Mundorum Explicatio or, The Explanation of an Hieroglyphical Figure: Wherein are couched the Mysteries of the External, Internal, and Eternal Worlds, shewing the true progress of a Soul from the Court of Jerusalem; from the Adamical fallen state to the Regenerate and Angelical. Being A Sacred Poem, written by S. P. [i.e. Samuel Pordage] |
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 | Mundorum Explicatio |  |
Suppose the mighty Prince of darknesse wou'd
Himself incarnate, vail with with fleshly Hood
His Stygian Face; to shew the power, and might
Of the vast Kingdom of Æternal Night,
Upon this Earth: He finds a man propense
From genial starres to ill; a mind immense
After abstruser prying; piercing Wit
Grave look and studious; such a Man is fit
For this his high design. First then he strait
Causes his Princes on his elbow wait,
With all Hel's agents, who in clusters presse
T'imbue his Soul with deep dy'd wickednesse,
By their infernal Magic; they convert
The mortal Tree's fruit to the Evil part.
He feeds on ill, the which his Soul doth stain;
His freer will unto themselves they gain:
And by degrees, his sences please, that he
Desireth they should his Companions be.
They promise then if he'l obedient
Be; with what power, and Regiment
They will indue him, His high mind doth come,
And Hel's disciple doth at last become.
Some Angel then Hel's mighty Prince assignes
To wait on him; he good converse declines:
The Dæmons laugh to see him captivate,
And scoff the Angels of the other state.
Seeing that he obedient is, they now
Cause him unto Hel's Image for to bow:
And as the Prince of Heav'n commandeth his
A way to gain, the same, to shun Heav'ns blisse
Hel's Prince commands. He from the World abstract
Must be, lest that his deeper thoughts detract
From that high work he doth intend him for:
He fastings, vigils, doth command him; nor
Lesse prayers than the other World requires,
Washings, and Ceremoies he desires:
And also that he should be Celebate,
Thus like an Ape he God doth imitate
In all his biddings, th' better to beguile
Man, with his high deceits, and cunning vile.
He spares him in grosse sins, it may be too,
Lest they with pinguitude his Soul imbue,
And make's lesse apt to search those hidden arts,
Which Hell to his obedient ones imparts.
But if he in them Master will Commence,
He must attain it by obedience
To whatsoever Hell commands; for he
Must gain the Will, then act by sympathy.
Himself incarnate, vail with with fleshly Hood
His Stygian Face; to shew the power, and might
Of the vast Kingdom of Æternal Night,
Upon this Earth: He finds a man propense
From genial starres to ill; a mind immense
After abstruser prying; piercing Wit
Grave look and studious; such a Man is fit
For this his high design. First then he strait
Causes his Princes on his elbow wait,
With all Hel's agents, who in clusters presse
T'imbue his Soul with deep dy'd wickednesse,
By their infernal Magic; they convert
The mortal Tree's fruit to the Evil part.
He feeds on ill, the which his Soul doth stain;
His freer will unto themselves they gain:
And by degrees, his sences please, that he
Desireth they should his Companions be.
They promise then if he'l obedient
Be; with what power, and Regiment
98
And Hel's disciple doth at last become.
Some Angel then Hel's mighty Prince assignes
To wait on him; he good converse declines:
The Dæmons laugh to see him captivate,
And scoff the Angels of the other state.
Seeing that he obedient is, they now
Cause him unto Hel's Image for to bow:
And as the Prince of Heav'n commandeth his
A way to gain, the same, to shun Heav'ns blisse
Hel's Prince commands. He from the World abstract
Must be, lest that his deeper thoughts detract
From that high work he doth intend him for:
He fastings, vigils, doth command him; nor
Lesse prayers than the other World requires,
Washings, and Ceremoies he desires:
And also that he should be Celebate,
Thus like an Ape he God doth imitate
In all his biddings, th' better to beguile
Man, with his high deceits, and cunning vile.
He spares him in grosse sins, it may be too,
Lest they with pinguitude his Soul imbue,
And make's lesse apt to search those hidden arts,
Which Hell to his obedient ones imparts.
But if he in them Master will Commence,
He must attain it by obedience
To whatsoever Hell commands; for he
Must gain the Will, then act by sympathy.
He now it may be for some yeares hath serv'd
This Principle, nor from his Laws hath swerv'd,
But still obedient been: nor his desire
Thereto doth slack, implete with hellish fire.
His serving Dæmon still attending too,
With Stygian vigor doth his heart imbue:
Pleases his fancy with some stranger art,
Hels sacramental Mysteries impart
He doth; till at the last he doth bequeath
To him the fruits of the black Tree of Death.
Rough hairy Satyrs with their cloven feet
And staring eyes if that a stranger meet
Should, all alone in some dark Wood and night,
How pitifully would they him affright.
Or any other ill-shap'd monster, yet
A frequent sight no wonder would beget:
And should such Satyrs often be with him,
No whit at all affrightful would they seem.
So those dark Spirits apparitions might,
Man's weaker sences at the first affright.
But after some familiarity
No fear at all would be; especially
To those whose natures, as their natures be,
In a strict league with Hell; and would be such
Did not their Souls in a flesh'd body couch.
Toads are not venomous to Toads; nor is
The Lion truculent to those of his
Kind; nor are Monsters frightful unto theirs:
Satyrs to Satyrs, nor are Bears to Bears:
So Man whose Soul's drench'd in the Stygian pool;
Thinks not Hel's worst deformed spirits soul.
And this they know, or else I do suppose
They'd not so boldly their strange shapes disclose.
Hel's mighty Prince sees now his servant fit
To see his Kingdoms pomp: he doth commit
The charge thereof to some great Prince, who goes
To him, and thus his message doth disclose.
This Principle, nor from his Laws hath swerv'd,
But still obedient been: nor his desire
Thereto doth slack, implete with hellish fire.
His serving Dæmon still attending too,
With Stygian vigor doth his heart imbue:
Pleases his fancy with some stranger art,
Hels sacramental Mysteries impart
He doth; till at the last he doth bequeath
To him the fruits of the black Tree of Death.
Rough hairy Satyrs with their cloven feet
And staring eyes if that a stranger meet
99
How pitifully would they him affright.
Or any other ill-shap'd monster, yet
A frequent sight no wonder would beget:
And should such Satyrs often be with him,
No whit at all affrightful would they seem.
So those dark Spirits apparitions might,
Man's weaker sences at the first affright.
But after some familiarity
No fear at all would be; especially
To those whose natures, as their natures be,
In a strict league with Hell; and would be such
Did not their Souls in a flesh'd body couch.
Toads are not venomous to Toads; nor is
The Lion truculent to those of his
Kind; nor are Monsters frightful unto theirs:
Satyrs to Satyrs, nor are Bears to Bears:
So Man whose Soul's drench'd in the Stygian pool;
Thinks not Hel's worst deformed spirits soul.
And this they know, or else I do suppose
They'd not so boldly their strange shapes disclose.
Hel's mighty Prince sees now his servant fit
To see his Kingdoms pomp: he doth commit
The charge thereof to some great Prince, who goes
To him, and thus his message doth disclose.
| Mundorum Explicatio | |