Occasional Verses of Edward Lord Herbert, Baron of Cherbery and Castle-Island ::

While thy ambitious flame doth strive for height,
Yet burneth down, as clogged with the weight
Of earthly parts, to which thou art combin'd,
Thou still do'st grow more short of thy desire,
And do'st in vain unto that place aspire,
To which thy native powers seem inclin'd.

Yet when at last thou com'st to be dissolv'd,
And to thy proper principles resolv'd,
And all that made thee now is discompos'd,
Though thy terrestrial part in ashes lies,
Thy more sublime to higher Regions flies,
The rest b'ing to the middle wayes expos'd.

And while thou doest thy self each where disperse,
Some parts of thee make up this Universe,
Others' a kind of dignity obtain,
Since thy pure Wax in its own flame consum'd,
Volumes of incense sends, in which perfum'd,
Thy smoak mounts where thy fire could not attain.

Much more our Souls then, when they go from hence,
And back unto the Elements dispense,

All that built up our frail and earthly frame
Shall through each pore & passage make their breach,
Till they with all their faculties do reach
Unto that place from whence at first they came.

Nor need they fear thus to be thought unkind
To those poor Carkasses they leave behind,
Since being in unequal parts commix'd
Each in his Element their place will get,
And who thought Elements unhappy yet,
As long as they were in their stations fix'd?

Or if they sally'd forth, is there not light
And heat in some, and spirit prone to fight?
Keep they not, in the Earth and Air, the field?
Besides, have they not pow'r to generate
When, more then Meteors, they

In the Constellation of Cassiopeia, 1572.

Starrs create,
Which while they last scarce to the brightest yield.

That so in them we more then once may live,
While these materials which here did give
Our bodies essence, and are most of use,
Quick'ned again by the worlds common soul,
Which in it self and in each part is whole,
Can various forms in divers kinds produce.

If then, at worst, this our condition be,
When to themselves our Elements are free,
And each doth to its proper place revert,
What may we not hope from our part divine,
Which can this dross of Elements refine,
And them unto a better state assert?

Or if as cloid upon this earthly stage,
Which represents nothing but change or age,
Our Souls would all their burdens here devest,
They singly may that glorious state acquire,
Which fills alone their infinite desire
To be of perfect happiness possest.

And therefore I, who do not live and move,
By outward sense so much as faith and love,
Which is not in inferior Creatures found,
May unto some immortal state pretend,
Since by these wings I thither may ascend,
Where faithful loving Souls with joys are crown'd.

University of Virginia Library

A Meditation upon his Wax-Candle burning out.