All the workes of Iohn Taylor the Water-Poet Being Sixty and three in Number. Collected into one Volume by the Author [i.e. John Taylor]: With sundry new Additions, corrected, reuised, and newly Imprinted |
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Taylors VRANIA. |
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 | All the workes of Iohn Taylor the Water-Poet |  |
1
Taylors VRANIA.
To the Vnderstander.
See here the Pride and Knowledge of a Sayler,His Sprit-saile, Fore-saile, Main-saile, & his Mizzen;
A poore fraile man, God wot, I know none frailer:
I know for Sinners, Christ is dead, and rizen.
I know no greater sinner then Iohn Taylor,
Of all, his Death did Ransome out of Prizzen,
And therefore here's my Pride, if it be Pride,
To know Christ, and to know him Crucifide.
1
Eternall God, which in thine armes do'st GraspeAll past, all present, and all future things:
And in ineuitable doome dost claspe
The liues and deaths of all that dyes and springs,
And at the doomefull day will once vnhaspe
Th'accusing booke of Subiects and of Kings.
In whom though ending nor beginning be,
Let me (O Lord) beginne and end in thee.
2
All cogitations vaine from me remooue,And cleanse my earthly and polluted heart:
Inspire me with thy blessings from aboue,
That (to thy honour) I with Artlesse Art
May sing thy Iustice, Mercy, and thy Loue;
Possesse me with thy Grace in euery part,
That no prophane word issue from my pen,
But to the Glory of thy name; Amen.
3
I doe beseech thee, gracious louing Father,Reiect me not in thy sharpe judging Ire:
But in thy multitude of Mercies Rather
Recall me to thee, Recollect me Nigher,
My wandring Soule into thy bosome Gather,
And with thy Grace my gracelesse heart Inspire,
Dictate vnto my mind what it may thinke,
Write with thy Spirit what I may write with ink.
4
Thou all things wast eu'n then when nothing was,And then, thou all things did'st of nothing make:
Of nothing All thou still hast brought to passe,
And all againe, to nothing must betake.
When sea shall burne, and land shall melt like brasse,
When hills shall tremble, and the mountaines quake,
And when the World to Chaos turnes againe,
Then thou Almighty All, shalt All remaine.
2
5
And since this vniuersall massie ballThis earth, this aire, this water, and this fire,
Must to a ruine and a period fall,
And all againe to nothing must retire:
Be thou to me my onely All in All,
Whose loue and mercy neuer shall expire.
In thee I place my treasure and my trust,
Where Fellon cannot steale, or canker rust.
6
All things (but only God) at first began,The vncreated God did all Create:
In him Alone is equall will and can,
Who hath no ending, or commencing date.
To whose Eternitie all time's a span
Who was, is, shalbe, euer in one state.
All else to nothing hourely doth decline,
And onely stands vpon support Diuine.
7
Our high Creator our first Parents form'd,And did inspire them with his heau'nly spirit:
Our Soules-seducer (Satan) them deform'd,
And from Gods fauour did them disinherit:
Our blest Redeemer them againe reform'd,
And ransom'd them by his vnbounded merit.
Thus were they form'd, deform'd. reform'd againe
By God, by Satan, and our Sauiours paine.
8
Mans Generation did from God proceedA mortall Body, and a Soule Eternall:
Degeneration was the Deuils deed,
With false delusions and with lies infernall:
Regeneration was our Sauiours meede,
Whose death did satisfie the wrath supernall.
Thus was man found, and lost, and lost was found
By Grace; with Glory euer to be crownd.
9
Man was produc'de, seduced, and reduc'deBy God, by Satan, and by God agen:
From good to ill, from ill he was excusd'e
By merit of th'Immortall Man of men.
The vnpolluted bloud from him was sluc'de,
To saue vs from damnations dreadfull den.
Thus man was made, and marde, and better made,
By Him who did sinne, death, and hell inuade.
