Du Bartas His Divine Weekes And Workes with A Compleate Collectio[n] of all the other most delight-full Workes: Translated and written by yt famous Philomusus: Iosvah Sylvester |
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| 3. | THE THIRD DAY OF THE FIRST WEEK. |
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47
THE THIRD DAY OF THE FIRST WEEK.
The Argvment.
The Sea, and Earth: their various Equipage:Seuer'd a-part: Bounds of the Oceans rage:
'T imbraceth Earth: it doth all Waters owe:
Why it is salt: How it doth Ebb, and Flowe:
Rare streames, and fountains of strange operation:
Earth's firmness, greatness, goodness: sharp taxation
Of Bribes, Ambition, Treason, Auarice:
Trees, Shrubs, and Plants: Mines, Metalls, Gemms of price:
Right vse of Gold: the Load-stones rare effects:
The Countrey-life preferr'd in all respects.
My sacred Muse, that lately soared high
Among the glist'ring Circles of the Sky
(Whose various dance, which the first Moover driues
Harmoniously, this Vniverse revives)
Commanding all the Windes and sulph'ry Storms,
The lightning Flashes, and the hideous Forms
Seen in the Aire; with language meetly braue
Whilom discourst vpon a Theam so graue:
But, This-Day, flagging lowely by the Ground,
She seems constrain'd to keep a lowely sound;
Or, if somtimes, she somwhat raise her voyce,
The sound is drown'd with the rough Oceans noyse.
Among the glist'ring Circles of the Sky
(Whose various dance, which the first Moover driues
Harmoniously, this Vniverse revives)
Commanding all the Windes and sulph'ry Storms,
The lightning Flashes, and the hideous Forms
Seen in the Aire; with language meetly braue
Whilom discourst vpon a Theam so graue:
But, This-Day, flagging lowely by the Ground,
She seems constrain'd to keep a lowely sound;
Or, if somtimes, she somwhat raise her voyce,
The sound is drown'd with the rough Oceans noyse.
O King of grassie and of glassie Plains,
Whose powrfull breath (at thy drad will) constrains
The deep Foundations of the Hils to shake,
And Seas falt billowes 'gainst Heav'ns vaults to rake:
Grant me, To-Day, with skilfull Instruments
To bound aright these two rich Elements:
In learned Numbers teach me sing the natures
Of the firm Earth, and of the floating Waters;
And with a flowring stile the Flowrs to limn
Whose Colours now shall paint the Fields so trim.
Whose powrfull breath (at thy drad will) constrains
The deep Foundations of the Hils to shake,
And Seas falt billowes 'gainst Heav'ns vaults to rake:
Grant me, To-Day, with skilfull Instruments
To bound aright these two rich Elements:
48
Of the firm Earth, and of the floating Waters;
And with a flowring stile the Flowrs to limn
Whose Colours now shall paint the Fields so trim.
All those steep Mountaines, whose high horned tops
The misty cloak of wandring Clouds enwraps,
Vnder First Waters their crump shoulders hid,
And all the Earth as a dull Pond abid,
Vntill th'All-Monarch's bountious Maiesty
(Willing t'enfe of man this worlds Empety)
Commanding Neptune straight to marshall forth
His Floods a-part, and to vnfold the Earth;
And, in his Waters, now contented rest,
T'haue all the World, for one whole day, possest.
The misty cloak of wandring Clouds enwraps,
Vnder First Waters their crump shoulders hid,
And all the Earth as a dull Pond abid,
Vntill th'All-Monarch's bountious Maiesty
(Willing t'enfe of man this worlds Empety)
Commanding Neptune straight to marshall forth
His Floods a-part, and to vnfold the Earth;
And, in his Waters, now contented rest,
T'haue all the World, for one whole day, possest.
As when the muffled Heav'ns haue wept amain,
And foaming streames assembling on the Plain,
Turn'd Fields to Floods; soon as the showrs do cease,
With vnseen speed the Deluge doth decrease,
Sups vp it selfe, in hollow sponges sinks,
And's ample arms in straighter Chanell shrinks:
Even so the Sea, to 't selfe it selfe betook,
Mount after Mount, Field after Field forsook;
And suddenly in smaller caskdd tun
Her Waters, that from euery side did run:
Whether th'imperfect Light did first exhale
Much of that primer Humor, wherewithall
God, on the Second-Day, might frame and found
The Crystall Sphears that he hath spred so round:
Whether th'Almighty did new place prouide
To lodge the Waters: whether op'ning wide
Th'Earth's hollow Pores, it pleas'd him to conueigh
Deep vnder ground some Arms of such a Sea:
Or whether, pressing waters gloomy Globe;
That cov'rd all (as with a cloudy Robe)
He them impris'ned in those bounds of brass,
Which (to this day) the Ocean dares not pass
Whithout his licence. For, th'Eternall, knowing
The Seas commotiue and inconstant flowing,
Thus curbed her; and 'gainst her enuious rage,
For ever fenc't our Flowry-mantled Stage:
So that we often see those rowling Hils,
With roaring noise threatning the neighbour Fields,
Through their own spite to split vpon the shore,
Foaming for fury that they dare no more.
And foaming streames assembling on the Plain,
Turn'd Fields to Floods; soon as the showrs do cease,
With vnseen speed the Deluge doth decrease,
Sups vp it selfe, in hollow sponges sinks,
And's ample arms in straighter Chanell shrinks:
Even so the Sea, to 't selfe it selfe betook,
Mount after Mount, Field after Field forsook;
And suddenly in smaller caskdd tun
Her Waters, that from euery side did run:
Whether th'imperfect Light did first exhale
Much of that primer Humor, wherewithall
God, on the Second-Day, might frame and found
The Crystall Sphears that he hath spred so round:
Whether th'Almighty did new place prouide
To lodge the Waters: whether op'ning wide
Th'Earth's hollow Pores, it pleas'd him to conueigh
Deep vnder ground some Arms of such a Sea:
Or whether, pressing waters gloomy Globe;
That cov'rd all (as with a cloudy Robe)
He them impris'ned in those bounds of brass,
Which (to this day) the Ocean dares not pass
Whithout his licence. For, th'Eternall, knowing
The Seas commotiue and inconstant flowing,
Thus curbed her; and 'gainst her enuious rage,
For ever fenc't our Flowry-mantled Stage:
So that we often see those rowling Hils,
With roaring noise threatning the neighbour Fields,
Through their own spite to split vpon the shore,
Foaming for fury that they dare no more.
For, what could not that great, high Admirall
Work in the Waues, sith at his Seruants call,
His dreadfull voyce (to saue his ancient Sheep)
Did cleaue the bottom of th'Erithræn Deep?
And toward the Crystall of his double source
Compelled Iordan to retreat his course?
Drown'd with a Deluge the rebellious World?
And from dry Rocks abundant Rivers purl'd?
Work in the Waues, sith at his Seruants call,
His dreadfull voyce (to saue his ancient Sheep)
Did cleaue the bottom of th'Erithræn Deep?
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Compelled Iordan to retreat his course?
Drown'd with a Deluge the rebellious World?
And from dry Rocks abundant Rivers purl'd?
Lo, thus the waighty Water did yer-while
With winding turns make all this world an Ile.
For, like as molten Lead being poured forth
Vpon a leuell plot of sand or earth,
In many fashions mazeth to and fro;
Runs heer direct, there crookedly doth go,
Heer doth diuide it self, there meets againe;
And the hot Riv'let of the liquid vain,
On the smooth table crawling like a worm,
Almost (in th'instant) euery form doth form:
God pour'd the Waters on the fruitfull Ground
In sundry figures; som in fashion round,
Som square, som crosse, som long, som lozenge-wise,
Som triangles, som large, som lesser size;
Amid the Floods (by this faire difference)
To giue the world more wealth and excellence.
Such is the German Sea, such Persian Sine,
Such th'Indian Gulf, and such th'Arabian Brine,
And such Our Sea: whose divers-brancht retortions,
Divide the World in three vnequall Portions.
With winding turns make all this world an Ile.
For, like as molten Lead being poured forth
Vpon a leuell plot of sand or earth,
In many fashions mazeth to and fro;
Runs heer direct, there crookedly doth go,
Heer doth diuide it self, there meets againe;
And the hot Riv'let of the liquid vain,
On the smooth table crawling like a worm,
Almost (in th'instant) euery form doth form:
God pour'd the Waters on the fruitfull Ground
In sundry figures; som in fashion round,
Som square, som crosse, som long, som lozenge-wise,
Som triangles, som large, som lesser size;
Amid the Floods (by this faire difference)
To giue the world more wealth and excellence.
Such is the German Sea, such Persian Sine,
Such th'Indian Gulf, and such th'Arabian Brine,
And such Our Sea: whose divers-brancht retortions,
Divide the World in three vnequall Portions.
And, though each of these Arms (how large soeuer)
To the great Ocean seems a little Riuer:
Each makes a hundred sundry Seas besides
(Not sundry in waters, but in Names and Tides)
To moisten kindely, by their secret Vains,
The thirsty thickness of the neighbour Plains:
To bulwark Nations, and to serue for fences
Against th'invasion of Ambitious Princes:
To bound large Kingdomes with eternall limits:
To further Traffick through all Earthly Climates:
T'abbridge long Iourneys; and with ayd of Winde
Within a month to visit either Inde.
To the great Ocean seems a little Riuer:
Each makes a hundred sundry Seas besides
(Not sundry in waters, but in Names and Tides)
To moisten kindely, by their secret Vains,
The thirsty thickness of the neighbour Plains:
To bulwark Nations, and to serue for fences
Against th'invasion of Ambitious Princes:
To bound large Kingdomes with eternall limits:
To further Traffick through all Earthly Climates:
T'abbridge long Iourneys; and with ayd of Winde
Within a month to visit either Inde.
But, th'Earth not only th'Oceans debter is
For these large Seas; but owes him Tanäis,
Nile (Agypts treasure) and his neighbour stream
That in the Desart (through his haste extream)
Loseth himselfe so oft; swift Euphrates;
And th'other proud Son of cold Niphates:
Fair spacious Ganges, and his famous brother,
That lends his name vnto their noble Mother:
Gold-sanded Tagus, Rhyne, Rhone, Volga, Tiber,
Danubius, Albis, Po, Sein, Arne, and Iber;
The Darian Plate, and Amazonian River
(Where Spain's Gold-thirsty Locusts cool their liver):
Our siluer Medway (which doth deepe indent
The Flowrie Medowes of My natiue Kent;
Still sadly vveeping (vnder Pensherst vvalls)
Th'Arcadian Cygnet's bleeding Funerals)
Our Thames and Tweed, our Severn, Trent, and Humber,
And many moe, too infinite to number.
For these large Seas; but owes him Tanäis,
Nile (Agypts treasure) and his neighbour stream
That in the Desart (through his haste extream)
Loseth himselfe so oft; swift Euphrates;
And th'other proud Son of cold Niphates:
Fair spacious Ganges, and his famous brother,
That lends his name vnto their noble Mother:
Gold-sanded Tagus, Rhyne, Rhone, Volga, Tiber,
Danubius, Albis, Po, Sein, Arne, and Iber;
The Darian Plate, and Amazonian River
(Where Spain's Gold-thirsty Locusts cool their liver):
50
The Flowrie Medowes of My natiue Kent;
Still sadly vveeping (vnder Pensherst vvalls)
Th'Arcadian Cygnet's bleeding Funerals)
Our Thames and Tweed, our Severn, Trent, and Humber,
And many moe, too infinite to number.
Of him, she also holds her Siluer Springs,
And all her hidden Crystall Riverlings:
And after (greatly) in two sorts repaies
Th'Humour she borrows by two sundry waies.
For, like as in a Limbeck, th'heat of Fire
Raiseth a Vapour, which still mounting higher
To the Still's top; when th'odoriferous sweat
Above that Miter can no further get,
It softly thickning, falleth drop by drop,
And Cleer as Crystall, in the glass doth hop;
The purest humor in the Sea, the Sun
Exhales in th'Aire: which there resolv'd, anon,
Returns to water; and descends again
By sundry waies vn o his Mother Main.
And all her hidden Crystall Riverlings:
And after (greatly) in two sorts repaies
Th'Humour she borrows by two sundry waies.
For, like as in a Limbeck, th'heat of Fire
Raiseth a Vapour, which still mounting higher
To the Still's top; when th'odoriferous sweat
Above that Miter can no further get,
It softly thickning, falleth drop by drop,
And Cleer as Crystall, in the glass doth hop;
The purest humor in the Sea, the Sun
Exhales in th'Aire: which there resolv'd, anon,
Returns to water; and descends again
By sundry waies vn o his Mother Main.
For, the dry Earth, having these waters (first)
Through the wide five of her void entrails searst;
Giving more room, at length from Rockie Mountains
She (night and day) pours forth a thousand Fountains:
These Fountains make fresh Brooks with murmuring currents;
These murmuring Brooks, the swift and violent Torrents;
These violent Torrents, mighty Rivers; These,
These Riuers make the vast, deep, dreadfull Seas.
