The Hymnes and Songs of the Chvrch Diuided into two parts. The first part comprehends the Canonicall Hymnes, and such parcels of Holy Scripture, as may properly be sung, with some other ancient Songs and Creeds. The second part consists of Spirituall Songs, appropriated to the seuerall Times and Occasions obserueable in the Church of England. Translated and Composed by G. VV. [i.e. George Wither] |
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| I. |
| III. |
| V. |
| VI. |
 |
| The Lamentations of Ieremie. |
| XXIIII. |
| XXV. |
| XXVI. |
| XXVII. |
| XXVIII. |
|
| XXXVII. |
| XXXVIII. |
| XXXIX. |
| XL. |
| XLI. |
| XLII. |
| XLIII. |
| XLIIII. |
|
 | The Hymnes and Songs of the Chvrch |  |
72
The Lamentations of Ieremie.
73
SONG XXIIII. Lament. 1.
[1]
How sad and solitarie now (alas) is that wel-peopled Citie come to be,which once so great among the Nations Was:
And, oh how widdow-like appeareth she!
74
And now her selfe is tributarie made.
2
All night shee maketh such excessiue moneThat downe her Cheekes a flood of teares doth flow:
And yet, among her Louers there is none,
That Consolation doth on her bestow.
For, they that once her Louers did appeare,
Now, turned Foes, and faithlesse to her are.
3
Now Iudah in Captiuitie complaines,That (others) heretofore so much opprest:
For her false seruice, She her selfe remaines
Among those Heathens, where she finds no rest:
And apprehended in a Strait is she,
By those that persecutors of her be
4
The very waies of Sion doe lament:75
Because that no man commeth to frequent
Her solemne Festiualls, as heretofore:
Her Priests doe sigh; Her tender Virgins bee
Vncomfortable left; And so is Shee.
5
Her Aduersaries are become her Chiefes:On high exalted those that hate her are:
And God hath brought vpon her all those griefes;
Because so many her transgressions were:
Her Children driuen from her by the Foe,
Before him into loathed Thraldome goe.
6
From Sions Daughter (once without compare)Now all her matchlesse louelinesse is gone:
And like those chased Harts her Princes fare,
Who seeke for pasture and can finde out none:
So, (of their strength depriu'd, and fainting nigh)
Before their abler Foes they feebly flie.
7
Ierusalem now thinkes vpon her Crimes,And calls to minde, (amid her present woes)
The pleasures she enioy'd in former times,
Till first shee was surprised by her Foes;
And how, (when they perceiued her forlorne)
They at her holy Sabbaths made a scorne.
8
Ierusalem's Transgressions many were,And therfore is it she disdained lies:
Those, who in former times haue honour'd her,
Her basenesse now behold, and her despise;
Yea, She Her-selfe doth sit bewailing this;
76
9
Her owne vncleannesse in her skirt she bore;Not then beleeuing what her end would bee:
This great destruction falls on her therefore;
And none to helpe, or comfort her, hath she.
Oh, heed thou, Lord, and pittie thou my woes:
For, I am triumph't ouer by my Foes.
10
Her Foe hath touch'd with his polluted hand,Her things that Sacred were, before her face;
And they whose entrance thou did'st countermand,
Intruded haue into her Holy place:
Those that were not so much approu'd by Thee,
As of thy Congregation held to be.
11
Her People doe with sighs, and sorrowes, getThat little bread, which for reliefe they haue;
And giue away their precious things for meat,
So to procure wherewith their liues to saue.
Oh Lord consider this, and ponder Thou,
How vile, and how deiected I am now.
12
No pittie in you passengers is there?Your eies, oh somewhat hitherward encline;
And marke, if euer any griefe there were,
Or sorrow that did equall this of mine:
This, which the Lord on me inflicted hath,
Vpon the day of his incensed wrath.
13
He from aboue a flame hath hurled downe;That kindles in my bones preuailing fire:
77
By which I am compelled to retire;
And he hath made me a Forsaken-one,
To sit, and weepe out all the day alone.
14
The heauie Yoke, of my Transgressions now,His hand hath wreathed, and vpon me laid:
Beneath the same my tyred necke doth bow,
And all my strength is totally decay'd.
For me to those the Lord hath giuen o're,
Whose hands will hold me fast for euermore.
15
The Lord hath trampled vnderneath their Feet,Eu'n all the Mightie, in the mid'st of Me:
A great Assembly he hath caus'd to meet,
That all my ablest men might slaughtred be;
And Iudah's Virgin-Daughter treads vpon,
As in a Wine-presse Grapes are troden on.