10
Let man consider then but what he is,And contemplate on what erst he hath bin:
How first he was created heire of blisse,
And how he fell to be the Child of sinne;
How (of himselfe) he hourely doth amisse,
And how his best workes doe no merit winne,
Except acceptance make them be esteem'd,
Through his obedience that our Soules redeem'd.
11
Before thou wast, remember thou wast nought,And out of nought (or nothing) thou wast fram'de:
And how thy Body being made and wrought
By God, was with a liuing Soule inflam'de:
And how th'Eternall Nomenclator taught
Thee name all Creatures that were euer nam'de,
And made thee Stuard of the worlds whole treasure
And plac'de thee in a Paradise of pleasure.
12
Then wast thou Viceroy to the King of heau'n,And great Lieutenant to the Lord of hosts:
The rule of all things vnto thee was giu'n,
At thy command all creatures seru'd like posts
To come or goe, and at thy becke were driu'n
Both neere and farre, vnto the farthest coasts.
God all things made, as seruants vnto thee
Because thou only shouldst his seruant be.
13
He gaue life vnto hearbes, to plants, and trees,For if they wanted life, how could they grow?
A beast hath life and sence, moues, feeles, and sees,
And in some sort doth good and euill know:
But man's before all Creatures in degrees:
God life, and sence, and reason did bestow
And left those blessings should be transitory,
He gaue him life, sence, reason, grace, and glory.
14
Then let our meditations scope be most,How at the first we were created good:
And how we (wilfull) grace and goodnes lost
And of the sonnes of God, were Satans brood.
Then thinke the price, that our Redemption cost
Th'eternall Sonne of Gods most precious blood.
Remember this whilst life and sence remaine,
Else life, and sence, and reason are in vaine.
15
Thou to requite thy God that all thee gaue,Ingratefully against him didst rebell:
Whereby from Regall state, thou turnedst slaue,
And heau'nly Iustice doom'd thee downe to hell.
As thy rebellion from thy God thee draue,
So 'gainst thee all things to rebellion fell.
For when to heau'n thy due obedience ceast,
Thy disobedience taught each brutish beast.
16
Now see thy miserable wretched state,Thou and the earth is eke with thee accurst:
All worldly things, which thee obaide of late,
In stiffe commotion now against thee burst:
And thee for euer droue from Eden gate,
To liue an exilde wretch, and which is worst,
Thy soule, (Gods darling) fell from her prefermēt,
To be the Deuils thrall, in endlesse torment.
3
17
But Mercies sea hath quenched Iustice fire,And Heau'ns high heire (in pitty of mans case)
In person came, and satisfide Gods ire,
And gracelesse man new Repossest in Grace.
The Sonne of God came downe, to raise vs higher,
To make vs Glorious, he himselfe made base.
To draw vs vp, downe vnto earth he came,
And honor'd vs, by putting on our shame.
18
Who can conceiue the Glory he was inAboue the heau'ns of heau'ns, inthroan'd in blisse?
Who can conceiue the losse that he did winne
To rectifie and answer our amisse?
Who can conceiue the Mountaines of our sinne,
That must be hid with such a sea as this?
No heart, no tongue, no pen of mortall wight
These things can once conceiue, or speake, or write.
19
Man may collect th'abundance of his vice,And the deare loue his God to him did beare,
In thinking on th'inestimable price
Was paid his sinne-polluted soule to cleare,
To giue him an immortall Paradise,
And to redeeme his foes, to pay so deare.
For if our sinnes had not beene more then much,
The ransome of them sure had not beene such.
20
The blood of any mighty mortall KingWas insufficient this great debt to pay:
Arch-angels power, or Angels could not bring
A Ransome worth forbearance but a day;
The onely Sonne of God must doe this thing,
Else it must be vndone, and we for aye.
God was the Creditor, and man the debter,
Christ (God & man) did pay, none could pay better.
21
Then since thy sinfull Soule from Grace was lost,And since by Grace it hath found Grace againe:
Since being lost, so great a price is lost,
T'enfranchise it from euerlasting paine,
And since thy crimes are quit, thy debts are crost,
Thy peace with God, the way to heau'n made plain.
