The Wisdome of Solomon Paraphrased Written by Thomas Middleton |
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| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
Chapter XII.
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| XIII. |
| XIIII. |
| XV. |
| XVI. |
| XVII. |
| XVIII. |
| XIX. |
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Chapter XII.
The Wisdome of Solomon Paraphrased |  |
Chapter XII.
Uerse 1 2
When all the elements of mortall life,
Were placed in the mansion of their skin,
Each hauing dayly motion to be rife,
Closde in that body which doth close thē in,
God sent his holy spirit vnto man,
Which did begin when first the world began.
Were placed in the mansion of their skin,
Each hauing dayly motion to be rife,
Closde in that body which doth close thē in,
God sent his holy spirit vnto man,
Which did begin when first the world began.
So that the body which was king of al,
Is subiect vnto that which now is king,
Which chastneth those whom mischiefe doth exhale,
Vnto misdeeds from whence destructions spring:
Yet mercifull it is though it be chiefe,
Conuerting vice to good, sin to beliefe.
Is subiect vnto that which now is king,
Which chastneth those whom mischiefe doth exhale,
Vnto misdeeds from whence destructions spring:
Yet mercifull it is though it be chiefe,
Conuerting vice to good, sin to beliefe.
Verse 3
Old time is often lost in being balld,
Balld because old, old because liuing long,
It is reiected oft when it is calld,
And weares out age with age, still being yong:
Twice children we, twice feeble, and once strong,
But being old, we sin, and do youth wrong.
Balld because old, old because liuing long,
It is reiected oft when it is calld,
And weares out age with age, still being yong:
Twice children we, twice feeble, and once strong,
But being old, we sin, and do youth wrong.
The more we grow in age, the more in vice,
A house-roome long vnswept wil gather dust,
Our long vnthawed soules wil freeze to ice,
And weare the badge of long imprisoned rust:
So those inhabitants in youth twice borne,
Were old in sin, more olde in heauens scorne.
A house-roome long vnswept wil gather dust,
Our long vnthawed soules wil freeze to ice,
And weare the badge of long imprisoned rust:
So those inhabitants in youth twice borne,
Were old in sin, more olde in heauens scorne.
Uer. 4 5
Committing workes as inckie spots of fame,
Commencing wordes like foaming vices waues,
Committing and commencing mischiefes name,
With workes and words sworne to be vices slaues:
As sorcery, witchcraft, mischieuous deeds,
And sacrifice which wicked fancies feeds.
Commencing wordes like foaming vices waues,
Committing and commencing mischiefes name,
With workes and words sworne to be vices slaues:
As sorcery, witchcraft, mischieuous deeds,
And sacrifice which wicked fancies feeds.
Well may I call that wicked which is more,
I rather would be lowe than be too hie,
Oh wondrous practisers clothde all in gore,
To end that life, which their owne liues did buy:
More than swine-like eating mans bowelles vp,
Their banquets dish, their blood their banquets cup.
I rather would be lowe than be too hie,
Oh wondrous practisers clothde all in gore,
To end that life, which their owne liues did buy:
More than swine-like eating mans bowelles vp,
Their banquets dish, their blood their banquets cup.
Verse 6 7
Butchers vnnaturall, worse by their trade,
Whose house the bloody shambles of decay,
More than a slaughter-house which butchers made,
More than an Eschip seely bodies pray:
Thorow whose hearts a bloody shambles runnes,
They do not butcher beasts, but their owne sonnes.
Whose house the bloody shambles of decay,
More than a slaughter-house which butchers made,
More than an Eschip seely bodies pray:
Thorow whose hearts a bloody shambles runnes,
They do not butcher beasts, but their owne sonnes.
Chief murdrers of their soules, which their souls boght
Extinguishers of light which their liues gaue,
More than kniue butchers they, butchers in thought,
Sextons to digge their owne begotten graue:
Making their habitations old in sinne,
Which God doth reconcile and new beginne.
Extinguishers of light which their liues gaue,
More than kniue butchers they, butchers in thought,
Sextons to digge their owne begotten graue:
Making their habitations old in sinne,
Which God doth reconcile and new beginne.
Uerse 8 9
That murdring place was turnd into delight,
That bloody slaughter-house to peaces breast,
That lawlesse pallace, to a place of right,
That slaughtring shambles to a liuing rest:
Made meete for iustice, fit for happinesse,
Vnmeete for sin, vnfit for wickednesse.
