, but that nothing can,
Though it be cold, hard, foul, from loving man
Withold thee.
SEPULCHRE.
5 good store: used adverbially: in good quantity or measure.
7 toyes: trivial things.
17—20 See 2, Corinthians 3:2-8.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Easter.
Rise heart; thy Lord is risen. Sing his praise
Without delayes,
Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise
With him mayst rise:
That, as his death calcined thee to dust, 5
His life may make thee gold, and much more just.
Awake, my lute, and struggle for thy part
With aH thy art.
The crosse taught all wood to resound his name,
Who bore the same. 10
His stretched sinews taught all strings, what key
Is best to celebrate this most high day.
Consort both heart and lute, and twist a song
Pleasant and long:
Or since all musick is but three parts vied 15
And multiplied;
O let thy blessed Spirit bear a part,
And make up our defects with his sweet art
I got me flowers to straw thy way;
I got me boughs off many a tree: 20
But thou wast up by break of day,
And brought'st thy sweets along with thee.
EASTER.
13 Consort: sing together, harmonize.
15 three parts: with ref. to the musical term, "triad"; vied:
placed in competition; see NOTE.
19 straw: strew.
22 sweets: perfumes.
GEORGE HERBERT
The Sunne arising in the East,
Though he give light, & th* East perfume;
If they should offer to contest 25
With thy arising, they presume*
Can there be any day but this,
Though many sunnes to shine endeavour?
We count three hundred, but we misse:
There is but one, and that one ever. 30
«j[ Eafter wings.
FIGURE 3. This figure and Figure 4 are enlarged reproductions
of "Easter wings*' as printed on facing pages in the first edi-
tion of Herbert's Temple, 1633. See NOTE.
Eafter wings,
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FIGURE 4.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Easter wings
Lord, who createdst man in wealth and store,
Though foolishly he lost the same,
Decaying more and more,
Till he became
Most poore: 5
With thee
O let me rise
As larks, harmoniously,
And sing this day thy victories:
Then shall the fall further the flight in me. 10
My tender age in sorrow did begfnrte;
And still with sicknesses and shame
Thou didst so punish sinne,
That I became
Most thinne. 15
With thee
Let me combine,
And feel this day thy victorie:
For, if I imp my wing on thine,
Affliction shall advance the flight in me. 20
Affliction (I).
When first thou didst entice to thee my heart,
I thought the service brave:
So many joyes I writ down for my part,
Besides what I might have
EASTER WINGS: see NOTE.
HQ imp: see NOTE.
AFFLJCTION (i).
s. brave: fine, elegant.
GEORGE HERBERT
Out of my stock of naturall delights, 5
Augmented with thy gracious benefits.
I looked on thy furniture so fine,
And made it fine to me:
Thy glorious houshold-stuffe did me entwine,
And 'tice me unto thee. 10
Such starres I counted mine; both heav'n and earth
Payd me my wages in a world of mirth.
What pleasures could I want, whose King I served?
Where joyes my fellows were.
Thus argu'd into hopes, my thoughts reserved 15
No place for grief or fear.
Therefore my sudden soul caught at the pkce,
And made her youth and fiercenesse seek thy face.
At first thou gav'st me milk and sweetnesses;
I had my wish and way: 20
My dayes were straw'd with flow*rs and happinesse;
There was no moneth but May.
But with my yeares sorrow did twist and grow,
And made a partie unawares for wo.
My flesh began unto my soul in pain, 25
Sicknesses cleave my bones;
Consuming agues dwell in ev'ry vein,
And tune my breath to grones.
Sorrow was all my soul; I scarce beleeved,
Till grief did tell me roundly, that I lived. 30
7 furniture: furnishings, equipment; the physical aspects of the
church building and services.
12 mirth: joy, happiness.
24 partie: a side in a dispute.
25 began: began to complain; as Hutchinson suggests, the next
three lines seem to be the direct complaint of the flesh,
30 roundly: bluntly, plainly.
[157]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
When I got health, thou took'st away my life,
And more; for my friends die:
My mirth and edge was lost; a blunted knife
Was of more use then I.
Thus thinne and lean without a fence or friend, 35
I was blown through with ev'ry storm and winde.
Whereas my birth and spirit rather took
The way that takes the town;
Thou didst betray me to a lingring book,
And wrap me in a gown. 40
I was entangled in the world of strife,
Before I had the power to change my life.
Yet, for I threatned oft the siege to raise,
Not simpring all mine age,
Thou often didst with Academick praise 45
Melt and dissolve my rage.
I took thy sweetned pill, till I came neare;
I could not go away, nor persevere.
Yet lest perchance I should too happie be
In my unhappinesse, 50
Turning my purge to food, thou throwest me
Into more sicknesses.
Thus doth thy power crosse-bias me, not making
Thine own gift good, yet me from my wayes taking.
Now I am here, what thou wilt do with me 55
None of my books will show:
I reade, and sigh, and wish I were a tree;
For sure then I should grow
To fruit or shade: at least some bird would trust
Her houshold to me, and I should be just. 60
53 crosse-bias: give a bias or inclination counter to my own.
GEORGE HERBERT
Yet, though thou troublest me, I must be meek;
In weaknesse must be stout.
Well, I will change the service, and go seek
Some other master out.
Ah my deare God! though I am clean forgot, 65
Let me not love thee, if I love thee not.
Prayer.
Prayer the Churches banquet, Angels age,
Gods breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav'n and earth;
Engine against th' Almightie, sinners towre, 5
Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
The six-dales world transposing in an houre,
A kinde of tune, which all things heare and fear;
Sofmesse, and peace, and joy, and love, and blisse,
Exalted Manna, gladnesse of the best, 10
Heaven in ordinarie, man well drest,
The milkie way, the bird of Paradise,
Church-bels beyond the starres heard, the souls bloud,
The land of spices; something understood.
65-66 See NOTE.
PRAYER.
i Angels age: "prayer acquaints man with the blessed timeless
existence of the angels" ( Hutchinson ) .
3 soul in paraphrase: "in prayer the soul opens out and more
fully discovers itself" (Hutchinson).
5 Engine against: device for overcoming or reaching.
TEE MEDITATIVE POEM
The H. Communion.
Not in rich furniture, or fine aray,
Nor in a wedge of gold,
Thou, who from me wast sold,
To me dost now thy self convey;
For so thou should'st without me still have been, 5
Leaving within me sinne:
But by the way of nourishment and strength
Thou creep'st into my breast;
Making thy way my rest,
And thy small quantities my length; 10
Which spread their forces into every part,
Meeting sinnes force and art.
Yet can these not get over to my soul,
Leaping the wall that parts
Our souls and fleshly hearts; 15
But as th' outworks, they may controll
My rebel-flesh, and carrying thy name,
Affright both sinne and shame.
Onely thy grace, which with these elements comes,
Knoweth the ready way, 2,0
And hath the privie key,
THE H. COMMUNION: see NOTES.
2, See Joshua 7:20- 21.
5 without: outside.
13 these: the physical elements of the Communion.
19 elements: die bread and wine of the Communion,
20 ready: easy, quick, direct.
21 prwie: private.
GEORGE HERBERT
Op'ning the souls most subtile rooms;
While those to spirits refin'd, at doore attend
Dispatches from their friend.
Give me my captive soul, or take 25
My bodie also thither.
Another lift like this will make
Them both to be together.
Before that sinne turn'd flesh to stone,
And all our lump to leaven; 30
A fervent sigh might well have blown
Our innocent earth to heaven.
For sure when Adam did not know
To sinne, or sinne to smother;
He might to heav'n from Paradise go, 35
As from one room t'another.
Thou hast restor'd us to this ease
By this thy heav'nly bloud;
Which I can go to, when I please,
And leave th* earth to their food. 40
22 subfile: delicate, intangible.
23 those: the bread and wine, transformed into "spirits" or
vapors arising from the blood.
24 friend: Christ, speaking within the soul to the body of man.
[161]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Love
Lnmortall Love, authour of this great frame,
Sprung from that beautie which can never fade;
How hath man parcel'd out thy glorious name,
And thrown it on that dust which thou hast made,
While mortall love doth all the title gain! 5
Which siding with invention, they together
Bear all the sway, possessing heart and brain,
(Thy workmanship) and give thee share in neither.
Wit fancies beautie, beautie raiseth wit:
The world is theirs; they two play out the game, 10
Thou standing by: and though thy glorious name
Wrought our deliverance from th' inf email pit,
Who sings thy praise? onely a skarf or glove
Doth warm our hands, and make them write of love.
IL
Immortall Heat, O let thy greater flame
Attract the lesser to it: let those fires,
Which shall consume the world, first make it tame;
And kindle in our hearts such true desires,
IX>VE I.
i this great frame: the universe.
6 invention: creative, imaginative power.
GEORGE HEBBERT
As may consume our lusts, and make thee way. 5
Then snail our hearts pant thee; then shall our brain
All her invention on thine Altar lay,
And there in hymnes send back thy fire again:
Our eies shall see thee, which before saw dust;
Dust blown by wit, till that they both were blinde: 10
Thou shalt recover all thy goods in kinde,
Who wert disseized by usurping hist:
All knees shall bow to thee; all wits shall rise,
And praise him who did make and mend our eies.
LOVE n.
12 disseized: dispossessed (a legal term).
13 wits: mental powers.
Sonnets from Walton's
LIFE OF HERBERT, 1670.
My God, where is that ancient heat towards thee,
Wherewith whole showls of Martyrs once did burn,
Besides their other flames. Doth Poetry
Wear Venus Livery? only serve her turn?
Why are not Sonnets made of thee? and layes 5
Upon thine Altar burnt? Cannot thy love
Heighten a spirit to sound out thy praise
As well as any she? Cannot thy Dove
Out-strip their Cupid easily in flight?
Or, since thy wayes are deep, and still the same, 10
Will not a verse run smooth that bears thy name!
Why doth that fire, which by thy power and might
Each breast does feel, no braver fuel choose
Than that, which one day, Worms, may chance refuse.
Sure Lord, there is enough in thee to dry
Oceans of Ink; for, as the Deluge did
Cover the Earth, so doth thy Majesty:
Each Cloud distills thy praise, and doth forbid
Poets to turn it to another use. 5
Roses and Lillies speak thee; and to make
A pair of Cheeks of them, is thy abuse.
Why should I Womens eyes for Chrystal take?
Such poor invention burns in their low mind
Whose fire is wild, and doth not upward go 10
To praise, and on thee Lord, some Ink bestow.
Open the bones, and you shall nothing find
In the best face but filth, when Lord, in thee
The beauty lies, in the discovery.
SONNETS FROM WALTON'S Life: S66 NOTE.
2 showls: shoals, crowds.
[164]
GEORGE HERBERT
The Temper.
How should I praise thee, Lord! how should my rymes
Gladly engrave thy love in steel,
If what my soul doth feel sometimes,
My soul might ever feell
Although there were some fourtie heavens, or more, 5
Sometimes I peere above them all;
Sometimes I hardly reach a score,
Sometimes to hell I fall,
O rack me not to such a vast extent;
Those distances belong to thee: 10
The world's too little for thy tent,
A grave too big for me.
Wilt thou meet arms with man, that thou dost stretch
A crumme of dust from heav'n to hell?
Will great God measure with a wretch? 15
Shall he thy stature spell?
O let me, when thy roof my soul hath hid,
O let me roost and nestle there:
Then of a sinner thou art rid,
And I of hope and fear. 20
Yet take thy way; for sure thy way is best:
Stretch or contract me, thy poore debter:
This is but tuning of my breast,
To make the musick better.
THE TEMPER: proper disposition: see NOTE.
13 meet: with a play on mete (measure).
[165]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Whether I flie with angels, fall with dust, 25
Thy hands made both, and I am there:
Thy power and love, my love and trust
Make one place ev'ry where.
The EL Scriptures. L
Oh Bookl infinite sweetnesse! let my heart
Suck ev'ry letter, and a hony gain,
Precious for any grief in any part;
To cleare the breast, to mollifie all pain.
Thou art all health, health thriving, till it make 5
A full eternitie: thou art a masse
Of strange delights, where we may wish & take.
Ladies, look here; this is the thankfull glasse,
That mends the lookers eyes: this is the well
That washes what it shows. Who can indeare 10
Thy praise too much? thou art heav'ns Lidger here,
Working against the states of death and hell.
Thou art joyes handsell: heav'n lies flat in thee,
Subject to ev'ry mounters bended knee.
THE H. SCREPTUBES. I.
11 Lidger: resident ambassador.
13 handsell: token of good to come.
GEOKGE HEBBEBT
Mattens.
I cannot ope mine eyes,
But thou art ready there to catch.
My morning-soul and sacrifice:
Then we must needs for that day make a match.
My God, what is a heart? 5
Silver, or gold, or precious stone,
Or starre, or rainbow, or a part
Of all these things, or all of them in one?
My God, what is a heart,
That thou shouldst it so eye, and wooe, 10
Powring upon it all thy art,
As if that thou hadst nothing els to do?
Indeed mans whole estate
Amounts (and richly) to serve thee:
He did not heav'n and earth create, 15
Yet studies them, not him by whom they be.
Teach me thy love to know;
That this new light, which now I see,
May both the work and workman show:
Then by a sunne-beam I will climbe to thee. »o
MATTENS: matins, morning prayer.
4 match: agreement, marriage.
[167]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Even-song.
Blest be the God of love,
Who gave me eyes, and light, and power this day,
Both to be busie, and to play.
But much more blest be God above,
Who gave me sight alone, 5
Which to himself he did denie:
For 'when he sees my waies, I dy:
But I have got his sonne, and he hath none.
What have I brought thee home
For this thy love? have I discharged the debt, 10
Which this dayes favour did beget?
I ranne; but all I brought, was fome.
Thy diet, care, and cost
Do end in bubbles, balls of winde;
Of winde to thee whom I have crost, 15
But balls of wilde-fire to my troubled minde.
Yet still thou goest on,
And now with darknesse closest wearie eyes,
Saying to man, It doth suffice:
Henceforth repose; your work is done. 2,0
Thus in thy Ebony box
Thou dost inclose us, till the day
Put our amendment in our way,
And give new wheels to our disordered clocks.
[168]
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PLATE I. Portrait of John Donne at the age of eighteen, from the
second edition of Donne's Poems, 1635.
T T. T T.T T
THE
TEMPLE
SACRED POEMS
, . AND
PRIVATE EJA*
C.ULATION&
CAMBRIDGE
IL Tide page of the first edition of Herbert's Temple, 1633.
GEORGE HERBERT
I muse, which shows more love, 25
The day or night: that is the gale, this th' harbour;
That is the walk, and this the arbour;
Or that the garden, this the grove.
My God, thou art all love.
Not one poore minute scapes thy breast, 30
But brings a favour from above;
And in this love, more then in bed, I rest.
Church-monuments.
While that my soul repairs to her devotion,
Here I intombe my flesh, that it betimes
May take acquaintance of this heap of dust;
To which the blast of deaths incessant motion,
Fed with the exhalation of our crimes, 5
Drives all at last. Therefore I gladly trust
My bodie to this school, that it may learn
To spell his elements, and finde his birth
Written in dustie heraldrie and lines;
Which dissolution sure doth best discern, 10
Comparing dust with dust, and earth with earth.
These laugh at Jeat, and Marble put for signes,
To sever the good fellowship of dust,
And spoil the meeting. What shall point out them,
When they shall bow, and kneel, and fall down flat 15
To kLsse those heaps, which now they have in trust?
Deare flesh, while I do pray, learn here thy stemme
And true descent; that when thou shalt grow fat,
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
And wanton in thy cravings, thou mayst know,
That flesh is but the glasse, which holds the dust 20
That measures all our time; which also shall
Be crumbled into dust. Mark here below
How tame these ashes are, how free from lust,
That thou mayst fit thy self against thy fall.
Church-musick.
Sweetest of sweets, I thank you: when displeasure
Did through my bodie wound my minde,
You took me thence, and in your house of pleasure
A daintie lodging me assigned.
Now I in you without a bodie move, 5
Rising and falling with your wings:
We both together sweetly live and love,
Yet say sometimes, God help poore Kings.
Comfort, Tie die; for if you poste from me,
Sure I shall do so, and much more: 10
But if I travell in your companie,
You know the way to heavens doore.
Church-lock and key.
I know it is my sinne, which locks thine eares,
And bindes thy hands,
Out-crying my requests, drowning my tears;
Or else the chilnesse of my faint demands.
CHURCH-MONOMENTS .
24 fit thy self against: prepare yourself for.
CHURCH-MUSICK:.
9 poste: hasten.
GEOBGE HERBERT
But as cold hands are angrie with the fire, 5
And mend it still;
So I do lay the want of my desire,
Not on my sinnes, or coldnesse, but thy will.
Yet heare, O God, onely for his blouds sake
Which pleads for me: 10
For though sinnes plead too, yet like stones they make
His blouds sweet current much more loud to be.
The Church-floore.
Mark you the floore? that square & speckled stone,
Which looks so firm and strong,
Is Patience:
And th' other black and grave, wherewith each one
Is checkered all along, 5
Humilitie:
The gentle rising, which on either hand
Leads to the Quire above,
Is Confidence:
But the sweet cement, which in one sure band 10
Ties the whole frame, is Love
And Charitie.
Hither sometimes Sinne steals, and stains
The marbles neat and curious veins:
But all is cleansed when the marble weeps. 15
Sometimes Death, puffing at the doore,
Blows all the dust about the floore;
THE CHUBCH-FLOORE.
14 curious: delicately formed.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
But while he thinks to spoil the room, he sweeps.
Blest be the Architect, whose art
Could build so strong in a weak heart. 20
The Windows.
Lord, how can man preach thy eternall word?
He is a brittle crazie glasse:
Yet in thy temple thou dost him afford
This glorious and transcendent place,
To be a window, through thy grace. 5
But when thou dost anneal in glasse thy storie,
Making thy life to shine within
The holy Preachers; then the light and glorie
More revVend grows, & more doth win:
Which else shows watrish, bleak, & thin. 10
Doctrine and life, colours and light, in one
When they combine and mingle, bring
A strong regard and aw: but speech alone
Doth vanish like a flaring thing,
And in the eare, not conscience ring. 15
The Starre.
Bright spark, shot from a brighter place,
Where beams surround my Saviours face,
Canst thou be any where
So well as there?
THE WINDOWS.
a crazie: full of cracks.
6 anneal: fix the colors by heating.
[17*1
GEORGE HERBERT
Yet, if thou wilt from thence depart, 5
Take a bad lodging in my heart;
For thou canst make a debter,
And make it better.
First with thy fire- work burn to dust
Folly, and worse then folly, lust: 10
Then with thy light refine,
And make it shine:
So disengaged from sinne and sicknesse,
Touch it with thy celestiall quicknesse,
That it may hang and move 15
After thy love.
Then with our trinitie of light,
Motion, and heat, let's take our flight
Unto the place where thou
Before didst bow. 2,0
Get me a standing there, and place
Among the beams, which crown the face
Of him, who dy'd to part
Sinne and my heart:
That so among the rest I may 2$
Glitter, and curie, and winde as they:
That winding is their fashion
Of adoration.
Sure thou wilt joy, by gaining me
To flie home like a laden bee 30
Unto that hive of beams
And garland-streams.
THE STABHE.
14 quicknesse: life, liveliness.
[173]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Deniall.
When my devotions could not pierce
Thy silent eares;
Then was my heart broken, as was my verse:
My breast was full of fears
And disorder: 5
My bent thoughts, lake a brittle bow,
Did file asunder:
Each took his way; some would to pleasures go,
Some to the warres and thunder
Of alarms. 10
As good go any where, they say,
As to benumme
Both knees and heart, in crying night and day,
Come, come, my God, O come,
But no hearing. 15
O that thou shouldst give dust a tongue
To crie to thee,
And then not heare it crying! all day long
My heart was in my knee,
But no hearing. 2,0
Therefore my soul lay out of sight,
Untun'd, unstrung:
My feeble spirit, unable to look right,
Like a nipt blossome, hung
Discontented. 25
DEN1ATX.
10 alarms: calls to arms.
[174]
GEORGE HERBERT
O cheer and tune my heartlesse breast,
Deferre no time;
That so thy favours granting my request,
They and my minde may chime,
And mend my ryme. 30
Vertue.
Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright,
The bridall of the earth and side:
The dew shall weep thy fall to night;
For thou must die.
Sweet rose, whose hue angrie and brave 5
Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye:
Thy root is ever in its grave,
And thou must die.
Sweet spring, full of sweet dayes and roses,
A box where sweets compacted lie; 10
My musick shows ye have your closes,
And all must die.
Onely a sweet and vertuous soul,
Like seasonM timber, never gives;
But though the whole world turn to coal, 15
Then chiefly lives.
VERTUE.
2- bridall: wedding.
5 angrie: red.
10 sweets: sweet odors, fragrances.
11 closes: cadences, in music.
15 coal: cinder, ashes.
[175]
THE MEZ>rrATTVE POEM
The Pearl. Matth. 13.
I know the wayes of Learning; both the head
And pipes that feed the presse, and make it runne;
What reason hath from nature borrowed,
Or of it self, like a good huswife, spunne
In laws and policie; what the starres conspire, 5
What willing nature speaks, what forc'd by fire;
Both th* old discoveries, and the new-found seas,
The stock and surplus, cause and historic:
All these stand open, or I have the keyes:
Yet I love thee. 10
I know the wayes of Honour, what maintains
The quick returns of courtesie and wit:
In vies of favours whether partie gains,
When glorie swells the heart, and moldeth it
To all expressions both of hand and eye, 15
Which on the world a true-love-knot may tie,
And bear the bundle, wheresoe're it goes:
How many drammes of spirit there must be
To sell my life unto my friends or foes:
Yet I love thee. 20
I know the wayes of Pleasure, the sweet strains,
The hillings and the relishes of it;
The propositions of hot bloud and brains;
What mirth and musick mean; what love and wit
THE PEARL: see Matthew 13:45—46.
& presse: with ref. to the olive or wine press and also to the
printing press.
5 policie: government; conspire: unite to produce.
12 wit: clever repartee.
13 vies: competitions; whether partie: which of two parties.
18 spirit: intoxicating liquor.
so. relishes: tastes, flavors; also, in musical sense, ornaments.
[176]
GEORGE HERBERT
Have done these twentie hundred yeares, and more: 25
I know the projects of unbridled store:
My stufFe is flesh, not brasse; my senses live.
And grumble oft, that they have more in me
Then he that curbs them, being but one to five:
Yet I love thee. 30
I know all these, and have them in my hand:
Therefore not seiled, but with open eyes
I flie to thee, and fully understand
Both the main sale, and the commodities;
And at what rate and price I have thy love; 35
With all the circumstances that may move:
Yet through these labyrinths, not my groveling wit,
But thy silk twist let down from heav*n to me,
Did both conduct and teach me, how by it
To climbe to thee. 40
Affliction (IV).
Broken in pieces all asunder,
Lord, hunt me not,
A thing forgot,
Once a poore creature, now a wonder,
A wonder tortured in the space 5
Betwixt this world and that of grace.
26 unbridled store: uncontrolled wealth.
32 seiled: sealed, or seeled: in falconry to seel means to sew
up the eyelids of a hawk for purposes of training.
34 commodities: advantages, benefits.
37 wit: mental capacity.
AFFLICTION (rv): see NOTE.
[177]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
My thoughts are all a case o£ knives,
Wounding my heart
With scattered smart,
As watring pots give flowers their lives. 10
Nothing their furie can controll,
While they do wound and prick my soul.
All my attendants are at strife,
Quitting their place
Unto my face: 15
Nothing performs the task of life:
The elements are let loose to fight,
And while I live, trie out their right.
Oh help, my God! let not their plot
Kill them and me, ao
And also thee,
Who art my life: dissolve the knot,
As the sunne scatters by his light
All the rebellions of the night.
Then shall those powers, which work for grief, 25
Enter thy pay,
And day by day
Labour thy praise, and my relief;
With care and courage building me,
Till I reach heaven, and much more thee. 30
Man.
My God, I heard this day,
That none doth build a stately habitation,
But he that means to dwell therein.
What house more stately hath there been*
GEORGE HEBBEHT
Or can be, then is Man? to whose creation 5
All things are in decay.
For Man is ev'ry thing,
And more: He is a tree, yet bears more fruit;
A beast, yet is, or should be more:
Reason and speech we onely bring. 10
Parrats may thank us, if they are not mute,
They go upon the score.
Man is all symmetric,
Full of proportions, one limbe to another,
And all to all the world besides: 13
Each part may call the farthest, brother:
For head with foot hath private amitie,
And both with moons and tides.
Nothing hath got so f arre,
But Man hath caught and kept it, as his prey. ao
His eyes dismount the highest starre:
He is in little all the sphere.
Herbs gladly cure our flesh; because that they
Finde their acquaintance there.
For us the windes do blow, 25
The earth doth rest, heav'n move, and fountains flow.
Nothing we see, but means our good,
As our delight, or as our treasure:
The whole is, either our cupboard of jood*
Or cabinet of pleasure* 30
MAN.
5 to: compared to.
8 more -fruit: see NOTE.
12 "are indebted to us": score: bill, account.
2,1. dismount: bring down.
22 sphere: universe.
£179]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
The starres have us to bed;
Night draws the curtain, which the sunne withdraws;
Musick and light attend our head.
All things unto our flesh are Idnde
In their descent and being; to our minde 35
In their ascent and cause.
Each thing is full of dutie:
Waters united are our navigation;
Distinguished, our habitation;
Below, our drink; above, our meat; 40
Both are our cleanlinesse. Hath one such beautie?
Then how are all things neat?
More servants wait on Man,
Then he'l take notice of: in ev'ry path
He treads down that which doth befriend him, 45
When sicknesse makes him pale and wan.
Oh mightie love! Man is one world, and hath
Another to attend him.
Since then, my God, thou hast
So brave a Palace built; O dwell in it, 50
That it may dwell with thee at last!
Till then, afford us so much wit;
That, as the world serves us, we may serve thee,
And both thy servants be.
34 kinde: kindred, related.
39 Distinguished: separated.
40 above, our meat: as rain, water grows our food.
42, neat: skillfully made, well-proportioned.
[180]
GEORGE HERBERT
Life.
I made a posie, while the day ran by:
Here will I smell my remnant out, and tie
My life within fhig band.
But time did becken to the flowers, and they
By noon most cunningly did steal away, 5
And withered in my hand.
My hand was next to them, and then my heart:
I took, without more thinking, in good part
Times gentle admonition:
Who did so sweetly deaths sad taste convey, 10
Making my minde to smell my f atall day;
Yet sugring the suspicion.
Farewell deare flowers, sweetly your time ye spent,
Fit, while ye liv'd, for smell or ornament,
And after death for cures. 15
I follow straight without complaints or grief,
Since if my sent be good, I care not, if
It be as short as yours.
LIFE.
i posie: bouquet.
a_3 a parenthetical self-address, stating the aim of the medi-
tation.
3 band: the string tying up the bouquet.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Mortification.
How soon doth man decay!
When clothes are taken from a chest of sweets
To swaddle infants, whose young breath
Scarce knows the way;
Those clouts are little winding sheets, 5
Which do consigne and send them unto death.
When boyes go first to bed,
They step into their voluntarie graves,
Sleep bindes them fast; onely their breath
Makes them not dead: 10
Successive nights, like rolling waves,
Convey them quickly, who are bound for death.
When youth is frank and free,
And calls for musick, while his veins do swell,
All day exchanging mirth and breath 15
In companie;
That musick summons to the knell,
Which shall befriend him at the houre of death.
When man grows staid and wise,
Getting a house and home, where he may move 2,0
Within the circle of his breath,
Schooling his eyes;
That dumbe inclosure maketh love
Unto the coffin, that attends his death.
MORTIFICATION: the process of decay, as well as the discipline of
"mortifying the flesh" by meditation on its frailties.
5 clouts: swaddling clothes; winding sheets: cloths in which
the dead are wrapped.
17-18 befriend him: by summoning others to pray for the dy-
ing man.
24 attends: accompanies; also, awaits.
Ei8»]
GEORGE HEBBERT
When age grows low and weak, 25
Marking his grave, and thawing ev'ry yeare,
Till all do melt, and drown his breath
When he would speak;
A chair or litter shows the biere,
Which shall convey him to the house of death. 30
Man, ere he is aware.
Hath put together a solemnitie,
And drest his herse, while he has breath
As yet to spare:
Yet Lord, instruct us so to die, 35
That all these dyings may be life in death.
Decay.
Sweet were the dayes, when thou. didst lodge with Lot,
Struggle with Jacob, sit with Gideon,
Advise with Abraham, when thy power could not
Encounter Moses strong complaints and mone:
Thy words were then, Let me alone. 5
One might have sought and found thee presently
At some fair oak, or bush, or cave, or well:
Is my God this way? No, they would reply:
He is to Sinai gone, as we heard tell:
List, ye may heare great Aarons bell. 10
s.g shows; foreshadows; biere: a stand for holding a coffin.
32 solemnitie: ceremony.
33 drest: prepared; herse: the framework over a coffin.
DECAY.
4 encounter: oppose.
5 See Exodus 32:10.
6 presently: immediately.
10 See Exodus 28:33-35.
[183]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
But now them dost thy self immure and close
In some one comer of a feeble heart:
Where yet both Sinne and Satan, thy old foes,
Do pinch and straiten thee, and use much art
To gain thy thirds and little part. 15
I see the world grows old, when as the heat
Of thy great love once spread, as in an urn
Doth closet up it self, and still retreat,
Cold sinne still forcing it, till it return,
And calling Justice, all things burn. 220
Jordan.
When first my lines of heav'nly joyes made mention,
Such was their lustre, tihey did so excell,
That I sought out quaint words, and trim invention;
My thoughts began to burnish, sprout, and swell,
Curling with metaphors a plain intention, 5
Decking the sense, as if it were to sell.
Thousands of notions in my brain did runne,
OfFring their service, if I were not sped:
I often blotted what I had begunne;
This was not quick enough, and that was dead. 10
Nothing could seem too rich to clothe the sunne,
Much lesse those joyes which trample on his head.
14 straiten: confine.
15 thirds: the third of a deceased husband's property to which
a widow was entitled.
JOBDAN: river of baptism: see NOTE.
3 quaint: cleverly contrived, elegant.
4 burnish: spread out.
8 were not sped: were not successful.
10 quick: alive, lively.
GEOBGE HERBERT
As flames do work and winde, when they ascend,
So did I weave my self into the sense.
But while I bustled, I might heare a friend 15
Whisper, How wide is all this long pretence!
There is in love a sweetnesse readie pennd:
Copie out onely that, and save expense.
Obedience.
My God, if writings may
Convey a Lordship any "way
Whither the buyer and the seller please;
Let it not thee displease,
If this poore paper do as much as they. 5
On it my heart doth bleed
As many lines, as there doth need
To passe it self and all it hath to thee*
To which I do agree,
And here present it as my speciall deed. 10
If that hereafter Pleasure
Cavill, and claim her part and measure,
As if this passed with a reservation,
Or some such words in fashion;
I here exclude the wrangler from thy treasure. 15
O let thy sacred will
All thy delight in me fulfilll
Let me not think an action mine own way,
But as thy love shall sway,
Resigning up the rudder to thy skilL ao
16 wide: wide of the mark; pretence: pretentious effort.
OBEDIENCE.
a Convey a Lordship: transfer title to a lord's domain.
8 passe: convey legally (note the thread of legal terms
throughout the poem).
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Lord, what is man to thee,
That thou shouldst minde a rotten tree?
Yet since thou canst not choose but see my actions;
So great are thy perfections,
Thou mayst as well my actions guide, as see. 25
Besides, thy death and bloud
Show'd a strange love to all our good:
Thy sorrows were in earnest; no faint proffer,
Or superficiall offer
Of what we might not take, or be withstood. 30
Wherefore I all forgo:
To one word onely I say, No:
Where in the deed there was an intimation
Of a gift or donation,
Lord, let it now by way of purchase go. 35
He that will passe his land,
As I have mine, may set his hand
And heart unto this deed, when he hath read;
And make the purchase spread
To both our goods, if he to it will stand. 40
How happie were my part,
If some kinde man would thrust his heart
Into these lines; till in heav'ns court of rolls
They were by winged souls
Entred for both, farre above their desert! 45
42 kinde: of kindred spirit.
43 court of rolls: the English Court of the Master of the Rolls,
which has custody of records.
GEORGE HEBBERT
Conscience.
Peace pratler, do not lowre:
Not a fair look, but thou dost call it foul:
Not a sweet dish, but thou dost call it sowre:
Musick to thee doth howL
By listning to thy chatting fears 5
I have both lost mine eyes and eares.
Pratler, no more, I say:
My thoughts must work, but like a noiselesse sphere;
Harmonious peace must rock them all the day:
No room for pratlers there. 10
If thou persistest, I will tell thee,
That I have physick to expell thee.
And the receit shall be
My Saviours bloud: when ever at his board
I do but taste it, straight it cleanseth me, 15
And leaves thee not a word;
No, not a tooth or nail to scratch,
And at my actions carp, or catch.
Yet if thou talkest still,
Besides my physick, know there's some for thee: 20
Some wood and nails to make a staffe or bill
For those that trouble me:
The bloudie crosse of my deare Lord
Is both my physick and my sword.
CONSCIENCE.
12 physick: medicine.
13 receti: formula.
14 board: table, "God's board," the Commvuiion table.
21 bill: halberd.
[187]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Sion.
Lord, with what glorie wast thou serv'd of old,
When Solomons temple stood and flourished!
Where most things were of purest gold;
The wood was all embellished
With flowers and carvings, mysticall and rare: 5
All show'd the builders, crav'd the seers care.
Yet all this glorie, all this pomp and state
Did not affect thee much, was not thy aim;
Something there was, that sow'd debate:
Wherefore thou quitt'st thy ancient claim: 10
And now thy Architecture meets with sinne;
For all thy frame and f abrick is within.
There thou art struggling with a peevish heart,
Which sometimes crosseth thee, thou sometimes it:
The fight is hard on either part. 15
Great God doth fight, he doth submit.
AH Solomons sea of brasse and world of stone
Is not so deare to thee as one good grone.
And truly brasse and stones are heavie things,
Tombes for the dead, not temples fit for thee: 20
But grones are quick, and full of wings,
And all their motions upward be;
And ever as they mount, like larks they sing;
The note is sad, yet musick for a king.
SION: the place of the Temple; see i Kings 5—7; Acts 7:47—48; i
Corinthians 3:16—17.
5 mysticall: having a secret significance.
[188]
GEORGE HERBERT
The British Church.
I joy, deare Mother, when I view
Thy perfect lineaments, and hue
Both sweet and bright.
Beautie in thee takes up her place,
And dates her letters from thy face, 5
When she doth write.
A fine aspect in fit aray,
Neither too mean, nor yet too gay,
Shows who is best.
Outlandish looks may not compare: 10
For all they either painted are,
Or else undrest.
She on the hills, which wantonly
Allureth all in hope to be
By her preferred, 15
Hath kiss'd so long her painted shrines,
That ev'n her face by kissing shines,
For her reward.
She in the valley is so shie
Of dressing, that her hair doth lie 2,0
About her eares:
THE BBITTSH CHUBCH.
5 dates her letters: by giving dates according to holy days, and
by beginning the year on Lady Day, March 25, the Feast of the
Annunciation.
10 outlandish: foreign.
15 preferred: advanced (to heaven).
[189]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
While she avoids her neighbours pride,
She wholly goes on th' other side,
And nothing wears.
But dearest Mother, (what those misse) 25
The mean thy praise and glorie is,
And long may be.
Blessed be God, whose love it was
To double-moat thee with his grace,
And none but thee. 30
The Dawning.
Awake sad heart, whom sorrow ever drowns;
Take up thine eyes, which feed on earth;
Unfold thy forehead gather'd into frowns:
Thy Saviour comes, and with him mirth:
Awake, awake; 5
And with a thankfull heart his comforts take.
But thou dost still lament, and pine, and crie;
And feel his death, but not his victorie.
Arise sad heart; if thou dost not withstand,
Christs resurrection thine may be: 10
Do not by hanging down break from the hand,
Which as it riseth, raiseth thee:
Arise, arise;
And with his buriall-linen drie thine eyes:
Christ left his grave-clothes, that we might, when grief 15
Draws tears, or bloud, not want an handkerchief.
GEORGE HERBERT
Dulnesse.
Why do I languish thus, drooping and dull,
As if I were all earth?
O give me quicknesse, that I may with mirth
Praise thee brim-fulll
The wanton lover in a curious strain 5
Can praise his fairest fair;
And with quaint metaphors her curled hair
Curl o're again.
Thou art my lovelinesse, my life, my light,
Beautie alone to me: 10
Thy bloudy death and undeserved, makes thee
Pure red and white.
When all perfections as but one appear e,
That those thy form doth show,
The very dust, where thou dost tread and go, 15
Makes beauties here;
Where are my lines then? my approaches? views?
Where are my window-songs?
Lovers are still pretending, & ev'n wrongs
Sharpen their Muse: 20
But I am lost in flesh, whose sugred lyes
Still mock me, and grow bold:
Sure thou didst put a minde there, if I could
Finde where it lies.
DULNESSE.
5 curious: intricate, elegant, finely wrought.
7 quaint: elegant, skillfully made.
19 pretending: wooing, putting themselves forward.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Lord, cleare thy gift, that with a constant wit 25
I may but look towards thee:
Look onely; for to love thee, who can be,
What angel fit?
Peace.
Sweet Peace, where dost thou dwell? I humbly crave,
Let me once know.
I sought thee in a secret cave,
And ask'd, if Peace were there.
A hollow winde did seem to answer, No: 5
Go seek elsewhere.
I did; and going did a rainbow note:
Surely, thought I,
This is the lace of Peaces coat:
I will search out the matter. 10
But while I lookt, the clouds immediately
Did break and scatter.
Then went I to a garden, and did spy
A gallant flower,
The crown Imperiall: Sure, said I, 15
Peace at the root must dwell.
But when I digg*d, I saw a worm devoure
What show'd so well.
At length I met a rev'rend good old man,
Whom when for Peace ao
I did demand; he thus began:
GEORGE HERBERT
There was a Prince of old
At Salem dwelt, who liv'd with good increase
Of flock and fold.
He sweetly liv'd; yet sweetnesse did not save 25
His life from foes.
But after death out of his grave
There sprang twelve stalks of wheat:
Which many wondring at, got some of those
To plant, and set. 30
It prosper'd strangely, and did soon disperse
Through all the earth:
For they that taste it do rehearse,
That vertue lies therein,
A secret vertue bringing peace and mirth 35
By flight of sinne.
Take of this grain, which in my garden grows,
And grows for you;
Make bread of it: and that repose
And peace which ev'ry where 40
With so much earnestnesse you do pursue,
Is onely there.
PEACE.
22—23 Prince of Salem: Melchizedek, King of Salem, regarded
as a prefiguration or "type" of Christ: see Genesis 14:18; Hebrews
7:1-2.
33 rehearse: declare.
34 vertuet healing power.
[193]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Confession.
O what a cunning guest
Is this same grief 1 within my heart I made
Closets; and in them many a chest;
And like a master in my trade,
In those chests, boxes; in each box, a till: 5
Yet grief knows all, and enters when he will.
No scrue, no piercer can
Into a piece of timber work and winde,
As Gods afflictions into man,
When he a torture hath designed. 10
They are too subtill for the subtlest hearts;
And fall, like rheumes, upon the tendrest parts.
We are the earth; and they,
Lake moles within us, heave, and cast about:
And till they foot and clutch their prey, 15
They never cool, much lesse give out.
No smith can make such locks, but they have keyes:
Closets are halls to them; and hearts, high-waves.
Onely an open breast
Doth shut them out, so that they cannot enter; 20
Or, if they enter, cannot rest,
But quickly seek some new adventure.
Smooth open hearts no fastning have; but fiction
Doth give a hold and handle to affliction.
Wherefore my faults and sinnes, 25
Lord, I acknowledge; take thy plagues away:
For since confession pardon winnes,
I challenge here the brightest day,
The clearest diamond: let them do their best,
They shall be thick and cloudie to my breast. 30
GEORGE HERBERT
The bunch of grapes.
Joy, I did lock thee up: but some bad man
Hath let thee out again:
And now, me thinks, I am where I began
Sev'n yeares ago: one vogue and vein,
One aire of thoughts usurps my brain. 5
I did toward Canaan draw; but now I am
Brought back to the Red sea, the sea of shame.
For as the Jews of old by Gods command
TravelTd, and saw no town:
So now each Christian hath his journeys spann'd: 10
Their storie pennes and sets us down.
A single deed is small renown.
Gods works are wide, and let in future times;
His ancient justice overflows our crimes.
Then have we too our guardian fires and clouds; 15
Our Scripture-dew drops fast:
We have our sands and serpents, tents and shrowds;
Alas! our murmurings come not last.
But where's the cluster? where's the taste
Of mine inheritance? Lord, if I must borrow, 20
Let me as well take up their joy, as sorrow.
But can he want the grape, who hath the wine?
I have their fruit and more.
Blessed be God, who prospered Noahs vine,
THE BXJNCH OF GRAPES: see Numbers 13:17—24; Exodus
4 vogue: general course.
5 aire: manner.
10 spann'd: measured out.
17 shrowds: shelters.
[195]
GEORGE HEBBERT
Ephes. 4. 30.
Grieve not the Holy Spirit, &c.
And art thou grieved, sweet and sacred Dove,
When I am sowre,
And crosse thy love?
Grieved for me? the God of strength and power
Griev'd for a worm, which when I tread, 5
I passe away and leave it dead?
Then weep mine eyes, the God of love doth grieve:
Weep foolish heart,
And weeping live:
For death is drie as dust. Yet if ye part, 10
End as the night, whose sable hue
Your sinnes expresse; melt into dew.
When sawcie mirth shall knock or call at doore,
Cry out, Get hence,
Or cry no more. 15
Almightie God doth grieve, he puts on sense:
I sinne not to my grief alone,
But to my Gods too; he doth grone.
Oh take thy lute, and tune it to a strain,
Which may with thee 2,0
All day complain.
There can no discord but in ceasing be.
Marbles can weep; and surely strings
More bowels have, then such hard things.
GBDETVE NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT, &C.
16 sense: capability o£ feeling (pain).
2,4 bowels: regarded in biblical usage as the source of emotions
such as pity; here with a play on the use of gut strings in instru-
ments.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Lord, I adjudge my self to tears and grief, 25
Ev'n endlesse tears
Without relief .
If a cleare spring for me no time forbears,
But runnes, although I be not drie;
I am no Crystall, what shall I? 30
Yet if I wail not still, since still to wail
Nature denies;
And flesh would fail,
If my deserts were masters of mine eyes:
Lord, pardon, for thy sonne makes good 35
My want of tears with store of bloud.
The Familie.
What doth this noise of thoughts within my heart
As if they had a part?
What do these loud complaints and puling fears,
As if there were no rule or eares?
But, Lord, the house and familie are thine, 5
Though some of them repine.
Turn out these wranglers, which defile thy seat:
For where thou dwellest all is neat.
First Peace and Silence all disputes controll,
Then Order plaies the soul; 10
And giving all things their set forms and houres,
Makes of wilde woods sweet walks and bowres.
Humble Obedience neare the doore doth stand,
Expecting a command:
THE FAMTTJF.
14 expecting-, awaiting.
GEORGE HEBBERT
Then whom in waiting nothing seems more slow, 15
Nothing more quick when she doth go.
Joyes oft are there, and griefs as oft as joyes;
But griefs without a noise:
Yet speak they louder, then distempered fears.
What is so shrill as silent tears? 2,0
This is thy house, with these it doth abound:
And where these are not found,
Perhaps thou com'st sometimes, and for a day;
But not to make a constant stay.
The Pilgrimage.
I travelTd on, seeing the hill, where lay
My expectation.
A long it was and weary way.
The gloomy cave of Desperation
I left on th* one, and on the other side 5
The rock of Pride.
And so I came to phansies medow strow'd
With many a flower:
Fain would I here have made abode,
But I was quickened by my houre. 10
So to cares cops I came, and there got through
With much ado.
19 distempered: disordered, immoderate.
THE PILGRIMAGE.
7 phansies: fancy, love; or fantasy, poetic imagination.
9 Pain: gladly.
11 cops: copse, grove.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
That led me to the wilde of passion, which
Some call the wold;
A wasted place, but sometimes rich. 15
Here I was robb'd of all my gold,
Save one good Angell, which a friend had tf d
Close to my side.
At length I got unto the gladsome hill,
Where lay my hope, 20
Where lay my heart; and climbing still,
When I had gain'd the brow and top,
A lake of brackish waters on the ground
Was all I found.
With that abash'd and struck with many a sting 25
Of swarming fears,
I fell, and cry'd, Alas my King;
Can both the way and end be tears?
Yet taking heart I rose, and then perceived
I was deceiv'd: 30
My hill was further: so I flung away,
Yet heard a crie
Just as I went, None goes that way
And lives: If that be all, said I,
After so foul a journey death is fair, 35
And but a chair,
13 passion: suffering.
14 wold: deserted, hilly, open country.
17 Angell: a gold coin; also here, a guardian angeL
36 chair: a chair-litter.
[200]
GEORGE HERBERT
Praise.
King of Glorie, King of Peace,
I will love thee:
And that love may never cease,
I will move thee.
Thou hast granted my request, 5
Thou hast heard me:
Thou didst note my working breast,
Thou hast spar'd me.
Wherefore with my utmost art
I will sing thee, 10
And the cream of all my heart
I -will bring thee.
Though my sinnes against me cried,
Thou didst clear e me;
And alone, when they replied, 15
Thou didst heare me.
Sev'n whole dayes, not one in seven*
I will praise thee.
In my heart, though not in heaven,
I can raise thee. ao
Thou grew'st soft and moist -with tears,
Thou relentedst:
And when Justice calTd for fears,
Thou dissentedst.
Small it is, in this poore sort »5
To enroll thee:
Ev'n eternitie is too short
To extoll thee.
[aoi]
THE IvlEI>ITATTVE POEM
Longing.
With sick and f amisht eyes,
With doubling knees and weary bones,
To thee my cries,
To thee my grones,
To thee my sighs, my tears ascend: 5
No end?
My throat, my soul is hoarse;
My heart is wither'd like a ground
Which thou dost curse.
My thoughts turn round, 10
And make me giddie; Lord, I fall,
Yet call.
From thee all pitie flows.
Mothers are kinde, because thou art,
And dost dispose 15
To them a part:
Their infants, them; and they suck thee
More free.
Bowels of pitie, hearel
Lord of my soul, love of my minde, 2,0
Bow down thine earel
Let not the winde
Scatter my words, and in the same
Thy name!
[ 2.02, ]
GEORGE HERBERT
Look on my sorrows round! 25
Mark well my furnace! O what flames,
What heats abound!
What griefs, what shames!
Consider, Lord; Lord, bow thine eare,
And hearel 30
Lord Jesu, thou didst bow
Thy dying head upon the tree:
O be not now
More dead to me!
Lord heare! Shall he that made the eare, 35
Not heare?
Behold, thy dust doth stirre,
It moves, it creeps, it aims at thee:
Wilt thou def erre
To succour me, 40
Thy pile of dust, wherein each crumme
Sayes, Come?
To thee help appertains.
Hast thou left all things to their course,
And laid the reins 45
Upon the horse?
Is all lockt? hath a sinners plea
No key?
Indeed the world's thy book,
Where all things have their leafe assign'd: 50
Yet a meek look
Hath interlin'd.
Thy board is full, yet humble guests
Finde nests.
LONGING.
2,6 furnace: the "furnace of affliction": Isaiah 48:10.
35-36 See Psalm 94:9.
[203]
^dGEDTX ATI V Jhl POEM
Thou tarriest, while I die, 55
And fall to nothing: thou dost reigne,
And rule on high,
While I remain
In bitter grief: yet am I stiTd
Thy childe. 60
Lord, didst thou leave thy throne,
Not to relieve? how can it be,
That thou art grown
Thus hard to me?
Were sinne alive, good cause there were 65
To bear.
But now both sinne is dead,
And all thy promises live and bide.
That wants his head;
These speak and chide, 70
And in thy bosome poure my tears,
As theirs.
Lord J E s u , heare my heart,
Which hath been broken now so long,
That ev'ry part 75
Hath got a tongue!
Thy beggars grow; rid them away
To day.
My love, my sweetnesse, heare!
By these thy feet, at which my heart 80
Lies all the yeare,
Pluck out thy dart,
And heal my troubled breast which cryes,
Which dyes.
[204]
GEORGE HERBERT
The Bag.
Away despair; my gracious Lord doth heare.
Though windes and waves assault my keel,
He doth preserve it: he doth steer,
Ev'n when the boat seems most to reel.
Storms are the triumph of his art: 5
Well may he close his eyes, but not his heart.
Hast thou not heard, that my Lord JESUS di'd?
Then let me tell thee a strange storie.
The God of power, as he did ride
In his majestick robes of glorie, 10
Resolv'd to light; and so one day
He did descend, undressing all the way.
The starres his tire of light and rings obtained,
The cloud his bow, the fire his spear,
The sky his azure mantle gained. 15
And when they ask'd, what he "would wear;
He smiTd and said as he did go,
He had new clothes a making here below.
When he was come, as travellers are wont,
He did repair unto an inne. 20
Both then, and after, many a brunt
He did endure to cancell sinne:
And having giv'n the rest before,
Here he gave up his life to pay our score.
THE BAG: in The Temple, as here, this poem immediately follows
"Longing," as its answer; Bag: mailbag.
6 close his eyes: see Matthew 8:24-26.
13 tire: headdress.
[205]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
But as he was returning, there came one 25
That ran upon him with a spear.
He, who came hither all alone,
Bringing nor man, nor arms, nor fear,
Received the blow upon his side,
And straight he turn'd, and to his brethren cry'd, 30
If ye have any thing to send or write,
(I have no bag, but here is room)
Unto my fathers hands and sight
(Beleeve me) it shall safely come.
That I shall minde, what you impart; 35
Look, you may put it very neare my heart.
Or if hereafter any of my friends
Will use me in this kinde, the doore
Shall still be open; what he sends
I will present, and somewhat more, 40
Not to his hurt. Sighs will convey
Any thing to me. Heark despair, away.
The Collar.
I struck the board, and cry'd, No more.
I will abroad.
What? shall I ever sigh and pine?
My lines and life are free; free as the rode,
Loose as the winde, as large as store. 5
Shall I be still in suit?
Have I no harvest but a thorn
To let me bloud, and not restore
What I have lost with cordiall fruit?
Sure there was wine 10
THE COLLAR.
i board: table, with overtones of "God's board," as in "Con-
science," line 14, and "Longing," line 53.
[206]
GEOHGE EEBBERT
Before my sighs did drie it: there was corn
Before my tears did drown it.
Is the yeare onely lost to me?
Have I no bayes to crown it?
No flowers, no garlands gay? all blasted? 15
All wasted?
Not so, my heart: but there is fruit,
And thou hast hands.
Recover all thy sigh-blown age
On double pleasures: leave thy cold dispute 20
Of what is fit, and not. Forsake thy cage,
Thy rope of sands,
Which pettie thoughts have made, and made to thee
Good cable, to enforce and draw,
And be thy law, 25
While thou didst wink and wouldst not see.
Away; take heed:
I will abroad.
Call in thy deaths head there: tie up thy fears.
He that forbears 30
To suit and serve his need,
Deserves his load.
But as I rav'd and grew more fierce and wilde
At every word,
Me thoughts I heard one calling, Childe: 35
And I reply'd, My Lord.
The Priesthood.
Blest Order, which in power dost so excell,
That with th' one hand thou liftest to the sky,
And with the other throwest down to hell
In thy just censures; fain would I draw nigh,
11 corn: grain.
14 bayes: laurels.
26 wink: close the eyes.
[207]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Fain put thee on, exchanging my lay-sword 5
For that of th' holy word.
But thou art fire, sacred and hallo w'd fire;
And I but earth and clay: should I presume
To wear thy habit, the severe attire
My slender compositions might consume. 10
I am both foul and brittle; much unfit
To deal in holy Writ.
Yet have I often seen, by cunning hand
And force of fire, what curious things are made
Of wretched earth. Where once I scorn'd to stand, 15
That earth is fitted by the fire and trade
Of skilfull artists, for the boards of those
Who make the bravest shows.
But since those great ones, be they ne re so great,
Come from the earth, from whence those vessels come; 2,0
So that at once both feeder, dish, and meat
Have one beginning and one finall summe:
I do not greatly wonder at the sight,
If earth in earth delight.
But th* holy men of God such vessels are, 25
As serve him up, who all the world commands:
When God vouchsafeth to become our fare,
Their hands convey him, who conveys their hands.
O what pure things, most pure must those things be,
Who bring my God to me! 30
-THE PRIESTHOOD.
9 habit: clothing.
14 curious: exquisite.
18 bravest: most splendid.
21 meat: food.
[208]
GEORGE HERBERT
Wherefore I dare not, I, put forth my hand
To hold the Ark, although it seem to shake
Through th* old sinnes and new doctrines of our land.
Onely, since God doth often vessels make
Of lowly matter for high uses meet, 35
I throw me at his feet.
There will I lie, until] my Maker seek
For some mean stuffe whereon to show his skill:
Then is my time. The distance of the meek
Doth flatter power. Lest good come short of ill 40
In praising might, the poore do by submission
What pride by opposition.
The Search.
Whither, O, whither art thou fled,
My Lord, my Love?
My searches are my daily bread;
Yet never prove.
My knees pierce th* earth, mine eies the side; 5
And yet the sphere
And centre both to me denie
That thou art there.
Yet can I mark how herbs below
Grow green and gay, 10
As if to meet thee they did know,
While I decay.
32. Ark: See 2, Samuel 6:6; i Chronicles 13:9.
35 meet: suitable.
THE SEARCH.
4 prove: succeed.
6 sphere: heavens.
7 centre: earth.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Yet can I mark how starres above
Simper and shine,
As having keyes unto thy love, 15
While poore I pine.
I sent a sigh to seek thee out,
Deep drawn in pain,
Wing'd like an arrow: but my scout
Returns in vain. 20
I tun'd another (having store)
Into a grone;
Because the search was dumbe before:
But all was one.
Lord, dost thou some new fabrick mold 25
Which favour winnes,
And keeps thee present, leaving th3 old
Unto their sinnes?
Where is my God? what hidden place
Conceals thee still? , 30
What covert dare eclipse thy face?
Is it thy wul?
O let not that of any thing;
Let rather brasse,
Or steel, or mountains be thy ring, 35
And I will passe.
Thy will such an intrenching is,
As passeth thought:
To it all strength, all subtilties
Are things of nought. 40
14 Simper: twinkle.
31 covert; covering.
33 "Oh, of all things, do not permit that" (i.e., that your
should come between us).
35 ring: fence.
[sio]
GEORGE HERBERT
Thy will such a strange distance is,
As that to it
East and West touch, the poles do kisse,
And parallels meet.
Since then my grief must be as large, 45
As is thy space,
Thy distance from me; see my charge,
Lord, see my case.
O take these barres, these lengths away;
Turn, and restore me: 50
Be not Almightie, let me say,
Against, but for me.
When thou dost turn, and wilt be neare;
What edge so keen,
What point so piercing can appeare 55
To come between?
For as thy absence dotih. excell
All distance known:
So doth thy nearenesse bear the bell,
Making two one. 60
The Crosse.
What is this strange and uncouth thing?
To make me sigh, and seek, and faint, and die,
Untill I had some place, where I might sing,
And serve thee; and not onely I,
But all my wealth, and f amilie might combine
To set thy honour up, as our designe.
47 charge: burden.
59 bear the bell: take first place.
THE CROSSE.
i uncouth: unusual.
[an]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
And then when after much delay,
Much wrastling, many a combate, this deare end,
So much desir'd, is giv'n, to take away
My power to serve thee; to unbend 10
All my abilities, my designes confound,
And lay my threatnings bleeding on the ground.
One ague dwelleth in my bones,
Another in my soul (the memorie
What I would do for thee, if once my grones 15
Could be allow'd for harmonie) ;
I am in all a weak disabled thing,
Save in the sight thereof, where strength doth sting.
Besides, things sort not to my will,
Ev'n when my will doth studie thy renown: 2,0
Thou turnest th' edge of all things on me still,
Taking me up to throw me down:
So that, ev*n when my hopes seem to be sped,
I am to grief alive, to them as dead.
