The Poems of John Byrom :: :: University of Virginia Library

The Poems of John Byrom

Edited by Adolphus William Ward

Byrom, John (1692-1763)

VOL. I.—MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.

PART I.

II.

PART II.

II.

VOL. II.—SACRED POEMS.

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A POETICAL VERSION OF A LETTER FROM JACOB BEHMEN TO A FRIEND, ON THE SAME OCCASION.

361

I

Dear Brother in our Saviour Christ! His Grace
And Love premis'd in your afflictive Case,
I have consider'd of it and have brought
The Whole with Christian sympathetic Thought
Before the Will of the Most High, to see
What it would please Him to make known to me;

II

And, thereupon, I give you, Sir, to know,
What a true Insight He was pleas'd to show
Into the Cause and Cure of all your Grief
And present Trial; which I shall in brief
Set down for a Memorial, and declare
For you to ponder with a serious Care.

362

III

First, then, the Cause to which we must assign
Your strong Temptation, is the Love Divine,
The Goodness Supernatural, above
All Utt'rance, flowing from the God of Love,—
Seeking the creaturely and human Will,
To free it from Captivity to Ill.

IV

And, then, the Struggle with so Great a Grace
In human Will, refusing to embrace,
Tho' tender'd to it with a Love so pure,—
It seeks itself and strives against a Cure.
From his own Love to transitory Things,
More than to God, the real Evil springs.

V

'Tis Man's own Nature, which in its own Life,
Or Centre, stands in Enmity and Strife,
And anxious, selfish, doing what it lists,
(Without God's Love) that tempts him, and resists;
The Devil also shoots his fiery Dart,
From Grace and Love to turn away the Heart.

VI

This is the greatest Trial; 'tis the Fight
Which Christ, with His internal Love and Light.
Maintains within Man's Nature, to dispel
God's Anger, Satan, Sin, and Death, and Hell;
The human Self, or Serpent, to devour,
And raise an Angel from it by His Pow'r.

363

VII

Now if God's Love in Christ did not subdue
In some Degree this Selfishness in you,
You would have no such Combat to endure;
The Serpent, then, triumphantly secure,
Would unoppos'd exert its native Right,
And no such Conflict in your Soul excite.

VIII

For all the huge Temptation and Distress
Rises in Nature, tho' God seeks to bless;
The Serpent feeling its tormenting State,
(Which of itself is a mere anxious Hate,)
When God's amazing Love comes in, to fill
And change the selfish to a God-like Will.

IX

Here Christ, the Serpent-bruiser, stands in Man,
Storming the Devil's hellish, self-built Plan;
And hence the Strife within the human Soul,—
Satan's to kill, and Christ's to make it whole;
As by Experience, in so great Degree,
God in His Goodness causes you to see.

X

Now, while the Serpent's Head is bruis'd, the Heel
Of Christ is stung, and the poor Soul must feel
Trembling and Sadness, while the Strivers cope,
And can do nothing but stand still in Hope;
Hardly be able to lift up its Face,
For mere Concern, and pray to God for Grace.

364

XI

The Serpent, turning it another Way,
Shows it the World's alluring, fine Display;
Mocking its Resolution to forego,
For a new Nature, the engaging Show;
And represents the taking its Delight
In present Scenes as natural and right.

XII

Thus, in the Wilderness with Christ alone,
The Soul endures Temptation of its own;
While all the Glories of this World display'd,
Pleasures and Pomps, surround it, and persuade
Not to remain so humble and so still,
But elevate itself in own Self-will.

XIII

The next Temptation, which befalls of Course
From Satan and from Nature's selfish Force,
Is, when the Soul has tasted of the Love
And been illuminated from Above;
Still in its Self-hood it would seek to shine,
And as its own possess the Light Divine.

XIV

That is, the soulish Nature,—take it right,
As much a Serpent, if without God's Light,
As Lucifer,—this Nature still would claim
For own Propriety the Heav'nly Flame,
And elevate its Fire to a Degree
Above the Light's Good Pow'r, which cannot be.

365

XV

This domineering Self, this Nature-Fire,
Must be transmuted to a Love-Desire.
Now, when this Change is to be undergone,
It looks for some own Pow'r, and, finding none,
Begins to doubt of Grace, unwilling quite
To yield up its self-willing Nature's Right.