Let not all this in vaine for thee be done,
But thankfull be to God, through Christ his Sonne.
22
Forget not thou art ashes, earth, and dust,And that from whence thou cam'st, thou shalt again:
And at the last Trumpe that appeare thou must,
When Procseys and Essoynes are all in vaine:
Where iust and vniust, shall haue iudgement iust,
For euer doomb'd to endlesse ioy, or paine.
Where though that thou bee damn'd, it is Gods glory,
Thy wife, thy sonne, thy fire, will not be sorry.
23
Me thinks it should make man this world to lotheWhen that which will a thousand cloath and feede:
It should but onely one man feede and clothe
In fares excesse, and gorgeousnesse of weede:
Yet this braue canker, this consuming moth
(Who in his life ne'r meanes to doe good deede)
Must be ador'd for those good parts he wants,
By fearefull Fooles, and flattering Sicophants.
24
Hath he the title of an earthly grace?Or hath he Honor, Lordship, Worship? or
Hath he in Court some great commanding place?
Or hath he wealth to be regarded for?
If with these honors, vertue he embrace,
Then loue him; else his puckfoist pompe abhorre
“Sun-shine on dung-hils makes them stinke the more,
“And Honor shewes all that was hid before.
25
Shall men giue reu'rence to a painted trunkeThat's nothing but all outside, and within
Their senses are with blacke damnation drunke,
Whose heart is Satans Tap-house, or his Inne:
Whose Reputation inwardly is sunke,
Though outwardly raisd vp, and swolne with sin,
I thinke it worse then to adore the Deuill,
To worship his base Instruments of euill.
26
No, looke vpon the Man, and not his Case,See how he doth his Maker imitate:
If Grace supernall, giue internall Grace,
That makes his minde on vertue contemplate,
That holds this world, and all things in't as base,
Knowes death makes happy, or vnfortunate.
That doth no wrong, for fauour, gaine, or feare,
And layes on each, that each deseru's to beare.
27
Such men (no doubt) but few such liuing are,For they are thickly sow'd, and thinly grow'd,
The purest Wheat is mixed with the Tare,
The humble mindes, are seruile to the proud.
Uice Reuels, and poore Vertue's poore and bare,
Hypocrisie into the Church will crowd.
So man must more then humane wit possesse,
T'escape the baites and snares of wickednesse.
28
The Atheist of the Scriptures can dispute,That one would deeme him a Religious man:
The Temporizer to the Time will sute,
Although his Zeale be Machiuillian.
Then there's a Faith that seldome yeelds good fruit,
And though impure, is call'd a Puritan.
A thousand Sects in thousand Protean shapes
Are Times true Turne-coates, and Religions Apes.
4
29
The greatest plague, that euer came from Hell,Is to be puft and stuft with selfe-conceit:
When men too Ill, esteeme themselues too well,
When ouer-valued worth proues light in weight,
When Selfe-loue and Ambition makes vs swell
Aboue the limits of Discretions height.
When the poore Iay displays his borrowed plumes;
And man (vnfeeling sin) to sinne presumes.
30
But if thy feathred pride, Icarian-highDoth soare too farre aboue true Reasons bownd:
Th'eternall Sunne thy waxen wings will frie,
Thy fatall Fall, thy Folly shall confound.
Who (like that Cretan) mounts ambitiously,
In Seas of sorrow shall (like him) be drownd.
By pride the Caldean Monarchie decreast,
A King (the best of men) was made a Beast.
31
The state of Man may be compared wellVnto a Kingdome gouern'd well or ill:
For if his Rule and Policie excell,
His Reason (like a Queene) commands his will.
But if seditious Passions doe rebell,
They Reasons Court with all disorder fill,
And ouer-run her carelesse Common-wealth,
With murder, fraud, oppression, whoredome, stealth.
32
The Sences are this Kingdomes Court of Guarde,To keepe their Queene secure from terrene treason:
Great is the trust and safetie of this Ward,
Whilst they giue true Intelligence to Reason:
But if this Guarde their duties not regard,
And mis-informe their Queene at any season;
Then right for wrong, and wrong for right sheele conster,
And in her Apprehension proues a Monster.
