Fovre bookes of Du Bartas I. The Arke, II. Babylon, III. The Colonnyes, IIII. The Columues or Pyllars: In French and English, for the Instrvction and Pleasvre of Svch as Delight in Both Langvages. By William Lisle ... Together with a large Commentary by S. G. S |
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168
Yea, were it not (I feare) to bold an enterprise,
(Although why should I feare to cancell all the vice,
Theft, furie, sacrilege, profane incestuous beds,
And all the monster-lyes wherewith Greeks idle heads,
(We know not what they were) to mock all After-age,
Of th'euermouing heau'n dishonour would the stage?)
Well could I let thee know how these shapes vnder them
Containe the mysteries of new Ierusalem:
That here the fing'r of God as on a crystall drew,
For holy men to reade, what euer should ensue:
A publike register and chartr' authenticall
Containing orderlesse the view propheticall
Of all Church-monuments. O chariot firie-cleer,
That swift and whirlwind-like vp-rauishedst the Seer;
About the Northen Pole thou draw'n art day and night,
And dippest not at all thy wheeles in Amphitrite:
Nor stablest once thy teeme, still-toyling, neuer spent,
Below the massie round of baser Element.
Meane while Elisha (loe) full wistly thee beholds,
And with a fiery zeale his master so with-holds,
That vp the starrie mount he makes the steeds to fling
And round and round againe to turne and trot the ring,
See Dauid fast-him-by, who beares in warlike hand
Some Lyons tufted mane, that flameth like a brand:
Here shines his royall crowne, and here his harpe of gold;
With seu'n stars richly deckt; here th'vgly Beare behold
That for his fathers Lambe he, then a shepherd, slew;
And here the whizzing launce that mad Saul at him threw.
(Although why should I feare to cancell all the vice,
Theft, furie, sacrilege, profane incestuous beds,
And all the monster-lyes wherewith Greeks idle heads,
(We know not what they were) to mock all After-age,
169
Well could I let thee know how these shapes vnder them
Containe the mysteries of new Ierusalem:
That here the fing'r of God as on a crystall drew,
For holy men to reade, what euer should ensue:
A publike register and chartr' authenticall
Containing orderlesse the view propheticall
Of all Church-monuments. O chariot firie-cleer,
That swift and whirlwind-like vp-rauishedst the Seer;
About the Northen Pole thou draw'n art day and night,
And dippest not at all thy wheeles in Amphitrite:
Nor stablest once thy teeme, still-toyling, neuer spent,
Below the massie round of baser Element.
Meane while Elisha (loe) full wistly thee beholds,
And with a fiery zeale his master so with-holds,
That vp the starrie mount he makes the steeds to fling
And round and round againe to turne and trot the ring,
See Dauid fast-him-by, who beares in warlike hand
Some Lyons tufted mane, that flameth like a brand:
Here shines his royall crowne, and here his harpe of gold;
With seu'n stars richly deckt; here th'vgly Beare behold
That for his fathers Lambe he, then a shepherd, slew;
And here the whizzing launce that mad Saul at him threw.
Now thee Susanna faire, example of chastitee,
And honors chiefest hon'r, I tremble should to see,
And weep thy trickling teares; and those so weighty chaines
That binde thy lillie wrests would yeeld me a thousand paines
Among thy dearest kin; and cause me to the skies
For thy deliuerance ioine with them hands and eyes:
But that a Daniel I see makes holy speed
From death and shamefull doome to saue a maid at need.
He with some powerfull beames of ouer-awing light,
Which comes not of Meduse, but of the Truth and Right,
Confounds the witnesses, and breaks them head and bones
With thunder-darted haile of ly-reuenging stones.
And sure, as long as heau'n doth whirl-round any Signe,
Shall eu'r aboue our head so holy a Trophey shine
Anuyst this Idol foule, this dragon vgly and fell,
Which was in Babel pent by that young Daniel.
To whom may Pegasus more fitly be compared
Then t'one of those same horse that in th'aire burning flared,
Before the Tyrant great of Asia the Lesse
Did in a firie rage Ierusalem oppresse.
This earnest Wagoner, who'st but Ez'chiel,
Which manageth so right the Coach of Israel?
And who's the siluer swan that shineth here, but eu'n
That Deacon clad in white, the faithfull Martyr Steu'n,
Who death endured for his master crucified,
And sung more heau'nly sweet then swan before he died?
The siluer-scaled fish that shines here in the skies
I take to be the same that heald old Tobyts eyes:
And whom this Dolphin bright but great Amramides
Which out of Egypt led athwart the ruddie Seas
The frie of Israel, and brought his armed ranks,
A-dryfoot, wanting ship, to th'ldumean banks?
And honors chiefest hon'r, I tremble should to see,
And weep thy trickling teares; and those so weighty chaines
That binde thy lillie wrests would yeeld me a thousand paines
Among thy dearest kin; and cause me to the skies
For thy deliuerance ioine with them hands and eyes:
But that a Daniel I see makes holy speed
From death and shamefull doome to saue a maid at need.
He with some powerfull beames of ouer-awing light,
Which comes not of Meduse, but of the Truth and Right,
Confounds the witnesses, and breaks them head and bones
With thunder-darted haile of ly-reuenging stones.
And sure, as long as heau'n doth whirl-round any Signe,
Shall eu'r aboue our head so holy a Trophey shine
170
Which was in Babel pent by that young Daniel.