To have my aim, and yet to be 25
Farther from it then when I bent my bow;
To make my hopes my torture, and the fee
Of all my woes another wo,
Is in the midst of delicates to need,
And ev'n in Paradise to be a weed. 30
Ah my deare Father, ease my smartl
These contrarieties crush me: these crosse actions
is threatnings: vows.
18 "I am altogether weak except when I contemplate the cross;
but its strength spurs me to action" (Hutchinson).
19 sort not to: do not turn out in accord with.
29 delicates: luxuries.
32 crosse: perverse.
GEORGE HERBERT
Doe winde a rope about, and cut my heart:
And yet since these thy contradictions
Are properly a crosse felt by thy sonne, 35
With but foure words, my words, Thy will be done.
The Flower.
How fresh, O Lord, how sweet and clean
Are thy returnsl ev'n as the flowers in spring;
To which, besides their own demean.
The late-past frosts tributes of pleasure bring.
Grief melts away 5
Like snow in May,
As if there were no such cold thing.
Who would have thought my shrivel'd heart
Could have recovered greennesse? It was gone
Quite under ground; as flowers depart 10
To see their mother-root, when they have blown;
Where they together
All the hard weather,
Dead to the world, keep house unknown.
These are thy wonders, Lord of power, 15
Killing and quickning, bringing down to hell
Ajid up to heaven in an houre;
Making a chiming of a passing-belL
We say amisse,
This or that is: 20
Thy word is all, if we could spelL
THE FLOWER.
3 demean: demeanor, appearance; also, demesne, estate.
11 blown: bloomed.
18 "Making a harmony of bells, instead of the tolling of the
death belL"
THE MEDITATrSTE POEM
0 that I once past changing were,
Fast in thy Paradise, where no flower can wither!
Many a spring I shoot up fair,
OfEring at heav'n, growing and groning thither: 25
Nor doth my flower
Want a spring-showre,
My sinnes and I joining together:
But while I grow in a straight line,
Still upwards bent, as if heav'n were mine own, 30
Thy anger comes, and I decline:
What frost to that? what pole is not the zone,
Where all things burn,
When thou dost turn,
And the least frown of thine is shown? 35
And now in age I bud again,
After so many deaths I live and write;
1 once more smell the dew and rain,
And relish versing: O my onely light,
It cannot be 40
That I am he
On whom thy tempests fell all night.
These are thy wonders, Lord of love,
To make us see we are but flowers that glide:
Which when we once can finde and prove, 45
Thou hast a garden for us, where to bide.
Who would be more,
Swelling through store,
Forfeit their Paradise by their pride.
GEORGE HEBBERT
The Glance.
When first thy sweet and gracious eye
Vouchsafe! ev'n in the midst of youth and night
To look upon me, who before did lie
Weltring in sinne;
I felt a sugred strange delight, 5
Passing all cordials made by any art,
Bedew, embalme, and overrunne my heart,
And take it in.
Since that time many a bitter storm
My soul hath felt, ev'n able to destroy, 10
Had the malicious and ill-meaning harm
His swing and sway:
But still thy sweet originall joy
Sprung from thine eye, did work within my soul,
And surging griefs, when they grew bold, controll, 15
And got the day.
If thy first glance so powerfull be,
A mirth but open'd and seal'd up again;
What wonders shall we feel, when we shall see
Thy full-e/d love! 20
When thou shalt look us out of pain,
And one aspect of thine spend in delight
More then a thousand sunnes disburse in light,
In heav'n above.
THE GLANCE.
7 embalme: anoint with balm.
2,z aspect: glance.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Marie Magdalene.
When blessed Marie wip'd her Saviours feet,
(Whose precepts she had trampled on before)
And wore them for a Jewell on her head,
Shewing his steps should be the street,
Wherein she thenceforth evermore 5
With pensive humblenesse would live and tread:
She being stain'd her self, why did she strive
To make him clean, who could not be defiTd?
Why kept she not her tears for her own faults,
And not his feet? Though we could dive 10
In tears like seas, our sinnes are piTd
Deeper then they, in words, and works, and thoughts.
Deare soul, she knew who did vouchsafe and deigne
To bear her filth; and that her sinnes did dash
Ev'n God himself: wherefore she was not loth, 15
As she had brought wherewith to stain,
So to bring in wherewith to wash:
And yet in washing one, she washed both.
The Odour, 2. Cor. 2.
How sweetly doth My Master soundl My Master!
As Amber-greese leaves a rich sent
Unto the taster:
So do these words a sweet content,
An orientall fragrancie, My Master,
GEORGE HERBERT
With these all day I do perfume my minde,
My minde ev'n thrust into them both;
That I might finde
What cordials make this curious broth,
This broth of smells, that feeds and fats my minde. 10
My Master, shall I speak? O that to thee
My servant were a little so,
As flesh may be;
That these two words might creep & grow
To some degree o£ spicinesse to thee! 15
Then should the Pomander, which was before
A speaking sweet, mend by reflection,
And tell me more:
For pardon of my imperfection
Would warm and work it sweeter then before. 20
For when My Master, which alone is sweet,
And ev'n in my unworthinesse pleasing,
Shall call and meet,
My servant, as thee not displeasing,
That call is but the breathing of the sweet. 25
This breathing would with gains by sweetning me
(As sweet things trafEck when they meet)
Return to thee.
And so this new commerce and sweet
Should all my Me employ, and busie me, 30
THE ODOUR.
16 Pomander: a ball or box of perfumed substances.
2,7 troffick: carry on negotiations.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
The Forerunners.
The harbingers are come. See, see their mark;
White is their colour, and behold my head.
But must they have my brain? must they dispark
Those sparkling notions, which therein were bred?
Must dulnesse turn me to a clod? 5
Yet have they left me, Thou art still my God.
Good men ye be, to leave me my best room,
Ev'n all my heart, and what is lodged there:
I passe not, I, what of the rest become,
So Thou art still my God, be out of fear. 10
He will be pleased with that dittie;
And if I please him, I write fine and wittie.
Farewell sweet phrases, lovely metaphors.
But will ye leave me thus? when ye before
Of stews and brothels onely knew the doores, 15
Then did I wash you with my tears, and more,
Brought you to Church well drest and clad:
My God must have my best, ev'n all I had.
CHE FORERUNNERS.
I harbingers: officials sent before a royal journey to requisition
odgings by marking doors with chalk.
3 dispark: dispossess of a park or country estate; with a play
m "dis-spark."
6 See Psalm 31:14.
9 passe: care.
II dittie: words for a song.
15 stews: houses of ill-fame.
GEORGE HERBERT
Lovely enchanting language, sugar-cane,
Hony of roses, whither wilt thou flie? 2,0
Hath some fond lover tic'd thee to thy bane?
And wilt thou leave the Church, and love a stie?
Fie, thou wilt soil thy broider'd coat,
And hurt thy self, and him that sings tbe note.
Let foolish lovers, if they will love dung, 25
With canvas, not with arras clothe their shame:
Let f ollie speak in her own native tongue.
True beautie dwells on high: ours is a flame
But borrow'd thence to light us thither.
Beautie and beauteous words should go together. 30
Yet if you go, I passe not; take your way:
For, Thou art still my God, is all that ye
Perhaps with more embellishment can say,
Go birds of spring: let winter have his fee,
Let a bleak palenesse chalk the doore, 35
So all within be livelier then before.
The Invitation.
Come ye hither all, whose taste
Is your waste;
Save your cost, and mend your fare.
God is here prepar'd and drest,
And the feast,
God, in whom all dainties are.
Come ye hither all, whom wine
Doth define,
Naming you not to your good:
21 fond: infatuated, foolish; bane: destruction.
26 arras: fine tapestry.
THE MEDITATIVE POEMT
Weep what ye have drunk amisse, 10
And drink this,
Which before ye drink is blond.
Come ye hither all, whom pain
Doth arraigne,
Bringing all your sinrtes to sight: 15
Taste and fear not: God is here
In this cheer,
And on sinne doth cast the fright.
Come ye hither all, whom joy
Doth destroy, s,o
While ye graze without your bounds:
Here is joy that drowneth quite
Your delight,
As a floud the lower grounds.
Come ye hither all, whose love 125
Is your dove,
And exalts you to the side:
Here is love, which having breath
Ev'n in death,
After death can never die. 30
Lord I have invited all,
And I shall
Still invite, still call to thee:
For it seems but just and right
In my sight, 35
Where is all, there all should be.
GEORGE HERBERT
The Banquet.
Welcome sweet and sacred cheer,
Welcome deare;
With me, in me, live and dwell:
For thy neatnesse passeth sight,
Thy delight 5
Passeth tongue to taste or telL
O what sweetnesse from the bowl
Fills my soul,
Such as is, and makes divine!
Is some starre (fled from the sphere) 10
Melted there,
As we sugar melt in wine?
Or hath sweetnesse in the bread
Made a head
To subdue the smell of sinne; 15
Flowers, and gummes, and powders giving
All their living,
Lest the enemie should winne?
Doubtlesse, neither starre nor flower
Hath the power ao
Such a sweetnesse to impart:
Onely God, who gives perfumes,
Flesh assumes,
And with it perfumes my heart.
THE BANQXJET.
4 neatnesse: beauty in order and form.
14 Made a head: created a force.
^dDEDITATTVE
But as Pomanders and wood 25
Still are good,
Yet being bruis'd are better sented:
God, to show how f arre his love
Could improve,
Here, as broken, is presented. 30
When I had forgot my birth,
And on earth
In delights of earth was drown'd;
God took bloud, and needs would be
Spilt with me, 35
And so found me on the ground.
Having rais'd me to look up,
In a cup
Sweetly he doth meet my taste.
But I still being low and short, 40
Farre from court,
Wine becomes a wing at last.
For with it alone I flie
To the skie:
Where I wipe mine eyes, and see 45
What I seek, for what I sue;
Him I view,
Who hath done so much for me.
Let the wonder of this pitie
Be my dittie, 50
And take up my lines and life:
Hearken under pain of death,
Hands and breath;
Strive in this, and love the strife.
[2,2,2,]
GEORGE HERBERT
A Parodie.
Souls joy, when thou ait gone,
And I alone,
Which cannot be,
Because thou dost abide with me,
And I depend on thee; 5
Yet when thou dost suppresse
The cheerfulnesse
Of thy abode,
And in my powers not stirre abroad,
Eut leave me to my load: 10
O what a damp and shade
Doth me invade!
No stonnie night
Can so afflict or so affright,
As thy eclipsed light. 15
Ah LordI do not withdraw,
Lest want of aw
Make Sinne appeare;
And when thou dost but shine lesse cleare,
Say, that thou art not here, 20
And then what life I have,
While Sinne doth rave,
And falsly boast,
That I may seek, but thou art lost;
Thou and alone thou know'st 25
O what a deadly cold
Doth me infold!
I half beleeve,
That Sinne sayes true: but while I grieve,
Thou com'st and dost relieve. 30
A PARODIE: see NOTE.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
r n
Song.
(Attributed to the Earl of Pembroke.)
Soules joy, now I am gone,
And you alone,
(Which cannot be,
Since I must leave my self e with thee,
And carry thee with me) 5
Yet when unto our eyes
Absence denyes
Each others sight,
And makes to us a constant night,
When others change to light; 10
O give no way to grief e,
But let beliefe
Of mutuall love,
This wonder to the vulgar prove
Our Bodges, not wee move. 15
Let not thy wit beweepe
Wounds but sense-deepe,
For when we misse
By distance our lipp-joyning blisse,
Even then our soules shall kisse. 20
Fooles have no meanes to meet,
But by their feet.
Why should our clay,
Over our spirits so much sway,
To tie us to that way? 25
O give no way to grief e, i?c.
L J
[2*4]
GEORGE HEBBEBT
The Elixer.
Teach me, my God and King,
In all things thee to see,
And what I do in any thing,
To do it as for thee:
Not rudely, as a beast, 5
To runne into an action;
But still to make thee prepossest,
And give it his perfection.
A man that looks on glasse,
On it may stay his eye; 10
Or if he pleaseth, through it passe,
And then the heav'n espie.
All may of thee partake:
Nothing can be so mean,
Which with his tincture (for thy sake) 15
Will not grow bright and clean.
A servant with this clause
Makes drudgerie divine:
Who sweeps a room, as for thy laws,
Makes that and th' action fine. 20
THE ELIXER : in alchemy, a preparation having the power to change
metals into gold; identified with the "philosopher's stone."
15 tincture: in alchemy, an infused principle or substance; for
thy sake: see Matthew 10:39.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
This is the famous stone
That turneth all to gold:
For that which God doth touch and own
Cannot for lesse be told.
Death.
Death, thou wast once an uncouth hideous thing,
Nothing but bones,
The sad effect of sadder grones:
Thy mouth was open, but thou couldst not sing.
For we considered thee as at some six 5
Or ten yeares hence,
After the losse of life and sense,
Flesh being turn'd to dust, and bones to sticks.
We lookt on this side of thee, shooting short;
Where we did finde 10
The shells of fledge souls left behinde,
Dry dust, which sheds no tears, but may extort.
But since our Saviours death did put some bloud
Into thy face;
Thou art grown fair and full of grace, 15
Much in request, much sought for, as a good.
For we do now behold thee gay and glad,
As at dooms-day;
When souls shall wear their new aray,
And all thy bones with beautie shall be clad. 20
23 touch: with a touchstone, used to test the purity of gold.
24 told: reckoned, counted.
DEATH.
11 -fledge: fledged, ready for flight.
[2,2,6]
GEORGE HERBERT
Therefore we can go die as sleep, and trust
Half that we have
Unto an honest f aithfull grave;
Making our pillows either down, or dust.
Judgement.
Almightie Judge, how shall poore wretches brook
Thy dreadfull look,
Able a heart of iron to appall,
When thou shalt call
For ev'ry mans peculiar book? 5
What others mean to do, I know not well;
Yet I heare tell,
That some will turn thee to some leaves therein
So void of sinne,
That they in merit shall excel!. 10
But I resolve, when thou shalt call for mine.
That to decline,
And thrust a Testament into thy hand:
Let that be scannM.
There thou shalt finde my faults are thine. 15
Heaven.
O who will show me those delights on high?
Echo. I.
Thou Echo, thou art mortall, all men know.
Echo. No.
JUDGEMENT.
5 peculiar book: individual book of accounts.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Wert them not born among the trees and leaves? 5
Echo. Leaves.
And are there any leaves, that still abide?
Echo. Bide.
What leaves are they? impart the matter wholly.
Echo. Holy. 10
Are holy leaves the Echo then of blisse?
Echo. Yes.
Then tell me, what is that supreme delight?
Echo. Light.
Light to the minde: what shall the will enjoy? 15
Echo. Jog.
But are there cares and businesse with the pleasure?
Echo. Leisure.
Light, joy, and leisure; but shall they persever?
Echo. Ever. 20
Love (III).
Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,
Guiltie of dust and sinne.
But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning, 5
If I lacked any thing.
A guest, I answer'd, worthy to be here:
Love said, you shall be he.
I the unkinde, ungratefull? Ah my deare,
I cannot look on thee. 10
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
Who made the eyes but I?
:LOVE (me): see NOTE.
[228]
GEORGE HEBBERT
Truth Lord, but I have marr'd them: let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.
And know you not, sayes Love, who bore the blame? 15
My deare, then I will serve.
You must sit down, sayes Love, and taste my meat:
So I did sit and eat.
L/Envoy*
King of glorie, King of peace,
With the one make warre to cease;
With the other blesse thy sheep,
Thee to love, in thee to sleep.
Let not Sinne devoure thy fold, 5
Bragging that thy bloud is cold,
That thy death is also dead,
While his conquests dayly spread;
That thy flesh hath lost his food,
And thy Crosse is common wood, 10
Choke him, let him say no more,
But reserve his breath in store,
Till thy conquests and his fall
Make his sighs to use it aU,
And then bargain with the winde 15
To discharge what is behinde.
FRANCIS QUARLES
1592-1644
From EMBLEMES (1635)
To the Reader
An Embleme is but a silent Parable. Let not the tender Eye
checke, to see the allusion to our blessed SAVIOUR figured,
in these Types. In holy Scripture, He is sometimes called a
Sower; sometimes, a Fisher; sometimes, a Physitian: And why
not presented so, as well to the eye, as to the eare? Before
the knowledge of letters, GOD was knowne by Hierogliphicks;
And, indeed, what are the Heavens, the Earth, nay every
Creature, but Hierogliphicks and Emblemes of His Glory? I
have no more to say. I wish thee as much pleasure in the
reading, as I had in the writing. Farewell Reader.
[233]
?bfai,£
FIG-ORE 5. Adapted from Quarles's Ewblemes, Book a, Em-
blem VII.
FRANCIS QUABLES
Book 2, Emblem VII.
Deut. XXX.XIX.
I have set before thee life and death, blessing
and cursing, therefore choose life, that thou
and thy seed may live.
The world's a Floore, whose swelling heapes retaine
The mingled wages of the Ploughmans toyle;
The world's a Heape, whose yet unwinnowed graine
Is lodg'd with chaffe and buried in her soyle;
All things are mixt; the usefull with the vaine; 5
The good with bad; the noble with the vile;
The world's an Ark, wherein things pure and grosse
Present their lossefull gaine, and gainfull losse,
Where ev'ry dram of Gold containes a pound of drosse.
BOOK a, EMBLEM VH.
i Floore: threshing floor.
4 soyle: dirty or waste matter.
7 Ark: chest, coffer.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
This furnisht Ark presents the greedy view 10
With all that earth can give, or heav'n can add;
Here, lasting joyes; here, pleasures hourely new,
And hourely fading, may be wisht and had:
All points of Honour; counterfeit and true
Salute thy soule, and wealth both good and bad: 15
Here maist thou open wide the two-leav'd doore
Of all thy wishes, to receive that store
Which being emptied most; does overflow the more.
Come then, my soule, approach this royall Burse,
And see what wares our great Exchange retaines; 20
Come, come; here's that shall make a firme diverse
Betwixt thy Wants and thee, if want complaines;
No need to sit in councell with thy purse,
Here's nothing, good, shall cost more price than paines;
But O my soule, take heed; If thou relie 25
Upon thy faithlesse Opticks, thou wilt buy
Too blind a bargaine: know; Fooles onely trade by th' Eye.
The worldly wisdome of the foolish man
Is like a Sive, that does, alone, retaine
The grosser substance of the worthlesse Bran; 30
10 furnisht: fully stocked.
15 Salute: greet.
19 Burse: Exchange.
26 Opticks: eyes.
[236]
FKANCIS QUABLES
But thou, my soule, let thy brave thoughts disdaine
So course a purchace; O, be thou a Fan
To purge the Chaffe, and keep the winnowed Graine;
Make cleane thy thoughts, and dresse thy mixt desires;
Thou art heav'ns Tasker; and thy GOD requires 35
The purest of thy Floore, as well as of thy fires.
Let Grace conduct thee to the paths of peace,
And wisdome blesse thy soule's unblemisht wayes,
No matter, then, how short or long's the Lease,
Whose date determins thy selfe-numbred dayes; 40
No need to care for wealths or Fames increase,
Nor Mars his Palme, nor high Apollos Bayes:
LORD, If thy gracious bounty please to fill
The floore of my desires, and teach me skill
To dresse and chuse the Corn, take those the Chaffe that 43
will.
31 braoei excellent, fine.
34 dresse: cleanse.
35 Tasker: one paid for work by the piece (task).
40 determins: ends.
45 Corn: grain.
[237]
••-:N3$sfezv?£*K* ^-^K'.' ,*: .-- .- •".-• •- -
OwrelcheJ Tflwi that I ami who
deliver rnejrom the tocfy ofthi?
wmjjmftson
t -7
FIGURE 6. Adapted from Quarles's Emblemes, Book 5, Em-
blem VIU.
FRANCIS QUABLES
Book 5, Emblem VIII.
Rom. VII.XXIV.
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver
me from the body of this death?
Behold thy darling, which thy lustfull care
Pampers; for which thy restlesse thoughts prepare
Such early Cares; For whom thy bubbling brow
So often sweats, and bankrupt eyes do owe
Such midnight scores to Nature, for whose sake 5
Base earth is Sainted, the Inf email Lake
Unf earM; the Crowne of Glory poorely rated;
Thy GOD neglected, and thy brother hated:
Behold thy darling, whom thy soule affects
So dearely; whom thy fond Indulgence decks 10
And puppets up in soft, in silken weeds:
Behold thy darling, whom thy f ondnesse feeds
With farre-fetch'd delicates, the deare-bought gaines
Of ill-spent Time, the price of halfe thy paines:
Behold thy darling, who, when clad by Thee, 15
Derides thy nakednesse; and, when most free,
Proclaimes her lover, slave; and, being fed
Most full, then strikes th* indulgent Feeder dead:
What meanst thou thus, my poore deluded soule,
To love so fondly? Can the burning Cole 20
BOOK 5, EMBLEM VUL
5 scores: debts.
9 affects: loves.
10 fond: foolishly affectionate.
11 puppets tip: dresses up like a doll or idol; weeds: garments.
[239]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Of thy Affection last without the fueU
Of counter-love? Is thy Compere so cruell,
And thou so kind, to love unlovM againe?
Canst thou sow favours, and thus reape disdaine?
Remember, O remember thou art borne 25
Of royall blood; remember, thou art sworne
A Maid of Honour in the Court of Heav'n;
Remember what a costly price was giv'n
To ransome thee from slavery thou wert in;
And wilt thou now, my soule, turne slave agin? 30
The Son and Heire to Heav'ns triune IEHOVE
Would faine become a Suitor for thy Love,
And offers for thy dow'r, his Fathers Throne,
To sit, for Seraphims to gaze upon;
Heel give thee Honour, Pleasure, Wealth, and Things 35
Transcending farre the Majesty of Kings:
And wilt thou prostrate to the odious charmes
Of this base Scullion? Shall his hollow Armes
Hugg thy soft sides? Shall these course hands untie
The sacred Zone of thy Virginitie? 40
For shame, degen'rous soule, let thy desire
Be quickned up with more heroick fire;
Be wisely proud; let thy ambitious eye
Read nobler objects; let thy thoughts defie
Such am'rous basenesse; Let thy soule disdaine 45
Th* ignoble prefers of so base a Swaine;
2,2, Compere: companion.
32, faine: gladly, willingly.
40 Zone: girdle, belt
[240]
FRANCIS QXJAKLES
Or if thy vowes be past, and Himens bands
Have ceremonyed your unequall hands,
Annull, at least avoid thy lawlesse Act
With insufBcience, or a Precontract: 50
Or if the Act be good, yet maist thou plead
A second Freedome; for the flesh is dead.
47 Himens bands: bonds of marriage (Hymen: god of mar-
riage).
49 avoid: make void; Act: decree.
50 insufficience: inability to fulfill requirements.
51 good: legally binding.
out of Prjfon that f
tfy Name
FIGURE 7. Adapted from Quarles's Emblemes, Book 5, Em-
blem X.
FRANCIS QUABUES
Book 5, Emblem X.
PsaL CXLn.VII.
Bring my soule out of prison, that 1 may
praise thy Name.
My Soule is like a Bird; my Flesh, the Cage;
Wherein, slie weares her weary Pilgrimage
Of houres as few as evill, daily fed
With sacred Wine, and Sacramentall Bread;
The keyes that locks her in, and lets her out, 5
Are Birth, and Death; 'twixt both, she hopps about
From perch to perch; from Sense to Reason; then,
From higher Reason, downe to Sense agen:
From Sense she cKmbes to Faith; where, for a season,
She sits and sings; then, down againe to Reason; 10
From Reason, back to Faith; and straight, from thence
She rudely flutters to the Perch of Sense;
From Sense, to Hope; then hopps from Hope to Doubt;
From Doubt, to dull Despaire; there, seeks about
BOOK 5, EMBLEM X.
2. weares: spends, wears away.
7 Sense: sensory perception.
[243!
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
For desp'rate Freedome; and at ev'ry Grate, 15
She wildly thrusts, and begs th'untimely date
Of unexpired thraldome, to release
Th'afflicted Captive, that can find no peace:
Thus am I coop'd within this fleshly Cage,
I weare my youth, and wast my weary Age, 20
Spending that breath which was ordain'd to chaunt
Heavens praises forth, in sighs and sad complaint:
Whilst happier birds can spread their nimble wing
From Shrubs to Cedars, and there chirp and sing,
In choice of raptures, the harmonious story 25
Of mans Redemption and his Makers Glory:
You glorious Martyrs; you illustrious Troopes,
That once were doyster'd in your fleshly Coopes,
As fast as I, what Reth'rick had your tongues?
What dextrous Art had your Elegiak Songs? 30
What Paul-Uke powf had your admirM devotion?
What shackle-breaking Faith infus'd such motion
To your strong Pray'rs, that could obtaine the boone
To be inlarg'd, to be uncag'd so soone?
When I (poore I) can sing my daily teares, 35
Growne old in Bondage, and can find no eares:
You great partakers of eternall Glory,
That with your heav'n-prevailing Oratory,
Releas'd your soules from your terrestriall Cage,
Permit the passion of my holy Rage 40
To recommend my sorrowes (dearely knowne
To you, in dayes of old; and, once, your owne)
To your best thoughts, (but oh 't does not befit ye
16 untimely: before its due time.
30 Elegiak Songs: songs in elegiac meter, either of love or of
sorrow.
34 inlargd: freed, set at large.
[244]
FRANCIS QUABLES
To moove our pray'rs; you love and joy; not pitie:
Great LORD of soules, to whom should prisners flie, 45
But Thee? Thou hadst thy Cage, as well as I:
And, for my sake, thy pleasure was to know
The sorrowes that it brought, and feltst them too;
O set me free, and I will spend those dayes,
Which now I wast in begging, in Thy praise. 50
44 moove: plead, propose.
U453
^Tr tht Hart panf elk after the
Co panteth nurfoule after meeOJiorJ »
' * ^^ ~S '°'.ni>
FIGURE 8. Adapted from Quarles's Emblemes, Book 5, Em-
blem XI.
FRANCIS QUARLES
Book 5, Emblem XI.
Psal. XLH.I.
As the Hart panteth after the water-brooks,
so panteth my soule after thee O God.
How shall my tongue expresse that hallow'd fire
Which heav'n has kindled in my ravisht heart!
What Muse shall I invoke, that will inspire
My lowly Quill to act a lofty part!
What Art shall I devise t'expresse desire,
Too intricate to be exprest hy Art!
Let all the nine be silent; I refuse
Their aid in this high task, for they abuse
The flames of Love too much: Assist me Davids Muse.
Not as the thirsty soyle desires soft showres, 10
To quicken and refresh her Embrion graine;
Nor as the drooping Crests of fading flowres
Request the bounty of a morning Raine,
Do I desire my GOD: These, in few houres,
Re-wish, what late their wishes did obtaine, 15
But as the swift-foot Hart does, wounded, flie
To th* much desired streames, ev'n so do I
Pant after Thee, my GOD, whom I must find, or die.
Before a Pack of deep-mouth'd Lusts I flee;
O, they have singled out my panting heart, 2,0
BOOK 5, EMBLEM XI.
11 Embrion: embryonic, immature.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
And wanton Cupid, sitting in a Tree,
Hath pierc'd my bosome with a flaming dart;
My soule being spent, for refuge, seeks to Thee,
But cannot find where Thou my refuge art:
Like as the swift-foot Hart does, wounded, flie 25
To the desired streames, ev'n so do I
Pant after Thee, my GOD, whom I must find, or die.
At length, by flight, I over-went the Pack;
Thou drew'st the wanton dart from out my wound;
The blood, that followed, left a purple track, 30
Which brought a Serpent, but in shape, a Hound;
We strove; He bit me; but thou brak'st his back,
I left him grovling on th' envenom'd ground;
But as the Serpent-bitten Hart does flie
To the long-long'd for streames, ev'n so did I 35
Pant after Thee, my GOD, whom I must find or die.
If lust should chase my soule, made swift by fright,
Thou art the streames whereto my soule is bound:
Or if a lav'lin wound my sides, in flight,
Thou art the Balsom that must cure my wound: 40
If poyson chance t'inf est my soule, in fight,
Thou art the Treacle iiiat must make me sound;
Ev*n as the wounded Hart, embost, does flie
To th* streames extremely long'd for, so do I
Pant after Thee, my GOD, whom I must find, or die. 45
28 over-went: left behind.
42 Treacle: a salve used to treat poisonous bites.
43 embost: driven to exhaustion.
[248]
JOHN MILTON
1608-1674
On the morning of CHRISTS Nativity.
Composed 1629.
This is the Month, and this the happy morn
Wherin the Son of Heav'ns eternal King,
Of wedded Maid, and Virgin Mother born,
Our great redemption from above did bring;
For so the holy sages once did sing, 5
That he our deadly forfeit should release,
And with his Father work us a perpetual peace.
n.
That glorious Form, that Light unsufferable,
And that far-beaming bkze of Majesty,
Wherwith he wont at Heav'ns high Councel-Table, 10
To sit the midst of Trinal Unity,
He laid aside; and here with us to be,
Forsook the Courts of everlasting Day,
And chose with us a darksom House of mortal Clay.
m.
Say Heav'nly Muse, shall not thy sacred vein 15
Afford a present to the Infant God?
Hast thou no vers, no hymn, or solemn strein,
To welcom hi™ to this his new abode,
Now while the Heav'n by the Suns team untrod,
Hath took no print of the approching light, 20
And aU the spangled host keep watch in squadrons bright?
ON THE MOBNTNG OF CHRISTS NATIVITY.
5 holy sages: the biblical Prophets.
10 wont: was accustomed.
TEDS MEDITATIVE POEM
IV.
See how from far upon the Eastern rode
The Star-led Wisards haste with odours sweet:
O run, prevent them with thy humble ode,
And lay it lowly at his blessed feet; 25
Have thou the honour first, thy Lord to greet,
And joyn thy voice unto the Angel Quire,
From out his secret Altar toucht with hallow'd fire.
The Hymn.
It was the Winter wilde,
While the Heav'n-born-childe, 30
All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies;
Nature in aw to him
Had dofFt her gawdy trim,
With her great Master so to sympathize:
It was no season then for her 35
To wanton with the Sun her lusty Paramour.
n.
Onely with speeches fair
She woo's the gentle Air
To hide her guilty front with innocent Snow,
And on her naked shame, 40
Pollute with sinfull blame,
24 prevent; anticipate.
28 See Isaiah 6:6.
41 Pollute: polluted.
JOHN MILTON
The Saintly Vail of Maiden white to throw,
Confounded, that her Makers eyes
Should look so neer upon her foul deformities.
m.
But he her fears to cease, 45
Sent down the meek-eyd Peace,
She crown'd with Olive green, came softly sliding
Down through the turning sphear
His ready Harbinger,
With Turtle wing the amorous clouds dividing, 50
And waving wide her mirtle wand,
She strikes a universall Peace through Sea and Land.
IV.
No War, or Battails sound
Was heard the World around:
The idle spear and shield were high up hung; 55
The hooked Chariot stood
UnstainM with hostile blood,
The Trumpet spake not to the armed throng,
And Kings sate still with awfull eye,
As if they surely knew their sovran Lord was by. 60
But peacefull was the night
Wherin the Prince of light
His raign of peace upon the earth began:
48 sphear: the heavens.
50 Turtle wing: wing of the turtledove.
59 awfuUi reverent.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
The Windes with wonder whist,
Smoothly the waters Icist, 65
Whispering new joyes to the milde Ocean,
Who now hath quite forgot to rave,
While Birds of Calm sit brooding on the charmed wave.
VI.
The Stars with deep amaze
Stand fixt in stedf ast gaze, 70
Bending one way their pretious influence,
And will not take their flight,
For all the morning light,
Or Lucifer that often warn'd them thence;
But in their glimmering Orbs did glow, 75
Untill their Lord himself bespake, and bid them go.
vn.
And though the shady gloom
Had given day her room,
The Sun himself with-held his wonted speed,
And hid his head for shame, 80
As his inferiour flame,
The new-enlightn'd world no more should need;
He saw a greater Sun appear
Then his bright Throne, or burning Axletree could bear.
64 whist: hushed.
68 Birds of Calm: halcyons.
69 amaze: wonder.
75 Orbs: spheres.
76 bespake: spoke.
79 wonted: usual
[254]
JOHNT MILTON-
vm.
The Shepherds on the Lawn, 85
Or ere the point of dawn,
Sate simply chatting in a rustick row;
Full little thought they than,
That the mighty Pan
Was kindly com to live with them below; 90
Perhaps their loves, or els their sheep,
Was all that did their silly thoughts so busie keep.
rs.
When such musick sweet
Their hearts and ears did greet,
As never was by mortall finger strook, 95
Divinely-warbled voice
Answering the stringed noise,
As all their souls in blisfull rapture took:
The Air such pleasure loth to lose,
With thousand echo's still prolongs each heav'nly close. 100
Nature that heard such sound
Beneath the hollow round
Of Cynthia's seat, the Airy region thrilling,
86 Or ere: before.
89 Pan: god of flocks and herds, associated with Christ
"good shepherd"; also through Greek pant alL
92. sitty: simple, humble.
95 strook: struck.
100 close: musical cadence.
102 hollow round: the sphere of the moon.
THE MEDXTATTSTE POEM
Now was almost won
To think her part was don, 105
And that her raign had here its last fulfilling;
She knew such harmony alone
Could hold all Heav'n and Earth in happier union.
XI.
At last surrounds their sight
A Globe of circular light, no
That with long beams the shame-f ac't night array'd,
The helmed Cherubim
And sworded Seraphim,
Are seen in glittering ranks with wings displaid,
Harping in loud and solemn quire, 115
With unexpressive notes to Heav'ns new-born Heir.
xn.
Such Musick (as "Us said)
Before was never made,
But when of old the sons of morning sung,
While the Creator Great
His constellations set,
And the well-ballanc't world on hinges hung,
And cast the dark foundations deep,
And bid the weltring waves their oozy channel keep,
XI JT.
Ring out ye Crystall sphears, 125
Once bless our human ears,
(If ye have power to touch our senses so)
116 unexpressive: inexpressible (in beauty).
119 See Job 38:6-7.
JOHN MILTON
And let your silver chime
Move in melodious time;
And let the Base of Heav'ns deep Organ blow, 130
And with your ninefold harmony
Make up full consort to th'Angelike symphony.
XIV.
For if such holy Song
Enwrap our fancy long,
Time will run back, and fetch the age of gold, 135
And speckTd vanity
Will sicken soon and die,
And leprous sin will melt from earthly mould,
And Hell it self will pass away,
And leave her dolorous mansions to the peering day. 140
xv.
Yea Truth, and Justice then
Will down return to men,
Th'enameld Arras of the Rainbow wearing,
And Mercy set between,
Thron'd in Celestiall sheen, 145
With radiant feet the tissued clouds down stearing,
And Heav'n as at som f estivall,
Will open wide the Gates of her high Palace HalL
131 ninefold harmony: the traditional music of the spheres
(nine in the usual Ptolemaic system).
132 consort: harmony of voices and instruments.
143 enameld Arras: varicolored tapestry.
143—44 See NOTE.
146 tissued: woven with gold or silver thread.
C«S7]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
XVI.
But wisest Fate sayes no,
This must not yet be so, 150
The Babe lies yet in smiling Infancy,
That on the bitter cross
Must redeem our loss;
So both himself and us to glorifie:
Yet first to those ychain'd in sleep, 155
The wakefull trump of doom must thunder through the deep,
XVUL.
With such a horrid clang
As on mount Sinai rang
While the red fire, and smouldring clouds out brake:
The aged Earth agast 160
With terrour of that blast,
Shall from the surface to the center shake,
When at the worlds last session,
The dreadfull Judge in middle Air shall spread his throne.
xvm.
And then at last our bliss 165
FuH and perfect is,
But now begins; for from this happy day
Th'old Dragon under ground
155 ychain'd: a "poetic" archaism, imitative of Spenser.
159 out "brake: broke out (see Exodus 19:16).
163 session: court of law.
168 Dragon: see Revelation 12:9.
JOHN MILTON
In straiter limits bound,
Not half so far casts his usurped sway, 170
And wrath to see his Kingdom fail,
Swindges the scaly Horrour of his f oulded tail
XIX.
The Oracles are durnm,
No voice or hideous humm
Runs through the arched roof in words deceiving. 175
Apollo from his shrine
Can no more divine,
With hollow shreik the steep of Delphos leaving.
No nightly trance, or breathed spell,
Inspire's the pale-ey'd Priest from the prophetic cell 180
xx.
The lonely mountains o're,
And the resounding shore,
A voice of weeping heard, and loud lament;
From haunted spring, and dale
Edgfd with poplar pale, 185
The parting Genius is with sighing sent,
With flowre-inwov'n tresses torn
The Nimphs in twilight shade of tangled thickets mourn.
169 stratier: narrower.
171 wrath: wroth, angry.
186 Genius: Roman god of a particular locality.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
XXL
In consecrated Earth,
And on the holy Hearth, 190
The Lars, and Lemures moan with midnight plaint,
In Urns, and Altars round,
A drear, and dying sound
Affrights the Flamins at their service quaint;
And the chill Marble seems to sweat, 195
While each peculiar power forgoes his wonted seat.
xxn.
Peor, and Baalim,
Forsake their Temples dim,
With that twise-batter'd god of Palestine,
And mooned Ashtaroth,
Heavens Queen and Mother both,
Now sits not girt with Tapers holy shine,
The Libyc Hammon shrinks his horn,
In vain the Tyrian Maids their wounded Thamuz mourn,
191 Lars: Roman household gods; Lemures: spirits of the dead,
in Roman belief*
194 Flamins: Roman priests.
197 Peor: Baal-Peor, a chief deity of the ancient Semitic reli-
gion; Baalim: baals, nature deities in ancient Semitic religion.
199 twise-batt&fd god: Dagon, agricultural god of the Philis-
tines (see i Samuel 5:2—4).
200 Ashtaroth: Astarte, Semitic goddess of fertility, sometimes
regarded as a moon-goddess.
203 Libyc Hammon: the ram-headed god of North Africa.
204 Thamuz: Tammuz, Babylonian and Assyrian nature-god,
whose annual death was observed with mourning rituals (see
Ezekiel 8:14).
JOHN MILTON
And sullen Moloch fled, 205
Hath left in shadows dred,
His burning Idol all of blackest hue,
In vain with Cymbals ring,
They call the grisly king,
In dismall dance about the furnace blue. 210
The brutish gods of Nile as fast,
Isis and Orus, and the Dog Anubis hast.
xxrv.
Nor is Osiris seen
In Memphian Grove, or Green,
Trampling the unshowr'd Grasse with lowings loud: 215
Nor can he be at rest
Within his sacred chest,
Naught but profoundest Hell can be his shroud,
In vain with TimbrelM Anthems dark
The sable-stoled Sorcerers bear his worshipt Ark 2,2,0
205 Moloch: fearful Semitic god, worshiped through sacrifice
of children by fire (see 2 Kings 23:10).
212 Isis, Orus, Anubis: Isis, whose head was represented with
the horns of a cow, was wife and sister of Osiris; their son, Horns,
bore the head of a hawk. Anubis bore the head of a jackal
213-20 Osiris was associated with the bull Apis; the image of
Osiris was carried in a wooden chest or ark.
219 Timbre? d: accompanied by the timbrel, or tambourine.
220 sable-stoled: clothed in black robes.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
XXV.
He feels from Juda's Land
The dredded Infants hand,
The rayes of Bethlehem blind his dusky eyn;
Nor all the gods beside,
Longer dare abide,
Not Typhon huge ending in snaky twine:
Our Babe to shew his Godhead true,
Can in his swadling bands controul the damned crew.
XXVI.
So when the Sun in bed,
Curtained with cloudy red, 230
Pillows his chin upon an Orient wave,
The flocking shadows pale,
Troop to th'inf email jail,
Each f etter'd Ghost slips to his severall grave,
And the yellow-skirted Fayes, 235
Fly after the Night-steeds, leaving their Moon-lov'd maze.
xxvn.
But see the Virgin blest,
Hath kid her Babe to rest.
Time is our tedious Song should here have ending,
223 eyn: eyes.
226 Typhon: Greek mythological monster.
234 severall: individual.
235 Fayes: fairies.
236 maze: intricate dance.
JOHN MILTON
Heav'ns youngest teemed Star, 240
Hath fixt her polisht Car,
Her sleeping Lord with Handmaid Lamp attending,
And all about the Courtly Stable,
Bright-haraest Angels sit in order serviceable.
The Passion.
Ere-while of Musick, and Ethereal mirth,
Wherwith the stage of Ayr and Earth did ring,
And joyous news of heav'nly Infants birth,
My muse with Angels did divide to sing;
But headlong joy is ever on the wing,
In Wintry solstice like the shortn'd light
Soon swallow'd up in dark and long out-living night.
n.
For now to sorrow must I tune my song,
And set my Harpe to notes of saddest wo,
Which on our dearest Lord did sease er'e long, 10
Dangers, and snares, and wrongs, and worse then so,
Which he for us did freely undergo.
Most perfect Heroe, try'd in heaviest plight
Of labours huge and hard, too hard for human wight.
240 youngest teemed: latest-born (the star that guided the
Wise Men).
244 Bright-harnest: equipped with bright aimor.
THE PASSION.
i Ere-while: some time ago; mirth: joy.
4 divide: share in musical parts.
10 sease: seize.
14 icight: being.
[263]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
m.
He sov'ran Priest stooping his regall head 15
That dropt with odorous oil down his fair eyes,
Poor fleshly Tabernacle entered,
His starry front low-rooft beneath the skies;
O what a Mask was there, what a disguise 1
Yet more; the stroke of death he must abide, 20
Then lies him meekly down fast by his Brethrens side.
rv.
These latter scenes confine my roving vers,
To this Horizon is my Phoebus bound,
His Godlike acts, and his temptations fierce,
And former sufferings other where are found; 25
Loud o're the rest Cremona's Trump doth sound;
Me sorter airs befit, and softer strings
Of Lute, or Viol still, more apt for mournful things.
v.
Befriend me night best Patroness of grief,
Over the Pole thy thickest mantle throw, 30
And work my flatter'd fancy to belief ,
That Heaven and Earth are coloured with my wo;
My sorrows are too dark for day to know:
The leaves should all be black wheron I write,
And letters where my tears have washt a warmish white. 35
18 front: forehead.
2,3 Phoebus: i.e., poetic inspiration.
25 other where: in other places (poems).
2.6 Cremona's Trump: in ref. to an epic poem on the life of
Christ, by Vida of Cremona.
JOHN MILTON"
VL
See see the Chariot, and those rushing wheels,
That whirl'd the Prophet up at Chebar flood,
My spirit som transporting Cherub feels,
To bear me where the Towers of Salem stood,
Once glorious Towers, now sunk in guiltles hlood; 40
There doth my soul in holy vision sit
In pensive trance, and anguish, and ecstatick fit.
VIL
Mine eye hath found that sad Sepulchral rock
That was the Casket of Heav'ns richest store,
And here though grief my feeble hands up-lock, 45
Yet on the softned Quarry would I score
My plaining vers as lively as before;
For sure so well instructed are my tears,
That they would fitly fall in ordered Characters.
vm.
Or should I thence hurried on viewles wing, 50
Take up a weeping on the Mountains wilde,
The gentle neighbourhood of grove and spring
Would soon unboosom all thir Echoes milde,
And I (for grief is easily beguild)
Might think th'infection of my sorrows loud, 55
Had got a race of mourners on som pregnant cloud.
This Subject the Author finding to be above the yeers he had,
when he wrote ft, and nothing satisfi'd with what was begun,
left it unfindsht.
36-37 See Ezefctel i.
39 Salem: Jerusalem.
50 viewles: invisible.
51 See Jeremiah 9:10.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
On Time.
Fly envious Time, till thou run out thy race,
Gall on the lazy leaden-stepping hours,
Whose speed is but the heavy Plummets pace;
And glut thy self with what thy womb devours,
Which is no more then what is false and vain, 5
And meerly mortal dross;
So little is our loss,
So little is thy gain.
For when as each thing bad thou hast entomb'd,
And last of all, thy greedy self consumed, 10
Then long Eternity shall greet our bliss
With an individual kiss;
And Joy shall overtake us as a flood,
When every thing that is sincerely good
And perfectly divine, 15
With Truth, and Peace, and Love shall ever shine
About the supreme Throne
Of him, t'whose happy-making sight alone,
When once our heav'nly-guided soul shall clime,
Then all this Earthy grosnes quit, 20
Attir'd with Stars, we shall for ever sit,
Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee O Time.
ON TIME: Milton's manuscript has the subheading: "[To be] set on a
clock case."
3 Plummets: a plummet is a clock weight.
12 individual: not to be divided or ended.
U66]
JOHN MILTON
Upon the Circumcision.
Ye flaming Powers, and winged Warriours bright,
That erst with Musick, and triumphant song
First heard by happy watchful Shepherds ear,
So sweetly sung your Joy the Clouds along
Through the soft silence of the listening night; 5
Now mourn, and if sad share with us to bear
Your fiery essence can distill no tear,
Burn in your sighs, and borrow
Seas wept from our deep sorrow,
He who with all Heav'ns heraldry whileare 10
Enter'd the world, now bleeds to give us ease;
Alas, how soon our sin
Sore doth begin
His Infancy to sease!
O more exceeding love or law more just? 15
Just law indeed, but more exceeding lovel
For we by rightfull doom remediles
Were lost in death, till he that dwelt above
High thronM in secret bliss, for us frail dust
Emptied his glory, ev'n to nakednes; 20
And that great Covenant which we still transgress
Intirely satisfied,
And the full wrath beside
Of vengeful Justice bore for our excess,
And seals obedience first with wounding smart 25
This day, but O ere long
Huge pangs and strong
Will pierce more neer his heart.
UPON THE CJHCUMCISION.
2 erst: earlier.
10 whileare: some time ago.
17 doom: judgment.
[267]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
At a solemn Musick.
Blest pair of Sirens, pledges of Heav'ns joy,
Sphear-born harmonious Sisters, Voice, and Vers,
Wed your divine sounds, and mixt power employ
Dead things with inbreath'd sense able to pierce,
And to our high-rais'd phantasie present, 5
That undisturbed Song of pure concent,
Ay sung before the saphire-colour'd throne
To him that sits theron
With Saintly shout, and solemn Jubily,
Where the bright Seraphim in burning row 10
Their loud up-lifted Angel trumpets blow,
And the Cherubick host in thousand quires
Touch their immortal Harps of golden wires,
With those just Spirits that wear victorious Palms,
Hymns devout and holy Psalms 15
Singing everlastingly;
That we on Earth with undiscording voice
May rightly answer that melodious noise;
As once we did, till disproportion^ sin
Jarr'd against natures chime, and with harsh din 20
Broke the fair musick that all creatures made
To their great Lord, whose love their motion sway'd
In perfect Diapason, whilst they stood
In first obedience, and their state of good.
O may we soon again renew that Song, 25
AT A SOLEMN MUSICK: solemn: sacred, forming part of a religious
occasion; Mustek: a performance of music.
5 phantasie: imagination.
6 concent: harmony; see NOTE.
7 Ay: ever; throne: see Ezekiel 1:26.
13-14 See Revelation 14:2-4.
23 Diapason: concord (octave).
[268]
JOHN MILTON
And keep in tune with Heav'n, till God ere long
To his celestial consort us unite,
To live with him, and sing in endles morn of light.
Sonnets.
How soon hath Time the suttle theef o£ youth,
Stoln on his wing my three and twentith yeerl
My hasting dayes flie on with full career,
But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th.
Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth, 5
That I to manhood am arriv'd so near,
And inward ripenes doth much less appear,
That som more timely-happy spirits indu'th.
Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow,
It shall be still in strictest measure eev'n, 10
To that same lot, however mean, or high,
Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heav'n;
All is, if I have grace to use it so,
As ever in my great task Masters eye.
When I consider how my light is spent,
E're half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one Talent which is death to hide,
Lodg"d with me useless, though my Soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present 5
27 consort: harmony, band of musicians.
**HOW SOON HATH TIME**.
3 with full career: at full speed.
8 induth: endows.
10 eev'n: in accord.
"WHEN i CONSIDER": Milton became totally blind in 1631; the
poem appears to have been written in 1655.
3 For the parable of the talents see Matthew 25:14—30.
[269]
TEDS MEDITATIVE POEM
My true account, least he returning chide,
Doth God exact day-labour, light den/d,
I fondly ask; But patience to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts, who best 10
Bear his milde yoak, they serve him best, his State
Is Kingly, Thousands at his bidding speed
And post oVe Land and Ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and waite.
8 fondly: foolishly.
13 post: hasten.
14 waite: attend (upon a lord or king).
[270]
RICHARD CRASHAW
The Weeper.
Loe where a wounded heart, with bleeding eyes conspire;
Is she a flaming fountaine, or a weeping fire?
1 Haile, Sister Springs,
Parents of Silver-forded rills!
Ever bubling things!
Thawing Chrystall! Snowy hills!
Still spending, never spent; I meane 5
Thy faire eyes, sweet Magdalen.
2 Heavens thy faire eyes bee,
Heavens of ever falling stairs,
Tis seed-time still with thee
And stars thou sow'st, whose harvest dares 10
Promise the earth, to counter shine
What ever makes Heaven's forehead fine.
3 But we are deceived all,
Stars indeed they are too true,
For they but seeme to fall 15
As heav'ns other spangles doe:
It is not for our Earth and us,
To shine in things so pretious.
4 Upwards thou do'st weepe,
Heav'ns bosome drinkes the gentle streame, 20
Where th' milky Rivers creepe
Thine floates above, and is the creame,
Waters above the Heavens what they bee,
We* are taught best by thy Teares, and thee.
THE WEEPER.
2 Silver-forded: see NOTE.
9 stitt: always.
11 counter shine: equal or surpass in shining.
[273]
1'H K MEDITATIVE POEM
5 Every Morne from hence, -25
A brisk Cherub something sips,
Whose sacred influence
Adds sweetnes to his sweetest lips,
Then to his Musick, and his song
Tastes of this breakefast all day long. 30
6 Not in the Evening's eyes,
When they red with weeping are
For the Sun that dyes,
Sits sorrow with a face so faire:
No where but here did ever meete, 35
Sweetnesse so sadd, sadnesse so sweete.
7 When sorrow would be seene,
In her brightest Majestie,
(For she is a Queene)
Then is she drest by none but thee. 40
Then, and onely then, she weares,
Her proudest Pearls, I meane thy tears.
8 The dew no more will weepe,
The Primroses pale cheeke to decke,
The deaw no more will sleepe, 45
Nuzzel'd in the Lyllies necke:
Much rather would it be thy teare,
And leave them both to tremble here.
9 There is no neede at all
That the Balsome-sweating bough 50
So coylie should let fall
His med'cinable teares; for now
Nature hath learn't t* extract a dew,
More soveraigne, and sweet from you.
50 Balsome: balm, healing oil or resiru
51 coylie: in a reserved or reluctant manner.
54 soveraigne: of high, curative power.
RICHAKD CRASHAW
10 Yet let the poore drops weepe 55
(Weeping is the ease of woe)
Softly let them creepe,
Sad that they are vanquisht so.
They though to others no reliefs
Balsom may be for their own griefe. 60
11 Such the maiden jemme
By the purpling Vine put on
Peepes from her parent steme,
And blushes at the Bridegroome Sun:
This watrie Blossom of thy Eyne, 65
Ripe, will make the richer Wine.
12 When some new bright guest,
Takes up among the Stars a Roome,
And Heav'n "will make a feast
Angells with Crystall Voyalls come, 70
And draw from these full eyes of thine,
Their Masters Waters; Their own wine.
13 Golden though he be,
Golden Tagus murmures though;
Were his way by thee, 75
Content and quiet he "would goe:
So much more rich would he esteeme,
Thy silver, than his golden streame.
14 Well does the May that lyes
Smiling in thy cheekes, confesse 80
The Aprill in thine eyes;
Mutuall sweetnesse they expresse:
No Apritt e*re lent kinder showers,
Nor May returned more faithfull flowers.
65 Eyne: eyes.
70 Voyalls: vials.
74 Tagus: the Spanish-Portuguese river.
[275]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
15 O cheekesl Beds of chast loves, 85
By your own showers seasonably dash't,
Eyes! nests of milkie Doves
In your owne wells decently washt.
O wit of love that thus could place,
Fountaine and Garden in one facel go
16 O sweet contest of woes
With loves, and tears, and smiles disputing,
O faire and friendly foes
Each other kissing and confuting,
While raine and Sun shine, cheeks and eyes, 95
Close in kind contrarieties.
17 But can these faire flouds bee
Friends with the bosom fires that fill thee?
Can so great flames agree
Eternall teares should thus distill thee? 100
O flouds, 6 fires, 6 Suns, 6 showers,
Mixt, and made friends by loves sweet powers.
18 Twas his well pointed dart
That dig^d these wells, and drest this Vine,
And taught that wounded heart, 105
The way into those weeping Eyne,
Vaine loves avant! Bold hands forbeare,
The Lamb hath dipt his white f oote here.
19 And now where e're he strayes
Among the Galilsean mountains, no
Or more unwelcome waves,
Hee's follow'd by two f aithfull f ountaines,
Two walking Bathes, two weeping motions;
Portable and compendious Oceans.
88 decently: appropriately, becomingly.
89 wit: ingenuity, quick intelligence.
104 drest: cultivated, pruned.
107 avant: begone.
BICHAKD CRASHAW
2,0 O thou thy Lords faire store, 115
In thy so rich and large expences,
Even when he show'd most poore,
He might provoke the wealth of Princes.
What Princes wanton'st pride e're could.
Wash with silver, wipe with gold? lao
21 Who is that King, but he
Who calls't his crowne to be calTd thine,
That thus can boast to be
Waited on by a wandring mine,
A voluntary mint, that strowes 125
Warme silver showers, where e're he goes?
2,2, O pretious prodigall!
Faire spend-thrift of thy self 1 Thy measure
(Mercilesse lovel) is all
Even to thy last Pearle in thy treasure: 130
All pkces, times, and objects be,
Thy teares sweet opportunity.
23 Does the day-star rise?
Still thy Stars doe f all, and f all;
Does day dose his eyes? 135
Still the fountaine weeps for all:
Let night or day doe what they will,
Thou hast thy taske, thou weepest stQL
115 store: accumulated wealth.
116 expences: expenditures.
117 show'd: appeared.
118 provoke: call forth.
125 strowes: strews.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
24 Does thy song lull the aire?
Thy falling teares keep faithfull time; 140
Does thy sweet breath'd praier
Up in clouds of incense climbe?
Still at each sigh, that is, each stop,
A bead, that is a teare doth drop.
25 At these thy weeping gates 145
(Watching their watrie motion)
Each winged moment waites,
Takes his teare, and gets him goru
By thine eyes tinct enobled thus
Time kyes him up: Hee's precious. 150
2,6 Not so long she lived
Shall thy tomb report of thee,
But so long she grieved,
Thus must we date thy memorie:
Others by moments, months, and years 155
Measure their ages, Thou by tears.
27 So doe perfumes expire,
So sigh tormented sweets, opprest
With proud unpittying fire;
Such tears the sufFering Rose that's vext 160
With ungentle flames does shed,
Sweating in a too warme bed.
28 Say ye bright Brothers,
The fugitive sons of those f aire eyes
Your fruitfull Mothers, 165
What make you here? what hopes can tice
You to be borne? what cause can boixow
You from those nests of noble sorrow?
149 tinct: tincture, with ref . to alchemy.
158 sweets: fragrant flowers.
166 tice: entice.
BICHA2RD CRASHAW
&g Whither away so fast?
For sure the sordid earth 170
Your sweetnesse cannot taste,
Nor does the dust deserve your Birth.
Sweet, whither haste you then? 6 say
Why you trip so fast away?
30 We goe not to seeke, 175
The darlings of Auroras bed,
The Roses modest cheeke,
Nor the Violets humble head:
Though the fields eyes too weepers bee,
Because they want such tears as wee. 180
31 Much lesse meane we to trace,
The fortune of inferior gems,
Prefer'd to some proud face,
Or pearch't upon feard diadems:
Crown'd heads are Toyes; We goe to meete, 185
A worthy object; Our Lords Feet.
On the name of Jesus.
I Sing the Name which none can say,
But touch't with an interiour Ray:
The Name of our Neto- Peace, our Good,
Our Blisse, and supernaturall Blood,
The Name of all our Lives, and Loves.
Hearken, and Help ye holy Doves,
The high-borne brood of day, the bright
180 want: lack.
