Mundorum Explicatio or, The Explanation of an Hieroglyphical Figure: Wherein are couched the Mysteries of the External, Internal, and Eternal Worlds, shewing the true progress of a Soul from the Court of Jerusalem; from the Adamical fallen state to the Regenerate and Angelical. Being A Sacred Poem, written by S. P. [i.e. Samuel Pordage] |
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Once more my sacred Muse doth take her flight,
And on the top of glorious SION light:
Where she beholds those glorious wonders, which
For ever the Æternal World enrich:
Those Wonders, and those Miracles of Grace,
Which beautifie, and splendorize the place:
Those Wonders that are past her Skill to shew,
Which if she could, it were not fit to do,
For there such glorious Wonders may be read,
As are not lawful to be uttered:
But what she may, and what she Can express,
She shews unto you in a homely dress,
Accept I pray, this Offering she brings:
For Rapt with Wonders, all amaz'd she sings.
O Thou Æternal Everlasting Day!
Illuminate my darker Soul I pray!
O let her eyes be fixed upon thee,
Thou King of Glories and of Majesty!
Grant that she may behold those Wonders, that
Th' Æternal World, thy bless'd Seat, decorate.
O now inspire me with a Power divine,
Put Life into my Numbers, sacred Trine!
That whilst Heav'n's beautious Glories, here I sing
Unto your Throne I Souls may ravish'd bring;
That whilst my own, wrapt in these Hears doth see
Heav'n's Splendor, and thy glorious Beauty, she
May be united to the Lord! so close
That nor the World, nor Hell the tye may loose;
That while to others thus I sing, I may
O Lord! not be my self a Cast-away.
Whose progress shall to those who will not spurn
The Truth, make known some Myst'ries of this Sphear
Which may be shown; but those that thus appear,
For scorners sakes a little vail'd must be,
And yet our Vailes are made of Tiffany;
So that an Eye not altogether blind
The sence, and meaning of our words may find.
Our happy Pilgrim, who in Paradise
In Blisse, and pleasure in Love's bosom lies,
Feeling those pleasures that do scorn annoy,
And breathing in the Fire of purest Joy,
Doth Heav'n already as it were possess,
Seated in Blisse, and crown'd with Happinesse.
But Love's immortal Prince doth now relate
To him the glory of an higher state,
He being sitted by the Prince of Love
For this ascension, now must farther Move.
O here it lyes not in the Will of Man,
For one step selfly forward move he can
Not; here it must be Jesus he alone
Conveighs the Soul to this Cœlestial Throne:
Who whilst 'tis wholly passive, swiftly whurl'd
Is, in Love's Coach into th' Eternal World.
The silver Clouds of Paradise do meet
In a Conjunction, and at Jesu's feet
Conspire; who with the Pilgrim back, those clear
Clouds, mounting thence into th' Eternal Sphear.
But e're the Pilgrim went the Graces all
Approaching him into his Lap let fall
Their Royal bounties all desiring He
T'accept those small Presents would pleased be:
For by their virtue he his subjects might
Rule (seated in his Royal Throne) aright.
FAITH gave her golden Shield beset with Gemms,
Whose sight Hel's mighty Monarch fears it seems,
As much as Mortals did that Buckler dread
On which was pourtray'd curs'd Medusa's Head;
For when so e're he spies that glorious Shield,
Screeching and howling he deserts the Field.
A golden Anchor he receiv'd from HOPE,
Which not the force of Hell could e'r pull up,
When once 'twas fix't; upon the Billows ride
He safely could, and all Hel's storms abide
Without the least of Danger, and by this
In mid'st of Stormes, h'in mist of safety is.
ZEAL brought a Sword whose hilt with glittering Gold
Shan; from whose two-edg'd blade flames sprightly rold;
The Stygian Princes flesh no Weapon but
This terrible two-edged Sword can cut:
This is the Sword of the bless'd Spirit, and
Hell for his furies can its force withstand.
A Royal Miter profer'd PIETY,
Which Crown'd the Pilgrim's royal brows on high,
The Helmet of Salvation it was,
O'relaid with Gold, and fram'd of solid Brass,
Which all Hel's Thunderbolts could never pierce,
Nor all his shafts, though they were ne'r so fierce.
COURAGE a Breast-plate gave of solid Steel,
Through which he Hel's black Arrows could not feel,
Of Righteousness it was, whose shining glass
Retorted Hel's black shafts into his face,
So that the more he seeks to wound his foes
The more by's own shafts shall his damage grow.
True JOY a Royal Robe presented, where
All Paradise's flowers embossed were,
Love fram'd the stuff, and Innocency wrought
Into true True-Love-Knots all that Joy brought.
This Robe could not defiled be with sin:
If Hell flings Durt on 't, it fals off ag'en.
An upright Staff UPRIGHTNESS gave for guide,
A golden pair of compasses beside,
By which all Actions measur'd ought to be,
Beyond whose bounds his steps ought not to flee;
Whilst by that Staff and Compasses he goes,
Hell nor the World did dare his Way oppose.
TRUTH she presented him the sacred Writ,
In which he might behold all things that fit
Were to be done, and what to be eschew'd.
HUMILITY a Van to sift the Proud
Actions, and Thoughts; to sift the Chaff and the
Cockle, from the bright Wheat of Purity.
OBEDIENCE a silver Wheel presented,
By which all adverse Thoughts, to be tormented
Were, and all Actions that did Rebels prove
Unto the Laws, and Crown of sacred Love:
By which close-grinding Wheel, the flowr was ta'ne
From the enclosure of the fruitless Bran.
But RESIGNATION gave a golden Crosse,
In which contain'd was not one grain of dross,
Love's glorious badge, where all Opposers dy'd,
And where all humane Wills were crucifi'd:
A Crosse on which who hung, were mounted ev'n
From Death to Life; from Earth to highest Heav'n.
True WISDOM gave a pair of Ballances,
Whose Scales th' impartial Hand of Justice weighs;
Whereby He able was to weigh aright,
And the true Gold to know from what was light.
All something gave, to whom his thanks b'ing pai'd,
To th' highest Sphear Love's Coach its voyage made.
He doth into Sanctum Sanctorum move,
Into the holyest now of holyest, he
Admitted is, where dwels the Deity
In Light immortal, where the blest abode
Is of the sacred Trine, the Triune GOD.
There in immortal Glory, great JEHOVE,
There blessed JESUS, and the sacred DOVE
Conjoyn'd in one, make up the blessed TRINE,
A mysterie as sacred, as divine.
Our happy Pilgrim doth intently view
The glorious beauties of this sacred place;
He's now disrob'd of his poluted Case,
For no defilement, or polution
Can enter into new JERUSALEM.
A Body clear as Crystal, Light as Ayr,
VVhere the true Elements all mixed were
In a just harmony, he now indues,
His other body now no fæces shews,
But swallow'd up by a blest Union
Is made more bright, and glorious than the Sun:
Arrayed thus th' Æternal Gate of Blisse
Straitway unto our Pilgrim open'd is,
Through which he enters, to that sacred place
VVhere without Vails he sees GOD face to face.
VVonders of Wonders there he sees; which none
Beholds, til they (as he) approach the Throne,
That Throne of Glory, and Æternal Bliss,
VVhere our thrice happy Pilgrim seated is.
And on the top of glorious SION light:
Where she beholds those glorious wonders, which
For ever the Æternal World enrich:
Those Wonders, and those Miracles of Grace,
Which beautifie, and splendorize the place:
310
Which if she could, it were not fit to do,
For there such glorious Wonders may be read,
As are not lawful to be uttered:
But what she may, and what she Can express,
She shews unto you in a homely dress,
Accept I pray, this Offering she brings:
For Rapt with Wonders, all amaz'd she sings.
O Thou Æternal Everlasting Day!
Illuminate my darker Soul I pray!
O let her eyes be fixed upon thee,
Thou King of Glories and of Majesty!
Grant that she may behold those Wonders, that
Th' Æternal World, thy bless'd Seat, decorate.
O now inspire me with a Power divine,
Put Life into my Numbers, sacred Trine!
That whilst Heav'n's beautious Glories, here I sing
Unto your Throne I Souls may ravish'd bring;
That whilst my own, wrapt in these Hears doth see
Heav'n's Splendor, and thy glorious Beauty, she
May be united to the Lord! so close
That nor the World, nor Hell the tye may loose;
That while to others thus I sing, I may
O Lord! not be my self a Cast-away.
Ho! Momus cease to Carp; Ho! Zoilus Cease
Your scoffs, and taunts; Ho! Criticks hold your peace,
And say not now I Miracles reherse,
Beyond the lofty Limits of a Verse,
Say not I write my Brainsick-Whimsies, Lies,
Or Fables, or I meerly Poetize:
Ye are the Swine who grunting in the mire
Would spoyl the musick of the sacred Quire,
But for your dissonance, and grunt'ling noyse,
The World might often hear a Seraph's voyce:
Piggs think their whining best; the jetting Crows
Themselves the fairest of Heav'n's Fowls suppose:
The Owles, and Cuccows, think their Notes to be
As sweet as Philomel's sweet harmony.
