Du Bartas His Divine Weekes And Workes with A Compleate Collectio[n] of all the other most delight-full Workes: Translated and written by yt famous Philomusus: Iosvah Sylvester |
 |
| 1. |
| 1. | THE FIRST DAY OF THE FIRST WEEK. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
| 7. |
| 2. |
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 1. |
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 2. |
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 3. |
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
|
| 4. |
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| 4. |
|
|
|
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
| 7. |
| 8. |
| 9. |
| 10. |
| 11. |
| 12. |
| 13. |
| 14. |
| 15. |
| 16. |
| 17. |
| 18. |
| 19. |
| 20. |
| 21. |
| 22. |
| 23. |
| 24. |
| 25. |
| 26. |
| 27. |
| 28. |
| 29. |
| 30. |
| 31. |
| 32. |
| 33. |
| 34. |
| 35. |
| 36. |
| 37. |
| 38. |
| 39. |
| 40. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
| 7. |
|
|
|
|
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
|
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
| 7. |
| 8. |
| 9. |
| 10. |
| 11. |
| 12. |
| 13. |
| 14. |
| 15. |
| 16. |
| 17. |
| 18. |
| 19. |
| 20. |
| 21. |
| 22. |
| 23. |
| 24. |
| 25. |
| 26. |
| 27. |
| 28. |
| 29. |
| 30. |
| 31. |
| 32. |
| 33. |
| 34. |
| 35. |
| 36. |
| 37. |
| 38. |
| 39. |
| 40. |
| 41. |
| 42. |
| 43. |
| 44. |
| 45. |
| 46. |
| 47. |
| 48. |
| 49. |
| 50. |
|
|
|
 | Du Bartas |  |
1
THE FIRST DAY OF THE FIRST WEEK.
The Argvment.
GOD's Aide implor'd: the Summe of all propos'd:World not eternall, nor by Chance compos'd:
But of meer Nothing God it essence gaue:
It had Beginning: and an End shall haue:
Curst Atheists quipt: the Heathen Clarkes control'd:
Doom's glorious Day: Star-Doctors blam'd for bold:
The Matter form'd: Creation of the Light:
Alternate changes of the Day, and Night:
The birth of Angels; some for Pride deiected:
The rest persist in Grace, and guard th'Elected.
Thou glorious Guide of Heav'ns star-glistering motion,
Thou, thou (true Neptune) Tamer of the Ocean,
Thou Earth's drad Shaker (at whose only Word,
Th'Eölian Scouts are quickly still'd and stirr'd)
Lift vp my soule, my drousie spirits refine,
With learned Art enrich This Worke of mine:
O Father, grant I sweetly warble forth
Vnto our seed the World's renowned Birth:
Grant (gracious God) that I record in Verse
The rarest Beauties of this Vniverse;
And grant, therein Thy Power I may discern:
That, teaching others, I my selfe may learn.
Thou, thou (true Neptune) Tamer of the Ocean,
Thou Earth's drad Shaker (at whose only Word,
Th'Eölian Scouts are quickly still'd and stirr'd)
Lift vp my soule, my drousie spirits refine,
With learned Art enrich This Worke of mine:
O Father, grant I sweetly warble forth
Vnto our seed the World's renowned Birth:
Grant (gracious God) that I record in Verse
The rarest Beauties of this Vniverse;
And grant, therein Thy Power I may discern:
That, teaching others, I my selfe may learn.
And also grant (great Architect of wonders,
Whose mighty Voyce speakes in the midst of Thunders,
Causing the Rocks to rock, and Hils to teare;
Calling the things that Are not, as they were;
Confounding Mighty things by meanes of Weak;
Teaching dum Infants thy drad Praise to speak;
Inspiring Wisdom into those that want,
And giuing Knowledge to the Ignorant)
Grant mee, good Lord (as thou hast giv'n me hart
To vndertake so excellent a Part)
Grant me such Iudgement Grace, and Eloquence,
So correspondent to that Excellence,
That in some measure, I may seeme t'inherit
(Elisha-like) my deare Elias spirit.
