Schola Cordis or the Heart of it Selfe, gone away from God ::

My sinnes, I doe confesse, a cord were found
Heavy, and hard by thee, when thou wast bound,
Great Lord of love, with them, but thou hast twin'd
Gentle love-cords my tender heart to bind.

Ode. 42.

1

What? could those hands,
That made the world, be subject unto bands?
Could there a cord be found,
Wherewith omnipotence it self was bound?
Wonder mine heart, and stand amaz'd to see
The Lord of liberty
Led captive for thy sake, and in thy stead.
Although he did
Nothing deserving death, or bands, yet he
Was bound, and put to death, to set thee free.

2

Thy sinnes had ti'd
Those bands for thee, wherein thou should'st have di'd:
And thou did'st daily knit
Knots upon knots, whereby thou mad'st them fit
Closer, and faster, to thy faulty self.
So like a cursed elfe,

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Helplesse, and hopelesse, friendlesse, and forlorne,
The sinke of scorne,
And kennell of contempt, thou should'st have laine
Eternally enthrall'd to endlesse paine.

3

Had not the Lord
Of love and life been pleased to afford
His helping hand of grace,
And freely put himself into thy place.
So were thy bands transferr'd, but not unti'd,
Untill the time he di'd,
And by his death vanquisht, and conqu'red all,
That Adams fall
Had made victorious. Sinne, Death, and Hell,
Thy fatall foes, under his footstool fell.

4

Yet he meant not
That thou should'st use the liberty he got
As it should like thee best,
To wander as thou listest, or to rest
In soft repose carelesse of his commands:
He that hath loos'd those bands,
Whereby thou wast enslaved to the foes,
Binds thee with those,
Where with he bound himself to doe thee good,
The bands of love, love writ in lines of blood.

5

His love to thee
Made him to lay aside his Majesty,
And cloathed in a vaile
Of fraile, though faultlesse flesh become thy baile.
But love requireth love: and since thou art
Loved by him, thy part
It is to love him too: and love affords

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The strongest cords
That can be: for it ties, not hands alone,
But heads, and hearts, and soules, and all in one.

6

Come then, mine heart,
And freely follow the prevailing art
Of thy Redeemers love.
That strong magnetique tie hath pow'r to move
The steeli'st stubbornesse. If thou but twine,
And twist his love with thine,
And by obedience labour to expresse
Thy thankfulnesse,
It will be hard to say on whether side
The bands are surest, which is fastest tide.

University of Virginia Library

The binding of the Heart.

Epigr. 42.

Ode. 42.

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