That bloody slaughter-house to peaces breast,
That lawlesse pallace, to a place of right,
That slaughtring shambles to a liuing rest:
Made meete for iustice, fit for happinesse,
Vnmeete for sin, vnfit for wickednesse.
Yet the inhabitants, though mischiefes slaues,
Were not dead-drencht in their destructions flood,
God hop'd to raise repentance from sins graues,
And hop'd that paines delay would make them good:
Not that he was vnable to subdue them,
But that their sins repentance should renue them.
Were not dead-drencht in their destructions flood,
God hop'd to raise repentance from sins graues,
And hop'd that paines delay would make them good:
Not that he was vnable to subdue them,
But that their sins repentance should renue them.
Ver. 10
Delay is tooke for vertue and for vice,
Delay is good, and yet delay is bad,
Tis vertue when it thawes repentance ice,
Tis vice to put off things we haue or had:
But here it followeth repentance way,
Therefore it is nor sins nor mischiefes pray.
Delay is good, and yet delay is bad,
Tis vertue when it thawes repentance ice,
Tis vice to put off things we haue or had:
But here it followeth repentance way,
Therefore it is nor sins nor mischiefes pray.
Delay in punishment is double paine,
And euery paine makes a twice double thought,
Doubling the way to our liues better gaine,
Doubling repentance which is single bought:
For fruitles grafts when they are too much lopt,
More fruitlesse are, for why their fruits are stopt.
And euery paine makes a twice double thought,
Doubling the way to our liues better gaine,
Doubling repentance which is single bought:
For fruitles grafts when they are too much lopt,
More fruitlesse are, for why their fruits are stopt.
Uer. 11
So fares it with the wicked plants of sin,
The rootes of mischiefe, toppes of villany,
They worser are with too much punishing,
Because by nature prone to iniury:
For tis but folly to supplant his thought,
Whose heart is wholy giuen to be nought.
The rootes of mischiefe, toppes of villany,
They worser are with too much punishing,
Because by nature prone to iniury:
For tis but folly to supplant his thought,
Whose heart is wholy giuen to be nought.
These seeded were in seede; oh cursed plant,
Seeded with other seede, Oh cursed roote,
Too much of good doth turne vnto goods want,
As too much seede doth turne to too much soote:
Bitter in taste, presuming of their height,
Like misty vapours in blacke-coloured night.
Seeded with other seede, Oh cursed roote,
Too much of good doth turne vnto goods want,
As too much seede doth turne to too much soote:
Bitter in taste, presuming of their height,
Like misty vapours in blacke-coloured night.
Uer. 12
But god whose powerful arms one strength doth hold
Scorning to staine his force vpon their faces,
Will send his messengers both hote and colde,
To make them shadowes of their owne disgraces:
His hot Ambassador is fire, his cold
Is winde, which two scorne for to be controld.
Scorning to staine his force vpon their faces,
Will send his messengers both hote and colde,
To make them shadowes of their owne disgraces:
His hot Ambassador is fire, his cold
Is winde, which two scorne for to be controld.
For who dares say vnto the King of kings,
What hast thou done, which ought to be vndone?
Or who dares stand against thy iudgements stings?
Or dare accuse thee for the nations mone?
Or who dare say, reuenge this ill for me?
Or stand against the Lord with villanie?
What hast thou done, which ought to be vndone?
Or who dares stand against thy iudgements stings?
Or dare accuse thee for the nations mone?
Or who dare say, reuenge this ill for me?
Or stand against the Lord with villanie?
Ver. 13
What he hath done he knowes, what he will doe,
He weigheth with the ballance of his eies,
What iudgement he pronounceth must be so,
And those which he oppresseth cannot rise:
Reuenge lies in his hands, when he doth please,
He can reuenge, and loue, punish, and ease.
He weigheth with the ballance of his eies,
What iudgement he pronounceth must be so,
And those which he oppresseth cannot rise:
Reuenge lies in his hands, when he doth please,
He can reuenge, and loue, punish, and ease.
The carued spectacle which workemen make,
Is subiect vnto them, not they to it,
They which from God a liuely forme do take,
Should much more yeeld vnto their makers wit:
Sith there is none but he which hath his thought,
Caring for that which he hath made of nought.