Whose mighty Voyce speakes in the midst of Thunders,
Causing the Rocks to rock, and Hils to teare;
Calling the things that Are not, as they were;
Confounding Mighty things by meanes of Weak;
Teaching dum Infants thy drad Praise to speak;
2
And giuing Knowledge to the Ignorant)
Grant mee, good Lord (as thou hast giv'n me hart
To vndertake so excellent a Part)
Grant me such Iudgement Grace, and Eloquence,
So correspondent to that Excellence,
That in some measure, I may seeme t'inherit
(Elisha-like) my deare Elias spirit.
Clear Fire for euer hath not Aire imbrac't,
Nor Aire for-ay inuiron'd Waters vast,
Nor Waters alwaies wrapt the Earth therein;
But all this All did once (of nought) begin.
Once All was made; not by the hand of Fortune
(As fond Democritus did yerst importune)
With iarring Concords making Motes to meet,
Inuisible, immortall, infinite.
Nor Aire for-ay inuiron'd Waters vast,
Nor Waters alwaies wrapt the Earth therein;
But all this All did once (of nought) begin.
Once All was made; not by the hand of Fortune
(As fond Democritus did yerst importune)
With iarring Concords making Motes to meet,
Inuisible, immortall, infinite.
Th'immutable diuine Decree, which shall
Cause the Worlds End, caus'd his Originall:
Neither in Time, nor yet before the same,
But in the instant when Time first became.
I meane a Time confused: for, the course
Of yeares, of months, of weeks, of daies, of howrs,
Of Ages, Times, and Seasons, is confin'd
By th'ordred Dance vnto the Stars assign'd.
Cause the Worlds End, caus'd his Originall:
Neither in Time, nor yet before the same,
But in the instant when Time first became.
I meane a Time confused: for, the course
Of yeares, of months, of weeks, of daies, of howrs,
Of Ages, Times, and Seasons, is confin'd
By th'ordred Dance vnto the Stars assign'd.
Before all Time, all Matter, Form, and Place,
God all in all, and all in God it was:
Immutable, immortall, infinite,
Incomprehensible, all spirit, all light,
All Maiesty, all-self-Omnipotent,
Inuisible, impassiue, excellent,
Pure, wise, iust, good, God raign'd alone (at rest)
Himselfe alone, selfs Palace, host, and guest.
God all in all, and all in God it was:
Immutable, immortall, infinite,
Incomprehensible, all spirit, all light,
All Maiesty, all-self-Omnipotent,
Inuisible, impassiue, excellent,
Pure, wise, iust, good, God raign'd alone (at rest)
Himselfe alone, selfs Palace, host, and guest.
Thou scoffing Atheist, that enquirest, what
Th'Almightie did before he framed that?
What weighty Work his minde was busied on
Eternally before this world begun
(Sith so deep Wisedom and Omnipotence,
Nought worse beseems, then sloth and negligence)?
Knowe (bold blasphemer) that, before, he built
A Hell to punish the presumptuous Guilt
Of those vngodly, whose proud sense dares cite
And censure too his Wisedom infinite.
Th'Almightie did before he framed that?
What weighty Work his minde was busied on
Eternally before this world begun
(Sith so deep Wisedom and Omnipotence,
Nought worse beseems, then sloth and negligence)?
Knowe (bold blasphemer) that, before, he built
A Hell to punish the presumptuous Guilt
Of those vngodly, whose proud sense dares cite
And censure too his Wisedom infinite.
Can Carpenters, Weauers, and Potters passe
And liue without their seuerall works a space?
And could not then th'Almightie All-Creator,
Th'all-prudent, BEE, without this frail Theater?
And liue without their seuerall works a space?
And could not then th'Almightie All-Creator,
Th'all-prudent, BEE, without this frail Theater?
Shall valiant Scipio Thus himself esteem,
Neuer lesse sole then when he sole doth seem?
And could not God (O Heav'ns! what frantick folly!)
Subsist alone, but sink in Melancholy?
Neuer lesse sole then when he sole doth seem?
3
Subsist alone, but sink in Melancholy?
Shall the Pryenian Princely Sage auerr,
That all his goods he doth about him bear:
And should the Lord, whose Wealth exceeds all measure,
Should he be poore without this Worldly treasure?
That all his goods he doth about him bear:
And should the Lord, whose Wealth exceeds all measure,
Should he be poore without this Worldly treasure?
God neuer seeks, out of himself, for ought;
He begs of none, he buyes or borrowes nought;
But aye, from th'Ocean of his liberall bounty,
He poureth out a thousand Seas of Plenty.
