יהוה
HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE

DU BARTAS HIS Deuine Weekes and Workes Translated:

And Dedicated to the Kings most excellent Maiestie by Josuah Syluester. Now thirdly corrected & augm.

[figure]

ANAGRAMMATA REGIA: Regi.

IACOBVS STVART: Iusta Scrutabo.

IAMES STVART: A iust Master.

FOr A iust Master haue I labour'd long:
To A iust Master haue I vow'd my best:
By A iust Master should I take no wrong:
With A iust Master would my life be blest.
In A iust Master are all Vertues met:
From A iust Master flowes aboundant grace:
But, A iust Master is so hard to get,
That A iust Master seems of Phoenix race:
Yet, A iust Master haue I found in fine.
Of A iust Master if you question This,
Whom A iust Master I so iust define;
My Liege IAMES STVART A iust Master is.
And A iust Master could my Work deserue,
Such A iust Master would I iustly serue.
Voy Sire Saluste

Au Tres-puissant, tres-prudent, & tres-Auguste IAQVES (par la grace de Dieu) Roy de la Grande Britaigne, de France, & d' Irlande: De­fenseur de lay Foy vnique Catholique, Apostoli­que, & Christiene.

*⁎*

VOY (SIRE) ton SALVSTE habillé en Anglois
( Anglois encore plus de Coeur que de language)
Qui, cognoistant loyal ton Royal Heritage
En çes beaux Liz dorez au Sceptre des Gaulois
(Cōme au vray Souverain des vrays Subiects François)
Cy a tes pieds sacrez te faict son sainct Hommage
(De ton Hoeur & Grandeur eternal tesmoignage)
Miroir de touts Heros, Miracle de touts Roys.
VOY (SIRR) tō SALVSTE, ou (pour le moins) son om­bre;
Ou l'ombre (pour le moins) de se Traicts plus divins,
Qui, ores trop noyrçis par mō pinçeau trop sombre,
S'esclair çiront aux Raiz de tes Yieux plus benins.
Donques d'vn oeil benin & d'vn accueil Auguste
Reçoy ton cher Bartas, & VOY SIRE SALVSTE.
Anagrammatisme de
IOSVA SYLVESTRE: de vostre Maiestè Tres humble Subiect & Seruiteur.

A l'istessa sua Mäestá serenisma.

NEptun', gielozo de La Musa Ingléze,
L'immura si del Braccio crystallino,
Ch'il piu divin del Canto suo divino
Poco s'intende fuòr del suo Paëze:
[...]erò (Signor) Come già la Francèze
T'à Celebrato di-quà l' Apenino;
Di-là, l' ITALICA al Peregrino
Anche farà l' alte tue Lodi intèse.
Siche, la Sèna, el Pàdo prestaranno
Lor Chori sacri, per Cantàr l' immenza
Alma Virtù, Valòr, Pietà, Prudénza
Di GIACOMO (gran SALOMON Britanno)
Per di tua Gloria (vdita qual [...]e quanta)
Rapir il Mondo in maraviglia santa.
L'istesso Osseruantissimo▪ I. S.

INSCRIPTIO.

To England's, Scotland's, France & Ireland's KING:
Great Emperour of EVROPE'S greatest Iles:
Monarch of Hearts, and Arts, and euery thing
Beneath BOOTES, manie thousand myles:
Vpon whose Head, Honour and Fortune smiles:
About whose brows, clusters of Crowns do spring:
VVhose Faith, Him Cham­pion of the FAITH en-stiles:
VVhose VVisdome's Fame O're all the World dooth ring:
MNEMOSYNE &
Her faire Daughters bring
The DAPHNEAN Crown,
To Crowne Him (Laureat)
VVhole and sole Soueraigne
Of the THE SPIAN Spring:
Prince of PARNASSVS, & Piërian State:
And with their Crown, their kingdoms Arms they yeelde
Thrice three Penns Sun-like in a Cynthian field.
Sign'd by TIMES-SELVES, and their high Treasorer
BARTAS, the great: Ingrosst by SYLVESTER.
Our SVNNE did Set, and yet no NIGHT ensew'd;
Our WOE-full losse so IOY-full gaine did bring,
In teares wee smile, amid our sighes we Sing:
So suddainely our dying LIGHT renew'd.
As when the ARABIAN (only) Bird doth burne
Her aged body in sweete FLAMES to death,
Out of Her CINDERS
A newe Birde hath breath,
[figure]
In whom the BEAVTIES
Of the FIRST returne;
From Spicie Ashes of the sacred VRNE
Of our dead Phoenix (dear ELIZABETH)
A new true PHOENIX liuely flourisheth,
Whom greater glories than the First adorne.
So much (O KING) thy sacred Worth presum-I-on,
IAMES, thou iust Heire of England's ioyfull VNION.
IAMES, Thou iust Heire of England's ioyfull VNION,
VNITING now too This long sever'd ILE
(Sever'd for Strangers, from it Selfe the while)
Vnder one Scepter in One Faith's Communion:
That in our Loues may never bee dis-vnion,
Throughout-all Kingdomes in thy Regall Stile,
Make CHRIST thy Guide
( In whom was neuer guile)
CLIO.
To RVLE thy Subiectes
In his GOSPEL'S Vnion.
So, on thy Seate thy Seede shall euer Florish,
To SION's Comfort and th' eternall Terror
Of GOG and MAGOG, Athëisme & Error:
So shal one TRVTH thy people train & nourish
In meeke Obedience of Th' Almightie's Pleasure,
And to give CEASAR what belongs to CAESAR.
And (to give CEASAR what belongs to CAESAR)
To sacred Thee (drad Soveraigne) deerest IAMES,
While sad-glad ENGLAND yields Hir Diadems,
To be dispos'd at Thine Imperiall Pleasure:
While Peers & States expose their pomp & treasure
To entertaine thee from thy Tweed to THAMES
VVith Royall Presentes,
And rare-pretious Gemmes;
THALIA.
As Mindes and Meanes
Concurre in happy measure.
Heer (gracious Lord) lowe prostrate I present you
The richest Iewell my poore FATE affoords,
( A Sacrifice, that long long since I meant you)
Your Minion BARTAS, masked in My words:
With Him, my Selfe, my Seruice, Wit and Arte,
With all the SINNEVVES of a Loyall Heart.
With all the SINNEWES of a Loyall Heart,
Vnto Your Royall Handes I humblie Sacre
These weeks ( the works of the worlds glorius Maker)
Diuinely warbled by LORD BARTAS Art
(Though through my rudenes heer mis-tun'd in part)
For, to whom meeter should This Muse betake her,
Than to Your Highnesse,
Whom (as chiefe Partaker)
MELPOMENE.
All MVSES Crowne
For Principall Desarte?
To whom should sacred Arte and learned Pietie
In Highest Notes of Heauenly Musike Sing
The Royall Deedes of the redoubted Dëitie,
But to a learned and religious KING?
To whom but You should Holy FAITH cōmend-her,
Great king of ENGLAND, christiā FAITH'S defender?
Great king of ENGLAND, Christiā FAITH'S defender.
No Selfe-presuming of my Witt's perfection
( In what is mine of this Diuine Confection
Boldens mee thus to You the Same to tender:
But with the Rest, the Best I haue to render
For loyall Witnesse of my glad affection,
My MITE I offer
To Your High Protection,
CALLIOPE.
Which MORE it needs,
The more it selfe is slender.
But, for mine AVTHOR, in his Sacred-fury,
I know your Highnes knows him Prince of Singers,
And His rare Workes worthy Your Royall fingers
( Though heer His lustre too-too-much obscure-I)
For His sake therefore, and Your Selfes Benignitie,
Accept my ZEALE, and pardon mine indignitie.
Accept my ZEALE, and pardon mine Indignitie
(Smoothing with smiles sterne Maiesties Seueritie)
Sith from this Errour of my bolde temeritie,
Great good may grow, through heav'ns and your benignitie:
For, farre more equall to your BARTAS Dignitie,
This may prouoke (with more diuine dexteritie)
Some NOBLER Wit,
To SING to our Posteritie
TERPSICHORE.
This NOBLEST Worke,
After it Self's Condignitie:
Or else the sweete Rayes of your Royall Fauour
May shine so warme on these wilde Fruites of mine,
As much may mend their vertue, taste, and sauour,
And Rypen faire the Rest that are behinde:
The rather, if some Clowde of COMFORT drop
Amid the Braunches of my blasted Hope.
Amid the Braunches of my blasted Hope,
Three Noble pearches had my Muse of late,
Where (Turtle-like) groaning Sad tunes she sate:
But (O!) curst ENVIE did vntimely lop
The First: the Next, bruiz'd with his Fall, did drop;
The Third remaines, growen a great arm of State:
Most WORTIE So,
But so prae—occupate
EVTERPE.
VVith other MVSES,
That OVRS hath no scope.
Wherefore for succour in her wearie flight,
Hardly pursu'd by that sharpe Vulture, WANT,
Shee's fain my Liege (with your good leaue) to light
Amid the Top-leaues of Your CEDAR-Plant:
Where, if you daign Her Rest frō FORTVNE'S wrong,
Shee shall more sweetely Ende her solemne Song.
Shee shall more sweetely Ende Her solemne Song
(If Heaven grant Life, and You give leaue to doo-it)
By adding fitly All those Partes vnto it,
Which more precisely to Your Praise belong▪
(Wherein expresly, with a Thankefull tongue,
To your great Self, APOLLO'S self applies-him,
Yeeldes YOV His Laurells,
And dooth all agnize-him
ERATO.
Rapt with the VVonder
Of Your Uertues, Young).
All the Posthumiall race of that rare Spirit
(His Swan tunes, sweetest neer his latest breath)
Which, of his glory their Childes-part inherit
(Thogh born, alas!) after their Father's death)
As Epilogue, shall PAYE our gratefull Vowes
Vnder the shaddowe of Your Sacred Boughes.
Vnder the shaddowe of Your Sacred Boughes,
Great, Royall CEDAR of Mounte LIBANON
(Greater then that great Tree of BABYLON)
No maruaile if our TVRTLE seek to House;
Sith CAESAR'S Eagles, that so strongly Rouze:
Th' olde H [...]gard FALCON, hatcht by Pampelon:
Th' IBERIAN GRIPHIN
(And not THESE alone,
POLYMNIA.
But euerie Birde and Beast)
With HVMBLE vowes,
Seekes roost or rest vnder your mighty Bowers:
So mighty hath th' Almighty made you now:
O Honour Him who thus hath Honour'd You,
And build His house who thus hath blessed Yours.
So, STVARTS ay shall stand (propt with His Power)
To Foes a Terrour, and to Friendes a Tower:
To Foes a Terrour, and to Friendes a Tower:
ERROR'S Defyer, and True FAITH'S Defence:
A Sword to Wrong, a Shielde to Innocence:
Cheering the mild; checking the wild with powr:
The Starre of other States, and Sterne of Our:
The Rod of Vice, & VERTVE'S Recompence:
Long liue King IAMES
in al MAGNIFICENCE:
VRANIA.
And (full of DAYES)
When (in his Blis-ful Bowr)
Heauens king shal crown thee with th' immortal flowr,
Fall all These Blessings on that forwarde Prince
HENRIE (our Hope) to-Crowne His Excellence
A KING at Home, abroad a CONQVEROR.
So Happily, that wee may still Conclude,
Our Sunne did Sette and yet no Night ensew'd.

SVBSCRIPTIO.

YOVR MAIESTIES Most loyall Subiect & Humble Seruant IOSVAH SYLVESTER.

The Order of the Bookes or Tracts of this Volume.

THE FIRST WEEKE containeth Seaven Dayes.
THE 1. Day.
pag. 1.
THE 2. Day.
24.
THE 3. Day.
59.
THE 4. Day.
91.
THE 5. Day.
114.
THE 6. Day.
144.
THE 7. Day.
175.
THE SECOND WEEK likewise Seauen DAIES: whereof Three were neuer finished.
  • ADAM, 1. Day,
    Eden.
    pag. 215.
    The Imposture.
    236.
    The Furies.
    254.
    The Handy-Crafts.
    276.
  • NOAH, 2. Day,
    The Arke.
    pag. 298.
    Babylon.
    315.
    The Colonies.
    335.
    The Columnes.
    358.
  • ABRAHAM, 3. Day,
    The Vocation.
    pag. 381.
    The Fathers.
    421.
    The Law.
    436.
    The Captains.
    477.
  • DAVID. 4. Day.
    The Tropheis.
    pag. 514.
    The Magnificence.
    551.
    The Schisme.
    590.
    The Decay.
    619.
  • Vrania.
    pag. 656.
    The Triumph of Faith.
    672.
    The Quadrains of Pibrac.
    697.
    The miraculous Peace of France.
    738.
    A Paradox against Liberty.
    780.
[figure]
CEs Tempes laurizez, du Laurier mesme honeur;
Ces Yeux contemple-Cieux, ou la Vertu se lit;
Ces traits au front, marquez de Scavoir & d' Esprit;
Ne sont que du BARTAS vn ombre exterieur.
Le Pinçeau n'en peut plus: Mais, de sa propre Plume
Il [...]est peint le Dedans, dans son divin Volume.
These laureat Temples which the Laurel grace;
These Honest Lines, these Signes of Wit and Art;
This Map of Vertues, in a Muse-full Face;
Are but a blush of BARTAS outward part.
The Pencil could no more: But his owne Pen
Limms him with-in, the Miracle of Men.

LECTORIBVS.

[figure]

ENGLAND'S Apelles (rather OVR APOLLO) WORLD'S—wonder SYDNEY, that rare more—than-man, This LOVELY VENVS first to LIMNE beganne, VVith such a PENCILL as no PENNE dares follow: How thē shold I, in Wit & Art so shalow, Attēpt the Task which yet none other can? Far be the thought, that mine vnlearned hand His heauenly Labour shold so much vnhallow: Yet, least (that Holy-RELIQVE being shrin'd In som High-Place, close lockt frō common light) My Country-men should bee debarr'd the sight Of these DIVINE pure Beauties of the Minde; Not daring meddle with APELLES TABLE; This haue I muddled, as my MVSE was able.

INDIGNIS.

Hence profane Hands, Factors for Hearts profa [...]e:
Hence hissing Atheists, Hellish Misse-Creants:
Hence Buzzard Kites, dazled with Beautie's glances:
Hence itching Eares, with Toyes and Tales vp-tane:
Hence Green-sick Wits, that relish nought but bane:
Hence dead lyve Idiots, drown'd in Ignorance:
Hence wanton Michols, that de [...]ide my Dance:
Hence M [...]mike Ap [...]s; vaine Follies Counter-p [...]ne:
Hence prying Critik [...]s, carping past your Skill:
Hence dull Conceipts, that have no true Discerning:
Hence envious Momes, converting Good to Ill:
Hence all at-once, that lack (or loue not) LEARNING:
Hence All vn-holy, frō the WORLDS BIRTH Feast;
VRANIA's Grace brookes no vn-worthy Guest

OPTIMIS.

But (my best Guest) welcom great King of FAERIE:
Welcom fair QVEEN (his vertue's vertuous Love):
Welcom right AEGLETS of the ROYAL Eyrie:
Welcom sound Eares, that sacred Tunes approve:
Welcom pure Hands, whose Hearts are fixt aboue:
Welcom deer Soules, that of Art's choise are charie:
Welcom chaste Matrons, whom true zeal doth move:
Welcom good Wits, that grace-full Mirth can varie:
Welcom milde Censors, that mean slips can cover:
Welcom quick Spirits, that sound the depth of Art:
Welcom MECAENAS▪ & each LEARNING-lover:
Welcom All good: Welcom, with all my Heart:
Sit-down (I pray) and taste of every Dish:
If Ought mis—like You, better Cooke I wish.

Intimo Iosuae Sylvestri, Hexasticon.

VTprodesse suis possit, Salustius offert
Gallis, quod nobis Iosua noster, opus:
Ille ergo eximijs hoc vno nomine dignus
Laudibus; at duplici nititur hic merito:
Quem simul Authoris famae, charae (que) videmus
Communi Patriae consuluisse bono.
Io: Bo. Miles.

Ad Ioshuam Sylvesterum, G. Salustij genuinum Interpretem.

(*⁎*)

FAre agê, divini cultissima lingua Salusti,
(SYLVESTER) Clarij ceu fuit ille Dei;
Elyzij qua parte Iugiconvenerat, & te
Edoc [...]it sensus & sua verba Senex?
An mage, corpored Herois compage soluta,
In te Anima Elyzium fecerat ipsa sibi?
Credo equidē; & Samij rata Dogmata sunt Senis; vnde,
Non Translata mihi, sed genuina canis.
Quin & Posteritas, si pagina prima taceret,
Interpres dubitet tune vel ille siet.
Car: Fitz-Geofridus Lati-Portensis.

Iosua Siluester Anagr: Uerè Os Salustij.

OStu SYLVESTER nostro cur Ore vocaris?
An quòd in ORE fer as Mel? quòd in Aure Mel-os?
An quòd BARTASSI faciem dum pingis et ORA,
ORA tui pariter quaelibet ora colit?
Nempe licèt duram praete fers nomine SILVAM,
Silvas et salebr as carmina nulla tenent:
Sed quod Athenarum COR, dux Salaminius olim
Dixit, Inest libris Os (que) vigor (que) tuis.
Ergo OS esto alijs, mihi Suadae LINGVA videris;
Musis et Phoebo charus OCELLVS eris.

Ad Gallum de Bartassio iam toto Anglicè donato.

Quòd Gallus factus modò sit, mirare, Britannus,
Galle? novum vide as, nec tamen invide as:
Silvester vester, noster Bartassius, ambo
Laude quidem gemina digni, vt et ambo pari.

In Detractores ad Authorem.

Tace at malevolum OS malè strepent is Zoïli;
Monstrum bilingue, septuplex Hydrae caput:
Dum Septimanam septies faustam canis
Te Septimana septies faustum facit
Quaevis, nec vlla deleat Iosuam Dies.
Nempe ORE fari Vera si licet meo,
OS ipse VERE diceris SALVSTII;
Qui si impetar is dentibus mordentibus
Impurioris ORIS, [...] Theon
OS non carere dentibus sciat tuum.
E. L. Oxon.

In duo Poetarum lumina, Bartam & Sylveste­rum, carmen Asclepiadeum Gliconicum, dicol. Distroph.

TE Barta caneret Melpomenes melos,
Vel Germana soror nympha Polymnia,
Musarúmu [...] potens pater,
Pulsans plectra sonantia.
Syluestere, meam tusuperas lyram,
Et linguam modulum, dum rudis obstrepit:
Vatem commeruit decus
Illustrem ingenij tui.
Nemo fronte ger [...]ns Daphnidis arborem,
Vel Martem valuit scribere bellicum
Digne, vel Veneris rosae
Vultum purpureae parem:
Nec vestram valeo tollere versibus
Laudem ter geminam Sicaelidum meis
Sacra progenies satis;
Non vos aequiparem modis.
Gallorum D [...]uidas hospites arborum
Bartas grandiloqui carminis alite
Praestat: noster amat sui
Ponti vincere Naiadas:
Ambo sic proprias viribus ingenî
Divas ruricolas ponticolas simul
Vicistis, trivij meum
Vicistis miserum melos.
Coelum percutiat Gallia vertice,
Ipsos coelicolas terra Britannica,
Quae vates tulerint duos
Claros prae reliquis novos.
G. B. Cantabrig.

EPIGRAM. To M. Iosuah Syluester.

IF to admire were to commend, my Praise
Might then both thee, thy work and merit raise:
But, as it is (the Child of Ignorance,
And vtter stranger to all ayre of France)
How can I speak of thy great paines, but erre?
Since they can onlie iudge, that can confer.
Behold! The reuer end Shade of BARTAS stands
Before my thought, ana (in thy right) commaunds
That to the world I publish, for him, This;
BARTAS doth wish thy English now were His.
Son ell in that are his inuentions wrought,
As His will now be the Translation thought,
Thine the Originall; and France shall boast,
No more, those mayden glories she hath lost.
B. Iohnson.

In prayse of the Translator.

IF diuine BARTAS (from whose blessed Braines
Such Works of grace, or gracefull works did stream)
Were so admir'd for Wit's celestiall Strain's
As made their Uertues Seate, the high'st Extream;
Then, IOSVAH, the Sun of thy bright praise
Shall fixed stand in Arts fair Firmament
Till Dissolution date Times Nights, and Daies,
Sith right thy Lines are made to BARTAS Bent,
Whose Compass circumscribes (in spacious Words)
The Vniuersall in particulars;
And thine the same, in other Tearms, affords;
So, both your Tearms agree in friendly Wars:
If Thine be onely His, and His be Thine,
They are (like God) eternall, sith Diuine.
Iohn Dauies of Hereford.

To M. Iosuah Syluester, of his Bartas Meta­phrased.

I Dare confesse; of Muses, more than nine,
Nor list, nor can I enuy none, but thine.
Shee, drencht alone in Sion's sacred Spring,
Her Makers praise hath sweetly chose to sing,
And reacheth neerest th' Angels notes aboue;
Nor lists to sing or Tales, or Warrs, or Loue.
One while I finde, hir, in hir nimble flight,
Cutting the brazen spheares of heav'n bright:
Thence, straight she glides, before I be aware,
Through the three regions of the liquid ayre:
Thence, rushing down, through Nature's Closet-dore,
She ransacks all her Grandame's secret store;
And, diuing to the darknes of the Deep,
Sees there what wealth the waues in prison keep:
And, what shee sees aboue, belowe, betweene,
She showes and sings to others eares and eyne,
Tis true; thy Muse another's steps doth presse:
The more's her paine; nor is her praise the less.
Freedom giues scope, vnto the rouing thought;
Which, by restraint, is curb'd. Who wonders ought,
That feet, vnfettred, walken farre, or fast?
Which, pent with chains, mote want their wonted haste.
Thou follow'st Bartasses diuiner streine;
And singst his numbers in his natiue veine.
BARTAS was some French Angell, girt with Bayes:
And thou a BARTAS art, in English Layes.
Whether is more? Me seems (the sooth to say'n)
One BARTAS speaks in Tongues, in Nations, twayn.
Ios. Hall.

To my good friend, M. Sylvester, in honour of this sacred Work.

THus to aduenture forth, and re-conuay
The best of treasures from a forraine Coast,
And take that wealth wherein they gloried most,
And make it ours by such a gallant pray,
And that without iniustice; doth bewray
The glory of the Work, that we may boast
Much to haue wonn, and others nothing lost
By taking such a famous prize away,
As thou industrious SYLVESTER hast wrought,
And heer enricht vs with th' immortall store
Of other's sacred lines; which from them brought,
Coms by thy taking greater than before:
So hast thou lighted from a flame deuout,
As great a flame, that neuer shall goe out.
Samuel Daniel.

To M. Iosuah Syluester. A SONNET.

THe glorious Salust, morall, true, diuine,
Who (all inspired with a Holy rage)
Makes Heav'n his subiect, and the Earth his stage,
The Arts his Actors, and the Triple-Trine:
Who his rich language gildes, and graceth fine:
His Countries honour, wonder of our age;
Whose World's blest Birth, and blessed Pupillage,
Gain him a world of fame for euerie line;
Hath heer obtain'd a true Interpreter,
Whom, fame, nor gaine, but loue to Heav'n and vs,
Mov'd to vn-French his learned labours thus.
Thus loues, thus liues all-loued SYLVESTER.
Forward, sweet friend: Heav'n, Nature, Arts, and Men,
All to this task prefer thine only Pen.
G. Gay-Wood.

Dilectissimo Io: Syluestri.

GAllica visa fuit Princeps modo lingua; necvlla
Illi vel similis, vel mihi maior erat:
Credideram magni nullo sermone referri
BARTASI ingenium posse, vel eloquium:
Cum subito clarum dedit alma Britannia solem,
Ingenij tenebras abstulit ille mei.
Carmina BARTASI SYLVESTER carmine vertit;
Et sisuccessu non mellore, pari.
O, ter felicem venam, Dulceis (que) Camoenas!
Queis tanto Vati contigit esse pares.
Incepto felix SYLVESTER tramite perge;
Tam bene ne coeptum destituatur opus.
Sic pia Sicaelides aspirent Numina Musae:
Sic faueat coeptis doctus Apollo tuis:
Sic tandem felix te gaudeat Anglia vate:
Sic te Virgilium norit et ipsa suum.
Io: Mauldaeus Germanus.

Amicissimo Iosuae Syluestri, G. Salustij D. BARTASII interpreti, Encomium.

QVod conspecta Pharus vario dat lumine vasta
Aequora sulcanti, cum vaga Luna silet:
Et quod lustratis Phoebi dat flammatenebris
Erranti in syluis dum manifestat iter:
Hoc dat praestanti methodo SALVSTIVS illis
Cognitio Sanctae queis placet Historiae.
Ille dedit Gallis quod nobis IOSVA noster,
Qui solus patrio ductus amore dedit.
Ingenium cupitis, non fictaque flumina Vatum?
Hic magnum doctis Hortus acumen habet:
Musa tua est BARTAS dulcissima: Musa videtur
Ipsa tamen NOSTRI, dulcior esse mihi.
Si. Ca. Gen.

Flexanimo Salustij du Bartas interpreti, I [...]. Syluestri, carmen Encomiasticon.

OFt haue I seen sweet fancie-pleasing facts
Consort themselues with swart misshapen features,
To grace the more their soule-subduing graces,
By the defect of such deformed creatures;
As Painters garnish with their shadowes sable
The brighter colours in a curious Table:
So, English Bartas, though thy beauties, heer
Excell so far the glory of the rest,
That France and England both must hold thee deer,
Sith both their glories thou hast heer exprest
(Shewing the French tongues plenty to be such,
And yet that ours can vtter full as much)
Let not thy fairest Heav'n-aspiring Muse
Disdaine these humble notes of my affection:
My faulty lines let faithfull loue excuse,
Sith my defects shall adde to thy perfection:
For, these rude rimes, thus ragged, base, and poore,
Shall (by their want) exalt thy worth the more.
E. G.

In Commendation of du BARTAS, and his Translator, M. IOSVAH SYLVESTER.

A SONNET.

WHile nights black wings the dayes bright beauties hide,
And while fayre Phoebus diues in western deep;
Men (gazing on the heav'nly stages steep)
Commend the Moon, and many Stars beside:
But, when Aurora's windowes open wide,
That Sol's clear rayes those sable clouds may banish,
Then sodainly those petty lights do vanish,
Vailing the glories of their glistring pride:
Sa, while du Bartas and our Syluester
(The glorious light of England and of France)
Haue hid their beams, each glowe-worme durst prefer
His feeble glimpse of glimmering radiance:
But, now th [...]se Suns begin to gild the day,
Those twinkling sparks are soon disperst away.
R. H.

In Commendation of this worthy Work▪

FOole that I was; I thought, in younger times,
That all the Muses had their graces sowen
In Chaucers, Spencers, and sweet Daniels Rimes
(So, good seems best, where better is vnknowen).
While thus I dream'd, my busie phantasic
Bad me awake, open mine eyes, and see
How SALVST's English Sun ( our SYLVESTER)
Makes Moon and Stars to vaile: and how the Sheau [...]s
Of all his Brethren, bowing do prefer
His Fruits before their Winter-shaken Leaues:
So much for Matter, and for Manner too,
Hath He out gon those that the rest out goe.
Let Gryll be Gryll: let Enuie's vip'rous seed
Gnaw forth the brest which bred and fed the same;
Rest safe (Sound truth from fear is euer freed)
Malice may bark, but shall not bite thy Name:
IOSVA, thy Name with BARTAS name shall liue▪
For, double life you each to other giue.
But, Mother Enuie, if this Arras spunne
Of Golden threds be seen of English eyes,
Why then (alas!) our Cob-webs are vndone:
But She, more subtile, than religious-wise,
Hatefull, and hated, proud, and ignorant,
Pale, swoln as Toade (though customed to vaunt)
Now holds her Peace: but (O!) what Peace hath She
With Vertue? none: Therefore defie her frown.
Gainst greater force growes greater victory.
As Camomile, the more you tread it down,
The more it springs; Vertue, despightfully
Vsed, doth vse the more to fructisie:
And so do Thou, vntill thy Mausole rare
Do fill this World with wonderment; and, that
In Venus Form no clumsie fist may dare
To meddle with thy Pencil and thy Plat;
I fear thy life more, till thy goale be run,
Than Wife his Spouse, or Father fears his Son.
R. R.
‘Malum patienti lucrum.’

An Acrostick Sonnet, to his friend M. IOSVA SYLVESTER.

I IF profit, mixt with pleasure, merit Praise,
O Or Works diuine be 'fore profane preferr'd:
S Shall not this heauenly Work the Workers raise,
V Vnto the Clouds on Columnes selfly-rear'd?
A And (though his Earth be lowe in Earth interr'd)
S Shall not du BARTAS (Poetspride and glorie)
I In after Ages be with wonder heard,
L Liuely recording th' VNIVERSAL Story?
V Vndoubtedly He shal: and so shalt Thou,
E Eare-charming Eccho of his sacred Voice▪
S Sweet SYLVESTER, how happy was thy choise,
T To Task thee thus, and thus to quight thee now?
E End as thou hast begun; and then by right
R Rare Muses NON-SVCH, shal thy Work be hight.
R. N. Gen.

To the Same.

HAd golden Homer, and great Maro kept
In enuious silence their admired measures,
A thousand Worthies worthy deeds had slept:
They, reft of prayse; and we of learned pleasures.
But (O!) what rich incomparable treasures
Had the world wanted, had not this modern glory,
Diuine du BARTAS, hid his heauenly ceasures,
Singing the mighty World's immortall story?
O then how deeply is our [...]le beholding
To Chapman, and to Phaer! but, yet much more
To thee (deare SYLVESTER) for thus vnfolding
These holy wonders, hid from vs before.
Those works profound, are yet profane; but thine,
Graue, learned, deepe, delightfull, and diuine.
R. N.
Du BARTAS His FIRST …

Du BARTAS His FIRST VVEEK, Or Birth of the WORLD: Wher-in In SEAVEN DAYES The glorious Work Of The CREATION is diuinely handled.

In the 1. Day, The CHAOS.

In the 2. Day, The ELEMENTS.

In the 3. Day, The SEA & EARTH.

In the 4. Day, The HE AVENS, SVN, MOON, &c.

In the 5. Day, The FISHES & FOVLES,

In the 6. Day, The BEASTS & MAN.

In the 7. Day, The SABAOTH.

Acceptam refero.

The first Daie of the First VVeek.

THE ARGVMENT.
GOD'S Ayde implor'd: the Summ of All propos'd:
World not eternall, nor by Chaunce compos'd:
But of meer Nothing God it essence gaue:
It had Beginning: and an End shall haue:
Curst Atheists quipt: the Heathen Clarks control'd:
Doom's glorious Day: Star-Doctros blam'd, for bold:
The Matter form'd: Creation of the Light:
Alternate Changes of the Day and Night:
The Birth of Angels; some for Pride deiected:
The rest persist in Grace, and guard th' Elected.
THou, glorious Guide of Heav'ns star-glistring motion,
The Poet implo­reth the gracious assistance of the true God of Hea uen, Earth, Ayrc and Sea, that he may happily fi­nish the work he takes in hand.
Thou, thou (true Neptune) Tamer of the Ocean,
Thou, Earth's drad Shaker (at whose only Word,
Th' Eolian Scoutes are quickly still'd and stirr'd)
Lift vp my soule, my drossie spirits refine,
With learned Artenrich This Work of mine:
O Father, graunt I sweetly warbleforth
Vnto our seede the WORLD'S renowned BIRTH:
Graunt (gracious God) that I record in Verse
The rarest Beauties of this VNIVERSE;
And grant, therein Thy Power I may discern;
That, teaching others, I my self may learn.
And also graunt (great Architect of Wonders,
The Trāslator knowing and acknowled­ging his owne insufficiēcy for so excellent a labor, craueth also the ayde of the All suffici­ent God.
Whose mighty Voice speaks in the midst of Thunders,
Causing the Rocks to rock, and Hills to tear;
Calling the things that Are not, as they were;
Confounding Mighty things by means of Weak;
Teaching dumb Infants thy dread Praise to speak;
Inspiring Wisedom into those that want,
And giuing Knowledge to the Ignorant)
Graunt mee, good Lord (as thou hast giv'n me hart
To vndertake so excellent a Part)
Graunt me such Iudgement, Grace, and Eloquence,
So correspondent to that Excellence,
That in some measure, I may seem t' inherit
( Elisha-like) my dear Elias Spirit.
CLEAR FIRE for euer hath not Ayre imbraç't,
The World was not from euerla­sting.
Nor Ayre for-ay inuiron'd Waters vast,
Nor Waters always wrapt the Earth therein;
But all this All did once (of nought) begin.
Once All was made; not by the hand of Fortune
(As fond Democritus did yerst importune)
With iarring Concords making Motes to meet,
Inuisible, immortall, infinite.
Th' immutable diuine Decree, which shall
Neither made by Chance. But created to­gether with Time by the almighty wise­dome of God.
Cause the Worlds End, caus'd his Originall:
Neither in Time, nor yet before the same,
But in the instant when Time first became.
I mean a Time confused; for, the course
Of years, of months, of weeks, of daies, of howrs,
Of Ages, Times, and Seasons, is confin'd
By th' ordred Daunce vnto the Stars assign'd.
Before all Time, all Matter, Form, and Place,
God all in all, and all in God it was:
God was before the World was.
Immutable, immortall, infinite,
Incomprehensible, all spirit, all light,
All Maiesty, all-self Omnipotent,
Inuisible, impassiue, excellent,
Pure, wise, iust, good, God raign'd alone (at rest)
Himself alone selfs Palace, host, and guest.
Thou scoffing Atheist, that enquirest, what
He consuteth the Atheists, questi­oning what God did before he created the World.
Th' Almighty did before he framed that?
What waighty Work his minde was busied on
Eternally before this World begun
(Sith so deep Wisedom and Omnipotence,
Nought worse beseems, then sloath and negligence)?
Knowe (bold blasphemer) that, before, he built
A Hell to punish the presumptuous Guilt
Of those vngodly, whose proud sense dares cite
And censure too his Wisedom infinite.
Can Carpenters, Weauers, and Potters passe
And liue, without their seuerall works a space?
And could not then th' Almighty All-Creator,
Th' all-prudent, BEE; without this frail Theater?
Shall valiant Scipio Thus himself esteem,
Neuer lesse sole then when he sole doth seem:
And could not God (O Heav'ns! what frantike folly!)
Subsist alone, but sink in melancholy?
Shall the Pryénian Princely Sage auerr,
That all his goods he doth about him bear:
And should the Lord, whose Wealth exceeds all measure,
Should he be poor, without this Worldly treasure?
God neuer seeks, out of himself, for ought;
He begs of none, he buies or borrows nought;
But aye, from th' Ocean of his liberall Bounty,
Hee poureth out a thousand Seas of Plenty.
What God did before he crea­ted the World.
Yer Eurus blew, yer Moon did Wax or Wain,
Yer Sea had Fish, yer Earth had grass or grain,
God was not void of sacred exercise;
He did admire his Glorie's Mysteries:
His Power, his Iustice, and his Prouidence,
His bountious Grace, and great Beneficence
Were th' holy obiect of his heav'nly thought,
Vpon the which, eternally it wrought.
It may be also that he meditated
The Worlds Idëa, yer it was Created:
Alone he liv'd not; for, his Son and Spirit
Of 3. Persons in one only Essence of God: of the eternall genera­tion of the Son.
Were with him ay, Equall in might and merit.
[Page 4]For, sans beginning, seed, and Mother tender,
This great Worlds Father he did first ingender
(To wit) His Son, Wisedom, and Word eternal,
Equall in Essence to th' All-One Paternal.
Of the Holy-Ghost procee­ding from the Father and the Sonne: The which three Persons are one onely and the same God.
Out of these Two, their common Power proceeded,
Their Spirit, their Loue; in Essence vndiuided:
Onely distinct in Persons, whose Diuinity,
All Three in One, makes One eternall Trinitie.
Soft, soft, my Muse, launch not into the Deep,
Sound not this Sea: see that aloof thou keep
From this Charybdis and Capharean Rock,
Where many a ship hath suffered wofull wrack,
While they haue fondly vent red forth too-far,
Following frail Reason for their only Star.
Who on this Gulf would safely venture fain,
How to think & speak of God.
Must not too-boldly hale into the Main,
But longst the shoar with sails of Faith must coast;
Their Star the Bible; Steers-man th' Holy-Ghost.
How many fine wits haue the World abus'd,
Because this Ghost they for their Guide refus'd;
The Heathen Philosophers lost themselues and others in their cur [...]osities: & weening to be wise, became fooles.
And, scorning of the loyall Virgins Thred,
Haue them and others in this Maze mis-led?
In sacred sheetes of either Testament
'Tis hard to finde a higher Argument,
More deep to sound, more busie to discuss,
More vse-full, knowne; vnknowne, more dangerous,
So bright a Sun dazles my tender sight:
So deep discourse my sense confoundeth quite:
My Reason's edge is dull'd in this Dispute,
And in my mouth my fainting words be mute.
This TRINITY (which rather I adore
God the Father, Sonne, & Holy-Ghost created of Nothing the Worlds goodly frame.
In humblenes, then busily explore)
In th' infinit of Nothing, builded all
This artificiall, great, rich, glorious Ball;
Wherein appears in grav'n on euery part
The Builders beauty, greatnes, wealth, and Art;
Art, beauty, wealth, and greatnes, that confounds
The hellish barking of blaspheming Hounds,
Climb they that list the battlements of Heav'n,
Lea [...]ing curious speculations, the Poet teacheth how to contem­plate God in his Workes.
And with the Whirl-wind of Ambition driv'n,
Beyond the World's wals let those Eagles flie,
And gaze vpon the Sun of Maiestie:
Let other-some (whose fainted spirits do droop)
Down to the ground their meditations stoop,
And so contemplate on these Workmanships,
That th' Authors praise they in Themselues eclipse.
My heedfull Muse, trained in true Religion,
Diuinely-humane keeps the middle Region:
Least, if she should too-high a pitch presume,
Heav'ns glowing flame should melt her waxen plume;
Or, if too-lowe (neer Earth or Sea) she flag,
Laden with Mists her moisted wings should lag.
It glads me much, to view this Frame; wherein
(As in a Glasse) God's glorious face is seen:
I loue to look on God; but in this Robe
Of his great Works, this vniuersall Globe.
For, if the Suns bright beams doo blear the sight
Of such as fixtly gaze against his light;
Who can behold aboue th' Empyriall Skies
The lightning splendor of God's gloriouseies?
O, who (alas) can finde the Lord, without
His Works, which bear his Image round about?
God, of himself incapable to sense,
God makes him­selfe (as it were) visible in his Workes.
In's Works, reueales him t'our intelligence:
There-in, our fingers feel, our nostrils smel,
Our palats taste his vertues that excel:
He shewes him to our eyes, talks to our ears,
In th' ord'red motions of the spangled Sphears.
The World's a School, where (in a generall Story)
Sundrie compa­risons, shewing what vse Chri­stians should make in conside­ring the workes of God in this mighty World.
God alwayes reads dumb Lectures of his Glory:
A pair of Stairs, whereby our mounting Soule
Ascends by steps aboue the Arched Pole:
A sumptuous Hall, where God (on euery side)
His wealthy Shop of wonders opens wide:
A Bridge, whereby we may pass-o're (at ease)
Of sacred Secrets the broad boundless Seas.
The World's a Cloud, through which there shineth cleer,
Not faire Latona's quiv'red Darling deer;
But the true Phoebus, whose bright countenance
Through thickest vail of darkest night doth glance.
The World's a Stage, where Gods Omnipotence,
His Iustice, Knowledge, Loue, and Prouidence,
Do act their Parts; contending (in their kindes)
Aboue the Heav'ns to rauish dullest mindes.
The World's a Book in Folio, printed all
With God's great Works in letters Capitall:
Each Creature is a Page; and each Effect,
Afaire Character, void of all defect.
But, as young Trewants, toying in the Schools,
In steed of learning, learn to play the fools:
We gaze but on the Babies and the Couer,
The gawdy Flowrs, and Edges gilded-ouer;
And neuer farther for our Lesson look
Within the Volume of this various Book;
Where learned Nature rudestones instructs,
That, by His wisedome, God the World conducts.
To read This Book, we need notvnderstand
Although the world discouer sufficiently euen to the most rude the Eternity and Power of God: Yet only the true Christians do rightly conceiue it.
Each strangers gibbrish; neither take in hand
Turks Characters, nor Hebrue Points to seek,
Nyle's Hieroglyphikes, nor the Notes of Greek.
The wandring Tartars, the Antartiks wilde;
Th' Alar [...]ies fierce, the Scythians fel, the Child [...]
Scarce seav'n year old, the ble [...]red aged eye,
Though void of Art, read heer indifferently.
But he that wears the spectacles of Faith,
Sees through the Sphears, aboue their highest heighth▪
He comprehends th' Arch-moouer of all Motions,
And reads (though running) all these needfull Notions.
Therefore, by Faith's pure rayes illumined,
These sacred Pandects I desire to read:
And, God the better to beholde, beholde
Th' Orb from his Birth, in's Ages manifolde.
Th' admired Author's Fancy, fixed not
On some fantastik fore-conceited Plot:
[Page 7]Much less did he an elder World elect,
God, needing no Idea, nor preme­ditatiō, nor Pat­tern of his work, of nothing made all the World.
By form whereof, he might this Frame erect:
As th' Architect that buildeth for a Prince
Some stately Palace, yer he do commence
His Royall Work, makes choise of such a Court
Where cost and cunning equally consort:
And if he finde not in one Edifice
All answerable to his queint deuice;
From this fair Palace then he takes his Front,
From that his Finials; here he learns to mount
His curious Stairs, there findes he Frise and Cornish,
And other Places other Peeces furnish;
And so, selecting euery where the best,
Doth thirty Models in one House digest.
Nothing, but Nothing, had the Lord Almighty,
Whereof, wherewith, whereby, to build this Citie:
Yet, when he, Heav'ns, Aire, Earth, and Sea did frame,
He sought not far, he swet not for the same:
A fit Simile to that purpose.
As Sol, without descending from the sky,
Crowns the fair Spring in painted brauery;
Withouten trauaile causeth th' Earth to bear,
And (far off) makes the World young euery year:
The Power and Will, th' affection and effect,
The Work and Proiect of this Architect
March all at once: all to his pleasure ranges,
Who Alwaies-One, his purpose neuer changes.
Yet did this Nothing not at once receiue
Of Nothing, God created the matter, where­unto afterward he gaue the form and figure which now we behold in the creatures▪
Matter and Forme: For, as we may perceiue
That Hee who means to build a warlike Fleet,
Makes first prouision of all matter meet
(As Timber, Iron, Canuase, Cord, and Pitch)
And when all's ready; then appointeth, which
Which peece for Planks, which plank shall line the waste,
The Poup and Prow, which Fir shall make a Mast;
As Art and Vse directeth, heedfully,
His hand, his tool, his iudgement, and his eye:
So God, before This Frame he fashioned,
I wote not what great Word he vttered
[Page 8]From's sacred mouth; which summon'd in a Masse
Whatsoeuer now the Heav'ns wide arms embrace.
But, where the Shipwright, for his gainful trade,
Findes all his stuffe to's hand already made;
Th' Almightie makes his, all and euery part,
Without the help of others Wit or Art.
That first World (yet) was a most formless Form,
A confus'd Heap, a Chaos most deform,
What that new created Chaos was, before God gaue it forme, fi­gure, place, and situation.
A Gulf of Gulfs, a Body ill compact,
An vgly medly, where all difference lackt:
Where th' Elements lay iumbled all together,
Where hot and colde were iarring each with either;
The blunt with sharp, the dank against the drie,
The hard with soft, the base against the high;
Bitter with sweet: and while this brawl did last,
The Earth in Heav'n, the Heav'n in Earth was plac't:
Earth, Aire, and Fire, were with the Water mixt;
Water, Earth, Aire within the Fire were fixt;
Fire, Water, Earth, did in the Aire abide;
Aire, Fire, and Water, in the Earth did hide.
For, yet th' immortall, mightie Thunder-darter,
The Lord high-Marshall, vnto each his quarter
Had not assigned: the Celestiall Arks
Were not yet spangled with their fiery sparks:
As yet no flowrs with odours Earth reuiued:
No scaly shoals yet in the waters diued:
Nor any Birds, with warbling harmony,
Were born as yet through the transparent Sky.
All, All was void of beauty, rule, and light;
Genes. 1. 2.
All without fashion, soule, and motion, quite.
Fire was no fire, the Water was no water,
Aire was no aire, the Earth no earthly matter.
Or if one could, in such a World, spy forth
The Fire, the Ayre, the Water, and the Earth;
Th' Earth was not firm, the Fier was not hot▪
Th' Aire was not light, the Water cooled not▪
Briefly, suppose an Earth, poore, naked, vain,
All void of verdure, without Hill or Plain,
[Page 9]A Heav'n vn-hangd, vn-turning, vn-transparant,
Vn-garnished, vn-gilt with Stars apparant;
So maist thou ghesse what Heav'n and Earth was that,
Where, in confusion, raigned such debate:
A Heav'n and Earth for my base stile most fit,
Not as they were, but as they were not, yet.
This was not then the World: 'twas but the Matter,
The Nurcery whence it should issue after;
Or rather, th' Embryon, that within a Weeke
The Chaos how to be considered.
Was to be born: for that huge lump was like
The shape-less burthen in the Mothers womb,
A simile.
Which yet in Time doth into fashion com:
Eyes, eares, and nose, mouth, fingers, hands, and feet,
And euery member in proportion meet;
Round, large, and long, there of itselfe it thriues,
And ( Little-World) into the World arriues.
But that becomes (by Natures set direction)
From foul and dead, to beauty, life, perfection.
But this dull Heap of vndigested stuf
Had doubtlesse neuer come to shape or proof,
Had not th' Almighty with his quick'ning breath
Of the secret po­wer of God in quickning the matter whereof the World was made.
Blow'n life and spirit into this Lump of death.
The dreadfull Darknes of the Memphytists,
The sad black horror of Cimmerian Mists,
The sable fumes of Hell's infernall vault
(Or if ought darker in the World be thought)
Muffled the face of that profound Abyss,
Full of Disorder and fell Mutinies:
So that (in fine) this furious debate
Euen in the birth this Ball had ruinate,
Saue that the Lord into the Pile did pour
Some secret Mastik of his sacred Power,
To glew together, and to gouern fair
The Heav'n and Earth, the Ocean, and the Aire,
Who ioyntly iustling, in their rude Disorder,
The new-born Nature went about to murder.
As a good Wit, that on th' immortall Shrine
The Spirit of God, by an in­conceiueable meane, maintai­ned, and (as it were brooding) warmed the shape-lesse Masse. Genes. 1.
Of Memory, ingraues a Work Diuine,
[Page 10]Abroad, a-bed, at boord, for euer vses
To minde his Theam, and on his Book still muses:
So did Gods Spirit delight itself a space
To moue itself vpon the floating Masse:
No other care th' Almightie's minde possest
(If care can enter in his sacred brest).
Or, as a Hen that fain would hatch a Brood,
(Som of her own, som of adoptiue blood)
Sits close thereon, and with her liuely heat,
Of yellow-white balls, doth lyue birds beget:
Euen in such sort seemed the Spirit Eternall
To brood vpon this Gulf; with care paternall
Quickning the Parts, inspiring power in each,
From so foul Lees, so fair a World to fetch.
For, 't's nought but All, in't self including All:
An vn-beginning, midless, endles Ball;
'Tis nothing but a World, whose superfice
Leaues nothing out, but what meer nothingis.
Now, though the great Duke, that (in dreadfullaw)
Vpon Mount Horeb learn'd th' eternall Law,
That there is but one World: con­futing the Error of Leucyppus & his Disciples, by two reasons.
Had not assur'd vs that Gods sacred Power
In six Dayes built this Vniuersall Bower;
Reason itself doth ouer-throw the grounds
Of those new Worlds that fond Leucyppus founds:
Sith, if kind Nature many Worlds could
embrace.
clip,
Still th' vpper Worlds water and earth would slip
Into the lower; and so in conclusion,
All would return into the Old Confusion.
Besides, we must imagin empty distance
Between these Worlds, wherein, without resistance
Their wheels may whirl, not hindred in their courses,
By th' inter-iustling of each others forces:
But, all things are so fast together fixt
With so firm bonds, that there's no void betwixt.
Thence coms it, that a Cask, pearç't to be spent,
Though full, yet runs not till we giue it vent.
Thence is't that Bellowes, while the s [...]out is stopt,
So hardly heaue, and hardly can be op't.
[Page 11]Thence is't that water doth not freez in Winter,
Stopt close in vessels where no ayre may enter.
Thence is't that Garden-pots, the mouth kept close,
Let fall no liquor at their siue-like nose.
And thence it is, that the pure siluer source,
In leaden pipes running a captiue course,
Contrary to it's Nature, spouteth high:
To all, so odious is Vacuity.
God then, not onely framed Nature one,
But also set it limitation
Of Form and Time: exempting euer solely
From quantity his own self's Essence holy.
Confutation of another Error of such as make Nature and the Heauens infinita
How can we call the Heav'ns vnmeasured?
Sith measur'd Time their Course hath measured.
How can we count this Vniuerse immortall?
Sith many-wayes the parts proue howerly mortall:
Sith his Commencement proues his Consummation,
And all things ay decline to Alteration.
Let bold Greek Sages fain the Firmament
To be compos'd of a fift Element:
Let them deny, in their profane profoundnes,
End and beginning to th' Heav'ns rowling roundnes:
And let them argue that Deaths lawes alone,
Reach but the Bodies vnder Cynthias Throne:
The sandy grounds of their Sophistick brawling
Are all too-weak to keep the World from falling.
One Day, the Rocks from top to toe shall quiuer,
A liuely descrip­tion of the ende of the World.
The Mountains melt and all in sunder shiuer:
The Heav'ns shall rent for fear; the lowely Fields,
Puft vp, shall swell to huge and mighty Hills:
Riuers shall dry: or if in any Flood
Rest any liquor, it shall all be blood:
The Sea shall all be fire, and on the shoar
The thirsty Whales with horrid noyse shall roar:
The Sun shall seize the black Coach of the Moon,
And make it midnight when it should be noon:
With rusty Mask the Heav'ns shall hide their face,
The Stars shall fall, and All away shall pass:
[Page 12]Disorder, Dread, Horror, and Death shall com,
Noise, storms, and darknes shall vsurp the room
And then the Chief-Chief-Iustice, venging Wrath
(Which heer already often threatned hath)
Shall make a Bon-fire of this mighty Ball,
As once he made it a vast Ocean all.
Alas! how faith-les and how modest-les
Against iudicial Astrologers, that presume to point the verie time thereof.
Are you, that (in your Ephomerides)
Mark th' yeer, the month and day, which euermore
Gainst yeers, months, daies, shal dam-vp Saturnes dore!
(At thought whereof (euen now) my heart doth ake,
My flesh doth faint, my very soule doth shake)
You haue mis-cast in your Arithmetike,
Mis-laid your Counters, groapingly yee seek
In nights blacke darknes for the secret things
Seal'd in the Casket of the King of Kings.
'Tis hee, that keeps th' eternall Clock of Time,
And holds the waights of that appointed Chime:
Hee in his hand the sacred book doth bear
Of that close-clasped finall Calender,
Where, in Red letters (not with vs frequented)
The certaine Date of that Great Day is printed;
That dreadfull Day, which doth so swiftly post,
That 'twil be seen, before fore-seen of most.
Then, then (good Lord) shall thy dear Son descend
(Though yet he seem in feeble flesh ypend)
In complete Glory, from the glistering Sky:
Millions of Angels shall about him fly:
Mercy and Iustice, marching cheek by ioule,
Shall his Diuine Triumphant Chariot roule;
Whose wheeles shall shine with Lightning round about,
And beames of Glory each-where blazing out.
Those that were laden with proud marble Toombs,
Those that were swallow'd in wilde Monsters woombs,
Those that the Sea hath swill'd, those that the flashes
Of ruddy Flames haue burned all to ashes,
Awaked all, shall rise, and all reuest
The flesh and bones that they at first possest.
[Page 13]All shall appear, and hear, before the Throne
Of God (the Iudge without exception)
The finall Sentence (sounding ioy and terror)
Of euer-lasting Happiness or Horror.
Som shall his Iustice, som his Mercy taste;
Som call'd to ioy, som into torment cast,
When from the Goats he shall his Sheep disseuer;
These Blest in Heav'n, those Curst in Hell for euer.
O thou that once (scornd as the vilest drudge)
Didst fear the doom of an Italian Iudge,
Daign (deerest Lord) when the last Trump shall summon,
To this Grand Sessions, all the World in common;
Daign in That Day to vndertake my matter,
And, as my Iudge, so be my Mediator.
Th' eternall Spring of Power and Prouidence,
Hauing spoken of the creation of the Matter, he sheweth how & what Forme God gaue vnto it, creating in six Dayes his admi­rable workes.
In Forming of this All-circumference,
Did not vnlike the Bear, which bringeth forth
In th' end of thirty dayes a shapeless birth;
But after, licking, it in shape she drawes,
And by degrees she fashions out the pawes,
The head, and neck, and finally doth bring
To a perfect beast that first deformed thing.
For when his Word in the vast Voyd had brought
A confus'd heap of Wet-dry-cold-and-hot,
In time the high World from the lowe he parted,
And by itself, hot vnto hot he sorted;
Hard vnto hard, cold vnto cold he sent;
Moist vnto moist, as was expedient.
And so in Six Dayes form'd ingeniously,
All things contain'd in th' VNIVERSITIE.
Not, but he could haue, in a moment, made
Wherefore God imployed six Dayes in crea­ting the World.
This flowry Mansion where mankind doth trade;
Spred Heav'ns blew Curtains, & those Lamps haue burnisht;
Earth, aire, & sea; with beasts, birds, fish, haue furnisht:
But, working with such Art so many dayes,
A sumptuous Palace for Mankinde to raise,
Yer Man was made yet; he declares to vs,
How kinde, how carefull, and how gracious,
[Page 14]He would be to vs being made, to whom
By thousand promises of things to-come
(Vnder the Broad-Seal of his deer Sons blood)
He hath assur'd all Riches, Grace, and Good.
By his Example he doth also shewe-vs
How men should imitate God in his workes.
We should not heedles-hastily bestowe-vs
In any Work, but patiently proceed
With oft re-vises; Making sober speed
In dearest business, and obserue, by proof,
That, What is well don, is don soon enough.
O Father of the Light! of Wisedom Fountain;
The 1. [...]reature extracted from the Chaos, was Light.
Out of the Bulk of that confused Mountain
What should (what could) issue, before the Light?
Without which, Beauty were no beauty hight.
In vain Timanthes had his Cyclope drawn,
In vain Parrhasius counterfeited Lawn,
In vain Apelles Uenus had begun,
Zeuxis Penelope; if that the Sun
To make them seen, had neuer showen his splendor:
In vain, in vain had been (those Works of Wonder)
Th' Ephesian Temple, the high Pharian-Tower,
And Carian Toomb (Tropheis of Wealth and Power)
In vain they had been builded euery one,
By Scopas, Sostrates, and C [...]esiphon;
Had All been wrapt-vp from all humane sight,
In th' obscure Mantle of eternall Night.
What one thing more doth the good Architect,
In Princely Works (more specially) respect,
Then lightsomness? to th' end the Worlds bright Eye,
Caree [...]ing dayly once about the Sky,
May shine therein; and that in euery part
It may seem pompous both for Cost and Art.
Whether Gods Spirit, mouing vpon the Ball
Of bubbling Waters (which yet couered All)
Sundry opinions concerning the matter, and cre­ation of Light.
Thence forç't the Fire (as when amid the Sky
Auster and Boreas iusting furiously
Vnder hot Cancer, make two Clouds to clash,
Whence th' aire at mid-night flames with lightning flash):
[Page 15]Whether, when God the mingled Lump dispackt,
From Fiery Element did Light extract:
Whether about the vast confused Crowd
For twice-six howrs he spread a shining Cloud,
Which after he re-darkned, that in time
The Night as long might wrap-vp either Clime:
Whether that God made, then, those goodly beams
Which gild the World, but not as now it seems:
Or whether else som other Lamp he kindled
Vpon the Heap (yet all with Waters blindled)
Which flying round about, gaue light in order
To th' vn-plaç't Climates of that deep disorder;
As now the Sun, circling about the Ball
(As Light's bright Chariot) doth enlighten All.
No sooner said he, Be there Light, but lo
Gen. 1. 3.
The form-less Lump to perfect Form gan growe;
And all illustred with Lights radiant shine,
Of the excellent vse and commo­ditie of Light.
Doft mourning weeds, and deckt it passing fine.
All-hail pure Lamp, bright, sacred, and excelling;
Sorrow and Care, Darknes and Dread repelling:
Thou World's great Taper, Wicked mens iust Terror,
Mother of Truth, true Beauties onely Mirror,
God's eldest Daughter: O! how thou art full
Of grace and goodnes! O! how beautifull!
Sith thy great Parent's all-discerning Eye
Doth iudge thee so: and sith his Maiesty
(Thy glorious Maker) in his sacred layes
Can doo no less then sing thy modest prayse.
But yet, because all Pleasures wax vnpleasant,
Why God ordai­ned the Night and Day alter­nately to succeed each other.
If without pawse we still possesse them, present;
And none can right discern the sweets of Peace,
That haue not felt Warrs irkesom bitterness;
And Swans seem whiter if swart Crowes be by
(For, contraries each other best descry)
Th' All's Architect, alternately decreed
That Night the Day, the Day should Night succeed.
The Night, to temper Dayes exceeding drought,
The commodities that the Night bringeth vs.
Moistens our Aire, and makes our Earth to sprout.
[Page 16]The Night is she that all our trauails eases,
Buries our cares, and all our griefs appeases.
The Night is she, that (with her sable wing,
In gloomy Darknes hushing euery thing)
Through all the World dumb silence doth distill,
And wearied bones with quiet sleep doth fill.
Sweet Night, without Thee, without Thee (alas!)
Our life were loathsom; euen a Hell to pass.
For, outward pains and inward passions still,
With thousand Deaths, would soule and body thrill.
O Night, thou pullest the proud Mask away
Where-with vain Actors, in this Worlds great Play,
By day disguise-them. For, no difference
Night makes between the Peasant and the Prince,
The poor and rich, the Prisoner and the Iudge,
The foul and fair, the Maister and the Drudge,
The fool and wise, Barbarian and the Greek▪
For, Night's black Mantle couers all alike.
He that, condemn'd for som notorious vice,
Seeks in the Mines the baits of Auarice;
Or, swelting at the Furnace, fineth bright
Our soules diresulphur; resteth yet at Night.
He that, still stooping, toghes against the tide
His laden Barge alongst a Riuers side,
And filling shoars with shouts, doth melt him quite;
Vpon his pallet resteth yet at Night.
He that in Sommer, in extreamest heat
Scorched all day in his own scalding sweat,
Shaues, with keen Sythe, the glory and delight
Of motly Medowes; resteth yet at Night,
And in the arms of his deer Pheer for goes
All former troubles and all former woes.
Onely the learned Sisters sacred Minions,
While silent Night vnder her sable pinions
Foldes all the World; with pain-less pain they tread
A sacred path that to the Heav'ns doth lead;
And higher then the Heav'ns their Readers raise
Vpon the wings of their immortall Layes.
EVEN NOVV I listned for the Clock to chime
Before he con­clude the first Day, he treateth of Angels.
Dayes latest hower; that for a little time,
The Night might ease My Labours: but, I see
As yet Aurora hath scarce smil'd on me;
My Work still growes: for, now before mine eyes
Heav'ns glorious Hoast in nimble squadrons flyes.
Whether, This-Day, God made▪you, Angels bright,
The time of their Creation not cer­tainly resolued.
Vnder the name of Heav'n, or of the Light:
Whether you were, after, in th' instant born
With those bright Spangles that the Heav'ns adorn:
Or, whether you deriue your high Descent
Long time before the World and Firmament
(For, I nill sti [...]ly argue to and fro
In nice Opinions, whetherso, orso;
Especially, where curious search, perchance,
Is not so safe as humble Ignorance);
I am resolv'd that onceth' Omnipotent
Created you immortall, innocent,
Good, fair, and free; in brief, of Essence such
As from his Own differd not very much.
But euen as those, whom Princes fauours oft
Some of thē are [...]allen, reuolting from God: and are cast into Hell▪ therefore called Euill An­gels, Wicked Spirits, and Di­uels.
Aboue therest haue rais'd and set-aloft,
Are oft the first that (without right or reason)
Attempt Rebellion and doo practice Treason;
And so, at length are iustly tumbled down
Beneath the foot, that raught aboue the Crown:
Euen so, som Legions of thoselofty Spirits
(Envy'ng the glory of their Makers merits)
Conspir'd together, stroue against the stream,
T'vsurp his S [...]epter and his Diademe.
But He, whose hands doo neuer Lightnings lack,
Proud sacrilegious Mutiners to wrack,
Hurld them in th' Aire, or in som lower Cell:
For, where God is not, euery where is Hell.
This cursed Crew, with Pride and Fury fraught,
Of vs, at least, haue this aduantage got,
That by experience they can truly tell
How far it is from highest Heav'n to Hell:
[Page 18]For, by a proud leap, they haue tane the measure,
When head long thence they tumbled in displeasure.
These Fiends a [...]e so far-off from bett'ring them
The insolent and audacious at­tempts of Satan and his Fellowes against God and his Church.
By this hard Iudgement, that still more extream,
The more their plague, the more their pride increases,
The more their rage: as Lizards, cut in peeces,
Threat with more malice, though with lesser might,
And euen in dying shewe their liuing spight.
For, euer since, against the King of Heav'n
Th' Apostate Prince of Darknes still hath striv'n,
Striv'n to depraue his Deeds, t'interr their Story,
T'vndoo his Church, to vnder-mine his Glory;
To reaue this World's great Body, Ship, and State,
Of Head, of Maister, and of Magistrate.
But finding still the Maiesty diuine
Too strongly [...]n [...] ▪t for him to vnder-mine;
His Ladders, Canons, and his Engines, all
Force-less to batter the celestiall Wall;
Too weak to hurt the Head, he hacks the Members:
The Tree too hard, the Branches he dismembers.
The Fowlers, Fishers, and the Foresters,
Set not so many toyls, and baits, and snares,
To take the Foul, the Fish, the sauage Beasts,
In Woods, and Floods, and fear-full Wildernes:
As this false Spiritsets Engines to beguile
The cunningest, that practice nought but wile.
With want on glaunce of Beauties burning eye
The diuers baits of the Diuell to entrap mankind.
He snares hot Youth in sensuality.
With Golds bright lustre doth he Age intice
To Idolize detested Auarice.
With grace of Princes, with their pomp, and State,
Ambitious Spirits he doth intoxicate.
With curious Skill-pride, and vain dreams, he witches
Those that contemn Pleasure, and State, and Riches.
Yea, Faith it selfe, and Zeal, be somtimes Angles
Wherewith this-Iuggler Heav'n-bent Soules intangles:
Much like the green Worm, that in Spring deuours
The buds and▪ leaues of choisest Fruits and Flowrs;
[Page 19]Turning their sweetest sap and fragrant verdure
To deadly poyson and detested ordure.
Who but (alas!) would haue been gull'd yer-whiles
Their Oracles.
With Night's black Monark's most malitious wiles?
To hear Stones speak, to see strange wooden Miracles,
And golden Gods to vtter wondrous Oracles?
To see Him play the Prophet, and inspire
So many Sibyls with a sacred fire?
To raise dead Samuel from his silent Toomb,
1. Samuel. 28. 14, 17.
To tell his King Calamities to-com?
T▪inflame the Flamine of Ioue Ammon so
With Heathen-holy fury-fits, to knowe
Future euents, and somtimes truly tell
The blinded World what afterwards befel?
To counter fait the wondrous Works of God;
Their false Mi­racles. Exod. 7, 11, 22. & 8, 7.
His Rod turn Serpent, and his Serpent Rod?
To change the pure streams of th' Egyptian Flood
From clearest water into crimsin blood?
To rain-down Frogs, and Grass-hoppers to bring
In the bed-chambers of the stubborn King?
For, as he is a Spirit, vnseen he sees
The plots of Princes, and their Policies;
Vnfelt, he feels the depth of their desires;
Who harbours vengeance, and whose heart aspires:
And, as vs'd dayly vnto such affects,
Such feats and fashions, iudges of th' effects.
Their Wiles.
Besides, to circumvent the quickest sprighted,
To blind the eyes (euen of the clearest sighted)
And to enwrap the wisest in his snares,
He oft fore-tels what he himself prepares.
For, if a Wise-man (though Mans dayes be don
As soon almost as they be heer begun;
Wherefore their effects are so strange & won­derfull.
And his dull Flesh be of too slowe a kinde
T'ensue the nimble Motions of his minde)
By th' onely power of Plants and Minerals
Can work a thousand super-naturals:
Who but will think, much more these Spirits can
Work strange effects, exceeding sense of Man?
[Page 20]Sith being immortall, long experience brings
Them certain knowledge of th' effects of things;
And, free from bodie's clog, with less impeach,
And lighter speed, their bold Designes they reach.
Not that they haue the bridle on their neck,
God restraines them at his pleasure.
To run at random without curb or check,
T'abuse the Earth, and all the World to blinde,
And tyrannize our body and our minde.
God holds them chain'd in Fetters of his Power;
That, without leaue, one minute of an hower
They cannot range▪ It was by his permission,
The Lying Spirit train'd Achab to perdition;
1. Kings, [...]2. 35
Making him marchagainst that Foe with force,
Which should his body from his soule diuorce.
Arm'd with Gods sacred Pass-port, he did try
Iust humble Iob's renowned Constancy:
Iob. 1, 15, &c.
He reaues him all his Cattel, many wayes,
By Fire and Foes: his faithfull Seruants slayes:
To losse of Goods he adds his Childrens loss,
And heaps vpon him bitter cross on cross.
For th' Onely Lord, somtimes to make a tryall
Why the Lord sometimes lets loose those wic­ked▪ Spirits.
Of firmest Faith; somtimes with Errors violl
To drench the Soules that Errors sole delight;
Lets loose these Furies: who with fell despight
Driue still the same Nail, and pursue (incensed)
Their damned drifts in Adam first commenced.
But, as these Rebels, maugré all their will,
T'assist the Good, befo [...]ç't t'assault the Ill:
Of the good An­gels seruing to the glory of God▪ and good of his Church, both in generall and particular.
Th' vnspotted Spirits that neuer did intend
To mount too high, nor yet too lowe descend,
With willing speed they euery moment goe
Whether the breath of diuine grace doth blowe:
Their aims had neuer other limitation
Then God's own glory, and his Saints saluation.
Law-less Desire n [...]'r enters in their brest,
Th' Almightie's Face is their Ambrosiall Feast:
Repentant tears of strayed Lambs returning,
Their Nectar sweet: their Musike, Sinners Mourning.
[Page 21]Ambitious Mans greedy Desire doth gape
S [...]ept [...]r Scepter, Crown on Crown to clap:
These neuer thirst for greater Dignities.
Trauail's their [...]ase, their bliss in seruice lies.
For, God no sooner hath his pleasure spoken,
Or bow'd his head, or giuen som other token,
Or (almost) thought on an Exploit, where in
The Ministry of Angels shall be seen,
But these quick Postes with ready expedition
Fly to accomplish their diuine Commission.
One followes Agar in hir pilgrimage,
Gen. 21, 17, 18.
And with sweet comforts doth her cares asswage.
Another guideth Is [...] mighty Hoasts;
Exod. 23, 23, & 33, 2.
Another, Iacob on th' Idumean Coasts.
Another (skill'd in Physick) to the Light
Tobi. 11, 7, 11▪ & 12, 14, & 15
Restores old faithfull Tobies failing sight.
In Nazareth, another rapt with ioy,
Tels that a Virgin shall bring forth a Boy;
That Mary shall at-once be Mayd-and-Mother,
Luk. 1, 26.
And bear at-once her Son, Sire, Spowse, and Brother:
Yea, that Her happy fruitfull woomb shall hold
Him, that in Him doth all the World infold.
Som in the Desart tenderd consolations,
Math. 4, 11.
While IESVS stroue with Sathans strong Temptations.
One, in the Garden, in his Agonies,
Luk. 22, 43.
Cheers-vp his fears in that great enterprise,
To take that bloody Cup, that bitter Chalice,
And drink it off, to purge our sinfull Malice.
Another certifies his Resurrection
Matth. 28, 25.
Vnto the Women, whose faith's imperfection
Suppos'd his colde limbs in the Graue were bound
Vntill th' Archangels lofty Trump should sound.
Another, past all hope, doth pre-auerr
Luk. 1, 13. Acts 12. [...].
The birth of Iohn, Christ's holy Harbenger.
One, trusty Seriant for diuine Decrees,
The Iewes Apostle from close Prison frees:
One, in few howers, a fearfull slaughter made
Of all the First-born that the Memphians had;
Exod. 12, 29.
[Page 22]Exempting Those vpon whose door-postes stood
A sacred token of Lambs tender blood.
2. Kings, 10. 35
Another mowes-down in a moments space,
Before Hierusalem (Gods chosen place)
Senacharib's proud ouer-daring Hoast,
That threatned Heav'n, and 'gainst the Earth did boast;
In his Blasphemous braues, comparing ev'n
His Idol-Gods, vnto the God of Heav'n.
His Troups, victorious in the East before,
Besieg'd the City, which did sole adore
The Onely God; so that, without their leaue,
A Sparrow scarce the sacred Wals could leaue.
Then Ezechias, as a prudent Prince,
Poizing the danger of these sad euents
(His Subiects thrall, his Cities wofull Flames,
His Childrens death, the rape of noble Dames,
The Massacre of Infants and of Eld,
And's Royall Self with thousand weapons queld;
The Templeraz'd, th' Altar and Censer voyd
Of sacred vse, Gods Seruants all destroyd)
Humbled in Sack-cloath and in Ashes, cries
For ayd to God, the God of Victories;
Who hears his suit, and thunders down his Fury
On those proud Pagan Enimies of Iury▪
For, while their Watch within their Corps de Garde
About the Fire securely snorted hard,
From Heav'n th' Almighty looking sternly down
(Glancing his Friends a smile, his Foes a frown)
A sacred Fencer 'gainst th' Assyrians sent,
Whose two-hand Sword, at euery veny, slent,
Not through a single Souldiers feeble bones,
But keenly slyces through whole Troops at once:
And heaws broad Lanes before it and behinde,
As swistly whirling as the whisking winde.
Now gan they fly; but all too slowe to shun
A flying Sword that follow'd euery one.
A Sword they saw; but could not see the arm
That in one Night had don so dismall harm:
[Page 23]As we perceiue a Winde-mils sayls to go;
But not the Winde, that doth transport them so.
Blushing Aurora, had yet scarce dismist
Mount Libanus from the Nights gloomy Mist,
When th' Hebrew Sentinels, discov'ring plain
An hundred foure score and fiue thousand▪ slain,
Exceeding ioyfull, gan to ponder stricter,
To see such Conquest, and not knowe the Victor.
O sacred Tutors of the Saints! you Guard
Of Gods Elect, you Pursuiuants prepar'd
To execute the Counsails of the Highest;
You Heav'nly Courtiers, to your King the nighest;
Gods glorious Heralds, Heav'ns swift Harbengers,
'Twixt Heav'n and Earth you true Interpreters;
I could be well content and take delight
To follow farther your celestiall Flight:
But that I fear (heer hauing ta'n in hand
So long a iourney both by Sea and Land)
I fear to faint, if (at the first) too fast
I cut away, and make too-hasty haste:
For, Trauailers, that burn in braue desire
To see strange Countries manners and attire,
Make haste enough, if onely the First Day
From their own Sill they set but on their way.
So Morne and Euening the First Day conclude,
And God perceiu'd that All his Workes were good.

THE SECOND DAIE OF THE FIRST WEEK.

