The Life and Death of Mary Magdalene A Legendary Poem in Two Parts, About A.D. 1620, By Thomas Robinson. Edited from the only known manuscripts in the British Museum and Bodleian Libraries, with an introduction, a life of the author, and notes, by H. Oskar Sommer |
 |
 |
 | The Life and Death of Mary Magdalene |  |
3
[_]
Speakers' names have been abbreviated in this text. The abbreviatons used for the characters are as follows:
- For Magd. read Mary Magdalene
- For Rep. read Repentance
Square brackets denote editorial insertions or emendations.
To the right honourable and truly Noble gentleman, Lord Hen: Clifford, Lord Liuetenent Of the midle shires Of Westmorland, Cumberland, and Northumberland T : R : wisheth all happinesse and encrease of honour.
Where should a Poet nowe a Patron finde,To please his own, and please his Patrons minnde?
Some, Satyres; others, Epigrammes, desire;
Some, Cronicles and Warlicke strains admire;
Others, a deepe conceited Pastorall,
Or Elegiacks at a funerall:
Some are halfe rauish'd with a Tragicke style,
Others affect the gentler Comicke smile:
Some one perhaps (and not without desart)
Likes Heros hand and yonge Læanders heart,
Sung by diuine Musæus in a story
Of loue-sicke passion, worthy of all glory:
Others, an Emblem or quaint Epitaphe,
Or merry mad conceipts, to make one laugh:
Some loue diuiner poems, and in this,
Deserue to be commended; but they misse
In makinge a iudicious choyce: For why,
With painted flowers of Ethnicke Poetry,
Good matters (say they) must not be endited,
But rather in plaine easy termes recited:
Others, regardlesse of the Muses dity,
With Plato banish Poets from their city,
4
Of Poetry whats'e'r can please their minde:
In faire Encomiasticks to commend,
They count it flattery; to reprehend
In sharpe-fang'd Satyres, is to libellize,
To raise vile slaunders, and false infamies:
Base, the Comœdian's witty mirth they deeme,
And Epigrammes, phantasticall doe seeme:
Thees are a sect, of which most men partake,
That litle reckonning of the Muses make.
The brazen age is nowe return'd agen,
And hath defac'd the Poets siluer pen;
Whereas in former time, the greatest men
Were not asham'd to be call'd Poets then:
Witnesse Augustus, in whose Laureat time,
Learning and liberall arts were in their prime,
And Poets flourish'd: Persius (though a Knight)
Was not ashamed, Satyres to recite;
Propertius, borne of enobled race,
T'indite Elegies, thought it no disgrace.
And sweet Amphion, sonne to princely Ioue,
With his shrill Musicke made the stones to moue.
Nor did this art moue onely in their sphœre:
An Helicon hath not been wanting heere.
Then sent forth Cydney, glory of his time,
And Chaucer, auld, who for his auntient rythme
5
That kept his memory to thees our dayes.
What should I speake of those of latter yeares?
Of Harrington among our noble Peares?
Or of thy selfe (great Earle) the Poets grace?
Why then should Poets be esteem'd so base?—
Because their pouerty o'rcloudes their witt,
And makes men rather scorne, then pity it?
Shall vertue, which in riche men we adore,
Be e'r the worse esteemed in the poore?
Or can not some mens honours credite lend,
To that, which others meannesse doth offend?—
Beside, I might recount in ample wise,
The profites that from Poetry arrise.
Where each thinge, truly acted, we may see,
As in a theatre: Aratus, he
Shewes vs the p[re]s[ences] of spangled starres;
And Lucan singes the broyles of ciuill warres;
Of loue, and louers trickes, Catullus tells:
With warlicke stratagems, grave Virgill swells,
And makes his verse each circumstance betoken,
That one would thinke the matter done, not spoken.
Ovid is various, and in nimble paces,
The love of Gods, the flight of nymphes, he traces,
And well he calls it transformation,
For he [reuiues] again the [antique] fashion,
6
So to delight the mindes of the vnstable:
His seas of sorrowe, holy dayes, and rites,
Letters of passion, arte of loues delights,
In eu'ry kinde may teach the rude some skill.
Hesiod giues instructions to till;
And Homers lofty style would make one doubt,
Whether he better sung, or Hector fought.
Martiall lends witt; Horace, in sharpe essayes,
Against the vices of his time inveighes.
Empedocles, in verses did attire
Secrets of Nature; and the Samian Sire,
Morall Philosophy could grauely teach.
But Chrysostome had a farre higher reach:
And wise Prudentius, with other Sages,
Haue writt diuinely in thees latter ages.
What should I bringe Poets antiquity?
From Deborah, and Moses victory?
What should I tell of Simeon, and Mary?
Of Salomon, and Dauid, that could vary
Musicall notes vpon his well-tun'd stringe:
When the Angellique troopes doe praises singe,
And harmony, that nowe is brought to ground,
Seemes to begin amid the sphœres so round?
Much might I speake in praise of Poet's dity,
And make my gates farre larger then my city.
I may commend, not mend them with my pen,
For Patronage belonges to greatest men.
And more to saye were vaine: For Poetry
Liues of it selfe, though Poets helplesse be.
Yet some Mœcenases this age hath left vs,
(Though of Mœcenas, time long since bereft vs,)
That fauour learning, and accept a lay,
Though ne'r so mean, though clad in simple grey.
7
Accept (great Peare) this ruder rapsodie.
And though no Muse I am of great desart,
Yet fauour graunt; because I loue the arte!
Thy better iudgement happily may spie
The slender twist of my sleight Poetry:
Yet fauourably take it in good part,
(If there want wordes, be sure there wants no heart,)
And shine vpon my Muse with gracious rayes,
So shall it muse to sonnet out thy prayse.
Your Honours in all duty, and
Seruice to Commaund,
Thomas Robinson.
9
The Legend of Mary Magdalene
[_]
From the Harleian Manuscript 6211, and the Rawlinson Ms. 41 in the Bodleian Library. (The Dedication is in the Harl. Ms. only.)
[PART I.] The Life and Death of Mary Magdalene, Or, Her Life in Sin, and Death to Sin.
1
The death of her that was but newly borne:The birth of her that longe agoe was dead:
The life of her, whome heauen and earth did scorne:
Her beawty, that wast erst debellished:
How snowy white inveild the crimson red,
And yet the lily sprange vnto the rose,
Vnder his spiny fortresse to repose;
How sorrowe, ioye, and ioye againe did sorrowe close.
2
How night disrobed of her sad attire,Put on the glitteringe stole of brightest day:
How dreary Acheron did once retire,
And needs would goe vnto the milky way,
To quench his wild fire, and his heat allay:
How am'rous heau'n earth, earth heau'n did viewe:
How the ag'd Eagle did her life renewe,
And blacke not to be dy'd, receiud an other hue:
10
3
This bee the dity of my oaten reed,Too meane (alas!) such mysteries to tell:
Yet heauens mirrour daine mee this one meed!
In earthen vessels, heau'nly soules may dwell,
And sandy caskets oft invest the pearle:
Æthereall states, and high Angellique traines,
(Blest bee the time!) haue sometime tooke ye paines
To visit Abells sonnes, poore, silly sheapheard-swaines.
4
Poore, silly sheapheard-swaines! eu'n such am I:(Farre bee prœsumption from an humble minde!)
I will not, (oh, I dare not,) soare too highe,
Least hee, that all enlightens, strike mee blinde:
Sooth, this is all I craue, to be refind,
So to endite a laye with siluer pen,
Of Mary, and of Marys sonne: and then
Her life, his loue declare, her loue, and life agen.
5
Vnder th' Appendix of a hillocke small,A stately palace in a dale was plac't,
Fairely incircled with a marble wall,
And with a court of shininge Amber grac't.
The Chrystall windowes too, were interchast
With Iacynths, Diamonds, and Sappheirs blew[e]:
Too happy treasure for so damn'd a crewe,
That newe sins hoary make, and ould sins aye renewe.
6
The squared greeces were of beaten gould,(Oh might it euer thus bee trod on ground!)
11
Ouer the brasen gates stood Venus, crownd
With Myrtle chaplets, in a charret round,
Drawn by two siluer doues, more innocent
Then shee her selfe: in the same continent
Blind Cupid seem'd to shoote, and tender hearts vprent.
7
A turrulet tooke vp each angles shade:Two in the middle stood, iust opposite:
The battelments of smoothest Iett were made:
A glorious out side, eu'ry where so bright,
The braine it dizieth, and dimmes the sight.
Doubtles Alcides leaft his pillars there,
Baccus his Elephants, and Sol his sphœre;
While each was chear'd with ioye, and overioyd with cheare.
8
The nimble shaddowes skippinge here a pace,Seem'd in the Amber courts to sporte, and play,
Like wanton kidds vpon some steepy place,
Or tender lambkins on a sommers day:
So doth Apollo's euer-sparkelinge raye
Daunce through the heauens spangled firmament
To solitary earth, so male-content,
And backe from heau'n to earth, in lue of loue is sent.
9
Within this palace dwells a gentle sprightSoft, sweete, smooth, tender, Goddesse of all pleasure
12
To whome the Lydian wealth, the Indian treasure,
The Falern wine is brought in lauish measure;
The Thyme of Hybla, and the Libyan flore,
The gemms of Tagus and the golden shore,
With swetest odours and Assyrian Spikenard store.
10
About her head a veile of lawne shee wore;Her garments were of skarlet rosy red:
A goulden bowle in her right hand shee bore,
Wherein all pleasure and delight were bred:
The nations came to her deprostrate bed:
Happy was hee, that could obtaine a kisse;
Vnhappy he, that of her loue did misse:
Yet, oh most happy misse, and most vnhappy blisse!
11
Two Ladies did vphold the Damsells traine,Plumpe, pursiue Luxury, and quainter Pride;
The one streight lac'd, and boulstred in amaine;
The other in a gowne, large, loose and wide.
Both, nearer then the rest, went by her side.
Easier it is to empty out the seas,
Then her with clothes, and her with dainties please:
In flittinge vanities (God wot) so litle ease!
12
Her right hand, guilded Flattery supported;Her left, did fickle Wantonesse vpbeare;
Foolish dame Laughter thither too resorted,
To paint her eye lids, and her browe to cleare.
13
Inconstancie, Despaire, Prœsumption,
And Enuie, that would brooke no Paragon,
Put their worst garments of, and their best faces on.