He begs of none, he buyes or borrowes nought;
But aye, from th'Ocean of his liberall bounty,
He poureth out a thousand Seas of Plenty.
Yer Eurus blew, yer Moon did Wex or Wane,
Yer Sea had fish, yer Earth had grass or grain,
God was not void of sacred exercise;
He did admire his Glorie's Mysteries:
His power, his Iustice, and his Prouidence,
His bountious Grace, and great Beneficence
Were th'holy obiect of his heauenly thought;
Vpon the which, eternally it wrought.
It may be also that he meditated
The Worlds Idea, yer it was Created:
Alone he-liv'd not; for his Son and Spirit
Were with him ay, Equall in might and merit.
For, sans beginning, seed, and Mother tender,
This great Worlds Father he did first ingender
(Towit) His Son, Wisedom, and Word eternall,
Equall in Essence to th'All-One Paternall.
Out of these Two, their common Power proceeded,
Their Spirit, their Loue; in Essence vndiuided:
Onely distinct in Persons, whose Diuinitie,
All Three in One, makes One eternall Trinitie.
Yer Sea had fish, yer Earth had grass or grain,
God was not void of sacred exercise;
He did admire his Glorie's Mysteries:
His power, his Iustice, and his Prouidence,
His bountious Grace, and great Beneficence
Were th'holy obiect of his heauenly thought;
Vpon the which, eternally it wrought.
It may be also that he meditated
The Worlds Idea, yer it was Created:
Alone he-liv'd not; for his Son and Spirit
Were with him ay, Equall in might and merit.
For, sans beginning, seed, and Mother tender,
This great Worlds Father he did first ingender
(Towit) His Son, Wisedom, and Word eternall,
Equall in Essence to th'All-One Paternall.
Out of these Two, their common Power proceeded,
Their Spirit, their Loue; in Essence vndiuided:
Onely distinct in Persons, whose Diuinitie,
All Three in One, makes One eternall Trinitie.
Soft, soft, my Muse, launch not into the Deep,
Sound not this Sea: see that aloof thou keep
From this Charybdis and Capharean Rock,
Where many a ship haue suffered wofull wrack,
While they haue fondly vent'red forth too-far,
Following frail Reason for their only Star.
VVho on this Gulf would safely venture fain,
Must not too-boldly hale into the Main,
But 'longst the shoar with sailes of Faith must coast;
Their Star the Bible; Steer-man th'Holy-Ghost.
Sound not this Sea: see that aloof thou keep
From this Charybdis and Capharean Rock,
Where many a ship haue suffered wofull wrack,
While they haue fondly vent'red forth too-far,
Following frail Reason for their only Star.
VVho on this Gulf would safely venture fain,
Must not too-boldly hale into the Main,
But 'longst the shoar with sailes of Faith must coast;
Their Star the Bible; Steer-man th'Holy-Ghost.
How many fine wits haue the World abus'd,
Because this Ghost they for their Guide refus'd;
And, scorning of the loyall virgins Thred,
Haue them and others in this Maze mis-led?
Because this Ghost they for their Guide refus'd;
And, scorning of the loyall virgins Thred,
Haue them and others in this Maze mis-led?
In sacred sheets of either Testament
'Tis hard to finde a higher Argument,
More deep to sound, more busie to discuss,
More vse-full, knowne; vnknowne, more dangerous.
So bright a Sun dazels my tender sight:
So deep discourse my sense confoundeth quite:
My Reason's edge is dull'd in this Dispute,
And in my mouth my fainting words be mute.
'Tis hard to finde a higher Argument,
More deep to sound, more busie to discuss,
More vse-full, knowne; vnknowne, more dangerous.
4
So deep discourse my sense confoundeth quite:
My Reason's edge is dull'd in this Dispute,
And in my mouth my fainting words be mute.
This Trinitie (which rather I adore
In humbleness, then busily explore)
In th'infinit of Nothing, builded all
This artificiall, great, rich, glorious Ball;
Wherein appears in grav'n on euery part
The Builders beauty, greatness, wealth, and Art;
Art, beauty, wealth, and greatness, that confounds
The hellish barking of blaspheming Hounds.
In humbleness, then busily explore)
In th'infinit of Nothing, builded all
This artificiall, great, rich, glorious Ball;
Wherein appears in grav'n on euery part
The Builders beauty, greatness, wealth, and Art;
Art, beauty, wealth, and greatness, that confounds
The hellish barking of blaspheming Hounds.