Is subiect vnto them, not they to it,
They which from God a liuely forme do take,
Should much more yeeld vnto their makers wit:
Sith there is none but he which hath his thought,
Caring for that which he hath made of nought.
Uer. 14
The clay is subiect to the potters hands,
Which with a new deuice makes a new moule,
And what are we I pray but clayie bands,
With ashie body, ioynde to cleaner soule?
Yet we once made, scorne to be made againe,
But liue in sin like clayie lumps of paine.
Which with a new deuice makes a new moule,
And what are we I pray but clayie bands,
With ashie body, ioynde to cleaner soule?
Yet we once made, scorne to be made againe,
But liue in sin like clayie lumps of paine.
Yet if hot anger smother coole delight,
Hee'le mould our bodies in destructions forme,
And make our selues as subiects to his might,
In the least fewell of his angers storme:
Nor king, nor tyrant, dare aske or demaund,
What punishment is this thou hast in hand?
Hee'le mould our bodies in destructions forme,
And make our selues as subiects to his might,
In the least fewell of his angers storme:
Nor king, nor tyrant, dare aske or demaund,
What punishment is this thou hast in hand?
Uer. 15
We all are captiues to thy regall throne,
Our prison is the earth, our bands our sins,
And our accuser our owne bodies grone,
Prest downe with vices weights, and mischiefs gins:
Before the barre of heau'n we pleade for fauour,
To cleanse our sin-bespotted bodies sauour.
Our prison is the earth, our bands our sins,
And our accuser our owne bodies grone,
Prest downe with vices weights, and mischiefs gins:
Before the barre of heau'n we pleade for fauour,
To cleanse our sin-bespotted bodies sauour.
Thou righteous art, our pleading then is right,
Thou mercifull, we hope for mercies grace,
Thou ordrest euery thing with looke-on sight;
Behold vs prisoners in earths wandring race:
We know thy pitty is without a bound,
And sparest them which in some faults be found.
Thou mercifull, we hope for mercies grace,
Thou ordrest euery thing with looke-on sight;
Behold vs prisoners in earths wandring race:
We know thy pitty is without a bound,
And sparest them which in some faults be found.
Uer. 16
Thy power is as thy selfe, without an end,
Beginning all to end, yet ending none,
Sonne vnto vertues sonne, and wisedomes frend,
Originall of blisse to vertue showne:
Beginning good which neuer ends in vice,
Beginning flames which neuer ende in ice.
Beginning all to end, yet ending none,
Sonne vnto vertues sonne, and wisedomes frend,
Originall of blisse to vertue showne:
Beginning good which neuer ends in vice,
Beginning flames which neuer ende in ice.
For righteousnes is good in such a name,
It righteous is, tis good in such a deed,
A lamp it is, fed with discretions flame,
Begins in seede, but neuer ends in seed:
By this we know the Lord is iust and wise,
Which causeth him to spare vs when he tries.
It righteous is, tis good in such a deed,
A lamp it is, fed with discretions flame,
Begins in seede, but neuer ends in seed:
By this we know the Lord is iust and wise,
Which causeth him to spare vs when he tries.
Ver. 17
Iust, because iustice weighs what wisedome thinkes,
Wise, because wisedome thinkes what iustice weighs,
One vertue maketh two, and two more linckes,
Wisedome is iust, and iustice neuer straies:
The help of one doth make the other better,
As is the want of one the others letter.
Wise, because wisedome thinkes what iustice weighs,
One vertue maketh two, and two more linckes,
Wisedome is iust, and iustice neuer straies:
The help of one doth make the other better,
As is the want of one the others letter.
But wisedome hath two properties in wit,
As iustice hath two contraries in force,
Heate added vnto heate augmenteth it,
As too much water bursts a water-course:
Gods wisdome too much proou'd doth breed gods hate,
Gods iustice too much mou'de breeds Gods debate.
As iustice hath two contraries in force,
Heate added vnto heate augmenteth it,
As too much water bursts a water-course:
Gods wisdome too much proou'd doth breed gods hate,
Gods iustice too much mou'de breeds Gods debate.