THE ARGVMENT.
Lewd Pöets checkt: Our Pöets chast Intents:
Heav'ns Curtain spread: th' all-forming Elements;
Their number, nature, vse and Domination,
Concent, excesse, continuance, situation:
Aire's triple Regions; and their Temper's change:
Windes, Exhalations, and all Meteors strange;
Th' effects, the vse (apply'd to Conscience):
Mans Reason non-plust in som Accidents:
Of Prodigies: of th' Elementall Flame:
Heav'ns ten-fold Orbs: Waters aboue the same.
THose learned Spirits, whose wits applyed wrong,
With wanton Charms of their in chanting song,
A iust reproof of wanton & lasci­ [...]ious Poets of our Time.
Make of an olde, foul, frantike Hecuba,
A wondrous fresh, fair, witty Helena:
Of lewd Faustina (that loose Emperess)
A chaste Lucretia, loathing wantonness:
Of a blinde Bowe-Boy, of a Dwarf, a Bastard,
No petty Godling, but the Gods great Master;
On thankless furrows of a fruitless sand
Their seed and labour lose, with heedless hand;
And (pitching Netts, to catch I little wott
What fume of Fame that seems them to besott)
[Page 25]Resemble Spiders, that with curious pain
Weaue idle Webs, and labour still in vain.
But (though then Time we haue no deerer Treasure)
Less should I wail their miss-expence of leasure,
If their sweet Muse, with too-well spoken Spell,
Drew not their Readers with themselues to Hell.
For, vnder th' hony of their learned Works
A hatefull draught of deadly poyson lurks:
Whereof (alas) Young spirits quaffe so deep,
The danger of their seduced Readers.
That drunk with Loue, their Reason falls asleep;
And such a habit their fond Fancy gets,
That their ill stomack still loues euill meats.
Th' inchanting force of their sweet eloquence
Hurls head long down their tender Audience,
Ay (childe-like) sliding, in a foolish strife,
On th' Icie down-Hills of this slippery Life.
The Songs their Phoebus doth so sweet inspire,
Are euen the Bellows whence they blow the fire
Of raging Lust (before) whose wanton flashes
A tender brest rak't-vp in shamefaç't ashes.
Our Poets mo­dest purpose.
Therefore, for my part, I haue vow'd to Heav'n
Such wit and learning as my God hath giv'n;
To write, to th' honour of my Maker dread,
Verse that a Virgine without blush may read.
Again, he calleth vpon God, for assistance in the descriptiō of the 2. Dayes worke.
Clear Source of Learning, soule of th' Vniuerse
(Sith thou art pleas'd to chuse mine humble verse
To sing thy Praises) make my Pen distill
Celestiall Nectar, and this Volume fill
With th' Amalthéan Horn; that it may haue
Som correspondence to a Theam so graue:
Rid thou my passage, and make clear my way
From all incumbers: shine vpon This Day;
That guided safely by thy sacred Light,
My Rendez-vous I may attain yer night.
Which is, thè Fir mament mētio­ned by Mose [...] in the 1. Ch. of Gen. V. 6, 7, 8. Com­prehending the Heauens, and all the Elementary Region. Of the foure Ele­ments, simple in thēselues: wherof all things subiect to our sense, are composed.
THAT HVGE broad-length, that long-broad height-profound,
Th' infinite finit, that great moundless Mound,
I mean that Chaos, that self-iarring Mass,
Which in a moment made of Nothing was;
[Page 26]Was the rich Matter and the Matrix, whence
The Heav'ns should issue, and the Elements.
Now th' Elements, twin-twins (two Sons, two Daughters)
To wit, the Fire, the Aire; the Earth, and Waters
Are not compounded: but, of them is all
Compounded first, that in our sense can fall:
Whether their qualities, in euery portion
Of euery thing, infuse them with proportion:
Whether in all, their substance they confound,
And so but one thing of their foure compound:
As in a Venice Glass, before our eyne,
Diuers similes.
We see the water intermix with wine:
Or, in our stomack, as our drink and food
Doe mingle, after to conuert to blood.
This in a Fire-brand may wes [...]e, whose Fire
Doth in his flame toward's natiue Heav'n aspire,
His Ayre in smoak; in ashes falls his Earth,
And at his knots his Water wheezes forth.
Euen such a War our Bodies peace maintains:
For, in our Flesh, our Bodie's Earth remains:
Our vitall spirits, our Fire and Aire possess:
And, last, our Water in our humours rests.
Nay, ther's no Part in all this Bulk of ours,
Where each of these not intermix their powers;
Though't be apparant (and I needs must graunt)
That ayesom one is most Predominant.
The pure red part, amid the Mass of Bloud,
The Sanguine Aire commaunds: the clotted mud,
Sunk down in Lees, Earths Melancholy showes:
The pale thin humour, that on th' out-side flowes,
Is watery Phlegme: and the light froathy scum,
Bubbling aboue, hath Fiery Cholers room.
Not, that at all times, one same Element
In one same Body hath the Regiment:
A vicissitude of the Elements praedominance.
But, in his turn each raigning, his subiects draws
After his Lore: for still New Lords, new Lawes;
As sans respect how rich or Noble-born,
Each Citizen rules and obayes, by turn,
[Page 27]In chart'red Towns; which seem, in little space,
Changing their Ruler, euen to change their face
(For, as Chameleons vary with their obiect,
So Princes manners do transform the Subiect):
So th' Element in Wine predomining,
It hot, and cold, and moist, and dry doth bring;
By's perfect or imperfect force (at length)
Inforcing it to change the taste and strength:
So that it doth Grapes sharp-green iuice transfer
To Must, Must t'wine, and Wine to Vineger.
As while a Monarch, to teach others aw,
Excellēt Similes shewing the com­modity or discō ­modity of the proportiō, or ex­cesse of euery of the Elemente.
Subiects his own selfs-Greatnes to his Law,
He ruleth fearless: and his Kingdoms flourish
In happy Peace (and Peace doth Plenty nourish);
But if (fell Tyrant) his keen sword be euer
Vniustly drawn, if he be sated neuer
With Subiects blood; needs must his Rage (at last)
Destroy his State, and lay his Countrey waste:
So (or much like) the while one Element
Ouer the rest hath modest Gouernment;
While, in proportion (though vnequall yet)
With Soueraign Humours Subiect Humours fit,
The Body's [...]ound; and in the very face
Retains the Form of beauty and of grace:
But if (like that inhumane Emperour
Who wisht, all People vnderneath his Power
Had but one head, that he might butcher so
All th' Empires Subiects at one onely blowe)
It, Tyrannizing, seek to wrack the rest,
It ruines soon the Prouince it possest;
Where soon appears, through his proud vsurpation,
Both outward change and inward alteration.
So, too-much Moist, which (vnconcoct within)
Excesse of moi­sture.
The Liuer spreads betwixt the flesh and skin,
Puffs vp the Patient, stops the pipes & pores
Of Excrements; yea, double bars the dores
Of his short breath; and slowely-swiftly curst,
In midd'st of Water makes him euer thirst:
[Page 28]Nor giues man Rest, nor Respite, till his bones
Be raked vp in a cold heap of stones.
Of Drought.
So, too-much Drought a lingring Ague drawes,
Which seeming painless, yet much pain doth cause;
Robbing the nerues of might, of Ioy the heart,
Of mirth the face, of moisture euery part
(Much like a Candle fed with it own humour,
By little and little it own selfs consumer)
Nor giues mans Rest, nor Respite, till his bones
Be raked vp in a colde heap of stones.
So, too-much Heat doth bring a burning Feuer,
Of Heate.
Which spurrs our Pulse, and furrs our Palat euer;
And on the tables of our troubled brain,
Fantastikely with various pensill vain
Doth counterfait as many Forms, or mo
Then euer Nature, Art, or Chance could showe:
Nor giues man Rest, nor Respite, till his bones
Be raked vp in a cold heap of stones.
So, too-much Cold couers with hoary Fleece
Of Colde.
The head of Age, his flesh diminishes,
Withers his face, hollowes his rheumy eyes,
And makes himself euen his own self despise;
While through his marrow euery where it enters,
Quenching his natiue heat with endless Winters:
Nor giues man Rest, nor Respite, till his bones
Be taked vp in a coldheap of stones.
Of the continu­ance of the Ele­ments; maintai­ning that whatso euer is now n [...]w formed, hath stil his substance frō the Materia prima: & what soeuer dissolues, resolues into the same; changing onely forme: And also consu­ting the contrary Errors.
Yet think not, that this Too-too-much, remises
Ought into nought: it but the Form disguises
In hundred fashions; and the Substances
Inly, or outly, neither win nor leese.
For, all that's made, is made of the First Matter
Which in th' old Nothing made the All-Creator.
All, that dissolues, resolues into the same.
Since first the Lord of Nothing made This Frame,
Nought's made of nought; and nothing turns to nothing:
Things birth, or death, change but their formall clothing▪
Their Forms doe vanish, but their bodies bide;
Now thick, now thin, now round, now short, now side.
For, if of Nothing anything could spring,
Th' Earth without seed should wheat and barly bring.
Pure Mayden-wombs desired Babes should bear:
All things, at all times, should grow euery where.
The Hart in Water should it self in gender;
The Whale on Land; in Aire the Lambling tender:
Th' Ocean should yeeld the Pine and Cornell Tree;
On Hazels Acorns, Nuts on Oaks should bee:
And breaking Natures set and sacred vse,
The Doues would Eagles, Eagels Doues, produce.
If of themselues things took their thriuing, then
Slowe-growing Babes should instantly be men:
Then in the Forests should huge boughs be seen
Born with the bodies of vnplanted Treen:
Then should the sucking Elephant support
Vpon his shoulders a well-manned Fort:
And the new-foaled Colt, couragious,
Should neigh for Battail, like Bucephalus.
Contrariwise, if ought to nought did fall;
All, that is felt or seen within this All,
Still loosing somwhat of it self, at length
Would com to Nothing: If Death's fatall strength
Could altogether Substances destroy,
Things then should vanish even as soon as dy.
In time the mighty Mountains tops be bated;
But, with their fall, the neighbour Vales are fatted;
And what, when Trent or Auon ouer-flowe,
They reaue one field they on the next bestowe:
Loue-burning Heav'n many sweet Deaws doth drop
In his deer Spouses fair and fruitfull lap;
Which after she restores, straining those showrs
Through th' hidden pores of pleasant plants and flowrs.
Whoso hath seen, how one warm lump of wax
(Without increasing, or decreasing) takes
By an apt simili­tude, he sheweth the continuall Change of the World, in the matter and form therof, according to Gods pleasure; in such sort, yet, that the matter remaines, though it receiue infinite Formes.
A hundred figures; well may iudge of all
Th' incessant Changes of this nether Ball.
The Worlds own Matter is the waxen Lump,
Which, vn-self-changing, takes all kinde of stamp:
[Page 30]The Form's the Seal; Heav'ns gratious Emperour
(The Liuing God)'s the great Lord Chancellour;
Who at his pleasure setting day and night
His great Broad Seales, and Priuy Signets right
Vpon the Mass so vast and variable,
Makes the same Lump, now base, now honourable.
Heer's nothing constant: nothing still doth stay:
For, Birth and Death haue still successiues way.
Heer one thing springs not, till another dy:
Onely the Matter liues immortally
(Th' Almighties Table, body of this All,
Of change-full Chances common Arçenall,
All like itself, all in itself contained,
Which by Times Flight hath neither lost nor gayned)
Change-less in Essence; changeable in face,
Much more then Proteus, or the subtile race
Of rouing Polypes, who (to rob the more)
Transform them howrly on the wauing shore:
Sundry Similes to that purpose.
Much like the French ( or like our selues, their Apes)
Who with strange habit do disguise their shapes;
Who louing nouels, full of affectation,
Receiue the Manners of each other Nation;
And scarcely shift they shirts so oft, as change
Fantastik Fashions of their garments strange:
Or like a Laïs, whose inconstant Loue
Doth euery day a thousand times remooue;
Who's scarce vnfolded from one Youths embraces,
Yer in her thought another she embraces;
And the new pleasure of her wanton Fire
Stirs in her, still, another new desire:
Because the Matter, wounded deep in heart
With various Loue (yet, on the self same part,
Incapable, in the same time, at once
To take all figures) by successions,
Form after Form receiues: so that one face
Another faces features doth deface.
The chief motiue of this change of Formet in the matter.
Now the chief Motiue of these Accidents,
Is the dire discord of our Elements:
[Page 31]Truce-hating Twins, where Brother eateth Brother
By turns, and turn them one into another,
Like Ice and Water that beget each other;
Enigma.
And still the Daughter bringeth-forth the Mother.
But each of these hauing two qualities
(One bearing Rule, another that obayes)
Those, whose effects do wholly contradict,
Longer and stronger striue in their Conflict.
The hot-dry Fire to cold-moist Water turns not;
The cold-dry Earth, to hot-moist Aire, returns not,
Returns not eas'ly: for (still opposite)
With tooth and nail as deadly foes they fight.
But Aire turn Water, Earth may Fierize,
Because in one part they do symbolize;
And so, in combate they haue less to doo;
For, 't's easier far, to conquer one then two.
Sith then the knot of sacred Mariage,
Of the Situation of the Elements, & of the effects therof, compared to the Notes of Musick & to the letters of the Al­phabet.
Which ioynes the Elements, from age to age
Brings forth the Worlds Babes: sith their Enmities,
With fell diuorce, kill whatsoeuer dyes:
And sith, but changing their degree and place,
They frame the various Forms, wherewith the face
Of this fair World is so imbellished
[As six sweet Notes, curiously varied
In skilfull Musike, make a hundred kindes
Of Heauenly sounds, that rauish hardest mindes;
And with Division (of a choise deuise)
The Hearers soules out at their ears intice:
Or, as of twice-twelue Letters, thus transpos'd,
This World of Words, is variously compos'd;
And of these Words, in divers order sowen,
This sacred Uolume that you read, is growen
(Through gracious succour of th' Eternall Deïtie)
Rich in discourse, with infinite Variety]
It was not cause-less, that so carefully
God did diuide their common Signory;
Assigning each a fit-confined Sitting,
Their quantity and quality befitting.
Whoso (somtime) hath seen rich Ingotstri'd,
A simile liuely representing the separation of the Elements.
When forç't by Fier their treasures they diuide
(How fair and softly, Gold to Gold doth pass,
Siluer seeks Siluer, Brass consorts with Brass;
And the whole Lump, of parts vnequall, seuers
It self apart, in white, red, yellow Rivers)
May vnderstand how, when the Mouth Diuine
Op'ned (to each his proper Place t'assigne)
Fire flew to Fire, Water to Water slid,
Aire clung to Aire, and Earth with Earth abid.
Earth, as the Lees, and heauy dross of All
(After his kinde) did to the bottom fall:
Situation of the earth, and fire.
Contrariwise, the light and nimble Fire
Did through the crannies of th' old Heap aspire
Vnto the top; and by his nature, light
No less then hot, mounted in sparks vpright:
As, when we see Aurora, passing gay,
With Opals paint the Seeling of Cathay,
Sad Floods doefume, and the celestiall Tapers
Through Earths thin pores, in th' Aire exhale the vapours.
But least the Fire (which all the rest embraces)
Being too neer should burn the Earth to ashes;
As chosen Vmpires, the great All-Creator
Of aire & water plac't between the earth & fire.
Between these Foes placed the Aire and Water:
For, one suffiz'd not their stern strife to end.
Water, as Cozen, did the Earth befriend:
Aire, for his Kinsman Fire, as firmly deals:
But both, vniting their divided zeals,
Took vp the matter, and appeas'd the brall;
Which doubt-less else had discreated All.
Th' Aire lodg'd aloft, the Water vnder it,
Not casually, but so disposed fit
By him who (Nature in her kind to keep)
Kept due proportion in his Workmanship;
Why the aire was lodged next the Element of Fire.
And, in this Store-house of his Wonders treasure,
Observ'd in all things number, waight, and measure.
For, had the Water next the Fire been plaç't,
Fire, seeming then moro wrongd and more disgraç't,
[Page 33]Would sodainly have left his Aduersary,
And set vpon the Vmpire (more contrary).
But all the Links of th' holy Chain, which tethers
The many Members of the World togethers,
Are such, as none but only he can breake them,
Who at the first did (of meere nothing) make them.
Water, as arm'd with moisture and with cold,
The cold-dry Earth with her one hand doth hold;
With th' other th' Aire: The Aire, as moist and warm,
The disposing & combining of the Elements.
Holds Fire with one; Water with th' other arm:
As Country Maidens, in the Month of May,
Merrily sporting on a Holy-day,
And lusty dancing of a lively Round,
A Similitude.
About the May-pole, by the Bag-pipes sound;
Hold hand in hand, so that the first is fast
(By means of those between) vnto the last.
For, sith 'tis so that the dry Element
Not onely yeelds her owne Babes nourishment,
But with the milke of her aboundant brests,
Doth also feede th' Aires nimble winged guests,
And also all th' innumerable Legions
Of greedy mouths that haunt the Bryny Regions
(So that, th' Earth's Mother, or else Nurse of all
That run, or fly, or swim, or slide, or crawl)
'Twas meet, it should be it self's Counterpoize,
To stand still firm against the roaring noise
Of wrack full Neptune, and the wrathfull blasts
Of parching South and pinching Boreas.
'T was meet, her sad-slowe body to digest
Why the Earth is the lowest, and enuironed with the other three Elements, wher­of it is the center.
Farther from Heav'n than any of the rest:
Least, of Heav'ns Courseth' Eternall swift Careers,
Rushing against her with their whirling Sphears,
Should her transport, as swift and violent,
As ay they do their neighbour Element.
And sith, on th' otherside, th' harmonious Course)
Of Heav'ns bright Torches is th' immortall source
Of earthly life: and sith all alterations
(Almost) are caus'd by their quick agitations
[Page 34]In all the World, God could not place so fit
Our Mother Earth, as in the midst of it.
For, all the Stars reflect their lively rayes
On Fire and Aire, and Water, diuers wayes;
Dispersing, so, their powerfull influence
On, in, and through these various Elements:
But, on the Earth, they all in one concurr,
And all vnite their seuered force in her;
As in a Wheel, which with a long deep rut
Simile.
His turning passage in the durt doth cut,
The distant spoaks neerer and nearer gather,
And in the Navevnite their points together.
As the bright Sun shines thorough smoothest Glass,
Simile.
The turning Planets influence doth pass
Without impeachment through the glist' ring Tent
Of the tralucing Fierie Element,
Th' Aires triple Regions, the transparent Water;
But not the firm Base of this fair Theater.
And therefore rightly may we call those Trines
(Fire, Aire, and Water) but Heav'ns Concubines:
For, neuer Sun, nor Moon, nor Stars inioy
The love of these, but only by the way,
As passing by: whereas incessantly,
The lusty Heav'n with Earth doth company;
And with a fruitfull seed, which lends All life,
With-childs each-moment his owne lawfull wife;
And with her louely Babes, in form and nature
The Water, be­tween the Earth and Aire.
So diuers, decks this beautifull Theater.
The Water, lighter then the Earthy Masse,
Heauier then Aire, betwixt them both hath place;
The better so with a moist-cold, to temper
Th' ones over-driness, th' others hot distemper.
But, my sweet Muse, whither so fast away?
Leauing the Earth and Sea till the next Booke, hee comes to treate of the Aire.
Soft, soft, my Darling: draw not dry To-Day
Castalian Springs; defer the Cirque, and Seat,
The power, and praise, of Sea and Earth as yet:
Do not anticipate the Worlds Beginning;
But, till To-Morrow, leaue the enter-blinning
[Page 35]Of Rocky Mounts, and rouling Waues so wide.
For, euen To-Morrow will the Lord diuide,
With the right hand of his Omnipotence,
These yet confus'd and mingled Elements;
And liberally the shaggy Earth adorn
With Woods, and Buds of fruits, of flowers and corn.
'Tis time, my Loue, 'tis time, mine onely Care,
To hie vs hence, and Mount vs in the Aire:
'Tis time (or neuer) now, my dearest Minion,
To imp strong farcels in thy sacred pinion;
That lightly born vpon thy Virgin back,
Safe through the Welkin I my course may take:
Com, com, my Ioy, lend me thy lillie shoulder;
That, thereon raised, I may reach the bolder
(Before the rest of my deer Country-men,
Of better wit, but worse-applied pen)
At that green Laurel, which the niggard Skies
So long haue hidden from my longingeies.
Th' Aire (hoste of Mists, the bounding Tennis-ball,
That stormy Tempests toss and play with all;
The Aire distin­guished into 3 Regions.
Of winged Clouds the wide inconstant House,
Th' vnsetled kingdom of swift Aeolus,
Great Ware-house of the Windes, whose traffik giues
Motion of life to euery thing that liues)
Is not throughout all one: our Elder Sages
Have fitly parted it into Three Stages.
Wherof, because the Highest still is driv'n
With violence of the First-mouing Heav'n,
The High.
From East to West; and from West returning
To th' honored Cradle of therosiall Morning,
And also seated next the Fiery vault;
It, by the learned, very hot is thought.
That, which we touch, with times doth variate,
Now hot, now cold, and sometimes temperate;
The Lowe.
Warm-temp'red showers it sendeth in the Spring:
In Autumn likewise, but more varying:
In Winter time, continuall cold and chill:
In Sommer season, hot and soultry still;
[Page 36]For then, the Fields, scorched with flames, reflect
The sparkling rayes of thousand Stars aspect;
And chiefly Phoebus, to whose arrows bright,
Our Globy Grandame serues for But and White.
The Middle Re­gion of the Aire.
But now, because the Middle Region's set
Far from the Fiery seelings flagrant heat,
And also from the warm reuerberation
Which aye the Earth reflects in diuers fashion;
That Circle shiuers with eternall colde.
For, into Hail how should the Water molde,
Of the causes of Haile.
Euen when the Sommer hath gilt Ceres Gowne,
Except those Climes with Ycicles, were sowen?
So soon as Sol, leaving the gentle Twins,
With Cancer, or thirst-panting Leo Inns,
The mid-most Aire redoubleth all his Frosts;
Being besieged by two mighty Hoasts
Of Heat more fierce' gainst his Cold force then ever,
Calls from all quarters his chil troups together.
T'incounter them with his vnited Powr,
Which then dispersed, hath far greater powr:
As Christian Armies, from the Frontiers far,
And out of fear of Turks outrageous War,
March in disorder, and become (disperst)
As many Squadrons as were Souldiers yerst;
So that somtimes th' vntrained Multitude
With bats and boawes hath beat them, and subdu'd:
But if they once perceive, or vnderstand
The Moony Standards of proud Ottoman
To be approaching, and the Sulph'ry thunder
Wherewith he brought both Rhodes and Belgrade vnder;
They soon vnite, and in a narrow place
Intrench themselues; their courage growes apace,
Their heart's on fire; and Circumcised Powrs,
By their approach, double the strength of ours.
'Tis (doubt-less) this
Contrary Circumstance. The effects the [...] of in the middle Region of the Aire.
Antiperistasis
(Bear with the word) I hold it not a miss
T' adopt somtimes such strangers for our vse,
When Reason and Necessity induce:
[Page 37]As namely, where our natiue Phrase doth want
A Word so force-full and significant)
Which makes the Fireseem to our sense and reason
Hotter in Winter then in Sommer season:
'Tis it which causeth the cold frozen Scythia,
Too-often kist by th' husband of Orithya,
To bring forth people, whose still hungry brest
(Winter or Sommer) can more meat digest
Then those lean staruelings which the Sun doth broil
Vpon the hot sands of the Libyan soyl:
And that our selues, happily seated fair,
Whose spongy lungs draw sweet and holesom Aire,
Hide in our stomacks a more liuely heat,
While bi-front Ianus frosty frowns do threat,
Then when bright Phoebus, leauing swarty Chus,
Mounts on our Zenith, to reflect on vs.
Th' Almighties hand did this Partition form;
Why the air was thus distingui­shed in the 3. Regions.
To th' end that Mist, Comets, and Winde, and Storm,
Deaw, drizling Showrs, Hail, slippery Ice, & Snowe,
In the Three Regions of the Aire might growe:
Wherof som, pointed th' Earth to fertilize,
Other to punish our impieties,
Might dayly grave in hardest hearts the love
And fear of him, who Raigns in Heav'n above.
For, as a little end of burning wax,
Of exhalations and whereunto they are appro­priate, by the Sun and the Regions of the Aire.
By th' emptiness, or if it self attracts
In Cupping-glasses, through the scotched skin
Behind the Poule, superfluous humors thin,
Which fuming from the brain did thence descend
Vpon the sight, and much the same offend:
So the swift Coach-man, whose bright flaming hair
Doth euery Day gild either Hemisphear,
Two sorts of Vapours by his heat exhales
From floating Deeps, and from the flowry Dales:
Th' one somwhat hot, but heauy, moist, and thick;
The other, light, dry, burning, pure, and quick;
Which, through the Welkin roaming all the year,
Make the World diuers to itself appear.
Now, if a vapour be so thin, that it
Cannot to Water be transformed fit,
Of Mist.
And that with Cold-lym'd wings, it houer neer
The flowry Mantle of our Mother deer;
Our Aire growes dusky, and moist drowsy Mist
Vpon the Fields doth for a time persist.
And if this vapour fair and softly sty,
Not to the cold Stage of the middle Sky,
Of Deaw and Ice.
But 'bove the Clouds, it turneth (in a trice)
In April, Deaw; in Ianuary Ice.
But, if the Vapour brauely can aduenture
Vp to th' eternall seat of shivering Winter,
The small thin humour by the Cold is prest
Into a Cloud; which wanders East and West
Of Rain.
Vpon the Winde's wings, till in drops of Rain
It fall into his Grandames lap again:
Whether som boistrous winde, with stormy puff
Ioustling the Clouds with mutuall counter-buff,
Do break their brittle sides, and make them shatter
In drizling Showres their swift distilling water:
As when a wanton heedless Page (perhaps)
Diuers Similes shewing how the Rain is caused through the in­counter of the Cloudes, which are the matter of it.
Rashly together two full glasses claps;
Both being broken, so dainly they pour
Both their brew'd liquors on the dusty flour.
Whether som milder gale, with sighing breath
Shaking their Tent, their tears disseuereth:
As after rain another rain doth drop
In shady Forests from their shaggy top,
When through their green boughs, whiffing Winds do whirl
With want on pufs their wauing locks to curl.
Or whether th' vpper Clouds moist heauiness
Doth with his waight an vnder Cloud oppress,
And so one humour doth another crush,
Till to the ground their liquid pearls do gush:
As, the more clusters of ripe grapes we pack
In Vintage-time vpon the hurdles back;
At's pearced bottom the more fuming liquor
Runns in the scummy Fat, and falls the thicker.
Then, many Heav'n-flouds in our Flouds do lose-am;
Whence it pro­ceedeth, that sometimes it rai­neth Frogs.
Nought's seen but Showers: the Heav'ns sad sable bosom
Seems all in tears to melt; and Earths green bed
With stinking Frogs is somtimes couered:
Either, because the floating Cloud doth fold
Within it self both moist, dry, hot, and cold,
Whence all things heer are made: or else for that
The actiue windes sweeping this dusty Flat,
Somtimes in th' aire som fruitfull dust doo heap:
Whence these new-formed vgly creatures leap:
As on the edges of som standing Lake
Which neighbour Mountains with their gutters make,
The foamy slime, it self transformeth oft
To green half-Tadpoles, playing there aloft,
Half-made, half-vnmade; round about the Floud,
Half-dead, half-liuing; half-a frog, half-mud.
Somtimes it happens that the force of Cold
Freezes the whole Cloud: then we may behold
Of Snow.
In siluer Flakes a heav'nly Wooll to fall;
Then, Fields seem grass-less, Forests leafe-less all,
The World's all white; and, through the heaps of Snowe,
The highest Stag can scarce his armour showe.
Somtimes befals, that, when by secret powr,
Of Haile.
The Cloud's new-chang'd into a dropping showr,
Th' excessiue cold of the mid-Aire (anon)
Candies-it all in bals of Icy-stone:
Whose violent storms somtimes (alas) doo proin,
Of fume, Va­pours, or exhala­tions whirling in the Lowe and Middle Regions of the aire, and whereof the windes are in­gendred.
Without a knife, our Orchard and our Vine:
Reap without sickle, beat down Birds and Cattle,
Disgrace our woods, and make our Roofs to rattle.
If Heav'ns bright Torches, from Earth's kidneys, sup
Som somwhat dry and heatfull Vapours vp,
Th' ambitious lightning of their nimble Fire
Would so dainly neer th' Azure Cirques aspire:
But scarce so soon their fuming crest hath raught,
Or toucht the Coldnes of the middle Vault,
And felt what force their mortall Enemy
In Garrison keeps there continually;
[Page 40]When down again, towards their Dam they bear,
Holp by the waight which they haue drawn from her:
But in the instant, to their aid arriues
Another new heat, which their heart reuiues,
Re-arms their hands, and hauing staied their flight,
Better resolv'd brings them again to fight:
Well fortifi'd then, by these fresh supplies,
More brauely they renew their enterprize:
And one-while th' vpper hand (with honour) getting,
Another-while disgracefully retreating,
Our lower Aire they tosse in sundry sort,
As weak or strong their matter doth comport.
This lasts not long; because the heat and cold,
Equall in force and Fortune, equall bold
In these assaults; to end this so dain brall,
Th' one stops their mounting, th' other stayes their fall.
So that this Vapour, neuer resting stound,
Stands neuer still, but makes his motion round,
Posteth from Pole to Pole, and flies amain
From Spain to India, and from Inde to Spain.
But though these blustring spirits seem alwaies blow'n
By the same spirit, and of like Vapour grow'n;
Yet, from their birth-place, take they diuersly
A diuers name and diuers quality.
Feeling the fower Windes, that with diuers blast,
Of the Windes, whereof there are foure princi­pall, compared to the foure Sea­sons, the foure Complexions, the foure Elements, and the foure Ages of man: & assigned to the foure Corners of the World: And called East, West North & South
From the fower corners of the World doo haste;
In their effects I finde fower Temp'raments,
Foure Times, foure Ages, and foure Elements.
Th' East-winde, in working, follows properly
Fire, Choler, Summer, and soft Infancy:
That, which dries-vp wild Affrick with his wing,
Resembles Aire, Bloud, Youth, and liuely Spring:
That, which blowes moistly from the Western stage,
Like Water, Phlegme, Winter, and heauy Age:
That, which comes shiv'ring from cold Climates solely,
Earth, withered Eld, Autumn, and Melancholy.
Not, but that Men haue long ye [...] this found-out
More then these foure Windes, East, West, North, and South:
[Page 41]Those that (at Sea) to see both Poles are wont,
Vpon their Compass two and thirty count,
Though they be infinite, as are the places
Whence the Heav'n-fanning Exhalation passes:
But wheresoeuer their quick course they bend,
As on their Chiefs, all on these Foure depend.
One while, with whisking broom they brush and sweep
Diuers effects of the Windes.
The cloudy Courtains of Heav'ns stages steep:
Anon, with hotter sighes they dry the Ground,
Late by Electra and her sisters drownd.
Anon refresh they, with a temperate blowing,
The soultry Aier, vnder the Dog-star glowing:
On Trees anon they ripe the Plum and Pear,
In cods the Poulse, the Corn within the ear:
Anon, from North to South, from East to West
With ceas-less wings they driue a Ship addrest:
And somtimes whirling, on an open Hill,
The round-flat Runner in a roaring Mill,
In flowry motes they grinde the purest grain,
Which late they ripened on the fruitfull Plain.
Diuers effect of hot exhalations.
If th' Exhalation hot and oily proue,
And yet (as feeble) giueth place aboue
To th' Airy Regions euer-lasting Frost,
Incessantly th' apt-tinding fume is tost
Till it inflame: then like a Squib it falls,
Or fire-wingd shaft, or sulp'hry Powder-Balls.
Of Come [...]s.
But if This kinde of Exhalation tour
Aboue the walls of Winters icy bowr
'T-inflameth also; and anon becoms
A new strange Star, presaging wofull dooms:
And, for this Fier hath more fewell in't
Then had the first, 'tis not so quickly spent:
Whether the Heav'ns incessant agitation,
Into a Star transforming th' Exhalation,
Kindle the same: like as a coal, that winkt
On a sticks end (and seemed quite extinct)
Tost in the dark with an industrious hand,
To light the night, becoms a fier-brand:
[Page 42]Or whether th' vpper Fire doo fire the same;
As lighted Candles doo th' vnlight inflame.
According as the vapour's thick or rare,
Of other fiery impressions in the regions of the Aire.
Euen, or vn-even, long or large, round or square,
Such are the Forms it in the Aire resembles:
At sight whereof, th' amazed Vulgar trembles.
Heer, in the night appears a flaming Spire,
There a fierce Dragon folded all in fire;
Heer a bright Comet, there a burning Beam,
Heer flying Launces, there a Fiery Stream:
Heer seems a horned Goat environ'd round
With fiery flakes about the Aire to bound.
There, with long bloody hair, a Blazing Star
Threatens the World with Famin, Plague, and War:
To Princes, death: to Kingdoms, many crosses:
To all Estates, ineuitable Losses:
To Heard-men, Rot: to Plough-men, hap-less Seasons:
To Saylers, Storms: to Cities, ciuill Treasons.
But hark: what hear I in the Heav'ns? me thinks
A liuely descrip­tion of thunder and lightning.
The Worlds wall shakes, and his Foundation shrinks:
It seems euen now that horrible P [...]rsiphoné,
Loosing Meger, Alecto, and Tysiphoné,
Weary of raigning in black Erebus,
Transports her Hell between the Heav'n and vs.
'Tis held I knowe, that when a Vapour moist
How they are ingendred.
As well from Fresh as from Salt water's hoist
In the same instant with hot-Exhalations,
In th' Aiery Regions secondary stations;
The Fiery Fume, besieged with the Croud
And keen-cold thicknes of that dampish Cloud,
Strengthens his strength; and with redoubled Volleys
Of ioyned Heat, on the the Cold Leagher sallies.
Like as a Lion, very late exil'd,
A simile.
From's natiue Forests; spit-at and reuil'd,
Mock't, moov'd, and troubled with a thousand toyes,
By wanton children, idle girls and boyes;
With hideous roaring doth his Prison fill,
In's narrow Cloistre ramping wildely, still,
[Page 43]Runns to and fro; and furious, less doth long
For liberty, than to reuenge his wrong:
This Fire, desirous to break forth again
From's cloudy Ward, cannot itself refrain;
But, without resting, loud it grones and grumbles,
It roules and roars, and round-round-round it rumbles,
Till (hauing rent the lower side in sunder)
With Sulph'ry flash it haue shot-down his thunder:
Though, willing to vnite, in these alarms,
To's Brothers Forces, his own fainting arms;
And th' hottest Circle of the World to gain,
To issue vp-ward, oft it striues in vain:
But, 'tis there fronted with a Trench so large
And such an Hoast, that though it often charge,
On this and that side, the Cold Camp about,
With his Hot Skirmish; yet still, still the stout
Victorious Foe repelleth ev'ry push;
So that (despairing) with a furious rush,
Forgetting honour, it is fain to fly
By the back-door, with blushing Infamy.
Then th' Ocean boyls for fear; the Fish doo deem
Their effects.
The Sea too shallow to safe-shelter them:
The Earth doth shake; the Shepheard in the field
In hollow Rocks himself can hardly shield:
Th' affrighted Heav'ns open; and, in the Vale
Of Acheron, grim Plutoes self looks pale:
Th' Aire flames with Fire: for, the loud-roaring Thunder
(Renting the Cloud, that it includes, asunder)
Sends forth those Flashes which so blear our sight:
As wakefull Students, in the Winters night
Against the steel glauncing with stony knocks,
Simile.
Strike sodain sparks into their Tinder-box.
Moreouer, Lightning of a fume is fram'd:
Admirable ef­fects of light­ning.
Through 'tselfs hot-dryness, euermore inflam'd:
Whose powr (past-credit) without razing skin
Can bruiz to powder all our bones within:
Can melt the Gold that greedy Mizers hoord
In barred Cofers, and not burn the boord:
[Page 44]Can break the blade and neuer sindge the sheath:
Can scorch an infant in the Womb to death;
And neuer blemish, in one sort or other,
Flesh, bone, or sinew of th' amazed Mother:
Consume the shooes and neuer hurt the feet:
Empty a Cask, and yer not perish it:
My yonger eyes haue often seen a Dame,
To whom the flash of Heav'ns fantastike flame
Did els no harm, saue (in a moment's space)
With windy Rasor shaue a secretplace.
Shall I omit a hundred Prodigies
Of Crownes and circles about the Sunne, Moone, and other Pla­nets.
Oft seen in forehead of the frowning Skies?
Somtimes a Fiery Circle doth appear
Proceeding from the beautious beams and clear
Of Sun and Moon, and other Stars aspect,
Down-looking on a thick-round Cloud ditect;
When, not of force to thrust their rayes through-out-it,
In a round Crown they cast them round about-it:
Like as (almost) a burning candle, put
Simile.
Into a Closet with the door close shut;
Not able through the boords to send his light,
Out at the edges round about shines bright.
But, in's declining, when Sols countenance
Direct vpon a wat'rish Cloud doth glance
(A wat'rish Cloud, which cannot easily
Hold any longer her moist Tympany)
On the moist Cloud he limns his lightsom front;
Of the Rainbow and how it is made.
And with a gawdy Pencill paints vpon't
A blew-green-gilt Bowe bended ouer vs:
For, th' aduerse Cloud, which first receiueth thus
Apollos rayes, the same direct repells
On the next Cloud, and with his gold it mells
Her various coulours: like as when the Sun
Simile.
At a bay-window peepeth in vpon
A boule of water, his bright beams aspect
With trembling lustre it doth far reflect
Against th' high seeling of the lightsom Hall
With stately Fret-work ouer-crustod all.
On th' other side, if the Cloud side-long sit,
And not beneath, or iustly opposite
How it comes to passe that some­times appear di­uers Suns and Moones at once.
To Sun or Moon: then either of them Forms
With strong aspect double or trebble Forms
Vpon the same. The Vulgar's then affright
To see at once three Chariots of the Light;
And, in the Welkin on Nights gloomy Throne,
To see at once more shining Moons then one.
But, O fond Mortals▪ Wherefore doo yee striue
A check to mans Pride in striuing to yeeld reason in Nature, of all these accidents.
With reach of Sense, Gods wonders to retriue?
What proud desire (rather what Furie's drift?)
Boldens you God-less, all Gods works to sift?
Ille not deny, but that a learned man
May yeeld some Reason (if he list to scan)
Of all that moues vnder Heav'ns hollow Cope;
But not so sound as can all scruple stop:
And though he could, yet should we euermore,
Praysing these tools, extoll His fingers more
Who works withall, and many-waies doth giue
To deadest things (instantly) soules, to liue.
True Philoso­phy for Christi­ans, to apply all to their consci­ence for amend­ment of life.
Me thinks I hear, when I doo hear it Thunder,
The voice that brings Swayns vp, and Caesars vnder:
By that Towr-tearing stroak, I vnderstand
Th' vndaunted strength of the Diuine right hand:
When I behold the Lightning in the Skies,
Me thinks I seeth' Almighties glorious eyes:
When I perceiue it Rain-down timely showrs,
Me thinks the Lord his horn of Plenty pours:
When from the Clouds excessiue Water spins,
Me thinks God weepes for our vnwept-for sins:
And when in Heav'n I see the Rain-bow bent,
I hold it for a Pledge and Argument,
That neuer more shall Vniuersall Floods
Presume to mount ouer the tops of Woods
Which hoary Atlas in the Clouds doth hide,
Or on the Crowns of Caucasus doo ride:
But, aboue all, my perced soule inclines,
When th' angry Heav'ns threat with Prodigious Signes;
[Page 46]When Natures order doth reuerse and change,
Preposterously into disorder strange.
Let all the Wits, that euer suckt the brest
All the learned in the World cannot out of the school of Nature giue reason for many things that are created in the High and Middle Regiōs of the Aire.
Of sacred Pallas, in one Wit be prest,
And let him tell me (if at least he can
By rule of Nature, or meer reach of man)
A sound and certain reason of the Cream,
The Wooll, and Flesh, that from the Clouds did stream.
Let him declare what cause could yerst beget,
Amid the Aire, those drizzling showers of Wheate,
Which in Carinthia, twice were seene to shed;
Wherof that people made them store of Bread.
God, the great God of Heav'n, sometimes delights,
The true cause of these Prodigies.
From top to toe to alter Natures Rites;
That his strange Works, to Nature contrary,
May be fore-runners of some misery.
The drops of Fire, which weeping Heav'n did showr
Vpon Lucania, when Rome sent the Flowr
Exāples drawne out of the Histo­rie of the Romās, Iews, Turks, & French, both Ec­clesiasticall and profane.
Of Italy into the wealthy Clime,
Which Euphrates fatts with his fruitfull slime;
Persag'd, that Parthians should, the next yeer, tame
The proud Lucanians, and nigh quench their Name.
The clash of Arms, and clang of Trumpets heard
High in the Aire, when valiant Romans warr'd
Victoriously, on the (now-Canton'd) Suisses,
Cymbrians, and Almans, hewing all in peeces;
Gainst Epicures profane assertions, showe
That 'tis not Fortune guides this World belowe.
Thou that beheld'st from Heav'n, with triple Flashes,
Cursed Olympius smitten all to ashes,
For Blasphemies 'gainst Th' ONE Eternall-THREE?
Dar'st thou yet belch against the TRINITIE?
Dar'st thou, profane, spit in the face of God,
Who for blasphemers hath so sharpe a rod?
Iews (no more Iews, no more of Abr'ham Sons;
But Turks, Tartarians, Scythians, Lestrigons)
Say what you thought; what thought you, when so long
A flaming Sword ouer your Temple hung;
[Page 47]But that the Lord would with a mighty arm
The righteous vengeance of his wrath perform
On you, and yours? that what the Plague did leaue,
Th' insatiate gorge of Famine should bereaue?
And what the Plague and Famine both did spare,
Should be clean gleaned by the hand of War?
That sucking Infants crying for the teat,
Self-cruell Mothers should vnkindely eat?
And that (yer long) the share and coultar should
Rub off their rust vpon your Roofs of gold?
And all, because you (cursed) crucifi'd
The Lord of life, who for our ransom dy'd.
The ruddy Fountain that with bloud did flowe:
Th' huge Fiery Rock the thundring Heav'ns did throwe
Into Liguria: and the Bloudy Crosses
Seen on mens garments, seem'd with open voices
To cry aloud, that the Turks swarming hoast
Should pitch his proud Moons on the Genoan coast.
The Poet seuere ly taxeth his Countrymen for not marking, or not making vse of strange & ex­extrarordinary tokens of Gods imminent dis­pleasure.
O Frantick France! why dost not Thou make vse
Of strangefull Signes, whereby the Heav'ns induce
Thee to repentance? Canst thou tear-lesse gaze
(Euen night by night) on that prodigious Blaze,
That hairy Comet, that long streaming Star,
Which threatens Earth with Famine, Plague, and War
(Th' Almighty's Trident, and three-forked fire
Wherwith he strikes vs in his greatest Ire)?
But, what (alas!) can Heauens bear threatnings vrge?
Sith all the sharpe Rods which so hourely scourge,
Thy sens-lesse back, cannot so much as wrest
One single sigh from thy obdurate brest?
Thou drink'st thine own bloud, thine owne flesh thou eatest,
In what most harms theethy delight is greatest.
O sens-less Folk, sick of a Lethargy,
Who to the death despise your Remedy!
Like froward Iades that for no striking stur,
But wax more restif still the more we spur:
The more your wounds, more your securenes growes,
Fat with afflictions, as an Asse with blowes:
[Page 48]And as the sledge hardens with strokes the steel;
So, the more beaten, still the less ye feel.
And want on ENGLAND, why hast thou forgot
Vpon like consi­deration the Trāslator sharp ly citeth Eng. & to rouze her frō her present se­curitie, proposeth fearfull exāples of her own trou­blous changes, & others terrible Chastisements.
Thy visitation, as thou hadst it not?
Thou hast seen signes, and thou hast felt the rod
Of the revenging wrathfull hand of God.
The frowning Heav'ns in fearefull Sightes fore-spoke
Thy Roman, Saxon, Dane, and Norman Yoak:
And since (alas!) vnkinder wounds then those,
The Ciuillrents of thy diuided ROSE:
And, last of all the raging Wolues of Rome,
Tearing thy limbs (Christs Lambs) in Martyrdom.
Besides Great Plagues, and grieuous Dearths, which (yerst)
Haue oft the Sinnews of thy strength reuerst.
But thou, more faulty more forgetfull art
Then Boyes that fear but while they feel the smart:
All this is past; and thou, past fear of it,
In Peace and Plenty, as a Queen doost sit,
Of Rods forgetfull, and for Rest ingratefull
(That, sottish dulnes: this, a sinne most hatefull)
Ingratefull to thy God, who all hath sent;
And thy late Queen, his sacred Instrument,
By whose pure hand, he hath more blessed Thine,
Esay Chap. 5. [...] 2. 3. &c.▪
Then yerst his owne Choice-planted Hebrew Vine:
From whence hee look't for Grapes (as nov from thee);
That bore him Crabs: Thouworse (if worse may be):
That was destroy'd, the wilde Boar entred in:
ENGLAND beware: Like punishment, like sinne.
But, O! what boots, or what auailes my song
To this deaf Adder that hath slept so long,
Snorting so loud on pillows of Securitie,
Dread-less of danger, drowned in Impurity;
Whose Senses all, all ouer-grow'n with Fat,
Haue left no door for Fear to enter at?
Yet once again (deer Country) must I call:
ENGLAND repent; Fall, to preuent thy Fall.
Though Thou be blinde, thy wakefull watchmen see
Heav'ns Irefull vengeance hanging ouer thee
[Page 49]In fearfull Signes, threatning a thousand Woes
To thy Sinn's Deluge, which allouer-flowes.
Thine vncontrold, bold, open Athëism:
Close Idol-seruice: Cloaked Hypocrism:
Common Blaspheming of Gods Name, in Oaths:
Vsuall Profaning of his Sabbaoths:
Thy blinde, dumb, Idol-shepheards, choakt with steeples,
That fleece thy Flocks, and do not feed thy Peoples:
Strife-full Ambition, Florentizing States:
Bribes and Affection swaying Magistrates:
Wealth's mercie-less Wrong, Vsury, Extortion:
Poore's Idleness, Repining at their Portion:
Thy drunken Surfets; and Excess in Diet:
Thy Sensuall wallowing in Lascivious Riot:
Thy huft, puft, painted, curld, purld, Wanton Pride
(The Baud to Lust, and to all Sinns beside)
These are thy Sinns: These are the Signes of Ruin,
To euery State that doth the same pursue-in:
Such, cost the Iews and Asians Desolation,
Now turned Turks, that were the Holy Nation.
Happy who take by others dangers warning:
All that is writ, is written for our learning:
So preach thy Prophets: But who heeds their cry?
Or, who beleeues? Then much less hope haue I.
Wherefore (Deer Bartas) hauing warned them;
From this Digression, turn we to our Theam.
As our All-welcom SOVERAIN (Englands solace,
Simile.
Heav'ns care, Earths comfort) in his stately Palace,
Hath next His Person, Princes of His Realms
Next him in bloud, extract from Royall Stems;
Next those, the Nobles; next, the Magistrates
That serue him truly in their seuerall States;
As more or less their diuers Dignity
Coms neer the Greatnes of his Maiesty:
So, next the Heav'ns, God marshall'd th' Element
Hauing suffici­ently discoursed of the Aire, he begins to handle the Element of Fire.
Which seconds them in swift bright Ornament:
And then the rest, according as of kin
To th' Azure Sphears, or th' Erring Fiers they bin.
Yet som (more crediting their eyes, then Reason)
From's proper place this Essence doo disseisin;
Against such as deny the Fire to be an Element.
And vainly strive (after their Fanciessway)
To cut the World's best Element away,
The nimble, light, bright-flaming, heat-full Fire,
Fountain of life, Smith, Founder, Purifier,
Cook, Surgeon, Soldier, Gunner, Alchymist,
The source of Motion: briefly, what not is't?
Apt for all, acting all; whose arms embrace,
Vnder Heav'ns arms, this Vniuersall Mass.
For, if (say they) the Fire were lodg'd between
Their Reasons.
The Heav'ns and vs, it would by night be seen;
Sith then, so far-off (as in Meads we pass)
1
We see least Glow-wormsglister in the grass:
Besides, how should we through the Fiery Tent,
Perceiue the bright eys of the Firmament?
Sith heer the soundest and the sharpest ey
2
Can nothing through our Candle-flames descry.
O! hard-beleeuing Wits! if Zephyrus
Aunsweres.
And Austers sighes were neuer felt of vs,
You would suppose the space between Earth's Ball,
And Heav'ns bright Arches, void and empty all:
And then no more you would the Aire allow
For Element, then th' hot-bright Flamer now.
Now ev'n as far as Phoebus light excels
Difference be­tween th' Ele­mentary fire and ours.
The light of Lamps, and every Taper els
Wherewith wevse to lengthen th' After-noon
Which Capricorn ducks in the Sea too soon;
So far in pureness th' Elementall Flame
Excels the Fire that for our vse we frame.
For, ours is nothing but a dusky light,
Gross, thick, and smoaky, enemy to sight:
But, that aboue (for being neither blent
With fumy mixture of gross nourishment,
Nor tost with Windes, but far from vs) coms neer
It's neighbour Heav'n, in nature pure and cleer.
But, of what substance shall I, after-thee
Heere for con­clusion of this second booke, hee commeth to dis­course of the Heauens, & first intreateth of their matter and Essence. According to the opinions of the Philosophers.
(O match-less Master) make Heav'ns Canapey?
[Page 51]Vncertain, heer my resolutions rock
And waver, like th' inconstant Weather-Cock
Which, on a Towr turning with every blast,
Changeth his Master, and his place as fast.
Learned Lycaeum, now awhile, I walk-in:
Then th' Academian sacred Shades I stalk-in.
Treading the way that Aristotle went,
I doo depriue the Heav'ns of Element,
And mixture too; and think, th' omnipotence
Of God did make them of a Quint-Essence;
Sith of the Elements, two still erect
Their course.
Their motion vp; two euer down direct:
But the Heav'ns course, not wandring vp nor down,
Continually turns onely roundly round.
The Elements haue no eternal race,
But settle ay in their assigned place:
But th' azure Circle without taking breath,
His certain course for euer gallopeth;
It keeps one pase, and mov'd with waight-les waights,
It neuer takes fresh horse, nor neuer baits.
Things that consist of th' Elements vniting,
Are euer tost with an intestin fighting;
Whence, springs (in time) their life and their deceasing,
Heauen not subiect to altera­tion, as are the Elements.
Their diuers change, their waxing and decreasing:
So that, of all that is, or may be seen
With mortall eyes, vnder Nights horned Queen,
Nothing retaineth the same form and face,
Hardly the half of half an howrs space.
But, the Heav'ns feel not Fates impartiall rigour:
Years add not to their stature nor their vigour:
Vse wears them not; but their green-euer Age
Is all in all still like their Pupillage.
Then sodainly, turnd studious Platonist,
I hold, the Heav'ns of Elements consist:
What vse of E­lements in the Heauens.
'Tis Earth, whose firm parts make their Lamps apparant,
Their bodies fast; Aire makes them all transparant;
Fire makes their rest-les circles pure, and cleer,
Hot, lighsom, light, and quick in their career:
[Page 52]And Water, 'nointing with cold-moist the brims
Of th' enter-kissing turning Globes extreams,
Tempers the heat (caus'd by their rapid turning)
Which els would set all th' elements a-burning.
Not, that I doo compare or match the Matter
Difference be­tween the Ele­ments, whereof the Heauens are composed, and these inferiour Elements.
Whence I compose th' All-compassing Theater,
To those gross Elements which heer belowe
Our hand and ey doth touch and see and knowe:
'T's all fair, all pure; a sacred harmony
Those bodies bindes in end-less Vnity:
That Aier's not flitting, nor that Water floating,
Nor Fire inflaming, nor Earth dully doating:
Nor one to other aught offensiue neither,
But (to conclude) Celestiall altogether.
See, see the rage of humane Arrogance:
Detesting the presumption of those curious wits searching these secrets, He limits him­selfe within the bounds of Chri­stian Sobriety.
See how far dares man's erring ignorance,
That with vnbridled tongue (as if it oft
Had try'd the mettle of that vpper Loft)
Dares, without proof or without reason yeelded,
Tell of what timber God his Palace builded.
But, in these doubts much rather rest had I,
Then with mine errour draw my Readerwry;
Till a Saint Paule doore-descend from Heav'n,
Or till my self (this sinfull roab be reav'n,
This rebell Flesh, whose counterpoize oppresses
My pilgrim Soule, and euer it depresses)
Shall see the beauties of that Blessed Place:
If (then) I ought shall see, saue Gods bright Face.
But ev'n as many (or more) quarrels cumber
Diuers opinions of the number of the Heauens.
Th' old Heathen Schools about the Heav'ns number:
One holds but one; making the Worlds Eys shine
Through the thin-thicknes of that Crystal line
(As through the Oceans cleer and liquid Flood
The slippery Fishes vp and down doos [...]ud.)
Another, iudging certain by his ey,
And seeing Seav'n bright Lamps (moov'd diversly)
'Turn this and that way: and, on th' other side,
That all the rest of the Heav'ns twinkling pride
[Page 53]Keep all one course; ingeniously, he varies
The Heav'ns rich building into eight round Stories.
Others, amid the Starriest Orb perceiuing
A triple cadence, and withall conceiuing
That but one naturall course one body goes,
Count nine, som ten; not numbring yet (with those)
Th' empyreall Palace, where th' eternall Treasures
Of Nectar flowe, where ever-lasting Pleasures
Are heaped-vp, where an immortall May
In bliss-full beauties flourisheth for ay,
Where Life still liues, where God his
Assises.
Sises holds,
Environ'd round with Seraphins, and Soules
Bought with his precious blood, whose glorious Flight
Yerst mounted Earth above the Heav'ns bright.
Nor shall my faint and humble Muse presume
So high a Song and Subiect to assume.
O fair, fiue-double Round, sloath's Foe apparant,
He stoppeth at the contemplati­on and praise of the Heauens. Which he consi­dereth as distin­guished into ten stages or Hea­uens.
Life of the World, Dayes, Months, and yeers own Parent▪
Thine own selfs model, never shifting place,
And yet, thy pure wings with so swift a pase
Fly over vs, that but our Thought alone
Can (as thy babe) pursue thy motion:
Infinite finite; free from growth and grief,
Discord and death; dance-louer; to be brief,
Still like thy self, all thine own in thee all,
Transparent, cleer, light; law of this lowe Ball:
Which in thy wide bout, bound-les all doost bound,
And clasp [...]st all, vnder, or in thy Round;
Throne of th' Almighty, I would fain rehearse
Thy various Dauies in this very Verse,
If it were time, and but my bounded Song
Doubteth to make this Second Day too-long.
For, notwithstanding, yet another day
I fear som Critick will not stick to say,
My babbling Muse did sail with every gale,
And mingled yarn to length her web withall.
But knowe, what e'r thou be, that heer I gather
The summe of what hath been handled in this booke, & what is to be vnderstood by the firmament which Moyses describeth in the first of Gen. [...]. 6
Iustly so many of Gods works together,
[Page 54]Because by th' Orbe of th' ample Firmament
Which round This-Day th' Eternall Fingers pent
Between the lower Waters and the higher;
I mean the Heav'ns, the Aire, and th' vpper Fire,
Which separate the Oceans waters salt.
From those which God pour'd o'r th' Ethereal Vault.
Yet haue I not so little seen and sought
Against those that think there are no waters a­boue the firma­ment: Whom he confuteth by diuers Reasons. Simile.
The Volums, which our Age hath chiefest thought,
But that I knowe how suttly greatest Clarks
Presume to argue in their learned Works,
T'o 'r-whelm these Floods, this Crystal to deface,
And dry this Ocean, which doth all imbrace.
But, as the beauty of a modest Dame,
Who, well-content with Natures comly Frame,
And native Fair (as it is freely giv'n
In fit proportion by the hand of Heav'n)
Doth not, with painting▪ prank, nor set-it-out
With helps of Art, sufficient Fair without;
Is more prayse-worthy, then the wanton glance,
Th' affected gait, th' alluring countenance,
The Mart of Pride, the Periwigs and painting,
Whence Courtisans refresh their beauties fainting:
1. The word of God to be preser red before the voice of man.
So doe I more the sacred Tongue esteem,
Though plain and rurall it doe rather seem,
Then school'd Athenian; and Diuinity,
For onely varnish, have but Verity;
Then all the golden Wit-pride of Humanity,
Wherewith men burnish their erroneous vanity.
I'l rather give a thousand times the ly
2. Gods word mētioneth wa­ters aboue the firmament.
To mine own Reason, then but once defy
The sacred voice of th' ever-lasting Spirit,
Which doth so often and so loud averr-it,
That God, above the shining Firmament,
Gen. 1, 7 Psal. 104, 3 Psal. 148, 4
I wot not, I, what kinde of Waters pent:
Whether, that pure, super-celestiall Water,
With our inferiour haue no likely nature:
Whether, turnd Vapour, it haue round embow'd
Heav'ns highest stage in a transparent Cloud:
[Page 55]Or whether (as they say) a Crystall case
Do (round about) the Heav'nly Orb embrace.
But, with coniectures wherefore strive I thus?
Can doubtfull proofs the certainty discuss?
I see not, why Mans reason should withstand,
3. The power of God ought to be of greater au­thority then Mans Reason.
Or not beleeve, that Hee whose powrfull hand
Bay'd-vp the Red-Sea with a double Wall,
That Israels Hoast might scape Egyptian thrall,
Could prop as sure so many waves on high
Above the Heav'n Star-spangled Canapy.
See we not hanging in the Clouds each howr
So many Seas, still threatning down to pour,
4. The conside­ration of the wa­ters which hang in the Aire, and of the Sea which compasseth the Earth.
Supported only by th' Aier's agitation
(Selfly too weak for the least waight's foundation)?
See wee not also, that this Sea belowe,
Which round about our Earthly Globe doth flowe,
Remains still round; and maugre all the surly
Aeolian Slaves and Water's hurly burly,
Dares not (to levell her proud liquid Heap)
Neuer so little past her limits leap?
Why then beleeue we not, that vpper Sphear
May (without falling) such an Ocean bear?
Vncircumcised! O hard hearts! at least
Lett's think that God those Waters doth digest
In that steep place: for, if that, Nature heer
5. Diuers effects continual & ad­mirable in Na­ture.
Can form firm Pearl and Crystall shining cleer
Of liquid substance; let's beleeue it rather
Much more in God (the Heav'ns and Natur's Father)
Let vs much more, much more lett's peiz and ponder
Th' Almighties Works, and at his Wisedom wonder:
Let vs obserue, and double-waigh it well,
That this proud Palace whear we rule and dwell
(Though built with match-less Art) had fall'n long since,
Had 't not ben seel'd-round with moist Elements.
For, like as (in Man's Little-World) the Brain
Doth highest place of all our Frame retain,
And tempers with it's moistfull coldnes so
Th' excessive heat of th' other parts belowe:
[Page 56]Th' eternall Builder of this beautious Frame
To enter-mingle meetly Frost with Flame,
And cool the great heat of the Great-Worlds Torches,
This-Day spred Water over Heav'ns bright Arches.
These Seas (they say) leagu'd with the Seas belowe,
Hiding the highest of the Mountains tho,
Had drown'd the whole World had not Noah builded
A holy Vessell, where his house was shielded:
Taking occasiō by his former dis­course he trea­teth of the incoū ter of the vpper waters with the lower: whence followed the ge­neral stood in the daies of Noah: Which h [...]re he liuely represen­teth.
Where, by direction of the King of Kings,
He sav'd a seed-payr of all liuing things;
No sooner ship [...], but instantly the Lord
Down to th' Aeolian dungeon him bestirr'd,
There muzled close Cloud-chasing Boreas,
And let loose Auster, and his lowring race,
Who soon set forward with a dropping wing;
Vpon their beard for every hair a spring,
A night of Clouds muffled their brows about,
Their wattled locks gusht all in Rivers out;
And both their hands, wringing thick Clouds asunder,
Send forth fierce lightning, tempest, rain and thunder.
Brooks, Lakes, and Floods, Rivers, and foaming Torrents
Sodainly swell; and their confused Currents,
Losing their old bounds, break a neerer way
To run at randon with their spoyls to Sea.
Th' Earth shakes for fear, and (sweating) doth consume her,
And in her veins leaues not a drop of humour.
And thou thy self, O Heav'n, didst set wideope
(Through all the Marshes in thy spacious cope)
All thy large sluces, thy vast Seas to shed
In sodain spouts on thy proud sisters head;
Whose aw-less, law-less, shame-les life abhord,
Onely delighted to despight the Lord.
Th' Earth shrinks & sinks; now th' Ocean hath no shore:
Now Rivers run to serue the Sea no more;
Themselues are Sea: the many sundry Streams,
Of sundry names (deriv'd from sundry Realms)
Make now but one great Sea: the World it self
Is nothing now but a great standing Gulf,
[Page 57]Whose swelling surges strive to mix their Water
With th' other Waves above this round Theater.
The Sturgeon, coasting over Castles, muses
(Vnder the Sea) to see so many houses.
The Indian Manat and the Mullet float
O'r Mountain tops, where yerst the bearded Goat
Did bound and brouz the crooked Dolphin seuds
O'r th' highest branches of the hugest Woods.
Nought boots the Tigre, or the Hart or Hors,
Or Hare, or Grey-hound, their swift speedy cours;
For, seeking Land, the more they strain & breath them,
The more (alas) it shrinks and sinks beneath them.
The Otter, Tortois, and fell Crocodile
Which did enioy a double house yer-while,
Must be content with only water now.
The Wolf and Lamb, Lions and Buçks, do rowe
Vpon the Waters, side by side, suspect-less.
The Glead and Swallow, laboring long (effect-less)
'Gainst certain death, with wearied wings fall down
(For want of Perch) and with the rest do drown.
And, for mankinde, imagine som get vp
To som high Mountains over-hanging top;
Som to a Towr, som to a Cedar tree,
(Whence round about a World of deaths they see)
But wheresoeuer their pale fears aspire
For hope of safety, th' Ocean surgeth higher,
And still-still mounting as they still do mount,
When they cease mounting, doth them soon surmount.
One therefore ventures on a Plank to rowe,
One in a Chest, another in a Trough:
Another, yet half-sleeping, scarce perceives
How's bed and breath, the Flood at once bereaves;
Another labouring with his feet and hands,
A while the fury of the Flood withstands,
(Which by his side hath newly droun'd his Mother,
His Wife, his Son, his Sister, Sire, and Brother):
But tyr'd and spent, weary and wanting strength,
He needs must yeeld (too) to the Seas at length;
[Page 58]All, all must die then: but
Parcae, à non parcendo: Thenone-sparing Fates; that is to say, Death.
th' impartiall Maids,
Who wont to vse so sundry tools for ayds,
In execution of their fatall slaughters,
Had only now the furious foaming Waters.
Safely the while, the sacred Ship did float
On the proud shoulders of that boundless-Moat,
Though mast-les, oar-les, and from Harbour far;
For God was both her Steers-man, and her Star.
Thrice fifty dayes that Vniuersall Flood
Wasted the World; which then the Lord thought good
To re-erect, in his Compassion great.
No sooner sounds he to the Seas retreat,
But instantly wave into wave did sink
With sodain speed, all Rivers gan to shrink;
Th' Ocean retires him to his wonted prison;
The Woods are seen; the Mountain tops are risen
Out of their slimy Bed: the Fields increase
And spread apace, so fast the waters cease.
And (briefly) th' onely thundring hand of God
Now Earth to Heav'n, Heav'n vnto Earth re-show'd;
That he again Panchaian Fumes might see
Sacred on Altars to his Maiesty.
He concludeth with a most god­ly prayer accom­modated to the state of the Church in our time.
Lord, sith't hath pleas'd thee likewise, in our Age,
To saue thy Ship from Tyrants stormy rage,
Increase in Number (Lord) thy little Flock;
But more in Faith, to build on thee, the Rock.
So, Morn and Euen the second Day conclude,
And God perceiu'd that All his Works were good.

THE THIRD DAIE OF THE FIRST WEEK.