Through the wide five of her void entrails searst;
Giving more room, at length from Rockie Mountains
She (night and day) pours forth a thousand Fountains:
These Fountains make fresh Brooks with murmuring currents;
These murmuring Brooks, the swift and violent Torrents;
These violent Torrents, mighty Rivers; These,
These Riuers make the vast, deep, dreadfull Seas.
And all the highest Heav'n-approaching Rocks
Contribute hither with their snowie locks:
For, soon as Titan, having run his Ring,
To th'ycie climates bringeth back the Spring;
On their rough backs he melts the hoary heaps,
Their tops grow green; and down the water leaps
On every side, it foames, it roares, it rushes,
And through the steep and stony hills it gushes,
Making a thousand brooks; whereof, when one
Perceiues his fellow striving to be gone;
Hasting his course, he him accompanies;
After, another and another hies,
All in one race; ioynt-losing all of them
Their Names and Waters in a greater stream:
And He that robs them, shortly doth deliuer
Himselfe and his into a large Riuer
And That, at length, how euer great and large
(Lord of the Plain) doth in some Gulf discharge
His parent-Tribute to Oceanus,
According to th'Eternall Rendez-vous.
Yet, notwithstanding, all these Streams that enter
In the Main Sea, do nought at all augment her:
For that, besides that all these Floods in one,
Matcht with great Neptune, seem as much as none;
The Sun (as yerst I said) and Windes withall,
Sweeping the sur-face of the Brinie-Ball,
Extract as much still of her humours thin,
As weeping Aire and welling Earth pours in.
Contribute hither with their snowie locks:
For, soon as Titan, having run his Ring,
To th'ycie climates bringeth back the Spring;
On their rough backs he melts the hoary heaps,
Their tops grow green; and down the water leaps
On every side, it foames, it roares, it rushes,
And through the steep and stony hills it gushes,
Making a thousand brooks; whereof, when one
Perceiues his fellow striving to be gone;
Hasting his course, he him accompanies;
After, another and another hies,
All in one race; ioynt-losing all of them
Their Names and Waters in a greater stream:
And He that robs them, shortly doth deliuer
Himselfe and his into a large Riuer
And That, at length, how euer great and large
(Lord of the Plain) doth in some Gulf discharge
His parent-Tribute to Oceanus,
According to th'Eternall Rendez-vous.
51
In the Main Sea, do nought at all augment her:
For that, besides that all these Floods in one,
Matcht with great Neptune, seem as much as none;
The Sun (as yerst I said) and Windes withall,
Sweeping the sur-face of the Brinie-Ball,
Extract as much still of her humours thin,
As weeping Aire and welling Earth pours in.
But as the swelting heat, and shivering cold,
Gnashing and sweat, that th'Ague-sick do hold,
Come not at hazzard, but in time and order
Afflict the body with their fell disorder:
The Sea hath fits, alternate course she keepes,
From Deep to Shoar, and from the Shoar to Deeps.
VVhether it were, that at the first, the Ocean
From Gods owne hand receiu'd this double Motion,
By means whereof, it never resteth stound,
But (as a turning Whirli-gig goes round,
VVhirls of it self, and good-while after takes
Strength of the strength which the first motion makes:
VVhither the Sea, which we Atlantick call,
Be but a peece of the Grand Sea of all;
And that his Floods entring the ample Bed
Of the deep Main (with fury hurried
Against the Rocks) repulsed with disdain,
Be thence compelled to turn back again:
Or whether Cynthia, that with Changefull laws
Commands moist bodies, doth this motion cause:
As on our Shoar, we see the Sea to rise
Soon as the Moon begins to mount our skies.
And when, through Heav'ns Vault vailing toward Spain,
The Moone descendeth, then it Ebbs again.
Again, so soon as her inconstant Crown
Begins to shine on th'other Horison,
It Flowes again: and then again it falls
When she doth light th'other Meridionalls.
Gnashing and sweat, that th'Ague-sick do hold,
Come not at hazzard, but in time and order
Afflict the body with their fell disorder:
The Sea hath fits, alternate course she keepes,
From Deep to Shoar, and from the Shoar to Deeps.
VVhether it were, that at the first, the Ocean
From Gods owne hand receiu'd this double Motion,
By means whereof, it never resteth stound,
But (as a turning Whirli-gig goes round,
VVhirls of it self, and good-while after takes
Strength of the strength which the first motion makes:
VVhither the Sea, which we Atlantick call,
Be but a peece of the Grand Sea of all;
And that his Floods entring the ample Bed
Of the deep Main (with fury hurried
Against the Rocks) repulsed with disdain,
Be thence compelled to turn back again:
Or whether Cynthia, that with Changefull laws
Commands moist bodies, doth this motion cause:
As on our Shoar, we see the Sea to rise
Soon as the Moon begins to mount our skies.
And when, through Heav'ns Vault vailing toward Spain,
The Moone descendeth, then it Ebbs again.
Again, so soon as her inconstant Crown
Begins to shine on th'other Horison,
It Flowes again: and then again it falls
When she doth light th'other Meridionalls.
VVee see more-ouer, that th'Atlantik Seas
Doo Flowe far farther then the Genöese,
Or both the Bosphores; and that Lakes, which growe
Out of the Sea, do neither Ebb nor Flowe:
Because (they say) the siluer fronted Star,
That swells and shrinks the Seas (as pleaseth her)
Pours with less pow'r her plentious influence
Vpon these straight and narrow streamed Fennes,
And In-land Seas, which many a Mount immounds,
Then on an Ocean vast and void of bounds:
Euen as in Sommer, her great brothers Ey,
When winds be silent, doth more eas'ly dry
Wide spreading Plains, open and spacious Fields,
Then narrow Vales vaulted about with Hills.
Doo Flowe far farther then the Genöese,
Or both the Bosphores; and that Lakes, which growe
Out of the Sea, do neither Ebb nor Flowe:
Because (they say) the siluer fronted Star,
That swells and shrinks the Seas (as pleaseth her)
Pours with less pow'r her plentious influence
Vpon these straight and narrow streamed Fennes,
And In-land Seas, which many a Mount immounds,
Then on an Ocean vast and void of bounds:
Euen as in Sommer, her great brothers Ey,
When winds be silent, doth more eas'ly dry
52
Then narrow Vales vaulted about with Hills.
If we perceiue not in the Deep, so well
As by the shoar, when it doth shrink and swell;
Our sprightfull Pulse the Tide doth well resemble,
Whose out-side seems more then the midst to tremble.
As by the shoar, when it doth shrink and swell;
Our sprightfull Pulse the Tide doth well resemble,
Whose out-side seems more then the midst to tremble.
Nor is the glorious Prince of Stars less mighty
Then his pale Sister, on vast Amphitrite.
For Phœbus, boyling with his lightsom Heat
The Fish-full Waves of Neptunes Royall Seat,
And supping vp still (with his thirsty Rayes)
All the fresh humour in the floting Seas,
In Thetis large Cells leaveth nought behind,
Saue liquid Salt, and a thick bitter Brine.
Then his pale Sister, on vast Amphitrite.
For Phœbus, boyling with his lightsom Heat
The Fish-full Waves of Neptunes Royall Seat,
And supping vp still (with his thirsty Rayes)
All the fresh humour in the floting Seas,
In Thetis large Cells leaveth nought behind,
Saue liquid Salt, and a thick bitter Brine.
But see (the while) see how the Sea (I pray)
Through thousand Seas hath caried me away,
In feare t'haue drown'd my selfe and Readers so,
The Floods so made my words to over-flowe.
Therfore a-shore; and on the tender Lee
Of Lakes, and Pools, Rivers, and Springs, let's see
The soverain vertues of their severall Waters,
Their strange effects, and admirable natures,
That with incredible rare force of theirs,
Confound our wits, ravish our eyes and ears.
Through thousand Seas hath caried me away,
In feare t'haue drown'd my selfe and Readers so,
The Floods so made my words to over-flowe.
Therfore a-shore; and on the tender Lee
Of Lakes, and Pools, Rivers, and Springs, let's see
The soverain vertues of their severall Waters,
Their strange effects, and admirable natures,
That with incredible rare force of theirs,
Confound our wits, ravish our eyes and ears.
Th'Hammonian Fount, while Phœbus Torch is light,
Is cold as Ice; and (opposite) all night
(Though the cold Crescent shine thereon) is hot,
And boiles and bubbles like a seething Pot.
Is cold as Ice; and (opposite) all night
(Though the cold Crescent shine thereon) is hot,
And boiles and bubbles like a seething Pot.
They say (forsooth) the Riuer Silarus,
And such another, call'd Eurimenus,
Convert the boughs, the barke, the leaues and all,
To very stone, that in their Waters fall.
And such another, call'd Eurimenus,
Convert the boughs, the barke, the leaues and all,
To very stone, that in their Waters fall.
O! should I blanch the Iewes religious River,
Which every Sabbath dries his Chanell over;
Keeping his Waues from working on that Day
Which God ordain'd a sacred Rest for ay?
Which every Sabbath dries his Chanell over;
Keeping his Waues from working on that Day
Which God ordain'd a sacred Rest for ay?
If neere vnto the Eleusinian Spring,
Som sport-full Iigsom wanton Shepheard sing,
The Ravisht Fountaine falls to daunce and bound,
Keeping true Cadence to his rustick sound.
Cerona, Xanth, and Cephisus, doe make
The thirsty-Flocks that of their Waters take,
Black, red, and white. And neer the crimsin Deep,
Th'Arabian Fountain maketh crimsin Sheep.
Som sport-full Iigsom wanton Shepheard sing,
The Ravisht Fountaine falls to daunce and bound,
Keeping true Cadence to his rustick sound.
Cerona, Xanth, and Cephisus, doe make
The thirsty-Flocks that of their Waters take,
Black, red, and white. And neer the crimsin Deep,
Th'Arabian Fountain maketh crimsin Sheep.
Salonian Fountain, and thou Andrian Spring,
Out of what Cellars do you daily bring
The Oyl and Wine that you abound with, so?
O Earth! do these within thine entrails grow?
What? be there Vines and Orchards vnder ground?
Is Bacchus Trade and Pallas Art there found?
Out of what Cellars do you daily bring
The Oyl and Wine that you abound with, so?
O Earth! do these within thine entrails grow?
53
Is Bacchus Trade and Pallas Art there found?
What should I, of th'Illyrian Fountain, tell?
What shall I say of the Dodónean VVell?
Whereof, the first sets any cloathes on-fire;
Th'other doth quench (Who but will this admire?)
A burning Torch; and when the same is quenched,
Lights it again, if it again be drenched.
Sure, in the Legend of absurdest Fables
I should enroule most of these admirables;
Saue for the reuerence of th'vnstained credit
Of many a witnes where I yerst haue read it:
And sauing that our gain-spurr'd Pilots finde,
In our dayes, Waters of more wondrous kind.
What shall I say of the Dodónean VVell?
Whereof, the first sets any cloathes on-fire;
Th'other doth quench (Who but will this admire?)
A burning Torch; and when the same is quenched,
Lights it again, if it again be drenched.
Sure, in the Legend of absurdest Fables
I should enroule most of these admirables;
Saue for the reuerence of th'vnstained credit
Of many a witnes where I yerst haue read it:
And sauing that our gain-spurr'd Pilots finde,
In our dayes, Waters of more wondrous kind.
Of all the Sources infinite to count,
Which to an ample Volume would amount,
Far hence on Forrain vnfrequented Coast,
I'l onely chuse som fiue or six at most,
Strange to report, perhaps beleev'd of few;
And yet no more incredible then true.
Which to an ample Volume would amount,
Far hence on Forrain vnfrequented Coast,
I'l onely chuse som fiue or six at most,
Strange to report, perhaps beleev'd of few;
And yet no more incredible then true.
In th'Ile of Iron (one of those same Seav'n
Whereto our Elders Happy name had giv'n)
The Savage people neuer drink the streams
Of Wells and Riuers (as in other Realms)
Their drink is in the Aire; their gushing spring
A weeping Tree out of it selfe doth wring:
A Tree, whose tender-bearded Root being spred
In dryest sand, his sweating Leafe doth shed
A most sweet liquor; and (like as the Vine
Vntimely cut, weeps (at her wound) her wine,
In pearled tears) incessantly distills
A Crystall stream, which all their Cisterns fills,
Through all the Iland: for, all hither hy;
And all their vessels cannot draw it dry.
Whereto our Elders Happy name had giv'n)
The Savage people neuer drink the streams
Of Wells and Riuers (as in other Realms)
Their drink is in the Aire; their gushing spring
A weeping Tree out of it selfe doth wring:
A Tree, whose tender-bearded Root being spred
In dryest sand, his sweating Leafe doth shed
A most sweet liquor; and (like as the Vine
Vntimely cut, weeps (at her wound) her wine,
In pearled tears) incessantly distills
A Crystall stream, which all their Cisterns fills,
Through all the Iland: for, all hither hy;
And all their vessels cannot draw it dry.