181 trace: follow.
183 Prefer'd: advanced.
185 Toyes: trifles.
12791
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Candidates of blissefull light,
The Heires elect of Love, whose names belong
Unto the everlasting life of Song; 10
All yee wise soules, who in the wealthy brest,
Of this unbounded name build your warme nest.
Awake my glory, soule (if such thou bee
And that fair word at all referre to thee)
Awake and sing, 15
And be all Wing,
Bring hither thy whole selfe, and let me see
What of thy parent Heaven yet speakes in thee;
O thou art poore
Of noble Powers I see, 20
And full of Nothing else but emptie Mee,
Narrow, and low, and infinitely lesse
Then this great Mornings mighty businesse;
One little word or two
(Alas) will never doe, 125
We must have store,
Goe soule out of thy self, and seek for more,
Goe and request
Great nature for the key of her huge chest
Of heav'ns, the self involving set of spheares, 30
Which dull mortality more f eeles than heares,
Then rouse the Nest
Of nimble art 9 and traverse round
The airie shop of soul-appeasing sound,
ON THE NAME OF JESUS: S66 NOTE.
8 Candidates: aspirants; with ref, to Latin candidatus ("clothed
in white'*) and thus to the "white robes" of the saints in heaven:
see Revelation 7:13-14, 19:8.
23 The poem may have been composed for the Feast of the
Circumcision (January i), the occasion on which the name Jesus
was formally given: see Luke 2:21.
26 store: abundance.
30 self involving: self-containing; with ref. to the concentric
arrangement of spheres in the Ptolemaic universe.
U8o]
BICHARD CRASHAW
And beat a summons in the same 35
All soveraigne Name,
To warn each severall land
And shape of sweetnesse, be they such
As sigh with supple wind,
Or answer artful! touch, 40
That they convene and come away,
To waite at the love crowned doores of this illustrious day.
Shall we dare this, my soule? weel do't and bring
No other note f or't but the Name we sing.
Wake Lute, and Harpe, 45
And every sweet lipt thing
That talkes with tunefull string,
Start into life; and leap with me
Into a hasty fit of self tunM Harmonie;
Nor must you think it much 50
T*obey my bolder touch,
I have authority in Love's name to take you
And to the worke of Love this morning wake you;
Wake in the name
Of Him who never sleeps, All things that are, 55
Or, what's the same,
Are Musicall,
Answer my call
And come along,
Help me to meditate mine Immortall song. 60
Come ye soft Ministers of sweet sad mirth,
Bring all your Houshold-stuff e of HeaVn on earth;
O you my soules most certaine "wings,
Complaining Pipes, and pratling strings,
Bring all tiae store 65
Of sweets you have, And murmure that you have no more,
Come ne're to part,
Nature and Art,
Come, and come strong
37 severall: individual.
49 ft: a strain of music, or portion of a song; see NOTE.
61 mirth: rejoicing, pleasure.
[281]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
To the conspiracie of our spacious song, 70
Bring all the Powres of Praise
Your Provinces of well united Worlds can raise,
Bring al your Lutes, and Harpes of Heav'n and Earth,
What e're cooperates to the common mirth,
Vessells of vocall joyes, 75
Or you more noble Architects of Intellectuall noyse,
Cymballs of Heav'n or Humane spheares,
Solicitors of Soules or Eare$9
And when you're come with all
That you can bring, or we can call, 80
O may you fixe
For ever here and mixe
Your selves into the long
And everlasting series of a deathlesse song;
Mixe all your many worlds above 85
And lose them into One of Love.
Cheare thee my Heart
For thou too hast thy part
And place in the great throng
Of this Unbounded, all imbracing song. 90
Powres of my soule be proud
And speake aloud
To all the deare bought Nations, This redeeming Name
And in the wealth of one rich word proclaime
New similes to Nature. 95
May it be no wrong
Blest heav'ns to you, and your superiour song,
That we dark Sonnes of dust and sorrow
A while dare borrow
The Name of your Delights* and our Desires 100
And fit ft to so far inferiour Lyres;
Our Murmers have their Musick too,
Yee mightie Orbes, as well as you,
Nor yeild the Noblest nest
Of warbling Seraphins, to the eares of Love, 105
A choicer Lesson than the Loyall breast
70 conspiracie: harmony, "breathing together** (with reL to
Latin conspiro).
HICHABD CRASEAW
Of a poore panting Turtle-Dove.
And we low Wormes, have leave to doe
The same bright businesse (ye third Heavns) with you.
Gentle spirits, doe not complaine, no
We will have care
To keep it f aire
And send it back to you againe.
Come lovely Name appeare forth from the bright
Regions of peacefull light, 115
Looke from thine owne Illustrious home,
Faire King of Names, and come,
Leave all thy Native Glories in their gorgious nest,
And give thy self a while the gracious guest
Of humble soules, that seeke to find 3.2,0
The hidden sweets,
Which mans Heart meets,
When thou art Master of the mind.
Come lovely Name, life of our hope!
Lo, we hold our Hearts wide opel 125
Unlock thy cabinet of day,
Deerest sweet, and come away.
Lo, how the thirsty lands
Gasp for thy golden showers, with long-stretcht hands!
Lo how the labouring Earth 130
That hopes to be
All heavens by thee,
Leapes at thy Birth.
The attending world, to wait thy Rise,
First turn'd to eyes, 135
And then, not Knowing what to doe,
Turn'd them to Teares, and spent them too.
Come Royall name, and pay th* expence
Of all thy pretious Patience,
O come away, 140
And Kill the death of this delay.
O see so many worlds of barren yeares
Melted, and measured out in Seas of teares;
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
O see, the wearie lidds of wakefull hope
(Loves eastern windows) All wide ope, 145
With curtains drawne,
To catch the day-breake of thy Dawne.
O dawne at last, long look't for day,
Take thine own wings and come away.
Lo, where aloft it comes I It comes among 150
The conduct of adoring Spirits, that throng
Like diligent Bees, And swarme about it;
O they are wise,
And know what sweets are suckt from out it;
It is the Hive 155
By which they thrive,
Where all their hoard of hony lyes,
Lo, where it comes, upon the snowy doves
Soft back, And brings a bosome big with loves;
Welcome to our dark world, Thou womb of day! 160
Unfold thy faire conceptions, and display
The birth of our bright joyes;
O thou compacted
Body of blessings, spirit of soules extracted!
O dissipate thy spicie Powers, 165
(Cloud of condensed sweets) and breake upon us
In balmy showers,
O fill our sences, and take from us
All force of so prophane a fallacie
To think ought sweet but that which smells of thee. 170
Faire flowry name; La none but thee,
And thy Nectareal Fragrancie
Howerly there meetes
An universall Synod of all Sweetes,
By whom it is defined thus, 175
That no perfume
For ever shall presume
To passe for odoriferous,
But such alone whose sacred pedigree
Can prove it self some Kin (sweet Name) to thee, 180
U84]
BICHAKD CRASHAW
Sweet Name in thy each Sillabell
A thousand blest Arabias dwell,
A thousand Hills of Frankincense,
Mountaines of Myrrh, and Bedds of spices,
And ten thousand Paradises, 185
The soule that tastes thee takes from thence.
How many unknow'n worlds there are
Of comforts which thou hast in keeping!
How many thousand mercies there,
In Pities soft lap, lye a sleeping! 190
Happie he who has the Art
To awake them,
And to take them
Home and lodge them in his Heart.
O that it were as it was wont to bee! 195
When thy old friends of fire, all f uU of thee
Fought against frownes with smiles, gave glorious chase
To Persecutions, and against the face
Of Death, and fiercest dangers, durst with brave
And sober pace, march on to meet a Grave. 200
On their bold Brests about the world they bare thee,
And to the teeth of Hell stood up to teach thee;
In center of their inmost soules they ware thee
Where rackes and torments strf/d in vaine to reach thee;
Little alas thought they 205
Who tore the faire Brests of thy friends,
Their fury but made way
For thee; And serv'd therin thy glorious ends.
What did their weapons but with wider Pores
Inlarge thy flaming-brested Lovers 210
More freely to transpire
That impatient fire
The Heart that hides thee hardly covers?
What did their weapons but set wide the doores
For thee? Faire purple Doores of Loves devising; 215
201 bare: bore.
203 ware: wore.
[385]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
The Ruble windows which inrich't the East
Of thy so oft repeated Rising.
Each wound of theirs was thy new Morning
And re-inthron'd thee in thy Rosy Nest,
With hlush of thine owne Blood thy day adorning.
It was the wit of Love o'reflowd the bounds
Of Wrath, and made thee way through all those wounds.
Welcome deare, All adored Name!
For sure there is no Knee
That Knowes not thee,
Oh if there be such Sonnes of shame
Alas what will they doe
When stubborn Rocks shall bow,
And Hills hang down their Heav'n saluting heads
To seeke for humble Beds 230
Of Dust, where in the bashfull shades of night
Next to their own low nothing they may ly,
And couch before the dazeling light of thy dread Majesty?
They that by Love's milde dictate now
Will not adore Thee 235
Shall then, with just confusion bow
And breake before thee.
An Hymne of the Nativity, sung as by
the Shepheards.
Chor . Come we shepheards whose blest sight
Hath met Loves noone, in Natures night,
Come lift we up our loftier song,
And wake the Sun that lyes too long.
To all our world of well-stoln joy,
He slept, and dream't of no such thing;
While we found out Heav'ns fairer eye,
[a86]
RICHARD CRASHAW
And kist the cradle of our King;
Tell him he rises now too late,
To shew us ought worth looking at. 10
Tell him we now can shew him more
Than he e're shewd to mortall sight,
Than he himself e're saw before,
Which to be seen needs not his light;
Tell him Tityrus where th'hast been, 15
Tell him Thyrsis what thliast seen.
Tit. Gloomy night embrac't the place
Where the noble Infant lay,
The Babe look't up and shew'd his face,
In spite of darknesse it was day: 20
It was thy day, Sweet! and did rise,
Not from the East, but from thine eyes.
Chorus. It was thy day sweet, &c.
Thyrs. Winter chid aloud, and sent
The angry North to wage his wars, 25
The North forgot his fierce intent,
And left perfumes instead of scars,
By those sweet eyes perswasive powers,
Where he meant frost, he scattered flowers.
Chorus. By those sweet Eyes, &c. 30
Both. We saw thee in thy Balmey Nest,
Bright dawn of our eternal! day!
We saw thine eyes break from their East,
And chace the trembling shades away.
We saw thee, and we blest the sight, 35
We saw thee by thine owne sweet light.
AN HYMNE OF THE NATIVITY.
10 shew: show.
TEE MEDITATIVE POEM
Tit. Poore world (said I) what wilt thou doe
To entertaine this starrie stranger?
Is this the best thou canst bestow,
A cold, and not too cleanly manger? 40
Contend ye powers of heav'n and earth
To fit a bed for this huge birth.
Chows. Contend ye Powers, &c.
Thyrs. Proud world (said I) cease your contest,
And let the mighty Babe alone, 45
The Phsenix builds the Phsenix' nest.
Love's Architecture is all one.
The Babe whose Birth embraves this morne,
Made his own Bed ere he was borne.
Chorus. The Babe, &c. So
Tit. I saw the curl'd drops, soft and slow,
Come hovering ore the places head,
Offering their whitest sheets of snow,
To furnish the faire Infant's Bed:
Forbeare (said I) be not too bold, 55
Your fleece is white, but 'tis too cold.
Chorus. Forbeare (said I,) &c.
Thyrs. I saw the obsequious Seraphins
Their Rosie Fleece of Fire bestow,
For well they now can spare their wings 60
Since Heaven it selfe lyes here below:
Well done (said I) but are you sure
Your downe so warme, will passe for pure.
Chorus. Well done (said we,) &c.
48 embraves: adorns.
58 obsequious: prompt to serve.
[288]
EICHABD CRASHAW
Tyt. No, no, your King's not yet to seeke 65
Where to repose his Royall Head,
See see, how soone his new-bloom'd cheeke
Twixt's mothers brests is gone to bed.
Sweet choice (said 11) no way but so
Not to lye cold, yet sleep in snow. 70
Chorus. Sweet choice, &c.
Both. We saw thee in thy Baulmey nest,
Bright Dawn of our eternall Day,
We saw thine eyes breake from their East,
And chase the trembling shades away. 75
We saw thee, and we blest the sight,
We saw thee, by thine owne sweet light.
Chorus. Wee saw thee, &c.
Full Welcome all wonders in one sight!
Chorus. Eternitie shut in a span, So
Summer in winter, day in night,
Heaven in Earth, and God in man;
Great little one! Whose all embracing birth
Lift's earth to heav'n, stoops heav'n to earth.
Welcom though not to gold nor silke, 85
To more than Csesars birthright is;
Two Sister Seas of Virgin Milke,
With many a rarely temper d Kisse
That breath's at once both Mctide & Mother,
Warmes in the one, cooles in the other. 90
She sings thy Teares a sleep, and dips
Her Kisses in thy weeping eye,
She spreads the red leaves of thy lips,
That in their buds yet blushing lye.
She 'gainst those Mother-Diamonds tries 95
The points of her young Eagles eyes.
So span: a small measure (nine inches).
91-96: see NOTE.
MEDITATIVE POEMI
Welcome, though not to those gay flyes
Guilded f th beames of earthly Kings,
Slippery soules in smiling eyes,
But to poor Shepheards, home-spun 100
things,
Whose wealth's their flock; whose wit to be
Well read in their simplicitie.
Yet when young Aprill's husband showers,
Shall blesse the fruitfull Mate's bed,
Wee'l bring the first borne o£ her flowers, 105
To Jdsse thy feet, and crowne thy head.
To thee dread Lamb! whose love must keepe
The shepheards more than they their sheepe.
To thee meeke Majestie! soft King
Of simple Graces and sweet Loves; no
Each of us his Lamb will bring,
Each his paire of Silver Doves,
Till burnt at last in fire of thy faire eyes,
Our selves become our owne best sacrifice.
A Hymne for the Epiphanie. Sung as
by the three Kings.
Bright Babe! whose awfull Beauties make
The morn incurre a sweet mistake,
For whom th'oflicious Heav'ns devise
To dis-inherit the Suns rise,
Delicately to displace
The day, and plant it fairer in thy face.
A HYMKE FOR THE EPIPHANIE.
3 officious: eager to serve, dutiful.
RICHABD CRASHA.W
i. O thou born King of Loves,
2. Of lights,
3. Of joyes!
Chorus. Looke up sweet Babe, looke up and see, 10
For love of thee,
Thus f arre from home
The East is come,
To seeke her self in thy sweet Eyes.
1. We who strangely went astray, 15
Lost in a bright
Meridian Night,
2. A darkenesse made of too much day,
3. Becken'd from farre
By thy faire starre 20
Lo at last have found our way.
Chorus. To thee thou day of night! thou East of WestI
Lo we at last have found the way:
To thee the world's great universall East,
The Generall and indifferent day. 25
1. All-circling Point, All-centring spheare,
The world's One, Round, JEternall yeare,
2. Whose full, and all-unwrinckled face
Nor sinkes nor swells with Time, or Place,
3. But every where, and every while, 30
Is one consistent solid smile;
1. Not vext and tost,
2. Twixt spring and frost,
3. Nor by alternate shreds of light
Sordidly shifting hands with shades and night. 35
Chorus. O Little All! In thy Embrace
The world lyes warme, and likes his place,
Nor does his full Globe faile to be
Kist on both his cheekes by thee;
Time is too narrow for thy yeare 40
Nor makes the whole World thy halfe spheare.
15-18 The Magi have been devoted to the Persian cult of sun
worship.
25 indifferent: impartial
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
i. To thee, to Thee
From Him we flee,
2,. From Him, whom by a more Illustrious Lye
The blindnesse of the world did call the Eye; 45
3. To him, who by these mortall clouds hast made
Thy self our Sun, though thine owne shade.
1. Farewell the world's false light,
Farewell the white
dSgypt, A long farewell to thee 50
Bright Idoll> black Idolatrie,
The dire face of inf eriour Darkenesse lost,
And courted in the pompous mask of a more specious mist.
2. Farewell, farewell
The proud and misplac't Gates of Hell, 55
Pertch't in the mornings way,
And double-gilded as the doores of Day;
The deep Hypocrisy of Death, and Night,
More desperately darke, because more bright.
3. Welcome the Worlds sure wayl 60
Heatfns wholsome Ray;
Chorus. Welcome to us, and wee
(Sweet) to our selves, in Thee.
i. The deathlesse Heir of all £hy Fathers day!
2. Decently bom, 65
Embosom'd in a much more Rosie Morne,
The blushes of thy AZZ-unblemish't Mother.
3. No more that other
Aurora shall set ope
Her Ruble casements, or hereafter hope 70
From mortall eyes
To meet Religious Welcomes at her Rise.
Chorus. We (pretious ones! ) in you have won
A gentler Morn, a juster Sun,
i. His superficiall beames Sun burnt our skin, 75
z. But left within
3- The nigtt, and Winter still of Death and Sin.
50 j&gypt: region of idolatry, bondage, and darkness.
53 specious: attractive in appearance.
BICHABD CRASHAW
Chorus. Thy softer, yet more certaine Darts,
Spare our eyes, but pierce our Hearts.
i. Therefore with his prowd Persian spoyles 80
&. We court Thy more concerning smiles,
3. Therefore with his disgrace
We guild the humble cheeke of thy chast place,
Chorus. And at thy feet powre forth his face.
1. The doating Nations now no more 85
Shall any Day, but Thine adore;
2. Nor (much lesse) shall they leave these eyes
For cheap Egyptian deities,
3. In what so'ere more sacred shape
Of Ram, Hee-goat, or Reverend Ape, 90
Those beauteous Ravishers opprest so sore
The too-hard-tempted Nations.
i. Never more
By wanton Heyfer shall be worn
2. A Garland or a gilded Horn, 95
The Altar-stalfd Oxe, fat Osyris, now
With his f aire Sister Cow
Shall Kick the cloudes no more;
3. But lean and tame,
See his horn'd face, and dye for shame. 100
Chorus. And Mrthra now shall be no name;
i. No longer shall the immodest lust
Of Adulterous GodLes dust
Fly in the face of Heav'n,
2,. As if it were 105
The poore World's fault, that he is f aire,
3. Nor with perverse loves, and Religious Rapes
Revenge thy bounties in their beauteous shapes,
And punish best things worst; because they stood
Guiltie of being much for them to good. no
96 Altar-staled: having his stall at the altar: Osiris was iden-
tified with the bull Apis.
97 Sister Cow: Isis, represented with the horns of a cow.
101 Mithra: Persian sun-god,
[293]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
i. Proud sons of deathl that durst compeU,
Heav'n it self to find them Hell;
ST. And by strange will of madnesse wrest
From this World's East, the others West.
3. All Idolizing WormesI that thus could crowd 115
And urge their Bun into thy cloud;
Forcing his sometimes Ecclips'd face to bee
A long Deliquium to the light of thee.
Chorus. Alas with how much heavier shade
The shamefac't lamp hung down his head 120
For that one Ecclipse he made
Than all those he suffered?
i. For this he look't so big, and every morn,
With a red face conf est his scorne,
Or hiding his vex't cheekes in a hir'd mist 125
Kept them from being so unkindly Kist.
a. It was for this the day did rise
So oft with blubber'd eys,
For this the Evening wept; and we ne're Knew
But calTd it dew. 130
3. This daily wrong
Silenc't the morning Suns; and damp't their song;
Chorus. Nor was*t our deafenes, but our sins, that thus
Long made thliarmonious Orbes, All mute to us.
i. Time has a day in store 135
When this so proudly poore
And self-oppressed spark, that has so long
By the love-sick world bin made
Not so much their Sun as Shade,
Wearie of this glorious wrong, 140
116 Info thy cloud: into becoming thy cloud.
118 Deliquium: failure, eclipse.
134 scorne: insult (to God).
126 unkindly Kist: unnaturally (wickedly) worshiped by
128 blubbered: overflowing with tears.
13* See Job 38:7; damp't: stifled.
See Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44-45.
U94l
BICHABD CRASHAW
From Them and from Himself shall flee
For shelter to the shadow of thy Tree.
Chorus. Proud to have gain'd this pretious losse,
And chang'd his false crowne for thy crosse.
a,. That darke day's clear doome shall define 145
Whose is the master Fire, which Sun should shine?
That sable Judgement seate shall by new lawes
Decide and settle the great cause
Of controverted light,
Chorus. And Natures wrongs rejoyce to doe Thee right. 150
3. That forfeiture of Noon to night shall pay
All the Idolatrous Thefts done by this night of day,
And the great Penitent presse his owne pale lips
With an elaborate Love-Ecclipse,
To which the low World's lawes 155
Shall lend no cause,
Chorus. Save those domesticks, which he borrowes
From our Sins, and his owne Sorrowes,
1. Three sad-houres sackcloath then shall shew to us
His penance, as our fault, conspicuous, 160
2. And he more needfully and Nobly prove
The Nations terror now, than 'erst their love.
3. Their hated love's changed into wholsome feares,
Chorus. The shutting of his eye shall open theirs.
i. As by a fair-ey'd fallacy of Day 165
Misled, before they lost their way,
So shall they, by the seasonable fright,
Of an unseasonable Night,
Losing it once againe, stumble on true light.
2,. And as before his too bright Eye 170
Was their more blind Idolatrie,
So his officious Blindnesse now shall be,
145 doome: judgment.
148 cause: legal case.
149 controverted: made a subject of controversy.
156 cause: used here in general sense.
157 domesticks: things pertaining to or produced at home.
162 erst: before.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Their black, but faithfull perspective of Thee.
3, His new prodigious Night,
Their new, and admirable Light, 175
The supernaturall Dawn of thy pure day,
While wondering they
(The happy converts now of him
Whom they compelTd before to be their sin)
Shall henceforth see 180
To Kisse him onely as their Rod,
Whom they so long courted as God.
Chorus. And the best use of him they worship't be
To learne of bfrn at least to worship thee.
i. It was their weakenes woo'd his beautie, 185
But it shall bee
Their wisdome now as well as dutie
T*enjoy his blot; and as a large black letter
Use to spell thy beauties better,
And make the night it self their torch to thee. 190
2. By the oblique ambush of this close night,
Coucht in the conscious shade,
The right-ey'd Areopagite
Shall with a vigorous guesse invade
And catch thy quick reflex; And sharply see 195
On this dark ground,
To descant Thee,
3. O prize of the Rich Spirit! with what fierce chace,
Of his strong soule, shall he
Leape at thy loftie Face, 2,00
And seize the swift Flash, in Rebound
From this obsequious cloud;
Once calTd a Sun,
Till dearely thus undone,
193 Areopagfte: mystical theologian of the fifth century AJD.J
see NOTE.
195 reflex: reflection.
202 obsequious: obedient, dutiful.
[296]
EICHAKD CRASHA.W
Chorus. Till thus triumphantly tam'd (6 ye Two 205
Twin-Suns) and taught now to negotiate you.
i. Thus shall that Reverend child of light
2,. By being Scholler first of that new night,
3. Come forth great master of the Mystick day,
And teach obscure Mankind a more close way, 210
By the frugall Negative light
Of a most wise and well abused night,
To read more legible thine original] Ray,
Chorus. And make our darknesse serve Thy day,
Maintaining 'twixt thy world and ours 215
A commerce of contrary Powres,
A mutuall trade
'Twixt Sun, and Shade.
By confederate Black and White,
Borrowing day and lending night. 2,2,0
1. Thus we, who when with all the noble Powres
That (at thy cost) are calTd not vainely ours,
We vow to make brave way
Upwards, and presse on for the pure intelligentiall Prey,
2,. At least to play 2,2,$
The amorous spyes,
And peep and proffer at thy sparkling Throne,
3. Instead of bringing in the Blissefull Prize
And f astning on Thine Eyes,
Forfeit our owne, 230
And nothing gaine
But more ambitious losse, at least of Braine;
Chorus. Now by abased lids shall learne to be
Eagles; and shut our Eyes that we may see.
206 Twin-Suns: the eyes of the infant Christ (see line 14);
negotiate: deal with.
210 obscure: enveloped in darkness.
212 abused: in the sense of Latin abtetor: used, used fully
(with effect here of witty paradox).
227 proffer at: make a tentative movement toward.
233 abased: lowered.
[297]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
The Close. 235
Therefore to Thee, and thine auspicious Ray,
(Dread sweet) lo thus
At least by us,
The delegated Eye of Day
Does first his Scepter, then Himself, in solemne Tribute 240
pay;
Thus he undresses
His sacred unshorne Tresses;
At thy adored feet, thus, he layes downe
1. His glorious Tire
Of flame and fire, 245
2. His glittering Robe, (3.) His sparkling Crown,
i. His Gold, (2.) His Myrrh, (3.) His Frankincense,
Chorus. To which he now has no pretence;
For being shew'd by this day's light, how far 250
He is from Sun, enough to make thy star,
His best ambition now, is but to be
Something a brighter Shadow (Sweet) of Thee.
Or on HeaVns azure forehead high to stand
Thy Golden Index; with a duteous hand, 255
Pointing us home to our own Sun,
The World's and his Hyperion.
An ode which was prefixed to a Prayer
booke given to a young Gentle-
woman.
Loe here a little volume but great booke,
A nest of new-borne sweetes,
Whose Native fires disdaining
To lye thus folded and complaining
244 Tire: attire; specifically, headdress.
253 Something: to some extent.
355 Indexz pointer (forefinger).
BICHABD CRASHAW
Of these ignoble sheetes 5
Affect more comely Bands,
(Faire one) from thy kind hands,
And confidently looke
To find the rest
Of a rich binding in your brest. 3.0
It is in one choice handfull, heaven and afl
Heavens royall hoast, incampt thus small;
To prove that true, Schooles use to tell,
Ten thousand Angells in one point can dwell.
It is loves great Artyllery, 15
Which here contracts it self, and comes to ly
Close coucht in your white bosome, and from thence
As from a snowy fortresse of defence
Against the Ghostly foe to take your part:
And f ortifie the hold of your chast heart. 2,0
It is an Armory of light,
Let constant use but keep it bright,
You! find it yields,
To holy hands and humble Hearts,
More swords and shields, 25
Then sinne hath snares, or Hell hath Darts.
Onely be sure
The Hands be pure
That hold these weapons, and the eyes
Those of Turtles, chast, and true, 30
Wakefull, and wise;
Here is a friend shall fight for you;
Hold but this booke before your heart,
Let Prayer alone to play its part.
AN ODE WHICH WAS PREFIXED TO A PBAYER BOOKE.
6 Affect: aspire to; Sands: things that bind together.
19 Ghostly: spiritual.
30 Turtles: turtledoves.
THE MEDITATIVE FOE3VT
But 6 the heart 35
That studies this high art,
Must be a sure house Keeper,
And yet no sleeper.
Deare soule be strong,
Mercy will come ere long, 40
And bring its bosome full o£ blessings,
Flowers of never fading graces,
To make immortall dressings
For -worthy soules, whose wise embraces
Store up themselves for Him, who is alone 45
The Spouse of Virgins, and the Virgins son.
But if the noble Bridegroome when he come,
Shall find the loyt'ring Heart from home,
Leaving its chast aboad,
To gad abroad, 50
Amongst the gay Mates of the God of flyes;
To take her pleasure, and to play,
And keep the devills Holy day;
To dance ith* sunne-shine of some smiling
But beguiling 55
Spheare of sweet, and sugred lies,
Some slippery paire,
Of false perhaps as f aire,
Flattering, but forswearing eyes;
Doubflesse some other heart 60
Will get the start,
And stepping in before,
Will take possession of the sacred store
Of hidden sweets, and holy joyes,
Words which are not heard with ears, 65
(Those tumultuous shops of noise)
Effectuall whispers, whose still voice,
The soul it selfe more feeles than heares.
51 God of fyes: Beelzebub.
[300]
RICHABJ} CRASHAW
Amorous Languishments; Luminous Trances9
Sights which are not seen with Eyes; 70
Spiritual!, and Soule-piercing glances,
Whose pure and subtile lightning Flyes9
Home to the Heart, and sets the house on fire,
And melts it downe in sweet desire:
Yet doth not stay 75
To aske the windowes leave to passe that way.
Delicious deaths, soft exhalations
Of Soule; deare and Divine annihilations.
A thousand unknowne Rites
O£ loyes and rarejyd Delights, 80
A hundred thousand Goods, Glories, and Graces,
And many a mistick thing,
Which the divine embraces
Of the deare spouse of Spirits, with them will bring.
For which it is no shame, 85
That dull mortality must not know a name.
Of all this store
Of blessings, and ten thousand more;
(If when he come
He find the Heart from home) 90
Doubdesse he will unload
Him self e some other where,
And powre abroad
His precious sweets,
On the faire soule whom first he meets. 95
O faire! 6 Fortunate! 6 rich! 6 deare!
O happy and thrice happy shee
Selected Dove,
Who e're she bee,
Whose early love 100
With winged vowes,
Makes hast to meet her Morning spouse:
[301]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
And close with his immortall kisses.
Happie indeed who never misses,
To improve that precious hower, 105
And every day,
Seize her sweet prey;
AH fresh and fragrant as he rises,
Dropping with a balmy showre
A delicious dew of spices. no
O let tbe blissefull Heart hold fast
Her Heatfnly Arme-fuU, she shall tast,
At once ten thousand Paradices;
She shall have Power,
To rifle and Deflower, 115
The rich and Roseall spring of those rare sweets,
Which with a swelling hosome there she meets.
Boundlesse and infinite
JBottomlesse treasures,
Of pure inebriating pleasures,
Happy proof e! she shall discover,
What Joy what Blisse
How many He&ons at once it is,
To have her God become her lover.
On Mr. George Herberts booke intitu-
led the Temple of Sacred Poems,
sent to a Gentle-woman.
Know you f aire on what you looke;
Divinest love lyes in this booke:
Expecting fier from your eyes,
To kindle this his sacrifice.
When your hands untie these strings,
Think yoliave an Angell by the wings.
BICHAJRD CRASHAW
One that gladly will be nigh,
To waite upon each morning sigh.
To flutter in the balmy aire,
Of your well-perfumed praier; 10
These white plumes of his heel lend you,
Which every day to heaven will send you:
To take acquaintance of the spheare*
And all the smooth-fac'd kindred there.
And though Herbert's name doe owe 15
These devotions, fairest, know
That while I lay them on the shrine
Of your white hand, they are mine.
In memory of the vertuous and Learned
Lady Madre de Teresa that sought an
early Martyrdome.
Love thou art absolute sole Lord
Of life and death. To prove the word,
Weel now appeale to none of all
Those thy old Souldiers, Great and tall
Ripe men of Martyrdome, that could reach downe, 5
With strong armes their Triumphant crowne:
Such as could with lustie breath,
Speake loud into the face of death,
Their great Lord's glorious name; To none
Of those whose spatious bosomes spread a throne 10
For love at large to fill: spare Blood and sweat,
And see htm take a privat seat,
Making his mansion in the mild
And milky soule of a soft child.
ON MR. GEORCE HERBERTS BOOKS.
15 owe: own.
IN MEMORY OF ... TERESA.
12 seat: residence.
[303]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Scarce hath she learnt to lisp the name, 15
Of Martyr; yet she thinkes it shame
Life should so long play with that breath,
Which spent can buy so brave a death.
She never undertooke to know,
What death with love should have to doe; 2,0
Nor hath she e're yet understood
Why to shew love, she should shed blood,
Yet though she can not tell you why,
She can love, and she can dye.
Scarce hath she blood enough, to make 25
A guilty sword blush for her sake;
Yet hath she a heart dares hope to prove,
How much lesse strong is Death then Love.
Be Love but there, let poore six yeares,
Be pos'd with the maturest feares 30
Man trembles at, you streight shall find
Love knowes no nonage, nor the Mind.
*Tis Love, not years, nor Limbs, that can
Make the Martyr or the Man.
Love toucht her Heart, and lo it beates 35
High, and burnes with such brave Heates:
Such Thirsts to dye, as dares drink up
A thousand cold Deaths in one cup.
Good reason; for she breaths all fire,
Her weake breast heaves with strong desire, 40
Of what she may with fruitlesse wishes
Seeke for amongst her Mothers Kisses.
Since 'tis not to be had at home,
Sheel travell for A Martyrdome.
No Home for hers confesses she, 45
But where she may a Martyr be.
Sheel to the Moores and trade with them,
18 brave: excellent, splendid.
30 pos'd: placed in a difficulty.
31 streight; at once.
32 nonage: the period of being under age,
[304]
BICHABB CRASHAW
For this unvalued Diadem,
Shee'l offer them her dearest Breath,
With Christ's name in't, in change for death. 50
Shee'l bargain with them, and will give
Them God, and teach them how to live
In him; Or if they this deny,
For him, shel teach them how to dye.
So shall she leave amongst them sown, 55
Her Lords Blood, or at least her own.
Farewell then all the world! Adiew,
Teresa is no more for you:
Farewell all pleasures, sports, and joys,
(Never till now esteemed Toyes) 60
Farewell what ever deare may bee,
Mother's armes or Father's 'Knee.
Farewell house and farewell home:
She's for the Moores and Martyrdome.
Sweet not so fast! Lo thy faire Spouse, 65
Whom thou seekst with so swift vowes
Calls thee back, and bidds thee come,
T*embrace a milder Martyrdome.
Blest powers forbid thy tender life,
Should bleed upon a barbarous Knife; 70
Or some base hand have power to race,
Thy Brest's chast cabinet, and uncase
A soule kept there so sweet. O no;
Wise Heaven will never have it so.
Thou art Loves Victim; and must dye 75
A death more mysticaU and high.
Into Loves armes thou shalt let fall,
A still surviving funerall.
His is the Dart must make the Death,
Whose stroake shall taste thy hallow'd breath; 80
48 unvalued: of extreme (inestimable) value.
71 race: cut, slash.
[305]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
A Dart thrice dipt in that rich flame,
Which writes thy spouses radiant Name,
Upon the roof e of Heav'n, "where ay
It shines, and with a sovereigne Ray
Beates bright upon the burning faces 85
Of soules, which in that Name's sweet graces
Find everlasting smiles; so rare,
So spirituall, pure, and faire,
Must be th'immortall instrument,
Upon whose choice point shall be sent, 90
A life so lov'd; And that there be
Fit executioners for thee,
The fair'st, and first borne sons of fire,
Blest Seraphims shall leave their Quire,
And turne Love's Souldiers, upon thee, 95
To exercise their Archerie.
O how oft shalt thou complaine
Of a sweet and subtile paine?
Of intolerable joyes?
Of a death, in which who dyes 100
Loves his death, and dyes againe,
And would for ever so be slainel
And lives, and dyes; and knows not why
To live; But that he thus may never leave to dye.
How kindly will thy gentle Heart, 105
Kisse the sweetly-killing Dart?
And close in his embraces keepe,
Those delicious wounds that weepe
Balsome to heale themselves with. Thus
When these thy Deathes so numerous, no
Shall all at last dye into one,
And melt thy soules sweet mansion;
Like a soft lump of Incense, hasted
By too hot a fire, and wasted,
Into perfuming clouds, so fast 115
Shalt thou exhale to Heav'n at last,
83 ay: ever.
[306]
RICHAKD CRASHA.W
In a resolving sigh, and then,
O what?— aske not the tongues of men,
Angells cannot tell. Suffice,
Thy self shall feele thine own full joyes,
And hold them fast for ever. There,
So soon as thou shalt first appeare,
The Moon of maiden stars, thy white
Mistresse attended by such bright
Soules as thy shining-self, shall come, 125
And in her first rankes make thee rooms.
Where 'mongst her snowy family,
Immortall welcomes waite for thee.
O what delight when reveal'd life shall stand,
And teach thy lips heav'n with her hand, 130
On which thou now maist to thy wishes,
Heape up thy consecrated kisses!
What joyes shall seize thy soule, when she
Bending her blessed eyes on thee
(Those second smiles of Heav'n) shall dart, 135
Her mild rayes through thy melting Heart?
Angells thy old friends, there shall greet thee,
Glad at their owne home now to meet thee*
All thy good -works which went before,
And waited for thee at the doore, 140
Shall owne thee there; and all in one
Weave a Constellation
Of crownes with which the King thy spouse,
Shall build up thy triumphant browes.
All thy old woes shall now smile on thee, 145
And thy Paines sit bright upon thee.
All thy sorrows here shall shine,
And thy sufFrings be divine;
Teares shall take comfort, and turne Gems,
And wrongs repent to Diadems. 150
Ev'n thy Deaths shall live; and new
Dresse the soule, that erst they slew.
[307!
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Thy Wounds shall blush to such bright scars,
As keep accompt of the Lamb's wars.
Those rare-workes where thou shalt leave writ, 155
Loves noble Historie^-with wit
Taught thee by none but him, while here
They feed our soules, shall cloath thine there.
Each heavn'ly word, by whose hid flame
Our hard hearts shall strike fire, the same 160
Shall flourish on thy browes, and be
Both fire to us, and flame to thee;
Whose light shal live bright, in thy Face
By glorie, in our Hearts by grace.
Thou shalt looke round about, and see 165
Thousands of crown'd soules throng to bee
Themselves thy crowne; sonnes of thy vowes,
The virgin-births, with which thy soveraigne spouse
Made fruitfull thy f aire soule. Goe now
And with them all about thee, bow 170
To him, Put on (heel say) put on
(My Rosie Love) That thy rich Zone,
Sparkling with the sacred flames,
Of thousand soules, whose happy names
Heav'n keep's upon thy score (Thy bright 175
Life brought them first to kisse the light
That kindled them to stars) and so
Thou with the Lamb, thy Lord, shalt goe;
And where soe're he sets his white
Steps, walk with Him those waies of light. 180
Which who in death would live to see,
Must learne in life to dye like Thee.
154 accompt: account.
172, Zone: belt.
175 score; record.
[308]
RICHAED CRASHAW
The flaming Heart. Upon tie booke and
picture of Teresa. As she is usually
expressed with a Seraphim
beside her.
Well meaning Readers! you that come as Friends,
And catch the pretious name this piece pretends,
Make not so much hast to admire
That f aire cheek't f allacie of fire.
That is a Seraphim they say, 5
And this the great Teresia.
Readers, be ruTd by me, and make,
Here a well plac't, and wise mistake.
You must transpose the picture quite,
And spell it wrong to reade it right; 10
Read Him for Her, and Her for Him,
And call the Saint, the Seraphim.
Painter, what did'st thou understand
To put her dart into his Hand?
See, even the yeares, and size of Him, 15
Shew this the Mother Seraphim.
This is the Mistrisse Flame; and duteous hee
Her happier fretworks* here, comes down to see.
O most poore spirited of men!
Had thy cold Pencill kist her Pen 20
Thou could'st not so unkindly err
To shew us thfg faint shade for Her.
Why man, this speakes pure mortall frame,
And mocks with Femall Frost Love's manly flame.
One would suspect thou meanest to paint, 25
Some weake, inferior, Woman Saint.
THE FLAMING HEART: expressed: portrayed; see NOTE.
2, pretends: offers, sets forth.
[309]
THE MEDITATIVE POE1M
But had thy pale-fac't purple tooke
Fire from the burning Cheekes of that bright booke,
Thou woulcTst on her have heap't up all
That could be formed SeraphicalL 30
What e're this youth of fire wore faire,
Rosie Fingers, Radiant Haire,
Glowing cheekes, and glistring wings,
AH those, faire and flagrant things,
But before AH, that fierie Dart, 35
Had filTd the Hand of this great Heart.
Do then as equall Right requires,
Since his the blushes be, and hers the fires,
Resume and rectifie thy rude designe,
Undresse thy Seraphim, into mine. 40
Redeeme this injury of thy art,
Give him the oet/Ze, give her the Dart.
Give him the veyle, that he may cover,
The red cheekes of a rivalTd Lover;
Asham'd that our world now can show 45
Nests of new Seraphims here below.
Give her the dart, for it is she
(Faire youth) shoot's both thy shafts and thee.
Say, all ye wise and well pierc't Hearts
That live, and dye arnid'st Her darts, 50
What is't your tast-fufl spirits doe prove
In that rare Life of her, and Love?
Say and beare witnesse. Sends she not,
A Seraphim at every shot?
What Magazins of immortall armes there shine! 55
Heav'ns great Artillery in each Love-spun-line.
Give then the Dart to Her, who gives the Flame;
Give Him the veyle, who kindly takes the shame.
But if it be the frequent Fate
Of worst faults to be Fortunate; 60
33 gltetring: glittering.
34 -flagrant: flaming, burning.
RICHARD CRASHAW
If all's prescription; and proud wrong,
Hearkens not to an humble song;
For all the Gallantry of Him,
Give me the sufFring Seraphim.
His be the bravery of all those Bright things, 65
The glowing cheekes, the glittering wings,
The Rosie hand, the Radiant Dart,
Leave her alone the flaming-Heart.
Leave her that, and thou shalt leave her,
Not one loose shaft, but loves whole quiver. 70
For in Love's field was never found,
A nobler Weapon than a wound.
Love's Passives, are his activist part,
The wounded is the wounding-heart.
O Heart! the equall Poise, of Love's both Parts, 75
Big alike with wounds and Darts,
Live in these conquering leaves; live all the same,
And walke through all tongues one triumphant flame.
Live here great heart; and Love, and dye, and kill,
And bleed, and wound, and yield, and conquer still. 80
Let this immortall Life, where e'er it comes,
Walke in a crowd of Loves, and Martyrdomes.
Let Mystick Deaths waite on't; and wise soules bee,
The love-slaine-wttnesses, of this life of Thee.
O sweet incendiary! shew here thy art, 85
Upon this carcasse of a hard, cold, hart,
Let all thy scattered shafts of light, that play
Among the leaves of thy larg Books of day,
Combin'd against this Brest at once break in
And take away from me my self & sin, 90
This gratious Robbery shall thy bounty be;
And my best fortunes such fair spoiles of me.
O thou undanted daughter of desires!
By all thy dowr of Lights & Fires;
Si prescription: right or title acquired by long possession.
65 bravery: splendor.
85-108 See NOTE.
THE MEDJTATIVE POEM
By all the eagle in thee, all the dove; 95
By all thy lives & deaths of love;
By thy larg draughts of intellectual! day,
And by thy thrists of love more large then they;
By aH thy brim-filTd Bowles of f eirce desire
By thy last Morning's draught of liquid fire; 100
By the full kingdome of that finall kisse
That seiz'd thy parting Soul, & seaFd thee his;
By all the heav'ns thou hast in hrm
(Fair sister of the Seraphim!)
By all of Him we have in Thee; 103
Leave nothing of my Self in me.
Let me so read thy life, that I
Unto all lif e of mine may dy.
An Apologie for the precedent Hymnes
on Teresa.
Thus have I back againe to thy bright name,
(Faire floud of holy fires) transfus'd the Flame
I tooke from reading Thee. Tis to thy wrong
I know, that in my weake and worthlesse song
Thou here art set to shine, where thy full day 5
Scarce dawnes. O pardon if I dare to say
Thine owne deere bookes are guilty: for from thence
I learn'd to know that Love is eloquence.
That hopefuH maxime gave me heart to trye,
If, what to other Tongues is tun'd so high, 10
Thy praise might not speake English too. Forbid
(By all thy mysteries that here lye hid)
Forbid it Mighty Love! let no fond hate
Of names and words so farre prejudicate;
98 thrists: obsolete form of "thirsts".
AN APOLOGIE: defense, justification; see NOTE.
13 fond; foolish.
14 prejudicate: create prejudice.
RICHARD CRASBAW
Soules are not Spaniards too. One friendly floud, 15
Of Baptisme, blends them all into a Blood.
Christ's faith makes but one Body of all Soules;
And Love's that Bodie's Soule. No law comptrolls
Our free traffique for Heav'n, we may maintaine
Peace, sure, with piety, though it come from Spaine. 20
What Soule so e're in any language can
Speake Heav'n like hers, is my Soules countrey-man,
O 'tis not Spanish, but 'tis Heav'n she speakesl
*Tis heaven that lyes in ambush there, and breakes
From thence into the wondring Reader's brest; 25
Who f eeles his warme Heart hatch'd into a nest
Of little Eagles and young Loves, whose high
Flights scorne the Lazie dust, and things that dy.
There are enow whose draughts (as deep as Hell)
Drinke up all Spaine in Sack. Let my soule swell 30
With thee, strong Wine of Love! Let others swim,
In Puddles; we will pledge this Seraphim
Boules full of richer Blood than blush of grape
Was ever guilty of. Change we our shape
My soule, Some drinke from men to beasts, 6 then, 35
Drinke we till we prove more, not lesse than men,
And tume not beasts but Angels. Let the King,
Me ever into these his Cellars bring.
Where flowes such wine, as we can have of none
But Him who trod the Wine-presse all alone. 40
Wine of youth, life, and the sweet deaths of love,
Wine of immortall mixture; which can prove
Its tincture from the rosy nectar; wine,
That can exalt weake earth, and so refine
Our dust, that in one draught, Mortality 45
May drinke it self up, and forget to dy.
18 comptroUs: controls.
19 traffique: dealings, business.
29 enow: enough.
30 Sack: white wine.
40 See Isaiah 63:3.
43 tincture: infusion of a particular quality.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
On the assumption.
Hark! she is calTd, the parting houre is come.
Take thy farewell, poore world! Heav'n must goe home.
A peece of Heav'nly Earth, purer and brighter
Than the chast stars, whose choice lamps come to light her,
While through the Christall orbes, clearer than they, 5
She climbs; and makes a farre more milky way.
She's calTd. Harke how the deare immortall Dove
Sighes to his silver mate. Rise up my Love,
Bdse up my faire, my spotlesse one,
The winters past, the Rain is gone: 10
The spring is come, the Flowers appeare,
No streets but thou are wanting here.
Come away my love,
Come away my dove,
Cast off delay: 15
The Court of HeaVn is come,
To waite upon thee home;
Come, come away.
The Flowers appeare,
Or quickly would, were thou once here. 20
The spring is come; Or if it stay,
*Tis to keepe time with thy delay.
The raine is gone, Except as much as wee,
Detain in needfull Teares, to weep the want of thee.
The winters past, 25
Or if he make lesse haste,
His answer is, Why, she doth so;
If summer come not, how can winter go?
ON THE ASSUMPTION.
5 orbes: "the concentric hollow spheres supposed to surround
tbe earth and carry the planets and stars with them in their rev-
olution'* (OED).
8-13 See Song of Solomon 2:10-14.
BICHAKD CRASHAW
Come away, come away,
The shrill winds chide, the waters weep thy stay, 30
The fountaines murmure; and each loftiest Tree,
Bowes lowest his leavy top, to looke for thee.
Come away my love,
Come away my dove, &c.
She's calTd again; And will she goe? 35
When Heav'n bids come, who can say No?
Heav'n calls her, and she must away,
Heav'n will not, and she cannot stay.
Goe then, goe (glorious) on the golden wings
Of the bright youth of Heav'n that sings 40
Under so sweet a burden, Goey
Since thy dread Son will have it so.
And while thou goest, our Song and wee,
Will as wee may reach after thee.
Haile, holy Queen, of humble Hearts! 45
We in thy praise wil have our parts.
And though thy dearest lookes must now be light
To none but the blest heavens, whose bright
Beholders lost in sweet delight,
Feed for ever their faire sight 50
With those divinest eyes, which wee
And our darke world no more shall see;
Though our poore joyes are parted so,
Yet shall our lips never let goe
Thy gracious name, but to the last 55
Our loving song shall hold it fast.
Thy precious Name shall bee
Thy self to us, and wee
With holy care will keep it by us.
Wee to the last 60
Will hold it fast;
And no Assumption shall deny us.
AE the sweetest showers
Of our fairest flowers,
Will wee strow upon it; 65
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Though our sweets cannot make
It sweeter, they can take
Themselves new sweetnesse from it.
Maria, Men and Angels sing,
Maria, Mother of our King. 70
Live, Rosie Princesse, live, and may the bright
Crowne of a most incomparable light
Embrace thy radiant browes: O may the best
Of everlasting joyes bath thy white brest.
Live our chaste love, the holy mirth 75
Of heav'n, the Humble pride of Earth.
Live, crowne of women, Queen of men;
Live Mistrisse of our Song; And when
Our weake desires have done their best,
Sweet Angels come, and sing the Rest. 80
Charitas nimia, or
the deare bargain.
Lord, what is man? why should he cost you
So deare? what had his mine lost you?
Lord what is man, that thou hast over-bought
So much a thing of nought?
Love is too land, I see, and can 5
Make but a simple Merchant man;
*T was for such sorry merchandise
Bold Painters have put out his eyes.
Alas sweet Lord, what wer't to thee
If there were no such wormes as wee? 10
HeaVn ne're the lesse still Heav'n would bee,
Should mankind dwell
In the deep hell,
75 mirth: joy, happiness.
CHARITAS NTMIA.: CXCeSSlVe love.
7 sorry merchandise: poor trading.
EICHABD CRASHAW
What have his woes to doe with thee?
Let him goe weepe 15
O're his own wounds;
Seraphims will not sleep,
Nor Spheares let fall their f aithfull rounds;
Still would the youthfull spirits sing,
And still the spacious Palace ring: 20
Still would those beautious ministers of light
Burn all as bright,
And bow their flaming heads before thee;
Still Thrones and Dominations would adore thee;
Still would those wakefull sonnes of fire 25
Keep warm thy praise
Both nights and daies,
And teach thy lov'd name to their noble Lore.
Let froward dust then doe its kind,
And give it selfe for sport to the proud wind; 30
Why should a piece of peevish clay plead shares
In the Eternitie of thy old cares?
Why should'st thou bow thy awfull brest to see
What mine own madnesses have done with mee?
Should not the King still keep his Throne 35
Because some desperate foole's undone?
Or will the world's illustrious eyes
Weepe for every worme that dyes?
WiH the gallant Sun
E're the lesse glorious run? 40
Will he hang down his Golden head,
Or e're the sooner seeke his western bed,
Because some foolish flye
Growes wanton, and will dye?
If I was lost in miserie, 45
What was it to thy heaven and thee?
2,4 Thrones and Dominations: the third and fourth ranks in the
nine orders of angels (seraphim and cherubim forming the first
two ranks).
29 froward: perverse; doe its kind: act in accord with its nature.
[317]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
What was it to thy pretious bloud
If My foule heart calTd for a floud?
What i£ my faithlesse soule and I
Would needs fall in 50
With Guilt and sin?
What did the Lamb that he should dy?
What did the Lamb that he should need,
When the Woolfe sinnes, himselfe to bleed?
If my base lust 55
Bargained with death, and well-beseeming dust;
Wliy should the white
Lamb's bosome write
The purple name,
Of my sins shame? 60
Why should his unstain'd brest make good
My blushes with his own Heart-blood?
O my Saviour, make me see,
How dearely thou hast paid for mee,
That Lost again, my life may prove, 65
As then in Death, so now in Love.
56 weU-beseeming: well-appearing.
1621-1678
A Dialogue, between the Resolved Soul,
and Created Pleasure.
Courage my Soul, now learn to wield
The weight of thine immortal Shield.
Close on thy Head thy Helmet bright
Ballance thy Sword against the Fight.
See where an Aimy, strong as fair, 5
With silken Banners spreads the air.
Now, if thou bee'st that thing Divine,
In this day's Combat let it shine:
And shew that Nature wants an Art
To conquer one resolved Heart 10
Pleasure.
Welcome the Creations Guest,
Lord of Earth, and Heavens Heir.
Lay aside that Warlike Crest,
And of Nature's banquet share:
Where the Souls of fruits and flow'rs 15
Stand prepar'd to heighten yours.
Soul.
I sup above, and cannot stay
To bait so long upon the way.
A DIALOGUE, BETWEEN THE RESOLVED SOUL, AND CREATED PLEASURE.
1-4 See Ephesians 6:16-17.
9 shew: show; wants: lacks,
18 bait: stop for food.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Pleasure.
On these downy Pillows lye,
Whose soft Plumes will thither fly: 20
On these Roses strow'd so plain
Lest one Leaf thy Side should strain.
Soul.
My gentler Rest is on a Thought,
Conscious of doing what I ought.
Pleasure.
If thou bee'st with Perfumes pleas'd, 25
Such as oft the Gods appeas'd,
Thou in fragrant Clouds shalt show
Like another God below.
Soul.
A Soul that knowes not to presume
Is Heaven's and its own perfume, 30
Pleasure.
Every thing does seem to vie
Which should first attract thine Eye:
But since none deserves that grace,
In this Crystal view thy face.
strow'd: strewn; plain: level.
show: appear.
ANDREW MAB.V35U,
Soul
When the Creator's skill is priz'd, 35
The rest is all but Earth disguis'd.
Pleasure*
Heark how Musick then prepares
For thy Stay these charming Aires;
Which the posting Winds recall,
And suspend the Rivers Fall. 40
Soul
Had I but any time to lose,
On tfrfe I would it all dispose.
Cease Tempter. None can chain a mind
Whom this sweet Chordage cannot bind.
Chorus.
Earth cannot shew so brave a Sight 45
As when a single Soul does fence
The Batteries of aUuring Sense,
And Heaven views it with deUght.
Then persevere: for stiU new Charges sound:
And if thou overcom'st than shalt be crown'd. 50
39 "which call back the rushing
45 brace: splendid.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Pleasure.
All this fair, and soft, and sweet,
Which scatteringly doth shine,
Shall within one Beauty meet,
And she be only thine.
Soul.
If things of Sight such Heavens be, 55
What Heavens are those we cannot see?
Pleasure.
Where so e're thy Foot shall go
The minted Gold shall lie;
Till thou purchase all below,
And want new Worlds to buy. 60
Soul.
Wert not a price whold value Gold?
And that's worth nought that can be sold.
Pleasure.
Wilt thou all the Glory have
That War or Peace commend?
Half the World shaU be thy Slave 65
The other half thy Friend. !
51 soft: see NOTE.
61 a price: a sum of money.
[324]
ANDREW MABVELIx
Soul
What Friends, if to my self untrue?
What Slaves, unless I captive you?
Pleasure.
Thou shalt know each hidden Cause;
And see the future Time: 70
Try what depth the Centre draws;
And then to Heaven climb.
Soul
None thither mounts by the degree
Of Knowledge, but Humility.
Chorus.
Triumph, triumph, victorious Soul; 75
The World has not one Pleasure more:
The rest does lie beyond the Pole,
And is thine everlasting Store.
71 Centre: earth.
78 Store: stock (of pleasures).
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
On a Drop of Dew.
See how the Orient Dew,
Shed from the Bosom of the Morn
Into the blowing Roses,
Yet careless of its Mansion new;
For the clear Region where 'twas born 5
Round in its self incloses:
And in its little Globes Extent,
Frames as it can its native Element.
How it the purple flow'r does slight,
Scarce touching where it lyes, 10
But gazing back upon the Skies,
Shines with a mournful Light;
Like its own Tear,
Because so long divided from the Sphear.
Restless it roules and unsecure, 15
Trembling lest it grow impure:
Till the warm Sun pitty it's Pain,
And to the Skies exhale it back again.
So the Soul, that Drop, that Ray
Of the clear Fountain of Eternal Day, 20
Could it within the humane flow'r be seen,
Remembring still its former height,
Shuns the sweat leaves and blossoms green;
And, recollecting its own Light,
QN A DROP OP DEW.
i Orient: shining, brilliant.
3 blowing: blooming.
5 For: because of.
6 "closes itself in within its own round shape."
8 Frames: creates.
14 Sphear: the heavens.
24 recollecting: drawing together, concentrating.
ANDREW MARVELL
Does, in its pure and circling thoughts, express 25
The greater Heaven in an Heaven less.
In how coy a Figure wound,
Every way it turns away:
So the World excluding round,
Yet receiving in the Day. 30
Dark beneath, but bright above:
Here disdaining, there in Love.
How loose and easie hence to go:
How girt and ready to ascend.
Moving but on a point below, 35
It all about does upwards bend.
Such did the Manna's sacred Dew destil;
White, and intire, though congealed and chill.
CongeaTd on Earth: but does, dissolving, run
Into the Glories of th* Almighty Sun. 40
The Coronet.
When for the Thorns with which I long, too long.
With many a piercing wound,
My Saviours head have crown'd,
I seek with Garlands to redress that Wrong:
Through every Garden, every Mead, 5
I gather flow rs (my fruits are only flow rs)
Dismantling all the fragrant Towers
That once adorn'd my Shepherdesses head.