THE ARGVMENT.
The Sea, and Earth: their various Equipage:
Seuer'd a-part: Bounds of the Oceansrage:
'Timbraceth Earth: it doth all Watersowe:
Why it is salt: How it doth Ebb, and Flowe:
Rare streams, and Fountains of strange operation:
Earth's firmnes, greatnes, goodnes: sharp taxation
Of Bribes, Ambition, Treason, Auarice.
Trees, Shrubs, & Plants: Mines, Metals, Gemms of price:
Right vse of Gold: the Load-stones rare effects:
The Countrey-life preferr'd in all respects.
MY sacred Muse, that lately soared high
Among the glist'ring Circles of the Sky
Frō the Heauen & Regions of the Aire, the Poet descendeth to the Earth and Sea.
(Whose various dance, which the first Moover driues
Harmoniously, this Vniverse revives)
Commanding all the Windes and sulphry Storms,
The lightning Flashes, and the hideous Forms
Seen in the Aire; with language meetly brave
Whilom discourst vpon a Theam so grave▪
But, This-Day, flagging lowely by the Ground,
She seems constrain'd to keep a lowely [...]ound;
Or, if somtimes, she somwhat raise her voice,
The sound is drown'd with the rough Oceans noise.
O King of grassie and of glassie Plains,
He calleth vpon the true God be assisted in the description of th [...]se two Ele­ments, and the things therein.
Whose powrfull breath (at thy drad will) constrains
[Page 60]The deep Foundations of the Hills to shake,
And Seas salt billows 'gainst Heav'ns vaults to rake:
Grant me, To-Day, with skilfull Instruments
To bound a right these two rich Elements:
In learned numbers teach me sing the natures
Of the firm-Earth, and of the floating Waters:
And with a flowring stile the Flowrs to limn
Whose Colours now shall paint the Fields so trim.
All those steep Mountains, whose high horned tops
God in this third Day gathers to­gether the Wa­ters, & separates them from the Earth.
The misty cloak of wandring Clouds enwraps,
Vnder First Waters their crump shoulders hid,
And all the Earth as a dull Pond abid,
Vntill th' All-Monarch's bountious Maiesty
(Willing t'enfeof man this worlds Empery)
Commaunded Neptune straight to Marshall forth
His Floods a-part; and to vnfold the Earth:
And, in his Waters, now contented rest,
Thaue all the World, for one whole day, possest.
As when the muffled Heav'ns have wept a main,
By an apt cōpa­rison, he sheweth how the Water withdrewe from off the Earth.
And foaming streams assembling on the Plain,
Turn'd Fields to Floods; soon as the showrs do cease,
With vnseen speed the Deluge doth decrease,
Sups vp it self, in hollow sponges sinks,
And's ample arms in straighter Chanell shrinks:
Even so the Sea, to 'tself it self he took,
Mount after Mount, Field after Field forsook;
And sodainly in smaller cask did tun
Her Waters, that from every side did run:
Whether th' imperfect Light did first exhale
Much of that primer Humour, where withall
God, on the Second-Day, might frame and found
The Crystall Sphears that he hath spred so round:
Whether th' Almighty did new place provide
To lodge the Waters: whether op'ning wide
Th' Earth's Hollow Pores, it pleas'd him to conueigh
Of the lodging and bed of the sea.
Deep vnder ground som Arms of such a Sea:
Or whether, pressing waters gloomy Globe,
That cov'red all (as with a cloudy Robe)
[Page 61]He them impris'ned in those bounds of brass,
Which (to this day) the Ocean dares not pass
Without his licence. For, th' Eternall, knowing
The Seas commotive and inconstant flowing,
The Sea kept within her boūds by the Almighty power of God.
Thus curbed her; and, 'gainst her enuious rage,
For-ever fenç't ou [...] Flowry-mantled Stage:
So that we often see those rowling Hils,
With roaring noise threatning the neighbour Fields,
Through their owne spite to split vpon the shore,
Foaming for fury that they dare no more.
For, what could not▪ that great, high Admirall
Work in the Waues, sith at his Seruants call,
His dreadfull voice (to save his ancient Sheep)
Did cleave the bottom of th' Erythrean Deepe?
Exod. 14, 11 Iosuah, 3, 16 Gen. 7, 21 Exod. 17. 6
And toward the Crystall of his double source
Compelled Iordan to retreat his course?
Drown'd with a Deluge the rebellious World?
And from dry Rocks abundant Rivers purl'd?
Lo, thus the waighty Water did yer-while
With winding turns make all this world an Ile.
For, like as molten Lead being poured forth
A fit Simile shewing the winding turns of the Sea abou [...] the Earth.
Vpon a leuell plot of sand or earth,
In many fashions mazeth to and fro;
Runs heer direct, thear crookedly doth go,
Heer doth diuide it self, there meets again;
And the hot Riv'let of the liquid vain,
On the smooth table crawling like a worm,
Almost (in th' instant) euery form doth form:
God pour'd the Waters on the fruitfull Ground
In sundry figures; somin fashion round,
Some square, som crosse, som long, som lozenge-wise,
Som triangles, som large, som lesser size;
Amid the Floods (by this fair difference)
To giue the world more wealth and excellence.
Such is the German Sea, such Persian Sine,
Such th' Indian Gulf, and such th' Arabian Brine,
And such Our Sea: whose divers-brancht
Windings.
retortions,
Divide the World in three vnequall Portions.
And, though each of these Arms (how large soever)
The arms of the Sea distinguish­ed into smaller members with cōmodities and vse thereof.
To the great Ocean seems a little Riuer:
Each makes a hundred sundry Seas besides
(Not sundry in waters, but in Names and Tides)
To moisten kindely, by their secret Vains,
The thirsty thickness of the neighbour Plains:
To bulwark Nations, and to serue for fences
Against the inuasion of Ambitious Princes:
To bound large Kingdomes with eternall limits:
To further Traffick through all Earthly Climates:
T'abbridge long Iourneys; and with ayd of Winde
Within a month to visit eyther Inde.
But, th' Earth not only th' Oceans debter is
A Catalogue of most of the most famous Riuers in the World.
For these large Seas: But sh' owes him Tanāis,
Nile ( Aegypts treasure) and his neighbour stream
That in the Desart (through his haste extream)
Loseth himself so oft; swift Euphrates;
And th' other proud Son of cold Niphates:
Fair spacious Ganges, and his famous brother,
That lends his name vnto their noble Mother:
Gold-sanded Tagus, Rhyne, Rhóne, Volga, Tiber,
Danubius, Albis, Pô, Sein, Arne, and Iber;
The Darian, Plate, and Amazónian River,
(Where SPAIN'S Gold-thirsty Locusts cool their liver):
Our siluer Medway, (which doth deep indent
The Flowrie Medowes of My natiue KENT;
Still sadly weeping ( vnder Pensherst walls)
Th' Arcadian Cygnet's bleeding Funerals)
Our Thames and Tweed, our Severn, Trent, and Humber,
And many moe, too infinite to number.
Of him, she also holds her Silver Springs,
And all her hidden Crystall Riverlings:
And after (greatly) in two sorts repaies
Th' Humour she borrows by two sundry waies:
Fountains Springs and Ri­uers welling out of the Earth.
For, like as in a Limbeck, th' heat of Fire
Raiseth a Vapour, which still mounting higher
To the Still's top; when th' odoriferous sweat
Above that Miter can no further get,
[Page 63]It softly thickning, falleth drop by drop,
A Similie shew­ing how the wa­ters of the Earth are exhaled by the Sun & then powred into the Sea.
And Cleer as Chrystall, in the glass doth drop;
The purest humour in the Sea, the Sun
Exhales in th' Aire: which thear resolv'd, anon,
Returns to water; and descends again
By sundry waies vnto his Mother Main.
For, the dry Earth, having these waters (first)
Through the wide sive of her void entrails searst;
Giving more room, at length from Rockie Mountains:
How the Foun­tains come to breake forth of the Earth.
She (night and day) pours forth a thousand Fountains:
These Fountains make fresh Brooks (with murmuring cur­rents
These murmuring Brooks, the swift & violēt Torrents;
These violent Torrents, mighty Rivers; These,
These Riuers make the vast, deep, dreadfull Seas.
The increasing of Brooks and Riuers, and of their falling in­to the sea.
And all the highest Heav'n-approaching Rocks
Contribute hither with their snowie locks:
For, soon as Titan, having run his Ring,
To th' ycie climates bringeth back the Spring;
On their rough backs he melts the hoary heaps,
Their tops grow green; and down the water leaps
On every side, it foames, it roares, it rushes,
And through the steep and stony hilles it gushes,
Making a thousand Brooks; wherof, when one
Perceives his fellow striving to be gone;
Hasting his course, he him accompanies;
After, another and another hies,
All in one race; ioynt-losing all of them
Their Names and Waters in a greater stream:
And He that robs them, shortly doth deliver
Himself and his into a larger River:
And That, at length, how euer great and large
(Lord of the Plain) doth in som Gulf discharge
His parent-Tribute to Oceanus,
According to th' Eternall Rendez-vous.
Yet, notwithstanding, all these Streams that enter
Why the sea re­ceiueth no in­crease of all the Waters that fall therein.
In the Main Sea, do nought at all augment her:
For that, besides that all these Floods in one,
Matcht with great Neptune, seem as much as none;
[Page 64]The Sun (as yerst I said) and Windes withall,
Sweeping the sur-face of the Brinie-Ball,
Extract as much still of her humours thin,
As weeping Aire and welling Earth pours in.
But as the swelting heat, and shivering cold,
Gnashing and sweat, that th' Ague-sick do hold,
Come not at hazzard, but in time and order
Afflict the body with their fell disorder:
Of the Ebbing & Flowing of the sea: & sun­dry causes therof
The Sea hath fits, alternate course she keepes,
From Deep to Shoar, and from the Shoar to Deeps.
Whether it were, that at the first, the Ocean
From Gods owne hand receiv'd this double Motion,
By means whereof, it never resteth stound,
Simile.
But (as a turning Whirli-gig) goes round,
Whirls of it self, and good-while after takes
Strength of the strength which the first motion makes:
Whether the Sea, which we Atlantick call,
Be but a peece of the Grand Sea of all;
And that his Floods entring the ample Bed
Of the deep Main (with fury hurried
Against the Rocks) repulsed with disdain,
Be thence compelled to turn back again:
Or whether Cynthia, that with Change-full laws
Commands moist bodies, doth this motion cause:
As, on our Shoar, we see the Sea to rise
Soon as the Moon begins to mount our skies.
And when, through Heav'ns Vaultvailing toward Spayn,
Proofe of the third cause: viz. that the waxing and wauing of the Moon, cau­seth the flowing and ebbing of the Sea.
The Moon descendeth, then it Ebbs again.
Again, so soon as her inconstant Crown
Begins to shine on th' other Horizon,
It Flowes again: and then again it falls
When she doth light th' other Meridionalls.
We see more-over, that th' Atlantik Seas
Doo Flowe far farther then the Genöese,
Or both the Bosphores; and that Lakes, which growe
Out of the Sea, do neither Ebb nor Flowe:
Because (they say) the siluer fronted Star,
That swells and shrinks the Seas (as pleaseth her)
[Page 65]Pours with less powr her plentious influence
Vpon these straight and narrow streamed Fennes,
And In-land Seas, which many a Mount immounds,
Then on an Ocean vast and void of bounds:
Euen as in Sommer, her great Brothers Ey,
When windes be silent, doth more easily dry
Simile.
Wide spreading Plains, open and spacious Fields,
Then narrow Vales vaulted about with Hills.
If we perceive not in the Deep, so well
Why the tide is not so well per­ceiued at sea as by the shoare.
As by the shoar, when it doth shrink and swell;
Our sprightfull Pulse the tide doth well resemble,
Whose out-side seems more then the midst to tremble.
Nor is the glorious Prince of Stars less mighty
Then his pale Sister, on vast Amphitrité.
For Phoebus, boyling with his lightsom Heat
The Fish-full Waves of Neptunes Royall Seat,
And supping vp still (with his thirsty Rayes)
The cause of the faltnes of the sea
All the fresh humour in the floting Seas,
In Thetis large Cells leaveth nought behind,
Save liqvid Salt, and a thick bitter Brine.
But see (the while) see how the Sea (I pray)
Through thousand Seas hath caried me away,
In fear t' have drown'd my self and Readers so,
The Floods so made my words to over-flowe.
Therfore a-shoar; and on the tender Lee
Of waters sepa­rated from the Sea.
Of Lakes, and Pools, Rivers, and Springs, let's see
The soverain vertues of their severall Waters,
Their strange effects, and admirable natures,
That with incredible rare force of theirs,
Confound our wits, ravish our eyes and ears.
Th' Hammon [...]an Fount, while Phoebus Torch is light,
Wonderfull ef­fects of diuers Fountaines.
Is cold as Ice; and (opposite) all night
(Though the cold Crescent shine thereon) is hot,
And boiles and bubbles like a seething Pot.
They say (forsooth) the Riuer Silarus,
And such another, call'd Eurimenus,
Conuert the boughs, the barke, the leaves, and all,
To very stone, that in their Waters fall.
O! should I blaunch the Iewes religious River,
Which every Saboth dries his Chanell over;
Keeping his Waues from working on that Day
Which God ordain'd a sacred Rest for ay?
If neer vnto the Eleusinian Spring,
Som sport-full Iig, som wanton Shepheard sing,
The Ravisht Fountain falls to daunce and bound,
Keeping true Cadence to his rustick sound.
Cerona, Xanth▪ and Ceph [...]sus, do make
The thirsty-Flocks that of their Waters take,
Blacke, red, and white. And neer the crimsin Deepe,
Th' Arabian Fountain maketh crimsin Sheep.
Solonian Fountain, and thou Andrian Spring,
Out of what Cellars do you daily bring
The Oyl and Wine that you abound-with, so?
O Earth! do these within thine entrails grow?
What? be there Vines and Orchards vnder ground?
Is Bacchus Trade and Pallas Art there found?
What should I, of th' Illyrian Fountain, tell?
What shall I say of the Dodónean Well?
Whereof, the first sets any cloathes on-fire;
Th' other doth quench (who but will this admire?)
A burning Torch; and when the same is quenched,
Lights it again, if it again be drenched.
Sure, in the Legend of absurdest Fables
I should enroule most of these admirables;
Save for the reverence of th' vnstayned credit
Of many a witnes where I yerst have read it:
And sauing that our gain-spurr'd Pilots finde,
In our dayes, Waters of more wondrous kinde.
Of all the Sources infinite to count,
Which to an ample Volume would amount,
A continuation of the admirable effects of certain Waters.
Far hence on Forrain vnfrequented Coast,
I'le onely chuse som five or sixe at most,
Strange to report, perhaps beleev'd of few;
And yet no more incredible then true.
In th' Ile of Iron (one of those same seav'n
Whereto our Elders
Insulae fortu­natae.
Happy name had giv'n)
[Page 67]The Savage people neuer drink the streams
Of Wells and Riuers (as in other Realms)
Their drink is in the Aire; their gushing spring
A weeping Tree out of it self doth wring:
A Tree, whose tender-bearded Root being spred
In dryest sand, his sweating Leaf doth shed
A most sweet liquor; and (like as the Vine
Vntimely cut, weeps (at her wound) her wine,
In pearled tears) incessantly distills
A Crystall stream, which all their Cisterns fills,
Through all the Iland: for all hither hy,
And all their vessels cannot draw it dry.
In frosty Island are two Fountains strange:
Th' one flowes with Wax: the other stream doth change
All into Iron; yet with scalding steam
In thousand bubbles belcheth vp her stream.
In golden Perû, necre Saint Helens Mount
A stream of Pitch comes from a springing Fount.
What more remains? That New-found World, besides,
Toward the West many a fair River guides;
Whose floating Waters (knowing th' vse aright
Of Work-fit Day, and Rest-ordained Night,
Better then men) run swiftly, all the Day;
But rest, all Night, and stir not any way.
Great Enginer, Almighty Architect,
I fear, of Enuy I should be suspect,
Of Bathes and Medicinable Waters.
Enuy of thy Renown and and sacred glory,
If my ingratefull Rimes should blaunch the Story
Of Streams, distilling through the Sulphur-Mines,
Through Bitumen. Allom, and Nitre veins;
Which (perfect Leaches) with their vertaes cure
A thousand Greefs we mortals heere endure,
Old in th' April of our age therewith,
Whose rigour striues to ante-date our death.
Now, as my happy Gascony excells,
Of the excellent Bathes in Gas­cony.
In Corne, Wine, Warriours, every Country els;
So doth she also in free Bathes abound;
Where strangers flock from every part around.
[Page 68]The barren womb, the Palsie-shaken wight,
Th' vlcerous, gowtie, deaf, and decrepit,
From East and West arriving, fetch from hence
Their ready help with small or no expence.
Witnes Ancossa, Caud'rets, Aiguescald,
Barege, Baigners; Baigners, the pride of all,
The pride, the praise, the onely Paradise
Of all those Mountains mounting to the skies,
Where yerst the Gaulian Hercules begot
(Wanton Alomena's Bastard, meane I not)
On faire Pirén [...] (as the fame doth go)
The famous Father of the Gascons; who
By noble deeds, do worthily averr
Their true descent from such an Ancester.
On th' one side, Hils hoar'd with eternal Snowes,
And craggy Rocks Baigneres do inclose▪
The other side is sweetly compast-in
With fragrant skirts of an immortall Green,
Whose smiling beauties far excell, in all,
The famous praise of the Peneīan Vale:
There's not a House, but seemeth to be new;
Th' even-slated Roofs reflect with glistring blew:
To keep the Pavement ever cleane and sweet,
A Crystall River runs through every Street;
Whose Siluer stream, as cold as Ice, doth slide
But little off the Physick Waters side;
Yet keeps his nature, and disdaines, a iot
To intermix his cold with th' others hot.
But, all these Wonders that adorn my Verse,
Yet come not neer vnto the wondrous Lers:
If it be true, that the Stagyrian Sage
(With shame confus'd, and driv'n with desperate rage)
Because his Reason could not reach the knowing
Of Euripus his seav'n-fold Ebbing-flowing,
Leapt in the same, and there his life did end,
Compriz'd in that he could not comprehend.
Of the most won derfull Fountain of Belestat.
What had he done, had he beheld the Fountain,
Which springs at Belstat neere the famous Mountain
[Page 69]Of Foix; whose Floods bathing Masérian Plains,
Furnish with wood the wealthy Tholousains?
As oftas Phoebus (in a compleat Race)
On both th' Horizons shews his radiant Face,
This wondrous Brook) for foure whole months) doth flowe,
Foure-times-six-times, and Ebbs as oft as lowe
For half an houre may dry-shod past that list:
The next half houre, may none his course resist.
Whose foaming stream striues proudly to compare
(Euen in the birth) with Fame-fullst Floods that are.
O! learned (Nature-taught) Arithmetician!
Clock-less, so iust to measure Time's partition.
And little LAMBS-BOVRN, though thou match not Lers,
Nor hadst the Honor of DU BARTAS Verse;
If mine haue any, Thou must needs partake,
Both for thine Owne, and for thine Owners sake;
Whose kinde Excesses Thee so neerely touch,
That Yeerely for them Thou doost weep so much,
All Summer-long (while all thy Sisters shrink▪)
That of thy teares a million dayly drink;
Besides thy Waast, which then in haste dothrun
To wash the feet of CHAVCER's Donnington:
But (while the rest are full vnto the top)
All Winter-long, Thou never show'st a drop,
Nor send'st a doi [...] of need-less Subsidie,
To Cramm the Kennet's Want-less Treasurie,
Before her Store be spent, & Springs be staid:
Then, then, alone Thou lendst a liberall Ayd;
Teaching Thy wealthy Neighbours (Mine, of late)
How, When, and VVhere to right-participate
Their streams of Comfort, to the poore that pine,
And not to greaz still the too-greazy Swine:
Neither, for fame, nor forme (when others doo)
To giue a Morsel, or a Mite or two;
But seuerally, and of a selfly motion,
When others miss, to giue the most devotion.
The intermed­ling of the Earth and Sea, and of the commodities thence arising, & contrariwise of the confusion that would fol­low if they were separated.
Most wisely did th' eternall All-Creator,
Dispose these Elements of Earth and Water:
[Page 70]For, sith th' one could not without drink subsist,
Nor, th' other without stay, bottom and list,
God intermixt them so, that th' Earth her brest
Op'ning to th' Ocean, th' Ocean winding prest
About the Earth, a-thwart, and vnder it,
For the Worlds Center, both together fit.
For, if their mixt Globe held not certainly
Iust the iust midst of the Worlds Axle-tree,
All Climats then should not be serv'd a-right
With equall Counter poiz of day and night:
The Horizons il-leuell'd circle wide,
Would sag too-much on th' one or th' other side:
Th' Antipodes, or we, at once should take
View of more Signes then half the Zodiack:
The Moon's Eclipses would not then be certain,
And setled Seasons would be then vncertain.
The Masse of the Earth and Water together make a perfect Globe.
This also serueth for probation sound,
That th' Earths and Waters mingled Mass is Round,
Round as a Ball; seeing on euery side
The Day and Night successiuely to slide.
Yea, though Vespucio (famous Florentine)
Mark Pole, and Columb, braue Italian Trine,
Our (Spain's Dread) Drake, Candish, and Cumberland
Most valiant Earle, most worthy High Command,
And thousand gallant modern Typheis else,
Had neuer brought the North-Poles Parallels▪
Vnder the South; and, sayling still about,
So many Nex-worlds vnder vs found out.
Nay, neuer could they th' Artik Pole haue lost,
Nor found th' Antartik; if in euery Coast
Seas liquid Glass round-bow'd not euery-where,
With sister Earth, to make a perfect Sphear.
But, perfect Artist, with what Arches strong,
How it commeth to passe that the Sea is not flat nor leuel; but rising round and bowed about the Earth.
Props, staies, and Pillars, hast thou stay'd so long
This hanging, thin, sad, slippery Water-Ball▪
From falling out, and ouer-whelming all?
May it not be (good Lord) because the Water
To the Worlds Center tendeth still by nature;
[Page 71]And toward the bottom of this bottom bound,
Willing to fall, doth yet remain still round?
Or may't not be, because the surly Banks
Keep Waters captiue in their hollow flanks?
Or that our Seas be buttrest (as it were)
With thousand Rocks dispersed heere and there?
Or rather, Lord, is't not Thine onely Powr
That Bows it round about Earths branchy Bowr?
Doubt-less (great God) 'tis doubt-less thine owne hand
The second part of this 3. Book intreating of the Element of earth and first of the firmnes thereof.
Whereon this Mansion of Mankinde doth stand.
For, thogh it hang in th' Aire, swim in the water,
Though every way it be a round Theater,
Though All turn round about it, though for ay
Itselfs Fundations with swist Motions play.
It rests vn-mooueable: that th' Holy Race
Of Adam there may finde fit dwelling place.
The Earth receiues man when he first is born,
Earth is the Mo ther, Nurse, and Hostess [...] of man­kinde.
Th' Earth nurses him; and when he is forlorn
Of th' other Elements, and Nature loaths-him,
Th' Earth in her bosom with kinde burial cloaths-him.
Oft hath the Aire with Tempests set-vpon-vs,
Oft hath the Water with her Floods vndon-vs,
Oft hath the Fire (th' vpper as well as ours)
With wofull flames consum'd our Towns and Towrs:
Onely the Earth, of all the Elements,
Vnto Mankinde is kinde without offence:
Onely the Earth did neuer iot displace
From the first seat assign'd it by thy grace.
Yet, true it is, (good Lord) that mov'd somtimes
Of Earth quakes and of the ope­ning of the earth
With wicked Peoples execrablecrimes,
The wrathfull power of thy right hand doth make,
Not all the Earth, but part of it to quake,
With ayd of Windes: which (as imprisoned deep)
In her vast entrails, furious murmurs keep.
Fear chils our hearts (what hart can fear dissemble?)
When Steeples stagger, and huge Mountains tremble
With wind-less winde, and yawning Hell devours
Somtimes whole Cities with their shining Towrs.
Sith then, the Earth's, and Waters blended Ball
The Globe of the Earth & Sea, is but as a little point, in compa­rison of the great circumference of Heauen:
Is center, heart, and nauel of this All;
And sith (in reason) that which is included,
Must needs beless then that which doth include it;
'Tis question-less, the Orb of Earth and Water
Is the least Orb in all the All-Theater.
Let any iudge, whether this lower Ball
(Whose endless greatnes we admire so, all)
Seem not a point, compar'd with th' vpper Sphear
Whose turning turns the rest in their Career;
Sith by the Do­ctrine of Astro­nomers, the least Starre in the [...]rmnment is [...]8 times bigger then al the earth.
Sith the least Star that we perceiue to shine
Aboue, disperst in th' Arches crystalline
(If, at the least, Star-Clarkes be credit worth)
Is eighteen times bigger then all the Earth:
Whence, if we but substract what is possest
(From North to South, & from the East to West)
Vnder the Empire of the Ocean
Atlantike, Indian, and American;
And thousand huge Arms issuing out of these,
With infinites of other Lakes and Seas:
And also what the Two intemperate Zones
Doo make vnfit for habitations;
What will remaine? Ah! nothing (in respect):
Lo heer, O men! Lo wherefore you neglect
By consideration wherof, the Poet taketh occasion to censure sharp­ly the Ambition, Bribery, Vsury, Extortion, De­ceipt, and gene­rall Couetousnes of Mankinde.
Heav'ns glorious Kingdom: Lo the largest scope
Glory can giue to your ambitious hope.
O Princes (subiects vnto pride and pleasure)
Who (to enlarge, but a hair's breadth, the measure
Of your Dominions) breaking Oaths of Peace,
Couer the Fields with bloudy Carcases:
O Magistrates, who (to content the Great)
Make sale of Iustice, on your sacred Seat;
And, broaking Laws for Bribes, profane your Place,
To leaue a Leek to your vnthankfull Race:
You strict Extorters, that the Poor oppress,
And wrong the Widdow and the Father-less,
To leaue your Off-spring rich (of others good)
In Houses built of Rapine and of Blood:
[Page 73]You City-Vipers, that (incestuous) ioyn
Vse vpon vse, begetting Coyn of Coyn:
You Marchant Mercers, and Monopolites,
Gain-greedy Chap-men, periur'd Hypocrites,
Dissembling Broakers, made of all deceipts,
Who falsifie your Measures and your Weights,
T' inrich your selues, and your vnthrifty Sons
To Gentillize with proud possessions:
You that for gain betray your gracious Prince,
Your natiue Country, or your deerest Friends:
You, that to get you but an inch of ground,
With cursed hands remoue your Neigbours bound
(The ancient bounds your Ancestors haue set)
What gain you all? alas! what do you get?
Yea, though a King by wile or war had won
All the round Earth to his subiection;
Lo heer the Guerdon of his glorious pains:
A needles point, a Mote, a Mite, he gains,
A Nit, a Nothing (did he All possess);
Or, if then nothing anything beless.
When God, whose words more in a moment can,
God hauing dis­couered the earth commands it to bring forth euery green thing, hearbs, trees, flo­wers and fruits.
Then in an Age the proudest strength of Man,
Had seuered the Floods, leuell'd the Fields,
Embas't the Valleys, and embost the Hils;
Change, change (quoth he) O fair and firmest Globe,
Thy moutning weed, to a green gallant Robe;
Cheer thy sad brows, and stately garnish them,
With a rich, fragrant, flowry Diadem;
Lay forth thy locks, and paint thee ( Lady-like)
With freshest colours on thy sallow cheek.
And let from hence-forth thy aboundant brests
Not only Nursethine own Wombs natiue guests,
But frankly furnish with fit nourishments
The future folk of th' other Elements;
That Aire, and Water, and the Angels Court,
May all seem iealous of thy praise and port.
Of Trees grow­ing in Moun­tains and in Valleys.
No sooner spoken, but the lofty Pine
Distilling-pitch, the Larch yeeld-Turpentine,
[Page 74]Th' euer-green Box, and gummy Cedar sprout,
And th' Airy Mountaines mantle round about:
The Mast-full Oke, the vse-full Ash, the Holm,
Coat changing Cork, white Maple, shady Elm,
Through Hill and Plain ranged their plumed Ranks.
The winding Riuers bordered all their banks
With slice-Sea Alders, and green Osiars smal,
With trembling Poplars, and with VVillows pase,
And many Trees beside, fit to be made
Fewell, or Timber, or to serue for Shade.
The dainty Apricock (of Plums the Prince)
Of fruit-trees.
The veluet Peach, gilt Orenge, downy Quince,
All-ready bear grav'n in their tender barks,
Gods powerfull prouidence in open marks.
The sent-sweet Apple, and a stringent Pear,
The Cherry, Filberd, VVal-nut, Meddeler,
The milky Fig, the Damson black and white,
The Date, and Olyue, ayding appetite,
Spread euery-where a most delightfull Spring,
And euery-where a very Eden bring.
Heer, the fine Pepper, as in clusters hung,
Of shrubs.
There Cinamon and other Spices sprung.
Heer, dangled Nutmegs, that for thrifty pains
Yearly repay the Bandans wondrous gains;
There growes (th' Hesperian Plant) the precious Reed
Whence Sugar sirrops in aboundance bleed;
There weeps the Balm, and famous Trees from whence
Th' Arabians fetch perfuming Frankincense.
There, th' amorous Uine coll's in a thousand sorts
(With winding arms) her Spouse that her supports:
The Vine, as far inferiour to the rest,
Of the Vine, and the excellent vse of Wine tempe­rately taken.
In beauty, as in bounty past the best:
Whose sacred liquor, temperately taen,
Reviues the spirits and purifies the brain,
Cheers the sad heart, increaseth kindly heat,
Purgeth gross blood, and doth the pure beget,
Strengthens the stomack, and the colour mends,
Sharpens the wit, and doth the bladder cleanse,
[Page 75]Opens obstructions, excrements expels,
And easeth vs of many Languors els.
He preuenteth an obiection, and sheweth that notwithstanding mans fall, the Earth yeeldeth vs matter i­nough to praise and magnifie her Maker.
And though through Sin (wherby from Heav'nly state
Our Parents barr'd vs) th' Earth degenerate
From her first beauty, bearing still vpon her
Eternall Scars of her fond Lords dishonour:
Though with the Worlds age, her weak age decay,
Though she becom less fruitfull every day
(Much like a Woman with oft teeming worn;
Who with the Babes of her owne body born,
Having almost stor'd a whole Town with people,
Simile.
At length becomes barren, and faint, and feeble)
Yet doth she yeeld matter enough to sing
And praise the Maker of so rich a Thing.
Neuer mine eies in pleasant Spring behold
Of Flowers.
The azure Flax, the gilden Marigold,
The Violet's purple, the sweet Rose's stammell,
The Lillie's snowe, and Pansey's various ammell;
But that (in them) the Painter I admire,
Who in more Colours doth the Fields attire,
Then fresh Aurora's rosie cheeks display,
When in the East she Vshers a fair Day:
Or Iris Bowe, which bended in the Sky
Boades fruitfull deaws when as the Fields be dry.
Heer (deer S. BARTAS) giue thy Seruant leaue.
An addition by the Translator, of the rare Sun-louing LOTOS.
In thy rich Garland one rare Flowr to weaue,
VVhose wondrons nature had more worthy been
Of thy diuine, immortalizing Pen:
But, from thy sight, when SEIN did swell with Bloud,
It sunk (perhaps) vnder the Crimsin Flood
(VVhen Beldam, Medices, Valois, and Guise
Stain'd Hymens Roab with Heathen cruelties)
Because the Sun, to shun so vile a view,
His Chamber kept; and wept with Bartholmew.
For so, so soon as in the Western Seas▪
Apollo sinks, in siluer Euphrates
The Lotos diues, deeper and deeper ay
Till mid-night: then, remounteth toward Day:
[Page 76]But not aboue the Water, till the Sun
Doo r [...]-ascend aboue the Horizon.
Semper [...]adem
So euer-true to Titans radiant Flame,
That (Rise he, Fall he) it is Still the same.
A Real Emblem of her Royal Honour
That worthily did take that Word vpon-her;
Sacred ELIZA, that ensu'd no less
Th' etenall Sun of Peace and Righteousnes;
VVhose liuely lamp (what euer did betide-her)
In either Fortune was her onely Guider.
For, in her Fathers and her Brothers Daies,
Fair rose this Rose with Truth's new-springing raies:
And when again the Gospels glorious Light
Set in her Sisters superstitious Night;
She sunk withall vnder afflictions streams
(As sinks my Lotos with Sols setting beams):
But, after Night, when Light again appear'd,
Ther-with, again her Royal Crown she rear'd;
And in an Ile amid the Ocean set
(Maugre the Deluge that Romes Dragon spet,
VVith spight full storms striuing to ouer-flowe her,
And Spain conspyring iointly t' ouer-throwe-her)
Her Maiden Flowr flourisht aboue the VVater;
ELIZABETA REGINA. Anagram. Ei ben t' alza e gira.
For, still Heav'ns Sun cherisht his louing Daughter:
Bel fior d'Honor, ch'in Mare'l Mondo ammira,
Al Sole sacro, ch'E [...] BEN T' ALZA E GIRA
(So, my deer Wiat, honouring Stil the same,
In-soul'd an Imprese with her Anagramm):
And last, for guerdon of her constant Loue,
Rapt her intirely, to himself aboue.
So set our Sun; and yet no Night ensu'd:
So happily the Heav'ns our Light renu'd:
For, in her stead, of the same Stock of Kings
Another Flowr (or rather Phoenix) springs;
Another like (or rather Still the same)
No lesse in Loue with that Supernall Flame.
So, to God's glory, and his Churches good,
Th' honour of England, and the Royall blood,
[Page 77]Long happy Monark may king IAMES persist;
And after him, His; Still the same in Christ.
God, not content t' haue giuen these Plants of ours
Of diuers hearbs and Plants, and of their excellent vertues.
Precious Perfumes, Fruits, plenty, pleasant Flowrs,
Infused Physick in their leaues and Mores,
To cure our sicknes, and to salve our sores:
Else doubt-less (Death assaults so many waies)
Scarce could we liue a quarter of our Daies;
But like the Flax, which flowrs at once and falls,
Simile.
One Feast would serue our Births and Burials:
Our Birth our Death, our Cradle (then) our Toomb,
Our tender Spring our Winter would becom.
Good Lord! how many gasping Soules haue scap't
By th' ayd of Hearbs, for whom the Graue hath gap't;
Who, euen about to touch the Stygian strand!
Haue yet beguil'd grim Pluto's greedy hand!
Beard-less Apollo's beardy
Esculapius.
Sonn did once
With iuice of Hearbs r [...]ioin the scattered bones
Of the chaste
Hyppolitus.
Prince, that in th' Athenian Court
Preferred Death before incestuous [...]port.
So did Medea, for her Iason's sake,
The frozen limbs of Aeson youthfull make.
O sacred Simples that our life sustain,
And when it flies vs, call it back again!
'Tis not alone your liquor, inly taen,
That oft defends vs from so many a baen:
But euen your sauour, yea, your neighbourhood,
For som Diseases is exceeding good;
Working so rare effects, that only such
As feel, or see them, can beleeueso much.
Blew Succorie, hangd on the naked neck,
The vertue of Succorie. Of Swines-bread.
Dispels the dimness that our sight doth check.
Swines-Bread, sovsed, doth not onely speed
A tardy Labour; but (without great heed)
If ouer it a Child-great Woman stride,
Instant abortion often doth betide.
The burning Sun, the banefull Aconite,
The poysonie Serpents that vnpeople quite
[Page 78] Cyrenian Desarts, neuer Danger them
That wear about them th'
Mugw [...]rt. Peoni [...].
Artemisian Stem.
About an Infants neck hang Peoni [...],
It cures Al [...]ydes cruell maladie.
If fuming boawls of Bacchus, in excess,
Trouble thy brains with storms of gyddiness,
Put but a garland of green Saffron on,
Saffron.
And that mad humour will be quickly gon.
Th' inchanting Charms of Syrens blandishments,
Contagious A're ingendring Pestilence,
Infect not those that in their mouthes haue taen
Angelica.
Angelica that happy counter-baen,
Sent down from Heav'n by some Celestiall scout,
As well the name and nature both avow't.
So Pimpernel, held in the Patients hand,
The bloody-Flix doth presently with-stand:
Pimpernell or Burnet. Madder.
And ruddy Madder's root, long handeled,
Dies th' handlers vrine into perfect red.
O Wondrous Woad! which, touching but the skin,
Imparts his colour to the parts within.
Nor (powerfull Hearbs) do we alonely finde
Your vertues working in frail humane kinde;
But you can force the fiercest Animals,
The fellest Fiends, the firmest Mineralls,
Yea, fairest Planets (if Antiquitie
Have not bely'd the Haggs of Thessalie).
Onely the touch of Choak-Pard
Libbards bane
Aconite,
Bereaves the Scorpion both of sense and might:
As (opposite) Helleborus doth make
Helleborus.
His vitall powers from deadly slumber wake.
With Betonie, fell Serpents round beset,
Betonie.
Lift vp their heads, and fall to hiss and spet,
With spightfull fury in their sparkling eyes,
Breaking all truce, with infinite defies:
Puft vp with rage, to't by the eares they goe,
Baen against baen, plague against plague they throwe,
Charging each other with so fierce a force
(For friends turn'd foes have lightly least remorse)
[Page 97]That wounded all (or rather all a wound)
With poysoned gore they cover all the ground;
And nought can stint their strange intestine strife,
But onely th' end of their detested life.
As Betonie breaks friendships ancient bands,
So Willo-wort makes wonted hate shake hands:
Willow-worte.
For, being fastned to proud Coursers collers,
That fight and fling, it will abate their cholers.
The Swine, that feed in Troughes of Tamarice,
Tamarice.
Consume their spleen. The like effect ther is
In Finger-Fern: which, being given to Swine,
Finger-Ferne.
It makes their Milts to Melt away in fine,
With ragged tooth choosing the same so right
Of all their Tripes to serue it's appetite.
And Horse, that, feeding on the grassy Hills,
Tread vpon
Lunaria.
Moon-woort with their hollow heeles;
Though lately shod, at night goe bare-foot home,
Their Maister musing where their shooes become:
O Moon-wort! tell vs where thou hidst the Smith,
Hammer, and Pincers, thou vnshoo'st them with?
Alas! what Locke or Iron Engine is't
That can thy subtile secret strength resist,
Sith the best Farrier cannot set a shoo
So sure, but thou (so shortly) canst vndoo?
But I suppose not, that the earth doth yeeld
In Hill or Dale, in Forrest or in Field,
A rarer Plant then Candian
Dictaminum▪ Candiae.
Dittanie,
Which wounded Dear eating, immediatly
Not onely cures their wounds exceeding well,
But 'gainst the Shooter doth the shaft repell.
Moreover (Lord) is't not a Work of thine▪
Great varie [...]ie in colour and form of Plants, and strange cō ­trari [...]ty of ef­fects, according to the bodies that▪ they work vpon.
That every where, in every Turf we finde
Such multitude of other Plants to spring,
In form, effect, and colour differing?
And each of them in their due Seasons taen,
To one is Physick, to another baen:
Now gentle, sharp anon: now good, then ill:
What cureth now, the same anon doth kill.
[Page 80]Th' hearb
Fen [...]l gyant.
S [...]gapen serues the slowe Asse for meat,
But kils the Ox if of the same he eat.
So branched
Hemlock.
Hemlock for the Stares is fit;
But, death to man, if he but taste of it.
And
Rose-bay.
Oleander vnto beasts is poyson;
But, vnto man a speciall counter-poyson.
What ranker poyson? what more deadly baen
Then
Wolfes ban [...].
Aconite, can there be toucht or taen?
And yet his iuice best cures the burning bit
Of stinging Serpents, if apply'd to it.
O valiant Venome! O courageous Plant!
Disdainfull Poyson! noble combatant!
That scorneth aid, and loves alone to fight,
That none partake the glory of his might:
For, if he finde our bodies fore-possest
With other Poyson, then he lets vs rest,
And with his Rivall enters secret Duel,
One to one, strong to strong, cruel to cruel,
Still fighting fierce, and never over-giue
Till they both dying, give Man leave to live.
And to conclude, whether I walke the Fields,
Rush through the Woods, or clamber vp the Hills,
I finde God every-where; Thence all depend,
He giueth frankly what we thankly spend.
Heer for our food, Millions of flow'rie grains,
With long Mustachoes, waue vpon the Plains;
Heer thousand fleeces, fit for Princes Robes,
Of grain, si [...]ke, Cotton-Wool (or Bombace) Plax & Hemp which the Earth pro­duceth.
In Sérean Forrests hang in silken Globes:
Heer shrubs of Malta (for my meaner vse)
The fine white balls of Bombace do produce.
Heer th' azure-flowred Flax is finely spun
For finest Linnen, by the Belgian Nun:
Heer fatall Hemp, which Denmark doth afford,
Doth furnish vs with Canuass, and with Cord,
Cables and Sayles; that, Windes assisting either,
We may acquaint the East and West together,
And dry-foot daunce on Neptunes Watry Front,
And in aduenture lead whole Towns vpon't.
[Page 81]Heer of one grain of
Indian-wheat.
Maiz, a Reed doth spring,
That thrice a year, fiue hundred grains doth bring;
Which (after) th' Indians parch, and punn, and knead,
And thereof make them a most holesom bread.
Th' Almighty Voyce, which built this mighty Ball,
Still, still rebounds and ecchoes ouer all:
That, that alone, yeerly the World revives;
Through that alone, all springs, all lives, all thrives:
And that alone makes, that our mealy grain
Our skilfull Seed-man scatters not in vain;
But being covered by the tooth-full Harrow,
Or hid a while vnder the folded furrow,
Rots to revive; and, warmly-wet, puts-forth
His root beneath, his bud above the Earth;
Enriching shortly with his springing Crop,
The Ground with green, the Husband-man with hope:
The bud becoms a blade, the blade a reed,
An exact des­cription of the growing of wheat and other like kindes of graine.
The reed an ear, the ear another seed:
The seed, to shut the wastefull Sparrows out
(In Harvest) hath a stand of Pikes about,
And Chaffie Husks in hollow Cods inclose-it;
Least heat, wet, winde, should roste, or rot, or lose-it:
And, least the Straw should not sustein the ear,
With knotty ioints 'tis sheathed heer and there.
Pardon me (Reader) if thy ravisht Eyes
Have seen To-Day too great varieties
Of Trees, of Flowrs, of Fruites, of Hearbs, of Grains,
In these my Groves, Meads, Orchards, Gardens, Plains;
Sith th' Ile of Zebut's admirable Tree
Of the Indian Cocos a most admirable fruit.
Beareth a fruit (call'd Cocos commonly)
The which, alone, far richer Wonders yields
Then all our Groves, Meads, Orchards, Gardens, Fields.
What? wouldst thou drink? the wounded leaues drop wine.
Lackst thou fine linnen? dress the tender rine,
Dress it like Flax, spin it▪ and weave it wel,
It shall thy Cambrik and thy Lawn excel.
Longst thou for Butter? bite the poulpy part,
And never better came to any Mart.
[Page 82]Needest thou Oyl? then boult it to and fro,
And passing oyle it soon becommeth so.
Or Vineger, to whet thine appetite?
Then sun it wel, and it will sharply bite.
Or wantst thou Sugar? steep the same a stound,
And sweeter Sugar is not to be found.
'Tis what you will: or will be what you would:
Should Mydas touch't (I think) it would be Gold.
And God (I think) to crown our life with ioyes,
The Earth with plenty, and his Name with praise,
Had don enough; if he had made no more
But this one Plant, so full of wondrous store:
Save that, the World (where one thing breeds satiety)
Could not be fair, without so great variety.
But th' Earth not onely on her back doth bear
Abundant treasures glistering everywhere
( As glorious vnthrifts, crost with Parents Curse,
Wear golden Garments; but an empty Purse:
Or Venus Darlings, fair without; within
Full of Disease, full of Deceipt and Sinne:
Or stately Toombes, externly gilt and garnisht;
With dust and bones inwardly fill'd and furnisht)
But inwardly shee's no less fraught with riches,
Of the riches vnder or within the Earth.
Nay rather more (which more our soules bewitches).
Within the deep folds of her fruitfull lap,
So bound-less Mines of treasure doth she wrap,
That th' hungry hands of humane avarice
Cannot exhaust with labour or device.
For, they be more then ther be Starrs in Heav'n,
Or stormy billows in the Ocean driv'n,
Or ears of Corn in Autumn on the Fields,
Or Savage Beasts vpon a thousand Hills,
Or Fishes diving in the silver Floods,
Or scattred Leaves in Winter in the Woods.
Slat, Iet, and Marble shall escape my pen,
Of Minerals.
I over-pass the Salt-mount Oromene,
I blanch the Brine-Quar Hill in Aragon,
Whence (there) they pouder their provision.
[Page 83]I'le onely now emboss my Book with Brass,
Dye't with Vermilion, deck't with Coperass,
With Gold and Siluer, Lead and Mercury,
Tin, Iron, Orpine, Stibium, Lethargy:
And on my Gold-work I will onely place
The Crystall pure, which doth reflect each face;
The precious Ruby, of a Sanguin hew,
Of pretious stones.
The Seal-fit Onyx, and the Saphire blew,
The Cassidonie, full of circles round,
The tender Topaz, and rich Diamond,
The various Opal, and green Emerald,
The Agate by a thousand titles call'd,
The skie-like Turquez, purple Amethists,
And fiery Carbuncle, which flames resists.
I knowe, to Man the Earth seems (altogether)
No more a Mother, but a Step-dame rather:
Because (alas) vnto our loss she bears
Blood-shedding Steel, and Gold the ground of cares:
As if these Mettals, and not Man's amiss,
Had made Sin mount vnto the height it is.
But, as the sweet bait of aboundant Riches,
Bodies and Soules of greedy men bewitches:
The vse, or abuse of things, makes thē good or euill: helpfull, or hurt­ful to Mankinde
Gold gilds the Vertuous, and it lends them wings
To raise their thoughts vnto the rarest things.
The wise, not onely Iron well apply
For houshold turns, and Tools of Husbandry;
But to defend their Country (when it calls)
From forrain dangers, and intestine bralls:
But, with the same the wicked never mell,
But to do seruice to the Haggs of Hell;
To pick a Lock, to take his neighbours Purse,
To break a House, or to doo somthing worse;
To cut his Parents throat, to kill his Prince,
To spoyl his Country, murder Innocents.
Even so, profaning of a gift divine,
The Drunkard drowns his Reason in the Wine:
So sale-tongu'd Lawyers, wresting Eloquence,
Excuse rich wrong, and cast poor Innocence:
[Page 84]So Antichrists, their poyson to infuse,
Miss-cite the Scriptures, and Gods name abuse.
For, as a Cask, through want of vse grow'n fusty,
Makes with his stink the best Greek Malmsey musty:
So God's best gifts, vsurpt by wicked Ones,
To poyson turn through their contagious.
But, shall I baulk th' admired Adamant,
Of the rare ver­tue of the Load­stone.
Whose dead-live power, my Reasons power doth dant.
Renowned Load-stone, which on Iron acts,
And by the touch the same aloof attracts;
Attracts it strangely with vnclapsing crooks,
With vnknow'n cords, with vnconceived hooks,
With vnseen hands, with vndiscerned arms,
With hidden Force, with sacred secret charms,
Wherewith hee wooes his Iron Misteriss,
And never leaves her till he get a kiss;
Nay, till he fold her in his faithfull bosom,
Never to part (except we, love-less, loose-em)
With so firm zeal and fast affection
The Stone doth love the Steel, the Steel the Stone.
And though somtime som Make bate com betwixt,
Still burns their first flame; 'tis so surely fixt:
And, while they cannot meet to break their mindes,
With mutuall skips they shew their loue by signes
( As bashfull Suters▪ seeing Strangers by,
Parley in silence with their hand or eye).
Who can conceiue, or censure in what sort
One Loadstone-touched Annlet doth transport
Another Iron-Ring, and that another,
Till foure or fiue hang dangling one in other?
Greatest Apollo might he be (me thinks)
Could tell the Reason of these hanging links:
Sith Reason-scanners haue resolved all,
That heavie things, hangd in the Aire, must fall▪
I am not ignorant, that He, who seeks
In Romane Robes to sute the Sagest Greeks,
Whose iealous wife, weening to home-revoke-him
With a Love-potion, did with poyson choak-him;
[Page 85]Hath sought to showe, with arguing subtilty,
The secret cause of this rare Sympathy.
But say ( Lucretius) what's the hidden cause
That toward the North-Star still the needle draw's,
Whose point is toucht with Load-stone? loose this knot,
And still-green Laurell shall be still thy Lot:
Yea, Thee more learned will I then confess,
Then Epicurus, or Empedocles.
W'are not to Ceres so much bound for Bread,
Of the excellent vse of the Ma­riners Compasse.
Neither to Bacchus, for his Clusters red,
As ( Signor Flauio) to thy witty triall,
For first inuenting of the Sea-mans Diall
(Th'vse of the Needle, turning in the same)
Diuine deu [...]?e! O admirable Frame!
Whereby, through th' Ocean, in the darkest night,
Our hugest Caraques are conducted right:
Whereby w'are stor'd with Truch-man, Guide, and Lamp
To search all corners of the watery Camp:
Whereby a Ship, that stormy Heav'ns haue whurld
Neer in one Night into another World,
Knowes where she is; and in the Card descries
What degrees thence the Equinoctiall lies.
Cleer-sighted Spirits, that cheer with sweet aspect
My sober Rymes, though subiect to defect;
If in this Volume, as you ouer-read it
You meet som things seeming exceeding credit,
Because (perhaps) heer proued yet by no-man;
Their strange effects be not in knowledge common:
Think, yet, to som the Load-stone's vse is new;
And seems as strange, as we haue try'd it true:
Let therefore that which Iron draw's, draw such
To credit more then what they see or touch.
Nor is th' Earth onely worthy praise eternall,
Of medicinable Earthes.
For the rare riches on her back externall;
Or in her bosom: but her own selfs worth
Solicits me to sound her glory forth.
I call to witnes all those weak diseased,
Whose bodies oft haue by th' effects been eased
[Page 86]Of Lemnos seal'd earth, or Eretrian soil,
Or that of Chios, or of Melos Ile.
All-hail fair Earth, bearer of Towns and Towrs,
Of Men, Gold, Grain, Physik, and Fruits, and Flowrs,
The Earths En­comion.
Fair, firm, and fruitfull, various, patient, sweet,
Sumptuously cloathed in a Mantle meet
Of mingled-colour; lac't about with Floods,
And all imbrodered with fresh blooming buds,
With rarest Gemmes richly about embost,
Excelling cunning and exceeding cost.
All-hail great Heart, round Base, and stedfast Root,
Of All the World, the Worlds strong fixed foot,
Heav'ns chastest Spouse, supporter of this All,
This glorious Buildings goodly Pedestall.
All hail deer Mother, Sister, Hostess, Nurse,
Of the Worlds Soverain: of thy liberall purse,
W'are all maintained: match-less Emperess,
To doo thee seruice with all readiness,
The Sphears, before thee bear ten thousand Torches:
The Fire, to warm thee, foldes his heatfull arches
In purest flames aboue the floating Cloud:
Th' Aire, to refresh thee, willingly is bow'd
About the Waues, and well content to suffer
Milde Zephyrs blasts, and Boreas bellowing rougher:
Water, to quench thy thirst, about thy Mountains,
Wraps her moist arms, Seas, riuers, lakes and fountains.
O how I grieue, deer Earth, that (given to gays)
Commendations of the Country­life.
Most of best wits contemn thee now-a-days:
And noblest hearts proudly abandon quight
Study of Hearbs, and Country-lifes delight,
To brutest men, to men of no regard,
Whose wits are Lead, whose bodies Iron-hard.
Such were not yerst the reuerend Patriarks,
Whose prayse is penned by the sacred Clarks.
Noah the iust, meek Moses, Abraham
(Who Father of the Faithfull Race becam)
Were Shepheards all, or Husbandmen (at least)
And in the Fields passed their Dayes the best.
[Page 87]Such were not yerst Attalus, Philemetor,
Archelaus, Hiero, and many a Pretor;
Great Kings & Consuls, who haue oft, for blades
And glistering Scepters, handled hooks and spades.
Such were not yerst, Cincinnatus Fabricius,
Serranus, Curius, who vn-self-delicious,
With Crowned Coultars, with Imperiall hands,
With Ploughs triumphant plough'd the Roman lands.
Great Scipio, sated with fain'd curtsie-capping,
With Court- Eclipses, and the tedious gaping
Of golden beggers: and that Emperour,
Of Slave, turn'd King; of King, turnd Labourer;
In Country Granges did their age confine:
And ordered there, with as good Discipline,
The Fields of Corn, as Fields of Combat first;
And Ranks of Trees, as Ranks of Souldiers yerst.
O thrice, thrice happy He, who shunns the cares
Of City-troubles, and of State-affairs;
And, seruing Ceres, Tills with his own Teem
His own Free-land, left by his Friends to him▪
Never pale Enuie's poysonie heads doo hiss
To gnaw his heart; nor Vultur Auarice:
Free from enuy, ambition, & a­uarice: and con­sequently from the diuelish pra­ctises of Machi­auiliā Politikes.
His Field's bounds, bound his thoughts: he never supps,
For Nectar, poyson mixtin silver Cups;
Neither in golden Platters doth he lick
For sweet Ambrosia deadly Arsenick:
His hand's his boaul (better then Plate or Glass)
The siluer Brook his sweetest Hypocrasse:
Milk, Cheese, and Fruit (fruits of his own endeuour)
Drest without dressing, hath he ready ever.
False Counsailours (Concealers of the Law)
Not v [...]xed with counterfait wre­stings of wrang­ling Laywers.
Turn-coat Attourneys, that with both hands draw;
Sly Peti-Foggers, Wranglers at the Bar,
Proud Purse-Leaches, Harpies of Westminster,
With fained chiding, and foul iarring noyse,
Break not his brain, nor interrupt his ioyes▪
But cheerfull Birds, chirping him sweet Good-morrows,
With Natures Musick doo beguile his sorrows;
[Page 86]Teaching the fragrant Forrests, day by day,
The Diapason of their Heav'nly Lay.
His wandring Vessell, reeling to and fro,
Not dreading shipwracke, nor in danger of Pirates.
On th' irefull Ocean (as the Windes doo blowe)
With sodain Tempest is not ouer-whurld,
To seek his sad death in another World:
But, leading all his life at home in Peace,
Alwaies in sight of his own smoak; no Seas,
No other Seas he knowes, nor other Torrent,
Then that which waters, with his siluer Corrent
His Natiue Medowes: and that very Earth
Shall giue him Buriall, which first gaue him Birth.
To summon timely sleep, he doth not need
Not diseased in body through de­licious Idlenes.
Aethyop's cold Rush, nor drowsy Poppy-seed;
Nor keep in consort (as Mecaenas did)
Luxurious Villains (Viols I should haue sayd);
But on green Carpets thrumd with mossy Beuer,
Frendging the round skirts of his winding Riuer,
The streams milde murmur, as it gently gushes,
His healthy limbs in quiet slumber hushes.
Drum, Fife, and Trumpet, with their loud A-larms,
Not drawen by factions to an vntimely Death
Make him not start out of his sleep, to Arms:
Nor deer respect of som great Generall,
Him from his bed vnto the block doth call.
The crested Cock sings Hunt is vp to him,
Limits his rest, and makes him stir betime,
To walk the Mountains, or the flowry Meads,
Impearld with tears, that sweet Aurora sheads.
Never gross Aire, poysond in stinking Streets,
Not choaked with contagion of a corrupted Aire.
To choak his spirit, his tender nostrill meets;
But th' open Sky, where at full breath he liues,
Still keeps him sound, and still new stomack giues:
And Death, drad Seriant of th' eternall Iudge,
Coms very late to his sole seated Lodge.
His wretched yeers in Princes Courts he spends not:
Nor (Chamel [...] ­like) changing, with euery ob­iect, the colour of his conscience.
His thralled will on Great mens wils depends not:
He, changing Master, doth not change at once
His Faith; Religion, and his God renounce:
[Page 87]With mercenary lies hee doth not chaunt,
Praysing an Emmet for an Elephant:
Nor soothing Sin; nor licking the Tayl of Greatnesse.
Sardanapalus (drown'd in soft excess)
For a triumphant vertuous Hercules;
Thersites foul, for Venus louely Loue;
And every Changeling for a Turtle-Doue;
Nor lavishes in his lascivious layes,
On wanton Flora, chaste Alcestes prayse.
But all self-priuate, serving God, he writes
Fear-less, and sings but what his heart in dites.
No sallow Fear doth day or night afflict-him:
Vnto no fraud doth night or day addict-him;
Neither prest with Fear, nor plotting Fraud.
Or if he muse on guile, 'tis but to get
Beast, Bird, or Fish, in toil, or snare, or net.
What though his Wardrobe be not stately stuft
With sumptuous silks (pinked, and powne't, and puft)
With gold-ground Velvets, and with siluer Tissue,
And all the glory of old Eues proud Issue?
What though his feeble Cofers be not cramd
With Misers Idols, golden Ingotsramd?
He is warm-wrapped in his own-growen Wooll;
Of vn-bought Wines his Cellar's everfull;
His Garner's stor'd with grain, his Ground with flocks,
His Barns with Fodder, with sweet streams his Rocks.
For, heer I sing the happy Rustiks weal,
Whose handsom house seems as a Common-weal:
And not the needy, hard rack-rented Hinde,
Or Copy-holder, whom hard Lords doo grinde;
The pined Fisher, or poor-Daiery-Renter
That liues of whay, for forfeiting Indenture;
Who scarce haue bread within their homely Cotes
(Except by fits) to feed their hungry throats.
Let me good Lord, among the Great vn-kend,
My rest of daies in the calm Countrey end.
Let me deserue of my deer AEGLE-Brood,
For Windsor- Forrest, walks in Almes-wood:
Bee Hadley Pond my Sea; Lambs-bourn my Thames;
Lambourn my London; Kennet's siluer streams,
[Page 90] My fruitfull Nile; my Singers and Musicians,
The pleasant Birds with warbling repetitions;
My company, pure thoughts, to work thy will;
My Court, a Cottage on a lowely Hill;
Where, without let, I may so sing thy Name,
That times to-com may wonder at the same.
Or, if the new North-star, my Souerain, IAMES
(The secret vertue of whose sacred beams
Attracts th' attentiue seruice of all such
Whose mindes did euer Vertue's Load-stone touch)
Shall euer daign t'inuite mine humble Fate
T'approoch the Presence of his Royall State:
Or, if my Duty, or the Grace of Nobles,
Shall driue or draw me neer their pleasing-Troubles;
Let not their Fauours make me drunk with folly:
In their Commands, still keep my Conscience holy:
Let me, true Honour, not the false delight;
And play the Preacher, not the Parasite.
So, Morn and Euening the Third Day conclude,
And God perceiv'd that All his Works were good.

THE FOVRTH DAIE OF THE FIRST WEEK.

