Egypts Favourite The Historie of Joseph, divided into four parts: Together with old Israels Progresse into the Land of Goshen. By Francis Hubert |
 |
Ioseph in Pvteo.
|
 |
|
 | Egypts Favourite |  |
Ioseph in Pvteo.
OR, The Vnfortunate Brother.
1
Of all the worldly blessings which frō heau'n(Like gracious dew) did fall on Iacobs head,
I doe not thinke there was a greater giu'n,
Then were the sons that from his loynes were bred.
2
It is a Cordiall to the Fathers heart,To see himselfe so often multiplide,
The like was never made by Chimick Art,
There's no extraction of such strength beside.
3
And in this blessing Iacob had a part,For Iacobs Zodiaque had twelue seu'rall Signes,
(I meane his sonnes) whose influence did impart
A powrfull strength to him, and his designes.
4
Of all the rest, I was his pretiest boy,And to my father from my cradle deare,
Sonne of his age, therefore perhaps his ioy,
As by my partie-livery may appeare.
5
Or else perhaps 'twas for my Mothers sake,To whom his soule with chaines of loue was tyde,
Which caus'd him cherefully to vndertake
Twice seu'n yeeres seruice, to make her his Bride.
6
O Loue, thou art the perfect Adamant,Which breakes all Hammers, wearies euery arme,
Thou hast no sense of danger, or of want,
No apprehension of ensuing harme.
7
But thou art carried in a full carreere,With highest speed to vvhat thou dost desire,
Labours are sweet, and difficulties deere,
To compasse that vvhereto thy hopes aspire.
8
Vnwearied loue or labours not at all,Or else at least doth make all labours light,
Witnesse my father Iacob, Labans thrall,
Or Rachels rather (for to speake more right)
9
Faint with heau'ns frost by night, heau'ns fire by day.Which (though distastfull) Iacob yet puts over,
Thinking all Moneths alike for one sweet May,
O such a thing it is to bee a Louer.
10
And well it may be that I was affectedFor my dead mothers sake, whom he held deare:
But sure it is, that I was much respected,
And Rachels loue in Joseph did appeare.
11
For he did loue mee more in truth and shew,Then all the children that he had beside,
Who thereupon did discontented grow,
His loue to me made me to be envy'de.
12
Alasse, that from a root so sweet should springSo noysome, and so venemous a flower:
But thus (we see) it holds in euery thing,
Great fortunes, great affections, place and power
13
Are subiect to great envie: men will hateThat eminence, which they cannot attaine:
It may be Natures fault, it may be Fate,
It may be Custome, vvhich few can restraine.
14
What ere the cause be, that's th'effect (we see)Eu'n brothers of one backe will make it good,
My fathers loue had fatall been to me,
If gracious heau'n had not their wils withstood.
15
He loues, they hate: and to fill vp the streame,And swell the humour of their ranckling hate,
(So God would haue it) I must haue a dreame,
Which (foolish lad) to them I did relate.
16
Dreames are the Daughters of the silent Night,Begot on divers Mothers, most, most vaine;
Some bred by dayes-discourse, or dayes-delight,
Some from the stomacke fuming to the braine.
17
Some from Complexion; Sanguine ConstitutionsWill dreame of Maskes, Playes, Revels, Melody:
Some of dead bones, and gastly apparitions,
Which are the true effects of Melancholly.
18
And some are meerly forg'd to private ends,And (without doubt) some are Propheticke to,
Which gracious God out of his goodnesse sends,
To warne vs what to shun, or what to doe.
19
Or to discouer what in time will come,Either for priuate, or for publique weale:
Such was my dreame, a true presaging one,
Which to my brothers thus I did reueale:
20
Me thought we were together in the fieldBinding of sheaues, Mine riseth, stands vpright,
Your sheaues encompasse mine, but stoope and yeeld,
And honors mine: Dreamer, we know your spright
21
The brethren say: shalt thou rule ouer vs?Thou Lord it so? Proud boy, it shall not be.
A second dreame I had, and told it thus:
The Sunne, the Moone, the Starres I seem'd to see;
22
The Starres I saw eleu'n in number were,And all to me (as honouring) did bow,
I told it so, that Iacob did it heare,
Who frown'd vpon me with an angry brow.