Climb they that list the battlements of Heav'n:
And with the Whirl-wind of Ambition driv'n,
Beyond the World's wals let those Eagles flie,
And gaze vpon the Sun of Maiestie:
Let other-some (whose fainting spirits do droop)
Downe to the ground their meditations stoop,
And so contemplate on these Workmanships,
That th'Authors praise they in Themselues eclipse.
And with the Whirl-wind of Ambition driv'n,
Beyond the World's wals let those Eagles flie,
And gaze vpon the Sun of Maiestie:
Let other-some (whose fainting spirits do droop)
Downe to the ground their meditations stoop,
And so contemplate on these Workmanships,
That th'Authors praise they in Themselues eclipse.
My heedfull Muse, trained in true Religion,
Diuinely-humane keeps the middle Region:
Lest, if she should too-high a pitch presume,
Heav'ns glowing flame should melt her waxen plume;
Or, if too-lowe (neer Earth or Sea) she flag,
Loaden with Mists her moistned wings should lag.
It glads me much, to view this Frame; wherein
(As in a Glasse) God's glorious face is seen:
I loue to look on God; but, in this Robe
Of his great Works, this vniuersall Globe.
For, if the Suns bright beams do bleare the sight
Of such as fixtly gaze against his light;
Who can behold aboue th'Empyriall Skies,
The lightning splendor of God's glorious eyes?
O, who (alas) can finde the Lord, without
His Works, which beare his Image round about?
Diuinely-humane keeps the middle Region:
Lest, if she should too-high a pitch presume,
Heav'ns glowing flame should melt her waxen plume;
Or, if too-lowe (neer Earth or Sea) she flag,
Loaden with Mists her moistned wings should lag.
It glads me much, to view this Frame; wherein
(As in a Glasse) God's glorious face is seen:
I loue to look on God; but, in this Robe
Of his great Works, this vniuersall Globe.
For, if the Suns bright beams do bleare the sight
Of such as fixtly gaze against his light;
Who can behold aboue th'Empyriall Skies,
The lightning splendor of God's glorious eyes?
O, who (alas) can finde the Lord, without
His Works, which beare his Image round about?
God, of himselfe incapable to sense,
In's Works, reueales him t'our intelligence:
There-in, our fingers feel, our nostrils smell,
Our palats taste his vertues that excell:
He shewes him to our eyes, talkes to our eares,
In th'ord'red motions of the spangled Sphears.
In's Works, reueales him t'our intelligence:
There-in, our fingers feel, our nostrils smell,
Our palats taste his vertues that excell:
He shewes him to our eyes, talkes to our eares,
In th'ord'red motions of the spangled Sphears.
The World's a School, where (in a generall Story)
God alwaies reads dumb Lectures of his Glory:
A paire of Staires, whereby our mounting Soule
Ascends by steps aboue the Arched Pole:
A sumptuous Hall, where God (on euery side)
His wealthie Shop of wonders opens wide:
A Bridge, whereby we may pass-o're (at ease)
Of sacred Secrets the broad boundless Seas.
God alwaies reads dumb Lectures of his Glory:
A paire of Staires, whereby our mounting Soule
Ascends by steps aboue the Arched Pole:
A sumptuous Hall, where God (on euery side)
His wealthie Shop of wonders opens wide:
5
Of sacred Secrets the broad boundless Seas.
The World's a Cloud, through which there shineth cleer,
Not fair Latona's quiv'red Darling deer;
But the true Phœbus, whose bright countenance
Through thickest vail of darkest night doth glance.
Not fair Latona's quiv'red Darling deer;
But the true Phœbus, whose bright countenance
Through thickest vail of darkest night doth glance.
The World's a Stage, where Gods Omnipotence,
His Iustice, Knowledge, Loue, and Prouidence,
Do act their Parts; contending (in their kindes)
Aboue the Heav'ns to rauish dullest mindes.
His Iustice, Knowledge, Loue, and Prouidence,
Do act their Parts; contending (in their kindes)
Aboue the Heav'ns to rauish dullest mindes.
The World's a Book in Folio, printed all
VVith God's great Works in letters Capitall:
Each Creature is a Page; and each Effect,
A faire Character, void of all defect.