THE ARGVMENT.
The twinkling Spangles of the Firmament:
The wandring Seav'n (Each in a seuerall Tent);
Their Course, their Force, their Essence is disputed;
That they (as Beasts) doe eat and drink; refuted.
Heav'ns (not the Earth) with rapid motion roule:
The famous Stars observ'd in either Pole:
Heav'ns sloaping Belt: the Twelue celestiall Signes,
Whear Sol the Seasons of the Year confines:
Dayes glorious Prince: Nights gloomy Patroness:
His Light and Might: Her constant Change-fulnes.
PVre Spirit that rapt'st aboue the Firmest Sphear,
In the beginning of the fourth booke, calling vpon the God of Heauen, our Poet prayeth to be lift vp in the Heauens, that he may discours [...] (as he ought) of the starrs▪ fixed and wandring.
In fiery Coach, thy faithfull Messenger,
Who smiting Iordan with his pleighted Cloak,
Did yerst diuide the Waters with the stroak:
O▪ take me vp; that, far from Earth, I may
From Sphear to Sphear, see th' azure Heav'ns To-Day,
Be thou my Coach-man, and now Check by Ioule
With Phoebus Chariot let my Chariotroule;
Driue on my Coach by Mars his flaming Coach;
Saturn and Luna let my wheels approach:
That having learn'd of their Fire-breathing Horses,
Their course, their light, their labour, and their forces,
My Muse may sing in sacred Eloquence,
To Vertues Friends, their vertuous Excellence:
[Page 92]And with the Load-stone of my conquering Verse,
Aboue the Poles attract the most perverse,
And you fair learned soules, you spirits diuine,
To whom the Heav'ns so nimble quils assigne,
As well to mount, as skilfully to limn
The various motion of their Taperstrim;
Lend me your hand; lift mee aboue Parnassus;
With your loud Trebbles help my lowly Bassus.
For sure, besides that your wit-gracing Skill
Bears, in itself, itself's rich guerdon still;
Our Nephews, free from sacrilegious brauls,
Where Horror swims in bloud about our wals,
Shall one day sing that your deer Song did merit
Better Heav'n, better hap and better time to hear-it.
And, though (alas) my now new-rising Name
Can hope heer-after none, or little Fame:
The time that most part of our betterwits
Mis-spend in Flattery, or in Fancy-Fits,
In courting Ladies, or in clawing Lords,
Without affection, in affected words:
I mean to spend, in publishing the Story
Of Gods great works, to his immortall glory.
My rymes, begot in pain, and born in pleasure,
Thirst not for Fame (the Heathen hope's chief treasure):
'T shall me suffice, that our deer France doo breed
(In happy season) som more learned sced,
That may record with more diuine dexterity
Then I haue don these wonders to Posterity.
Much less may these abortiue Brats of Mine
Expect Respect (but in respect of Thine):
Yet sith the Heav'ns haue thus entaskt my layes
(As darkly Cynthia darts her borrow'd rayes)
To shadow Thine; and to my Countrey render
Som small reflection of thy radiant splendor;
It is inough, if heer-by I incite
Som happier spirit to do thy Muse more right;
And with more life giue thee thy proper grace,
And better follow great du BARTAS trace.
GOD'S NONE of these faint idle Artizens
Heere resuming his course, he pre­secutes the worke of the Creation.
Who, at the best abandon their designes,
Working by halfs; as rather a great deal,
To do much quickly, then to do it well:
But rather, as a workman neuer weary,
And all-sufficient, he his works doth carry
To happy end; and to perfection,
With sober speed, brings what he hath begun.
Hauing therfore the Worlds wide Curten spread
About the circuit of the fruitfull Bed,
In the fourth day, God crea­ted the fixed Stars, the two great Lights, (vid.) the Sunne and the Moone, together with the other fiue Planets.
Where (to fill all with her vnnumbred Kin)
Kinde Natures self each moment lyeth in:
To make the same for euer admirable,
More stately-pleasant, and more profitable;
He th' Azure Tester trimm'd with golden marks,
And richly spangled with bright glistring sparks.
I knowe, those Tapers, twinkling in the sky,
Doo turn so swiftly from our hand and eye,
That man can neuer (rightly) reach, to seeing
Their Course and Force, and much-much less their Being:
Of their Course, Force, Essence, and Substance.
But, if coniecture may extend aboue
To that great Orb, whose mouing All doth moue,
Th' imperfect Light of the first Day was it,
Which for Heavn's Eyes did shining matter fit:
For, God, selecting lightest of that Light,
Garnisht Heav'ns seeling with those Torches bright:
Or else diuided it; and pressing close
The parts, did make the Sun and Stars of those.
But, if thy wits thirst rather seek these things,
Opinion of the Greek touching the matter of the Stars.
In Greekish Cisterns then in Hebrew Springs;
Then I conclude, that as of moistfull matter,
God made the people that frequent the Water,
And of an Earthy stuff the stubborn droues
That haunt the Hills and Dales and Downs and Groues:
So, did he make, by his Almighty might,
The Heav'ns and Stars, of one same substance bright;
To th' end these Lamps, dispersed in the Skies,
Might with their Orb, it with them, sympathize.
[Page 94]And as (with vs) vnder the Oaken bark
The knurry knot with branching vains, we mark
Simile.
To bee of substance all one with the Tree,
Although far thicker and more rough it bee:
So those gilt studs in th' vpper story driven,
Are nothing but the thickest part of Heav'n.
When I obserue their Light and Heat yblent
Their substance is of Fire.
(Meer accidents of th' vpper Element)
I thinke them Fire: but not such Fire as lasts
No longer then the fuel that it wastes:
For then, I think all th' Elements too-little
To furnish them only with one days victual.
And therefore smile I at those Fable-Forges,
Resutation of such as haue thought that the Stars were li­uing creatures that did eat and drinke.
Whose busy-idle stile so stifly vrges,
The Heavn's bright Cressets to be living creatures,
Ranging for food, and hungry fodder-eaters;
Still sucking-vp (in their eternall motion)
The Earth for meat, and for their drink, the Ocean.
Sure, I perceive no motion in a Star,
But natural, certain, and regular;
Wher-as Beasts motions infinitely vary,
Confus'd, vncertain, diuers, voluntary.
I see not how so many golden Postes
Should scud so swift about Heav'ns azure coasts,
But that the Heav'ns must ope and shut som-times,
Subiect to passions, which our earthly climes
Alter, and toss the Sea, and th' Aire estrange
From it selfs temper with exceeding change.
I see not how, in those round blazing beams,
One should imagine any food-fit limbs:
Nor can I see how th' Earth, and Sea should feed
So many Stars, whose greatnes doth exceed
So many times (if Star-Diuines say troth)
The greatnes of the Earth and Ocean both:
Sith heer our Cattle, in a month, will eat
Seav'n-times the bulk of their owne bulk in meat.
These Torches then range not at random, o're
The lightsom thicknes of an vn-firm Floor:
[Page 95]As heer below, diuersly mooving them,
The painted Birds between two aires do swim.
But rather fixed vnto turning Spheares,
Ay, will-they, nill-they, follow their careeres:
Simile.
As Cart-nails fastned in a wheel (without
Selfs-motion) turn with others turns about.
As th' Ague-sicke, vpon his shivering pallet,
A comparison.
Delaies his health oft to delight his palat;
When wilfully his taste-les Taste delights
In things vnsauory to sound Appetites:
Even so, som brain-sicks liue ther now-adaies,
That lose themselves still in contrary waies;
Preposterous Wits that cannot rowe at ease,
On the smooth Chanell of our common Seas.
And such are those (in my conceit at least)
Those Clarks that think (think how absurd a iest)
That neither Heav'ns nor Stars do turn at all,
Nor dance about this great round Earthly Ball;
But th' Earth it self, this Massie Globe of ours,
Turns round-about once euery twice-twelue houres:
And wee resemble Land-bred nouices
New brought aboord to venture on the Seas;
Who, at first launching from the shoar, suppose
The ship stands still, and that the ground it goes.
So, twinkling Tapers, that Heav'ns Arches fill,
Opinion of Co­pernicus cōfuted
Equally distant should continue still.
So, neuer should an Arrow, shot vpright,
In the same place vpon the shooter light;
But would doo (rather) as (at Sea) a stone
Aboord a Ship vpward vprightly throw'n;
Which not within-boord fall's, but in the Flood
A-stern the Ship, if so the winde be good.
So, should the Fouls that take their nimble flight
From Western Marshes toward Mornings Light,
And Zephyrus, that in the Summer time
Delights to visit Eurus in his clime,
And Bullets thundred from the Canons throat
(Whose roaring drowns the Heavn'ly thunders note)
[Page 96]Should seem recoyl: sithens the quick career,
That our round Earth should daily gallop heer,
Must needs exceed a hundred-fold (for swift)
Birds, Bullets, Windes; their wings, their force, their drift.
Arm'd with these reasons, 'twere superfluous
T' assail the reasons of Copernicus;
Who, to salve better, of the Stars th' appearance,
Vnto the Earth a three-fold motion warrants:
Making the Sun the Center of this All,
Leauing to dis­pute farther vp­pon the former Paradox, he pro ccedeth in his discourse, and by a liuely compa­rison represen­teth the beauti­full ornament of the Heavens a­bout the Earth.
Moon, Earth, and Water, in one only Ball.
But sithens heer, nor time, nor place doth sute,
His Paradox at length to pros [...]cute;
I will proceed, grounding my next discourse
On the Heav'ns motions, and their constant course.
I oft admire Greatnes of mighty Hills,
And pleasant beauty of the flowry Fields,
And count-les number of the Oceans sand,
And secret force of sacred Adamant:
But much-much more (the more I mark their course)
Stars glistering greatnes, beauty, number▪ force.
Euen as a Peacock, prickt with loues desire,
Simile.
To woo his Mistress, strowting stately by her,
Spreads round the rich pride of his pompous vail,
His azure wings and starry-golden tail,
With rattling pinions wheeling still about,
The more to set his beautious beautie out:
The Firmament (as feeling like aboue)
Displays his pomp; pranceth about his Loue,
Spreads his blew curtain, mixt with golden marks,
Set with gilt spangles, sow'n with glistring sparks,
Sprinkled with eyes, specked with Tapers bright,
Poudred with Starrs streaming with glorious light,
T' inflame the Earth the more, with Louers grace,
To take the sweet fruit of his kinde imbrace.
Hee, that to number all the Stars would seek,
The number of Stars vnder both the Poles innumerable.
Had need inuent som new Arithmetick;
And who, to cast that Reck'ning takes in hand,
Had need for Counters take the Ocean's sand:
[Page 97]Yet haue our wise and learned Elders found
And why the ancient Astro­nomers obserued 48.
Foure-dozen Figures in the Heav'nly Round,
For aid of memory; and to our eyes
In certain Howses to diuide the Skyes.
Of those, are Twelue in that rich Girdle greft
Of the fignes in the Zodiacke.
Which God gaue Nature for her New-yeres-gift
(When making All, his voice Almighty most,
Gaue so fair Laws vnto Heav'ns shining Hoast)
To wear it biaz, buckled ouer-thwart-her;
Not round about her swelling waste to girt-her.
This glorious Baldrick of a Golden tindge,
Imbost with Rubies, edg'd with Siluer Frindge,
Buckled with Gold, with a Bend glistring bright,
Heav'ns biaz-wise enuirons day and night.
For, from the period, whear the Ram doth bring
The Zodiacke.
The day and night to equall ballancing,
Ninetie degrees towards the North it wends,
Thence iust as much toward Mid-Heav'n it bends,
As many thence toward the South; and thence
Towards th' Years Portall, the like difference.
Nephelian Crook-horn, with brass Cornets crown'd,
Aries in Mid-March begins the Spring.
Thou buttest brauely 'gainst the New-yeres bound;
And richly clad in thy fair Golden Fleece,
Doo'st hold the First House of Heav'ns spacious Meese.
Taurus in mid-Aprill.
Thou spy'st anon the Bull behinde thy back:
Who, least that fodder by the way he lack,
Seeing the World so naked; to renewg't,
Coats th' infant Earth in a green gallant sute;
And, without Plough or Yoak, doth freely fling
Through fragrant Pastures of the flowry Spring.
Gemini in mid-May.
The Twins, whose heads, arms, shoulders, knees and feet,
God fill'd with Starrs to shine in season sweet,
Contendin Course, who first the Bull shall catch,
That neither will nor may attend their match.
Then, Summers-guide, the Crab coms rowing soft,
Cancer in mid-Iune begins the sommer.
With his eight owres through the Heavn's azure lo [...]t;
To bring vs yeerely, in his starry shell,
Many long daies the shaggy Earth to swele.
[Page 98]Almost with like pase leaps the Lion out,
Leo in mid-Iuly.
All clad with flames, bristled with beams about;
Who, with contagion of his burning breath,
Both grass and grain to cinders withereth.
The Virgin next, sweeping Heav'ns azure Globe
Virgo in mid-August.
With stately train of her bright Golden robe,
Milde-proudly marching in her left hand brings
A sheaf of Corn, and in her right hand wings.
Libra in mid-September begin neth Autumn.
After the Maiden, shines the Balance bright,
Equall druider of the Day and Night:
In whose gold Beam, with three gold rings, there fastens
With six gold strings, a payr of golden Basens.
The spitefull Scorpion, next the Skale addrest,
With two bright Lamps couers his loathsom brest;
Scorpio in mid-October.
And fain, from both ends, with his double sting,
Would spet his venom ouer euery thing;
Sagittarius in mid-Nouember
But that the braue Half-horse Phylirean Scout,
Galloping swift the heav'nly Belt about,
Ay fiercely threats, with his flame-feathered arrow
To shoot the sparkling starry Viper thorough.
And th' hoary Centaure, during all his Race,
Capricornus in mid-December, beginneth Winter.
Is so attentiue to this onely chase,
That dread-less of his dart, Heav'ns shining Kid
Coms iumping light, iust at his heels vnspid.
Aquarius in mid-Ianuary.
Mean-whilethe Skinker, from his starry spout,
After the Goat, a siluer stream pours-out;
Distilling still out of his radiant Fire
Riuers of Water (who but will admire?)
In whose cleer channel mought at pleasure swim
Those two bright Fishes that doo follow him;
Pisces in mid-February.
But that the Torrent slides so swift away,
That it out-runs them euer, euen as they
Out-run the Ram, who euer them pursues;
And by renewing Yearely, all renues.
The names of the Principall stars of the North-Pole.
Besides these Twelue, toward the Artik side,
A flaming Dragon doth Two-Bears diuide;
After, the Wainman coms, the Crown, the Spear;
The Kneeling Youth, the Harp, the Hamperer
[Page 99]Of th' hatefull Snake (whether we call the same
By Aesculapius, or Alcides name)
Swift Pegasus, the Dolphin, louing man;
Ioues stately Aegle, and the siluer Swan:
Andromeda, with Cassiopeia neer-her,
Her father Cepheus, and her Perseus deerer:
The shining Triangle, Medusa's Tress,
And the bright Coach-man of Tindarides.
Toward th' other Pole, Orion, Eridanus,
The names of the Stars of the South-Pole.
The Whale, the Whelp, and hot-breath't Sirius,
The Hare, the Hulk▪ the Hydra, and the Boule,
The Centaure, VVolf, the Censer, and the Foul
(The twice-foul Rauen) the Southern Fish and Crown,
Through Heav'ns bright Arches brandish vp and down.
Thus, on This-Day working th' eightth azure Tent,
The fixed stars are in the eight Heauen.
With Art-les Art, diuinely excellent;
Th' Almighties fingers fixed many a million
Of golden Scutchions in that rich Pauilion:
But in the rest (vnder that glorious Heav'n)
But one a-peece, vnto the seuerall Seav'n;
And the seauen Planets vnder them each in his proper Spheare
Least, of those Lamps the number-passing number
Should mortall eyes with such confusion cumber,
That we should neuer, in the cleerest night,
Starrs diuers Course see or discern aright.
And therfore also, all the fixed Tapers
He made to twinkle with such trembling capers;
Why the Pla­nets twinkle not, and the fixed stars do twinkle.
But, the Scaven Lights that wander vnder them,
Through various passage, neuer shake a beam:
Or, he (perhaps) made them not different;
But, th' hoast of Sparks spred in the Firmament
Far from our sense, through distance infinite,
Seems but to twinkle, to our twinkling sight:
The firmament much farther from the Earth then the sphears of the Planets.
Wheras the rest, neerer a thousand fold
To th' Earth and Sea, we doo more brim behold.
For, the Heav'ns are not mixtly enterlaced,
But th' vndermost by th' vpper be imbraced,
And more or less their roundels wider are,
As from the Center they be neer or far:
[Page 100]As in an Egg, the shell includes the skin,
Simile
The skin the white, the white the yolk with-in.
Two similes re­presenting the motion of the eight inferiour Heav'ns, throgh the swift tur­ning of the ninth which is the Pri­mum Mobile.
Now as the Winde, buffing vpon a Hill
With roaring breath against a ready Mill,
Whirls with a whiff the sails of swelling clout,
The sails doo swing the winged shaft about,
The shaft the wheel, the wheel the trendle turns,
And that the stone which grindes the flowry corns:
Or like as also in a Clock well tended,
Iust counter-poize, iustly thereon suspended,
Makes the great Wheel goe round, and that anon
Turns with his turning many a meaner one,
The trembling watch, and th' iron Maule that chimes
The intire Day in twice twelue equall times:
So the grand Heav'n, in foure and twenty houres,
Surueying all this various house of ours,
With his quick motion all the Sphears doth moue;
Whose radiant glances gild the World aboue,
And driues them euery day (which swiftnes strange-is)
From Gange to Tagus; and from Tay to Ganges.
But, th' vnder-Orbs, as grudging to be still
Each of the 8. Heauens so trās­ported by the Primum Mo­bil [...] hath also his proper oblique, and distinct course each from other.
So straightly subiect to anothers will,
Still without change, still at anothers pleasure
After one pipe to dance one onely measure;
They from-ward turn▪ and traversing aside,
Each by himself an oblique course doth slide:
So that they all (although it seem not so)
Forward and backward in one instant goe,
Both vp and down, and with contrary pases,
At once they poste to two contrary places:
Like as my self, in my lost Marchant-years
( A loss, alas, that in these liues appears)
Wa [...]ting to Brabant, Englands golden Fleece
The same expla­ned by a proper Simile.
( A ritcher pryze then Iason brought to Greece)
While toward the Sea, our (then, Swan-poorer) Thames
Bare down my Bark vppon her ebbing streams:
Vpon the hatches, from the Prow to Poup
Walking in compass of that narrow Coop,
[Page 101] Maugre the most that Winde and Tide could doo,
Haue gone at once towards LEE and LONDON too.
Why som of these Heauens haue a slower course & shorter compasse then other some.
But now, the neerer any of these Eight,
Approach th' Empyreall Palace walls in height,
The more their circuit, and more daies they spend,
Ye [...] they return vnto their Iourneys end.
It's therefore thought, That sumptuous Canapy,
The terme of the reuolution of the Firmament.
The which th' vn-niggard hand of Maiesty
Poudred so thick with Shields so shining cleer,
Spends in his voyage nigh seaven thousand year.
Ingenious Saturn, spouse of Memory,
Of the seuenth, which is the Spheare of Sa­turn.
Father of th' Age of Gold; though coldly dry,
Silent and sad, bald, hoary, wrinkle-faced,
Yet art thou first among the Planets placed:
And thirty years thy Leaden Coach doth run
Ye [...] it arrive where thy Career begun.
Thou, rich, benign, Ill-chasing Iupiter,
Of the 6 which is the Sphear of Iupiter.
Art (worthy) next thy Father sickle-bear,
And while thou doost with thy more milde aspect
His froward beams disast'rous frouns correct,
Thy Tinnen Chariot shod with burning bosses,
Through twice-six Signes in twice six twelue months crosses.
Braue-minded Mars (yet Master of mis-order,
Of the 5. which is the spheare of Mars.
Delighting nought but Battails, blood, and murder)
His surious Coursers lasheth night and day,
That he may swiftly passe his course away:
But in the road of his eternall Race,
So many rubs hinder his hasty pase,
That thrice, the while, the lively Liquor-God
With dabbled heels hath swelling clusters trod,
And thrice hath Ceres shav'n her amber tress,
Ye [...] his steel whels haue done their business.
Pure goldie-locks, Sol, States-friend, Honour-giuer,
Of the 4. which is the Sphear of Sol.
Light-bringer, Laureat, Leach-man, all Reviver,
Thou, in three hundred threescore daies and five,
Doost to the period of thy Race arrive.
For, with thy proper course thou measur'st th' Year,
And measur'st Daies with thy constrain'd career.
Fair dainty Venus, whose free vertues milde
Of the 3. which is the spheare of Venus.
With happy fruit get all the world with-childe
(Whom wanton dalliance, dancing, and delight,
Smiles, witt [...]e wiles, youth, loue, and beauty bright,
With soft blind Cupids evermore consort)
Of light som Day opens and shuts the port;
For, hardly dar [...] her siluer Doves go far
From bright Apollos glory-beaming Car.
Not much vnlike so, Mercury the wittie,
Of the 2. which is the sphear of Mercury.
For ship, for shop, book, bar, or Court, or Citie:
Smooth Orator, swift Pen-man, sweet Musician,
Rare Artizan, deep-reaching Politician,
Fortunat Marchant, fine Prince-humour-pleaser;
To end his course takes neer a twelue-months leasure:
For, all the while, his nimble winged heels
Dare little bouge from Phoebus golden wheels.
And lastly Luna, thou cold Queen of night,
Regent of humours, parting Months aright,
Of the 1. which is the Sphear of Lun [...]. The lowest Pla­net nearest the Earth.
Chaste Emperess to one Endymion constant;
Constant in Love, though in thy looks in constant
( Vnlike our Loues, whose hearts d [...]ssemble soonest)
Twelue times a year through all the Zodiak runnest.
Now, if these Lamps, so infinite in number,
Should stil stand-stil as in a sloathfull slumber,
Then should som Places (alwaies in one plight)
Have alwaies Day, and [...]om haue alwaies Night:
Of the necessitie of diuers motions of the Heauens.
Then should the Sommers Fire, and Winters Frost,
Rest opposite still on the self same Coast:
Then nought could spring, and nothing prosper would
In all the World, for Want of Heat or Cold.
Or, without change of distance or of dance,
If all these Lights still in one path should prance,
Th' inconstant parts of this lowe Worlds contents
Should neuer feel so sundry accidents,
As the Con [...]unction of celestiall Features
Incessantly pours vpon mortall Creatures.
I'll n'er beleeve that the Arch-Architect
Of the force and influence of the C [...]lestiall body vpon the terrest­riall.
With all these Fires the Heav'nly Arches deckt
[Page 103]Onely for Shewe, and with these glistering shields
T' amaze poor Shepheards watching in the fields.
I'll n'er beleeve that the least Flowr that pranks
Our Garden borders, or the Common banks,
And the least stone that in her warming Lap
Our kind Nurse Earth doth covetously wrap,
Hath som peculiar vertue of it owne;
And that the glorious Stars of Heav'n have none:
But shine in vain, and haue no charge precise,
But to be walking in heav'ns Galleries,
And through that Palace vp and down to clamber
As Golden Gulls about a PRINCES CHAMBER.
Sens-less is he (who without blush) denies
What to sound senses most apparant lies:
And 'gainst Experience he that spets Fallacians,
Is to be hisst from learned Disputations:
And such is he, that doth affirm the Stars
To have no force on these inferiours;
Though heav'ns effects we most apparant see
In number more then heav'nly Torches be.
I nill alleadge the Seasons alteration,
Sundry proofes of the same. 1 The diuers seasons. 2 The fearefull accidēts that cō ­monly succeede Eclipses.
Caus'd by the Sun in shifting Habitation:
I will not vrge, that neuer at noon daies
His enuious Sister intercepts his Raies
But som great State eclipseth, and from Hell
Alecto looses all these Furies Fell,
Grim, lean-fac't Famine, foul infectious Plague;
Blood-thirsty VVar, and Treason hatefull Hag:
Heere pouring down Woes vniuersall Flood,
To drown the World in Seas of Tears and Blood.
I'l overpass how Sea doth Eb and Flowe,
3 The ebbing & flowing of the sea.
As th' Horned Queen doth eyther shrink or growe;
And that the more she Fills her forked Round,
The more the Marrow doth in bones abound,
The Bloud in Veins, the sap in Plants, the Moisture
4 The increase and decrease of marrow, bloud and humours in diuers creatures.
And lushious meat, in Creuish, Crab and Oyster:
That Oak, and Elm, and Firr, and Alder, cut
Before the Crescent have her Cornets shut,
[Page 104]Are neuer lasting, for the builders turn,
In Ship or House, but rather fit to burn:
5. The apparant alterations in the bodies of sick persons.
And also, that the Sick, while shee is filling,
Feele sharper Fits through all their members thrilling.
So that, this Lamp alone approoves, what powrs,
Heav'ns Tapers have even on these soules of ours:
Temp'ring; or troubling (as they be inclin'd)
Our mind and humours, humours and our minde,
Through Sympathy, which while this Flesh we carie,
Our Soules and Bodies doth together marry.
I'l only say that sith the hot aspect
Of th' Heav'nly Dog-Star, kindles with effect
A particular proose by the ef­fects of certaine notable stars, or­dinarily noted in some Moneth of [...]he yeare.
A thousand vnseen Fires, and dries the Fields,
Scorches the Vallies, parches-vp the Hills,
And often times into our panting hearts,
The bitter Fits of burning Fevers darts:
And (opposit) the Cup, the dropping Pleiades,
Bright-glistering Orion and the weeping Hyades,
Neuer (almost) look down on our aboad,
But that they stretch the Waters bounds abroad,
With Clowdy horror of their wrathfull frown,
Threatning again the guilty World to drown:
And (to be brief) sith the gilt azure Front
Of Firmest Sphear hath scarce a spark vpon't
But poureth down-ward som apparant change,
Toward the Storing of the Worlds great Grange;
We may coniecture what hid powr is given
T' infuse among vs from the other Seaven,
From each of those which for their vertuerare
Th' Almighty placed in a proper Sphear.
Reiecting the Stoiks, he shew­eth that God, as the first Cause, doth order all things, and what vse we should make of the force Course, & Light of the coelesti all bodies.
Not that (as Stoiks) I intend to tye
With Iron Chains of strong Necessitie
Th' Eternal's hands, and his free feet enstock
In Destinies hard Diamantin Rock:
I hold, that God (as The first Cause) hath giv'n
Light, Course, and Force to all the Lamps of Heav'n:
That still he guides them, and his Providence
Disposeth free, their Fatall influence:
[Page 105]And that therefore (the rather) we belowe
Should study all, their Course and Force to knowe:
To th' end that, seeing (through our Parents Fall)
T' how many Tyrants we are waxen thrall,
Euer since first fond Womans blind Ambition,
Breaking, made Adam break Heav'ns High-Commission:
We might vnpuff our Heart, and bend our Knee,
T' appease with sighs Gods wrathfull Maiestie;
Beseeching him to turn away the storms
Of Hail, and Heat, Plague, Dearth, and dreadfull Arms,
Which oft the angry Starrs, with bad Aspects,
Threat to be falling on our stubborn necks:
To give vs Curbs to bridle th' ill proclivitie
We are inclin'd-to, by a hard Nativitie:
To pour som Water of his Grace, to quench
Our boyling Fleshes fell Concupiscence,
To calm our many passions (spirituall tumours)
Sprung from corruption of our vicious humours.
Latonian Twinns, Parents of Years and Months,
Heer proceeding to the second part of this book, he treateth at large of the Sun and Moon.
Alas! why hide you so your shining Fronts?
What? nill you shew the splendor of your ray,
But through a Vail of mourning Clouds, I pray?
I pray pul-off your mufflers and your moorning,
And let me see you in your native burning:
And my deer Muse by her eternall flight,
Shal spread as far the glory of your Light
As you your selues run, in alternat Ring,
Day after Night, Night after Day to bring.
Thou radiant Coach-man, running end-les course,
Of the Sun: en­tring into the descriptiō wher­of, he confesseth that he knowes not well where to begin.
Fountain of Heat, of Light the lively sourse,
Life of the World, Lamp of this Vniverse,
Heav'ns richest Gemm: O teach me wher my Verse
May but begin thy praise. Alas! I fare
Much like to one that in the Clouds doth stare
To count the Quails, that with their shadow cover
Th' Italian Sea, when soaring hither over,
Fain of a milder and more fruitfull Clime,
They com, with vs to pass the Summer time:
[Page 106]No sooner he begins one shoal to summ,
But more and more, still greater shoals do com,
Swarm vpon Swarm, that with their count-les number
Break off his purpose, and his sense incumber.
Daies glorious Eye! even as a mighty King,
The Sun at Prince of the Ce lestiall lights marcheth in the midst of the o­ther sixe Planets which enuiron
About his Countrie stately Progressing,
Is compast round with Dukes, Earls, Lords, and Knights,
(Orderly marshall'd in their noble Rites)
Esquires and Gentlemen, in courtly kinde
And then his Guard before him and behinde;
And there is nought in all his Royal Muster,
But to his Greatness addeth grace and lustre:
So, while about the World thou ridest ay,
Which only lives by vertue of thy Ray,
Six Heav'nly Princes, mounted evermore,
Wayt on thy Coach, three behinde, three before,
Besides the Hoast of th' vpper Twinklers bright,
To whom, for pay thou giuest onely Light.
And, ev'n as Man (the little-World of Cares)
The Sun is in Heauen, as the heart in mans body.
Within the middle of the body, bears
His heart (the Spring of life) which with proportion
Supplieth spirits to all, and euery portion:
Even so (O Sun) thy Golden Chariot marches
Amid the six Lamps of the six lowe Arches
Which seel the World, that equally it might
Richly impart them Beauty, Force, and Light.
Praysing thy Heat, which subtilly doth pearce
His notable of­fects vpon the Earth.
The solid thickness of our Vniuerse,
Which in th' Earths kidneys Mercury doth burn,
And pallid Sulphur to bright Metal turn;
I do digress, to praise that Light of thine,
Which if it should, but one Day, cease to shine,
Th' vnpurged Aire to Water would resolve,
And Water would the mountain tops inuolve.
Scarce I begin to measure thy bright Face,
Whose greatness doth so oft Earths greatness pass,
And with still running the Coelestiall Ring,
Is seen and felt of every liuing thing;
[Page 107]But that fantastikly I change my Theam
To sing the swiftness of thy tyer-les Teem;
To sing, how, Rising from the Indian Waue,
Thou seem'st (O Titan) like a Bride-groom brave,
Excellent com­parisons borrow ed out of the 19 Psalme.
Who, from his Chamber early issuing out
In rich array, with rarest Gems about;
With pleasant Countenance, and lovely Face,
With golden tresses, and attractive grace,
Cheers (at his comming) all the youthfull throng
That for his presence earnestly did long,
Blessing the day, and with delightfull glee,
Singing aloud his Epithalamie.
Then, as a Prince that feeles his Noble heart,
Wounded with Loues pure Honor-winged dart
( As HARDY LAELIVS, that Great GARTER-KNIGHT,
The same exem­plified in an ho­norable perso­nage of our time now very aged; but in his yong years, the glory of Armes and Chiualrie.
Tilting in Triumph of ELIZA'S Right
( Yeerely that Day that her deerraign began)
Most brauely mounted on proud RABICAN,
All in gilt armour, on his glistering Mazor
A stately Plume, of Orange mixt with Azur,
In gallant Course, before ten thousand eyes,
From all Defendants bore the Princely Prize)
Thou glorious Champion, in thy Heav'nly Race,
Runnest so swift we scarse conceivethy pase.
When I record, how fitly thou dost guide
Through the fourth heav'n thy flaming Coursers pride,
Of Gods wonder full prouidēce in placing the Sun in the midst of the other Pla­nets, & of the commodities that come therof
That as they pass, their fiery breaths may temper
Saturn's and Cynthya's cold and moist distemper
(For, if thou gallop'st in the neather Room
Like Phaëton thou would'st the World consume:
Or, if thy Throne were set in Saturn's Sky,
For want of heat, then euery thing would dy)
In the same instant I am prest to sing,
How thy return reviveth every thing;
How, in thy Presence, Fear, Sloath, Sleep, and Night,
Snowes, Fogs, and Fancies, take their sodain Flight.
Th' art (to be brief) an Ocean wanting bound,
Whear ( as full vessels haue the lesser sound)
[Page 108]Plenty of Matter makes the speaker mute;
As wanting words thy worth to prosecute.
Yet glorious Monarch, 'mong so many rare
Of the Sunnes continuall and daily course.
And match-less Flowrs as in thy Garland are,
Som one or two shall my chaste sober Muse
For thine Immortall sacred Sisters chuse.
I'll boldly sing (bright Soverain) thou art none
Of those weak Princes Flattery works vpon
( No second EDWARD, nor no RICHVRD Second,
Vn-kinged both, as Rule-vnworthy recon'd)
Who, to inrich their Minions past proportion,
Pill all their Subiects with extream extortion;
And charm'd with Pleasures (O exceeding Pity!)
Ly alwaies wallowing in one wanton City;
And, loving only that, to mean Lieutenants
Farm out their Kingdoms care, as vnto Tenants.
For, once a day, each Country vnder Heav'n
Thou bidst Good-Morrow, and thou bidst Good-Ev'n.
And thy far-seeing Ey, as Censor, views
The rites and fashions Fish, and Foule do vse,
And our behaviours, worthy (every one)
Th' Abderian Laughter, and Ephesian Moan.
But true it is, to th' end a fruitfull lew
May every Climat in his time renew.
Of his oblique or By-course, cause of the foure sea­sons: and of the commodities of all Climates in the world.
And that all men may neerer in all Realms
Feel the alternat vertue of thy beames;
Thy sumptuous Chariot, with the Light returning,
From the same Portall mounts not every Morning:
But, to make know'n each-where thy daily drift,
Doo'st every day, thy Coursers Stable shift:
That while the Spring, prankt in her greenest pride,
Raigns heer, els-wher Autumne as long may bide;
And while fair Summers heat our fruits doth ripe,
Cold Wintets Ice may other Countries gripe.
No sooner doth thy shining Chariot Roule
A pleasant and liuely descriptiō of the foure sea­sons of the yeare.
From highest Zenith toward Northern Pole,
To sport thee for three Months in pleasant Inns,
Of Aries, Taurus, and the gentle Twinns,
[Page 109]But that the mealie Mountains (late vnseen)
Change their white garments into lusty green,
The Gardens prank them with their Flowry buds,
The Meads with grass, with leaves the naked Woods,
Sweet Zephyrus begins to buss his Flora,
The Spring.
Swift-winged Singers to salute Aurora;
And wanton Cupid, through this Vniverse,
With pleasing wounds, all Creatures hearts to perce.
When, backward bent, Phlegon thy fiery Steed,
With Cancer, Leo, and the Maid, doth feed;
Th' Earth cracks with heat, and Summer crowns his Ceres
With gilded Ears, as yellow as her hair-is:
The Reaper, panting both for heat and pain,
With crooked Rasor shaves the tufted Plain;
The Summer.
And the good Husband, that due season takes,
Within a Month his year's Provision makes.
When from the mid-Heav'n thy bright flame doth fly
Toward the Cross-Stars in th' Antartik Sky,
Har [...]st.
To be three months, vp-rising, and down-lying
With Scorpio, Libra, and the Archer flying,
Th' Earth by degrees her louely beauty bates,
Pomona loads her lap with delicates,
Her Apron and her Osiar basket (both)
With dainty fruits for her deer Autumns tooth
(Her health-less spouse) who bare-foot hops about
To tread the iuice of Bacchus clusters out.
And last of all, when thy proud-trampling Teem
For three Months more, to soiourne stil doth seem
With Capricorn, Aquarius, and the Fishes
(While we in vain revoke thee with our wishes)
Winter.
In stead of Flowrs, chill shivering Winter dresses
With Isicles her (self-bald) borrow'd tresses:
About her brows a Periwig of Snowe,
Her white Freez mantle freng'd with Ice belowe,
A payr of Lamb-lyn'd buskins on her feet,
So doth she march Orythias love to meet;
Who with his bristled, hoarie, bugle-beard,
Comming to kiss her, makes her lips afeard;
[Page 110]Whear-at, he sighs a breath so cold and keen,
That all the Waters Crystallized been;
While in a fury, with his boystrous wings
Against the Scythian snowie Rocks he flings,
All lusks in sloath, and till these Months do end,
Bacchus and Vulcan must vs both befrend.
O second honour of the Lamps supernal,
Of the Moon & her alterations
Sure Kalender of Festiuals eternal,
Seas Soueraintess, Sleep-bringer, Pilgrims guide,
Peace-loving Queen: what shall I say beside?
What shall I say of thine inconstant brow,
Which makes my brain wauer, I woat not how?
But, if by th' Ey, a mans intelligence
May ghess of things distance so far from hence,
I think thy body round as any Ball,
Of her roundnes and brightnesse borrowed of the Sunne.
Whose superfice (nigh equall ouer all)
As a pure Glass, now vp, and down anon,
Reflects the bright beams of thy spouse, the Sun.
For as a Husbands Nobless doth illustre
Simile.
A mean-born wife: so doth the glorious lustre
Of radiant Titan, with his beams, embright
Thy gloomy Front, that selfly hath no light.
Yet 'tis not alwaies after one self sort,
Of her waxing & waning when she is in her last quarter, & whē she renues and commeth to her full.
For, for thy Car doth swifter thee transport,
Then doth thy Brothers, diversly thou shin'st,
As more or less thou from his sight declin'st.
Therfore each month, when Hymen (blest) above
In both your bodies kindles ardent love,
And that the Starrs-king all inamoured on thee,
Full of desire, shines down direct vpon thee;
Thy neather half-Globe toward th' Earthy Ball
(After it's Nature) is obserued all.
But, him aside thou hast no sooner got,
But on thy side a siluer file we noat,
A half-bent Bowe; which swels, the less thy Coach
Doth the bright Chariot of thy spouse approach,
And fils his Circle. When the Imperiall Star
Beholds thee iust in one Diameter,
[Page 111]Then by degrees thy Full face falls away,
And (by degrees) Westward thy Horns display:
Till fal'n again betwixt thy Louers arms,
Thou wink'st again, vanquisht with pleasures charms.
Thus dost thou Wax and VVane, thee oft renuing;
Delighting change: and mortall things, ensuing
(As subiect to thee) thy selfs transmutation,
Feel th' vnfelt force of secret alteration.
Not, but that Phoebus alwaies with his shine,
Cleers half (at least) of thine aspect divine;
Of the cause of the diuers aspect of the Moone.
But't sems not so: because we see but heer
Of thy round Globe the lower Hemisphear:
Though waxing vs-ward, Heav'n-ward thou dost wane;
And waning vs-ward, Heav'n-ward grow'st again.
Yet, it befalls, even when thy face is Full,
When at the highest thy pale Coursers pull,
When no thick mask of Clouds can hide away,
From liuing eys, thy broad, round, glistering Ray,
Thy light is darkned, and thine eys are seel'd,
Couered with shadow of a rusty shield.
For, thy Full face in his oblique designe
Confronting Phoebus in th' Ecliptick ligne,
And th' Earth between; thou losest for a space,
Thy splendor borrowd of thy Brothers grace:
But, to revenge thee on the Earth, for this
Of the cause of the Eclips of the Sunne.
Fore-stalling thee of thy kind Lovers kiss,
Somtimes thy thick Orb thou doo'st inter-blend
Twixt Sol and vs, toward the later end:
And then (because his splendor cannot pass
Or pearce the thicknes of thy gloomy Mass)
The Sun, as subiect to Deaths pangs, vs sees-not,
But seems all Light-less, though indeed he is not.
Therfore, far differing your Eclipses are;
For thine is often, and thy Brothers rare:
Thine doth indeed deface thy beauty bright;
Difference be­tween the Eclip­ses of the Sun, & of the Moone.
His doth not him, but vs bereave of Light:
It is the Earth, that thy defect procures;
It is thy shadow, that the Sunne obscures:
[Page 112]East-ward, thy front beginneth first to lack;
West-ward, his brows begin their frowning black:
Thine at thy Full, when thy most glory shines;
His, in thy Wane, when beautie most declines:
Thine's generall, toward Heav'n and Earth together;
His, but to Earth, nor to all places neither.
For, th' hideous Cloud, that cov'red so long since
Of the admirable & extraordina­ry Eclipse of the Sun, on the Day that our Sauiour suffered on the Crosse, for our Redemption. Mat. 27, ver. 45 Mar. 15, ver. 33 Luk 23. ver. 44
With nights black vail th' eys of the Starry-Prince
(When as he saw, for our foul Sinfull slips,
The Match-less Maker of the Light, eclipse)
Was far, far other: For, the swarty Moors,
That sweating toyl on Guinnés wealthy shoars:
Those whom the Niles continuall Cataract
With roaring noise for euer deaf doth make:
Those, that suruaying mighty
Quinzay.
Cassagale,
Within the Circuit of her spacious Wall
Do dry-foot dance on th' Orientall Seas;
And pass, in all her goodly crossing ways
And stately streets fronted with sumptuous Bowrs,
Twelue thousand Bridges, and twelue thousand Towers:
Those that, in Norway and in Finland, chase
The soft-skind Martens, for their pretious Cace;
Those that in Ivory Sleads on Ireland Seas
(Congeal'd to Crystall) slide about at ease;
Were witness all of his strange grief; and ghest,
That God, or Nature was then deep distrest.
Moreover Cynthia, in that fearfull stound,
Full-fild the compass of her Circle round;
And, being so far off, she could not make
(By Natures course) the Sun to be so black:
Nor, issuing from the Eastern part of Heav'n,
Darken that beauty, which her own had given.
In brief, mine ey, confounded with such Spectacles
In that one wonder sees a Sea of Miracles.
What could'st thou doo less, then thy Self dishonour
(O chief of Planets!) thy great Lord to honor?
Then for thy Fathers death, a-while to wear
A moorning Roab on th' hatefull Hemi-spheare?
[Page 113]Then at high-noon shut thy fair eye, to shun
A Sight, whose sight did Hell with horror stun?
And (pearç't with sorrow for such iniuries)
To please thy Maker, Nature to displease?
So, from the South to North to make apparant,
Of the going back of the Sun in the time of Ezechias. 1. King. 26. Ver. 11. Es [...]y. 38. Ver. 8
That God reuoak't his Seri [...]ant Death's sad Warrant
'Gainst Ezechias: and that he would give
The godly King fifteen years more to live:
Transgressing Heav'ns eternall Ordinance;
Thrice in one Day, thou through one path didst prance:
And, as desirous of another nap,
In thy ver million sweet Aurora's Lap,
Thy Coach turn'd back, and thy swift sweating Horse
Full ten degrees lengthned their wonted Course:
Dials went false, and Forrests (gloomy black)
Wondred to see their mighty shades go back.
So, when th' incensed Heav'ns did fight so fell
Of the Sunnes standing still in the time of Io­suah. Ios. 12. 13
Vnder the Standard of deer Israel,
Against the Hoast of odious Ammorites;
Among a million of swift-Flashing Lights,
Rayning down Bullets from a stormy Cloud,
As thick as Hail, vpon their Armies proud:
That such as scaped from Heav'ns wrathfull thunder,
Victorious swords might after heaw in-sunder;
Co [...]ur'd by Iosuah, thy brave steeds stood still,
[...] [...]ull Career stopping thy whirling wheel▪
And, one whole Day, in one degree they stayd
In midst of Heav'n, for sacred Armies ayd:
Least th' Infidels, in their disordred Flight,
Should save themselues vnder the wings of Night.
Those, that then liv'd vnder the other Pole,
Seeing the Lamp which doth enlight the Whole,
To hide so long his lovely face away,
Thought never more to haue re-seen the Day;
The wealthy Indians and the men of Spain,
Never to see Sun Rise or Set again.
In the same place Shadows stood still, as stone;
And in twelue Houres the Dials shew'd but one.

THE FIFT DAIE OF THE FIRST WEEK.

THE ARGVMENT.
Fish in the Sea, Fowls in the Aire abound:
The Forms of all things in the Waters found:
The various Manners of Sea-Citizens,
Whose constant Friendship far exceedeth Mens:
Arions strange escape: The Fowls attend
On th' only Phoenix, to her end-less end:
Their kindes, their customs, and their plumes variety;
Som presidents of Prudence, som of Piety:
The gratefull Aegle, burning in the Fláme
With her dead Mistress, the fair Sestian Dáme.
LAtónian Lamps, conducting divers ways,
After a Poeti­call maner he craueth time & opportunity to discourse in this Day of the crea­tion of Fishes & of Fowles.
About the World, successiue Nights and Days;
Parents of winged Time, haste, haste your Carrs,
And passing swiftly both th' opposed Barrs
Of East and West, by your returning Ray,
Th' imperfect World make elder, by a Day.
Yee Fish, that brightly in Heav'ns Baldrik shine,
If you would see the Waters waving brine
Abound with Fishes, pray Hyperion
T'abandon soon his liquid Mansion;
If he expect, in his prefixt Career,
To hoast with you a Month in every Yeer.
And thou, eternall Father, at whose wink
To which pur­pose [...]specially he calleth on the true God.
The wrathfull Ocean's swelling pride doth sink,
[Page 115]And stubborn storms of bellowing Windes be dumb,
Their wide mouthes stopt, and their wilde pinions num;
Great Soverain of the Seas, whose books can draw
A man aliue from the Whales monstrous maw,
Provide me (Lord) of Steers-man, Star, and Boat,
That through the vast Seas I may safely float:
Or rather teach me dyue, that I may view
Deep vnder water all the Scaly crew;
And dropping wet, when I return to land
Laden with spoils, extoll thy mighty hand.
IN VAIN had God stor'd Heav'n with glistring studs,
The first part of this Book, wherin he handleth how by the Comman­dement of the Lord, th [...] Fishes began to moue in the Waters.
The Plain with grain, the Mountain tops with woods,
Sever'd the Aire from Fire, the Earth from Water,
Had he not soon peopled this large Theatre
With living Creatures: Therefore he began
( This-Day) to quicken in the Ocean,
In standing Pools, and in the straggling Riuers
(Whose folding Channell fertill Champain severs)
So many Fishes of so many features,
That in the Waters one may see all Creatures;
And all that in this All is to be found;
As if the World within the Deeps were drown'd.
Seas haue (as wel as Skies) Sun, Moon, and Stars:
The Seas no lesse stored with priui ledges and pre­sidents of Gods glorious power then Heauen & Earth; and of the strange Fishes that liue therin.
(As well as Aire) Swallows, and Rooks, and Stares:
(As well as Earth) Vines, Roses, Nettles, Millions,
Pinks, Gilliflowrs, Mushroms, and many millions
Of other Plants (more rare and strange then these)
As very Fishes living in the Seas:
And also Rams, Calfs, Horses, Hares, and Hogs,
Wolves, Lions, Vrchins, Elephants, and Dogs,
Yea Men and Mayds: and (which I more admire)
The Mytred Bishop, and the Cowled Fryer:
Wherof, examples (but a few yeers since)
Were showen the Norways, and Polonian Prince.
You divine wits of elder Dayes, from whom
The deep Inuention of rare Works hath com,
Took you not pattern of your chiefest Tools
Out of the Lap of Thetis, Lakes, and Pools?
[Page 116]Which partly in the Waues, part on the edges
Of craggy Rocks, among the ragged sedges,
Bring-forth abundance of Pins, Pincers, Spoaks,
Pikes, Percers, Needles, Mallets, Pipes, and Yoaks,
Owers, sayls, and swords, saws, wedges, Razors, Rammers,
Plumes, Cornets, Kniues, Wheels, Vices, Horns, & Hammers.
And, as if Neptune, and fair Pan [...]pé,
Palae [...]on, Triton, and Leucothoé,
Kept publik Roules, there is the Calamary;
Who ready Pen-knife, Pen and Ink doth cary.
As a rare Painter draws (for pleasure) heer
Why God crea­ted so many sorts of strange Fishes
A sweet Adonis, a foul Satyre there:
Heer a huge Cyclop, there a Pigmè Elf;
Somtimes, no less busying his skilfull self,
Vpon som vgly Monster (seldom seen)
Then on the Picture of fair Beauties Queen:
Even so the Lord, that, in his Work's variety,
We might the more admire his powerfull Dëity;
And that we might discern by differing features
The various kindes of the vast Oceans creatures;
Forming this mighty Frame, he every Kinde
With diuers and peculiar Signet sign'd.
Som haue their heads groveling betwixt their feet
Examples▪ The Pour-Cut­tle. Cuttle. Crab. Sea Har [...]. Oyster.
(As th' inky Cuttles, and the Many-feet):
Som in their breast (as Crabs): som head-less are,
Foot-less, and finn-les (as the bane-full Hare,
And heat-full Oyster) in a heap confus'd,
Their parts vnparted, in themselues diffus'd.
The Tyrian Marchant, or the Portuguez
Can hardly build one Ship of many Trees:
The Tortoise.
But of one Tortoise, when he list to float,
Th' Arabian Fisher-man can make a Boat:
And one such Shell, him in the stead doth stand
Of Hulk at Sea, and of a House on land.
Shall I omit the monstrous Whirl-about,
Which in the Sea another Sea doth spout,
Where-with huge Vessels (if they happen nigh)
Are over-whelm'd and funken sodainly?
Shall I omit the Tunnies, that durst meet
The Tunny [...].
Th' Eöan Monarchs neuer daunted Fleet,
And beard more brauely his victorious powrs
Then the Defendants of the Tyrian Towrs;
Or Porus, conquered on the Indian Coast;
Or great Darius, that three Battails lost?
When on the Surges I perceiue, from far,
Th' Ork Whirl-pool, Whale, or huffing Physeter,
Diuers kindes of Whales.
Me thinks I see the wandring Ile again
( Ortygian Delos) floating on the Main.
And when in Combat these fell Monsters cross,
Meseems som Tempest all the Sea doth toss.
Our fear-less Saylers, in far Voyages
(More led by Gain's hope then their Compasses)
Of their mon­strous shape, and huge greatnes.
On th' Indian shoare, haue somtime noted som
Whose bodies couered two broad Acres room:
And in the South-Seas they haue also seen
Som like high-topped and huge-armed Treen;
And other-som whose monstrous backs did bear
Two mighty wheels with whirling spokes, that were
Much like the winged and wide spreading sayls
Of any Winde-mill turn'd with merry gales.
But God (who Nature in her nature holdes)
Not onely cast them inso sundry moldes:
But gaue them manners much more differing,
Of the diuers qualities of Fishes.
As well our wits as our weak eyes to bring
In admiration; that men euermore,
Praysing his Works, might prayse their Maker more.
Som loue fresh Waters, som the salt desire,
Som from the Sea vse yeerly to retire
To the next Rivers, at their own contenting,
So both the Waters with free Trade frequenting;
Having (like Lords) two Houses of receipt:
For Winter th' one, th' other for Sommers heat.
As Citizens, in som intestine braul,
Simile. Describing the custome of cer­tain Sea-Fishes frequenting the fresh Waters in some seasons of the yeare.
Long cooped vp within their Castle wall;
So soon as Peace is made, and Siedge remov'd,
Forsake a while their Town so strong approv'd;
[Page 118]And, tir'd with toyl, by leashes and by payrs,
Crowned with Garlands, go to take the ayrs:
So, dainty Salmons, Ch [...]uins thunder-scar'd,
Feast-famous Sturgeons, Lampreys speckle-starr'd,
In the Spring Season the rough Seas for sake,
And in the Rivers thousand pleasures take:
And yet the plenty of delitious foods,
Their pleasant Lodging in the crystall floods,
The fragrant sents of flowry banks about,
Cannot their Countreys tender loue wipe out
Of their remembrance; but they needs will home,
In th' irefull Ocean to go seek their Tomb:
Lik [...] English Gallants, that in Youth doo go
To visit Rhine, Sein, Ister, Arn, and Po;
Comparison.
Where though their Sense be dandled, Days and Nights,
In sweetest choise of changeable Delights.
They neuer can forget their Mother-Soyl,
But hourly Home their hearts and eyes recoyle,
Long languishing with an extream Desire
To see the smoak of their deer Natiue Fier.
One (like a Pirat) only liues of prizes,
That in the Deep he desperatly surprises:
The Fishes fee­ding.
Another haunts the shoar, to feed on foam:
Another round about the Rocks doth roam,
Nibbling on Weeds: another, hating thieuing,
Eats nought at all, of liquor only liuing;
For, the [...]alt humor of his Element
Serues him (alone) for perfect nourishment.
Som loue the clear streams of swift tumbling Torrents
Which through the rocks straining their struggling currents
Break Banks and Bridges; and doo neuer stop,
Till thirsty Sommer com to drink them vp:
Som almost alwayes pudder in the mud
Of sleepy Pools, and neuer brook the flood
Of Crystall streams, that in continuall motion
Bend toward the bosom of their Mother Ocean:
As the most part of the Words Peers, prefer
[...]oyls before Rest, and place their Peace in War:
[Page 119]And som again (of a far differing humour)
Holde Rest so deer, that but the only [...]umour
Of War far off, affrights them at the first;
And wanting Peace, they count their States accurst.
O watry Citizens, what Vmpeer bounded
Of the prouidēce of God in their diuers and nota­ble manner of liuing: affording many Lessons to Man-kinde.
Your liquid Liuings? O! what Monarch mounded
With walls your City? What severest Law
Keeps your huge Armies in so certain aw,
That you encroach not on the neighbouring Borders
Of your swim-brethren? as (against all Orders)
Men dayly practice, ioyning Land to Land,
House vnto House, Sea to Sea, Strand to Strand,
Mountain to Mountain, and (most-most insaci'ble)
World vnto World, if they could work it possible.
And you (wise Fishes) that for recreation,
Or for your seeds securer propagation,
Doo somtimes shift your ordinary Dwelling;
What learned Chaldè (skill'd in Fortune-telling)
What cunning Prophet your fit Time doth showe?
What Herralds Trumpet summons you to go?
What Guide conducteth, Day and Night, your Legions
Through path-l [...]s paths in vnacquainted Regions?
What Captain stout? what Loadston, Steel, and Star,
Measures your course in your Adventures far?
Surely, the same that made you first of Nought,
Who in your Nature som Idéas wrought
Of good and Euill; to the end that we,
Following the Good, might from the Euill flee.
Th' adulterous Sargus doth not onely change
Strange nature of the fish Sar­gus.
Wiues every day, in the deep streams; but (strange)
As if the honey of Sea-loues delights
Could not suffice his ranging appetites,
Courting the Shee-Goats on the grassie shoar,
Would horn their Husbands that had horns before▪
Contrary to the constant Cantharus,
Of Cantharus.
Who, ever faithfull to his deerest Spouse
In Nuptiall Duties spending all his life,
Loues never none but his own onely wife.
[Page 120]But, for her Loue, the Mullet hath no Peer;
Of the Mullet.
For, if the Fisher haue surpriz'd her Pheer,
As mad with wo to shoar she followeth,
Prest to consort him both in life and death:
As yerst those famous, louing Thracian Dames
Simile.
That leapt aliue into the funeral flames
Of their dead Husbands; who deceast and gon,
Those loyall Wiues hated to liue alone.
O! who can heer sufficiently admire
That Gaping Fish whose glistering eyes aspire
Still toward Heav'n? as if beneath the skies
The Vrano-S [...]o­p [...].
He found no Obiect worthy of his eyes.
As the Wood-pecker, his long tongue doth lill
Out of the clov'n-pipe of his horny bill,
To catch the Emmets; when, beguil'd with-all,
The busie swarms vpon it creep and crawl:
Th' Vrano-scope, so, hid in mud, doth put
Out of his gullet a long limber gut,
Most like vnto a little Worm (at sight)
Wher-at est-soons many small Fishes bite;
Which ther-with all this Angler swallows straight,
Alwayes self, armed with hook line, and bait▪
The suttle
The Ozena.
Smell-strong-Many-foot, that [...]ain
A dainty feast of Oister-flesh would gain,
Swims softly down, and to him slily slips,
Wedging with stone his yet wide-yawning lips,
Least else (before that he haue had his pray)
The Oyster, closing, clip his limbs away,
And (where he thought t'haue ioy'd his victories)
Himself becom vnto his prize a prize.
The Cramp-fish, knowing that shee harboureth
The Torpedo.
A plague-full humour, a fell banefull breath,
A secret Poppy, and a sense-less Winter,
Benumming all that dare too-neer h [...]r venter▪
Pours forth her poyson, and her chilling Ice
On the next Fishes; charm'd so in a t [...]ic [...],
That shee not onely stayes them in the Deep,
But stuns their sense, and [...]ul [...] them fast a sleep;
[Page 121]And then (at fill) she with their flesh is fed;
Whose frozen limbs (stil liuing) seem but dead.
'Tis this Torpedo, that when she hath took
Into her throat the sharp deceitfull hook,
Doth not as other Fish, that wrench and wriggle
When they be prickt, and plunge, and striue, and struggle;
And by their stir, thinking to scape the Angle,
Faster and faster on the hooke doo tangle:
But, wily, clasping close the Fishing Line,
Sodainly spews into the Silver Brine
Her secret-spreading, sodain-speeding bane;
Which, vp the Line, and all along the Cane,
Creeps to the hand of th' Angler; who with-all
Benumm'd and sens-less, sodainly lets fall
His hurtfull pole, and his more hatefull prize:
Simile.
Becomn like one that (as in bed he lies)
Seems in his sleep to see som gastly Ghost;
In a cold sweat, shaking, and swelt almost,
He cals his wife for ayd, his friends, his folks,
But his stuft stomack his weak clamour [...]hoaks:
Then would he strike at that he doth behold;
But sleep and fear his feeble hands doo hold:
Then would he run away; but, as he strives,
Hee feels his feet fetterd with heauy Gyues.
But, if the Scolopendra haue suckt-in
The Scolopendra▪
The sowr-sweet morsell with the barbed Pin,
She hath as rare a trick to rid her from-it:
For instantly, she all her guts doth vomit;
And, having clear'd them from the danger, then
She fair and softly sups them in again,
So that not one of them within her womb
Changeth his Office or his wonted room.
The thriuing Amia (neer Abydos breeding)
The Amia.
And suttle Sea-Fox (in Steeds-loue exceeding)
The Sea-Fox.
Without so vent ring their dear life and lyning,
Can from the Worm-clasp compass their vntwining:
For, sucking-in more of the twisted hair,
Aboue the hook they it in sunder shear;
[Page 122]So that their foe, who for a Fish did look
Lifts vp a bareline, robd of bait and hooke.
But timerous Barbels will not taste the bit,
The Barbel.
Till with their tails they haue vnhooked it:
And all the baits the Fisher can deuise
Cannot beguile their wary iealousies.
Euen so almost, the many spotted Cuttle
The Cuttle.
Wel-neer insnared, yet escapeth suttle;
For, when she sees her self within the Net,
And no way left but one, from thence to get,
She sodainly a certain Ink dothspew,
Which dies the Waters of a sable hew;
That, dazling so the Fishers greedy sight,
She through the Clouds of the black Waters night,
Might scape with honour the black streams of Styx,
Wherof already, almost lost, she licks.
And, as a Prisoner, (of som great transgression,
Conuict by Witness and his owne Confession)
Simile.
Kept in dark Durance full of noysom breath,
Expecting nothing but the Day of Death;
Spies euery corner, and pries round about
To finde som weake place where he may get out:
The delicate, cud-chewing Golden-Eye,
The Golden-eye or Guilt-head.
Kept in a Weyre, the widest space doth spy,
And thrusting-in his tail, makes th' Osiars gape
With his oft flapping, and doth so escape:
But, if his fellow finde him thus b [...]ed,
He lends his tail to the Imprisoned;
That thereby holding fast with gentle law,
Him from his Durance, he may friendly draw.
Or, (if before that he were captiuate)
He see him hooked on the biting bait,
Hasting to help, he leapeth at the line,
And with his teeth snaps-off the hairy twine.
You stony hearts, within whose stubborn Centre
Sundry in stru­ctions that Fishes giue to men.
Could neuer touch of sacred friendship enter,
Look on these Seas my Songs haue calmed thus▪
Heer's many a Damon, many a Th [...]se [...]s.
[Page 123]The gilden Sparlings, when cold Winters blast
The Sparlings.
Begins to threat, themselues together cast,
In heaps like balls, and heating mutually,
Liue; that alone, of the keen Cold would die.
Those small white Fish to Venus consecrated,
Though without Venus ayd they be created
Of th' Ocean scum; seeing themselues a pray
Expos'd in euery Water-Rouers way,
Swarming by thousands, with so many a fold
Combine themselues, that their ioint strength doth hold
Against the greediest of the Sea-thieues sallies;
Yea, and to stay the course of swiftest Gallies.
As a great Carrak, cumbred and opprest
Simile.
With her selfs-burthen, wends not East and West,
Star-bood and Lar-boord, with so quick Careers,
As a small Fregat, or swift Pinnass steers;
And as a large and mighty limbed Steed,
Another.
Either of Friseland, or of German breed,
Can neuer manage half so readily,
As Spanish Iennet, or light Barbarie:
So the huge VVhale hath not so nimble motion,
Of the the Whale and his friend Musculus.
As smaller Fishes that frequent the Ocean;
But somtimes rudely' gainst a Rock he brushes,
Or in som roaring Straight he blindly rushes,
And scarce could liue a Twelue-month to an end,
But for the little Musculus (his friend)
A little Fish that swimming still before,
Directs him safe from Rock, from shelf and shoar:
Much like a Childe that louing leads about
Simile.
His aged Father when his eyes be out;
Still wasting him through euery way so right,
That rest of eyes he seems not rest of sight.
Waues-Mother Thetis, though thine arms embrace
Strange League betweene the Pearl-Fish and the Prawne.
The World about, within thine ample space,
A firmer League of friendship is not seen
Then is the Pearl-fish and the Prawn betweene;
Both haue but one repast, both but one Palace,
But one delight, one death, one sorrow, and one solace:
[Page 124]That, lodgeth this; and this remunerates
His Land-lords kindnes with all needfull Cates.
For, while the Pearl-Fish gaping wide doth glister,
Much Fry (allur'd with the bright siluerlustre
Of her rich Casket) flocks into the Nacre;
Then with a prick the Prawn a sign doth mak-her
That instantly her shining shell she close
(Because the Prey worthy the pain he knowes):
Which gladly done, she ev'nly shareth-out
The Prey betwixt her, and her faithfull scout.
And so the Sponge-Spye, warily awakes
Also betweene the Sponge and his Spye. The Galley Fish The Sayle-Fish. Boat-Crab. Sea-Vrchin.
The Sponges dull sense, when repast it takes.
But O! what stile can worthily declare
(O! Galley-Fish, and thou Fish-Mariner,
Thou Boat-Crab, and Sea-Vrchin) your dexteritie
In Saylers Art, for safeness and celeritie?
If Iaffa Marchants, now Comburgers seem
With Portingalls, and Portingalls with them:
If Worlds of Wealth, born vnder other Sky,
Seem born in Ours: if without wings we fly
From North to South, and from the East to West,
Through hundred sundry way-less waies addrest:
If (to be brief) this World's rich compass round,
Seem as a Common, without hedge or mound,
Where (at his choice) each may him freely store
With rarest fruits; You may we thank therefore.
For, whether Typhis, or that Pride of Greece
That sayl'd to Colchos for the Golden-Fleece,
Or Belus Son, first builded floating bowr [...],
To mate the Windes, Storms, and the Waters Stowrs;
What e'r he were, he surely learn'd of you
The Art of Rowing and of Sayling too.
Heer would I cease, saue that this humorous song,
The Hermite-Fish compels me to prolong.
The sea▪ Hermit
A man of might that builds him a Defence
'Gainst Weathers rigour and Warr's insolence,
First dearly buies (for, What good is good-cheap?)
Both the rich Matter and rare Workmanship:
[Page 125]But, without buying Timber, Lime, and stone,
Or hiring men to build his Mansion,
Or borrowing House, or paying Rent therfore,
He lodgeth safe: for, finding on the shoar
Som handsom shell, whose Natiue Lord, of late
Was dispossessed by the Doom of Fate;
Therein he enters, and he takes possession
Of th' empty Harbour, by the free concession
Of Natures Law; who Goods that Owner want
Alwaies allots to the first Occupant.
In this new Cace, or in this Cradle (rather)
He spends his Youth: then, growing both together
In age and Wit, he gets a wider Cell
Wherin at Sea his later Daies to dwell.
But Clio, wherefore art thou teadious
In numbering Neptunes busie Burgers thus?
If in his Works thou wilt admire the worth
Of the Seas Soverain, bring but only forth
One little Fish, whose admirable Story
The strange and secret property of the Remora, or Stop-ship.
Sufficeth sole to shewe his might and glory.
Let all the Windes in one Winde gather them,
And (seconded with Neptunes strongest stream)
Let all at once, blowe all their stiffest gales
A-stern a Galley vnder all her sails;
Let her be holpen with a hundred Owers,
Each lively handled by fiue lusty Rowers:
The Remora, fixing her feeble horn
Into the tempest-beaten Vessels stern,
Stayes her stone-still: while all her stout Consorts
Sail thence at pleasure to their wished Ports.
Then loose they all the sheats, but to no boot:
For, the charm'd Vessell bougeth not a foot;
No more then if then if three fadom vnder ground,
A score of Anchors held her fastly bound:
No more then doth an Oak, that in the Wood
Hath thousand Tempests (thousand times) with stood,
Spreading as many massy roots belowe,
As mighty arms aboue the ground do growe.
[Page 126]O Stop-ship say, say how thou canst oppose
Thy self alone against so many foes?
O! tell vs where thou doo'st thine Anchors hide,
Whence thou resistest Sayls, Owers, Wind, and Tide▪
How on the so dain canst thou curb so short
A Ship whom all the Elements transport?
Whence is thine Engin and thy secret force
That frustrates Engins, and all force doth force?
I had (in Harbour) heav'd mine Anchor o're,
And ev'n already set one foot a-shoar;
Dolphin.
When lo, the Dolphin, beating ▪gainst the bank,
'Gan mine obliuion moodily mis-thank:
Peace Princely Swimmer, sacred Fish, content-thee;
For, for thy praise, th' end of this Song I meant-thee.
Braue Admirall of the broad briny Regions,
Triumphant Tamer of the scaly Legions,
Who liuing, ever liv'st (for neuer sleep,
Deaths liuely Image in thy eyes doth creep)
Louer of Ships, of Men, of Melody,
Thou vp and down through the moyst World doest ply
Swift as a shaft; whose Salt thou louest so,
That lacking that, thy life thou doest forgo:
Thou (gentle Fish) wert th' happy Boat, of yore
Which safely brought th' Amiclean Harp a-shoar.
Arion, match-less for his Musiks skill,
Among the Latines hauing gain'd his fill
The strange ad­uenture of Ariō saued by a Dol­phin.
Of gold and glory, and exceeding fain
To re-salute his learned Greece again;
Vnwares, imbarks him in a Pyrates ship:
Who loath to let so good a Booty slip.
Soon waighes his Anchors, packs on all his fail,
And Windes conspiring with a prosperous gale,
His winged Fregat made so speedy-sight;
Tarentum Towers were quickly out of fight;
And all, saue Skies, and Seas, on euery side;
Where, th' onely Compass is the Pylots guide.
The Saylours then (whom many times we finde
Falser then Seas, and fiercer then the Winde)
[Page 127]Fall straight to strip him, ryfling (at their pleasure)
In euery corner to finde out his treasure:
And, hauing found it, all with one accord
Hoist th' Owner vp, to heaue him ouer-boord.
Who weeping said, O Nereus noble issue,
Not, to restore my little gold, I wish you:
For, my chief Treasure in my Musick lyes
(And all Apollo's sacred Pupils, prize
The holy Virgins of Parnassus so,
That vnder-foot all worldly wealth they throwe.)
No (braue Triumphers ouer Winde and Waue,
Who in both Worlds your habitation haue,
Who both Heav'ns Hooks in your aduentures view)
'Tis not for That, with broken sighes I sue:
I but beseech you, offer no impieties
Vnto a person deer vnto the Deities.
So may Messenian Sirens, for your sake,
Be euer mute when you your voyage make,
And Tritons Trumpet th' angry Surges swage,
When (iustly) Neptune shall against you rage.
But if (alas!) cannot this obtain
(As my faint eye reads in your frowns too plain)
Suffer, at least, to my sad dying voice,
My dolefull fingers to consort their noise:
That so, the Sea-Nimphs (rapt in admiration
Of my diuine, sweet, sacred lamentation)
Dragging my corps to shoar, with weeping showrs
May deaw the same, and it entoomb in flowrs.
Then play (said they) and giue vs both together,
Treasure and pleasure by thy comming hither.
His sweetest strokes then sad Arion lent
Th' inchanting sinnews of his Instrument:
Wherewith he charm'd the raging Ocean so,
That crook tooth'd Lampreys and the Congers rowe
Friendly together, and their natiue hate
The Pike and Mullet (for the time) forgate,
And Lobstars floated fear-less all the while
Among the Polyps, prone to theft and guile.
But among all the Fishes that did throng
To daunce the Measures of his Mournfull song,
There was a Dolphin did the best accord
His nimble Motions to the trembling Chord:
Who gently sliding neer the Pinnass side,
Seem'd to inuite him on his back to ride.
By this time, twice the Saylours had essayd
To heaue him o're; yet twice himself he staied:
And now the third time stroue they him to cast;
Yet by the shrowds the third time held he fast:
But lastly, seeing Pyrats past remorse,
And him too-feeble to withstand their force,
The trembling Dolphins shoulders he bestrid;
Who on the Oceans azure surges slid,
So, that far-off (his charge so cheered him)
One would haue thought him rather fly, then swim:
Yet fears he euery shelf and euery Surge
(Not for himself, but for his tender charge)
And, sloaping swiftly ouerthwart those Seas
(Not for his owne but for his Riders ease)
Makes double haste to finde som happy strand,
Where his sweet Phoebus he may safely land.
Mean-while, Arion, with his Musick rare,
Paies his deer Pylot his delighfull fare.
And heauing eyes to Hea'vn (the Hav'n of Pity)
To his sweet Harp he tunes this sacred Ditty;
O thou Almightie! who Mankinde to wrack,
Of thousand Seas, didst whilom one Sea make,
And yet didst saue, from th' vniuersall Doom,
One sacred Houshold, that in time to com
(From Age to Age) should sing thy glorious praise;
Look down (O Lord) from thy supernall rayes;
Look, look, (alas!) vpon a wretched man,
Half Toomb'd already in the Ocean:
O! bee my Steers-man, and vouch safe to guide
The stern-les Boat, and bit-less Horse I ride;
So that, escaping Windes and Waters wrath,
I once again may tread my natiue path:
[Page 129]And hence-forth, heer with solemn vowes I sacre
Vnto thy glory (O my God and Maker)
For this great fauour's high Memoriall,
My heart, and Art, my voyce, hand, Harp, and all.
Here-with, the Seas their roaring rage refrain,
The Clowdy Welkin waxed cleer again,
And all the Windes did so dainly conuert
Their mouths to ears, to hear his wondrous Art.
The Dolphin then, discrying Land (at last)
Storms with himself, for hauing made such haste,
And wisht Laconia thousand Leagues from thence,
T' haue ioy'd the while his Musiks excellence.
But, 'fore his own delight, preferring far
Th' vnhoped safety of the Minstrell rare,
Sets him a shoar, and (which most strange may seem)
Where life he took, there life restoreth him.
But now (deer Muse) with Ionas lets vs hie
From the Whales belly; and from ieopardy
Of stormfull Seas, of wreakfull Rocks and Sand,
Com, com (my Darling) let vs haste to Land.
While busie, poaring downward in the Deep,
The second part of this book, trea­ting of Fowles.
I sing of Fishes (that there Quarter keep)
See how the Fowls are from my fancy fled,
And their high prayses quight out of my head:
Their flight out-flies me; and my Muse almost
The better half of this bright Day hath lost.
But, cheer ye, Birds: your shadows (as ye pass)
Seeming to flutter on the Waters face,
Make me remember, by their nimble turns,
Both what my duty, and your due concerns.
But first I pray ( for meed of all my toyl
In bringing you into this HAPPIE ILE)
Vouch safe to waken with your various Notes
The sense-less senses of those drowsie Sots,
Whose eye-lids laden with a waight of Lead
Shall fall a-sleep the while these Rymes are read.
But, if they could not close their wakefull eyes
Among the Water's silent Colonies;
[Page 130]How can they sleep among the Birds, whose sound
Through Heav'n and Earth and Ocean doth redound?
The Heav'nly Phoenix first began to frame
Of the admira­ble and Onely Phoenix.
The Earthly Phoenix, and adorn'd the same
With such a plume, that Pboebus, circuiting
Prom Fez to Cairo, sees no fairer thing:
Such form, such fethers, and such Fate he gaue-her,
That fruitfull Nature breedeth nothing braver:
Two sparkling eyes; vpon her crown, a crest
Of starry Sprigs (more splendent then the rest)
A golden doun about her dainty neck,
Her brest deep purple, and a scarlet back,
Her description.
Her wings and train of fethers (mixed fine)
Of orient azure and incarnadine.
He did appoint her Fate to be her Pheer,
And Deaths cold kisses to restore her heer
Her life again, which neuer shall expire
Her life.
Vntill (as shee) the World consume in fire.
For, hauing passed vnder diuers Climes,
A thousand Winters, and a thousand Primes;
Worn-out with yeers, wishing her end-less end,
To shining flames she doth her life commend:
Dies to reviue, and goes into her Graue
To rise again more beautifull and braue.
Perched therfore, vpon a branch of Palm,
With Incense, Cassia, Spiknard, Myrrh, and Balm,
By break of Day shee builds (in narrow room)
Her Vrn, her nest her Cradle, and her Toomb:
Where, while she sits all gladly-sad expecting
Som flame (against her fragrant heap reflecting)
To burn her sacred bones to seed-full cinders
(Wherein, her age but not her life, she renders)
Her death.
The Phrygian Skinker, with his lauish Ewer,
Drowns not the Fields with shower after showr;
The shivering Coach-man with his Icy Snowe
Dares not the Forrests of Phoenicia strowe:
Auster presumes not Libyan shoars to pass
With his moist wings: and gray-beard Boreas
[Page 131](As the most boistrous and rebellious slaue)
Is prisoned close in th' Hyper-Borean Caue:
For, Nature now propitious to her End,
To her living Death a helping hand doth lend:
And stopping all those Mouths, doth mildely sted
Her funeralls, her fruitfull birth, and bed:
And Sol himself, glauncing his golden eyes
On th' odoriferous Couch wherein she lies,
Kindles the spice, and by degrees consumes
Th' immortall Phoenix, both her flesh and plumes.
But instantly, out of her ashes springs
A Worm, an Egg then, then a bird with wings,
Her re-genera­tion.
Iust like the first (rather the same indeed)
Which (re-ingendred of it'sselfly seed)
By noblely dying a new Date begins,
And where she loseth, there her life she wins:
End-less by'r End, eternall by her Toomb;
While, by a prosperous Death, she doth becom
(Among the cinders of her sacred Fire)
Her own selfs Heir, Nurse, Nurseling, Dam, and Sire:
Teaching vs all, in Adam heer to dy,
The best appli­cation.
That we in Christ may liue eternally.
The Phoenix, cutting th' vnfrequented Air,
Birds that follow the Phoenix and their natures.
Forth-with is followed by a thousand pair
Of wings, in th' instant by th' Almighty wrought,
With divers Size, Colour, and Motion fraught.
The sent-strong Swallow sweepeth to and fro,
The Swallow.
As swift as shafts fly from a Turkish Bowe,
When (vse and Art and strength confedered)
The skilfull Archer draws them to the head:
Flying she sings, and singing seeketh where
She more with cunning, then with cost, may rear
Her round-front Palace in a place secure,
Whose Plot may serue in rarest Arch'tecture:
Her little beak she loads with brittle straws,
Her wings with Water, and with Earth her claws,
Whereof she Morter makes, and there-with-all
Aptly she builds her semi-circle Wall.
The pretty Lark, climbing the Welkin cleer,
The Lark.
Chaunts with a cheer, Heer, peer-I neer my Deer;
Then stooping thence (seeming her fall to rew)
Adieu (she sayth) adieu, deer Deer, adieu.
The Spink, the Linot, and the Gold-Finch fill
The Linot. The Finch.
All the fresh Aire with their sweet warbles shrill.
But all This's nothing to the Nightingale,
The Nightin­gale.
Breathing, so sweetly from a brest so small,
So many Tunes, whose Harmony excells
Our Voice, our Violls, and all Musick els.
Good Lord! how oft in a green Oken Grove,
In the cool shadow haue I stood, and strove
To marry mine immortall Layes to theirs,
Rapt with delight of their delicious A [...]ers?
And (yet) methinks, in a thick thorn I hear
A Nightingale to warble sweetly-cleer:
One while she bears the Base, anon the Tenor,
Anon the Trebble, then the Counter-Tenor:
Then, all at once; (as it were) chalenging
The rarest voyces with her self to sing:
Thence thirty steps, amid the leafie Sprayes,
Another Nightingale repeats her Layes,
Iust Note for Note, and adds som Strain atlast,
That she had conned all the Winter past:
The first replyes, and descants there-vpon;
With divine warbles of Division,
Redoubling Quavers; And so (turn by turn).
Alternatly they sing away the Morn:
So that the Conquest in this curious strife
[...]oth often cost the one her voice and life:
Then, the glad Victor all the rest admire,
And after count her Mistress of the Quire,
At break of Day, in a Delicious song
She sets the Gam-vt to a hundred young:
And, when as, fit for higher Tunes she sees-them,
Then learnedly she harder Lessons gives-them;
Which, strain by strain, they studiously recite,
And follow all their Mistress Rules aright.
The Colchian Pheasant, and the Partridge rare,
Diuers other de­licate, and gen­tle Birds.
The lustfull Sparrow, and the fruitfull Stare,
The chattering Pye, the chastest Turtle-Doue,
The grizel Quoist, the Thrush (that Grapes doth love)
The little Gnat-snap (worthy Princes Boords)
And the green Parrat, fainer of our words,
Wait on the Phoenix, and admire her tunes,
And gaze themselues in her blew-golden plumes.
The ravening Kite, whose train doth well supply
A Rudders place; the Falcon mounting high,
Rauenous Birds.
The Marlin, Lanar, and the gentle- Tercell,
Th' Ospray, and Saker, with a nimble sarcell
Follow the Phoenix, from the Clouds (almost)
At once discovering many an vnknow'n Coast.
In the swift Rank of these fell Rovers, flies
The Indian Griffin with the glistring eyes,
Beak Eagle-like, back sable, sanguin brest,
White (Swan-like) wings, fiercetalons, alwaies prest
For bloody battails; for, with these he tears
Boars, Lions, Horses, Tigres, Bulls, and Bears:
With th [...]se, our Grandams fruitfull panch he pulls,
Whence many an Ingot of pure Gold he culls,
To floor his proud nest, builded strong and steep
On a high Rock, better his thefts to keep:
With these, he guards against an Army bold
The hollow Mines where first he findeth Gold;
As wroth, that men vpon his right should rove,
Or theevish hands vsurp his Tresor-troue.
O! ever may'st thou fight so (valiant Foul)
For this dire bane of our seduced soule;
Detestation of Auarice, for her execrable & dāgerous effects
And (with thee) may the Dardan Ants, so ward
The Gold committed to their carefull Guard,
That hence-forth hope-less, mans frail mind may rest-her
From seeking that, which doth it's Masters master:
O odious poyson! for the which we dive
To Pluto's dark Den: for the which we rive
Our Mothe [...] Earth; and, not contented with
Th' abundant gifts she outward offereth,
[Page 134]With sacrilegious Tools we rudely rend-her,
And ransak deeply in her bosom tender,
While vnder ground wee live in hourly fear
When the frail Mines shall over-whelm vs there:
For which, beyond rich Taproban, we roule
Through thousand Seas to seek another Pole;
And, maugre Windes and Waters enmity,
We every Day new vnknow'n Worlds descry:
For which (alas!) the brother sels his brother,
The Sire his Son, the Son his Sire and Mother,
The Man his Wife, the Wife her wedded Pheer,
The Friend his Friend: O! what not sell wee heer,
Sithence to satiat our Gold-thirsty gall,
We sell our selues, our very soules and all?
Neer these, the Crowe his greedy wings displayes,
Night-Fowles and solitary Birds.
The long-liv'd Rauen, th' infamous Bird that layes
His bastard Egges within the nests of other,
To have them hatcht by an vnkindely Mother:
The Skritch-Owl, vs'd in falling Towrs to lodge,
Th' vnlucky Night-Raven, and thou lasie Madge
That fearing light, still seekest where to hide,
The hate and scorn of all the Birds beside.
But (gentle Muse) tell me what Fowls are those
That but even-now from flaggy Fenns arose?
Water fowles.
'Tis th' hungry Hearn, the greedy Cormorant,
The Coot and Curlew, which the Moors doo haunt,
The nimble Teal, the Mallard strong in flight,
The Di-dapper, the Plover and the Snight:
The silver Swan, that dying singeth best,
And the Kings-Fisher, which so builds her nest
By the Sea-side in midst of Winter Season,
That man (in whom shines the bright Lamp of Reason)
Cannot devise, with all the withe ha's,
Her little building how to raise or raze:
So long as there her quiet Couch she keeps,
Sicilian Sea exceeding calmly sleeps;
For, Aeolus, fearing to drown her brood,
Keeps home the while, and troubles not the Flood.
[Page 135]The Pirat (dwelling alwayes in his Bark)
In's Calender her building Dayes doth mark:
And the rich Marchant resolutely venters,
So soon as th' Halcyon in her brood-bed enters.
Mean-while, the Langa, skimming (as it were)
The Oceans surface, seeketh every where
The hugy Whale; where slipping-in (by Art)
In his vast mouth, shee feeds vpon his hart.
NEVV-SPAIN's Cucuio, in his forhead brings
Strange admi­rable Birds.
Two burning Lamps, two vnderneath his wings:
Whose shining Rayes serue oft in darkest night,
Th' Imbroderer's hand in royall Works to light:
Th' ingenious Turner, with a wakefull eye,
To polish fair his purest Ivory:
Th' Vsurer, to count his glistring treasures:
The learned Scribe to limn his golden measures.
But note we now, towards the rich Moluques,
Those passing strange and wondrous (birds)
With vs cald Birds of Para­dise.
Mamuques
(Wond'rous indeed, if Sea, or Earth, or▪ Sky,
Saw ever wonder, swim, or goe, or fly)
None knowes their nest, none knowes the dam that breeds them:
Food-less they liue; for, th' Airealonely feeds them:
Wing-less they fly; and yet their flight extends,
Till with their flight, their vnknow'n lives-date ends.
The Stork, still eying her deer Thessalie,
Charitable Birds
The Pelican consorteth cheerfully:
Prayse-worthy Payer; which pure examples yield
Of faithfull Father, and officious Childe.
Th' one quites (in time) her Parents love exceeding,
From whom she had her birth and tender breeding;
Not onely brooding vnder her warm brest
Their age-chill'd bodies bed-rid in the nest;
Nor only bearing them vpon her back
Through th' empty Aire, when their own wings they lack;
But also, sparing (This let Children note)
Her daintiest food from her own hungry throat,
To feed at home her feeble Parents, held
From forraging, with heavy Gyves of Eld.
The other, kindly, for her tender Brood
Tears her own bowells, trilleth-out her blood
To heal her young, and in a wondroussort
Vnto her Children doth her life transport:
For, finding them by som fell Serpent slain,
She rents her brest, and doth vpon them rain
Her vitall humour; whence recouering heat,
They by her death, another life do get:
A Type of Christ, who, sin-thrall'd man to free,
Became a Captive; and on shamefull Tree
(Self-guiltless) shed his blood, by's wounds to save-vs,
And salue the wounds th' old Serpent firstly gave-vs:
And so became, of meer immortall, mortall;
Therby to make, frail mortall Man, immortall.
Thus doo'st thou print (O Parent of this All)
Lessons for man­kinde▪ out of the Consideration of the natures of diuers creatures.
In every brest of brutest Animall
A kinde Instinct, which makes them dread no less
Their Childrens danger, then their own decease;
That so, each Kinde may last immortally,
Though th' Indiuiduum pass successively.
So fights a Lion, not for glory (then)
But for his Deer Whelps taken from his Den
By Hunters fell: He fiercely roareth out,
He wounds, he kills; amid the thickest rout,
He rushes-in dread-less of Spears, and Darts,
Swords, shafts, & staves though hurt in thousand parts;
And, brave-resolved, till his last breath lack
Never gives-over, nor an inch gives-back:
Wrath salves his wounds: and lastly (to conclude)
When, over-layd with might and Multitude,
He needs must dy; dying, he more bemoanes,
Then his own death his Captiue little-Ones.
So, for their young our Masty Currs will fight,
Eagerly bark, bristle their backs, and bite.
So, in the Deep, the Dog-Fish for her Fry
Lucma's throes a thousand times doth try:
For, seeing when the suttle Fisher follows-them,
Again alive into her womb shee swallows-them;
[Page 137]And when the perill's past, she brings them thence,
As from the Cabins of asafe defence;
And (thousandlyues to their deer Parent owing)
As sound as ever in the Seas are rowing.
So doth a Hen make of her wings a Targe
To shield her Chickens that she hath in charge:
And so, the Sparrow with her angry bill
Defends her brood from such as would them ill.
I hear the Crane (if I mistake not) cry;
The Crane, Y
Who in the Clouds forming the forked Y,
By the brave orders practiz'd vnder her,
Instructeth Souldiers in the art of War.
For, when her Troops of wandring Cranes for sake
Frost-firmed Strymon, and (in Autumn) take
Truce with the Northern Dwarfs, to seek adventure
In Southren Climats for a milder Winter;
Afront each Band a forward Captain flies,
Whose pointed Bill cuts passage through the skies;
Two skilfull Sergeants keep the Ranks aright,
And with theirvoice hasten their tardy Flight;
And when the honey of care-charming sleep
Sweetly begins through all their veins to creep,
One keeps the Watch, and ever carefull-most,
Walks many a Round about the sleeping Hoast,
Still holding in his claw a stony clod,
Whose fall may wake him if he hap to nod:
Another doth as much, athird, afourth,
Vntill, by turns, the Night be turned forth.
There, the fa [...]r Peacock beautifully brave,
The Peacock.
Proud, portly-strouting, stalking, stately-grave,
Wheeling his starry Tr [...]yn, in pomp displayes
His glorious eyes to P [...]bus goldenrayes▪
Close by his side stands the courageous Cock▪
The Cock.
Crest-peoples King, the Peasants trusty Clock,
True Morning Watch, Aurora's Trumpeter,
The Lyons terror, true Astronomer,
Who dayly riseth when the Sun doth rise,
And when Sol setteth, then to roost he hies.
There, I perceive amid the flowry Plain
The Estridge.
The mighty Estridge, striving oftin vain
To mount among the flying multitude
(Although with fethers, not with flight indu'd):
Whose greedy stomack steely gads digests;
Whose crisped train adorns tryumphant crests.
Thou happy Witnes of my happy Watches,
Blush not (my Book) nor think it thee dismatches,
Of Insects in the Creation wherof the wisedom of their Makershi­neth admirably.
To bear about, vpon thy paper-Tables,
Flies, Butterflies, Gnats, Bees, and all the rabbles
Of other Insects (end-less to rehearse)
Limn'd with the pencill of my various Verse;
Sith These are also His wise Workmanships,
Whose fame did never obscure Work eclipse:
And sith in These he showes vs every howr
More wondrous proofs of his Almighty powr
Then in huge Whales, or hideous Elephants,
Or whatsoever other Monster haunts
In storm-less Seas, raising a storm about,
While in the Sea another Sea they spout.
For, if olde Times admire Callicrates
For Ivory Emmets; and Mermécides
For framing of a rigged Ship, so small
That with her wings a Bee can hide it all
(Though th' Artfull fruits of all their curious pain,
Fit for novse, were but inuentions vain)
Admire we then th' All-wise Omnipotence,
Which doth within so narrow space dispence
Of Flyes.
So stiff a sting, so stout and valiant hart,
So loud a voyce, so prudent wit and Art.
For, where's the State beneath the Firmament,
That doth excell the Bees for Government?
Of B [...].
No, no: bright Phoebus, whose eternall Race
Once every Day about the World doth pase,
Sees heer no City, that in Rites and Laws,
(For Equity) neer to their Iustice draws:
Not
Venice.
That, which flying from the furious Hun,
In th' Adri [...]n▪ Sea another World begun.
[Page 139]Their well-rul'd State my soule so much admires,
That, durst I loose the Rains of my desires,
I gladly could digress from my designe,
To sing a while their sacred Discipline:
But if, of all, whose skilfull Pencils dare
To counterfait th' Almightie's Models rare,
None yet durst finish that fair Peece, wherein
Learned Apelles drew L [...]ues wanton Queen;
Shall I presume Hymetus Mount to climbe,
And sing the Bees prayse in mine humble rime?
Which Latian Bards inimitable Prince
Hath warbled twice about the banks of Mince?
Yet may I not that little * Worm pass-by,
The Silk-worm.
Of Flyturn'd Worm, and of a Worm a Fly:
Two births, two deaths, heer Nature hath assign'd-her,
Leaving a Post-hume (dead-live) seed behinde-her,
Which soon transforms the fresh and tender leaves
Of Th [...]sbes pale Tree, to those slender sleaves
(On ovall clews) of soft, smooth, Silken flakes,
Which more for vs, then for her self, shee makes.
O precious fleece [...] which onely did adorn
The sacred loyns of Princes heertoforn:
But our proud Age, with prodigall abuse,
Hath so profan'd th' old honorable vse,
That Shifters now, who scarce haue bread to eat,
Disdain plain Silk, vnless it be beset
With one of those deer Metals, whose desire
Burns greedy soules with an immortall fire.
Though last, not least; brave Aegle, no contempt
Made me so long thy story hence exempt
( Nor LESS-E Xtold shall thy true vertues be,
For th' Eyrie's sake that owes my Muse and mee;
Wh [...]ar Iov's and Iuno's stately Birds be billing▪
Their azure Field with fairest Eaglets filling
(Azure they hear three Eaglets Argentine,
A Cheuron Ermin grailed Or between)
WI [...]t, CHief [...]ie, RICHess, to THem all I Wish
In Earth; in Heav'n th' immortall Crown of Bliss.)
[Page 140]For, well I knowe, thou holdest (worthily)
That place among the Aëry flocks that fly,
As doth the Dragon or the Cocatrice
Among the bancfull Creeping companies:
The noble Lion among savage Beasts:
And gentle Dolphin 'mong the Dyving guests.
I knowe thy course; I knowe, thy constant sight
Can fixly gaze against Heav'ns greatest Light.
But, as the Phoenix on my Front doth glister,
Thou shalt the Finials of my Frame illustre.
On Thracian shoar of the same stormy stream,
A strange and notable story of the loue and death of an Eagle.
Which did inherit both the bones and name
Of Phryxus Sister (and not far from thence
Whear love-blind Heros hap-less diligence,
In steed of Loves lamp, lighted Deaths cold brand,
To waft Leanders naked limbs to land)
There dwelt a Maid, as noble, and as rich,
As fair as Hero, but more chaste by much:
For, her steel brest still blunted all the Darts
Of Paphos Archer, and eschew'd his Arts.
One day, this Damsell through a Forest thick
Hunting among her Friends (that sport did seek)
Vpon a steep Rocks thorny-thrummed top
(Whear, one (almost) would fear to clamber vp)
Two tender Aeglets in a nest espies,
Which 'gainst the Sun s [...]te trying of their eyes;
Whose callow backs and bodies round about
With soft short quils began to bristle out;
Who yawning wide, with empty gorge did gape
For wonted fees out of their Parents rape.
Of these two Fowls the fairest vp she takes
Into her bosom, and great haste she makes
Down from the Rock, and shiuering yet for fear
Tripps home as fast as her light feet can bear:
Even as a Wolf, that hunting for a pray,
And having stoln (at last) som Lamb away;
Flies with down-hanging head, and leereth back
Whether the Mas [...]y doo pursue his track.
In time, this Aegle was so throughly mann'd,
That from the Quarry, to her Mistress hand
At the first call't would com; and faun vpon-her,
And bill and bow, in signe of love and honour:
On th' other side, the Maiden makes as much
Of her deer Bird; stroking with gentletouch
Her wings and train, and with a want on voice
It want only doth cherish and reioyce:
And (prety-fondling) she doth prize it higher
Then her own beauties; which all else admire.
But (as fell Fates mingle our single ioyes,
With bitter gall of infinit annoyes)
An extream Fever vext the Virgins bones
(By one disease to cause two deaths at once)
Consum'd her flesh, and wanly did displace
The Rose-mixt-Lillies in her lovely face.
Then far'd the Foul and Fairest both a-like;
Both like tormented, both like shivering sick:
So that, to note their passions, one would gather
That Lachesis spun both their lives together.
But oft the Aeagle, striving with her Fitt,
Would fly abroad to seek som dainty bitt,
For her deer Mistress▪ and with nimble wing,
Som Rail, or Quail, or Partridge would she bring;
Paying with food, the food receiv'd so oft,
From those fair, Ivory, Virgin-fingers soft,
During her nonage, yer she durst essay
To cleave the sky, and for herself to prey.
The Fever now with spitefull fitts had spent
The blood and marrow of this Innocent,
And Life resign'd to cruell Death her Right;
Who three dayes after doth the Eagle cite.
The fearfull Hare durst now frequent the Down;
And round about the Walles of Hero's Town,
The Tercel-gentle, and swift Falcon flew,
Dread-less of th' Aegle that so well they knew:
For shee (alas) lies on her Ladies bed,
Still-sadly mourning; though a-live, yet dead:
[Page 142]For, O! how should she live, sith Fatall knife
Hath cut the threed of her lives deerest life?
O're the deer Corps somtimes her wings she hovers,
Somtimes the dead brest with her brest she covers,
Somtimes her neck doth the pale neck embrace,
Somtimes she kisses the cold lips and face;
And with sad murmurs she lamenteth so,
That her strange moan augments the Parents wo.
Thrice had bright Phoebus daily Chariot run
Past the proud Pillars of Aicmaenas son,
Since the fair Virgin past the fatall Ferry
Whear (lastly) Mortals leaue their burthens weary;
And yet this doleful Bird, drown'd in her tears,
All comfort-les, Rest and Repast forbears:
So much (alas!) shee seemeth to contend,
Her life and sorrows both at once to end.
But lastly, finding all these means too-weak,
The quick dispatch, that she did wish, to wreak;
With ire and anguish both at once enraged,
Vnnaturally her proper brest she gaged,
And tears her bowells, storming bitterly
That all these deaths could yet not make her dy.
But, lo the while, about the lightsom door
Of th' hap-les house, a mournfull troop, that bore
Black on their back, and Tapers in their fists,
Tears on their cheeks, and sorrow in their brests;
Who, taking vp the sacred Load (at last)
Whose happy soule already Heav'n embra'çt;
With shrill, sad cries, march toward the fatall Pile
With solemn pase: The silly Bird, the while,
Following far-off, her bloody entrails trails,
Honoring with conuoy, two sad Funerals.
No sooner had the Ceremonious Flame
Embraç't the Body of her tender Dame,
But sodainly, distilling all with blood,
Down soust the Eagle on the blazing wood:
Nor boots the Flamine, with his sacred wand
A hundred times to beat her from her stand;
[Page 143]For, to the midst still of the Pyle she plies;
And, singing sweet her Ladies Obsequies,
There burns herself: and blendeth happily
Her bones with hers she lov'd so tenderly.
O happy Payr! vpon your sable Toomb,
May Mel and Manna euer showring come;
May sweetest Myrtles ever shade your Herse,
And evermore live you within my Verse.
So Morn and Euening the Fift! Day conclude,
And God perceiv'd that All his Works were good.