Uer. 18
Although the ashy prison of fire-durst,
Doth keepe the flaming heate imprisoned in,
Yet sometime wil it burne, when flame it must,
And burst the ashie caue where it hath bin:
So if Gods mercy passe the bounds of mirth,
It is not mercy then, but mercies dearth.
Doth keepe the flaming heate imprisoned in,
Yet sometime wil it burne, when flame it must,
And burst the ashie caue where it hath bin:
So if Gods mercy passe the bounds of mirth,
It is not mercy then, but mercies dearth.
Yet how can loue breed hate, without hates loue?
God doth not hate to loue, nor loue to hate,
His equitie doth euery action proue,
Smothring with loue that spitefull enuies fate:
For should the teene of anger trace his brow,
The very puffes of rage would driue the plow.
God doth not hate to loue, nor loue to hate,
His equitie doth euery action proue,
Smothring with loue that spitefull enuies fate:
For should the teene of anger trace his brow,
The very puffes of rage would driue the plow.
Uerse 19
But God did end his toile when world begun,
Now like a louer studies how to please,
And win their harts againe, whom mischiefe won,
Lodg'd in the mansion of their sins disease:
Hee made each mortall man two eares, two eyes,
To heare and see; yet he must make them wise.
Now like a louer studies how to please,
And win their harts againe, whom mischiefe won,
Lodg'd in the mansion of their sins disease:
Hee made each mortall man two eares, two eyes,
To heare and see; yet he must make them wise.
If imitation should direct mans life,
Tis life to imitate a liuing corse,
The things example makes the thing more rife,
God louing is, why do wee want remorce?
Hee put repentance into sinfull hearts,
And sed their fruitlesse soules, with fruitfull arts.
Tis life to imitate a liuing corse,
The things example makes the thing more rife,
God louing is, why do wee want remorce?
Hee put repentance into sinfull hearts,
And sed their fruitlesse soules, with fruitfull arts.
Ver. 20 21
If such a boundlesse Ocean of good deeds,
Should haue such influence from mercies streame,
Kissing both good, and ill, flowers, and weedes,
As doth the sunnie flame of Tytans beame,
A greater Tethis then should mercy bee,
In flowing vnto them which loueth thee.
Should haue such influence from mercies streame,
Kissing both good, and ill, flowers, and weedes,
As doth the sunnie flame of Tytans beame,
A greater Tethis then should mercy bee,
In flowing vnto them which loueth thee.
The sunne which shines in heau'n doth light the earth
The earth which shines in sin doth spight the heau'n,
Sinne is earths sunne, the sunne of heau'n sins dearth,
Both odde in light, being of height not eu'n:
Gods mercy then which spares both good and ill,
Doth care for both, though not alike in will.
The earth which shines in sin doth spight the heau'n,
Sinne is earths sunne, the sunne of heau'n sins dearth,
Both odde in light, being of height not eu'n:
Gods mercy then which spares both good and ill,
Doth care for both, though not alike in will.
Uerse 22
Can vice be vertues mate, or vertues meate?
Her company is bad, her foode more worse,
Shee shames to sit vpon her betters seat,
As subiect beasts wanting the Lions force,
Mercy is vertues badge, foe to disdaine,
Vertue is vices stop, and mercies gaine.
Her company is bad, her foode more worse,
Shee shames to sit vpon her betters seat,
As subiect beasts wanting the Lions force,
Mercy is vertues badge, foe to disdaine,
Vertue is vices stop, and mercies gaine.
Yet God is mercifull, to mischiefe flowes,
More mercifull in sins and sinners want,
God chast'neth vs, and punisheth our foes,
Like sluggish drones, amongst a laboring ant:
Wee hope for mercy at our bodies doome,
Wee hope for heau'n, the baile of earthly tombe.
More mercifull in sins and sinners want,
God chast'neth vs, and punisheth our foes,
Like sluggish drones, amongst a laboring ant:
Wee hope for mercy at our bodies doome,
Wee hope for heau'n, the baile of earthly tombe.
Ver. 23
What hope they for, what hope haue they of heau'n?
They hope for vice, and they haue hope of hell,
From whence their soules eternity is giu'n,
But such eternity which paines can tell:
They liue; but better were it for to die,
Immortall in their paine and misery.
They hope for vice, and they haue hope of hell,
From whence their soules eternity is giu'n,
But such eternity which paines can tell:
They liue; but better were it for to die,
Immortall in their paine and misery.
