Schola Cordis or the Heart of it Selfe, gone away from God ::

Would'st thou, my love, a ladder have, whereby
Thou mai'st climbe heaven to sit downe on high?
In thine owne heart then frame thee steps, and bend
Thy mind to muse how thou mai'st there ascend.

Ode. 37.

The Soule.
What?
Shall I
Alwayes lie
Grov'ling on earth,
Where there is no mirth?
Why should I not ascend,
And climbe up, where I may mend
My meane estate of misery?
Happinesse I know's exceeding high:
Yet sure there is some remedy for that.

Christ.
True,
There is.
Perfect blisse,
The fruit of love,
May be had above:
But he, that will obtaine
Such a gold-exceeding gaine,
Must never think to reach the same,
And scale heav'ns walls, untill he frame
A ladder in his heart as near as new.

150

The Soule.
Lord,
I will:
But the skill
Is not mine owne:
Such an art's not knowne,
Unlesse thou wilt it teach:
It is farre above the reach
Of mortall minds to understand.
But if thou wilt lend thine helping hand,
I will endeavour to obey thy Word.

Christ.
Well
Then, see
That thou be
As ready prest
To performe the rest,
As now to promise faire,
And I'll teach thee how to reare
A scaling-ladder in thine heart
To mount heaven with: no rules of art,
But I alone, can the composure tell.

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First,
Thou must
Take on trust
All that I say,
Reason must not sway
Thy judgement crosse to mine,
But her Scepter quite resigne.
Faith must be both thy ladder sides,
Which will stay thy steps what e'er betides,
And satisfie thine hunger, and thy thirst.

151

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Then,
The round
Next the ground,
Which I must see;
Is Humilitie:
From which thou must ascend,
And with perseverance end.
Vertue to vertue, grace to grace,
Must each orderly succeed in'ts place.
And when thou hast done all beginne againe.

University of Virginia Library

The ladder of the Heart.

Epigr. 37.

Ode. 37.

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