33
The Hearing, Sight, the Taste, the Smell and Touch,If Vices doe present themselues for obiects:
And they (incredulous) not deeme them such,
Informing Reason that they are good Subiects;
If Reasons iudgement be not more then much,
She entertaines for Worthies these base Abiects:
Who spoyle her Court, and breake her Kingdomes frame,
And turne her State and Glory into shame.
34
The Appetite, the Fancie, and the Will,(Spirituall Faculties) are Reasons Peeres:
Who (of themselues) doe counsell all things ill,
Not knowing what is true, but what appeares:
If she attend, what onely they instill,
She takes in meere delusions through her eares:
And they at last will thrust her from her Throne,
And then (vsurping Rebels) sit thereon.
35
These Vassals hauing got the Regall sway,Inforce the Comwons which are the Affections,
Their hatefull hellish precepts to obey,
With promise of their fauours and protections:
Th'Affections all agree, and all doe pay
These Miscreants their tributes and subiections,
And now is Reason banisht, and they threat,
She ne're shall gaine againe her awfull seat.
36
Th'vsurping Heart, sometimes doth raigne as King,Sometimes the Braine is Counseller of State:
The Eyes and Eares, Intelligence doe bring,
The Tongue (as Herald) tydings doth relate.
The Hands and Feet doe execute each thing,
Which these intruding Tyrants loue or hate.
And euery Member plaies a painfull part,
To serue a swimming Braine, and swelling Heart.
37
The Fancy (like an Ape) skips to, and fro,Begins a thousand things, and endeth none:
Makes, marrs, forbids, and bids, no, yea, yea, no,
Doe, and vndoe, hold fast, and let alone:
Run, stay, vp, downe, stand, fall, goe, come, come, goe,
Sad, glad, mad, wittie, foolish, mirth and moue.
Thus Fancie doth in Apish toyes delight
To serue the greedy maw of appetite.
38
And Appetite (as doth a big-womb'd Dame)Lusts, longs, desires, and must haue this and that:
Hearbs, roots, fruits, flowres, Fish, Fowle, Beasts wilde and tame
She must & wil haue, wel she knows not what:
Whilst Fancy, and Imagination frame
Themselues more nimbly then a mouzing Cat,
Still searching what the Appetite desires,
Superfluous meats, drinks, bables, and attires.
39
The Memory's Lord Keeper of the Treasure,And great Recorder of this world of dust:
The Vnderstanding giues true Iustice measure
To Good, to Bad, to Iust, and to Uniust;
Inuention and Remembrance waite the leasure
Of Memorie; and Understanding must
Haue Wisedome for her fellow, and her guide,
Else Prince, and Peeres, and Commons stray aside.
40
Truth, and false Lying, on the Tongue attends;The one instructs her plainely in the Troath,
The other's proper, and improper, ends
Doth reach to lye, and vouch it with an oath:
The Tongue loues one of these, yet both contends,
But she wants entertainment for them both.
At last she takes in Lying for her Page,
And bids Truth walke a beggers Pilgrimage.
5
41
When VVisedome must giue Follie cap and knee,When hare-braind Will, o're Wit doth rule & raigne.
When Lying, shall make Truth regardles be,
When Loue is payde with hatred and disdaine:
When Sense and Appetite doe all agree
To serue a false rebellious heart and braine;
When they haue Reasons Court, thus vnderminde,
It is a signe that Vnderstanding's blinde.
42
Then is the place where Vertue doth abode,Made a foule Rendeuouz for filthy Vice:
The Temple of the holy Spirit of God
Esteemes his blessed presence of no price.
Man spurnes against his iust reuenging Rod
Worse then the Iewes, that for his Coat cast Dice.
Men falne into a reprobated Sence,
Dread not their Makers great Omnipotence.
