A Collection of Emblemes Ancient and Moderne: Quickened VVith Metricall Illvstrations, both Morall and Divine: And disposed into Lotteries, That Instruction, and Good Counsell, may bee furthered by an Honest and Pleasant Recreation. By George Wither |
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 | A Collection of Emblemes |  |
25
Illvstr. XXV.
[When to the Fields we walke to looke upon]
Oft Shooting, doth not Archers make;
But, hitting right the Marke they take.
But, hitting right the Marke they take.
When to the Fields we walke to looke upon
Some skilfull Mark-man; so much heede we not
How many Arrowes from his Bowe are gone,
As we observe how nigh the Marke he shot:
And, justly we deride that Man who spends
His Time and Shafts; but never ayme doth take
To hit the White; or foolishly pretends,
The number of the Shots, doth Archers make.
So, God, who marketh our Endeavours, here,
Doth not by tale, account of them receive;
But, heedeth rather how well meant they were,
And, at his Will how rightly aym'd we have.
Some skilfull Mark-man; so much heede we not
How many Arrowes from his Bowe are gone,
As we observe how nigh the Marke he shot:
And, justly we deride that Man who spends
His Time and Shafts; but never ayme doth take
To hit the White; or foolishly pretends,
The number of the Shots, doth Archers make.
So, God, who marketh our Endeavours, here,
Doth not by tale, account of them receive;
But, heedeth rather how well meant they were,
And, at his Will how rightly aym'd we have.
It is not mumbling over thrice a day
A Set of Ave Maries, or of Creeds,
Or many houres formally to pray;
When from a dull Devotion it proceedes:
Nor is it, up and downe the Land to seeke
To finde those well breath'd Lecturers, that can
Preach thrice a Sabbath; and sixe times a weeke,
Yet be as fresh, as when they first beganne:
Nor, is it, such like things perform'd by Number
Which God respects: Nor doth his Wisdome crave
Those many Vanities, wherewith some cumber
Their Bodies, as if those their Soules could save.
For, not Much-doing, but Well-doing, that
Which God commands, the Doer, justifies.
To pray without Devotion, is to Prate;
And, Hearing is but halfe our Exercise.
We ought not, therefore, to regard, alone,
How often, but how Well, the Worke be done.
A Set of Ave Maries, or of Creeds,
Or many houres formally to pray;
When from a dull Devotion it proceedes:
Nor is it, up and downe the Land to seeke
To finde those well breath'd Lecturers, that can
Preach thrice a Sabbath; and sixe times a weeke,
Yet be as fresh, as when they first beganne:
Nor, is it, such like things perform'd by Number
Which God respects: Nor doth his Wisdome crave
Those many Vanities, wherewith some cumber
Their Bodies, as if those their Soules could save.
For, not Much-doing, but Well-doing, that
Which God commands, the Doer, justifies.
To pray without Devotion, is to Prate;
And, Hearing is but halfe our Exercise.
We ought not, therefore, to regard, alone,
How often, but how Well, the Worke be done.
| A Collection of Emblemes | |