23
Must I, your Mother, and your Brethren beeYour vassals? at your feet (proud boy) be cast?
'Tis more then time (I see) to humble thee,
And lance that windie humour swels so fast.
24
And thus in outward shew old Israel chides,To coole his spleenfull sons, whose wrath did flame:
But inwardly the double dreame he hides,
And all his thoughts still worke vpon the same.
25
The sonnes of Iacob now in Sechem keepeTheir flockes (the story sayes:) goe boy (quoth he)
See how thy brethren fare, and how the sheepe,
And bring a true relation vnto me.
26
From Hebron sent Ioseph now takes his vvayTo Sechem-ward: vvandring, a man he met,
Of vvhow he doth enquire, if he can say
Ought of his brethren? Is to Dothan set:
27
For thither they would goe, I heard them say:He giues him thankes, and after them doth goe:
Ioseph take heed, thou vvalk'st a dangerous vvay,
In thine owne blood thou find'st a bosome foe.
28
They spi'd him soone, before he came much nigher,So Eagle-ey'd is Envie on her prey,
And straight against his life they doe conspire,
And to themselues vvith hatfull scorne they say:
29
Yon comes the Dreamer: now hee's in our power,Lets cut his throat, then cast him in some pit,
And say some savage beast did him deuoure,
Teach him to dreame: See vvhat vvill come of it.
30
Vile man, thou art a creature vvorse then beast,If powerfull heau'n doe not restraine thy will,
A Wolfe, a Deu'll doth dwell within thy breast,
Which alwayes stirs thee to extreamest ill.
31
And there's no tinder that's so apt to fire,As is thy wicked Nature to consent;
Wee're easily drawn to what we doe desire,
And our desires are most to mischiefe bent.
32
'Tis hatefull for one man to kill another,Though causefull fury doth distract the sence:
But O, vvhat is it then to kill a brother?
And in cold blood, and that vvithout offence?
33
Yea, and to offer at a fathers life,For out of his deare loue they well might gather,
That eu'n that murdrous blow, that bloody knife
That stab'd the son, might chance to kill the father.
34
But when that minds are bent to doe amisse,There's no respects that can the same controule,
His other brethren were resolu'd of this,
But Reuben onely had some touch of soule,
35
And therefore this conspiracie withstands,Vse we no force (quoth he) vse rather wit,
He is our brother, lay no violent hands
Vpon his life, yet cast him in the pit.
36
And thus he said, intending to restoreTo Israels armes the comfort of his age,
Direct deniall had inflam'd them more,
There's no opposing to a present rage:
37
What euer stops the current of a streame,Is swept away with furious violence,
Force is effectlesse gainst a strong extreame:
But yet a man with labour and expence
38
May turne the chanell to another course,Hee's oft a gayner that can purchase time:
Therefore giue way whilst fury runnes in force,
Which being spent, then on with thy designe.
39
And Reuben meanes to make aduantage so,Vnto whose motion all the rest consent;
Ioseph meane while is come, but doth not know
(Poore innocent) the drift of their intent.
40
And as men ioyfull of this happy meeting,They bid him welcome with a false embrace:
As felons true men handle, such their greeting,
And soone (perforce) they strip him of his case.
41
Joseph did more then wonder what they meant,He knew the parties were his fathers sonnes,
By whom he was in visitation sent,
And with a pleasing Ambassie he comes:
42
He lookes into himselfe, and finds all well,Good Lord (thought he) what do my brothers mean?
I know no cause should make them thus to swell:
But finding that their fury grew extreame,
43
He speakes them faire, with teares he doth intreatThey would respect his blood, his loue, his youth,
What was his fault (he ask'd) that was so great?
For he knew none that he had done in truth:
44
He tells them, He was none of Esaus brood,Who with their father stroue eu'n in the vvombe,
But he deriued was from Iacobs blood,
Whose purer streames in all their veines did runne:
45
Yet wrathfull Esau with their Sire incens'd,Both for the birth-right, and the blessing too,
Did not proceed to murder (though pretenc'd)
And would they act what he forbare to doe?
