 | Divine Poems |  |
76
Rev. 20. 11, 12.
And I saw a great white Throne, and him that sate on it, from whose face the Earth and the Heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, both small and great stand before God; and the Books were opened, and another Book was opened which is the Book of Life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the Books, according to their works.
Had I the Art in painting like to him
Who did the day of Doom so lively limn,
That when a Heathen Prince beheld the same,
With terror struck, a Christian he became;
Thus would I set it forth unto your eye,
The Heavens should put on a sable dye,
Mask'd with the blackest vail of thickest clouds,
Which to the Sun, Moon, Stars should be as shrowds
To muffle them in one continued night,
Not once affording the least spark of light,
Hiding their heads as 'sham'd or griev'd to see
The horrid sins of men which then should be
Made manifest and naked to the world,
And the dire plagues that on them should be hurl'd.
From this sad object let your eye retire
To th'other side and see the earth on fire,
The Sea all bloud, the Throne of God on high,
Whereon he sits in glorious Majesty,
Legions of Angels him surrounding there,
Millions of men that newly raised were
Out of their Sepulchres, by his command,
To hear their final sentence trembling stand:
Below the Divels in the various shapes
Of hideous monsters, and hel's mouth wide gapes,
Casting forth flames of Sulphur and thick smoak,
Enough to blot out heaven, and earth to choak.
As soon as God hath said, Ye Cursed, go
Int' everlasting fire, the Divels lo
Are ready strait, and drag them down to hell,
Where they in torments infinite must dwell.
But since Apelles skill I want to make
This Picture right, I shall be bold to take
A Copy from the Pencil of Saint John,
As here I find it in his Vision.
Who did the day of Doom so lively limn,
That when a Heathen Prince beheld the same,
With terror struck, a Christian he became;
Thus would I set it forth unto your eye,
The Heavens should put on a sable dye,
Mask'd with the blackest vail of thickest clouds,
Which to the Sun, Moon, Stars should be as shrowds
To muffle them in one continued night,
Not once affording the least spark of light,
Hiding their heads as 'sham'd or griev'd to see
The horrid sins of men which then should be
77
And the dire plagues that on them should be hurl'd.
From this sad object let your eye retire
To th'other side and see the earth on fire,
The Sea all bloud, the Throne of God on high,
Whereon he sits in glorious Majesty,
Legions of Angels him surrounding there,
Millions of men that newly raised were
Out of their Sepulchres, by his command,
To hear their final sentence trembling stand:
Below the Divels in the various shapes
Of hideous monsters, and hel's mouth wide gapes,
Casting forth flames of Sulphur and thick smoak,
Enough to blot out heaven, and earth to choak.
As soon as God hath said, Ye Cursed, go
Int' everlasting fire, the Divels lo
Are ready strait, and drag them down to hell,
Where they in torments infinite must dwell.
But since Apelles skill I want to make
This Picture right, I shall be bold to take
A Copy from the Pencil of Saint John,
As here I find it in his Vision.
I saw (saith he) a Throne both white and great
Of God Almighty, 'Twas the Judgment Seat;
Mysterious in the colour, which was white,
'Cause Justice should be innocent and bright.
Not like to Herods Throne, that was dy'd red
With blood of Infants which he massacred;
Nor sullied o're with falsehood and with wrong,
But like the milky way, clear all along.
As white for colour was this stately Throne,
So great for quantity, whereby is showne
The greatness of the Judg that thereon sits,
Past th' apprehension of the greatest wits.
For such is his immensity none can
His measure take; beyond the reach of man.
No Power then his Justice can withstand,
Whose power doth both heaven and earth command,
For earth and heaven there shall be found no place,
When he appears they both flee from his face;
His face, the sight whereof is heaven alone,
And joyes beyond imagination.
I saw, (saith he, the dead, both great and small,
Stand before God the Judg impartial;
His judgments are a great deep, into which
All fall alike, the poor, as well as rich,
The small as great; there not a cobweb lies,
Through which huge sinners like, to greater Flies,
A passage force, while lesser stick behind
As prisoners, and no way t' escape can find;
Not a net there, in which the lesser fry
Of sinners, like to fishes, may espy
Holes to slip out, whiles that the greater be
Intangled without hopes of getting free;
No, this great Judg doth smal and great convent
Before this highest Court of Parliament,
From which are no Appeals, but all must rest
Irrevocable, be they curst or blest.
There's no resisting, the stiff knee must bend,
And the stout heart from his high thoughts descend
And listen to its doom, You shall see there
Great Alexander quaking stand for fear,
He who the world once conquer'd, and did weep,
For want of more, now in a hole would creep,
And give that world which he had conquered
For one small corner in't to hide his head,
And all that wealth he got, to clear the guilt
Of all the blood which his vain glory spilt.
There shall you see that Absolom the fair,
Who hanged was in his proud dangling hair
Confounded stand, expecting when to hear
A heavier judgment thundring in his ear,
Condemning him to hang in hells hot'st fire,
'Cause to his fathers Throne he did aspire.
There shall you see King Ahab, who by's wife
Rob'd Naboth of his vineyard and his life.
And that lewd woman Jezabel his Queen
'Mongst many of her Sex shall there be seen,
And for her Witchcrafts, pride, and painting sent
To Pluto's Court to have her punishment.
There shall you see Doeg, who in pretence
Of holy vowes did work no small offence;
For by his malice he with Saul so wrought,
That more then fourscore Priests to death he brought
There shall you see the Sodomites that burn'd,
In Lust unnat'ral, and to ashes turn'd
By fire from heaven; but now the Lord shall send
A fire from hell to burn them without end.
There shall you see those three presumptuous men,
Core and his Complices appear agen,
Who for their striving against Moses, and
'Gainst Aaron too, do stigmatized stand
To all posterity; as th' earth before,
So now hell gapes to swallow them once more.