13
A thowsand graceless Graces more be-side,Attended on her, ready at her call:
They nowe awaited, but for winde and tide.
They launch into the deepe, hoist sayle and all.
“Come (saith th' Enchauntresse) 't is our nuptiall,
Let others sad and sullen liue, while wee
Swimme in the sweets of loue and iollity!”
So, tinklinge on her lute, shee made this harmony:
“Come, come, my louers! make no stay!
Let's take our pleasure, while wee may:
See, how the canopies all ope'
To entertaine our loues do hope:
See howe the silken beds 'gin swell,
Daringe vs their pride to quell.
Gold and Amber in their places,
Bid vs come, and see our faces:
The pretty pearle lends many a smile,
The sparklinge gemms our sight beguile,
While the marble pillars weepe,
'Cause wee are not yet a-sleepe.
Hearke, howe the musike doth delight,
Of that yonge slender catamite!
See, the snowy virgins white,
Hands and lipps, and heart invite.
Thousand Hellens faire, I haue
And as many Troians braue;
Richly they attired bee,
Onely to attend on mee.
What so'er the sence doth rauish,
Heere it swimes in plenty lauish:
Ioue to mee hath brought his courte,
And the Naiadës heere sporte:
The Dryadës their groues have left,
And haue stol'n to me by theft;
While ye Cocheman of the Sphœre
Loues to driue his horses heere:
Neptune too, and Thetis greene,
In my palace may bee seene.
Neuer saile out of the land!
I can giue yee Tagus sand:
Neuer goe to Colchos shore!
I haue Golden fleeces store.
Shades, yee wander all in vaine;
Th' Elysian feilds are in my plaine.
Then come, my louers, come away!
Let's take our pleasure, while wee may!”
Let's take our pleasure, while wee may:
See, how the canopies all ope'
To entertaine our loues do hope:
See howe the silken beds 'gin swell,
Daringe vs their pride to quell.
Gold and Amber in their places,
Bid vs come, and see our faces:
The pretty pearle lends many a smile,
The sparklinge gemms our sight beguile,
While the marble pillars weepe,
'Cause wee are not yet a-sleepe.
Hearke, howe the musike doth delight,
Of that yonge slender catamite!
See, the snowy virgins white,
Hands and lipps, and heart invite.
14
And as many Troians braue;
Richly they attired bee,
Onely to attend on mee.
What so'er the sence doth rauish,
Heere it swimes in plenty lauish:
Ioue to mee hath brought his courte,
And the Naiadës heere sporte:
The Dryadës their groues have left,
And haue stol'n to me by theft;
While ye Cocheman of the Sphœre
Loues to driue his horses heere:
Neptune too, and Thetis greene,
In my palace may bee seene.
Neuer saile out of the land!
I can giue yee Tagus sand:
Neuer goe to Colchos shore!
I haue Golden fleeces store.
Shades, yee wander all in vaine;
Th' Elysian feilds are in my plaine.
Then come, my louers, come away!
Let's take our pleasure, while wee may!”
14
This said, a thowsand prostitute delights,Flewe vp and downe ye courts as bright as day:
Gluttonie, to a feast her guests invites,
And Baccus, to the wine is gone his way:
Others more eager, ceaze vpon the prey:
The tables richly were adorn'd with store,
Of delicates, not known in times of yore.
Such, Cleopatra gaue, vnto her Paramour.
15
15
The chambers were perfum'd with odours sweet,And strow'd with fragrant flowers eu'ry where.
The Damsells naked stood (ah, too vnmeet!)
The Flute, the Lute, the Timbrell sounded cleare:
Flagons of wine were brought, to mend their cheare.
'T was hard to say, which had the most delight,
The taste, ye touch, the hearinge, smell, or sight:
So ioye triumph'd o'r greefe, and day dispelled night.
16
As, when ye boundlesse, brauinge Ocean,Imbezilinge ye riuers all in pride,
Receiues their waters in his ample maine;
Some backe againe retire with curled tide,
Some through ye mountaines to ye valleys glide,
Some struggle with ye brine, and foaminge flie
Vp to the pauement of the valted skie,
And downe againe, as lowe as hell, they fall, and die;
17
So soone this crewe dispers'd: some to their sporte,Some in greene arbours spent the liue longe day;
Some staulked round about ye amber court;
Others to gaminge fell, and such like play,
And heere and there a drunken louer lay,
Who, by his giddy, braine-sicke concubine,
Disgorg'd ye venoun baite of raginge wine:
'T is sugar in the mouth; but in the bowells, brine.
18
Fast by, ye Lapithœ and Centaures sate,Each largely swillinge in a full-crown'd bowle,
16
And speakinge made them iarre; and iarringe, scoule,
And scoulinge, tumults raise, and vproares foule:
Downe goe the tables and the goblets faire;
The ruddy wine, spilt on the Iu'ry ware,
Seemes like a fiery comet in the cleared aire.
19
What should I tell of all might there be seen?Some were transform'd to swine, and some to Apes,
Such was the power of the enchantinge Queen:
With Circes virge shee could commaund all shapes,
Or giue rancke poyson in a bunch of grapes;
Or like Medusas snaky haire at will,
Transforme ye wisest Atlas to a hill.
Her Magicke knowledge good, but Magicke practise, ill.
20
Amonge ye wanton traines of Luxury,That in her palaces themselues addrest,
One was more beautifull vnto ye eye,
More faire, more debonaire, then all the rest;
In colour and proportïon so blest,
That, were shee but with softer sleepe alayd,
Of virgin waxe you would suppose her made.
O Damsell faire without, but inwardely decay'd!
21
Her louely tresses of embellish'd haire,Kist her soft necke, and shoulders iu'ry white:
The Apples of Hesperides weere there:
So Titan swifte displayes his blazinge light,
On toppe of Rhodope, with snow bedight
Her eyes, as blacke as Iett, doe finely blaze,
17
Looke for themselues in her, halfe lost, as in a maze.
22
What should I of her arched browe relate,Guilded with smiles, and amorous aspects;
The port of quietnesse, loues chaire of state?
Aurora hither her bright teame directs,
And all the while her higher race neglects.
Her fluent tongue, with siluer is betipt;
And from the caskets of her corall lippe,
Ioue may diuine Ambrosia and Nectar sippe.
23
Her ruby cheekes laid o'r the snowy white,(Why may not Antiques erre?) were the rare frame
That curious Apelles brought to light:
The litle birds ynchantinge hither came,
To picke ye ruddy grapelets, was their aime.
Her nose, for Venus hill, I might commend;
But to the pearle, her teeth doe beauty lend,
While her eares pretty gemmes, with louely lookes contend.
24
Next her debared brests bewitch mine eyes,And with a Lethargy my sight appall;
But by and by the selfe-wild heauy spies
Vnto ye centre of her nauell fall,
From whence they starte, awaked at the call
Of her depurpur'd thinges, heere at a stand,
18
And armes as streight as pine, or subtill Circes wand,
25
Or rather cast a due-deuoted glaunceVpon the marble tressels vnder plac't:
But then her douelike feete themselues aduance:
On such, Dianas nymphes ye game haue chast,
And the Nereïdes, with nimble hast,
Trippe vp and downe, forward and backe again[e,]
Amid ye gentle murm'ringe of the maine,
Curlinge ye flaggy lockes of the Neptunian plaine.
26
Wonder it is, mee thinkes, without to seeSo faire a face, (aye mee, ye more her smart!)
And that her soule should so deglorious bee:
A brest so white, and yet so black a heart;
Her worst the best, her best ye worser parte.
Can such faire hiues inclose such idle Drones?
So white a wall inmure such worthlesse stones?
So beauteous a sepulchre, such rotten bones?
27
A ‘sepulchre,’ that caue I rightly call,Wherein her soule so longe imu'd hath been,
Bound with ye fetters of a willinge thrall:
And yet that sepulchre must bury sin,
And for Astrœa make a shrine within:
It cannot bee, but such a heauenly grace,
In heauens quire at length must have a place:
But first the goodly corne must winnow'd bee a space.
19
28
Amonge her riualls iolly nowe shee sate:Each sues for loue, and loue to her affordes;
But hee, that strongest was, the conquest gate:
No other arte prœuailes, no sugred words,
But force of armes, and dint of steeled swords.
(Venus, the Sun still followes with her light;
If Titan fauor thee, her rayes shine bright;
If hee but hide his head, Venus is out of sight.)
29
So may you see alonge ye meadowes green,Two sturdy bullockes, (hard it is to say,
Whither with loue, or furies flames more keen,)
Both this and that infect ye purple waye,
And make ye sanguine riuelets to play,
Flie at each other swifter then the winde,
And with yr hornes yr heads together binde:
The victor, Io gaines; ye conquer'd comes behind[e.]
30
Great valour, sure to goe into ye feild,And battell bid for Lady Aphrodite,
To whet ye sworde, and beare the trusty sheild,
To win ye fauor of some fœmale white:
'T were better for thy countries good to fight:
There, if thou conquer, thou shalt conquered be;
If conquer'd, death thou gainst, or infamy:
Heere victorie is fame, and losse of victory.
31
The bloody broyles thus ended and allay'd,Faire Magdalene (for so the Damsell hight)
20
And all aggladded with his newe delight,
Led by ye hand alonge ye valleys bright:
And, as they went, hee am'rous glaunces cas[t]
Vpon her rosy cheekes and slender wast;
And nowe a kisse hee begg'd, and nowe his loue embract.
32
The glory of the pole did nothinge please him,Apollos haire could not one glaunce allure,
Nor did ye fragrant-smellinge meadowes ease him,
The melody of birds could worke no cure;
So fond is loue, so dotingely dimure:
The tender plants, and minerals vnseen,
Conquer each sicknesse and disease vnclean;
But loue, by the same hand is kill'd and cur'd agen.
33
His sences nowe no frame but hers receiue,And in his fancy eu'ry member paint:
His minde, both sence and fancy doth bereaue,
And they againe his intellect attaint,
To thinke on nothinge but his seeminge saint:
Her loue is all hee sees, or heares, or knowes,
So the bewitchinge oracle yt throughes
About the maidens fancy, strange Deludinge showes.
34
Vnto ye garden by, at length they hy'd:Atlas his orchard was not halfe so rare,
Nor Heloriz in midst of Sommer pride:
Nor kinge Alcinous his cheifest care:
21
Flora had empti'd heere her precious horne,
With store ye beds of pleasure to adorne;
No thistle heere was seen, ne pricle-armed thorne;
35
The Damaske-roses heere were brought a bed,Iust opposite ye Lilie of ye Vale:
The Rose, to see ye Lilie white, wax'd red;
To see ye rose so red, ye Lilie pale;
While Zephyre fann'd then with a gentler gale.