46
Indeed good Abram (common great grand-sireVnto them all) resolu'd to sacrifice
Vnto his God (for he did so require)
His deare-deare Lambe, more deare then his ovvne eyes:
47
But he had speciall Warrant for the deed,'Twas not a worke of will, his owne deuice,
God did command, vvhy should not Izhak bleed?
Obedience is the truest sacrifice.
48
But they had no Commission for his death,Where was their Warrant so to spill his blood?
Who sign'd the same? for he receiu'd his breath
From God, to yeeld againe when he thought good.
49
If God requir'd it, hee vvas vvell content,But 'twas no vvorke of his, 'twas their owne vvill,
Which executed, they would soone repent,
For fearefull justice wayts on fearelesse ill.
50
With that they interrupted his discourse:Words were but lost (they said) he must not preach,
His part was Patience: So with bruitish force,
(First hauing stript him) without farther speach
51
They cast him straight into the deadly pit:And then (as well discerning of the state)
In triumph round about the same they sit,
And eat and drinke, and jest at Iosephs fate.
52
Indeed (braue spirits) 'tis a noble act,Deserving much, and memorable fame,
Laurell at least: well, looke into the fact,
'Twill fill your soules with griefe, your browes with shame.
53
You haue betrayd a young and hopefull Lad,Alone without the helpe of any other:
The chiefest comfort that his father had,
Who is your father to, and he your brother.
54
Adde more to this, he was an innocent,Whom causelesse hate so fowly did betray,
In loue and kindnesse by a father sent,
And Messengers are sacred (as men say)
55
Besides, your root grew in the Holy Land,Neuer before tainted with such a sin,
Izhak will surely grieue (if vnderstand)
To thinke his Nephewes haue so bloody bin.
56
But all this while the Bird that's in the breast,Is fast asleepe, and no disturbance makes,
'Twas wont to be a Nightingale at least,
But now 'twil proue a Scritch-owle when it wakes.
57
The Frontispice of sinne is fayre in shew,A pleasant Porter alwayes keepes the gate,
But being in, it is the house of vvoe,
Of feare, of shame, and of all deadly fate.
58
But I must leaue the brothers as they bee,Who now securely triumph in their wrong,
Distressed Ioseph, I returne to thee,
The subiect of my ill-made, well-meant Song.
59
Me thinkes I see how this poore youth doth lye,Vnmanly thus, vnnaturally vsed,
Thinking the pit his graue, fixing his eye
On heau'n, that sees, helps innocents abused.
60
Me thinkes I heare him say, and saying weepe,How vnexampled is my wretchednesse?
My sea of sorrow is so very deepe,
That there's no line to fathom my distresse.
61
O by what name shall I expresse my ill,It is not banishment that I endure,
I am too truely in my Countrey still;
But banishment were better, more secure.
62
Earth is my Countrey, and in earth I am,And yet I am not in my proper place:
For I vvas borne to vvalke vpon the same,
And with my feet to trample on her face.
63
Now am I in her armes, or bowels rather,Into my Mothers vvombe aliue I goe:
O Iacob, my belou'd and louing Father,
Didst thou beget mee, to be swallow'd so?
64
I know that shee embraces all at last,Shee is the Center vnto vvhich we tend;
But yet with me she makes preposterous hast,
Her right begins but when my life doth end,
65
And then she may with justice seize on mee,Now she intrudes before her lawfull time:
O common Parent, I doe wrong to thee,
Thou art not to be charged with this crime.
66
Yet Earth is the sole Agent of my ill,But 'tis indeed a more refined Clay,
'Tis breathing, vvalking Earth (against thy will)
Makes me close prisner in thy wombe this day,
67
Where I am neither liuing, nor yet dead,And yet am both: I know not what I am:
But this I know, that neuer was there bred
Amongst all men a more disastrous man,
68
Which am depriued of that common good,That all Mankind, nay very beasts possesse,
Ayre, light, heat, motion, and all hope of food,
Who (though I liue) yet can I not expresse
69
The powers and actes of life: and (which is worse)Haue able actiue Organs for the same,
And eu'n those blessings doe encrease my curse;
For had I been decrepit, blind, or lame,
70
Benumb'd vvith Palsies, fine w-crackt vvith crampes,Without all vse of limbes and senses to,
I should not haue been choak'd with Earth's cold dampes,
Nor in my graue haue liu'd as now I do.