THE SIXT DAIE OF THE FIRST WEEK.

THE ARGVMENT.
Inuiting all, which through this world, aspire
Vnto the next, Gods glorious Works t'admire;
Heer, on the Stage, our noble Poet brings
Beasts of the Earth, Cattell, and Creeping things:
Their hurt and help to vs: The strange euents
Between Androdus, and the Forrest Prince.
The little-World (Commander of the greater)
Why formed last: his admirable Feature:
His Heav'n-born Soule; her wondrous operation:
His deerest Rib. All Creatures generation.
YOu Pilgrims, which (through this worlds City) wend
Toward th' happy City, whear withouten end
An exhortatiōto al which through the Pilgrimage of this life, tend toward the euer­lasting City, to consider well the excellent workes of God, heer re­presented by our Poet.
True ioyes abound; to anchor in the Port
Whear Deaths pale horrors never do resort:
If you would see the fair Amphitheatres,
Th' Arks, Arcenalls, Towrs, Temples, and Theatres,
Colosses, Cirques, Pyles, Ports, and Palaces
Proudly dispersed in your Passages;
Com, com with me: For, ther's not any part
In this great Frame, where shineth any Art,
But I will show't you. Are you weary since?
What! tyr'd so soon? Why, will you not (my friends)
Having already ventur'd forth so far
On Neptnn's back (through Windes and Waters war)
[Page 145]Rowe yet a stroak, the Harbour to recover,
Whose shoars already my glad eyes discover?
Almighty Father, guide their Guide along,
Inuocation.
And pour vpon my faint vnfluent tongue
The sweetest hony of th' Hyantian Fount,
Which freshly purleth from the Muses Mount.
With the sweet charm of my Victorious Verse,
Tame furious Lions, Bears, and Tigers fierce;
Make all the wilde Beasts, laying fury by,
To com with Homage to my Harmony.
OF ALL THE Beasts which thou This-Day didst build,
The Elephant.
To haunt the Hills, the Forest, and the Field,
I see (as vice-Roy of their brutish Band)
The Elephant, the Vant-gard doth command:
Worthy that Office; whether we regard
His Towred back, whear many Souldiers ward;
Or else his Prudence, whearwithall he seems
T'obscure the wits of human-kind somtimes:
As studious Scholer, heeself-rumineth
His lessons giv'n, his King he honoreth,
Adores the Moon: mooved with strange desire,
He feels the sweet flames of th' Idalian fire,
And (pierçtwith glance of a kinde-cruell ey)
For humane beauty, seems to sigh and dy.
Yea (if the Graecians doo not miss-recite)
His combat with the Rhinocerot.
With's crooked trumpet he doth somtimes write.
But, his huge strength, nor subtle wit, can not
Defend him from the sly Rhinocerot:
Who never, with blinde fury led, doth venter
Vpon his Fo, but (yer the Lists he enter)
Against a Rock he whetteth round about
The dangerous pike vpon his armed snout:
Then buckling close, doth not (at randon) hack
On the hard Cuirass on his Enemies back;
But vnder's belly (cunning) findes a skin,
Whear (and but thear) his sharpned blade will in.
The scaly Dragon, being else too lowe
For th' Elephant, vp a thick Tree doth goe;
[...] [...]
[Page 146]So, closely ambusht almost every Day,
To watch the Carry-Castle, in his way:
Who, once approaching, straight his stand he leaues,
And round about him he so closely cleaues
With's wrything body; that his Enemy
His combat with the Dragon.
(His stinging knots vnable to vn-ty)
Hastes to som Tree, or to som Rock, whearon
To rush and rub-off his detested zone,
The fell embraces of whose dismall clasp
Haue almost brought him to his latest gasp.
Then, sodainly, the Dragon slips his hold
From th' Elephant, and sliding down, doth fold
About his fore-legs, fetter'd in such order,
The true Image of Ciuill warre.
That stocked thear, he now can stir no furder:
While th' Elephant (but to no purpose) strives
With's winding Trunk t'vndoo his wounding gyves,
His furious fo thrusts, in his nose, his nose;
Then head and all; and thear-withall doth close
His breathing passage: but, his victory
Hee ioyes not long; for his huge Enimy,
Falling down dead, doth with his waighty Fall
Crush him to death, that caus'd his death, withall:
Like factious French-men, whose fell hands pursue
Simile.
In their own brests their furious blades t'imbrew,
While pitty-les, hurried with blinded zeal,
In her own bloud they bathe their Common-weal;
When as at Dreux, S t. Denis, and Mountcounter,
Their parricidiall bloody swords incounter;
Making their Country (as a Tragik Tomb)
T'interr th' Earths terror in her hap-les womb.
Or, like our own (late) YORK and LANCASTER,
Simile.
Ambitious broachers of that Uiper-War,
Which did the womb of their own Dam deuour,
And spoyl'd the freshest of fair ENGLAND'S Flowr;
When (WHITE and RED) ROSE against ROSE, they stood,
Brother'gainst Brother, to the knees in blood:
While WAKE-FIELD, BARNET and S t. ALBON'S streets
Were drunk with deer blood of PLANTAGENETS:
[Page 147] Whear, either Conquer'd, and yet neither Won;
Sith, by them both, was but their Owne vndon.
Neer th' Elephant, coms th' horned
Alias Gyraffa
  • alias Anabula:
  • an Indian Sheep
  • or a wilde Sheep.
  • The Hirable.
  • Camell.
  • Bull.
  • Asse.
  • Horse.
Hirable,
Stream-troubling Camell, and strong-necked Bull,
The lazy-pased (yet laborious) Asse,
The quick, proud Courser, which the rest doth passe
For apt address; Mars and his Master loving,
After his hand with ready lightnes moving:
This, out of hand, will self aduance, and bound,
Corvet, pase, manage, turn, and trot the Round:
That, follows loose behind the Groom that keeps-him;
This, kneeleth down the while-his Master leaps-him:
This, runns on Corn-Ears and ne'r bends their quills;
That, on the Water, and ne'r wets his heels.
In a fresh Troup, the fearful Hare I note,
  • The Hare.
  • The Connie.
  • Goat.
  • Sheep.
  • Swine.
  • Deere.
Th' oblivious Conney, and the brouzing Goat,
The sloathfull Swine, the golden-fleeced Sheep,
The light-foot Hart, which every yeer doth weep
(As a sad Recluse) for his branched head,
That in the Spring-time hee before hath shed.
O! what a sport, to see a Heard of them
Take soyl in Sommer in som spacious stream!
One swims before, another on his chine,
Nigh half-vpright, doth with his brest incline;
On that, another; and so all doo ride
Each after other: and still, when their guide
Growes to be weary, and can lead no more,
He that was hindmost coms and swims before:
Like as in Cities, still one Magistrate
Bears not the Burthen of the common State;
But having past his Yeer, he doth discharge
On others shoulders his sweet-bitter Charge.
But, of all Beasts, none steadeth man so much
As doth the Dog; his diligence is such:
A faithfull Guard, a watchfull Sentinell,
A painfull Purvayor, that with perfect smell
[Page 148]Provides great Princes many a dainty mess,
A friend till death, a helper in distress,
Dread of the Wolf, Fear of the fearfull Thief,
Fierce Combatant, and of all Hunters chief.
There skips the Squirrell, seeming Weather-wise,
Squirrel.
Without beholding of Heav'ns twinkling eyes:
For, knowing well which way the winde will change,
Hee shifts the portall of his little Grange.
Ther's th' wanton Weazell, and the wily Fox,
Weazell. Foxe. Monkey. Ciuit Cat.
The witty Monkey, that mans action mocks:
The sweat-sweet Ciuet, deerly fetcht from far
For Courtiers nice, past Indian Tarnassar.
There, the wise Beuer, who, pursu'd by foes,
Beuer, or Bezar.
Tears-off his codlings and among them throwes;
Knowing that Hunters on the Pontik Heath
Doo more desire that ransom, then his death.
There, the rough Hedge-hog; who, to shun his thrall,
Hedgehog.
Shrinks vp himself as round as any Ball;
And fastning his slowe feet vnder his chin,
On's thistly bristles rowles him quickly in.
But th' Ey of Heav'n beholdeth nought more strange
Then the Chameleon, who with various change
Chameleon.
Receiues the colour that each obiect giues,
And (food-les else) of th' Aire alonely liues.
My blood congeals, my sodain swelling brest
Can hardly breathe, with chill cold cakes opprest;
My hair doth stare, my bones for fear do quake,
My colour changes, my sad heart doth shake:
And, round about, Deaths Image (ghastly-grim)
Before mine eys all-ready seems to swim.
O! who is he that would not be astound,
To be (as I am) heer environ'd round
With cruell'st Creatures, which for Mastery,
Creatures veno­mous, and offen­siue to man.
Haue vow'd against vs end-less Enmity?
Phoebus would faint, Alcides self would dread,
Although the first drad Python conquered,
And th' other vanquisht th' Erymanthian Boar,
The Némean Lion and a many more.
[Page 149]What strength of arm, or Art-full stratagem,
From Nile's fell Rover could deliver them,
The Crocodile.
Who runs, and rowes, warring by Land and Water
'Gainst Men and Fishes, subiect to his slaughter?
Or from the furious Dragon, which alone
Dragon.
Set on a Roman Army; whearupon
Stout Regulus as many Engines spent,
As to the ground would Carthage walls haue rent?
What shot-free Corslet, or what counsail crafty,
'Gainst th' angry Aspick could assure them safety,
Aspick.
Who (faithful husband) over hill and Plain
Pursues the man that his deer Pheer hath slain;
Whom he can finde amid the thickest throng,
And in an instant venge him of his wrong?
What shield of Aiax could avoid their death
By th' Basilisk, whose pestilentiall breath
Basilisk.
Doth pearce firm Marble, and whose banefull ey
Wounds with a glance, so that the soundest dy?
Lord! if so be, thou for mankinde didst rear
Why God crea­ted such noysom and dangerous creatures: Sin the occasion of the hurt they can do vs.
This rich round Mansion (glorious every whear)
Alas! why didst thou on This Day create
These harmfull Beasts, which but exasperate
Our thorny life? O! wert thou pleas'd to form
Th' innammel'd Scorpion, and the Uiper-worm,
Th' horned Cerastes, th' Alexandrian Skink,
Th' Adder, and Drynas (full of odious stink)
Th' Eft, Snake, and Dipsas (causing deadly Thirst):
Why hast thou arm'd them with a rage so curst?
Pardon, good God, pardon mee; 't was our pride,
Not thou, that troubled our first happy tyde,
And in the Childehood of the World, did bring
Th' Amphisbena her double banefull sting.
Before that Adam did revolt from Thee,
And (curious) tasted of the sacred Tree,
He lived King of Eden, and his brow
Was never blankt with pallid fear, as now:
The fiercest Beasts, would at his word, or beck,
Bow to his yoak their self-obedient neck;
[Page 150]As now the ready Horse is at command
Simile.
To the good Rider's spur, or word, or wand;
And doth not wildely his own will perform,
But his that rules him with a steddy arm.
Yea, as forgetfull of so foul offence,
God hath giuen v [...] wisedome to auoid and van­quish them.
Thou left'st him (yet) sufficient wisdom, whence
He might subdue, and to his seruice stoop
The stubborn'st heads of all the savage troop.
Of all the Creatures through the Welkin gliding,
Walking on Earth, or in the Waters sliding,
Th' hast armed som with Poyson, som with Paws,
Som with sharp Antlers, som with griping Claws,
Som with keen Tushes, som with crooked Beaks,
Som with thick Cuirets, som with skaly necks;
But mad'st Man naked, and for Weapons fit
Thou gav'st him nothing but a pregnant Wit;
Which rusts and duls, except it subiect finde
Worthy it's worth, wheron it self to grinde;
And (as it were) with enuious armies great,
Be round about besieged and beset.
For, what boot Milo's brawny shoulders broad,
And sinnewie arms, if but a common load
He alwayes bear? what Bayes, or Oliue boughs,
Parsly, or Pine, shall crown his warlik brows,
Except som other Milo, entring Lists,
Courageously his boasted strength resists?
"In deepest perils shineth Wisdoms prime:
"Through thousand deaths true Valour seeks to clime;
"Well knowing, Conquest yeelds but little Honour,
"If bloody Danger doo not wait vpon her.
O gracious Father! th' hast not only lent
God hath set them at enmity among them­selues.
Prudence to Man the Perils to prevent,
Wherwith these foes threaten his feeble life;
But (for his sake) hast set at mutuall strife
Serpents with Serpents, and hast rais'd them foes
Which, vnprovoked, felly them oppose.
The Viper and Scorpion with their young.
Thou mak'st th' ingratefull Viper (at his birth)
His dying Mothers belly to gnaw forth:
[Page 151]Thou mak'st the Scorpion (greedy after food)
Vnnaturally devour his proper brood;
Wherof, one scaping from the Parents hunger,
With's death doth vengeance on his brethrens wronger:
Thou mak'st the Weazell, by a secret might,
The Weazell a­gainst the Basi­liske.
Murder the Serpent with the murdering sight;
Who so surpris'd, striving in wrathfull manner,
Dying himself, kils with his baen his Baener.
Thou mak'st th' Ichneumon (whom the Memphs adore)
The Ichneumon against the Aspick.
To rid of Poysons Nile's manured shoar;
Although (indeed) he doth not conquer them
So much by strength as subtile stratagem.
As he that (vrg'd with deep indignity)
By a proud Chalenge doth his foe defie;
Premeditates his posture and his play,
And arms himself so complet every way
(With wary hand guided with watchfull eye,
And ready foot to traverse skilfully)
That the Defendant, in the heat of fight,
Findes no part open for his blade to light:
So Pharaohs Rat yer he begin the fray
'Gainst the blinde Aspick, with a cleauing Clay
Vpon his coat he wraps an Earthen Cake,
Which afterward the Suns hot beams doo bake:
Arm'd with this Plaister, th' Aspick he approcheth,
And in his throat, his crooked tooth he broacheth,
Whileth' other boot-les striues to pearce and prick
Through the hard temper of his armour thick:
Yet, knowing himself too-weak (for all his wile)
Alone to match the skaly Crocodile;
Hee, with the Wren, his Ruin doth conspire.
The Wren, who seeing (prest with sleeps desire)
The Ichneumon and the Wren a­gainst the Cro­codile.
Nile's poysony Pirate press the slimy shoar,
Sodainly coms, and hopping him before,
Into his mouth he skips, his teeth he pickles
Clenseth his palate, and his throat so tickles,
That charm'd with pleasure, the dull Serpent gapes
Wider and wider with his vgly chaps:
[Page 152]Then, like a shaft, th' Ichneumon instantly
Into the Tyrants greedy gorge doth sly,
And feeds vpon that Glutton, for whose Riot
All Niles fat Margents could scarce furnish diet.
Nay more (good Lorst) th' hast taught Mankinde a Reason
God hath taught vs to make great vse of them.
To draw Life out of Death, and Health from Poyson:
So that in equall Ballance ballancing
The Good and Evill which these Creatures bring
Vnto Mans life, we shall perceiue, the first
By many grains to over-waigh the worst.
From Serpents scap't, yet am I scarce in safety:
Fierce and vn­tameable beasts.
Alas! I see a Legion fierce and lofty
Of Sauvages, whose fleet and furious pase,
Whose horrid roaring, and whose hideous face
Make my sense sense-less, and my speech restrain,
And cast me in my former fears again.
Already howls the waste-Fold Wolf, the Boar
The Wolfe. Boare. Beare. Ounce. Tigre. Leopard. Vnicorne. Hyaena. Mantichora, a kind of Hyaenae. Cephus, a kind of Ape or Munkey Chiurcae.
Whetts foamy Fangs, the hungry Bear doth roar,
The Cat-faç't Ounce, that doth me much dismay,
With grumbling horror threatens my decay;
The light-foot Tigre, spotted Leopard,
Foaming with fury do besiege me hard;
Then th' Unicorn, th' Hyëna tearing-tombs
Swift Mantichor', and Nubian Cephus coms:
Of which last three, each hath (as heer they stand)
Man's voice, Man's visage, and Mans's foot and hand.
I fear the Beast, bred in the bloody Coast
Of Cannibals, which thousand times (almost)
Re-whelps her whelps, and in her tender womb,
She doth as oft her living brood re-tomb.
But, O! what Monster's this that bids me battail,
On whose rough back an Hoast of Pikes doth rattle:
The Porcupine.
Who string-less shoots so many arrows out,
Whose thorny sides are hedged round about
With stiff steel-pointed quils, and all his parts
Bristled with bodkins, arm'd with Auls and Darts,
Which ay fierce darting, seem still fresh to spring,
And to his ayd still new supplies to bring?
[Page 153]O fortunate Shaft-neuer-wanting Bowe-man!
Who, as thou fly'st canst hit thy following foe-man,
And never missest (or but very narrow)
Th' intended mark of thyselfs kindred Arrow:
Who, still self-furnisht needest borrow never
Diana's shafts, nor yet Apollos quiver,
Nor bowe-strings fetch from Carian Aleband,
Brazell from Perù, but hast all at hand
Of thine owne growth; for in thy Hide do growe
Thy String, thy Shafts, thy Quiver and thy Bowe.
But (Courage now.) heers coms the valiant Beast,
The Lion King of Beasts.
The noble Lion, King of all the rest;
Who brauely-minded, is as milde to those
That yeeld to him, as fierce vnto his foes:
To humble suiters, neither stern nor statefull,
To benefactors never found ingratefull.
A memorable Historie of a Lion acknow­ledging the kind­nes he had recei­ued of Andro­dus a Romane Salue.
I call to record that same Roman Thrall,
Who (to escape from his mechanicall
And cruell Master, that (for lucre) vs'd-him
Not as a Man, but, as a Beast, abus'd-him)
Fled through the desart, and with trauail'd tir'd,
At length into a mossie caue retir'd:
But thear, no sooner gan the drowzy wretch
On the soft grass his weary limbs to stretch,
But coming swift into the caue he seeth
A ramping Lion gnashing of his teeth.
A thief, to shamefull execution sent
By Iustice, for his faults iust punishment,
Feeling his ey's clout, and his elbows cord,
Waiting for nothing but the fatall Sword;
Dies ye [...] his death, he looks so certainly
Without delay in that drad place to Die:
Even so the Slaue, seeing no means to shun
(By flight or fight) his fear'd destruction
(Having no way to fly, nor arms to fight,
But sighs and tears, prayers, and wofull plight)
Embraceth Death; abiding, for a stown,
Pale, cold, and sense-les, in a deadly swown.
[Page 154]At last, again his courage' gan to gather,
When he perceiv'd no rage (but pitty rather)
In his new Hoast, who with milde looks and meek
Seem'd (as it were) succour of him to seek,
Showing him oft one of his paws, wherein
A festering thorn for a long time had been:
Then (though still fearfull) did the Slaue draw nigher,
And from his foot he lightly snatcht the Bryer,
And wringing gently with his hand the wound,
Made th' hot impostume run vpon the ground.
Thenceforth the Lion seeks for Booties best
Through Hill and Dale, to cheer his new-com Guest,
His new Physician; who, for all his cost,
Soon leaues his Lodging, and his dreadfull Hoast;
And once more wanders through the wildernes,
Whether his froward Fortune would address,
Vntill (re-taen) his fell Lord brought him home,
For Spectacle vnto Imperiall Rome,
To be (according to their barbarous Laws)
Bloudily torn with greedy Lions paws.
Fell Canniball▪ Flint-harted Polyphem▪
If thou would'st needs exactly torture him
(Inhumane Monster, hatefull Lestrigon)
Why from thine owne hand hast thou let him gon,
To Bears and Lions to be giuen for prey,
Thy self more fell a thousand-fold, then they?
African Panthers, Hyrcan Tigres fierce,
Cleonian Lions and Panonian Bears,
Be not so cruell, as who violates
Sacred Humanity, and cruciates
His loy all subiects; making his recreations
Of Massacres, Combats, and sharp Taxations.
'Boue all the Beasts that fill'd the Martian Field
With bloud and slaughter, one was most beheld;
One valiant Lion, whose victorious fights
Had conquered hundreds of those guilty wights,
Whose feeble skirmish had but striv'n in vain
To scape by combat their deserued pain.
[Page 155]That very Beast, with faint and fearfull feet
This Runnagate (at last) is forç't to meet;
And being entred in the bloody List,
The Lion rowz'd, and ruffles-vp his Crest,
Shortens his body, sharpens his grim ey,
And (staring wide) he roareth hideously:
Then often swindging with his sinnewy train,
Somtimes his sides, somtimes the dusty Plain,
Hewhets his rage, and strongly rampeth on
Against his foe; who, nigh already gon
To drink of Lethè, lifteth to the Pole
Religious vows, not for his life, but soule;
After the Beast had marcht som twenty pase,
He sodain stops; and, viewing well the face
Of his pale foe, remembred (rapt with ioy)
That this was he that eased his annoy:
Wherefore, conuerting from his hatefull wildenes,
From pride to pitty, and from rage to mildenes,
On his bleak face he both his eyes doth fix,
Fawning for homage, his lean hands he licks.
The Slaue, thus knowing, and thus being knowen,
Lifts to the Heav'ns his front now hoary growen,
And (now no more fearing his tearing paws)
He stroaks the Lion, and his poule he claws,
And learns by proof, that a good turn at need,
At first or last shall be assur'd of meed.
THER's vnder Sun (as Delphos God did showe)
No better Knowledge, then Our self to Knowe:
Noscete ipsū.
Ther is no Theam more plentifull to sean,
Then is the glorious goodly Frame of MAN:
The second part of this sixt book: Wherein is discoursed at large of the creatiō of Man;
For in Man's self is Fire, Aire, Earth, and Sea;
Man's (in a word) the World's Epitomé
Or little Map: which heer my Muse doth try
By the grand Pattern to exemplifie.
A wit [...]y Mason, doth not (with rare Art)
And of the wonders of Gods wisedom, appea­ring both in his body and Soule.
Into a Palace, Paros Rocks conuert,
Seel it with gold, and to the Firmament
Rayse the proud Turrets of his Battlement,
[Page 156]And (to be brief) in every part of it,
Beauty to vse, vse vnto beauty fit,
To th' end the Skrich-Owl, and the Night-Rav'n should
In those fair walls their habitations hold:
But rather, for som wise and wealthy Prince
Able to iudge of his arts excellence:
Even so, the Lord built not this All-Theater,
For the rude guests of Air, and Woods and Water;
The world made for Man.
But, all for Him, who (whether he survey
The vast salt kingdoms, or th' Earth's fruitfull clay,
Or cast his eys vp to those twinkling Eys
That with disordered order gild the Skyes)
Can every-where admire with due respect
Th' admired Art of such an Architect.
Now of all Creatures which his Word did make,
Man was crea­ted last, & why.
MAN was the last that living breath did take:
Not that he was the least; or that God durst
Not vndertake so noble a Work at first:
Rather, because he should haue made in vain
So great a Prince, without on whom to Raign.
A wise man never brings his bidden guest
Fit comparison.
Into his Parlour, till his Room be drest,
Garnisht with Lights, and Tables neatly spred
Be with full dishes well-nigh furnished:
So our great God, who (bountious) euer keeps
Heer open Court, and th' ever-bound-les Deeps
Of sweetest Nectar on vs still distills
By twenty-times ten thousand sundry quills,
Would not our Grandsier to his Boord inuite,
Yer he with Arras his fair house had dight,
And, vnder starry State-Cloaths, plaç't his plates
Fill'd with a thousand sugred delicates.
All th' admirable Creatures made beforn,
Which Heav'n and Earth, and Ocean doo adorn,
All other crea­tures nothing in respect of Man made to the I­mage of God, with (as it were) great prepara­tion, not all at once, but by interims first his Body, and then his reasona­ble Soule.
Are but Essays, compar'd in every part,
To this divinest Master-Piece of Art.
Therefore the supream peer-les Architect,
When (of meer nothing) he did first erect
[Page 157]Heav'n, Earth and Aire, and Seas; at once his thought,
His word, and deed all in an instant wrought:
But, when he would his own selfs Type create,
Th' honour of Nature, th' Earths sole Potentate;
As if he would a Councell hold he cyteth
His sacred Power, his Prudence he inuiteth,
Summons his Loue, his Iustice he adiourns,
Calleth his Goodnes, and his Grace returns,
To (as it were) consult about the birth
And building of a second God, of Earth;
And each (a-part) with liberal hand to bring
Some excellence vnto so rare a thing.
Or rather, he consults with's onely Son
(His own true Pourtrait) what proportion,
Gen. 1, 16
What gifts, what grace, what soule he should bestowe
Vpon his Vice-Roy of this Realm belowe.
When th' other things God fashion'd in their kinde,
The Sea t'abound in Fishes he assign'd,
The Earth in Flocks: but, having Man in hand,
His very self he seemed to commaund.
He both at-once both life and body lent
To other things; but, when in Man he meant
In mortall limbs immortall life to place,
Hee seem'd to pawse, as in a waighty case:
And so at sundry moments finished
The Soule and Body of Earth's glorious Head.
Admired Artist, Architect divine,
Innocation.
Perfect and peer-les in all Works of thine,
So my rude hand on this rough Table guide
To paint the Prince of all thy Works beside,
That graue Spectators, in his face may spy
Apparant marks of thy Divinity.
Almighty Father, as of watery matter
It pleas'd thee make the people of the Water:
Mans body crea ted of the dust of the Earth.
So, of an earthly substance mad'st thou all
The slimy Burgers of this Earthly Ball;
To th' end each Creaturemight (by consequent)
Part-sympathize with his own Element.
[Page 158]Therfore, to form thine Earthly Emperour,
Thou tookest Earth, and by thy sacred power
So tempered'st it, that of the very same
Dead shape-les lump didst Adams body frame:
Yet, not his face down to the Earth-ward bending
(Like Beasts that but regard their belly, ending
For ever all) but toward th' azure Skyes
Bright golden Lamps lifting his louely Eyes;
That through their nerues, his better part might look
Still to that Place from whence her birth she took.
Also thou plantedst th' Intellectuall Powr
In th' highest stage of all this stately Bowr,
His head the seat of vnderstāding.
That thence it might (as from a Cittadell)
Command the members that too-oft rebell
Against his Rule: and that our Reason, there
Keeping continuall Garrison (as 't were)
Might Auarice, Enuy, and Pride subdue,
Lust, Gluttony, Wrath, Sloath, and all their Crew
Of factious Commons, that still striue to gain
The golden Sceptre from their Soverain.
Th' Eys (Bodie's guides) are set for Sentinel
The Eyes full of infinite admira­tion.
In noblest place of all this Cittadel,
To spy far-off, that no miss-hap befall
At vnawares the sacred Animal.
In forming these thy hand (so famous held)
Seemed almost to haue itself excell'd,
Them not transpearcing, least our eyes should be
As theirs, that Heav'n through hollow Canes do see,
Yet see small circuit of the welkin bright,
The Canes strict compass doth so clasp their Sight:
And least so many open holes disgrace
The goodly form of th' Earthly Monarch's face.
These louely Lamps, whose sweet sparks liuely turning,
With sodain glaunce set coldest hearts a-burning,
These windows of the Soule, these starry Twinns,
These Cupids quivers haue so tender skinns
Through which (as through a pair of shining glasses)
Their radiant point of pearcing splendor passes,
[Page 159]That they would soon be quenched and put-out,
But that the Lord hath Bulwarkt them about;
By seating so their wondrous Orb, betwix
The front, the Nose, and the vermillion Cheeks:
As in two Vallies pleasantly inclosed
With pretty Mountains orderly disposed.
The Browes and Eye lids.
And as a Pent-house doth preserue a Wall
From Rain and Hail, and other Storms that fall:
The twinkling Lids with their quick-trembling hairs
Defend the Eyes from thousand dang'rous fears.
Who fain would see, how much a human face
A comly Nose doth beautifie and grace;
Behold Zopyrus, who cut-off his Nose
For's Princes sake, to circumvent his foes.
The Nose.
The Nose, no less for vse then beauty makes:
For, as a Conduit, it both giues and takes
Our living breath: it's as a Pipe put-vp,
Wherby the moyst Brain's spongy boan doth sup
Sweetsmelling fumes: it serueth as a gutter
To void the Excrements of grossest matter;
As by the Scull-seams, and the Pory Skin
Euaporate those that are light and thin:
As through black Chimneys flyes the bitter smoak,
Which but so vented would the Houshold choak.
And, sith that Time doth with his secret file
The Mouth.
Fret and diminish each thing every-while;
And whatsoever heer begins and ends,
Wears every howr and its self-substance spends;
Th' Almighty made the Mouth, to recompence
The Stomaks pension, and the Times expence
(Even as the green Trees, by their roots resume
Sap for the sap, that howrly they consume)
And plaç't it so, that alwayes by the way,
By sent of meats the Nose might take Essay,
The watchfull Ey might true distinction make
'Twixt Herbs and Weeds, betwixt an Eel and Snake;
And then th' impartiall Tongue might (at the last)
The Tongue.
Censure their goodnes by their savory taste.
Two equall ranks of Orient Pearls impale
The Teeth.
The open Throat: which (Queen-like) grinding small
Th' imperfect food, soon to the Stomack send-it
(Our Maister-Cook) whose due concoctions mend-it.
But least the Teeth, naked and bare to Light,
Should in the Face present a ghastly sight;
With wondrous Art, over that Mill doo meet
Two moouing Leaues of Corall soft and sweet.
The Lippes.
O mouth! by thee, our savage Elders, yerst
Through way-les Woods, and hollow Rocks disperst,
With Acorns fed, with Fells of Fethers clad▪
(When neither Traffik, Love, nor Law they had)
Of the excellent vse and end of speach.
Themselues vniting, built them Townes, and bent
Their willing necks to civill Government.
O mouth! by thee, the rudest wits haue learn'd
The Noble Arts, which but the wise discern'd.
By thee, we kindle in the coldest spirits
Heroïk flames affecting glorious merits.
By thee, we wipe the tears of wofull Eyes,
By thee, we stop the stubborn mutinies
Of our rebellious Flesh, whose rest-less Treason
Striues to dis-throne and to dis-sceptre Reason.
By thee, our Soules with Heav'n haue conuersation.
By thee, we calm th' Almighties indignation,
When faithfull signs from oursoules centre fly
About the bright Throne of his Maiesty.
By thee, we warble to the King of Kings;
Our Tongu's the Bowe, our Teeth the trembling strings,
Our hollow Nostrils (with their double vent)
The hollow belly of the Instrument;
Our Soule's the sweet Musician, that plaies
So divine lessons, and so Heav'nly layes,
As, in deep passion of pure burning zeal,
Ioues forked Lightnings from his fingers steal.
But O! what member hath more marvails in't,
The Eares,
Then th' Ears round-winding double labyrinth:
The Bodie's scouts, of sounds the Censurers,
Doors of the Soule, and faithfull Messengers
[Page 161]Of diuine treasures, when our gracious Lord
Sends vs th' Embassage of his sacred Word?
And, sith al Sound seems alwaies to aseend,
God plac't the Ears (where they might best attend)
As in two Turrets, on the buildings top,
Snailing their hollow entries so a-sloap,
That, while the voice about those windings wanders,
The sound might lengthen in those bow'd Meanders;
As, from a Trumpet, Winde hath longer life,
Or, from a Sagbut, then from Flute or Fife:
Sundry Similies expressing the reason of the round winding Mazes of the Ear [...].
Or as a noise extendeth far and wide
In winding Vales, or by the crooked side
Of crawling Riuers; or with broken trouble
Between the teeth of hollow Rocks doth double)
And that no sodain sound, with violence
Pearcing direct the Organs of this Sense,
Should stun the Brain, but through these Mazie holes
Conueigh the voice more softly to our Soules:
Another compa­rison to that pur pose.
As th'Ouse, that crooking in and out, doth run
From Stony-Stratford towards Huntington,
By Royall Amptill; rusheth not so swift,
As our neer Kennet, whose Trowt-famous Drift
From Marleborow, by Hungerford doth hasten
Through Newbery, and Prince-graç't Aldermarston,
Her Siluer Nymphs (almost) directly leading,
To meet her Mistress ( the great Thames) at Reading.
But, will my hands, in handling th' human Stature,
The hands.
Forget the Hands, the handmaids vnto Nature,
Th' Almighty's Apes, the Instruments of Arts,
The voluntary Champions of our hearts,
Mindes Ministers, the Clarks of quick conceipts,
And bodies victuallers, to prouide it meats?
Will you the Knees and Elbow's springs omit,
Which serue th' whole Body by their motions fit?
Ioynts, The Knees and Armes.
For as a Bowe, according as the string,
Is stiff or slack, the shafts doth farther fling;
Our Nerues and Gristles diuersly dispense,
To th' human Frame, meet Motion, Might and Sense:
[Page 162]Knitting the Bones, which be the Pillars strong,
The Sinews, Gristles and Bones.
The beams and Rafters, whose firm Ioynts may long
(Maugre Deaths malice, till our Maker calls)
Support the Fabrik of these Fleshly Walls?
The Feet.
Can you conceal the Feets rare-skilfull feature,
The goodly Bases of this glorious Creature?
But, is't not time now, in his Inner Parts,
To seeth' Almightie's admirable Arts?
First, with my Launcet shall I make incision,
To see the Cells of the twin Brains diuision:
The Treasurer of Arts, the Source of Sense:
The Seat of Reason; and the Fountain, whence
Our sinews flowe: whom Natures prouidence
Arm'd with a helm, whose double lynings fence
The brains cold moisture from its boany Armor,
Whose hardnes else might hap to bruise or harm-her:
A Registre, where (with a secret touch)
The studious dayly som rare Knowledge couch?
O, how shall I on learned Leaf forth-set
That curious Maze, that admirable Net,
Through whose fine folds the spirit doth rise and fall,
Making its powrs, of Vital, Animal:
Euen as the Blood, and Spirits, wandering
Through the preparing vessels crooked Ring,
Are in their winding course concoct and wrought,
And by degrees to fruitfull Seed are brought.
Shall I the Hearts vn-equall sides explain,
Of the Heart.
Which equall poiz doth equally sustain?
Wherof, th' one's fill'd with bloud, in th' other bides
The vitall Spirit which through the body slides:
Whose rest-les panting, by the constant Pulse,
Doth witness health; or if that take repulse,
And shift the dance and wonted pase it went,
It shews that Nature's wrongd by Accident,
Or, shall I cleaue the Lungs, whose motions light
Of the Lungues.
Our inward heat doo temper day and night:
Like summer gales wauing, with gentle puffs,
The smiling Medows green and gaudy tuffs:
[Page 163]Light, spungy Fans, that euer take and giue
Th' aetheriall Air, whereby we breathe and liue:
Bellows, whose blast (breathing by certain pawses)
A pleasant sound through our speech-Organs causes?
Or, shall I rip the Stomachs hollowness,
Of the Stomach.
That ready Cook concocting euery Mess,
Which in short time it cunningly conuerts
Into pure Liquor fit to feed the parts;
And then the same doth faithfully deliuer
Of the Liuer.
Into the Port-vain passing to the Liuer,
Who turns it soone to Blood; and thence again
Through branching pipes of the great Hollow vain,
Through all the members doth it duly scatter:
Much like a fountain, whose diuided Water
It self dispersing into hundred Brooks,
An apt Simili­tude.
Bathes som fair Garden with her winding Crooks.
For, as these Brooks, thus branching round about,
Make heer the Pink, there th' Aconite to sprout,
Heer the sweet Plum-tree, the sharp Mulberie there,
Heer the lowe Vine, and there the lofty Pear,
Heer the hard Almond, there the tender Fig,
Heer bitter Worm-wood, there sweet-smelling Spike:
Euen so the Blood (bred of good nourishment)
Of the Bloud & Nourishment.
By diuers Pipes to all the body sent,
Turns heer to Bones, there changes into Nerues,
Heer is made Marow, there for Muscles serues,
Heer Skin becoms, there crooking Veins, there Flesh,
To make our Limbs more forcefull and more fresh.
But, now me list no neerer view to take
Of th' Inward Parts, which God did secret make,
Nor pull in peeces all the Human Frame:
That work were fitter for those men of Fame,
Those skilfull sons of Aesculapius:
Hippocrates; or deep Herophilus:
Or th' eloquent and artificiall Writ
Of Galen, that renowned Pergamite.
'T sufficeth me, in som sort, to express
By this Essay the sacred mightiness,
[Page 164]Not of Iapetus wittie-fained Son,
But of the true Prometheus, that begun
Of the Creation of the Soule.
And finisht (with inimitable Art)
The famous Image, I haue sung in part.
Now, this most peer-les learned Imager,
Life to his louely Picture to conferr,
Did not extact out of the Elements
A certain secret Chymik Quint-essence:
But, breathing, sent as from the liuely Spring▪
Of his Diuinenss som small Riuerling,
Itself dispersing into euery pipe
Of the frail Engin of this earthen Type.
Not, that his own Selfs-Essence blest he brake,
Of her Essence and substance.
Or did his Triple-Unitie partake
Vnto his Work; but, without Selfs-expence
Inspir'd it richly with rare excellence:
And by his power so spread his Rays thereon,
That euen as yet appers a portion
Of that pure lustre of Coelestiall Light
Whearwith at first it was adorn'd and dight.
This Adam's spirit did from that spirit deriue
Which made the World: yet did not thence depriue
Whence it is pro­ceeded.
Of Gods self-substance any part at all;
As in the Course of Nature doth befall,
That from the Essence of an Earthly Father,
Diuers Similes.
An Earthly Son essentiall parts doth gather:
Or as in Spring-time from one sappy twig
There sprouts another consubstantiall sprig.
In brief, it's but a breath: now, though the breath
Out of our Stomacks concaue issueth;
Yet, of our substance it transporteth nought:
Onely it seemeth to be simply fraught
And to retain the purer qualities
Of th' inward place whence it deriued is.
Inspired by that Breath, this Breath desire
I to describe. Whoso doth not admire
His spirit, is sprightless; and his sense is past,
Of the excellēce of Mans soule.
Who hath no sense of that admired Blast.
Yet wot I well, that as the Ey perceiues
All but it self, euen so our Soule conceiues
All saue her owne selfs Essence; but, the end
Of her own greatnes cannot comprehend.
Yet as a sound Ey, void of vicious matter,
How she may know her selfe.
Sees (in a sort) it self, in Glass or Water:
So, in her sacred Works (as in a Glass)
Our Soule (almost) may see her glorious face.
The boistrous Winde, that rents with roaring blasts
Three fit com­parisons to that purpose.
The lofty Pines, and to the Welkin casts
Millions of Mountains from the watery World,
And proudest Turrets to the ground hath whurld:
The pleasing fume that fragrant Roses yeeld,
When wanton Zephyr, sighing on the field,
Enammels all; and, to delight the Sky,
The Earth puts-on her richest Lyuory:
Th' accorded Discords, that are sweetly sent
From th' Iuorie ribs of some rare Instrument,
Cannot be seen: but he may well be said
Of Flesh, and Ears, and Nose intirely void,
Who doth not feel, nor hear, nor smel (the powrs)
The shock, sound, sent; of storms, of strings, of flowrs.
The Soule not only vitall, but also diuine and immortall.
Although our Soule's pure substance, to our sight
Be not subiected: yet her motion light
And rich discourse, sufficient proofs doo giue,
We haue more soule than to suffice to liue;
A Soule diuine, pure, sacred, admirable,
Immortall, end-less, simple, vnpalpable.
For, whether that the Soule (the Mint of Art)
The Seat of the Soule.
Be all in all, or all in euery part:
Whether the Brain or Heart doo lodge the Soule,
O Seneca, where, where could'st thou enroule
Those many hundred words (in Prose or Verse)
Which at first hearing thou could'st back rehearse?
Notable exam­ples of excellent Memories.
Where could great Cyrus that great Table shut
Wherein the Pictures and the names he put
Of all the Souldiers, that by thousands wander'd,
After the fortunes of his famous Standard?
[Page 166]In what deep vessell did th' Embassader
Of Pyrrhus (whom the Delphian Oracler
Deluded by his double-meaning Measures)
Into what Cesterns did he pour those Treasures
Of learned store, which after (for his vse)
In time and place, he could so fit produce?
The Memorie, is th' Eyes true Register,
The Peasants Book, Times wealthy Treasorer,
Keeping Records of Acts and accidents
What s' ever, subiect vnto humane sense,
Since first the Lord the Worlds foundations laid,
Or Phoebus first his golden locks displaid,
And his pale Sister from his beaming light
Borrow'd her splendor to adorn the Night.
So that our Reason, searching curiously
Through all the Roules of a good Memory,
And fast'ning closely with a Gordian knot
To past euents, what Present Times allot,
Fore-sees the Future, and becomes more sage,
More happily to lead our later age.
And, though our Soule liue as imprison'd here,
In our frail flesh, or buried (as it were)
Of the quicke swiftnes, and so­dain motion of the Soule: com­prehending all things in Heauē and Earth.
In a dark Toomb; Yet at one flight she flies
From Caipè t' Imaus, from the Earth to Skies;
Much swifter then the Chariot of the Sun,
Which in a Day about the World doth run.
For, somtimes, leauing these base slymy heaps,
With cheereful spring aboue the Clouds she leaps,
Glides through the Aire, and there she learns to knowe
Th' Originalls of Winde, and Hail, and Snowe,
Of Lightning, Thunder, Blazing-Starrs and storms,
Of Rain and Ice, and strange Exhaled Forms.
By th' Aires steep-stairs, she boldly climbs aloft
To the Worlds Chambers; Heav'n she visits oft,
Stage after Stage: she marketh all the Sphears,
And all th' harmonious, various course of theirs:
With sure account, and certain Compasses,
She counts their Starrs, she metes their distances
[Page 167]And differing pases; and, as if she found
No Subiect fair enough in all this Round,
She Mounts aboue the Worlds extreamest Wall,
Far, far beyond all things corpóreall;
Where she beholdes her Maker, face to face,
(His frowns of Iustice, and his smiles of Grace)
The faithfull zeal, the chaste and sober Port
And sacred Pomp of the Celestiall Court.
What can be hard to a sloath-shunning Spirit,
Spurr'd with desire of Fames eternall merit?
Of learned, curi­ous, pleasant, marueilous, and more then hu­mane inuention of mans wit.
Look (if thou canst) from East to Occident,
From Island to the Moors hot Continent;
And thou shalt nought perfectly fair behould,
But Pen, or Pencill, Grauing-tool, or Mould,
Hath so resembled, that scarce can our ey
The Counterfait from the true thing descry.
The brazen Mare that famous Myron cast,
Which Stallions leapt, and for a Mare imbraç't:
The liuely picture of that ramping Vine
Which whilom Zeuxis limn'd so rarely fine,
That shoals of Birds, beguiled by the shapes,
Of Caruing and Painting.
Peckt at the Table, as at very Grapes:
The Marble Statue, that with strangest fire
Fondly inflam'd th' Athenian Youths desire:
Apelles Uenus, which allur'd well-neer
As many Loues, as Venus self had heer;
Are proofs enough that learned Painting can
Can (Goddess-like) another Nature frame.
But th' Art of Man, not only can compack
Features and forms that life and Motion lack;
The subtle con­clusions of the Mathematikes: witnes Archy­tas Doue.
But also fill the Aire with painted shoals
Of flying Creatures (Artificiall Fowls)
The Tarentines valiant and learned Lord,
Archytas, made a wooden Doue, that soar'd
About the Welkin, by th' accorded sleights
The Eagle and the Flie, of Iohn de Monte-Re­gio: or Regi-Montanus▪
And counterpoiz of sundrie little weights.
Why should I not that wooden Eagle mention
(A learned Germanes late-admir'd inuention)
[Page 168]Which mounting from his fist that framed her,
Flew far to meet an Almain Emperour;
And hauing met him, with her nimble train,
And weary wings, turning about again,
Follow'd him close vnto the Castle Gate
Of Noremberg; whom all the Showes of State,
Streets hangd with Arras, Arches curious built,
Loud-thundring Canons, Columns richly gilt,
Gray-headed Senate, and Youth's gallantise,
Graç't not so much, as onely This Deuise.
Once, as this Artist (more with mirth then meat)
Feasted some friends that he esteemed great,
From vnder's hand an iron Flie flew out;
Which, hauing flowen a perfect Round-about,
With weary wings, return'd vnto her Master,
And (as iudicious) on his arm she plaç't-her.
O diuine wit! that in the narrow womb
Of a small Flie, could finde sufficient room
For all those Springs, wheels, counterpoiz, and chains,
Which stood in stead of life, and spur, and rains.
Yea, you your selues, ye bright Celestiall Orbs,
Astronomy.
Although no stop your rest-less Daunce disturbs,
Nor stays your Course; yet can ye not escape
The hands of men (that are but men in shape)
A Persian Monarch, not content, well-nigh
The king of Per sia his Heauen of Glass.
With the Earths bounds to bound his Empery:
To raign in Heav'n, rais'd not with bold defiance
(Like brauing Nimrod, or those boistrous Giants)
Another Babel, or a heap of Hills:
But, without mouing from the Earth, he builds
A Heav'n of Glass, so huge, that there-upon
Somtimes erecting his ambitious Throne,
Beneath his proud feet (like a God) he saw
The shyning Lamps of th' other Heav'n, to draw
Down to the Deep, and thence again aduance
(Like glorious Brides) their golden Radiance:
Yet had the Heav'n no wondrous excellence
(Saue Greatnes) worthy of so great a Prince.
But, who would think, that mortall hands could mould
Admirable Di­alls & Clocks, namely, at this Day, that of Straesbourg.
New Heavn's, new Stars, whose whirling courses should
With constant windings, though contrary waies,
Mark the true mounds of Years, and Months, and Daies?
Yet 't is a story that hath oft been heard,
And by graue Witnes hundred times auerr'd,
That, that profound Briareus, who of yore
(As selfly arm'd with thousands hands and more)
Maintain'd so long the Syracusian Towrs
'Gainst great Marcellus and his Roman Powrs:
The Engines of Archimedes, and his Spheare.
Who fier'd his foes Fleet with a wondrous Glass:
Who hugest Vessels, that did euer pass
The Ti [...]rhen Seas, turn'd with his onely hand
From Shoar to Sea, and from the Sea to Land;
Framed a Sphear, where euery Wandring Light
Of lower Heav'ns and th' vpper Tapers, bright,
Whose glistering flames the Firmament adorn,
Did (of themselues) with ruled motion turn.
Nor may we smother, or forget (ingrately)
The Heauen of Siluer sent by the Emperour Ferdinand to Solyman the great Turk.
The Heav'n of Siluer, that was sent (but lately)
From Ferdinando (as a famous Work)
Vnto Bizantium to the Greatest Turk:
Wherein, a spirit still mouing to and fro,
Made all the Engin orderly to go;
And though th' one Sphear did alwaies slowely slide,
And (opposite) the other swiftly glide;
Yet still their Stars kept all their Courses ev'n
With the true Courses of the Stars of Heav'n:
The Sun, there shifting in the Zodiack
His shining Houses, neuer did forsake
His pointed Path: there, in a Month, his Sister
Fulfill'd her course, and changing oft her lustre
And form of Face (now larger, lesser soon)
Follow'd the Changes of the other Moon.
O compleat Creature! who the starry Sphears
Of mans resem­blance to his first Paterne, which is God.
Canst make to moue, who 'boue the Heav'nly Bears
Extend'st thy powr, who guidest with thy hand
The Day's bright Chariot and the nightly Brand:
[Page 170]This curious Lust to imitate the best
And fairest Works of the Almightiest,
By rare effects bears record of thy Linage
And high descent; and that his sacred Image
Was in thy Soule ingrav'n, when first his Spirit
(The spring of life) did in thy limms inspire-it.
For, as his Beauties are past all compare;
So is thy Soule all beautifull and fair:
As hee's immortall; and is neuer idle:
Thy Soule's immortall; and can brook no bridle
O [...] sloath, to curb her busie Intellect:
He ponders all; thou peizest each effect:
And thy mature and settled Sapience
Hathsom alliance with his Prouidence:
He works by Reason; thou by Rule: Hee's glory,
Of th' Heav'nly Stages; thou of th' Earthly Story:
Hee's great High-Priest; thou his great Vicar heer:
Hee's Souerain Prince; and thou his Vice-Roy deer.
For, soon as euer he had framed thee,
Other testimo­nies of the excel­lency of Man, constituted Lord of the World.
Into thy hands he put this Monarchy:
Made all the Creatures knowe thee for their Lord,
And com before thee of their own accord:
And gaue thee power (as Master) to impose
Fit sense-full Names vnto the Hoast that rowes
In watery Regions; and the wandring Heards
Of Forrest people; and the painted Birds:
O too-too happy! had that Fall of thine
Not cancell'd so the Character diuine.
But sith our Soules now-sin-obscured Light
Wherein consist­eth Mans selici­tie.
Shines through the Lanthorn of our Flesh so bright;
What sacred splendor will this Starr send forth,
When it shall shine without this vail of Earth?
The Soule, heer lodg'd, is like a man that dwels
In an ill Aire, annoy'd with noysom smells;
Excellent com­parisons.
In an old House, open to winde and weather;
Neuer in Health, not half an hour together:
Or (almost) like a Spider, who, confin'd
In her Webs centre, shak't with euery winde;
[Page 171]Moues in an instant, if the buzzing Flie
Stir but a string of her Lawn Canapie.
You that haue seen within this ample Table,
Of the Creation of Woman made for an ayd to Man, and with­out whom Mans life were mise­rable.
Among so many Modules admirable,
Th' admired beauties of the King of Creatures,
Com, com and see the Womans rapting features:
Without whom (heer) Man were but half a man,
But a wilde Wolf, but a Barbarian,
Brute, ragefull, fierce, moody, melancholike,
Hating the Light; whom nought but naught could like:
Born solely for himself, bereft of sense,
Of heart, of loue, of life, of excellence.
God therefore, not to seme less liberal
To Man, then else to euery animal;
For perfect patern of a holy Loue,
To Adams half another half he gaue,
Ta'en from his side, to binde (through euery Age)
With kinder bonds the sacred Mariage.
Euen as a Surgeon, minding off-to-cut
Simile▪
Som cure-less limb; before in vre he put
His violent Engins on the vicious member,
Bringeth his Patient in a sense-less slumber,
And grief-less then (guided by vse and Art)
To saue the whole, sawes off th' infected part:
So, God empal'd our Grandsiers liuely look,
Through all his bones a deadly chilness strook,
Siel'd-vp his sparkling Eys with Iron bands,
Led down his feet (almost) to Lethè Sands;
In brief, so numm'd his Soul's and Body's sense,
That (without pain) opening his side; from thence
He took a rib, which rarely he refin'd,
And thereof made the Mother of Mankinde:
Grauing so liuely on the liuing Bone
All Adams beauties; that, but hardly, one
Could haue the Louer from his Loue descry'd,
Or know'n the Bridegroom from his gentle Bride:
Sauing that she had a more smiling Ey,
A smoother Chin, a Cheek of purer Dy,
[Page 172]A fainter voice, a more inticing Face,
A Deeper Tress, a more delighting Grace,
And in her bosom (more then Lillie-white)
Two swelling Mounts of Ivory, panting light.
Now, after this profound and pleasing Traunce,
Their Mariage.
No sooner Adams rauisht eyes did glaunce
On the rare beauties of his new-com Half,
But in his heart he gan to leap and laugh,
Kissing her kindely, calling her his Life,
His Loue, his Stay, his Rest, his Weal, his Wife,
His other-Self, his Help (him to refresh)
Bone of his Bone, Flesh of his very Flesh.
Source of all ioyes? sweet Hee-Shee-Coupled-One,
Their Epithala­mie, or wedding Song.
Thy sacred Birth I neuer think vpon,
But (rauisht) I admire how God did then
Make Two of One, and One of Two again.
O blessed Bond! O happy Mariage!
Which doost the match 'twixt Christ and vs presage!
O chastest friendship, whose pure flames impart
Two Soules in one, two Hearts into one Hart!
O holy knot, in Eden instituted
(Not in this Earth with bloud and wrongs polluted,
Profan'd with mischiefs, the Pre-Scaene of Hell
To cursed Creatures that' gainst Heav'n rebell)
O sacred Cov'nant, which the sin-less Son
Of a pure Virgin (when he first begun
To publish proofs of his drad Powr Diuine,
By turning Water into perfect Wine,
At lesser Cana) in a wondrous manner
Did with his presence sanctifie and honour!
By thy deer Fauour, after our Decease,
The commodities of Mariage.
We leaue behinde our liuing Images,
Change War to Peace, in kindred multiply,
And in our Children liue eternally.
By thee, we quench the wilde and wanton Fires,
That in our Soule the Paphian shot inspires:
And taught (by thee) a loue more firm and fitter,
We finde the Mel more sweet, the Gall less bitter,
[Page 173]Which heer (by turns) heap vp our human Life
Eu'n now with ioyes, anon with iars and strife.
This done; the Lord commands the happy Pair
Propagation by the blessing of God.
With chaste embraces to replenish Fair
Th' vnpeopled World; that while the World endures,
Heer might succeed their liuing Pourtraitures.
He had impos'd the like precept before,
On th' irefull Droues that in the Desarts roar,
The fethered Flocks, and fruitfull-spawning Legions
That liue within the liquid Crystal Regions.
Thence-forth therefore, Bears, Bears ingendered;
The Dolphins, Dolphins; Vulturs, Vulturs bred;
Men, Men: and Nature, with a change-less Course,
Still brought forth Children like their Ancestors:
Vnnaturall Cō ­iunctions pro­duce monstrous Births.
Though since indeed, as (when the fire hath mixt-them)
The yellow Gold and Siluer pale betwixt them
Another Metall (like to neither) make,
Which yet of eithers ritches doth partake:
So, oft, two Creatures of a diuers kinde,
Against the common course through All Assign'd,
Confounding their lust-burning seeds together,
Beget an Elf, not like in all to either,
But (bastard Mongrel) bearing marks apparant
Of mingled members, ta'en from either Parent.
God, not contented, to each Kinde to giue
Of things ingen­dered without seed or commix­tion of sexes.
And to infuse the Vertue Generatiue,
Made (by his Wisdom) many Creatures breed
Of liue-less bodies, without Venus deed.
So, the cold humour breeds the Salamander,
Who (in effect) like to her births Commander
With-childe with hundred Winters, with her touch
Quencheth the Fire though glowing ne'r so much.
So, of the Fire in burning furnace, springs
The Fly Pyrausta with the flaming Wings:
Without the Fire, it dies; within it, ioyes;
Liuing in that, which each thing else destroyes.
So, slowe Boötes vnderneath him sees,
In th' ycy Iles, those Goslings hatcht of Trees,
[Page 174]Whose fruitfull leaues, falling into the Water,
Are turn'd (they say) to liuing Fowls soon after.
So, rotten sides of broken Ships doo change
To Barnacles; O Transformation strange▪
'Twas first a green Tree, then a gallant Hull,
Lately a Mushrum, now a flying Gull.
So Morn and Euening the Sixt Day conclude,
And God perceiv'd that All his Works were good.

THE SEAVENTH DAIE OF THE FIRST WEEK.