So you suppose your Canting best; and then
Like snarling Currs, do Carp, and snap at Men.
You're Swine indeed whose dull eyes stil below
Behold the earth, and hunt, and scent your trough;
Your necks are too too short to view the Skye,
How come you then to judge of things so high;
Because some Wind-fals on the ground you see,
Think you no fairer Fruit hangs on the Tree?
Swine cann't look up; it is a Man alone
Not slothful Beasts can pull the fair Fruit down.
Buzzards are blinded by Sol's glorious Rayes:
Eagles unhurt against his splendor gaze.
Here then are Pearls, but unto wise Men such,
But wrapt in pitch least Swine such gemms should touch.
Pearls must not naked be expos'd to Swine,
(So say'd that mouth that wholly was divine)
Least that they trample, and despise the same,
And Him, who so unwisely offer'd them.
Therefore a wise Man cautiously shrouds
Gemms of great value in obscurer Clouds:
And in the Pitch of Words those Pearls divine
Hides, from the eyes of such perverting Swine,
Which in their spendrous beauties otherwise,
Should Vail-less be exposed to their eyes.
Your scoffs, and taunts; Ho! Criticks hold your peace,
And say not now I Miracles reherse,
Beyond the lofty Limits of a Verse,
Say not I write my Brainsick-Whimsies, Lies,
Or Fables, or I meerly Poetize:
Ye are the Swine who grunting in the mire
Would spoyl the musick of the sacred Quire,
But for your dissonance, and grunt'ling noyse,
The World might often hear a Seraph's voyce:
Piggs think their whining best; the jetting Crows
Themselves the fairest of Heav'n's Fowls suppose:
The Owles, and Cuccows, think their Notes to be
As sweet as Philomel's sweet harmony.
311
Like snarling Currs, do Carp, and snap at Men.
You're Swine indeed whose dull eyes stil below
Behold the earth, and hunt, and scent your trough;
Your necks are too too short to view the Skye,
How come you then to judge of things so high;
Because some Wind-fals on the ground you see,
Think you no fairer Fruit hangs on the Tree?
Swine cann't look up; it is a Man alone
Not slothful Beasts can pull the fair Fruit down.
Buzzards are blinded by Sol's glorious Rayes:
Eagles unhurt against his splendor gaze.
Here then are Pearls, but unto wise Men such,
But wrapt in pitch least Swine such gemms should touch.
Pearls must not naked be expos'd to Swine,
(So say'd that mouth that wholly was divine)
Least that they trample, and despise the same,
And Him, who so unwisely offer'd them.
Therefore a wise Man cautiously shrouds
Gemms of great value in obscurer Clouds:
And in the Pitch of Words those Pearls divine
Hides, from the eyes of such perverting Swine,
Which in their spendrous beauties otherwise,
Should Vail-less be exposed to their eyes.
But now me thinks I hear them Carp, and say
How come you thus Heav'n's beauties to display?
And the Arcana's of the Æternal Sphear,
When you your self never arrived there?
If you should tell us that you were; we cry
We are assured that it is a lye,
For none to Heav'n ever can attain,
Whil'st his kept-Soul doth in his Corpse remain;
For when the Body's dead, the Soul then flyes
To Heav'n (and not before) above the Skie.
To such whose Breasts are with such thoughts implete,
I shall (and in a word) this Answer fit.
How come you thus Heav'n's beauties to display?
And the Arcana's of the Æternal Sphear,
When you your self never arrived there?
If you should tell us that you were; we cry
We are assured that it is a lye,
For none to Heav'n ever can attain,
Whil'st his kept-Soul doth in his Corpse remain;
For when the Body's dead, the Soul then flyes
To Heav'n (and not before) above the Skie.
To such whose Breasts are with such thoughts implete,
I shall (and in a word) this Answer fit.
Paul was alive and yet to Heav'n he flew,
Where he such wondrous mysteries did view,
That as they were unutterable, so
They were not fit for to be told below.
The Patriarch Ænoch walk'd with God? and there
Is Heaven doubtless, where he doth appear
In Love, and Glory: so Ælias went
To Heav'n before his mortal Spirits were spent.
But such whose thoughts are thus; do heaven tye
Unto a place above the starry Sky,
Such don't believe the Scriptures, which declare
That also they within Man seated are:
Indeed th' Æternal Heav'ns are boundless, they
In Man, and out of Man themselves display.
I say they're boundless; for the God of Blisse
Is boundles, and they are where e're he is.
Nay Heav'n (though strange it seem) is too in Hell:
And there doth (as Light doth in darkness) dwell:
As Night cann't Day, as Darkness cann't the Light,
So cann't Hell e'r comprehend the bright
Æternal Heav'n: as't cann't excluded be,
So not included by Demensity.
Where he such wondrous mysteries did view,
312
They were not fit for to be told below.
The Patriarch Ænoch walk'd with God? and there
Is Heaven doubtless, where he doth appear
In Love, and Glory: so Ælias went
To Heav'n before his mortal Spirits were spent.
But such whose thoughts are thus; do heaven tye
Unto a place above the starry Sky,
Such don't believe the Scriptures, which declare
That also they within Man seated are:
Indeed th' Æternal Heav'ns are boundless, they
In Man, and out of Man themselves display.
I say they're boundless; for the God of Blisse
Is boundles, and they are where e're he is.
Nay Heav'n (though strange it seem) is too in Hell:
And there doth (as Light doth in darkness) dwell:
As Night cann't Day, as Darkness cann't the Light,
So cann't Hell e'r comprehend the bright
Æternal Heav'n: as't cann't excluded be,
So not included by Demensity.
Did Man himself but truly throughly know,
He'd find all Worlds that are, within Him flow:
Man's a deep study: and who Man doth see
Truly, and throughly knows all Worlds that be.
'Tis very true if Heaven only were
Beyond the blew Seas of the starry Sphear,
Our Souls enchain'd below could never come
Thither, till they had left their fleshly home,
For that our Elemental Bodies are
Too heavy, to be carried so far.
But Ænoch walk'd with God on Earth, and so
May Man on Earth be, and see Heav'n too.
O thou that gazeth on the Olympic Court,
Fancying beyond it the Majestic Port,
And Restful Haven of departed Souls,
Whose bredth extendeth unto either Poles,
Where mighty Mansions for the Saints do lye
Spread over the vast, and starry Canopye:
Carnal Conceits of splendid Palaces!
Man's grosly Brain-deluded Images!
Did'st thou but know the Nature of a Soul
Such fancyful Idea's thou'dst controul:
For nothing is more near than Heav'n to thee,
Wert thou not blind; had'st thou but eyes to see.
The deeper into thy self dost go,
The nearer thou still Heav'n approachest to.
For what's indeed a Souls departure hence,
But motion from the Circumference
Unto the Centre, let it Centre where
It will, or in the Light, or darker Sphear?
Had'st thou a Power granted thee to flye
Ten thousand times as far beyond the Skie
As it is to 't; as far from Heaven thou
Might'st be (God's Seat I mean) as thou art now.
Heav'n is spiritual (yet real too)
So that our outward carnal Eyes cann't view
Its Seat: The Soul which is a Spirit may,
Yea whilst it 's pris'ner in this house of Clay:
Though I confess this Clayie Vail is such,
That intervening it doth hinder much
These outward eyes can nothing view but what
Is gross, material, and Corporate:
Rather more truly they do nothing view,
(No more than the Perspective we look through
Is said to see, for 'tis the eye, so) 'tis
The Soul, and nothing else that views, and sees.
What sees the Body, when the Soul is fled?
The Organ still remains the same, though dead,
Yet it no visive Power has, for why
The Soul once gone, of no use is the eye.
So likewise 'tis (as plainly it appears)
The Soul that feels, that smels, that tasts, that hears.
But now the Soul without a Body may
Nor see, nor hear, touch, tast, or smell I say:
Mistake me not I pray? I mean not now
This Flesh, and Blood; this gross out-garment though
For this indeed is as it were a soul
Garment, unto the Body of the Soul:
Which is its prison; and the fruit (which all
Men bear) of Adam's fell, and fatal Fall:
For this Imagination did indue
This Body, when he put his mind into
This extern Principle; which once shall be
Int's Æther swallow'd to Æternity.
Suppose you had a Robe of Lead made fit
Unto your Body, and that put in it;
Your Face, and Hands, all parts covered o're,
Against your eyes thick Glasses: as before
You could not see; how dim the World would show?
How heavily should you then move, and go?
Could you so nimbly scud across the Plain?
Or sprightly swim within the silver Main
As you before did? should a wedg of Steel
Fall hard upon you, should you not it feel?
And should your glass eyes stopped be with clay,
You could not then behold one glimpse of Day.
But should you freed be from that Prison, then
How fair, and clear would all things show agen?