In frosty Islands are two Fountains strange:
Th'one flowes with Wax: the other stream doth change
All into Iron; yet with scalding steam
In thousand bubbles belcheth vp her stream.
Th'one flowes with Wax: the other stream doth change
All into Iron; yet with scalding steam
In thousand bubbles belcheth vp her stream.
In golden Peru, neere Saint Helens Mount
A stream of Pitch coms from a springing Fount.
A stream of Pitch coms from a springing Fount.
What more remaines? That New-found World, besides,
Toward the West many a faire River guides;
Whose floating VVaters (knowing th'vse aright
Of VVork-fit Day, and Rest-ordained Night,
Better then men) run swiftly, all the Day;
But rest, all Night, and stir not any way.
Toward the West many a faire River guides;
Whose floating VVaters (knowing th'vse aright
Of VVork-fit Day, and Rest-ordained Night,
Better then men) run swiftly, all the Day;
But rest, all Night, and stir not any way.
Great Enginer, Almighty Architect,
I fear, of Enuy I should be suspect,
Enuy of thy Renown and sacred glory,
If my ingratefull Rimes should blanch the Story
Of Streams, distilling through the Sulphur-Mines,
Through Bitumen, Allom, and Nitre veins;
VVhich (perfect Leaches) with their vertues cure
A thousand Griefs we mortals heere endure,
Old in the April of our age therewith,
VVhose rigour striues to ante-date our death.
I fear, of Enuy I should be suspect,
54
If my ingratefull Rimes should blanch the Story
Of Streams, distilling through the Sulphur-Mines,
Through Bitumen, Allom, and Nitre veins;
VVhich (perfect Leaches) with their vertues cure
A thousand Griefs we mortals heere endure,
Old in the April of our age therewith,
VVhose rigour striues to ante-date our death.
Now, as my happy Gascony excells,
In Corne, VVine, VVarriours, every Country els;
So doth she also in free Bathes abound;
VVhere strangers flock from every part around.
The barren womb, the Palsie-shaken wight,
Th'vlcerous, gowtie, deaf, and decrepit,
From East and VVest arriving, fetch from hence
Their ready help with small or no expence.
VVitnes Ancossa, Caud'rets, Aiguescald,
Barege, Baigners; Baigners, the pride of all,
The pride, the praise, the onely Paradise
Of all those Mountaines mounting to the skies,
VVhere yerst the Gaulian Hercules begot
(VVanton Alomena's Bastard, meane I not)
On faire Pirene (as the fame doth go)
The famous Father of the Gascons; who
By noble deeds do worthily averr
Their true descent from such an Ancester.
On th'one side, Hils hoar'd with eternall Snowes,
And craggy Rocks Baigneres doe inclose:
The other side is sweetly compast-in
With fragrant skirts of an immortall Green,
Whose smiling beauties far excell, in all,
The famous praise of the Peneïan Vale:
There's not a House, but seemeth to be new;
Th'even-slated Roofs reflect with glistring blew.
To keep the Pavement ever cleane and sweet,
A Crystall River runs through every Street,
Whose Silver stream, as cold as Ice, doth slide
But little off the Physick Waters side;
Yet keeps his nature, and disdaines, a iot
To intermix his cold with th'others hot.
In Corne, VVine, VVarriours, every Country els;
So doth she also in free Bathes abound;
VVhere strangers flock from every part around.
The barren womb, the Palsie-shaken wight,
Th'vlcerous, gowtie, deaf, and decrepit,
From East and VVest arriving, fetch from hence
Their ready help with small or no expence.
VVitnes Ancossa, Caud'rets, Aiguescald,
Barege, Baigners; Baigners, the pride of all,
The pride, the praise, the onely Paradise
Of all those Mountaines mounting to the skies,
VVhere yerst the Gaulian Hercules begot
(VVanton Alomena's Bastard, meane I not)
On faire Pirene (as the fame doth go)
The famous Father of the Gascons; who
By noble deeds do worthily averr
Their true descent from such an Ancester.
On th'one side, Hils hoar'd with eternall Snowes,
And craggy Rocks Baigneres doe inclose:
The other side is sweetly compast-in
With fragrant skirts of an immortall Green,
Whose smiling beauties far excell, in all,
The famous praise of the Peneïan Vale:
There's not a House, but seemeth to be new;
Th'even-slated Roofs reflect with glistring blew.
To keep the Pavement ever cleane and sweet,
A Crystall River runs through every Street,
Whose Silver stream, as cold as Ice, doth slide
But little off the Physick Waters side;
Yet keeps his nature, and disdaines, a iot
To intermix his cold with th'others hot.
But all these Wonders, that adorn my Verse,
Yet come not neer vnto the wondrous Lers.
If it be true, that the Stagyrtan Sage
(With shame confu'd, and driv'n with desperate rage)
Because his Reason could not reach the knowing
Of Euripus his seav'n-fold Ebbing-flowing,
Leapt in the same, and there his life did end,
Compriz'd in that he could not comprehend;
What had he done, had he beheld the Fountain,
Which springs at B'lestat, neere the famous Mountain
Of Foix; whose floods bathing Maserian Plains,
Furnish with wood the wealthy Tholousains?
As oft as Phœbus (in a compleat Race)
On both th'Horizons shewes his radiant Face,
This wondrous Brook (for foure whole months) doth Flowe,
Foure-times-six-times, and Ebbes as oft as lowe.
For halfe an houre may dry-shod passe that list:
The next halfe hour, may none his course resist.
VVhose foaming streame striues proudly to compare
(Even in the birth) with Fame-full'st Floods that are
O learned (Nature-taught) Arithmetician!
Clock-less so iust to measure Time's partition.
Yet come not neer vnto the wondrous Lers.
If it be true, that the Stagyrtan Sage
(With shame confu'd, and driv'n with desperate rage)
Because his Reason could not reach the knowing
Of Euripus his seav'n-fold Ebbing-flowing,
Leapt in the same, and there his life did end,
Compriz'd in that he could not comprehend;
55
Which springs at B'lestat, neere the famous Mountain
Of Foix; whose floods bathing Maserian Plains,
Furnish with wood the wealthy Tholousains?
As oft as Phœbus (in a compleat Race)
On both th'Horizons shewes his radiant Face,
This wondrous Brook (for foure whole months) doth Flowe,
Foure-times-six-times, and Ebbes as oft as lowe.
For halfe an houre may dry-shod passe that list:
The next halfe hour, may none his course resist.
VVhose foaming streame striues proudly to compare
(Even in the birth) with Fame-full'st Floods that are
O learned (Nature-taught) Arithmetician!
Clock-less so iust to measure Time's partition.
And little Lambes-Bovrn, though thou match not Lers,
Nor hadst the Honor of DuBartas Verse;
If mine haue any, Thou must needs partake,
Both for thine Owne, and for thine Owners sake;
Whose kind Excesses Thee so neerely touch,
That Yeerely for them Thou doost weepe so much,
All Summer-long (while all thy Sisters shrinke)
That of thy teares a million daily drinke;
Besides thy Waast, vvhich then in haste doth run
To vvash the feet of Chavcer's Donnington:
But (vvhile the rest are full vnto the top)
All VVinter-long, Thou never show'st a drop,
Nor send'st a doit of need-less Subsidie,
To Cramm the Kennet's Want-less Treasurie,
Before her Store be spent, and Springs be staid:
Then, then alone Thou lendst a liberall Aid;
Teaching thy vvealthy Neighbours (Mine, of late)
How, When and Where to right-participate
Their streams of Comfort, to the poore that pine,
And not to greaz still the too-greazy Swine:
Neither for fame, nor for me (vvhen others doo)
To giue a Morsel, or a Mite or two;
But seuerally, and of a selfly motion,
When others miss, to giue the most devotion.
Nor hadst the Honor of DuBartas Verse;
If mine haue any, Thou must needs partake,
Both for thine Owne, and for thine Owners sake;
Whose kind Excesses Thee so neerely touch,
That Yeerely for them Thou doost weepe so much,
All Summer-long (while all thy Sisters shrinke)
That of thy teares a million daily drinke;
Besides thy Waast, vvhich then in haste doth run
To vvash the feet of Chavcer's Donnington:
But (vvhile the rest are full vnto the top)
All VVinter-long, Thou never show'st a drop,
Nor send'st a doit of need-less Subsidie,
To Cramm the Kennet's Want-less Treasurie,
Before her Store be spent, and Springs be staid:
Then, then alone Thou lendst a liberall Aid;
Teaching thy vvealthy Neighbours (Mine, of late)
How, When and Where to right-participate
Their streams of Comfort, to the poore that pine,
And not to greaz still the too-greazy Swine:
Neither for fame, nor for me (vvhen others doo)
To giue a Morsel, or a Mite or two;
But seuerally, and of a selfly motion,
When others miss, to giue the most devotion.
Most wisely did th'eternall All-Creator
Dispose these Elements of Earth and VVater:
For, sith th'one could not without drink subsist,
Nor th'other without stay, bottom and list,
God intermixt them so, that th'Earth her brest
Op'ning to th'Ocean, th'Ocean winding prest
About the Earth, a-thwart, and vnder it:
For, the VVorld's Center, both together fit.
For, if their mixt Globe held not certainly
Iust the iust midst of the VVorlds Axle-tree,
All Climats then should not be serv'd aright
VVith equall Counterpoiz of day and night:
The Horizons il-leuell'd circle wide,
VVould sag too-much on th'one or th'other side:
Th'Antipodes, or we, at once should take
View of more Signes then halfe the Zodiack:
The Moon's Eclipses would not then be certain,
And setled Seasons would be then vncertaine.
Dispose these Elements of Earth and VVater:
For, sith th'one could not without drink subsist,
Nor th'other without stay, bottom and list,
God intermixt them so, that th'Earth her brest
Op'ning to th'Ocean, th'Ocean winding prest
About the Earth, a-thwart, and vnder it:
For, the VVorld's Center, both together fit.
For, if their mixt Globe held not certainly
Iust the iust midst of the VVorlds Axle-tree,
56
VVith equall Counterpoiz of day and night:
The Horizons il-leuell'd circle wide,
VVould sag too-much on th'one or th'other side:
Th'Antipodes, or we, at once should take
View of more Signes then halfe the Zodiack:
The Moon's Eclipses would not then be certain,
And setled Seasons would be then vncertaine.
This also serueth for probation sound,
That th'Earth and VVaters mingled Mass is Round,
Round as a Ball; seeing on euery side
The Day and Night successiuely to slide.
Yea, though Vespasio (famous Florentine)
Marke Pole, and Columb, braue Italian Trine,
Our (Spain's Dread) Drake, Candish, and Cumberland,
Most valiant Earle, most worthy High Command,
And thousand gallant modern Typheis else,
Had neuer brought the North-Poles Parallels
Vnder the South; and, sayling still about,
So many New-vvorlds vnder vs found out.
Nay, neuer could they th'Articke Pole haue lost,
Nor found th'Antarticke, if in euery Coast
Seas liquid Glass round-bow'd not euery where,
With sister Earth, to make a perfect Sphear.
That th'Earth and VVaters mingled Mass is Round,
Round as a Ball; seeing on euery side
The Day and Night successiuely to slide.
Yea, though Vespasio (famous Florentine)
Marke Pole, and Columb, braue Italian Trine,
Our (Spain's Dread) Drake, Candish, and Cumberland,
Most valiant Earle, most worthy High Command,
And thousand gallant modern Typheis else,
Had neuer brought the North-Poles Parallels
Vnder the South; and, sayling still about,
So many New-vvorlds vnder vs found out.
Nay, neuer could they th'Articke Pole haue lost,
Nor found th'Antarticke, if in euery Coast
Seas liquid Glass round-bow'd not euery where,
With sister Earth, to make a perfect Sphear.
But, perfect Artist, with what Arches strong,
Props, staies, and Pillars, hast thou stay'd so long
This hanging, thin, sad, slippery Water-Ball,
From falling out, and ouer-whelming all?
May it not be (good Lord) because the Water
To the Worlds Center tendeth still by nature;
And toward the bottom of this bottom bound,
VVilling to fall, doth yet remain still round?
Or may't not be, because the surly Banks
Keep VVaters captiue in their hollow flanks?
Or that our Seas be buttrest (as it were)
VVith thousand Rocks dispersed heere and there?
Or rather, Lord, is't not Thine onely Powr
That Bows it round about Earth's branchy Bowr?
Props, staies, and Pillars, hast thou stay'd so long
This hanging, thin, sad, slippery Water-Ball,
From falling out, and ouer-whelming all?
May it not be (good Lord) because the Water
To the Worlds Center tendeth still by nature;
And toward the bottom of this bottom bound,
VVilling to fall, doth yet remain still round?
Or may't not be, because the surly Banks
Keep VVaters captiue in their hollow flanks?
Or that our Seas be buttrest (as it were)
VVith thousand Rocks dispersed heere and there?