71
Nay, eu'n those nobler graces of the mind,Wit, Vnderstanding, Iudgement, Memory,
Serue all as one sad Index, for to find,
And read my wofull History thereby,
72
And the more actiue-able that they are,The more they set my suffrings on the racke,
A feeling knowledge is more wretched farre,
Then a dull stupid non-sense, that doth lacke
73
True apprehension of its proper ill,And therefore slightly entertaines distresse,
Conceiuing sorrowes are most pregnant still,
In ignorance is senselesse happinesse.
74
O how extreamely wretched is that man,Whose greatest blessings turne vnto his curse?
All his endeauors (doe eu'n what hee can)
Serue but as meanes to make his fortunes worse.
75
But Ioseph, whither doth thy stormy passion(Which doth indeed but swell thy misery)
Transport thee from thy selfe in such a fashion,
As thou art almost fallen to lunacie?
76
Why dost thou vent thy sorrowes to the earth?Shee heares thee not: 'Tis bootlesse to complaine,
Besides thou hast no surplusage of breath,
Why doest thou make such waste-thereof in vaine?
77
Rather improue the same vnto the best,Thinke not on earth, advance thy selfe to heau'n,
If there be hope of helpe, there doth it rest,
And onely by that hand it must be giu'n.
78
And thus resolu'd, this Phenix in his nest,Not built with Spices and Arabian Gummes,
But of hard flints, with toads & slow-worm's drest,
An humble suppliant to his God becomes.
79
And being in the bowels of the Earth,The cold thereof augments his inward heat,
Which from his heart breaks forth into his breath,
And thus (sweet incense) mounts to Gods high seat.
80
Father of Heau'n, let not my brothers hate(Their causelesse hate) prevaile against my blood;
Thou canst their malice and their spleene abate,
And turne their plots and proiects to my good.
81
They are but like to Pipes which doe convey,The streame of action, that doth flow from thee:
The worke (as 'tis a worke) is thine: but they
(As 'tis a sinne) they onely guiltie be.
82
They are thy instruments, though now they jarre,And thou canst sweetly tune them, as thou wilt,
Extract my peace from forth this civill warre,
And thine owne glory raise out of their guilt.
83
But if my sinnes (which be in number great)Haue shut thine eare, and barr'd vp mercies gate,
Forgiue my brothers yet, I thee intreat,
And lay not to their charge their murdrous hate.
84
But let this pit (that now must be my tombe)Bury my body, and withall, their shame,
O neuer let it to the world be knowne,
That Iacobs sonnes were guiltie of such blame.
85
Especially shew mercie to my Sire,Let his gray head in peace goe to his graue,
And once againe I humbly thee desire,
Forgiue my brothers, and thy seruant saue.
86
Ioseph, thy body in the pit I find,(That's earth in earth) out thy more noble part,
Thy purer soule (from earthly drosse refin'd)
Mounts vp to heau'n, to which thou send'st thy heart.
87
In faithfull prayer: an Agent of such trust,So gracefull, and so pow'rfull to prevaile,
That though thy selfe seemes buried in the dust,
Yet that makes way to heau'n, and will not faile
88
With such effect to prosecute thy cause,To treat and mediate for thee with thy Lord,
That though thou seem'st eu'n in destructions jawes,
His mighty arme will timely helpe afford.
89
As here a troope of Ishmaelites came by,Merchants (it seemes) they were, to Egypt bound,
Laden with Balme, and Myrrhe, and spicery,
Such precious things as were in Gilead found.
90
So and more ancient is the Entercourse,By which one Countrey traffiques with another,
And (as we see) oft times an able Nourse
Supples the wants of a defectiue Mother:
91
So doth one Climate with its natiue wealthFurnish another, and by such supplyes
We haue most sovereigne Simples for our health,
Pearle, Gold and diuers rich Commodities:
92
For this Worlds deepe vnsounded Architect,Hath not confin'd all blessings to one Land,
Each Countrey labours vnder some defect,
Which must be helped by anothers hand.
