The poems of George Daniel ... From the original mss. in the British Museum: Hitherto unprinted. Edited, with introduction, notes, and illustrations, portrait, &c. By the Rev. Alexander B. Grosart: In four volumes |
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 | Chap. xliii. The poems of George Daniel |  |
XLIII. Chap. xliii.
The Firmament & all those lights wch Shine
In heaven's bright Pavement Speake a worke devine.
The Sun, whose Influence doth glad the Earth
With gentle Shine, when pensive shades give birth
To the resplendent Morne; whose heat, at Noone,
Scorcheth the Earth, & Makes the Pilgrim grone;
The Mountaines gape, impatient of his Raies,
To which the forge-Man, broyling, is an Ease;
Bright Inflamations from it, & the Shine
Cannot be fixt vpon by Mortall Eyne:
Great is the Lord, that made it; he hath given
It a swift Wheele, to scoure ye Arch of heaven;
The Moone, Inferiour to her Brother's light,
Glides in clear Skyes, & Gvildes the walles of Night,
Vncertaine in her course; now hornéd wide,
And then againe her Orbe at full displaied;
Thus Times distinguish't are, & ffeasts are knowne;
The Moneth by Daies is call'd soe by the Moone.
It is a part of heaven's all-glorious Host;
The stars adorne heaven's Canopie, dispos'd
In a true order, Diverssly Commixt
To God's Cōmands; some wand'ring, some are fixt.
In heaven's bright Pavement Speake a worke devine.
The Sun, whose Influence doth glad the Earth
With gentle Shine, when pensive shades give birth
To the resplendent Morne; whose heat, at Noone,
Scorcheth the Earth, & Makes the Pilgrim grone;
The Mountaines gape, impatient of his Raies,
To which the forge-Man, broyling, is an Ease;
Bright Inflamations from it, & the Shine
Cannot be fixt vpon by Mortall Eyne:
Great is the Lord, that made it; he hath given
It a swift Wheele, to scoure ye Arch of heaven;
The Moone, Inferiour to her Brother's light,
Glides in clear Skyes, & Gvildes the walles of Night,
Vncertaine in her course; now hornéd wide,
And then againe her Orbe at full displaied;
Thus Times distinguish't are, & ffeasts are knowne;
The Moneth by Daies is call'd soe by the Moone.
It is a part of heaven's all-glorious Host;
The stars adorne heaven's Canopie, dispos'd
In a true order, Diverssly Commixt
To God's Cōmands; some wand'ring, some are fixt.
Behold the Raine-Bow, & admire to see
Transparant Shadowes mixt Contiguouslie;
It doth adorne the firmament, & stands
As it was placéd, by Almightie's hands.
The Snow finds Passage, & the Direfull Sword
Of Tempest breakes, to execute his Word
Full, in his Treasures; & doth breake the Face
Of Clouds, now gather'd, in a Silent place;
Which Scoure the Region of the infected Aire,
In Shoales disparted, fleeting here & there;
Or, he the Waters in a Cloud doth call,
To drench the Earth; he melts the strikeing haile;
The Mountaines leape; ye south Winds doth not blow
But to his pleasure; When, & Where, & How.
The Thunder strikes the Earth, and ye black North
Falls in a Storme; the whirlewind rusheth forth,
The snow he scattereth, ev'n as birds doe flye,
And falls, as grasshopers on Earth doe lye;
Nothing soe white vnto the Eye of Man;
The Substance, thawed, floweth as a raine;
Frost, sent as salt, the poud'red Earth is here;
The Trees are bare'd, & Plants are Candid ore.
When the bleak North, in ffurye 'gins to rise,
He prisons vp the waters in an Ice;
Rivers in Christall bound, which doth adorne
The streames, as brest-plates by a warriour worne;
It rageth on the Hilles, & maketh Seire,
The barren desart; it consumes, as ffire,
The verdant Earth, (as it had never beene
Gorgeous at all) lyes starved & nothing greene;
Thus, till a Cloud, swolne wth a fluent raine,
Refresh the Earth, & make it bud againe;
Soe, for the Summer's Sun (noyance as great)
A gentle Dew falls, to allay the heat.
