Divine Meditations upon Several Subjects Whereunto is annexed, God's Love, and Man's Unworthinesse. With Several Divine Ejaculations. Written by John Quarles |
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 | Divine Meditations upon Several Subjects |  |
Adams Curse.
Rebellious Adam, unto thee I'le give
A life as bad as death, for thou shalt live
To see thy sorrows more and more abound,
And for thy sake I'le curse the loathed ground;
For thou hast hark'ned to the conquering voyce
Of thy frail wife, and made my fruit thy choyce
And sepulchred my words within the grave
Of thy false heart; begon, thou selfe-made slave
The thorny ground shall give a large increase
To thy laborious hand; the name of Peace
Shall prove a stranger to thy ears, and thou
Shalt eat thy bread with a sweat-dropping brow
I'le murther all thy joys; thy brest shall burn
With flaming care, untill thy corps return
To the bowels of th'inclusive earth,
From whence thou hadst thy substance, and thy birth:
But base thou art, and therefore thou shalt be
Food for gnawing worms, and not for me:
As thou art dust, to dust thou shalt retire;
A life as bad as death, for thou shalt live
To see thy sorrows more and more abound,
And for thy sake I'le curse the loathed ground;
For thou hast hark'ned to the conquering voyce
Of thy frail wife, and made my fruit thy choyce
And sepulchred my words within the grave
Of thy false heart; begon, thou selfe-made slave
The thorny ground shall give a large increase
To thy laborious hand; the name of Peace
Shall prove a stranger to thy ears, and thou
Shalt eat thy bread with a sweat-dropping brow
I'le murther all thy joys; thy brest shall burn
With flaming care, untill thy corps return
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From whence thou hadst thy substance, and thy birth:
But base thou art, and therefore thou shalt be
Food for gnawing worms, and not for me:
As thou art dust, to dust thou shalt retire;
Hereafter let not dust presume't aspire.
Change alteration! Oh pernicious Fate!
So quickly bred in such an infant-state!
He that but even now enioy'd a life
Balanc'd with pleasures, now is fill'd with strife:
He whose majestick Soul was lately crown'd
With blest content, is now ingulf'd, and drown'd
In Sorrows Ocean; He, which was before
Touch'd with happiness, is now as poor
As poverty can make him; He, which had
The countenance of Heav'n to make him glad,
Is now eclipst; he knows not where to run,
[illeg.] having interpos'd between the Sun
And his dark Soul, the Center of whose rest
Now remov'd, and he survives unblest:
[illeg.] which but even now had leave to dwell
[illeg.]d revel in Heav'ns eye, desires a Cell
[illeg.] entertaine him; he, which liv'd in Peace,
Now thrown down, and forfeited his lease:
[illeg.]at was his Crime, great was his sudden Fall,
[illeg.]at was his Tenement, his rent but small:
Poor Adam's taken by his own decoys;
Change alteration! Oh pernicious Fate!
So quickly bred in such an infant-state!
He that but even now enioy'd a life
Balanc'd with pleasures, now is fill'd with strife:
He whose majestick Soul was lately crown'd
With blest content, is now ingulf'd, and drown'd
In Sorrows Ocean; He, which was before
Touch'd with happiness, is now as poor
As poverty can make him; He, which had
The countenance of Heav'n to make him glad,
Is now eclipst; he knows not where to run,
[illeg.] having interpos'd between the Sun
And his dark Soul, the Center of whose rest
Now remov'd, and he survives unblest:
[illeg.] which but even now had leave to dwell
[illeg.]d revel in Heav'ns eye, desires a Cell
[illeg.] entertaine him; he, which liv'd in Peace,
Now thrown down, and forfeited his lease:
[illeg.]at was his Crime, great was his sudden Fall,
[illeg.]at was his Tenement, his rent but small:
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Sin is the Sequestrator of all joys.
Sad Pilgrim of the world, where wilt thou find
(In the unpathed earth) a place so kind
To entertain thee? Ah, where wilt thou keep
(Thus tumbled from a Precipice so steep)
Thy sad unpeopl'd randezvouz? Oh where
Wilt thou procure a hand that will unsnare
Th'intangled Soul? Alas thy wearied life
Hath two most sad companions; first a Wife,
Then a bad Conscience; what two greater crosse
Can hang upon a brest, whose cares, whose losse
Are grown so infinit, that no relief,
But what distils from Heav'n, can ease their grief
Thou wert the first of men that entertain'd
So grand a sorrow, thou the first that stain'd
So pure a colour, thou the first that dwelt
In Edens garden, thou the first that felt
The scourge of fury; hadst not thou transgrest,
Vengeance had found no hand, nor grief a breast
Ah, hadst not thou offended, sin had found
No habitation, nor thy Soul a wound:
Had not thy hand so wilfully unlock'd
The door of Death, Destruction had not knock'd
At thine impenetrable gates, or ventur'd
T'approach so near, but being open'd, enter'd
Bold Customer of fate, that sought about
To come within, and turn poor Adam out;
Thy strēgth outstrengthd his strēgth, & made him weak
A vessel crack'd, how can it chuse but leak?