There shall you see Uzziah, though a King,
Condemned for his Incense Offering,
And taking on him the Priests function,
Whereto he had no right nor unction.
There shall you see Antiochus the Great,
Who did commit that Sacrilegious feat
In robbing of the Temple, doom'd to pains
Proportioned to his unlawful gaines.
There shall you see that glutton who did fare
Deliciously each day, and purple wear,
Suffering poor Lazarus to starve the while,
Begging himself now in an humble stile
But for a cup of water to asswage
The furous flames that on his tongue do rage;
And justly shal that tongue such torments bear,
Which pleas'd it self so much in dainty chear.
There shall you see that Phocas (who did slay
Mauritius his Master, to make way
For his Ambition to ascend the Throne)
Descend into the deepest dungeon
Of Belzebubs black Vault, perpetually
To suffer pains for his damn'd Treachery.
There you the Traitor Judas shall behold,
Who his dear Lord for thirty pieces sold.
There you shall see those Prophets that pretend
To inspiration, and uncall'd ascend
The Pulpit, venting of old Heresies
And most abominable Blasphemies,
Under the notion of new lights, these shall
To utter darkness be condemned all.
For I beheld the Bookswide opened were,
Another Book, the Book of Life was there
Laid open too, infallible Records,
Wherein were written all the deeds, and words,
And thoughts, and names of men, which shall be read
In publick then, and they be punished,
Or else rewarded with great woes and joyes,
According unto all their works and wayes.
Of God Almighty, 'Twas the Judgment Seat;
Mysterious in the colour, which was white,
'Cause Justice should be innocent and bright.
Not like to Herods Throne, that was dy'd red
With blood of Infants which he massacred;
Nor sullied o're with falsehood and with wrong,
But like the milky way, clear all along.
As white for colour was this stately Throne,
So great for quantity, whereby is showne
The greatness of the Judg that thereon sits,
Past th' apprehension of the greatest wits.
78
His measure take; beyond the reach of man.
No Power then his Justice can withstand,
Whose power doth both heaven and earth command,
For earth and heaven there shall be found no place,
When he appears they both flee from his face;
His face, the sight whereof is heaven alone,
And joyes beyond imagination.
I saw, (saith he, the dead, both great and small,
Stand before God the Judg impartial;
His judgments are a great deep, into which
All fall alike, the poor, as well as rich,
The small as great; there not a cobweb lies,
Through which huge sinners like, to greater Flies,
A passage force, while lesser stick behind
As prisoners, and no way t' escape can find;
Not a net there, in which the lesser fry
Of sinners, like to fishes, may espy
Holes to slip out, whiles that the greater be
Intangled without hopes of getting free;
No, this great Judg doth smal and great convent
Before this highest Court of Parliament,
From which are no Appeals, but all must rest
Irrevocable, be they curst or blest.
There's no resisting, the stiff knee must bend,
And the stout heart from his high thoughts descend
And listen to its doom, You shall see there
Great Alexander quaking stand for fear,
He who the world once conquer'd, and did weep,
For want of more, now in a hole would creep,
And give that world which he had conquered
For one small corner in't to hide his head,
And all that wealth he got, to clear the guilt
Of all the blood which his vain glory spilt.
There shall you see that Absolom the fair,
Who hanged was in his proud dangling hair
79
A heavier judgment thundring in his ear,
Condemning him to hang in hells hot'st fire,
'Cause to his fathers Throne he did aspire.
There shall you see King Ahab, who by's wife
Rob'd Naboth of his vineyard and his life.
And that lewd woman Jezabel his Queen
'Mongst many of her Sex shall there be seen,
And for her Witchcrafts, pride, and painting sent
To Pluto's Court to have her punishment.
There shall you see Doeg, who in pretence
Of holy vowes did work no small offence;
For by his malice he with Saul so wrought,
That more then fourscore Priests to death he brought
There shall you see the Sodomites that burn'd,
In Lust unnat'ral, and to ashes turn'd
By fire from heaven; but now the Lord shall send
A fire from hell to burn them without end.
There shall you see those three presumptuous men,
Core and his Complices appear agen,
Who for their striving against Moses, and
'Gainst Aaron too, do stigmatized stand
To all posterity; as th' earth before,
So now hell gapes to swallow them once more.
There shall you see Uzziah, though a King,
Condemned for his Incense Offering,
And taking on him the Priests function,
Whereto he had no right nor unction.
There shall you see Antiochus the Great,
Who did commit that Sacrilegious feat
In robbing of the Temple, doom'd to pains
Proportioned to his unlawful gaines.
There shall you see that glutton who did fare
Deliciously each day, and purple wear,
Suffering poor Lazarus to starve the while,
Begging himself now in an humble stile
80
The furous flames that on his tongue do rage;
And justly shal that tongue such torments bear,
Which pleas'd it self so much in dainty chear.
There shall you see that Phocas (who did slay
Mauritius his Master, to make way
For his Ambition to ascend the Throne)
Descend into the deepest dungeon
Of Belzebubs black Vault, perpetually
To suffer pains for his damn'd Treachery.
There you the Traitor Judas shall behold,
Who his dear Lord for thirty pieces sold.
There you shall see those Prophets that pretend
To inspiration, and uncall'd ascend
The Pulpit, venting of old Heresies
And most abominable Blasphemies,
Under the notion of new lights, these shall
To utter darkness be condemned all.
For I beheld the Bookswide opened were,
Another Book, the Book of Life was there
Laid open too, infallible Records,
Wherein were written all the deeds, and words,
And thoughts, and names of men, which shall be read
In publick then, and they be punished,
Or else rewarded with great woes and joyes,
According unto all their works and wayes.
| Divine Poems | |