King Arthur An Heroick Poem. In Twelve Books. By Richard Blackmore. To which is Annexed, An Index, Explaining the Names of Countrys, Citys, and Rivers, &c |
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| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
 | King Arthur |  |
I can your Freedom and your Ease procure,
Nor need you e'er the Christian Faith abjure.
You need but only to their Altars go,
And on the Flames a little Incense throw.
Th'Almighty dos you know the Heart require,
And you may that preserve for him entire.
When you to Images respect shall show,
Your Mind you need not with your Body bow.
In every place th'Eternal dos abide,
And therefore must in Statues too reside.
When therefore you shall Adoration pay,
Your Mind may thro' the Image make its way,
And Worship to the God within convey.
We do not Worship to a Stone demand,
To Gods created by the Carver's hand.
The God we Honour has his Throne above,
To whom the Image dos our Rev'rence move.
Presents we prize, and Pictures we commend,
Because they mind us of our absent Friend.
By Nature we to Nature's Lord arise,
Who dwells in Bliss conceal'd from mortal Eyes.
We view his Image stamp'd on Nature's Face,
And by the Creatures to their Maker pass.
This beauteous VVorld, and all the rest above,
Were made to raise our Wonder and our Love.
The noblest Use that we in Creatures find
Is to the first great Cause, t'advance the Mind.
The Sun himself whose bright revealing Ray
To it's more glorious Author shews the way,
Serves Mortals more by this, than when it's Light
From these dark Seats removes the Shades of Night.
We can't Divine, Essential Glory see,
Nor view th'Almighty's naked Majesty.
We can't th'unequal Object comprehend;
The Creatures must their help to Reason lend,
While step by step it dos to Heav'n ascend.
Wide Nature's Frame and all her steddy Laws
Lead thinking Man to th'Independent Cause.
And then the Creatures have their noblest Use,
When thoughts Divine they in our Minds produce.
Now in the Sacred Images we rear,
This pious Use more plainly do's appear.
These in our Breasts do warm Devotion raise,
And mind us to advance th'Eternal's praise.
They move our Minds his Greatness to adore,
To love his Goodness, and revere his Power.
They to his Duty stupid Man excite,
And when he aims at Heav'n assist his Flight.
And those who know the high and steepy way,
The painful steps that reach Celestial Day,
Will not of friendly Succors be afraid,
But thankfully receive the proffer'd Aid.
Our Senses to the Mind while lodg'd in Clay,
Do all their various Images convey.
Things that we tast, and feel, and see, afford
The Seeds of Thought with which our Minds are stor'd.
We therefore must the Deity conceive
By such an Image as our Senses give.
Spirits to us this only way are known,
And such Conceptions we must form or none.
Why then should Statues be condemn'd, design'd
To raise Devotion in a Pious Mind,
When if we think of God, within our Thought
Some Image of his Being must be wrought?
The Sacred Volumes oft th'Almighty name
As having Parts and Limbs and Humane Frame.
Th'Eternal to our Minds by Words and Ways
Adapted to our Sense himself conveys,
Whose Being still must be from Man conceal'd,
If not by means that fit our State reveal'd.
These Arguments my yielding Reason sway'd,
When Worship first to Images I paid.
And these with Clovis too would soon succeed,
Were first your Mind from Prepossession freed.
Oh, let no groundless Prejudice oppose
The Light, that from so pure a Fountain flows.
May these kind Beams dispel the Clouds, and find
An unobstructed Passage to your Mind.
Thus you'll preserve your Life with guiltless Art,
And still remain a Christian in your Heart.
Nor need you e'er the Christian Faith abjure.
You need but only to their Altars go,
And on the Flames a little Incense throw.
Th'Almighty dos you know the Heart require,
And you may that preserve for him entire.
When you to Images respect shall show,
Your Mind you need not with your Body bow.
In every place th'Eternal dos abide,
And therefore must in Statues too reside.
When therefore you shall Adoration pay,
Your Mind may thro' the Image make its way,
And Worship to the God within convey.
We do not Worship to a Stone demand,
To Gods created by the Carver's hand.
The God we Honour has his Throne above,
To whom the Image dos our Rev'rence move.
Presents we prize, and Pictures we commend,
Because they mind us of our absent Friend.
By Nature we to Nature's Lord arise,
Who dwells in Bliss conceal'd from mortal Eyes.
We view his Image stamp'd on Nature's Face,
And by the Creatures to their Maker pass.
This beauteous VVorld, and all the rest above,
Were made to raise our Wonder and our Love.
The noblest Use that we in Creatures find
Is to the first great Cause, t'advance the Mind.
214
To it's more glorious Author shews the way,
Serves Mortals more by this, than when it's Light
From these dark Seats removes the Shades of Night.
We can't Divine, Essential Glory see,
Nor view th'Almighty's naked Majesty.
We can't th'unequal Object comprehend;
The Creatures must their help to Reason lend,
While step by step it dos to Heav'n ascend.
Wide Nature's Frame and all her steddy Laws
Lead thinking Man to th'Independent Cause.
And then the Creatures have their noblest Use,
When thoughts Divine they in our Minds produce.
Now in the Sacred Images we rear,
This pious Use more plainly do's appear.
These in our Breasts do warm Devotion raise,
And mind us to advance th'Eternal's praise.
They move our Minds his Greatness to adore,
To love his Goodness, and revere his Power.
They to his Duty stupid Man excite,
And when he aims at Heav'n assist his Flight.
And those who know the high and steepy way,
The painful steps that reach Celestial Day,
Will not of friendly Succors be afraid,
But thankfully receive the proffer'd Aid.
Our Senses to the Mind while lodg'd in Clay,
Do all their various Images convey.
Things that we tast, and feel, and see, afford
The Seeds of Thought with which our Minds are stor'd.
215
By such an Image as our Senses give.
Spirits to us this only way are known,
And such Conceptions we must form or none.
Why then should Statues be condemn'd, design'd
To raise Devotion in a Pious Mind,
When if we think of God, within our Thought
Some Image of his Being must be wrought?
The Sacred Volumes oft th'Almighty name
As having Parts and Limbs and Humane Frame.
Th'Eternal to our Minds by Words and Ways
Adapted to our Sense himself conveys,
Whose Being still must be from Man conceal'd,
If not by means that fit our State reveal'd.
These Arguments my yielding Reason sway'd,
When Worship first to Images I paid.
And these with Clovis too would soon succeed,
Were first your Mind from Prepossession freed.
Oh, let no groundless Prejudice oppose
The Light, that from so pure a Fountain flows.
May these kind Beams dispel the Clouds, and find
An unobstructed Passage to your Mind.
Thus you'll preserve your Life with guiltless Art,
And still remain a Christian in your Heart.
| King Arthur | |