And now when I have summ'd up all my store,
Thinking (so I my self deceive) 10
So rich a Chaplet thence to weave
27 coy: reserved.
37—40 See Exodus 16:13—31.
THE CORONET.
5 Mead: meadow.
11 Chaplet: wreath.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
As never yet the king of Glory wore:
Alas I find the Serpent old
That, twining in his speckled breast,
About the flow'rs disguis'd does fold, 15
With wreaths of Fame and Interest.
Ah, foolish Man, that would'st debase with them,
And mortal Glory, Heavens Diadem!
But thou who only could'st the Serpent tame,
Either his slipp'ry knots at once untie, 20
And disintangle all his winding Snare:
Or shatter too with him my curious frame:
And let these wither, so that he may die,
Though set with Skill and chosen out with Care.
That they, while Thou on both their Spoils dost tread, 2$
May crown thy Feet, that could not crown thy Head.
Eyes and Tears.
I.
How wisely Nature did decree,
With the same Eyes to weep and see!
That, having view'd the object vain,
They might be ready to complain.
IL
And, since the Self-deluding Sight,
In a false Angle takes each hight;
These Tears which better measure all,
Like wat'ry Lines and Plummets fall.
16 Interest: personal advantage.
22, curious frame: ingenious construction (of poetry).
ANDREW MARVELL
III.
Two Tears, which Sorrow long did weigh
Within the Scales of either Eye, 10
And then paid out in equal Poise,
Are the true price of all my Joyes.
IV.
What in the World most fair appears,
Yea even Laughter, turns to Tears:
And all the Jewels which we prize, 15
Melt in these Pendants of the Eyes.
V.
I have through every Garden been,
Amongst the Red, the White, the Green;
And yet, from all the flow'rs I saw,
No Hony, but these Tears could draw. 20
VI.
So the all-seeing Sun each day
Distills the World with Chymick Ray;
But finds the Essence only Showers,
Which straight in pity back he powers.
EYES AND TEARS.
11 Poise: weight.
[329]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
VII.
Yet happy they whom Grief doth bless, 25
That weep the more, and see the less:
And, to preserve their Sight more true,
Bath still their Eyes in their own Dew.
VHL
*So Magdalen, in Tears more wise
Dissolv'd those captivating Eyes, 30
Whose liquid Chaines could flowing meet
To fetter her Redeemers feet.
IX.
Not full sailes hasting loaden home,
Nor the chast Ladies pregnant Womb,
Nor Cynthia Teeming show's so fair, 35
As two Eyes swoln with weeping are.
X.
The sparkling Glance that shoots Desire,
Drench'd in these Waves, does lose it fire.
Yea oft the Thund'rer pitty takes
And here the hissing Lightning slakes. 40
35 Cynthia Teeming: the full moon.
38 ft: its.
39 Thuntfrer: Jove.
[330]
ANDREW IVIARVELL
XI.
The Incense was to Heaven dear.
Not as a Perfume, but a Tear.
And Stars shew lovely in the Night,
But as they seem the Tears of Light.
XII.
Ope then mine Eyes your double Sluice, 45
And practise so your noblest Use.
For others too can see, or sleep;
But only humane Eyes can weep.
XIII.
Now like two Clouds dissolving, drop,
And at each Tear in distance stop: 50
Now like two Fountains trickle down:
Now like two floods o'return and drown.
XIIIL
Thus let your Streams o'reflow your Springs,
Till Eyes and Tears be the same things:
And each the other's difference bears; 55
These weeping Eyes, those seeing Tears.
*Magdala, lascivos sic quum dimisit Amantes,
Fervidaque in cast as lumina solvit aquas;
Haesit in irriguo lachrymarum compede Christus,
Et tenuit sacros uda Catena pedes. 60
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Bermudas.
Where the remote Bermudas ride
In th' Oceans bosome unespy'd,
From a small Boat, that rowM along,
The listning Winds received this Song.
What should we do but sing his Praise 5
That led us through the watry Maze,
Unto an Isle so long unknown,
And yet far kinder than our own?
Where he the huge Sea-Monsters wracks,
That lift the Deep upon their Backs. 10
He lands us on a grassy Stage;
Safe from the Storms, and Prelaws rage.
He gave us this eternal Spring,
Which here enamells every thing;
And sends the Fowl's to us in care, 15
On daily Visits through the Air.
He hangs in shades the Orange bright,
Lake golden Lamps in a green Night.
And does in the Pomgranates close,
Jewels more rich than Ormtis show's. 20
He makes the Figs our mouths to meet;
And throws the Melons at our feet.
But Apples plants of such a price,
No Tree could ever bear them twice.
With Cedars, chosen by his hand, 25
From Lebanon, he stores the Land.
BERMUDAS.
9 wracks: wrecks.
14 enametts: beautifies with varied colors.
20 Ormus: in the Persian Gulf, noted as a market for pearls
and gems.
23 Apple$: pineapples; price: value.
[332]
ANDREW MARVELL,
And makes the hollow Seas, that roar,
Proclaime the Ambergris on shoar.
He cast (of which we rather boast)
The Gospels Pearl upon our Coast. 30
And in these Rocks for us did frame
A Temple, where to sound his Name.
Oh let our Voice his Praise exalt,
Till it arrive at Heavens Vault:
Which thence (perhaps) rebounding, may 35
Eccho beyond the Mexique Bay.
Thus sung they, in the English boat,
An holy and a chearful Note,
And all the way, to guide their Chime,
With falling Oars they kept the time. 40
A Dialogue between the Soul and Body.
Soul.
O who shall, from this Dungeon, raise
A Soul inslav'd so many wayes?
With bolts of Bones, that fetter'd stands
In Feet; and manacled in Hands.
Here blinded with an Eye; and there 5
Deaf with the drumming of an Ear.
A Soul hung up, as 'twere, in Chains
Of Nerves, and Arteries, and Veins.
Tortur'd, besides each other part,
In a vain Head, and double Heart. xo
31 frame: construct.
[333]
THE MEDrTATTVE POEM
Body.
O who shall me deliver whole,
From bonds of this Tyrannic Soul?
Which, stretcht upright, impales me so,
That mine own Precipice I go;
And warms and moves this needless Frame: 15
(A Fever could but do the same.)
And, wanting where its spight to try,
Has made me live to let me dye.
A Body that could never rest,
Since this ill Spirit it possest. 20
Soul.
What Magick could me thus confine
Within anothers Grief to pine?
Where whatsoever it complain,
I feel, that cannot feel, the pain.
And all my Care its self employes, 25
That to preserve, which me destroys:
Constrained not only to indure
Diseases, but, whats worse, the Cure:
And ready oft the Port to gain,
Am Shipwrackt into Health again. 30
. DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE SOUL AND BODY.
13 impales: fixes upon a stake.
1$ needless: having no need.
E334I
ANDREW MARVKLL
Body.
But Physick yet could never reach
The Maladies Thou me dost teach;
Whom first the Cramp of Hope does Tear:
And then the Palsie Shakes of Fear.
The Pestilence of Love does heat: 35
Or Hatred's hidden Ulcer eat.
Joy's chearful Madness does perplex:
Or Sorrow's other Madness vex.
Which Knowledge forces me to know;
And Memory will not foregoe. 40
What but a Soul could have the wit
To build me up for Sin so fit?
So Architects do square and hew,
Green Trees that in the Forest grew.
To his Coy Mistress.
Had we but World enough, and Time,
This coyness Lady were no crime.
We would sit down, and think which way
To walk, and pass our long Loves Day.
Thou by the Indian Ganges side 5
Should'st Rubies find: I by the Tide
Of Htimber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood:
And you should if you please refuse
Till the Conversion of the Jews. 10
My vegetable Love should grow
31 Physick: medicine.
41 wit: ingenuity.
TO HIS COY MISTRESS.
2, coyness: shyness, reserve.
[335]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Vaster then Empires, and more slow.
An hundred years should go to praise
Thine Eyes, and on thy Forehead Gaze.
Two hundred to adore each Breast: 15
But thirty thousand to the rest.
An Age at least to every part,
And the last Age should show your Heart.
For Lady you deserve this State;
Nor would I love at lower rate. 20
But at my back I alwaies hear
Times winged Charriot hurrying near:
And yonder all before us lye
Desarts of vast Eternity,
Thy Beauty shall no more be found; 25
Nor, in thy marble Vault, shall sound
My ecchoing Song: then Worms shall try
That long preserved Virginity:
And your quaint Honour turn to dust;
And into ashes all my Lust. 3°
The Grave's a fine and private place,
But none I think do there embrace.
Now therefore, while the youthful hew
Sits on thy skin like morning glew,
And while thy willing Soul transpires 35
At every pore with instant Fires,
Now let us sport us while we may;
And now, like am rous birds of prey,
Rather at once our Time devour,
19 State: pomp, ceremony.
20 rate: valuation.
27 try: test.
29 quaint: fine, elegant, unusual, odd, fastidious, prim.
34 glew: glow; see NOTE.
35 transpires: passes out as vapor, "breathes through" (Latin
transpire) .
36 instant; urgent (Latin instans).
[336]
ANDREW MARVEIX
Than languish in his slow-chapt pow r. 40
Let us roll all our Strength, and all
Our sweetness, up into one Ball:
And tear our Pleasures with rough strife,
Thorough the Iron gates of Life.
Thus, though we cannot make our Sun 45
Stand still, yet we will make him run.
The unfortunate Lover.
I.
Alas, how pleasant are their dayes
With whom the Infant Love yet playesl
Sorted by pairs, they still are seen
By Fountains cool, and Shadows green.
But soon these Flames do lose their light,
Like Meteors of a Summers night:
Nor can they to that Region climb,
To make impression upon Time.
II.
Twas in a Shipwrack, when the Seas
RuTd, and the Winds did what they please, 10
That my poor Lover floting lay,
And, e're brought forth, was cast away:
40 slow-chapt: slow-jawed (slow in eating).
45-46 make our Sun Stand stUl: as Joshua did (Joshua io:i2r-
13), or as Zeus did, in his seduction of Alcmene.
THE UNFORTUNATE LOVER.
2, Infant Love: Cupid, Profane Love, contrasted with Sacred
Love; see NOTE.
[337]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Till at the last the master-Wave
Upon the Rock his Mother drave;
And there she split against the Stone, 15
In a Cesarian Section.
III.
The Sea him lent these bitter Tears
Which at his Eyes he alwaies bears.
And from the Winds the Sighs he bore,
Which through his surging Breast do roar. 20
No Day he saw but that which breaks,
Through frighted Clouds in forked streaks.
While round the ratling Thunder hurl'd,
As at the Fun'ral of the World.
W.
While Nature to his Birth presents 25
This masque of quarrelling Elements;
A num'rous fleet of Corm'rants black,
That saiTd insulting o're the Wrack,
Received into their cruel Care,
Th" unfortunate and abject Heir: 30
Guardians most fit to entertain
The Orphan of the Hurricane.
V.
They fed him up with Hopes and Air,
Which soon digested to Despair.
And as one Corarirant fed him, still 35
14 drone: drove.
23 hurfd: rushed violently.
28 insulting: triumphing scornfully.
[338]
ANDREW !N/EARVELL
Another on his Heart did bill.
Thus while they famish him, and feast,
He both consumed, and increast:
And languished with doubtful Breath,
Th* Amphibium of Life and Death. 40
VL
And now, when angry Heaven wou'd
Behold a spectacle of Blood,
Fortune and He are calTd to play
At sharp before it all the day:
And Tyrant Love his brest does ply 45
With all his wing'd Artillery.
Whilst he, betwixt the Flames and Waves,
Like Ajax, the mad Tempest braves.
VIL
See how he nak'd and fierce does stand,
Cuffing the Thunder with one hand; 50
While with the other he does lock,
And grapple, with the stubborn Rock:
From which he with each Wave rebounds,
Torn into Flames, and ragged with Wounds.
And all he saies, a Lover drest 55
In his own Blood does relish best.
36 bill: peck.
40 Amphibium: a creature that lives either on land or in -water.
44 At sharp: with sharp swords.
56 relish: please, find favor.
[339]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
VEIL
This is the only Banneret
That ever Love created yet:
Who though, by the Malignant Starrs,
Forced to live in Storms and Warrs: 60
Yet dying leaves a Perfume here,
And Musick within every Ear:
And he in Story only rules,
In a Field Sable a Lover Gules.
Tie Picture of little T. C. in a Prospect
of Flowers.
See with what simplicity
This Nimph begins her golden daies!
In the green Grass she loves to lie,
And there with her fair Aspect tames
The Wilder flow'rs, and gives them names: 5
But only with the Roses playes;
And them does tell
What Colour best becomes them, and what Smell.
57 Banneret: a title "conferred for valiant deeds done in the
kin^s presence on the field of battle" (OED).
63 Story: history ("only he in history rules'*).
64 Sable, Gules: heraldic terms: black, red.
THE PICTURE OF LITTLE T. C.
4 Aspect: both her gaze and her appearance.
5 gives them names: like Adam, Genesis
[340]
ANDREW MARVEIX
II.
Who can f oretel for what high cause
This Darling of the Gods was born! 10
Yet this is She whose chaster Laws
The wanton Love shall one day fear,
And, under her command severe,
See his Bow broke and Ensigns torn.
Happy, who can 15
Appease this virtuous Enemy of Manl
m.
O then let me in time compound,
And parly with those conquering Eyes;
Ere they have try*d their force to wound,
Ere, with their glancing wheels, they drive 2,0
In Triumph over Hearts that strive,
And them that yield but more despise.
Let me be laid,
Where I may see thy Glories from some Shade.
IV.
Mean time, whilst every verdant thing 25
It self does at thy Beauty charm,
Reform the errours of the Spring;
Make that the Tulips may have share
Of sweetness, seeing they are fair;
And Roses of their thorns disarm: 30
But most procure
That Violets may a longer Age endure.
17 compound: come to terms with.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
V.
But O young beauty of the Woods,
Whom Nature courts with fruits and flow'rs,
Gather the Flow'rs, but spare the Buds; 35
Lest Flora angry at thy crime,
To kill her Infants in their prime,
Do quickly make th* Example Yours;
And, ere we see,
Nip in the blossome all our hopes and Thee. 40
The Garden.
How vainly men themselves amaze
To win the Palm, the Oke, or Bayes;
And their uncessant Labours see
Crowned from some single Herb or Tree,
Whose short and narrow verged Shade 5
Does prudently their Toyles upbraid;
While all Flow'rs and all Trees do close
To weave the Garlands of repose.
JJUitri GARDEN.
i amaze: bewilder.
a Palm, Oke, Bayes: wreaths symbolizing military, civic, and
poetic achievement.
5 verged: briiximed, edged.
[34*]
AJSTDBEW MARVKT.T,
n.
Fair quiet, have I found thee here,
And Innocence thy Sister dear! 10
Mistaken long, I sought you then
In busie Companies of Men.
Your sacred Plants, if here below,
Only among the Plants will grow.
Society is all but rude, 15
To this delicious Solitude.
HI.
No white nor red was ever seen,
So am'rous as this lovely green.
Fond Lovers, cruel as their Flame,
Cut in these Trees their Mistress name.
Little, Alas, they know, or heed,
How far these Beauties Hers exceed!
Fair Trees! where s*eer your barkes I wound,
No Name shall but your own be found.
IV.
When we have run our Passions heat, 25
Love hither makes his best retreat.
The Gods, that mortal Beauty chase,
Still in a Tree did end their race.
Apollo hunted Daphne so,
Only that She might Laurel grow. 30
And Pan did after Syrinx speed,
Not as a Nymph, but for a Reed.
16 To: compared to*
[343]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
V.
What wondrous Life in this I leadl
Bipe Apples drop about my head;
The Luscious Clusters of the Vine 35
Upon my Mouth do crush their Wine;
The Nectaren, and curious Peach,
Into my hands themselves do reach;
Stumbling on Melons, as I pass,
Insnar'd with Flow'rs, I fall on Grass. 40
VI.
Mean while the Mind, from pleasure less,
Withdraws into its happiness:
The Mind, that Ocean where each kind
Does streight its own resemblance find;
Yet it creates, transcending these, 45
Far other Worlds, and other Seas;
Annihilating all that's made
To a green Thought in a green Shade.
VII.
Here at the Fountains sliding foot,
Or at some Fruit-trees mossy root, 50
Casting the Bodies Vest aside,
My Soul into the boughs does glide:
37 curious: exquisite.
41 from pleasure less: from lesser pleasure.
44 streight: confined, packed together; also, straightway, im-
mediately.
47 Annihilating: a common term in mystical theology; see
NOTE.
51 Vest: vesture (the body as clothing for the soul).
[344]
ANOREW A1ARVELL
There like a Bird it sits, and sings,
Then whets, and combs its silver Wings;
And, till prepar'd for longer flight, 55
Waves in its Plumes the various laght-
VIII.
Such was that happy Garden-state,
While Man there walk'd without a Mater
After a Place so pure, and sweet,
What other Help could yet be meetl 60
But 'twas beyond a Mortal's share
To wander solitary there:
Two Paradises 'twere in one
To live in Paradise alone.
IX.
How well the skilful Gardner drew 65
Of flow'rs and herbes this Dial new;
Where from above the milder Sun
Does through a fragrant Zodiack run;
And, as it works, th* industrious Bee
Computes its time as well as we. 70
How could such sweet and wholsome Hours
Be reckon'd but with herbs and flow'rsl
60 See Genesis
[345]
HENRY VAUGHAN
From SILEX SCINTILLANS (1650)
Authoris (de se) Emblema.
Tentdsti, fateor, sine vulnere scepius, ir me
Consultum voluit Vox, sine voce, jrequens;
Ambivit placido divinior aura meatu,
Et frustrd sancto mwmure praemonuit.
Surdus eram, mutusq; Silex: Tu, (quanta tuorum 5
Cura tibi est!) alia das renovare via,
Permutas Curam: Jamq; irritatus Amorem
Posse negas, & vim, Vi, superare paras,
Accedis propior, molemq;, 6- Saxea rumpis
Pectora, fitq; Caro, quod fuit ante Lapis. 10
En lacerum! Ccelosq; tuos ardentia tandem
Fragmenta, 6- liquidas ex Adamante genas.
Sic olim undantes Petras, Scopulosq; vomentes
Curdsti, O populi providus usq; tuil
Quam miranda tibi manus est! Moriendo, revixi; 15
Et fractas jam sum ditior inter opes.
[The Author's Emblem (concerning himself)
You have often touched me, I confess, without a wound,
and your Voice, without a voice, has often sought to counsel
me; your diviner breath has encompassed me with its calm
motion, and in vain has cautioned me with its sacred murmur.
I was deaf and dumb: a Flint: You (how great care you take
of your own!) try to revive another way, you change the
Remedy; and now angered you say that Love has no power,
and you prepare to conquer force with Force, you come
[349]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
closer, you break through the Rocky barrier of my heart, and
it is made Flesh that was before a Stone. Behold me torn
asunder! and at last the Fragments burning toward your
skies, and the cheeks streaming with tears out of the Adamant.
Thus once upon a time you made the Rocks flow and the
Crags gush, oh ever provident of your people! How marvellous
toward me is your hand! In Dying, I have been born again;
and in the midst of my shattered means I am now richer. ]
The Dedication.
My God, thou that didst dye for me,
These thy deaths fruits I offer thee.
Death that to me was life, and light
But darke, and deep pangs to thy sight.
Some drops of thy all-quickning bloud
Fell on my heart, these made it bud
And put forth thus, though, Lord, before
The ground was curs'd, and void of store.
Indeed, I had some here to hire
Which long resisted thy desire,
That ston'd thy Servants, and did move
To have thee murther'd for thy Love,
But, Lord, I have expelTd them, and so bent
Begge thou wouldst take thy Tenants Rent.
[350]
HENRY VAUGHAN
Regeneration.
A Ward, and still in bonds, one day
I stole abroad,
It was high-spring, and all the way
Primros'd, and hung with shade;
Yet, was it frost within,
And surly winds
Blasted my infant buds, and sinne
Like Clouds ecclips'd my mind.
Storm'd thus; I straight perceiv'd my spring
Meere stage, and show, 10
My walke a monstrous, mountain'd thing
Rough-cast with Rocks, and snow;
And as a Pilgrims Eye
Far from reliefe,
Measures the melancholy skye 15
Then drops, and rains for griefe,
So sigh'd I upwards still, at last
'Twixt steps, and falls
I reach'd the pinacle, where plac'd
I found a paire of scales, 2,0
I tooke them up and layd
In th'one late paines,
The other smoake, and pleasures weighed
But prov'd the heavier graines;
REGENERATION: for stanza-form and journey of stanzas 1-4, see
Herbert, "The Pilgrimage.**
[351]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
With that, some cryed, Away; straight I 25
Obey'd, and led
Full East, a faire, fresh field could spy
Some calTd it, Jacobs Bed;
A Virgin-soile, which no
Rude feet ere trod, 30
Where (since he stept there,) only go
Prophets, and friends of God.
Here, I repos'd; but scarse well set,
A grove deserved
Of stately height, whose branches met 35
And mixt on every side;
I entred, and once in
(Amaz'd to see't,)
Found all was changed, and a new spring
Did all my senses greet; 40
6.
The unthrift Sunne shot vitall gold
A thousand peeces,
And heaven its azure did unfold
Checqur'd with snowie fleeces,
The aire was all in spice 45
And every bush
A garland wore; Thus fed my Eyes
But all the Eare lay hush.
27-28 See Genesis 28:10— 22.
41 unduift: spendthrift; vitall: life-giving.
[35*]
HENRY VAUGHAN
Only a little Fountain lent
Some use for Eares, 50
And on the dumbe shades language spent
The Musick of her teares;
I drew her neere, and found
The Cisterne full
Of divers stones, some bright, and round 55
Others ill-shap'd, and dulL
8.
The first (pray marke,) as quick as light
Danc'd through the floud,
But, thlast more heavy then the night
Nail'd to the Center stood; 60
I wonder'd much, but tyr'd
At last with thought,
My restless Eye that still desir'd
As strange an object brought;
It was a banke of flowers, where I descried 65
(Though 'twas mid-day,)
Some fast asleepe, others broad-eyed
And taking in the Ray,
Here musing long, I heard
A rushing wind 70
Which still increased, but whence it stirrM
No where I could not find;
60 Center: earth.
70 See Acts 2:2.
[353]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
1O.
I turn'd me round, and to each shade
Dispatch'd an Eye,
To see, if any leafe had made 75
Least motion, or Reply,
But while I listning sought
My mind to ease
By knowing, where 'twas, or where not,
It whisper'd; Where I please. 80
Lord, then said I, On me one breath,
And let me dye before my death!
Cant. Cap. 5. ver. 17.
Arise O North, and come thou South-wind, and blow upon
my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out.
Resurrection and Immortality:
Heb. cap. 10. ve: 20.
By that new, and living way, which he hath prepared for
us, through the veile, which is his flesh.
Body.
Oft have I seen, when that renewing breatib.
That binds, and loosens death
80 See John 3:8.
81-83 See NOTE.
[3541
HENRY VAUGHAN
Inspired a quickning power through the dead
Creatures a bed,
Some drowsie silk-worme creepe 5
From that long sleepe
And in weake, infant hummings chime, and knell
About her silent Cell
Untill at last full with the vitall Ray
She wing'd away, 10
And proud with life, and sence,
Heav'ns rich Expence,
Esteemed (vaine things! ) of two whole Elements
As meane, and span-extents.
Shall I then thinke such providence will be 15
Lesse friend to me?
Or that he can endure to be unjust
Who keeps his Covenant even with our dust.
Soule.
Poore, querulous handfull! was't for this
I taught thee all that is? no
UnboweFd nature, shewed thee her recruits,
And Change of suits
And how of death we make
A meere mistake,
For no thing can to Nothing fall, but still 25
Incorporates by skill,
BESUBRECTION AND IMMORTALITY: S66 NOTE.
3 Inspir'd: breathed in.
13 two whole Elements: earth and water (preferring the air
and fire of the heavens).
14 span-extents: things extending only the "span" of a hand.
21 recruits: fresh supplies, means of renewal
26 Incorporates: takes on a body.
[355]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
And then returns, and from the wombe of things
Such treasure brings
As Phenix-like renew'th
Both lif e, and youth; 30
For a preserving spirit doth still passe
Untainted through this Masse,
Which doth resolve, produce, and ripen all
That to it fall;
Nor are those births which we 35
Thus suffering see
Destroyed at all; But when times restles wave
Their substance doth deprave
And the more noble Essence finds his house
Sickly, and loose, 40
He, ever young, doth wing
Unto that spring,
And source of spirits, where he takes his lot
Till time no more shall rot
His passive Cottage; which (though laid aside,) 45
Like some spruce Bride,
Shall one day rise, and cloath'd with shining light
All pure, and bright
Re-marry to the soule, for 'tis most plaine
Thou only faTst to be refined againe. 50
Then I that here saw darkly in a glasse
But mists, and shadows passe,
And, by their owne weake Shine, did search the springs
And Course of things
Shall with Inlightned Rayes 55
Peirce all their wayes;
And as thou saw'st, I in a thought could goe
To heaVn, or Earth below
To reade some Starre, or Min'rall, and in State
There often sate, 60
1 336]
HENKY VATTGHAN
So shalt thou then with me
(Both wing'd, and free,)
Rove in that mighty, and eternall light
Where no rude shade, or night
Shall dare approach us; we shall there no more 65
Watch stars, or pore
Through melancholly clouds, and say
Would it were Day!
One everlasting Saboth there shall runne
Without Succession, and without a Sunne. 70
Dan: Cap: 12. ver: 13.
But goe thou thy way untitt the end be, for thou shalt rest,
and stand up in thy lot, at the end of the dayes.
Religion.
My God, when I walke in those groves,
And leaves thy spirit doth still fan,
I see in each shade that there growes
An Angell talking with a man.
Under a Juniper, some house, 5
Or the coole Mirtles canopie,
Others beneath an Oakes greene boughs,
Or at some fountaines bubling Eye;
Here Jacob dreames, and wrestles; there
Elias by a Raven is fed, 10
Another time by th' Angell, where
He brings him water with his bread;
RELIGION: see Herbert, "Decay."
2. leaves: the leaves of the Bible.
5-16 See i Kings 17:2-6, 19:4-8; Judges 6:11; Genesis 18:1-
10, 28:10-32; Zechariah 1:8-11.
[357]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
In Abr'hams Tent the winged guests
(O how familiar then was heaven!)
Eate, drinke, discourse, sit downe, and rest 15
Untill the Coole, and shady Even;
Nay them thy self e, my God, in fire,
Whirle-winds, and Clouds, and the soft voice
Speak'st there so much, that I admire
We have no Conf rence in these daies; 20
Is the truce broke? or 'cause we have
A mediatour now with thee,
Doest thou therefore old Treaties wave
And by appeales from him decree?
Or is't so, as some green heads say 25
That now all miracles must cease?
Though thou hast promis'd they should stay
The tokens of the Church, and peace;
No, no; Religion is a Spring
That from some secret, golden Mine 30
Derives her birth, and thence doth bring
Cordials in every drop, and Wine;
But in her long, and hidden Course
Passing through the Earths darke veines,
Growes still from better unto worse, 35
And both her taste, and colour stain es,
Then drilling on, learnes to encrease
False Ecchoe$9 and Confused sounds,
And unawares doth often seize
On veines of Sulphur under ground; 40
See i Kings 19:11-12.
37 driHing: trickling.
[358]
HENBY VAUGHAN
So poison'd, breaks forth in some Clime,
And at first sight doth many please,
But drunk, is puddle, or meere slime
And 'stead of Phisick, a disease;
Just such a tainted sink we have 45
Like that Samaritans dead Well,
Nor must we for the Kernell crave
Because most voices like the shell.
Heale then these waters, Lord; or bring thy flock,
Since these are troubled, to the springing rock, 50
Looke downe great Master of the feast; O shine,
And turn once more our Water into Wine!
Cant. cap. 4. ver. 12.
My sister, my spouse is as a garden Inclosed, as a Spring
shut up, and a fountain sealed up.
The Search.
Tis now clear e day: I see a Rose
Bud in the bright East, and disclose
The Pilgrim-Sunne; all night have I
Spent in a roving Extasie
To find my Saviour; I have been 5
As far as Bethlem, and have seen
His Inne, and Cradle; Being there
I met the Wise-men, askt them where
46 See John 4:5-15, where the water of the well is contrasted
with the "living water" of Christ
50 springing rock: the rock from which water springs (Exodus
17:6), a symbol of Christ.
'Dflis SEARCH.
4 Extasie: withdrawal of soul from body (see Donne's poem
by this title).
[359]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
He might be found, or what starre can
Now point him out, grown up a Man? 10
To Egypt hence I fled, ran o're
All her parcht bosome to Nile's shore
Her yearly nurse; came back, enquired
Amongst the Doctors, and desir'd
To see the Temple, but was shown 15
A little dust, and for the Town
A heap of ashes, where some sed
A small bright sparkle was a bed,
Which would one day (beneath the pole,)
Awake, and then refine the whole. 20
Tyr'd here, I come to Sychar; thence
To Jacobs wel, bequeathed since
Unto his sonnes, (where often they
In those calme, golden Evenings lay
Watring their flocks, and having spent 25
Those white dayes, drove home to the Tent
Their well-fleec'd traine;) And here (O fatel)
I sit, where once my Saviour sate;
The angry Spring in bubbles swelTd
Which broke in sighes still, as they filTd, 30
And whisper'd, Jesus had been there
But Jacobs children would not heare.
Loath hence to part, at last I rise
But with the fountain in my Eyes,
And here a fresh search is decreed 35
He must be found, where he did bleed;
I walke the garden, and there see
Idsea's of his Agonie,
And moving anguishments that set
His blest face in a bloudy sweat; 40
I climb'd the Hill, pems'd the Crosse
Hung with my gaine, and his great losse,
See John 4:5-15.
[360]
HENRY VAUGHAN
Never did tree beare fruit like this,
Balsam of Soules, the bodyes blisse;
But, O his grave! where I saw lent 45
(For he had none,) a Monument,
An undefiTd, and new-heaw'd one,
But there was not the Corner-stone;
Sure (then said I,) my Quest is vaine,
Hee'le not be found, where he was slaine, 50
So mild a Lamb can never be
'Midst so much bloud, and Crueltie;
Tie to the Wilderness, and can
Find beasts more mercifull then man,
He liv'd there safe, 'twas his retreat 55
From the fierce Jew, and Herods heat,
And forty dayes withstood the fell,
And high temptations of hell;
With Seraphins there talked he
His fathers flaming ministrie, 60
He heav'nd their walks, and with his eyes
Made those wild shades a Paradise,
Thus was the desert sanctified
To be the refuge of his bride;
I'le thither then; see, It is day, 65
The Sun's broke through to guide my way.
But as I urgM thus, and writ down
What pleasures should my Journey crown,
What silent paths, what shades, and Cells,
Faire, virgin-flowers, and hallow'd Wells 70
I should rove in, and rest my head
Where my deare Lord did often tread,
Sugring all dangers with successe,
Me thought I heard one singing thus;
44 Balsam: balm, medicinal oiL
74 See Herbert, "The Collar," line 35-
[361]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
1.
Leave, leave thy gadding thoughts; 75
Who Pores
and spies
Still out of Doores
descries
Within them nought. 80
The skinne, and shell of things
Though faire,
are not
Thy wish, nor Pray'r,
but got 85
By meere Despaire
of wings.
To rack old Elements,
or Dust;
and say 90
Sure here he must
needs stay
Is not the way,
nor Just.
Search well another world; who studies this, 95
Travels in Clouds, seekes Manna, where none is.
Acts Cap. 17. ve. 2.7, 28.
That they should seeke the Lord, if happily they might feele
after him, and find him, though he be not far off from every
one of us, for in him we live, and move, and have our being.
95 another world: the "little world" of the self: see stanza i
above.
[36*3
HENRY VATJGHAN
The Brittish Church.
Ah! lie is fled!
And while these here their mists, and shadowes hatch,
My glorious head
Doth on those hills of Myrrhe, and Incense watch.
Hast, hast my deare, 5
The Souldiers here
Cast in their lotts againe,
That seamless coat
The Jewes touch'd not,
These dare divide, and staine. 10
O get thee wings!
Or if as yet (untill these clouds depart,
And the day springs,)
Thou think'st it good to tarry where thou art,
Write in thy bookes 15
My ravish'd looks
Slain flock, and pillag'd fleeces,
And haste thee so
As a young Roe
Upon the mounts of spices. 20
O Rosa Campi! O lilium Convallium! quomodd nunc
facta es pabulum Aprofuml
THE BRTTTISH CHURCH: S66 NOTE.
[363]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
The Lampe.
Tis dead night round about: Horrour doth creepe
And move on with the shades; stars nod, and sleepe,
And through the dark aire spin a firie thread
Such as doth gild the lazie glow-worms bed.
Yet, burn'st thou here, a full day; while I spend 5
My rest in Cares, and to the dark world lend
These flames, as thou dost thine to me; I watch
That houre, which must thy life, and mine dispatch;
But still thou doest out-goe me, I can see
Met in thy flames, all acts of piety; 10
Thy light, is Charity; Thy heat, is Zeale;
And thy aspiring, active fires reveale
Devotion still on wing; Then, thou dost weepe
Still as thou burn'st, and the warme droppings creepe
To measure out thy length, as if thou'dst know 15
What stock, and how much time were left thee now;
Nor dost thou spend one teare in vain, for still
As thou dissolv'st to them, and they distill.,
They're stor'd up in the socket, where they lye,
When all is spent, thy last, and sure supply, 20
And such is true repentance, ev'ry breath
Wee spend in sighes, is treasure after death;
Only, one point escapes thee; That thy Oile
Is still out with thy flame, and so both f aile;
But whensoe're I'm out, both shalbe in, 25
And where thou mad'st an end, there lie begin.
Mark Cap. 13. ver. 35.
Watch you therefore, for you know not when the master of
the house commeth, at Even, or at mid-night, or at the Cock-
crowing, or in the morning.
[3641
HENRY VAXJGHAN"
Mans fall, and Recovery.
Farewell you Everlasting hills! I'm Cast
Here under Clouds, where stormes, and tempests blast
This sully'd flowre
Rob'd of your Calme, nor can I ever make
Transplanted thus, one leaf e of his t'awake, 5
But ev'ry houre
He sleepes, and droops, and in this drowsie state
Leaves me a slave to passions, and my fate;
Besides I've lost
A traine of lights, which in those Sun-shine dayes 10
Were my sure guides, and only with me staves
(Unto my cost,)
One sullen beame, whose charge is to dispense
More punishment, than knowledge to my sence;
Two thousand yeares 15
I sojoum'd thus; at last Jeshuruns king
Those famous tables did from Sinai bring;
These swelTd my f eares,
Guilts, trespasses, and all this Inward Awe,
For sinne tooke strength, and vigour from the Law. 20
Yet have I found
A plenteous way, (thanks to that holy one!)
To cancell all that eyre was writ in stone,
His saving wound
Wept bloud, that broke this Adamant, and gave 25
To sinners Confidence, life to the grave;
This makes me span
My fathers journeys, and in one f aire step
O're all their pilgrimage, and labours leap,
For God (made man,) 30
MANS FALL, AND RECOVERY: S6C NOTTS.
16 Jeshuruns king: Moses: see Deuteronomy 33:4-5.
16-20 See Romans 7.
[365]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Reduc'd th'Extent of works of faith; so made
Of their Red Sea, a Spring; I wash, they wade.
Rom. Cap. 18. ver. 19.
As by the offence of one, the fault came on all men to
condemnation; So by the Righteousness of one, the benefit
abounded towards all men to the Justification of life.
The Showre.
'Twas so, I saw thy birth: That drowsie Lake
From her faint hosome breath'd thee, the disease
Of her sick waters, and Infectious Ease.
But, now at Even
Too grosse for heaven,
Thou f alTst in teares, and weep'st for thy mistake.
Ah! it is so with me; oft have I prest
Heaven with a lazie breath, but fruitles this
Peirc'd not; Love only can with quick accesse
Unlock the way, 10
When all else stray
The smoke, and Exhalations of the brest.
Yet, if as thou doest melt, and with thy traine
Of drops make soft the Earth, my eyes could weepe
O're my hard heart, that's bound up, and asleepe, 15
Perhaps at last
(Some such showres past,)
My God would give a Sun-shine after raine.
[366]
HENBY VAUGHAN
Vanity of Spirit.
Quite spent with thoughts I left my Cell, and lay
Where a shrill spring tun'd to the early day.
I beg'd here long, and gron'd to know
Who gave the Clouds so brave a bow,
Who bent the spheres, and circled in 5
Corruption with this glorious Ring,
What is his name, and how I might
Descry some part of his great light.
I summoned nature: peirc'd through all her store,
Broke up some seales, which none had touch'd before, 10
Her wombe, her bosome, and her head
Where all her secrets lay a bed
I rifled quite, and having past
Through all the Creatures, came at last
To search my selfe, where I did find 15
Traces, and sounds of a strange kind.
Here of this mighty spring, I found some drills,
With Ecchoes beaten from th* eternall hills;
Weake beames, and fires flash'd to my sight,
Like a young East, or Moone-shine night, 20
Wich shew'd me in a nook cast by
A peece of much antiquity,
With Hyerogliphicks quite dismembred,
And broken letters scarce remembred.
I tooke them up, and (much Joy'd,) went about 25
T unite those peeces, hoping to find out
The mystery; but this neer done,
That little light I had was gone:
It griev'd me much. At last, said I,
VANITY OF SPIRTT.
4 brave: splendid.
17 drills: trickles, small streams.
[367]
TBDE MEDITATIVE POEM
Since in these veyls my Ecclips'd Eye 30
May not approach thee9 (for at night
Who can "have commerce with the light?)
Tie disapparell, and to buy
But one half glauncey most gladly dye.
The Retreate.
Happy those early dayes! when I
Shin'd in my Angell-infancy.
Before I understood this place
Appointed for my second race,
Or taught my soul to fancy ought 5
But a white, Celestiall thought,
When yet I had not walkt above
A mile, or two, from my first love,
And looking back (at that short space,)
Could see a glimpse of his bright-face; 10
When on some gilded Cloud, or fiotore
My gazing soul would dwell an houre,
And in those weaker glories spy
Some shadows of eternity;
Before I taught my tongue to wound 15
My Conscience with a sinfull sound,
Or had the black art to dispence
[368]
STEPS
TO THE
T E H P J E
PLATE III. Engraved title page of the second edition of Crashaw's
Steps to the Temple, 1648.
Silex Scintilians : I
J naa ?c
He i\ry \au glian r$ii
PLATE IV. Title page of the first edition of Vaughan's SiZex ScintiZ-
Zons, 1650.
HENRY VAUGHAJST
A sev'rall sinne to ev'ry sence,
But felt through all this fleshly dresse
Bright shootes of everlastingnesse. 2,0
O how I long to travell back
And tread again that ancient track!
That I might once more reach that plaine,
Where first I left my glorious traine,
From whence th* Inlightned spirit sees 25
That shady City of Palme trees;
But (ah!) my soul with too much stay
Is drunk, and staggers in the way.
Some men a forward motion love,
But I by backward steps would move, 30
And when this dust falls to the urn
In that state I came return.
ff
Come, come, what doe I here?
Since he is gone
Each day is grown a dozen year,
And each houre, one;
Come, come! 5
Cut off the sum,
By these soil'd teares!
(Which only thou
Know'st to be true,)
Dayes are my feares. 10
THE EETREATE: see NOTE.
18 sev'rall: individual.
2,4 traine: way of life, course of action.
23—126 See Deuteronomy 34:1-3.
"COME, COME, WHAT DOE i HERE?": see NOTE.
[369]
"JL'H K J«IE3DITA.TIVE POEM!
Ther*s not a wind can stir,
Or beam passe by,
But strait I think (though far,)
Thy hand is nigh;
Come, come! 15
Strike these lips dumb:
This restles breath
That soiles thy name,
Will ne'r be tame
Untill in death. ao
Perhaps some think a tombe
No house of store,
But a dark, and seaFd up wombe,
"Which ne'r breeds more.
Come, come I ^^
Such thoughts benum;
But I would be
With him I weep
A bed, and sleep
To wake in thee. 30
Midnight.
When to my Eyes
(Whilst deep sleep others catches,)
Thine hoast of spyes
The starres shine in their watches,
I doe survey
[370]
HENRY VAUGHAN
Each busie Ray,
And how they work, and wind,
And wish each beame
My soul doth streame,
With the like ardour shin'd; 10
What Emanations,
Quick vibrations
And bright stirs are there?
What thin Ejections,
Cold Affections, 15
And slow motions here?
Thy heav'ns (some say,)
Are a firie-liquid light,
Which mingling aye
Streames, and flames thus to the sight. no
Come then, my godl
Shine on this bloud,
And water in one beame,
And thou shalt see
Kindled by thee 25
Both liquors burne, and streame.
O what bright quicknes,
Active brightnes,
And celestiall flowes
Will follow after 30
On that water,
Which thy spirit blowes!
MIDNIGHT.
19 aye: always.
[371]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Math. Cap. 3. ver. xL
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he
that commeth after me, is mightier than I, whose shooes I am
not worthy to beare, he shall baptize you with the holy Ghost,
and with fire.
The Storm.
I see the use: and know my bloud
Is not a Sea,
But a shallow, bounded floud
Though red as he;
Yet have I flows, as strong as his,
And boyling stremes that rave
With the same curling force, and hisse,
As doth the mountain'd wave.
But when his waters billow thus,
Dark storms, and wind 10
Incite them to that fierce discusse,
Else not Inclined,
Thus the Enlarged, inraged air
Uncalmes these to a floud,
But still the weather that's most fair 15
Breeds tempests in my bloud;
THE STORM.
i use: moral application.
11 discusse: debate.
[372]
HENRY VATJGHAN
Lord, then round me with weeping Clouds,
And let my mind
In quick blasts sigh beneath those shrouds
A spirit-wind, 2,0
So shall that storme purge this Recluse
Which sinfull ease made foul,
And wind, and water to thy use
Both wash, and wing my souL
The Morning-watch.
O Joyes! Infinite sweetnes! with what flowres,
And shoots of glory, my soul breakes, and budsl
All the long houres
Of night, and Rest
Through the still shrouds 5
Of sleep, and Clouds,
This Dew fell on my Breast;
O how it Blonds,
And Spirits all my Earth! heark! In what Rings,
And Hymning Circulations the quick world 10
Awakes, and sings;
The rising winds,
And falling springs,
Birds, beasts, all things
17 round me: surround me.
21-24 See Herbert, "The Storm," esp. lines 1-3, 17-18.
23 to thy use: for thy use or purpose.
THE MOKNING-WATCH: morning prayer (watch: religious service);
see NOTE.
i See Herbert, "The H. Scriptures. I," line i.
[373]
THE MEDrTATIVE POEM
Adore him in their kinds. 15
Thus all is hurl'd
In sacred Hymnes, and Order, The great Chime
And Symphony of nature. Prayer is
The world in tune,
A spirit-voyce, 20
And vocall Joyes
Whose Eccho is heav'ns blisse.
O let me climbe
When I lye down! The Pious soul by night
Is like a clouded starre, whose beames though sed 25
To shed their light
Under some Cloud
Yet are above,
And shine, and move
Beyond that mistie shrowd. 30
So in my Bed
That Curtained grave, though sleep, like ashes, hide
My lamp, and lif e, both shall in thee abide.
The Evening-watch.
A Dialogue.
Farewell! I goe to sleep; but when Body.
The day-star springs, lie wake agen.
Goe, sleep in peace; and when thou lyest Soul.
Unnumber'd in thy dust, when all rt"'s frame
Is but one dramme, and what thou now descriest 5
In sevrall parts shall want a name,
Then may his peace be with thee, and each dust
Writ in his book, who neV betray'd mans trust!
See Herbert's sonnet "Prayer/* lines 8-9.
[374]
HENRY VAUGHAN
Amen! but hark, e*r we two stray, Body.
How many hours do'st think 'till day? 10
Ah! go; th'art weak, and sleepie. Heav'n Soul.
Is a plain watch, and without figures winds
All ages up; who drew this Circle even
He fils it; Dayes, and hours are Blinds.
Yet, this take with thee; The last gasp of time 15
Is thy first breath, and mans eternoll Prime.
Silence, and stealth of dayes! 'tis now
Since thou art gone,
Twelve hundred houres, and not a brow
But Clouds hang on.
As he that in some Caves thick damp 5
Lockt from the light,
Fixeth a solitary lamp,
To brave the night,
And walking from his Sun, when past
That glim'ring Ray 10
Cuts through the heavy mists in haste
Back to his day,
So o'r fled minutes I retreat
Unto that hour
Which shewed thee last, but did defeat 15
Thy light, and pow'r,
I search, and rack my soul to see
Those beams again,
THE EVENING-WATCH.
16 Prime: literally, the first hour of the day; also, the Spring.
"SILENCE, AND STEALTH OF DAYES!": see NOTE.
9 Sun: the lamp within the cave.
[375]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
But nothing but the snuff to me
Appeareth plain; 2,0
That dark, and dead sleeps in its known.
And common urn,
But those fled to their Makers throne,
There shine, and burn;
O could I track them! but souls must 25
Track one the other,
And now the spirit, not the dust
Must be thy brother.
Yet I have one Pearle by whose light
All things I see, 30
And in the heart of Earth, and night
Find Heaven, and thee.
Peace.
My Soul, there is a Countrie
Far beyond the stars,
Where stands a winged Centrie
All skilfull in the wars,
There above noise, and danger 5
Sweet peace sits crown'd with smiles,
And one born in a Manger
Commands the Beauteous files,
He is thy gracious friend,
And (O my Soul awakel) 10
Did in pure love descend
To die here for thy sake,
If thou canst get but thither,
There growes the flowre of peace,
The Rose that cannot wither, 15
Thy fortresse, and thy ease;
19 muff: the charred part of the candlewick.
29 Pearle: the "pearl of great price" (Matthew 13:46); here
tfce presence of Christ, or the Image of God, within bis soul.
[376]
HENRY VAUGHAN
Leave then thy foolish ranges;
For none can thee secure,
But one, who never changes,
Thy God, thy life, thy Cure.
The Passion.
O my chief good!
My dear, dear GodI
When thy blest bloud
Did Issue forth f orc'd by the Rod,
What pain didst thou 5
Feel in each blow!
How didst thou weep,
And thy self steep
In thy own precious, saving teares!
What cruell smart 10
Did teare thy heart!
How didst thou grone it
In the spirit,
O thou, whom my soul Loves, and fearesl
2,.
Most blessed Vine! 15
Whose Juice so good
I feel as Wine,
But thy f aire branches felt as bloud,
How wert thou prest
To be my feast! s,o
In what deep anguish
Didst thou languish,
THE PASSION.
i The same as the opening line of Herbert's "Good Friday/'
17-18 See Herbert, "The Agonie," lines 17-18.
19^20 See Herbert, "The bunch of grapes/* lines 27-^28.
[377]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
What springs of Sweat, and blond did drown thee!
How in one path.
Did the full wrath 25
Of thy great Father
Crowd, and gather,
Doubling thy griefs, when none would own thee!
How did the weight
Of all our sinnes, 30
And death unite
To wrench, and Rack thy blessed limbes!
How pale, and bloudie
Lookt thy Body!
How bruisM, and broke 35
With every stroke!
How meek, and patient was thy spirit!
How didst thou cry,
And grone on high
Father forgive, 40
And let them live,
I dye to make my foes inherit!
0 blessed Lamb!
That took'st my sinne,
That took'st my shame 45
How shall thy dust thy praises sing!
1 would I were
One hearty tear!
One constant spring!
Then would I bring 50
[378]
HENRY VAUGHAN
Thee two small mites, and be at strife
Which should most vie,
My heart, or eye,
Teaching my years
In smiles, and tears 55
To weep, to sing, thy Death, my Life.
Rom. Cap. 8. ver. 19.
Etenim res Creatse exerto Capite observantes expectant
revelationem Filiorum Dei.
And do they so? have they a Sense
Of ought but Influence?
Can they their heads lift, and expect,
And grone too? why th'Elect
Can do no more: my volumes sed 5
They were all dull, and dead,
They judg'd them senslesse, and their state
Wholly Inanimate.
Go, go; Seal up thy looks,
And burn thy books. 10
I would I were a stone, or tree,
Or flowre by pedigree,
Or some poor high-way herb, or Spring
To flow, or bird to singl
"AND DO THEY so?"
2 Influence: the supposed influence of the stars upon the
growth of things on earth.
9-14 See Herbert, "Affliction (I)," lines 55-60,
[379]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Then should I (tyed to one sure state,) 15
All day expect my date;
But I am sadly loose, and stray
A giddy blast each way;
O let me not thus range!
Thou canst not change. 2,0
Sometimes I sit with thee, and tarry
An hour, or so, then vary.
Thy other Creatures in this Scene
Thee only aym, and mean;
Some rise to seek thee, and with heads 25
Erect peep from their beds;
Others, whose birth is in the tomb,
And cannot quit the womb,
Sigh there, and grone for thee,
Their liberty. 30
O let not me do lesse! shall they
Watch, while I sleep, or play?
Shall I thy mercies still abuse
With fancies, friends, or newes?
O brook it not! thy bloud is mine, 35
And my soul should be tihine;
O brook it notl why wilt thou stop
After whole showres one drop?
Sure, thou wilt joy to see
Thy sheep with thee. 40
16 expect: await.
39 See Herbert, "The Starre," line 29.
[380]
HENRY VAUGHA3ST
Hie Relapse.
My God, how gracious art thoul I had slipt
Almost to hell,
And on the verge of that dark, dreadful pit
Did hear them yell,
But O thy love! thy rich, almighty love 5
That sav'd my soul,
And checkt their furie, when I saw them move,
And heard them howl;
0 my sole Comfort, take no more these waves,
This hideous path, 10
And I wil mend my own without delayes,
Cease thou thy wrath!
1 have deserv'd a thick, Egyptian damp,
Dark as my deeds,
Should mist within me, and put out that lamp 15
Thy spirit feeds;
A darting Conscience full of stabs, and fears;
No shade but Yewgh,
Sullen, and sad Ecclipses, Cloudie spheres,
These are my due. 20
Eut he that with his bloud, (a price too deere,)
My scores did pay,
Bid me, by vertue from him, chalenge here
The brightest day;
Sweet, downie thoughts; soft LtZZy-shades; Calm streams;
Joyes full, and true;
Fresh, spicie mornings; and eternal beams
These are his due.
THE BELAPSE.
11 See Herbert, "The Thanksgiving," line 34.
13 See Exodus 10:22; and Herbert, "Sighs and Grones": "I
have deserv'd that an Egyptian night/ Should thicken all my
powers."
[381]
TEDS MEDITATIVE POEM
The Resolve.
I liave consider*d it; and find
A longer stay
Is but excused neglect. To mind
One path, and stray
Into another, or to none, 5
Cannot be love;
When shal that traveller come home,
That will not move?
If thou wouldst thither, linger not,
Catch at the place, 10
Tell youth, and beauty they must rot,
They r but a Case;
Loose, parcelled hearts wil freeze: The Sun
With scatter d locks
Scarce warms, but by contraction 15
Can heat rocks;
Call in thy Powers; run, and reach
Home with the light,
Be there, before the shadows stretch,
And Span up night; 20
Follow the Cry no more: there is
An ancient way
All strewed with flowres, and happiness
And fresh as May;
THE RESOLVE.
i See Herbert, "The Reprisal!," line i.
10 See Herbert, "Affliction (I)," line 17.
13 parceled: divided into parts.
20 Span up: make tight
21 Cry: general opinion; perhaps also with ref. to the "cry"
of a pack of hounds.
23-24 See Herbert, "Affliction (I)/* lines 21-22.
[382]
HENRY VAUGHAN
There turn, and turn no more; Let wits,
Smile at fair eies,
Or lips; But who there weeping sits,
Hath got the Prize.
The Match.
Dear friend! whose holy, ever-living lines
Have done much good
To many, and have checkt my blood,
My fierce, wild blood that still heaves, and inclines,
But is still tam'd 5
By those bright fires which thee inflam'd;
Here I joyn hands, and thrust my stubborn heart
Into thy Deed,
There from no Duties to be freed,
And if hereafter youth, or folly thwart 10
And claim their share,
Here I renounce the pois'nous ware.
Accept, dread Lord, the poor Oblation,
It is but poore,
Yet through thy Mercies may be more. 15
O thoul that canst not wish my souls damnation,
Afford me life,
And save me from all inward strife!
THE MA.TCH.
i friend: George Herbert, as lines 7-8 make clear by their ex-
plicit reference to the last two stanzas of Herbert's "Obedience."
[383]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Two Lifes I hold from thee, my gracious Lord,
Both cost thee deer, 20
For one, I am thy Tenant here;
The other, the true life, in the next world
And endless is,
O let me still mind that in this!
To thee therefore my Thoughts, Words, Actions 25
I do resign,
Thy will in all be done, not mine.
Settle my house, and shut out all distractions
That may unknit
My heart, and thee planted in it; 30
Lord Jesul thou didst bow thy blessed head
Upon a tree,
O do as much, now unto me!
O hear, and heal thy servant! Lord, strike dead
All lusts in me, 35
"Who onely wish life to serve theel
Suffer no more this dust to overflow
And drown my eies,
But seal, or pin them to thy skies.
And let this grain which here in tears I sow 40
Though dead, and sick,
Through thy Increase grow new, and
quick.
19-23 Two Lifes: with ref. to the legal tenure known as a
"lifehold"; see Herbert's "Love unknown": "A Lord I had,/
And have, of whom some grounds, which may improve,/ I hold
for two lives, and both lives in me."
31-32 See Herbert, "Longing," lines 31-32.
[384]
HENRY VAUGHAN
Rules and Lessons.
When first thy Eies unveil, give thy Soul leave
To do the like; our Bodies but forerun
The spirits duty; True hearts spread, and heave
Unto their God, as flow'rs do to the Sun.
Give him thy first thoughts then; so shalt thou keep 5
Him company all day, and in him sleep.
Yet, never sleep the Sun up; Prayer should
Dawn with the day; There are set, awful hours
'Twixt heaven, and us; The Manna was not good
After Sun-rising, far-day sullies flowres. 10
Rise to prevent the Sun; sleep doth sins glut,
And heav'ns gate opens, when this world's is shut
Walk with thy fellow-creatures: note the hush
And whispers amongst them. There's not a Spring,
Or Leafe but hath his Morning-hymn; Each Bush 15
And Oak doth know I AM; canst thou not sing?
O leave thy Cares, and follies! go this way
And thou art sure to prosper all the day.
Serve God before the world; let him not go
Until thou hast a blessing, then resigne 20
The whole unto him; and remember who
Prevailed by wrestling ere the Sun did shine.
Poure Oyle upon the stones, weep for thy sin,
Then journey on, and have an eie to heav'n.
RULES AND LESSONS: for the stanza and epigrammatic manner see
Herbert, "The Church-porch."
9-10 See Exodus 16:19-21.
11 prevent: anticipate.
15-16 See Exodus 3:2-14.
19-24 See Genesis 32:24-30; 28:18-22; 29:1.
[3851
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Mornings are Mysteries; the first worlds Youth, 2,5
Mans Resurrection, and the futures Bud
Shrowd in their births: The Crown of life, light, truth
Is stiTd their starre, the stone, and hidden food.
Three blessings wait upon them, two of which
Should move; They make us holy, happy, rich. 30
When the world's up, and ev'ry swarm abroad,
Keep thou thy temper, mix not with each Clay;
Dispatch necessities, life hath a load
Which must be carri'd on, and safely may.
Yet keep those cares without thee, let the heart 35
Be Gods alone, and choose the better part.
Through all thy Actions, Counsels, and Discourse,
Let Mildness, and Religion guide thee out,
If truth be thine, what needs a brutish force?
But what's not good, and just ne*r go about. 40
Wrong not thy Conscience for a rotten stick,
That gain is dreadful, which makes spirits sick.
To God, thy Countrie, and thy friend be true,
If Priest, and People change, keep thou thy ground.
Who sels Religion, is a Judas Jew, 45
And, oathes once broke, the soul cannot be sound.
The perjurer's a devil let loose: what can
Tie up his hands, that dares mock God, and man?
Seek not the same steps with the Crowd; stick thou
To thy sure trot; a Constant, humble mind 50
Is both his own Joy, and his Makers too;
27 Shrowd in: are concealed in.
27-28 See Revelation 2:10, 17, 28; as: 16.