VVith God's great Works in letters Capitall:
Each Creature is a Page; and each Effect,
A faire Character, void of all defect.
But, as young Trewants, toying in the Schools,
In steed of learning, learne to play the fools:
VVe gaze but on the Babies and the Couer,
The gawdy Flowrs, and Edges gilded-ouer;
And heuer farther for our Lesson look
VVithin the Volume of this various Book;
VVhere learned Nature rudest ones instructs,
That, by His wisedome, God the World conducts.
In steed of learning, learne to play the fools:
VVe gaze but on the Babies and the Couer,
The gawdy Flowrs, and Edges gilded-ouer;
And heuer farther for our Lesson look
VVithin the Volume of this various Book;
VVhere learned Nature rudest ones instructs,
That, by His wisedome, God the World conducts.
To read This Book, we need not vnderstand
Each strangers gibbrish; neither take in hand
Turks Characters, nor Hebrew Points to seek,
Nyle's Hieroglyphikes, nor the Notes of Greeke.
The wandring Tartars, the Antarticks wilde,
Th'Alarbies fierce, the Scythians fell, the Childe
Scarce seav'n yeare old, the bleared aged eye,
Though void of Art, reade heer indifferently.
But he that wears the spectacles of Faith,
Sees through the Sphears, aboue the highest heighth:
He comprehends th'Arch-moouer of all Motions,
And reads (though running) all these needfull Notions.
Therefore, by Faith's pure rayes illumined,
These sacred Pandects I desire to read,
And (God the better to behold) behold
Th'Orb from his Birth, in's Ages manifold.
Each strangers gibbrish; neither take in hand
Turks Characters, nor Hebrew Points to seek,
Nyle's Hieroglyphikes, nor the Notes of Greeke.
The wandring Tartars, the Antarticks wilde,
Th'Alarbies fierce, the Scythians fell, the Childe
Scarce seav'n yeare old, the bleared aged eye,
Though void of Art, reade heer indifferently.
But he that wears the spectacles of Faith,
Sees through the Sphears, aboue the highest heighth:
He comprehends th'Arch-moouer of all Motions,
And reads (though running) all these needfull Notions.
Therefore, by Faith's pure rayes illumined,
These sacred Pandects I desire to read,
And (God the better to behold) behold
Th'Orb from his Birth, in's Ages manifold.
Th'admired Author's Fancie, fixed not
On some fantastik fore-conceited Plot:
Much less did he an elder World erect,
By form whereof, he might his Frame erect:
As th'Architect that Buildeth for a Prince
Some stately Palace, yer he do commence
His Royall VVork, makes choice of such a Court
VVhere cost and cunning equally consort:
And if he finde not in one Edifice
All answerable to his queint deuice;
From this faire Palace then he takes his Front,
From that his Finials; here he learns to mount
His curious Stairs, there finds he Frise and Cornish,
And other Places other Peeces furnish;
And so, selecting euery where the best,
Doth thirty Models in one House digest.
On some fantastik fore-conceited Plot:
Much less did he an elder World erect,
By form whereof, he might his Frame erect:
As th'Architect that Buildeth for a Prince
Some stately Palace, yer he do commence
His Royall VVork, makes choice of such a Court
VVhere cost and cunning equally consort:
And if he finde not in one Edifice
All answerable to his queint deuice;
6
From that his Finials; here he learns to mount
His curious Stairs, there finds he Frise and Cornish,
And other Places other Peeces furnish;
And so, selecting euery where the best,
Doth thirty Models in one House digest.
Nothing, but Nothing, had the Lord Almighty,
Whereof, wherewith, whereby, to build this Citie:
Yet, when he, Heav'ns, Aire, Earth, and Sea, did frame,
He sought not far, he sweat not for the same:
As Sol, without descending from the sky,
Crowns the fair Spring in painted brauery;
Withouten trauaile causeth th'Earth to beare,
And (far off) makes the World young euery yeare.
Whereof, wherewith, whereby, to build this Citie:
Yet, when he, Heav'ns, Aire, Earth, and Sea, did frame,
He sought not far, he sweat not for the same:
As Sol, without descending from the sky,
Crowns the fair Spring in painted brauery;
Withouten trauaile causeth th'Earth to beare,
And (far off) makes the World young euery yeare.
The Power and Will, th'affection and effect,
The Work and Proiect of this Architect,
March all at once: all to his pleasure ranges,
Who Alwaies One, his purpose neuer changes.
