University of Virginia Library

A wise Man, 28.

Is Like vnto a clocke, that nev'r doth chyme,
Bot at the Houre, and striketh still in Tyme:
Or as a Dyall just, set with the Sunne;
Or Glasse that well doth keepe, and restlesse runne.
So will hee never ware a Word, bot whan
To speake pertains, vnto 'a Prudent Man.
Hee measures Time, and all in Season does:
Hee tempreth Nature, and doth Reason vse.
Sense hee commands, and Will hee keepeth vnder:
And all with Knowledge, hee doth pose and ponder.
None can his Eares with Charmes blow vp, and batter:
For fast They are, when Parasites doe flatter.
Closse is his Mouth, vnto detracting Tongues:
And no false Imputations hee impungs.
An humble Heart, an open Hand, and free,
Hee hath to Want, and vnto Pietie.
To Observation aye his Labours tende,
And wise Experience is his Ayme and Ende.
To Contemplation, and to meditate,
His Thoughts are oft devote, and dedicate.
The Divine VVord made Man, his VVill, his Law,
Is all that hee doth call for, cares to knaw.
Swolne Pride hee knowes not of Prosperitie,
Nor yet the Mis'rie of Adversitie.
Bot takes the one, as if the Day, or Light,
And th'other, as the Darknesse, and the Night.
Hee knowes not Fortune, and no Fate hee feares,
Bot builds, and all, on Providence hee reares.
And through the hope of Fayth, that Grace hath given,
Hee reaches high, and doth lay hold on Heaven.
His Workes are good, and Godly, as his Mynde,
His Words and Thoughts to Honour all inclynde:
For hee in Loue th'Elect is of the LORD,
A Master to the Worlde, that cares not for't.
And tho heere borne a Stranger, bot on Earth,
In Heav'n a Burger, by a second Birth.