32 temper: mental balance, proper disposition.
[386]
HENRY VAUGHAN
Let folly dust it on, or lag behind.
A sweet self-privacy in a right soul
Out-runs the Earth, and lines the utmost pole.
To all that seek thee, bear an open heart; 55
Make not thy breast a Labyrinth, or Trap;
If tryals come, this wil make good thy part,
For honesty is safe, come what can hap;
It is the good mans feast; The prince of flowres
Which thrives in storms, and smels best after showres. 60
Seal not thy Eyes up from the poor, but give
Proportion to their Merits, and thy Purse;
Thou mai'st in Rags a mighty Prince relieve
Who, when thy sins call f or't, can fence a Curse.
Thou shalt not lose one mite. Though waters stray, 65
The Bread we cast returns in fraughts one day.
Spend not an hour so, as to weep another,
For tears are not thine own; If thou giv'st words
Dash not thy friend, nor Heavn; O smother
A vip'rous thought; some Syllables are Swords. 70
Unbitted tongues are in their penance double,
They shame their owners, and the hearers trouble.
Injure not modest bloud, whose spirits rise
In judgement against Lewdness; that's base wit
That voyds but filth, and stench. Hast thou no prize 75
But sickness, or Infection? stifle it.
Who makes his jests of sins, must be at least
If not a very devttl, worse than a Beast.
54 lines: reaches, "as with a measuring-line" (OED).
58 hap: occur.
63-64 See Matthew 25:31-46.
64 fence: ward off.
66 fraughts: shiploads (see Ecclesiastes 11:1).
71 unbitted: uncontrolled.
75 voyds: empties out.
[387]
THE MEDITATIVE FOEIMC
Yet, fly no friend, if he be such indeed,
But meet to quench his Longings, and thy Thirst; So
Allow your Joyes Religion; That done, speed
And bring the same man back, thou wert all first.
Who so returns not, cannot pray aright,
But shuts his door, and leaves God out all night.
b highten thy Devotions, and keep low 85
11 mutinous thoughts, what busines e'r thou hast
•bserve God in his works; here fountains flow,
irds sing, Beasts feed, Pish leap, and ttiEarth stands fast;
Above are restles motions, running Lights,
Vast Circling Azure, giddy Clouds, days, nights. 90
Then Seasons change, then lay before thine Eys
is wondrous Method; mark the various Scenes
i heav'n; Hail, Thunder, 'Rain-bows, Snow, and Ice,
dimes, Tempests, Light, and darknes by his means;
Thou canst not misse his Praise; Each tree, herb, 95
flotvre
Are shadows of his wisedome, and his Pow'r.
o meales when thou doest come, give him the praise
Those Arm supply'd thee; Take what may suffice,
nd then be thankful; O admire his ways
^ho fils the worlds unempty'd granaries! 100
A thanldes feeder is a Theif, his feast
A very Robbery, and himself no guest.
igh-noon thus past, thy time decays; provide
dee other thoughts; Away with friends, and mirth;
be Sun now stoops, and hasts his beams to hide 105
nder the dark, and melancholy Earth.
All but preludes thy End. Thou art the man
Whose Rise, hight, and Descent is but a span.
108 span: the extent of a hand: nine inches.
[388]
HENBY VAUGHAN
Yet, set as he doth, and 'tis well. Have all
Thy Beams home with thee: trim thy Lamp, buy Oyl9 110
And then set forth; who is thus drest, The Fall
Furthers his glory, and gives death the foyl.
Man is a Summers day; whose youth, and fire
Cool to a glorious Evening, and Expire.
When night comes, list thy deeds; make plain the way 115
'Twixt Heaven, and thee; block it not with delays,
But perfect all before thou sleep'st; Then say
Ther's one Sun more strung on my Bead of days.
What's good score up for Joy; The bad wel scann'd
Wash off with tears, and get thy Masters hand. 120
Thy Accounts thus made, spend in the grave one houre
Before thy time; Be not a stranger there
Where thou may'st sleep whole ages; Lifes poor flowr
Lasts not a night sometimes. Bad spirits fear
This Conversation; But the good man lyes 125
Intombed many days before he dyes.
Being laid, and drest for sleep, Close not thy Eys
Up with thy Curtains; Give thy soul the wing
In some good thoughts; So when the day shall rise
And thou unrak'st thy fire, those sparks will bring 130
New flames; Besides where these lodge vain heats mourn
And die; That Bush where God is, shall not burn.
When thy Nap's over, stir thy fire, unrake
In that dead age; one beam iW dark outvies
Two in the day; Then from the Damps, and Ake 135
Of night shut up thy leaves, be Chast; God prys
Through thickest nights; Though then the Sun be far
Do thou the works of Day, and rise a Star.
125 Conversation: company.
[389]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Briefly, Doe as thou would'st be done unto,
Love God, and Love thy Neighbour; Watch, and Pray. 140
These are the Words, and Works of life; This do,
And live; who doth not thus, hath lost Heavns way.
O lose it not! look up, wilt Change those Lights
For Chains of Darknes, and Eternal Nights?
Corruption.
Sure, It was so. Man in those early days
Was not all stone, and Earth,
He shin'd a little, and by those weak Rays
Had some glimpse of his birth.
He saw Heaven o'r his head, and knew from whence 5
He came (condemned,) hither,
And, as first Love draws strongest, so from hence
His mind sure progressed thither.
Things here were strange unto him: Swet, and till
All was a thorn, or weed, 10
Nor did those last, but (like himself,) dyed still
As soon as they did Seed,
They seem'd to quarrel with him; for that Act
That f el him, f oyl'd them all,
He drew the Curse upon the world, and Crackt 15
The whole frame with his fall.
This made Mm long for home, as loath to stay
With murmurers, and foes;
He sigh'd for Eden, and would often say
Ah! what bright days were those? 2,0
Nor was Heav'n cold unto him; for each day
The vally, or the Mountain
CORRUPTION.
9 tUl: tillage, plowing the ground.
14 fel: a misprint for feld (felled)? or perhaps equivalent to
befett?
See Herbert, "Decay," lines 6-10.
[390]
HENRY VAUGHAN
Afforded visits, and still Paradise lay
In some green shade, or fountain.
Angels lay Leiger here; Each Bush, and Gel, 25
Each Oke, and high-way knew them.
Walk but the fields, or sit down at some wel,
And he was sure to view them.
Almighty Love! where art thou now? mad man
Sits down, and freezeth on, 30
He raves, and swears to stir nor fire, nor fan,
But bids the thread be spun.
I see, thy Curtains are Close-drawn; Thy bow
Looks dim too in the Cloud,
Sin triumphs still, and man is sunk below 35
The Center, and his shrowd;
All's in deep sleep, and night; Thick darknes lyes
And hatcheth o*r thy people;
But hark! what trumpets that? what Angel cries
Arise! Thrust in thy sickle. 40
H. Scriptures.
Welcome dear book, souls Joy, and food! The feast
Of Spirits, Heav'n extracted lyes in thee;
Thou art lifes Charter, The Doves spotless neast
Where souls are hatch'd unto Eternitie.
In thee the hidden stone, the Manna lies,
Thou art the great Elixir, rare, and Choice;
The Key that opens to all Mysteries,
The Word in Characters, God in the Voice.
25 Leiger: resident as ambassadors.
38 hatcheth: broods.
39-40 See Revelation 14:14—19.
H. SCRIPTURES.
8 Characters: letters of the alphabet.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
O that I had deep Cut in my hard heart
Each line in theel Then would I plead in groans 10
Of my Lords penning, and by sweetest Art
Return upon himself the Law, and Stones.
Read here, my faults are thine. This Book, and I
Will tell thee so; Sweet Saviour thou didst dye!
Unprofitablenes.
How rich, O Lord! how fresh thy visits are!
Twas hut Just now my bleak leaves hopeles hung
Sullyed with dust and mud;
Each snarling blast shot through me, and did share
Their Youth, and beauty, Cold showres nipt, and wrung 5
Their spiciness, and bloud;
But since thou didst in one sweet glance survey
Their sad decays, I flourish, and once more
Breath all perfumes, and spice;
I smell a dew like Myrrh, and all the day 10
Wear in my bosome a full Sun; such store
Hath one beame from thy Eys.
But, ah, my God! what fruit hast thou of this?
What one poor leaf did ever I yet fall
To wait upon thy wreath? 15
Thus thou all day a thankless weed doest dress,
And when th* hast done, a stench, or fog is all
The odour I bequeath.
See Herbert, "The Altar," lines 5-^.
13 See Herbert, "Judgement," line 15.
tusTPHOSTTABLENES; for many echoes see Herbert, "The Flower,"
"The Glance," "The Odour."
4 share: shear.
[39*]
HENHY VAUGHAN
10
Christs Nativity.
Awake, glad heart! get up, and Sing,
It is the Birth-day of thy King,
Awakel awake!
The Sun doth shake
Light from his locks, and all the way
Breathing Perfumes, doth spice the day.
Awak, awak! heark, how th' wood rings,
Winds whisper, and the busie springs
A Consort make;
Awake, awake! 10
Man is their high-priest, and should rise
To offer up the sacrifice.
I would I were some Bird, or Star,
Flutt'ring in woods, or lifted far
Above this Inne 15
And Rode of sin!
Then either Star, or Bird, should be
Shining, or singing still to thee.
CHRISTS NATIVITY.
9 Consort: harmonious music.
11-12 See Herbert, "Providence": "Man is the worlds high
Priest: he doth present/ The sacrifice for alL"
[393]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
I would I bad in my best part
Fit Roomes for tbee! or that my beart
Were so clean as
Tby manger was!
But I am all filth, and obscene,
Yet, if thou wilt, thou canst make clean.
Sweet Jesul will then; Let no more 25
This Leper haunt, and soyl thy door,
Cure him, Ease him
O release him!
And let once more by mystick birth
The Lord of life be borne in Earth. 30
IL
How kind is heav'n to man! If here
One sinner doth amend
Strait there is Joy, and ev'ry sphere
In musick doth Contend;
And shall we then no voices lift? 35
Are mercy, and salvation
Not worth our thanks? Is life a gift
Of no more acceptation?
Shal he that did come down from thence,
And here for us was slain, 40
mystick birth: the mysterious birth, of the Spirit of Christ
within the redeemed m^Ti.
[394]
HENRY VAUGHAN
Shal he be now cast off? no sense
Of all his woes remain?
Can neither Love, nor sufferings bind?
Are we all stone, and Earth?
Neither his bloudy passions mind, 45
Nor one day blesse his birth?
Alas, my God! Thy birth now here
Must not be numbred in the year.
Admission.
How shril are silent tears? when sin got head
And all my Bowels tum'd
To brasse, and iron; when my stock lay dead,
And all my powers mourn'd;
Then did these drops (for Marble sweats,
And Rocks have tears,)
As rain here at our windows beats,
Chide in thine Ears;
No quiet couldst thou have: nor didst thou wink,
And let thy Begger lie, 10
But e'r my eies could overflow their brink
Didst to each drop reply;
4$ passions: sufferings; mind: remember.
47-48 The Puritans had abolished the celebration of Christmas.
ADMISSION: this poem and the following five, given in tfrfg order
in 1650, may be regarded as a sequence.
1 See Herbert, "The Familie," line ao; got 'head: gained power.
2 Bowels: feelings: the interior of the body "considered as the
seat of the tender and sympathetic emotions" (OED).
9 wink: close the eyes, sleep.
[395]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Bowels of Love! at what low rate,
And slight a price
Dost thou relieve us at thy gate, 15
And stil our Cries?
Wee are thy Infants, and suck thee; If thou
But hide, or turn thy face,
Because where thou art, yet, we cannot go,
We send tears to the place, 2,0
These find thee out, and though our sins
Drove thee away,
Yet with thy love that absence wins
Us double pay.
O give me then a thankful heart! a heart 25
After thy own, not mine;
So after thine, that all, and ev'ry part
Of mine, may wait on thine;
O hear! yet not my tears alone,
Hear now a floud, 30
A floud that drowns both tears, and grones,
My Saviours bloud.
13-14 See Herbert, "The Pearl," line 35.
17 See Herbert, "Longing," line 17.
29-32 See Herbert, "Church-lock and key/' lines
[396]
HENBY VAUGHAN
Praise.
King of Comforts! King of lifel
Thou hast cheer'd me,
And when fears, and doubts were rife,
Thou hast cleer'd me!
Not a nook in all my Breast 5
But thou filTst it,
Not a thought, that breaks my rest,
But thou kilTst it;
Wherefore with my utmost strength
I wil praise thee, 10
And as thou giv'st line, and length,
I wil raise thee;
Day, and night, not once a day
I will blesse thee,
And my soul in new array 15
I will dresse thee;
Not one minute in the year
But II mind thee,
As my seal, and bracelet here
I wil bind thee; no
In thy word, as if in heaven
I wil rest me,
And thy promise 'til made even
There shall feast me.
Then, thy sayings all my life 25
They shal please me,
And thy bloudy wounds, and strife
They wil ease me;
PRAISE: see NOTE.
[397]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
With thy grones my daily breath
I will measure, 30
And my life hid in thy death
I will treasure.
Though then thou art
Past thought of heart
All perfect fulness, 35
And canst no whit
Accesse admit
From dust and dulness;
Yet to thy name
(as not the same 40
With thy bright Essence,)
Our foul, Clay hands
At thy Commands
Bring praise, and Incense;
If then, dread Lord, 45
When to thy board
Thy wretch comes begging,
He hath a flowre
Or (to his pow'r,)
Some such poor OfFring; 50
When thou hast made
Thy begger glad,
And filTd his bosome,
Let him (though poor,)
Strow at thy door 55
That one poor Blossome.
46 board: Communion table.
[398]
HENRY VAXJGHAN
Dressing.
O thou that lovest a pure, and whitend soul!
That f eedst among the Lillies, 'till the day
Break, and the shadows flee; touch with one Coal
My frozen heart; and with thy secret key
Open my desolate rooms; my gloomie Brest 5
With thy cleer fire refine, burning to dust
These dark Confusions, that within me nest,
And soyl thy Temple with a sinful rust.
Thou holy, harmless, undenTd high-priest!
The perfect, ful oblation for all sin, 10
Whose glorious conquest nothing can resist,
But even in babes doest triumph still and win;
Give to thy wretched one
Thy mysticaU Communion,
That, absent, he may see, 15
Live, die, and rise with thee;
Let him so follow here, that in the end
He may take thee, as thou doest him intend.
Give him thy private seal,
Earnest, and sign; Thy gifts so deal 2,0
That these forerunners here
May make the future cleer;
Whatever thou dost bid, let faith make good,
Bread for thy body, and Wine for thy blood.
DRESSING: preparing, to partake of the Lord's Supper, as in Tay-
lor's "Preparatory Meditations/'
2-3 See Song of Solomon &: 16—17.
4-5 See Herbert, "The H. Communion," lines ax-rtrt
[399]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Give him (with pitty) love, 25
Two flowres that grew with thee above;
Love that shal not admit
Anger for one short fit,
And pitty of such a divine extent
That may thy members, more than mine, resent. 30
Give me, my God! thy grace,
The beams, and brightnes of thy face,
That never like a beast
I take thy sacred feast,
Or the dread mysteries of thy blest bloud 35
Use, with like Custome, as my Kitchin food.
Some sit to thee, and eat
Thy body as their Common meat,
O let not me do so!
Poor dust should ly still low, 40
Then kneel my soul, and body; kneel, and bow;
If Saints, and Angels f al down, much more thou.
Easter-day.
Thou, whose sad heart, and weeping head lyes low,
Whose Cloudy brest cold damps invade,
Who never f eel'st the Sun, nor smooth'st thy brow,
But sitt'st oppressed in the shade,
Awake, awake, 5
30 resent: feel as a cause of sorrow, feel deeply.
35- 42 The Puritans refused to follow the tradition of kneeling
at the service.
38 meat: food.
EASTER-DAY: a remarkably close imitation of Herbert's "The
Dawning."
[400]
HENRY VAUGHAN
And in his Resurrection partake,
"Who on this day (that thou might'st rise as he,)
Rose up, and cancelTd two deaths due to thee.
Awake, awake; and, like the Sun, disperse
All mists that would usurp this day; 10
Where are thy Palmes, thy branches, and thy verse?
Hosanna! heark; why doest thou stay?
Arise, arise,
And with his healing bloud anoint thine Eys,
Thy inward Eys; his bloud will cure thy mind, 15
Whose spittle only could restore the blind.
Easter Hymn.
Death, and darkness get you packing,
Nothing now to man is lacking,
All your triumphs now are ended,
And what Adam marr'd, is mended;
Graves are beds now for the weary, 5
Death a nap, to wake more merry;
Youth now, full of pious duty,
Seeks in thee for perfect beauty,
The weak, and aged tirM, with length
Of daies, from thee look for new strength, 10
And Infants with thy pangs Contest
As pleasant, as if with the brest;
Then, unto him, who thus hath thrown
Even to Contempt thy kingdome down,
And by his blood did us advance *5
Unto his own Inheritance,
To him be glory, power, praise,
From this, unto the last of daies.
8 two deaths: death of the body and condemnation of the soul
at the Last Judgment.
[401]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
The Holy Communion.
Welcome sweet, and sacred feast; welcome life!
Dead I was, and deep in trouble;
But grace, and blessings came with thee so rife,
That they have quicken'd even drie stubble;
Thus soules their bodies animate, 5
And thus, at first, when things were rude,
Dark, void, and Crude
They, by thy Word, their beauty had, and date;
All were by thee,
And stil must be, 10
Nothing that is, or lives,
But hath his Quicknings, and reprieves
As thy hand opes, or shuts;
Healings, and Cuts,
Darkness, and day-light, life, and death 15
Are but meer leaves turn'd by thy breath.
Spirits without thee die,
And blackness sits
On the divinest wits,
As on the Sun Ecclipses lie. 2,0
But that great darkness at thy death
When the veyl broke with thy last breath,
Did make us see
The way to thee;
And now by these sure, sacred ties, 25
After thy blood
(Our sov'rain good,)
Had clear'd our eies,
And given us sight;
THE HOLY COMMUNION.
3. See Herbert, "The Banquet/* lines
4 quicken'd: given life to.
[402]
HENRY VATJGHAN
Thou dost unto thy self betroth 30
Our souls, and bodies both
In everlasting light.
Was't not enough that thou hadst payd the price
And given us eies
When we had none, but thou must also take 35
Us by the hand
And keep us still awake,
When we would sleep,
Or from thee creep,
Who without thee cannot stand? 40
Was't not enough to lose thy breath
And blood by an accursed death,
But thou must also leave
To us that did bereave
Thee of them both, these seals the means 45
That should both cleanse
And keep us so,
Who wrought thy wo?
O rose of Sharon! O the Tally
Of the valley! 50
How art thou now, thy flock to keep,
Become both food, and Shepheard to thy sheep!
The Tempest.
How is man parcelTd out? how ev*ry hour
Shews him himself, or somthing he should see?
This late, long heat may his Instruction be,
And tempests have more in them than a shown
When nature on her bosome saw
Her Infants die,
And all her flowres withered to straw,
Her brests grown dry;
[403!
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
She made the Earth their nurse, i? tomb,
Sigh to the sky, 10
*Til to those sighes fetch'd from her womb
Rain did reply,
So in the midst ofaUher fears
And faint requests
Her Earnest sighes procurd her tears 15
And fiU'd her brests.
O that man could do so! that he would hear
The world read to him! all the vast expence
In the Creation shed, and slav'd to sence
Makes up but lectures for his eie, and ear. 20
Sure, mighty love foreseeing the discent
Of this poor Creature, by a gracious art
Hid in these low things snares to gain his heart,
And layd surprizes in each Element.
All things here shew him heaven; Waters that fall 25
Chide, and fly up; Mists of corruptest fome
Quit their first beds & mount; trees, herbs, flowres, all
Strive upwards stil, and point him the way home.
How do they cast off grossness? only Earth,
And Man (like Issachar) in lodes delight, 30
Water's refin'd to Motion, Aire to Light,
Fire to all three, but man hath no such mirth.
Plants in the root with Earth do most Comply,
Their Leafs with water, and humiditie,
The Flotores to air draw neer, and subtiltie, 35
And seeds a kinred fire have with the sky.
THE TEMPEST.
30 See Genesis 49:14.
32 three: marginal gloss: Light, Motion, heat.
35 subtiltie: thinness of composition.
[404]
HENRY VAUGHAN
All have their keyesy and set ascents; but man
Though he knows these, and hath more of his own,
Sleeps at the ladders foot; alas! what can
These new discoveries do, except they drown? 40
Thus groveling in the shade, and darkness, he
Sinks to a dead oblivion; and though all
He sees, (like Pyramids,) shoot from this ball
And less'ning still grow up invisibly,
Yet hugs he stil his durt; The stuffe he wears 45
And painted trimming takes down both his eies,
Heaven hath less beauty than the dust he spies,
And money better musick than the Spheres.
Life's but a blast, he knows it; what? shal straw,
And bul-rush-fetters temper his short hour? 50
Must he nor sip, nor sing? grows ne'r a flowr
To crown his temples? shal dreams be his law?
O foolish man! how hast thou lost thy sight?
How is it that the Sun to thee alone
Is grown thick darkness, and thy bread, a stone? 55
Hath flesh no softness now? mid-day no light?
Lord! thou didst put a soul here; If I must
Be broke again, for flints will give no fire
Without a steel, O let thy power cleer
Thy gift once more, and grind this flint to dust! 60
[405!
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
The Pilgrimage.
As travellours when the twilight's come,
And in the sky the stars appear,
The past daies accidents do summe
With, Thus wee saw there, and thus here.
Then Jacofc-like lodge in a place 5
(A place, and no more, is set down,)
Where till the day restore the race
They rest and dream homes of their own.
So for this night I linger here,
And full of tossings too and fro, 10
Expect stil when thou wilt appear
That I may get me up, and go.
I long, and grone, and grieve for thee,
For thee my words, my tears do gush,
O that I were but where I see! 15
Is all the note within my Bush.
As Birds rob'd of their native wood,
Although their Diet may be fine,
Yet neither sing, nor like their food,
But with the thought of home do pine; 20
So do I mourn, and hang my head,
And though thou dost me fullnes give,
Yet look I for far better bread
Because by this man cannot live.
THE PELGBIMAGE.
3 accidents: incidents.
4-5 See Genesis 28:11.
[406]
HENRY VAXJGHAN
O feed me then! and since I may 25
Have yet more days, more nights to Count,
So strengthen me, Lord, all the way,
That I may travel to thy Mount.
Heb. Cap. xL ver. 13.
And they Confessed, that they were strangers, and Pilgrims
on the earth.
The World,
I saw Eternity the other night
Like a great Ring of pure and endless light,
All calm, as it was bright,
And round beneath it, Time in hours, days, years
Driv'n by the spheres 5
Like a vast shadow mov'd, In which the world
And all her train were hurl'd;
The doting Lover in his queintest strain
Did their Complain,
Neer him, his Lute, his fancy, and his flights, 10
Wits sour delights,
With gloves, and knots the silly snares of pleasure
Yet his dear Treasure
All scattered lay, while he his eys did pour
Upon a flowr. 15
2.
The darksome States-man hung with weights and woe
Like a thick midnight-fog mov'd there so slow
He did nor stay, nor go;
THE WORLD.
8 queintest: most ingenious or clever.
[407]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Condemning thoughts (like sad Ecclipses) scowl
Upon his soul, 20
And Clouds o£ crying witnesses without
Pursued him with one shout.
Yet dig'd the Mole, and lest his ways be found
Workt under ground,
Where he did Clutch his prey, but one did see 25
That policie,
Churches and altars fed him, Perjuries
Were gnats and flies,
It rain'd about him bloud and tears, but he
Drank them as free. 30
The fearfull miser on a heap of rust
Sate pining all his life there, did scarce trust
His own hands with the dust,
Yet would not place one peece above, but lives
In feare of theeves. 35
Thousands there were as frantick as himself
And hug'd each one his pelf,
The down-right Epicure plac'd heav'n in sense
And scornd pretence
While others slipt into a wide Excesse 40
Said little lesse;
The weaker sort slight, triviall wares Inslave
Who think them brave,
And poor, despised truth sate Counting by
Their victory. 45
2,6 policie: clever statecraft, political cunning.
43 brave: splendid.
[408]
HENRY VAXJGHAJST
Yet some, who all this while did weep and sing,
And sing, and weep, soar'd up into the Ring,
But most would use no wing.
O fools (said I,) thus to prefer dark night
Before true light, 50
To live in grots, and caves, and hate the day
Because it shews the way,
The way which from this dead and dark abode
Leads up to God,
A way where you might tread the Sun, and be 55
More bright than he.
But as I did their madnes so discusse
One whisper'd thus,
This Ring the Bride-groome did for none provide
Rut for his bride. 60
[i] John Cap. 2. ver. 16, 17.
All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
Eys, and the pride of life, is not of the father, but is of the
world.
And the world passeth away, and the lusts thereof, but he
that doth the will of God abideth for ever.
The Shepheards.
Sweet, harmles lives! (on whose holy leisure
Waits Innocence and pleasure,)
Whose leaders to those pastures, and cleer springs,
Were Patriarchs, Saints, and Kings,
How happend it that in the dead of night
You only saw true light,
[409]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
While Palestine was fast a sleep, and lay
Without one thought of Day?
Was it because those first and blessed swains
Were pilgrims on those plains 10
When they received the promise, for which now
'Twas there first shown to you?
Tis true, he loves that Dust whereon they go
That serve him here below,
And therefore might for memory of those 15
His love there first disclose;
But wretched Salem once his love, must now
No voice, nor vision know,
Her stately Piles with all their height and pride
Now languished and died, 20
And Bethlems humble Cotts above them stept
While all her Seers slept;
Her Cedar, firr, hew'd stones and gold were all
Polluted through their fall,
And those once sacred mansions were now 25
Meer emptiness and show,
This made the Angel call at reeds and thatch,
Yet where the shepheards watch,
And Gods own lodging (though he could not lack, )
To be a common Rack; 30
No costly pride, no soft-cloath'd luxurie
In those thin Gels could He,
Each stirring wind and storm blew through their Cots
Which never harbour'd plots,
Only Content, and love, and humble joys 35
Lived there without all noise,
Perhaps some harmless Cares for the next day
Did in their bosomes play,
THE SHEPHEARDS.
17 Salem: Jerusalem.
21 Cotts: cottages.
30 Rack: the manger.
[410]
HENBY VAUGHAJST
As where to lead their sheep, what silent nook,
What springs or shades to look, 40
But that was all; And now with gladsome care
They for the town prepare,
They leave their flock, and in a busie talk
All towards Bethlem walk
To see their souls great shepheard, who was come 45
To bring all straglers home,
Where now they find him out, and taught before
That Lamb of God adore,
That Lamb whose daies great Kings and Prophets wish'd
And long'd to see, but miss'd. 50
The first light they beheld was bright and gay
And tum'd their night to day,
But to this later light they saw in him,
Their day was dark, and dim.
The Sap.
Come sapless Blossom, creep not stil on Earth
Forgetting thy first birth;
*Tis not from dust, or if so, why dost thou
Thus cal and thirst for dew?
It tends not thither, if it doth, why then 5
This growth and stretch for heav'n?
Thy root sucks but diseases, worms there seat
And claim it for their meat.
Who plac'd thee here, did something then Infuse
Which now can tel thee news. 10
There is beyond the Stars an hil of myrrh
From which some drops fal here,
On it the Prince of Salem sits, who deals
To thee thy secret meals,
51 The rainbow of the Covenant: see Genesis 9:8—17.
THE SAP.
13 Prince of Salem: see Herbert, "Peace," lines 2.2-23 and fn.
TEE MEDITATIVE POEM
There is thy Country, and he is the way 15
And hath withal the key.
Yet liv'd he here sometimes, and bore for thee
A world of miserie,
For thee, who in the first mans loyns didst f al
From that hil to this vale, 20
And had not he so done, it is most true
Two deaths had bin thy due;
But going hence, and knowing wel what woes
Might his friends discompose,
To shew what strange love he had to our good 25
He gave his sacred bloud
By wil our sap, and Cordial; now in this
Lies such a heav'n of bliss,
That, who but truly tasts it, no decay
Can touch him any way, 30
Such secret life, and vertue in it lies
It wil exalt and rise
And actuate such spirits as are shed
Or ready to be dead,
And bring new too. Get then this sap, and get 35
Good store of it, but let
The vessel where you put it be for sure
To all your pow'r most pure;
There is at all times (though shut up) in you
A powerful, rare dew, 40
Which only grief and love extract; with this
Be sure, and never miss,
To wash your vessel wel: Then humbly take
This balm for souls that ake,
And one who drank it thus, assures that you 45
Shal find a Joy so true,
29-36 See Herbert, "Peace," lines 33-37.
31 vertue; beneficial power.
45-50 See Herbert, "The H. Communion," "The Invitation,"
"The Banquet.'*
HENRY VAUGHAN
Such perfect Ease, and such a lively sense
Of grace against all sins,
That you'l Confess the Comfort such, as even
Brings to, and comes from Heaven. 50
Mount of Olives.
When first I saw true beauty, and thy Joys
Active as light, and calm without all noise
Shin'd on my soul, I felt through all my powr's
Such a rich air of sweets, as Evening showrs
Fand by a gentle gale Convey and breath 5
On some parch'd bank, crown'd with a flowrie wreath;
Odors, and Myrrh, and balm in one rich floud
OV-ran my heart, and spirited my bloud,
My thoughts did swim in Comforts, and mine eie
Confest, The world did only paint and lie. 10
And where before I did no safe Course steer
But wander'd under tempests all the year,
Went bleak and bare in body as in mind,
And was blow'n through by ev*ry storm and wind,
I am so warm'd now by this glance on me, 15
That, midst all storms I feel a Ray of thee;
So have I known some beauteous Paisage rise
In suddain flowres and arbours to my Eies,
And in the depth and dead of winter bring
To my Cold thoughts a lively sense of spring. 20
MOUNT OF OLIVES: the place of Christ's abode (Tjuke 21:37), and
his place of retirement for prayer (Luke 22:39-46); see NOTE.
i See the opening lines of Herbert's "Jordan," "Affliction (I),"
and esp. "The Glance." Vaughan's poem throughout echoes "The
Flower" as well as "The Glance."
4 sweets: perfumes.
14 See Herbert, "Affliction (I)," line 36.
17 Paisage: landscape.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Thus fed by thee, who dost all beings nourish,
My wither'd leafs again look green and flourish,
I shine and shelter underneath thy wing
Where sick with love I strive thy name to sing,
Thy glorious name! which grant I may so do 25
That these may be thy Praise, and my Joy too.
Man.
Weighing the stedf astness and state
Of some mean things which here below reside,
Where birds like watchful Clocks the noiseless date
And Intercourse of times divide,
Where Bees at night get home and hive, and flowrs
Early, aswel as late,
Rise with the Sun, and set in the same bowrs;
I would (said I) my God would give
The staidness of these things to man! for these
To his divine appointments ever cleave, 10
And no new business breaks their peace;
The birds nor sow, nor reap, yet sup and dine,
The flowres without clothes live,
Yet Solomon was never drest so fine.
MAN.
3 date: Duration.
9 staidness: stability, constancy.
HENHY VAUGHAN
Man hath stil either toyes, or Care, 15
He hath no root, nor to one place is ty'd,
But ever restless and Irregular
About thig Earth doth run and ride,
He knows he hath a home, but scarce knows where,
He sayes it is so far 20
That he hath quite forgot how to go there.
He knocks at all doors, strays and roams,
Nay hath not so much wit as some stones have
Which in the darkest nights point to their homes,
By some hid sense their Maker gave;
Man is the shuttle, to whose winding quest
And passage through these looms
God order'd motion, but ordain'd no rest*
I walkt the other day (to spend my hour,)
Into a field
Where I sometimes had seen the soil to yield
A gallant flowre,
But Winter now had ruffled all the bowre
And curious store
I knew there heretofore.
23 wit: intelligence.
"l WALKT THE OTTHER DAY."
4 See Herbert, "Peace," line 14.
6 curious store: exquisite abundance.
[415]
THE MEBITATIVE POEM
Yet I whose search lov'd not to peep and peer
IW face of things
Thought with my self, there might be other springs 10
Besides this here
Which, like cold friends, sees us but once a year,
And so the flowre
Might have some other bowre.
Then taking up what I could neerest spie 15
I digged about
That place where I had seen him to grow out,
And by and by
J saw the warm Recluse alone to lie
Where fresh and green 2,0
He lived of us unseen.
4-
Many a question Intricate and rare
Did I there strow,
But all I could extort was, that he now
Did there repair 25
Such losses as befel him in this air
And would e*r long
Come forth most fair and young.
15-21 See Herbert, "The Flower," lines 8-14.
HENBY VAUGHAN
This past, I threw the Clothes quite o'r his head,
And stung with fear 30
Of my own frailty dropt down many a tear
Upon his bed,
Then sighing whisper'd, Happy are the dead!
What peace doth now
Rock him asleep below? 35
6.
And yet, how few believe such doctrine springs
From a poor root
Which all the Winter sleeps here under foot
And hath no wings
To raise it to the truth and light of things, 40
But is stil trod
By ev'ry wandring clod.
O thou! whose spirit did at first inflame
And warm the dead,
And by a sacred Incubation fed 45
With life this frame
Which once had neither being, forme, nor name,
Grant I may so
Thy steps track here below,
46 frame: structure (referring both to human body and to uni-
verse).
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
8.
That in these Masques and shadows I may see 50
Thy sacred way,
And by those hid ascents climb to that day
Which breaks from thee
Who art in all things, though invisibly;
Shew me thy peace, 55
Thy mercy, love, and ease,
9-
And from this Care, where dreams and sorrows raign
Lead me above
Where Light, Joy, Leisure, and true Comforts move
Without all pain, 60
There, hid in thee, shew me his life again
At whose dumbe urn
Thus all the year I mourn.
Begging.
King of Mercy, King of Love,
In whom I live, in whom I move,
Perfect what thou hast begun,
Let no night put out this Sun;
Grant I may, my chief desire! 5
Long for thee, to thee aspire,
Let my youth, my bloom of dayes
Be my Comfort, and thy praise,
59 See Herbert, "Heaven," line 19.
BEGGING: for the meter and for the phrasing of line i, see Herbert,
"L'Envoy."
[418]
HEKRY VAUGHAN
That hereafter, when I look
O'r the sullyed, sinful book, 10
I may find thy hand therein
Wiping out my shame, and sin.
O it is thy only Art
To reduce a stubborn heart,
And since thine is victorie, 15
Strong holds should belong to thee;
Lrord then take it, leave it not
Unto my dispose or lot,
But since I would not have it mine,
O my God, let it be thine I 20
Jude ver. 24, 25.
Now unto him that is able to keep us from falling, and to
present us faultless before the presence of his glory with
exceeding joy,
To the only wise God, our Saviour, be glory, and majesty,
Dominion and power, now and ever, Amen.
From SILEX SCINTILLANS (Book 2: 1655)
Ascension-day.
Lord Jesus! with what sweetness and delights,
Sure, holy hopes, high joys and quickning flights
Dost thou feed thine! O thou! the hand that lifts
To him, who gives all good and perfect gifts.
Thy glorious, bright Ascension (though removed 5
So many Ages from me) is so prov'd
And by thy Spirit seal'd to me, that I
Feel me a sharer in thy victory.
I soar and rise
Up to the skies, 10
Leaving the world their day,
And in my flight,
For the true light
Go seeking all the way;
I greet thy Sepulchre, salute thy Grave, 15
That blest inclosure, where the Angels gave
The first glad tidings of thy early light,
And resurrection from the earth and night.
I see that morning in thy * Converts tears,
Fresh as the dew, which but this dawning wears! 20
I smell her spices, and her ointment yields,
As rich a scent as the now Primros'd-fields:
The Day-star smiles, and light with thee deceast,
Now shines in all the Chambers of the East.
What stirs, what posting intercourse and mirth 25
Of Saints and Angels glorifie the earth?
ASCENSION-DAY.
19 * St. Mary Magdalene. [Vaughan's footnote— Ed.]
25 posting: swift.
[420]
HENRY VAUGHAN
What sighs, what whispers, busie stops and stays;
Private and holy talk fill all the ways?
They pass as at the last great day, and run
In their white robes to seek the risen Sun; 30
I see them, hear them, mark their haste, and move
Amongst them, with them, wing*d with faith and love.
Thy forty days more secret commerce here,
After thy death and Funeral, so clear
And indisputable, shews to my sight 35
As the Sun doth, which to those days gave light.
I walk the fields of Bethani which shine
All now as fresh as Eden, and as fine.
Such was the bright world, on the first seventh day,
Before man brought forth sin, and sin decay; 40
When like a Virgin clad in Flowers and green
The pure earth sat, and the fair woods had seen
No frost, but flourished in that youthful vest,
With which their great Creator had them drest:
When HeaVn above them shield like molten glass, 45
While all the Planets did unclouded pass;
And Springs, like dissolved Pearls their Streams did pour
Ne'r marr'd with floods, nor anger'd with a showre.
With these fair thoughts I move in this fair place,
And the last steps of my milde Master trace; 50
I see him leading out his chosen Train,
All sad with tears, which like warm Summer-rain
In silent drops steal from their holy eyes,
Fix'd lately on the Cross, now on the skies.
And now (eternal Jesus!) thou dost heave 55
Thy blessed hands to bless, these thou dost leave;
The cloud doth now receive thee, and their sight
Having lost thee, behold two men in white!
Two and no more: what two attest , is true,
33 commerce: dealings, interchange.
43 vest: vesture, garb.
51 Train: group of followers.
59-60 See John 8:17.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Was thine own answer to the stubborn Jew. 60
Come then thou faithful witness! come dear Lord
Upon the Clouds again to judge this world!
Ascension-Hymn.
Dust and clay
Mans antient wear!
Here you must stay,
But I elsewhere;
Souls sojourn here, but may not rest; 5
Who will ascend, must be undrest.
And yet some
That know to die
Before death come,
Walk to the side 10
Even in this life; but all such can
Leave behinde them the old Man.
If a star
Should leave the Sphsere,
She must first mar 15
Her flaming wear,
And after fall, for in her dress
Of glory, she cannot transgress.
Man of old
Within the line 20
Of Eden could
Like the Sun shine
All naked, innocent and bright,
And intimate with Heav'n, as light;
ASCENSION-HYMN: this poem immediately follows "Ascension-day"
in 1655, as a companion-poem, or conclusion.
[422]
HENRY VAUGHAN
But since he 25
That brightness soiTd,
His garments be
All dark and spoiTd,
And here are left as nothing worth,
Till the Refiners fire breaks forth. 30
Then comes he!
Whose mighty light
Made his cloathes be
Like Heav n, all bright;
The Fuller, whose pure blood did flow 35
To make stain'd man more white then snow.
Hee alone
And none else can
Bring bone to bone
And rebuild man, 40
And by his all subduing might
Make clay ascend more quick then light.
They are all gone into the world of lightl
And I alone sit lingring here;
Their very memory is fair and bright,
And my sad thoughts doth clear.
It glows and glitters in my cloudy brest
Like stars upon some gloomy grove,
Or those faint beams in which this hill is drest,
After the Sun's remove.
35 Fuller: one who fulls (cleanses) cloth.
"THEY ABE ALL GONE INTO THE WORLD OF LIGHT!": see NOTE.
•JL'H.rc MEDITATIVE POEM
I see them walking in an Air of glory,
Whose light doth trample on my days: 10
My days, which are at best but dull and hoary,
Meer glimering and decays.
O holy hope! and high humility,
High as the Heavens above!
These are your walks, and you have shew'd them me 15
To kindle my cold love,
Dear, beauteous death! the Jewel of the Just,
Shining no where, but in the dark;
What mysteries do lie beyond thy dust;
Could man outlook that markl 20
He that hath found some fledg'd birds nest, may know
At first sight, if the bird be flown;
But what fair Well, or Grove he sings in now,
That is to him unknown.
And yet, as Angels in some brighter dreams 25
Call to the soul, when man doth sleep:
So some strange thoughts transcend our wonted theams,
And into glory peep.
If a star were confin'd into a Tomb
Her captive flames must needs burn there; 30
But when the hand that lockt her up, gives room,
She'l shine through all the sphsere.
O Father of eternal lif e, and all
Created glories under thee!
Resume thy spirit from this world of thrall 35
Into true liberty.
35 Resume: take back.
HENRY VATJGHAN
Either disperse these mists, which blot and fill
My perspective (still) as they pass,
Or else remove me hence unto that hill,
Where I shall need no glass. 4°
Cock-crowing.
Father of lights! what Sunnie seed,
What glance of day hast thou confin'd
Into this hird? To all the breed
This busie Ray thou hast assigned;
Their magnetisme works all night, 5
And dreams of Paradise and light.
Their eyes watch for the morning-hue,
Their little grain expelling night
So shines and sings, as if it knew
The path unto the house of light. 10
It seems their candle, howe'r done,
Was tinn'd and lighted at the sunne.
If such a tincture, such a touch,
So firm a longing can impowre
Shall thy own image think it much 15
To watch for thy appearing hour?
If a meer blast so fill the sail,
Shall not the breath of God prevail?
38 perspective: telescope, spyglass.
COCK-CROWING: see NOTE.
i See James 1:17.
12, tinn'd: kindled.
13 tincture: infused quality.
[4*5]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
O thou immortall light and heat!
Whose hand so shines through all this frame, 2,0
That by the beauty of the seat,
We plainly see, who made the same.
Seeing thy seed abides in me,
Dwell thou in it, and I in thee.
To sleep without thee, is to die; 25
Yea, 'tis a death partakes of hell:
For where thou dost not close the eye
It never opens, I can tell.
In such a dark, ^Egyptian border,
The shades of death dwell and disorder. 30
If joyes, and hopes, and earnest throws,
And hearts, whose Pulse beats still for light
Are given to birds; who, but thee, knows
A love-sick souls exalted flight?
Can souls be track'd by any eye 35
But his, who gave them wings to flie?
Onely this Veyle which thou hast broke,
And must be broken yet in me,
This veyle, I say, is all the cloke
And cloud which shadows thee from me. 40
This veyle thy full-ey'd love denies,
And onely gleams and fractions spies.
O take it off! make no delay,
But brush me with thy light, that I
May shine unto a perfect day, 45
And warme me at thy glorious Eye!
O take it off! or till it flee,
Though with no Lilie, stay with me!
21 seat; residence.
31 throws: throes.
37-40 See a Corinthians 3:12—16,
41 See Herbert, "The Glance," line 20.
I 4*6]
HENRY VAUGHAN
The Starre.
What ever 'tis, whose beauty here below
Attracts thee thus & makes thee stream & flow,
And wind and curie, and wink and smile,
Shifting thy gate and guile:
Though thy close commerce nought at all imbarrs 5
My present search, for Eagles eye not Starrs,
And still the lesser by the best
And highest good is blest:
Yet, seeing all things that subsist and be,
Have their Commissions from Divinitie, 10
And teach us duty, I will see
What man may learn from thee.
First, I am sure, the Subject so respected
Is well disposed, for bodies once infected,
Deprav'd or dead, can have with thee 15
No hold, nor sympathie.
Next, there's in it a restless, pure desire
And longing for thy bright and vitall fire,
Desire that never will be quench'd,
Nor can be writh'd, nor wrenchM. 20
THE STABRB.
3 See Herbert, "The Starre," line 26.
5 close: secret; imbarrs: embars, stops.
13 respected: regarded, esteemed.
14 wett disposed: in good health.
[427]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
These are the Magnets which so strongly move
And work all night upon thy light and love,
As beauteous shapes, we know not why,
Command and guide the eye.
For where desire, celestiall, pure desire 25
Hath taken root, and grows, and doth not tire,
There God a Commerce states, and sheds
His Secret on their heads.
This is the Heart he craves; and who so will
But give it him, and grudge not; he shall feel 30
That God is true, as herbs unseen
Put on their youth and green.
The Palm-tree.
Deare friend sit down, and bear awhile this shade
As I have yours long since; This Plant, you see
So prest and bow'd, before sin did degrade
Both you and it, had equall liberty
With other trees: but now shut from the breath 5
And air of Eden, like a male-content
It thrives no where. This makes these weights (like death
And sin) hang at him; for the more he's bent
The more he grows. Celestial natures still
Aspire for home; This Solomon of old 10
By flowers and carvings and mysterious skill
Of Wings, and Cherubims, and Palms foretold.
27 a Commerce states: sets up a relationship or communication.
THE PALM-TREE: see NOTE for interpretation.
i Deare friend sit down: the opening words of Herbert's "Love
unknown.**
10-12 For these details of Solomon's Temple see i Kings
[4*81
HENRY VAUGHAN
This is the life which hid above with Christ
In God, doth always (hidden) multiply,
And spring, and grow, a tree ne'r to be pric'd, 15
A Tree, whose fruit is immortality.
Here Spirits that have run their race and fought
And won the fight, and have not f ear'd the frowns
Nor lov'd the smiles of greatness, but have wrought
Their masters will, meet to receive their Crowns. 20
Here is the patience of the Saints: this Tree
Is water'd by their tears, as flowers are fed
With dew by night; but One you cannot see
Sits here and numbers all the tears they shed.
Here is their faith too, which if you will keep 25
When we two part, I will a journey make
To pluck a Garland hence, while you do sleep
And weave it for your head against you wake.
The Bird.
Hither thou com'st: the busie wind all night
Blew through thy lodging, where thy own warm wing
Thy pillow was. Many a sullen storm
(For which course man seems much the fitter born,)
Rain'd on thy bed 5
And harmless head.
13—14 See Colossians 3:3.
17-20 See 2 Timothy 4:7-8; i Corinthians 9:24-26; Hebrews
12:1.
21, 25 See Revelation 13:10; 14:12.
28 against you wake: in preparation for the time when you
awake.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
And now as fresh and chearful as the light
Thy little heart in early hymns doth sing
Unto that Providence, whose unseen arm
Curb'd them, and cloath'd thee well and warm. 10
All things that be, praise him; and had
Their lesson taught them, when first made.
So hills and valleys into singing break,
And though poor stones have neither speech nor tongue,
While active winds and streams both run and speak, 15
Yet stones are deep in admiration.
Thus Praise and Prayer here beneath the Sun
Make lesser mornings, when the great are done.
For each inclosed Spirit is a star
Inlightning his own little sphasre, 20
Whose light, though f etcht and borrowed from far,
Both mornings makes, and evenings there.
But as these Birds of light make a land glad,
Chirping their solemn Matins on each tree:
So in the shades of night some dark fowls be, 25
Whose heavy notes make all that hear them, sad.
The Turtle then in Palm-trees mourns,
While Owls and Satyrs howl;
The pleasant Land to brimstone turns
And all her streams grow foul. 30
Brightness and mirth, and love and faith, all flye,
Till the Day-spring breaks forth again from high.
THE BERD.
a,G heavy: melancholy.
27 Turtle: turtledove.
28 Satyrs: biblical monsters: see Isaiah 34:14.
29-30 See Isaiah 34:9.
[430]
HENRY VAUGHAN
The Seed growing secretly.
S. Mark 4. 2,6.
If this worlds friends might see but once
What some poor man may often feel,
Glory, and gold, and Crowns and Thrones
They would soon quit and learn to kneel.
My dew, my dew! my early love, 5
My souls bright food, thy absence kills!
Hover not long, eternal Dove!
Life without thee is loose and spills.
Somthing I had, which long ago
Did learn to suck, and sip, and taste, 10
But now grown sickly, sad and slow,
Doth fret and wrangle, pine and waste.
O spred thy sacred wings and shake
One living drop! one drop life keeps!
If pious griefs Heavens joys awake, 15
O fill his bottle! thy childe weeps!
Slowly and sadly doth he grow,
And soon as left, shrinks back to ill;
O feed that life, which makes him blow
And spred and open to thy will! 20
For thy eternal, living wells
None stain'd or withered shall come near:
A fresh, immortal green there dwells,
And spotless white is all the wear.
THE SEED GROWING SECRETLY.
16 See Psalm 56:8.
19 blow: bloom.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Dear, secret Greenness! nurst below 35
Tempests and windes, and winter-nights,
Vex not, that but one sees thee grow,
That One made all these lesser lights.
If those bright joys he singly sheds
On thee, were all met in one Crown, 30
Both Sun and Stars would hide their heads;
And Moons, though full, would get them down.
Let glory be their bait, whose mindes
Are all too high for a low Cell:
Though Hawks can prey through storms and winds, 35
The poor Bee in her hive must dwel.
Glory, the Crouds cheap tinsel still
To what most takes them, is a drudge;
And they too oft take good for ill,
And thriving vice for vertue judge. 40
What needs a Conscience calm and bright
Within it self an outward test?
Who breaks his glass to take more light,
Makes way for storms into his rest.
Then bless thy secret growth, nor catch 45
At noise, but thrive unseen and dumb;
Keep clean, bear fruit, earn life and watch,
Till the white winged Reapers come!
27 Vex not: be not vexed.
33 bait: food.
HENRY VAUGHAN
H
As time one day by me did pass
Through a large dusky glasse
He held, I chanc'd to look
And spyed his curious book
Of past days, where sad HeaVn did shed 5
A mourning light upon the dead.
Many disordered lives I saw
And foul records which thaw
My kinde eyes still, but in
A fair, white page of thin 10
And ev'n, smooth lines, like the Suns rays,
Thy name was writ, and all thy days.
O bright and happy Kalendar!
Where youth shines like a star
All pearl'd with tears, and may 15
Teach age, The Holy way;
Where through thick pangs, high agonies
Faith into life breaks, and death dies.
As some meek night-piece which day quails,
To candle-light unveils: 20
So by one beamy line
From thy bright lamp did shine,
In the same page thy humble grave
Set with green herbs, glad hopes and brave.
"AS TIME ONE DAY BY ME DID PASS."
4 curious: carefully compiled.
9 kinde: sympathetic.
19 night-piece: a picture of a night scene; quails: spoils.
[433]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Here slept my thoughts dear mark! which dust 25
Seem'd to devour, like rust;
But dust (I did observe)
By hiding doth preserve,
As we for long and sure recruits,
Candy with sugar our choice fruits. 30
O calm and sacred bed where lies
In deaths dark mysteries
A beauty far more bright
Then the noons cloudless light;
For whose dry dust green branches bud 35
And robes are bleach'd in the Lambs blood.
Sleep happy ashes! (blessed sleep!)
While haplesse I still weep;
Weep that I have out-liv'd
My life, and unreliev'd 40
Must (soul-lesse shadow! ) so live on,
Though life be dead, and my joys gone.
The Night.
John 3. a.
Through that pure Virgin-shrine,
That sacred vail drawn or thy glorious noon
That men might look and live as Glo-worms shine,
And face the Moon:
Wise Nicodemus saw such light
As made him know his God by night.
25 mark: goal, target.
29 recruits: supplies.
36 See Revelation 7:13-14.
THE NIGHT: see NOTE.
[434]
HENRY VATJGHAN
Most blest believer hel
Who in that land of darkness and blinde eyes
Thy long expected healing wings could see,
When thou didst rise, 10
And what can never more be done,
Did at mid-night speak with the Sunl
O who will tell me, where
He found thee at that dead and silent hour!
What hallow'd solitary ground did bear 15
So rare a flower,
Within whose sacred leafs did lie
The fulness of the Deity.
No mercy-seat of gold,
No dead and dusty Cherub, nor carv'd stone, 2,0
But his own living works did my Lord hold
And lodge alone;
Where trees and herbs did watch and peep
And wonder, while the Jews did sleep.
Dear night! this worlds defeat; 25
The stop to busie fools; cares check and curb;
The day of Spirits; my souls calm retreat
Which none disturb!
Christ $* progress, and his prayer time;
The hours to which high Heaven doth chime. 30
Gods silent, searching flight:
When my Lords head is fill'd with dew, and all
His locks are wet with the clear drops of night;
His still, soft call;
His knocking time; The souls dumb watch, 35
When Spirits their fair kinred catch.
19-20 See Exodus 25:17-22.
29 * Mark, chap. i. 35. S. Luke, chap. 21. 37. [Vaughan's foot-
note—Ed.]
32-33 See Song of Solomon 5:2.
[435]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Were all my loud, evil days
Calm and unhaunted as is thy dark Tent,
Whose peace but by some Angels wing or voice
Is seldom rent; 40
Then I in Heaven all the long year
Would keep, and never wander here.
But living where the Sun
Doth all things wake, and where all mix and tyre
Themselves and others, I consent and run 45
To ev'ry myre,
And by this worlds ill-guiding light,
Erre more then I can do by night.
There is in God (some say)
A deep, but dazling darkness; As men here 50
Say it is late and dusky, because they
See not all clear;
O for that night! where I in him
Might live invisible and dim.
The Water-fall.
With what deep murmurs through times silent stealth
Doth thy transparent, cool and watry wealth
Here flowing fall,
And chide, and call,
As if his liquid, loose Retinue staid 5
Lingring, and were of this steep place afraid,
The common pass
Where, clear as glass,
All must descend
Not to an end: 10
49-54 With ref. to the mystical theology of such writers as
"Dionysius the Areopagite"; see Crashaw's poem on the Epiphany,
lines 190 fE., and NOTE.
[436]
HENBY VATJGHAN
But quickned by this deep and rocky grave,
Rise to a longer course more bright and brave.
Dear stream! dear bank, where often I
Have sate, and pleas'd my pensive eye,
Why, since each drop of thy quick store 15
Runs thither, whence it flow'd before,
Should poor souls fear a shade or night,
Who came (sure) from a sea of light?
Or since those drops are all sent back
So sure to thee, that none doth lack, ao
Why should frail flesh doubt any more
That what God takes, hee'l not restore?
O useful Element and clearl
My sacred wash and cleanser here,
My first consigner unto those 25
Fountains of life, where the Lamb goes?
What sublime truths, and wholesome themes,
Lodge in thy mystical, deep streams 1
Such as dull man can never finde
Unless that Spirit lead his minde, 30
Which first upon thy face did move,
And hatch'd all with his quickning love.
As this loud brooks incessant fall
In streaming rings restagnates all,
Which reach by course the bank, and then 35
Are no more seen, just so pass men.
O my invisible estate,
My glorious liberty, still latel
Thou art the Channel my soul seeks,
Not this with Cataracts and Creeks. 40
[437]
THOMAS TRAHERNE
1637-1674
The Salutation
These little Limmes,
These Eys and Hands which here I find,
These rosie Cheeks wherwith my Life begins,
Where have ye been,? Behind
What Curtain were ye from me hid so long!
Where was? in what Abyss, my Speaking Tongue?
When silent I,
So many thousand thousand yeers,
Beneath the Dust did in a Chaos lie,
How could I Smiles or Tears, 10
Or Lips or Hands or Eys or Ears perceiv?
Welcom ye Treasures which I now receiv.
I that so long
Was Nothing from Eternitie,
Did little think such Joys as Ear or Tongue, 15
To Celebrat or See:
Such Sounds to hear, such Hands to feel, such Feet,
Beneath the Skies, on such a Ground to meet.
New Burnisht Joys!
Which yellow Gold and Pearl excell! 3,0
Such Sacred Treasures are the Lims in Boys,
•JL M h. MEDITATIVE POEM
In which a Soul doth Dwell;
Their Organized Joynts, and Azure Veins
More Wealth include, then all the World contains.
From Dust I rise, 25
And out of Nothing now awake,
These Brighter Regions which salute mine Eys,
A Gift from GOD I take.
The Earth, the Seas, the Light, the Day, the Skies,
The Sun and Stars are mine; if those I prize. 30
Long time before
I in my Mothers Womb was born,
A GOD preparing did this Glorious Store,
The World for me adorne.
Into this Eden so Divine and fair, 35
So Wide and Bright, I com his Son and Heir.
A Stranger here
Strange Things doth meet, Strange Glories See;
Strange Treasures lodg'd in this fair World appear,
Strange all, and New to me. 40
But that they mine should be, who nothing was,
That Strangest is of all, yet brought to pass.
[442]
Wonder
How like an Angel came I down!
How Bright are all Things here!
When first among his Works I did appear
O how their GLORY me did Crown?
The World resembled his Eternitie,
In which my Soul did Walk;
And evry Thing that I did see,
Did with me talk.
The Skies in their Magnificence,
The Lively, Lovely Air; 10
Oh how Divine, how soft, how Sweet, how fair!