16
For this (alas) thus weepe I; And mine eies,Mine eies drop water thus; because that he,
On whose assistance my sad Soule relies;
In my distresse is farre away from me;
Eu'n while (because of my prevailing Foe)
My Children are compeld from me to goe.
17
In vaine hath Sion stretched forth her hand;For, none vnto her succour draweth nigh;
Because the Lord hath giuen in command,
That Iacobs Foes should round about her lie;
And poore Ierusalem among them there,
Like some defiled woman doth appeare.
78
18
The Lord is iustified nay-the-lesse,Because I did not his commands obey.
All Nations therefore heare my heauinesse,
And heed it (for your warning) you I pray.
For, into thraldome (through my follies) be
My Virgins, and my Youngmen borne from me.
19
Vpon my Louers I haue cried out;But they my groundlesse hopes deceiued all:
I for my reu'rend Priests enquir'd about;
I also did vpon mine Elders call:
But, in the Citie vp the Ghost they gaue,
As they were seeking meat their liues to saue.
20
Oh Lord, take pittie now on my distresse:For loe, my soule distemper'd is in mee:
My heart is ouercome with heauinesse;
Because I haue so much offended thee.
Thy Sword abroad my ruine doth become;
And Death doth also threaten me at home.
21
And of my sad complaints my Foes haue heard,But to afford me comfort there is none.
My troubles haue at full to them appear'd;
Yet they are ioyfull that thou so hast done.
But thou wilt bring the Time set downe by thee,
And then in sorrow they shall equall me.
22
Then shall those foule Offences they haue wrought,Before thy presence be remembred all;
79
(For their Transgressions) vpon them shall fall.
For, so my sighings multiplied be,
That the rewithall my heart is faint in me.
SONG. XXV. Lament. 2.
[1]
How darke, and how beclowded (in his wrath)The Lord hath caused Sion to appeare!
How Isr'els beautie he obscured hath,
As if throwne downe from heau'n to earth he were!
Oh, why is his displeasure growne so hot?
And why hath he his Foot-stoole so forgot?
2
The Lord all Sions dwellings hath laid wast;80
For, in his anger to the ground he cast
The strongest holds that Iudah's Daughter had:
Them, and their Kingdome he to ground doth send,
And all the Princes of it doth suspend.
3
When at the highest his displeasure was,From Isr'el all his horne of strength he broke;
And from before his aduersaries face,
His Right-hand (that restrained him) he tooke;
Yea, he in Iacob kindled such a flame,
As round about hath quite consum'd the same,
4
His Bow he as an Aduersarie bent,And by his Right-hand he did plainely shew,
He drew it with an Enemies intent:
For, all that were the fairest Markes he slew:
In Sions Tabernacle this was done;
Eu'n there the fire of his displeasure shone.
5
The Lord himselfe was he that was the Foe:By him is Isr'el thus to ruine gone:
His Palaces he ouerturned so;
And He his Holds of strength hath ouerthrowne:
Eu'n He it is, from whom it doth arise,
That Isr'els Daughter thus lamenting lies.
6
His Tabernacle, Garden-like that was,The Lord with violence hath tooke away:
He hath destroyed his Assembling place;
And there, nor Feasts, nor Sabboths now haue they:
81
He both their King and Priests reiected hath.
7
The Lord his holy Altar doth forgoe;His Sanctuarie he hath quite despiz'd.
Yea, by his meere assistance hath our Foe
The Bulwarkes of our Palaces surpriz'd;
And in the Lords owne House rude Noises are
As loud as heretofore his Praises were.
8
The Lord, his thought did purposely encline,The Walls of Sion should be ouerthrowne:
To that intent he stretched forth his Line,
And drew not backe his hand till they were downe,
And so the Turrets with the bruised Wall,
Did both together to destruction fall.
9
Her Gates in heaps of Earth obscured are;The Barres of them in pieces, broke hath he:
Her King, and those that once her Princes were,
Now borne away among the Gentiles be.
The Law is lost, and they no Prophet haue,
That from the Lord a Vision doth receiue.
10
In silence, seated on the lowly ground,The Senators of Sions Daughter are:
With Ashes they their carefull heads haue crown'd,
And mourning Sack-cloth girded on them weare;
Yea, on the Earth, in a distressed wise,
Ierusalem's young Virgins fixe their eies.
11
And for because my People suffer this,82
Each part within me out of quiet is;
And on the ground my Liuer forth I throw;
When as mine eies with so sad Obiects meet;
As Babes halfe dead, and sprawling in the street.