Just so 'tis with the Soul: a heavy foul
Garment, unto the Body of the Soul
This fleshly Case is: whilst it fouly decks
It, she doth labour under its defects,
And must be subject unto them; then she
If that the eyes be d'outed cannot see
The outward World; let any part of this
Organic Body be but ought amiss,
She is afflicted with it; by this tye
Of flesh she thus endures misery.
But the Soul's Body is another thing,
Which in, and through this fleshly Case doth spring,
Not to be seen with fleshly eyes; so you
May see the Sun, but not that Body view
Which gives it splendor; so you view the flame,
But not that Body which Lives in the same.
For the true Elements they are not seen
By eyes Corporeal; 'tis an outer Screen
You view: the Body of the Soul likewise,
From the unmixed Element doth rise.
This is the Body that to Heav'n doth flye,
Who gains this Body, gains the Mysterie;
For thorow it he Heav'n may view, though he
In his corporeal Clayie House still be;
Who fixes this may there for ever dwell,
For he those Wonders views that Worlds excel.
'Tis in this Body that the Soul doth see
Th' immortal Glories of Æternity.
He'd find all Worlds that are, within Him flow:
Man's a deep study: and who Man doth see
Truly, and throughly knows all Worlds that be.
'Tis very true if Heaven only were
Beyond the blew Seas of the starry Sphear,
Our Souls enchain'd below could never come
Thither, till they had left their fleshly home,
For that our Elemental Bodies are
Too heavy, to be carried so far.
But Ænoch walk'd with God on Earth, and so
May Man on Earth be, and see Heav'n too.
O thou that gazeth on the Olympic Court,
Fancying beyond it the Majestic Port,
And Restful Haven of departed Souls,
Whose bredth extendeth unto either Poles,
Where mighty Mansions for the Saints do lye
Spread over the vast, and starry Canopye:
Carnal Conceits of splendid Palaces!
Man's grosly Brain-deluded Images!
313
Such fancyful Idea's thou'dst controul:
For nothing is more near than Heav'n to thee,
Wert thou not blind; had'st thou but eyes to see.
The deeper into thy self dost go,
The nearer thou still Heav'n approachest to.
For what's indeed a Souls departure hence,
But motion from the Circumference
Unto the Centre, let it Centre where
It will, or in the Light, or darker Sphear?
Had'st thou a Power granted thee to flye
Ten thousand times as far beyond the Skie
As it is to 't; as far from Heaven thou
Might'st be (God's Seat I mean) as thou art now.
Heav'n is spiritual (yet real too)
So that our outward carnal Eyes cann't view
Its Seat: The Soul which is a Spirit may,
Yea whilst it 's pris'ner in this house of Clay:
Though I confess this Clayie Vail is such,
That intervening it doth hinder much
These outward eyes can nothing view but what
Is gross, material, and Corporate:
Rather more truly they do nothing view,
(No more than the Perspective we look through
Is said to see, for 'tis the eye, so) 'tis
The Soul, and nothing else that views, and sees.
What sees the Body, when the Soul is fled?
The Organ still remains the same, though dead,
Yet it no visive Power has, for why
The Soul once gone, of no use is the eye.
So likewise 'tis (as plainly it appears)
The Soul that feels, that smels, that tasts, that hears.
But now the Soul without a Body may
Nor see, nor hear, touch, tast, or smell I say:
Mistake me not I pray? I mean not now
This Flesh, and Blood; this gross out-garment though
For this indeed is as it were a soul
Garment, unto the Body of the Soul:
Which is its prison; and the fruit (which all
Men bear) of Adam's fell, and fatal Fall:
314
This Body, when he put his mind into
This extern Principle; which once shall be
Int's Æther swallow'd to Æternity.
Suppose you had a Robe of Lead made fit
Unto your Body, and that put in it;
Your Face, and Hands, all parts covered o're,
Against your eyes thick Glasses: as before
You could not see; how dim the World would show?
How heavily should you then move, and go?
Could you so nimbly scud across the Plain?
Or sprightly swim within the silver Main
As you before did? should a wedg of Steel
Fall hard upon you, should you not it feel?
And should your glass eyes stopped be with clay,
You could not then behold one glimpse of Day.
But should you freed be from that Prison, then
How fair, and clear would all things show agen?
Just so 'tis with the Soul: a heavy foul
Garment, unto the Body of the Soul
This fleshly Case is: whilst it fouly decks
It, she doth labour under its defects,
And must be subject unto them; then she
If that the eyes be d'outed cannot see
The outward World; let any part of this
Organic Body be but ought amiss,
She is afflicted with it; by this tye
Of flesh she thus endures misery.
But the Soul's Body is another thing,
Which in, and through this fleshly Case doth spring,
Not to be seen with fleshly eyes; so you
May see the Sun, but not that Body view
Which gives it splendor; so you view the flame,
But not that Body which Lives in the same.
For the true Elements they are not seen
By eyes Corporeal; 'tis an outer Screen
You view: the Body of the Soul likewise,
From the unmixed Element doth rise.
This is the Body that to Heav'n doth flye,
Who gains this Body, gains the Mysterie;
315
In his corporeal Clayie House still be;
Who fixes this may there for ever dwell,
For he those Wonders views that Worlds excel.
'Tis in this Body that the Soul doth see
Th' immortal Glories of Æternity.
'Tis plain that all, or most great Visions, that
The sacred Scriptures t'us do nominate,
Not with the outer were beheld, but by
The Heav'n-beholding, and internal eye.
What outward Eye can see a Sp'rit, unlesse
He doth himself int' form, and matter press?
What outer eye is able, then to see
The Form, or glory of Heav'n's Majesty?
An Angel's fain to vail his splendid beams
With some gross matter, when himself it seems
He will discover to th' extern eye of Man,
What extern Eye can see the Heav'n's glories then?
With what eye did Elisha's Man behold
The fiery Host that did them safe enfold?
With what Eye was it that Ezekiel spy'd
That glorious Vision by clear Chebar's side?
With what Eye did he see Jerusalem
When he in Chaldæ captive did remain?
With what Eye was it that great Daniel saw
Himself (though then at Shushan) at Ælai?
By what sight saw he (when sleep seal'd his eyes)
The great Creator in th' Æternal Skies?
And how could Steven with his outer eye
See Jesus sitting in th' Æmperial Sky
At God's right Hand? You know the glorious Sun
Which round this Orb in twice twelve hours doth run,
By three times fifty, and sixteen degrees
Exceeds the World: But who that Planet sees
Deems him but smal: How far beyond that Star,
As they account th' Emperial Heav'n's are
You may imagine, when the space they 'count
'Twixt Earth, and the eighth Heav'n, to surmount
Sev'nteen hundred millions of Miles and more,
How vast a distance did Steven's eye therefore
Behold our Saviour? But that eye by which
He say, no bounds to it can distance pitch.
Paul's eyes were closed; with what eye saw He
The Glory then of Heav'n's bright Majesty?
Peter entranc'd was; with what eye Beheld
He then, the sheet with clean, and unclean fill'd?
And lastly with what Eye, and with what Ear,
did divine John in Patmos see, and hear?
If thus the Eye may Heav'n see; also
The Body of that Eye may thither go.
It is not strange to them therefore that are
Acquainted, with true notions of that Sphear
Wherein Jehovah, and the Angels be,
That Man on Earth th' Æternal Heav'n's may see:
For such do know how Souls abstracted may
Be, from their House of impediting clay,
And that whilst in their Bodies they remain,
May Heav'n (by Faith not only) here attain;
And be conversant in the highest Sphear,
Abstracted from the World though they dwell here.
The sacred Scriptures t'us do nominate,
Not with the outer were beheld, but by
The Heav'n-beholding, and internal eye.
What outward Eye can see a Sp'rit, unlesse
He doth himself int' form, and matter press?
What outer eye is able, then to see
The Form, or glory of Heav'n's Majesty?
An Angel's fain to vail his splendid beams
With some gross matter, when himself it seems
He will discover to th' extern eye of Man,
What extern Eye can see the Heav'n's glories then?
With what eye did Elisha's Man behold
The fiery Host that did them safe enfold?
With what Eye was it that Ezekiel spy'd
That glorious Vision by clear Chebar's side?
With what Eye did he see Jerusalem
When he in Chaldæ captive did remain?
With what Eye was it that great Daniel saw
Himself (though then at Shushan) at Ælai?
By what sight saw he (when sleep seal'd his eyes)
The great Creator in th' Æternal Skies?
And how could Steven with his outer eye
See Jesus sitting in th' Æmperial Sky
At God's right Hand? You know the glorious Sun
Which round this Orb in twice twelve hours doth run,
By three times fifty, and sixteen degrees
Exceeds the World: But who that Planet sees
Deems him but smal: How far beyond that Star,
As they account th' Emperial Heav'n's are
You may imagine, when the space they 'count
'Twixt Earth, and the eighth Heav'n, to surmount
Sev'nteen hundred millions of Miles and more,
How vast a distance did Steven's eye therefore
316
He say, no bounds to it can distance pitch.
Paul's eyes were closed; with what eye saw He
The Glory then of Heav'n's bright Majesty?