The woody Primrose and the pretty Paunce,
The Pinke, ye Daffodill and Cheuisance,
All in Perfumed sets, yr fragrant heads aduance.
36
Sweet Casia, and ye yealowe Marigould,That when the Sun bringes forth ye Orient daye,
Her armes, in signe of loue, loues to vnfould,
But closes when her Paramour's awaye:
The Cullumbine and Violets there play,
With Couslips of Hierusalem so nice,
Sweet Eglantine, and cloues of Paradise,
Rare shrubs, and rarer hearbs, and beds perfum'd with spice.
37
Narcissus too, that heart enamouringe lad,Grewe by a springe (a chrystiall springe was nighe),
Whose siluer streames ye gaudy flowers agglad,
Glidinge alonge, as if they faine would prie
Vnder the Veluet leaues, and by and by
Into yr watry cells againe they start,
22
Leauinge yr teares behinde, in token of yr hearte.
38
The flower, mindefull of his former loue,Declines his head toward ye neighbour springe:
His sportefull shade, affection seems to mooue,
Vnder ye fountaine water wantoninge;
Yet to ye banckes his tender rootes yclinge,
The silken staulkes 'gan tremble sore affraid,
Least once againe Narcissus in his shade
Should loose himselfe for loue, and in sad silence fade.
39
All theese delights ye louers' eyes aggrate,But yet yr appetite hath made no stay:
Into an arbour nowe at length they gate,—
This was the hopefull Period of yr way;—
An arbour, pleasant, beautifull and gay,
Incompast with triumphant baye about,
And farther in, ye laden vines ysprout:
If Baccus bee within, Apollo stands without.
40
The leauy pillastrells were neatly shorne;The grassy seats, ye eyes to slumber wed;
The vaulted roofe, on ample baulkes vpborne,
With Violets and Lilies was bespread,
Like th' Azure skie with starres besiluered;
The floore with many a flower was bedeck'd.
The Gilly-flower, and Carnation speck'd,
But Lady Rose, ye other with her beauty check'd.
23
41
On flowry beds ye Louers heere repose;And nowe sweet words must guild their bad intent:
With smiles, with lookes, with lippe and hand hee woes:
Such were ye Dartes, yt subtill Cupid lent,
Lustes wandringe harbinger, vaine complement:
Faire ramillets and posies hee prœpares,
With sonnets smooth, and garlands for her haires;
And so with gentle pace, into her brest hee fares.
42
What should I tell of those polluted actsThat followe wantonnesse and Luxury?
Let modesty not meddle with yr facts,
Sith tongue and hart, in mischeife still agree,
And as ye wordes, ye actions often bee:
Their descants nowe they tooke, and restles rest,
And thought they were with ioyes of heauen blest;
But night as blacke as hell, yr meltinge soules possest.
43
The Sun peep'd in with his declininge raye,And dy'd his paler cheekes with fiery hue;
It seems, hee blush'd, and would recall ye day,
The wickednesse of Vestaes sonnes to viewe,
That rush to folly, but yr folly rue:
And thou, my Muse, packe hence with nimble flight!
The shame of sinners, 't is no great delight,
For modest eare to heare, or chaster pen to write.
44
Thus Magdalene in Pleasures wanton courts,Parte of her youthfull dayes did fondly waste,
24
To spend the time, yt soone (God wot) was past.
Prœuentinge all her pleasure with her haste:
Parte of her time in idle languishement,
Parte in attire, and gaudy ornament,
And parte in frolicke feasts and banquetinge, shee spent.
45
Sometimes the palace walkes delight her minde;Sometimes in silken beds shee sweltred lies;
And nowe shee's vacant to her louers kinde,
And nowe the garden doth inuite her eyes;
But by and by, her arbour greene shee spies:
Nowe in ye springe shee bathes, to coole her heat,
And waues her plume, to fanne away ye sweat;
And cooler nowe, shee makes a sunny bancke her seat.
46
So doe the fondlinges of our latter age,In iollity their fresher yeares dispend,
Treadinge this scœne, as't were a silken stage,
But neuer dreaminge of a Tragicke end:
Can great Iehouah take him for his friend,
That in his youth doth nought but wantonize,
But when ould age decayes, both eares and eyes,
Then to ye altar bringes his haltinge sacrifice?
47
Let none on Magdalens delaye prœsume,Though (sooth to say) it was not very longe:
Life's but a fadinge flower, a subtile fume,
A shadowe vaine, a shorte, though pleasant songe.
Then oyle your lampes betimes! and in ye thronge
Of Saintlie Heroes, enter heau'n amaine;
25
Ioye heere, shall sorrowe there; teares heere, ioy there obtaine.
48
When heau'ns bright eye, farre brighter then the Sun,Beheld th' asp[i]ringe tower of vaine delight,
And howe this harlot had her selfe vndon,
Hee sent Syneide, daughter of the light,
To tell the Caytiffe of her wretched plight:
The Damsell brighter then ye brightest glasse,
The Isicles in splendor did surpasse,
And in her siluer hand, a poynted goad there was;
49
A tiffany shee wore about her head,Hanginge submissely to her shoulders white;
From top to toe, she was immanteled
With purest Lawne; and, for her nimble sight,
Lynceus his eyes were neuer halfe so bright:
The Eagles quickenesse in respect is blinde,
And Argus with his hundred comes behinde,
For myriads of eyes about her body shin'd.
50
Thinges past were prœsent to her searchinge viewe,And future reprœsented in her thought,
Where newe thinges n'er wax'd ould, but oulder newe.
Each idle word and action hither brought,
Receiue yr doome and censure (as they ought).
Sometimes in Paradise shee likes to dwell,
Sometimes shee diues into the deepes of Hell;
Shee sees the heart, and pries into his closest cell.
26
51
Faine of her message, nowe shee tooke her flightThrough the bright amber of ye flaminge Court,
Passinge ye wheeles of purest Chrysolite,
Drawn by ye fiery beasts yt there resort,
Where millions of Angells euer sporte,
And glorious martyrs, after all yr woes,
Singe praise to him yt ouercame yr foes,
And all ye Saints, yr crownes, at Glories throne depose.
52
Then by ye Chrystall waye shee nimbly past,Vnto ye radiant spangled firmament,
Where heauens euer-wakinge sheapheard fast,
His starry flockes into yr fouldes had pent.
The Gnossian Crowne among ye rest was sent,
The Goblet, Helen, and the Brothers twaine,
Cassiope, ye Pleiads, and ye Swaine
That Arctos kept in warde, with all ye starry traine.
53
And through ye wandring sphœres shee wandringe went,Leauinge ye rasters of the starry light;
Then to ye pure æthereall element
That's whirld about ye hornes of Cynthia bright,
Both they and shee out-strippe ye feeble sight,
So rare and subtill substances they been.
Natures so much depur'd, that (well I ween)
No mortall eye, sphœres, fire, or conscience, e'r hath seen.
54
So passinge through ye tripple-region'd ayre,Where diuerse mixtures and aspects appeare:
The flyinge Dragon, ye resplendent Haire,
The Darte, the Candle and ye burninge Speare,
27
The poynted Beame, th' infatuating Fire,
The Northern Comœts and ye painted Ire,
With many more, whereof some fall, and some aspire.
55
At length shee touch'd ye toppe of hillockes highe,That ouer-shaddowe Aphrodites towers.
And streight-way, in ye twinkling of an eye,
Shee windes her selfe into ye secret bowers
Of Mary Magdalenes depraued powers:
With gentle hand shee prickes her festerd hart;
The boylinge blood from eu'ry veine 'gan start,
And thus ye wanton mayde assaults with mickle smart:
56
“Ah, fondling! whither, whither do'st thou flieWith guilded winges of selfe opinion vaine?
Can ought escape heauens all-seeinge eye?
Or shall thy pleasure breed no after-paine?
If so, a Paradise on earth were gaine!
But when ye reuolution of yeares
Shall bee at hand, then ioy must end in teares,
And pleasant spectacles bee chang'd to ghastely feares.
57
“Sion was holy to the Lord of yore;Salem's in-habitants his cheife delight;
Each to his altar, freewill of-fringes bore,
And payd ye Leuite aye the Leuites right;
So did ye temple shine with glory bright;
Religion ruld ye royall politie
With iustice, temperance and æquitie:
Then let not Magdalene her natiue soile denie.
58
“Wilt thou in riot swimme, while others fast?Wilt thou bee sporting, when as others pray?
28
When others, drown'd in sorrowe all ye day,
With sacke-cloth gird yr loynes, and sad araye?
Or while the aged sire's besprinkeled
With dust and ashes on his siluer head,
Canst thou thy various Iunonian plumes dispread?
59
“Doubtlesse those haires for lust were not intended;Those eyes for Cupids darts were neuer meant;
That heaunly face, by art but litle mended,
(Sith nature in it all her skill hath spent,)
Was not to bee a wanton's ornament;
Those eyes were made so bright, the heauns to see;
Those feet, to tread ye paths of æquitie:
Bee not so bad to him, yt is so good to the!”
60
This sayd, shee brandishes her quiueringe darte,And makes a deeper wound in Maries brest:
The silly soule amaz'd, beginnes to starte,
As one awaked from his nightly rest,
With slumber soft, and hopefull dreames possest.
For pleasure is a dreame of sweet delight,
That lastes no longer then ye shortest night,
But when the day appeares, awaye it takes his flight;
61
Or as ye nimble doe in lawny parke,Browsinge vpon ye palate-pleasinge brier,
Is on a suddaine made ye hunter's marke,
And wounded in her brest, perceiues a fire,
So Magdalene, in midst of her desire,
Crown'd with ye blisse of fooles, and pleasures vaine,
Feeles in her heart ye stinge of gripinge paine;
And then to feigne sad sighes, and sorrowe, shee is faine.
29
62
But sorrowe soone in streames of pleasure's drownd,And conscïence away doth vanish quite;
So litle truth in womens teares are found.
The Crocodile can sorrowe to ye sight,
And vnder sighes embaite his venom'd spight.
Vaine woman! see! ye hart hath quickely found
A saluing ditany, to heale his wound:
And shall thy heart vnsounded, still remaine vnsound?
