The Muses Sacrifice :: :: University of Virginia Library

O past-beginning, and immortall Sp'rit;
eternall, and incomprehensible:
Incircumscrib'd in Maiestie and Might;
seene all in All, yet most insensible:

Immutable, impassible, most iust;
inscrutable; in mercy, most compleate:
From whom they came, and vnto whom they must
that doe beleeue thou art as good, as great:

Who by thy ne'er-too-much applauded Word
hast framed whatsoe'er created is;
One blessed TRINITIE, in true accord
of perfect Vnitie, and boundlesse blisse!

If that great Patriarcke, Father of the Iust,
(who albeit thou deign'dst to call thy Friend)
Yet in respect He Ashes was, and Dust,
did feare to speake to Thee, that Eare did lend:

Nay, if the highest Orders of those Sprights,
that, in thy presence, burne, through loue of thee,

Dare not, vpon thine Essence, fixe their sights,
lest they, through glory, should confounded be:

If these so pure, so deare, so holy Ones,
so fearefull are to speake, or looke on thee,
Who albeit they sit themselues on Thrones,
yet, in thy sight, through loue, so awfull be:

How shall a Shorelesse Sea of Misery,
a Sincke of Sinne, a Sacke of filthiest dung,
(All which, ah woe therefore, deare Lord, am I!)
once dare, to thee, to stirre or Eye, or Tongue?

But, sith (sweet Lord) I can no way obtaine
that awfull reu'rence, which is due to thee,
Vnlesse mine Eyes still fixt on thee remaine,
and made amazed with thy Maiestie:

Vouchsafe me leaue (dread God) vouchsafe me leaue
to lift mine Eyes vnto thy Throne of Grace;
O let thy brightnesse, mine Eyes, splendor giue;
and blinde them not that long to see thy Face.

I see (dread Lord) thou, onely, thou art Hee
that dost transcend our vnderstandings reach;
And yet, by vnderstanding, well I see
they see thee best, to whom thy beames doe stretch.

Then, ô most bright, faire, wise, kinde, liberall;
most stable, simple, subtile, gracious;

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Secret, yet knowne; vnscene, yet seeing All:
vnmou'd, yet mouing; in rest, making vs:

Whom Latitudes dilate, nor Bounds restraine;
Varietie doth change, nor Passions moue:
Rest makes not idle, nor Worke puts to paine,
who art not hurt by Hate, nor holp by Loue.

From whom, Obliuion, nothing can detract;
to whom, Remembrance, can as little adde:
Who art Dilated most, yet most Compact:
not grieu'd in Sorrow, nor in Solace glad:

To whom there's nothing past, much lesse to come;
sith Time and Place still present be with thee:
Of all this All thou art the totall Summe;
beyond which nothing is, much lesse can be!

For, th'art in all things, yet art not included;
but yet, in all things, art thou, by sufficing:
Thou art without all, yet art not excluded;
but, without all things, thou art, by comprising.

Th'art vnder All; yet subiect vnto none;
but vnder All, that All might rest on thee:
And farre aboue All, yet not proud thereon;
but, All, aboue; that All might gouern'd be.

Perfect in All, in none deficient;
Great without bounds, & Good without compare:

Present in each Place, yet in no Place pent;
yet, whole in All, and parts, in All that are.

In Pow'r, and Wisedome, most-most infinite!
in Counsaile, wonderfull; in Iudgement, iust;
Secret, in thoughts; in word, and Promise, right:
glorious in Deedes, which glorifie our Dust!

Past all extent, thy Loue doth farre extend;
whose Mercie's more, then most indefinite:
Thy Patience more, than Pow'r can comprehend:
because it is no lesse then is thy Might!

What shall I say, great-good, good-great-great Lord!
I feare, in these my Words, I doe offend:
To seeme to circumscribe thee in a Word;
that art without all measure, meane, or end!

Thou art, (ô sacred Sp'rits Angelicall,
(that haue fruition of Him face to face)
Lend me a Name by which I Him may call;
and may expresse some measure of his Grace!

Thou art too great, for Greatnes, ne'er so GREAT!
and far too good, for Goodnes, e'er so GOOD!
Who (were it possible) art more compleate
in GOODNESSE, then thine owne Trin-vnion-hood!

Yet thou (thou nameles Good! who, thogh thus great)
dost bid vs seeke thee, for, who seeketh findes:

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Who, though not to be seene vpon thy Seate,
yet sitt'st thou, seene, in Eyes of humble Mindes.

Thou, thou art He, whom, to forsake, is death;
and, for whom life to leaue, is life alone:
In whom, to breathe, is to breathe blessed Breath;
and, for whom to contend, is Vnion.

No man forsakes thee, but the forlorne Foole:
and, no one seekes thee, but whom thou dost seeke:
Nor none can find thee, but whom thou dost schoole;
&, thou school'st none, but whom thy Lessons like.

What should I say of thee? or how shall I
thy Goodnesse praise? how shall I celebrate
The glory of thy, back-parts, Maiestie,
though ne'er so much thou it extenuate?

Ile say as those, whom thou taugh'st what to say,
thou measurest the Waters with thine Hand;
Vpon thy Palme thou dost the Heau'ns weigh:
and, on thy Finger all the Earth doth stand!

Thou art that Ancient, ancienter then Dayes,
whose Throne is like a bright ay-burning Flame;
The Wheeles wherof, like Fire that Sparks doth raise;
vpon whose Thigh is writ a glorious Name:

Thy Body, like a beaming Chrisolite;
thy Face, like Lightning; thine Eyes, Lampes of Fire!