Peter entranc'd was; with what eye Beheld
He then, the sheet with clean, and unclean fill'd?
And lastly with what Eye, and with what Ear,
did divine John in Patmos see, and hear?
If thus the Eye may Heav'n see; also
The Body of that Eye may thither go.
It is not strange to them therefore that are
Acquainted, with true notions of that Sphear
Wherein Jehovah, and the Angels be,
That Man on Earth th' Æternal Heav'n's may see:
For such do know how Souls abstracted may
Be, from their House of impediting clay,
And that whilst in their Bodies they remain,
May Heav'n (by Faith not only) here attain;
And be conversant in the highest Sphear,
Abstracted from the World though they dwell here.
But least (because I here so stifly plead)
You should suppose I have been there indeed;
I will confess (as 'counting it great shame
To be accounted better than I am)
That I not worthy have accounted been;
O no I cleans'd am not am enough from Sin)
I am a Pilgrim and do thither wen,
Strong is my Faith I shall come there: Amen!
Assur'd I am, although a very few
Attain (whilst here on Earth) this Court unto,
That here on Earth it may attained be,
Though Flesh, and Blood impeed its clarity.
You should suppose I have been there indeed;
I will confess (as 'counting it great shame
To be accounted better than I am)
That I not worthy have accounted been;
O no I cleans'd am not am enough from Sin)
I am a Pilgrim and do thither wen,
Strong is my Faith I shall come there: Amen!
Assur'd I am, although a very few
Attain (whilst here on Earth) this Court unto,
That here on Earth it may attained be,
Though Flesh, and Blood impeed its clarity.
But you that ask me how I come to know
Those things of Heaven which I here do show?
Since (as I do confess) I have not been
There, nor those myst'ries that I speak of seen.
Pray tell me also then how you come by
Your knowledge of a Heav'n beyond the sky?
Were you e're there; Yet confidently you
Discribe the place, affirm your notion true:
You'l tell the Joys of everlasting Blisse
Describe the Glory that in Heaven is;
And will you then (if you did never see
The place you speak of) angry be with me,
For doing what your selves do daily do?
You say 'tis UP to Heav'n; and that is true:
And is't not also INTO Heav'n? you'l grant
That God's the Centre of all things: and sha'nt
The Centre which is inmost highest be;
Or Up, or In it is all one to me:
But this I know that Heav'n (and also Hell
Though separate) in every place do dwell.
Those things of Heaven which I here do show?
Since (as I do confess) I have not been
There, nor those myst'ries that I speak of seen.
Pray tell me also then how you come by
Your knowledge of a Heav'n beyond the sky?
Were you e're there; Yet confidently you
Discribe the place, affirm your notion true:
317
Describe the Glory that in Heaven is;
And will you then (if you did never see
The place you speak of) angry be with me,
For doing what your selves do daily do?
You say 'tis UP to Heav'n; and that is true:
And is't not also INTO Heav'n? you'l grant
That God's the Centre of all things: and sha'nt
The Centre which is inmost highest be;
Or Up, or In it is all one to me:
But this I know that Heav'n (and also Hell
Though separate) in every place do dwell.
Although (as I confess) I have not been
In Heav'n, nor there its spendid glories seen,
Yet I account it grace enough to be
The Præco of his heav'nly Majesty:
I may the Candle hold, and light the way
Into the place of everlasting Day:
I may the Mercury be to guide aright
Cœlestial Pilgrims, with my glimmering sight;
We may see right unto the Mountain's top,
And point the way whilst we are getting up,
Unto our fellow-Travellers, that they
(if faster go they can) may see the Way:
We Joy if by our means aright they move;
Those that see more may thank us for our Love.
In Heav'n, nor there its spendid glories seen,
Yet I account it grace enough to be
The Præco of his heav'nly Majesty:
I may the Candle hold, and light the way
Into the place of everlasting Day:
I may the Mercury be to guide aright
Cœlestial Pilgrims, with my glimmering sight;
We may see right unto the Mountain's top,
And point the way whilst we are getting up,
Unto our fellow-Travellers, that they
(if faster go they can) may see the Way:
We Joy if by our means aright they move;
Those that see more may thank us for our Love.
That upper Globe which you see pourtrai'd there,
Doth represent the high Eternal Sphear,
This is the highest Noblest, brightest, best,
The Glory, Life, and Centre of the rest,
The Place of mighty Wonders, the divine
Seat of the sacred everlasting Trine:
The habitation of the blessed Saints,
Where glorious Angels spread their heav'nly Tents:
Where stands Mount Sion, and the glorious Lamb,
Where is SOPHIA, and Jerusalem.
This is the everlasting place of rest,
The Heav'n, the habitation of the blest:
This Man may find in the deep Centre, and
How this through all devolveth understand.
Here is the spatious glassie Sea; and the
Crystalline Earth, the Ayr of Purity,
The purest fire; which conjoyn'd in one,
The matter is of the Cœlestial Throne
Of Everlasting Joyes: This place it is
The Empyreum, and the Seat of Blisse:
Doth represent the high Eternal Sphear,
This is the highest Noblest, brightest, best,
The Glory, Life, and Centre of the rest,
The Place of mighty Wonders, the divine
Seat of the sacred everlasting Trine:
The habitation of the blessed Saints,
Where glorious Angels spread their heav'nly Tents:
Where stands Mount Sion, and the glorious Lamb,
Where is SOPHIA, and Jerusalem.
This is the everlasting place of rest,
The Heav'n, the habitation of the blest:
This Man may find in the deep Centre, and
How this through all devolveth understand.
318
Crystalline Earth, the Ayr of Purity,
The purest fire; which conjoyn'd in one,
The matter is of the Cœlestial Throne
Of Everlasting Joyes: This place it is
The Empyreum, and the Seat of Blisse:
GOD out of Nature Comprehended may
Not be; a Nothing so to us I say
He seemeth, but as he Himself doth show
In the Eternal Forms of Nature, so
We apprehend him can; The Father then
Hath from Eternity begot the Son;
This Birth's the Heart of God, which ever was,
And though begot yet 't no beginning has;
From whence proceeds the sacred Spirit, who
From both begotten is Eternal too.
All three distinct in Person, yet but One
Æternal GOD in a strict Union.
This is the Mysterie of the sacred Trine,
Which in this everlasting Orb doth shine,
But now the Father with a strong desire,
Thirsts for the Son, from whence springs up a Fire,
Which Fire not reaching God's most sacred Heart,
Is full of Anguish, Bitternesse, and Tart.
This is the Fire that inkindleth Hell,
Where all the damned, and the Devils dwell;
But the same Fire, when that sacred LOVE
Or Heart of God, it self to it doth move
Strait blazeth forth, into a meek and Bright
Joy, and desire of Æternal Light?
This is the Light of Heav'n, and pleasant Joy,
In which all Blisse is, not the least annoy.
And thus O Reader! if thou art not blind,
Heav'n's Blisse and Joy, Hel's pain, and torment find
Thou wilt to come from one deep Root; and even
Perceive the true cause both of Hell, and Heaven.
And thus thou seest how they together dwell,
Hell hid in Heav'n; Heav'n in the midst of Hell;
And yet so great a Gulf between, that they
In Hell behold not the least glimpse of Day;
Nor they in Heaven feel the least of wo,
Their separation's thus Eternal too.
Though Similies are too too base to shew
This Mystery of Mysteries of Mysteries to you,
But that our weak, and duller eyes may see
More clear by them think on this Simile.
Take thou a lighted Tapor, put it out,
The week thou'lt see with Fire glow thr'owout,
From whence a stinking vapour, and a Fume
Displeasing to thy nosethrils fills the room,
The stinking glowing weik gives little light,
And the Fire far doth differ from a bright
And burning Tapor; Light the same, and then
Thou'lt see the former darknesse fled agen;
Thou'lt see a blaze which from the weik doth rise,
With a bright splendid Glory 'fore thine eyes,
Which Blaze without the Fire could not be made,
The Fire's without that blaze a deady shade;
The Heat, and Light distinct and several be,
Though joyntly they do in the blaze agree,
Nor can the Light without the Heat have being,
But joyntly in one harmony agreeing
They make that Glory, brighter than the Gold,
Which in a lighted Tapor we behold;
But Heav'n's splendrous Light doth not contain
Such scorching heat as in such Lights remain.
The Application's very clear: 'Tis even
Thus 'twixt the Fire of Hell, and Light of Heaven.
For the first Principle alone makes Hell,
But Heaven, when the Second in't doth dwell;
The first is to the second even as
The Fire which makes the glowing weik to blaze,
From whence proceeds the Light, the Joy, the Blisse
That in the high Æternal Heaven is.
Not be; a Nothing so to us I say
He seemeth, but as he Himself doth show
In the Eternal Forms of Nature, so
We apprehend him can; The Father then
Hath from Eternity begot the Son;
This Birth's the Heart of God, which ever was,
And though begot yet 't no beginning has;
From whence proceeds the sacred Spirit, who
From both begotten is Eternal too.