43
Then what art thou, polluted earthly clod,Thou span, thou froth, thou bubble, and thou smoke:
Worse then the dust, that vnder-foot is trod,
Dar'st thou thy Makers furie to prouoke?
Why wilt thou (wilfull) thy perdition plod,
And with damnation thy saluation choke?
Christ bought thy Soule, and lent it thee to vse it,
'Tis none of thine; and therefore not abuse it.
44
Dar'st thou prophane with thy vngodly breathHis name, that did (before the world) elect thee?
Dar'st thou dare him his Iustice sword t'vnsheath?
Dar'st thou prouoke his mercy to reiect thee?
Dar'st thou run headloug to perpetuall death,
Whereas eternall torments shall correct thee?
And dar'st thou (wretched worme) of earthly race,
Belch blasphemy against thy Makers Grace?
45
He thou offendest is the King of Kings,Heau'n, Earth and Hell, doe tremble at his frowne:
Bright Angells and Archangells alwayes sings
Before the seat of his immortall Crowne:
His foes to fell confusion downe he flings,
He giues his seruants Honour and Renowne.
His power's not circumscribed here, or there
But all in all, is all, and euery-where.
46
Can nothing moue thy flinty heart to Ruthe,That of thy selfe thou some remorse wouldst take;
And not to spend thy beauty, strength, and youth,
To serue the Sou'raigne of the Stygian Lake?
Say not, to morrow, thou wilt seeke the truth,
And when sin leaues thee, thou wilt sinne forsake.
When thou no more (through weaknes) canst offend,
Then lame, old, rotten, thou wilt God attend.
47
When hoary haire, and blood all frozen chill,When eyes waxe dim, and limbs are weake & lame:
And that no more thy rash rebellious will
Cannot performe vile deeds of sinne and shame:
When thou hast lost thy strength to doe more ill,
Then vnto Heau'n, thy minde thou 'ginst to frame.
Thy youth in Satans seruice being spent,
In age thou think'st on God, and dost repent.
48
Supppose a man that's much ingag'd to thee,Hath a good Horse, which thou dost much desire:
Thou offrest for him thrice his worth, to be
The Master of this Beast thou dost require:
But this ingratefull wretch will not agree
To giue, to sell him thee, or let thee hire,
But lets him (all his youth) be rid by those
Who are thy spightfull, and thy mortall foes:
49
And when hee's leaue, and old, and lame, and blindGall'd, foundred, filthy, wanting no disease:
Botts, Glaunders, Spauin, broke in the winde,
Not a tooth left to mumpe on beanes and pease:
Then this Companion, (most vnkindly kinde)
Will let thee haue this Palfray, if thou please,
If now (past good) thou scornest to receiue him,
Heele flay his skin off, & the dogs shall haue him.
50
Betwixt thy God and thee, such is the case:When thou art young, strong, sound of winde and lim,
Thy soule aud body shuns his heau'nly Grace,
Thou wilt not serue thy God, nor waite on him:
But (heedlesse) headlong run'st a hellish race,
Till age hath brought thee to the graues hard brim:
Then (being clog'd with sin, diseas'd and foule)
Thou offrest God thy body and thy soule.
51
But dost thou thinke he is at thy command,Or that his mercy must attend thy leasure?
Or dost thou thinke thou canst in iudgement stand
And scape the iustice of his high displeasure?
Or dost thou thinke that his Almighty hand
Is shortned? or that his supernall pleasure
Regards not how the Sonnes of Men doe liue?
Or that without Repentance hee'le forgiue?
52
Sly Satans Rage is almost at an end,And well he knowes his domination's short,
He therefore now doth all his Engins bend
To batter and confound our fleshly Fort;
He and his Ministers doe all attend
To draw vs to his damn'd infernall Court.
For if he lose our soules at latest cast,
Twill be too late when all his power is past.
6
53
And therefore now he plots his diuellish drifts,To separate vs from our God so louing:
In making vs vnthankefull for his gifts,
And by our heynous sins his Anger mouing,
Whilst wings of Faith our prayers vpwards lifts
To praise our Maker (as is best behouing)
Then Satan kills our Zeale, and vnawares
We are intangled in vile worldly snares.