The Stars did entertain my Sence,
And all the Works of GOD so Bright and pure,
So Rich and Great did seem,
As if they ever must endure, 15
In my Esteem.
A Native Health and Innocence
Within my Bones did grow,
And while my GOD did all his Glories shew,
I felt a Vigour in my Sence 20
iVONDEB.
12 Sence: the power of sensory apprehension, chiefly sight
[443]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
That was aU SPIRIT. I within did flow
With Seas of Life, like Wine;
I nothing in the World did know,
But 'twas Divine.
Harsh ragged Objects were conceald, 25
Oppressions Tears and Cries,
Sins, Griefs, Complaints, Dissentions, Weeping Eys,
Were hid: and only Things reveald,
Which Heav'nly Spirits, and the Angels prize.
The State of Innocence 30
And Bliss, not Trades and Poverties,
Did fill my Sence.
The Streets were pavd with Golden Stones,
The Boys and Girles were mine,
Oh how did all their Lovly faces shine I 35
The Sons of Men were Holy Ones.
Joy, Beauty, Welfare did appear to me,
And evry Thing which here I found,
While like an Angel I did see,
Adornd the Ground. 40
6
Rich Diamond and Pearl and Gold
In evry Place was seen;
Rare Splendors, Yellow, Blew, Red, White and Green,
Mine Eys did evrywhere behold,
[444]
THOMAS TRAHERNE
Great Wonders clothd with Glory did appear, 45
Amazement was my Bliss.
That and my Wealth was evry where:
No Joy to this!
Cursd and Devisd Proprieties,
With Envy, Avarice 50
And Fraud, those Feinds that Spoyl even Paradice,
Fled from the Splendor of mine Eys.
And so did Hedges, Ditches, Limits, Bounds,
I dreamd not ought of those,
But wanderd over all mens Grounds, 55
And found Repose.
8
Proprieties themselvs were mine,
And Hedges Ornaments j
Walls, Boxes, Coffers, and their rich Contents
Did not Divide my Joys, but shine. 60
Clothes, Ribbans, Jewels, Laces, I esteemd
My Joys by others worn;
For me they all to wear them seemd
When I was born.
49 Devisd: legally willed; also, contrived; Proprieties: private
possessions.
t445]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Eden
A learned and a Happy Ignorance
Divided me,
From all the Vanitie,
From all the Sloth Care Pain and Sorrow that advance,
The madness and the Miserie 5
Of Men. No Error, no Distraction I
Saw soil the Earth, or overcloud the Side.
I knew not that there was a Serpents Sting,
Whose Poyson shed
On Men, did overspread 10
The World: nor did I Dream of such a Thing
As Sin; in which Mankind lay Dead.
They all were Brisk and Living Weights to me,
Yea Pure, and full of Immortalitie.
Joy, Pleasure, Beauty, Kindness, Glory, Lov, 15
Sleep, Day, Life, Light,
Peace, Melody, my Sight,
My Ears and Heart did fill, and freely mov.
All that I saw did me Delight.
The Universe was then a World of Treasure, 20
To me an Universal World of Pleasure.
EDEN.
13 Weights: wights, persons.
[446]
THOMAS TRAHERNE
4
Unwelcom Penitence was then unknown,
Vain Costly Toys,
Swearing and Roaring Boys,
Shops, Markets, Taverns, Coaches were unshewn; 25
So all things were that Drownd my Joys.
No Thorns choakt up my Path, nor hid the face
Of Bliss and Beauty, nor Ecclypst the Place.
Only what Adam in his first Estate,
Did I behold; 30
Hard Silver and Drie Gold
As yet lay under Ground; my Blessed Fate
Was more acquainted with the Old
And Innocent Delights, which he did see
In his Original Simplicitie. 35
Those Things which first his Eden did adorn,
My Infancy
Did crown. Simplicitie
Was my Protection when I first was bom.
Mine Eys those Treasures first did see, 40
Which God first made. The first Effects of Lov
My first Enjoyments upon Earth did prov;
35 Simplicitie: naturalness, freedom from artifice or pretence.
[447]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
And were so Great, and so Divine, so Pure,
So fair and Sweet,
So True; when I did meet 45
Them here at first, they did my Soul allure,
And drew away my Infant feet
Quite from the Works of Men; that I might see
The Glorious Wonders of the DEITIE.
Innocence
But that which most I Wonder at, which most
I did esteem my Bliss, which most I Boast,
And ever shall Enjoy, is that within
I felt no Stain, nor Spot of Sin.
No Darkness then did overshade,
But all within was Pure and Bright,
No Guilt did Crush, nor fear invade
But all my Soul was full of Light.
A Joyfull Sence and Puritie
Is all I can remember. 10
The very Night to me was Bright,
Twas Summer in December.
THOMAS TRAHERNE
A Serious Meditation did employ
My Soul within, which taken up with Joy
Did seem no Outward thing to note, but flie 15
All Objects that do feed the Eye.
While it those very Objects did
Admire, and prize, and prais, and love?
Which in their Glory most are hid,
Which Presence only doth remove. 20
Their Constant Daily Presence I
Rejoycing at, did see;
And that which takes them from the Ey
Of others, offerd them to me.
No inward Inclination did I feel 2$
To Avarice or Pride: My Soul did kneel
In Admiration all the Day. No Lust, nor Strife,
Polluted then my Infant Life.
No Fraud nor Anger in me movd
No Malice Jealousie or Spite; 30
All that I saw I truly lovd.
Contentment only and Delight
Were in my Soul. O Heav'n! what Bliss
Did I enjoy and feel!
What Powerfull Delight did this 35
Inspire I for this I daily KneeL
[449]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Whether it be that Nature is so pure,
And Custom only vicious; or that sure
God did by Miracle the Guilt remov,
And make my Soul to feel his Lov, 40
So Early: Or that 'twas one Day,
Wher in this Happiness I found;
Whose Strength and Brightness so do Ray,
That still it seemeth to Surround.
What ere it is, it is a Light 45
So Endless unto me
That I a World of true Delight
Did then and to this Day do see.
That Prospect was the Gate of Heav'n, that Day
The anchient Light of Eden did convey 50
Into my Soul: I was an Adam there,
A little Adam in a Sphere
Of Joys! O there my Ravisht Sence
Was entertaind in Paradice,
And had a Sight of Innocence. 55
All was beyond all Bound and Price.
An Antepast of Heaven sure!
I on the Earth did reign.
Within, without me, all was pure.
I must becom a Child again. 60
INNOCENCE.
57 Antepast: appetizer, foretaste.
60 See Matthew 18:3.
[450]
THOMAS TBAHEBNE
The Preparative
My Body being Dead, my Lims unknown;
Before I skild to prize
Those living Stars mine Eys,
Before my Tongue or Cheeks were to me shewn,
Before I knew my Hands were mine, 5
Or that my Sinews did my Members joyn,
When neither Nostril, Foot, nor Ear,
As yet was seen, or felt, or did appear;
I was within
A House I knew not, newly clothd with Skin. 10
Then was my Soul my only All to me,
A Living Endless Ey,
Far wider then the Skie
Whose Power, whose Act, whose Essence was to see.
I was an Inward Sphere of Light, 15
Or an Interminable Orb of Sight,
An Endless and a Living Day,
A vital Sun that round about did ray
All Life and Sence,
A Naked Simple Pure Intelligence. 20
THE PREPARATIVE: preparation.
2 skild: knew how to.
18 vital: life-giving.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
I then no Thirst nor Hunger did conceiv,
No dull Necessity,
No Want was Known to me;
Without Disturbance then I did receiv
The fair Ideas of all Things, 25
And had the Hony even without the Stings.
A Meditating Inward Ey
Gazing at Quiet did within me lie,
And evry Thing
Delighted me that was their Heavnly King. 30
4
For Sight inherits Beauty, Hearing Sounds,
The Nostril Sweet Perfumes,
All Tastes have hidden Rooms
Within the Tongue; and Feeling Feeling Wounds
With Pleasure and Delight: but I 35
Forgot the rest, and was all Sight, or Ey.
Unbodied and Devoid of Care,
Just as in Heavn the Holy Angels are.
For Simple Sence
Is Lord of all Created Excellence. 40
Be'ing thus prepard for all Felicity,
Not prepossest with Dross,
Nor stifly glued to gross
And dull Materials that might ruine me,
Not fetterd by an Iron Fate 45
THOMAS TBAHEKNB
With vain Affections in my Earthy State
To any thing that might Seduce
My Sence, or misemploy it from its use
I was as free
As if there were nor Sin, nor Miserie. 5°
6
Pure Empty Powers that did nothing loath,
Did like the fairest Glass,
Or Spotless polisht Brass,
Themselvs soon in their Objects Image cloath.
Divine Impressions when they came, 55
Did quickly enter and my Soul inflame.
Tis not the Object, but the Light
That maketh Heaven; Tis a Purer Sight.
Felicitie
Appears to none but them that purely see. 60
A Disentangled and a Naked Sence
A Mind thats unpossest,
A Disengaged Brest,
An Empty and a Quick Intelligence
Acquainted with the Golden Mean, 65
An Even Spirit Pure and Serene,
Is that where Beauty, Excellence,
And Pleasure keep their Court of Residence.
My Soul retire,
Get free, and so thou shalt even all Admire. 70
[453]
From THE THIRD CENTURY
Will you see the Infancy of this sublime and celestial Great-
ness? Those Pure and Virgin Apprehensions1 I had from the
Womb, and that Divine Light wherewith I was born, are the
Best unto this Day, wherin I can see the Universe. By the
Gift of GOD they attended me into the World, and by his
Special favor I remember them till now. Verily they seem the
Greatest Gifts His Wisdom could bestow, for without them all
other Gifts had been Dead and Vain. They are unattainable
by Book, and therfore I will teach them by Experience. Pray
for them earnestly: for they will make you Angelical, and
wholy Celestial. Certainly Adam in Paradice had not more
sweet and Curious2 Apprehensions of the World, then I when
I was a child.
All appeared New, and Strange at the first, inexpressibly rare,
and Delightfull, and Beautifull, I was a little Stranger which
at my Enterance into the World was Saluted3 and Surrounded
with innumerable Joys. My Knowledg was Divine. I knew by
Intuition those things which since my Apostasie, I Collected
again, by the Highest Reason, My very Ignorance was Ad-
vantageous. I seemed as one Brought into the Estate of
Innocence. All Things were Spotles and Pure and Glorious:
THE THIRD CENTOBY.
1 Apprehensions: perceptions, conceptions.
2 Curious: exquisite.
* Saluted: greeted.
[454]
THOMAS TRAHERNE
yea, and infinitly mine, and Joyfull and Precious. I Knew not
that there were any Sins, or Complaints, or Laws. I Dreamed
not of Poverties Contentions or Vices. All Tears and Quarrels,
were hidden from mine Eys. Evry Thing was at Rest, Free,
and Immortal. I Knew Nothing of Sickness or Death, or Ex-
action, in the Absence of these I was Entertained like an Angel
with the Works of GOD in their Splendor and Glory; I saw
all in the Peace of Eden; Heaven and Earth did sing my
Creators Praises and could not make more Melody to Adam,
then to me. All Time was Eternity, and a Perpetual Sabbath.
Is it not Strange, that an Infant should be Heir of the World,
and see those Mysteries which the Books of the Learned never
unfold?
The Corn was Orient4 and Immortal Wheat, which never
should be reaped, nor was ever sown. I thought it had stood
from everlasting to everlasting. The Dust and Stones of the
Street were as Precious as GOLD. The Gates were at first the
End of the World, The Green Trees when I saw them first
through one of the Gates Transported and Ravished me; their
Sweetnes and unusual Beauty made my Heart to leap, and
almost mad with Extasie, they were such strange and Won-
derfull Thing: The Men! O what Venerable and Reverend
Creatures did the Aged seeml Immortal Cherubims! And yong
Men Glittering and Sparkling Angels and Maids strange Se-
raphick Pieces of Life and Beauty! Boys and Girles Tumbling
in the Street, and Playing, were moving Jewels. I knew not
that they were Born or should Die. But all things abided
Eternaly as they were in their Proper Places. Eternity was
Manifest in the Light of the Day, and som thing infinit Behind
evry thing appeared: which talked with my Expectation and
moved my Desire. The Citie seemed to stand in Eden, or to be
4 Corn: grain; Orient: shining, brilliant.
[455]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Built in Heaven. The Streets were mine, the Temple was mine,
the People were mine, their Clothes and Gold and Silver was
mine, as much as their Sparkling Eys Fair Skins and ruddy
faces. The Skies were mine, and so were the Sun and Moon
and Stars, and all the World was mine, and I the only Spec-
tator and Enjoyer of it. I knew no Churlish Proprieties, nor
Bounds nor Divisions: but all Proprieties and Divisions were
mine: all Treasures and the Possessors of them. So that with
much adoe I was corrupted; and made to learn the Dirty De-
vices of this World. Which now I unlearn, and becom as it
were a little Child again, that I may enter into the Kingdom
of GOD.
Upon those Pure and Virgin Apprehensions which I had in
my Infancy, I made this Poem.
That Childish Thoughts such Joys Inspire,
Doth make my Wonder, and His Glory higher;
His Bounty, and my Wealth more Great:
It shews His Kingdom, and His Work Compleat.
In which there is not any Thing,
Not meet to be the Joy of Cherubim.
He in our Childhood with us Walks,
And with our Thoughts Mysteriously He talks;
He often Visiteth our Minds,
But cold Acceptance in us ever finds. 10
We send Him often grievd away,
Who els would shew us all His Kingdoms Joy.
[456]
THOMAS TBAHERNE
O Lord I Wonder at Thy Lov,
Which did my Infancy so Early mov:
But more at that which did forbear 15
And mov so long, though sleighted many a yeer:
But most of all, at last that Thou
Thy self shouldst me convert, I scarce Know how.
Thy Gracious Motions5 oft in vain
Assaulted me: My Heart did hard remain 2,0
Long time! I sent my God away
Grievd much, that He could not giv me His Joy.
I careless "was, nor did regard
The End for which He all those Thoughts prepard.
But now, with New and Open Eys, 25
I see beneath, as if I were abov the Skies:
And as I backward look again
See all His Thoughts and mine most Clear and Plain.
He did approach, He me did Woe.6
I Wonder that my GOD this thing would doe. 30
5 Motions: promptings, stirrings.
6 Woe: woo.
[457]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
From Nothing taken first I was;
What Wondrous things His Glory brought to pass!
Now in the World I Him behold,
And Me, Inveloped in Precious Gold;
In deep Abysses of Delights, 35
In present Hidden Glorious Benefits.
Those Thoughts His Goodness long before
Prepard as Precious and Celestial Store:
With Curious Art in me inlaid,
That Childhood might it self alone be said 40
My Tutor Teacher Guid to be,
Instructed then even by the Dietie.
Our Saviors Meaning, when He said, He must be Born again
and becom a little Child that will enter into the Kingdom of
Heaven:7 is Deeper far then is generaly believed. It is not only
in a Careless Reliance upon Divine Providence, that we are
to becom Little Children, or in the feebleness and shortness
of our Anger and Simplicity of our Passions: but in the Peace
and Purity of all our Soul. Which Purity also is a Deeper
Thing then is commonly apprehended, for we must disrobe
our selvs of all fals Colors, and unclothe our Souls of evil
Habits; all our Thoughts must be Infant-like and Clear: the
Powers of our Soul free from the Leven of this World, and
7 See John 3:3; Mark 10:15; Matthew 18:3.
[458]
THOMAS TRAHERNE
disentangled from mens conceits8 and customs. Grit in
the Ey or the yellow Jandice will not let a Man see those
Objects truly that are before it. And therfore it is requisit
that we should be as very Strangers to the Thoughts Customs
and Opinions of men in this World as if we were but little
Children. So those Things would appear to us only which do
to Children when they are first Born. Ambitions, Trades,
Luxuries, inordinat Affections,9 Casual and Accidental10
Riches invented since the fall would be gone, and only those
Things appear, which did to Adam in Paradice, in the same
Light, and in the same Colors. GOD in His Works, Glory in
the Light, Lov in our Parents, Men, our selvs, and the Face
of Heaven. Evry Man naturaly seeing those Things, to the
Enjoyment of which He is Naturaly Born.
6
Evry one provideth Objects, but few prepare Senses wherby,
and Light wherin to see them. Since therfore we are Born to be
a Burning and Shining Light, and whatever men learn of
others, they see in the Light of others Souls: I will in the
Light of my Soul shew you the Univers. Perhaps it is Celestial,
and will teach you how Beneficial we may be to each other.
I am sure it is a Sweet and Curious Light to me: which had
I wanted:11 I would hav given all the Gold and Silver in all
Worlds to hav Purchased. But it was the Gift of GOD and
could not be bought with Mony. And by what Steps and
Degrees I proceeded to that Enjoyment of all Eternity which
now I possess I will likewise shew you. A Clear, and familiar
Light it may prove unto you.
8 conceits: conceptions, opinions.
9 inordinat Affections: immoderate emotions (see Colossians
3:5).
10 Casual, Accidental: non-essential.
11 wanted: lacked
[459]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
The first Light which shined in my Infancy in its Primitive
and Innocent Clarity was totaly ecclypsed: insomuch that I
was fain12 to learn all again. If you ask me how it was
ecclypsed? Truly by the Customs and maners of Men, which
like Contrary Winds blew it out: by an innumerable company
of other Objects, rude vulgar and Worthless Things that like
so many loads of Earth and Dung did over whelm and Bury it:
by the Impetuous Torrent of Wrong Desires in all others
whom I saw or knew that carried me away and alienated me
from it: by a Whole Sea of other Matters and Concernments
that Covered and Drowned it: finaly by the Evil Influence of
a Bad Education that did not foster and cherish it. All Mens
thoughts and Words were about other Matters; They all
prized New Things which I did not dream of. I was a stranger
and unacquainted with them; I was little and reverenced
their Authority; I was weak, and easily guided by their Ex-
ample: Ambitious also, and Desirous to approve my self13
unto them. And finding no one Syllable in any mans Mouth
of those Things, by Degrees they vanishd, My Thoughts, (as
indeed what is more fleeting then a Thought) were blotted
out. And at last all the Celestial Great and Stable Treasures
to which I was born, as wholy forgotten, as if they had never
been.
8
Had any man spoken of it, it had been the most easy Thing
in the World, to hav taught me, and to hav made me believ,
that Heaven and Earth was GODs Hous, and that He gav it
obliged.
18 approve my self: show myself worthy of approval.
[460]
THOMAS TBAHERNE
me. That the Sun was mine and that Men were mine, and
that Cities and Kingdoms were mine also: that Earth was
better then Gold, and that Water was, every Drop of it, a
Precious Jewel. And that these were Great and Laving Treas-
ures: and that all Riches whatsoever els was Dross in Com-
parison. From whence I clearly find how Docible14 our
Nature is in natural Things, were it rightly entreated.15 And
that our Misery proceedeth ten thousand times more from the
outward Bondage of Opinion and Custom, then from any
inward corruption or Depravation of Nature: And that it is
not our Parents Loyns, so much as our Parents lives, that
Enthrals and Blinds us. Yet is all our Corruption Derived from
Adam: inasmuch as all the Evil Examples and inclinations of
the World arise from His Sin. But I speak it in the presence
of GOD and of our Lord Jesus Christ, in my Pure Primitive
Virgin Light, while my Apprehensions were natural, and un-
mixed, I can not remember, but that I was ten thousand times
more prone to Good and Excellent Things, then evil. But I
was quickly tainted and fell by others.
It was a Difficult matter to persuade me that the Tinsild Ware
upon a Hobby hors was a fine thing. They did impose upon
me, and Obtrude16 their Gifts that made me believ a Ribban
or a Feather Curious. I could not see where the Curiousness or
fineness: And to Teach me that A Purs of Gold was of any
valu seemed impossible, the Art by which it becomes so, and
the reasons for which it is accounted so were so Deep and
Hidden to my Inexperience. So that Nature is still nearest to
Natural Things, and farthest off from preternatural,17 and to
14 Docible: teachable.
15 entreated: treated.
16 Obtrude: thrust forward.
17 preternatural: unnatural.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
esteem that the Reproach of Nature, is an Error in them only
who are unacquainted with it. Natural Things are Glorious,
and to know them Glorious: But to call things preternatural
Natural, Monstrous. Yet all they do it, who esteem Gold
Silver Houses Lands Clothes &c. the Riches of Nature, which
are indeed the Riches of Invention. Nature Knows no such
Riches, but Art and Error makes them. Not the God of
Nature, but Sin only was the Parent of them. The Riches of
Nature are our Souls and Bodies, with all their Faculties
Sences and Endowments. And it had been the Easiest thing
in the whole World, that all felicity consisted in the Enjoy-
ment of all the World, that it was prepared for me before I
was born, and that Nothing was more Divine and Beautifull.
10
Thoughts are the most Present things to Thoughts, and of
the most Powerfull Influence. My Soul was only Apt and
Disposed to Great Things; But Souls to Souls are like Apples
to Apples, one being rotten rots another. When I began to
speak and goe,18 Nothing began to be present to me, but
what was present in their Thoughts. Nor was any thing
present to me any other way, then it was so to them. The
Glass of Imagination was the only Mirror, wherin any thing
was represented or appeared to me. All Things were Absent
which they talkt not of. So I began among my Play fellows
to prize a Drum, a fine Coat, a Peny, a Gilded Book &c.
who before never Dreamd of any such Wealth. Goodly Ob-
jects to drown all the Knowledg of Heaven and Eartih: As
for the Heavens and the Sun and Stars they disappeared, and
were no more unto me than the bare Walls. So that the
Strange Riches of Mans Invention quite overcame the Riches
of Nature. Being learned more laboriously and in the second
Place.
18 goe: walk.
[46*]
THOMAS TRAHERNE
11
By this let Nurses, and those Parents that desire Holy Chil-
dren learn to make them Possessors of Heaven and Earth
betimes.19 to remove silly Objects from before them, to
Magnify nothing but what is Great indeed, and to talk of
God to them and of His Works and Ways before they can
either Speak or go. For Nothing is so Easy as to teach the
Truth becaus the Nature of the Thing confirms the Doctrine.
As when we say The Sun is Glorious, A Man is a Beautifull
Creature, Soveraign over Beasts and Fowls and Fishes, The
Stars Minister unto us, The World was made for you, &c.
But to say This Hous is yours, and these Lands are another
Mans and this Bauble is a Jewel and this Gugaw a fine Thing,
this Rattle makes Musick &c. is deadly Barbarous and uncouth
to a little Child; and makes him suspect all you say, becaus
the Nature of the Thing contradicts your Words. Yet doth that
Blot out all Noble and Divine Ideas, Dissettle his foundation,
render him uncertain in all Things, and Divide him from
GOD. To teach him those Objects are little vanities, and that
tho GOD made them, by the Ministery of Man, yet Better
and more Glorious Things are more to be Esteemed, is Natu-
ral and Easy.
By this you may see who are the Rude and Barbarous In-
dians For verily there is no Salvage20 Nation under the Cope21
of Heaven, that is more absurdly Barbarous than the Chris-
19 betimes: early in life.
20 Salvage: savage.
e: canopy, vault.
[463]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
tian World. They that go Naked and Drink Water and liv
upon Roots are like Adam, or Angels in Comparison of us.
But they indeed that call Beads and Glass Buttons Jewels, and
Dress them selvs with feather, and buy pieces of Brass and
broken hafts of Knives of our Merchants are som what like us.
But We Pass them in Barbarous Opinions, and Monstrous
Apprehensions: which we Nick Name Civility, and the Mode,
amongst us. I am sure those Barbarous People that go naked,
com nearer to Adam God, and Angels in the Simplicity of
their Wealth, tho not in Knowledg.
13
You would not think how these Barbarous Inventions spoyle
your Knowledg. They put Grubs and Worms in Mens Heads:
that are Enemies to all Pure and True Apprehensions, and eat
out all their Happines. They make it impossible for them,
in whom they reign, to believ there is any Excellency in the
Works of GOD, or to taste any Sweetness in the Nobility of
Nature, or to Prize any Common, tho never so Great a
Blessing. They alienat men from the Life of GOD, and at last
make them to live without GOD in the World. To liv the Life
of GOD is to live to all the Works of GOD, and to enjoy them
in His Image, from which they are wholy Diverted that follow
fashions. Their fancies are corrupted with other Gingles.
14
Being Swallowed up therfore in the Miserable Gulph of idle
talk and worthless vanities, thenceforth I lived among Shad-
ows, like a Prodigal Son feeding upon Husks with Swine. A
Comfortless Wilderness full of Thorns and Troubles the World
was, or wors: a Waste Place covered with Idleness and Play,
[464]
THOMAS TRAHEKNE
and Shops and Markets and Taverns. As for Churches they
were things I did not understand. And Scholes were a Burden:
so that there was nothing in the World worth the having, or
Enjoying, but my Game and Sport, which also was a Dream
and being passed wholy forgotten. So that I had utterly for-
gotten all Goodness Bounty Comfort and Glory: which things
are the very Brightness of the Glory of GOD: for lack of
which therfore He was unknown.
15
Yet somtimes in the midst of these Dreams, I should com a
litle to my self, so far as to feel I wanted som thing,
secretly to Expostulate with GOD for not giving me Riches,
to long after an unknown Happiness, to griev that the World
was so empty, and to be dissatisfied with my present State
becaus it was vain and forlorn. I had heard of Angels, and
much admired that here upon earth nothing should be but
Dirt and Streets and Gutters, for as for the Pleasures that were
in Great Mens Houses I had not seen them: and it was my
real Happiness they were unknown, for becaus Nothing De-
luded me, I was the more Inquisitive.
16
Once I remember (I think I was about 4 yeer old, when) I
thus reasoned with my self, sitting in a little Obscure Room
in my Fathers poor House. If there be a God, certainly He
must be infinit in Goodness. And that I was prompted to, by
a real Whispering Instinct of Nature. And if He be infinit in
Goodness, and a Perfect Being in Wisdom and Love, cer-
tainly He must do most Glorious Things: and giv us infinit
Riches; how comes it to pass therfore that I am so poor? of
so Scanty and Narrow a fortune, enjoying few and Obscure
[465]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Comforts? I thought I could not believ Him a GOD to me,
unless all His Power were Employd to Glorify me. I knew not
then my Soul, or Body: nor did I think of the Heavens and
the Earth, the Rivers and the Stars, the Sun or the Seas:
all those were lost, and Absent from me. But when I found
them made out of Nothing for me, then I had a GOD indeed,
whom I could Prais, and rejoyce in.
17
Som times I should be alone, and without Employment, when
suddainly my Soul would return to it self, and forgetting all
Things in the whole World which mine Eys had seen, would
be carried away to the Ends of the Earth: and my Thoughts
would be deeply Engaged with Enquiries, How the Earth
did End? Whether Walls did Bound it, or Suddain Precipices,
or Whether the Heavens by Degrees did com to touch it; so
that the face of the Earth and Heaven were so neer, that a
Man with Difficulty could Creep under? Whatever I could
imagin was inconvenient,22 and my Reason being Posed23
was Quickly Wearied. What also upheld the Earth (becaus
it was Heavy) and kept it from falling; Whether Pillars, or
Dark Waters? And if any of these, What then upheld those,
and what again those, of which I saw there would be no End?
Little did I think that the Earth was Round, and the World
so full of Beauty, Light, and Wisdom. When I saw that, I
knew by the Perfection of the Work there was a GOD, and
was satisfied, and Rejoyced. People underneath and feilds
and flowers with another Sun and another Day Pleased me
mightily: but more when I knew it was the same Sun that
served them by night, that served us by Day.
22 inconvenient: unsuitable, incongruous.
23 Posed: puzzled.
[466]
THOMAS TRAHEKNE
Another time, in a Lowering and sad Evening, being alone
in the field, when all things were dead and quiet, a certain
Want and Horror fell upon me, beyond imagination. The
unprofitableness and Silence of the Place dissatisfied me, its
Wideness terrified me, from the utmost Ends of the Earth
fears surrounded me. How did I know but Dangers might
suddainly arise from the East, and invade me from the un-
known Regions beyond the Seas? I was a Weak and little
child, and had forgotten there was a man alive in the Earth.
Yet som thing also of Hope and Expectation comforted me
from every Border. This taught me that I was concerned in
all the World: and that in the remotest Borders the Causes of
Peace delight me, and the Beauties of the Earth when seen
were made to entertain me: that I was made to hold a Com-
munion with the Secrets of Divine Providence in all the
World: that a Remembrance of all the Joys I had from my
Birth ought always to be with me: that the Presence of Cities
Temples and Kingdoms ought to Sustain me, and that to be
alone in the World was to be Desolate and Miserable. The
Comfort of Houses and friends, and the clear Assurance of
Treasures evry where, Gods Care and Lov, His Goodnes Wis-
dom, and Power, His presence and Watchfulness in all the
Ends of the Earth, were my Strength and Assurance for ever:
and that these things being Absent to my Ey, were my Joys
and consolations: as present to my Understanding as the
Wideness and Emptiness of the Universe which I saw before
me.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
When I heard of any New Kingdom beyond the seas, the
Light and Glory of it pleased me immediatly, enterd into me,
it rose up within me and I was Enlarged Wonderfully. I en-
tered into it, I saw its Commodities,24 Rarities, Springs,
Meadows Riches, Inhabitan[t]s, and became Possessor of that
New Room, as if it had been prepared for me, so much was
I Magnified and Delighted in it. When the Bible was read my
Spirit was present in other Ages. I saw the Light and Splendor
of them: the Land of Canaan, the Israelites entering into it,
the ancient Glory of the Amorites, their Peace and Riches,
their Cities Houses Vines and Fig trees, the long Prosperity of
their Kings, their Milk and Honie, their slaughter and Destruc-
tion, with the Joys and Triumphs of GODs People all which
Entered into me, and GOD among them. I saw all and felt
all in such a lively maner, as if there had been no other Way
to those Places, but in Spirit only. This shewd me the Liveli-
ness of interior presence, and that all Ages were for most
Glorious Ends, Accessible to my Understanding, yea with it,
yea within it. for without changing Place in my self I could
behold and Enjoy all those. Any thing when it was proposed,
tho it was 10000 Ages agoe, being always before me.
25
When I heard any News I received it with Greediness and
Delight, becaus my Expectation was awakend with som Hope
that My Happiness and the Thing I wanted was concealed in
24 Commodities: advantages, -useful products.
[468]
THOMAS TBAHERNE
it. Glad Tidings25 you know from a far Country brings us our
Salvation: And I was not deceived. In Jury was Jesus Killed,
and from Jerusalem the Gospel came. Which when I once
knew I was very Confident that evry Kingdom contained like
Wonders and Causes of Joy, tho that was the fountain of them.
As it was the First fruits so was it the Pledg of what I shall
receiv in other Countries. Thus also when any curious Cabinet,
or secret in Chymistrie, Geometry or Physick26 was offered
to me, I diligently looked in it, but when I saw it to the
Bottom and not my Happiness I despised it. These Imagina-
tions and this Thirst of News occasioned these Reflexions.
2,6
On News
News from a forrein Country came,
As if my Treasure and my Wealth lay there:
So much it did my Heart Enflamel
Twas wont to call my Soul into mine Ear.
Which thither went to Meet 5
The Approaching Sweet:
And on the Threshhold stood,
To entertain27 the Unknown Good.
It Hoverd there,
As if twould leav mine Ear. 10
And was so Eager to Embrace
The Joyfull Tidings as they came,
Twould almost leav its Dwelling Place,
To Entertain the Same.
25 Glad Tidings: an allusion to the literal meaning of the word
gospel, derived from the Old English word godspel: good tidings.
26 Physick: medicine.
27 entertain: receive.
[469]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
As if the Tidings were the Things, 15
My very Joys themselvs, my forrein Treasure,
Or els did bear them on their Wings;
With so much Joy they came, with so much Pleasure.
My Soul stood at the Gate
To recreat28 2,0
It self with Bliss: And to
Be pleasd with Speed. A fuller View
It fain29 would take
Yet Journeys back would make
Unto my Heart: as if twould fain 25
Go out to meet, yet stay within
To fit a place, to Entertain,
And bring the Tidings in.
What Sacred Instinct did inspire
My Soul in Childhood with a Hope so Strong? 30
What Secret Force movd my Desire,
To Expect my Joys beyond the Seas, so Yong?
Felicity I knew
Was out of View:
And being here alone, 35
I saw that Happiness was gone,
From Me! for this,
I Thirsted Absent Bliss,
And thought that sure beyond the Seas,
Or els in som thing near at hand 40
I knew not yet, (since nought did pleas
I knew.) my Bliss did stand.
28 recreat: refresh.
&> fain: gladly.
E470]
THOMAS TRAHERNE
4
But little did the Infant Dream
That all the Treasures of the World were by:
And that Himself was so the Cream 45
And Crown of all, which round about did lie.
Yet thus it was. The Gem,
The Diadem,
The Ring Enclosing all
That Stood upon this Earthy Ball; 50
The Heavenly Ey,
Much Wider then the Side,
Wher in they all included were
The Glorious Soul that was the King
Made to possess them, did appear 55
A Small and little thing!
46
When I came into the Country, and being seated among
silent Trees, had all my Time in mine own Hands, I resolved
to Spend it all, whatever it cost me, in Search of Happiness,
and to Satiat that burning Thirst which Nature had En-
kindled, in me from my Youth. In which I was so resolut,
that I chose rather to liv upon 10 pounds a yeer, and to go in
Lether Clothes, and feed upon Bread and Water, so that I
might hav all my time clearly to my self: then to keep many
thousands per Annums in an Estate of Life where my Time
would be Devoured in Care and Labor. And GOD was so
pleased to accept of that Desire, that from that time to this
I hav had all things plentifully provided for me, without any
Care at all, my very Study of Felicity making me more to
Prosper, then all the Care in the Whole World. So that through
[471]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
His Blessing I liv a free and a Kingly Life, as if the World
were turned again into Eden, or much more, as it is at this
Day.
47
A life of Sabbaths here beneath!
Continual Jubilees and Joys!
The Days of Heaven, while we breath
On Earth! Where Sin all Bliss Destroys.
This is a Triumph of Delights!
That doth exceed all Appetites.
No Joy can be Compard to this,
It is a Life of Perfect Bliss.
Of perfect Bliss! How can it be?
To Conquer Satan, and to Reign 10
In such a Vale of Miserie,
Where Vipers, Stings and Tears remain;
Is to be Crownd with Victorie.
To be Content, Divine and free,
Even here beneath is Great Delight 15
And next the Beatifick Sight.80
»Q"And next to the Beatific Vision" (of God),
[47*1
THOMAS TRAHERNE
But inward lusts do oft assail,
Temptations Work us much Annoy.
Weel therfore Weep, and to prevail
Shall be a more Celestial Joy. 20
To hav no other Enemie,
But one; and to that one to Die:
To fight with that and Conquer it,
Is better then in Peace to sit.
Tis Better for a little time: 25
For he that all His Lusts doth quell,
Shall find this Life to be His Prime,
And Vanquish Sin and Conquer Hell.
The Next shall be His Double Joy:
And that which here seemd to Destroy, 30
Shall in the Other Life appear
A Root of Bliss; a Pearl each Tear.
48
Thus you see I can make Merry with Calamities, and while I
griev at Sins, and War against them, abhorring the World,
and my self more: Descend into the Abysses of Humilitie, and
there Admire a New Offspring and Torrent of Joys, GODs
Mercies. Which accepteth of our fidelity in Bloody Battails,
tho every Wound defile and Poyson; and when we slip or
fall, turneth our true Penitent Tears into Solid Pearl, that shall
abide with Him for evermore. But Oh let us take heed that
[473]
JLJOJC, avJU&JUJLXAJLAVJC.
we never Willingly commit a Sin against so Gracious a Re-
deemer, and so Great a Father.
49
Sin!
0 only fatal Woe,
That makst me Sad and Mourning go!
That all my Joys dost Spoil,
His Kingdom and my Soul Defile!
1 never can Agree
With Thee!
Thou!
Only Thou! O Thou alone,
(And my Obdurat Heart of Stone,) 10
The Poyson and the Foes
Of my Enjoyments and Repose,
The only Bitter III:
Dost Kill!
Oh! 15
I cannot meet with Thee,
Nor once approach thy Memory,
But all my Joys are Dead,
And all my Sacred Treasures fled;
As if I now did Dwell 20
In Hell.
[474]
THOMAS TRAHEKNE
Lordl
O hear how short I BreathI
See how I Tremble here beneath!
A Sin! Its Ugly face 25
More Terror, then its Dwelling Place,31
Contains, (O Dreadfull Sin!)
Within!
50
The Recovery
Sin! wilt Thou vanquish me!
And shall I yeeld the victory?
Shall all my Joys be Spoild,
And Pleasures soild
By Thee! 5
Shall I remain
As one thats Slain
And never more lift up the Head?
Is not my Savior Dead!
His Blood, thy Bane;32 my Balsam, Bliss, Joy, Wine; 10
Shall Thee Destroy; Heal, Feed, make me Divine.
31 its Dwelling Place: i.e., Hell.
82 Bane: poison; Balsam: medicinal oil.
[475]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
51
I cannot meet with Sin, but it Kils me, and tis only by Jesus
Christ that I can Kill it, and Escape. Would you blame
me to be confounded, when I have offended my Eternal
Father, who gav me all the Things in Heaven and Earth?
One Sin is a Dreadfull Stumbling Block in the Way to Heaven.
It breeds a long Parenthesis in the fruition of our Joys. Do
you not see my Friend, how it Disorders and Disturbs my
Proceeding? There is no Calamity but Sin alone.
5*
When I came into the Country, and saw that I had all time
in my own hands, having devoted it wholy to the study of
Felicitie, I knew not where to begin or End; nor what Objects
to chuse, upon which most Profitably I might fix my Contem-
plation. I saw my self like som Traveller, that had Destined
his Life to journeys, and was resolved to spend his Days in
visiting Strange Places: who might wander in vain, unless his
Undertakings were guided by som certain Rule; and that
innumerable Millions of Objects were presented before me,
unto any of which I might take my journey, fain I would
hav visited them all, but that was impossible. What then I
should do? Even imitat a Traveller, who becaus He cannot
visit all Coasts, Wildernesses, Sandy Deserts, Seas, Hills,
Springs and Mountains, chuseth the most Populous and
flourishing Cities, where he might see the fairest Prospects,
Wonders, and Rarities, and be entertained with greatest
Courtesie: and where indeed he might most Benefit himself
with Khowledg Profit and Delight: leaving the rest, even the
naked and Empty Places unseen. For which caus I made it
[476]
THOMAS TKAHERNE
my Prayer to GOD Almighty, that He, whose Eys are open
upon all Things, would guid me to the fairest and Divinest.
53
And what Rule do you think I walked by? Truly a Strange
one, but the Best in the Whole World. I was Guided by an
Implicit Faith in Gods Goodness: and therfore led to the
Study of the most Obvious33 and Common Things. For thus
I thought within my self: GOD being, as we generaly believ,
infinit in Goodness, it is most Consonant34 and Agreeable
with His nature, that the Best Things should be most Com-
mon, for nothing is more Naturall to infinit Goodness, then to
make the Best Things most frequent; and only Things Worth-
less, Scarce. Then I began to Enquire what Things were most
Common: Air, Light, Heaven and Earth, Water, the Sun,
Trees, Men and Women, Cities Temples &c. These I found
Common and Obvious to all: Rubies Pearls Diamonds Gold
and Silver, these I found scarce, and to the most Denied. Then
began I to consider and compare the value of them, which I
measured by their Serviceableness, and by the Excellencies
which would be found in them, should they be taken away.
And in Conclusion I saw clearly, that there was a Real Valu-
ableness in all the Common things; in the Scarce, a feigned.
54
Besides these Common things I hav named, there were others
as Common, but Invisible. The Laws of God, the Soul of Man,
Jesus Christ and His Passion on the Crosse, with the Ways of
GOD in all Ages. And these by the General Credit they had
33 Obvious: commonly occurring.
84 Consonant: agreeable.
[477]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Obtained in the World confirmed me more. For the Ways of
God were transeunt Things, they were past and gon; our
Saviors Sufferings were in one particular Obscure Place, the
Laws of God were no Object of the Ey, but only found in the
Minds of Men; these therfore which were so Secret in their
own Nature, and made common only by the Esteem Men
had of them, must of Necessity include unspeakable Worth
for which they were celebrated, of all, and so generaly re-
membered. As yet I did not see the Wisdom and Depths of
Knowledg, the Clear Principles, and Certain Evidences
wherby the Wise and Holy, the Ancients and the Learned
that were abroad in the World knew these Things, but was
led to them only by the fame which they had vulgarly35 re-
ceived. Howbeit I believed that there were unspeakable
Mysteries contained in them, and tho they were Generaly
talkt of their valu was unknown. These therfore I resolved to
Study, and no other. But to my unspeakable Wonder, they
brought me to all the Things in Heaven and in Earth, in
Time and Eternity, Possible and Impossible, Great and Little,
Common and Scarce, and Discovered them all to be infinit
Treasures.
55
That any thing may be found to be an infinit Treasure, its
Place must be found in Eternity, and in Gods Esteem. For
as there is a Time, so there is a Place for all Things. Evry
thing in its Place is Admirable Deep and Glorious: out of its
Place like a Wandering Bird, is Desolat and Good for Noth-
ing. How therfore it relateth to God and all Creatures must
be seen before it can be Enjoyed. And this I found by many
Instances. The Sun is Good, only as it relateth to the Stars,
to the Seas, to your Ey, to trie feilds, &c. As it relateth to the
Stars it raiseth their Influences; as to the Seas it melteth them
and maketh the Waters flow; as to your Ey, it bringeth in the
85 vulgarly: commonly.
[478]
THOMAS TRAHERNE
Beauty of the World; as to the feilds; it clotheth them with
Fruits and flowers: Did it not relate to others it would not be
Good. Divest it of these Operations, and Divide it from these
Objects it is Useless and Good for nothing. And therfore
Worthless, because Worthies and Useless go together. A Piece
of Gold cannot be Valued, unless we Know how it relates
to Clothes, to Wine, to Victuals, to the Esteem of Men, and
to the Owner. Som little Piece in a Kingly Monument severd
from the rest hath no Beauty at all. It enjoys its valu in its
Place, by the Ornament it gives to, and receivs from all the
Parts. By this I discerned, that even a little Knowledg could
not be had in the Mysterie of Felicity, without a great deaL
And that that was the reason why so many were ignorant of
its nature, and why so few did attain it. for by the Labor re-
quired to much Knowledg they were discouraged, and for
lack of much did not see any Glorious motives to allure
them.
Therfore of Necessity they must at first believ that Felicity
is a Glorious tho an unknown Thing. And certainly it was
the infinit Wisdom of God, that did implant by Instinct so
strong a Desire of felicity in the Soul, that we might be ex-
cited to labor after it, tho we know it not, the very force wher-
with we covet it supplying the place of Understanding. That
there is a Felicity we all know by the Desires after, that
there is a most Glorious felicity we know by the Strength
and vehemence of those Desires: And that nothing but Felicity
is worthy of our Labor, becaus all other things are the Means
only which conduce unto it. I was very much animated by
the Desires of Philosophers, which I saw in Heathen Books
aspiring after it. But the misery is It was unknown. An altar
was erected to it like that in Athens with this inscription TO
THE UNKNOWN GOD.se
86 See Acts 17:23.
[479]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
57
Two things in Perfect Felicity I saw to be requisite: and
that Felicity must be perfect, or not Felicity. The first was
the Perfection of its Objects, in Nature Serviceableness Num-
ber and Excellency. The second was the Perfection of the
Maner wherin they are Enjoyed, for Sweetness Measure
and Duration. And unless in these I could be satisfied I should
never be contented. Especialy about the later, for the Maner
is always more Excellent the Thing. And it far more con-
cerneth us that the Maner wherin we enjoy be compleat and
Perfect: then that the Matter which we Enjoy be compleat
and Perfect. For the Maner as we contemplat its Excellency
is it self a great Part of the Matter of our Enjoyment.
58
In Discovering the Matter or Objects to be Enjoyed, I was
greatly aided by remembering that we were made in Gods
Image. For thereupon it must of Necessity follow that GODs
Treasures be our Treasures, and His Joys our Joys. So that
by enquiring what were GODs, I found the Objects of our
felicity Gods Treasures being ours, for we were made in his
Image that we might liv in His similitud. And herin I was
mightily confirmed by the Apostles Blaming the Gentiles, and
charging it upon them as a very great Fault that they were
alienated from the life of God, for herby I perceived that we
were to liv the Life of God: when we lived the tru life of
Nature according to Knowledg: and that by Blindness and
Corruption we had Strayed from it.37 Now GODs Treasures
are his own Perfections, and all His Creatures.
37 See Ephesians 4:17-18.
[480]
THOMAS TRAHEBNE
59
The Image of God implanted in us, guided me to the maner
wherin we were to Enjoy, for since we were made in the
similitud of God, we were made to Enjoy after his Similitude.
Now to Enjoy the Treasures of God in the Similitud of God,
is the most perfect Blessedness God could Devise. For the
Treasures of GOD are the most Perfect Treasures and the
Maner of God is the most perfect Maner. To Enjoy therfore
the Treasures of God after the similitud of God is to Enjoy
the most perfect Treasures in the most Perfect Maner. Upon
which I was infinitly satisfied in God, and knew there was a
Dietie, becaus I was satisfied. For Exerting Himself wholy
in atchieving thus an infinit felicity He was infinitly Delight-
full Great and Glorious, and my Desires so August and In-
satiable that nothing less then a Deity could satisfy them.
60
This Spectacle once seen, will never be forgotten. It is a
Great Part of the Beatifick Vision. A Sight of Happiness is
Happiness. It transforms the Soul and makes it Heavenly, it
powerfully calls us to Communion with God, and weans us
from the Customs of this World. It puts a Lustre upon GOD
and all his Creatures and makes us to see them in a Divine
and Eternal Light. I no sooner discerned this but I was (as
Plato saith, In summ£ Rationis Arce Quies habitat38) seated
in a Throne of Repose and Perfect Rest. All Things were well
in their Proper Places, I alone was out of frame89 and had
38 "Peace lives in the highest citadel of Reason'* ( apparently not
a direct citation from Plato).
30 frame: order.
[48x1
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
need to be Mended, for all tilings were Gods Treasures in
their Proper places, and I was to be restored to Gods Image.
Whempon you will not believ how I was withdrawn from all
Endeavors of altering and Mending Outward Things. They
lay so well methoughts, they could not be Mended: but I
must be Mended to Enjoy them.
66
Little did I imagine that, while I was thinking these Things,
I was Conversing with GOD. I was so Ignorant that I did
not think any Man in the World had had such thoughts
before, seeing them therfore so Amiable, I Wonderd not a
little, that nothing was Spoken of them in former Ages, but
as I read the Bible I was here and there Surprized with such
Thoughts and found by Degrees that these Things had been
written of before, not only in the Scriptures but in many of
the fathers and that this was the Way of Communion with
God in all Saints, as I saw Clearly in the Person of David.
Me thoughts a New Light Darted in into all his Psalmes, and
finaly spread abroad over the whole Bible. So that things
which for their Obscurity I thought not in being were there
contained: Things which for their Greatness were incredible,
were made Evident and Things Obscure, Plain. GOD by this
means bringing me into the very Heart of His Kingdom.
There I saw Moses blessing the Lord for the Precious Things
of Heaven, for the Dew and for the Deep that coucheth
beneath: and for the Precious fruits brought forth by the
Sun, and for the Precious things put forth by the Moon:
and for the chief things of the ancient Mountains and for the
[48*]
THOMAS TRAHEBNE
Precious things of the lasting Hills: and for the Precious things
of the Earth, and fulness therof.40 There I saw Jacob, with
Awfull Apprehensions Admiring the Glory of the World,
when awaking out of His Dream he said, How dreadfull is
this Place? This is none other then the Hous of GOD, and the
Gate of Heaven.41 There I saw GOD leading forth Abra-
ham, and shewing him the Stars of Heaven; and all the
Countries round about him, and saying All these will I give
Thee, and thy Seed after thee.42 There I saw Adam in
Paradice, surrounded with the Beauty of Heaven and Earth,
void of all Earthly Comforts to wit such as were devised,
Gorgeous Apparel, Palaces, Gold and Silver, Coaches,
Musical Instruments &c, And entertained only with Celestial
Joys. The sun and moon and stars, Beasts and fowles and
fishes, Trees and fruits and flowers, with the other Naked and
simple Delights of Nature. By which I evidently saw, that
the Way to becom Rich and Blessed, was not by heaping
Accidental and Devised Riches to make ourselvs great in the
vulgar maner, but to approach more near, and to see more
Clearly with the Ey of our understanding, the Beauties and
Glories of the whole world: and to hav communion with the
Diety in the Riches of GOD and Nature.
68
I saw moreover that it did not so much concern us what Ob-
jects were before us, as with what Eys we beheld them; with
what Affections we esteemed them, and what Apprehensions
we had about them. All men see the same Objects, but do
not equaly understand them. Intelligence is the Tongue that
discerns and Tastes them, Knowledg is the Light of Heaven.
Lov is the Wisdom and Glory of GOD. Life Extended to all
40 See Deuteronomy 33:13-16.
41 See Genesis 28:16-17.
42 See Genesis 13:14-17; 15:5.
[483]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Objects, is the Sence that enjoys them. So that Knowledg Life
and Lov, are the very means of all Enjoyment, which abov
all Things we must seek for and Labor after. All Objects are
in God Eternal: which we by perfecting our faculties are made
to Enjoy. Which then are turned into Act when they are
exercised about their Objects, but without them are Desolat
and Idle; or Discontented and forlorn. Wherby I perceived
the Meaning of the Definition wherin Aristotle Describeth
Felicity, when he saith Felicity is the Perfect Exercise of
Perfect Virtu in a Perfect Life.43 for Life is perfect when it is
perfectly Extended to all Objects, and perfectly sees them
and perfectly loves them: which is don by a perfect Exercise
of Virtu about them.
43 See Nichomachean Ethics 1:7-10.
[484]
EDWARD TAYLOR
1642?— 1729
Prologue.
Lord, Can a Crumb of Dust the Earth outweigh,
Outmatch all mountains, nay the Chrystall Sky?
Imbosom in't designs that shall Display
And trace into the Boundless Deity?
Yea hand a Pen whose moysture doth guild ore 5
Eternall Glory with a glorious glore.
If it its Pen had of an Angels Quill,
And Sharpend on a Pretious Stone ground tite,
And dipt in Liquid Gold, and mov'de by Skill
In Christall leaves should golden Letters write 10
It would but blot and blur yea jag, and jar
Unless thou mak'st the Pen, and Scribener.
I am this Crumb of Dust which is design'd
To make my Pen unto thy Praise alone,
And my dull Phancy I would gladly grinde 15
Unto an Edge on Zions Pretious Stone.
And Write in Liquid Gold upon thy Name
My Letters till thy glory forth doth flame.
Let not th'attempts breake down my Dust I pray
Nor laugh thou them to scorn but pardon give. 20
Inspire this Crumb of Dust till it display
Thy Glory through't: and then thy dust shall live.
Its failings then thoult overlook I trust,
They being Slips slipt from thy Crumb of Dust.
PROLOGUE.
i Crumb of Dust: see Herbert, "The Temper," line 14, and
"Longing," lines 37-42.
4 trace into: make way into (the secrets of).
5 hand: grasp with the hand.
6 glore: dialect form of glory: splendor.
11 jag: pierce; jar: produce a grating sound.
12 Scribener: scrivener, writer.
[487!
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Thy Crumb of Dust breaths two words from its breast, 25
That thou wilt guide its pen to write aright
To Prove thou art, and that thou art the best
And shew thy Properties to shine most bright.
And then thy Works will shine as flowers on Stems
Or as in Jewellary Shops, do jems. 30
28 Properties: qualities.
[488]
From
Preparatory Meditations
before my Approach to the Lords Supper.
Chiefly upon the Doctrin preached upon
the Day of administration
i. Meditation
Westfield 23.5771 [July] 1682.
What Love is this of thine, that Cannot bee
In thine Infinity, O Lord, Confinde,
Unless it in thy very Person see,
Infinity, and Finity Conjoyn'd?
What hath thy Godhead, as not satisfide 5
Marri'de our Manhood, making it its Bride?
Oh, Matchless Love! filling Heaven to the briml
O're running it: all running o're beside
This World! Nay Overflowing Hell; wherein
For thine Elect, there rose a mighty Tide! 10
That there our Veans might through thy Person bleed,
To quench those flames, that else would on us feed.
Oh, that thy Love might overflow my Heart!
To fire the same with Love: for Love I would.
But oh! my streight'ned Breast! my Lifeless Sparkel 15
My Fireless Flame! What Chilly Love, and Cold?
In measure small! In Manner Chilly! See.
Lord blow the Coal: Thy Love Enflame in mee.
MEDITATION 1: see NOTE.
15 streight'ned: constricted, limited.
[489]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
2. Meditation on Can. 1.3. Thy Name is an
Ointment poured out.
I2.gm [Nov.] 1682.
My Dear, Deare, Lord I do thee Saviour Call:
Thou in my very Soul art, as I Deem,
Soe High, not High enough, Soe Great; too small:
Soe Deare, not Dear enough in my esteem.
Soe Noble, yet So Base: too Low; too Tall:
Thou Full, and Empty art: Nothing, yet ALL.
A Precious Pearle, above all price dost *bide.
Rubies no Rubies are at all to thee.
Blushes of burnisht Glory Sparkling Slide
From every Square in various Colour'd glee 10
Nay Life itselfe in Sparkling Spangles Choice.
A Precious Pearle thou art above all price.
Oh! that my Soul, Heavens Workmanship (within
My Wickered Cage,) that Bird of Paradise
Inlin'de with Glorious Grace up to the brim 15
Might be thy Cabbinet, oh Pearle of Price.
Oh! let thy Pearle, Lord, Cabbinet in mee.
Tst then be rich! nay rich enough for thee.
MEDITATION 2,1 Can.: Canticles, Song of Solomon.
7 See Matthew 13:45-46.
10 glee; joy.
14 Wicker'd: made of wicker.
18 r«fc I shall.
[490]
EDWARD TAYLOR
My Heart, oh Lord, for thy Pomander gain.
Be thou thyselfe my sweet Perfume therein. 20
Make it thy Box, and let thy Pretious Name
My Pretious Ointment be emboxt therein.
If I thy box and thou my Ointment bee
I shall be sweet, nay, sweet enough for thee.
Enough! Enough! oh! let me eat my Word. 25
For if Accounts be ballanc'd any way,
Can my poore Eggeshell ever be an Hoard,
Of Excellence enough for thee? Nay: nay.
Yet may I purse, and thou my Mony bee.
I have enough. Enough in having thee. 30
5. Meditation. Cant. 2.1. The Lilly of
the Vallies.
2.7771 [Sept.] 1683.
My Blessed Lord, art thou a Lilly Flower?
Oh! that my Soul thy Garden were, that so
Thy bowing Head root in my Heart, and poure
Might of its Seeds, that they therein might grow.
Be thou my Lilly, make thou me thy knot: 5
Be thou my Flowers, lie be thy Flower Pot.
My barren heart thy Fruitfull Vally make:
Be thou my Lilly flouerishing in mee:
Oh Lilly of the Vallies. For thy sake,
Let me thy Vally, thou my Lilly bee. 10
Then nothing shall me of thyselfe bereave.
Thou must not me, or must thy Vally leave.
ig Pomander: a box full of perfumed substances (see Herbert,
"The Odour").
MEDITATION 5.
5 knot: a flower bed of intricate design.
[491]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
How shall my Vallie's Spangling Glory spred,
Thou Lilly of the Vallies Spangling
There springing up? Upon thy bowing Head 15
All Heavens bright Glory hangeth dangling.
My Vally then with Blissfull Beams shall shine,
Thou Lilly of the Vallys, being mine.
[6.] Another Meditation at the same time.
Am I thy Gold? Or Purse, Lord, for thy Wealth;
Whether in mine, or mint refinde for thee?
Ime counted so, but count me o're thyself e,
Lest gold washt face, and brass in Heart I bee.
I Feare my Touchstone touches when I try 5
Mee, and my Counted Gold too overly.
Am I new minted by thy Stamp indeed?
Mine Eyes are dim; I cannot clearly see.
Be thou my Spectacles that I may read
Thine Image, and Inscription stampt on mee. 10
If thy bright Image do upon me stand
I am a Golden Angell in thy hand.