All three distinct in Person, yet but One
Æternal GOD in a strict Union.
This is the Mysterie of the sacred Trine,
Which in this everlasting Orb doth shine,
But now the Father with a strong desire,
Thirsts for the Son, from whence springs up a Fire,
Which Fire not reaching God's most sacred Heart,
Is full of Anguish, Bitternesse, and Tart.
This is the Fire that inkindleth Hell,
Where all the damned, and the Devils dwell;
But the same Fire, when that sacred LOVE
Or Heart of God, it self to it doth move
Strait blazeth forth, into a meek and Bright
Joy, and desire of Æternal Light?
This is the Light of Heav'n, and pleasant Joy,
In which all Blisse is, not the least annoy.
And thus O Reader! if thou art not blind,
Heav'n's Blisse and Joy, Hel's pain, and torment find
Thou wilt to come from one deep Root; and even
Perceive the true cause both of Hell, and Heaven.
And thus thou seest how they together dwell,
Hell hid in Heav'n; Heav'n in the midst of Hell;
And yet so great a Gulf between, that they
In Hell behold not the least glimpse of Day;
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Their separation's thus Eternal too.
Though Similies are too too base to shew
This Mystery of Mysteries of Mysteries to you,
But that our weak, and duller eyes may see
More clear by them think on this Simile.
Take thou a lighted Tapor, put it out,
The week thou'lt see with Fire glow thr'owout,
From whence a stinking vapour, and a Fume
Displeasing to thy nosethrils fills the room,
The stinking glowing weik gives little light,
And the Fire far doth differ from a bright
And burning Tapor; Light the same, and then
Thou'lt see the former darknesse fled agen;
Thou'lt see a blaze which from the weik doth rise,
With a bright splendid Glory 'fore thine eyes,
Which Blaze without the Fire could not be made,
The Fire's without that blaze a deady shade;
The Heat, and Light distinct and several be,
Though joyntly they do in the blaze agree,
Nor can the Light without the Heat have being,
But joyntly in one harmony agreeing
They make that Glory, brighter than the Gold,
Which in a lighted Tapor we behold;
But Heav'n's splendrous Light doth not contain
Such scorching heat as in such Lights remain.
The Application's very clear: 'Tis even
Thus 'twixt the Fire of Hell, and Light of Heaven.
For the first Principle alone makes Hell,
But Heaven, when the Second in't doth dwell;
The first is to the second even as
The Fire which makes the glowing weik to blaze,
From whence proceeds the Light, the Joy, the Blisse
That in the high Æternal Heaven is.
Here in this Sphear those mighty Wonders be,
Which as the sporting of the Deity,
Themselves display: Wonders indeed they are
Which do exceed Man's comprehension far.
Here 'tis that God himself t'himself displays,
From whence the sence arises up in Joys.
A thousand thousand things for aye arise,
Æternal Waters, and Eternal Skies:
Hence Paradise, and the internal Orbs,
Do cloath themselves in their illustrous Garbs;
Should all the Stars for Counters serve, they were
Too few, to number all the Wonders here.
Whilst I am wrap'd in meditating them,
I am amaz'd, amazement stops my Pen.
Here Loves, and Glories do unite in one:
Here is that three-times sacred Union
'Twixt God and Man: betwixt the Deity
And the immaculate Humanity;
From whence the Lillies, and the Wonders grow,
From whence the Joyes of Love, and Blisse do flow,
This is the marriage of the sacred Lamb:
The Soul returneth here from whence it came,
With the additions of Æternal Blisse:
SOPHIA to the Soul united is,
The Soul to Her, the virgin Body here:
Such are the Joyes, and Blisses of this Sphear.
Which as the sporting of the Deity,
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Which do exceed Man's comprehension far.
Here 'tis that God himself t'himself displays,
From whence the sence arises up in Joys.
A thousand thousand things for aye arise,
Æternal Waters, and Eternal Skies:
Hence Paradise, and the internal Orbs,
Do cloath themselves in their illustrous Garbs;
Should all the Stars for Counters serve, they were
Too few, to number all the Wonders here.
Whilst I am wrap'd in meditating them,
I am amaz'd, amazement stops my Pen.
Here Loves, and Glories do unite in one:
Here is that three-times sacred Union
'Twixt God and Man: betwixt the Deity
And the immaculate Humanity;
From whence the Lillies, and the Wonders grow,
From whence the Joyes of Love, and Blisse do flow,
This is the marriage of the sacred Lamb:
The Soul returneth here from whence it came,
With the additions of Æternal Blisse:
SOPHIA to the Soul united is,
The Soul to Her, the virgin Body here:
Such are the Joyes, and Blisses of this Sphear.
Man of all Worlds is an Æpitomy,
And with all Worlds that are he doth agree,
Ah why should th' outward Captivate him so,
As he the rest should not so truly know!
That ah prepostrous! th' outward World should have
Most rule in Him, and all the rest inslave,
Or hide them from his eyes, so deeply, that
He thinks those Worlds, and He are separate.
The outer Case of Flesh doth represent
The outer World, in which the others vent
Themselves: th' internal Worlds themselves do spread
About the Heart; th' Eternal in the Head.
So are they plac'd in Man, and so they be
In th' inner ground, as all the wise do see.
All outer pleasures of the World do stretch
Themselves but to the Flesh, and do but reach
The outer sences: Carnal pleasures flow
In lower Regions, and are left below.
Th' internal Worlds are open'd in the Breast,
There Paradise, and all its Joys exprest
Are; there likewise the darker Worlds harsh source
It self in Anguish, and in pain doth force.
The sence of feeling lyeth in that part,
And Paradise doth open in the Heart.
But what from this Eternal Sphear is shown,
Within the Centre of the Head's made kown:
For there the eye, and ear are manifest,
To which all sights and heav'nly sounds exprest
Are: all the Wonders of this higher Sphear
When they are shown are manifested there.
This is a Mist'ry unto those that know
No other Worlds but this out-world below.
But to our Pilgrim let us now return;
And with all Worlds that are he doth agree,
Ah why should th' outward Captivate him so,
As he the rest should not so truly know!
That ah prepostrous! th' outward World should have
Most rule in Him, and all the rest inslave,
Or hide them from his eyes, so deeply, that
He thinks those Worlds, and He are separate.
The outer Case of Flesh doth represent
The outer World, in which the others vent
Themselves: th' internal Worlds themselves do spread
About the Heart; th' Eternal in the Head.
So are they plac'd in Man, and so they be
In th' inner ground, as all the wise do see.
All outer pleasures of the World do stretch
Themselves but to the Flesh, and do but reach
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In lower Regions, and are left below.
Th' internal Worlds are open'd in the Breast,
There Paradise, and all its Joys exprest
Are; there likewise the darker Worlds harsh source
It self in Anguish, and in pain doth force.
The sence of feeling lyeth in that part,
And Paradise doth open in the Heart.
But what from this Eternal Sphear is shown,
Within the Centre of the Head's made kown:
For there the eye, and ear are manifest,
To which all sights and heav'nly sounds exprest
Are: all the Wonders of this higher Sphear
When they are shown are manifested there.
This is a Mist'ry unto those that know
No other Worlds but this out-world below.
Whose progress shall to those who will not spurn
The Truth, make known some Myst'ries of this Sphear
Which may be shown; but those that thus appear,
For scorners sakes a little vail'd must be,
And yet our Vailes are made of Tiffany;
So that an Eye not altogether blind
The sence, and meaning of our words may find.
Our happy Pilgrim, who in Paradise
In Blisse, and pleasure in Love's bosom lies,
Feeling those pleasures that do scorn annoy,
And breathing in the Fire of purest Joy,
Doth Heav'n already as it were possess,
Seated in Blisse, and crown'd with Happinesse.
But Love's immortal Prince doth now relate
To him the glory of an higher state,
He being sitted by the Prince of Love
For this ascension, now must farther Move.
O here it lyes not in the Will of Man,
For one step selfly forward move he can
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Conveighs the Soul to this Cœlestial Throne:
Who whilst 'tis wholly passive, swiftly whurl'd
Is, in Love's Coach into th' Eternal World.
The silver Clouds of Paradise do meet
In a Conjunction, and at Jesu's feet
Conspire; who with the Pilgrim back, those clear
Clouds, mounting thence into th' Eternal Sphear.
But e're the Pilgrim went the Graces all
Approaching him into his Lap let fall
Their Royal bounties all desiring He
T'accept those small Presents would pleased be:
For by their virtue he his subjects might
Rule (seated in his Royal Throne) aright.
FAITH gave her golden Shield beset with Gemms,
Whose sight Hel's mighty Monarch fears it seems,
As much as Mortals did that Buckler dread
On which was pourtray'd curs'd Medusa's Head;
For when so e're he spies that glorious Shield,
Screeching and howling he deserts the Field.
A golden Anchor he receiv'd from HOPE,
Which not the force of Hell could e'r pull up,
When once 'twas fix't; upon the Billows ride
He safely could, and all Hel's storms abide
Without the least of Danger, and by this
In mid'st of Stormes, h'in mist of safety is.