XVI

It ever quakes for Fear, and will not die
In Light Divine, tho' to be blest thereby:
The Light of Grace it thinks to be Deceit,
Because it worketh gently without Heat;
Mov'd too by outward Reason, which is blind,
And of itself sees nothing of this Kind.

XVII

Who knows, it thinketh, whether it be true
That God is in thee, and enlightens too?
Is it not Fancy? For thou dost not see
Like other People, who as well as thee
Hope for Salvation by the Grace of God,
Without such Fear and Trembling at his Rod.

XVIII

Thus the poor Soul, accounted for a Fool
By all the Reas'ners of a gayer School,
By all the graver People who embrace
Mere verbal Promises of future Grace,
Sighs from its deep internal Ground, and pants
For such enlight'ning Comfort as it wants;

366

XIX

And fain would have,—but Nature can, alas!
Do Nothing of itself to bring to pass,—
And is thro' its own Impotence afraid
That God rejects it, and will give no Aid;
Which with regard to the Self-will is true;
For God rejects it, to implant a new.

XX

The own Self-will must die away and shine,
Rising thro' Death, in Saving Will Divine;
And from the Opposition which it tries
Against God's Will such great Temptations rise;
The Devil too is loth to lose his Prey,
And see his Fort cast down, if it obey.

XXI

For, if the Life of Christ within arise,
Self-Lust and false Imagination dies,—
Wholly, it cannot in this present Life,
But by the Flesh maintains the daily Strife,—
Dies, and yet lives; as they alone can tell
In whom Christ fights against the Pow'rs of Hell.

XXII

The third Temptation is in Mind and Will,
And Flesh and Blood, if Satan enter still;
Where the false Centres lie in Man, the Springs
Of Pride and Lust, and Love of earthly Things,
And all the Curses wish'd by other Men,
Which are occasion'd by this Devil's Den.

367

XXIII

These in the Astral Spirit make a Fort,
Which all the Sins concentre to support;
And human Will, esteeming for its Joy
What Christ, to save it, combats to destroy,
Will not resign the Pride-erected Tow'r,
Nor live obedient to the Saviour's Pow'r.

XXIV

Thus I have giv'n you, loving Sir, to know
What our Dear Saviour has been pleas'd to show
To my Consideration. Now, on This
Examine well what your Temptation is!
We must “leave all, and follow Him,” He said,
Right Christ-like poor, like our Redeeming Head.

XXV

Now, if Self-Lust stick yet upon your Mind,
Or Love of earthly Things of any Kind,
Then, from those Centres in their working Force
Such a Temptation will rise up of Course.
If you will follow, when it does arise,
My Child-like Counsel, hear what I advise!

XXVI

Fix your whole Thought upon the bitter Woe
Which our Dear Lord was pleas'd to undergo;
Consider the Reproach, Contempt, and Scorn,
The worldly State so poor and so forlorn,
Which He was so content to bear; and then,
His suff'ring, dying for us sinful Men.

368

XXVII

And thereunto give up your whole Desire
And Mind, and Will, and earnestly aspire
To be as like Him as you can; to bear
(And with a Patience bent to persevere)
All that is laid upon you, and to make
His Process yours, and purely for His Sake;

XXVIII

For Love of Him, most freely to embrace
Contempt, Affliction, Poverty, Disgrace,—
All that may happen, so you may but gain
His Blessèd Love within you, and maintain;
No longer willing with a Self-desire,
But such as Christ within you shall inspire!

XXIX

Dear Sir, I fear lest something still amiss,
Averse to Him, cause such a Strife as this.
He wills you, in His Death, with Him to die
To your own Will, and to arise thereby
In His Arising, and that Life to live
Which He is striving in your Soul to give.

XXX

Let go all earthly Will, and be resign'd
Wholly to Him with all your Heart and Mind!
Be Joy or Sorrow, Comfort or Distress,
Receiv'd alike, for He alike can bless,
To gain the Victory of Christian Faith
Over the World and all Satanic Wrath!

369

XXXI

So shall you conquer Death and Hell and Sin,
And find, at last, what Christ in you hath been.
By sure Experience will be understood
How all hath happen'd to you for your Good.
Of all His Children this hath been the Way;
And Christian Love here dictates what I say.