Or rather, Lord, is't not Thine onely Powr
That Bows it round about Earth's branchy Bowr?
Doubtless (great God) 'tis doubtless thine owne hand
VVhereon this Mansion-of Mankind doth stand.
For, though it hang in th'Aire, swim in the Water,
Though euery way it be a round Theater,
Though All turn round about it, though for ay
It selfes Fundations with swift Motions play,
It rests vn-mooueable: that th'Holy Race
Of Adam there may find fit dwelling place.
VVhereon this Mansion-of Mankind doth stand.
For, though it hang in th'Aire, swim in the Water,
Though euery way it be a round Theater,
Though All turn round about it, though for ay
It selfes Fundations with swift Motions play,
It rests vn-mooueable: that th'Holy Race
Of Adam there may find fit dwelling place.
The Earth receiues man when he first is born:
Th'Earth nurses him; and when he is forlorn
Of th'other Elements, and Nature loaths-him,
Th'Earth in her bosom with kind buriall cloaths-him.
Oft hath the Aire with Tempests set-vpon-vs,
Oft hath the Water with her Floods vndon-vs,
Oft hath the Fire (th'vpper as well as ours)
With wofull flames consum'd our Towns and Towrs:
Onely the Earth, of all the Elements,
Vnto Mankind is kind without offence:
Onely the Earth did neuer iot displace
From the first seat assign'd it by thy grace.
Th'Earth nurses him; and when he is forlorn
57
Th'Earth in her bosom with kind buriall cloaths-him.
Oft hath the Aire with Tempests set-vpon-vs,
Oft hath the Water with her Floods vndon-vs,
Oft hath the Fire (th'vpper as well as ours)
With wofull flames consum'd our Towns and Towrs:
Onely the Earth, of all the Elements,
Vnto Mankind is kind without offence:
Onely the Earth did neuer iot displace
From the first seat assign'd it by thy grace.
Yet true it is (good Lord) that mov'd somtimes
With wicked Peoples execrable crimes,
The wrathfull power of thy right hand doth make,
Not all the Earth, but part of it to quake,
With ayd of Windes: which (as imprisoned deep)
In her vast entrails, furious murmurs keep.
Fear chils our hears (what hart can fear dissemble?)
When steeples stagger, and huge Mountains tremble
With wind-les wind, and yawning Hell deuours
Somtimes whole Cities with their shining Towrs.
With wicked Peoples execrable crimes,
The wrathfull power of thy right hand doth make,
Not all the Earth, but part of it to quake,
With ayd of Windes: which (as imprisoned deep)
In her vast entrails, furious murmurs keep.
Fear chils our hears (what hart can fear dissemble?)
When steeples stagger, and huge Mountains tremble
With wind-les wind, and yawning Hell deuours
Somtimes whole Cities with their shining Towrs.
Sith then, the Earth's, and Water's blended Ball
Is center, heart, and nauel of this All;
And sith (in reason) that which is included,
Must needs be less then that which doth include it;
'Tis question-less, the Orb of Earth and Water
Is the least Orb in all the All-Theater.
Is center, heart, and nauel of this All;
And sith (in reason) that which is included,
Must needs be less then that which doth include it;
'Tis question-less, the Orb of Earth and Water
Is the least Orb in all the All-Theater.
Let any iudge, whether this lower Ball
(Whose endles greatness we admire so, all)
Seem not a point, compar'd with th'vpper Sphear
Whose turning turns the rest in their Career;
Sith the least Star that we perceiue to shine
Aboue, disperst in th'Arches crystalline
(If, at the least, Star-Clarks be credit worth)
Is eighteene times bigger then all the Earth:
Whence, if we but subtract what is possest
(From North to South, & from the East to West)
Vnder the Empire of the Ocean
Atlantike, Indian, and American;
And thousand huge Arms issuing out of these,
With infinites of other Lakes and Seas:
And also what the two intemperate Zones
Doo make vnfit for habitations;
VVhat will remaine? Ah! nothing (in respect):
Lo heer, O men! Lo wherefore you neglect
Heav'ns glorious Kingdom: Lo the largest scope
Glory can giue to your ambitious hope.
(Whose endles greatness we admire so, all)
Seem not a point, compar'd with th'vpper Sphear
Whose turning turns the rest in their Career;
Sith the least Star that we perceiue to shine
Aboue, disperst in th'Arches crystalline
(If, at the least, Star-Clarks be credit worth)
Is eighteene times bigger then all the Earth:
Whence, if we but subtract what is possest
(From North to South, & from the East to West)
Vnder the Empire of the Ocean
Atlantike, Indian, and American;
And thousand huge Arms issuing out of these,
With infinites of other Lakes and Seas:
And also what the two intemperate Zones
Doo make vnfit for habitations;
VVhat will remaine? Ah! nothing (in respect):
Lo heer, O men! Lo wherefore you neglect
Heav'ns glorious Kingdom: Lo the largest scope
Glory can giue to your ambitious hope.
O Princes (subiects vnto pride and pleasure)
VVho (to enlarge, but a hair's breadth, the measure
Of your Dominions) breaking Oaths of Peace,
Couer the Fields with bloudy Carcases:
O Magistrates, who (to content the Great)
Make sale of Iustice, on your sacred Seat;
And, broaking Laws for Bribes, profane your Place,
To leaue a Leek to your vnthankfull Race:
You strict Extorters, that the Poor oppress,
And wrong the Widdow and the Father-less,
To leaue your Off-spring rich (of others good)
In Houses built of Rapine and of Blood:
You Citty-Vipers, that (incestuous) ioyn
Vse vpon vse, begetting Coyn of Coyn:
You marchant Mercers, and Monopolites,
Gain-greedy Chap-men; periur'd Hypocrites,
Dissembling Broakers, made of all deceipts,
Who falsifie your Measures and your Weights,
'T inrich your selues, and your vnthrifty Sons
To Gentilize with proud possessions:
You that for gaine betray your gracious Prince,
Your natiue Country, or your deerest Friends:
You that to get you but an inch of ground,
With cursed hands remoue your Neighbours bound
(The ancient bounds your Ancestors haue set)
What gain you all? alas! what do you get?
Yea, though a King by wile or war had won
All the round Earth to his subiection;
Lo heer the Guerdon of his glorious pains:
A needles point, a Mote, a Mite, he gains,
A Nit, a Nothing (did he All possess);
Or if then nothing any thing be less.
VVho (to enlarge, but a hair's breadth, the measure
58
Couer the Fields with bloudy Carcases:
O Magistrates, who (to content the Great)
Make sale of Iustice, on your sacred Seat;
And, broaking Laws for Bribes, profane your Place,
To leaue a Leek to your vnthankfull Race:
You strict Extorters, that the Poor oppress,
And wrong the Widdow and the Father-less,
To leaue your Off-spring rich (of others good)
In Houses built of Rapine and of Blood:
You Citty-Vipers, that (incestuous) ioyn
Vse vpon vse, begetting Coyn of Coyn:
You marchant Mercers, and Monopolites,
Gain-greedy Chap-men; periur'd Hypocrites,
Dissembling Broakers, made of all deceipts,
Who falsifie your Measures and your Weights,
'T inrich your selues, and your vnthrifty Sons
To Gentilize with proud possessions:
You that for gaine betray your gracious Prince,
Your natiue Country, or your deerest Friends:
You that to get you but an inch of ground,
With cursed hands remoue your Neighbours bound
(The ancient bounds your Ancestors haue set)
What gain you all? alas! what do you get?
Yea, though a King by wile or war had won
All the round Earth to his subiection;
Lo heer the Guerdon of his glorious pains:
A needles point, a Mote, a Mite, he gains,
A Nit, a Nothing (did he All possess);
Or if then nothing any thing be less.
VVhen God, whose words more in a moment can,
Then in an Age the proudest strength of Man,
Had seuered the Floods, leuell'd the Fields,
Embas't the Valleys, and embost the Hils;
Change, change (quoth hee) O fair and firmest Globe,
Thy mourning weed, to a green gallant Robe;
Cheer thy sad brows, and stately garnish them,
VVith a rich, fragrant, flowry Diadem;
Lay forth thy locks, and paint thee (Lady-like)
VVith freshest colours on thy sallow cheek.
And let from hence-forth thy aboundant brests
Not only Nurse thine own Wombs natiue guests,
But frankly furnish with fit nourishments
The future folk of th'other Elements;
That Aire, and water, and the Angels Court,
May all seem iealous of thy praise and port.
Then in an Age the proudest strength of Man,
Had seuered the Floods, leuell'd the Fields,
Embas't the Valleys, and embost the Hils;
Change, change (quoth hee) O fair and firmest Globe,
Thy mourning weed, to a green gallant Robe;
Cheer thy sad brows, and stately garnish them,
VVith a rich, fragrant, flowry Diadem;
Lay forth thy locks, and paint thee (Lady-like)
VVith freshest colours on thy sallow cheek.
And let from hence-forth thy aboundant brests
Not only Nurse thine own Wombs natiue guests,
But frankly furnish with fit nourishments
The future folk of th'other Elements;
That Aire, and water, and the Angels Court,
May all seem iealous of thy praise and port.
No sooner spoken, but the lofty Pine
Distilling-pitch, the Larch yeeld-Turpentine,
Th'euer-green Box, and gummy Cedar sprout,
And th'Airy Mountaines mantle round about:
The Mast-full Oke, the vse-full Ash, the Holm,
Coat changing Cork, white Maple, shady Elm,
Through Hill and Plain ranged their plumed Ranks.
The winding Riuers bordered all their banks
With slice-Sea Aldars, and green Osiars smal,
With trembling Poplars, and with Willows pale,
And many Trees beside, fit to be made
Fewell, or Timber, or to serue for Shade.
Distilling-pitch, the Larch yeeld-Turpentine,
59
And th'Airy Mountaines mantle round about:
The Mast-full Oke, the vse-full Ash, the Holm,
Coat changing Cork, white Maple, shady Elm,
Through Hill and Plain ranged their plumed Ranks.
The winding Riuers bordered all their banks
With slice-Sea Aldars, and green Osiars smal,
With trembling Poplars, and with Willows pale,
And many Trees beside, fit to be made
Fewell, or Timber, or to serue for Shade.
The dainty Apricock (of Plums the Prince)
The veluet Peach, gilt Orenge, downy Quince,
All-ready beare grav'n in their tender barks,
Gods powerfull prouidence in open marks.
The sent-sweet Apple, and astringent Pear,
The Cherry Filberd, Wal-nut, Meddeler,
The milky Fig, the Damson black and white,
The Date, and Olyue, ayding appetite,
Spread euery-where a most delightfull Spring,
And euery-where a very Eden bring.
The veluet Peach, gilt Orenge, downy Quince,
All-ready beare grav'n in their tender barks,
Gods powerfull prouidence in open marks.
The sent-sweet Apple, and astringent Pear,
The Cherry Filberd, Wal-nut, Meddeler,
The milky Fig, the Damson black and white,
The Date, and Olyue, ayding appetite,
Spread euery-where a most delightfull Spring,
And euery-where a very Eden bring.
Heere, the fine Pepper, as in clusters hung:
There Cinamon and other Spices sprung.
Heer, dangled Nutmegs, that for thrifty pains
Yearly repay the Bandans wondrous gains;
There growes (th'Hesperian Plant) the precious Reed
Whence Sugar sirrops in aboundance bleed;
There weeps the Balm, and famous Trees from whence
Th'Arabians fetcht perfuming Frankinsence.
There Cinamon and other Spices sprung.
Heer, dangled Nutmegs, that for thrifty pains
Yearly repay the Bandans wondrous gains;
There growes (th'Hesperian Plant) the precious Reed
Whence Sugar sirrops in aboundance bleed;
There weeps the Balm, and famous Trees from whence
Th'Arabians fetcht perfuming Frankinsence.
There, th'amorous Vine coll's in a thousand sorts
(With winding arms) her Spouse that her supports:
The Vine, as far inferiour to the rest
In beauty, as in bounty past the best:
Whose sacred liquor, temperately taen,
Reviues the spirits and purifies the brain,
Cheers the sad heart, increaseth kindly heat,
Purgeth gross blood, and doth the pure beget,
Strengthens the stomack, and the colour mends,
Sharpens the wit, and doth the bladder cleanse,
Opens obstructions, excrements expels,
And easeth vs of many Languors els.
(With winding arms) her Spouse that her supports:
The Vine, as far inferiour to the rest
In beauty, as in bounty past the best:
Whose sacred liquor, temperately taen,
Reviues the spirits and purifies the brain,
Cheers the sad heart, increaseth kindly heat,
Purgeth gross blood, and doth the pure beget,
Strengthens the stomack, and the colour mends,
Sharpens the wit, and doth the bladder cleanse,
Opens obstructions, excrements expels,
And easeth vs of many Languors els.
