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

My weak, and feeble heart, a prop must use,
But pleasant fruits, and flow'rs doth refuse:
My Christ my pillar is, on him rely,
Repose, and rest my self, alone will I.

Ode. 43.

1

Suppose it true, that whilst thy Saviours side
Was furrowed with scourges he was ti'd
Unto some pillar fast,
Think not, mine heart, it was because he could
Not stand alone, or that left loose he would
Have shrunk away at last.
Such weaknesse suits not with Omnipotence,
Nor could mans malice match his patience.

2

But, if so done, 'twas done to tutor thee,
Whose frailty, and impatience he doth see
Such, that thou hast nor strength,
Nor will, as of thy self, to undergo
The least degree of duty, or of woe,
But would'st be sure at length
To flinch, or faint, or not to stand at all,
Or in the end more fearfully to fall.

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3

Thy very frame, and figure, broad above,
Narrow beneath, apparently doth prove
Thou canst not stand alone,
Without a prop to boulster, and to stay thee.
To trust to thine own strength would soone betray thee.
Alas, thou now art growne
So weak, and feeble, wav'ring, and unstaid,
Thou shrink'st at the least weight that's on thee laid.

4

The easiest commandments thou declinest,
And at the lightest punishments thou whinest:
Thy restlesse motions are
Innumerable, like the troubled sea
Whose waves are toss'd, and tumbled ev'ry way.
The Hound-pursued Hare
Makes not so many doubles, as thou do'st,
Till thy crosse courses in themselves are lost.

5

Get thee some stay that may support thee then,
And stablish thee, lest thou should'st start againe.
But where may it be found?
Will pleasant fruites, or flowers serve the turne?
No, no, my tott'ring heart will overturne,
And lay them on the ground.
Dainties may serve to minister delight,
But strength is onely from the Lord of might.

6

Betake thee to thy Christ then, and repose
Thy selfe in all extremities on those
His everlasting armes,
Wherewith he girds the heavens, and upholds
The pillars of the earth, and safely folds

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His faithfull flocke from harmes.
Cleave close to him by faith, and let the bands
Of love tie thee in thy Redeemers hands.

7

Come life, come death, come devills, come what will,
Yet fast ned so thou shalt stand stedfast still:
And all the pow'rs of hell
Shall not prevaile to shake thee with their shock,
So long as thou art founded on that rock:
No duty shall thee quell,
No danger shall disturbe thy quiet state,
Nor soule-perplexing feares thy mind amate.

University of Virginia Library

The prop of the Heart.

Epigr. 43.

Ode. 43.

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