Thine Armes, & Feete, like Brasse, all burnisht bright;
thy Voyce like Thunder, but It soundeth high'r.

A fiery Streame, still floweth from thy Throne;
a thousand thousand minister to thee:
Ten thousand thousand waite on thee alone;
and, Millions, by the Thousands, ready be!

Who, with a Beck, nay lesse, but with a Thought,
rul'st Heau'n, and Earth, according to thy Will;
Which, tho most glorious both, thou mad'st of noght
and, if thou would'st, a thought againe would spill!

Help, Lord, for I am in a groundlesse DEEPE,
or endlesse Maze, that hath no comming out!
My Wits from drowning, and distraction keepe;
and, let me goe no more, this Gulph, about.

For; he that goes about to tell, with Words,
what one thou art, doth eu'n as if he would
Quite drowne the Sea, within the shallow'st Foords;
nay, more, sith thou art much more manifold.

Who ere assisted thee? or thee aduis'd?
who brought thee vp in Lore? or gaue thee Wit?
And who thy Pow'r, at any time surpris'd?
or, what Foe was not dasht to Dust by It?

With whom the Sea seemes scarse a Water-drop;
the Islands, and maine Lands, a little Dust:

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The highest Heau'n is but thy Foot-stooles Top;
and, but into a Pricke, thou Earth dost thrust!

The Woods of Libanus cannot suffice
to make Religious Altars fume to Thee:
Nor all the Beasts can serue for Sacrifice
that on a thousand thousand Mountaines be!

All Nations, nay, all Creatures whatsoe'er
(be they Celestiall, or Terrestriall)
Stand in thy sight, as if they Nothing were;
and, in respect of thee, are not at all.

For if, in the bright presence of the Sunne,
the Stars seeme not to be, although they are;
Then, in thy sight, must All to nothing runne;
sith, in the same, the Sunne cannot appeare.

Therefore, with all created Essences,
ô holy, blest, and glorious TRINITIE,
I doe adore, with all obseruances,
the Scepter of thy dread Diuinitie!

Thy Being's vniuersall; most exact!
then, being such, what should my homage be?
And, being Grace, and Goodnesse, most abstract,
how can I, wanting both, serenize thee?

Agnizing, then, the Wonders of thy Worth,
(prostrate, before thy sacred Mercies seate,

With whatsoe'er Loues feare can vtter forth)
I more then celebrate thy glory great.

With those thrice blessed Spirits, who laying downe
their Crownes of Glory, at thy sacred Feete,
Prostrate adore thee; loe, I vaile the Crowne
of all my Glory, to thee, blessed SWEET!

My Glory, Lord? alas! what doe I giue?
if I haue any, it is more than vaine:
Then maist thou not that Gift of me receiue;
sith it must needes thy sacred Glory staine.

Returne It then (deare Lord) my gift put backe;
and, I will giue thee what thou gau'st to me:
That's Loue, and Feare; thou dost no Glory lacke;
yet, if thou giue it mee, Ile giue it thee.

But not to vs (deare Lord) ô not to vs,
but to thy gracious NAME all glory giue;
Which was, and is, and shall be glorious,
as long as God is God, or LIFE doth liue.

But, vnto vs, Confusion onely's due;
for, Flesh and Bloud hath nought to glory in,
But (that which may decayed shame renue,)
a bleeding Conscience, and a world of Sinne!

But why doth Sol giue Light, the Fire giue Heate?
why's Water cold? Earth, thicke? or Aire so thinne?

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The reason's cleare; by kinde, they doe that feate:
so, thou, by kinde, (kinde Lord) forgiuest Sinne.

Where Sin abounds, there Grace doth oe'er-abound;
for, tis thy glory (God) Sinnes to forgiue:
For should'st thou Sinners, with the Sinne, confound,
then, none should liue; so, none should glory giue.

For, in the nether Hell they praise thee not,
sith tis the Hold of hedious Blasphemy:
There is the Land where all things are forgot
saue sad Despaire, and Death which cannot dye.

But, in thine euer-blessed Hierarchy,
the holy, holy, holy Lord of Hoasts
(In Soule-inchanting Heauenly Harmony)
is euer heard through those Celestiall Coasts.

Then, make me such that, in the Life of grace,
I temp'rately may glorifie thy Name:
And, in the Life of glory, face to face,
I may, for euer, much more doe the same.

Consume the cloudy Fancies of my Minde
with sacred flames of thine eternall Loue;
That, being by that purging fire refinde,
thou maist it, on thy Trials Touch, approue.

Then, let thy Glories Zeale quite eate me vp,
that all my Being may consist therein:

So, Ile carowse thy bitter Passions Cup;
sith to my Health (kinde Lord) thou didst begin.

O let my life (poore life) nought else appeare
but a sweet-smelling Sacrifice to thee:
Or rather let it be an Offring here,
that, with thy Loues fire, may consumed be.

Then, metamorphose me into thy Loue,
let me be quite transmuted to the same:
That I may euer vpwards, flaming, moue,
as doth, by Nature, a materiall flame.

O! bottomlesse Abysse of Charitie,
engulph me in thy Bowels, let thy Wombe
Receiue Sinnes seede, that longs for sanctitie;
Then, let it still lie, buryed, in this Tombe:
That, so, I may, quite dead to Sinne, and Shame,
Still liue in LOVE, to loue and praise thy NAME.