12
For, to their Mothers called they for meat;Oh where shall we haue meat and drinke! they crie:
And in the Citie, while they food entreat,
They swone, like them that deadly-wounded lye:
And some of them their Soules did breath away,
As in the Mothers bosome staru'd they lay.
13
Ierusalem, for thee what can I say?Or vnto what maist thou resembled be?
Oh! whereunto, that comfort thee I may,
Thou Sions Daughter, shall I liken thee?
For, as the Sea's, so great thy Breaches are:
And to repaire them then; Ah who is there!
14
Thou by thy Prophets hast deluded beene;And foolish Visions they for thee haue sought.
For, they reuealed not to thee thy sinne,
To turne away the thraldome it hath brought:
But lying Prophesies they sought for thee;
Which of thy sad exile the Causes be.
15
And those, thou Daughter of Ierusalem,That on occasions passe along this way,
With clapping hands, and hissings, thee contemne;
And nodding at Thee, thus in scorne they say;
83
The Flowre of Beautie, and the Worlds Delight?
16
Thy Aduersaries (eu'ry one of them)Their mouths haue open'd at thee, to thy shame:
They hisse, and gnash at Thee, Ierusalem;
We, we (say they) haue quite destroi'd the same:
This is that day hath long expected beene,
Now commeth it, and we the same haue seene.
17
But, this the Lord decreed, and brought to passe:Hee, to make good that Word which once he spake,
(And that which long agoe determin'd was)
Hath hurled downe, and did no pittie take:
He thus hath made thee scorned of thy Foe,
And rais'd the Horne of them that hate thee so.
18
Oh Wall of Sions Daughter, cry amaine,Eu'n to the Lord set forth a heartie Cry:
Downe, like a Riuer, cause thy teares to raine,
And let them neither Day nor Night be dry.
Seeke neither sleepe, thy body to suffice,
Nor slumber for the Apples of thine eies.
19
At night, and when the Watch is new begun,Then rise, and to the Lord Almightie Crie:
Before him let thy Heart like water runne,
And lift thou vp to him thy Hands on high,
Eu'n for those hunger-starued Babes of thine,
That in the Corners of the Streets doe pine.
84
20
And thou, oh Lord; Oh be thou pleas'd to see,And thinke on whom thy iudgments thou hast thrown
Shall women fed with their owne Issue be,
And Children that a span are scarcely growne?
Shall thus thy Priests and Prophets, Lord, be slaine,
As in thy Sanctuarie they remaine?
21
Nor Youth, nor Age, is from the slaughter free;For, in the Streets lye Young and Old, and all:
My Virgins, and my young men, murthered be;
Eu'n both beneath the Sword together fall.
Thou, in thy Day of Wrath such hauocke mad'st,
That in deuowring thou no pittie had'st.
22
Thou, round about hast call'd my feared Foes,As if that summond to some Feast they were:
Who in thy Day of Wrath did round enclose,
And shut me so that none escaped are:
Yea, those that hate me them consumed haue,
To whom I nourishment, and breeding gaue.
85
SONG. XXVI. Lament. 3.
[1]
I am the Man, who (scourged in his wrath)Haue in all sorrowe I throughly tried beene:
Into obscuritie he led me hath:
He brought me thither where no light is seene:
And so aduerse himselfe to me he showes,
That all the day his hand doth me oppose.
2
My flesh and skinne with age he tired out:He bruiz'd my bones as they had broken beene:
Hee with a Wall enclosed me about:
With cares and labours he hath shut me in;
And me to such a place of darkenesse led,
As those are in that be for euer dead.
3
He shut me where I found no passage out;And there my heauy chaines vpon me laid.
Moreouer, though I loudly cried out,
He tooke no heede at all for what I praid:
My Way, with hewed stones he stopped hath,
And left me wandring, in a winding path.
86
4
He was to me like some way-laying Beare;Or as a Lyon that doth lurke vnseene:
My course he hindring, me in peeces tare,
Till I quite ruin'd and laid wast had beene;
His Bow he bended, and that being bent,
I was the marke, at which his Arrow went
5
His Arrowes from his Quiuer forth he caught,And through my verie Raines he made them passe:
Eu'n mine owne people set me then at naught;
And all the day their sporting-Song I was:
From him my fill of bitternesse I had;
And me with Wormwood likewise drunke he made.
6
With stones my teeth he all to pieces brake:He dust and ashes ouer me hath strowne:
All rest hee from my weary soule did take,
As if contentment I had neuer none.
And then I cried; Oh, I am vndone;
All my dependance on the Lord is gone.