And though through Sin (wherby from Heav'nly state
Our Parents barr'd vs) th'Earth degenerate
From her first beauty, bearing still vpon her
Eternall Scars of her fond Lords dishonour:
Though with the Worlds age, her weakage decay,
Though she becom less fruitfull every day
(Much like a Woman with oft teeming worn;
Who, with the Babes of her owne body born,
Having almost stor'd a whole Towne with people,
At length becomes barren, and faint, and feeble)
Yet doth shee yeeld matter enough to sing
And praise the Maker of so rich a Thing.
Our Parents barr'd vs) th'Earth degenerate
From her first beauty, bearing still vpon her
Eternall Scars of her fond Lords dishonour:
Though with the Worlds age, her weakage decay,
Though she becom less fruitfull every day
(Much like a Woman with oft teeming worn;
Who, with the Babes of her owne body born,
60
At length becomes barren, and faint, and feeble)
Yet doth shee yeeld matter enough to sing
And praise the Maker of so rich a Thing.
Neuer mine eies in pleasant Springs behold
The azure Flax, the gilden Marigold,
The Violet's purple, the sweet Rose's stammell,
The Lillie's snowe, and Pansey's various ammell,
But that (in them) the Painter I admire,
Who in more Colours doth the Fields attire,
Then fresh Aurora's rosie cheeks display,
When in the East she Vshers a fair Day:
Or Iris Bowe, which bended in the Sky
Boades fruitfull deaws when as the Fields be dry,
The azure Flax, the gilden Marigold,
The Violet's purple, the sweet Rose's stammell,
The Lillie's snowe, and Pansey's various ammell,
But that (in them) the Painter I admire,
Who in more Colours doth the Fields attire,
Then fresh Aurora's rosie cheeks display,
When in the East she Vshers a fair Day:
Or Iris Bowe, which bended in the Sky
Boades fruitfull deaws when as the Fields be dry,
Heer (deer S. Bartas) giue thy Seruant leaue
In thy rich Garland one rare Flower to vveaue,
Whose vvondrous nature had more vvorthy been
Of thy diuine, immortalizing Pen:
But, from thy sight, vvhen Sein did swell vvith Bloud,
It sunk (perhaps) vnder the Crimsin Flood.
(When Beldam Medices, Valois, and Guise,
Stain'd Hymens Roab vvith Heathen cruelties)
Because the Sun, to shun so vile a view,
His Chamber kept; and vvept vvith Bartholmew.
In thy rich Garland one rare Flower to vveaue,
Whose vvondrous nature had more vvorthy been
Of thy diuine, immortalizing Pen:
But, from thy sight, vvhen Sein did swell vvith Bloud,
It sunk (perhaps) vnder the Crimsin Flood.
(When Beldam Medices, Valois, and Guise,
Stain'd Hymens Roab vvith Heathen cruelties)
Because the Sun, to shun so vile a view,
His Chamber kept; and vvept vvith Bartholmew.
For so, so soon as in the Western Seas
Apollo sinks, in siluer Euphrates
The Lotos diues, deeper and deeper ay
Till mid-night: then, remounteth toward Day:
But not aboue the Water, till the Sun
Doo re-ascend aboue the Horizon.
So euer-true to Titans radiant Flame,
That (Rise he, Fall hee) it is Still the same.
Apollo sinks, in siluer Euphrates
The Lotos diues, deeper and deeper ay
Till mid-night: then, remounteth toward Day:
But not aboue the Water, till the Sun
Doo re-ascend aboue the Horizon.
So euer-true to Titans radiant Flame,
That (Rise he, Fall hee) it is Still the same.
A Real Emblem of her Royall Honour
That vvorthily did take that Word vpon-her;
Sacred Eliza, that ensu'd no less
Th'eternall Sun of Peace and Righteousnes;
Whose liuely lamp (vvhat euer did betide her)
In either Fortune vvas her onely Guider.
For, in her Fathers and her Brothers Daies,
Fair rose this Rose vvith Truth's new-springing raies:
And vvhen again the Gospels glorious Light
Set in her Sisters superstitious Night,
She sunk vvithall vnder afflictions streams
(As sinks my Lotos vvith Sols setting beams):
But, after Night, vvhen Light again appear'd,
There-vvith, again her Royal Crown she rear'd;
And in an Ile amid the Ocean set
(Maugre the Deluge that Romes Dragon spet,
With spightfull storms striuing to ouer-flowe her,
And Spain conspiring ioyntly t' ouer-throwe-her)
Her Maiden Flowr flourisht aboue the Water;
For, still Heav'ns Sun cherisht his louing Daughter:
Bel fiord' Honor, ch'in Mare'l Mondo ammira,
Al sole sacro, ch' Ei Ben T'Alza E Gira
(So, my deer Wiat, honouring Still the same,
In-soul'd an Imprese with her Anagramm):
And last, for guerdon of her constant Loue,
Rapt her intirely, to himselfe aboue.
That vvorthily did take that Word vpon-her;
Sacred Eliza, that ensu'd no less
Th'eternall Sun of Peace and Righteousnes;
Whose liuely lamp (vvhat euer did betide her)
In either Fortune vvas her onely Guider.
For, in her Fathers and her Brothers Daies,
Fair rose this Rose vvith Truth's new-springing raies:
And vvhen again the Gospels glorious Light
Set in her Sisters superstitious Night,
She sunk vvithall vnder afflictions streams
(As sinks my Lotos vvith Sols setting beams):
But, after Night, vvhen Light again appear'd,
There-vvith, again her Royal Crown she rear'd;
And in an Ile amid the Ocean set
(Maugre the Deluge that Romes Dragon spet,
61
And Spain conspiring ioyntly t' ouer-throwe-her)
Her Maiden Flowr flourisht aboue the Water;
For, still Heav'ns Sun cherisht his louing Daughter:
Bel fiord' Honor, ch'in Mare'l Mondo ammira,
Al sole sacro, ch' Ei Ben T'Alza E Gira
(So, my deer Wiat, honouring Still the same,
In-soul'd an Imprese with her Anagramm):
And last, for guerdon of her constant Loue,
Rapt her intirely, to himselfe aboue.
So set our Sun; and yet no Night ensu'd:
So happily the Heav'ns our Light renu'd:
For, in her stead, of the same Stock of Kings
Another Flowr (or rather Phœnix) springs;
Another like (or rather Still the same)
No less in Loue with that Supernall Flame.
So, to God's glory, and his Churches good,
Th'honour of England, and the Royall blood,
Long happy Monark may King Iames persist;
And after him, His; Still the same in Christ.
So happily the Heav'ns our Light renu'd:
For, in her stead, of the same Stock of Kings
Another Flowr (or rather Phœnix) springs;
Another like (or rather Still the same)
No less in Loue with that Supernall Flame.
So, to God's glory, and his Churches good,
Th'honour of England, and the Royall blood,
Long happy Monark may King Iames persist;
And after him, His; Still the same in Christ.
God, not content t'haue given these Plants of ours
Precious Perfumes, Fruits, Plenty, pleasant Flowrs,
Infused Physick in their leaues and Mores,
To cure our sickness, and to salue our sores:
Else doubt-less (Death assaults so many waies)
Scarce could we liue a quarter of our Daies;
But like the Flax, which flowrs at once and fals,
One Feast would serue our Birth and Burials:
Our Birth our Death, our Cradle (then) our Toomb,
Our tender Spring our Winter would becom.
Precious Perfumes, Fruits, Plenty, pleasant Flowrs,
Infused Physick in their leaues and Mores,
To cure our sickness, and to salue our sores:
Else doubt-less (Death assaults so many waies)
Scarce could we liue a quarter of our Daies;
But like the Flax, which flowrs at once and fals,
One Feast would serue our Birth and Burials:
Our Birth our Death, our Cradle (then) our Toomb,
Our tender Spring our Winter would becom.
Good Lord! how many gasping Soules haue scap't
By th'ayd of Hearbs, for whom the Graue hath gap't;
Who, euen about to touch the Stygian strand,
Haue yet beguil'd grim Pluto's greedy hand!
Beard-less Apollo's beardy Son did once
With iuyce of Hearbs reioyn the scattered bones
Of the chaste Prince, that in th'Athenian Court
Preferred Death before incestuous sport.
So did Medea, for her Iason's sake,
The frozen limbs of Æson youthfull make.
O sacred Simples that our life sustain,
And when it flies vs, call it back again!
'Tis not alone your liquor, inly taen,
That oft defends vs from so many a baen:
Put even your fauour, yea, your neighbour-hood,
For some Diseases is exceeding good;
Working so rare effects, that only such
As feel, or see them, can beleeue so much.
By th'ayd of Hearbs, for whom the Graue hath gap't;
Who, euen about to touch the Stygian strand,
Haue yet beguil'd grim Pluto's greedy hand!
Beard-less Apollo's beardy Son did once
With iuyce of Hearbs reioyn the scattered bones
Of the chaste Prince, that in th'Athenian Court
Preferred Death before incestuous sport.
So did Medea, for her Iason's sake,
The frozen limbs of Æson youthfull make.
O sacred Simples that our life sustain,
And when it flies vs, call it back again!
'Tis not alone your liquor, inly taen,
That oft defends vs from so many a baen:
Put even your fauour, yea, your neighbour-hood,
For some Diseases is exceeding good;
Working so rare effects, that only such
As feel, or see them, can beleeue so much.
62
Blew Succorie, hangd on the naked neck,
Dispels the dimness that our sight doth check.
Swines-bread, so vsed, doth not only speed
A tardy Labour; but (without great heed)
If over it a Child-great Woman stride,
Instant abortion often doth betide.
The burning Sun, the banefull Aconite,
The poysonie Serpents that vnpeople quite
Cyreniam Defarts, never Danger them
That were about them th' Artemisian Stem.
About an Infants neck hang Peonie,
It cures Alcydes cruell maladie.
If fuming boawls of Bacchus, in excess,
Trouble thy brains with storms of giddiness,
Put but a garland of green Saffron on,
And that mad humour will be quickly gon.
Th'inchanting Charms of Syrens blandishments,
Contagious Aire ingendring Pestilence,
Infect not those that in their mouthes haue taen
Angelica, that happy counter-baen,
Sent down from Heav'n by some Celestiall scout,
As well the name and nature both avow't.
So Pimpernel, held in the Patients hand,
The bloody-Flix doth presently with-stand:
And ruddy Madder's root, long handeled,
Dies th'handlers vrine into perfect red.
O Wondrous Woad! which, touching but the skin,
Imparts his colour to the parts within.
Dispels the dimness that our sight doth check.
Swines-bread, so vsed, doth not only speed
A tardy Labour; but (without great heed)
If over it a Child-great Woman stride,
Instant abortion often doth betide.
The burning Sun, the banefull Aconite,
The poysonie Serpents that vnpeople quite
Cyreniam Defarts, never Danger them
That were about them th' Artemisian Stem.
About an Infants neck hang Peonie,
It cures Alcydes cruell maladie.
If fuming boawls of Bacchus, in excess,
Trouble thy brains with storms of giddiness,
Put but a garland of green Saffron on,
And that mad humour will be quickly gon.
Th'inchanting Charms of Syrens blandishments,
Contagious Aire ingendring Pestilence,
Infect not those that in their mouthes haue taen
Angelica, that happy counter-baen,
Sent down from Heav'n by some Celestiall scout,
As well the name and nature both avow't.
So Pimpernel, held in the Patients hand,
The bloody-Flix doth presently with-stand:
And ruddy Madder's root, long handeled,
Dies th'handlers vrine into perfect red.
O Wondrous Woad! which, touching but the skin,
Imparts his colour to the parts within.
Nor (powerfull Hearbs) do we alonely find
Your vertues working in fraile humane kind;
But you can force the fiercest Animals,
The fellest Fiends, the firmest Minerals,
Yea, fairest Planers (if Antiquitie.
Haue not bely'd the Haggs of Thessalie).
Onely the touch of Choak-pard Aconite,
Bereaues the Scorpion both of sense and might:
As (opposite) Helleborus doth make
His vitall powers from deadly slumber wake.
With Betonie, fell Serpents round beset,
Lift vp their heads, and fall to hiss and spet,
With spightfull fury in their sparkling eyes,
Breaking all truce, with infinite defies:
Puft vp with rage, to't by the ears the goe,
Baen against baen, plague against plague they throwe,
Charging each other with so fierce a force
(For friends turn'd foes haue lightly least remorse)
That wounded all (or rather all a wound)
With poysoned gore they couer all the ground;
And nought can stint their strange intestine strife,
But onely th'end of their detested life.
As Betonie breakes friendships ancient bands,
So Willo-wort makes wonted hate shake hands:
For, being fastned to proud Coursers collers,
That fight and fling, it will abate their cholers.
The Swine, that feed in Troughes of Tamarice,
Consume their spleen. The like effect there is
In Finger-Ferne: which, being given to Swine,
It makes their Milt to melt away in fine,
With ragged tooth choosing the same so right
Of all their Tripes to serue it's appetite.