THE ARGVMENT.
In sacred Rest, vpon This sacred Day
Th' Eternall doth his glorious Works suruay:
His only Powr and Prouidence perseuer
T' vphold, maintain, and rule the World for euer:
Maugre Mens malice and Hells raging mood,
God turneth all things to his Childrens good:
Sabbaoths right vse; From all Worlds-Works to cease;
To pray (not play) and hear the Word of Peace:
Instructions drawn from dead and liuing things,
And from our selues; for all Estates; for Kings.
THe cunning Painter, that with curious care,
By an excellent Similitude of a Painter deligh­ted with the sight of a curious ta­ble which he hath lately finished; our Poet sheweth how God rested the seauenth Day, and saw (as saith the Scripture) that all that he had made was Good.
Limning a Land-scape, various, rich, and rare,
Hath set a-work, in all and euery part,
Inuention, Iudgement, Nature, Vse and Art;
And hath at length (t'immortalize his name)
With weary Pencill perfected the same;
Forgets his pains; and, inly fill'd with glee,
Still on his Picture gazeth greedily.
First in a Mead he marks a frisking Lamb,
Which seems (though dumb) to bleat vnto the Dam:
Then hee obserues a Wood, seeming to waue:
Then th' hollow bosom of som hideous Caue:
Heere a High-way, and there a narrow Path:
Heer Pines, there Oaks torn by tempestuous wrath:
[Page 176]Heer from a craggy Rocks steep-hanging boss
(Thrumm'd half with Iuy, half with crisped Moss)
A siluer Brook in broken streams doth gush,
And head-long down the horned Cliff doth rush;
Then winding thence aboue and vnder ground,
A goodly Garden it be-moateth round:
There, on his knee (behinde a Box-Tree shrinking)
A skilfull Gunner with his left ey winking,
Leuels directly at an Oak hard by,
Whereon a hundred groaning Culuers cry;
Down falls the Cock, vp from the Touch-pan flies
A ruddy flash that in a moment dies,
Off goes the Gun, and through the Forrest rings
The thundering bullet, born on fiery wings.
Heer, on a Green, two Striplings, stripped light,
Run for a prize with labour som delight;
A dusty Cloud about their feet doth flowe
(Their feet, and head, and hands, and all doo goe)
They swelt in sweat; and yet the following Rout
Hastens their haste with many a cheerfull shout.
Heer, six pyed Oxen, vnder painfull yoak,
Rip vp the folds of Ceres Winter Cloak.
Heer, in the shade, a pretty Shepheardess
Driues softly home her bleating happiness:
Still as she goes, she spins; and as she spins,
A man would think som Sonnet she begins.
Heer runs a Riuer, there springs forth a Fountain,
Heer vails a Valley, there ascends a Mountain,
Heere smoks a Castle, there a City fumes,
And heer a Ship vpon th' Ocean looms.
In brief, so liuely, Art hath Nature shap't,
That in his Work the Work-mans self is rapt,
Vnable to look off; for, looking still.
The more he looks, the more he findes his skill:
So th' Architect (whose glorious Workmanships
God rested the seauēth Day, & contemplates, on his Works.
My cloudy Muse doth but too-much eclipse)
Hauing with pain-less pain, and care-less care,
In These Six Days, finisht the Table fair
[Page 177]And infinite of th' Vniuersall Ball,
Resteth This Day, t' admire himself in All:
And for a season eying nothing els,
Ioyes in his Work, sith all his Work excels
(If my dull, stutting frozen eloquence
May dare coniecture of his high Intents).
One while, hee sees how th' ample Sea doth take
A briefe recapi­tulation and cō ­sideration of the Works of God in the whole World and a learned Exposition of the words of Moses Gen. 1. 31 God saw that al that he had made, was per­fectly good.
The Liquid homage of each other Lake;
And how again the Heav'n sexhale, from it,
Aboundant vapours (for our benefit):
And yet it swels not for those tribute streams,
Nor yet it shrinks not for those boyling beams.
There see's he th' Ocean-peoples plentious broods;
And shifting Courses of the Ebbs and Floods;
Which with inconstant glaunces night and day
The lower Planets forked front doth sway.
Anon, vpon the flowry Plains he looks,
Laced about with snaking siluer brooks.
Now, he delights to see foure Brethrens strife
Cause the Worlds peace, and keep the World in life:
Anon, to see the whirling Sphears to roule
In rest-less Danses about either Pole;
Whereby, their Cressets (caried diuers waies)
Now visit vs, anon th' Antipodés.
It glads him now to note how th' Orb of Flame,
Which girts this Globe, doth not enfire the Frame:
How th' Airs glib-gliding firmless body bears
Such store of Fowls, Hail-storms, and Floods of tears:
How th' heauy Water, pronest to descond,
'Twixt Air and Earth is able to depend:
And how the dull Earth's prop-less massie Ball
Stands steddy still, iust in the midst of All.
Anon his nose is pleas'd with fragrant sents
Of Balm, and Basill, Myrrh, and Frankincense,
Thyme, Spiknard, Hysop, Sauory, Cinamon,
Pink, Violet, Rose, and Cloue-Carnation.
Anon, his ear 's charm'd with the melody
Of winged Consorts curious Harmony:
[Page 178]For, though each bird, guided with Art-less Art,
After his kinde, obserue a song a-part,
Yet the sole burden of their seuerall Layes
Is nothing but the Heav'n-Kings glorious praise.
In brief, th' Almightie's ey, and nose, and ear,
In all his works, doth nought see, sent, or hear,
But showes his greatnes, sauours of his grace,
And sounds his glory ouer euery place.
But aboue all, Mans many beautious features
Detain the Lord more then all other Creatures:
Man's his owne Minion; Man's his sacred Type,
And for Man's sake, he loues his Workmanship.
Not, that I mean to fain an idle God,
That lusks in Heav'n and neuer looks abroad,
That Crowns not Vertue, and corrects not Vice,
Blinde to our seruice, deaf vnto our sighs;
A Pagan Idol, void of powr and piety,
A sleeping Dormouse (rather) a dead Deïtie.
For though (alas!) somtimes I cannot shun,
But som profane thoughts in my minde will run,
I neuer think on God, but I conceiue
(Whence cordiall comforts Christians soules receiue)
Of the Proui­dence of God.
In God, Care, Counsail, Iustice, Mercy, Might,
To punish wrongs, and patronize the right:
Sith Man (but Image of th' Almightiest)
Without these gifts is not a Man, but Beast.
Fond Epicure, thou rather slept'st, thy self,
Epicurus and his followers, de­nying the same, consuted by sun­dry Reasons.
When thou didst forge thee such a sleep-sick Elf
For life's pure Fount: or vainly fraudulent
(Not shunning th' Atheïsts sin, but punishment)
Imaginedst a God so perfect-less,
In Works defying, whom thy words profess.
God is not sitting (like som Earthly State)
In proud Theátre, him to recreate
With curious Obiects▪ of his ears and eys,
(Without disposing of the Comoedies)
Content t'haue made (by his great Word) to moue
So many radiant Starrs as shine aboue;
[Page 179]And on each thing with his owne hand to draw
The sacred Text of an eternall Law:
Then, bosoming his hand, to let them slide,
With reans at will, whether that Law shall guide:
Like one that hauing lately forç't som Lake,
Simile.
Through som new Channell a new Course to take,
Takes no more care thence-forth to those effects,
But lets the Stream run where his Ditch directs.
The Lord our God wants neither Diligence,
1 Gods power, goodnes, & wis­dom, shine glori­ously in gouer­ning the world.
Nor Loue, nor Care, nor Powr, nor Prouidence.
He prov'd his Power, by Making All of nought:
His Diligence, by Ruling All he wrought:
His Care, by Ending it in six Daies space:
His Loue, in Building it for Adams Race:
His Prouidence (maugrè Times wastefull rages)
Preseruing it so many Yeers and Ages.
For, O! how often had this goodly Ball
By his own Greatnes caus'd his proper Fall?
How often had this World deceast, except
Gods mighty arms had it vpheld and kept?
2 In him and through him, all things liue and moue, and haue their Beeing.
God is the soule, the life, the strength, and sinnew,
That quickens, moues, and makes this Frame continue.
God's the main spring, that maketh euery way
All the small wheels of this great Engin play.
God's the strong Atlas, whose vnshrinking shoulders
Haue been and are Heav'ns heauie Globes vpholders.
God makes the Fountains run continually,
3. All things particularly are guided by his Ordinance and Power, working continually.
The daies and Nights succede incessantly:
The Seasons in their season he doth bring,
Summer and Autumn, Winter, and the Spring:
God makes th' Earth fruitfull, and he makes the Earth's
Large loignes not yet faint for so many births.
God makes the Sun and Stars, though wondrous hot,
That yet their Heat themselues inflameth not;
And that their sparkling beams preuent not so,
With wofull flames, the Last great Day of wo:
And that (as mov'd with a contrary wrest)
They turn at-once both North, and East, and West:
[Page 180]Heavn's constant course, his heast doth neuer break:
The floating Water waiteth at his beck:
Th' Air's at his Call, the Fire at his Command,
The Earth is His: and there is nothing fand
In all these Kingdoms, but is mov'd each howr
With secret touch of his eternall Powr.
God is the Iudge, who keeps continuall Sessions,
4 God is the Iudge of the World: hauing all Creatures visible and invi­sible, ready ar­med to execute his▪ Iudgements.
In every place to punish all Transgressions;
Who, void of Ignorance and Avarice,
Not won with Bribes, nor wrested with Deuice,
Sins Fear, or Fauour; hate, or partiall zeal;
Pronounceth Iudgements that are past appeal.
Himself is Iudge, Iury, and Witnes too,
Well knowing what we all think, speak, or doo:
He sounds the deepest of the doublest hart,
Searcheth the Reins, and fifteth euery part:
Hee sees all secrets, and his Lynx-like ey
(Yet it be thought) doth euery thought descry:
His Sentence giuen, neuer returns in vain;
For, all that Heavn, Earth, Aire, and Sea contain,
Serue him as Sergeants: and the winged Legions,
That soar aboue the bright Star-spangled Regions,
Are euer prest, his powrfull Ministers;
And (lastly) for his Executioners,
Sathan, assisted with the infernall band,
Stands ready still to finish his Command.
God (to be brief) is a good Artizan
That to his purpose aptly mannage can
Good or bad Tools; for, for iust punishment,
Yea, he makeeh euen the wicked this instruments to punish the wicked, and to proue his Chosen
He arms our sins vs sinners to torment;
And to preuent th' vngodly's plot, somtime
He makes his foes (will-nill-they) fight for him.
Yet true it is, that human things (seem) slide
Vnbridledly with so vncertain tide,
That in the Ocean of Euents so many,
Somtimes Gods Iudgements are scarce seen of any:
Rather, it seems that giddy Fortune guideth
Againe, against Epicures, who hold that all things happen in the World by Chance.
All that beneath the siluer Moon be [...]ideth.
[Page 181]Yet, art thou euer iust (O God) though I
Cannot (alas!) thy Iudgements depth descry:
My wit's too shallow for the least Designe
Of thy drad Counsails, sacred, and diuine:
And thy least-secret Secrets, I confess
To deep for vs, without thy Spirit's address.
Yet oftentimes, what seemeth (at first sight)
1 Gods Iudge­ments past our search: yet euer iust in thēselues
Vniust to vs, and past our reason quite,
Thou mak'st vs (Lord) acknowledge (in due season)
To haue been don with equity and reason.
So, suffering th' Hebrew Tribes to sell their brother,
Gen 45. ver. 6. 7 and Gen. 50. v [...]. 20.
Thy eternall Iustice thou didst seem to smother.
But Ioseph (when, through such rare hap, it chanced
Him of a slaue to be so high aduanced,
To rule the Land where Nilus fertill flood
Dry Heav'ns defects endeuours to make good)
Learn'd, that his enuious brethrens treacherous drift,
Him to the Stern of Memphian State had lift,
That he might there prouide Relief and Room
For Abraham's Seed, against (then) time to com.
When thy strong arm, which plagues the Reprobate,
2. In executing his iudgements on the rebellious he sheweth mer­cie on his Ser­uants.
The World and Sodom did exterminate,
With flood and flame: because there liued then
Som small remains of good and righteous men,
Thou seem'dst vniust: but when thou sauedst L [...]t
From Fire, from Water Noah and his Boat,
'Twas plainly seen, thy Iustice stands propstious
To th' Innocent and smiteth but the vicious.
He wilfull winks against the shining Sun,
5 He sheweth his power in the cō ­fusion of the Mightiest: and in the deliue­rance of his Church.
That see's not Pharao, as a mean begun
Forth' Hebrews good; and that his hardned hart,
Smoothed the passage for their soon-depart:
To th' end the Lord, when Tyrants will not yeeld,
Might for his Glory finde the larger field.
Who sees not also, that th' vniust Decree
Of a proud Iudge, and Iudas treachery,
The Peoples fury, and the Prelats gall,
Serv'd all as organs to repair the Fall
[Page 182]Of Edens old Prince, whose luxurious pride
Made on his seed his sin for euer slide?
4 He turneth the malice of Sathan and his instru­ments, to his own glory, and the good of his: of whom he hath alwaies speciall care.
Th' Almighties Care doth diuersly disperse
Ore all the parts of all this Vniuerse:
But more precisely, his wide wings protect
The race of Adam, chiefly his Elect.
For ay he watcheth for his Children choice
That lift to him their hearts, their hands, and voice:
For them, he built th' ay-turning Heav'ns Theater;
For them, he made the Fire, Aire, Earth, and Water:
He counts their hairs, their steps he measureth,
Handles their hands, and speaketh with their breath;
Dwels in their hearts and plants his Regiments
Of watchfull Angels round about their Tents.
A remedy for temptation of the godly, seeing the prosperity of the wicked, and the afflictions of Gods children.
But heer, what hear I? Faith-less, God-less men,
I meruail not, that you impugn my pen:
But (O!) it grieues me, and I am amaz'd,
That those, whose faith, like glistering Stars, hath blaz'd
Even in our darkest nights, should so obiect
Against a doctrin of so sweet effect;
Because (alas!) with weeping eyes they see
Th' vngodly-most in most Prosperity,
Clothed in Purple, crown'd with Diadems,
Handling bright Scepters hoording Gold and Gems,
Croucht-to, and courted with all kinde affection,
As priuiledged by the Heav'ns protection;
So that, their goods, their honours their delights
Excell their hopes, exceed their appetites:
And (opposite) the godly (in the storms
Of this Worlds Sea) tost in continuall harms:
In Earth, less rest then Euripus they finde,
Gods heauy Rods still hanging them behinde:
Them, shame, and blame, trouble and loss pursues;
As shadows bodies, and as night the deawes.
Peace, peace, deer friends: I hope to cancel quite
The same cōfor­ted in diuers sorts: with apt Similitudes, cō ­firming the rea­son & declaring the right end of God; diuers dea ling with men.
This profane thought from your vnsettled Sp'rit.
Know then, that God (to th' end he be not thought
A powr-less Iudge) heer plagueth many a fault;
[Page 183]And many a fault leaues heer vnpunished,
That men may also his last iudgement dread.
On th' other side, note that the Crosse becoms
A Ladder leading to Heav'ns glorious rooms:
A Royall Path, the Heav'nly Milken way,
Which doth the Saints to Ioues high Court convay.
O! see you not, how that a Father graue,
Curbing his Son much shorter then his Slaue,
Doth th' one but rare, the other rife reproue,
Th' one but for lucre, th' other all for loue?
As skilfull Quirry, that commands the Stable
Of som great Prince, or Person honourable,
Giues oftest to that Horse the teaching spur,
Which he findes fittest for the vse of War.
A painfull School-master, that hath in hand
To institute the flowr of all a Land,
Giues longest Lessons vnto those, where Heav'n
The ablest wits and aptest wills hath giv'n.
And a wise Chieftain, neuer trusts the waight
Of th' execution of a braue Exploit,
But vnto those whom most he honoureth,
For often proof of their firm force and faith:
Such sends he first t' assault his eager foes;
Such 'gainst the Canon on a Breach bestowes;
Such he commands naked to scale a Fort,
And with small number to re-gain a Port.
God beats his Deer, from birth to buriall,
To make them know him, and their pride appall,
Affliction profi­table to the Faithfull.
To draw deuout sighes from calamitie,
And by the touch to try their Constancy,
T' awake their sloath, their minds to exercise
To trauail cheer'ly for th' immortall Prize.
A good Physician, that Arts excellence
Can help with practice and experience,
They are neces­sary to cure the diseases of the soule.
Applies discreetly all his Recipés,
Vnto the nature of each fell-disease;
Curing this Patient with a bitter Potion.
That, with strict Diet, th' other with a Lotion,
[Page 184]And sometime cutteth off a leg or arm,
So (sharply sweet) to saue the whole from harm:
Euen so the Lord according to th' ill humours
That vex his most-Saints with soule-tainting tumours)
Sends somtimes Exile, somtimes lingring Languor,
Somtimes Dishonour, somtimes pining Hunger,
Somtime long Law-suits, somtime Loss of good,
Somtimes a Childes death, or a Widdow-hood:
But ay he holdeth, for the good of His,
In one hand Rods; in th' other Remedies.
The Souldier, slugging long at home in Peace,
Without them Gods children decline.
His wonted courage quickly doth decrease:
The rust doth fret the blade hangd vp at rest:
The Moath doth eate the garment in the Chest:
The standing Water stinks with putrefaction:
And Vertue hath no Vertue but in action.
All that is fairest in the World, we finde
Subiect to trauail. So, with storms and winde
Th' Air still is tost: the Fire and Water tend,
This, still to mount; that, euer to descend:
The spirit is spright-less if it want discourse,
Heavn's no more Heav'n if it once cease his Course.
The valiant Knight is known by many scars:
The Crosse an honorable mark.
But he that steals-home, wound-less, from the Wars,
Is held a Coward, void of Valours proof,
That for Deaths fear, hath fled, or fought a-loof.
The Lord therfore, to giue Humanitie
Rare presidents of daunt-less Constancy,
God will be glo­rified in the con­stant sufferings of his Seruants.
And crown his deer Sons with victorious Laurels
Won from a thousand foes in glorious quarrels;
Pours downe more euils on their hap-less head,
Then yerst Pandora's odious Box did shead;
Yet strengthning still their hearts with such a Plaister,
That though the Flesh stoop, still the Spirit is Maister.
But, wrongly I these euils Euill call:
There is nothing euill in Mans life, but sinne: & vertue is best perceiued in the proofe.
Sole Vice is ill; sole Vertue good: and all,
Besides the same, is selfly, simply, had
And held indifferent, neither good nor bad.
[Page 185]Let enuious Fortune all her forces wage
Against a constant Man, her fellest rage
Can never change his godly resolution,
Though Heav'n it self should threaten his confusion.
A constant man is like the Sea, whose brest
True constantie liuely represen­ted by two com­parisons.
Lyes ever open vnto every guest;
Yet all the Waters that she drinks, can not
Make her to change her qualities a iot:
Or, like a good sound stomack not soon casting
For a light surfet or a small dis-tasting;
But, that, vntroubled, can incontinent
Convert all meats to perfect nourishment.
Though then, the Lords deep Wisedom, to this day,
God, Resting on the seuenth Day, and blessing it: teacheth vs that in resting one day of the Week, we should prin­cipally imploy it in his seruice: That we should cease from our worldly and wicked workes, to giue place to his grace, and to suffer his Spirit to worke in vs by the Instrument of his holy word.
Work in the Worlds vncertain-certain Sway:
Yet must we credit that his hand compos'd
All in six Dayes, and that He then Repos'd;
By his example, giving vs behest,
On the Seaventh Day for evermore to Rest.
For, God remembred that he made not Man
Of Stone, or Steel, or Brass Corinthian:
But lodg'd our soule in a frail earthen Mass,
Thinner then Water, britteler then Glass:
He knowes our life is by nought sooner spent,
Then having still our mindes and bodies bent.
A Field, left lay for som fewe Years, will yield
The richer Crop, when it again is till'd:
A River stopped by a sluce a space,
Runs (after) rougher and a swifter pase:
A Bowe, a while vnbent, will after cast
His shafts the farther, and them fix more fast:
A Souldier, that a season still hath layn,
Coms with more fury to the Field again:
Even so, this Body, when (to gather breath)
One Day in Seav'n at Rest it soiourneth;
It re-collects his Powrs, and with more cheer,
Falls the next morrow to his first Career.
But, the chief End, this Precept aims at, is
To quench in vs the coals of Covetize;
[Page 186]That while we rest from all profaner Arts,
Gods Spirit may work in our retired hearts:
That wee, down-treading earthly cogitations,
May mount our thoughts to heav'nly meditations:
Following good Archers guise, who shut one ey,
Simile.
That they the better may their mark espy.
For, by th' Almighty, this great Holy-day
Was not ordain'd to daunce, and mask, and play,
Against profa­ners of the Sa­baoth.
To slugg in sloath, and languish in delights,
And loose the Reans to raging appetites:
To turn Gods Feasts to filthy Lupercals,
To frantike Orgies, and fond Saturnals:
To dazle eys with Prides vain-glorious splendor,
To serue strange Gods, or our Ambition tender;
As th' irreligion of loose Times hath since
Chang'd the Prime-Churches chaster innocence.
We ought on the Lords Day, attēd his seruice & me ditate on the e­uerlasting Rest, & on the workes of God.
God would, that men should in a certain place
This Day assemble as before his face,
Lending an humble and attentiue ear
To learn his great Name's deer-drad Loving-Fear:
He would that there the faithfull Pastor should
The Scriptures marrow from the bones vnfold,
That we might touch with fingers (as it were)
The sacred secrets that are hidden there.
For, though the reading of those holy lines
In private Houses som-what move our mindes;
Doubtlesse, the Doctrine preacht doth deeper pearce,
Proves more effectuall, and more waight it bears.
The practise of the faithfull, in all reformed Churches, on the Sabaoth Day.
He would, that there in holy Psalmes we sing
Shrill prayse and thanks to our immortall King,
For all the liberall bounties he bestow'th
On vs and ours, in soule and body both:
He would, that there we should confess his Christ
Our onely Saviour, Prophet, Prince, and Priest;
Solemnizing (with sober preparation)
His blessed Seals of Reconciliation:
And, in his Name, beg boldly what we need
(After his will) and be assur'd to speed;
[Page 187]Sith in th' Exchequer of his Clemency,
All goods of Fortune, Soule, and Body lie.
He would, this Sabbaoth should a figure be
The Corporall Rest, a figure of the spirituall.
Of the blest Sabbaoth of Eternity.
But th' one (as Legall) heeds but outward things;
Th' other, to Rest both Soule and body brings:
Th' one but a Day endures; the others Date
Eternity shall not exterminate:
Shadows the one th' other doth Truth include:
This stands in freedom, that in seruitude:
With cloudy cares th' one's muffled vp som-whiles;
The others face is full of pleasing smiles:
For, never grief, nor fear of any Fit
Of the least care, shall dare come neer to it.
'Tis the grand Iubilé, the Feast of Feasts,
Sabbaoth of Sabbaoths, end-less Rest of Rests;
Which, with the Prophets, and Apostles zealous,
The constant Martyrs, and our Christian fellows,
Gods faithfull Seruants, and his chosen Sheep,
In Heav'n we hope (within short time) to keep.
He would this Day, our soule (sequestered
Meditation of the workes of God, especially on the day of Rest.
From busie thoughts of worldly cares) should read,
In Heav'ns bow'd Arches, and the Elements,
His bound-less Bounty, Powr and Providence;
That every part may (as a Master) teach
Th' illiterat, Rules past a vulgar reach.
Com (Reader) sit, com sit thee down by mee;
Exhortation to this Meditati [...], with the vse and profit thereof.
Think with my thoughts, and see what I doo see:
Hear this dumb Doctor, study in this Book,
Where day and night thou mai'st at pleasure look,
And therby learn vprightly how to liue:
For, every part doth speciall Lessons giue,
Even from the gilt studs of the Firmament,
To the base Centre of our Element.
Seest thou those Stars we (wrongly) Wandring call,
The Planets teach vs to fol­low the will of God.
Though diuers wayes they daunce about this Ball,
Yet ever more their manifold Career
Follows the Course of the First Mouing Sphear?
[Page 188]This teacheth thee, that though thine own Desires
Be opposit to what Heav'ns will requires,
Thou must still striue to follow (all thy dayes)
God (the first Mover) in his holy wayes.
The Moon tea­cheth that we haue not any thing that we haue not recei­ued.
Vain puff of winde, whom vaunting pride bewitches,
For Bodies beauties, or Mindes (richer) Riches;
The Moon, whose splendor from her Brother springs,
May by Example make thee vail thy wings:
For thou, no less then the pale Queen of Nights,
Borrow'st all goodnes from the Prince of Lights.
Wilt thou, from Orb to Orb, to th' Earth descend?
The Elementary fire and ours, where our hap­pinesse, and where our mise­ry consists.
Behold the Fire which God did round extend:
As neer to Heav'n the same is cleer and pure;
Ours heer belowe, sad, smoaky, and obscure:
So, while thy Soule doth with the Heav'ns converse,
It's sure and safe from every thought perverse;
And though thou won heer in this world of sinn,
Thou art as happy as Heav'ns Angells been:
But, if thy minde be alwayes fixed all
On the foul dunghill of this darksom vale,
It will partake in the contagious smells
Of th' vnclean house wherin it droops and dwells.
If enuious Fortune be thy bitter foe,
The Aire, that afflictions are profitable for vs.
And day and night do toss thee to and fro;
Remember, th' Aire co [...]reth soon, except
With sundry Windes it be o [...]t swing'd and swept.
The Sea, which somtimes down to Hell is driv'n,
The Sea, that we ought for no re­spect to trans­gresse the Law of God.
And somtimes heaues afroathy Mount to Heav'n,
Yet never breaks the bounds of her precinct,
Wherin the Lord her boisterous arms hath linkt;
Instructeth thee, that neither Tyrants rage,
Ambition's windes, nor golden vassallage
Of Auarice, nor any love, nor fear,
From Gods Command should make thee shrink a hair.
The Earth, which never all at once doth moue,
The Earth, that we should be constant.
Though her rich Orb received, from aboue,
No firmer base her burthen to sustent,
Then slippery props of softest Element;
[Page 189]By her example doth propose to thee
A needfull Lesson of true Constancy.
The Eares of Corne, that we should be hum­ble.
Nay, there is nought in our deer Mother found,
But Pythily som Vertue doth propound.
O! let the Noble, Wise, Rich, Valiant,
Be as the base, poore, faint, and ignorant;
And, looking on the fields, when Autumn shears,
There let them learn among the bearded ears;
Which still the fuller of the flowery grain,
Bow down the more their humble heads again;
And ay the lighter and the less their store,
They lift aloft their Chaffie Crests the more.
Let her, that (bound-less in her wanton wishes)
The Palme-Tree, that we should be chast.
Dares spot the Spouse-bed with vnlawfull kisses,
Blush (at the least) at Palm-Trees loyalty,
Which never bears, vnless her Male be by.
Thou, thou that prançest after Honors prize
Cinamon tea­cheth Diligence and Prudence.
(While by the way thy strength and stomach dies)
Remember, Honor is like Cinamon
Which Nature mounds with many a million
Of thorny pricks; that none may danger-les
Approach the Plant, much less the Fruit possess.
Canst thou the secret Sympathy behold
The Sunne and the Marigold, direct vs vnto Christ, the Sun of Righteousnes.
Betwixt the bright Sun and the Marigold,
And not consider, that we must no less
Follow in life the Sun of Righteousness?
O Earth! the Treasures of thy hollow brest
Are no less fruitfull Teachers then the rest.
For, as the Lime doth break and burn in Water,
And swell, and smoak, crackle, and skip, and scatter,
Lyme in water, teacheth vsto shew our vertue in extremitie.
Waking that Fire, whose dull heat sleeping was
Vnder the cold Crust of a Chalky Mass:
He that (to march amid the Christian Hoast)
Yeelds his hearts kingdom to the holy-Ghost;
And, for braue Seruice vnder Christ his Banner,
Looks to be crown'd with his Chief Champions honor,
Must in Affliction wake his zeal, which oft
In Calmer times sleeps too-securely soft.
And, opposit, as the rich Diamond
The Diamond exhorteth to Constancy.
The Fire and Steel doth stoutly both withstand:
So the true Christian should, till life expire,
Contemn proud Tyrants raging Sword and Fire.
Or, if fell Rigour with som ruth-les smart
A little shake the sinnews of his heart,
He must be like the richest Minerall,
Gold in the fur­nace, to magna­nimity, & puri­ty.
Whose Ingots bow, but never break at all;
Nor in the Furnace suffer any loss
Of waight, but Lees; not of the Gold, but dross.
The pretious Stone that bears the Rain-bowes name,
The stone Iris, to edification of our Neighbour.
Receiues the bright face of Sols burnisht flame;
And by reflection, after, it displaies
On the next obiect all those pointed rayes:
So whoso hath from the Empyreall Pole,
Within the centre of his happy Soule
Receiv'd som splendor of the beams divine,
Must to his Neighbour make the same to shine;
Not burying Talents which our God hath giv'n
To be imploy'd in a rich trade for Heav'n,
That in his Church he may receiue his Gold,
With thirty, sixty, and an hundred fold.
As th' Iron, toucht by th' Adamant's effect,
The needle in the Mariners compasse shew­eth that we shuld incessantly looke on Christ our onely load starre.
To the North Pole doth ever point direct:
So the Soule, toucht once by the secret powr
Of a true liuely Faith, looks every howr
To the bright Lamp which serues for Cynosure
To all that sail vpon the Sea obscure.
These presidents, from liue-les things collected,
Lessons from li­uing Creatures.
Breed good effects in spirits well affected;
But lessons, taken from the things that liue,
A liuelier touch vnto all sorts doo giue.
Vp, vp ye Princes: Prince and People, rise,
Bees, to subiects and to Princes.
And run to School among the Hony-Flies:
There shall you learn, that an eternall law
Subiects the Subiect vnder Princes aw:
There shall you learn, that a courageous King,
To vex his humble Vassals hath no sting.
The Persian Prince, that princely did conclude
The Marlin, to the vnthankeful
So severe laws against Ingratitude,
Knew that the Marlin, hauing kept her warm
With aliue Lark, remits it without harm;
And least her frend-bird she should after slay,
She takes her flight a quite contrary way.
Fathers, if you desire, your Children sage
The Eagle, so Parents.
Should by their Blessings bless your crooked age;
Train them betimes vnto true Vertues Lore,
By Aw, Instruction, and Example (more):
So the old Eagle flutters in and out,
To teach his yong to follow him aboue.
If his example cannot timely bring
His backward birds to vse their feeble wing,
He leaues them then som dayes vnfed, whereby
Sharp hunger may at length constiain them fly.
If that prevail not, then he beats them, both
With beak and wings to stir their fearfull sloath.
You, that to haste your hated Spouses end,
The Turtle, to Wedlock-brea­kers.
Black deadly poyson in his dish doo blend;
O! can ye see with vn-relenting eyes
The Turtle-Doue? sith, when her husband dies,
Dies all herioy: for, never loues she more;
But on dry bowghs doth her dead Spouse deplore.
Thou, whom the freedom of a foolish tongue
Wilde geese, to B [...]bblers.
Brings oft in danger for thy neighbours wrong;
Discreetly set a hatch before the door:
As the wise Wilde-geese, when they over-soar
Cilician Mounts, within their bills doo bear
A pebble-stone both day and night; for fear
Least rauenous Eagles of the North descry
Their Armies passage, by their cackling Cry.
O! Mothers, can you? can you (O vnkinde!)
Diuers Fishes, to vnnaturall Mo­thers, that will [...] not nour se their owne Children.
Deny your Babes your breasts? and call to minde
That many Fishes, many times are fain
Receiue their seed into their wombs again
( Lucinas sad throes, for the self-same birth,
Enduring oft, it often bringing forth)?
O! why embrace not we with Charity
Dolphins, to the cruell.
The living, and the dead with Piety?
Giving these succour, sepulture to those:
Even as the Dolphins doo themselues expose,
For their lyue fellows, and beneath the Waues
Cover their dead-ones vnder sandy Graues.
You Children, whom (past hope) the Heav'ns benignity
The wild Kid, to children.
Hath heapt with wealth, and heaved-vp to dignity,
Doo not forget your Parents: but behold
Th' officious Kids, who (when, their Parents old,
With heavy Gyues, Elds trembling fever stops
And fetters-fast vpon the Mountain-tops)
As carefull purveyours, bring them home to brouz
The tendrest tops of all the slenderest boughs;
And sip (self-thirst-les) of the Riuers brink,
Which in their mouths they bring them home to drink.
For House-hold Rules, read not the learned Writs
Of the Stagirian (glory of good wits):
The Spiders, to Man and Wife.
Nor his, whom, for his honny-steeped stile,
They Proverbiz'd the Attik Muse yer-while:
Sith th' onely Spider teacheth euery one,
The Husbands and the Huswifes function.
For, for their food, the valiant Male doth roam;
The cunning Female tends her work at home:
Out of her bowels, wooll and yarn she spitteth,
And all that, else her learned labour fitteth:
Her waight's the spindle that doth twist the twine,
Which her small fingers draw so ev'n and fine.
Still at the Centre she her warp begins,
Then round (at length) her little threds she pins,
And equall distance to their compass leaues:
Then neat and nimbly her new web she weaues,
With her fine shuttle circularly drawn,
Through all the circuit of her open lawn;
Open, least else th' vngentle Windes should tear
Her cipres Tent (weaker then any hair)
And that the foolish Fly migh easter get
Within the meshes of her curious Net:
[Page 193]Which he no sooner doth begin to shake,
But streight the Male doth to the Centre make,
That he may conquer more securely there
The humming Creature, hampred in his snare.
You Kings, that beare the sword of iust Hostilitie,
The Lion, to Kings.
Pursue the Proud, and pardon true Humilitie;
Like noble Lions that do neuer showe
Their strength and stomach on a yeelding Foe,
But rather through the stoutest throngs doo forrage,
'Mid thousands Deaths to shew their daunt-les courage.
Thou sluggard (if thou list to learn thy part)
The Emmet and Hedge-hog, to the sloathfull.
Goe learn the Emmets, and the Vrchins Art;
In Summer th' one, in Autumn th' other takes
The Seasons fruits, and thence prouision makes,
Each in his Lodging laying vp a hoord
Against cold Winter, which doth nought affoord.
But (Reader) We resemble one that windes,
Man may finde in himself excel­lent instruction.
From Saba, Bandan, and the wealthy Indes
(Through threatning Seas, and dangers manifold)
To seek far-off for Incense, Spice, and Gold;
Sith we, not loosing from our proper Strand,
Finde all wherein a happy life doth stand;
And our owne Bodies self-contained motions,
Giue the most gross a hundred goodly Notions.
You Princes, Pastors, and ye Chiefs of War,
The head teach­eth all persons in authoritie.
Do not your Laws, Sermons, and Orders mar;
Least your examples banefull leaprosies
Infect your Subiects, Flocks, and Companies;
Beware, your euill make not others like;
For, no part's sound if once the Head be sick.
You Peers, O doo not through self-partiall zeal,
The Eys instruct Princes, and Noble-men.
With light-brain'd Counsails vex your Common-weal:
But, as both Eys doo but One thing behold,
Let each his Countries common good vp-hold.
You, that for Others trauail day and night,
With much-much labour, and small benefite,
The teeth, such as trauaile for others.
Behold the Teeth, which Toule-free grinde the food,
From whence themselues doo reap more greef then good.
Euen as the Hart hath not a Moments rest,
The Hart, the Ministers of the Word.
But night and day moues in our panting brest,
That by his beating it may still impart
The liuely spirits about to euery part:
So those, to whome God doth his Flock betake,
Ought alwaies study, alwaies work, and wake,
To breathe (by Doctrin and good Conuersation)
The quickning spirit into their Congregation.
And as the Stomach, from the holesom food
The stomacke, the same.
Diuides the grosser part (which is not good)
They ought from false the truth to separate,
Error from Faith, and Cockle from the Wheat,
To make the best receiv'd for nourishment,
The bad cast forth as filthy excrement.
The Hands, all Christians, to Charitie.
If Bat or Blade doo threaten sodain harm
To belly, brest, or leg, or head, or arm,,
With dread-less dread the hand doth ward the blowe,
Taking her self her brethrens bleeding woe:
Then, mid the shock of sacrilegious Arms
That fill the world with blood and boistrous storms,
Shall we not lendour helping hands to others,
Whom Faith hath made more neer and deer then Brothers?
Nor can I see, where vnderneath the Sky
The whole body the whole society of mankind that euery one ought to stand in his owne vocation.
A man may finde a iuster Policy,
Or truer Image of a calme Estate
Exempt from Faction, Discord, and Debate,
Then in th' harmonious Order that maintains
Our Bodies life, through Members mutual pains▪
Where, one no sooner feels the least offence,
But all the rest haue of the same a sense.
The Foot striues not to smell, the Nose to walk,
The Tongue to combat, nor the Hand to talk:
But, without troubling of their Common-weal
With mutinies, they (voluntary) deal
Each in his Office and Heav'n-pointed place,
Bee't vile or honest, honoured or base,
But, soft my Muse: what? wilt thou re-repeat
The Little-Worlds admired Modulet?
[Page 195]If twice or thrice one and the same we bring,
'Tis teadious; how euer swect we sing.
Ther-fore a-shoar: Mates, let our Anchor fall:
Heer blowes no Winde: heer are we Welcom all.
Besides, consider and conceiue (I pray)
W'haue row'd sufficient, for a Sabbath Day.
THE END OF THE FIRST WEEK.
Du BARTAS His SECOND …

Du BARTAS His SECOND VVEEKE, Disposed (After the proportion of his First) Into SEAVEN DAYES: (viz.)

  • THE 1. ADAM,
  • THE 2. NOAH,
  • THE 3. ABRAHAM,
  • THE 4. DAVID.
  • THE 5. ZEDECHIAS,
  • THE 6. MESSIAS,
  • THE 7. Th' ETERNAL SABBATH.

But, of the three last, Death (preuenting Our Noble Poet) hath depriued vs.

Acceptam refero.

TO THE MOST ROYAL PATTERN AND PATRON OF LEARNING AND RELIGION, THE HIGH AND MIGHTIE PRINCE, IAMES

(BY THE GRACE OF GOD)

KING OF GREAT BRITAINE, FRANCE, & IRELAND: TR VE DEFENDER OF THE TR VE, ANTIENT, CHRISTIAN, CATHOLIKE, AND APOSTOLIKE FAITH &c.

1. SONNET.
From ZEAL- Land, sayling▪ with the Winde of Loue,
In the Bark LABOVR, stirr'd by Theorems,
Laden with [...]ope and with DESIRE t'approve,
Bound for Cape- Comfort in the Ile of IHMMES;
In such a Mist, wee fell vpon the Coast,
That sodainly vpon the Rock Neglect
(Vnhappily) our Ship and Goods we lost,
Even in a Place that we did least suspect.
So, Cast▪ away (my LIEGE) and quight vn-don,
We Orphan-remnants of a wofefull Wrack,
Heer cast a-shore to Thee for succour run:
O Pittie vs, for our deer Parent's sake,
Who Honour'd Thee, both in his Life and Death,
And to thy guard his POSTHVMES did bequeath.
2. SONNET.
These glorious WORKS, and gratefull Monuments
Built by Du BARTAS, on the [...]yrenaeis
(Your Royall Vertues to immortalize,
And magnifie your rich Munificence)
Haue prov'd so Charge-full to Trans-port from thence
That our smal Art's-st [...]ck hardly could suffize,
To vnder go so great an Enterprize;
But is even beggerd with th' vn-cast Expense.
So that, except our Muses SOVERAIN
With gracious Eye regard her spent Estate;
And, with a hand of Princely Fauour, daign
To stay her fall (before it be too-late)
She needs must fail: as (lending Light about)
Self-spending Lamps, for lack of Oyl, go-out.
Voy (Sire) Saluste.

To the Right Excellent, and most hopefull young Prince, HENRY, Prince of WALES.

ANAGR.
  • Henricus Stuartus.
  • Hic strenuus ratus.

THE TROPHEIS, & MAGNIFICENCE.

THe gratious Welcome You vouchsaf't yer-while
To my grave PIBRAC (though but meanly clad)
Makes BARTAS (now, no Stranger in this Isle)
More bold to come (though suted even as clad)
To kiss Your HIGHNES Hand; and, with Your Smile,
To Crown His Haps, and Our faint Hopes to glad
(Whose weary longings languish in our Stile:
For, in our Wants, our very Songs be sad).
Hee brings, for Present to so great a PRINCE,
A Princely GLASSE, made first for SALOMON:
The fitter therfore for your EXCELLENCE
As oft to look-in, as You look vpon.
Som Glasses flatter: other-som deform:
This, ay, presents You a true PRINCE'S Form.
Voy Sire Saluste.

To the right Honorable, the Lord High Chancellor of England.

ANAGR.
  • Thomas Egerton.
  • 1. Gestat Honorem.
  • 2. Age mett Honors.
  • 3. Honors mett Age.
THE LAWE.
MOst humbly
Shewes to thy Great Worthiness,
Graue MODERATOR of our Britain LAWES)
The Muses Abiect (subiect of Distress)
How, long Wrong-vext, in a not - Need - less Cause,
Not at the Kings-Bench, but the Pennie-less)
By one, I Want (the son of Simpleness);
Vnable, more to greaze the scraping paws
Of his Attorney Shift, or oyl the iaw
Of his (dear) Counsell, Serieant Pensiueness;
He is compell'd, in forma pauperis,
To Plead, himself (and shew his (little) LAW)
In the free Court of thy milde Courtesies.
Please it thee therefore an Iniunction grant,
To stay the Suit between himself and Want.
I. S.
For Thee and Thine, for ay,
So He and His shall pray.

To the Right Honourable▪ the Earle of Salisburie, Lord high Threasurer of England.

ANAGRAMMATA.
Robertus Cecilius. Robertus Cecillius.
Cui ortus celebris: (vel) Cerebro sic Tullius.
Robertus Comes Sari. Carus est Orbisermo.
THE CAPTAINES.
ARms yield to Arts: the Trumpet to the Tongue:
Stout Aiax Prize the wise Vlysses wann▪
It will not seem then▪ that we haue mis-sung,
To sing of CAPTAINS to a Counsail -man:
Sith, without Counsail, Courage is but rage;
Rude in Resolving, rash in Acting it:
In which respect, those of the Antique Age
Fain PALLAS Goddess both of Warr and Wit:
Therfore, to Thee, whose Wit so much hath sted
(In Warr and Peace) our Princes and our STATE:
To Thee (whose Vertue hath now Triumphed
Of cause-les Enuy, and misgrounded Hate:
To Thee ( Witt's- WORTHIE) had it not bin wrong,
Not to haue sounded my War- WORTHIE's Song?
I. S.

To the right Honorable, the Earl of Dorset (late) Lord High Threasurer of England.

ANAGR.
  • Sacvilus Comes Dorsetius.
  • Vas lucis Esto decor Musis.
  • Sacris Musis celo deuotus.
THE SCHISME.
NOt with-out Error, and apparant Wrong
To Thee, the Muses, and my Self (the most)
Could I omit, amid this Noble Hoast
Of learned Friends to Learning, and our Song,
To muster Thee; Thee, that hast lov'd so long
The sacred Sisters, and (sad-sweetly most)
Thy Self hast sung (vnder a fayned Ghost)
The tragik Falls of our Ambitious Throng.
Thearfore, in honour of Thy younger Art,
And of the Muses, honour'd by the same,
And to express my Thankfull thoughts (in part)
This Tract I sacre vnto SACKVIL's Name,
No less renown'd for Numbers of Thine Owne,
Than for thy love to Other's Labours show'n.
I. S.

To the Right Honourable, the Earle of Pembroke.

ANAGR.
  • William Harbert.
  • With liberall arm.
THE DECAY.
FAr bee The Title of this tragik page
From Thee (rare Module of Heröik mindes)
Whose noble Bounty all the Muses bindes
To honour Thee; but mine doth most engage:
And yet, to Thee, and to Thy Patronage
(For present lack of other gratefull signes)
Needs must I Offer these DECAY ed lines
(Lyned with Horrors of ISAACIAN rage):
Whear-in, to keep decorum with my Theam,
And with my Fortunes ( ruin'd euery-way)
My Care-clogd Muse (still caried down the stream)
In singing Other's, sighes her Own DECAY
In stile, in state, in hap, in hope, in all:
For, Vines, vnpropped, on the ground do craul.
I. S.

To the Right Honorable, the Earle of Essex, Earle Marshall of England, &c.

*⁎*

EDEN.
GReat Strong-bowe's heir, no self-cōceipt doth cause
Mine humble wings aspire to you, vnknowne:
But, knowing this, that your renown alone
(As th' Adamant, and as the Amber drawes:
That, hardest steel; this, easie-yeelding strawes)
Atterrs the stubborn, and attracts the prone:
I haue presum'd (O Honors Paragon!)
To graue your name (which all Iberia awes)
Heer on the fore-front of this little Pile;
T'inuite the vertuous to a sacred feast,
And chase-away the vicious and the vile;
Or stop their lothsom enuious tongues (at least).
If I haue err'd, let my submission scuse:
And daign to grace my yet vngraced Muse.
I. S.

To the same Right Honora­ble Earle of Essex, &c.

*⁎*

THE ARK.
FRom th' ARK of Hope, still tossed in distresse
on th' angry Deluge of disastrous plight,
My silly Doue, heer takès her Second slight,
To view (great Lord) thy World of worthiness:
Vouchsafe (rare Plant of perfect Noblenes)
Som branch of safety, whereon she may light;
Som Oliue leaf, that may presage me right
A safe escape from this wet wildernes.
So, when the Floud of my deep Cares shall fall,
And I be landed on sweet Comfort's Hill;
First, my pure thoughts to Heav'n present I shall:
Then, on thy fauours meditating still▪
My Zealous Muse shall daily striue to frame
Som fairer Tropheis to thy glorious Name.
I. S.

To the Right Honourable Charles Lord Mount-ioy, Earl of Devonshire.

*⁎*

THE IMPOSTTVRE.
Though in thy Brook (great Charles) ther swim a Sw [...]
Whose happy, sweet, immortall tunes can raise
The vertuous Greatnes of thy Noble praise
To higher notes, than my faint numbers can:
Yet, while thy Lucan doth in silence scan
Vnto himself new-meditated laies,
To finish vp his sad Pharsalian fraies;
Lend ear to BARTAS (now our Country-man).
For, though his English be not yet so good
(As French-men hardly do our tongue attain)
He h [...]peth yet to be well vnderstood;
The rather, if you (worthy Lord) shall daign
His bashfulnes a little to aduance,
With the milde fauours of your countenance.
I. S.

To the same Right Honora­ble Earle of Deuonshire, &c.

*⁎*

THE HANDY-CRAFTS.
THe Mome- free Passage, that my Muse hath found
Vnder Safe-Conduct of thy Patronage,
Through carping Censures of this curious Age
(Where high conceited happy wits abound)
Makes her presume ( O Mountioy, most renownd!)
To bear again, in her re-Pilgrimage,
The noble Pasport of thy Tutelage,
To salue her still from sullen Enuies wound.
Let thy (true-Eagle) Sun-beholding Eyes
Glance on our Glowe-worm's scarce discerned spark:
And while Witt's towring Falcons touch the skies,
Obserue a while our tender-imped Lark.
Such sparks may flame, & such light Larks may flie
A higher pitch, than drosse-full Vanity.
I. S.

To the same Right Honora­ble Earle of Deuonshire, &c.

*⁎*

THE COLONIES.
REnowned Scipio, though thine Ennius
Still merit best the best of thy regard:
Though (worthily) his Trumpet be pre-ferr'd
To sound the Triumphs thou hast wonn for vs;
Yet, sith one Penn, how-euer plentious
(Were it the Mantuan or Meonian Bard)
Suffizeth not to giue Fame's full Reward
To thy great Deeds, admir'd and glorious:
Though Hee, thy Homer be; Thou, his Achilles;
Both by each other Happy: Thou (heer-in)
T'haue such a Trump as his immortall Quill-is;
Hee such a Theam as thy High Vertues been:
It shall (Great Worthie) no Dis-Honour be
That (English) Bartas hath Sung (thrice) to thee.
I. S.

To the Honorable, learned, and religious Gentleman, Sir Peter Young of S [...]ton, Knight, Almoner of Scotland, and one of his Maiesties Privy Councell there.

THE COLVMNS.
YOVNG, Ancient Seruant of our Soueraign Lord,
Graue Maister of thy Maister's minor-years;
Whose Prudence and whose Piety appears
In his Perfection, which doth Thine record:
Whose loyall Truth, His royall Trusts approue
By oft Embassage to the greatest Peers:
Whose Duty and Deuotion He endeers
With present Fauours of his Princely Loue:
In Honour of these Honours many-fold,
And for memoriall of Thy kinde regard
Of these poore Orfanes (pyn'd in Hope-les cold)
Accept these Thanks for thy firm Loues reward;
Wher-in (so Heav'ns prosper what we haue sung)
Through euery Age thou shalt liue euer YOVNG.
I. S.

To the right vertuous ( fauo­rer of Vertue, furtherer of Learning) Sir Thomas Smith (of Lonaon) Knight, ( late) Lord Embassadour for his Maiesty, to the Emperour of Russia.

IONAS.
TO thee, long tost in a fell Storm of State;
Cast out, and swallowed in a Gulf of Death,
On false-suspect of thine vn-spotted Faith,
And flying frō thy (Heav'n-giuen) Charge of late:
For much resemblance of thy troublous Fate
(Much like in Case to that he suffereth,
Though (in effect) thy Cause far differeth)
I send my IONAS; to congratulate
Thy (happy) Rescue, and thy holy Triall:
Wher▪by (as Fire doth purifie the Gold)
Thy Loyalty is more notorious Loyal,
And worthy th' Honours which thou now doo'st hold.
Thus, Vertue's Palms, oppressed, mount the more:
And Spices, bruz'd, smell sweeter than before.
I. S.

To the most Honourable, learned, and religious Gent. M r. Anthony Bacone.

*⁎*

THE FVRIES.
BOund by thy Bounty, and mine own Desire,
To tender still new Tribute of my zeal
To Thee, whose fauour did the first repeal
My proto-BARTAS from Self-doomed Fire:
Hauing new-tuned to du BARTAS Lyre
These tragik murmurs of His FVRIES fell,
Which (with the Horrors of an Earthly Hell)
The Sinn curst life of wretched Mortals tire:
To whom, but Thee, should I present the same?
Sith, by the breath of Thine incouragement,
My sacred fury thou didst first inflame
To prosecute This sacred Argument.
Such as it is, accept it, as a signe
Of Thankfull Loue, from Him, whose all is Thine.
I. S.

To the same most Honoura­rable Gentleman, Maister Anthony Bacone.

*⁎*

BABYLON.
THy friendly censure of my first ESSAIE
( Du Bartas FVRIES, and his BABYLON)
My faint Endeuours hath so cheared on,
That Both His WEEKS are also Ours, to-day.
Thy gracious hand, repriuing from decay
My fame-les Name, doom'd to Obliuion,
Hath so stirr'd-vp my Soule's deuotion,
That in my Songs thy Name shall liue for ay.
Thy milde acceptance of my simple myte
(Pattern and Patron of all vertuous drifts)
Doth heer again my gratefull Muse inuite
To re-salute thee with mine humble gifts;
Indeed, no Gifts, but Debts to Thy desart:
To whom I owe my hand, my head, my hart.
I. S.

ADAM. The FIRST DAIE Of The SECOND WEEK;

Containing

  • 1. EDEN,
  • 2. The IMPOSTVRE,
  • 3. The FVRIES,
  • 4. The HANDY-CRAFTS.
Acceptam refero.
יהוה

EDEN. THE I. PART OF THE I. DAY OF THE II. WEEK.

THE ARGVMENT.
Our Poet, first, doth Gods assistance seek:
The Scope and Subiect of his Second Week.
Adam in Eden: Edens beauties rare;
A reall Place, not now discerned where:
The Tree of Life; and Knowledge-Tree with-all:
Knowledge of Man, before and since his Fall:
His exercise, and excellent Delights,
In's Innocence: of Dreams and Ghostly Sights:
Nice Questions curb'd: Death, Sins effect; whereby
Man (else Immortall) mortall now, must Dy.
GReat God, which hast this World's Birth made me see,
Inuocation of the true God for assistance in De­scription of the Infancie & first estate of the World.
Vnfold his Cradle, shew his Infancy:
Walk thou, my Spirit, through all the flowring alleis
Of that sweet Garden, where through winding valleys
Foure liuely flouds crauld: tell mee what mis-deed
Banisht both Edens, Adam and his seed:
Tell who (immortall) mortalizing, brought-vs
The Balm frō Heav'n which hoped health hath wrought-vs:
Grant me the story of thy Church to sing,
And gests of Kings: Let me this Totall bring
From thy first Sabbaoth to his fatall toomb,
My stile extending to the Day of Doom.
Lord, I acknowledge and confess, before,
This Ocean hath no bottom, nor no shoar;
[Page 216]But (sacred Pilot) thou canst safely steer
My vent'rous Pinnasse to her wished Peer;
Where once arriv'd, all dropping wet I will
Extoll thy favors, and my vows fulfill.
And gratious Guide, which doost all grace infuse,
The Transla­tor, cōsidering his own weak­nesse and insuf­ficiency for a Worke so rare & excellent, as all the World hath worthily admired: cra­ueth also the assistance of the Highest, that (at least) his endeuour may both stir­vp some abler Spirit to vn­dertake this Taske; and also prouoke all other good Wits to take in hand some holy Argumēt: and with-all, that Him-self may be for e­uer sincerely affected, and (as it were) throughly sea­soned with the sweet relish of these sacred and religious dis­courses. Simile.
Since it hath pleas'd thee task my tardy Muse
With these high Theams, that through mine Art-les Pen
This holy Lamp may light my Country-men:
Ah, teach my hand, touch mine vnlearned lips;
Least, as the Earths grosse body doth Eclipse
Bright Cynthia's beams, when it is interpos'd
Twixt her and Phoebus: so mine ill-dispos'd,
Dark, gloomy Ignorance, obscure the rayes
Of this diuine Sun of these learned dayes.
O! furnish me with an vn-vulgar stile,
That I by this may we an our wanton ILE
From Ouids heirs, and their vn-hallowed spell
Heer charming senses, chayning soules in Hell.
Let this prouoke our modern Wits to sacre
Their wondrous gifts to honour thee, their Maker:
That our mysterious ELFINE Oracle,
Deep, morall, graue, Inuentions miracle;
My deer sweet DANIEL, sharp-conceipted, brief,
Ciuill, sententious, for pure accents chief:
And our new NASO, that so passionates
Th' heroike sighes of loue-sick Potentates:
May change their subiect, and aduance their wings
Vp to these higher and more holy things.
And if (sufficient rich in self-inuention)
They scorn (as I) to liue of Strangers Pension,
Let them deuise new Weeks, new works, new wayes
To celebrate the supreme Prince of praise.
And let not me (good Lord) be like the Lead
Which to som City from som Conduit-head
Brings holsom water, yet (self-wanting sense)
It self receiues no drop of comfort thence:
But rather, as the thorough-seasoned But
Wherein the tears of death-prest Grapes are put,
Simile.
[Page 217]Retains (long after all the wine is spent)
Within it self the liquors liuely sent:
Let me still sauour of these sacred sweets
Till Death fold-vp mine earth in earthen sheets;
Least, my young layes, now prone to preach thy glory
To BRVTVS heyres, blush at mine elder Story.
GOD ( Supreme Lord) committed not alone
Narration.
Tour Father Adam, this inferiour Throne;
God, hauing Cre­ated and esta­blished Man Lord of the Crea tures, lodgeth him in the faire Gardē of Eden.
Ranging beneath his rule the scaly Nation
That in the Ocean haue their habitation:
Those that in horror of the Desarts lurk:
And those that capering in the Welk in work;
But also chose him for a happy Seat
A climate temperate both for cold and heat,
Which dainty Flora paveth sumptuously
With flowry VER'S inammeld tapistry;
Pomona pranks with fruits, whose taste excels;
And Zephyr fils with Musk and Amber smels:
Where God himself (as Gardner) treads the allies,
With Trees and Corn couers the hills and vallies,
Summons sweet sleep with noise of hundred Brooks,
And Sun-proof Arbours makes in sundry nooks:
He plants, he proins, he pares, he trimmeth round
Th' ever green beauties of a fruitfull ground;
Heer-there the course of th' holy Lakes he leads,
With thousand Dies hee motleys all the meads.
Ye Pagan Poëts, that audaciously
Haue sought to dark the ever-Memory
The Elysian Fields of the Heathen Poets, are but Dreams.
Of Gods great works; from henceforth still be dum
Your fabled prayses of Elysium,
Which by this goodly module you haue wrought,
Through deaf tradition, that your Fathers taught;
For, the Almighty made his blisfull Bowrs
Better indeed, then you haue fained yours.
A large Descrip tion of the rich beauties of the Garden of Eden or earthly Para­dise.
For, should I say that still, with smiling face,
Th' all clasping Heav'ns beheld this happy place;
That honey sweet, from hollow rocks did drain;
That fostering milk flow'd vp and down the Plain;
[Page 218]That sweet as Roses smelt th' ill-savory Rew:
That in all soyls, all seasons, all things grew:
That still there dangled on the self-same treen
A thousand fruits, nor over-ripe, nor green:
That egrest fruits, and bitterest hearbs did mock
Madera Sugars, and the Apricock;
Yeelding more holesom food then all the messes,
That now taste-curious, wanton Plenty dresses,
Disguising (in a thousand costly dishes)
The various store of dainty Fowls and Fishes,
Which far and neer we seek by Land and Seas,
More to provoke then hunger to appease;
Or should I say, each morning, on the ground
Excellent estate of the Earth & especially of E­den before A­dams fall.
Not common deaw, but Manna did abound:
That never guttur gorging durty muds,
Defil'd the crystall of smooth-sliding flouds,
Whose waters past, in pleasant taste, the drink
That now in Candia decks Cerathus brink:
That shady Groues of noble Palm-tree sprays,
Of amorous Myrtles, and immortall Bays
Never vn-leav'd; but evermore their new
Self-arching arms in thousand Arbours grew:
Where thousand sorts of birds, both night and day,
Did bill and woo, and hop about, and play;
And marrying their sweet tunes to th' Angels layes,
Sung Adams bliss and their great Makers prayse.
For then, the Crowes, night Rav'ns, and Howlets noise
Was like the Nightingals sweet-tuned voice;
And Nightingals sung like divine Arion,
Like Thracian Orpheus, Linus, and Amphion.
Th' Ayre's daughter Eccho, haunting woods among,
A blab that will not (cannot) keep her tongue,
Who never asks, but onely answers all,
Who lets not any her in vain to call;
She bore her part, and full of curious skill,
They ceasing sung, they singing ceased still:
There Musick raign'd and ever on the Plain,
A sweet sound rais'd the dead-liue voice again.
If there I say the Sun (the Seasons stinter)
All discommo­dities far from Eden before Sin
Made no hot Sommer, nor no hoary Winter,
But louely VER kept still in liuely lustre
The fragrant Valleys smiling Meads and Pasture:
That boistrous Adams body did not shrink
For Northren windes, nor for the Southren wink:
But Zephyr did sweet musky sighes afford,
Which breathing through the Garden of the Lord,
Gaue bodies vigour, verdure to the field,
That verdure flowrs, those flowrs sweet savor yeeld:
That Day did gladly lend his sister, Night,
For half her moisture, half his shining Light:
That never hail did Harvest preiudice,
That never frost, nor snowe, nor slipperyice
The fields en-ag'd: nor any stormy stowr
Dismounted Mountains, nor no violent showr
Poverisht the Land, which frankly did produce
All fruitfull vapours for delight and vse:
I think I ly not, rather I confess
Edens principal, and most excel­lent beauty.
My stammering Muses poor vnlearnednes.
If in two words thou wilt her praise comprise,
Say't was the type of th' vpper Paradise;
Where Adam had (O wondrous strange!) discourse
With God himself, with Angels intercourse.
Yet (over-curious) question not the site,
Of the place where the Gar­den of Eden was situate.
Where God did plant this Garden of delight:
Whether beneath the Equinoctiall line,
Or on a Mountain neer Latona's shine,
Nigh Babylon, or in the radiant East.
Humble content thee that thou know'st (at least)
That, that rare, plentious, pleasant, happy thing
Whereof th' Almighty made our Grand-sire King,
Was a choise soil, through which did rowling slide
Swift Ghion Pishon, and rich Tygris tyde,
And that fair stream whose silver waues doe kiss
The Monarch Towrs of proud Semiramis.
Now, if that (roaming round about the earth)
It was a certain materiall Place: howsoe [...] now a-daies, wee can exactly obserue neither the Circuit, nor ex­tent of it.
Thou finde no place that answers now in worth
[Page 220]This beautious place, nor Country that can showe
Where now-adayes those noted flouds doe flowe:
Include not all within this Close confin'd,
That labouring Neptunes liquid Belt doth binde.
A certain place it was (now sought in vain)
Where set by grace, for sin remov'd again,
Our Elders were: whereof the thunder-darter
Made a bright Sword the gate, an Angell Porter.
Nor think that Moses paints fantastik-wise
It was no alle­goricall nor my­sticall Garden.
A mystike tale of fained Paradise:
('T was a true Garden, happy Plenties horn,
And seat of graces) least thou make (forlorn)
An Ideall Adams food fantasticall,
His sin suppos'd, his pain Poeticall:
Such Allegories serue for shelter fit
To curious Idiots of erroneous wit,
And chiefly then, when reading Histories,
Seeking the spirit, they doe the body leese.
But if thou list to ghesse by likelihood,
It was defaced by the generall Flood.
Think that the wreakfull nature-drowning flood
Spar'd not this beautious place, which formost saw
The first foul breach of Gods eternall law:
Think that the most part of the plants it pull'd,
And of the sweetest flowrs the spirits dull'd,
Spoild the fair Gardens, made the fat fields lean,
And chang'd (perchance) the rivers channell clean:
Why the Situa­tion of the Gar­den of Eden is now hard to finde.
And think, that Time (whose slippery wheel doth play
In humane causes with in constant sway,
Who exiles, alters, and disguises words)
Hath now transform'd the names of all these Fordes.
For, as through sin we lost that place, I fear
(Forgetfull) we haue lost the knowledge where
'T was situate, and of the sugred dainties
Wherewith God fed vs in those sacred plenties.
Now of the Trees wherwith th' immortall Powr
Of the two Trees seruing as Sa­craments to Adam.
Adorn'd the quarters of that blisfull Bowr,
All serv'd the mouth, saue two sustaind the minde:
All serv'd for food, saue two for seals assign'd.
God gaue the first, for honorable stile,
Wherof the Tree of Life was a Sacrament.
The tree of Life: true name; (alas the while!)
Not for th' effect it had, but should haue kept,
If Man from duty never had mis-stept.
For, as the ayr of those fresh dales and hills
Preserved him from Epidemik ills,
This fruit had ever-calm'd all insurrections,
All civill quarrels of the cross complexions;
Had barr'd the passage of twice childish age,
And ever-more excluded all the rage
Of painfull griefs, whose swift-slowe posting-pase
At first or last our dying life doth chase.
Strong counter-bane! O sacred Plant divine!
The excellencie of that Tree.
What metall, stone▪ stalk, fruit, flowr, root, or ryne,
Shall I presume in these rude rymes to sute
I
Vnto thy wondrous World-adorning Fruit?
The rarest Simples that our fields present-vs
Heal but one hurt, and healing too torments vs:
And with the torment, lingring our relief
Our bags of gold void, yer our bulks of grief.
But thy rare fruits hid powr admired most,
Salveth all sores, sans pain, delay, or cost:
Or rather, man from yawning Death to stay,
Thou didst not cure, but keep all ills away.
O holy, peer-less, rich preseruatiue!
We cannot say what Tree it was.
Whether wert thou the strange restoratiue
That suddainly did age with youth repair,
And made old Aeson yonger then his heir?
Or holy Nectar, that in heav'nly bowrs,
Eternally self-pouring Hebé pours?
Or blest Ambrosia (Gods immortall fare)?
Or els the rich fruit of the Garden rare,
Where, for three Ladies (as assured guard)
A fire-arm'd Dragon day and night did ward?
Or pretious Moly, which Ioues Pursuiuan
Wing-footed Hermes brought to th' Ithacan?
Or else Nepenthé, enemy to sadnes,
Repelling sorrows, and repealing gladnes?
[Page 222]Or Mummie? or Elixir) that excels
Save men and Angels every creature els)?
No, none of these: these are but forgeries,
But toyes, but tales, but dreams, deceipts, and lies:
But thou art true, although our shallow sense
May honour more, then sound, thine Excellence.
The Tree of Knowledge, th' other Tree behight:
Of the Tree of. Knowledge of Good and Euill.
Not, that itselfly had such speciall might,
As mens dull wits could whet and sharpen so
That in a moment they might all things knowe.
'T was a sure pledge, a sacred s [...]gne, and seal;
Which, being ta'n, should to light man reveal
What ods there is, between still peace, and strife;
Gods wrath, and loue; drad death, and deerest life▪
Solace, and sorrow; guile, and innocence;
Rebellious pride, and humble obedience.
For, God had not depriv'd that primer season
Of the excellence of mans know­ledge before Sin.
The sacred lamp and light of learned Reason:
Mankinde was then a thousand fold more wise
Then now: blinde Error [...]ad not bleard his eys,
With mists which make th' Athenian Sage suppose
That nought hee knowes, saue this, that nought hee knowes.
That euen light Pir [...]o [...]s wavering fantasies
Reave him the skill his vn skill to agnize.
And th' Abderite, within a Well obscure,
As deep as dark, the Truth of things immure.
Hee (happy) knew the Good by th' vse of it:
How he knew good and euill before Sinne.
He knew the Bad, but not by proof as yet:
But as they say of great Hyppocrates,
Who (though his limbs were numm'd with no excess,
Nor stop this throat, nor vext his fantasie)
Knew the cold Cramp, th' Angine, and Lunacy,
And hundred els-pains, whence in lusty flowr
He liv'd exempt, a hundred yeers and foure.
Or like the pure Heav'n-prompted Prophets rather,
Whose sight so cleerly future things did gather,
Because the World's Soule in their soule enseal'd
The holy stamp of secrets most conceal'd.
But our now- knowledge hath, for tedious train,
O [...] mans know­ledge sinc [...] his Fall.
A drooping life, and over-racked brain,
A face forlorn, a sad and sullen fashion▪
A rest-less toyl, and Cares self-pining passion.
Knowledge was then even the soules soule for light,
The spirits calme Port, and Lanthorn shining bright
To straight steptfeet cleer knowledge; not confus'd:
Not sowr, but sweet: not gotten, but infus'd.
Now Heav'ns eternall all-fore-seeing King,
Why the Lord put man in the Garden of Eden
Who never rashly ordereth anything,
Thought good, that man (having yet spirits sound-stated)
Should dwell els-where then where he was created;
That he might knowe, he did not hold this place
By Natures right, but by meer gift and Grace;
That he should never taste fruits vn-permitted,
But keep the sacred Pledge to him committed,
And dress that Park, which God, without all tearm,
On these conditions gaue him, as in farm.
God would, that (void of painfull labour) he
Of his exercise there.
Should liue in Eden; but not idlely:
For, Idlenes pure Innocence subuerts,
Defiles our body, and our soule peruerts:
Yea, soberest men it makes delicious,
To vertue dull, to vice in genious.
But that first travell had no sympathy
With our since-travails wretched cruelty,
Distilling sweat, and panting wanting winde,
Which was a scourge for Adams sin assign'd.
For, Edens earth was then so fertile fat,
4. Comparisons.
That he made onely sweet Essayes, in that,
Of skilfull industry, and naked wrought
More for delight, then for the gain he sought.
In brief, it was a pleasant exercise,
A labour lik't, a pain much like the guise
Of cunning dauncers; who▪ although they skip,
[...].
Run, caper, vault, traverse, and turn, and trip,
From Morn till Even, at night again full merry,
Renue their daunce, of dauncing never weary.
[Page 224]Or else of Hunters, that with happy luck
2.
Rousing betimes som often breathed Buck,
Or goodly Stagge, their yelping Hounds vncouple,
Winde lowd their horns, their whoops, & hallows double
Spur-on and spare not, following their desire,
Themselues vn-weary, though their Hackneis tyre.
But, for in th' end of all their iolity,
Ther's found much stifness, sweat and vanity;
I rather match it to the pleasing pain
Of Angels pure, who ever sloath disdain:
3.
Or to the Suns calm course, who pain-less ay
4.
About the welkin posteth night and day.
Doubtless, when Adam saw our common ayr,
Adam admireth the beauties of the World in ge­nerall.
He did admire the mansion rich and fair
Of his Successors▪ For, frosts keenly cold
The shady locks of Forrests had not powl'd:
Heav'n had not thundred on our heads as yet,
Nor given the earth her sad Diuorces Writ.
But when he once had entred Paradise,
But most especi­ally of the Gar­den of Eden.
The remnant world he iustly did despise:
[Much like a Boor far in the Country born,
Who, never having seen but Kine and Corn,
Oxen, and Sheep, and homely Hamlets thatcht
(Which, fond, he counts as Kingdoms; hardly matcht)
When afterward he happens to behold
Our welthy London's wonders manifold,
In this compari­son my Author setteth down the famous City of Paris: but I haue presumed to ap­ply it to our own City of Lon­don▪ that it might be more familiar to my meere English and vn-trauaild Readers.
The silly peasant thinks himself to b [...]
In a new World; and gazing greedily,
One while he Art-less, all the Arts admires,
Then the faire Temples, and their top-less spires,
Their firm foundations, and the massie pride
Of all their sacred ornaments beside:
Anon he wonders at the differing graces,
Tongues, gests, attires, the fashions and the faces,
Of busie-buzzing swarms, which still hee meets
Ebbing and flowing ouer all the streets;
Then at the signes, the shops, the waights, the measures,
The handy-crafts, the rumors, trades, and treasures.
[Page 225] But of all sights, none seems him yet more strange
Then the rare, beautious, stately, rich Exchange.
Another while he maruails at the Thames,
Which seems to bear huge mountains on her streams:
Then at the fa [...]-built Bridge; which he doth iudge
More like a tradefull City then a Bridge;
And glancing thence a-long the Northren shoar,
That princely prospect doth amaze him more.]
For in that Garden man delighted so,
That rapt he wist not if hee wak't or no;
If he beheld a true thing or a fable;
Or Earth, or Heav'n: all more then admirable.
For such excess his extasie was small;
Not hauing spirit enough to muse withall,
He wisht him bundred-fold redoubled senses,
The more to taste so rare sweet excellences;
Not knowing, whether nose, or ears, or eyes,
Smelt, heard, or saw, more sauors, sounds, or Dies.
But, Adams best and supreame delectation,
Happines of the first Man before his fall.
Was th' often haunt and holy conuersation
His soule and body had so many waies
With God, who lightned Eden with his Rays.
For spirits, by faith religiously refin'd,
'Twixt God and man retain a middle kinde:
And (Vmpires) mortall to th' immortall ioyn;
And th' infinit in narrow clay confine.
Som-times by you, O you all-faining Dreams,
We gain this good; but not when Bacchus steams
Of the visions of the spirit.
And glutton vapours ouer-flowe the Brain,
And drown our spirits, presenting fancies vain:
Nor when pale Phlegm, or Saffron-coloured Choler,
In feeble stomacks belch with diuers dolor,
And print vpon our Vnderstandings Tables;
That, Water-wracks; this other, flamefull fables:
Nor when the Spirit of lies our spirits deceiues,
And guile-full visions in our fancy leaues:
Nor when the pencil of Cares ouer-deep
Our day-bred thoughts depainteth in our sleep.
[Page 226]But when no more the soules chief faculties,
Are sperst to sereue the body many waies,
When all self-vned, free from dayes disturber,
Through such sweet Trance, she findes a quiet harbour;
Where som in riddles, som more plain exprest,
Shee sees things future, in th' Almighties brest.
And yet far higher is this holy Fit,
Of the certainty of the visions of the spirit, the body being at rest.
When (not from flesh) but from flesh-cares, acquit)
The wakefull soule it self assembling so,
All selfly dies; while that the body though
Liues motion-les: for, sanctified wholly,
It takes th' impression of Gods Signet Soly;
And in his sacred Crystall Map, doth see
Heav'ns Oracles, and Angels glorious glee:
Made more then spirit, Now, Morrow, Yesterday,
To it, all one, are all as present aye.
And though it seem not (when the dream's expir'd)
Like that it was; yet is it much admir'd
Of rarest men, and shines among them bright
Like glistring Starrs through gloomy shades of night.
But aboue all, that's the divinest Trance,
Of diuine & ex­traordinary visi­ons and Reuela­tions.
When the soules eye beholds Gods countenance;
When mouth to mouth familiarly he deales,
And in our face his drad-sweet face hee seales.
As when S. Paul, on his deer Masters wings,
Was rapt aliue vp to th' eternall things:
And he that whilom for the chosen flock,
Made walls of waters, waters of a rock.
O sacred flight! sweet rape! loues soueraign bliss!
Of the excellen­cy of such visions and Reuelations
Which very loves deer lips dost make vs kiss:
Hymen, of Manna, and of Mel compact,
Which for a time dost Heav'n with earth contract:
Fire, that in Limbeck of pure thoughts divine
Doost purge our thoughts, and our dull earth refine:
And mounting vs to Heav'n, vn-mouing hence,
Man (in a trice) in God doost quintessence:
O! mad'st thou man divine in habitude,
As for a space; O sweetest solitude,
[Page 227]Thy bliss were equall with that happie Rest
Which after death shall make vs ever-blest.
Now, I beleeve that in this later guise
What manner of visions the first Man had in E­den.
Man did conuerse in Pleasant Paradise
With Heav'ns great Architect, and (happy) there
His body saw (or body as it were)
Gloriously compast with the blessed Legions
That raign above the azure-spangled Regions.
ADAM, quoth He, the beauties manyfold
Man is put in possession of Edē, vnder a conditiō
That in this Eden thou doest heer behold,
Are all thine, onely: enter (sacred race)
Come, take possession of this wealthy place,
The Earth's sole glory: take (deer Sonn) to thee,
This farm's demains, leave the Chief right to me;
And th' only Rent that of it I reserue, is
One Trees fair fruit, to shew thy sute and seruice:
Be thou the Liege, and I Lord Paramount,
I'le not exact hard fines (as men shall woont).
For signe of Homage, and for seal of Faith,
Of all the profits this Possession hath,
I only ask one Tree; whose fruit I will
For Sacrament shall stand of Good and Ill.
Take all the rest, I bid thee: but I vow
By th' vn-nam'd name, where-to all knees doo bow,
And by the keen Darts of my kindled Ire
(More fiercely burning then consuming fire)
That of the Fruit of Knowledge if thou feed,
Death, dreadfull Death shall plague Thee and thy Seed.
If then, the happie state thou hold'st of me,
My holy mildnes, nor high Maiesty,
If faith nor Honour curb thy bold ambition,
Yet weigh thy self, and thy owne Seeds condition.
Most mighty Lord (quoth Adam) heer I tender
Before Sinne, Man was an hū ble and zealous seruant of God.
All thanks I can, not all I should thee render,
For all thy liberall fauours, far surmounting
My hearts conceit, much more my tongues recounting.
At thy command, I would with boyst'rous shock
Goe run my self against the hardest rock:
[Page 228]Or cast me head long from som Mountain steep,
Down to the whirling bottom of the Deep:
Yea, at thy beck, I would not spare the life
Of my deer Phoenix, sister-daughter-wife:
Obaying thee, I finde the things impossible,
Cruell, and painfull; pleasant, kinde, and possible.
But since thy first Law doth more grace afford
Vnto the Subiect, than the souerain Lord:
Since (bountious Prince) on me and my Descent,
Thou doost impose no other tax, nor Rent,
But one sole Precept, of most iust condition
(No Precept neither, but a Prohibition);
And since (good God) of all the Fruits in EDEN
There's but one Apple that I am forbidden,
Euen only that which bitter Death doth threat,
(Better, perhaps, to look on then to eate)
I honour in my soule, and humbly kiss
Thy iust Edict (as Author of my bliss):
Which, once transgrest, deserues the rigor rather
Of sharpest Iudge, then mildnes of a Father.
The Firmament shall retrograde his course,
Swift Euphrates goe hide him in his source,
Firm Mountains skip like Lambs; beneath the Deep
Eagles shall diue; Whales in the air shall keep,
Yer I presume, with fingers ends to touch
(Much less with lips) the Fruit forbod so much.
Thus, yet in league with Heav'n and Earth, he liues;
Description of the beauties of the Garden of Eden.
Enioying all the Goods th' Almighty giues:
And, yet not treading Sins false mazy measures,
Sails on smooth surges of a Sea of pleasures;
Heer, vnderneath a fragrant Hedge reposes,
Full of all kindes of sweet all-coloured Roses,
Which (one would think) the Angels daily dress
In true loue-knots, tri-angles, lozenges.
Anon he walketh in a leuell lane
The Orchard.
On either side beset with shady Plane,
Whose arched boughs, for Frize and Cornich bear
Thick Groues, to shield from future change of air:
[Page 229]Then in a path impal'd, in pleasant wise,
With sharp-sweet Orange, Limon, Citron trees;
Whose leauy twigs, that intricately tangle,
Seem painted walls whereon true fruits do dangle.
Now in a plentious Orchard planted rare
With vn-graft trees, in checker, round and square:
Whose goodly fruits so on his will doe wait,
That plucking one, another's ready straight:
And hauing tasted all (with due satiety)
Findes all one goodnes, but in taste variety.
Anon he stalketh with an easie stride,
The Brooks.
By som cleer Riuer's lilly-paued side,
Whose sand's pure gold, whose pebbles precious Gemms,
And liquid siluer all the curling streams:
Whose chiding murmur, mazing in and out,
With Crystall cesterns moats a mead about:
And th' art-less Bridges, ouer-thwart this Torrent,
Are rocks self-arched by the eating current:
The Bridges.
Or louing Palms, whose lusty Femals (willing
Their marrow-boyling loues to be fulfilling,
And reach their Husband-trees on th' other banks)
Bow their stiff backs, and serue for passing-planks.
Then in a goodly Garden's alle is smooth,
The Alleis, beds and Borders.
Where prodig Nature sets abroad her booth
Of richest beauties, where each bed and border
Is like pide posies diuers dies and order.
Now, far from noise, he creepeth couertly
Into a Caue of kindly Porphyry,
The Caues.
Which, rock-fall'nspowts, congeald by colder air,
Seem with smooth anticks to haue sceled fair:
There laid at ease, a cubit from the ground,
Vpon a Iaspir fring'd with y [...]ie round,
Purfled with vains, thick thrumm'd with mossie Beuer,
He falls asleep fast by a silent Riuer;
Whose captiue streams, through crooked pipes still rushing,
The pleasant murmur of the Waters.
Make sweeter Musick with their gentle gushing,
Then now at Tiuoli, th' Hydrantik Braul▪
Of rich Ferrara's stately Cardinall:
[Page 230]Or Ctesibegrave;s rare engines, framed there
Where as they made of Ibis, Iupiter.
Musing▪ anon through crooked Walks he wanders,
The Maze.
Round-winding rings, and intricate Meanders,
False-guiding paths, doubtfull beguiling strays,
And right-wrong errors of an end-less Maze:
Not simply hedged with a single border
Of Rosenoary, cut-out with curious order,
In Satyrs, Centaurs, Whales, and half-men-Horses,
And thousand other counterfaited corses:
But with true Beasts, fast in the ground still sticking,
The wonderfull Plants.
Feeding on grass, and th' airy moisture licking:
Such as those Bonarets, in Scythia bred
The Bonarets.
Of slender seeds, and with green fodder fed;
Although their bodies, noses, mouths, and eys,
Of new-yeand Lambs haue full the form and guise;
And should be very Lambs▪ saue that (for foot)
Within the ground, they fix a liuing root,
Which at their nauell growes, and dies that day
That they haue brouz'd the neighbour grass away.
O wondrous vertue of God only good!
The Beast hath root, the Plant hath flesh & bloud:
The nimble Plant can turn it to and fro;
The nummed Beast can neither stir norgoe:
The Plant is leaf-less, branch-less, void of fruit;
The Beast is lust-less, sex-less, fire-less, mute:
The Plant with Plants his hungry paunch doth feede;
Th' admired Beast is sowen a slender seede.
Then vp and down a Forrest thick he paseth;
The Trees of the Garden of Eden
Which selfly opening in his presence, baseth
Her trembling tresses neuer-vading spring,
For humble homage to her mightie King:
Where thousand Trees, wauing with gentle puffs
Their plumy tops, sweep the celestiall roofs:
Yet enuying all the massie Cerbas fame,
The Cerbas.
Sith fiftie pases can but clasp the same.
There springs the Shrub three foot aboue the grass,
The Balme.
Which fears the keen edge of the Curtelace;
[Page 231]Whereof the rich Egyptian so endears
Root, bark, and fruit, and much-much more the tears.
There liues the Sea-oake, in a little shel;
There growes vntill'd the ruddy Cochenel:
The Sea-Oak. The Cochenel. The Chermez.
And there the Chermez, which on each side Arms
With pointed prickles all his precious arms:
Rich Trees, and fruitfull in those Worms of Price,
Which pressed, yeeld a crimsin-coloured juice,
Whence thousand Lambs are died so deep in grain
That their own Mothers knowe them not again.
There mounts the Melt, which serues in Mexico
For weapon, wood, needle, and threed (to sowe)
The admirable Melt.
Brick, hony, sugar, sucket, balm, and wine,
Parchment, perfume, apparell, cord, and line:
His wood for fire, his harder leaues are fit
For thousand vses of inuentiue wit.
Som-times ther-on they graue their holy things,
Laws, lauds of Idols, and the gests of Kings:
Som-times conioyned by a cunning hand
Vpon their roofs for rowes of tyle they stand:
Som-times they twine them into equall threeds;
Small ends make needles; greater, arrow-heads:
His vpper sap the sting of Serpentscutes:
His new-sprung bud a rare Conserue indures:
His burned stalks, with strong fumosities
Of pearcing vapours, purge the French disease:
And they extract, from liquor of his feet,
Sharpevinegar, pure hony, sugar sweet.
There quakes the Plant, which in Pudefetan
Is call'd the Shame-fac't: for, asham'd of man,
The shame-faced
If towards it one doo approach too much,
It shrinks his boughs, to shun our hatefull touch;
As if it had a soule, a sense, and sight,
Subiect to shame, fear, sorrow and despight.
And there, that Tree from off whose trembling top
Both swimming shoals, and flying troups doe drop:
A Tree whose▪ leaues transform to fowl and fish.
I mean the tree now in Iuturna growing,
Whose leaues disperst by Zephyr's wanton blowing,
[Page 232]Are metamorphos'd both in form and matter,
On land to Fowls, to Fishes in the Water.
But seest thou not (deer Muse) thou treadst the same
A modest cor­rection of our Poet vnwilling to wade farther in curious search of hidden se­crets:
Too-curious path, thou dost in others blame?
And striv'st in vain to paint This Work so choice,
The which no humane spirit, nor hand, nor voice,
Can once conceiue, less pourtray, least express,
All ouer-whelm'd in gulfs so bottomless.
Who (matching Art with Nature) likeneth
Our grounds to EDEN, fondly measureth,
By painted Butter-flies th' imperiall Eagle;
And th' Elephant by euery little Beagle.
This fear to fail, shall serue me for a bridle,
Or to wander vnprofitably in nice Questions, concerning the Garden of Eden and mans abode there:
Least (lacking wings and guide) too busie-idle,
And ouer-bold, Gods Cabinet I clime,
To seek the place and search the very time,
When both our Parents, or but one was ta'en
Out of our Earth, into that fruitfull Plain:
How long they had that Garden in possession,
Before their proud and insolent Transgression:
What Children there they earned, and how many,
Of whether sex: or whether none or any:
Or how (at least) they should haue propagated,
If the sly malice of the serpent hated,
Causing their fall, had not defil'd their kin,
And vnborn seed, with leprosie of Sin.
If void of Venus; sith vnlike it is,
Such blessed state the noble flowr should miss
Of Virgin-head, or folk so perfect chaste
Should furious feel, when they their loues imbraç't;
Such tickling flames as our fond soule surprise
(That dead a-while in Epileps [...]e lies)
And slack our sinews all, by little and little
Drowning our reason in foule pleasure brittle.
Or whether else as men in gender now,
Sith spouse-bedspot-less laws of God allow,
If no excess command: sith else again
The Lord had made the double sex in vain.
Whether their Infants should haue had the Powr
We now perceiue in fresh youths Iusty flowr,
As nimble feet, lims strong and vigorous;
Industrious hands, and hearts couragious;
Sith before sin, Man ought not less appear
In Natures gifts, then his then-seruants were:
And loe the Partridge, which new-hatched bears
On her weak back her parent-house, and wears
In stead of wings, a bever-supple down,
Follows her dam through furrows vp and down.
Or else as now; sith in the womb of Eue
A man of thirtie yeares could neuer liue:
Nor may we iudge' gainst Natures course apparant;
Without the sacred Scriptures speciall warrant:
Which for our good (as Heav'ns deer babe) hath right
To countermaund our reason and our sight.
Whether their seed should with their birth haue brought
Deep Knowledge, Reason, Vnderstanding-thought;
Sith now wee see the new-fall'n feeble Lamb,
Yet stayn'd with bloud of his distressed Dam,
Knowes wel the Wolf, at whose fell sight he shakes,
And right the tear of th' vnknow'n Eaw he takes▪
And sith a dull Dunce, which no knowledge can,
Is a dead image, and no liuing man.
Or the thick vail of Ignorance's night
Had hooded-vp their issues inward sight;
Sith the much moisture of an Infant brain
Receiues so many shapes, that ouer-lam
New dash the old; and the trim commixation
Of confus'd fancies, full of alteration,
Makes th' Vnderstanding hull, which settle would,
But findes no firm ground for his Anchors hold.
Whether old ADAM should haue left the place
Vnto his Sonnes; they, to their after-race:
Or whether all together at the last
Should gloriously from thence to Heav'n haue past.
Search whoso list, who list let va [...]t in pride
The decision of such Questions. is a busie idlenes.
T' haue hit the white, and let him (sage) decide
[Page 234]The many other doubts that vainly rise,
For mine owne part I will not seem so wise:
I will not waste my trauail and my seed,
To reap an empty straw, or fruitless reed.
Alas! we know what Orion of grief
Rain'd on the curst head of the creatures Chief,
Sin makes vs perceiue more then sufficiently what happines our Grand-sire lost, and what misery he got, by his shamefull Fall.
After that God against him war proclaim'd,
And Satan princedom of the earth had claim'd.
But none can know precisely how at all
Our Elders liv'd before their odious fall:
An vnknow'n Cifer, and deep Pit it is,
Where Dircean Oedipus his marks would miss:
Sith Adam's self, if now he liv'd anew,
Could scant vnwinde the knotty snarled clew
Of double doubts, and questions intricate
That Schools dispute about this pristin state.
But this sole point I rest resolved in,
But for sinne, man had not been subiect vnto Death.
That seeing Death's the meer effect of sin,
Man had not dreaded Death's all-slaying might,
Had hee still stood in Innocence vpright.
For, as two Bellows, blowing turn by turn,
Simile.
By little and little make cold coals to burn,
And then their fire inflames with glowing heat
An yron bar; which on the Anuil beat,
Seems no more yron, but flyes almost all
In hissing sparks, and quick bright cinders small:
So, the Worlds Soule should in our soule inspire
Th' eternall force of an eternall fire,
And then our soule (as form) breathe in our corse
Her count-less numbers, and Heav'n-tuned force,
Wherewith our bodies beauty beautified,
Should (like our death-less soule) haue neuer died.
Heer (wot I well) som wranglers will presume
Obiections a­gainst the estate of man, who had not beene subiect vnto death but for Sinne.
To say, Small fire will by degrees consume
Our humor radicall: and, how-be-it
The differing vertues of those fruits, as yet
Had no agreement with the harmfull spight
Of the fell Persian dangerous Acomte;
[Page 235]And notwithstanding that then ADAMS taste
Could well haue vsed all, without all waste,
Yet could they not restore him euery day
Vnto his body that which did decay▪
Because the food cannot (as being strange)
So perfectly in humane substance change:
For, it resembleth wine, wherein too rife
Simile.
Water is brewd, whereby the pleasant life
Is ouer-cool'd; and so there rests, in fine,
Nought of the strength, sauour, or taste of wine.
Besides, in time the naturall faculties
Are tyr'd with toyl; and th' Humour-enemies,
Our death conspiring, vndermine, at last,
Of our Soules prisons the foundations fast.
I, but the Tree of life the strife did stay
Answer to those obiections.
Which th' Humours caused in this house of clay;
And stopping th' euill, changed (perfect good)
In body fed, the body of the food:
Only the soules contagious malady
Had force to frustrate this high remedy.
Immortall then, and mortall, man was made;
Conclusion.
Mortall he liv'd, and did immortall vade:
For, 'fore th' effects of his rebellious ill,
To die or liue, was in his power and will:
But since his Sin, and proud Apostasie,
Ah! die he may, but not (alas!) not-dy;
As after his new-birth, he shall attain
Onely a powr to neuer-dy again.
FINIS.

