l. Christe to hys Spouse.
The Argument.
Whan
Christ hath wundred at the excellēcie of his spouse
and compared her to the mornyng, because of the lacke
of perfect glory whiche she can not attayne so long as she is
subiect to the fraile body: and to the Moone that is the truth
whiche taketh lyght of hym, as the moone doeth of the sun,
whiche as it shyneth in the darke, so doeth the Churche in aduersitie
and persecucion: and to the Sunne, that is hymselfe
the Sunne of righteousnes, callynge her electe as hymselfe,
the chefe and principal elect of his father: and last of all to a
banner, for her terriblenes in fraying her aduersaries: whan
he hath thus wunderyngly praysed her, he cummeth downe
into her to se yf his vines bud, and pomegrates flower, whether
his elect haue a lyuely iustifiyng fayth, whiche wurketh
by loue, that if they be barayn he maye curse them as he dyd
the fruteles fygtree. Math. xx. and whan they be wydered to
cast them out of his gardayne. And beyng nowe in his Nutgardeyn,
he declareth why he cummeth, singyng.
To my Nutgardayn free,
Whom tribulacions hyde:
I am cum the saplynges for to see,
Whiche grow by the ryuers syde.
To see yf that the vine,
The fayth that I thynke so good,
With the wurkes and fruites of loue diuine,
Begyn thorowly to bud.
To see yf that the plantes,
Of fine Pomegranates yelde:
Pleasaunt fruites, whiche euery tree that wantes
Shall be cast furth from my fyelde.