And Horse, that, feeding on the grassie Hils,
Tread vpon Moon-wort with their hollow heels;
Though lately shod, at night goe bare-foot home,
Their Master musing where their shooes become.
O Moon-wort! tell vs where thou hid'st the Smith,
Hammer, and Pincers, thou vnshoo'st them with?
Alas! what Lock or Iron Engine is't
That can thy subtle secret strength resist,
Sith the best Farrier cannot set a shoo
So sure, but thou (so shortly) canst vndoo?
But I suppose not, that the earth doth yeeld
In Hill or Dale, in Forrest or in Field,
A rarer Plant then Candian Dittanie;
Which wounded Dear eating, immediately
Not onely cures their wounds exceeding well,
But 'gainst the Shooter doth the shaft repell.
Your vertues working in fraile humane kind;
But you can force the fiercest Animals,
The fellest Fiends, the firmest Minerals,
Yea, fairest Planers (if Antiquitie.
Haue not bely'd the Haggs of Thessalie).
Onely the touch of Choak-pard Aconite,
Bereaues the Scorpion both of sense and might:
As (opposite) Helleborus doth make
His vitall powers from deadly slumber wake.
With Betonie, fell Serpents round beset,
Lift vp their heads, and fall to hiss and spet,
With spightfull fury in their sparkling eyes,
Breaking all truce, with infinite defies:
Puft vp with rage, to't by the ears the goe,
Baen against baen, plague against plague they throwe,
Charging each other with so fierce a force
(For friends turn'd foes haue lightly least remorse)
That wounded all (or rather all a wound)
With poysoned gore they couer all the ground;
63
But onely th'end of their detested life.
As Betonie breakes friendships ancient bands,
So Willo-wort makes wonted hate shake hands:
For, being fastned to proud Coursers collers,
That fight and fling, it will abate their cholers.
The Swine, that feed in Troughes of Tamarice,
Consume their spleen. The like effect there is
In Finger-Ferne: which, being given to Swine,
It makes their Milt to melt away in fine,
With ragged tooth choosing the same so right
Of all their Tripes to serue it's appetite.
And Horse, that, feeding on the grassie Hils,
Tread vpon Moon-wort with their hollow heels;
Though lately shod, at night goe bare-foot home,
Their Master musing where their shooes become.
O Moon-wort! tell vs where thou hid'st the Smith,
Hammer, and Pincers, thou vnshoo'st them with?
Alas! what Lock or Iron Engine is't
That can thy subtle secret strength resist,
Sith the best Farrier cannot set a shoo
So sure, but thou (so shortly) canst vndoo?
But I suppose not, that the earth doth yeeld
In Hill or Dale, in Forrest or in Field,
A rarer Plant then Candian Dittanie;
Which wounded Dear eating, immediately
Not onely cures their wounds exceeding well,
But 'gainst the Shooter doth the shaft repell.
Moreover (Lord) is't not a Work of thine
That every where, in every Turfe we find
Such multitude of other Plants to spring,
In form, effect, and colour differing?
And each of them in their due Seasons taen,
To one is Physick, to another baen:
Now gentle, sharp anon: now good, then ill:
What cureth now, the same anon doth kill.
Th'Hearb Sagapen serues the slowe Asse for meat;
But, kils the Ox if of the same he eat.
So branched Hemlock for the Stares is fit;
But, death to man, if he but taste of it.
And Oleander vnto beasts is poyson;
But, vnto man a speciall counter-poyson.
What ranker poyson? what more deadly baen
Then Aconite, can there be toucht or taen?
And yet his iuice best cures the burning bit
Of stinging Serpents, if apply'd to it.
O valiant Venome! O courageous Plant!
Disdainfull Poyson! noble combatant!
That scorneth ayd, and loues alone to fight,
That none partake the glory of his might:
For, if he finde our bodies fore-possest
With other Poyson, then he lets vs rest,
And with his Rivall enters secret Duell,
One to one, strong to strong, cruell to cruell,
Still fighting fierce, and never over-giue
Till they both dying, giue Man leaue to liue.
That every where, in every Turfe we find
Such multitude of other Plants to spring,
In form, effect, and colour differing?
And each of them in their due Seasons taen,
To one is Physick, to another baen:
Now gentle, sharp anon: now good, then ill:
What cureth now, the same anon doth kill.
Th'Hearb Sagapen serues the slowe Asse for meat;
But, kils the Ox if of the same he eat.
So branched Hemlock for the Stares is fit;
But, death to man, if he but taste of it.
And Oleander vnto beasts is poyson;
But, vnto man a speciall counter-poyson.
What ranker poyson? what more deadly baen
Then Aconite, can there be toucht or taen?
And yet his iuice best cures the burning bit
Of stinging Serpents, if apply'd to it.
O valiant Venome! O courageous Plant!
Disdainfull Poyson! noble combatant!
64
That none partake the glory of his might:
For, if he finde our bodies fore-possest
With other Poyson, then he lets vs rest,
And with his Rivall enters secret Duell,
One to one, strong to strong, cruell to cruell,
Still fighting fierce, and never over-giue
Till they both dying, giue Man leaue to liue.
And to conclude, whether I walke the Fields,
Rush through the Woods, or clamber vp the Hils,
I find God every-where: Thence all depend,
He giveth frankly what we thankly spend.
Heer for our food, Millions of flow'ry grains,
With long Mustachoes, waue vpon the Plains;
Heer thousand fleeces, fit for Princes Robes,
In Serean Forrests hang in silken Globes:
Heer shrubs of Malta (for my meaner vse)
The fine white balls of Bombace do produce.
Heer th'azure-flowred Flax is finely spun
For finest Linnen, by the Belgian Nun:
Heer fatall Hemp, which Denmark doth afford,
Doth furnish vs with Canvass, and with Cord,
Cables and Sayles; that, Winds assisting either,
We may acquaint the East and West together,
And dry-foot dance on Neptunes Watry Front,
And in adventure lead whole Towns vpon 't.
Heer of one grain of Maiz, a Reed doth spring,
That thrice a year, fiue hundred grains doth bring;
Which (after) th'Indians parch, and pun, and knead,
And thereof make them a most holesom bread.
Rush through the Woods, or clamber vp the Hils,
I find God every-where: Thence all depend,
He giveth frankly what we thankly spend.
Heer for our food, Millions of flow'ry grains,
With long Mustachoes, waue vpon the Plains;
Heer thousand fleeces, fit for Princes Robes,
In Serean Forrests hang in silken Globes:
Heer shrubs of Malta (for my meaner vse)
The fine white balls of Bombace do produce.
Heer th'azure-flowred Flax is finely spun
For finest Linnen, by the Belgian Nun:
Heer fatall Hemp, which Denmark doth afford,
Doth furnish vs with Canvass, and with Cord,
Cables and Sayles; that, Winds assisting either,
We may acquaint the East and West together,
And dry-foot dance on Neptunes Watry Front,
And in adventure lead whole Towns vpon 't.
Heer of one grain of Maiz, a Reed doth spring,
That thrice a year, fiue hundred grains doth bring;
Which (after) th'Indians parch, and pun, and knead,
And thereof make them a most holesom bread.
Th'Almighty Voice, which built this mighty Ball,
Still, still rebounds and ecchoes over all:
That, that alone, yearly the World reviues;
Through that alone, all springs, all liues, all thriues:
And that alone makes, that our mealy grain
Our skilfull Seed-man scatters not in vain;
But being covered by the tooth-full Harrow,
Or hid a while vnder the folded furrow,
Rots to reviue; and, warmly-wet, puts forth
His root beneath, his bud aboue the Earth;
Enriching shortly with his springing Crop,
The Ground with green, the Husbandman with hope:
The bud becomes a blade, the blade a reed,
The reed an eare, the eare another seed:
The feed, to shut the wastefull Sparrows out
(In Haruest) hath a stand of Pikes about,
And Chaffie Husks in hollow Cods inclose-it;
Lest heat, wet, wind, should roste, or rot, or lose it:
And left the Straw should not sustaine the eare,
With knotty ioynts 'tis sheathed heer and there.
Still, still rebounds and ecchoes over all:
That, that alone, yearly the World reviues;
Through that alone, all springs, all liues, all thriues:
And that alone makes, that our mealy grain
Our skilfull Seed-man scatters not in vain;
But being covered by the tooth-full Harrow,
Or hid a while vnder the folded furrow,
Rots to reviue; and, warmly-wet, puts forth
His root beneath, his bud aboue the Earth;
Enriching shortly with his springing Crop,
The Ground with green, the Husbandman with hope:
The bud becomes a blade, the blade a reed,
The reed an eare, the eare another seed:
The feed, to shut the wastefull Sparrows out
(In Haruest) hath a stand of Pikes about,
And Chaffie Husks in hollow Cods inclose-it;
Lest heat, wet, wind, should roste, or rot, or lose it:
65
With knotty ioynts 'tis sheathed heer and there.
Pardon me (Reader) if thy ravisht Eyes
Haue seen To-Day too great varieties
Of Trees, of Flowrs, of Fruits, of Hearbs, of Grains,
In these my Groues, Meads, Orchards, Gardens, Plains;
Sith th'Ile of Zebut's admirable Tree
Beareth a fruit (call'd Cocos commonly)
The which, alone, far richer Wonders yeelds
Then all our Groues, Meads, Orchards, Gardens, Fields.
What? wouldst thou drink? the wounded leaues drop wine.
Lack'st thou line linnen? dress the tender rine,
Dress it like Flax, spin it, and weaue it well,
It shall thy Cambrick and thy Lawn excell.
Long'st thou for Butter? bite the poulpy part,
And neuer better came to any Mart.
Neodest thou Oyle? then boule it to and fro,
And passing oyle it soon becommeth so.
Or Vineger, to whet thine appetite?
Then sun it well, and it will sharpely bite.
Or want'st thou Sugar? steep the same a stound,
And sweeter Sugar is not to be found.
'Tis what you will: or will be what you would:
Should Mydas touch't (I think) it would be Gold.
And God (I think) to crown our life with ioyes,
The Earth with plenty, and his name with praise,
Had don enough; if he had made no more
But this one Plant so ful of wondrous store:
Saue that, the World (where one thing breeds satiety)
Could not be fair, without so great variety.
Haue seen To-Day too great varieties
Of Trees, of Flowrs, of Fruits, of Hearbs, of Grains,
In these my Groues, Meads, Orchards, Gardens, Plains;
Sith th'Ile of Zebut's admirable Tree
Beareth a fruit (call'd Cocos commonly)
The which, alone, far richer Wonders yeelds
Then all our Groues, Meads, Orchards, Gardens, Fields.
What? wouldst thou drink? the wounded leaues drop wine.
Lack'st thou line linnen? dress the tender rine,
Dress it like Flax, spin it, and weaue it well,
It shall thy Cambrick and thy Lawn excell.
Long'st thou for Butter? bite the poulpy part,
And neuer better came to any Mart.
Neodest thou Oyle? then boule it to and fro,
And passing oyle it soon becommeth so.
Or Vineger, to whet thine appetite?
Then sun it well, and it will sharpely bite.
Or want'st thou Sugar? steep the same a stound,
And sweeter Sugar is not to be found.
'Tis what you will: or will be what you would:
Should Mydas touch't (I think) it would be Gold.
And God (I think) to crown our life with ioyes,
The Earth with plenty, and his name with praise,
Had don enough; if he had made no more
But this one Plant so ful of wondrous store:
Saue that, the World (where one thing breeds satiety)
Could not be fair, without so great variety.
But, th'Earth not onely on her back doth bear
Abundant treasures glistring every where
(As glorious vnthrifts, crost with Parents Curse,
Wear golden Garments; but an empty Purse:
Or Venus Darlings, fair without; within
Full of Disease, full of Deceipt and Sin:
Or stately Toombs, externly gilt and garnisht;
With dust and bones in wardly fill'd and furnisht)
But inwardly shee's no less fraught with riches,
Nay rather more (which more our soules bewitches).
Within the deep folds of her fruitfull lap,
So bound-less Mines of treasure doth she wrap,
That th'hungry hands of humane avarice
Cannot exhaust with labour or device.
For, they be more then ther be Stars in Heav'n,
Or stormy billowes in the Ocean driv'n,
Or cares of Corn in Autumn on the Fields,
Or Savage Beasts vpon a thousand Hils,
Or Fishes diving in the silver Floods,
Or scattred Leaues in Winter in the Woods.
Abundant treasures glistring every where
(As glorious vnthrifts, crost with Parents Curse,
Wear golden Garments; but an empty Purse:
Or Venus Darlings, fair without; within
Full of Disease, full of Deceipt and Sin:
Or stately Toombs, externly gilt and garnisht;
With dust and bones in wardly fill'd and furnisht)
But inwardly shee's no less fraught with riches,
Nay rather more (which more our soules bewitches).
Within the deep folds of her fruitfull lap,
So bound-less Mines of treasure doth she wrap,
That th'hungry hands of humane avarice
Cannot exhaust with labour or device.