7
Oh, mind thou my afflictions and my care;My miseries, my Wormewood, and my Gall:
For, they still fresh in my remembrance are;
And downe in me my humbled soule doth fall.
I this forget not, and when this I minde,
Some helpe againe, I doe begin to finde.
8
It is thy mercy, Lord, that we now be:For, had thy pitty fail'd, not one had liu'd:
The faithfulnesse is great that is in Thee;
87
And Lord, such claime my soule vnto thee laies,
That she will euer trust in thee, shee saies.
9
For, thou art kinde to those that worke thy will;And to their soules that after thee attend,
Good therefore is it, that in quiet still
We hope that safety, which thou Lord, wilt send.
And happie he that timely doth enure
His youthfull necke, the burthen to endure.
10
He downe will sit alone, and nothing say;But, since 'tis cast vpon him beare it out.
(Yea, though his mouth vpon the dust they lay)
And, while there may be hope, will not misdoubt.
His cheeke to him that smiteth, offers he;
And is content, though he reuiled be.
11
For, sure is he (what euer doth befall)The Lord, will not forsake for euermore:
But that he hauing punish't, pittie shall;
Because he many mercies hath in store.
For, God in plaguing take no pleasure can,
Nor willingly afflicteth any man.
12
The Lord delighteth not to trample downeThose men that here on earth enthralled are:
Or that a righteous man should be o'rethrowne,
When hee before the highest doth appeare.
Nor is the Lord well pleased in the sight,
When he beholds the wrong, subuert the Right.
88
13
Let no man mutter then, as if he thoughtSome things were done in spight of Gods decree?
For, all things at his word to passe are brought,
That either for our good or euill be.
Why then liues man such murmures to begin?
Oh! let him rather murmur at his sinne.
14
Our owne lewd Courses let vs search and trie,Wee may to thee againe, Oh Lord, conuart.
To God that dwelleth in the heauens on high,
Let vs (oh let vs) lift both hand and heart:
For, wee haue sinned; we rebellious were;
And therefore was it that thou didst not spare.
15
For this (with wrath o'reshadow'd) thou hast chac'tAnd slaughter made of vs without remorse:
Thy selfe obscured with a cloud thou hast,
That so our praiers might haue no recourse;
And loe, among the Heathen-people, we
As out-casts, and off-scourings reckon'd be.
16
Our Aduersaries all (and euery where)Themselues, with open mouth, against vs set.
On vs is falne a Terrour, and a snare,
Where Ruine hath with Desolation met;
And, for the Daughter of my Peoples cares,
Mine eies doe cast forth Rivulets of teares.
17
Mine eies perpetually were ouerflowne;And yet there is no ceasing of my Teares.
For, if the Lord in mercie looke not downe,
89
They will not stint: But, for my peoples sake,
Mine eies will weep, vntill my heart doth breake.
18
As, when a Bird is chased to and fro,My Foes pursued me when cause was none:
Into the Dungeon they my life did throw;
And there they rowled ouer me a stone.
The waters likewise ouerflow'd me quite;
And then me thought I perished out-right.
19
Yet on thy Name, Oh Lord, I called there;(Eu'n when in that Low Dungeon I did lye)
Whence thou wert pleased my complaint to heare;
Not sleighting me when I did sighing cry:
That very day I called, thou drew'st neare,
And saidst vnto me, that I should not feare.
20
Thou Lord, my soule maintainest in her right:My life by thee alone redeemed was;
Thou hast, Oh Lord, obserued my despight;
Vouchsafe thy iudgment also in my cause.
For, all the grudge they heare me, thou hast seene;
And all their plots that haue against me beene.
21
Thou heardst what slanders they against me laid,And all those mischiefes they deuiz'd for me:
Thou notest what their lips of me haue said,
Eu'n what their daily closest whisprings be;
And how (when ere they rise or downe doe lye)
Their Song, and subiect of their mirth am I.
90
22
But, Lord, thou shalt reward and pay them allThat meede their actions merit to receiue:
Thy heauy malediction ceaze them shall;
Eu'n this; Sad hearts they shall for euer haue:
And by thy wrath pursude they shall be driuen,
Till they are chased out from vnder heauen.
SONG XXVII. Lament. 4.
[1]
How dimme the Gold doth now appeare!(That Gold which once so brightly shone)
About the Citie here, and there,
91
The Sonnes of Sion late compar'd
To Gold (the richest in esteeme)
Like Potsheards are without regard,
And base as earthen vessells seeme.
2
The Monsters of the Sea haue care,Their breasts vnto their young to giue:
But crueller my people are;
And Estrige-like in Desarts liue.