THE IMPOSTVRE. THE II. PART OF THE I. DAY OF THE II. WEEK.

THE ARGVMENT.
Iustice and Mercy modul'd in their kinde:
Satans proud Hate, and Enuie to Mankinde:
His many Engins, and malitious Wiles,
Whereby the best he many-times beguiles▪
Why he assum'd a Body, and began
With Eue; by Her to vndermine her Man:
Their dreadfull Fall: Their drousie Conscience:
Gods righteous Sentence, for their foul Offence,
On them (and Theirs): Their Exile: Eden barr'd
With flaming Sword, and Scraphin for guard.
O Who shall lend me light and nimble wings,
That (passing Swallows, and the swiftest things)
Euen in a moment, boldly-daring, I
From Heav'n to Hell, from Hell to Heav'n may fly?
O! who shall showe the countenance and gestures
Of Mercy and Iustice? which fair sacred sisters,
With equall poiz, doe euer ballance ev'n
Th' vnchanging Proiects of the King of Heav'n?
Th' one stern of look, the other milde-aspecting:
Th' one pleas'd with tears, the other bloud affecting:
Th' one bears the Sword of vengeance vnrelenting,
Th' other brings Pardon for the true-repenting:
Th' one, from Earths- Eden, Adam did dismiss,
Th' other hath rais'd him to a higher Bliss.
[Page 237]Who shall direct my pen to paint the Story
Of wretched mans forbidden-Bit-lost glory?
What Spell shall charm th' attentiue Readers sense?
What Fount shall fill my voice with eloquence?
So that I, rapt, may rau [...]sh all this ILE
With graue-sweet warbles of my sacred stile;
Though Adams Doom, in euery Sermon common,
And founded on the error of a woman,
Weary the vulgar, and be iudg'd a iest
Of the profane, zeal-scoffing Atheïst.
Ah! Thou my God, euen Thou (my soule refining
He hath recourse to God the onely giuer of all suf­ficiency and dex teritie in good and holy things.
In holy Faith's pure furnace, cleerely shining)
Shalt make my hap farr to surmount my hope,
Instruct my spirit, and giue my tongue smooth scope:
Thou, bountious in my bold attempts shalt grace-me,
And in the rank of holiest Poets place-me;
And frankly grant, that (soaring neer the sky)
Among our Authors, Eagle-like I fly:
Or, at the least (if Heav'n such hap denay)
I may point others, Honors beautious Way.
WHILE Adam bathes in these felicities,
The enemy of God enuieth Man and plot­teth his destruc­tion.
Hell's Prince, sly parent of revolt and lies,
Feels a pestiferous busie-swarming nest
Of neuer-dying Dragons in his brest,
Sucking his bloud, tyring vpon his lungs,
Pinching his entrails with ten thousand tongues,
His cursed soule still most extreamly racking,
Too frank in giuing torments, and in taking:
But aboue all, Hate, Pride, and Enuious spight,
His hellish life doo torture day and night:
For th' Hate he bears to God, who hath him driv'n▪
Iustly for euer, from the glittering Heav'n,
To dwell in darknes of a sulph'ry clow'd
(Though still his brethrens seruice be allow'd:)
The Proud desire to haue in his subiection
Mankinde in chain'd in gyues of Sins infection,
And th' Enuious heart-break to see yet to shine
In Adams face Gods Image all diuine,
[Page 238]Which he had lost; and that Man might atchieue
The glorious bliss, his Pride he did depriue:
Growen barbarous Tyrants of his treacherous wil,
Spur-on his course, his rage redoubling stil.
Or rather (as the prudent Hebrue notes)
'Tis that old Python which through hundred-throats
Doth proudly hiss, and (past his wont) doth fire
A hell of Furies in his fell desire:
His enuious hart, self-swoln with sullen spight,
Brooks neither greater, like, nor lesser wight:
Dreads th' one, as Lord; as equall, hates another;
And (iealous) doubts the rising of the other.
To vent his poyson, this notorious Tempter
His subtiltie in executing his Designes.
(Meer spirit) assails not Eue, but doth attempt her
In fained form: for else, the soule diuine
Which rul'd (as Queen) the Littl [...]-worlds designe,
So purely kept her Vow of Chastitie,
That he in vain should tempt her Constancy.
Therefore he fleshly doth the Flesh assay
(Suborning that) her Mistress to betray;
A subtle Pandar with more tycing sleights
Then Sea hath Fish, or Heav'n hath twinkling lights.
For, had he beene, of an ethereall matter,
Why he hid him in a Body.
Of fiery substance, or aiereall nature;
The needfull help of language had he wanted,
Whereby Faiths ground-work was to be supplanted:
Sith such pure bodies haue nor teeth, nor tongues,
Lips, artires, nose, Palate, nor panting lungs,
Which rightly plaç't are properly created
True instruments of sounds articulated.
And further-more, though from his birth h'had had
Why he appea­red not in his owne likenes: nor transfor­med him into an Angel of light.
Hart-charming cunning smoothly to perswade,
He fear'd (malitious) if he care-less, came
Vn-masked, like himself, in his own name,
In deep distrust man entring, suddainly,
Would stop his ears, and his foul presence fly:
As (opposite) taking the shining face
Of sacred Angels full of glorious grace,
[Page 239]He then suspected least the Omnipotent
Should think man's Fall scarce worthy punishment.
Much like (therefore) som theef that doth conceiue
Simil [...].
From trauailers both life and goods to reaue,
And in the twi-light (while the Moon doth play
In Thetis Palace) neer the Kings high-way
Himself doth ambush in a bushy Thorn;
Then in a Caue, then in a field of Corn,
Creeps to and fro, and fisk eth in and out,
And yet the safety of each place doth doubt;
Till, resolute at last (vpon his knee
Taking his leuell) from a hollow Tree,
He swiftly sends his fire-wingd messenger,
At his false sute t'arrest the passenger:
Our freedoms felon, fountain of our sorrow,
Thinks, now the beautie of a Horse to borrow;
Anon to creep into a Haifers side;
He hides him vnder diuers figures.
Then in a Cock, or in a Dog to hide;
Then in a nimble Hart himself to shroud;
Then in the starr'd plumes of a Peacock proud;
And least he miss a mischief to effect,
Oft changeth minde, and varies oft aspect.
At last, remembring that of all the broods,
Why he chose the Serpent.
In Mountains, Plains, Airs, Waters, Wildes, and Woods,
The knotty Serpent's spotty generation
Are filled with infectious inflammation:
And though they want Dogs teeth, Bores tusks, Bears paws,
The Vultures bill, Buls horns, and Griphins claws;
Yea, seem so weak, as if they had not might
To hurt vs once, much less to kill vs quite:
Yet, many times they treacherously betray vs,
And with their breath, look, tongue, or train they slay vs:
He crafty cloaks him in a Dragons skin
All bright-bespect; that, speaking so within
That hollow Sagbuts supple-wreathing plies▪
The mouer might with th' Organ sympathize.
For, yet the faith-less Serpent (as they say)
With horror crawl'd not groueling on the clay,
[Page 240]Nor to Mankinde (as yet) was held for hatefull,
Sith that's the hire of his offence ingratefull.
But now, to censure how this change befell
Sundry opinions hereupon.
Our wits com short, our words suffice not well
To vtter it: much less our feeble Art
Can imitate this sly malitious part.
Somtimes me seems (troubling Eues spirit) the Fiend
1
Made her this speaking fancy apprehend.
For, as in liquid clouds (exhaled thickly)
Water and Ayr (as moist) doe mingle quickly;
The euill Angels slide too easily,
As subtile Spirits, into our fantasie.
Somtimes me seems She saw (wo-worth the hap)
2
No very Serpent, but a Sepents shape:
Whether that, Satan plaid the Iuggler there,
Who tender eys with charmed Tapers blear,
Trans-forming so by subtile vapoury gleams,
Mens heads to Monsters, into Eels the beams:
Or whether, Diuels hauing bodies light,
Quick, nimble, actiue, apt to change with sleight,
In shapes or shewes, they guilefull haue propos'd;
In brief, like th' Air whereof they are compos'd.
For, as the ayr, with scattered clouds be-spred
Is heer and there, black, yellow, white, and red,
Resembling▪ Armies, Monsters, Mountains, Dragons,
Rocks, fiery Castles, Forrests, Ships, and Wagons,
And such to vs through glass transparent cleer
From form to form varying it doth appear:
So, these seducers can growe great, or small,
Or round, or square, or streight, or short, or tall,
As fits the passions they are moued by,
And such our soule receiues them from our ey.
Somtimes; that Satan (only for this work)
3
Fain'd him a Serpents shape, wherein to lurk.
For, Nature framing our soules enemies,
Of bodies light, and in experience wise,
In malice crafty; curious they assemble
Small Elements, which (as of kin) resemble,
[Page 241]Whereof a Mass is made, and there▪ vnto
They soon giue growth and liuely motion too.
Not, that they be Creators: for, th' Almighty
Who first of nothing made vast Amphitri [...],
The World's dull Centre, Heavn's ay-turning frame▪
And whirling Ayr, sole merits that high name:
Who (onely Beeing) Being giues to all,
And of all things the seeds substantiall
Within their first-borne bodies hath inclos'd,
To be in time by Nature's hand dispos'd:
Not those, who (taught by curious Art or Nature)
Haue giv'n to things Heav'n-pointed form and stature,
Hastned their growth, or wakened learnedly
The forms that formless in the Lump didly.
But (to conclude) I think't was no conceipt,
[...] ▪
No fained Idoll, nor no iuggling sleight,
Nor body borrowed for this vses sake,
But the self Serpent which the Lord did make
In the beginning: for, his hatefull breed
Bears yet the pain of this pernicious deed.
[...] ▪
Yet, 'tis a doubt, whether the Diuell did
Gouern the Dragon (not there selfly hid)
To raise his courage, and his tongue direct,
Locally absent, present by effect.
As when the sweet strings of a Lute we strike,
Another Lute laid neer it, sounds the like,
Nay, the same note, through secret simpathy
(Vntoucht) receiuing life and Harmony:
Or, as a sta [...], which (though far distant) pours,
Vpon our heads, hap-less or happy showrs.
Or, whether for a time he did abide,
Within the doubling Serpents damask hide,
6.
Holding a place-less place: as our soule deor▪
Through the dimlanthorn of our flesh▪ shines cleer;
And bound-less bounds itself in so streight space,
As fo [...]m in body, not as body in place.
But this stands sure, how euer else it went,
Th' old Serpent serv'd as Satans instrument
[Page 242]To charm in Eden with a strong illusion
Conclusion of the former opi­nions. A comparison.
Our silly Grandam to her selfs confusion.
For, as an old, rude, rotten, tune-les Kit,
If famous Dowland daign to finger it,
Makes sweeter Musik then the choicest Lute
In the gross handling of a clownish Brute:
So, whiles a learned Fiend with skilfull hand
Doth the dull motions of his mouth command,
This self-dum Creatures glozing Rhetorike
With bashfull shame great Orators would strike.
So, Faiery Trunks within Epyrus Groue
Mov'd by the spirit that was inspir'd by Ioue,
With fluent voice (to euery one that seeks)
Fore-tell the Fates of light-beleeuing Greeks:
So all incenst, the pale Engastromith
(Rul'd by the furious spirit hee's haunted with)
Speakes in his womb; So well a workmans skill
Supplies the want of any organ ill:
So doth the Phantike (lifting vp his thought
On Satans wing) tell with a tongue distraught
Strange Oracles, and his sick spirit doth plead
Euen of those Arts that he did neuer read.
O ruth-less murderer of immortall soules!
Alas! to pull vs from the happy Poles,
The sundry sut­tle and horrible end [...]uours of th [...] diuell, putting on diuers formes to ouerthrowe Man-kinde.
And plunge vs headlong in thy yawning hell,
Thy ceas-less frauds, and fetches who can tell?
Thou play'st the Lion, when thou doost in gage
Bloud-thirsty Nero's barbarous heart with rage,
While flesht in murthers (butcher-like) he paints
The Saint-poor world with the deer bloud of Saints.
Thou play'st the Dog, when by the mouth profane
Of som false Prophet t [...]ou doost beleh thy bane,
While from the Pulpit harkingly he rings
Bold blasphemies against the king of kings.
Thou play'st the Swine, when plung'd in pleasures vile,
Som Epicure doth sober mindes defile,
Transforming lewdly, by his loose impiety,
Strict Lacedaemon to a soft society.
Thou play'st the Nightingale, or else the Swan,
When any famous Rhetorician,
With captious wit and curious language, draws
Seduced hearers; and subuerts the laws.
Thou plaist the Fox, when thou dost fain a-right
The face and phrase of som deep Hypocrite,
True painted Toomb, dead-seeming coals, but quick;
A Scorpion fell, whose hidden tail doth prick.
Yet, this were little, if thy spight audacious,
Spar'd (at the least) the face of Angels gracious,
And if thou didst not (Ape-like) imitate
Th' Almighties works, the wariest Wits to mate.
The Poet resu­meth his Dis­course, touching the Temptation of Eue.
But (without numbring all thy suttle baits,
And nimble iuggling with a thousand sleights)
Timely returning where I first digrest,
I'le onely heer thy first DECEIPT digest.
The Dragon then, Mans Fortress to surprise,
Follows som Captains martiall policies,
Who, yer too neer an Aduerse place he pitch,
Comparison.
The situation marks, and sounds the ditch,
With his eys leuell the steep wall he metes,
Surueies the flanks, his Camp in order sets;
And then approaching, batters sore the side
Which Art and Nature haue least fortifi'd:
So this old Souldier, hauing marked rife
The first-born payrs yet danger-dreadless life;
Mounting his Canons suttly he assaults
The part he findes in euident defaults:
Namely, poor Woman, wauering, weake, vnwise,
Light, credulous, news-louer giuen to lies.
Eue, Second honour of this Vniuerse!
Sathans Oration
Is't true (I pray) that iealous God, peruerse,
Forbids (quoth he) both you and all your race,
All the fair Fruits these siluer Brooks imbrace;
So oft bequeath'd you, and by you possest,
And day and night by your own labour drest?
With th' ayr of these sweet words, the wily Snake
A poysoned ayr inspired (as it spake)
[Page 244]In Eues frail brest; who thus replies: O! knowe
Eues Answer
What e [...]r thou be (but thy kinde care doth showe
A gentle friend) that all the fruits and flowrs
In this earths-heav'n are in our hands and powrs,
Except alone that goodly fruit diuine,
Which in the midst of this green ground doth shine;
But, all-good▪ God (alas! I wote not why)
For bad vs touch that Tree, on pain to dy.
She ceast: already brooding in her heart
A curious wish, that will her weal subuert.
A [...]sit cōparison.
As a false Louer that thick snares hath laid,
T'intrap the honour of a fair young Maid,
When she (though little) listning ear affoords
To his sweet, courting, deep-affected words,
Feels som asswaging of his freezing [...]ame,
And sooths himself with hope to gain his game;
And rapt with ioy, vpon this point persists,
That parleing Citie neuer long resists:
Euen so the Serpent, that doth counterfet
A guilefull Call [...]allure vs to his net;
Perceiuing Eue his flattering gloze digest,
He prosecutes, and locund, doth not rest,
Till he haue try'd, foot, hand, and head, and all,
Vpon the Breach of this new-battered wall.
The Diuels reply
No, fair (quoth he) beleeue not, that the care
God hath, mankinde from spoyling death to spare,
Makes him forbid you (on so strict condition)
This purest, fairest, rarest Fruits fruition:
A doubtfull fear▪ an en [...]le, and a hate,
His iealous heart for euer cruciate;
Sith the suspected vertue of This Tree
Shall soon disperse the cloud of Idiocy,
Which dims your eys; and▪ further, make you seem
(Excelling vs) euen equall Gods to him.
O Worlds rare gloryl reach thy happy hand,
Reach, reach (I say) why doost thou stop or stand?
Begin thy Bliss, and doo not fear the threat
His audacio [...]s impudence.
Of an vncertain God-head, onely great,
[Page 245]Through self-aw'd zeal: put on the glistring Pall
Of immortality: doe not fore-stall
(As enuious stepdame) thy posteritie
The souerain honour of Diuinitie.
This parley ended, our ambitious Grandam,
The Apostas [...]e of Eue.
Who only yet did heart and ey abandon
Against the Lord; now farther doth proceed,
And hand and mouth makes guilty of the deed.
A nouice Theef; that in a Closet spies
A Comparison
A heap of Gold, that on the Table lies;
Pale, fearfull, shiuering, twice or thrice extends,
And twice or thrice retires his fingers ends,
And yet again returns; the booty takes,
And faintly-bold, vp in his cloak it makes,
Scarce findes the doore, with faultring foot hee flies,
And still looks back for fear of Hu-on cries:
Euen so doth Eue shew by like fear-full fashions
The doubtfull combat of contending Passions;
She would, she would not; glad, sad; coms, and goes:
And long she marts about a Match of Woes:
But (out alas [...]) at last she toucheth it,
And (hauing toucht) tastes the forbidden bit.
Another compa­rison liuely ex­pressing the Fall of Man, by the prouocation of his wife.
Then as a man that from a lofty Clift,
Or steepy Mountain, doth descend too swift,
Stumbling at somwhat, quickly clips som lim
Of som deer kinsman walking next to him,
And by his headlong fall, so brings his friend
To an vntimely, sad, and suddain end;
Our Mother, falling, hales her Spouse anon
Down to the gulf of pitchie Acheron.
For, to the wisht Fruits beautifull aspect,
Sweet Nectar-taste, and wonderfull effect,
Cunningly adding her quaint smiling glances,
Her witty speech, and pretty countenances,
She so preuails, that her blind Lord at last,
A morsell of the sharp-sweet fruit doth taste.
Now suddainly wide-open feel they might
(Siel'd for their good) both soules and bodies sight;
[Page 246]But the sad Soule hath lost the Character,
The effects of their disobedi­ence.
And sacred Image that did honour Her:
The wretched Body, full of shame and sorrow
To see it naked, is inforçt to borrow
The Trees broad leaues, wher of they aprons frame,
From Heav'ns faire ey to hide their filthy shame.
Alas, fond death-lings! O! behold how cleer
The knowledge is that you haue bought so deer:
In heav'nly things yee are more blinde then Moals,
In earthly Owls. O! think ye (silly soules)
The sight that swiftly through the earth's solid centres
(As globes of pure transparent crystall) enters
Cannot transpearce your leaves? or do ye ween,
Couering your shame so to conceal your sin?
Or that, a part thus clouded, all doth lie
Safe from the search of Heav'ns all-seeing ey?
Thus yet, mans troubled dull Intelligence
Had of his fault but a confused sense:
As in a dream, after much drink it chances,
Disturbed spirits are vext with rauing fancies.
Therefore the Lord, within the Garden fair,
The extraordi­nary presence of God, awakes their drousie soules swallowed vp of Sinne: and begins to arraign them.
Mouing b [...]times I wot not I what ayr,
But super naturall; whose breath diuine
Brings of his presence a most certain signe:
Awakes their Lethargie, and to the quick,
Their self-doom'd soules doth sharply press and prick:
Now more and more making their pride to fear
The frowning visage of their Iudge seuere:
To seck new-refuge in more secret harbors
Among the dark shade of those tusting arbors.
Adam, quoth God (with thundring maiesty)
Where art thou (wretch!) what doost thou? answer me
Thy God and Father, from whose hand, thy health
Thou hold'st, thine honour, and all sorts of wealth.
At this sad summon's, wofull man resembles
Description of the horrible ef­fects of a guilty Conscience, sum­moned to the presence of God.
A bearded rush that in a riuer trembles:
His rosie checks are chang'd to earthen hew;
His dying body drops an yeie deaw;
[Page 247]His tear-drown'd eys, a night of clouds bedims;
About his eares, a buzzing horror swims;
His fainted knees, with feeblenes are humble;
His faultring feet doe slide away and stumble:
He hath not (now) his free, bold, stately port;
But down-cast looks, in fearfull slauish sort;
Now, nought of Adam, doth in Adam rest;
He feel's his senses pain'd, his soule opprest:
A confus'd hoast of violent passions iarr;
His flesh and spirit are in continuall warre:
And now no more (through conscience of his error)
He hears or feesth' Almighty, but with terror:
And loth he answers (as with tongue distraught)
Confessing (thus) his fear, but not his fault.
O Lord! thy voice, thy dreadfull voice hath made
Adams answer [...]
Me fearfull hide me in this couert shade.
For, naked as I am (O most of might!)
I dare not come before thine awfull sight.
Naked (quoth God)? why (faith-less renegate,
God vrgeth the cause of his deiec­tion and feare.
Apostate Pagan!) who hath told thee that?
Whence springs thy shame? what makes thee thus to run
From shade to shade, my presence still to shun?
Hast thou not tasted of the learned Tree,
Whereof (on pain of death) I warned thee?
O righteous God (quoth Adam) I am free
Adams reply, excusing himself and couertly im­puting his Guilt to God. Examination of Eue, who excu­seth her self like­wise on another.
From this offence: the wife thou gauest me,
For my companion and my comforter,
She made me eat that deadly meat with her.
And thou (quoth God) O! thou frail treacherous Bride,
Why, with thy self, hast thousedu [...]'t thy Guide?
Lord (answers Eue) the Serpent did intice
My simple frailty to this sinfull vice.
Mark heer, how He, who fears not who reform
An example for Indges & Ma­gistrates.
His high Decrees, not subiect vnto form,
Or stile of Court: who, all-wise, hath no need
T' examine proof or witnes of the deed:
Who, for sustaining of vnequall Scale,
Dreads not the Doom of a Mercuriall;
[Page 248]Yer Sentence pass, doth publikely conuent,
Confront, and hear with ear indifferent
Th' Offenders sad: then with iust indignation,
Pronounceth thus their dreadfull Condemnation.
The Sentence of the supreame Iudge against the guilty Priso­ners: and first of all against the Serpent.
Ah cursed Serpent, which my fingers made
To serue mankinde: th' hast made thy self a blade
Wherewith vain Man and his inueigled wife
(Self-parricids) haue reft their proper life.
For this thy fault (true Fountain of all ill)
Thou shalt be hatefull'mong all creatures still.
Groueling in dust, of dust thou ay shalt feed:
I'le kindle war between the Womans seed,
And thy fell race; hers on the head shall ding
Thine: thine again hers in the heel shall sting.
Rebel to me, vnto thy kindred curst▪
Against the Woman.
False to thy husband, to thy self the worst:
Hope not, thy fruit so easly to bring-forth
As now thou slay'st it: hence forth, euery Birth
Shall torture thee with thousand sorts of pain;
Each artire, sinew, muscle, ioynt and vain,
Shall feel his part: besides foul vomitings,
Prodigious longings, thought-full languishings,
With change of colour, swouns, and many others,
Eternall fellows of all future mothers:
Vnder his yoak, thy husband thee shall haue,
Tyrant, by thee made the Arch-tyrants slaue.
Against Man.
And thou disloyall, which hast harkned more
To a wanton fondling then my sacred lore:
Hence forth the sweat shall bubble on thy brow:
Thy hands shall blister, and thy back shall bow:
Ne'r shalt thousend into thy branchievains
A bit, but bought with price of thousand pains.
For, the earth feeling (euen in her) th' effect
Of the doom thundred 'gainst thy foul defect;
In stead of sweet fruits which she selfly yeelds
Seed-less, and Art-less ouer all thy fields,
With thorns and burrs shall bristle vp her brest:
(In short) thou shalt not taste the sweets of rest,
[Page 249]Till ruth-less Death by his extreamest pain
Thy dust-born body turn to dust again.
Heer I conceiue, that flesh and bloud will brangle,
Obiection to ex­cuse the Sinne of Man.
And murmuring Reason with th' almighty wrangle,
Who did our parents with Free-will indue,
1.
Though he fore-saw, that that would be the clew
Should lead their steps into the wofull way
Where life is death ten thousand times a day:
Now all, that he fore-sees, befalls: and further,
Hee all euents by his free powr doth order.
Man taxeth God of too-vniust severity,
For plaguing Adams sin in his posterity:
So that th' old yeers renewed generations
Cannot asswage his venging indignations,
Which haue no other ground to prosecute,
But the mis eating of a certain fruit.
O dusty wormling! dar'st thou striue and stand
Answeres to the first obiection.
With Heav'ns high Monarch? wilt thou (wretch) demand
Count of his deeds? Ah! shall the Potter make
1.
His clay, such fashion, as him list, to take?
And shal not God (Worlds Founder, Natures Father)
Dispose of man (his own meer creature) rather?
The supream King, who (Iudge of greatest Kings)
By number, weight and measure, acts all things,
Vice-loathing Lord, pure Iustice, patron strong,
Law's life, Right's rule, will he doo any wrong?
Man, holdest thou of God thy frank Free-will,
2.
But free t'obay his sacred goodnes still?
Freely to follow him, and doe his hest,
Net Philtre-charm'd, nor by Busiris prest?
God arms thee with discourse: but thou (O wretch)
By the keen edge the wound-soule sword doost catch;
Killing thy self, and in thy loyns thy line.
O banefull Spider (weaving wofull twine)
All Heav'ns pure flowrs thou turnest into poyson:
Thy sense reaues sense: thy reason robs thy reason.
For, thou complainest of Gods grace, whose Still
Extracts from dross of thine audacious ill,
3.
[Page 250]Three vnexpected goods: prayse for his Name;
Bliss for thy self; for Satan endless-shame:
Sith, but for sin, Iustice and Mercy were
But idle names: and but that thou didst erre,
CHRIST had not com to conquer and to quell,
Vpon the Cross, Sin, Satan, Death, and Hell:
Making thee blessed more since thine offence,
Then in thy primer happy innocence.
Thē, might'st thou dy; now, death thou doost not doubt:
Now, in the Heav'n; then, didst thou ride without:
In earth, thou liv'dst then; now in Heav'n thou beest:
Then, thou didst hear Gods word; it, now thou seest:
Then, pleasant fruits; now, Christ is thy repast:
Then might'st thou fall; but now thou standest fast.
Now, Adams fault was not in deed so light,
As seems to Reason's sin-bleard Owlie sight:
But't was a chain where all the greatest sinns
Were one in other linked fast, as Twinns:
Ingratitude, pride, treason, gluttony,
Too-curious skill-thrist, enuy, felony,
Too-light, too-late beleef; were the sweet baits
That made him wander from Heav'ns holy straights.
What wouldst thou (Father) say vnto a Son
Of perfect age, to whom for portion
(Witting and willing, while thy self yet livest)
All thy possessions in the earth thou givest:
And yet th' vngratefull, grace-lesse, insolent,
In thine own Land, rebellion doth invent?
Map now an Adam in thy memory;
By Gods own hand made with great maiesty,
Not poor, nor pined; but at whose command
The rich aboundance of the world doth stand:
Not slaue to sense, but having freely might
To bridle it, and range it still aright:
No idiot fool, nor drunk with vain opinion;
But Gods Disciple and his deerest Minion:
Who rashly growes for little, nay for nought,
His deadly foe that all his good had wrought:
[Page 251]So mayst thou ghess, what whip what rope, what rack,
What fire, were fit to punish Adams lack.
Answeres to the second obiection.
Then, sith Mans sin by little and little runs
End-less, through every Age from Sires to Sons;
1.
And still the farther this foul sin-spring flowes
It still more muddy and more filthy growes:
Thou ought'st not marvail, if (even yet) his seed
Feel the iust wages of this wicked deed.
For, though the keen sting of concupiscence
Cannot, yer birth, his fell effect commence;
The vnborn Babe, hid in the Mothers womb,
Is Sorrow's seruant, and Sin's servile groom,
As a frail Mote from the first Mass extract,
Which Adam baen'd by his rebellious fact.
Sound off-spring coms not of a Kinde infected:
Parts are not fair, if to tall be defected:
And a defiled stinking sink doth yeeld
More durt then water, to the neighbour field.
While nights black muffler hoodeth vp the skies,
2.
The silly blind-man misseth not his eys:
Simile.
But when the day summons to work again,
His night, eternall then he doth complain,
That hee goes groping, and his hand (alas!)
Is fain to guide his foot, and guard his face:
So man, that liveth in the wombs obscurity,
Knowes not; nor maketh knowen his lusts impurity:
Which for't is sown in a too-plentious ground,
Takes root already in the Caues profound
Of his infected Hart: with's birth, it peers,
And growes in strength, as he doth growe in years;
And waxt a Tree (though proyn'd with thousand cares)
An execrable deadly fruit it bears.
Thou seest, no wheat Helleborus can bring:
3.
Nor barly, from the madding Morrell spring:
Simile.
Nor, bleating Lambs braue Lyons doe not breed:
The leprous Parents, raise a leprous seed:
Even so our Grand-sire, living Innocent,
Had stockt the whole World with a Saint-descent:
[Page 252]But suffering sin in EDEN him inuade,
His sons, the sons of Sin and Wrath he made.
For, God did seem t'indow, with glory and grace,
4.
Not the first Man so much, as all mans race:
And after reaue again those gifts diuine,
Not him so much, as in him all his line.
For, if an odious Traytour that conspires,
Simile.
Against a Prince, or to his state aspires,
Feel not alone the laws extremity;
But his sons sons (although somtimes they be
Honest and vertuous) for their Fathers blame,
Are hap-less scarr'd with an eternall shame:
May not th' Eternall, with a righteous terror,
In Adams issue punish Adams error?
May he not thrall them vnder Deaths command:
And sear their brows with everlasting brand
Of infamy, who in his stock (accurst)
Haue graft worse slips then Adam set at first?
Mans seed then iustly, by succession,
Conclusion of the former Disputa­tions, and exe­cution of Gods Decree against Adam & Eue. They are driuen out of Eden.
Bears the hard penance of his high transgression:
And Adam heer, from Eden banished,
As first offender is first punished.
Hence (quoth the Lord) hence, hence (accursed race)
Out of my Garden: quick, auoyd the place,
This beautious place, pride of this Vniuerse,
A house vnworthy Masters so peruerse.
Those that ( in quarrell of the Strong of Strongs,
Simile.
And iust reuenge of Queen, and Countries wrongs)
Were witnesses to all the wofull plaints,
The sighes, and tears, and pitifull complaints,
Of brauing Spaniards (chiefly braue inword)
When by the valiant Heav'n-assisted sword
Of Mars- like ESSEX, Englands Marshall-Earl
( Then Albions Patron, and Eliza's Pearl)
They were expulst from Cad'z, their deerest pleasure,
Losing their Town, their honour, and their treasure:
Woe worth ( said they) woe worth our Kings ambition;
Woe worth our Cleargy, and their Inquisition:
[Page 253] He seeks new Kingdoms, and doth lose his old;
They burn for conscience, but their thirst is gold:
Woe, and alas, woe to the vain brauados
Of Typhon- like-inuincible ARMADOS,
Which like the vaunting Monster-man of Gath,
Haue stirr'd against vs little Dauids wrath:
Wo-worth our sins: wo worth our selues, and all
Accursed causes of our suddain fall;
Those well may ghess the bitter agonies,
And luke-warm Rivers gushing down the eys
Of our first Parents, out of Eden driv'n
(Of Repeal hope-less) by the hand of Heav'n;
For, the Almighty set before the dore
The earthly E­den shut-vp for euer from Man­kinde.
Of th' holy Park, a Seraphin that bore
A waving sword, whose body shined bright,
Like flaming Comet in the midst of night;
A body meerly Metaphysioall,
Which (differing little from th' ONE vnicall,
Th' Act-simply-pure, the onely-beeing BEEING)
Approcheth matter; ne'rtheless, not being
Of matter mixt: or rather is so made
So meerly spirit, that not the murdering blade,
His ioyned quantity can part in two:
For (pure) it cannot Suffer ought, but Doo.
FINIS.
[...]
[...]

THE FVRIES. THE III. PART OF THE I. DAY OF THE II. WEEK.

THE ARGVMENT.
The World's tranform'd from that it was at first:
For Adams Sin, all Creatures else accurst:
Their Harmony dis-tuned by His iar:
Yet all again concent, to make Him war;
As, th' Elements, and aboue all, the Earth:
Three ghastly FVRIES; Sicknes, War, and Dearth,
A generall Muster of the Bodies Griefs:
The Soules Diseases, vnder sundry Chiefs:
Both, full of Horror, but the later most;
Where vgly Vice in Vertues Mask doth boast.
THis's not the World. O! whither am I brought?
Sin hath chan­ged and disfigu­red the face of the World.
This Earth I tread, this hollow-hanging Vault,
Which Dayes reducing, and renuing Nights,
Renues the grief of mine afflicted sprights;
This Sea I sail, this troubled Ayr I sip,
Are not The First-Weeks glorious workmanship:
This wretched Round is not the goodly Globe
Th' Eternall trimmed in so various Robe:
'Tis but a Dungeon and a dreadfull Caue,
Of that First World the miserable graue.
All-quickning Spirit, great God, that iustly-strange
Inuocation.
Iudge-turned-Father, wrought'st his wondrous change,
Change and new-mould me; Lord, my hand assist,
That in my Muse appear no earthly mist:
[Page 255]Make me thine organ, giue my voice dexterity
Sadly to sing this sad Change to Posterity.
And, bountious Giuer of each perfect gift,
So tune my voice to his sweet-sacred Clift,
That in each strain my rude vnready tong
Be liuely Eccho of his learned Song.
And, hence-forth, let our holy Musik rauish
All well-born Soules, from fancies lewdly-lauish
(Of charming Sin the deep-inchaunting Syrens,
The snares of vertue, valour-softning Hyrens)
That toucht with terrour of thine indignation,
Presented in this wofull Alteration,
We all may seek, by Prayer and true Repentance,
To shun the rigour of thy wrathfull Sentence.
The Trāslator heere humbly vaileth-bonnet to the Kings Maiesty; who many yeeres since (for his princely exer­cile) translated these FV­RIES, the VRANIA, and some o­ther Pecces of Du BAR­TAS.
But, yer we farther pass, our slender Bark
Must heer strike top-s [...]ils to a Princely Ark
Which keeps these Straights: Hee hails vs threatfully,
Star-boord our helm; Com vnderneath his Lee.
Ho, Whence your Bark? of Zeal-land: Whether bound?
For Vertues Cape: What lading? Hope. This Sound
You should not pass; sau [...] that your voyage tends
To benefit our Neighbours and our Frends.
Thanks, Kingly Captain; daign vs then (we pray)
Som skilfull Pylot through this FVRIOVS Bay;
Or, in this Chanell, sith we are to learn,
Vouch safe to togh vs at your Royall Stern.
YER THAT our Sire (O too too proudly-base)
Turn'd tail to God, and to the Fiend his face,
This mighty World did seem an Instrument
True-strung, well-tun'd, and handled excellent,
Happy estate of the World, before Sinne; set forth by a Similitude.
Whose symphony resounded sweetly-shrill
Th' Almighties prayse, who play'd vpon it still.
While man serv'd God, the World serv'd him, the lyue
And liue-less creatures seemed all to striue
To nurse this league; and, louing zealously
These two deer Heads, embraced mutually:
In sweet accord, the base with high reioyc't,
The hot with cold, the solid with the moist;
[Page 256]And innocent Astraea did combine
All with the mastick of a Loue diuine.
For, th' hidden loue that now a-dayes doth holde
The Sympathy yet appearing between certain Creatures, is but as a litle shadow of the perfect v­nion which was among all Crea­tures, before Mans Fall.
The Steel and Load-stone, Hydrargire and Golde,
Th' Amber and straw; that lodgeth in one shell
Pearl-fish and Sharpling: and vnites so well
Sargons and Goats, the Sperage and the Rush,
Th' Elm and the Vine, th' Oliue and Myrtle-bush,
Is but a spark or shadow of that Loue
Which at the first in every thing did moue,
When as th' Earth's Muses with Harmonious sound
To Heav'ns sweet Musick humbly did resound.
But Adam, being chief of all the strings
Of this large Lute, o're-retched, quickly brings
All out of tune: and now, for melody
Of warbling Charms, it yels so hideously,
That it affrights fell Enyon, who turmoils
To raise again th' old Chaos antik broils:
Heav'n, that still smiling on his Paramour,
Of the Discord that Sinne hath brought among all things.
Still in her lap did Mel and Manna pour,
Now with his hail, his rain, his frost and heat,
Doth parch, and pinch, and over-whelm, and beat,
And hoars her head with Snowes, and (ielous) dashes
Against her brows his fiery lightning flashes,
On th' other side, the sullen, enuious Earth
Sundry notable Antipathies.
From blackest Cels of her foul brest sends forth
A thousand foggy fumes, which every where
With cloudy mists Heav'ns crystall front besmear.
Since that, the Woolf the trembling Sheep pursues;
The crowing Cock, the Lion stout eschews;
The Pullein hide them from the Puttock's flight,
The Mastie's mute at the Hyaenas sight:
Yea (who would think it?) these fell enmities
Rage in the sense-less trunks of Plants and Trees:
The Vine, the Cole, the Cole-wort Swines-bread dreads,
The Fearn abhors the hollow waving Reeds,
The Olyue and the Oak participate,
Even to their earth, signes of their auncient hate,
[Page 257]Which suffers not (O date-less discord!) th' one
Live in that ground where th' other first hath growen.
O strange instinct! O deep immortall rage,
Whose fiery fewd no Laethé floud can swage!
So, at the sound of Wolf-Drums rattling thunder
Th' affrighted Sheep-skin-Drum doth rent in sunder:
So, that fell Monsters twisted entrails cuts
(By secret powr) the poor Lambs twined guts,
Which (after death) in steed of bleating mute,
Are taught to speak vpon an Yvory Lute:
And so the Princely Eagles ravening plumes
The feathers of all other Fowls consumes.
The First-mov'd Heav'n (in 'tself it self still stirring)
The estate of Man before Sin
Rapts with his course (quicker then windes swift whirring)
All th' other Sphears, and to Alcides Spyres
From Alexanders Altars driues their Fires:
But mortall Adam, Monarch heer beneath,
Erring draws all into the paths of death;
And on rough Seas, as a blinde Pylot rash,
Against the rock of Heav'ns iust wrath doth dash
The Worlds great Vessell, sayling yerst at ease,
With gentle gales, good guide, on quiet Seas.
For (yer his fall) which way so e'r he rowl'd
His estate after Sinne.
His wondering eys God every-where behold;
In Heav'n, in Earth, in Ocean, and in Ayr,
He sees, and feels, and findes him every-where.
The World was like a large and sumptuous Shop
Where God his goodly treasures did vnwrap:
Or Crystall glass most liuely representing
His sacred Goodnes, every-where frequenting.
But, since his sin, the wofull wretch findes none
Herb, garden, groue, field, fountain, stream or stone,
Beast, mountain, valley, sea-gate, shoar, or haven,
But bears his Deaths▪ doom openly ingraven:
In brief, the whole scope this round Centre hath,
Is a true store-house of Heav'ns righteous wrath.
Al creatures frō the highest to the lowest, enemies to Man.
Rebellious Adam, from his God revolting,
Findes his yerst-subiects 'gainst himself insulting:
[Page 258]The tumbling Sea, the Ayr with tempests driven,
Thorn-bristled Earth, the sad and lowring Heav'n
(As from the oath of their allegeance free)
Revenge on him th' Almighties iniury.
The Starrs coniur'd, through enuious Influence,
The Heauens, with all ther in.
By secret Hang-men punish his offence:
The Sun with heat, the Moon with cold doth vex-him,
Th' Air with vnlookt-for suddain changes checks-him,
With fogs and frosts, hails, snowes, and sulph'ry thunders;
Blasting, and storms, and more prodigious wonders.
Fire, fall'n from Heav'n, or else by Art incited,
Al the Elemēts. Fire. Aire.
Or by mischance in som rich building lighted,
Or from som Mountains burning bowels throw'n,
Repleat with Sulphur, Pitch, and Pumie stone,
With sparkling fury spreads, and in fewe hours
The labour of a thousand years devours.
The greedy Ocean, breaking wonted bounds,
Sea.
Vsurps his heards, his wealthy Iles and Towns.
The grieved Earth, to ease her (as it seems)
Earth.
Of such profane accursed weight, somtimes
Swallows whole Countries, and the airie tops.
Of Prince-proud towrs in her black womb she wraps.
And in despight of him, abhord and hatefull,
Earth brings forth weeds.
She many wayes proues barren and ingratefull:
Mocking our hopes, turning our seed-Wheat-kernel
To burn-grain Thistle, and to vapourie Darnel,
Cockle, wilde Oats, rough Burs, Corn-cumbring Tares,
Short recompence for all our costly cares.
Yet this were little, if she more malicious,
Venemous plants.
Fell stepdame, brought vs not Plants more pernicious:
As, sable Henbane; Morell, making mad:
Cold poysoning Poppy, itching, drowsie, sad:
The stifning Carpes [...], th' eyes-foe Hemlock stinking,
Limb-numming belching: and the sinew-shrinking
Dead-laughing Ap [...]um, weeping Aconite
(Which in our vulgar deadly Wolfs-bane hight)▪
The dropsie▪ breeding, sorrow-bringing Psylly
(Heer called Flea-Wurt) Colchis▪ banefull Lilly,
[Page 259](With vs Wild-Saffron) blistring byting fell:
Not Napell, making lips and tongue to swell:
Blood-boyling Yew, and costiue M [...]sseltoe:
With yce-cold Mandrake, and a many mo
Such fatall plants; whose fruit, seed, sap, or root,
T'vntimely Graue doe bring our heed-less foot.
Besides, she knowes, we brutish value more
Poyson hidden among the Me­tals.
Then Liues or Honours, her rich glittering Ore:
That Auarice our bound-less thought still vexes:
Therfore among her wreakfull baits she mixes
Quick-siluer, Lithargie and Orpiment,
Wherwith our entrails are oft g [...]awn and rent:
So that somtimes; for Body, and for Minde,
Torture and torment, in one Mine we finde.
What resteth more? the Masters skilfull most,
The excellency of Mans Domi­nion ouer the Creatures before his Fall.
With gentle gales driv'n to their wished Coast,
Not with less labour guide their winged wayn [...]
On th' azure fore-head of the liquid plains:
Nor crafty Iugglers, can more easily make
Their self-liv'd Puppets (for their lucres sake)
To skip and scud, and play, and prate, and praunce,
And fight, and fall, and trip, and turn, and daunce:
Then happy we did rule the sealy Legions
That dumbly dwell in stormy water-Regions;
Then fethered singers, and the stubborn droues
That haunt the Desarts and the shady Groues:
At every word they trembled then for aw,
And every wink then serv'd them as a law,
And always bent all duty to obserue-vs,
Without command, stood ready still to serue-vs.
But now (alas!) through our fond Parents fall,
The Creatures now becomn Ty­rants and [...]ray­tors to Him, whose slaues and seruants they were before Sin.
They (of our slaues) are growen our tyrants all.
Wend we by Sea? the dread Leuiathan
Turns vpside-down the boyling Ocean,
And on the suddain sadly doth in toomb
Our floting Castle in deep Thetis womb;
Yerst in the wel kin like an Eagle towring,
And on the water like a Dolphin scowring.
[Page 260]Walk we by Land? how many loathsom swarms
Of speckled poysons, with pestiferous arms,
In every corner in close Ambush lurk
With secret bands our sodain banes to work?
Besides, the Lion and the Leopard,
Boar, Bear, and Wolf to death pursue vs hard;
And, ielous vengers of the wrongs divine,
In peeces pull their Soverains sinfull line.
The huge thick Forrests haue nor bush nor brake
But hides som Hang-man our loath'd life to take:
In every hedge and ditch both day and night
We fear our death, of every leaf affright.
Rest we at home? the Masty fierce in force,
Th' vntamed Bull, the hot courageous Horse,
With teeth, with horns, and hooues besiege vs round,
As griev'd to see such tyrants tread the ground:
And ther's no Fly so small but now dares bring
Her little wrath against her quondam King.
What hideous sights? what horror-boading showes?
An admirable description of Mans miserable Punishments, tortured by him­selfe.
Alas, what yels? what howls? what thund'ring throws?
O! am I not neer roaring Phlegoton?
Alecto, sad Moger' and Thesiphon?
What spels haue charm'd ye from your dreadfull den
Of darkest Hell? Monsters abhord of men,
O Nights black daughters, grim-faç't Furies sad,
Stern Plutos Posts, what make ye heer so mad?
O! feels not man a world of wofull terrors,
Besides your goaring wounds and ghastly horrors?
So soon as God from Eden Adam draue,
To liue in this Earth (rather in this Graue,
Where raign a thousand deaths) he summon'd-vp
With thundering call the damned Crew, that sup
Of Sulphury Styx, and fiery Phlegeton,
Bloody Cocytus, muddy Acheron.
Com snake-trest Sisters, com ye dismall Elves,
Cease now to curse and cruciate your selues:
Com, leaue the horror of your houses pale,
Com, parbreak heer your foul, black, banefull gall:
[Page 261]Let lack of work no more from hence forth fear-you,
Man by his sin a hundred hells doth rear-you.
This eccho made whole hell to tremble troubled,
The drowsie Night her deep dark horrors doubled,
And suddainly Auernus Gulf did swim
With Rozin, Pitch, and Brimstone to the brim,
And th' vgly Gorgons, and the Sphinxes fel,
Hydraes and Harpies gan to yawn and yel.
As the heat, hidden in a vapoury Cloud,
Striuing for issue with strange murmurs loud,
Like Guns a stuns, with round-round-rumbling thunder
Filling the Ayr with noyse, the Earth with wonder:
So the three Sisters, the three hideous Rages,
Rayse thousand storms, leaving th' infernal stages.
The FVRIES with their furni­ture and traine, representing the Horror of Sinne [...] and the cursed e­state of an euill conscience.
Al-ready all rowle on their steely Cars
On th' ever-shaking nine-fold steely bars
Of Stygian Bridge, and in that fearfull Caue
They iumble, tumble, rumble, rage and raue.
Then dreadfull Hydra, and dire Cerberus
Which on one body, beareth (monsterous)
The heads of Dragon, Dog Ounse, Bear, and Bull,
Wolf, Lion, Horse (of strength and stomack full)
Listing his lungs, he hisses, barks, and brays,
He howls, heyels, he bellows, roars, and neighs,
Such a black Sant, such a confused sound
From many-headed bodies doth rebound.
Hauing attain'd to our calm Hav'n of light,
With swifter course then B [...]reas nimble flight,
All fly at Man, all at intestine strife,
Who most may torture his detested life.
Heer first coms DEARTH▪ the liuely form of Death,
1 Description of Famine with her traine.
Still vawning wide, with loathsom stinking breath,
With hollow eys, with meager cheeks and chin,
With sharp lean bones pearcing her sable skin:
Her empty bowels may be plainly spi'd
Clean through the wrinkles of her withered hide:
She hath no belly, but the bellies seat,
Her knees and knuckles swelling hugely great:
[Page 262]Insatiate Orque, that even at one repast,
Almost all creatures in the World would waste;
Whose greedy gorge dish after dish doth draw,
Seeks meat in meat. For, still her monstrous maw
Voyds in deuouring, and somtimes she eats
Her own deer Babes for lack of other meats:
Nay more, somtimes (O strangest gluttony!)
She eats her self, her self to satisfie;
Lessening her self, her self so to in large:
And cruell thus she doth our Grand-sire charge;
And brings besides from Limbo, to assist-her,
Rage, Feeblenes, and Thirst her ruthe-less sister.
Next marcheth WARR, the mistriss of enormity,
2. Of Warre & her traine.
Mother of mischief, monster of Deformity;
Laws, Manners, Arts, shee breaks, shee mars, she chaces:
Blood, tears, bowrs, towrs; she spils, swils, burns, and razes:
Her brazen feet shake all the Earth a-sunder,
Her mouth's a fire-brand, and her voice a thunder,
Her looks are lightnings, every glaunce a flash:
Her fingers guns that all to powder pash.
Fear and Despair, Flight and Disorder, coast
With hasty march, before her murderous hoast:
As, Burning, Waste, Rape, Wrong, Impiety,
Rage, Ruine, Discord, Horror, Cruelty,
Sack, Sacriledge, Impunity, and Pride,
Are still stern consorts by her babarous side:
And Pouerty, Sorrow, and Desolation,
Follow her Armies bloody transmigration.
Heer's th' other FVRIE (or my iudgement fails)
3. Sicknes exact­ly described with all her partakers and dependers.
Which furiously mans wofull life assails
With thousand Cannons, sooner felt then seen,
Where weakest strongest; fraught with deadly teen:
Blinde, crooked, cripple, maymed, deaf, and mad,
Cold-burning, blistered, melancholik, sad,
Many-nam'd poyson, minister of Death,
Which from vs creeps, but to vs gallopeth:
Foul, trouble-rest, fantastik, greedy-gut,
Blood-sweating, harts-theef, wretched, filthy Slut,
[Page 263]The Childe of surfait, and Ayrs-temper vicious,
Perillous knowen, but vnknowen most pernitious.
Innumerable kindes of disea­ses.
Th' inammeld meads, in Sommer cannot showe
More Grashoppers aboue, nor Frogs belowe,
Then hellish murmurs heer about doe ring:
Nor neuer did the prety little King
Of Hony-people, in a Sun-shine day
Lead to the field in orderly array
More busie buzzers, when he casteth (witty)
The first foundations of his waxen City;
Then this fierce Monster musters in her train
Fel Souldiers, charging poor mankinde amain.
Lo, first a rough and furious Regiment
The first Regi­ment sent to as­saile the Head Mans chiefest F [...]rtresse. Simile.
T'assault the Fort of Adams head is sent,
Reasons best Bulwark and the holy Cell
Wherein the soules most sacred powers dwell.
A King, that ayms his neighbours Crown to win,
Before the bruite of open warrs begin,
Corrupts his Counsail with rich recompences;
For, in good Counsail stands the strength of Princes:
So this fell Fury, for fore-runners, sends
Manie, and Phrenzie to suborn her friends:
Whereof, th' one drying, th' other over-warming
The feeble brain (the edge of iudgement harming)
Within the Soule fantastikly they fain
A confus'd hoast of strange Chimeraes vain,
The Karos, th' Apoplexie, and Lethargy
As forlorn hope, assault the enemy
On the same side; but yet with weapons others:
For, they freez-vp the brain and all his brothers;
Making a liue man like a liue-less carcass,
Saue that again he scapeth from the Parcas.
And now the Palsie, and the Cramp dispose
Their angry darts; this bindes, and that doth lose
Mans feeble sinewes, shutting vp the way
Whereby before the vitall spirits did play.
Then as a man, that fronts in single Fight
A similitude of the effects and endeuors of sick­nesse.
His suddain foe, his ground doth trauerse light,
[Page 264]Thrusts, wards, auoids and best aduantage spies,
At last (to daze his R [...]uals sparkling eyes)
He casts his Cloak, and then with coward knife,
In crimsin streams he makes him strain his life:
So SICKNES, Adam to sub due the better
(Whom thousand Gyues al-ready fastly fetter)
Brings to the field the faith-less Ophthalmy
With scalding blood to blinde her enemy,
Darting a thousand thrusts; then she [...] backt
By th' Amafrose and clowdy Cataract:
That, gathering-vp gross humors inwardly
In th' Op [...]ke sinnew, clean puts out the ey:
This other, caseth in an enuious caul
The Crystall humour shining in the ball.
This past: in-steps that insosent insu [...]ter;
The cruell Quincy, leaping like a Vulture
At Adams throat, his hollow weasand swelling
Among the muscles, through thick bloods congealing;
Leauing him onely this Essay, for signe
Of's might and malice to his future-line:
Like Hercules that in his infant-browes
Bore glorious marks of his vndaunted prowes,
When with his hands (like steely tongs) he strangled
His spightfull stepdams Dragons spotty-spangled:
A proof, praesaging the tryumphant spoyls
That he atchiv'd by his Twelue famous Toyls.
The second Regiment with deadly darts
Assaulteth fiercely Adams vitall parts:
The second Re­giment assaul­ting the vitall Parts.
Al-ready th' Asthma panting, breathing tough,
With humours gross the lifting Lungs doth stuff:
The pining Phthisick fills them all with pushes,
Whence a slowe spowt of cor'sie matter gushes:
A wasting flame the Peripneumony
Within those spunges kindles cruelly:
The spawling Emptem, ruth-less as the rest,
With [...]oul impostumes fils his hollow chest:
The Pl [...]urisi [...] stabs him with desperate foyl
Beneath the ribs, where scalding blood doth boyl:
[Page 265]Then th' In [...]ubus (by som suppos'd a spright)
With a thick phlegm doth stop his breath by night.
Deer Muse; my guide; cleer truth, that nought dissēbles,
The Ague with her train her k [...]n [...]s, and cruell effects.
Name me that Champion that with fury trembles,
Who arm'd with blazing fire brands, fiercely flings
At th' Armies heart not at our feeble wings:
Hauing for Aids▪ Cough, Head-ache, Horror, Heat,
Pulse-beating, Burning, cold-distilling-Sweat,
Thirst, Yawning, Yolking, [...], Shiuering, Shaking,
Fantastik R [...]uing, and continuall Akeing,
With many more: O! is not this the Fury
We call the Feuer? whose in constant fury
Transforms her ofter then Vertumnus can,
To Tertian, Quartan, and Quotidian,
And Second too; now posting, somtimes pawsing,
Euen as the matter, all these changes causing,
Is rommidged with motions slowe or quick
In feeble bodies of the Ague-sick.
Ah treacherous beast! needs must I knowe thee best:
Our Poet, hauing been himself for many yeers grie­u [...]usly a fl [...]ct [...]d with the Feuer, complaineth bitterly of her rude violence.
For foure whole years thou wert my poor harts guest,
And to this day in body and in minde
I bear the marks of thy despight vnkinde:
For yet (besides my veins and bones bereft
Of blood and marrow) through thy secret theft
I feel the vertue of my spirit decayd,
Th' Enthousiasmos of my Muse allaid;
My memory (which hath been meetly good)
Is now ( [...]l [...]s [...]) much like the fleeting flood;
Wheron no sooner haue we drawn a line
But it is canceld, leauing there no signe:
For, the deer fruit of all my care and cost,
My former study (almost all) is lost,
And oft in secret haue I blushed at
Mine ignorance: like C [...]ru [...]ne, who forgat
His proper name; or like George Trapezunce
(Learned in youth, and in his age a Dunce)
And thence it growes, that maugre my endeuour
My numbers still by habite haue the Feuer;
[Page 266]One-while with heat of heav'nly fire-ensoul'd,
Shivering anon, through faint vn-learned cold.
Now, the third Regiment with stormy stours
The third Regi­ment warring on the naturall Po­wers.
Sets-on the Squadron of our Naturall Powers,
Which happily maintain vs (duly) both
With needfull food and with sufficient growth.
One-while the Boulime, then the Anorexie,
Then the Dog-hunger, or the Bradypepsie,
And childe-great Pica (of prodigious diet)
In straightest stomacks rage with monstrous ryot:
Then on the Lyver doth the Iaundize fall,
Stopping the passage of the cholerick Gall;
Which then, for good blood, scatters all about
Her fiery poyson, yellowing all without:
But the sad Dropsie freezeth it extream,
Till all the blood be turned into fleam.
But see (alas!) by far more cruell foes
The slippery bowels thrill'd with thousand throes:
With prisoned windes the wringing Colick pains-them,
The Iliak passion with more rigour strains-them,
Streightens their Conduits, and (detested) makes
Mans mouth (alas!) euen like a loathsom Iakes.
Then the Dysentery with fretting pains
Extorteth pure blood from the flayed veins.
On th' other side, the Stone and Strangury,
Torturing the Reins with deadly tyranny,
With heat-concreted sand-heaps strangely stop
The burning vrine, strained drop by drop:
As opposite, the Diabete, by melting
Our bodies substance in our Vrine swelting,
Distills vs still, as long as any matter
Vnto the spout can send supply of water.
Vnto those parts, wherby we leaue behind-vs
Types of ourselues in after-times to mind-vs,
Ther fiercely flies defectiue Venery,
And the foul, feeble, fruit-less Gonorrhe
(An impotence for Generations-deed,
And lust-less Issue of th' vncocted seed)
[Page 267]Remorse-less tyrants, that to spoyl aspire
Babes vnconceiv'd, in hatred of their Sire.
The fell fourth Regiment, is outward Tumours
The fourth Regi­ment, forrageth, aud defaceth the Body outwardly
Begot of vicious indigested humours:
As Phlegmons, Oedems, S [...]yrrhes, Erysipiles,
Kings-euils, Cankers, cruell Gouts, and Byles,
Wens, Ring-worms, Tetters: these from euery part
With thousand pangs braue the besieged hart:
And their blind fury, wanting force and courage
To hurt the Fort, the champain Country forrage.
O tyrants! sheath your feeble swords again:
Comparison.
For, Death al-ready thousand-times hath slain
Your Enemy; and yet your enuious rigour
Doth mar his feature and his limbs disfigure,
And with a dull and ragged instrument
His ioints and skin are saw'd, and torn, and ren [...] ▪
Me thinks most rightly to a coward Crew
Of Wolues and Foxes I resemble you,
Who in a Forrest (finding on the sand
The Lyon dead, that did aliue command
The Land about, whose aw-full Countenance
Melted (far off) their yce-like arrogance)
Mangle the members of their liue-less Prince,
With feeble signes of dastard insolence.
But, with the Griefs that charge our outward places,
The Lowsi [...] Disease.
Shall I account the loathsom Phthiriasis?
O shamefull Plague! O foul infirmity!
Which makes proud Kings, fouler then Beggars be
(That wrapt in rags, and wrung with verminsore,
Their itching backs sit shrugging euermore)
To swarm with Lice, that rubbing cannot rid,
Nor often shift of shirts, and sheets, and bed:
For, as in springs, stream stream pursueth fresh,
Swarm follows swarm, and their too fruitfull flesh
Breeds her own eaters, and (till Deaths arrest)
Makes of it self an execrable feast.
Nor may we think, that Chance, confusedly
Diseases proper to certaine Cli­mats & Natiōs.
Conducts the Camp of our Third Enemy:
[Page 268]For, of her Souldiers, som (as led by reason)
Can make their choice of Country, Age, and Season.
So Portugal hath Phthisiks most of all,
Eber Kings-euils; Arné the Suddain-Fall;
Sauoy the Mumps; West-India, Pox; and Nyle
The Leprosie; Plague, the Sardinian-Ile:
After the influence of the Heav'ns all-ruling,
To som ages of man.
Or Countries manners. So, soft Childhood puling
Is wrung with Worms, begot of crudity,
Are apt to Lasks through much humidity:
Through their salt phlegms, their heads are hid with skalls,
Their Limbs with Red-gums and with bloody balls
Of Menstruall humour which (like Must) within
Their bodies boyling, buttoneth all their skin.
To bloody-Flixes, Youth is apt inclining,
Continuall-Feuers, Phrenzies, Phthisik-pyning.
And feeble Age is seldom-times without
Her tedious guests, the Palsie and the Gout,
Coughes, and Catarrhs. And so the Pestilence,
The quartan-Ague with her accidents,
The Flix, the Hip-gout, and the Watrie-Tumour,
To the Seasons of the yeare.
Are bred with vs of an Autumnal humour:
The Itch, the Murrein, and Alcides-grief,
In Vers hot-moysture doe molest vs chief:
The Diarrhoea and the Burning-Feuer,
In Sommer-season do their fell endevour:
And Pleurisies, the rotten- Coughes, and Rheums,
Wear curled flakes of white celestiall plumes:
Like sluggish Souldiers, keeping Garrison
In th' ye [...]e Bulwarks of the Years gelt Son.
Som, seeming most in multitudes delighting,
Some Diseases contagious.
Bane one by other, not the first acquiting:
As Measels, Mange, and filthy Leprosie,
The Plague, the Pox, and Phthisik-maladie.
And som (alas!) we leaue as in succession,
Vnto our Children, for a sad possession:
Some haeredita­ry.
Such are Kings-euils, Dropsie, Gout, and Stone,
Blood-boyling Leprie, and Consumption,
[Page 269]The swelling Throat-ache, th' Epilepsie sad,
And cruell Rupture, payning too-too bad:
For their hid poysons after-comming harm
Is fast combin'd vnto the Parents sperm.
But O! what arms, what shield shall wee oppose,
Some not known by their Cause, but by their Ef­fects onely.
What stratagems against those trecherous foes,
Those teacherous griefs, that our frail Art detects
Not by their cause, but by their sole effects?
Such are the fruitfull Matrix-suffocation,
The Falling-sicknes, and pale Swouning-passion;
The which, I wote not what strange windes long pause,
I wot not where, I wote not how doth cause.
Or who (alas!) can scape the cruell wile
Some by sundry Causes encrea­sing and waxing worse.
Of those fell Pangs that Physicks pains beguile?
Which being banisht from a body, yet
(Vnder new names) return again to it:
Or rather, taught the strange Metempsychosis
Of the wise Samian, one it self transposes
Into som worse Grief: either through the kindred
Of th' humour vicious, or the member hindred:
Or through their ignorance or auarice
That doe profess Apollos exercise.
So, Melancholy turned into Madnes;
Into the Palsie, deep-affrighted Sadnes;
Th' Il-habitude into the Dropsie chill:
And Megrim growes to the Comitial-Ill.
In brief, poor Adam in this pitious case
Comparison.
Is like a Stag, that long pursu'd in chase,
Flying for succour to som neighbour wood,
Sinks on the suddain in the yeelding mud;
And sticking fast amid the rotten grounds,
Is over-taken by the eger Hounds:
One bites his back, his neck another nips,
One puls his brest, at's throat another skips,
One tugs his flank, his haunch another tears,
Another lugs him by the bleeding ears;
And last of all, the Wood-man with his knife
Cuts off his head, and so concludes his life.
[Page 270]Or like a lusty Bull, whose horned Crest
Another compa­rison.
Awakes fell Hornets from their drowsie nest,
Who buzzing forth, assail him on each side,
And pitch their valiant bands about his hide;
With fisking train, with forked head, and foot,
Himself, th' ayr, th' earth, he beateth (to no boot)
Flying (through woods, hills, dales, and roaring rivers)
His place of grief, but not his painfull grievers:
And in the end, stitcht full of stings he dies,
Or on the ground as dead (at least) he lies.
For, man is loaden with ten thousand languors:
An amplificati­on of Mans mi­series, compared with other Cre­tures, seldomer sick, and sooner healed: and that by naturall Re­medies of their owne: hauing al­so taught Men many practices of Physike.
All other Creatures, onely feel the angors
Of few Diseases: as, the gleaning Quail
Onely the Falling-sicknes doth assail:
The Turn-about and Murram trouble Cattel,
Madnes and Quincie bid the Masty battel.
Yet each of them can naturally finde
What Simples cure the sickness of their kinde;
Feeling no sooner their disease begin,
But they as soon haue ready medicine,
The Ram for Physik takes strong-senting Rue:
The Tortois slowe, cold Hemlok doth renue:
The Partridge, Black-bird, and rich painted Iay
Haue th' oyly liquor of the sacred Bay.
The sickly Bear, the Mandrak cures again;
And Mountain-Siler helpeth Goats to yean:
But, we knowe nothing, till by poaring still
On Books, we get vs a Sophistik skil;
A doubtfull Art, a Knowledge still vnknowen:
Which enters but the hoary heads (alone)
Of those, that (broken with vnthankfull toyl)
Seeks others Health, and lose their own the-while:
Or rather those (such are the greatest part)
That waxing rich at others cost and smart,
Growe famous Doctors, purchasing promotions,
While the Church-yards swel with their hurtfull potions;
Who (hang-man like) fear-less, and shame-less too,
Are prayd and payd for murders that they doo.
I speak not of the good, the wise, and learned,
Within whose hearts Gods fear is wel discerned:
Who to our bodies can again vnite
Our parting soules, ready to take their flight.
For, these I honour as Heav'ns gifts excelling,
Pillars of Health, Death, and Disease repelling:
Th' Almighties Agents, Natures Counsellers,
And flowring Youths wise faithfull Governours.
Yet if their Art can ease som kinde of dolors,
They learn'd it first of Natures silent Schollers:
For, from the Sea-Horse came Phlehotomies,
From the wilde Goat the healing of the eys;
From Stork, and Hearn, our Glysters laxatiue,
From Bears and Lions, Diets we deriue.
'Gainst th' onely Body all these Champions stout
Striuesom, within: and other som, without.
Or, if that any th' all-fair Soule haue striken,
'Tis not directly; but, in that they weaken
Her Officers, and spoyl the Instruments
Wherwith she works such wonderous presidents.
But, lo! foure Captains far more fierce and eger,
Of foure Disea­ses of the Soule, vnder them cō ­prehending all the rest.
That on all sides the Spirit it self beleaguer,
Whose Constancy they shake, and soon by treason
Draw the blind Iudgement from the rule of Reason:
Opinions issue; which (though self vnseen)
Make through the Body their fell motions seen.
Sorrow's first Leader of this furious Crowd,
Muffled all-over in a sable clowd,
1. Sorrow des­cribed with her company.
Old before Age, afflicted night and day,
Her face with wrinkles warped every-way,
Creeping in corners, where she sits and vies
Sighes from her hart, tears from her blubbered eys;
Accompani'd with self-consuming Care,
With weeping Pitty, Thought, and mad Despair
That bears, about her, burning Coles and Cords,
Asps, Poysons, Pistols, Halters, Kniues, and Swords:
Fouls quinting Enuy, that self-eating Elf,
Through others leanness fatting vp herself,
[Page 272]Ioying in mischief, feeding but with languor
And bitter tears her Toad-like-swelling anger
And Ielousie that never sleeps, for fear
(Suspitions Flea still nibbling in her ear)
That leaues repast and rest, neer pin'd and blinde
With seeking what she would be loath to finde.
The second Captain is excessiue Ioy,
2. Ioy with her Traine.
VVho leaps and tickles, finding th' Apian-way
Too-streight for her: whose senses all possess
All wished pleasures in all plentiousnes.
She hath in conduct false vain-glorious Vaunting,
Bold, soothing, shame-less, lowd, iniurious, taunting:
The winged Giant lofty-staring Pride,
That in the clouds her braving Crest doth hide:
And many other, like the empty bubbles
That rise when rain the liquid Crystall troubles.
The Third, is blood-less, hart-less, wit-less Fear,
3. Feare & her Followers.
That like an Asp-tree trembles every where:
She leads bleak Terror, and base clownish Shame,
And drowsie Sloath, that counter faiteth lame,
With Snail-like motion measuring the ground,
Having her arms in willing fetters bound,
Foul, sluggish Drone, barren (but, sin to breed)
Diseased, begger, starv'd with wilfull need.
And thou Desire, whom nor the firmament,
4. Desire, a most violent Passion, accōpanied with others like: as Ambition, Auarice, Anger, and Foolish Loue.
Nor ayr, nor earth, nor Ocean can content:
Whose-looks are hooks, whose belly's bottom-less,
Whose hands are Gripes to scrape with greediness,
Thou art the Fourth: and vnder thy Command,
Thou bringst to field a rough vnruly Band:
First, secret-burning, mighty-swoln Ambition
Pent in no limits, pleas'd with no Condition,
Whom Epicurus many Worlds suffice not,
Whose furious thrist of proud aspiring dies not,
Whose hands (transported with fantastike passion)
Bear painted Scepters in imagination:
Then Auarice all-arm'd in hooking Tenters
And clad in Bird-lime; without bridge she venters
[Page 273]Through fell Charybdis, and false Syrtes Nesse;
The more her welth, the more her wretchedness:
Cruell, respect-less, friend-less, faith-less Elf,
That hurts her neighbour, but much more her self:
Whose foule base fingers in each dunghill poar
(Like Tantalus) starv'd in the midst of store:
Not what she hath, but what she wants she counts:
A wel-wingd Bird that neuer lofty mounts.
Then, boyling Wrath, stern, cruell, swift, and rash,
That like a Boar her teeth doth grinde and gnash:
Whose hair doth stare like bristled Porcupine;
Who som-times rowles her ghastly-glowing eyn,
And som-time fixtly on the ground doth glaunce,
Now bleak then bloody in her Countenance;
Rauing and rayling with a hideous sound,
Clapping her hands, stamping against the ground;
Bearing B [...]cconi, fire and sword to slay,
And murder all that her for pitty pray;
Baning her self, to bane her Enemy;
Disdaining Death, prouided others dy:
Like falling Towrs o'r-turned by the winde,
That break themselues on that they vnder-grinde.
And then that Tyrant, all-controuling Loue:
( Whom heer to paint doth little me behooue,
After so many rare Apelleses
As in this Age our Albion nourishes)
And to be short, thou doest to battail bring
As many Souldiers 'gainst the Creatures King,
(Yet not his owne) as in this life, Mankinde
True very Goods, or seeming- Goods doth finde.
Now, if (but like the Lightning in the sky)
These sudden Passions past but swiftly by,
The horrible ef­fects of the Pas­sions of the soule, far more dange­rous then the diseases of the body.
The fear were less: but, O! too-oft they leaue
Keen stings behinde in Soules that they deceiue.
From this foul Fountain, all these poysons rise,
Rapes, Treasons, Murders, Incests, Sodomies,
Blaspheming, Bibbing, Theeuing, False-contracting
Church-chaffering, Cheating, Bribing, and Exacting.
Alas! how these (far-worse then death) Diseases
Exceed each Sicknes that our body seises;
Which makes vs open war, and by his spight
Giues to the Patient many a holsom light,
Now by the colour, or the Pulles beating,
Or by som Fit, som sharper dolor threatning;
Whereby the Leach neer-ghessing at our grief,
Not seldom findes sure means for our relief.
But, for these Ills raign in our Intellect
(Which only, them both can and ought detect)
They rest vnknown, or rather self-conceal'd;
And soule-sick Patients care not to be heal'd.
Besides, we plainly call the Feuer, Feuer:
The Dropsie, Dropsie: ouer-gilding neuer,
With guile-full flourish of a fained phraze,
The cruell Languors that our bodies craze:
Whereas, our fond self-soothing Soule, thus sick,
Rubs her owne sore; with glozing Rhetorik
Cloaking her vice: and makes the blinded Blain
Not fear the touch of Reasons Cautere vain.
And sure, if euer filthy Vice did iet
The miserable corruption of our Times, worse then all former Ages.
In sacred Vertues spot-less mantle neat,
'Tis in our days, more hatefull and vn-hallow'd,
Then when the World the Waters wholly swallow'd.
Ile spare to speak of foulest Sins, that spot
Th' infamous beds of men of mighty lot;
Least I the Saints chaste tender ears offend,
And seem them more to teach, then reprehend.
Who bear vpon their French-sick backs about,
All riotous Pro­digalitie disgui­sed with the name of Libera­litie.
Farms, Castles, Fees, in golden shreads cut-out;
Whose lauish hand, at one Primero-rest,
One Mask, one Turney, or one pampering Feast,
Sends treasures, scrap't by th' Vsury and Care
Of miser Parents; Liberall counted are.
Who, with a maiden voice, and mincing pase,
Quaint looks, curl'd locks, perfumes, and painted face,
Effeminate cu­riofitie & luxu­vious Pride, mis­called Clean­lines.
Base coward-hart, and wanton soft array,
Their man-hood only by their Beard bewray,
[Page 275]Are Cleanly call'd. Who like Lust-greedy Goates,
Insatiate lust and Beast like Loosenes, surna­med Loue.
Brothel from bed to bed; whose Siren-notes
Inchaunt chaste Susans, and like hungry Kite
Fly at all game, they Louers are behight.
Who, by false bargains, and vnlawfull measures
Extream Ex­tortion, counted Thrist.
Robbing the World, haue he aped kingly treasures:
Who cheat the simple; lend for fifty fifty,
Hundred for hundred, are esteemed Thrifty.
Blasphemous Quarrels, bra­uest Courage.
Who alwaies murder and reuenge affect,
Who feed on bloud, who neuer doe respect
State, Sex, or Age: but, in all humane lyues
In cold bloud, bathe their paricidiall kniues;
Are stiled Valiant. Grant, good Lord, our Land
Inhuman Mur­der highest Manhood.
May want such valour whose self-cruell hand
Fights for our foes, our proper life-blood spils,
Our Cities sacks, and our owne Kindred kils.
Lord, let the Launce, the Gun, the Sword, & Shield,
Beturn'd to tools to furrow-vp the field,
And let vs see the Spyders busie task
Wov'n in the belly of the plumed Cask.
But if (braue Lands-men) your war-thirst be such,
If in your brests sad Enyon boyl so much,
What holds you heer? alas! what hope of crowns?
Our fields are flocks-less, treasure-less our Towns.
Goe then, nay run, renowned Martialists,
Re-found French-Greece, in now- Natolian lists;
Hy, hy to Flanders; free with conquering stroak
Your Belgian brethren from th' Iberians yoake:
To Portingal; people Galizian-Spain,
And graue your names on Lysbon's gates again.
FINIS.