ZEAL brought a Sword whose hilt with glittering Gold
Shan; from whose two-edg'd blade flames sprightly rold;
The Stygian Princes flesh no Weapon but
This terrible two-edged Sword can cut:
This is the Sword of the bless'd Spirit, and
Hell for his furies can its force withstand.
A Royal Miter profer'd PIETY,
Which Crown'd the Pilgrim's royal brows on high,
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O'relaid with Gold, and fram'd of solid Brass,
Which all Hel's Thunderbolts could never pierce,
Nor all his shafts, though they were ne'r so fierce.
COURAGE a Breast-plate gave of solid Steel,
Through which he Hel's black Arrows could not feel,
Of Righteousness it was, whose shining glass
Retorted Hel's black shafts into his face,
So that the more he seeks to wound his foes
The more by's own shafts shall his damage grow.
True JOY a Royal Robe presented, where
All Paradise's flowers embossed were,
Love fram'd the stuff, and Innocency wrought
Into true True-Love-Knots all that Joy brought.
This Robe could not defiled be with sin:
If Hell flings Durt on 't, it fals off ag'en.
An upright Staff UPRIGHTNESS gave for guide,
A golden pair of compasses beside,
By which all Actions measur'd ought to be,
Beyond whose bounds his steps ought not to flee;
Whilst by that Staff and Compasses he goes,
Hell nor the World did dare his Way oppose.
TRUTH she presented him the sacred Writ,
In which he might behold all things that fit
Were to be done, and what to be eschew'd.
HUMILITY a Van to sift the Proud
Actions, and Thoughts; to sift the Chaff and the
Cockle, from the bright Wheat of Purity.
OBEDIENCE a silver Wheel presented,
By which all adverse Thoughts, to be tormented
Were, and all Actions that did Rebels prove
Unto the Laws, and Crown of sacred Love:
By which close-grinding Wheel, the flowr was ta'ne
From the enclosure of the fruitless Bran.
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In which contain'd was not one grain of dross,
Love's glorious badge, where all Opposers dy'd,
And where all humane Wills were crucifi'd:
A Crosse on which who hung, were mounted ev'n
From Death to Life; from Earth to highest Heav'n.
True WISDOM gave a pair of Ballances,
Whose Scales th' impartial Hand of Justice weighs;
Whereby He able was to weigh aright,
And the true Gold to know from what was light.
All something gave, to whom his thanks b'ing pai'd,
To th' highest Sphear Love's Coach its voyage made.
Swifter than Eagles in a full Career,
They mounted up into th' Æternal Sphear:
Such was their speed, such was their sudden flight,
As it depriv'd Him of the Act of sight.
So that he scarcely could denote, or tell
What in that sudden wrapt to him befell.
His Soul enflamed with the purest Love,
Did in Aliah's fiery Charriot move,
Cutting their way thorow that unseen Skye
Which fast together all the Worlds doth tye,
Which is the Medium, whereby Souls do go
Unto the highest Orb, from Orbs below:
This Waye's the Ladder whereby Angels move,
From lower Sphears, unto the Sphears above.
This Ladder's basis fastly fix'd is here,
Whose top doth mount into the highest Sphear,
This is the Path of Souls, and who finds this,
Hath found the way unto the Highest Bliss:
But he that finds this, Jacob's sleep must find,
Or else he seeks in vain, and grasps the Wind;
They mounted up into th' Æternal Sphear:
Such was their speed, such was their sudden flight,
As it depriv'd Him of the Act of sight.
So that he scarcely could denote, or tell
What in that sudden wrapt to him befell.
His Soul enflamed with the purest Love,
Did in Aliah's fiery Charriot move,
Cutting their way thorow that unseen Skye
Which fast together all the Worlds doth tye,
Which is the Medium, whereby Souls do go
Unto the highest Orb, from Orbs below:
This Waye's the Ladder whereby Angels move,
From lower Sphears, unto the Sphears above.
This Ladder's basis fastly fix'd is here,
Whose top doth mount into the highest Sphear,
This is the Path of Souls, and who finds this,
Hath found the way unto the Highest Bliss:
But he that finds this, Jacob's sleep must find,
Or else he seeks in vain, and grasps the Wind;
Cœlestial VENUS with a glittering Ray
And beam of Light immortal, points the Way
Unto the entrance of th' Æternal Orb,
Which 'gan to glitter now with fires Superb;
Whose lustrous Splendors the faint Pilgrim drove
Into a stupor 'tween the Armes of Love;
Who there annoynting with a Salve his eyes,
Enter'd that Orb, and bid him see, and rise
And beam of Light immortal, points the Way
Unto the entrance of th' Æternal Orb,
Which 'gan to glitter now with fires Superb;
Whose lustrous Splendors the faint Pilgrim drove
Into a stupor 'tween the Armes of Love;
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Enter'd that Orb, and bid him see, and rise
Within the Circle of th' Æternal Sphear.
Three Orbs of glory, and three Worlds appear,
Three several Mansions, outer, inner, inmost,
Answering to Father, Son, and holy Ghost,
To Light, to Life, and to Eternal Love:
Myriads of Angels about which do move.
Our holy Pilgrim having enter'd now
Into th' Eternal World, himself doth bow
Under the Ensign of that glorious Crosse,
Which in its glory there advanced was.
A Silence unexpressable was there,
Nothing but stilnesse in that sacred Sphear,
For all that Orb, where now our Pilgrim went
Encircl'd was with the One Element.
Here he beheld the bright and sparkling Eye
Of Providence, and of Aternity.
Here He beholds those Wonders I confess
My Tongue and Pen too weak are to express,
And here he feeds upon those fruits that grow
Upon the Tree of Life's superbest bough.
Here He becomes a true Magitian,
Here He becomes in Jesus Christ a Man.
Here now his eyes are so illuminate,
That they through all things that are penetrate.
Here he in Silence waits upon that Eye
Which sparkles in this Still-Æternity.
Words cannot speak this Blisse: nor I declare
Can more; or if I could I should not dare.
Three Orbs of glory, and three Worlds appear,
Three several Mansions, outer, inner, inmost,
Answering to Father, Son, and holy Ghost,
To Light, to Life, and to Eternal Love:
Myriads of Angels about which do move.
Our holy Pilgrim having enter'd now
Into th' Eternal World, himself doth bow
Under the Ensign of that glorious Crosse,
Which in its glory there advanced was.
A Silence unexpressable was there,
Nothing but stilnesse in that sacred Sphear,
For all that Orb, where now our Pilgrim went
Encircl'd was with the One Element.
Here he beheld the bright and sparkling Eye
Of Providence, and of Aternity.
Here He beholds those Wonders I confess
My Tongue and Pen too weak are to express,
And here he feeds upon those fruits that grow
Upon the Tree of Life's superbest bough.
Here He becomes a true Magitian,
Here He becomes in Jesus Christ a Man.
Here now his eyes are so illuminate,
That they through all things that are penetrate.
Here he in Silence waits upon that Eye
Which sparkles in this Still-Æternity.
Words cannot speak this Blisse: nor I declare
Can more; or if I could I should not dare.
But now the goodnesse of a matchless Love,
Commands the Pilgrim once again to move,
Who mounting higher comes to that abode
Which ever Ecchos with the Name of God:
The second Orb of the Æternal World
This is; arrived here his eyes he hurld
On every side: on every side he saw
Those beams of Light, and everlasting Day,
Which darted down from New Jerusalem,
With Life, Light, Glory did that Orb behemm.
Here he beholds the glorious Lambs abode,
Here he beholds the sacred Heart of God,
Here he beholds thrice bless'd EMANUEL,
Here he beholds where all the Angels dwell,
Thousands of thousands sees he there to bide,
Plac'd in their orders upon either side,
And though that some higher than others were,
In this respect, they all were equal there,
In that they all were full there was no want,
Though some had more than some, yet none did scant;
So smaller vessels fil'd till they run o're,
Cannot complain if they can hold no more,
Against another vessel, though he may
Contain, it may be thrice as much, as they:
When all are filled to the very brim,
All are content, and all alike do seem,
Thus largest Souls shall have the largest share,
Of Glory, yet all full; no want is there:
Love's measur'd, but by their Capacity,
All are implete, and all but full can be.
There Hallalujah's soundeth in his eares,
There sacred Songs of prayse, and Joy he hears;
There all the pleasure of Æternal Blisse,
In hight of Glory, still triumphant is:
Words are too weak: And these Arcana's shall
Be known to none; Til GOD himself reveal.
Great is his Love, and great his Wonders be,
Those shall confess them, that this Orb shall see.
Commands the Pilgrim once again to move,
Who mounting higher comes to that abode
Which ever Ecchos with the Name of God:
The second Orb of the Æternal World
This is; arrived here his eyes he hurld
On every side: on every side he saw
Those beams of Light, and everlasting Day,
Which darted down from New Jerusalem,
With Life, Light, Glory did that Orb behemm.