54
God made enough, all men to satisfie,Yet not enough to giue one Man content:
For he that had the worlds whole soueraigntie,
Would couet for a further continent.
Ambitious thirst of fading Dignitie
(As though they were for euer permanent)
Doth banish Loue, and euery heau'nly Motion,
Blinds all our Zeale, and murders our Deuotion.
55
Tis truely writ in many a thousand story,And thousand thousand sheets of blotted paper
Declares how terrene things are transitory,
Incertaine certaine, wasting like a Taper.
How frothy painted Pompe, and greedy Glory
When least we thinke, doth vanish like a vaper.
Experience teacheth this, and truth bewraies it,
And various humane accidents displaies it.
56
To day great Diues in a purple coate,With Epicurian Appetite doth feed:
His cups with Wine doe ouerflow and floate,
His baggs with quoyne, his heart from feare is freed,
And on the world, and wealth doth only dote,
(As if his death, his life should not succeed.)
He loues himselfe, himselfe loues him agen,
And liu's a hated wretch, of God and Men.
57
Nor stone, or dropsie, or the groaning GowtCan make him with his wealth to liue in hate,
He (maugre paine) takes pleasure to finde out
New Proiects to increase his too great state;
To marry much to much, he casts about,
And neuer dreames of his expiring date,
Vntill he heare the fatall bell to towle,
And Hell stand gaping to deuoure his Soule.
58
I'haue heard of an extortionizing Curr,That hath beene numbd and sencelesse, as a logg;
Who neither limbe, or leg, or ioynt could sturr,
But on his death-bed grunting like a Hog:
And almost speechlesse with his rattling Murr,
Yet care of Coyne his conscience did so clogg,
That not a thought of Heau'n he could afford,
But ten i'the hundred was his latest word.
59
Thus Gold that should be captiue vnto all,Doth captiuate his Keeper, as a slaue:
Who like an Idoll doth before it fall,
And neuer meanes another God to haue.
And when Heau'ns Pursiuant, grim-Death, doth call
To warne him to his vn-a-vcyded Graue,
Vntill his Iawes be cram'd, and ram'd with mold,
Hee'le speake or (speechles) make a signe for gold.
60
We ought no formed Creature to adore,Or frame will-worship in our idle braine:
Nor of the Angells must we ought implore,
For Man and Angells helpe is all but vaine;
Yet pur-blind Auarice still gapes for more,
And makes his Mammonitish God his gaine:
He playes the Bawd, his money is the Whore,
whilst it breeds Bastards, he doth hold the doore.
61
He thinks his life Angelicall, becauseAmongst the Angells he doth spend his time:
And Royall he will be, for in his pawes
The Royalls are insnarde like birds in lime:
And with his Nobles he ordeineth lawes,
That base extortion shall not be a crime.
He marks how Kingdomes, Prouinces, and Townes,
Are ouer-ruled by his cursed Crownes.
62
But if he note his Angells, what they be;Not heau'nly, nor yet those from Heau'n that fell:
But they are in a third, and worse degree
Dumb damned sencelesse ministers of Hell.
They cannot smell, or feele, taste, heare, or see,
And thousand times be'ng told, yet cannot tell,
Th'ar lock'd, and barr'd, and bolted vp in thrall,
Which shewes their Nature not Angelicall.
63
His Royalls doth not Royallize himselfe,Or make him better then he is, or was,
In spight of all his ill got canker'd Pelfe,
Hee's but a miserable golden Asse:
The Deuills deare darling, a most hatefull Elfe,
Which as Hells Factor on the Earth doth passe.
Were euery haire about him made a Royall,
He were a Wreath, to God and Men disloyall.
64
His Nobles no way doth enoble him,Their Counsell cannot mend his Rascall minde:
His heart's obdurate, and his eyes are dim
To thinke or see, t'ward good to be inclinde.
Hee'le venter soule and body, life and lim
To scrape and scratch what he must leaue behinde.