THE HANDI-CRAFTS. THE IIII. PART OF THE I. DAY OF THE II. WEEK.

THE ARGVMENT.
The Prayse of Peace, the miserable states
Of Edens Exiles: their vn-curious Cates,
Their simple habit, silly habitation:
They finde out Fire. Their formost Propagation:
Their Childrens trades, their offerings; enuious Cain
His (better) Brother doth vnkindly brain:
With inward horror hurried vp and down,
He breaks a Horse, he builds a homely Town:
Iron's inuented, and sweet Instruments:
Adam fore-tells of After-Worlds euents.
HEavn's sacred Imp, fair Goddess that renew'st
The Poet heere welcometh peace which (after long absence) seems about this time to haue re­turned into France. The Benefits she brings with Her.
Th' old golden Age, and brightly now re-blew'st
Our cloudy sky, making our fields to smile:
Hope of the vertuous, horror of the vile:
Virgin, vnseen in France this many a yeer,
O blessed Peace! we bid thee welcom heer.
Lo, at thy presence, how who late were prest
To spur their Steeds, & couch their staues in rest
For fierce incounter; cast away their spears,
And rapt with ioy, them enter-bathe with tears.
Lo, how our Marchant-vessels to and fro
Freely about our trade-full Waters go:
How the graue Senate with iust-gentle rigour,
Resumes his Robe; the Laws their ancient vigour:
[Page 277]Lo, how Obliuions Seas our strifes do drown:
How walls are built that war had thundred down:
Lo, how the Shops with busie Crafts-men swarm;
How Sheep and Cattle cover every Farm:
Behold the Bon-fires waving to the skies:
Hark, hark the cheerfull and re-chaunting cries
Of old and young; singing this ioyfull Dittie,
Iö, reioyce, reioyce through Town and Citie,
Thanks-giuing to God for peace
Let all our ayr, re-eccho with the praises
Of th' everlasting glorious God, who raises
Our ruin'd State: who giueth vs a good
We sought not for (or rather, we with-stood)
So that, to hear and see these consequences
Of wonders strange, we scarce beleeue our senses.
O! let the King, let Mounsieur and the Sover'n
That doth Nauarras Spayn-wrongd Scepter govern,
Gratefull remē ­brance of the means therof.
Be all, by all, their Countries Fathers cleapt:
O! let the honour of their names be kept,
And on brass leaves ingrav'n eternally
In the bright Temple of fair Memory,
For hauing quencht, so soon, so many fires,
Disarm'd our arms, appeas'd the heav'nly ires,
Calm'd the pale horror of intestin hates,
And damned-vp the bi-front Fathers gates.
Much more, let vs (deer, World-diuided Land)
Extoll the mercies of Heav'ns mighty hand,
An imitation thereof, by the Translatour, in honour of our late graci­ous Soverain Elizabeth: in whose happy Raigne, God hath giuen this Kingdom so long peace and rich prosperity.
That (while the World, Wars bloody rage hath rent)
To vs so long, so happy Peace hath lent.
(Maugre the malice of th' Italian Priest,
And Indian Pluto (prop of Anti-christ;
VVhose Hoast, like Pharao's threatning Israel,
Our gaping Seas haue swallowed quick to hell)
Making our Ile a holy Safe-Retreat
For Saints exil'd in persecutions heat.
Much more, let vs with true-heart-tuned breath,
Recorde the Praises of ELIZABETH
(Our martiall Pallas and our milde Astraea,
Of grace and wisdom the divine Idea)
[Page 278]Whose prudent Rule, with rich religious Rest,
VVel-neer nine Lustres hath this Kingdom blest.
O! pray we him that from home-plotted dangers
And bloody threats of proud ambitious Strangers,
So many years hath so securely kept her,
In iust possession of this flowring Scepter;
That (to his glory and his deer Sonns honour)
All happy length of life may wait vppon her:
That we her Subiects, whom he blesseth by-her,
Psalming his praise, may sound the same the higher.
But, waiting (Lord) in som more learned Laies,
To sing thy glory, and my Soueraigns praise;
I sing the young Worlds Cradle, as a Proëm
Vnto so rare and so Divine a Poëm.
WHO, FVL OF wealth and honours blandishment,
Among great Lords his younger years hath spent;
An Elegant cō ­parison represen­ting the lamen­table Condition of Adam and Eue driuen out of Paradise.
And quaffing deeply of the Court-delights,
Vs'd nought but Tilts, Turneis, and Masks, and Sights:
If in his age, his Princes angry doom
With deep disgrace driue him to liue at home
In homely Cottage, where continually
The bitter smoak exhales abundantly
From his before-vn-sorrow-drained brain:
The brackish vapours of a siluer rain:
Where Vsher-less, both day and night, the North,
South, East, and West windes, enter and goe forth:
Where round-about, the lowe-rooft broken walls
(In stead of Arras) hang with Spiders cauls:
Where all at once he reacheth, as he stands,
With brows the roof, both walls with both his hands:
He weeps and sighs, and (shunning comforts ay)
Wisheth pale Death a thousand times a day:
And, yet at length falling to work, is glad
To bite a brown crust that the Mouse hath had,
And in a Dish (instead of Plate or Glass)
Sups Oaten drink in stead of Hypocras.
So (or much like) our rebell Elders, driuen
For ay from Eden (Earthly type of Heav'n)
[Page 279]Ly languishing neer Tigris grassie side,
With nummed limbs, and spirits stupefied.
But powrfull NEED (Arts antient Dame and Keeper,
The first Maner of life,
The early watch-clock of the sloathfull sleeper)
Among the Mountains makes them seek their liuing,
And foaming Riuers, through the champain driuing:
For yet the Trees with thousand fruits y-fraught
In formall Checkers were not fairly brought:
The Pear and Apple liued Dwarf-like there,
With Oakes and Ashes shadowed euery-where:
And yet (al as!) their meanest simple cheer
Our wretched Parents bought full hard and deer:
To get a Plum, somtimes poor Adam rushes
With thousand wounds among a thousand bushes.
If they desire a Medlar for their food,
They must goe seek it through a fearefull wood;
Or a brown Mulbery, then the ragged Bramble
With thousand scratches doth their skin be-scramble.
Wherefore (as yet) more led by th' appetite
Great simplicity in their kinde of life.
Of th' hungry belly then the tastes delight,
Liuing from hand to mouth, soon satisfi'd,
To earn their supper, th' after noon they ply'd,
Vn-stor'd of dinner till the morrow-day;
Pleas'd with an Apple, or som lesser pray.
Then, taught by Ver (richer in flowrs then fruit)
And hoary Winter, of both destitute,
Nuts, Filberds, Almonds, wisely vp they hoord,
The best prouisions that the woods affoord.
Touching their garments: for the shining wooll
Their Cloathing▪
Whence the roab-spinning precious Worms are full,
For gold and siluer wov'n in drapery,
For Cloth dipt double in the scarlet Dy,
For Gemms brightlustre, with excessiue cost
On rich embroideries by rare Art embost:
Somtimes they do the far-spred Gourd vnleave,
Sometime the Fig-tree of his branch bereave:
Somtimes the Plane, somtimes the Vine they shear,
Choosing their fairest tresses heer and there:
[Page 280]And with their sundry locks, thorn'd each to other,
Their tender limbs they hide from Cynthias Brother.
Somtimes the Iuie's climing stems they strip,
Which lovingly his lively prop doth clip:
And with green lace, in artificiall order,
The wrinkled bark of th' Acorn-Tree doth border,
And with his arms th' Oaks slender twigs entwining.
A many branches in one tissue ioyning,
Frames a loose Iacquet, whose light nimble quaking,
Wagg'd by the windes, is like the wanton shaking
Of golden spangles that in stately pride
Daunce on the tresses of a noble Bride.
But, while that Adam (waxen diligent)
Their Winter Sutes.
Wearies his limbs for mutuall nourishment:
While craggy Mountains, Rocks, and thorny Plains,
And bristly Woods be witness of his pains:
Eue, walking forth about the Forrests, gathers
Speights, Parrots, Peacocks, Estrich scattered feathers,
And then with wax the smaller plumes she sears,
And sowes the greater with a white horse hairs,
(For they as yet did serue her in the steed
Of Hemp, and Towe, and Flax, and Silk, and Threed)
And thereof makes a medly coatso rare
That it resembles Nature's Mantle fair,
When in the Sunne, in pomp all glistering,
She seems with smiles to woo the gawdie Spring.
When (by stoln moments) this she had contriv'd,
Leaping for ioy, her cheerfull looks reviv'd,
Sh' admires her cunning; and incontinent
'Sayes on herself her manly ornament;
And then through path-less paths she runs apace,
To meet her husband comming from the Chase.
Sweet-heart (quoth shee, and then she kisseth him)
My Loue, my Life, my Blisse, my Ioy, my Gemm,
My souls deer Soule, take in good part (I pree-thee)
This pretty Present that I gladly giue-thee.
Thanks my deer All (quoth Adam then) for this,
And with three kisses he requites her kiss.
[Page 281]Then on he puts his painted garment new,
And Peacock-like himself doth often view,
Looks on his shadow, and in proud amaze
Admires the hand that had the Art to cause
Eues industry in making a Gar ment for her Husband.
So many seuerall parts to meet in one,
To fashion thus the quaint Mandilion.
But, when the Winters keener breath began
To crystallize the Baltike Ocean,
To glaze the Lakes, and bridle-vp the Floods,
And perriwig with wooll the bald-pate Woods;
Our Grand-sire, shrinking, 'gan to shake and shiver,
His teeth to chatter, and his beard to quiuer.
Spying therefore a flock of Muttons comming
(Whose freez-clad bodies feel not Winters numming)
He takes the fairest, and he knocks it down:
Then by good hap, finding vpon the Down
A sharp great fish-bone (which long time before
The roaring Flood had cast vpon the shore)
He cuts the throat, flayes it, and spreads the fell,
Then dries it, pares it, and he scrapes it well,
Then cloaths his wife therwith; and of such Hides
Slops, Hats, and Doublets for himself prouides.
A vaulted Rock, a hollow Tree, a Caue,
Their Lodging and first buil­ding.
Were the first buildings that them shelter gaue:
But, finding th' one to bee too-moist a hold,
Th' other too-narrow, th' other ouer-cold;
Like Carpenters, within a Wood they choose
Sixteen fair Trees that neuer leaues doe loose,
Whose equall front in quadran form prospected,
As if of purpose Nature them erected:
Their shady boughs first bow they tenderly,
Then enterbraid, and binde them curiously;
That one would think that had this Arbor seen,
'T had been true seeling painted-ouer green.
After this triall, better yet to fense
Their tender flesh from th' ayry violence,
A building som­what more exact▪
Vpon the top of their fit-forked stems,
They lay a-crosse bare Oaken boughs for beams
[...] [...]
[Page 282](Such as dispersed in the Woods they finde,
Torn-off in tempests by the stormy winde)
Then these again with leauy boughes they load,
So couering close their sorry cold abode,
And then they ply frō th' eau [...]s vnto the ground,
With mud-mixt Reed to wal their Mansion round
All saue a hole to th' East-ward situate,
Where straight they clap a hurdle for a gate
(Instead of hinges hanged on a With)
Which with a sleight both shuts and openeth.
Yet fire they lackt: but lo, the windes, that whistle
The inuention of Fire [...]
Amid the Groues, so oft the Laurell iustle
Against the Mulbery, that their angry claps
Do kindle fire, that burns the neighbour Cops.
When Adam saw a ruddy vapour rise
In glowing streams; astund with fear he flies,
It follows him, vntil a naked Plain
The greedy furie of the flame restrain:
Then back he turns, and comming somwhat nigher
The kindled shrubs, perceiuing that the fire
Dries his dank Cloaths, his Colour doth refresh,
And vnbenums his sinews and his flesh;
By th' vnburntend a good big brand he takes,
And hying home, a fire he quickly makes,
And still maintains it, till the starry Twins
Celestiall breath another fire begins.
But, Winter being comn again it griev'd him,
T' have lost so fondly what so much reliev'd him,
Trying a thousand waies, sith now no more
The iustling Trees his domage would restore.
While (else-where musing) one day he sate down
How the first Man inuented Fire for the vse of himself & his Posteritie.
Vpon a steep Rocks craggy-forked crown,
A foaming beast come toward him he spies,
Within whose head stood burning coals for eys;
Then suddainly with boisterous arm he throwes
A knobbie flint that hummeth as it goes;
Hence flies the beast, th' il-aimed flint-shaft grounding
Against the Rock, and on it oftre bounding,
[Page 283]Shivers to cinders, whence there issued
Small sparks of fire no sooner born then dead.
This happy chance made Adam leap for glee,
And quickly calling his cold company,
In his left hand a shining flint he locks,
Which with another in his right he knocks
So vp and down, that from the coldest stone
At euery stroak small fiery sparkles shone.
Then with the dry leaves of a withered Bay
The which together handsomly they lay,
They take the falling fire, which like a Sun
Shines cleer and smoak-less in the leaf begun.
Eue, kneeling down, with hand her head sustaining,
And on the lowe ground with her elbowe leaning,
Blowes with her mouth: and with her gentle blowing
Stirs vp the heat, that from the dry leaves glowing,
Kindles the Reed, and then that hollow kix
First fires the small, and they the greater sticks.
Beginning of Families.
And now, Man-kinde with fruitfull Race began
A little corner of the World to man:
First Cain is born, to tillage all addicted;
The seuerall Occupations of Abel and Cain.
Then Abel, most to keeping flocks affected.
Abel, desirous still at hand to keep
His Milk and Cheese, vnwildes the gentle Sheep
To make a Flock; that when it tame became
For guard and guide should haue a Dog and Ram.
Cain more ambitious, giues but little ease
To's boysterous limbs: and seeing that the Pease,
And other Pulse, Beans, Lentils, Lupins, Rice,
Burnt in the Copses, as not held in price,
Som grains he gathers: and with busie toyl,
A-part hee sowes them in a better soyl,
Which first he rids of stones, and thorns, and weeds,
Then buries there his dying-liuing seeds.
By the next Haruest, finding that his pain
On this small plot was not in grately-vain;
To break more ground, that bigger Crop may bring
Without so often weary labouring,
[Page 284]He tames a Heifer, and on either side,
On either horn a three-fold twist he ti'd
Of Osiar twigs, and for a Plough he got
The horn or Tooth of som Rhinocerot.
Now, th' one in Cattle, th' other rich in grain,
On two steep Mountains build they Altars twain;
Their sacrifice.
Where (humbly-sacred) th' one with zealous cry
Cleaues bright Olympus starry Canopy:
With fained lips, the other low'd-resounded
Hart-wanting Hymns, on self-deseruing founded:
Each on his Altar offreth to the Lord
The best that eithers flocks, or fields affoord.
Rein-searching God, thought-sounding Iudge, that tries
God regardeth Abell and his Sacrifice; and reiecteth Cain and his: whereas Cain enuieth, and finally kils his Brother; whose blood God reuengeth.
The will and heart more then the worke and guise,
Accepts good Abels gift: but hates the other
Profane oblation of his furious Brother;
Who feeling, deep th' effects of Gods displeasure,
Raues, frets, and fumes, and murmurs out of measure.
What boots it ( Cain) O wretch! what boots it thee
T' haue opened first the fruitfull womb (quoth he)
Of the first mother; and first born, the rather
T' haue honour'd Adam first, with name of Father?
Vnfortunate, what boots thee to be wealthy,
Wise, actiue, valiant, strongly-limb'd, and healthy,
If this weake Girl-boy, in mans shape disguis'd,
To Heav'n and Earth be dear, and thou despis'd?
What boots it thee, for others night and day,
In painfull toyl to wear thy self away:
And (more for others then thine own relief)
To haue deuised of all Arts the chief;
If this dull Infant, of thy labour nurst
Shall reap the glory of thy deeds (accurst)?
Nay, rather quickly rid thee of the fool,
Down with his climbing hill, and timely cool
This kindling flame: and, that none ouer-crowe thee,
Re-seise the right that Birth and Vertue owe-thee.
Ay in his minde this counsail he reuolues,
And hundred times to act it he resolues,
[Page 285]And yet as oft relents; stopt worthily
By the pains horror, and sins tyranny.
But, one day drawing with dissembled loue
His harm-less brother far into a Groue,
Vpon the verdure of whose virgin-boughs
Bird had not pearcht, nor neuer beast did brouz;
With both his hands he takes a stone so huge,
That in our age three men could hardly bouge,
And iust vpon his tender brothers crown,
With all his might he cruell casts it down.
The murdred face lies printed in the mud,
And lowd for vengeance cries the martyr'd blood,
The battered brains fly in the murd'rers face.
The Sun, to shun this Tragike sight, a-pace
Turns back his Teem: th' amazed Parrs [...]ide
Doth all the Furies scourging whips abide:
Externall terrors, and th' internall Worm
A thousand kindes of liuing deaths doe form:
All day he hides him, wanders all the night,
Flies his owne friends, of his owne shade affright,
Scarr'd with a leaf, and starting at a Sparrow,
And all the World seems for his fear too-narrow.
By reason of the multiplying of Mankinde, the Children of Adam begin to build houses for their commodity and retreat.
But for his Children, born by three and three,
Produce him Nephews, that still multiply
With new increase; who yer their age be rise
Becom great-Grand-sires in their Grand-sires life:
Staying at length, he chose him out a dwelling,
For woods and floods, and ayr, and soyl excelling.
One fels down Firs, another of the same
With crossed poles a little Lodge doth frame:
Another mounds it with dry walls about,
And leaues a breach for passage in and out:
With Turf and Furse: som others yet more grosse
Their homely Sties in stead of walls inclose:
Som (like the Swallow) mud and hay do mix,
And that about their silly Cotes they fix:
Som make their Roofs with fearn, or reeds, or rushes,
And som with hides, with oase, with boughs, and bushes.
Hee, that still fearfull, seeketh still defence,
Cain thinking to finde sum qui­et for the tem­pests of his con­science, begins to fortifie, and builds a Towne.
Shortly this Hamlet to a Towne augments.
For, with keen Coultar hauing bounded (witty)
The four-faç't Rampire of his simple Citty;
With stones soon gathered on the neighbour strand,
And clayie morter ready there at hand.
Well trode and tempered, he immures his Fort,
A stately Towr erecting on the Port:
Which awes his owne, and threats his enemies;
Securing som-what his pale tyrannies.
O Tigre! think'st thou (hellish fratricide)
Because with stone-heaps thou art fortifi'd,
Prince of som Peasants trained in thy tillage,
And silly Kingling of a simple Village;
Think'st thou to scape the storm of vengeance dread,
That hangs already o'r thy hatefull head?
No: wert thou (wretch) incamped at thy will
On strongest top of any steepest Hill:
Wert thou immur'd in triple brazen Wall,
Hauing for aid all Creatures in this All:
If skin and heart, of steel and yron were,
Thy pain thou could'st not, less auoid thy fear
Which chils thy bones, and runs through all thy vains,
Racking thy soule with twenty thousand pains.
Kain (as they say) by this deep fear disturbed,
Supposeth to se­cure himselfe by the strength and swiftnes of a Horse, which hee begins to tame.
Then first of all th' vntamed Courser curbed,
That while about on others feet he run
With dusty speed, he might his Deaths-man shun.
Among a hundred braue, light, lusty, Horses
(With curious ey, marking their comly forces)
He chooseth one for his industrious proof,
Description of a gallant Horse.
With round, high, hollow, smooth, brown, ietty hoof,
With Pasterns short, vpright (but yet in mean);
Drie sinnewie shanks; strong, flesh-less knees, and lean;
With Hart-like legs, broad brest, and large behinde,
With body large, smooth flanks, and double-chin'd:
A crested neck bowd like a half-bent Bowe,
Whereon along, thin, curled mane doth flowe;
[Page 287]A firm full tail, touching the lowely ground
With dock between two fair fat buttocks drownd;
A pricked ear, that rests as little space,
As his light foot; a lean, bare, bony, face,
Thin joule, and head but of a middling size,
Full, liuely-flaming, quickly rowling eys,
Great foaming mouth, hot-fuming nosthrill wide,
Of Chest-nut hai [...], his fore-head starryfi'd,
Three milky feet, a feather on his brest,
Whom seav'n-years-old at the next grass he ghest.
This goodly Iennet gently first he wins,
The manner how to back, to break, & make a good Horse.
And then to back him actiuely begins,
Steady and straight he sits, turning his sight
Still to the fore-part of his Palfrey light.
The chafed Horse, such thrall ill-suffering,
Begins to snuff, and snort, and leap, and fling;
And flying swift, his fearefull Rider makes,
Like som vnskilfull Lad, that vnder-takes
To hold som ships helm, while the head-long Tyde
Simile.
Carries away the Vessell and her Guide;
Who neer deuoured in the iaws of Death,
Pale, fearefull, shivering, faint, and out of breath,
A thousand times (with Heav'n erected eys)
Repents him of so bold an enterprise.
But, sitting fast, less hurt then feared; Cain
Boldnes himself and his braue Beast again:
Brings him to pase, from pasing to the trot,
From trot to gallop: after runs him hot
In full career: and at his courage smiles;
And sitting still, to run so many miles.
The ready speed of a swift Horse presented to the Reader, in a pleasant and liuely description▪
His pase is fair and free; his trot as light
As Tigres course, as Swallows nimble flight:
And his braue gallop seems as swift to goe
As Biscan Darts, or shafts from Russian bowe:
But, roaring Canon, from his smoaking throat,
Neuer so speedy spews the thundring shot
(That in an Army mowes whole squadrons down,
And batters Bulwarks of a summon'd Town)
[Page 288]As this light Horse scuds, if he doe but feel
His bridle slack, and in his side the heel:
Shunning himself, his sinewie strength he stretches;
Flying the earth, the flying ayr he catches,
Born whirl-wind-like: he makes the trampled ground
Shrink vnder him, and shake with doubling sound:
And when the sight no more pursue him may,
In fieldy clouds hee vanisheth away.
The wise-waxt Rider, not esteeming best
To take too-much now of his lusty Beast,
Good Horse­manship.
Restrains his fury: then with learned wand
The triple Coruet makes him vnderstand:
With skilfull voice he gently cheers his pride:
And on his neck his flattering palm doth slide:
He stops him steady still, new breath to take,
And in the same path brings him softly back.
But th' angry Steed, rising and reaning proudly,
Striking the stones, stamping and neighing loudly,
The Countenāce Pride, aud Port of a couragious Horse, when he is chased.
Calls for the Combat, plunges, leaps, and praunces,
Befoams the path, with sparkling eys he glaunces,
Champs on his burnisht bit, and gloriously
His nimble fetlocks lifteth belly-high,
All side long iaunts, on either side he iustles,
And's wauing Crest courageously he bristles,
Making the gazers glad on euery side
To giue more room vnto his portly Pride.
Cain gently stroakes him, and now sure in seat,
The Dexteritie of a skilfull Rider.
Ambitiously seeks still som fresher feat
To be more famous; one while trots the Ring,
Another while he doth him back-ward bring,
Then of all foure he makes him lightly bound;
And to each hand to mannage rightly round;
To stoop, to stop, to caper, and to swim,
To daunce, to leap, to hold-vp any lim:
And all, so don, with time-grace-ordered skill,
As both had but one body and one will.
Th' one for his Art no little glory gains,
Th' other through practise by degrees attains
[Page 289]Grace in his gallop, in his pase agility,
Lightnes of head, and in his stop facility,
Strength in his leap, and stedfast managings,
Aptnes in all, and in his course new wings.
The vse of Horses thus discouered,
Each to his work more cheerly fetteled,
Each plyes his trade, and trauails for his age,
Following the paths of painfull Tuball sage.
While through a Forrest Tuball (with his Yew
The inuention of yro [...].
And ready quiver) did a Bore pursue,
A burning Mountain from his fiery vain,
An yron River rowles along the Plain:
The witty Hunts-man, musing, thither hies,
And of the wonder deeply gan devise.
And first perceiving that this scalding mettle,
Becoming cold, in any shape would settle,
And growe so hard that with his sharpned side,
The firmest substance it would soon divide;
He casts a hundred plots, and yer he parts
He moulds the ground-work of a hundred Arts:
Like as a Hound, that (following loose, behinde
Comparison.
His pensiue Master) of a Hare doth finde;
Leaues whom he loues, vpon the sent doth ply,
Figs to and fro, and fals in cheerfull Cry,
And with vp-lifted head, and nosthrill wide
Winding his game, snuffs-yp the winde, his guide:
A hundred wayes he measures Vale and Hill:
Ears, eys, nor nose, nor foot, nor tail are still,
Till in her hot Form he haue found the pray
That he so long hath sought for every way.
For, now the way to thousand works reveald,
Which long shall liue maugre the rage of Eld:
Caesting of the first Instruments of Iron.
In two square creases of vnequall sises
To turn two yron streamlings he deuises;
Cold, takes them thence: then off the dross he rakes,
And this a Hammer, that an Anuill makes;
And adding tongs to these two instruments,
He stores his house with yron implements:
[Page 290]As forks, rakes, hatchets, plough-shares, coultars, staples,
Boltes, hindges, hooks, nails, whittles, spokes, and grapples;
And grow'n more cunning, hollow things he formeth,
He hatcheth Files, and winding Vices wormeth,
He shapeth Sheers, and then a Saw indents,
Then beats a Blade, and then a Lock invents.
Happy device! we might as well want all
The excellent vses and commo­dities of Iron.
The Elements, as this hard minerall.
This, to the Plough-man, for great vses serues:
This, for the Builder, Wood and Marble carues:
This arms our bodies against aduerse force:
This clothes our backs: this rules th' vnruly Horse:
This makes vs dry-shod daunce in Neptunes Hall:
This brightens gold: this conquers self and all;
Fift Element, of Instruments the haft,
The Tool of Tools, and hand of Handy-Craft.
While (compast round with smoaking Cyclops rude,
Inuention of Musicke.
Half-naked Bronts, and Sterops swarthy-hewd,
All well-neer weary) sweating Tubal stands,
Hastning the hot work in their sounding hands,
No time lost Iubal: th' vn-full Harmony
Of vn-even Hammers, beating diversly,
Wakens the tunes that his sweet numbery soule
Yer birth (som think) learn'd of the warbling Pole.
Thereon he harps, and ponders in his mindo,
And glad and fain som Instrument would finde
Inuention of the Lute and other Instruments.
That in accord those discords might renew,
And th' Iron Anuils rattling sound ensew,
And iterate the beating Hammers noyse
In milder notes, and with a sweeter voice.
It chaunç't, that passing by a Pond, he found
An open Tortoise lying on the ground,
Within the which ther nothing else remained
Saue three dry sinewes on the shell stiff-strained:
This empty house Iubal doth gladly bear,
Strikes on those strings, and lends attentiue ear;
And by this mould frams the melodious Lute,
That makes woods [...]arken, and the windes be mute,
[Page 291]The Hills to daunce, the Heav'ns to retro-grade,
Lions be tame, and tempests quickly vade.
His Art, still waxing, sweetly marrieth
His quavering fingers to his warbling breath:
More little tongues to's charm-care Lute he brings,
More Instruments he makes: no Eccho rings
'Mid rocky concaves of the babbling vales,
And bubbling Rivers rowl'd with gentle gales,
But wyëry Cymbals, Rebecks sinews twin'd,
Sweet Virginals, and Cornets curled winde.
But Adam guides, through paths but seldom gone,
While Cain and his Children are busie for the World, Adam and his other Sons exercise themselues in Piety & iustice, and in searching the goodly se­crets of Nature.
His other Sons to Vertues sacred throne:
And chiefly Seth (set in good Abels place)
Staff of his age, and glory of his race:
Him he instructeth in the wayes of Verity,
To worship God in spirit and sincerity:
To honour Parents with a reverentaw,
To train his children in religious law:
To loue his friends, his Country to defend,
And helpfull hands to all mankinde to lend:
To knowe Heav'ns course, and how their constant Swaies
Divide the yeer in months, the months in dayes:
What star brings Winter, what is Sommers guide;
What signe foul weather, what doth fair betide;
What creature's kinde, and what is curst to vs:
What plant is holesom, and what venimous.
No sooner he his lessons can commence,
But Seth hath hit the White of his intents,
Draws rule from rule, and of his short collations
In a short time a perfect Art he fashions.
The more he knowes the more he craues; as fewell
Kils not a fire, but kindles it more cruell.
While on a day by a cleer Brook they trauell,
Seth questions his Father con­cerning the state of the World, frō the Beginning to the End.
Whose gurgling streams frizadoed on the gravell,
He thus bespake: If that I did not see
The zeal (deer Father) that you bear to me,
How still you watch me with your carefull eyn,
How still your voice with prudent discipline
[...] [...]
[Page 292]My Prentize ear doth oft reverberate;
I should misdoubt to seem importunate:
And should content me to haue learned, how
The Lord the Heav'ns about this All did bow;
What things haue hot, and what haue cold effect;
And how my life and manners to direct.
But your milde Loue my studious hart advances
To aske you further of the various chances
Of future times: what off-spring spreading wide
Shall fill this World; What shall the World betide,
How long to last: What Magistrates, what Kings
With Iustice Mace shall govern mortall things?
Son (quoth the Sire) our thoughts internall ey,
Adams answer.
Things past and present may by means descry;
But not the future, if by speciall grace
It read it not in th' One-Trines glorious face.
Thou then, that (onely) things to com dost knowe,
Not by Heav'ns course, nor guesse of things belowe,
Nor coupled points, nor flight of fatall Birds,
Nor trembling tripes of sacrificed Heards,
But by a clear and certain pre-science
As Seer and Agent of all accidents,
With whom at once the three-fold times doe fly,
And but a moment lasts Eternity;
O God, behold me, that I may behold
Thy crystall face: O Sun, reflect thy gold
On my pale Moon; that now my veiled eys
Earth-ward eclipst, may shine vnto the skies.
Ravish me Lord, O (my soules life) reviue
My spirit a-space, that I may see (a-lyue)
Heav'n yer I die: and make me now (good Lord)
The Eccho of thy all-cel estiall Word.
The power of Gods spirit in his Prophets: and the difference between such▪ & the distracted frantike Mini­sters of Satan.
With sacred fury suddainly he glowes,
Not like the Bedlam Bacchanalian froes,
Who, dauncing, foaming, rowling furious-wise
Vnder their twinkling lids their torch-like eys,
With ghastly voice, with visage grizly grim;
Tost by the Fiend that fier cely tortures them,
[Page 293]Bleaking and blushing, painting, shreeking, swouning,
With wrath-les wounds their sense-les members wounding:
But as th' Imperiall, Airy peoples Prince
With stately pinions soaring hy from hence,
Cleaues through the clouds, and brauely-bold doth think
With his firm eye to make the Suns eye wink:
So Adam, mounted on the burning wings
Of a Seraphick loue, leaues earthly things,
Feeds on sweet Aether, cleaues the starry sphears,
And on Gods face his eys he fixtly bears:
His brows seem brandisht with a Sun-like fier,
And his purg'd body seems a cubit higher.
Then thus began hee: Th' ever-trembling field
Adam declares to his Son, in how many Daiet the World was created.
Of scaly folk, the Arches starry seeld,
Where th' All-Creator hath disposed well
The Sun and Moon by turns for Sentinell;
The cleer cloud-bounding Ayr (the Camp assign'd
Where angry Auster and the rough North-winde
Meeting in battail, throwe down to the soil
The Woods that midling stand to part the broyl);
The Diapry Mansions where man-kinde doth trade,
Were built in Six Dayes: and the Seav'nth was made
The sacred Sabbaoth. So, Sea, Earth, and Ayr,
And azure-gilded Heav'ns Pavilions fair,
Shall stand Six Dayes, but longer diversly
Then the dayes bounded by the Worlds bright eye.
The First begins with me: the Seconds morn
How many A­ges it shall en­dure.
Is the first Ship-wright, who doth first adorn
The hils with Vines: that Shepheard is the Third,
1. Adam.
That after God through strange Lands leads his Heard,
2. Noah.
And (past mans reason) crediting Gods word,
3. Abraham.
His onely Son slayes with a willing sword:
The Fourth's another valiant Shepheardling,
4. Dauid.
That for a Cannon takes his silly sling,
And to a Scepter turns his Shepheards staff,
Great Prince, great Prophet, Poet, Psalmograph:
The Fift begins from that sad Princes night
5. Zedechias.
That sees his children murdred in his sight,
[Page 294]And on the banks of fruitfull Euphrates,
Poor Iuda led in Captiue heauiness:
6. Messias.
Hoped Messias shineth in the Sixt;
Who, mockt, beat, banisht, buried, cruci-fixt,
For our foul sins (stil-selfly-innocent)
Hath fully born the hatefull punishment:
The Last, shall be the very Resting-Day,
Th' Ayr shall be mute, the Waters work shall stay;
7. Th' Eternall Sabbath.
The Earth her store, the stars shall leaue their measures,
The Sun his shine: and in eternall pleasures
We plung'd, in Heav'n shall ay solemnize, all,
Th' eternall Sabbaoths end-less Festiuall.
Considerations of Adam vpon that which shuld be fall his Poste­rity, vnto the end of the first World destroyed by the Flood: according to the relation of Moses in Gene­sis, in the 4. 5. 6. and 7. chapters.
Alas! what may I of that race presume
Next th' irefull Flame that shall this Frame consume,
Whose gut their God, whose lust their law shall be,
Who shall not hear of God, nor yet of me?
Sith those outrageous, that began their birth
On th' holy groundsill of sweet Edens earth,
And (yet) the sound of Heav'ns drad Sentence hear,
And as ey-witness of mine Exile were,
Seem to despight God. Did it not suffize
(O lust full soule!) first to polygamize?
Suffiz'd it not (O Lamech) to distain
Thy Nuptiall bed? but that thou must ingrain
In thy great-Grand-sires Grand-sires reeking gore
Thy cruell blade? respecting nought (before)
The prohibition, and the threatning vow
Of him to whom infernall powrs do bow:
Neither his Pasports sealed Character
Set in the fore-head of the Murderer.
Courage, good Enos: re-advance the Standard
Of holy Faith, by humane reason slaunder'd,
And troden-down: Inuoke th' immortall powr;
Vpon his Altar, warm bloud-offrings pour:
His sacred nose perfume with pleasing vapour,
And teend again Trueth's neer-extinguisht Taper▪
Thy pupil Henoch, selfly-dying wholly,
(Earths ornament) to God he liueth solely.
[Page 295]Lo, how he labours to endure the light
Which in th' Arch-essence shineth glorious-bright:
How rapt from sense, and free from fleshly lets,
Sometimes he climbs the sacred Cabinets
Of the diuine Ideas euer-lasting,
Having for wings, Faith, fervent l'rayer and Fasting:
How at sometimes, though clad in earthly clod,
He (sacred) sees, feels, all inioyes in God:
How at somtimes mounting from form to form,
In form of God he happy doth transform.
Lo, how th' all-fair, as burning all in loue
With his rare beauties, not content aboue
T' haue half, but all, and ever; sets the stairs
That lead from hence to Heav'n his chosen heirs:
Lo, now he climeth the supernall stories:
Adiew, deer Henoch: in eternall glories
Dwell there with God: thy body, chang'd in quality
Of Spirit or Angel, puts on immortality:
Thine eys already (now no longer eys,
But new bright stars) doe brandish in the skyes:
Thou drinkest deep of the celestiall wine:
Thy Sabbaoth's endless: without vail (in fine)
Thouseest God face to face; and neervnite
To th' ONE-TRINE Good, thou liv'st in th' Infinite.
But heer the while (new Angell) thou dost leaue
Fell wicked folk, whose hands are apt to reaue,
Whose Scorpion tongues delight in sowing strife,
Whose guts are gulfs, incestuous all their life.
O strange to be beleev'd! the blessed race,
The sacred Flock whom God by speciall grace
Adopts for his, even they (alas!) most shame-less
Do follow sin, most beastly-brute and tame-less,
With lustfull eys choosing for wanton Spouses
Mens wicked daughters; mingling so the houses
Of Seth and Cain: preferring foolishly
Frail beauties blaze to vertuous modesty.
From these profane, foul, cursed kisses sprung
A cruell brood, feeding on bloud and wrong;
[Page 296]Fell Gyants strange, of haughty hand and minde,
Plagues of the World, and scourges of Man-kinde
Then, righteous God (though ever prone to pa
Seeing his milde-ness but their malice harden,
List plead nolonger, but resolues the fall
Of man forth-with, and (for mans sake) of all:
Of all (at least) the living creatures gliding
Along the ayr, or on the earth abiding.
Heav'ns crystall windows with one hand he opes,
Whence on the World a thousand Seas he drops:
With th' other hand he gripes, and wringeth forth
The spungy Globeof th' execrable Earth,
So straightly prest, that it doth straight restore
All liquid flouds that it had drunk before:
In every Rock new Rivers doe begin;
And to his aid the snowes com tumbling in:
The Pines and Cedars haue but boughs to showe,
The shoars do shrink, the swelling waters growe.
Alas! so-many Nephews lose I heer
Amid these deeps, that but for mountains neer,
Vpon the rising of whoseridges lofty,
The lusty climbe on every side for safety,
I should be seed-less: but (alas!) the Water
Swallows those Hils, and all this wide Theater
Is all one Pond. O children, whither fly-you?
Alas! Heav'ns wrath pursues you to destroy-you:
The stormy waters strangely rage and roar,
Rivers and Seas haue all one common shoar,
(To wit) a sable, water-loaden Sky
Ready to rain new Oceans instantly.
O Sonn-less Father! O too fruitfull haunches!
O wretched root! O hurtfull, hatefull branches!
O gulfs vnknowen! O dungeons deep and black!
O worlds decay! O vniversall wrack!
O Heav'ns! O Seas! O Earth (now earth no more)
O flesh! O bloud! Heer, sorrow stopt the door▪
Of his sad voice, and almost dead for woe,
The prophetizing spirit forsook him so.

NOAH. The SECOND DAY Of The SECOND WEEK;

Containing

  • 1. THE ARK,
  • 2. BABYLON,
  • 3. THE COLONIES,
  • 4. THE COLVMNES.
Acceptam refero.

The ARKE. THE I. PART OF THE II. DAY OF THE II. WEEK.

THE ARGVMENT.
Noah prepares the Ark: and thither brings
(With him) a Seed-payr of all liuing things:
His exercise, a ship-board: Atheist Cham
His holy Fathers humble Zeal doth blame;
And diversly impugns Gods Prouidence:
Noah refells his Faith-less arguments:
The Flood surceast: Th' Ark-landed: Blood forbid:
The Rain-bowe bent; what it pre-figured:
Wine drowneth Wit: Cham scoffs the Nakednes
Of's sleeping Sire: the Map of Drunkennes.
IF Now no more my sacred rimes distill
A Preamble, wherin, by a mo­dest Complaint the Poet stirs vp the Readers at­tention, and makes himselfe way to the inuo­cation of the name of God.
With Art-less ease from my discustom'd quill:
If now the Laurell, that but lately shaded
My beating temples, be dis-leav'd and vaded:
And if now, banisht from the learned Fount,
And cast down head-long from the lofty Mount
Where sweet Vrania sitteth to indite,
Mine humbled Muse flag in a lowely flight;
Blame these sad Times ingratefull cruelty,
My houshold cares, my healths infirmity,
My drooping sorrows for (late) grieuous losses,
My busie suits, and other bitter crosses.
Lo, there the clogs that weigh down heavily
My best endevours, whilom soaring high:
[Page 299]My harvest's hail: the pricking thorns and weeds
That in my soule choak those diviner seeds.
O gracious God! remove my great incumbers,
Kindle again my faiths neer-dying imbers:
Asswage thine anger (for thine own Sons merit)
And from me (Lord) take not thy holy Spirit:
Comb, gild, and polish, more then ever yet,
This latter issue of my labouring wit:
And let not me be like the winde, that proudly
Begins at first to roar and murmur loudly
Against the next hils, over-turns the Woods,
With furious tempest tumbles-vp the floods,
And (fiercely-fell) with stormy puffs constrains
The sparkling flints to roule about the Plains;
But flying, faints; and every league it goes
One nimble feather of his wing doth lose:
But rather like a River poorly-breeding
In barren Rocks, thence drop by drop proceeding:
Which, toward the Sea, the more he flies his source,
With growing streams strengthens his gliding course,
Rowles, roars, and foams, raging with rest-less motion,
And proudly scorns the greatnes of the Ocean.
THE DOOMS of Adam lackt not long effect.
For, th' angry Heav'ns (that can, without respect
The comming of the Flood, and Building of the Ark.
Of persons, plague the stubborn Reprobate)
In Waters buried th' Vniuersall-state:
And never more the nimble painted Legions
With hardy wings had cleft the ayrie Regions:
We all had perisht, and the Earth in vain
Had brought such store of fruits, and grass, and grain,
If Lamechs Son (by new-found Art directed)
That huge vast vessell had not first erected,
Which (sacred refuge) kept the parent-payrs
Of all things moving in the Earth and Ayrs.
Now, while the Worlds-re-colonizing Boat
Noahs exercises aboord the Ark.
Doth on the waters over Mountains float,
Noe passeth not with tales, and idle play,
The tedious length of dayes and nights away:
[Page 300]But, as the Sommers sweet distilling drops,
Vpon the medowes thirsty yawning chops,
Re-greens the Greens, and doth the flowrs re-flowr,
All scorcht and burnt with Auster's parching powr:
So the care-charming hony that distills
From his wise lips, his house with comfort fils,
Flatters despair, dries tears, calms inward smarts,
And re-aduanceth sorrow-daunted harts,
Cheer ye, my children: God doth now retire
These murdering Seas, which the revenging ire
Of his strict Iustice holy indignation
Hath brought vpon this wicked generation;
Arming a season, to destroy mankinde,
The angry Heav'ns, the water, and the winde:
As, soon again his gracious Mercy will
Clear cloudy Heav'ns, calm windes, and waters still.
His wrath and mercy follow turn by turn;
That (like the Lightning) doth not lightly burn
Long in a place: and this from age to age
Hides with her wings the faithfull heritage.
Our gracious God makes scant-weight of displeasure,
And spreads his mercy without weight or measure:
Somtimes he strikes vs (to especiall ends)
Vpon our selues, our Children, or our friends,
In soule or body, goods, or else good names,
But soon he casts his rods in burning flames:
Not with the fist, but finger he doth beat vs;
Nor doth hethrill so oft as he doth threat-vs:
And (prudent Steward) giues his faithfull Bees
Wine of his wrath, to rebell Drones the Lees.
And thus the deeds of Heav'ns Iust-gentle King,
The Second Worlds good Patriarch did sing.
Cham, full of impiety, is brought-in, an­swering his Fa­ther; and diuers­ly impugning the wisdom & irre­prohensible Pro­widence of God Almighty and All-mercifull: and the humble & religious Zeal of Noah.
But, brutish Cham, that in his brest accurst,
The secret roots of sinfull Atheisme nurst;
Wishing already to dis-throne th' Eternall,
And self-vsurp the Maiesty supernall:
And to himself, by name of Iupiter,
On Afrik sands a sumptuous Temple rear:
[Page 301]With bended brows, with stout and stern aspect,
In scornfull tearms his Father thus be-checkt.
Oh! how it grieves me, that these servil terrors
(The scourge of Cowards, and base vulgars errors)
Haue ta'n such deep root in your feeble brest!
Why, Father, alwayes selfly thus deprest,
Will you thus alwaies make yourself a drudge,
Fearing the fury of a fained Iudge?
And will you alwaies forge your self a Censor
That weighs your words, and doth your silence censure?
A sly Controuler, that doth count your hairs,
That in his hand your hearts keys ever bears,
Records your sighes, and all your thoughts descries,
And all your sins present and past espies?
A barbarous Butcher that with bloudy knife
Threats night and day your grieuous-guilty life?
O! see you not, the superstitious heat
Of this blinde zeal, doth in your minde beget
A thousand errors? light credulity
Doth drive you still to each extreamity,
Faining a God (with thousand storms opprest)
Fainter then Women, fiercer then a Beast.
Who (tender-hearted) weeps at others weeping,
Wails others woes, and at the onely peeping
Of others bloud, in suddain swoun deceases,
In manly breast a womans heart possesses:
And who (remorse-less) lets at any season,
The stormy tyde of ragetransport his reason,
And thunders threats of horror and mishap,
Hides a Bears heart vnder a humane shape.
Yet, of your God, you one-while thus pretend;
He melts in tears, if that your fingers end
But akea-while: anon, he frets, he frowns,
He burns, he brains, he kils, he dams, he drowns.
The wildest Boar doth but one Wood destroy;
A cruell Tyrant but one Landannoy:
And yet this Gods outrageous tyranny
Spoyls all the World, his onely Empery.
O goodly Iustice! One or two of vs
Have sinn'd perhaps, and mov'd his anger thus;
All bear the pain, yea even the innocent
Poor Birds and Beasts incurr the punishment.
No, Father, no: ('t is folly to infer it)
God is no varying, light, inconstant spirit,
Full of revenge, and wrath, and moody hate,
Nor savage-fell, nor suddain passionate,
Nor such as will for som small fault vndoo
This goodly World, and his owne nature too.
All wandring clouds, all humid exhalations,
All Seas (which Heav'n through many generations
Hath hoorded-vp) with selfs-weight enter-crusht,
Now all at once vpon the earth have rusht:
And th' endless, thin ayr (which by secret quils
Had lost it self within the windes-but hils
Dark hollow Caves, and in that gloomy hold
To ycy crystall turned by the cold)
Now swiftly surging towards Heav'n again,
Hath not alone drown'd all the lowly Plain,
But in fewe dayes with raging Flouds o're-flowen
The top-less Cedars of mount Libanon.
Then, with iust grief the godly Father gall'd,
Answers of No­ah to all the blas­phemies of Chā, and his fellow-Atheists.
A deep, sad, sigh from his harts centre hal'd,
And thus repli'd: O false, rebellious Cham!
Mine ages sorrow, and my houses shame,
Through self-conceipt contemning th' holy-Ghost,
Thy sense is baend, thine vnderstanding lost:
And O I fear (Lord falsifie my fear)
The heavy hand of the high Thunderer
Shall light on thee; and thou I doubt shaltbe
His Furies obiect, and shalt testifie
By thine infamous lifes accursed state,
What now thy shame-less lips sophisticate.
I (God be prays'd) knowe that the perfect CIRCLE
1. Answer: God is infinit, immu­table, Almighty, and incompre­hensible.
Whose Center's every-where, of all his circle
Exceeds the circuit; I conceiue aright
Th' Al-mighty-most to be most infinit:
[Page 303]That th' onely ESSENCE feels not in his minde
The furious tempests of fell passions winde:
That mooveless, all he moves: that with one thought
He can build Heav'n; and builded, bring to nought:
That his high Throne 's inclos'd in glorious Fier
Past our approach: that our faint soule doth tier,
Our spirit growes spright-less, when it seeks by sense
To sound his infinit Omni-potence.
I surely knowe, the Cherubins do hover
With flaming wings his starry face to cover.
Nonesees the Great, th' Almighty, Holy-ONE,
But passing by and by the back alone.
To vs, his Essence is in-explicable,
Wondrous his wayes, his name vn-vtterable;
So that concerning his high Maiesty
So that men cā ­not speak of Him but improperly.
Our feeble tongues speak but improperly.
For, if we call him strong, the prayse is small:
If blessed spirit, so are his Angels all:
If Great of greats, he's voide of quantity:
If good, fayr, holy, he wants quality;
Sith in his Essence fully excellent,
All is pure substance, free from accident.
Why we cannot speak of God but after the manner of men.
Therefore our voice, too-faint in such a subiect
T' ensue our soule, and our weak soule her obiect,
Doth alwayes stammer; so that ever when
'T would make Gods nameredoubted among men;
(In humane phraze) it calls him pittifull,
Repentant, iealous, fierce, and anger-full.
Yet is not God by this repentance, thus,
2. Answere. The Repentance and the change which the Scripture at­tributeth to God, is far from Error and defect.
Of ignorance and error taxt, likevs:
His iealous hatred doth not make him curious,
His pitty wretched; nor his anger furious.
Th' immortall Spirit is ever calmly-cleer:
And all the best that feeble man doth heer,
With vehemence of som hot passion driv'n;
That, withripeiudgement doth the King of Heav'n.
Two comparisons explaning the same.
Shall a Physician comfortably-bold▪
Fear-less, and tear-less, constantly behold
[Page 304]His sickly friend vext with exceeding pain,
And feel his pulse, and give him health again?
And shall not th' euer-self-resembling God
Look down from Heav'n vpon a wretched clod,
Without he weep, and melt for grief and anguish;
Nor cure his creature, but himself must languish?
And shall a Iudge, self-angerless, prefer
To shamefull death the strange adulterer;
As onely looking fixly all the time
Not on the sinner, but the sinfull crime?
And shall not then th' Eternall Iusticer
3. Answer, Iu­stice being a ver tue in Man can­not be a vice in God.
Condemn the Atheist and the Murderer,
Without selfs-fury? O! shall Iustice then
Be blam'd in God, and magnifi'd in men?
Or shall his sacred Will, and soverain Might
Be chayn'd so fast to mans frail appetite,
That filthy sin he cannot freely hate,
But wrathfull Rage him selfly-cruciate?
Gods sacred vengeance, serues not for defence
4. Answer: God doth not punish Offenders for de­fence of his owne Estate: but to maintain vertue & cōfound vice.
Of his own Essence from our violence
(For in the Heav'ns, above all reach of ours,
He dwels immur'd in diamantine Towers):
But, to direct our lives and laws maintain,
Guard Innocence, and Iniury restrain.
Th' Almighty past not mean, when he subuerted
Neer all the World from holy paths departed.
5. The iniquitie of the world de­serued exereame punishment.
For, Adams Trunk (of both our Worlds the Tree)
In two fair Branches forking fruitfully,
Of Cain and Seth; the first brought forth a sute
Of bitter, wilde, and most detested fruit:
Th' other, first rich in goodnes, afterward
With those base Scyons being graft, was marr'd:
And so produced execrable clusters
Worthy so wicked and incestuous lusters:
And then (alas!) what was ther to be found
Pure, iust, or good, in all this Earthly Round?
Cain's Line possest sinne, as an heritage;
6. When all are generally depra­ved, all merite to be destroyed.
Seth's, as a dowry got by mariage:
[Page 305]So that, (alas!) among all humane-kinde
Those mongrell kisses marr'd the purest minde.
And we (even we, that have escaped here
7. The least im­perfect passe con­demnation, euen then when they are most liuely chasticed.
This cruell wrack) within our conscience bear
A thousand Records of a thousand things
Convincing vs before the King of kings;
Whereof not one (for all our self-affection)
We can defend with any iust obiection.
God playd no Tyrant, choaking with the floods
8. God destroy­ing the workmā, doth no wrong to the Tools, if he break, and batter them w [...]th their Maister.
The earthly Bands and all the ayrie broods:
For, sith they liv'd but for mans seruice sole,
Man, raz'd for sin out of the Liuing Roule,
Those wondrous tools, and organs excellent,
Their Work-man reft, remain'd impertinent.
Man's only head of all that draweth breath.
Who lacks a member; yet persevereth
To liue (we see): but, members cut away
From their own head, do by and by decay.
9. A Traytor deserues to haue his house razed to the ground.
Nor was God cruell, when he drown'd the Earth
For, sit hence man had from his very birth
Rebeld against him, was't not equity,
That for his fault, his house should vtterly
Be rent and raz'd? that salt should there besow'n,
That in the ruins (for instruction)
We for a time might read and vnderstand
The righteous vengeance of Heav'ns wrathfull hand,
That wrought this Deluge: and no hoorded waves
Of ayry clouds, or vnder-earthly caves?
If all blew Curtins mixt of ayr and water,
10. The Flood was no naturall accident, but a most iust iudge­ment of God.
Round-over-spreading this wide All-Theater,
To som one Climate all at once should fly,
One Country they might drown vndoubtedly:
But our great Galley hauing gone so far,
So many months, in sight of either Star,
From Pole to Pole through sundry Climats whorld,
Showes that this Flood hath drowned all the world.
Now non-plust, if to re-inforce thy Camp,
11. The waters of the Flood sprung not from a natu­rall motion only, but proceeded frō other then natu­rall Causes, which cannot produce such effects.
Thou fly for succour to thine Ayery Damp:
[Page 306]Showe, in the concave of what Mountains steep
We may imagine Dens sufficient deep
For so much ayr as gushing out in fountains,
Should hide the proud tops of the highest Mountains;
Sith a whole tun of ayr scarce yeelds (in tryall)
Water ynough to fill one little Viall.
And what should then betide those empty spaces?
What should succeed in the forsaken places
Of th' air's thin parts (in swift springs shrinking thence)
Sith there's no voyd in th' All-circumference?
Whence (wilt thou say) then coms this raging flood,
12. The conside­ratiō of the pow­er of God in sub­iecting the crea­tures to Noah: in sustaining & feeding them so long in the Arke (which was as a Sepulchre) confu­teth all the obiec­tions of Atheists.
That over-flowes the windy Ryphean Wood,
Mount Libanus, and enviously aspires
To quench the light of the celestiall fires?
Whence (shall I say) then, whence-from coms it (Cham)
That Wolves, and Panthers waxing meek and tame,
Leaving the horror of their shady home,
Adiourn'd by Heav'n, did in my presence com,
Who holding subiect vnder my command
So many creatures humbled at my hand,
And now restor'd to th' honour and estate,
Whence Adam fell through sin and Satans hate?
Whence doth it com, or by what reason is't,
That vn-mann'd Haggards to mine empty fist
Com without call? Whence coms it, that so little
Fresh water, fodder, meal, and other victuall,
Should serue so long so many a greedy-gut
As in the dark holds of this Ark is shut?
That heer the Partridge doth not dread the Hauk?
Nor fearfull Hare the spotted Tiger baulk?
That all these storms our Vessell haue not broak?
That all this while we doe not ioyntly choak
With noysom breath, and excrementall stink
Of such a common and continuall sink?
And that ourselues, 'mid all these deaths, are sav'd
From these All-Seas, where all the rest are Grav'd?
In all the compass of our floating Inns,
13. The Arke full of Miracles, which confound the wits & stop the mouthes of profane wrang­lers.
Are not so many planks, and boords, and pins,
[Page 307]As wonders strange, and miracles that ground
Mans wrangling Reason, and his wits confound:
And God, no less his mighty powr displayd
When he restor'd, then when the World he made.
O sacred Patron! pacifie thine ire,
Bring home our Hulk: these angry floods retire;
A-liue and dead, let vs perceiue and proove
Thy wrath on others, on our selues thy love.
Thus Noah sweetens his Captivity,
God causeth the Flood to cease.
Beguiles the time, and charms his misery,
Hoping in God alone: who, in the Mountains
Now slopping close the veins of all the Fountains,
Shutting Heav'ns sluees, causing th' ayr (controul'd)
Close-vp his channels, and his Seas with-hould,
Cals forth the windes. O Heav'ns fresh fans (quoth he)
Earths sweeping Brooms, O Forrests enmity,
O you my Heralds and my Harbengers
My nimble Postes and speedy Messengers,
Mine arms, my sinews, and mine Eagles swift
That through the ayr my rowling Chariot lift;
When from my mouth, in my iust-kindled ire
Fly Sulphry fumes, and hot consuming fire,
When with my Lightning Scepters dreadfull wonder
I muster horror, darknes, clouds, and thunder:
Wake, rise, and run, and drink these waters dry,
That hills and dales haue hidden from the sky.
Th' Aeolian Crowd obays his mighty call,
The Arke resteth on the Mountain Ararat, in Ar­menia.
The surly surges of the waters fall,
The Sea retreateth: and the sacred Keel
Lands on a Hill, at whose proud feet doo kneel
A thousand Hills, his lofty horn adoring
That cleaues the clouds, the starry welkin goaring.
Then hope-cheer'd Noah, first of all (for scout)
What Noah did before he went forth.
Sends forth the Crowe, who flutters neer-about;
And finding yet no landing place at all,
Returns a-boord to his great Admirall.
Som few dayes after from the window flyes
The harm-less Doue for new discoveries:
[Page 308]But seeing yet no shoar, she (almost tyr'd)
A-boord the Carrack back again retyr'd.
But yer the Sun had seav'n Heav'n-Circuits rode,
To view the World a-fresh she flyes abroad;
And brings a-boord (at evening) in her bill
And Oliue branch with water pearled still.
O happy presage! O deer pledge of loue!
O wel-com newes! behold, the peacefull Doue
Brings in her beak the Peace-branch, boading weal
And truce with God; who by this sacred seal
Kindely confirms his holy Couenant,
That first, in fight the Tiger rage shall want,
Lions be cowards, Hares couragious,
Yer he be false in word or deed to vs.
O sacred Oliue! firstling of the fruits,
Health-boading branch, be it thy tender roots
Haue lived still, while this strange Deluge lasted,
I doe reioyce it hath not all things wasted:
Or be it, since the Ebb, thou newly spring,
Prays'd be the bounty of th' immortall King
That quickens thus these dead, the World induing
With beauty fresh so suddainly renuing.
Thus Noah spake: And though the World gan lift
He exspecteth Gods comman­dement to goe forth: whereby, at the first hee was shut vp in the Ark▪
Most of his Iles above the waters drift,
Though waxen old in his long weary night,
He see a friendly Sun to brandish bright:
Though choak't with ill ayr in his stinking staul,
Hee'l not a-shoar till God be pleas'd with-all;
And till (devout) from Heav'n he vnderstand
Som Oracle to licence him to land.
But, warn'd by Heav'n, he commeth from his Cave,
(Or rather from a foul infectious grave)
With Sem, Cham, Iapheth, and their twice-two Brides,
And thousand pairs of living things besides,
Vnclean and clean: for, th' holy Patriark
Had of all kinds inclosed in the Ark.
But, heer I hear th' vngodly (that for fear
Late whispered softly in each others ear,
[Page 309]With silent murmurs muttering secretly)
Now trumpet thus their filthy blasphemy;
New obiectiō of Atheists, concer­ning the capacity of the Ark.
Who will beleeve (but shallow-brained Sheep)
That such a ship scarce thirty Cubits deep,
Thrice fifty long, and but on [...]e fifty large,
So many months could bear so great a charge?
Sith the proud Horse, the rough-skinn'd Elephant,
The lusty Bull, the Camell water-want,
And the Rhmocerot, would, with their fodder,
Fill-vp a H [...]lk fa [...]r deeper, longer, broader?
O profane mockers! if I but exclude
Answere▪
Out of this V [...]ssell a vast multitude
Of since-born mongrels, that deriue their birth
From monstrous medly of Venerian mirth;
Fantastik Mules, and spotted Leopards,
Of incest-heat ingendred afterwards:
So many sorts of Dogs, of Cocks, and Doves,
Since, dayly sprung from strange and mingled loues,
Wherein from time to time in various sort,
Dedalian Nature seems her to disport:
If playner, yet I proue you space by space,
And foot by foot, that all this ample place,
By subtill iudgement made and Symmetrie,
Mi [...]ht lodge so many creatures handsomly,
Sith euery brace was Geometricall:
Nought resteth ( Momes) for your reply at all;
If, who dispute with God, may be content
To take, for currant, Reasons argument.
But heer t' admire th' Al-mighties powrfull hand
An vn-answe­rable answer to all profane obie­ctions.
I rather loue, and silence to command
To mans discourse: what he hath said, is don:
For, euermore his word and deed are one.
By his sole arm, the Gallions Masters saw
Themselues safe rescu'd from Deaths yawning iaw;
And offer-vpto him, in zealous wise,
The Peace full sent of sweet burnt-sacrifice;
And send with-all above the starry Pole
These winged sighes from a religious soule.
World-shaking Father, Windes-King, calming-Seas,
With milde aspect behold vs: Lord appease
Thine Angers tempest, and to safety bring
The planks escap't from this sad Perishing.
And bound for ever in their ancient Caues
These stormy Seas deep World-deuouring waues.
Increase (quoth God) and quickly multiply,
Cömandements, Prohibitions, & Promises of God to Noah and his Posterity.
And fill the World with fruitfull Progeny:
Resume your Scepter, and with new beheasts
Bridle again the late revolted Beasts,
Re-exercise your wonted rule again,
It is your office over them to raign:
Deer Children, vse them all: take, kill, and eat:
But yet abstain and doe not take for meat
Their ruddy soule: and leaue (O sacred seed!)
To rav'ning Fowls, of strangled flesh to feed.
I, I am holy: be you holy then.
I deeply hate all cruell bloody men:
Therefore defile not in your brothers blood
Your guilty hands; refrain from cruell mood;
Fly homicide: doe not in any case,
In man, mine Image brutishly deface:
The cruell man a cruell death shall taste;
And blood with blood be venged first or last;
For evermore vpon the murderers head
My roaring storms of fury shall be shed.
From hence-forth, fear no second Flood that shall▪
The Rain Bowe giuē for a Pledg of the Promise, that there shall be no more gene­rall Flood.
Cover the whole face of this earthly Ball:
I assure ye no; no, no, I swear to you
(And who hath ever found mine Oath vntrue?)
Again, I swear by my thrice-sacred Name:
And to confirm it, in the Clouds I frame
This coloured Bowe. When then som tempest black
Shall threat again the fearfull World to wrack,
When water-loaden Heav'ns your Hils shal touch,
When th' ayr with Midnight shall your Noon be-pitch,
Your cheerfull looks vp to this Rain-bowe cast.
For, though the same on moystful Clouds be plaç't,
[Page 311]Though hemm'd with showrs, and though it seem to sup
(To drown the World) all th' Oceans waters vp,
Yet shall it (when you seem in danger sink)
Make you, of me; me of my promise, think.
Noah looks-vp, and in the Ayr he views
Description of the Rayn-Bowe▪
A semi-Circle of a hundred hews:
Which, bright ascending toward th' aethereall thrones,
Hath a lyne drawn between two Orizons
For iust Diameter: an even-bent bowe
Contriv'd of three; whereof the one doth showe
To be all painted of a golden hew,
The second green, the third an orient blew;
Yet so, that in this pure blew-golden-green
Still ( Opal-like) som changeable is seen.
A Bowe bright-shining in th' Arch-Archers hand,
Whose subtill string seems levell with the Land,
Half-parting Heav'n; and over vs it bends,
Within two Seas wetting his horned ends;
A temporall beauty of the lampfull skies,
Where powrfull Nature showes her freshest dies.
What it signifi­eth.
And if you onely blew and red perceiue;
The same as signes of Sea, and Fire conceiue;
Of both the flowing and the flaming Doom,
The Iudgement past, and Iudgement yet to come.
Then, having call'd on God, our second Father
Noah falls to Husbandry, and tills the Earth, as he had done before the Flood
Suffers not sloth his arms together gather,
But fals to work, and wisely now renew'th
The Trade he learn'd to practice in his youth.
For, the proud issue of that Tyrant rude
That first his hand in brothers bloud imbrewd,
As scorning Ploughs, and hating harm-less tillage,
And (wantons) prising less the homely village,
With fields and Woods, then th' idle Citties-shades;
Imbraced Laws, Scepters, and Arts, and Trades.
But Seths Sons, knowing Nature soberly
Content with little, fell to Husbandry,
There to reducing with industrious care,
The Flocks and Droues cover'd with wooll and hair;
[...] [...]
[Page 312]As prayse-full gain, and profit void of strife,
Art nurse of Arts, and very life of life.
So, the bright honour of the Heav'nly Tapers
Had scarcely boxed ali th' Earths dropsie vapours,
When hee that sav'd the store-seed-World from wrack,
Began to delve his fruitfull Mothers back,
And there soon-after planteth heedfully
The brittle branches of the Nectar-tree.
For, 'mong the pebbles of a pretty hill
To the warm Suns ey lying open still,
He plants a vine
He sets in furrows or in shallow trenches
The crooked Vines choice scyons, shoots, and branches:
In March he delves them, re-re-delves, and dresses,
Cuts, props, and proins; and God his work so blesses,
That in the third September for his meed
The plentious Vintage doth his hopes exceed.
Then Noah, willing to beguile the rage
He is ouer-taken with Wine.
Of bitter griefs that vext his feeble age,
To see with mud so many Roofs o're-growen,
And him left almost in the World alone,
One-day a little from his strictness shrunk,
And making merry, drinking, over-drunk:
And, silly, thinking in that hony-gall
To drown his woes, he drowns his wits and all.
Description of a drunken-man.
His head growes giddy, and his foot indents,
A mighty fume his troubled brain torments,
His idle prattle from the purpose quite,
Is abrupt, stuttering, all confus'd, and light:
His wine-stuft stomack wrung with winde he feels:
His trembling Tent all topsi-turuie wheels:
At last, not able on his legs to stand,
More like a foul Swine then a sober man,
Opprest with sleep, he wallows on the ground,
His shame-lesse snorting trunk, so deeply drownd
In self oblivion, that he did not hide
Those parts that Caesar covered when he died.
Ev'n as the Ravens with windy wings o're-fly
Fit Comparisons to set sorth the nature and pro­perty of Slande­rers, & Detract­ers imitating Cham.
The weeping Woods of Happy Araby,
[Page 313]Despise sweet Gardens and delicious Bowrs
Perfuming Heav'n with odoriferous flowrs,
And greedy light vpon the loath som quarters
Of som late Lopez, o [...] such Romish Martyrs:
Or as a young, vnskilfull, Painter raw,
Doth carel [...]sly the fairest features draw
In any face, and yet too neerely marks
Th' vn pleasing blemish of deformed marks,
As lips too-great, or hollowness of eys,
Or sinking nose, or such indecencies:
Euen so th' vngodly Sonns of Leasings Father
With black Obliuions sponge ingrately smother
Fair Vertues draughts, and cast despightfully
On the least sinns the venom of the ey,
Fru [...]p others faults, and trumpet in all ages
The lightest trips of greatest Personages:
Like scoffing C [...]am that impudently viewd
His Fathers shame, and most profanely-lewd,
With scornefull laughter (grace-les) thus began
To infamize the poor old drunken man.
Com (brethren) com, com quickly and beholde
His speech to his Brethren, seeing his Fathers na­kednes.
This pure controuler that so oft contrould
Vs without cause: see how his bed he soyls:
See, how the wine (his master) now recoyls
By's mouth, and eys, and nose: and brutely lo
To all that com his naked shame doth showe.
Ah shame-less beast (both brethren him reproov'd,
Both chiding thus, both with iust anger moov'd)
Their discreet behauiour.
Vnnaturall villain, monster pestilent,
Vnworthy to behold the firmament.
Where (absent we) thou ought'st haue hid before
With thine owne Cloak, but with thy silence more,
Thy Fathers shame, whom age▪ strong wine, and grief,
Haue made to fall, but once in all his life;
Thou barkest first, and sporting at the matter
Proclaim'st his fault on infamies Theater.
And saying this, turning their sight a-side)
Their hoarie Fathers nakedness they hide.
When wine had wrought, this good old-man awook,
Noah awaked curseth Cham and his posterity: & blesseth Sem and Iaphet, & their Issue.
Agniz'd his crime, ashamed, wonder-strook
At strength of wine, and toucht with true repentance,
With Prophet-mouth ganthus his Sons fore-sentence:
Curst be thou Cham, and curst be (for thy scorn)
Thy darling Canaan: let the pearly Morn,
The radiant N [...]on, and rheumy Euening see
Thy neck still yoaked with Captiuitie.
God be with Sem: and let his gracious speed
Spread-wide my Iapheths fruitfull-swarming seed.
Error, no error, but a wilfull badnes:
An execratiō of Drunkennes, de­scribed with its shamefull dan­gerous and de­testable effects.
O foul defect! O short, O dangerous madnes!
That in thy rage, doost harm-less Clytus smother,
By his deer friend; Pentheus by his Mother.
Phrenzy, that makes the vaunter insolent;
The talkfull, blab; cruell, the violent:
The fornicator,