326
Here he beholds the sacred Heart of God,
Here he beholds thrice bless'd EMANUEL,
Here he beholds where all the Angels dwell,
Thousands of thousands sees he there to bide,
Plac'd in their orders upon either side,
And though that some higher than others were,
In this respect, they all were equal there,
In that they all were full there was no want,
Though some had more than some, yet none did scant;
So smaller vessels fil'd till they run o're,
Cannot complain if they can hold no more,
Against another vessel, though he may
Contain, it may be thrice as much, as they:
When all are filled to the very brim,
All are content, and all alike do seem,
Thus largest Souls shall have the largest share,
Of Glory, yet all full; no want is there:
Love's measur'd, but by their Capacity,
All are implete, and all but full can be.
There Hallalujah's soundeth in his eares,
There sacred Songs of prayse, and Joy he hears;
There all the pleasure of Æternal Blisse,
In hight of Glory, still triumphant is:
Words are too weak: And these Arcana's shall
Be known to none; Til GOD himself reveal.
Great is his Love, and great his Wonders be,
Those shall confess them, that this Orb shall see.
But O the Bliss Eternal that doth move
In constant streams, down from the Heart of Love
Upon the Pilgrim's Soul: so strong the blisses
Are, of Love's flaming, and berapting Kisses
That down he fals before the sacred Lamb,
Prest with the impresses of Love's sacred flame.
His heart's inflam'd, and full of Love divine,
His Face with radiant beams of Light doth shine,
His Soul indued with a Life Supernal
Cann't dye; for all his joys are now Eternal.
O words are wanting here for to express
The thousandth part of such an happinesse.
In constant streams, down from the Heart of Love
Upon the Pilgrim's Soul: so strong the blisses
Are, of Love's flaming, and berapting Kisses
That down he fals before the sacred Lamb,
Prest with the impresses of Love's sacred flame.
His heart's inflam'd, and full of Love divine,
His Face with radiant beams of Light doth shine,
His Soul indued with a Life Supernal
Cann't dye; for all his joys are now Eternal.
O words are wanting here for to express
The thousandth part of such an happinesse.
327
But one flight more, but one step more there is
For to Complete our Pilgrim's Joy, and Bliss:
Here he awaiteth for the Spirit his guide,
That as ascended, so he glorified
Might be; his eye now fix'd is on thi Throne,
Awaiting for that mystic Union,
Which as with Wonder, so with Joy, delight
And everlasting pleasure fill it might.
The time is come, and now by gracious Love
For to Complete our Pilgrim's Joy, and Bliss:
Here he awaiteth for the Spirit his guide,
That as ascended, so he glorified
Might be; his eye now fix'd is on thi Throne,
Awaiting for that mystic Union,
Which as with Wonder, so with Joy, delight
And everlasting pleasure fill it might.
He doth into Sanctum Sanctorum move,
Into the holyest now of holyest, he
Admitted is, where dwels the Deity
In Light immortal, where the blest abode
Is of the sacred Trine, the Triune GOD.
There in immortal Glory, great JEHOVE,
There blessed JESUS, and the sacred DOVE
Conjoyn'd in one, make up the blessed TRINE,
A mysterie as sacred, as divine.
Behold the Pilgrim now is come in view
Of the third Orb Jerusalem the New,
With all her glories glittering in that Sphear
Bride-like adorn'd doth to his eyes appear.
Glories of glories doth adorn the place,
The Wal's like Jasper or the Crystal Glass;
Four square the City is, on every side
Equal: the length, the breadth, the height divide
Int' equal parts. Both great and high the Wall
Is, of this sacred and Cœlestial
JERUSALEM; Her twelve Foundations
Are laid with twice six several precious Stones.
Of the third Orb Jerusalem the New,
With all her glories glittering in that Sphear
Bride-like adorn'd doth to his eyes appear.
Glories of glories doth adorn the place,
The Wal's like Jasper or the Crystal Glass;
Four square the City is, on every side
Equal: the length, the breadth, the height divide
Int' equal parts. Both great and high the Wall
Is, of this sacred and Cœlestial
JERUSALEM; Her twelve Foundations
Are laid with twice six several precious Stones.
The first is JASPER; as transparent as
The glorious Morning; or the crystal Glass,
Glorious Saint PETER'S great, and glorious Name
Deeply insculpted is upon the same.
The second SAPHIR, which doth court the eye
With all the beauties of the Azure Skye:
On which ingraven is the name of PAUL,
The second beauty of this Heav'nly Wall.
The third a CHALCEDONY, which doth show
Like flames above, and glowing coals below;
Engraven deep the name of JOHN divine
On it, doth with glorious splendor shine.
The fourth an EMRAULD whose Cœlestial
And verdant glories beautifie the Wall:
There Zebedean JAMES his glorious Name
With equal Lustre beautifies the same.
The fifth's a SARDONIÆ, whose blushing dies,
The Wall as Phœbus doth the Morning skies:
Alphean JAMES'S Name is graven here,
And with a wondrous Lustre doth appear.
The sixth a SARDIUS is: which doth imbue
The sacred VVall with more than scarlet hew;
Blessed Saint ANDREW'S holy name doth own
A splendid place upon that blushing Stone,
The seav'nth a CRYSOLITE whose Croseam beams
Paint all the side with thousand golden streams,
Saint MATTHEW'S Name most glorious to behold
Shines there engrav'd, and wrapt in purest Gold.
The eighth a BERIL of a glorious hew,
Which paints the VVall at once both green, and blew:
The name of SIMON doth it self display
There graven deep; which shall remain for aye.
The ninth a TOPAZ, which with Lustrous Rayes
And verdant streams, its beauty there displays.
Saint BARTHOLOMEW'S bless'd name doth also stand
Engraven there by an Almighty Hand.
The tenth a CRYSOPRASUS, which is seen
To paint the Wall at once with Gold, and green.
Shining in Heav'nly Lustre THOMAS his
Illust'rous Name on it engraven is.
Th' Eleventh is a HYACINTH, whose flame
The golden splendor of the Sun doth shame.
VVith bless'd Saint PHILLIP'S name engrav'd thereon,
VVhich glowing there seems written in the Sun.
The twelfth an AMETHIST, whose blushing shine
Out-braves the Rosie hew of Cretian VVine,
VVhereon the glorious name of blessed JUDE,
By God engrav'd in triumph there is shew'd.
Her everlasting Gates were three times four,
One entire Pearl doth serve for every door,
On which in most resplendent Glory dwell
The names of the twelve Tribes of Israel.
The dainty streets pure Crystal doth enfold,
And the whole City is of massy Gold,
But yet transparent as the brightest Gemm
Unto Spectators blessed eyes doth seem.
Thorow the middle doth Life's River flow,
Upon whose banks the Tree of Life doth grow.
The glorious Splendor of the blessed Lamb
Is Sun, and Moon unto JERUSALEM:
The Glory of the Lord doth alwayes sit
There to embrighten, and o're-shadow it:
Night's banish'd thence; the Lamb's resplendant Ray
Indues it with an everlasting Day.
The Lamb the only stately Temple is
Of this great City of everlasting Bliss.
O here remains the everliving Word!
O here remains the Glory of the Lord!
Lo there the Lamb upon mount Sion's top
Triumphant stands with all his Virgin Troop:
There all the Elders with their glorious Crowns,
To Judge the world sit in their splendid Thrones.
Lo there the everlasting SON of GOD
Cloath'd with immortal Rayes, makes his abode.
Lo there the blessed Saints, and Angels be
Cloathed with Robes of Immortality,
VVhose glittering brows are Crown'd with Diadems
Chas'd with e'rlasting, and Cœlestial Gemms.
Here Glory, Prayse, and Hallalujah's be
Sung to the LAMB to all Æternity.
Here is the Book of Life, the Heav'nly Stone,
The glorified Mame, th' immortal Throne
Of Blisse, and everlasting Joyes: And here
The new, and glorified Bodies are.
This is the secret Sacred Place; this is
The glorious Kingdom of everlasting Bliss:
This is the Mansion House, and the abode
Of JESUS, and of all the Sonnes of GOD:
O here's the Rock of Wonders, and here is
The hidden Treasure of Æternal Blisse.
O here the Saints, and Angels shall for aye,
The blessed Name of GOD resound with Joy:
Joy everlasting, and a Joy that can
Not comprehended be by sensual Man.
VVhilst thus with Joy implete, and Wonder too
The glorious Morning; or the crystal Glass,
Glorious Saint PETER'S great, and glorious Name
Deeply insculpted is upon the same.
The second SAPHIR, which doth court the eye
With all the beauties of the Azure Skye:
On which ingraven is the name of PAUL,
The second beauty of this Heav'nly Wall.
328
Like flames above, and glowing coals below;
Engraven deep the name of JOHN divine
On it, doth with glorious splendor shine.
The fourth an EMRAULD whose Cœlestial
And verdant glories beautifie the Wall:
There Zebedean JAMES his glorious Name
With equal Lustre beautifies the same.