63
But custome is a tyrant, and his slauesAre forc'd within his limits to abide.
Tis easier to still ye swellinge Waues,
And turne ye torrent of ye strongest tide,
Then to resist his course, or quell his pride:
So Mary to her lust againe returnes,
And at Ambrosian mercy, offerd, spurnes,
Till Heauens awefull power in zealous anger burnes.
64
Withat a dreary hagge of Acheron,Arm'd with a gastely torch, new dipt in blood,
A sable weed, as blacke as night, put on,
And in the palaces of Pleasure stood,
Shakinge ye frie of her vipereous brood:
Fury attends her, and the want of sence,
Sorrow, Despight, with ye sad Influence,
Famine, and bloody Warre, and meagre Pestilence.
65
The pillars trembled at this ghastely sight;The dores were tainted with a pallid hue;
The Sun, amaz'd, deny'd his wonted light,
While ye poore mayd, disquieted anewe,
Striues to go forth of dores; but there a crewe
Of hideous glowinge snakes ye entraunce keepe,
30
And in whole troopes from out her shaggy cauerne peepe.
66
Some wandred vp and downe her dismall brest;Some to her pitchy armes and shoulders clunge,
With fiery eyes and hissinge tongues possest;
And one vpon ye wretched mayd shee slunge,
That twininge here and there, about her sprunge,
And glided on her brest with gentle hast,
And there vipereous cogitations plac't,
With pininge greife and sorrowes, yt ye spirites wast.
67
The crinkled snake about her Crystall necke,Seem'd like a wreathed chaine of brightest gould,
And for a fillet seru'd, her haire to decke,
For through each parte ye slippery pilgrim rould,
And fire within ye marrowe did infould,
Taintinge ye sences with his poysond gall,
That soone ye Damsells riot could appall,
And Sorrowe much aggladd at Pleasures funerall.
68
Nowe all yee flittinge daughters of the light,Packe hence with speed, and see, yee bee not seene!
Let neuer smile or laughter come in sight!
For ioye and ioyllity too longe haue been
Within these courtes: but Sorrowe now is queen.
Mary hath cast her louers out of minde,
And solace in her brest no place can finde,
For carking care doth all delights together binde.
69
The Fury nowe (it seemes) has stood her freind,And counsell'd her to bidd vaine sports adieu.
But ther's much difference 't-wixt freind and fiend,
31
Did but ye ould one in younge snakes renewe:
The blood, yt Perseus heere and there did spill,
Begate another brood of serpents still.
If Hell be cause of good, that good is nought but ill.
70
Into ye hollowe of a darke-some cell,The Messenger of Night conueigh'd her streight:
Shee thought, shee had been wafted quicke to hell,
So swift shee flewe, yt now shee felt no weight,
Till downe shee squats before a balefull gate
That euer open stood, both daye and night,
To entertaine each sad, disastrous spright,
With horrid shapes, and apparitions for his sight.
71
So gape the gloomy courts of Pluto fell,Exhalinge cloudy mistes of sulphur blewe,
With horrid damps, and many a noysom smell,
Ready to swallowe vp ye damned crewe,
That thither hast, and yet yr hast they rue;
When death a punishment for life they se[e,]
And life for death a punishment to bee,
And death with life, and life with death ioyne amity;
72
Or as ye iawes of Scyllas barkinge hounds,That aye for greedinesse of booties raue,
And swallowe all that come within yr bounds:
Such was ye gap of Melancholies caue,
Where many loose, but fewe yr lives can saue;
Onely for barkinge hounds, ye grimme-fac'd cat,
The slowe pac'd asse was there, ye flutteringe bat,
The croakinge rauen on a slaughtred carcasse sate.
32
73
The ground, no whole-some hearbe, no flower breeds,No fruitfull tree aray'd with sommers hue,
But cockell, darnell, thornes, and stinkinge weeds,
And wither'd trunkes, deuoy'd of leaues, in liewe
Of better plants, with ye fauereous yewe,
Beside ye fatal tree, where Phyllis faire
Hunge by ye tresses of her goulden haire,
For loue of him, yt of her loue tooke litle care.
74
Heere Pyramus and Thysbe murdred lie;Heere Antony and Cleopatra been;
Heere Aiax, with his bloody speare fast by;
Heere Cato, and ye Carthagenian Queen:
Sad spectacles! no sadder euer seen!
Ægeus was heere, deluded once by fame;
Empedocles leapt hither through ye flame
Of Ætna; and ye Stagirite by water came.
75
But loe, within, dull Melancholy sits,Proppinge with weary hand his heauy head,
And lowringe on ye ground in franticke fits,
With pallid hue hee look'd, as hee were dead,
Or Death himselfe: for many hee had sped
And sent vnto ye graue: rough was his haire,
His hollowe eyes, Hyæna-like did staire,
Sparkelinge like fishes scales amid ye cloudy aire.
76
Longe eares, blacke lippes, teeth yeallowe, meagr[e] face,Sharpe nose, thin cheekes, chin pendant, vaulted cragge,
Lean ribbes, bare loynes, lanke belly, snale-like pace,
Lame feet, dead hands, and all his garments sag[ge:]
Heere hanges a patch, and ther a tatter'd ragge:
Such Melancholy hight; and seated so,
33
And horrid apparitions about him throughe.
77
Sometimes with loue his cogitation swells,And then 'gainst churlish riualdry hee braules,
And of his Ladies cruelty hee tells,
And makes sad plaint vnto ye ruthlesse walles:
In hast, for paper, pen, and inke, hee calles,
A letter to his loue hee will endite,
And with a thorne on ground hee 'gins to wright;
Then vp hee takes ye dust, and blowes it out of sight.
78
Sometimes about ye starres his minde doth roue,And light Ambition in his brest beares swaye;
And then hee will contend with mighty Ioue,
And haue commaund o'r vassal Titan's raye:
But, by and by, hee softely steales awaye,
And slinkes from out his den, supposinge ther[e]
Some furious hagge would him in peeces teare,
So closely couch'd hee lies, all quiueringe for feare.
79
Nowe out hee hollowes, and full loudely yells,As if hee chas'd before him some wilde beast:
But that deuise another thought expells;
And till hee finde his goulden interest,
Hid vnder ground, with feare hee is possest:
Nowe hee supposes, hee's a man of glasse;
And nowe straunge colours seeme before him passe;
And now hee thinkes, hee is not, what but nowe hee was.
80
Hard by his side, sad Magdalene was plac't,Within ye vgly caue of this dull spright.
Kindely each other at ye first embrac't,
But soone shee felt ye rancor of his spight,
34
And shee, yt was with pleasure lately crown'd,
Now hanges ye head, and viewes ye cursed ground,
Bearinge about her still an euer-smarting wound.
81
As in the splendor of a glassy sphere,What s'euer hee yt vewes it, doth assaye,
Bee sure to see it reprœsented there,
The mimicke orbe each action will bewraye,
And in a nimble shaddowe soone displaye
The motion of ye foot, ye hand, ye eye,
The lippes, ye tongue, and tell what is awry,—
Whither hee sad his browe, or looke more cheerfully,—
82
So Magdalene is Melancholies Ape,And, what soe'r hee does, assayes to doe:
His fancy bringes him each fantasticke shape,
And so fantasticke is her fancy too:
Hee stayes, shee stands: hee stirres, and shee doth goe:
Hee trembles at ye trembling of the winde;
Shee feares each blast: hee beares a guilty mind;
A guilty conscience shee within her brest can finde.
83
There is a path adown a steepy waye,Wrapt all in vncouth silence of the night,
Where wandringe (cursed hap!) poore pilgrims stray[e,]
A path, yt leades vnto ye lake Cocyte,
Where hellish torments wretched soules affright,
Where deadly scritch-owles direfull dities sing[e,]
The grisly ghostes yr sorrowe ecchoinge,
And all about ye aire ye poyson'd vapours clinge.
84
A thousand gates and entraunces there bee,To Lethes burninge waues and scaldinge fire,
35
The Lions den lets fewe or none retire:
And though ye intricate Dædalean gyre
Haue many portalls, easy to attaine,
Yet hee yt knowes how to returne againe.
May count ye countles sands, and make ye mountains plaine.
85
As Amphitrite in her larger wombeReceiues all other floods and Chrystall brookes,
So doth this lake all hopelesse soules in-tombe,
And still it hath more roome, for more it lookes:
So many windinges there, and wandringe nookes,
That, though all nations of ye world should cease,
And fall together in a close-throng'd prease,
Yet boundlesse hell could ne'r perceiue his owne encrease.
86
There raginge winter euer doth abide,And yet no showre, yr burninge tongues to wet:
They allwayes haue ye parchinge sommer tide,
And yet no sun, yr frozen limmes to heat:
So doe they fryinge freeze, and freezinge sweat:
And (yt which to yr gripinge paine and greife
Still addes a newe supplie without releife)
Æternity amonge yr torments is ye cheefe.
87
Hither came Nemesis, and left ye skie;(In iust reuenge shee tooke so much delight:)
Soone as shee entred with her maiesty,
The ghostes inuegled with perpetuall night,
Stood all amaz'd, and trembled at the sight:
Their eyes were dazled with her bright attire,
But, o, they quaked at her awfull ire,
Freezinge with fearefull could amid the flames of fire.
36
88
Amonge ye blacker sonnes of Tartary,Seu'n hideous fiery sprights shee euocates:
They came with speed; yet durst not come too nigh,
Least, happily adiudged by ye Fates,
They should augment yr chaines and heauy weights:
For Iustice could not Stygian vassals brooke;
But terrified them with her angry looke,
And heau'nly maiesty in hell vpon her tooke.
89
In thunder then shee spake, great silence made,(At eu'ry worde shee shak'd ye gates of hell)
“Goe to ye earth, and seeke ye wanton maide
That erst in idle Pleasures courts did dwell,
But nowe remaines in Melancholies cell!
Torment and vexe her! take away her rest!
Enter her thoughts! fully possesse her brest!
But spare her life! in yt yee haue no interest.”
90
So hauinge giu'n her charge, awaye shee flingesFrom out ye cauernes of aye-lastinge woe,
And postes vnto ye skie with nimble winges,
Where Iris by ye waye salutes her lowe,
And on her weeds sweete water shee would throughe:
But ye immortall power gaue no consent:
For though vnto ye poyson'd lake shee went,
Vncapable shee was of ye sulphurean sent.
