The Blessed Birth-day celebrated in some religious meditations on the Angels Anthem. Lvc. 2. 14. Also holy transportations, in contemplating some of the most obserueable adiuncts about our Saviours Nativity. Extracted for the most part out of the Sacred Scriptures, Ancient Fathers, Christian Poets. And some moderne Approved Authors. By Charles Fitz-Geffry. The second Edition with Additions |
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Transportat. IV. The place of his Birth. A Stall
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 | The Blessed Birth-day |  |
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Transportat. IV. The place of his Birth. A Stall .
Man
being in honour had not vnderstanding,
But turned beast, from his Creator wandring:
Him to restore, and to make man againe,
God to be born 'mong beasts doth not disdain.
His Mothers Child-bed-Chamber is a Stall,
A Cratch his Cradle, and the Lord of all
For his poore Parent ready to ly downe
Cannot command an Inne in all the towne.
And he who coms men to advance to Heaven
For his first lodging vnto beasts is driven.
But turned beast, from his Creator wandring:
Him to restore, and to make man againe,
God to be born 'mong beasts doth not disdain.
His Mothers Child-bed-Chamber is a Stall,
A Cratch his Cradle, and the Lord of all
For his poore Parent ready to ly downe
Cannot command an Inne in all the towne.
And he who coms men to advance to Heaven
For his first lodging vnto beasts is driven.
Vncivill Cittizens and people vild,
Thus to exclude a woman great with child
So neere her time! Had you humanity
You would haue shew'd to such more curtesy:
You would haue found for her a fitter place,
For might it not haue beene your Mothers case?
Rather then she should in a stall remaine
Your selues vpon the cold ground should haue laine.
Are there not still such Inns, to whom no guest
Lesse welcome is, then Christ who is the best?
Thus to exclude a woman great with child
So neere her time! Had you humanity
You would haue shew'd to such more curtesy:
You would haue found for her a fitter place,
For might it not haue beene your Mothers case?
Rather then she should in a stall remaine
Your selues vpon the cold ground should haue laine.
Are there not still such Inns, to whom no guest
Lesse welcome is, then Christ who is the best?
Sweet Saviour, I an Inne-keeper will be,
The signe shall be my Heart: Come lodge with me:
The damned crue I entertain'd before
(My roaring sins) I'le all turne out at dore:
I'le not afford them lodging in a Stall,
Thou shalt haue Parlor, Chamber, Hall, and all.
The best cheere that I can I will prepare
For thee. And this shall be my chiefest care,
(Because I know 'tis that which likes thee best)
That all be neat and cleane for such a guest.
Thou who, when first thou cam'st, would'st in no bed
Saue in a Virgins wombe repose thy head,
Thou who in all thy life, lou'd'st purity,
And being dead would'st in pure linnen ly,
Thou who compared art vnto a Doue,
The bird which neatnesse doth and cleannesse loue,
I know that he who shall thee entertaine
Must chiefely care that all be neat and cleane.
The signe shall be my Heart: Come lodge with me:
The damned crue I entertain'd before
(My roaring sins) I'le all turne out at dore:
I'le not afford them lodging in a Stall,
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The best cheere that I can I will prepare
For thee. And this shall be my chiefest care,
(Because I know 'tis that which likes thee best)
That all be neat and cleane for such a guest.
Thou who, when first thou cam'st, would'st in no bed
Saue in a Virgins wombe repose thy head,
Thou who in all thy life, lou'd'st purity,
And being dead would'st in pure linnen ly,
Thou who compared art vnto a Doue,
The bird which neatnesse doth and cleannesse loue,
I know that he who shall thee entertaine
Must chiefely care that all be neat and cleane.
Then how can I hope thou wilt lodge with mee,
In whom all things so fowle and sordid bee?
Yet come and lodge. For why? I know 'tis true,
That where thou com'st thou makest all things new.
In whom all things so fowle and sordid bee?
Yet come and lodge. For why? I know 'tis true,
That where thou com'st thou makest all things new.
O thou whose Birth a Stall could stellify
With Heauen within, and a bright starre on high,
That not the best Star-Chamber of them all
For glory could compare with this Starre-stall:
O grace me with thy presence, who art able,
To make a Pallace of th'Augæan stable.
With Heauen within, and a bright starre on high,
That not the best Star-Chamber of them all
For glory could compare with this Starre-stall:
O grace me with thy presence, who art able,
To make a Pallace of th'Augæan stable.
O thou who hadst things of no better worth
Then Straw, and Hay, to set the Chamber forth
Where thou wert borne: Be borne in me this day,
In me poore wretch, who with'red am like Hay,
Be borne in me: so shall this Hay be made
Fresh as the Rose, and never after fade.
Then Straw, and Hay, to set the Chamber forth
Where thou wert borne: Be borne in me this day,
In me poore wretch, who with'red am like Hay,
Be borne in me: so shall this Hay be made
Fresh as the Rose, and never after fade.
| The Blessed Birth-day | |