The fifth's a SARDONIÆ, whose blushing dies,
The Wall as Phœbus doth the Morning skies:
Alphean JAMES'S Name is graven here,
And with a wondrous Lustre doth appear.
The sixth a SARDIUS is: which doth imbue
The sacred VVall with more than scarlet hew;
Blessed Saint ANDREW'S holy name doth own
A splendid place upon that blushing Stone,
The seav'nth a CRYSOLITE whose Croseam beams
Paint all the side with thousand golden streams,
Saint MATTHEW'S Name most glorious to behold
Shines there engrav'd, and wrapt in purest Gold.
The eighth a BERIL of a glorious hew,
Which paints the VVall at once both green, and blew:
The name of SIMON doth it self display
There graven deep; which shall remain for aye.
The ninth a TOPAZ, which with Lustrous Rayes
And verdant streams, its beauty there displays.
Saint BARTHOLOMEW'S bless'd name doth also stand
Engraven there by an Almighty Hand.
The tenth a CRYSOPRASUS, which is seen
To paint the Wall at once with Gold, and green.
Shining in Heav'nly Lustre THOMAS his
Illust'rous Name on it engraven is.
Th' Eleventh is a HYACINTH, whose flame
The golden splendor of the Sun doth shame.
VVith bless'd Saint PHILLIP'S name engrav'd thereon,
VVhich glowing there seems written in the Sun.
The twelfth an AMETHIST, whose blushing shine
Out-braves the Rosie hew of Cretian VVine,
VVhereon the glorious name of blessed JUDE,
By God engrav'd in triumph there is shew'd.
329
One entire Pearl doth serve for every door,
On which in most resplendent Glory dwell
The names of the twelve Tribes of Israel.
The dainty streets pure Crystal doth enfold,
And the whole City is of massy Gold,
But yet transparent as the brightest Gemm
Unto Spectators blessed eyes doth seem.
Thorow the middle doth Life's River flow,
Upon whose banks the Tree of Life doth grow.
The glorious Splendor of the blessed Lamb
Is Sun, and Moon unto JERUSALEM:
The Glory of the Lord doth alwayes sit
There to embrighten, and o're-shadow it:
Night's banish'd thence; the Lamb's resplendant Ray
Indues it with an everlasting Day.
The Lamb the only stately Temple is
Of this great City of everlasting Bliss.
O here remains the everliving Word!
O here remains the Glory of the Lord!
Lo there the Lamb upon mount Sion's top
Triumphant stands with all his Virgin Troop:
There all the Elders with their glorious Crowns,
To Judge the world sit in their splendid Thrones.
Lo there the everlasting SON of GOD
Cloath'd with immortal Rayes, makes his abode.
Lo there the blessed Saints, and Angels be
Cloathed with Robes of Immortality,
VVhose glittering brows are Crown'd with Diadems
Chas'd with e'rlasting, and Cœlestial Gemms.
Here Glory, Prayse, and Hallalujah's be
Sung to the LAMB to all Æternity.
Here is the Book of Life, the Heav'nly Stone,
The glorified Mame, th' immortal Throne
Of Blisse, and everlasting Joyes: And here
The new, and glorified Bodies are.
This is the secret Sacred Place; this is
The glorious Kingdom of everlasting Bliss:
This is the Mansion House, and the abode
Of JESUS, and of all the Sonnes of GOD:
330
The hidden Treasure of Æternal Blisse.
O here the Saints, and Angels shall for aye,
The blessed Name of GOD resound with Joy:
Joy everlasting, and a Joy that can
Not comprehended be by sensual Man.
Our happy Pilgrim doth intently view
The glorious beauties of this sacred place;
He's now disrob'd of his poluted Case,
For no defilement, or polution
Can enter into new JERUSALEM.
A Body clear as Crystal, Light as Ayr,
VVhere the true Elements all mixed were
In a just harmony, he now indues,
His other body now no fæces shews,
But swallow'd up by a blest Union
Is made more bright, and glorious than the Sun:
Arrayed thus th' Æternal Gate of Blisse
Straitway unto our Pilgrim open'd is,
Through which he enters, to that sacred place
VVhere without Vails he sees GOD face to face.
VVonders of Wonders there he sees; which none
Beholds, til they (as he) approach the Throne,
That Throne of Glory, and Æternal Bliss,
VVhere our thrice happy Pilgrim seated is.
Thus ends his Jorney, here for ever blest
He doth implete with Joyes, and Blisses rest.
And here I too should end, I do confess
VVith admiration of his happinesse,
And with Addresses to Heav'n's Majesty
That my poor Soul at last enthron'd might be,
And that she might for ever blessed move,
In Joyes, and Blisses in the Sphear of LOVE;
But that my thinks I see your noting eye
That Clouded Glory o're this Orb doth spye,
And speaking in its silent Language, now
The meaning of it me commands to shew.
He doth implete with Joyes, and Blisses rest.
And here I too should end, I do confess
VVith admiration of his happinesse,
And with Addresses to Heav'n's Majesty
That my poor Soul at last enthron'd might be,
And that she might for ever blessed move,
In Joyes, and Blisses in the Sphear of LOVE;
But that my thinks I see your noting eye
That Clouded Glory o're this Orb doth spye,
And speaking in its silent Language, now
The meaning of it me commands to shew.
331
That represents GOD past the reach of Creature,
Beyond the Forms of the Eternal Nature;
GOD in himself: GOD in the Abstract; where
VVe may say what He is not; but we dare
Not say here what He is: for neither He
Can Good, or evil, or Light, or Darknesse be,
Nor this, nor that here in this place; nor Can
Nor ought to be search'd into by Man.
Here as a Nothing He to us doth seem,
Nor Can Man further knowledge have on Him.
Nor Man, or Angel a Commission has
To dive into this abstruce secret Place,
Therefore thine eyes withdraw, and be Content
To know GOD as He will, nor represent
Thou to thy mind, or in thy fantasie
An Image of the glorious Deity;
For never ought we Heav'n's high Majesty
To Form or Figure whatsoever tye:
Therefore O Man destroy all Images
Of God, that in thy fantasie shall rise.
This is the increated ENS of God,
And an immense unfathomable flood,
Where lest we loose our selves we shall withdraw,
Into this secret place no man e'r saw.
Therefore O Reader I admonish thee
That thou no farther search what God may be,
For if thou dost, distracted in the end,
Thou wilt confess, Man cann't GOD comprehend.
VVithdraw thy Thoughts then, cease thou here to pry
Into the secrets of the Deity:
GOD will not here be known; but yet he is,
And will be known, upon the Throne of bliss.
He will be known in NATURE increate,
His VVonders there Man ought to meditate.
VVhere He the Arcana's of Heav'n's Majesty,
VVith eyes of Truth, and with true eyes may see.
O Reader therefore to the Orb rf Love
Your eyes, and meditations now remove,
VVhere thou by constant Prayer mayst obtain
A sight of what here under Clouds remain,
And with clear eyes must see those things of worth,
VVhich by my Pen are darkly shadow'd forth:
But yet accept my Labour and my Pains;
My Heart examine, not my duller strains
For if they any shall with Light befriend
I joy: for that of Writing is THE END.
Beyond the Forms of the Eternal Nature;
GOD in himself: GOD in the Abstract; where
VVe may say what He is not; but we dare
Not say here what He is: for neither He
Can Good, or evil, or Light, or Darknesse be,
Nor this, nor that here in this place; nor Can
Nor ought to be search'd into by Man.
Here as a Nothing He to us doth seem,
Nor Can Man further knowledge have on Him.
Nor Man, or Angel a Commission has
To dive into this abstruce secret Place,
Therefore thine eyes withdraw, and be Content
To know GOD as He will, nor represent
Thou to thy mind, or in thy fantasie
An Image of the glorious Deity;
For never ought we Heav'n's high Majesty
To Form or Figure whatsoever tye:
Therefore O Man destroy all Images
Of God, that in thy fantasie shall rise.
This is the increated ENS of God,
And an immense unfathomable flood,
Where lest we loose our selves we shall withdraw,
Into this secret place no man e'r saw.
Therefore O Reader I admonish thee
That thou no farther search what God may be,
For if thou dost, distracted in the end,
Thou wilt confess, Man cann't GOD comprehend.
VVithdraw thy Thoughts then, cease thou here to pry
Into the secrets of the Deity:
GOD will not here be known; but yet he is,
And will be known, upon the Throne of bliss.
He will be known in NATURE increate,
His VVonders there Man ought to meditate.
VVhere He the Arcana's of Heav'n's Majesty,
VVith eyes of Truth, and with true eyes may see.
O Reader therefore to the Orb rf Love
Your eyes, and meditations now remove,
VVhere thou by constant Prayer mayst obtain
A sight of what here under Clouds remain,
332
VVhich by my Pen are darkly shadow'd forth:
But yet accept my Labour and my Pains;
My Heart examine, not my duller strains
For if they any shall with Light befriend
I joy: for that of Writing is THE END.
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