His Nobles thus, ignobly make him liue,
And headlong to the Deuill, their Master, driue.
7
65
Amongst his Marks he neuer marketh howHe spends, or lends, or giues, his ill got store:
He marks to make it multiply and grow,
And for the vse of Fiftie takes a score.
He neuer dreads Heau'ns dreadfull angry browe,
But daily grinds the faces of the poore.
Let vengeance thunder, and let Hels dog barke,
Amongst his Marks, of Grace he hath no marke.
66
And though a world of Crownes are in his hand,For euery Crowne might he a Kingdome haue,
His state no better (in my minde) should stand
Then a rich Begger, or a kingly Slaue.
He should his Crownes, and they not him command,
They (Vassall-like) should do what he should craue.
Lo thus the Crownes their Soueraigne ouerswayes,
They rule and Raigne, he like a Slaue obeyes.
67
Thus Angels to a Caitiffe, are a curse,His Royalls makes his baseues farre more base:
His Nobles, his ignoble minde make worse;
His Marks, are marks and figures of disgrace:
His Crownes vsurpeth in his Niggard purse,
And in his heart Contentment hath no place.
For Angels, Royalls, Marks and Crownes
Can put no vertue, in the minds of Clownes.
68
The onely slaue of slaues, is Moneyes slaue,He pines in plenty, starn's amidst his store:
Dies liuing, and doth liue as in a Graue,
In wealthy-want, and in abundance poore:
The Goods he hath, he badly doth depraue,
And only cares how he may purchase more.
For he himselfe cannot afford himselfe
A good meales meat, for wasting of his pelfe.
69
His feare's his wealth, his torment his delight,His Conscience foule, affrightfull is his sleepe:
His hope despaire, his mirth in sadnes dight,
His ioyes are Cares, what he hath got to keepe:
His Rest, is restles vnrest day and night,
And in a Sea of Melancholy deepe,
Amidst his large possessions liu's in lack,
And dies in debt to's belly and his back.
70
Me thinkes I heare a Miser-Churle obiect,None railes at Wealth, but those which liue in want:
The idle Grashopper cannot affect
The toylesome labours of the frugall Ant:
The Prodigall by no meanes will be checkt
So much as when his Purses lining's scant.
The Fox doth scorne the Grapes, but wot you why?
Because out of his reach, they hang too high.
71
So doth a sort of poore and needy Hyndes,The scum and dregs, of euery Common wealth:
The shak-rag-shag-haird crue, whose boundles minds
Must be supplide with shifting, or by stealth.
Like sick men, when their paines their Reason blinds
They enuy all men that are well in health.
So doth a swarme of Drones, and idle mates
Reuile and enuie at our happy states.
72
But let them storme, and raile, and curse, and sweare,Within our coffers, we will keepe the Gold:
Let them themselues, themselues in pieces teare,
What we haue got with toyle, with care we'le hold.
What is't doth men to reputation reare,
But when their goods & wealth growes manifold,
We care not then, let needy Rascalls raile
Till Tyburne eat them, or some lothsome I ayle.
73
Thus doth a Wretch his thirst of Gaine excuse,And makes his bad trade good with show of thrift:
Himselfe, (continuall) with himselfe doth muse
Vpon some purchase, or some gaining drift;
And as a Hog, his downeward lookes doe vse
To poare, and not aloft his eyes to lift.
He takes Heau'ns fruit, & hoordeth vp the same,
And ne're remembers God, from whence it came.
74
But fill thy baggs, till they are ouer-filld,And empt thy conscience more, (if more thou can)
Raise higher rents, and let thy Land be till'd,
And tell thy selfe thou art a happy man.
Pull downe thy Barnes, and boasting bigger build.
As if thy blessed state were new began.
Then comes a voyce, with horror and affright,
Thou foole, Ile fetch away thy soule this night.
75
And tell me then, who shall these Goods possesseThat thou hast damn'd thy selfe to purchase them?