With thirst the Sucklings tongues are drie;
And to their parched roofes they cleaue:
For bread young children also cry;
But none at all they can receiue.
3
Those that were vs'd to daintie fare,Now in the streets halfe starued lie;
And they that once did scarlet weare,
Now dung-hill rags about them tie;
Yea, greater plagues my peoples crime
Hath brought on them, then Sodomes were,
For, that was sunke in little time,
And no prolonged death was there.
4
Her Nazarites, whose whitenesse wasMore pure, then either Milke or Snow;
Whose ruddinesse did Rubies passe;
Whose veines did like the Saphire show;
Now blacker then the coale are growne;
And in the streets vnknowne are they;
Their flesh is clung vnto the bone,
And like a sticke is dri'd away.
92
5
Such therefore as the Sword hath slaine,Are farre in better case then those,
Who death for want of food sustaine,
Whilst in the fruitfull field it growes.
For, when my people were distrest,
Eu'n women (that should pittie take)
With their owne hands their children drest,
That so their hunger they might slake.
6
The Lord accomplish't hath his wrath;His fierce displeasure forth is powr'd;
A fire on Sion see he hath,
Which eu'n her ground-worke hath deuour'd,
When there was neither earthly King;
Nor through the whole world, one at all,
Thought any Foe to passe could bring,
That thus Ierusalem should fall.
7
But this hath happened for the guiltOf those that haue her Prophets bin;
And those her wicked Priests that spilt
The blood of Innocents therein:
Along the Streets they stumbling went;
(The blindnesse of these men was such)
And so with blood they were besprent,
That no man would their Garments touch.
8
Depart, depart ('twas therefore sed)From those pollutions get yee far:
So wandring to the Heathen fled,
And said, there was no biding there:
93
Exil'd, and made despised liue;
Yea, sent their Priests and Elders hath,
Where none doth honour to them giue.
9
And as for vs, our eies decai'dWith watching vaine reliefes we haue,
Cause we expect a Nations aide,
That is vnable vs to saue.
For, at our heeles so close they be,
We dare not in the streets appeare:
Our end we therefore comming see,
And know our rooting-out is neare.
10
Our persecutors follow on,As swift as Eagles of the skie:
They o're the mountaines make vs runne;
And in the Desarts for vs lie:
Yea, they haue Christ our life betraid,
And caus'd him in their pits to fall;
(Eu'n him) beneath whose shade we said.
We liue among the Heathen shall.
11
Oh Edom in the Land of Huz,(Though yet o're vs triumph thou may)
Thou shalt receiue this Cup from vs;
Be drunke, and hurle thy cloaths away.
For when thy punishments for sinnes
Accomplished, oh Sion, be;
To visit Edom he begins
And publike make her shame will be.
94
SONG XXVIII. Lament. 5.
[1]
Oh minde thou Lord, our sad distresse;Behold and thinke on our reproach.
Our houses, Strangers doe possesse;
And on our heritage encroch.
Our Mothers, for their husbands grieue;
And of our fathers rob'd are we,
Yea, money we compel'd to giue,
For our owne wood and water be.
2
In persecution we remaine,Where endlesse labour tire vs doth.
And we to serue for bread, are faine
To Egypt, and to Ashur both.
Our fathers er'd; and being gone,
95
Eu'n Slaues, the rule o're vs haue won;
And none to set vs free is there.
3
For bread, our liues we hazard, inThe perills which the Desarts threat.
And, like an Ouen is our skin,
Both soil'd, and parch't, for want of meat,
In Sion, Wiues defiled were,
Deflowred were their Virgins young,
(Through Iudah's Cities eu'ry where)
And Princes by their hands were hung.
4
Her Elders disrespected stood:Her Young-men they for grinding tooke:
Her Children fell beneath the wood;
And Magistrats the Gate forsooke.
Their Musicke, Young-men haue forborne
Reioycing in their hearts is none:
To mourning doth our dauncing turne:
And from our head the Crowne is gone.
5
Alas, that euer we did sinne!For, therefore feeles our heart these cares:
For that our eies haue dimmed bin;
And thus the hill of Sion fares.
Such desolation there is seene,
That now the Foxes play thereon:
But thou for euer, Lord, hast beene;
And without ending is thy Throne.
96
6
Oh, why are we forgotten thus?So long time wherefore absent art?
Conuert thy selfe, oh LORD, to vs;
And we to thee shall soone conuart.
Renew, oh LORD, those Ages past,
In which thy fauour we haue seene,
For, we extreamely are debas'd,
And bitter hath thine anger beene.
| The Hymnes and Songs of the Chvrch | |