Lord, make my Soule thy Plate: thine Image bright
Within the Circle of the same enfoile.
And on its brims in golden Letters write 15
Thy Superscription in an Holy style.
Then I shall be thy Money, thou my Hord:
Let me thy Angell bee, bee thou my Lord.
MEDITATION [6.].
4 washt: coated.
5 Touchstone: stone used to test (touch) the quality of gold;
try: test.
12 Angell: a gold coin, bearing the device of the Archangel
Michael
13 Plate: flat metal ready for engraving or stamping.
14 enfoile; engrave or stamp (as on gold foil?).
[493]
EDWARD TAYLOR
31. Meditation, i Cor. 3.21.22. All
things are yours.
[Feb.] 1688/9.
Begracde with Glory, gloried with Grace,
In Paradise I was, when all Sweet Shines
Hung dangling on this Rosy World to face
Mine Eyes, and Nose, and Charm mine Eares with
Chimes.
All these were golden Tills the which did hold 5
My evidences wrapt in glorious folds.
But as a Chrystall Glass, I broke, and lost
That Grace, and Glory I was f ashion'd in
And cast this Rosy World with all its Cost
Into the Dunghill Pit, and Puddle Sin. 10
All right I lost in all Good things, each thing
I had did hand a Vean of Venom in.
Oh! Sad-Sad thing! Satan is now turnd Cook:
Sin is the Sauce he gets for ev'ry Dish.
I cannot bite a bit of Bread or Roote 15
But what is sopt therein, and Venomish.
Right's lost in what's my Right. Hence I do take
Onely what's poison'd by th'infernall Snake.
But this is not the Worst: there's worse than this.
My Tast is lost; no bit tasts sweet to mee, 20
But what is Dipt all over in this Dish
Of Ranck ranck Poyson: this my Sauce must bee.
Hell Heaven is, Heaven hell, yea Bitter Sweet:
Poison's my Food: Food poison in't doth keep.
MEDITATION 31.
6 evidences: signs of salvation.
[493]
THE MEDITATTVTE POEM
What eVe we want, we cannot Cry for, nay, 25
If that we could, we could not have it thus.
The AngelTs can't devise, nor yet Convay
Help in their Golden Pipes from God to us.
But thou my Lord, (Heart leape for joy and sing)
Hast done the Deed: and't makes the Heavens ring. 30
By mee all lost, by thee all are regained.
All things are thus f alTn now into thy hande.
And thou steep'st in thy Blood what Sin had stain'd
That th'Stains, and Poisons may not therein stand.
And having stuck thy Grace all o re the same 35
Thou giv'st it as a Glorious Gift again.
Cleare up my Right, my Lord, in thee, and make
Thy Name stand Dorst upon my Soule in print,
In grace I mean, that so I may partake
Of what I lost, in thee, and of thee in't. 40
n take it then, Lord, at thy hand, and sing
Out Hallelujah for thy Grace therein.
32. Meditation, i Cor. 3.22. Whether
Paul or Apollos, or Cephas.
[Apr.] 1689.
Thy Grace, Dear Lord's my golden Wrack, I finde
Screwing my Phancy into ragged Rhimes,
Tuning thy Praises in my feeble minde
UntiU I come to strike them on my Chimes.
Were I an Angell bright, and borrow could 5
King Davids Harp, I would them play on gold.
38 Dorst: endorsed; in print: "in a precise and perfect way or
manner" (OED).
MEDITATION 32.
i Wrack: rack.
[494]
EDWABD TAYLOR
But plung'd I am, my minde is puzzled,
When I would spin my Phancy thus unspun,
In finest Twine of Praise I'm muzzled.
My tazzled Thoughts twirld into Snick-Snarls run. 10
Thy Grace, my Lord, is such a glorious thing,
It doth Confound me when I would it sing.
Eternall Love an Object mean did smite
Which by the Prince of Darkness was beguilde,
That from this Love it ran and sweld with spite 15
And in the way with filth was all defilde
Yet must be reconcild, cleansd, and begrac'te
Or from the fruits of Gods first Love displac'te.
Then Grace, my Lord, wrought in thy Heart a vent,
Thy Soft Soft hand to this hard worke did goe, 20
And to the Milke White Throne of Justice went
And entred bond that Grace might overflow.
Hence did thy Person to my Nature ty
And bleed through humane Veans to satisfy.
Oh! Grace, Grace, Grace! this Wealthy Grace doth lay 25
Her Golden Channells from thy Fathers throne,
Into our Earthen Pitchers to Convay
Heavens Aqua Vitae to us for our own.
O! let thy Golden Gutters run into
My Cup this Liquour till it overflow. 30
Thine Ordinances, Graces Wine-fats where
Thy Spirits Walkes, and Graces runs doe ly
And Angells waiting stand with holy Cheere
From Graces Conduite Head, with all Supply.
These Vessells full of Grace are, and the Bowls 35
In which their Taps do run, are pretious Souls.
10 tazzled: tangled; Snick-Snarls: tangles.
31 Ordinances: specifically, the sacraments of Communion and
Baptism; Wine-fats: winevats.
[495]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Thou to the Cups dost say (that Catch this Wine,)
This Liquour, Golden Pipes, and Wine-fats plain,
Whether Paul, Apollos, Cephas, all are thine.
Oh Golden Word! Lord speake it ore again. 40
Lord speake it home to me, say these are mine.
My Bells shall then thy Praises bravely chime.
33. Meditation, i Cor. 3.22. Life is
youres.
[July] 1689.
My Lord my Life, can Envy ever bee
A Golden Vertue? Then would God I were
Top full thereof untill it colours mee
With yellow streaks for thy Deare sake most Deare,
Till I be Envious made by't at myselfe, 5
As scarcely loving thee my Life, my Health.
Oh! what strange Charm encrampt my Heart with spite
Making my Love gleame out upon a Toy?
Lay out Cart-Loads of Love upon a mite?
Scarce lay a mite of Love on thee, my Joy? 10
Oh, Lovely thou! Shalt not thou loved bee?
Shall I ashame thee thus? Ohl shame for mee!
Nature's amaz'de, Oh monstrous thing Quoth shee,
Not Love my life? What Violence doth split
True Love, and Life, that they should sundered bee? 15
She doth not lay such Eggs, nor on them sit.
How do I sever then my Heart with all
Its Powers whose Love scarce to my Life doth crawle.
42 bravely: splendidly.
[496]
EDWAKD TAYLOR
Glory lin'de out a Paradise in Power
Where e'ry seed a Royall Coach became ZQ
For Life to ride in, to each shining Flower.
And made mans Flower with glory all ore flame.
Hells Inkfac'de Elfe black Venom spat upon
The same, and kilTd it. So that Life is gone.
Life thus abusde fled to the golden Arke, 25
Lay lockt up there in Mercie's seate inclosde:
Which did incorporate it whence its Sparke
Enlivens all things in this Arke inclosde.
Oh, glorious Arke! Life's Store-House full of Glee!
Shall not my Love safe lockt up ly in thee? 30
Lord arke my Soule safe in thyself e, whereby
I and my Life again may joyned bee.
That I may finde what once I did destroy
Again Conf erde upon my soul in thee.
Thou art this Golden Ark; this Living Tree 35
Where life lies treasurde up for all in thee.
Oh! Graft me in this Tree of Life within
The Paradise of God, that I may live.
Thy Life make live in mee; Tie then begin
To bear thy Living Fruits, and them forth give. 40
Give mee my Life this way; and lie bestow
My Love on thee my Life, and it shall grow.
MEDITATION 33.
25 Arke: a chest or container, with ref . to Hebrew Ark of the
Covenant; here, a symbol of Christ.
26 seate: residence, with ref. to biblical "mercy seat": Exodus
25:17-18.
27 incorporate: literally, include in the body (of Christ).
[497]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
34. Meditation, i Cor, 3.22. Death is
Yours.
[Nov.] 1689.
My Lord I fain would Praise thee Well but finde
Impossibilities blocke up my pass.
My tongue Wants Words to tell my thoughts, my Minde
Wants thoughts to Comprehend thy Worth, alas!
Thy Glory far Surmounts my thoughts, my thoughts 5
Surmount my Words: Hence little Praise is brought.
But seing Non-Sense very Pleasant is
To Parents, flowing from the Lisping Child,
I Conjue to thee, hoping thou in this
Will finde some hearty Praise of mine Enfoild, 10
But though my pen drop'd golden Words, yet would
Thy Glory far out shine my Praise in Gold.
Poor wretched man Deaths Captive stood full Chuffe
But thou my Gracious Lord didst finde reliefe,
Thou King of Glory didst, to handy cuff 15
With King of Terrours, and dasht out his Teeth,
Plucktst out his sting, his Poyson quelst, his head
To pieces brakest. Hence Cruell Death lies Dead.
MEDITATION 34.
a pass: accomplishment.
9 Conjue: bow.
10 Enfoild: contained, as in foil
13 Chuffe: swollen.
15 handy cuff; fight hand to hand.
[498]
EDWARD TAYLOR
And still thou by thy gracious Chymistry
Dost of his Carkass Cordialls make rich, High, no
To free from Death makst Death a remedy:
A Curb to Sin, a Spur to Piety.
Heavens brightsom Light shines out in Death's Dark
Cave.
The Golden Dore of Glory is the Grave.
The Painter lies who pensills death's Face grim 25
With White bare butter Teeth, bare staring bones,
With Empty Eyeholes, Ghostly Lookes which fling
Such Dread to see as raiseth Deadly groans,
For thou hast farely Washt Deaths grim grim face
And made his Chilly finger-Ends drop grace. 30
Death Tamde, Subdude, Washt fair by thee! Oh Grace!
Made Usefull thus! thou unto thine dost say
Now Death is yours, and all it doth in't brace.
The Grave's a Down bed now made for your clay.
Oh! Happiness! How should our Bells hereby 35
Ring Changes, Lord, and praises trust with joy.
Say I am thine, My Lord: Make me thy bell
To ring thy Praise. Then Death is mine indeed
A Hift to Grace, a Spur to Duty; Spell
To Fear; a Frost to nip each naughty Weede. 40
A Golden doore to Glory. Oh Tie sing
This Triumph o're the Grave! Death where's thy Sting?
25-34 See Herbert, "Death."
26 butter Teeth: projecting front teeth.
33 brace: embrace.
36 Ring Changes: ring bells in varied order; trust: trussed,
packed.
39 Hift: heft, help; Spell: charm, means of exorcising.
40 naughty: wicked.
t499]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
37. Meditation, i Cor. 3.23. You are
Christ's.
4.3m [May] 1690.
My Soule, Lord, quailes to thinke that I should bee
So high related, have such colours faire
Stick in my Hat, from Heaven: yet should see
My Soule thus blotcht: Hells Liveries to beare.
What Thine? New-naturizd? Yet this Relation
Thus barren, though't *s a Privledg-Foundation?
Shall I thy Vine branch be, yet grapes none beare?
Grafft in thy Olive stand: and fatness lack?
A Shackeroon, a Ragnell, yet an Heire?
Thy spouse, yet, oh! my Wedden Ring thus slack? 10
Should Angel-Feathers plume my Cap, I should
Be swash? but ohl my Heart hereat grows Cold.
What is my Title but an empty Claim?
Am I a fading Flower within thy Knot?
A Rattle, or a gilded Box, a Flame 15
Of Painted Fire, a glorious Weedy Spot?
The Channell ope of Union, the ground
Of Wealth, Relation: yet Tme barren found?
MEDITATION 37.
g Shackeroon: vagabond; Ragnell: an unidentified tenn of
contempt
12 swash: swaggering.
[500]
EDWABD TAYLOR
What am I thine, and thou not mine? or dost
Not thou thy Spouse joyn in thy Glory Cleare? 20
Is my Relation to thee but a boast?
Or but a blustring say-so, or spruice jeere?
Should Roses blow more late, sure I might get,
If thine, some Prim-Rose or sweet Violet?
Make me thy Branch to bare thy Grapes, Lord, feed 25
Mee with thy bunch of Raisins of the Sun.
Mee stay with apples; let me eate indeed
Fruits of the tree of Life: its richly hung.
Am I thy Child, Son, Heir, thy Spouse, yet gain
Not of the Rights that these Relations claim? 30
Am I hop't on thy knees, yet not at ease?
Sunke in thy bosom, yet thy Heart not meet?
Lodgd in thine Arms? yet all things little please?
Sung sweetly, yet finde not this singing sweet?
Set at thy Table, yet scarce tast a Dish 35
Delicious? Hugd, yet seldom gain a Kiss?
Why? Lord, why thus? Shall I in Question Call
All my Relation to thyself e? I know
It is no Gay to please a Child withall
But is the Ground whence Priviledges flow. 40
Then ope the sluce: let some thing spoute on me.
Then I shall in a better temper bee.
23 blow: bloom.
27 See Song of Solomon 2:5.
39 Gay: toy, bauble.
[501]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
39. Meditation, from i Joh. 2.1. If any
man sin, we have an Advocate.
9.9771 [Nov.] 1690.
My SinI my Sin, My God, these Cursed Dregs,
Green, Yellow, Blew streakt Poyson hellish, ranck,
Bubs hatcht in natures nest on Serpents Eggs,
Yelp, Cherp and Cry; they set my Soule a Cramp.
I frown, Chide, strik and fight them, mourn and Cry 5
To Conquour them, but cannot them destroy.
I cannot kill nor Coop them up: my Curb
*S less than a Snaffle in their mouth: my Rains
They as a twine thrid, snap: by hell they're spurd:
And load my Soule with swagging loads of pains. 10
Black Imps, young Divells, snap, bite, drag to bring
And pick mee headlong hells dread Whirle Poole in.
Lord, hold thy hand: for handle mee thou may'st
In Wrath: but, oh, a twinckling Ray of hope
Methinks I spie thou graciously display'st. 15
There is an Advocate: a doore is ope.
Sin's poyson swell my heart would till it burst,
Did not a hope hence creep in't thus, and nurse't.
MEDIATION 39.
3 Bubs: pustules.
9 thrid: thread.
10 swagging: swaying.
[502]
EDWARD TAYLOR
Joy, Joy, Gods Son's the Sinners Advocate
Doth plead the Sinner guiltless, and a Saint. 20
But yet Atturnies pleas spring from the State
The Case is in: if bad its bad in plaint.
My Papers do contain no pleas that do
Secure mee from, but knock me down to, woe.
I have no plea mine Advocate to give: 25
What now? He'l anvill Arguments greate Store
Out of his Flesh and Blood to make thee live.
0 Deare bought Arguments: Good pleas therefore.
Nails made of heavenly Steel, more Choice than gold
Drove home, Well Clencht, eternally will hold. 30
OhI Dear bought Plea, Deare Lord, what buy't so deare?
What with thy blood purchase thy plea for me?
Take Argument out of thy Grave t'appeare
And plead my Case with, me from Guilt to free.
These maule both Sins, and Divells, and amaze 35
Both Saints, and Angells; Wreath their mouths with
praise.
What shall I doe, my Lord? what do, that I
May have thee plead my Case? I fee thee will
With Faith, Repentance, and obediently
Thy Service gainst Satanick Sins fulfill. 40
n fight thy fields while Live I do, although
1 should be hackt in pieces by thy foe.
Make me thy Friend, Lord, be my Surety: I
Will be thy Client, be my Advocate:
My Sins make thine, thy Pleas make mine hereby. 45
Thou wilt mee save, I will thee Celebrate.
Thoult kill my Sins that cut my heart within:
And my rough Feet shall thy smooth praises sing.
22, plaint: legal complaint
[503]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
40. Meditation, i Joh. 2.2. He is a
Propitiation for our Sin.
ism [Feb.] 1690/1.
Still I complain; I am complaining still.
Ohl woe is mel Was ever Heart like mine?
A Sty of Filth, a Trough of Washing-Swill
A Dunghill Pit, a Puddle of mere Slime.
A Nest of Vipers, Hive of Hornets; Stings.
A Bag of Poyson, Civit-Box of Sins.
Was ever Heart Like mine? So bad? black? Vile?
Is any Divell blacker? Or can Hell
Produce its match? It is the very Soile
Where Satan reads his Charms, and sets his Spell. 10
His Bowling Ally, where he sheeres his fleece
At Nine Pins, Nine Holes, Morrice, Fox and Geese.
His Palace Garden where his courtiers walke.
His Jewells Cabbinet. Here his Gaball
sham it, and truss up their Privie talk 15
In Fardells of Consults and bundles all.
His shambles, and his Butchers stale's herein.
It is the Fuddling Schoole of every sin.
GEDITATION 40.
a, Was ever Heart like mine: see NOTE.
6 doit-Box: a box containing civet, a perfume.
13 Referring to various country games.
15 Privie: private.
16 Fardells: bundles; Consults: consultations.
17 stale: stall
[504!
EDWAKD TAYLOR
Was ever Heart like mine? Pride, Passion, fell.
Ath'ism, Blasphemy, pot, pipe it, dance 20
Play Barlybreaks, and at last Couple in Hell.
At Cudgells, Kit-Cat, Cards and Dice here prance.
At Noddy, RufF-and-trurnpt, Jing, Post-and-Pare,
Put, One-and-thirty, and such other ware.
Grace shuffled is away: Patience oft sticks 25
Too soon, or draws itselfe out, and's out Put.
Faith's over trumpt, and oft doth lose her tricks.
Repentance's Chalkt up Noddy, and out shut.
They Post, and Pare off Grace thus, and its shine.
Alas! alasl was ever Heart like mine? 30
Sometimes methinks the serpents head I mall:
Now all is still: my spirits do recreute.
But ere my Harpe can tune sweet praise, they fall
On me afresh, and tare me at my Root.
They bite like Badgers now nay worse, although 35
I tooke them toothless sculls, rot long agoe.
My Reason now's more than my sense, I f eele
I have more Sight than Sense. Which seems to bee
A Rod of Sun beams t'whip mee for my steele.
My Spirits spiritless, and dull in mee 40
For my dead prayerless Prayers: the Spirits winde
Scarce blows my mill about. I little grinde.
19 fell: fierce, cruelly destructive.
20 pot: drink intoxicating liquor.
2,1 Barlybreaks: a country game, played in couples, with a
central "den" called "hell."
22 Kit-Cat: tipcat, a boy's game.
23—24 Referring to various card games.
28 "Noddy: fool; also, the knave in cards.
32 recreate: recover vigor.
36 tooke them: took them (sins) for; rot: rotten.
39 steele: iron used as a medicine.
[505]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Was ever Heart like mine? My Lord, declare.
I know not what to do: What shall I doe?
I wonder, split I don't upon Despare. 45
Its grace's wonder that I wrack not so.
I faintly shan't: although I see this Case
Would say, my sin is greater than thy grace.
Hope's Day-peep dawns hence through this chinck. Christs
name
Propitiation is for sins. Lord, take 50
It so for mine. Thus quench thy burning flame
In that clear stream that from his side forth brake.
I can no Comfort take while thus I see
Hells cursed Imps thus jetting strut in mee.
Lord take thy sword: these Anakims destroy: 55
Then soake my soule in Zions Bucking tub
With Holy Soap, and Nitre, and rich Lye.
From all Defilement me cleanse, wash and rub.
Then wrince, and wring mee out till th'water fall
As pure as in the Well: not foule at all. 60
And let thy Sun, shine on my Head out cleare.
And bathe my Heart within its radient beams:
Thy Christ make my Propitiation Deare.
Thy Praise shall from my Heart breake forth in streams.
This reeching Vertue of Christs blood will quench 65
Thy Wrath, slay Sin and in thy Love mee bench.
54 jetting: swaggering,
55 Anakims: see Joshua 11:21-22.
56 Bucking tub: a tub used for boiling cloth in lye.
65 reeching: emitting a (beneficial) vapor.
66 bench: seat, install.
From
Preparatory Meditations.
Second Series.
36. [Meditation.] Col. 1.18. He is the Head o£ the
Body.
19.3771 [May] 1700.
An Head, my Lord, an honourable piece;
Nature's high tower, and wealthy Jewelry;
A box of Brains, furld up in reasons fleece:
Casement of Senses: Reason's Chancery:
Religions Chancell pia-mater'd ore 5
With Damask Roses that Sweet wisdom bore.
This is, my Lord, the rosie Emblem sweet,
Blazing thyself e out, on my mudd wall, fair,
And in thy Palace, where the rosy feet
Of thy Deare Spouse doth thee her head thus ware. 10
Her Head thou art: Head glory of her Knot.
Thou art her Flower, and she thy flower pot.
The Metall Kingdoms had a Golden head,
Yet had't no brains, or had its brains out dasht.
But Zions Kingdome fram'd hath better sped, 15
Through which the Rayes of thy rich head are lasht.
She wares thee Head, thou art her strong defence
Head of Priority, and Excellence.
MEDITATION 36 ( SERIES 2,).
4 Chancery: highest court.
5 pifr-mater'd: covered with the pia mater (delicate mem-
brane).
[SO/I
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Hence art an head of Arguments so strong
To argue all unto thyselfe, when bent 20
And quickly tongue ty, or pluck out the tongue
Of all Contrary pleas or arguments.
It makes them weake as water, for the tide
Of Truth and Excellence rise on this Side.
Lord, let these barbed Arrows from thy bow 25
Fly through mine Eyes, and Eares to strike my heart.
And force my Will, and Reason to thee so
And stifle pleas made for the other part
That so my Soule, rid of their Sophistry
In rapid flames of Love to thee may fly. 30
My Metaphors are but dull Tacklings tag*d
With ragged Non-Sense. Can such draw to thee
My stund affections all with Cinders clag'd,
If thy bright beaming headship touch not mee?
If that thy headship shines not in mine eyes, 35
My heart will fuddled ly with wordly toyes.
Lord play thy Excellency on this pin
To tongue ty other pleas my gadding heart
Is tooke withall. Chime my affections in
To serve thy Sacred selfe with Sacred art. 40
Oh I let thy Head stretch ore my heart its wing
And then my Heart thy Headships praise shall sing.
48. Meditation. Kev. 1.8. The Almighty.
13.7771 [Sept] 1 702.
O! What a thing is Might right mannag'd? 'Twill
That Proverb brain, whose face doth ware this paint.
(Might ore goe's Right) for might doth Right fulfill
33 clag'd: clogged, clotted.
[508]
EDWARD TAYLOR
Will Right revive when wrong makes Right to faint.
Might hatches Right: Right hatches Might, they are 5
Each Dam, and Chick, to each: a Lovely paire.
Then Might well mannag'd riseth mighty: yet
Doth never rise up to Almightiness.
Almightiness nere's in a mortall bit.
But, Lord, thou dost Almightiness possess. 10
Might in it's fulness: all mights Fulness bee
Of ery Sort and Sise stow'd up in thee.
But what am I, poor Mite, all mightless thing!
That cannot rive a rush, that I should e're
Adventure t'dress Almighty up, or bring 15
Almightiness deckt in its mighty geere?
Then spare my Stutting Stamring, inky Quill,
If it its bowells on thy Power distill.
My Mite (if I such Solicisms might
But use) would spend its mitie Strength for thee 2,0
Of Mightless might, of feeble stronge delight.
Its little ALL thy Sacrifice showld bee.
For thee't would mock at all the Might and Power
That Earth, and Hell possess: and on thee shower.
A Fig for Foes, for Divells, Hell, and aU 25
The powres of darkness, thou now on my Side
Their Might's a little mite, Powers powerless fall.
My Mite Almighty will not let down slide.
I will not trust unto this Might of mine:
Nor in my Mite distrust, while I am thine. 30
MEDITATION 48 ( SERIES %) .
13 Mite: a minute insect; also, a very small unit of money;
hence, any minute thing.
17 Stutting: stuttering.
iS bowells; feelings.
[509]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Thy Love Almighty is, to Love mee deare,
Thy Grace Almighty mee to save: thy Truth
Almighty to depend on. Justice cleare
Almighty trustify, and judge. Grace shewth.
Thy Wisdom too's Almighty all to eye, 35
And Holiness is such to sanctify.
If thy Almightiness, and all my Mite
United be in sacred Marriage knot,
My Mite is thine: Mine thine Almighty Might.
Then thine Almightiness my Mite hath got. 40
My Quill makes thine Almightiness a String
Of Pearls to grace the tune my Mite doth sing.
65. Meditation. Can. 6.11. To see the
Fruits of the Vally.
[June] 1705.
The Vines of Lebanon that briskly grew
Roses of Sharon in their flowrish fair,
The Lillies of the Vallies Beauteous shew
And Carmels Glorious Flowery Robes most rare
In all their lively looks blusht brisk, appeare 5
Dull Wan lookt things, Lord, to thy Gardens geere.
Engedf s Vineyard, that brave Camphire bower,
The Cypress Banks and Beds of bravery
And Eshcol's Grapes that royall Juyce out shower,
MEDITATION 65 (SERIES a,): Most of the imagery in this poem is
drawn from the Song of Solomon.
& flowrish: flourish, blossoming.
6 geere: attire, goods, contents.
9 Eshcol's Grapes: see Numbers 13:23.
EDWABD TAYLOR
And Wine of Hesbon in its flavor high 10
With Elevating Sparks stand shrinking, blush
To see the flowrish of thy Garden flush.
Mount Olivet with Olive Trees full green*
The flowrishing Almonds in their smiling ray
And Sibma's vaporing Wines that frolick seem 15
Are all unmand as tipsy, slink away
As blushing at their manners to behold
Thy Nut trees Gardens buds and flowers unfold.
Whose Buds not Gracious but pure Grace do shine.
Whose blossoms are not sweet but sweetness *brace 20
Whose Grapes are not Vine berries, but rich Wine:
Whose Olives Oyle Springs be'n't, but Oyle of Grace.
When pound and presst, they Cordial! juyce bleed all
And Spirits Unction. Oh! Sweet Hony fall.
These Buds are better than blown Roses fair: 25
These Blossoms fairer bee than Carmels hew:
These Vines beare Grapes sweeter than Raisens are.
These Nuts are better than ere Nutmegs grew.
Olivets Olive's but a grease pots mate
To thy Nut Gardens Vine and Pomegranate. 30
In thy Nut Garden make my heart a Bed
And set therein thy Spicknard, Cypress, Vine
Rose, Olive, Almonds, Paxes, Plumbs White, and Red,
Pomegranats, Spices, Frankincense divine.
If thou dost stud my heart with graces thus 35
My heart shall beare thee fruits perfumed flush.
Make thou my Soule, Lord, thy mount Olivet
And plant it with thy Olive Trees fair Green,
Adornd with Holy blossoms, thence beset
13 Olivet: the favorite place for Christ's retirement (Luke
31:37)-
15 Sibma's . . . Wines: see Isaiah 16:8-10.
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
With Heavens Olives, Happy to be seen. 40
Thy Sacred Oyle will then make bright to shine
My Soul its face, and all the works of mine.
Set thou therein thy Pomegranate of State
Thy Spice Trees, Cloves and Mace, thy Cynamon.
Thy Lemons, Orenges, Nuts, Almonds, Dates, 45
Thy Nutmeg trees and Vines of Lebanon
With Lillies Violets Carnations rare.
My heart thy Spice box then shall breath sweet aire.
My Vine shall then beare Raisens of the Sun,
My Grapes will rain May Shower of Sacred Wine. 50
The Smiling Dimples on my Fruits Cheeks hung
Will as rich Jewells adde unto their Shine.
Then plant my heart with thy rich fruit trees sweet
And it shall beare thee Fruits stew'd in sweet reech.
66. Meditation. Joh. 15.13. Greater Love
hath no man than this That a man
lay down his Life for his Friends.
ig.Gm [Aug.] 1705.
O! what a thing is Love? who can define
Or liniament it out? Its strange to tell.
A Sparke of Spirit empearld pill like and fine
In't shugard pargings, crusted, and doth dwell
Within the heart, where thron'd, without Controle
It ruleth all the Inmates of the Soule.
54 reech: vapor.
MEDITATION 66 (SEBIES a).
4 pargings: decorations of plaster.
EDWABT> TAYLOR
It makes a poother in its Secret Sell
Mongst the affections: ohl it swells, its paind,
Like kirnells soked untill it breaks its Shell
Unless its object be obtained and gain'd. 10
Like Caskd wines jumbled breake the Caske, this Sparke
Oft swells when crusht: untill it breakes the Heart.
OI Strange Strange Love! 'Stroy Life and't selfe thereby.
Hence lose its Object, lay down alTt can moove.
For nothing rather choose indeed to dy, 15
And nothing be, than be without its love.
Not t*be, than be without its fanci'de bliss!
Is this Love's nature? What a thing is this?
Love thus ascending to its highest twig,
May sit and Cherp such ditties. Sing and dy. 20
This highest Note is but a Black-Cap's jig
Compared to thine my Lord, all Heavenly.
A greater love than such man ne'er mentain'd.
A greater Love than such thou yet hast gain'd.
Thy Love laid down thy Life hath for thy Sheep: 25
Thy friends by grace: thy foes by Nature's Crimes.
And yet thy Life more precious is and sweet
More worth than all the World ten thousand times.
And yet thy Love did give bright Wisdoms Shine
In laying down thy precious life for thine. 30
This Love was ne'er adulterate: e're pure.
Noe Whiffe of Fancy: But rich Wisdomes Beams,
No Huff of Hot affection men endure.
But sweetend Chirnings of Celestiall gleams
Play'd and Display'd upon the golden Wyer 35
That doth thy Human Cymball brave, attire.
21 Black-Cap's: chickadee's.
[513]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Thy Love that laid thy life all down for thine
Did not thereby destroy itself e at all.
It was preserved in thy Self e Divine
When it did make thy Humane Selfe down fall. 40
And when thy body as the Sun up rose
It did itself e like flaming beames disclose.
Lord, let thy Love shine on my Soulel Mee bath
In this Celestiall Gleame of this pure Love.
O! gain my heart and thou my Love shalt have 45
Clime up thy golden Stares to thee above.
And in thy upper Chamber sit and sing
The glory of thy Love when Entred in.
98. Meditation. Can. 1.2. Thy Love is
better than Wine.
zg.8m [Oct.] 1710.
A Vine, my Lord, a noble Vine indeed
Whose juyce makes brisk my heart to sing thy Wine.
I have read of the Vine of Sibmahs breed,
And Wine of Hesbon, yea and Sodoms Vine,
All which raise Clouds up when their Liquour's High 5
In any one: but thine doth Clarify.
The Choicest Vine, the royalist grape that rose,
Or ere in Cana'ns Vinyard did take Root,
Did Emblemize thy self e the True Vine those
Are not like thee (or Nature, nor for fruite. 10
Thy noble royall nature Ever blesst
Produceth spiced juyce by far the best.
The Vine deckt in her blosom frindge the Aire
With sweet perfume. OI Smell of Lebanon!
Her Grapes when pounded and presst hard (hard fare) 15
[SMI
EDWARD TAYLOR
Bleed out both blood and Spirits leaving none
Which too much tooke, the brain doth too much tole,
Tho't smacks the Palate, merry makes the Soule.
But oh! my Lord, thou Zions Vine most deare,
Didst send the Wealthiest juyce and Spirits up to 20
Thy Grape which prest in Zions Wine fat Geere
Did yield the Welthf st wine that ere did flow.
Its Loves Rich liquour spice't with Grace even thine,
And thus thy love is better far than wine.
This Wine thy Love bleeds from thy grape, how sweet? 25
To spiritualize the lif e in every part.
How full of Spirits? And of a spirituall reech,
To th* blood and Spirits of the gracious heart?
How warming to the Chilly person grown?
And Cordiall to spirituall feeble one? 30
How sweet? how warm? how Cordiall is thy Love
That bleeds thy grapes sweet Juyce into the Soule?
How brings it Grace, and Heaven from above.
And drops them in the Heart its Wassell bowle?
Wine th'Nectar of all juyces with its sapor 33
Compared to thy love is but a Vaper.
Its not like other wine which took too much,
Whose Spirits vapor. And do wise men f oole.
But this the more is tooke, the Better such
Servants and Service best, best grace the Schoole. 40
Lord tun this Wine in me and make my Savour
Be ever richly filled with its flavour.
MEDITATION 98 ( SERIES &).
17 tole: pull, draw.
2,1 Geere: stuff, produce.
35 sapor: taste.
41 tun: store as in a cask.
[515]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Lord make mee Cask, and thy rich Love its Wine.
Impregnate with its Spirits, Lord, my heart.
And make its heat my heart and blood refine, 45
And Sweetness sweeten me in ery part.
Give me to drinke the juyce of this true Vine
Then I will sing thy Love better than Wine.
Meditation 156. Cant. 5.1. Eate oh Friendes
and drink yea drink abundantly
oh Beloved.
The Z2.9m [Nov.] 1720.
Callst thou me Friend? What Rhetorick is this?
It is a Piece of heavenly Blandishments.
Can I befriend thee, Lord? Grace dost thou miss
Miss name me by such lushous Complements.
The Poles may kiss and Paralells meet I trow 5
And Sun the Full moon buss, e're I do so.
Twould be too much for Speeches Minted Stamp.
Sure it would set sweet Grace nigh on the Wrack
To assert I could befriend thee and her Cramp.
Methinke this tune nigh makes thy Harp Strings 10
crack.
Yet Graces note claims kindred nigh this knell
Saying Eate Oh Friend, Yea drinke Beloved Well.
Friend, and Beloved calld to and welcomed thus
At thy Rich Garden feast with spiced joy.
If any else had let such Dainties rush *5
It would be counted sauced blasphemy.
But seing Graces Clouds such rain impart,
Her Hony fall for joy makes leape my heart.
MEDITATION 156 (SERIES a).
5 trow: believe.
6 buss: kiss.
EDWARD TAYLOR
A Friend, yea the best friend that heaven hath
Thou art to me; how do thy sweet lips drop 20
Thy Gospell Hony Dews her sky display'th
Oh Sweetness such never to be forgot.
All Trees of Spices planted in this plot
Rich hung with Hony dews that on them dropt.
Thou drinkst thy Gardens Syllabub in trine 25
Honide with the drops thy Hony Comb distills.
Thou drinkst a Cup to me oft spiced wine
And bidst mee pledge thee and I pledge will.
My heart top full of these sweet dainties comes
Runs over with thy prais in sweetest songs. 30
25 Syllabub: a drink made of milk and wine; trine: trinity.
COMMENTARY, WITH NOTES
Commentary
The following books, concerned with the whole group of
"metaphysical poets/' should be consulted:
Metaphysical Lyrics and Poems, ed. H. J. C. Grierson, Oxford
University Press, 1921 (with an important Introduction).
George Williamson, The Donne Tradition, Harvard Univer-
sity Press, 1930.
Joan Bennett, Four Metaphysical Poets, Cambridge Univer-
sity Press, 1934; 2nd ed., 1953.
J. B. Leishman, The Metaphysical Poets9 Oxford University
Press, 1934.
Helen C. White, The Metaphysical Poets, Macmillan, 1936.
Douglas Bush, English Literature in the Earlier Seventeenth
Century, Oxford University Press, 1945; and ed., 1962*
The Metaphysical Poets, ed. Helen Gardner, Penguin, 1957
(with an important Introduction) .
Robert EHrodt, Les Poetes M6taphysiques Anglais, 3 vols.,
1960.
European Metaphysical Poetry, ed. and tr. Frank J. Warnke,
Yale University Press, 1961.
EDWARD DAWSON
LIFE. Dawson was born in London in 1576 or 1578. After a
period of study in Spain, he returned to England as a mis-
sionary priest, but was exiled from the country in 1606.
He entered the Jesuit order at Louvain in 1606 or 1609,
returned to England, but was recalled after some years to
the Low Countries, where he died about 1624-
TEXT. Dawson's treatise on meditation was prefixed to a
translation jnade by the Jesuit Richard Gibbons: An
Abridgment of Meditations of the Life, Passion, Death, and
Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour lesus Christ. Writ-
COMMENTARY, WTTH NOTES
ten in Italian by the H. Father Vincentius Bruno of the
Society of lesus, St. Omer, 1614. The treatise is reproduced
from this, which appears to have been its only publication.
ROBERT SOUTHWELL
LIFE. Southwell was born near Norwich in 1561. From
1576 until 1586 he studied at Douai, Paris, and Rome,
entering the novitiate of the Jesuit order in 1578. He re-
turned to England as a missionary priest in 1586, and lived
chiefly in London, in secret residences, until his capture
and imprisonment in 1592. He was executed on a charge
of treason in 1595. His poems were not published until
after his death: see note on Text below.
EDITIONS. Poetical Works, ed. W. B. Turnbull, 1856. Com-
plete Poems, ed. A. B. Grosart, 1872. (Neither edition is
reliable.)
STUDIES. Pierre Janelle, Robert Southwell the Writer, 1935.
James H. McDonald, The Poems and Prose Writings of
Robert Southwell, S.J. A Bibliographical Study, 1937.
Christopher Devlin, The Life of Robert Southwell, 1956.
TEXT. The texts of Southwell's poems here have been pro-
vided by Mrs. Nancy Pollard Brown, of Trinity College,
Washington, D.C., who has nearly completed her work
on a definitive edition of Southwell's poetry. I am very
grateful to her for supplying these excellent texts, along
with the following commentary on the textual problems:
The text of these poems of Robert Southwell is based
on the earliest printed version in each case, collated with
all the other early editions to 1636 and with the surviving
manuscript copies. Changes in the copy-text have been
adopted only where misprinting or textual corruption is
clearly evident, or where the preferred reading is strongly
ROBERT SOTJTHWELL
supported by independent sources. Unfortunately no
authority can be claimed for any textual source; the
earliest printed copies of the poems date from 1595, the
year of Southwell's execution, and the five manuscripts
now known are copies of a compilation of 52 lyrics
made by an unknown Catholic editor presumably some
time after Southwell's arrest in 159^.
The prose dedication included in this selection of his
work stands as introduction to the manuscript compila-
tion, although probably it -was originally intended for a
smaller group of poems sent by Southwell himself to a
relative; it was used as part of the preliminary matter pre-
fixed to the earliest printed selection of poems, Saint
Peters Complaint, With other Poemes, printed by John
Windet for John Wolfe, 1595. "The Nativitie of Christ"
(extracted from the sequence of poems on the Virgin
Mary and Christ), "Marie Magdalens complaint," and
"Looke home" were first printed in this volume. A sec-
ond edition, enlarged by a further group of eigjit poems,
followed immediately upon the first. It provides the text
of "At home in Heaven/* In the same year another collec-
tion of the lyrics, entitled Mceonise, was printed by
Valentine Sims for John Busby. Three editions of this
collection, all dated 1595, are known; the first edition
has been only recently identified. Mceonfee includes ten
of the fourteen poems of the sequence on the Virgin
Mary and Christ; of these, seven are reproduced here
from the first edition: "The Virgine Maries conception,"
"Her Nativity," "The Virgins salutation," The Visita-
tion," "The Presentation," "The flight into Egypt," and
"Christs returne out of Egypt." This edition also sup-
plies the text for "Christs sleeping friends" and "A vale
of teares." The group of poems based on meditation on
the Nativity, "New heaven, new warre," "The burning
Babe," and "New Prince, new pompe," and another poem
of the Gethsemane group, "Sinnes heavie loade," are
from the augmented edition of Saint Peters Complaint
printed by James Roberts for Gabriel Cawood in 1602,
[5*3]
COMMENTARY, WTTH NOTES
"The death of our Ladle" is one of the two poems of
the sequence omitted by the early publishers, no doubt
because of the clearly Roman Catholic treatment of the
subject; its text is therefore based on that of the most
reliable manuscript, Stonyhurst College A.V. 27.
The spelling and punctuation of the copy-texts have
been in general retained, although the use of i and /, u
and t?, has been normalized in accordance with modern
spelling convention [and LLM has added punctuation
for the last poem mentioned above]. Poems incorrectly
printed without stanza divisions have here been set in
stanzas, as they are found in the manuscripts; similarly,
"The burning Babe," set in fourteeners, in small italic
fount— the result of compression at the end of a gathering
(sig. L 4V in the quarto edition of 1603)— is set in
four-lined stanzas with lines of alternating 8 and 6 syl-
lables, as in the manuscripts. Since the titles of the lyrics
are found without significant variation in both printed
editions and manuscripts, they have been retained here,
although probably few are Southwell's. The lack of his
authority in entitling the poems is most clearly illustrated
in the poem "New heaven, new warre," which appears
as a single poem in the manuscripts and on its printing
in 1602. Nevertheless, it is made up of two lyrics, linked
in error by the assignment of a single title to both.
Permission to use the following manuscripts is here
gratefully acknowledged: Stonyhurst College library,
A.V. 27; permission from The Rector, Stonyhurst Col-
lege. British Museum, Additional MS. 10422; MS. Har-
leian 6921; permission from the Trustees of the British
Museum. Folger Shakespeare Library, Harmsworth MS»;
permission from the Director, Folger Shakespeare Li-
brary. Virtue and Cahill MS. 8635; consulted by courtesy
of the Most Reverend J. H. King, Archbishop-Bishop,
Bishop of Portsmouth. (N.P.B.)
NOTES. NEW HEAVEN, NEW WABBE. Both Mrs. Brown, in her
above note, and Miss Gardner, in her Penguin anthology,
[5*4]
WILLIAM ALABASTER
The Metaphysical Poets, have regarded these stanzas as
representing two poems under one title. This is probably
the best solution to the problem of organization for these
stanzas; yet there is another possibility. The work may be
a single piece composed in accordance with the method
advised by Dawson for the application of the senses "to
two or more mysteries at once (which is often used)/' as
Dawson says. In the mysteries of the life of Christ as set
forth in the Jesuit Exercises, the scene of the Nativity is
divided into two mysteries: one on the Nativity proper,
where the third and last point concerns "the multitude of
the heavenly host praising God"; and another on the Shep-
herds and their visit to the manger. (See Exercises, ed.
Longridge, pp. 167-68). From this standpoint we may see
in the first four stanzas an elaborate "Preludium" (composi-
tion), in the next three an "application" and analysis, and
in the last stanza the appropriate concluding colloquy.
WILLIAM ALABASTER
LIFE. Alabaster was born at Hadleigh, Stiff oik, in 1568
and educated at Westminster School and Trinity College,
Cambridge. In his early years he won Spenser's attention
as a Latin poet. In 1596 he became chaplain to the Earl
of Essex and sailed with him on the Cadiz expedition. In
1597 his dramatic conversion to Catholicism caused deep
reverberations in Anglican circles. He performed the Spirit-
ual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola, in 1598, under the direc-
tion of the underground Jesuit, John Gerard, with the aim
of joining the Jesuit order— an aim never carried out. His
sonnets appear to have been composed during this period
of his conversion, in 1597-98. After years of moving back
and forth between the Continent and England, and after
shifting his religious allegiance at least twice, he seems to
have settled down in the Anglican Church in 1614. He
died in 1640. Only one of Alabaster's sonnets was printed
in his lifetime.
[5=5]
COMMENTARY, WITH NOTES
EDITION. The Sonnets of William Alabaster, ed. G. M. Story
and Helen Gardner, Oxford University Press, 1959 (con-
tains a biography and detailed commentary).
TEXT. The numbering at the head of each sonnet here is
that of the Oxford edition, where the poems are given in
modernized form, and arranged in an order different from
that of the manuscripts. The texts of the sonnets in this
selection are based upon the manuscripts, as follows: Son-
nets i, 2, 15, 16, and 19 are taken from the only manu-
script in which they occur, that in the library of St. John's
College, Cambridge, pressmark 1.9.30; I am grateful to the
Master and the College for permission to print these son-
nets and to use a few variant readings from this manuscript
in the remaining sonnets of this selection, which are based
upon the manuscript in the Bodleian Library (MS. Eng.
Poet. e. 57). I am grateful to the Keeper of Western
Manuscripts at the Bodleian and to that Library for per-
mission to print the last ten sonnets here from this manu-
script. For Sonnets 70 and 71 I have also consulted the
version of these poems in the manuscript compiled by
Peter Mowle, now in the library of Oscort College (MS.
E. 3. 11 ). I am grateful to the Rector of Oscott College
for permission to cite some of the readings and titles of
this manuscript. The numbering of each sonnet in the basic
manuscript is given here at the end of each sonnet (J: St.
John's; B: Bodleian). Punctuation has been added and
altered in places where serious difficulty in reading might
occur. Only the most important of the textual problems are
noted below. I am throughout deeply indebted to the Ox-
ford edition.
NOTES. SONNET 15, An extensive paraphrase is perhaps the
best way of clarifying the intricate, but exact, account of
the process of meditation presented in this sonnet: "My
soul is a little world (universe), a microcosm, in which the
heavens (the Ptolemaic spheres), are comprised of my in-
ternal sense (in the old collective meaning of the whole
WILLIAM ALABASTER
perceptive faculty of the mind or soul). This faculty is
activated by the human will, as the Ptolemaic spheres were
said to have been moved or guided by Intelligences
(Spirits or Angels). Now in this little universe my heart is
the sky (Element), in which, as the sun moves about the
earth, my love moves about its own proper center: the
sphere (area) of heavenly or divine matters. And just as
the sun draws vapors from the earth into the sky, where
they condense and return to earth as rain, so in my heart
love draws from divine matters the purest argument or
topic that human wit (understanding, intellect) can desire.
When these conceits (thoughts, conceptions) have been
digested by thought's retirement from distractions, then
they turn into the tears of Christian devotion/* See Miss
Gardner's very helpful note in the Oxford ed., p. 49.
SONNET 24
6 place: from J; B reads Cross; but the place where he
was cured must be the speaker's own soul: see Miss Gard-
ner's note, p. 51.
SONNET 33. B has heading: "uppon the Crucifix," omitted
here. For the "cluster of grapes," traditionally interpreted
as a symbol of Christ on the Cross, see Numbers 13, and
Herbert, "The bunch of grapes."
SONNET 33. B has heading: "Ego sum vitis" ("I am the
vine"), omitted here: see John 15:1.
SONNET 34. B has heading; "uppon the Crucifix," omitted
here.
8 upp in his: J reads uppon this, which may be right.
SONNET 44.
i unvalted: from Jj B reads unwonted.
12 due breathed: J reads dulced.
14 B reads with interest of ever; J reads with interest of.
Miss Gardner suggests (p. 56) that Alabaster may have
[5*7]
COMMENTARY, WITH NOTES
"intended to break off dramatically as he hears the song of
heaven."
SONNET 45. This sonnet immediately follows the preceding
in the manuscripts, and may be interpreted as giving the
heavenly song heard by the speaker at the end of Sonnet
44, a song in which he here joins.
4 diffusive bountyes: J reads diffused bountie.
SONNET 46.
3 leward: from J; B reads backward; the line seems to
use a nautical image of "coming about" or "coming round":
i.e., changing from the course of tacking into the wind to
the easier course of sailing before the wind.
10 smothering: J reads smoldren: smouldering.
SONNET 70. Oscott ms. has title: "A Morninge Meditation."
7 yellow: Oscott ms. reads tawnie.
14 all end in Actione: the reading of B and J; cf. Tra-
herne, Centuries, 3.68: "All Objects are in God Eternal:
which we by perfecting our faculties are made to Enjoy.
Which then are turned into Act when they are exercised
about their Objects." Oscott ms. reads yet actinge all in
one9 an attractive possibility.
SONNET 71. Oscott ms. has heading: "The diference twixt
compunction and colde Devotion in beholdinge the Pas-
sion of our Saviour."
2, passion: I have adopted the reading of J and Oscott, in
preference to the Passione of B, which seems to spoil the
general reference of the word in this context.
JOHN DONNE
LIFE. Donne was born in London in 1572 and reared in a
devout Catholic family. Two of his uncles were Jesuit
priests: one, Jasper Heywood, headed a Jesuit mission to
England in the early 1580$. Donne attended Oxford, and
possibly Cambridge as well, and then went on to study
[528]
JOHN DONNE
law in London in the early 1590$. He sailed on the ex-
peditions to Cadiz and to the Azores in 1596 and 1597. In
1598 he became secretary to Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord
Keeper, by which time he had clearly given up his alle-
gience to the Roman Church. He was dismissed from this
promising post after his secret marriage in 1601 and lived
a meager existence for the next fourteen years, subsisting
on the generosity of friends and relatives, along with oc-
casional employment in religious controversy on the Angli-
can side. He was at last ordained in the English Church
in 1615, appointed Reader in Divinity at Lincoln's Inn in
1616, and Dean of St. Paul's in 1621, a post which he
held until his death in 1631. His collected poems were first
published in 1633.
EDITIONS. Poems, ed. Sir Herbert Grierson, a vols., Oxford
University Press, 1912.
Divine Poems, ed. Helen Gardner, Oxford, Clarendon Press,
1952.
Songs and Sonets, ed. Theodore Redpath, Methuen, 1956.
(All. these editions contain detailed and very helpful com-
mentary. )
Sermons, ed. G. R. Potter and E. M. Simpson, 10 vols., Uni-
versity of California Press, 1953-62.
STUDIES. Isaak Walton, Life, 1640 (revised 1658, 1670,
1675); available in World's Classics ed. of Walton's Lives.
C. M. Coffin, John Donne and the New Philosophy, 1937.
Evelyn M. Simpson, A Study of the Prose Works of John
Donne, and ed., 1948.
J. B. Leishman, The Monarch of Wit, 1951.
J. Clay Hunt, Donne's Poetry, 1954.
Sir Geoffrey Keynes, A Bibliography of Dr. John Donne,
3rd ed., 1958 (contains a full listing of biographical and
critical studies of Donne).
TEXT. For the present selections the text of the poems has
been taken from, or based upon, Grierson's edition of
[529]
COMMENTARY, WITH NOTES
Donne's Poems as published in the Oxford Standard Au-
thors series in 1933; Griersons text here is derived from
his edition of 1912, but contains some corrections and
prints the poems with the modern form of the letter "s";
I am grateful to the Clarendon Press for permission to
use the texts of these poems. Mr. Francis Manley, who
has completed his work on an edition of the two long An-
niversaries (for the Johns Hopkins Press, 1963), has very
generously supplied me with approximately forty altera-
tions in the text of these important poems. Manley 's read-
ings, some concerning important words, others concerning
punctuation and italics, are based on the first editions of
the Anniversaries. I am grateful to him for permission to
include some of his discoveries here.
ARRANGEMENT. The arrangement of this selection from
Donne has been made in accordance with the few facts
and reasonable conjectures that we may apply to the
dating of Donne's poetry. Such an arrangement has the
advantage of breaking up the old editorial division of
Donne's poetry into "Songs and Sonets," "Elegies," "Divine
Poems," and so on; and it thus serves to demonstrate the
inseparable interrelationship that exists among Donne's
writings in all genres. Satire 3, a poem of deep religious
concern, is generally accepted as being among Donne's
earliest datable compositions: probably it dates from the
years 1594-97. T^e next seven poems, examples of Donne's
variety of tone and theme in the love-lyric, are not pre-
cisely datable by any evidence now available; but they
may be regarded as belonging to the category of "love-
song weeds" that Donne mentions in the following verse-
letter to his friend Rowland Woodward, a poem that was
probably written a little before 1604 or 1605, when Wood-
ward left England for Italy (see Grierson ed., 1913, II,
pp. 146-47). With "La Corona" we are on safer ground,
for this sequence can be dated, with strong probability, in
1607 (see Grierson, II, pp, 028-^9; Gardner, pp. 55-56).
The following sixteen Holy Sonnets appear to belong to
[530]
JOHN DONNE
the period in or near 1609, as Miss Gardner has shown in
her very important and skillfully marshaled argument for
bringing these sonnets into the middle period of Donne's
career (see her edition, pp. xxxvii-1). I have placed the
famous "Valediction: forbidding mourning" after these son-
nets, on the basis of Isaak Walton's statement that this
poem was given by Donne to his wife when he left for
France with Sir Robert Drury (in 1611). With the two
long Anniversaries we are on completely solid ground, for
the Anatomie was published in 1611, and the Pr ogres, early
in 1612; both poems being clearly composed very shortly
before the times of publication. "Goodfriday, 1613" dates
itself. I have placed the "Nocturnal!" next, before the son-
net on the death of Donne's wife, and close to the final
Hymns, because this placing serves to suggest the possibil-
ity that the "Nocturnall" is a meditation based on the death
of Donne's wife (1617). The "Nocturnall" seems to express
a religious renunciation of the world, and there is nothing
improper in the thought that Donne, as an ordained priest,
should have written such a poem in memory of his wife.
The conclusion of the "Nocturnall," indeed, seems to lead
the way toward the following sonnet and the Hymns. For
Sonnets 18 and 19, I accept Miss Gardner's arguments for
their late composition, especially her definitive interpreta-
tion of Sonnet 18 (see her ed., pp. 77-78, 121-27). The
"Hymn to Christ" was composed before Donne visited Ger-
many in 1619, and the last two Hymns may both have been
composed in 1623, although the "Hymne to God my God"
is placed by Walton on the occasion of Donne's final ill-
ness, in 1631 (see Miss Gardner's discussion, pp. 132-35).
NOTES. ELEGY 10. Grierson adds the title, "The Dreame,"
from the second edition of Donne's poems, where it was
given "perhaps wrongly," as he notes (II, p. 76) . The whole
poem is based on the Renaissance Platonist conception
that the "Image" or interior Idea of the beloved is more
powerful than the physical presence: see the fine analysis
by Miss Helen Gardner, "The Argument about *The Ec-
COMMENTARY, WITH NOTES
stasy/" in Elizabethan and Jacobean Studies Presented to
Frank Percy Wilson, 1959, pp. 279-306. The poem may
also owe something to St. Augustine's theory that the soul
always knows the "image" of its beloved before meeting the
beloved object: that is, love is a search for the fulfillment
of an interior image: see Augustine's treatise on the Trin-
ity, X.1,2.
THE EXTASIE. The title alludes to the mystical experience
of extasis, in which the soul divests itself of bodily experi-
ence, and gains a direct apprehension of divine truth. For
excellent interpretations showing the dependence of this
poem on Renaissance doctrines of love, see the above-
mentioned article by Miss Gardner (note on Elegy 10),
and A. J. Smith, "The Metaphysic of Love/' Review of
English Studies, new series, 9 (1958), 362-75.
THE PRIMROSE. Grierson adds the subtitle from the second
edition of Donne's poems: "being at Mountgomery Castle,
upon the hill, on which it is situate/7 But he notes that it
"may be unwarranted." (II, p. 48) .
LA CORONA. The title suggests the Italian tradition of the
series of linked sonnets called the corona di sonnetti, along
with the sevenfold meditations associated with an old form
of the rosary known as the Corona (see The Poetry of
Meditation, 2nd ed., pp. 107—12).
HOLY SONNETS, i-i6. Grierson (I, p. 322) and Miss Gardner
(p. xxxix) note that several manuscripts entitle these son-
nets "Divine Meditations." Miss Gardner has convincingly
argued that the group of twelve sonnets appearing together
in some manuscripts and in the first edition of 1633 form
"a consecutive set of twelve, made up of two contrasted
sets of six," the first six dealing with the Last Things, and
the second six dealing with Love (see her Introduction,
pp. xl-xli). The twelve sonnets concerned, which Miss
Gardner prints in the order of 1633, run as follows, in
'> Grierson's numbering: 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15,
! 16. The remaining four sonnets, first printed in 1633, are
[5355]
JOHN DONNE
grouped together by Miss Gardner as a set of "penitential
sonnets," in the following order: i, 5, 3, 8 (see her Intro-
duction, p. 1) . These groupings are effective, especially for
the twelve sonnets of 1633, although the sonnets, with their
individual integrity, create the effect of separate com-
positions.
THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY. For a detailed account of the
meditative structure of this and the following poem, with
their precise division into parts, see The Poetry of Medfta-
tation, 2nd ed., pp. 221-48. The title, "The First Anniver-
sarie," was not given in the first edition of the "Anatomie"
in 1611: it was added when this poem was republished as
a companion to the "Progres" in 1612. Neither poem was
composed for the "anniversary" of Elizabeth Drury's death,
in the usual sense of that word. Elizabeth, the daughter of
Sir Robert Drury, who became Donne's generous patron,
died in the early part of December 1610, in her fifteenth
year. The "Anatomie," as the poem says in line 39, was
composed "some moneths" afterward; and the Trogres" be-
gins by saying that "a yeare is runne" since the girl's death;
both poems, then, are paying a year's commemorative
tribute in advance* The word "anniversary" could mean
"enduring for or completed in a year"; and it also holds
here some echoes of the old term "anniversary days," re-
ferring to the days on which the martyrdoms or deathdays
of saints were celebrated annually by the Roman Church.
