Emblems With elegant figures newly published. By J. H. [i.e. John Hall] |
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| 13. | [Lord! what is man?] |
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 | Emblems With elegant figures |  |
49
[Lord! what is man?]
Lord thou hast made me for thee, and my heart is unquiet till it Rest in thee.
Aug. Conf. lib. 1. cap. 1.
Lord! what is man?
A mass of wonders cluster'd in a span:
One who can tell
The eye, yet his best part invisible,
As great a piece
Of beauty, as wise nature can express:
But who can find
The uncontrouled swiftness of his mind?
How't can reflect
Upon it self, and by its intellect,
When it shall please,
Clime highest mountains, plum the deepest seas:
Or nimbly wind,
To either pole, and see where all's calcin'd
To save by heat
Whom cold doe's all in glassy shackles set.
Or ere the eye
Can turn it self, clamber the azure skie:
Yet cannot she
Find rest at all, till that she rest in thee,
Thee, who did'st lay
Her active substance in the cell of clay;
Yet hast indued
And deck't her with thine own similitude,
That there might be
Some little ectypes of thy Majestie,
Though he could chase
Old time into his cradle, yea and trace
Each planet as
He through his azure circuit doth pass,
And subt'ly eye
How multiformious Meteors strangely fly:
But can the heart
Find any settlement? although all art
Should court, and be
Transformed into one great flattery?
No, no, till thou
Who art alone all fulness, sweetly flow
Into 't and be
The cause of hunger by society.
Then may she rest
In thee, who art her center, and though prest
With sorrowes even
As low as hell, bounce up as high as Heaven.
A mass of wonders cluster'd in a span:
One who can tell
The eye, yet his best part invisible,
As great a piece
Of beauty, as wise nature can express:
But who can find
The uncontrouled swiftness of his mind?
How't can reflect
Upon it self, and by its intellect,
When it shall please,
Clime highest mountains, plum the deepest seas:
Or nimbly wind,
To either pole, and see where all's calcin'd
To save by heat
Whom cold doe's all in glassy shackles set.
Or ere the eye
Can turn it self, clamber the azure skie:
Yet cannot she
Find rest at all, till that she rest in thee,
Thee, who did'st lay
Her active substance in the cell of clay;
Yet hast indued
And deck't her with thine own similitude,
That there might be
Some little ectypes of thy Majestie,
50
Old time into his cradle, yea and trace
Each planet as
He through his azure circuit doth pass,
And subt'ly eye
How multiformious Meteors strangely fly:
But can the heart
Find any settlement? although all art
Should court, and be
Transformed into one great flattery?
No, no, till thou
Who art alone all fulness, sweetly flow
Into 't and be
The cause of hunger by society.
Then may she rest
In thee, who art her center, and though prest
With sorrowes even
As low as hell, bounce up as high as Heaven.
51
Epigram 13.
Can the earth dance? the Ocean fall asleep?Or can the thoughts of man their quiet keep,
'Till they be home from all their travells brought
To him, who know's all wisdom at a thought?
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