91
The Hierarchies and Dominations bright,Burned in fiery zeale and zealous fire,
Soone as thees tidings shee had tould arright,
And all with her in iust reuenge conspire:
The hellish fiends were glad at Heauens ire;
And though about them they yr to[r]ments bore
37
The damned spirits scund'd alonge ye Stygian shore.
92
Through sad Cimmerian mistes as blacke as night,At length to fresher aire they did aspire;
Though dazled with ye glimmeringe of the light,
They easily found out this aged Sire:
Swift was yr speed, but swifter yr desire,
Had not they been with iron chaines confin'd,
By him yt greeat Leuiathan can binde.
Then let not silly Saints bee troubled in yr minde.
93
Soone as into his cell they entraunce made,(And soone they entraunce made into his cell,)
Leauinge ye borders of the airy glade,
Within ye Damsells brest they come to dwell,
And thither bringe they mischeefes store from hell:
Scorpions, and flames of Ætna, to affright;
Madnesse and feare, with many a ghastely sight,
And malice (what more deadly?) like a womans spight.
94
But then ye haplesse maide (vnhappy tide!)Incited by ye monsters huge within,
Runs maddinge vp and downe ye citie wide,
Like to ye top, yt in his gyre doth spin,
When game-some lads with limber stroakes begin
To scourg it round about some larger court,
That fecches compasse, while ye simple sorte
Stand wondringe at ye swiftenesse of ye boxen sport.
95
The stroakes adde heart, and driue it forward well:No slower pace ye maide is forcd to hie,
Through th' midst of cities, and of people fell;
Beside, [i]nto ye woods shee seemes to flie,
38
And in the honour of ye God of wine,
Nourish yr sacred haire, and doe entwine
Their tender Iuy iauelins with ye braunchinge vine,
96
That girt about with ye faire spoyle of hindes,Their merry orgialls and iollities
Aye celebrate, with mad outragious mindes,
And fill ye great circumference of ye skies
With hideous shouts, and vaste redoubled cries.
So doth ye Damsell wander heere and there,
Trailinge along her lowe dissheueld haire,
With fearefull fire enflam'd, and could with fiery feare.
97
Nowe through ye aire with nimble pace shee braues,And on ye top of snowy hills is plac't;
And nowe vnto ye dales beneath shee waues,
And yet shee knowes no reason of her hast:
Sometimes shee makes her nest in deserts waste,
And groaues become her den, with trees around;
But litle it auailes to hide a wound:
A guilty conscience maye in darkest night bee found.
98
Nowe shee is catchinge Cynthia by ye horne,(For so ye troubled fancy will suppose,)
And nowe ye wandringe planœts shee doth scorne;
Vnto ye higher Cynosure shee goes;
But by and by a newe delusion throughes
Her pride as lowe as Phlegetonticke maine.
So litle blisse eu'n in our dreames wee gaine;
And for such momentary ioye, such endlesse paine.
99
Heere a longe time musinge in mind shee stayes,Conceitinge shee in Pluto's court remaines:
39
There ice congeald; but coulder are her veins;
And all ye fictions of infernall paynes,
Shee to her selfe ascribes: dire vulturs rent
Her bowells, Tityus-like; and shee is spent
With longing for ye fount and tree neare-imminent.
100
And Sisyphus his stone, shee makes account,Comes rouling, troulinge downe ye hill againe,
That erst shee labour'd vp ye steepy mount:
And nowe shee must endure Ixions paine
On ye tormentinge wheele: then all in vaine
With Danaus his daughters shee helpes fill
The siue-like vessells, yt ye water spill
Out at a thousand holes, yr taske renewinge still.
101
Thus (ah poore soule!) shee's tossed too and fro:The deadly feinds, yr furious will obtaine:
And nowe her body headlonge downe they throughe,
Into ye brinish waters of ye maine;
And nowe in fiery flames shee's allmost slaine:
Sometimes shee liues in dens and hollowe caues,
Sometimes shee has her dwellinge in ye graues,
And sometimes on ye top of ragged rockes shee raues.
102
No freinds can now persuade her to abide;No bolts of iron can her feet detaine:
The spirits driue her on with winde and tide:
(Where reason's failinge freindshippe is but vaine)
Fetters, like limber strawes, shee breakes in twaine,
And then vnto ye monuments shee flies,
Where, groavelinge on the ground, shee breathlesse lies:
When (poore distressed soule!) oh when, wilt thou arrise?
40
103
Vnhappy seruants to such Fairy nymphes!Vnhappy younglinges, that haue such a sire!
Vnhappy handmaides to such cursed impes,
That, for a litle sweete of vaine desire,
Adde paine to paine, and fuell to ye fire!
Vnhappy Magdalene! vnhappy I!
Vnhappy all vnder ye azure skie,
Had not heau'n pity'd earth, and life been pleas'd to die.
104
No cruelty with Hellish, maye compare,For, from this fount, all cruelty proceeds:
While bloody Sylla no mans blood will spare,
(The walles lament, and swellinge Tyber bleeds);
The Furies fury, fury slaughter breeds:
Eight thousand Romans, Mithridates sped
With one sad letter: and on bodies dead,
Through Vergell, did ye Punick wight his army lead.
105
From Hell, Perillus fetcht his bull of brasse,Wherin him-selfe first learnt to lowe and roare;
Th' Italian Turke from hence deriued was;
And army-murdringe peeces from this shore,
Were, by ye Spanish frier, brought in store:
There Cain first learnt his brothers blood to spill;
Herod, his endlesse fury to fullfill,
Had a decree from thence, ye tender babes to kill.
106
Fond worldlinges then, that make a league with Hell,As if thees quicke sands did not all beguile;
If so it were, ye Scythians sure did well
T' adore ye Fiend for feare, and those of Nile
41
But pride and tyrany together rise:
Since Lucifer 's debarred from ye skies,
Hee in ye ayre his stratagems doth exercise.
107
Witnesse distressed Maries sad estate,Who erst with worldely happinnesse was blest,
And liu'd in Pleasures affluence of late:
But gnawinge Conscience, deuoy'd of rest,
Her shorte-liu'd pleasure quickely dispossest,
Her former iollity, tormenting thought,
Terrour of conscience, melancholy wrought
That misery, and misery to Mercy brought.
42
II. [PART II.] Mary Magdalens death to sinne
or Her life in righteousnesse.
[_]
The numbering of the stanzas begins again with 1 in the MS., but it is carried on from Part I in this text, for convenience of reference.
108
Soe night with sable weedes 'gan disapeare,So melancholy vanishd quite away;
So ioy her chearfull countenance did reare,
So did the orient day-springe bringe the day,
And all the trees were clad with bloominge May:
The gladsome wren sate carolinge ye while,
And faine the Titmouse would the day beguile,
But vnderneath, the meadowes at yr musicke smile.
109
Why did the flowers blaze in wanton pride,And pearke yr heades aboue the tender stalkes?
Why was the Mary-gold distended wide?
Why sange the birds amonge their leauy walkes?
Why skipp'd the lambs vpon their steepy balkes?
Certes, the welbeloued went that waye,
The heire of heauen, from whose glorious ray
The Sun deriues his light, and Phosphorus ye daye.
110
And as that way he went (thrice happy houre!)He spy'd a mayde come tumblinge downe apace,
43
A hollowe voice he heard, yt would aghast
A wandringe straunger, and the Spirits cast
Her beauteous frame before his whiter feet,
And boweinge to ye ground, (as it was meete,)
His maiesty with feigned salutations greete.
111
Then with their vncouth hollow soundinge voice,(Such language Hell had taught them longe agoe,)
They roare and crye aloude with hydeous noyse,
“Wee knowe thy name; and whence thou art, we knowe:
O doe not vse vs licke a cruell foe!
Thou art the Sonne of God, for euer blest!
Thou cam'st to saue; then saue vs with ye rest,
And dispossesse vs not from out this balefull brest!
112
“Wee bee ye harbingers of heauens ire,Wee Mercuries vnto Astræa bright,
Wee punish sinners in ye lake of fire,
Wee giue thee reuerence, and homage right,
And dutifully tremble at thy sight;
While man doth mocke at heauens ofspringe still,
Wee yeeld obedience to thy sacred will:
Thou art a springe of good; oh, worke not vs this ill!”
113
Wonder it is, yt this accursed crueShould knowe ye Sauiour, whom but few could knowe;
Sure, they obseru'd his white and ruddy hue,
That made him cheefest of 10 thousand showe,
His lockes as blacke as rauen, and ye snowe
Of his faire Doue-like eyes. His cheekes beneath
Bedight with flowers, like beds of Spices breath;
His lily lippes, pure myrrhe vnto his spouse bequeath.
44
114
His hands, gould ringes beset with Chrysolite;His mouth, with sweetnesse fraught, and odours newe;
His belly vnder, like ye Iu'ry white,
All interchast with veins of Sappheirs blewe:
His pleasant countenance like Hermons dewe,
His leggs and feete, like marble pillers rare
On goulden sockets, yet by farre more faire:
His vestures, with yr Casia perfum'd ye aire.
115
A robe hee wore, like to his essence, pure;That vndiuided; vndeuided hee:
No wonder then (though 't seemes a wonder, sure)
That gloomy hell withouten eyes can see,
Iesus alone ye holy one to bee,
And ye Messias, yt should sin deface:
Such was his countenance and louely grace,
That they bewrayd his country, and his heau'nly race.
116
Though thought be free, nor can ye Stygian frieEnter ye chambers of our better parte,
(For yt belonges to heau'ns all-seeinge eye,
To search ye reines, and vnderstand ye hearte,
Nor will he this vnto his foes imparte)
Whither they through ye Sences windowes pry'd,
Or this by reuelation espy'd:
They knewe our Sauiours thought, and what would them betyde.
117
But thus ye subtill serpents him bespake,Hopinge, of Mercy, mercy to obtaine:
Yet simple elues, yr marke they did mistake,
And hopinge prayd, and prayinge prayd in vaine:
45
“You knowe me, (said hee) but I knowe not you;
And yet I knowe yee for a cursed crewe:
Then leaue your habitation, and seeke a newe!
118
Like as ye thunder on mount Sinai hearde,With flashinge lightninges and shrill trumpets sounde,
The future nations of Salem feard,
And made them flie, or fall flat on the ground,
Soe doth ye thunder of his voice confounde
The powers of hell, who from his glorious sight,
Swellinge with rancor, blasphemies and spight,
Vnto yr dungeon againe they take yr flight.