For, they be more then ther be Stars in Heav'n,
Or stormy billowes in the Ocean driv'n,
Or cares of Corn in Autumn on the Fields,
Or Savage Beasts vpon a thousand Hils,
66
Or scattred Leaues in Winter in the Woods.
Slat, Iet, and Marble shall escape my pen,
I over-pass the Salt-mount Oromene,
I blanch the Brine-Quar Hill in Aragon,
Whence (there) they pouder their provision.
I'le onely now emboss my Book with Brass,
Dye't with Vermilion, deck't with Coperass,
With Gold and Silver, Lead, and Mercury,
Tin, Iron, Orpine, Stibium, Lethargy:
And on my Gold-work I will onely place
The Crystall pure, which doth reflect each face;
The precious Ruby, of a Sanguin hew,
The Seal-fit Onyx, and the Saphire blew,
The Cassidonie, full of circles round,
The tender Topaz, and rich Diamond,
The various Opal, and green Emerald,
The Agate by a thousand titles call'd,
The sky-like Turquez, purple Amethists,
And fiery Carbuncle, which flames resists.
I over-pass the Salt-mount Oromene,
I blanch the Brine-Quar Hill in Aragon,
Whence (there) they pouder their provision.
I'le onely now emboss my Book with Brass,
Dye't with Vermilion, deck't with Coperass,
With Gold and Silver, Lead, and Mercury,
Tin, Iron, Orpine, Stibium, Lethargy:
And on my Gold-work I will onely place
The Crystall pure, which doth reflect each face;
The precious Ruby, of a Sanguin hew,
The Seal-fit Onyx, and the Saphire blew,
The Cassidonie, full of circles round,
The tender Topaz, and rich Diamond,
The various Opal, and green Emerald,
The Agate by a thousand titles call'd,
The sky-like Turquez, purple Amethists,
And fiery Carbuncle, which flames resists.
I knowe, to Man the Earth seems (altogether)
No more a Mother, but a Step-dame rather:
Because (alas!) vnto our loss she bears
Blood-shedding Steele, and Gold the ground of cares:
As if these Metalls, and not Man's amiss,
Had made Sin mount vnto the height it is.
But, as the sweet bait of aboundant Riches,
Bodies and Soules of greedy men bewitches.
Gold gilds the Vertuous, and it lends them wings
To raise their thoughts vnto the rarest things.
The wise, not onely Iron well apply
For houshold turns, and Tools of Husbandry;
But to defend their Countrey (when it cals)
From forrain dangers, and intestine brals:
But, with the same the wicked neuer mell,
But to do seruice to the Haggs of Hell;
To pick a Lock, to take his neighbours Purse,
To break a House, or to doo somthing worse;
To cut his Parents throat, to kill his Prince,
To spoile his Countrey, murder Innocents.
Even so, profaning of a gift diuine,
The Drunkard drowns his Reason in the Wine:
So sale-tongu'd Lawyers, wresting Eloquence,
Excuse rich wrong, and cast poore Innocence:
So Antichrists, their poyson to infuse,
Miss-cite the Scriptures, and Gods name abuse.
For, as a Cask, through want of vse grow'n fusty,
Makes with his stink the best Greeke Malmsey musty:
So God's best gifts, vsurpt by wicked Ones,
To poyson turn through their contagions.
No more a Mother, but a Step-dame rather:
Because (alas!) vnto our loss she bears
Blood-shedding Steele, and Gold the ground of cares:
As if these Metalls, and not Man's amiss,
Had made Sin mount vnto the height it is.
But, as the sweet bait of aboundant Riches,
Bodies and Soules of greedy men bewitches.
Gold gilds the Vertuous, and it lends them wings
To raise their thoughts vnto the rarest things.
The wise, not onely Iron well apply
For houshold turns, and Tools of Husbandry;
But to defend their Countrey (when it cals)
From forrain dangers, and intestine brals:
But, with the same the wicked neuer mell,
But to do seruice to the Haggs of Hell;
To pick a Lock, to take his neighbours Purse,
To break a House, or to doo somthing worse;
To cut his Parents throat, to kill his Prince,
To spoile his Countrey, murder Innocents.
Even so, profaning of a gift diuine,
The Drunkard drowns his Reason in the Wine:
So sale-tongu'd Lawyers, wresting Eloquence,
Excuse rich wrong, and cast poore Innocence:
So Antichrists, their poyson to infuse,
Miss-cite the Scriptures, and Gods name abuse.
For, as a Cask, through want of vse grow'n fusty,
Makes with his stink the best Greeke Malmsey musty:
67
To poyson turn through their contagions.
But, shall I baulk th'admired Adamant?
Whose dead-live power, my Reasons power doth dant.
Renowned Load-stone, which on Iron acts,
And by the touch the same aloofe attracts;
Attracts it strangely with vnclasping crooks,
With vnknow'n cords, with vnconceived hooks,
With vnseen hands, with vndiscerned arms,
With hidden Force, with sacred secret charms,
Wherewith he wooes his Iron Misteriss,
And never leaues her till he get a kiss;
Nay, till he fold her in his faithfull bosom,
Never to part (except we, loue-less, loose-em)
With so firme zeale and fast affection
The Stone doth loue the Steel, the Steel the Stone.
And though somtime some Make-bate come betwixt,
Still burns their first flame; 'tis so surely sixt:
And, while they cannot meet to break their minds,
With mutuall skips they shew their loue by signes
(As bashfull Suters, seeing Strangers by,
Parley in silence with their hand or eye).
Who can conceiue, or censure in what sort
One Loadstone-touched Ann'let doth transport
Ano her Iron-Ring, and that another,
Till foure or fiue hang dangling one in other?
Greatest Apollo might he be (me thinks)
Could tell the Reason of these hanging links:
Sith Reason-scanners haue resolved all,
That heavy things, hangd in the Aire, must fall.
Whose dead-live power, my Reasons power doth dant.
Renowned Load-stone, which on Iron acts,
And by the touch the same aloofe attracts;
Attracts it strangely with vnclasping crooks,
With vnknow'n cords, with vnconceived hooks,
With vnseen hands, with vndiscerned arms,
With hidden Force, with sacred secret charms,
Wherewith he wooes his Iron Misteriss,
And never leaues her till he get a kiss;
Nay, till he fold her in his faithfull bosom,
Never to part (except we, loue-less, loose-em)
With so firme zeale and fast affection
The Stone doth loue the Steel, the Steel the Stone.
And though somtime some Make-bate come betwixt,
Still burns their first flame; 'tis so surely sixt:
And, while they cannot meet to break their minds,
With mutuall skips they shew their loue by signes
(As bashfull Suters, seeing Strangers by,
Parley in silence with their hand or eye).
Who can conceiue, or censure in what sort
One Loadstone-touched Ann'let doth transport
Ano her Iron-Ring, and that another,
Till foure or fiue hang dangling one in other?
Greatest Apollo might he be (me thinks)
Could tell the Reason of these hanging links:
Sith Reason-scanners haue resolved all,
That heavy things, hangd in the Aire, must fall.
I am not ignorant, that He, who seeks
In Roman Robes to sure the Sagest Greeks,
Whose iealous wife, weening to home-revoke-him
With a loue potion, did with poyson choak-him;
Hath sought to showe, with arguing subtily,
The secret cause of this rare Sympathy.
But say (Lucretius) what's the hidden cause
That toward the North-Star still the Needle draw's,
Whose point is toucht with Load-stone? loose this knot,
And still-green Laurell shall be still thy Lot:
Yea, Thee more learned will I then confess,
Then Epicurus, or Empedocles.
In Roman Robes to sure the Sagest Greeks,
Whose iealous wife, weening to home-revoke-him
With a loue potion, did with poyson choak-him;
Hath sought to showe, with arguing subtily,
The secret cause of this rare Sympathy.
But say (Lucretius) what's the hidden cause
That toward the North-Star still the Needle draw's,
Whose point is toucht with Load-stone? loose this knot,
And still-green Laurell shall be still thy Lot:
Yea, Thee more learned will I then confess,
Then Epicurus, or Empedocles.
W'are not to Ceres so much bound for Bread,
Neither to Bacchus, for his Clusters red,
As (Signior Flauio) to thy witty triall,
For first inuenting of the Sea-mans Diall
(Th'vse of the Needle, turning in the same)
Diuine deuice! O admirable Frame!
Whereby, through th'Ocean, in the darkest night,
Our hugest Caraques are conducted right:
Whereby w'are stor'd with Truch-man, Guide, and Lamp
To search all corners of the watery Camp:
Whereby a Ship, that stormy Heav'ns haue whurld
Neer in one Night into another World,
Knowes where she is; and in the Card descries
What degrees thence the Equinoctiall lies.
Cleer-sighted Spirits, that cheer with sweet aspect
My sober Rymes, though subiect to defect;
If in this Volume, as you ouer-read it
You meet some things seeming exceeding credit,
Because (perhaps, heer proued yet by no man)
Their strange effects be not in knowledge common:
Think, yet, to some the Load stone's vse is new;
And seems as strange, as we haue try'd it true:
Let therefore that which Iron draw's, draw such
To credit more then what they see or touch.
Neither to Bacchus, for his Clusters red,
As (Signior Flauio) to thy witty triall,
For first inuenting of the Sea-mans Diall
(Th'vse of the Needle, turning in the same)
Diuine deuice! O admirable Frame!
68
Our hugest Caraques are conducted right:
Whereby w'are stor'd with Truch-man, Guide, and Lamp
To search all corners of the watery Camp:
Whereby a Ship, that stormy Heav'ns haue whurld
Neer in one Night into another World,
Knowes where she is; and in the Card descries
What degrees thence the Equinoctiall lies.
Cleer-sighted Spirits, that cheer with sweet aspect
My sober Rymes, though subiect to defect;
If in this Volume, as you ouer-read it
You meet some things seeming exceeding credit,
Because (perhaps, heer proued yet by no man)
Their strange effects be not in knowledge common:
Think, yet, to some the Load stone's vse is new;
And seems as strange, as we haue try'd it true:
Let therefore that which Iron draw's, draw such
To credit more then what they see or touch.
Nor is th'Earth onely worthy praise eternall,
For the rare riches on her back ex ernall,
Or in her bosom: but her owne selfs worth
Solicits me to found her glory forth.
I call to witness all those weak diseased,
Whose bodies oft haue by th'effects been eased
Of Lemnos seal'd earth, or Eretrian soil,
Or that of Chios, or of Melos Ile.
For the rare riches on her back ex ernall,
Or in her bosom: but her owne selfs worth
Solicits me to found her glory forth.
I call to witness all those weak diseased,
Whose bodies oft haue by th'effects been eased
Of Lemnos seal'd earth, or Eretrian soil,
Or that of Chios, or of Melos Ile.
All-hail fair Earth, bearer of Towns and Towrs,
Of Men, Gold, Grain, Physick, and Fruits and Flowrs,
Fair, firm, and fruitfull, various, patient, sweet,
Sumptuously cloathed in a Mantle meet
Of mingled-colour; lac't about with Floods,
And all embrodered with fresh blooming buds,
With rarest Gemmes richly about embost,
Excelling cunning, and exceeding cost.
All hail great Heart, round Base, and stedfast Root,
Of all the World, the Worlds strong fixed foot,
Heav'ns chastest Spouse, supporter of this All,
This glorious Buildings goodly Pedestall.
All-hail deer Mother, Sister, Hostess, Nurse,
Of the Worlds Soverain: of thy liberall purse,
W' are all maintayned: match-less Emperess,
To doo thee service with all readiness,
The Sphears, before thee bear ten thousand Torches:
The Fire, to warm thee, foulds his heatfull arches
In purest flames aboue the floating Cloud:
Th'Aire, to refresh thee, willingly is bow'd
About the Waues, and well content to suffer
Milde Zephyrs blasts, and Boreas bellowing rougher:
Water, to quench thy thirst, about thy Mountains
Wraps her moist arms, Seas, riuers, lakes and fountains.
Of Men, Gold, Grain, Physick, and Fruits and Flowrs,
Fair, firm, and fruitfull, various, patient, sweet,
Sumptuously cloathed in a Mantle meet
Of mingled-colour; lac't about with Floods,
And all embrodered with fresh blooming buds,
With rarest Gemmes richly about embost,
Excelling cunning, and exceeding cost.
All hail great Heart, round Base, and stedfast Root,
Of all the World, the Worlds strong fixed foot,
Heav'ns chastest Spouse, supporter of this All,
This glorious Buildings goodly Pedestall.
All-hail deer Mother, Sister, Hostess, Nurse,
Of the Worlds Soverain: of thy liberall purse,
W' are all maintayned: match-less Emperess,
To doo thee service with all readiness,
The Sphears, before thee bear ten thousand Torches:
The Fire, to warm thee, foulds his heatfull arches
In purest flames aboue the floating Cloud:
Th'Aire, to refresh thee, willingly is bow'd
About the Waues, and well content to suffer
Milde Zephyrs blasts, and Boreas bellowing rougher:
69
Wraps her moist arms, Seas, riuers, lakes and fountains.