For a full account of Donne's relation with the Drury family
see R. C. Bald, Donne 6- the Drurt/s, 1959.
A NOCTURNALL X7PON s. Lucres DAY. The word nocturnall
holds an allusion to the nocturn, one of the divisions of the
nocturnal office of Matins in the Roman Catholic Church:
the office of Matins is, in strict usage, performed at mid-
night. St. Lucy's Day was December 13 in the old calendar,
according to which the winter solstice occurred on Decem-
ber Z2. The strong religious allusions, the depth of feeling
expressed, and the references to a long period of devoted,
yet turbulent, love— these qualities combine to suggest that
[533]
COMMENTARY, WITH NOTES
this poem is related to the death of Donne's wife: see the
following sonnet.
TO CHRIST. Grierson prints two versions of this poem, one
based on the printed text of 1633, another on the manu-
scripts. I choose the second as the better version, although
the poem is better known under its 1633 title: "A Hymne
to God the Father." Contractions for "which" and "that"
have here been expanded.
GEORGE HERBERT
LIFE. Herbert was born in 1593, of a prominent and influ-
ential family. His remarkable mother, Magdalen Herbert,
was a friend of John Donne, and thus her son had the op-
portunity to become well acquainted with the older poet.
Herbert was educated at Westminster School and Trinity
College, Cambridge. In 1614 he became Fellow of Trinity,
in 1618 Reader in Rhetoric at Cambridge, and in 1620
Orator for the University, a post that opened the avenues
toward a secular career, which Herbert almost certainly
considered for a time. He was, however, ordained deacon
by 1626, and ordained priest in 1630, the year HX which he
took up his post at Bemerton, near Salisbury, where he re-
mained until his death in 1633. EKS English poems were
first published in 1633, a few months after his death. It is
important for Herbert's poetry to note that he was a skillful
musician and is reported to have set some of his own
poems to music, though none of these settings have sur-
vived.
EDITION. Works, ed, F. E» Hutchinson, Oxford, Clarendon
Press, 1941 (with very important Introduction and Com-
mentary).
STUDIES. Isaak Walton, Life, 1670 (revised, 1674, 1675);
available in World's Classics ed, of Walton's Lives,
[534]
GEORGE HERBERT
Rosemond Tuve, A Reading of George Herbert, 1952.
Margaret Bottrall, George Herbert, 1954.
Joseph H. Summers, George Herbert, His Religion and Art,
1954-
Marchette Chute, Life of Herbert, in Two Gentle Men,
1959-
TEXT. The text of the present selection is based upon the
first edition of The Temple, 1633, with a few alterations
suggested by F. E. Hutchinson's edition (see above). I have
also consulted the manuscript of the Temple in the Bod-
leian Library (Ms. Tanner 307), and the manuscript of the
early version owned by Dr. Williams's Library, London
(Ms. Jones B 62) ; I am grateful to the authorities of both
these libraries for permission to study these manuscripts.
ARRANGEMENT. The following selection attempts to retain
something of the essential "architecture" of the whole Tem-
ple, which is divided into "The Church-porch/' 'The
Church," and 'The Church Militant/* with the major body
of poetry being contained within the middle section. "The
Church" creates a flexible, organic unity, with frequent
linkages between poems, and with a total, gradual move-
ment from a sacramental introduction, through a long series
of conflicts, and finally into a state of serene assurance. For
detailed interpretation of this unity see The Poetry of Medi-
tation, and ed., Chapter 8.
NOTES. EASTER.
15 vied: OED ("vie," v. 6) explains this use of vie as
meaning "to increase in number by addition or repetition";
but the usage here seems primarily to indicate something
"placed in competition," the parts vying with each other.
See "The Banquet," line 54: "Strive in this, and love the
strife"; and the use of vies in "The Pearl," line 13.
EASTER WINGS. The manuscripts present these emblematic
verses horizontally, but the vertical form of 1633, here re-
produced, seems more effective visually.
[535]
COMMENTARY, WITH NOTES
19 imp: a term from falconry; "to engraft feathers in the
wing of a bird, so as to make good losses or deficiencies"
(OED, "imp/* t>. 4).
AFFLICTION (l).
47 neare: see Hutchinson's edition, p. 491. The Williams
ms. reads where, while the Bodleian ms. reads neere, with
where written above.
65-66 "Though I have been, as it seems, completely for-
gotten by you (or, perhaps: though I have completely for-
gotten my obligations to you) , I do love you, and if I should
not, I deserve the punishment of being cut off from loving
you." See the detailed discussion of this ending by William
Empson, Seven Types of Ambiguity, and ed., 1947, pp.
183-84.
THE H. COMMUNION. The first poem under this title (not
contained in the early Williams ms.) represents Herbert's
mature position on the bitter controversies regarding the
doctrine of transubstantiation and the Real Presence of
Christ in the elements of the Eucharist. He accepts a direct
action by the physical elements upon the physical parts of
man; and thus in a carefully guarded way he preserves a
measure of the old doctrine; but in the last two stanzas he
makes it plain that the more important presence is spiritual,
working through grace. Thus, in the Anglican way, he pre-
serves a "mean" between strict Catholic doctrine and strict
Protestant doctrine.
3 from: Bodleian ms* reads for> which may be preferable.
SONNETS FROM WALTON'S LIFE. These two early compositions
are given here because they provide an opportunity to com-
pare Herberts early style of "metaphysical wit" with the
more mature manner of the two sonnets in the Temple,
which also deal with the problem of converting poetry from
the service of earthly love toward the service of the love of
God. Walton tells us that these two sonnets were sent by
Herbert to his mother as a New Year's gift during his first
[536]
GEORGE HERBERT
year at Cambridge: that is, during 1609—10, when Herbert
was nearly seventeen.
THE TEMPER. Basically the word temper is used here to in-
dicate a state of mind in which all qualities are properly
proportioned (OED, "temper," sb. I); at the same time the
poem holds connotations of tempering steel by expansion
and contraction through extremes of heat and cold; and it
also alludes in lines 21—351 to the tempering, or tuning, of a
stringed instrument (see OED, "temper," v. 14, 15) .
AFFLICTION (rv). There are five poems by this title in the
Temple.
12, prick: both mss. read pink, meaning "pierce/*
MAN.
8 more fruit: the reading of the Williams ms. The first
edition and the Bodleian ms. read no fruit. See Hutchinson's
excellent note on this difficult choice of readings (p. 508).
JORDAN. The title places the river of baptism in contrast with
Helicon, from which flowed the fountains of the pagan
Muses. The "baptism" of Herbert's muse is indicated here
by the way in which the poem echoes the opening sonnet
in Sidney's Astrophil and Stella: "Foole, said my Muse to
me, looke in thy heart and write."
THE BUNCH OF GRAPES. For detailed interpretation see Tuve,
A Reading of George Herbert, pp. 112—17,
A PARODIE. The neutral, or positive, use of this term has a
basis in musical tradition: see the article by Rosemond
Tuve in Studies in the Renaissance, vol. 8 (1961), pp. 249-
90. An excellent brief account of the musical meaning of
parody is given by Frederick W. Sternfeld, Goethe and
Music, 1954, p. 8. In explaining the roots of the word he
says, "The prefix para means *beside* in two senses: outside
of, and therefore distorting the original, as in paradox; and
alongside of, and therefore in sympathy with the original,
as in paraphrase. Par-ody in musical terms means 'alongside
a song/ *to a song,' using the prefix para in the second
[537]
COMMENTARY, WITH NOTES
sense.*' He points out that the practice was applied in the
Parody Masses of Palestrina, Lassus, and Victoria. "Goethe
and his contemporaries as well as his forebears wrote paro-
dies by creating new texts to older tunes and rhythms, with-
out any implication of irony." Thus Herbert has created a
"sacred parody" by imitating the rhythms, the stanza-form,
and some of the words in the love-song attributed to Wil-
liam Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, which is here repro-
duced for convenience of comparison from Grierson's OSA
edition of the Poems of Donne; the love-song was included
in early editions of Donne's poetry, but it is almost certainly
by Pembroke.
LOVE (m). This poem, immediately preceded by "Judge-
ment" and "Heaven," forms the last piece in "The Church";
after this comes the long didactic poem, "The Church Mili-
tant"; and "L'Envoy" then forms the conclusion of the
whole volume.
FRANCIS QUARLES
LIFE. Quarles was born in 1592 at Romford, Essex, and edu-
cated at Christ's College, Cambridge. After receiving his
degree he studied law at Lincoln's Inn. The first of his
numerous books of religious verse appeared in 1620. Some-
time before 1629 he became private secretary to Ussher,
Archbishop of Armagh, Ireland, and went to live in Dublin.
Before 1633 he appears to have returned to his native Es-
sex. In 1639 he was appointed chronologer for the city of
London, where he resided until his death in 1644. Efe was
a staunch royalist and supporter of the established church.
STUDIES* Gordon S. Haight, "The Sources of Quarles's Em-
blems," The Library, vol. 16 (1935-36), pp. 188-209.
(Demonstrates the indebtedness of Quarles's volume of
1635 to Jesuit emblem-books, )
[5381
FRANCIS QUARLES/JOHN MILTON
Mario Praz, Studies in Seventeenth-Century Imagery, vol. i,
1939. (Deals with the whole range of emblem-books in this
era.)
Rosemary Freeman, English Emblem Books, 1948.
TEXT. The text of the poems here and the accompanying
emblems are taken from the first edition of Quarles's Em-
blemes, 1635. The engravings have been re-rendered to
make suitable linecuts.
JOHN MILTON
LIFE. Milton was born in London in 1608, and educated at
St. Paul's School and Christ's College, Cambridge. After
receiving his degree he studied privately from 1632 until
1638, when he left for a year of travel on the Continent,
chiefly in Italy. Shortly after his return he began his long
career of work in opposition to the Royalist and High
Church positions, work that included the writing of many
treatises in defense of Puritan beliefs and the Common-
wealth government of Cromwell. In 1649 he was appointed
Secretary for Foreign Tongues to the Council of State, a
post resembling that of a Foreign Secretary; and he con-
tinued to perform some aspects of this work even after he
had been overtaken by blindness in 1651. His earlier poems
were published in 1645; Paradise Lost appeared in 1667;
Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes, in 1671. He died
in 1674.
EDITIONS. The Poems of 1645, ed. Cleanth Brooks and J. E.
Hardy, Harcourt, Brace, 1951 (with important interpreta-
tions of the earlier poems) .
Complete Poems and Major Prose, ed. Merritt Y. Hughes,
Odyssey Press, 1957 (with full bibliographies, annotations,
and commentary for all the poems) .
STUDIES. For the Nativity poem see the important article by
[539]
COMMENTABY, WITH NOTES
Arthur Barker in University of Toronto Quarterly, vol. 10
(1941), pages 167-81; also the essay by Rosemond Tuve
in Images and Themes in Five Poems by Milton, 1957.
TEXT. Based on Poems of Mr. John Milton, 1645 (with one
exception). The dating at the head of the Nativity poem
and the comment explaining the incompleteness of "The
Passion" are in the 1645 edition and were presumably sup-
plied by Milton himself. The sonnet on his blindness is
taken from Milton's Poems, 1673. I have also used the
facsimile of the Trinity College (Cambridge) ms. ed. by
Harris Fletcher in Milton's Poetical Works, Vol. I, 1943.
NOTES. ON THE MORNING OF CHRISTS NATIVITY.
143-44 The edition of 1673 reads: "Orb'd in a Rain-bow;
and like glories wearing / Mercy will sit between/*
AT A SOLEMN MUSICK.
6 concent: this is the reading of 1673 and of the manu-
script; 1645 reads content, almost certainly a misprint, t
and c being easily confused in seventeenth-century hand-
writing.
RICHARD CRASHAW
LIFE. Crashaw was born in London in 1612 or early in 1613,
his father being a prominent preacher, with Puritan tend-
encies. He was educated at the Charterhouse and at Pem-
broke College, Cambridge. About 1635 he was elected Fel-
low of Peterhouse, Cambridge, an institution then associ-
cated with strong High Church tendencies. He had been
ordained by 1639, when he was curate of Little St. Mary's
Church in Cambridge. His Royalist and High Church po-
sition led to his formal eviction from his posts at Cambridge
in 1644, although he seems to have left the university some
months earlier. He was certainly living as an exile in Hol-
land in February 1644. It is uncertain whether or not he
returned to England after this, although it is quite possible
[540]
RICHABD CBASHA.W
that he did so. In September 1646, he was in Paris at the
court of the exiled Queen, and had been converted to Ro-
man Catholicism, perhaps a year or more before this date.
In the next year he held a minor clerical post at Rome, and
in 1649 received a post at Loreto, where he died in the
same year. The first edition of his English poems, religious
as well as secular, appeared in London in 1646.
EDITION. Poems, ed. L. C. Martin, and ed., Oxford, Claren-
don Press, 1957 (with valuable Introduction and Com-
mentary).
STUDIES. Ruth Wallerstein, Richard Crashaw: A Study in
Style and Poetic Development, 1935.
Austin Warren, Richard Crashaw: A Study in Baroque Sen-
sibility, 1939.
Mario Praz, "The Flaming Heart: Richard Crashaw and the
Baroque/* in The Flaming Heart, Anchor Books, 1958.
TEXT. The text of the poems in the present selection is based
upon the second edition of Steps to the Temple, 1648, the
last edition of Crashaw's poems published during his life-
time, and one that represents the first publication of several
of his most important poems, along with revised versions of
several other poems, such as "The Weeper." Crashaw was
of course not in England at the time of publication, but it
is clear that the volume was put together by someone with
direct access to Crashaw's recent compositions and revi-
sions. The posthumous volume, Carmen Deo Nostro, pub-
lished at Paris in 16551 under the supervision of Crashaw's
friend, Thomas Car, is usually regarded as having higher
authority than the 1648, since it contains some additional
passages not hitherto published, notably the last twenty-
four lines of "The flaming Heart/' Yet the 1652 omits some
passages given in the 1648, and although we may assume
that Car had manuscript authority for these omissions, there
is no certainty on this matter. A weighing of the many
small variants between the two editions produces no clear
COMMENTARY, WTTH NOTES
decision in favor of either. I incline to believe, that, on the
whole, the edition of 1648 has far higher authority than it
has usually been allowed, and I have therefore based the
text here upon it, making changes and additions where the
text of 1652 shows a clear superiority. Only the most im-
portant variants are noted below.
NOTES. THE WEEPER.
2 Silver-forded: this is the reading in the editions of 1646
and 1648; 1652 reads sylver-footed, giving an easier mean-
ing, but not necessarily a better one. The thought of rills
with silver fords (quiet, shallow places) makes an effective
image.
65 Blossom: 1648 reads Balsome.
92 and tears, and smiles disputing,: 1652 reads of teares
with smiles disputing!
98 bosom: 1648 reads balsome.
116 large: 1652 reads rare.
118 wealth: 1648 reads wrath.
ON THE NAME OF JESUS. For detailed interpretation of the
meditative structure of this poem see The Poetry of Medi-
tation, 2nd ed., pp. 331-52.
49 1648 reads habit fit of self tun'd Harmonic; 1652 reads
hasty Fitt-tun'd Harmony, habit seems clearly a misprint
for hasty; but the musical meaning of fit and the concep-
tion of a self tun'd Harmonic seem thoroughly in accord
with the context.
72 Provinces: 1648 reads powers.
AN HYMNE OF THE NATIVITY.
32 Bright: 1652 reads Young.
47 all one: 1652 reads his own.
91-96 Omitted in 1652.
A HYMNE FOR THE EPIPHANIE.
113 will: 1652 reads witt.
145 clear: 1648 reads deere.
157 domesticks: 1652 reads domestick.
RICHARD CRASHAW
193 f . Areopagtte: an allusion to the mystical theology set
forth by "Dionysius the Areopagite," a writer of the fifth
century A.D. who took the name of the Dionysius converted
by Paul (Acts 17:34). He set forth the "negative way" of
mystical ascent, under strong neo-platonic influence. The
following passage from the opening chapter of his brief
treatise, The Mystical Theology (tr. C. E. Rolt, 1920), will
illustrate the views upon which Crashaw has based the
conclusion of his poem:
"Guide us to that topmost height of mystic lore which
exceedeth light and more than exceedeth knowledge,
where the simple, absolute, and unchangeable mysteries
of heavenly Truth lie hidden in the dazzling obscurity
of the secret Silence, outshining all brilliance with the
intensity of their darkness, and surcharging our blinded
intellects with the utterly impalpable and invisible fair-
ness of glories which exceed all beauty! Such be my
prayer; and thee, dear Timothy, I counsel that, in the
earnest exercise of mystic contemplation, thou leave the
senses and the activities of the intellect and all things
that the senses or the intellect can perceive, and all things
in this world of nothingness, or in that world of being,
and that, thine understanding being laid to rest, thou
strain (so far as thou mayest) towards an union with
Him whom neither being nor understanding can con-
tain. For, by the unceasing and absolute renunciation of
thyself and all things, thou shalt in pureness cast all
things aside, and be released from all, and so shalt be
led upwards to the Ray of that divine Darkness which
exceedeth all existence."
IN MEMORY OF ... TERESA.
47 trade; from 1646 and 1652; 1648 reads try.
72 chast: from 1646 and 1652; 1648 reads soft.
107 his: from 1646 and 1652; 1648 reads thine.
THE FLAMING HEART. The title is the same as that given to
the English translation of Teresa's autobiography attributed
[543]
COMMENTABY, WITH NOTES
to Sir Toby Matthew: The Flaming Hart or the Life of the
Glorious S. Teresa, Antwerp, 1642. The following passage
of this book (pp. 419-20) is important for both of Cra-
shaw's poems on Teresa:
"It pleased our Blessed Lord, that I should haue some-
times, this following Vision. I saw an Angell very neer
me, towards my left side, and he appeared to me, in a
Corporeall forme; though yet I am not wont to see anie
thing of that kind, but very rarely. For, though Angells
be represented often to me, it is yet, without my seeing
them, but only according to that other kind of Vision,
whereof I spake before. But, in this Vision, our Lord was
pleased, that I should see this Angell, after this other
manner. He was not great; but rather little; yet withall,
he was of very much beautie. His face was so inflamed,
that he appeared to be of those most Superiour Angells,
who seem to be, all in a fire; and he well might be of
them, whome we call Seraphins; but as for me, they
neuer tell me their names, or rankes; yet howsoeuer, I see
thereby, that there is so great a difference in Heauen,
between one Angell, and another, as I am no way able
to expresse. I saw, that he had a long Dart of gold in his
hand; and at the end of the iron below, me thought,
there was a little fire; and I conceaued, that he thrust
it, some seuerall times, through my verie Hart, after such
a manner, as that it passed the verie inwards, of my
Bowells; and when he drew it back, me thought, it car-
ried away, as much, as it had touched within me; and
left all that, which remained, wholy inflamed with a
great loue of Almightie God. The paine of it, was so ex-
cessiue, that it forced me to vtter those groan es; and the
suauitie, which that extremitie of paine gaue, was also
so very excessiue, that there was no desiring at all, to be
ridd of it; nor can the Soule then, receaue anie content-
ment at all, in lesse, then God Almightie himself."
85-108 These lines are not contained in 1648; they are
here printed from 1652, with u and u normalized and words
[544]
RICHARD C3RASHAW/ANDREW MARVEH.L
in capitals changed to italics (in accordance with the usage
of 1648). The poem has a sense of completeness without
these lines, which may have been a later addition by
Crashaw; on the other hand, as colloquy and application
to the self, the lines bring the poem to an appropriate and
a richer conclusion. They may have been omitted in error
or because of some theological objection to the strong adu-
lation of the saint.
APOLOGIE FOR THE PRECEDENT HYMNES ON TERESA. ThlS
poem was originally published in 1646 as a companion
piece to the first poem on Teresa, with the heading, "An
Apologie for the precedent Hymne." In 1648 it was printed,
with the present title, in a position immediately after the
two poems on Teresa. In 1652 it was again placed after
the first poem, with the following title: "An Apologie. For
the Fore-going Hymne as having been writt when the au-
thor was yet among the protestantes." The added explana-
tion of 1652 sounds like an editorial addition.
THE ASSUMPTION.
32 leavy: 1652 reads heavy.
41 sweet: 1648 reads great.
47-56 Omitted in 1652.
ANDREW MARVELL
LIFE. Marvell was born in 1621 in Holdemess, Yorkshire,
the son of an Anglican clergyman. He was educated at the
Hull Grammar School and Trinity College, Cambridge.
After receiving his degree he traveled widely for four years
on the Continent. In 1651 he became tutor to the daughter
of Lord Fairfax, the retired general of the Parliamentary
army; he lived for two years at Nunappleton House, the
Fairfax estate in Yorkshire. After this he became tutor to a
ward of Cromwell. It is clear that he gradually became a
firm supporter of the Cromwellian regime; in 1657 he took
the post of Assistant in the Foreign Secretary's office, a post
[545]
COMMENTARY, WITH NOTES
for which John Milton had recommended him in 1653. In
1658 he became a Member of Parliament for Hull, a posi-
tion which he held until his death in 1678. During the last
twenty years of his life Marvell was deeply engaged in po-
litical activities, including missions to Holland and Russia,
along with widespread writing of political pamphlets and
satires. The poems included in the present selection may
date from his earlier years, perhaps from the early 16505;
but there is no assurance about their dating. His Miscella-
neous Poems first appeared in 1681.
EDITION. Poems and Letters, ed. H. M. Margoliouth, a vols.,
and ed., Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1952 (with valuable
Commentary) .
STUDIES. Pierre Legouis, Andre Marvell, poete, puritain, pa-
triote, 1928.
M. C. Bradbrook and M. G. Lloyd Thomas, Andrew Marvell,
1940.
TEXT. Based on the Miscellaneous Poems, 1681. Professor
Max Patrick has kindly supplied me with a valuable list of
textual variants derived from his work on the forthcoming
Anchor edition of the poems of Marvell; and I have also
examined the revisions made by an unknown hand in a copy
of the 1681 Poems in the Bodleian Library (MS Eng. poet
d-49). From these variants and from those listed in Mar-
goliouth's edition, I have been led to make a few changes
in the 1681 text.
NOTES. A DIALOGUE, BETWEEN THE RESOLVED SOUL, AND
CREATED PLEASURE.
51 soft: x68i reads cost, which is emended to soft by
Margoliouth and by the annotator of the above-mentioned
Bodleian copy.
TO HIS COY MISTRESS.
34 glew: this reading of 1681 has caused great discussion
and has resulted in general acceptance of the emendation
[546]
ANDREW MARVELL
dew. Yet no emendation seems to be needed, if we regard
glew as simply a variant spelling of glow (on the analogy
of shew: show). OED records the spelling glewe for the
verb glow in the fifteenth century only. But it is interesting
to note that the annotator of the Bodleian copy, writing
evidently in the eighteenth century (see Margoliouth's sec-
ond ed., p. xv), corrects the couplet here as follows: "Now
therefore, while the youthful glew / Sits on thy skin like
morning dew" Here glew can only mean glow in the sense
for which OED cites a Shakespearean example: "Bright-
ness and warmth of colour; a state of glowing brightness, a
flush" (OED "glow," sb. 2,)* Most important, glew: glow
makes better sense in the context than dew. The speaker is
talking about a hue, a color; and what could be more ap-
propriate than to compare his lady's hue with the morning-
glow of sunrise? The next couplet may contain a sugges-
tion of moisture; and yet even here it is the Fires that
transpire through the pores: Fires and glow fit well to-
gether.
THE UNFORTUNATE LOVER. This remarkably enigmatic poem
develops a contrast between the "Infant Love" (Cupid,
Profane Love) of Stanza I, and the "unfortunate Lover,"
who through his sufferings (and especially through the
blood-imagery of the last three stanzas) seems to become
a symbol of the spirit of Christian Love. Such a contrast
between Profane Love and Sacred Love was common in
the emblem-books of the period, to which the poem bears
some resemblance in its arbitrary use of visual imagery.
The "Shipwrack" of Stanza II might be taken to represent
the Crucifixion, when the spirit of Christian Love might be
said to have been born on earth. The Mother might then
be the Synagogue-Church, possibly regarded as split in
two as "the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the
top to the bottom" during the darkness and earthquake that
marked the moment of Christ's death (Matthew 27:51).
The "num'rous fleet of Corm'rants black" who take the un-
fortunate lover into their care may represent a typically
[547]
COMMENTARY, WITH NOTES
Protestant view of the clergy of the Middle Ages. The
bloody turmoil of the last three stanzas, emphatically cast
in the present tense ("And now"), could refer specifically
to the Civil "Warrs" in England, of which we know that
Marvell disapproved. Is the poem, then, a representation
of the plight of Christian Love down through the ages?
Such an interpretation is perhaps barely credible, and I
advance it primarily to stimulate discussion.
THE GARDEN.
47 Annihilating: in mystical writings of the era the con-
ception of annihilation had a positive, creative value. It re-
ferred to the soul's withdrawal from self-interest and from
the attraction of created things, as it moved toward a mysti-
cal intuition of the Divine. Thus, in his Spiritual Canticle,
St. John of the Cross says: "It seems to the soul that its
former knowledge, and even the knowledge of the whole
world, is pure ignorance by comparison with that knowl-
edge [of God]; . . . and the exaltation of the mind in
God wherein it is as if enraptured, immersed in love, and
become wholly absorbed in God, allows it not to take no-
tice of any thing soever in the world; . . . For it is with-
drawn not only from all other things, but even from itself,
and is annihilated, as though it were dissolved in love.
. , ." (Complete Works of Saint John of the Cross, tr. by
E. Allison Peers, 3 vols., 1953, II, p. 100.) Marvell, of
course, is using the conception for his own particular pur-
poses here.
HENRY VAUGHAN
LIFE. Vaughan was born in 1621 or early in 1622, of Welsh
ancestry, and spent most of his life at Newton, on the Usk
River, in Breconshire, Wales. He was educated at Jesus
College, Oxford, along with his twin-brother Thomas, who
became an ardent scholar of the Hermetic philosophy. He
went on to study law in London, apparently in 1640-42.
[548]
HENRY VAUGHAN
His secular volume of 1646, Poems, with the tenth Satyre
of Juvenal Englished, shows the strong influence of Ben
Jonson and the "Sons of Ben," along with traces of Don-
neian influence. He appears to have undergone an ex-
perience of religious conversion sometime around 1648. He
was devoted to the Royalist cause and to the Church of
England. Sometime near 1655 ^e seems to have begun the
practice of medicine, which he pursued successfully as a
country doctor until his death in 1695. He wrote very little
poetry during the last forty years of his life.
EDITIONS. Works, ed. L. C. Martin, 2nd ed., Oxford, Claren-
don Press, 1957 (with helpful notes) .
Secular Poems, ed. E. L. Marilla, Uppsala, 1958 (with very
extensive commentary).
STUDIES. F. E. Hutchinson, Henry Vaughan: A Life and In-
terpretation, 1947.
Ross Garner, Henry Vaughan: Experience and the Tradition,
1959-
E. C. Pettet, Of Paradise and Light: A Study of Vaughan's
Silex Scintillans, 1960.
TEXT. For the poems contained in Silex Scintillansf 1650,
the text is derived from that edition; for the poems of the
second part, from the edition of 1655, which consists of the
unsold sheets of 1650 (with two cancelled leaves), bound
up with new introductory matter and a second "book" of
poems. The present selection retains, complete, the brief
introductory matter of 1650: Latin poem, engraved title
page, and short "Dedication." The volume of 1655 omits
both the Latin poem and the engraved title page, while
the "Dedication" is expanded in the direction of conven-
tional piety. At the same time the 1655 volume opens with
a long and crabbed prose preface out of tune with the
devotional quality of the 1650 poems. The motto from Job
on the 1655 title page, "Where is God my Maker, who
giveth Songs in the night?" suggests an attitude consider-
[549]
COMMENTARY, WITH NOTES
ably different from that found in the intimate Latin poem
of 1650. The second book of 1655, while containing a few
of Vaughan's best poems, shows a notable falling-off in
poetic power and a tendency to turn toward the topics of
conventional piety.
ARRANGEMENT. The poems from 1650 are here given in the
order of their appearance in that volume; the selection has
been made with the aim of retaining this volume's effect of
total integrity: an effect that arises, first, from the persistent
mode of Augustinian meditation, probing the memory; and
second, from what appears to be a deliberate effort to evoke
a comparison with Herbert's Temple: a tribute by imitation.
The notes point out many significant echoes of Herbert; for
others, see the notes to Martin's edition and the study by
Pettet. For the mode of Augustinian meditation see my es-
say on Vaughan in PMLA, March 1963.
NOTES. TITLE PAGE. Silurist: Vaughan liked to place this
title after his name, with reference to the local British tribe
of Vaughan's region, called by Tacitus the Silures. Note
that the subtitle of Vaughan's volume is identical with the
subtitle of Herbert's Temple,
THE ATTTHOR'S EMBLEM. The editor is indebted to the Rev-
erend Marcus Haworth for suggesting some of the phrases
in this translation.
REGENERATION. The biblical motto at the end has a wrong
verse-reference and does not accord in phrasing with the
King James version (as is frequently the case with
Vaughan's citations). The verse here comes from Song of
Solomon 4:16; verses 12-15 of this chapter are highly im-
portant for the imagery of this poem from Stanza 5 to the
end. See the detailed interpretation of this poem by Pettet,
pp. 104-17.
RESURRECTION AND IMMORTALITY. The last two stanzas show
Vaughan's acquaintance with the Hermetic philosophy;
ISSol
HENBY VAUGHAN
that is, the occult science attributed to the mythical Hermes
Trismegistus and cultivated by the alchemists (see Martin's
notes, pp. 729-30). But, equally important, the poem
shows how carefully Vaughan qualified the Hermetic terms
by drawing them into the orbit of traditional Christian con-
ceptions. Note particularly how the poem is enclosed within
two biblical quotations.
THE SKITTISH CHURCH. A striking contrast with Herbert's
poem under the same title. Here the Church, the "Bride
of Christ," is speaking to Christ, as in the Song of Solomon
(Chapter 2), under the conditions of the English civil wars
in the 16405. The Latin motto at the end may be translated
as follows: "O rose of the field! O lily of the valleys! how
have you now become the food of wild boars!" (With al-
lusion to Song of Solomon 2:1 and Psalm 80:13.)
MANS FALL, AND RECOVERY. The biblical reference at the
end is wrong: see Romans 5:18.
THE RETREATE. For Vaughan's cautious use of the meta-
phor of pre-existence see Martin's notes, pp. 732-33.
"COME, COME, WHAT DOE i HERE?" There are six untitled
poems in the 1650 volume headed by the symbol fl; a^
of these appear to refer to the death of his brother Wil-
liam in 1648, which seems to have had a profound effect
upon Vaughan's religious outlook.
THE MORNING-WATCH. For detailed interpretation see Pettet,
pp. 119-37; Pettet here notes the many echoes of Herbert
in this poem (pp. 128-29) .
"SILENCE, AND STEALTH OF DAYES!" Vaughan's brother Wil-
liam died about July 14, 1648; thus the poem appears to
date from sometime near September i, 1648 (see line 3).
PRAISE. For the verse-form, the rhyme, and the phrasing
of lines i, 9, and 13, see Herbert's poem here under the
same title. In the Temple this poem, "Praise," is immedi-
ately followed by a double poem under the title, "An Offer-
ing" (note "OfFring" in line 50 of Vaughan's second part
[551]
COMMENTABY, WITH NOTES
here). The second part of Herbert's "Offering7* is written
in a stanza-form resembling that of Vaughan's second part.
MOUNT OF OLIVES. Silex Scintillans, 1650, has another poem
tinder this title, which makes it clear that this Mount is
for Vaughan a symbol of poetic inspiration, contrasting with
the pagan Mount Helicon:
Yet, if Poets mind thee well
They shall find thou art their hill,
And fountaine too,
Their Lord with thee had most to doe;
He wept once, walkt whole nights on thee,
And from thence (his sufferings ended,)
Unto glorie
Was attended;
Compare Herbert's similar use of "Jordan": the Temple
has two poems entitled "Jordan," both dealing with prob-
lems of poetry; the present selection prints only the second
of these,
"THEY ARE ALL GONE INTO THE WORLD OF LIGHT!" For
detailed interpretation see Pettet, pp. 156-65.
COCK-CROWING. This poem, like the following one, is strongly
pervaded by technical terms from the Hermetic philosophy:
see Martin's notes, pp. 746—47-
THE PALM-TREE. Here the soul is speaking to the body, as in
"The Evening-watch." The poem may be clarified by re-
calling that the palm tree is a traditional symbol of the
Church: see Song of Solomon 7:7-8: "This thy stature is
like to a palm tree ... I said, I will go up to the palm
tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof '—a passage
described in the chapter heading of the King James version
as part of a "description of the church's graces." The poem
seems first to allude to the physical church, as a place
where the body will be buried or entombed; but the
spiritual church is of course the dominant reference
throughout.
[55*1
THOMAS TRAHERNE/EDWARD TAYLOR
THE NIGHT. Heading: 1655 reads John 2.3. For detailed in-
terpretation of this poem see Pettet, pp. 140-54.
THOMAS TRAHERNE
LIFE. Traherne was born in 1637, the son of a Hereford
shoemaker, and appears to have been reared by a prosper-
ous relative. He was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford,
ordained in the English Church in 1660, and lived as rector
at Credenhill, near Hereford, from 1661 until 1669. In that
year he became chaplain to Sir Orlando Bridgeman and
lived in London and Teddington until his death in 1674.
His poems were first published in 1903, and his Cen-
turies, in 1908.
EDITION. Centuries, Poems, and Thanksgivings, ed. H. M.
Margoliouth, 2, vols., Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1958 (with
important Introduction and Commentary).
STUDY. Gladys I. Wade, Thomas Traherne, 1944.
TEXT. The text of the poems and prose here is reproduced
from the above edition, with the permission of the Claren-
don Press.
EDWARD TAYLOR
LIFE. Taylor was born about 1642? in Leicestershire and
received a good education, possibly attending Cambridge
University. In 1668 he left England permanently for New
England, landing at Boston and at once entering Harvard
with advanced standing. After his graduation in 1671 he
went to the frontier settlement of Westfield, Massachusetts,
where he took up the post of minister which he held until
his death in 1729. Westfield was a remote village, subject
to serious danger during the Indian wars in the latter part
[553]
COMMENTARY, WTTH NOTES
of the seventeenth century; but the settlement maintained
communications with Boston and with the towns of the
Connecticut Valley. With one exception, his poems re-
mained unpublished until 1937, when Thomas Johnson
published a selection of his poems from the Yale manuscript.
EDITIONS. Poems, ed. Donald E. Stanford, Yale University
Press, 1960 (with full bibliography and commentary) .
Christographia (sermons), ed. Norman S. Grabo, Yale Univer-
sity Press, 1962 (with Introduction explaining the relation-
ship between Taylor's sermons and poems) .
STUDY. Norman S. Grabo, Edward Taylor, 1961.
TEXT. The text of the poems in the present selection is
here reproduced from the above-mentioned edition by D.
E. Stanford, with the permission of the Yale University
Press, "Prologue," and Meditations i, [6], 33 are published
with the additional permission of the Princeton University
Press, having been previously published in The Poetical
Works of Edward Taylor, ed. Thomas H. Johnson, Prince-
ton University Press, 1943. "Prologue," and Meditations i,
37, 40 are published with the additional permission of the
editors of New England Quarterly, where these poems first
appeared. Meditation 31 is published with the additional
permission of the editors of American Literature, where the
poem first appeared. Meditations 2, 32, 34, 39 (First
Series), Meditation 65 (Second Series) are published with
the additional permission of the Yale University Library
Gazette, where they first appeared.
NOTES. The dates at the head of each poem are given as in
Taylor's manuscript, where he followed the old custom of
using March as the first month of the year.
MEDITATION 40. "Was ever Heart like mine?" This question,
repeated four times in the poem, seems to be an echo of
the refrain of Herbert's long eucharistic poem, "The Sacri-
fice"; "Was ever grief like mine?"
[554]
INDEX
Authors9 names are printed in small capitals, titles of poems in
italics, and first lines of poems in Roman.
A broken ALTAR, Lord, thy servant reares, 147
A Dialogue Between the Soul and Body, 333
A Dialogue, between the Resolved Soul, and Created Pleasure, 321
A Hymne for the Epiphanie, Sung as by the three Kings, 290
A Hymne to Christ, at the Authors last going into Germany, 135
A learned and a Happy Ignorance, 446
A life of Sabbaths here beneathl, 472
A nocturnall upon S. Lucies day, Being the shortest day, 131
A Parodie, 223
A vale of teares, 47
A Vale there is enwrapt with dreadfull shades, 47
A Valediction: forbidding mourning, 92
A Vine, my Lord, a noble Vine indeed, 514
A Ward, and still in bonds, one day, 351
A way feare with thy projectes, noe false fyre, 61
Admission, 395
Affliction (I), 156
Affliction (IV), 177
Ah! he is fled!, 363
ALABASTER, WILLIAM (1568-1640), $1
Alas, how pleasant are their dayes, 337
Alas our day is forst to flie by night, 43
All Kings, and all their favorites, 70
Almightie Judge, how shall poore wretches brook, 227
Am I thy Gold? Or Purse, Lord, for thy Wealth, 492
An Anatomie of the World, 95
An Apologie for the precedent Hymnes on Teresa, 312
An Head, my Lord, an honourable piece, 507
An Hymne of the Nativity, sung as by the Shepheardsr 286
An ode which was prefixed to a Prayer booke given to a young
Gentle-woman, 298
And art thou grieved, sweet and sacred Dove, 197
And do they so? have they a Sense, 379
t5S5]
'1 M K MEIMTAT1VK POEM!
Annunciation, So
Another Meditation at the same time, 492,
Ascension-day, 420
Ascension-Hymn, 42,2,
Ascention, 82
As due by many titles I resigne, 83
As I in hoarie Winters night, 35
As time one day by me did pass, 433
As travellouxs when the twilight's come, 406
As virtuous men passe mildly away, 92
At a solemn Mustek, 268
At home in Heaven, 29
At the round earths imagin'd corners, blow, 86
Authoris (de se) Emblema, 349
Awake, glad heart! get up, and Sing, 393
Awake sad heart, whom sorrow ever drowns, 190
Away despair; my gracious Lord doth heare, 205
Batter my heart, three person'd God; for, you, 90
Beehould a cluster to itt selfe a vine, 57
Begracde with Glory, gloried with Grace, 493
Behold a silly tender Babe, 34
Behold thy darling, which thy lustfull care, 239
Beholde the father, is his daughters sonne, 41
Bermudas, 332
Blest be the God of love, 168
Blest Order, which in power dost so excell, 207
Blest pair of Sirens, pledges of Heav'ns Joy, 3268
Book a, Emblem VII, 235
Book 5, Emblem VIII, 239
Book 5, Emblem X, 243
Book 5, Emblem XI, 247
Bright babel whose awfull Beauties make, 290
Bright spark, shot from a brighter place, 172.
Broken in pieces all asunder, 3.77
But that which most I Wonder at, which most, 448
By miracles exceeding power of man, 81
Callst thou me Friend? What Rhetorick is this?, 516
Charitas nimia, or the deare bargain, 316
Christs Nativity, 393
Christs returne out of Egypt, 43
Christs sleeping friends, 32
Church-lock and key, 170
Church-monuments, 169
[556]
INOEX
Church-musick, 170
Cock-crowing, 42,$
Come, come -what doe I Here?, 369
Come sapless Blossom, creep not stil on Earth, 411
Come to your heaven you heavenly quires, 36
Come we shepheards -whose blest sight, #86
Come ye hither all, whose taste, 2. 19
Confession, 194
Conscience, 187
Corruption, 390
Courage my Soul, now learn to wield, 321
CRASHAW, KICHABD ( l6 12?— 1649 ) , 27!
Crucifying, 81
DAWSON, EDWAIUD ( 1576?— 1624? ) , 1
Dear friend! whose holy, ever-living lines, 383
Deare friend sit down, and bear awhile this shade, 428
Death, 226
Death, and darkness get you packing, 401
Death, thou wast once an uncouth nideous thing, 226
Decay, 183
Deigne at my hands this crown of prayer and praise, 79
Deniall, 174
IXJNNE, JOHN (1572—1631), 63
Dressing, 399
Dulnesse, 191
Dust and clay, 422
Easter, 152
Easter-day, 400
Easter Hymn, 401
Easter 'wings,. 156
Eden, 446
Elegy 10, 68
Emblemes, 1633, 231
Ephes. 4. 30. Grieve not the Holy Spirit, 6-c., 197
Ere-while of Musick, and Ethereal mirth, 263
Even-song, 168
Eyes and Tears, 328
Faire soule, how long shall veyles thy graces shroud?, 29
Farewelll I goe to sleep; but when, 374
Farewell you Everlasting hills! I'm Cast, 365
Father of lightsl what Sunnie seed, 425
Father, part of his double interest, 91
Fly envious Time, till thou run out thy race, 266
[557]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Goodfriday, 1613. Riding Westward, 130
Grieve not the Holy Spirit, &c, 197
H. Scriptures, 391
Had we but World enough, and Time, 335
Haile graceful! morning of eternall Daye, 57
Haile, Sister Springs, 273
Happy those early dayes, when I, 368
Hark! she is calTd, the parting houre is come, 314
Heaven, 2,2,7
Her Nativity, 39
HERBERT, GEORGE ( 1593— 1633 ) , 139
Hither thou com'st: the busie wind all night, 429
Holy, holy, holy Lord unnamed, 60
Hofy Sonnets ( 1—16 ) , 83
Holy Sonnets (17—19), 133
How fresh, O Lord, how sweet and clean, 213
How is man parcelTd out? how ev'ry hour, 403
How like an Angel came I down!, 443
How rich, O Lord! how fresh thy visits are!, 392
How shall my tongue expresse that hallo w'd fire, 2
How should I praise thee, Lord! how should my rymes, 165
How shril are silent tears? when sin got head, 395
How soon doth man decayl, 182
How soon hath Time the suttle theef of youth, 269
How sweetly doth My Master sound! My Master!, 2x6
How vainly men themselves amaze, 343
How wisely Nature did decree, 328
Hymne to God my God, in my sicknesse, 136
I am a little world made cunningly, 85
I cannot ope mine eyes, 167
J have considered it; and find, 382
I have consider'd it, and finde, 149
I joy, deare Mother, when I view, 189
I know it is my sinne, which locks thine eares, 170
I know the wayes of Learning; both the head, 176
I made a posie, while the day ran by, 181
I saw Eternity the other night, 407
I scarce beleeve my love to be so pure, 7%
I see the use: and know my bloud, 373
I Sing the Name which none can say, 5179
I struck the board, and cry'd. No more, 206
I travelTd on, seeing the hill, where lay, 199
I walked the other day, 415
If as the windes and waters here below, 196
[558]
INDEX
If faithfull soules be alike glorifi'd, 87
If poysonous mineralls, and if that tree, 87
If this worlds friends might see but once, 431
If yet I have not all thy love, 69
Image of her whom I love, more then she, 68
Immensitie cloysterd in thy deare wombe, 80
Immortall Heat, O let thy greater flame, 162
Immortall Love, authour of this great frame, 162
In memory of the vertuous and Learned Lady Madre de Teresa
that sought an early Martyrdome, 303
In what torne ship soever I embarke, 135
Innocence, 448
Jesu thie love within mee is soe maine, 55
Jordan, 184
Joy, I did lock thee up: but some bad man, 195
Joy in the rising of our Orient starre, 39
Judgement, 227
Kinde pitty chokes my spleene; brave scorn forbids, 65
King of Comforts! King of lifel 397
King of Glorie, King of Peace, 201
King of glorie, King of peace, 229
King of Mercy, King of Love, 418
Know you faire on what you looke, 302
La Corona, 79
L'Envoy, 229
Let mans Soule be a Spheare, and then, in this, 130
Life, 181
Like one who'in her third widdowhood doth professe, 77
Loe here a little volume but great booke, 298
Longing, 202
Looke home, 28
Lord, Can a Crumb of Dust the Earth outweigh, 487
Lord, how can man preach thy eternall word?, 172
Lord Jesus! with what sweetness and delights, 420
Lord, my first fruits present themselves to thee, 141
Lord, what is man? why should he cost you, 316
Lord, who createdst man in wealth and store, 156
Lord, with what glorie wast thou serv*d of old, 188
Love I, II, 162
Love (HI), 228
Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back, 228
Love thou art absolute sole Lord, 303
[559]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Lovers infinitenesse, 69
Loves growth, 72
Man [Herbert], 178
Man [Vaughan], 414
Mans -fall, and Recovery, 365
Marie Magdalene, 216
Marie Magdalens complaint at Christs death, 45
Mark you the floore? that square & speckled stone, 171
MARVELL, ANDREW (1612-1678), 31Q
Mattens, 167
Meditation, 489
Meditation. Can. 1.2. Thy Love is better than Wine, 514
Meditation on Can. 1.3. Thy Name is an Ointment poured out, 490
Meditation. Can. 6.11. To see the Fruits of the Vatty, 510
Meditation. Cant. 2.1. The Lilly of the V allies, 491
Meditation 156. Cant. 3.1. Eate oh Friendes and drink yea drink
abundantly oh Beloved, 516
[Meditation.] CoL 1.2.8. He is tJie Head of the Body, 507
Meditation, i Cor. 3.21.22. All things are yours, 493
Meditation, i Cor. 3.22. Death is Jours, 498
Meditation, i Cor. 3.22. Life is youres, 496
Meditation, i Cor. 3.22. Whether Paul or Apollos, or Cephas, 494
Meditation, i Cor. 3.23. Jou are Christ's, 500
Meditation, from i Joh. 2.1. If any man sin, we have an Advocate,
502
Meditation, i Joh. 2.2, He is a Propitiation for our Sin, 504
Meditation. Joh. 15.13. Greater Love hath no man than this That
a man lay down his Life for his Friends, 512
Meditation. Rev. 2.8. The Almighty, 508
Midnight, 370
MELTON, JOHN (1608-1674), 249
Mortification, 182
Mount of Olives, 413
Moyst with one drop of thy blood, my dry soule, 82
My Blessed Lord, art thou a Lilly Flower r, 491
My Body being Dead, my Lims unknown, 451
My Deare, Deare, Lord I do thee Saviour Call, 490
My God, how gracious art thoul I had slipt, 381
My God, I heard this day, 178
My God, if writings may, 185
My God, thou that didst dye for me, 350
My God, when I walke in those groves, 357
My God, where is that ancient heat towards thee, 164
My Lord I fain would Praise thee Well but finde, 498
My Lord my Life, can Envy ever bee, 496
My Sin! my Sin, My God, these Cursed Dregs, 502
[560]
INDEX
My Soul, there is a Countrie, 376
My soule a world is by Contraccion, 54
My Soule is like a Bird; my Flesh, the Cage, 243
My Soule, Lord, quailes to thinke that I should bee, 500
tfativitie, So
New heaven,, new warre, 36
New Prince, new pompe, 34
News from a forrein Country came, 469
Not in rich furniture, or fine aray, 160
Nothing could make me sooner to confesse, 113
Mow I nave found thee, I will ever more, 59
Now that the midd Day heate doth scorch my shame, 58
O blessed bodiel Whither art thou thrown?, 151
O JoyesI Infinite sweetnes! with what flowres, 373
O Lord my sinne doth over-charge thy brest, 31
O might those sighes and teares returne againe, 84
O my chief good!, 377
O starry Temple of unvalted space, 59
O sweete, and bitter monuments of paine, 56
O thou that lovest a pure, and whitend soull, 399
0 what a cunning guest, 194
O! What a thing is Love? who can define, 512
01 What a thing is Might right mannag'd? "Twill, 508
O who shall, from this Dungeon, raise, 333
O who will show me those delights on high?, 227
Obedience, 185
Of the Progres of the Soule, 113
Oft have I seen, when that renewing breath, 354
Oh Book! infinite sweetnesse! let my heart, 166
Oh King of grief!, 147
Oh my blacke Soule! how thou art summoned, 85
On a Drop of Dew, 326
On Mr. George Herberts booke intituled the Temple of Sacred
Poems, sent to a Gentle-woman, 302
On News, 469
On the assumption, 314
On the morning of CHRISTS Nativity, 351
On the name of Jesus, 279
On Time, 266
Our second Eve puts on her mortall shroude, 38
Peace [Herbert], 192
Peace [Vaughan], 376
Peace pratler, do not lowre, 187
Philosophers have measured mountains, 150
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Praise [Herbert], 201
Praise [Vaughan], 397
Prayer, 159
Prayer the Churches banquet, Angels age, 159
Preparatory Meditations, from, 489
Preparatory Meditations, from. Second Series, 507
Proclaimed Queene and mother of a God, 40
Prologue, 487
QXJARLES, FRANCIS (1592—1644), 233
Quite spent with thoughts I left my Cell, and lay, 367
Regeneration, 351
Religion, 357
Resurrection, 82.
Resurrection and Immortality, 354
Retyred thoughts enjoy their owne delights, 28
Rise heart; thy Lord is risen. Sing his praise, 152
Rom. Cap. 8. ver. 19, 379
Rules and Lessons, 385
Salute the last and everlasting day, 82
Salvation to all that will is nigh, 80
Satire 3, 65
See how the Orient Dew, 326
See with what simplicity, 340
Sepulchre, 151
Show me deare Christ, thy spouse, so bright and clear, 134
Silence, and stealth of dayesl 'tis now, 375
Silex Scintillans (1650), 349
Silex Scintillans (Book 2; 1655), 420
Sin!, 474
Sinl wilt Thou vanquish mel, 475
Since I am comming to that Holy roome, 136
Since she whom I lov'd hath payd her last debt, 133
Sinnes heavie loade, 31
Sion, 188
Sith my life from life is parted, 45
Song. (Attributed to the Earl of Pembroke), 224
Sonnets [Milton], 269
Sonnets from Walton's LIFE OF HERBERT, 164
Soules joy, now I am gone, 224
Souls joy, when thou art gone, 223
SOUTHWELL, ROBERT (1561— 1$95), 2$
Spell Eva backe and Ave shall you finde, 40
Spit in my face you Jewes, and pierce my side, 88
[562]
INDEX
Still I complain; I am complaining still, 504
Superliminare, 146
Sure, It was so. Man in those early days, 390
Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright, 175
Sweet, harmles lives!, 409
Sweet Peace, where dost thou dwell? I humbly crave, 192
Sweet were the dayes, when thou didst lodge with Lot, 183
Sweetest of sweets, I thank you: when displeasure, 170
TAYLOR, EDWARD (1645-1729), 485
Teach me, my God and King, 225
Temple, 81
Tentdsti, fateor, sine vulnere scepius, 6- me, 349
That Childish Thoughts such Joys Inspire, 456
The Agonie, 150
The Altar, 147
The Anniversarie, 70
The Author to his loving Cosen, 2,7
The Authors Emblem (concerning himself), 349
The Bag, 205
The Banquet, 2,2,1
The Bird, 429
The British Church [Herbert], 189
The Brittish Church [Vaughan], 363
1 The bunch of grapes, 195
I The burning Babe, 35
The Church-floore, 171
The Church-porch, 142
The Collar, 206
The Coronet, 327
The Crosse, 211
The Dawning, 190
The death of our Ladie, 44
The Dedication [Herbert], 141
The Dedication [Vaughan], 350
The Elixer, 225
The Evening-watch, 374
The Extasie, 73
The Familie, 198
The First Anniversary, 95
The flaming Heart. Upon the booke and picture of Teresa. As ;
is usually expressed with a Seraphim beside her, 309
The flight into Egypt, 43
The Flower, 213
The Forerunners, 218
The Funerall, 75
[563]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
The Garden, 342.
The Glance, 2, 15
The H. Communion, 160
The H. Scriptures. I., 166
The harbingers are come. See, see their mark,
The Holy Communion, 402,
The Invitation, 2, 19
The Lampe, 364
The Match, 383
The Morning-watch, 373
The Nativttie of Christ, 41
The Night, 434
The night, the starlesse night of passion, 53
The Odour, St. Cor. ,2, 216
The Palm-tree, 428
The Passion [Milton], 263
The Passion [Vaughan], 377
The Pearl. Matth. 13, 176
The Picture of little T. C. in a Prospect of Flowers, 340
The Pilgrimage [Herbert], 199
The Pilgrimage [Vaughan], 406
The Practical Methode of Meditation, 3
The Preparative, 451
The Presentation, 42,
The Priesthood, 3,07
The Primrose, 76
The Recovery, 475
The Relapse, 381
The Reprisall, 149
The Resolve, 38*
The Retreate, 368
The Salutation, 441
The Sap, 411
The Search [Herbert], 209
The Search [Vaughan], 339
The Second Anniversarie, 113
The Seed growing secretly, 431
The Shepheards, 409
The Showre, 366
The Starre [Herbert], 172
The Starre [Vaughan], 427
The Storm [Herbert], 196
The Storm [Vaughan], 372
The sunne begins uppon my heart to shine, 61
The Temper, 165
The Tempest, 403
[564]
INI>EX
THE TEMPLE (1633), from, 141
The Thanksgiving, 147
THE THIRD CENTURY, from, 454
The unfortunate Lover, 337
The Vines of Lebanon that briskly grew, 510
The Virgine Maries conception, 38
The Virgins salutation, 40
The Visitation, 40
The Water-fall, 436
The Weeper, 273
The Windows, 172,
The World, 407
The world's a Floore, whose swelling heapes retaine, 235
These little Limmes, 441
They are all gone into the world of light!, 4^3
This is my playes last scene, here heavens appoint, 86
This is the Month, and this the happy morn, 251
Thou hast made me, And shall thy worke decay?, 83
Thou, whom the former precepts have, 146
Thou, whose sad heart, and weeping head lyes low, 400
Thou, whose sweet youth and early hopes inhance, 1421
Three sortes of teares doe from myne eies distraine, 55
Through that pure Virgin-shrine, 434
Thus have I back againe to thy bright name, 312
Thy Grace, Dear Lord's my golden Wrack, I finde, 494
*Tis dead night round about: Horrour doth creepe, 364
'Tis now cleare day: I see a Rose, 359
Tis the yeares midnight, and it is the dayes, 131
To be redeemd the worlds Redeemer brought, 42,
To Christ, 138
To his Coy Mistress, 335
To Mr Rowland Woodward, 77
TRAHERNE, THOMAS (1637—1674), 439
*Twas so, I saw thy birth: That drowsie Lake, 366
Unprofitablenes, 392
Upon the Circumcision, 267
Upon this Primrose hill, 76
Vanity of Spirit, 367
VAXJGHAN, HENRY ( l6^1?-l695 ), 347
Vertue, 175
Weepe living thinges, of life the mother dyes, 44
Weighing the stedfastness and state, 414
Welcome dear book, souls Joy, and foodl The feast, 391
[565]
THE MEDITATIVE POEM
Welcome sweet and sacred cheer, 221
Welcome sweet, and sacred feast; welcome life!, 402
Well meaning Readers! you that come as Friends, 309
What doth this noise of thoughts within my heart, 198
What ever 'tis, whose beauty here below, 427
What if this present were the worlds last night?, 90
What is this strange and uncouth thing?, 211
What Love is this of thine, that Cannot bee, 489
What meaneth this, that Christ an hymne did singe, 53
When blessed Marie wip'd her Saviours feet, 216
When Christ with care and pangs of death opprest, 32
When death and hell their right in Herod claime, 43
When first I saw true beauty, and thy Joys, 413
When first my lines of heavnly joyes made mention, 184
When first thou didst entice to thee my heart, 156
When first thy Eies unveil, give thy Soul leave, 385
When first thy sweet and gracious eye, 215
When for the Thorns with which I long, too long, 327
When I consider how my light is spent, 269
When my devotions could not pierce, 174
When that rich Soule which to her heaven is gone, 95
When to my Eyes, 370
When without tears I looke on Christ, I see, 62
Where, like a pillow on a bed, 73
Where the remote Bermudas ride, 332
While that my soul repairs to her devotion, 169
Whither, O, whither art thou fled, 209
Who ever comes to shroud me, do not harme, 75
Why are wee by all creatures waited on?, 89
Why do I languish thus, drooping and dull, 191
Wilt thou forgive that sinn, where I begunn, 138
Wilt thou love God, as he thee! then digest, 91
With his kinde mother who partakes thy woe, 81
With sick and famisht eyes, 202
With what deep murmurs through times silent stealth, 436
Wonder, 443
Ye flaming Powers, and winged Warriours bright, 267
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