119
Soone as they tooke yr leaue, yt causd her thrall,Downe sunke ye Damsell in amazement deepe,
(After an earth-quake, soe the ground doth fall,)
And soundinge, yeelded to a sencelesse sleepe,
Ne could shee speake a worde, ne could shee weepe:
But he yt conquered all the powers beneath,
The Hell of sin, and sin of Hell, and Death,
Soone brought againe ye maydens pantinge, faintinge breath.
120
With milke-white hand, hee by ye hand her tooke,And stayd her faintinge head, and bad her cheare:
The burninge feuer then her heart forsooke,
Instead of which there came a suddaine feare:
So, when ye night begins to disappeare,
The dawinge of ye day with glimmeringe light,
That seemeth vncouth to ye weaker sight,
One newly layd a sleepe, and new awakd doth fright.
46
121
But feare soone vanishd, when ye heauenly swan,With Musicke of his voice did comforte giue;
And then to sue for fauour shee began,
And humbly craue yt shee with him might liue,
That did her soule from Hell and death repreiue.
As yet he granted not her suite: but said,
“Thy trespasses are pardoned (O maide)!
Repent thee; and to sin heere after, bee affrayd!”
122
Thus did ye winged Perseus of ye skieDeliuer our distress'd Andromede,
That nowe with greefe prœpar'd herselfe to dye
By ye waue-tossinge monster of ye sea,
The sea of Acheron: nowe Panopee,
With all her nimphes, scuddes on ye marble plaine;
The storme is ouerblowne, and once againe
Daye triumphes ouer night, and pleasure ouer paine.
123
The ship, that erst was toss'd with winde and tyde;Hath nowe ye port of quietnesse attaind;
The pilgrime wandringe through ye deserts wide,
Hath nowe at length a ioyefull harbour gaind;
And shee, that erst was pitied and plaind,
Nowe weepes for ioy, and ioyes in sorrow true;
And faire Syneide is return'd to viewe
Her chambers, and to build ye palaces a newe.
124
No sooner had she entred, but ye maydeFelt a warme motion within her brest,
And hard a tongue (though none shee sawe) yt sayd:
“Goe to ye courts of Wisedome, gentle guest;
There seeke Repentance, and with her, find rest:
47
A flood of brinish teares and bitter woe,
That, bee thou n'er soe blacke, will make thee white as snowe.”
125
Mary, aggladded at this ioyfull newes,Seekes for ye palaces of Sapience;
A siluer doue, ye way vnto her shewes,
And with his bill giues her intelligence,
Soe that shee needs no conduct of ye sence,
And yet shee can not bee without it well.
Such pleasure, by ye way shee goes, doth dwell,
'T is hard to bee conceiud, but harder farre to tell.
126
The forrests were like fragrant Lebanon:Pome-granates sweete, and saffron there contend;
Spiknarde and Camphire with browne Cinnamon;
Calamus, Myrrhe and Aloes befreind
Th' enamourd ayre, and all about they send
Perfumes, exhaled from yr spicy beds.
And heere and there a springe of milke dispreads,
And hony-dewe ye sweeter shrubs of spices weds.
127
The riuers shind with oyle, and on ye shoreFaire Margarites and costly iewells laye;
The land emboweled great mines of Ore,
And all a-longe ye tinne-decayinge way,
The goodly Cedars seem'd to bidde her stay:
These did her captiuated eyes delight;
The flowry beds detaine her feete so white,
And middle-sizëd shrubs her tender hands invite.
48
128
But then a rarer spectacle shee spies,The tower of Wisedome, yt did seeme to threat,
With highe-aspiringe toppe ye cloudy skies:
The ground-worke on a massy rocke was set,
That neither windes could hurt, nor waters great.
Sharpe prickinge thornes and thistles were before;
On each side, desarts waste, and wilde beasts roare;
Beyond, a furious sea doth wrastle with ye shore.
129
Why standes it on a hill?—her glorie's highe;Why on a rocke?—shee constant doth perseuer;
Why thornes before it?—hard aduersity
And spiny labour goe before her euer;
Why seas beyond it?—head-longe folly neuer
Is farre from daunger; why on eyther side
Desarts and beasts?—if either way you slide,
Into a thousand toylesome Labyrinths you glide.
130
What should I of this palace more relate,That in it-selfe all beauties doth enfould?
All there was pretious, and of highest rate,
And though all glist'red not, yet all was gould,
Or moulde as pure, or farre the purer mould.
Watchfull Humility still kept ye dore,
And none had entrance to ye courte, before
They crau'd her helpinge hand, and did her ayde implore.
131
Humility, instructions harbinger,Sorrowes glad ofspringe, mother of our peace,
Charities nurse, Religions fosterer,
Path-way to heauen, troubled soules release;
49
Others by risinge, raize yr high desires;
But when shee lowest falls, shee most aspires;
Shee dulls ye sharpest swordes, and quenches flaminge fiers.
132
Magdalene entred with this happy guide;And all amazed at ye rasters bright,
Stone-still shee stood, till Wisedome shee espy'd,
With her owne worke of needle-worke bedight:
Then while shee wonders, giue mee leaue to write
Of her, with whome ye Sun may not compare:
Doue-like her eyes; her lockes of curled haire,
A flocke of kids, yt on mount Gilead feedinge are
133
Her temples, peices of Pomegranates seeme;Her feet, like newe-wash'd sheepe, ordred arright;
Her lippes, a thred of scarlet, you would deeme;
Her necke, like Dauids tower, where men of might
Hange vp yr Targets, all in open sight;
Her brests like two yonge roes of œquall age,
Amid ye lilies that haue pasturage:
Her talke is euer comely, sweet her carriage.
134
Doth any, honours diadem admire?With her, immortall honours euer dwell.
Doth any, great possessions desire?
Her riches, fadinge treasures farre excell.
Is any thirsty? shee's a liuinge well;
Shee makes ye weake man stronge, ye foolish wise;
Shee lends ye lame man feete, ye blinde man eyes;
Shee feedes ye hungry soule, and clothes ye naked thighes.
50
135
Wisedome's ye best of thinges, th' immortal treasure,The double booke of Nature and of grace,
Honour deuoyd of shame, and painelesse pleasure,
Pilot of life, and life of eu'ry place,
Nobles reiecter, raiser of ye base,
Falsehoods discouery, light of humaine sence,
The great Allmighties subtill influence,
Mirrour of maiesty, heauens purest Quintessence.
136
Oh that I might for euer heere abide,Within ye palaces, that age out-last,
And stay with Mary hard by Wisedomes side;
How nimbly would ye goulden numbers hast,
When of her Nectar I should sippe a tast.
Hence did ye waters of Castalian plaine
First issue forth, though in a purer vaine:
And shee, ye Pallas is, of great Iehouahs braine.
137
But nowe, behould, a goodly companyOf Wisedomes children stand about her round:
Two roomes shee hath, this lowe, the other highe:
Heere sate Prince Salomon, and Dauid crownd,
With thousands of his Saints in pleasure drownd.
There stood ye Monarche of this tripple Isle:
The Destinies for euer on him smile.
Others there were, but fewe, or none appear'd ye while,
138
Beside all those that fauour her essayes,Whom in her palaces shee highly grac't,
51
That soe yr names might neuer be defact,
Nor by ye tyrany of time eract,
That they ye Muses with yr fauour rayse,
And, by ye trumpet of ye Muses prayse,
Out-weare all-wearinge time, and liue immortall dayes.
139
But whither doe my wandringe numbers straye?Returne (yee Muses) to the path againe!
And yet, with Wisedome, well they wander may,
Better then walke right on with folly vaine.
Heere all ye while stoode Magdalene, soe faine
To meete Repentance: Wisedome at ye last
With hand in hand (shee knew ye Damselles hast)
Conductes her thither, where ye weepinge grace was plac't.
140
Streightly immured in a closet small,Repentance sate, with eyes still fixt on ground;
A-downe her cheekes ye tricklinge teares fall;
Her slender hands, her tender brest ywound;
And, (woe is me!) shee cries with sighinge sound:
Her carelesse-hanginge haire shee teares, her head
Was crownd with thornes, with dust besprinkeled;
Her loynes with sacke-cloth girt, her feete vncouered
141
Angells stood round about her, as her gard,(Though to ye outwarde eye, they were not seene)
And what on earth was sayd, in heaun was hard,
And all her teares were kept in bottels cleane;
(Teares, though a signe, yet ease of sorrowes keene:)
Her head was stayd by ye Angelique crewe,
Who all besprinkled her with holy dewe,
That shee might neuer faint, but aye her plaints renewe.
52
142
A Crystall riuer swifte before her fled,(Noe other lookinge-glasse shee had, poore soule,)
Instead of waues, the teares lift vp yr head,
And to ye muddy shore of sin they rowle,
Beatinge against ye rocke of scandalls fowle:
The water of it was exceedinge tarte,
Sore to ye eyes, but saluinge to ye heart:
Thees streames, abundant teares to all sicke soules imparte.
143
Teares, ye Soules bath, ye weepinge oliue tree;Teares, cause of comforte, though effect of greefe;
Teares, heauens showers, ye dewe of Iris bee,
Teares, amonge Paradises riuers cheefe,
Teares, Pœnitences badge, and hearts releife;
Teares bee ye sinner's solitary sporte;
Teares, hopefull sorrowe's longe-desired port;
Teares, handmaides to Repentance in Astræas courte.
144
Repentance is ye way to life by death;Repentance, health giu'n in a bitter pill;
Repentance, hearbe of grace, diuiner breath;
Repentance, rectifier of the will;
Repentance, loue of good, and hate of ill;
Repentance, mirth at last, though first annoy;
Repentance, Ibis, yt doth snakes destroye;
Repentance, earth's debate, heau'ns darlinge Angels ioye.
145
Teares quench ye thunder-bolts of zeale diuine,Repentance makes ye cruellst foe repent:
Teares keepe from putrefaction with yr brine,
Repentance sharpe, but sweetend by content:
53
Repentance euer doth ye worke begin:
Teares follow her, and cleanse ye sinke of sin:
Come, come, ye Saints, a pace! and with Repentance inne.
146
Desire's ye cause of Sin; Sin, cause of greefe;Greife bids repent, Repentance bringes forth teares;
Teares, pitie mooue, and pitty graunts releife,
That comforte, comforte hope, which nothinge feares;
Hope leades to faith, faith to ye Sauiour reares:
Iesus, to blisse, his militants doth raize;
Blisse causes glory, glory ends in prayse;
Prayse ends in him, yt no begininge knew, nor end of dayes.