O how I grieue, deer Earth, that (given to gays)
Most of best wits contemn thee now a-days:
And noblest hearts proudly abandon quight
Study of Hearbs, and Country-lifes delight,
To brutest men, to men of no regard,
Whose wits are Lead, whose bodies Iron-hard.
Such were not yerst the reuerend Patriarks,
Whose praise is penned by the sacred Clarks.
Noah the iust, meek Moses, Abraham
(Who Father of the Faithfull Race becam)
Were Shepheards all, or Husbandmen (at least)
And in the Fields passed their Dayes the best.
Such were not yerst Attalus, Philemetor,
Archelaus, Hiero, and many a Pretor;
Great Kings and Consuls, who haue oft for blades
And glistering Scepters, handled hooks and spades.
Such were not yerst, Cincinnatus Fabricius,
Serranus, Curius, who vn-self-delicious,
With Crowned Coulters, with Imperiall hands,
With Ploughs triumphant plough'd the Roman lands.
Great Scipio, sated with fain'd curtsie-capping,
With Court-Eclipses, and the tedious gaping
Of golden beggers: and that Emperour,
Of Slaue, turn'd King; of King turn'd Labourer;
In countrey Granges did their age confine:
And ordered there, with as good Discipline,
The Fields of Corn, as Fields of Combat first;
And Ranks of Trees, as Ranks of Souldiers yerst.
Most of best wits contemn thee now a-days:
And noblest hearts proudly abandon quight
Study of Hearbs, and Country-lifes delight,
To brutest men, to men of no regard,
Whose wits are Lead, whose bodies Iron-hard.
Such were not yerst the reuerend Patriarks,
Whose praise is penned by the sacred Clarks.
Noah the iust, meek Moses, Abraham
(Who Father of the Faithfull Race becam)
Were Shepheards all, or Husbandmen (at least)
And in the Fields passed their Dayes the best.
Such were not yerst Attalus, Philemetor,
Archelaus, Hiero, and many a Pretor;
Great Kings and Consuls, who haue oft for blades
And glistering Scepters, handled hooks and spades.
Such were not yerst, Cincinnatus Fabricius,
Serranus, Curius, who vn-self-delicious,
With Crowned Coulters, with Imperiall hands,
With Ploughs triumphant plough'd the Roman lands.
Great Scipio, sated with fain'd curtsie-capping,
With Court-Eclipses, and the tedious gaping
Of golden beggers: and that Emperour,
Of Slaue, turn'd King; of King turn'd Labourer;
In countrey Granges did their age confine:
And ordered there, with as good Discipline,
The Fields of Corn, as Fields of Combat first;
And Ranks of Trees, as Ranks of Souldiers yerst.
O thrice, thrice happy He, who shuns the cares
Of City-troubles, and of State-affairs;
And, serving Ceres, tils with his own Teem
His own Free-land, left by his Friends to him!
Of City-troubles, and of State-affairs;
And, serving Ceres, tils with his own Teem
His own Free-land, left by his Friends to him!
Never pale Envie's poysonie heads do hiss
To gnaw his heart; nor Vultur Avarice:
His Field's bounds, bound his thoughts: he never sups,
For Nectar, poyson mixt in silver Cups;
Neither in golden Platters doth he lick
For sweet Ambrosia deadly Arsenick:
His hand's his boaul (better then Plate or Glass)
The silver Brook his sweetest Hypocrass:
Milk, Cheese, and Fruit (fruits of his own endeuour)
Drest without dressing, hath he ready ever.
To gnaw his heart; nor Vultur Avarice:
His Field's bounds, bound his thoughts: he never sups,
For Nectar, poyson mixt in silver Cups;
Neither in golden Platters doth he lick
For sweet Ambrosia deadly Arsenick:
His hand's his boaul (better then Plate or Glass)
The silver Brook his sweetest Hypocrass:
Milk, Cheese, and Fruit (fruits of his own endeuour)
Drest without dressing, hath he ready ever.
False Counsailers (Concealers of the Law)
Turn-coat Attourneys, that with both hands draw;
Sly Peti-Foggers, Wranglers at the Bar,
Proud Purse-Leaches, Harpies of Westminster,
With fained chiding, and foul iarring noyse,
Break not his Brain, nor interrupt his ioyes:
But cheerfull Birds, chirping him sweet Good-morrows,
With Natures Musick do beguile his sorrows;
Teaching the fragrant Forrests, day by day,
The Diapason of their Heav'nly Lay.
Turn-coat Attourneys, that with both hands draw;
Sly Peti-Foggers, Wranglers at the Bar,
Proud Purse-Leaches, Harpies of Westminster,
70
Break not his Brain, nor interrupt his ioyes:
But cheerfull Birds, chirping him sweet Good-morrows,
With Natures Musick do beguile his sorrows;
Teaching the fragrant Forrests, day by day,
The Diapason of their Heav'nly Lay.
His wandring Vessell, reeling to and fro,
On th'irefull Ocean (as the Windes do blowe)
With sudden Tempest is not ouer-whurld,
To seek his sad death in another World:
But, leading all his life at home in Peace,
Alwaies in sight of his own smoak; no Seas,
No other Seas he knowes, nor other Torrent,
Then that which waters, with his silver Current,
His Natiue Medowes: and that very Earth
Shall giue him Buriall, which first gaue him Birth.
On th'irefull Ocean (as the Windes do blowe)
With sudden Tempest is not ouer-whurld,
To seek his sad death in another World:
But, leading all his life at home in Peace,
Alwaies in sight of his own smoak; no Seas,
No other Seas he knowes, nor other Torrent,
Then that which waters, with his silver Current,
His Natiue Medowes: and that very Earth
Shall giue him Buriall, which first gaue him Birth.
To summon timely sleep, he doth not need
Æthyop's cold Rush, nor drowsie Poppy-seed;
Nor keep in consort (as Mecænas did)
Luxurious Villains (Viols I should haue said);
But on green Carpets thrumd with mossie Beuer,
Frenging the round Skirts of his winding River,
The streams milde murmur, as it gently gushes,
His healthy limbs in quiet slumber hushes.
Æthyop's cold Rush, nor drowsie Poppy-seed;
Nor keep in consort (as Mecænas did)
Luxurious Villains (Viols I should haue said);
But on green Carpets thrumd with mossie Beuer,
Frenging the round Skirts of his winding River,
The streams milde murmur, as it gently gushes,
His healthy limbs in quiet slumber hushes.
Drum, Fife, and Trumpet, with their loud A-larms,
Make him not start out of his sleep, to Arms:
Nor deer respect of some great Generall,
Him from his bed vnto the block doth call.
The crested Cock sings Hunt is vp to him,
Limits his rest, and makes him stir betime,
To walk the Mountains, or the flowry Meads,
Impearld with tears, that sweet Aurora sheads.
Make him not start out of his sleep, to Arms:
Nor deer respect of some great Generall,
Him from his bed vnto the block doth call.
The crested Cock sings Hunt is vp to him,
Limits his rest, and makes him stir betime,
To walk the Mountains, or the flowry Meads,
Impearld with tears, that sweet Aurora sheads.
Neuer gross Aire, poysond in stinking Streets,
To choak his spirit, his tender nostrill meets;
But th'open Sky, where at full breath he liues,
Still keeps him sound, and still new stomack giues:
And Death, drad Seriant of th'eternall Iudge,
Comes very late to his sole-seated Lodge.
To choak his spirit, his tender nostrill meets;
But th'open Sky, where at full breath he liues,
Still keeps him sound, and still new stomack giues:
And Death, drad Seriant of th'eternall Iudge,
Comes very late to his sole-seated Lodge.
His wretched years in Princes Courts he spends not:
His thralled will on Great mens wils depends not:
He, changing Master, doth not change at once
His Faith; Religion, and his God renounce:
With mercenary lies he doth not chant,
Praysing an Emmet for an Elephant:
Sardanapalus (drown'd in soft excess)
For a triumphant vertuous Hercules;
Thersites soul, for Venus louely Loue;
And every Changeling for a Turtle-Doue;
Nor lavishes in his lascivious layes,
On wanton Flora, chaste Alcestes praise.
But all self-private, serving God, he writes
Fear-less, and sings but what his heart indites.
His thralled will on Great mens wils depends not:
He, changing Master, doth not change at once
His Faith; Religion, and his God renounce:
With mercenary lies he doth not chant,
Praysing an Emmet for an Elephant:
Sardanapalus (drown'd in soft excess)
For a triumphant vertuous Hercules;
Thersites soul, for Venus louely Loue;
And every Changeling for a Turtle-Doue;
71
On wanton Flora, chaste Alcestes praise.
But all self-private, serving God, he writes
Fear-less, and sings but what his heart indites.
No sallow, Fear doth day or night afflict-him:
Vnto no fraud doth night or day addict-him;
Or if he muse on guile, 'tis but to get
Beast, Bird, or Fish, in toil, or snare, or net.
Vnto no fraud doth night or day addict-him;
Or if he muse on guile, 'tis but to get
Beast, Bird, or Fish, in toil, or snare, or net.
What though his Wardrobe be not stately stuft
With sumptuous silks (pinked, and pounc't, and puft)
With gold-ground Velvets, and with silver Tissue,
And all the glory of old Eues proud Issue?
What though his feeble Cofers be not cramd
With Misers Idols, golden Ingots ramd?
He is warm-wrapped in his owne-growen Wooll;
Of vn-bought Wines his Cellar's ever full;
His Garner's stor'd with grain, his Ground with flocks,
His Barns with Fodder, with sweet streams his Rocks.
With sumptuous silks (pinked, and pounc't, and puft)
With gold-ground Velvets, and with silver Tissue,
And all the glory of old Eues proud Issue?
What though his feeble Cofers be not cramd
With Misers Idols, golden Ingots ramd?
He is warm-wrapped in his owne-growen Wooll;
Of vn-bought Wines his Cellar's ever full;
His Garner's stor'd with grain, his Ground with flocks,
His Barns with Fodder, with sweet streams his Rocks.
For, heer I sing the happy Rusticks weal,
Whose handsom house seems as a Common-weal:
And not the needy, hard rack-rented Hinde,
Or Copy-holder, whom hard Lords do grinde;
The pined Fisher or poor-Daiery-Renter
That liues of whay, for forfeiting Indenture;
Who scarce haue bread within their homely Cotes
(Except by fits) to feed their hungry throats.
Whose handsom house seems as a Common-weal:
And not the needy, hard rack-rented Hinde,
Or Copy-holder, whom hard Lords do grinde;
The pined Fisher or poor-Daiery-Renter
That liues of whay, for forfeiting Indenture;
Who scarce haue bread within their homely Cotes
(Except by fits) to feed their hungry throats.
Let me, good Lord, among the Great vn-kend,
My rest of dayes in the calm Countrey end.
Let me deserue of my deer Eagle-Brood,
For Windsor-Forrest, walks in Almes-wood:
Bee Hadley Pond my Sea; Lambs-bourn my Thames;
Lambourn my London; Kennet's silver streams,
My fruitfull Nile; my Singers and Musicians,
The pleasant Birds with warbling repetitions;
My company, pure thoughts, to work thy will;
My Court, a Cottage on a lowely Hill;
Where, without let, I may so sing thy Name,
That times to come may wonder at the same.
My rest of dayes in the calm Countrey end.
Let me deserue of my deer Eagle-Brood,
For Windsor-Forrest, walks in Almes-wood:
Bee Hadley Pond my Sea; Lambs-bourn my Thames;
Lambourn my London; Kennet's silver streams,
My fruitfull Nile; my Singers and Musicians,
The pleasant Birds with warbling repetitions;
My company, pure thoughts, to work thy will;
My Court, a Cottage on a lowely Hill;
Where, without let, I may so sing thy Name,
That times to come may wonder at the same.
Or, if the new North-star, my Soverain Iames
(The secret vertue of whose sacred beams
Attracts th'attentiue seruice of all such
Whose mindes did euer Vertue's Load-stone touch)
Shall euer daign t'inuite mine humble Fate
T'approach the Presence of his Royall State:
Or, if my Duty or the Grace of Nobles,
Shall driue or draw me neer their pleasing-Troubles;
Let not their Fauours make me drunk with folly:
In their Commands, still keep my Conscience holy:
Let mee, true Honour, not the false delight;
And play the Preacher, not the Parasite.
(The secret vertue of whose sacred beams
Attracts th'attentiue seruice of all such
Whose mindes did euer Vertue's Load-stone touch)
Shall euer daign t'inuite mine humble Fate
T'approach the Presence of his Royall State:
Or, if my Duty or the Grace of Nobles,
Shall driue or draw me neer their pleasing-Troubles;
Let not their Fauours make me drunk with folly:
In their Commands, still keep my Conscience holy:
72
And play the Preacher, not the Parasite.
So Morne and Euening the Third Day conclude,
And God perceiu'd that all his works were good.
And God perceiu'd that all his works were good.
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