[illeg.]n prov'd Deaths father, & mans heart the womb
That brought it forth; this death shall find a tomb
When the Determiner of time hath hurl'd
[illeg.] finis to the volume of the world;
[illeg.] then, man (mortaliz'd by sin) must be
[illeg.] subject unto Deaths Soveraigntie.
Sad Pilgrim of the world, where wilt thou find
(In the unpathed earth) a place so kind
To entertain thee? Ah, where wilt thou keep
(Thus tumbled from a Precipice so steep)
Thy sad unpeopl'd randezvouz? Oh where
Wilt thou procure a hand that will unsnare
Th'intangled Soul? Alas thy wearied life
Hath two most sad companions; first a Wife,
Then a bad Conscience; what two greater crosse
Can hang upon a brest, whose cares, whose losse
Are grown so infinit, that no relief,
But what distils from Heav'n, can ease their grief
Thou wert the first of men that entertain'd
So grand a sorrow, thou the first that stain'd
So pure a colour, thou the first that dwelt
In Edens garden, thou the first that felt
The scourge of fury; hadst not thou transgrest,
Vengeance had found no hand, nor grief a breast
Ah, hadst not thou offended, sin had found
No habitation, nor thy Soul a wound:
Had not thy hand so wilfully unlock'd
The door of Death, Destruction had not knock'd
At thine impenetrable gates, or ventur'd
T'approach so near, but being open'd, enter'd
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To come within, and turn poor Adam out;
Thy strēgth outstrengthd his strēgth, & made him weak
A vessel crack'd, how can it chuse but leak?
[illeg.]n prov'd Deaths father, & mans heart the womb
That brought it forth; this death shall find a tomb
When the Determiner of time hath hurl'd
[illeg.] finis to the volume of the world;
[illeg.] then, man (mortaliz'd by sin) must be
[illeg.] subject unto Deaths Soveraigntie.
Poor man, in what a wilderness of sorrow
Dost thou now ramble in; where wilt thou borrow
A minutes rest; On what inclining ear
Wilt thou expend thy groans? what canst thou hear
[illeg.]t dialects of misery to vex
Thy bankrupt thoughts? The fatal disrespects
Of Heav'n will blow and toss thee up and down
From place to place, his still-renewed frown
Will follow thee; therefore provide t'endure
The hot pursutes of such a fierce pursuer:
Canst thou expect that this thy grand abuse
Which runs beyond the limits of excuse)
Can be forgotten; Dost thou think t'out-live
Thy long-liv'd crimes, or hope for power to give
[illeg.]e satisfaction to thy God, whose rage
Thy heart cannot endure, much less asswage?
Most lachrymable state! What canst thou do,
Oh man that may ingratiate or renew
Thy former love? Alas, thy base condition
Makes thee incapable of a Petition.
Prepare thy selfe, see if thou canst invade
His Soul with pray'rs, see if thou canst perswade
His Heart to yeeld unto thy sad request,
And re-inthorne thee with thy former rest;
Dissect thy Soul with groans, anatomize
Thy heart with sighs, and let thy winged cries
Fly through the angles of his sacred ear
And breed a harmony within the sphere
Of his blest Soul; be circumspect, and lay
The best foundation; hear what Heav'n will say.
Dost thou now ramble in; where wilt thou borrow
A minutes rest; On what inclining ear
Wilt thou expend thy groans? what canst thou hear
[illeg.]t dialects of misery to vex
Thy bankrupt thoughts? The fatal disrespects
Of Heav'n will blow and toss thee up and down
From place to place, his still-renewed frown
Will follow thee; therefore provide t'endure
The hot pursutes of such a fierce pursuer:
Canst thou expect that this thy grand abuse
Which runs beyond the limits of excuse)
Can be forgotten; Dost thou think t'out-live
Thy long-liv'd crimes, or hope for power to give
[illeg.]e satisfaction to thy God, whose rage
Thy heart cannot endure, much less asswage?
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Oh man that may ingratiate or renew
Thy former love? Alas, thy base condition
Makes thee incapable of a Petition.
Prepare thy selfe, see if thou canst invade
His Soul with pray'rs, see if thou canst perswade
His Heart to yeeld unto thy sad request,
And re-inthorne thee with thy former rest;
Dissect thy Soul with groans, anatomize
Thy heart with sighs, and let thy winged cries
Fly through the angles of his sacred ear
And breed a harmony within the sphere
Of his blest Soul; be circumspect, and lay
The best foundation; hear what Heav'n will say.
| Divine Meditations upon Several Subjects | |