The poetical works of Thomas Traherne faithfully reprinted from the author's original manuscript together with Poems of Felicity reprinted from the Burney manuscript and Poems from Various Sources: Edited with preface and notes by Gladys I. Wade |
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 | The poetical works of Thomas Traherne |  |
Silence.
A quiet silent Person may possess
All that is Great or Good in Blessedness:
The Inward Work is the Supream; for all
The other were occasion'd by the Fall.
A man, that seemeth Idle to the view
Of others, may the greatest Business do:
Those Acts which Adam in his Innocence
Was to perform, had all the Excellence:
Others which he knew not (how good so-e'r)
Are meaner Matters, of a lower Sphere;
Building of Churches; Giving to the Poor;
In Dust and Ashes lying on the floor;
Administring of Justice; Preaching Peace;
Plowing and Toiling for a forc'd Increas;
With Visiting the Sick, or Governing
The Rude and Ignorant. This was a thing
As then unknown: for neither Ignorance,
Nor Poverty, nor Sickness, did advance
Their Banner in the World, till Sin came in;
Since that, these to be needful did begin.
All that is Great or Good in Blessedness:
The Inward Work is the Supream; for all
The other were occasion'd by the Fall.
A man, that seemeth Idle to the view
Of others, may the greatest Business do:
Those Acts which Adam in his Innocence
Was to perform, had all the Excellence:
Others which he knew not (how good so-e'r)
Are meaner Matters, of a lower Sphere;
Building of Churches; Giving to the Poor;
In Dust and Ashes lying on the floor;
Administring of Justice; Preaching Peace;
Plowing and Toiling for a forc'd Increas;
With Visiting the Sick, or Governing
The Rude and Ignorant. This was a thing
As then unknown: for neither Ignorance,
Nor Poverty, nor Sickness, did advance
Their Banner in the World, till Sin came in;
Since that, these to be needful did begin.
The first and only Work he had to do,
Was, of his Bliss to take a grateful View;
In all the Goods he did possess, rejoice;
Sing Praises to his God with cheerful voice;
T' express his hearty Thanks, and inward Lov,
Which is the best accepted Work abov
Them all. And this at first was mine: These were
My Exercises of the highest Sphere.
To see, approv, take pleasure, and rejoice
In Heart; is better than the loudest Nois.
No Melody in Words can equal that:
The sweetest Organ, Lute, or Harp, is flat
And dull, compar'd therto. O! that I still
Could prize my Father's Lov and Holy Will!
This is to honor, worship, and adore;
This is to fear Him; nay, it is far more:
'Tis to enjoy him, and to imitate
The very Life and Bliss of His High 'State:
'Tis to receiv with holy Reverence
His mighty Gifts, and with a fitting Sense
Of pure Devotion, and Humility,
To prize his Works, his Lov to magnify.
Was, of his Bliss to take a grateful View;
In all the Goods he did possess, rejoice;
Sing Praises to his God with cheerful voice;
165
Which is the best accepted Work abov
Them all. And this at first was mine: These were
My Exercises of the highest Sphere.
To see, approv, take pleasure, and rejoice
In Heart; is better than the loudest Nois.
No Melody in Words can equal that:
The sweetest Organ, Lute, or Harp, is flat
And dull, compar'd therto. O! that I still
Could prize my Father's Lov and Holy Will!
This is to honor, worship, and adore;
This is to fear Him; nay, it is far more:
'Tis to enjoy him, and to imitate
The very Life and Bliss of His High 'State:
'Tis to receiv with holy Reverence
His mighty Gifts, and with a fitting Sense
Of pure Devotion, and Humility,
To prize his Works, his Lov to magnify.
O happy Ignorance of other Things,
Which made me present with the King of Kings,
And like Him too! All Spirit, Life, and Power,
Wreathed into a never-fading Bower.
A World of Innocence as then was mine,
In which the Joys of Paradise did shine;
And while I was not here, I was in Heven,
Not Resting One, but evry Day, in Seven:
At all times minding with a lively Sense
The Univers in all its Excellence.
No other Thoughts did intervene, to cloy,
Divert, extinguish, or eclyps my Joy:
No Worldly Customs, new-found Wants or Dreams
Invented here, polluted my pure Streams:
No Wormwood-Star into my Sea did fall;
No rotten Seed, or Bitterness of Gall,
Tainted my Soul. From all Contagion free,
I could discern with an unclouded Ey,
In that fair World One onely was the Friend,
One Spring, one living Stream, one only End;
There only One did sacrifise and sing
To only One Eternal Hev'nly King:
The Union was so strict betwixt the Two,
That All was Either's which my Soul did view;
His Gifts, and my Possessions, both our Treasures;
He Mine, and I the Ocean of His Pleasures:
He was an Ocean of Delights, from whom
The Springs of Life and Streams of Bliss did com;
My Bosom was an Ocean into which
They all did run, that me they might enrich.
A vast and measure-less Capacity
Enlarg'd my Soul like to the Deity,
In whose mysterious Mind and potent Hand
All Ages and all Worlds together stand;
Who, tho He nothing said, did always reign,
And in Himself Eternity contain.
When in my Soul the King of Kings did sit,
The World was more in me, than I in it.
And to Himself, in Me, He ever gave
All that He takes Delight to see me have.
Ev'n thus my Spirit was an Endless Sphere,
Like God himself; He, Hev'n, and Earth, being there.
Which made me present with the King of Kings,
And like Him too! All Spirit, Life, and Power,
Wreathed into a never-fading Bower.
A World of Innocence as then was mine,
In which the Joys of Paradise did shine;
And while I was not here, I was in Heven,
Not Resting One, but evry Day, in Seven:
At all times minding with a lively Sense
The Univers in all its Excellence.
No other Thoughts did intervene, to cloy,
Divert, extinguish, or eclyps my Joy:
No Worldly Customs, new-found Wants or Dreams
Invented here, polluted my pure Streams:
No Wormwood-Star into my Sea did fall;
No rotten Seed, or Bitterness of Gall,
166
I could discern with an unclouded Ey,
In that fair World One onely was the Friend,
One Spring, one living Stream, one only End;
There only One did sacrifise and sing
To only One Eternal Hev'nly King:
The Union was so strict betwixt the Two,
That All was Either's which my Soul did view;
His Gifts, and my Possessions, both our Treasures;
He Mine, and I the Ocean of His Pleasures:
He was an Ocean of Delights, from whom
The Springs of Life and Streams of Bliss did com;
My Bosom was an Ocean into which
They all did run, that me they might enrich.
A vast and measure-less Capacity
Enlarg'd my Soul like to the Deity,
In whose mysterious Mind and potent Hand
All Ages and all Worlds together stand;
Who, tho He nothing said, did always reign,
And in Himself Eternity contain.
When in my Soul the King of Kings did sit,
The World was more in me, than I in it.
And to Himself, in Me, He ever gave
All that He takes Delight to see me have.
Ev'n thus my Spirit was an Endless Sphere,
Like God himself; He, Hev'n, and Earth, being there.
| The poetical works of Thomas Traherne | |