93
And 'tis the chiefest cause, and vse of Trade,To bring in others vvealth, and vent our owne,
And to that end long Voyages are made,
Eu'n to remotest Climates, erst vnknowne.
94
But what? me thinkes my Muse doth trauaile too,And bends her selfe vnto a forreine cost,
Returne againe to what thou hast to doe,
Else will thy fruitlesse labour all be lost.
95
When Iudah did these Merchant strangers see,Some sparke of Pitie, or Hypocrisie
Did seeme to touch his heart: Let vs (quoth he)
Sell yonder Lad, that in the pit doth lie:
96
For, say we kill him, and the murder keepeSecret as night; Alas, will that availe vs?
His blood will crie when wee are fast asleepe,
And our owne Conscience to the Barre will hale vs.
97
Beside, there is no profit in his blood,Where by his sale there may arise some gaine,
Let vs respect both his and our owne good,
Such pleasing motions are not made in vaine.
98
Judah prevailes: Out of the pit they draw him,They play the Merchants, and to Merchants sell
The louely Boy: And when these strangers saw him,
They offred ready Cash, they lik'd so well.
99
Of siluer twentie pieces was the price:They pay the Money, and they take their ware,
And now the brethren studie a device
To cloake their sinne, that is their chiefest care.
100
At length they doe this stratageme devise,They staine with blood of a slaine Kid or Goat,
(To cast a mist before their fathers eyes)
The Ensigne of his loue, the partie Coat.
101
That they resolue to bring vnto their Sire,And say they found it so with blood defil'd:
A murderer will euer prooue a lyer,
How easely is an honest heart beguil'd?
102
Thy I ambe into the field why hast thou sent?Why made such wolues the keepers of thy sheepe?
Shall we condemne mens actions by th'euent,
When all successe is buried very deepe?
103
Into a fathers heart how could it sinke,So many sheep-heards Butchers all should be?
How could old Israel once conceiue or thinke,
That such sowre Crabs should grow vpon his tree?
104
The stocke was good that hee had grifted in,And God had blest it with much goodly fruit,
And as their birth, so had their breeding bin,
His precepts and their practise did not sute.
105
But say he might mistrust some of his sonnes,Simeon and Leui had been soyl'd in blood;
But this within no reach of reason comes,
That such a generall guilt should taint his brood:
106
That all his sonnes should so conspire in one,To spill the blood of a poore Innocent:
Where was his Iudah when it should be done?
Without all doubt he neuer would consent.
107
Besides, no cause, nor colour did appeare,Why they should be so cruell to a brother:
A vertuous soule that in its selfe is cleare,
Is hardly drawne to thinke ill of another.
108
And yet (we see) brother did brother killLong before this: Cayne innocent Abel slew:
But sure there was this diffrence twixt their ill,
That was a single Duell: they but two:
109
But this vvas tenne to one: yet I confesse,One of the tenne was touch'd vnto the heart,
And shew'd at least some sparkes of tendernesse,
And sau'd his life by taking of his part.
110
And yet it seemes he saw him in the pit,Yea in the pit (the Embleme of his graue)
But blame not Reuben, 'twas a worke of wit,
Or honest wit, vvhose purpose was to saue:
111
For he did meane the lad home to haue led,Witnesse the rending of his clothes and haire,
When he return'd, found not, suppos'd him dead,
(It seemes, that in the sale he had no share)
112
But when the deed vvas done, he was content(To hide his brothers shame) to tell a lye,
In vice how easely multitudes assent?
How quickly sinne with sinne doth multiply?
113
Most men haue itching fingers to shed blood,And to Reuenge as to a Feast they goe,
But vnto actions, honest, fayre, and good,
We creep like snayles, or men benumb'd with snow.
114
But whither strayes my Muse? By this the BoyArriues at Egypt, Iacobs heart doth burne,
To heare some tidings of his long-mist Ioy,
And vvith strange tidings (loe) his sonnes returne.
115
He reades their message written in their face,But cannot reade the tablets of their hearts,
Sad lookes at least, and sighs must seeme to grace
That Tragedie, vvherein they play'd their parts.