147
This made ye Damsell in distressed state,Hopinge in teares to drench her misery,
Stand waitinge still at Pœnitence's gate:
Where, when shee knockt, Repentance by and by
Demaunded, whoe was there; shee made replie:
A sinfull soule.—
Then must you not come heere.
(Magdal.)
Oh, let me in (sweet Grace!) you need not feare.
(Rep.)
Thou wilt defile my bridall chamber.—(Mag.) I am cleare.
(Rep.)
148
Cleare? Whoe hath cleard thee, or with gracious lightIllumined thy minde?—
(Magd.)
The holy one.
(Rep.)
Where bee ye Spirits of Infernall night,
That whilome thee possest?—
(Mag.)
Oh; they are gone.
54
Where bee thy louers?—
(Mag.)
I am heere alone.
(Rep.)
If I admit thee, wilt thou not repent?
(Magd.)
Repent I neuer will.—
(Rep.)
To what intent
Should I then let thee in, if thou wilt n'er repent?
(Magd.)
149
Oh yes, I will repent me of my sin;But of Repentance I will n'er repent.
(Rep.)
What wilt thou doe, if yt I let thee in?
(Mag.)
With sorrowes due, I'll paye thee yearly rent.
(Rep.)
What diœt wilt thou haue?—
(Mag.)
Sighes to relent.
(Rep.)
They 're too stronge-breath'd.—
(Ma.)
Fitter for my weake plaint.—
(Rep.)
What more?—
(M.)
Fewe teares.
(Rep.)
yr heat will make
(M.)
I freeze.
(Rep.)
They coulder are.
(M.)
I burne.
(Rep.)
Come in, poore Saint!
150
Soe in shee came, directed by her guide,And dipt her finger in ye brinish well,
And with her eyes ye sharpnesse of it try'd,
From whence ye teares, as thicke as showers, fell,
And raisd ye bubles of ye watry cell,
As when a doubtfull cloud dissolus his raine,
Into ye ample bosome of ye maine:
His showers, her teares, yt fell, seeme all to fall in vaine.
151
Her head hunge downe, (heauy it was with greefe,)Nor durst shee euer looke vp to ye skie:
Of sinners shee esteem'd herselfe ye cheefe,
And knewe ye wrath of heauens maiesty.
55
And eu'ry where shee findes some cause to plaine,
But still Syneide comforts her againe,
And tells her, yt ye lambe, for sinners must bee slaine.
152
At length a rufull voice her silence brake,Like swellinge waters, troubled with ye winde,
And thus with greefe of heart ye Damsell spake,
“Ah, foolish woman, to thy selfe vnkinde!
When others see, howe longe hast thou been blinde?
Witnesse ye flash of pleasure for a while,
That, with ye falshehood of a guilded smile,
Did thee, poore wretch, allure; alluringe, did beguile.
153
“Vaine pleasure, cause of endlesse paine, adieu!Sweete is thy baite, but deadly is thy baine,
When for an howres delight, an age wee rue,
An ounce of mirth procures a world of paine,
And pleasure in his infancy is slaine:
The swellinge bubble, sweet flower, springinge grasse,
Falls, fadeth, is not, what but now it was:
But shorter pleasure, all in shortnesse doth surpasse.”
154
Thus shee laments, and while shee casts her eyesVpon ye water, yt was vnder placd,
Her gentle shadowe, mourninge shee espies,
And all ye beauty of her face defacd:
“Oh, hadst thou euer, (sayes shee) thus been grac'd,
Beauty, thou rocke of Soules, faire Sirens smile,
Nights glitteringe glowe-worme, wepinge Crocodile.
Beauty more lou'd then purest gould, then drosse more vile.
56
155
“And yet ye pourtract of this outward frame,The rarest gifte, yt euer from aboue
Heau'n did on earth bestowe, had not yt shame
Of wretched man with-drawne his makers loue:
For, saue his soule infused by ye Doue,
What else in man worth note?—vnhappy fall.
Since when (but whoe can date expir'd recall?)
That which is best in vs, wee make it worst of all.
156
“Thees haires, yt modestly should haue beene ty'd(For modesty 's a maydes best ornament)
Layd out in tresses, haue declar'd my pride:
Thees eyes were made to viewe ye firmament,
And giue Him glory, yt such glory lent.
But (woe is mee!) they haue ye glasses beene,
Where folly lookd, and wantonnesse was seene,
Soe ioyfull to attend vpon ye Cyprian Queene.
157
“Thees cheekes should blush at sin with crimson die,But they to lewdnesse cheefely doe inuite,
With smiles deceiuinge ye behoulders eye:
Thees lippes were made to prayse, and pray arright,
Not to delude ye soone-deluded sight:
This tongue should singe out Halleluiahs,
Not accent vaine lasciuious essayes:
Hands, feet, heart, all were made, to speake yr makers prayse.
158
“But I (poore wretch! such wretches, sinners bee),Led captiue by ye powers of Hell beneath,
Each member haue defild, noe parcell free,
And liuinge, entred in ye snares of death,
57
Oh that I might those yeares againe recall,
That made me free to Sin in Pleasures thrall.”
Yet better late repente, then not repent at all:
159
No siluer haires her goulden twist had chang'd,No pallid hue assaild her rosy-red,
No wrinkles had her browe from loue estraung'd,
No rottenesse her Iu'ry teeth be-spread:
Youth in his freshest colours flourished.
And yet shee thought, in humblenesse of minde,
The dayes to longe, yt had her thus confin'd,
Repentance, with ye least offence, some falt can finde.
160
Thus in her selfe, her selfe shee wellnigh lost,And on her selfe her sighes and sorrowes spent;
Till ye next roome her cogitations crost,
With pearly teares and Crystall due besprent,
And gaue her store of matter to lament:
Then shee begins a-fresh, (for to her thought
Thees spectacles ye courts of Pleasure brought,
Where ill was counted good, and good was counted naught.)
161
“Faire courtes without, but foulest sinkes within,Vnder your roofes, would I had neuer beene!
Sweet sportes, but leauend with a lumpe of Sin!
Would God, I neuer had your madnesse seene!
And thou, vaine Pleasure, youths adored queene,
Oh, maist thou euer bound in hell remaine,
And suffer torments of œternall paine!
For thou hast ship-wrackt all, and many a Soule hast slaine.
58
162
“Better it is with-in this narrowe roomeTo spend our flittinge dayes, and closely keepe,
Then, while wee liue, soe fairely to intombe
Our soules in Marble pleasures, yt will weepe
Dayes without end, when wee haue tooke our sleepe.
Better, this well of teares, then clearest founts,
For sad Repentance, in true ioye surmounts
Vaine Pleasures shady bowers, sweet gardens, rich accounts.
163
“Better thy thorne-bush then a crowne of Myrtle,Thy ashes, better then ye bread of strife;
Better thy sacke-cloth, then a silken kirtle;
Thy bitter, better then ye sweetest life;
Better thy selfe, then is ye rarest wife:
Repentance, hearts content, ye sinners stay,
The salt of all our actions, ye key
That opens heau'n, and leads into ye courts of day.
164
“The hate of sinfull life, and sorrowes deepe,Surpasse ye loue of life, and life of loue:
For what is yt which wantons ‘loue’ yclepe,
But hot desires yt doe each passion mooue,
And through ye veines with lust-full poyson roaue;
A foolish fancy and a pleasinge paine,
That dimmes ye eyes, and dulls ye purest braine.
But loue, from heauen came, and thither goes againe.”
165
So nowe, me thinkes, her waylinge should be done,The closets shutt, ye liquid fountaine drie;
Herselfe, loue, pleasure, shee hath ouer-run,
Yet downe her cheekes ye Isicles doe hie,
59
Sighes serue for voice, teares for a tongue, to showe
The meaninge of her minde, and inward woe:
And when all's done, abroad shee and Repentance goe.
166
And as they walke abroad in open aire,Each thinge shee spies, is matter of her teares:
The creatures with her-selfe shee doth compare;
And when ye Sun in bright array appeares,
He blushes at her shame; and when shee heares
The chirpinge birds, she thinkes they doe reioyce
To see her weepe, and heare her broken voice;
And vpon her alone, ye beasts to gaze make choyse.
167
As by she passes, each tree shakes his head,Notinge her shame, and infamy of life:
The flowers turne, and seeme refuse her tread;
The buzzinge flies about are very rife;
The winde, against her, blowes with mickle strife:
But to herselfe most sharpe, she rents her haire,
Showringe forth teares, with sighes and humble prayer,
So to content ye earth with teares, with sighes ye aire.
168
Then a newe contemplation shee invents,(But all her contemplations holy were,)
And thus with piteous mone shee sore laments,
Holdinge her hands vp to ye spangled sphære:
“Oh thou yt guidst thy burninge horses there,
Thy state I envie, sith thy race is run
From East to West, and mine scarse yet begun;
My darknesse, others blindes; to others, shines ye Sun.
60
169
“Sweete is ye smell, yt fragrant flowers bringe,Wouinge ye winde to kisse them once againe;
Sweet are ye notes, yt birds sit carolinge
To him yt made them; but ye filthy staine
Of sin hath mee disodour'd, and my straine
Tunes nought but vanity and fond delight:
The grasse with freshest colours is bedight;
The trees bringe fruit: but fruitlesse I, as darke as night.
170
“The fire hath heat, but I was dead in sin:The aire is moist, my vertue withered:
Solid ye earth: but I haue euer been
Vnstable: water coole; I, tortured
With burninge lust: All haue perseuered
In true obedience, performinge still,
What was inioyn'd them first by heauens will,
While I, vnhappy soule, haue wrought no worke but [ill.]
171
“Oh that mine eyes a fountaine weare of teares,That I might cleanse my sin-polluted soule,
Or yt my dayes were like ye Eagles yeares,
That with my age I might renewe my smarte,
So should Repentance neuer from mee parte!”
But oh, enough (faire Damsell), though ye skies
Nor ye vast sea with water can suffice
To purge our sin, yet faith from heauen biddes thee rise.”
172
So shee arrose, and by ye way heard tell,That Iesus with ye Pharise nowe sate:
Thrice happy messenger, yt came so well,
Such vnexpected tidinges to relate,
61
Yet shee was daunted at ye Pharise,
(For Pharises and sinners n'er agree,
Though Pharises themselues, of s[i]nners cheefest bee).