Hath hell such freedome to deuoure soules?
Are soules so bolde to rush in such a place?
God giues hell power of vice, which hell controules:
Vice makes her followers bolde with armed face,
God tortures both, the mistris and the man,
And ends in paine, that which in vice began.
Are soules so bolde to rush in such a place?
God giues hell power of vice, which hell controules:
Vice makes her followers bolde with armed face,
God tortures both, the mistris and the man,
And ends in paine, that which in vice began.
Uerse 24
A bad beginning makes a worser end,
Without repentance meet the middle way,
Making a mediocrity their friend,
Which else would be their foe, because they stray:
But if repentance misse the middle line,
The sunne of vertue endes in wests decline.
Without repentance meet the middle way,
Making a mediocrity their friend,
Which else would be their foe, because they stray:
But if repentance misse the middle line,
The sunne of vertue endes in wests decline.
So did it fare with these, which strai'd too far,
Beyond the measure of the middayes eye,
In errors waies, lead without vertues star,
Esteeming beast-like powers for deitie:
Whose heart no thought of vnderstanding ment,
Whose tongue no word of vnderstanding sent.
Beyond the measure of the middayes eye,
In errors waies, lead without vertues star,
Esteeming beast-like powers for deitie:
Whose heart no thought of vnderstanding ment,
Whose tongue no word of vnderstanding sent.
Ver. 25
Like infant babes bearing their natures shell,
Vpon the tender heads of tendrer wit,
which tongue-tide are, hauing no tale to tell,
To driue away the childhood of their fit:
Vnfit to tune their tongue with wisedomes string,
Too fit to quench their thirst in follies spring.
Vpon the tender heads of tendrer wit,
which tongue-tide are, hauing no tale to tell,
To driue away the childhood of their fit:
Vnfit to tune their tongue with wisedomes string,
Too fit to quench their thirst in follies spring.
But they were trees to babes, babes sprigs to them,
They not so good as these, in being nought,
In being nought, the more from vices stem,
Whose essence cannot come without a thought;
To punish them, is punishment in season;
They children like, without or wit, or reason.
They not so good as these, in being nought,
In being nought, the more from vices stem,
Whose essence cannot come without a thought;
To punish them, is punishment in season;
They children like, without or wit, or reason.
Uerse 26
To bee derided, is to be halfe dead,
Derision beares a part tweene life and death,
Shame followes her with misery halfe fed,
Halfe-breathing life, to make halfe life and breath:
Yet here was mercy showne, their deeds were more,
Then could bee wipte off by derisions score.
Derision beares a part tweene life and death,
Shame followes her with misery halfe fed,
Halfe-breathing life, to make halfe life and breath:
Yet here was mercy showne, their deeds were more,
Then could bee wipte off by derisions score.
This mercy is the warning of misdeedes,
A trumpet summoning to vertues walls,
To notifie their hearts which mischiefe feeds,
Whom vice instructs, whom wickednes exhal's:
But if derision can not murder sin,
Then shame shall end, and punishment begin.
A trumpet summoning to vertues walls,
To notifie their hearts which mischiefe feeds,
Whom vice instructs, whom wickednes exhal's:
But if derision can not murder sin,
Then shame shall end, and punishment begin.
Ver. 27
For many shamelesse are, bolde, stout in ill,
Then how can shame take roote in shamlesse plants,
When they their browes with shamelesse furrows fill,
And plows ech place, which one plow-furrow wants:
Then being arm'd gainst shame with shamlesse face,
How can derision take a shameful place?
Then how can shame take roote in shamlesse plants,
When they their browes with shamelesse furrows fill,
And plows ech place, which one plow-furrow wants:
Then being arm'd gainst shame with shamlesse face,
How can derision take a shameful place?
But punishment may smoth their wrinckled brow,
And set shame on the forehead of their rage,
Guiding the forefront of that shamelesse row,
Making it smooth in shame, though not in age:
Then will they say, that God is iust and true,
But tis too late, damnation will ensue.
And set shame on the forehead of their rage,
Guiding the forefront of that shamelesse row,
Making it smooth in shame, though not in age:
Then will they say, that God is iust and true,
But tis too late, damnation will ensue.
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Chapter XII.
The Wisdome of Solomon Paraphrased | |