116
But (O) wee know that lookes are often lyers,Who can iudge truely by the outward shew?
We practice how to palliate our desires,
No more of man, but the bare barke we know.
117
And yet it may be they vvere touch'd indeedWith sad remembrance of their fact so soule:
There are some wounds that inwardly doe bleed,
And gastly lookes come from a troubled soule.
118
Vice well may paint her face, and maske her brow,And looke aloft with a bold strumpets eye:
But Conscience, what a biting vvorme art thou?
Whē thine own thoughts do giue thy looks (the lie)
119
Where is my sonne (quoth Iacob) vvhere is hee?Why doe I not behold my Iosephs face?
Loe, this is all of him that vve did see,
The brethren sayd, and then they shew'd his case.
120
And vvhen old Israel saw this killing sight,A wicked beast (he cries) hath slaine my sonne:
Good aged Father, thou art in the right,
It was a beast indeed, a bloodie-one.
121
That monster Envie seyzd vpon thy child,And with his Harpies Tallons grip'd him so,
That from thy sight thy Ioseph is exild,
And thou art left to waste thine age in woe.
122
Meane while (me thinkes) I see these fratricidesHanging their heads, as if with sorrow smitten,
False complement, foule actions often hides:
For hearts are seldome in the fore-heads written.
123
Well, though you could deceiue a poore old man,(Who would not think, that from his Cristall spring
Should flow such muddy streames) goe (if you can)
And blind Heau'ns eye, that sees, marks euery thing,
124
Whose present Iustice (though it seeme to sleepe)Will surely wake, and call you to the Barre,
The Court of Heau'n a Register doth keepe,
Where all our daily deeds enrolled are:
125
Therefore (dissembling men) goe make your peace,Prepare (whilst you haue time) for your account,
Let your true teares petition for release:
Teares (against waters nature) vp will mount,
126
Eu'n to the highest Heau'ns, and there will crieFor grace and mercie, gainst your crying sinne:
There is great vertue in a weeping eye,
And teares (dumbe Orators) when you beginne
127
To plead for pardon, seldome sue in vaine,You are successefull advocates of ours:
Marble is pierc'd with often drops of raine,
How thē is mercy mou'd with such sweet showers?
128
But all this while doth Iacob dwell in teares,Why should he longer liue now Ioseph's slaine?
Loue (whilst the loued liues) is full of feares,
And dead, then griefe begins his tragique raigne.
129
And the more strong and fervent that it was,So much the more it breakes forth into passion:
A heart halfe hote breathes forth a cold (alas)
And sutes it selfe in blacke, perhaps for fashion.
130
But the sad soule that's truely touch'd indeed,With losse of that, which it did hold so deare,
A long time after of that wound doth bleed,
And eu'n till Death the scarre will still appeare.
131
So Iacob will go mourning to his graue,Though all his sonnes and daughters doe their best
To comfort him, but hee'l no comfort haue,
His heart was kild before in Iosephs breast.
132
Good kind old Father, cheare thy selfe againe,Hope in the bottome of the basket lies,
It may bee that thy Ioseph is not slaine,
Loue is too often full of ielousies:
133
Thou shalt suruiue with these thy teare-drownd eyesTo see thy Ioseph next the Kingly throne,
To see him nurse thee and thy families,
And in a forreine Land make Israel knowne.
134
O the great goodnesse of All-pow'rfull God,How vvondrously doth he his works dispose?
That he can fetch our comforts from the rod,
And raise our fortunes by the meanes of foes.
135
'Twas not the brothers malice, nor their wit,That could the Wisedome of high heauen preuent,
They draw the Plot, but God doth build on it,
They serue his ends against their owne intent.
136
They fear'd the Youth should liue to be their Lord,And therefore made him (as they thought) a slaue:
But their owne tongues those Titles shall afford,
Which they so fear'd, and yet so freely gaue.
137
But stay my Muse, me thinks thou flagg'st the wing,As if thy plumes were wet with Iacobs raine,
Whose tearefull sorrowes will not let thee sing,
Till he hath dry'd his aged eyes againe.
Timens Deum, non habet quod timeat vlterius.
| Egypts Favourite | |