173
A while shee pauzinge stood, and 'gan to doubt,Whither shee to ye Pharises should goe,
Or rather for her Sauiour staye without;
(Such men bee of austere regarde, wee knowe,
And to ye vulgar make a goodly showe.)
But other thoughts, to quell this care begin,
“The Pharise's a man, and men haue sin;
Then, bee hee n'er so good, a better is within.
174
“A better is within, and hee so good,That howe maye I, polluted soule, come neare?
Women defiled with a fluxe of blood,
Maye not amonge ye hallowed appeare:
I am vnclean, and leprous eu'ry where,
How shall I then approach before his eye,
More bright then is [ye] Eagle's, yt doth prie
Into ye cabinets of deepest secrecy?—
175
“But yet in mercy is his cheefe delight:Hee came to heale ye sicke, to saue ye lost;
Hee cur'd 10 Lepres, gaue ye blinde yr sight,
Feet to ye lame, life to ye nummed ghost,
Speech to ye dumbe, and comforte to ye moste:
And, which with prayse must euer bee confest,
(Blest be ye time! his name for euer blest!)
Seu'n sprights, with thunder hee ycharm'd from out my brest.
62
176
“Certes his loue will couer all my shame,And with his robe my errours I may hide:
For I am sicke, lost, leprous, blinde, and lame,
Dumbe, comforteles, and dead: nor is it pride,
To seeke for helpe: then, what so'er betide,
Thither I'l goe! if Christ once bidde me stay,
The Pharise can neuer say mee nay:
Oh, happy place, where heau'n hath placd another day!”
177
A boxe of costely odours shee præpar'd,Odours t' anoynt th' anoynted from aboue,
And with it streight to Simons house shee far'd,
With true repentance to declare her loue:
Shee brake it, and ye roome could soone approoue
The fragrant smell: such is a contrite heart,
That to ye heau'n sweet sauours doth impart,
The oyntment of good workes, and pænitence, ne'r parte.
178
Præpared thus, behinde his feet shee stood,Dissolu'd in teares of sweet (though bitter) brine,
And with ye torrent of a Chrystall flood,
Shee wash'd his feet, his iu'ry feet diuine,
And then shee wip'd them with ye goulden twine
Of her dissheuel'd haires: full many a kisse
Shee gaue, and tooke; and, conscious of yr blisse,
Her lippes waxt pale, for feare they had done ought amisse.
179
That falt, ye willinge maide will soon amend,For lauishely shee powres her oyntement sweet,
(Though lauishely enough shee n'er could spend
That which shee spent vpon his heau'nly feet:)
63
Sweet was thy vnction (Mary), sweet thy kisse,
But sweetest of all sweetes, thy teares (I-wis):
The onely waye to heauen, by salt water is.
180
Happy wert thou to touch ye tressells bareOf thy beloued, heau'nly paramour,
With eye, with hand, with temples, lippe and haire:
Yet thrice more happy, sith thy Sauiour,
With eye, heart, hand of faith thou didst adore:
So doth a loue-sicke soule of best desarte,
Desire to touch her louer in each part,
And closely steale his body, yt hath stole her heart.
181
Oyntement shee mingles aye with bitter teares;Teares with sweet oyntement aye shee doth confound:
No better balme in Gilead appeares,
No sweeter smell in Lebanons rich ground:
This saints ye sinner, makes ye sickest sound:
Oyntement and teares (if true) to get her inne,
First ope ye sluce, and shed teares for thy sin,
Then to anoynt Christe's feet, with Magdalen begin.
182
Humility, lowe at his feet biddes stand;Behinde him, rosy-blushinge Modesty:
Teares for his feet, Repentance doth commaund;
And Selfe-Hate, with her haire biddes make them drie:
Loue biddes her kisse, and Liberality
Wills her to breake ye boxe, and oyntement powre.
Hardenes of heart, pride, shamelesnesse before,
Lust, luxury, selfe-loue, possess'd her thoughts of yore.
64
183
Mee thinkes, I see ye Damsell at her worke,While shee embalmes his feet with odours rare;
With modest blush, howe shee hath learnt to lurke,
And kisse his feet, his marble feet, so faire,
And then to wipe them with her carelesse haire:
Often her hands, often her lippes, came near[e];
Oft wipes shee of ye oyntement, yt I feare,
The oyntement wanted sweet, his feet perfumed weare.
184
Yet sweet ye oyntement was, though sweeter farreThe Nectar of his feet, with dewe besprent:
So weake perfumes (though sweet) soone drowned are,
If they bee mingled with a deper sent:
Simons good cheare giues no such good content:
His ghuests are frolicke with yr dainty meat;
But shee delights ye brinish teares to eat,
And ioyeth more in hers, then they in highest seat.
185
Some at feast haue crau'd thy company;But fewe or none, sweet oyntement for thee kept;
Some haue anoynted, but fewe wip'd the[e] drie:
Some wip'd thee drie; but wipinge, fewe haue wept;
Beyond them all, kinde Magdalene hath stept:
Some on thy head bestow'd yr charity,
(Such was ye vse in auncient times,) but shee,
Oyntinge thy feet, from toppe to toe anoynted thee.
186
O, that I might, with waueringe Thomas, dippeThe finger of my faith within his side,
Or heere with Magdalene obtaine a sippe,
(Farre from my humble thought bee greater pride!)
65
What would hee giue for weepinge Maries place,
Whose hermitinge humility could grace
The Linnen cloutes, yt did our Sauiours wound embrace.
187
Faine would I leaue of Maries loue to writ[e],But still her loue yt will not let me leaue:
In loue shee liu'd, and now with loues delight,
Her former loue, yt did her eyes deceiue,
In-stead of loue, of life shee doth bereaue:
Faire mayde, redeemed from ye iawes of Hell,
Howe hardly can I bidde thy loue fare-well!
That which thou lou'st to doe, so doe I loue to tell.
188
The Pharisæ yt thought hee sawe, was blinde;The abiect sinner had the clearer eye;
For thus hee reasoned within his minde;
‘Were this a Prophet, hee would soone descrie
The wickednesse of her yt standes so nighe:’
Thus hee coniectur'd, yet hee vtter'd nought:
But his hypocrisie to light was brought;
For well hee knewe her former life, yt knewe his thought.
189
Then hee begins her action to commendTo Simon in a parable of debt,
And sayes vnto him: “Seest thou her, my freind?
Great is her loue, because her Sin is great:
To washe my feet, no water hast thou set;
But shee with teares hath washt them: on my head
Thou hast not powred oyle: but shee, in-stead,
With costly oyntement hath my feet be-sprinkeled.
66
190
“No kisse thou gau'st mee for a kinde salute;But shee vnto my feet doth kisses giue:
So her affection with her smiles doe sute:
Thy sinns (sayth hee) are cleansd, and thou shalt liue:
Goe hence in peace, sweete mayde! for euer thriue!”
Wonder it is, yt hee, whose sacred might
May call all prayse and glory, his by right,
Should giue such heaunly prayse vnto a mortall wight.
191
Away shee went, aggladded at the heart,(Packe hence all sorrowe, let ye Damsell cheare!)
Yet so, yt neuer from him shee would parte:
And nowe her browe and cheekes began to cleare,
And ioye displayd his banners eu'ry where;
Now with a shole of Maries so deuout,
Shee ministers, and deales her goods about,
And followes her Leige-Lorde ye villages throughout.
192
Nowe on his rarest miracles shee gazeth,And with attention shee likes to heare,
While hee ye lustre of his light eblazeth,
And charmes with sacred eloquence each eare.
So shee awaited still, both farre and neare,
Till death approach'd, and hee inuaded Hell:
But of his death, what should I further tell?
Better maye hee that sange his birth, ringe out his knell.
193
Many a teare in Golgotha shee spent,To waile his torment and her owne distresse;
And after, hied her to his monument,
With odours sweet his wounded corps to dresse:
67
The earth was clad with sable weeds of night
When Magdalene, so full of rufull plight,
Prœuents ye daye, and in ye darke seekes for her light.
194
O blessed woman, without Paragon,That couldst outrun (such is ye force of loue)
The faithefull Peter and beloued Iohn,
And bee ye first yt sawe ye stones remoue!
This boone was graunted thee from heau'n aboue:
But when shee could not finde his body there,
Shee runs to them, and cries with piteous feare,
“Aye mee! my lord is gon! and layd, wee knowe not where.”
195
Iohn faster ran, but Peter farther went:Hee came vnto ye sepulehre, and stayd;
The other entred in ye monument;
But both out-stripped by ye weepinge mayde:
They sawe ye linnen clothes and kercheife layd
A-part: but shee, ye Angells first did viewe,
As downe shee bow'd, in weeds of whitest hue.
Poore Mary knewe not them, although they Mary knewe.
196
Shee drownes her-selfe in teares of saltest brine;They aske her, why shee weepes, and makes such mone:
Shee sayes, “my Lorde is taken from this shrine;”
And hauing sayd, shee spies her Lord alone;
And yet to her, though seen, hee is not knowne:
“Woman! (sayes hee) why makst thou such laments?”
Shee aunswerd, “Sir! if thou hast borne him hence,
Tell mee but where hee lies, and I will fetch him thence.”
68
197
Shee thought her Lorde, ye gardiner had been:And keeper of a garden, sure, was hee:
Yet no such garden, where dead sculls are seen,
But Paradise, where pleasures euer bee,
And blisse deriu'd from lifes aye-liuinge tree:
Thither ye theife and he together went,
And thither Mary must at length bee sent;
But first ye dimme light of her life must needs bee spent.
198
Shee, to anoynt his breathlesse body came;With oyle of gladnesse hee, to oynt her head:
To keepe him from corruption, was her ayme;
His purpose was to raise her from ye dead.
By name hee call'd her (happily shee sped!)
To bee the messenger of heau'[n]ly newes,
That gladdes the heart, and fadinge age renewes,
And to ye Saints, thinges longe time vnreueiled shewes.
199
Awaye shee postes, all rauish'd with desire,And to ye Saints together met, shee hies:
Her tidings make ye trobled soules admire;
And yet her solace, and sweet obloquies,
Make constant hope, and better thoughts arrise.
Their prayses loud vp to ye heau'ns they send:
Ioye closes all, (such ioye no style hath penn'd)
So end I with yr ioye; ner may yt ioye haue end!
Δοξα τω θεω.
| The Life and Death of Mary Magdalene | |