Solomon's recantation Intituled Ecclesiastes, paraphras'd. With A Soliloquy or Meditation Upon Every Chapter. By Francis Quarles |
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 | I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
| XII. |
 | CHAP V. Solomon's recantation |  |
Attend thy Foot-steps when thou drawest near
The House of God; and be more apt to hear,
Than give the Sacrifice of Fools, which know
Not in their Sacrifice what Ill they do:
Let not thy Tongue be rash, commit no Waste
Of Words before thy God by over haste;
Since he from Heav'n beholds thy Actions here,
All lavish Babling let thy Lips forbare:
As Dreams and rest-disturbing Fancies flow
From Floods of Business which by day we do;
So multitude of Words are daily sprung
From th'idle Fountain of a foolish Tongue.
When thou hast bound thee to thy God by Vow,
Defer not Payment, but perform it thou:
Discharge thy Bonds, for Heaven takes no Delight
In Fools, that violate the Faith they plight;
Far safer 'tis thy Vows were never made,
Then having promis'd Payment, never pay'd.
Let not thy Lips ensnare thee; plead not thou
Before thy Angel, 'twas too rash a Vow:
O why should'st thou provoke thy God, and dare
His Curse upon thy Practice, and thy Pray'r?
Dreams oft are vain, and Folly's mixt among
The Language of a multiloquious Tongue;
But let the Wisdom of thy Lips appear
Before thy God with reverential Fear.
Seest thou perverted Justice in the Land,
And poor Men grip'd beneath th'Oppressors Hand?
Stand not amaz'd: The Almighty views their Way,
And there be Powers at hand more high than they.
The fruitful Surface of the pregnant Soyl,
Enrich'd by the laborious Ploughman's Toyl,
Brings forth to all; nay, very Kings do build
Their whole Subsistence from the fertile Field:
'Tis not full Heaps of eye-rejoicing Gold
Can feed and screen thy Nakedness from Cold:
Nor can the Piles of treasur'd Wealth sustain
Thy drooping Spirits: This is also vain.
As Goods increase, e'en so their Number, who
Must share thy Goods increase, increaseth too:
What hath the Owner more than they, but this,
What they consume, his Eyes behold as his?
How sweetly pleasant is the Sleep of such
As labour, eat they little, or eat much?
When as the Wealth of idle Owners, keep
Their Heart from Quiet, and their Eyes from Sleep.
The House of God; and be more apt to hear,
Than give the Sacrifice of Fools, which know
Not in their Sacrifice what Ill they do:
Let not thy Tongue be rash, commit no Waste
Of Words before thy God by over haste;
Since he from Heav'n beholds thy Actions here,
All lavish Babling let thy Lips forbare:
As Dreams and rest-disturbing Fancies flow
From Floods of Business which by day we do;
So multitude of Words are daily sprung
From th'idle Fountain of a foolish Tongue.
When thou hast bound thee to thy God by Vow,
Defer not Payment, but perform it thou:
Discharge thy Bonds, for Heaven takes no Delight
In Fools, that violate the Faith they plight;
Far safer 'tis thy Vows were never made,
Then having promis'd Payment, never pay'd.
Let not thy Lips ensnare thee; plead not thou
Before thy Angel, 'twas too rash a Vow:
O why should'st thou provoke thy God, and dare
His Curse upon thy Practice, and thy Pray'r?
Dreams oft are vain, and Folly's mixt among
The Language of a multiloquious Tongue;
But let the Wisdom of thy Lips appear
Before thy God with reverential Fear.
Seest thou perverted Justice in the Land,
And poor Men grip'd beneath th'Oppressors Hand?
24
And there be Powers at hand more high than they.
The fruitful Surface of the pregnant Soyl,
Enrich'd by the laborious Ploughman's Toyl,
Brings forth to all; nay, very Kings do build
Their whole Subsistence from the fertile Field:
'Tis not full Heaps of eye-rejoicing Gold
Can feed and screen thy Nakedness from Cold:
Nor can the Piles of treasur'd Wealth sustain
Thy drooping Spirits: This is also vain.
As Goods increase, e'en so their Number, who
Must share thy Goods increase, increaseth too:
What hath the Owner more than they, but this,
What they consume, his Eyes behold as his?
How sweetly pleasant is the Sleep of such
As labour, eat they little, or eat much?
When as the Wealth of idle Owners, keep
Their Heart from Quiet, and their Eyes from Sleep.
| CHAP V. Solomon's recantation | |