Transparant Shadowes mixt Contiguouslie;
It doth adorne the firmament, & stands
96
The Snow finds Passage, & the Direfull Sword
Of Tempest breakes, to execute his Word
Full, in his Treasures; & doth breake the Face
Of Clouds, now gather'd, in a Silent place;
Which Scoure the Region of the infected Aire,
In Shoales disparted, fleeting here & there;
Or, he the Waters in a Cloud doth call,
To drench the Earth; he melts the strikeing haile;
The Mountaines leape; ye south Winds doth not blow
But to his pleasure; When, & Where, & How.
The Thunder strikes the Earth, and ye black North
Falls in a Storme; the whirlewind rusheth forth,
The snow he scattereth, ev'n as birds doe flye,
And falls, as grasshopers on Earth doe lye;
Nothing soe white vnto the Eye of Man;
The Substance, thawed, floweth as a raine;
Frost, sent as salt, the poud'red Earth is here;
The Trees are bare'd, & Plants are Candid ore.
When the bleak North, in ffurye 'gins to rise,
He prisons vp the waters in an Ice;
Rivers in Christall bound, which doth adorne
The streames, as brest-plates by a warriour worne;
It rageth on the Hilles, & maketh Seire,
The barren desart; it consumes, as ffire,
The verdant Earth, (as it had never beene
Gorgeous at all) lyes starved & nothing greene;
Thus, till a Cloud, swolne wth a fluent raine,
Refresh the Earth, & make it bud againe;
97
A gentle Dew falls, to allay the heat.
The Winds obey his Word, he calmes ye Deepe,
And girts the Ilands, in her Armes to keepe;
The Pilot tells the dangers of the Sea,
Wee wonder, 'cause wee know not what they be;
Vnheard of Monsters, & deforméd Shapes
Of Creatures range the Ocean; the while gapes
In her darke pathes, & as a Hill doth Sweepe,
The white-mouth'd Billowes of ye vnsounded Deepe.
Thus all things made by him, were all made good,
And by his word Immoveable they Stood.
But words fall short to speake of him, & when
Wee have spoke all, we apprehend as Men.
And girts the Ilands, in her Armes to keepe;
The Pilot tells the dangers of the Sea,
Wee wonder, 'cause wee know not what they be;
Vnheard of Monsters, & deforméd Shapes
Of Creatures range the Ocean; the while gapes
In her darke pathes, & as a Hill doth Sweepe,
The white-mouth'd Billowes of ye vnsounded Deepe.
Thus all things made by him, were all made good,
And by his word Immoveable they Stood.
But words fall short to speake of him, & when
Wee have spoke all, we apprehend as Men.
Wee greatly faile, wee cannot better call
Him in his Workes, then that he is all in all.
How can we praise him else? for hee's beyond,
As farre beyond his Workes, as they above our Mind.
The Lord is terrible, for ever great;
Vnlimited in Power, Strong is his Seat.
Him in his Workes, then that he is all in all.
How can we praise him else? for hee's beyond,
As farre beyond his Workes, as they above our Mind.
The Lord is terrible, for ever great;
Vnlimited in Power, Strong is his Seat.
O! Praise the Lord! oh, say, what you can Say,
To Magnifie his Glorie! Yet you may
Leave off ashaméd, lift a stronger voice
Vnto his Name, bend all your faculties
To Speake of him; & leave to see him higher,
Then you can Speake, or thinke, or but Admire.
Ah! who has seene him that he might report
To vs the happines? Who falls not Short
In words to Speake of him? For greater farre
Then we have said, or Can, his Glories are.
Can wee say secret things beyond our light,
For of his Workes but few come to our sight;
But he made all things, did inspire a flame
Of Wisedome vnto those that feare his Name.
To Magnifie his Glorie! Yet you may
Leave off ashaméd, lift a stronger voice
Vnto his Name, bend all your faculties
To Speake of him; & leave to see him higher,
Then you can Speake, or thinke, or but Admire.
Ah! who has seene him that he might report
To vs the happines? Who falls not Short
98
Then we have said, or Can, his Glories are.
Can wee say secret things beyond our light,
For of his Workes but few come to our sight;
But he made all things, did inspire a flame
Of Wisedome vnto those that feare his Name.
| Chap. xliii. The poems of George Daniel | |