Who shall be heire to all thy vaine excesse,
For which thy soule, that deare (too deare) bought Iem,
In hazard is, of endlesse wretchednesse
Be'ing banisht from the new Ierusalem.
The goods are Ill, that doth the world controule,
Whose cursed gaine, doth lose the Owners soule.
76
What's in the world should make men wish to liue,If men could well consider what it is:
What in the world that happinesse can giue,
Which is not drownd in sorrowes blacke Abiss?
What goods in the world can a man atchieue,
But woe and misery, o'rewhelmes his blisse?
No pleasures, or contentments stedfast are:
For all we can call Ours, is onely Care.
8
77
I'haue seene a Gallant, mounted all in goldLike Alexander, on Bucephalus:
The ground (in his conceit) too base to hold
Him, whom the smiles of Fortune fauours thus.
But in his height of heat, how soone hee's cold,
By death, snatch'd from his pompe, himselfe, & vs!
His Name, and Noble-Mushrom-fame forgot,
And all things (but his shame) must lye and rot.
78
The beauteous Lady, that appeares a Saint,Of Angells forme, and Heau'n admired hue:
That can (by Art) defectiue Nature paint,
And make false colours to the eye seeme true:
Yet Death at last, her brau'ry doth attaint,
And (spight her Art) she must pay Natures due.
The rarest features, and the fairest formes
Must dye and rot, and be consum'd with wormes.
79
Wealth, Beauty, as they are abusde or vsde,They make the Owners either curst or blest:
As Good or Ill is in the minde infusde,
They adde a ioyfull rest, or woes vnrest:
To vse them well th'are blest, but if abusde,
Thy God doth thee & them loath and detest:
And turnes his blessings, which should most cōtent thee,
To dreadfull cursings, which shal stil torment thee.
80
Seeke then Heau'ns Kingdome, and things that are right,And all things else shall be vpon thee cast:
Thy dayes of Ioy shall neuer turne to night,
Thy blessed state shall euerlasting last.
Liue still, as euer in thy Makers sight,
And let Repentance purge thy vices past.
Remember thou must drink of deaths sharpe cup,
And of thy Stewardship account giue vp.
81
Had'st thou the beauty of faire Absolon,Or did thy strength the strength of Sampson passe:
Or could thy wisedome match wise Salomon,
Or might thy riches Cressus wealth surpasse;
Or were thy pompe beyond great Babylon,
(The proudest Monarchy that euer was,)
Yet Beauty, Wisedome, Riches, Strength, and State,
Age, Death, and Time, will spoile and ruinate.
82
Make of the World, no more then as it is,A vale of Cares, of miseries, and woes:
Thinke of it, as the sinke of all amisse,
That blinds our Sences with deceiuing showes:
Account it as a den of balefull blisse,
The which (vnthought of) all estates o'rethrowes,
How Satan in it beares a Lordly sway,
And how none but his subiects it obey.
83
And whilst thou runn'st this transitory race,Vse well the blessings God to thee hath sent:
Doe Good with them whilst thou hast time & space,
And know they are but things vnto thee lent.
Know that thou must appeare before Gods face,
To answer if they well, or ill be spent.
If thou hast spent them well, then heau'n is thine,
If ill, th'art damn'd to hell, by doome Diuine.
84
But ten times happy shall that Steward be,Which at the last the Lord shall faithfull finde:
Heart, tongue or eyes, cannot thinke, speake, or see
The glory that to him shall be assignde.
He shall out-passe the Angells in degree,
He shall out-shine all Starres that euer shinde.
He shall for euer, and for euer sing
Eternall prayses to his God and King.
85
Vnto which God the Father, first and last,Whose goodnes, all conseru's, preseru's, and feeds:
To God the Sonne, whose merits downe hath cast
Sinne, death, and hell, (due vnto sinners meeds.)
To thee O Holy Ghost, that euer wast
The blessing that from Sire, and Sonne proceeds:
And to the vn-deuided Three in One,
All Power, and Praise, and Glory be alone.
FINIS.
| All the workes of Iohn Taylor the Water-Poet | |