To whom may Pegasus more fitly be compared
Then t'one of those same horse that in th'aire burning flared,
Before the Tyrant great of Asia the Lesse
Did in a firie rage Ierusalem oppresse.
This earnest Wagoner, who'st but Ez'chiel,
Which manageth so right the Coach of Israel?
And who's the siluer swan that shineth here, but eu'n
That Deacon clad in white, the faithfull Martyr Steu'n,
Who death endured for his master crucified,
And sung more heau'nly sweet then swan before he died?
The siluer-scaled fish that shines here in the skies
I take to be the same that heald old Tobyts eyes:
And whom this Dolphin bright but great Amramides
Which out of Egypt led athwart the ruddie Seas
The frie of Israel, and brought his armed ranks,
A-dryfoot, wanting ship, to th'ldumean banks?
What shall I further say? God hath not only engrau'n
His sakerfaint Emprese on brasse of whirling heau'n;
And in tryangle shape embleam'd his mysterie
Of nature wonderfull, three in one, one in three:
But by this valiant youth, who slew yon creeping euill,
Set-forth his only Sonne which ouercame the Deuill,
And with sway of a Crosse (his engine most of might)
Broke-ope the brasen gates of euerlasting night:
Yea by this goodly bird, the God-of-Gods delight,
Which with a stedfast eye beholds the Sun so bright,
And takes the thunder-boult oft out of's angry hand,
His Spirit and Loue is ment; who visited the land
Descending feathered. for why? this winged signe
In head, in brest, in back of starred-ermyline,
No lesse resembl' it may the Pigeon simple and meeke,
Then th'eagle goodly-fierce, then th'Eagle crookie-beeke.
His sakerfaint Emprese on brasse of whirling heau'n;
And in tryangle shape embleam'd his mysterie
Of nature wonderfull, three in one, one in three:
But by this valiant youth, who slew yon creeping euill,
Set-forth his only Sonne which ouercame the Deuill,
And with sway of a Crosse (his engine most of might)
Broke-ope the brasen gates of euerlasting night:
Yea by this goodly bird, the God-of-Gods delight,
Which with a stedfast eye beholds the Sun so bright,
And takes the thunder-boult oft out of's angry hand,
His Spirit and Loue is ment; who visited the land
Descending feathered. for why? this winged signe
In head, in brest, in back of starred-ermyline,
No lesse resembl' it may the Pigeon simple and meeke,
Then th'eagle goodly-fierce, then th'Eagle crookie-beeke.
As for the golden belt wherewith all heau'n is cross'd,
Whereon the dosen signes are curiously emboss'd;
Who, but the Paschall Lambe, is he that leads the ring?
The Bull's that moulten calfe whom peopl' Idolatring
Made Aron make for God. The Twins, that shine so bright,
Are Isacks sons who stroue before they saw this light.
The next is Salomon, who like a Crab recoiles,
And in his latter time himselfe with sin besoiles:
And, as a swine in mud doth after washing roule,
Becomes adulterer both in his bodie and soule.
The Lyon is the same that crusht was like a Kid
By Samsons thundring hand: The Virgin, she that hid
In vndefiled wombe, (for vs made maiden-mother)
And brought-forth at her time, her father, husband, brother.
The Ballance here is set for Kings of Israel
To iudge the peopl' aright and ponder causes well.
The next that serpent is which on the Maltan sand
With traiterous intent hung-on th'Apostles hand:
For whether it be call'd a spotted Scorpion,
Or Viper-poysonous, it matters not, all's one.
The Bowman may be thought old Abrahams elder childe.
This Goat that scape-lot is whom Aaron lets goe wilde.
This Ewrer is the sonne of dombe Zacharia,
Messia's herbenger, preparer of his way:
Which in the siluer streame of Iordan drown'd the sinne
Of all that doe repent, and will new life beginne:
And these two Fishes they that with fiue loues of bread,
Blest of thrall-feeding Word aboue fiue thousand fed.
Whereon the dosen signes are curiously emboss'd;
Who, but the Paschall Lambe, is he that leads the ring?
171
Made Aron make for God. The Twins, that shine so bright,
Are Isacks sons who stroue before they saw this light.
The next is Salomon, who like a Crab recoiles,
And in his latter time himselfe with sin besoiles:
And, as a swine in mud doth after washing roule,
Becomes adulterer both in his bodie and soule.
The Lyon is the same that crusht was like a Kid
By Samsons thundring hand: The Virgin, she that hid
In vndefiled wombe, (for vs made maiden-mother)
And brought-forth at her time, her father, husband, brother.
The Ballance here is set for Kings of Israel
To iudge the peopl' aright and ponder causes well.
The next that serpent is which on the Maltan sand
With traiterous intent hung-on th'Apostles hand:
For whether it be call'd a spotted Scorpion,
Or Viper-poysonous, it matters not, all's one.
The Bowman may be thought old Abrahams elder childe.
This Goat that scape-lot is whom Aaron lets goe wilde.
This Ewrer is the sonne of dombe Zacharia,
Messia's herbenger, preparer of his way:
Which in the siluer streame of Iordan drown'd the sinne
Of all that doe repent, and will new life beginne:
And these two Fishes they that with fiue loues of bread,
Blest of thrall-feeding Word aboue fiue thousand fed.
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