The Work and Proiect of this Architect,
March all at once: all to his pleasure ranges,
Who Alwaies One, his purpose neuer changes.
Yet did this Nothing not at once receiue
Matter and Forme: For, as we may perceiue
That He, who means to build a warlike Fleet,
Makes first prouision of all matter meet
(As Timber, Iron, Canuase, Cord, and Pitch)
And when all's ready; then appointeth, which
Which peece for Planks, which plank shall line the Waste,
The Poup and Prow, which Fir shall make a mast;
As Art and Vse directeth, heedfully,
His hand, his tool, his iudgement, and his eye.
So God, before This Frame he fashioned,
I wote not what great Word he vttered
From's sacred mouth; which summon'd in a Masse
Whatsoeuer now the Heav'ns wide arms embrace.
But, where the Ship-wright, for his gainfull trade,
Findes all his stuffe to's hand already made;
Th'Almighty makes his, all and euery part,
Without the help of others Wit or Art.
Matter and Forme: For, as we may perceiue
That He, who means to build a warlike Fleet,
Makes first prouision of all matter meet
(As Timber, Iron, Canuase, Cord, and Pitch)
And when all's ready; then appointeth, which
Which peece for Planks, which plank shall line the Waste,
The Poup and Prow, which Fir shall make a mast;
As Art and Vse directeth, heedfully,
His hand, his tool, his iudgement, and his eye.
So God, before This Frame he fashioned,
I wote not what great Word he vttered
From's sacred mouth; which summon'd in a Masse
Whatsoeuer now the Heav'ns wide arms embrace.
But, where the Ship-wright, for his gainfull trade,
Findes all his stuffe to's hand already made;
Th'Almighty makes his, all and euery part,
Without the help of others Wit or Art.
That first World (yet) was a most formless Form,
A confus'd Heap, a Chaos most deform,
A Gulf of Gulfs, a Body ill compackt,
An vgly medley, where all difference lackt:
Where th'Elements lay iumbled all together,
Where hot and colde were iarring each with either;
The blunt with sharp, the dank against the drie,
The hard with soft, the base against the high,
Bitter with sweet: and while this brawl did last,
The Earth in Heav'n, the Heav'n in Earth was plac't:
Earth, Aire, and Fire, were with the Water mixt;
Water, Earth, Aire, within the Fire were fixt;
Fire, Water, Earth, did in the Aire abide;
Aire, Fire, and Water, in the Earth did hide.
For yet th'immortall, mighty Thunder-darter,
The Lord high-Marshall, vnto each his quarter
Had not assigned: the Celestiall Arks
Were not yet spangled with their fiery sparks:
As yet no flowrs with odours Earth reuiued:
No scaly shoals yet in the Waters diued:
Nor any Birds, with warbling harmony,
Were born as yet through the transparent Sky.
A confus'd Heap, a Chaos most deform,
A Gulf of Gulfs, a Body ill compackt,
An vgly medley, where all difference lackt:
Where th'Elements lay iumbled all together,
Where hot and colde were iarring each with either;
The blunt with sharp, the dank against the drie,
The hard with soft, the base against the high,
Bitter with sweet: and while this brawl did last,
The Earth in Heav'n, the Heav'n in Earth was plac't:
Earth, Aire, and Fire, were with the Water mixt;
Water, Earth, Aire, within the Fire were fixt;
7
Aire, Fire, and Water, in the Earth did hide.
For yet th'immortall, mighty Thunder-darter,
The Lord high-Marshall, vnto each his quarter
Had not assigned: the Celestiall Arks
Were not yet spangled with their fiery sparks:
As yet no flowrs with odours Earth reuiued:
No scaly shoals yet in the Waters diued:
Nor any Birds, with warbling harmony,
Were born as yet through the transparent Sky.
All, All was void of beauty, rule, and light;
All without fashion, soule, and motion, quite.
Fire was no fire, the Water was no water,
Aire was no aire, the Earth no earthly matter.
Or if one could, in such a World, spy forth
The Fire, the Aire, the Water, and the Earth;
Th'Earth was not firme, the Fier was not hot,
Th'Aire was not light, the Water cooled not.
Briefly, suppose an Earth, poore, naked, vaine,
All void of verdure, without Hill or Plaine,
A Heav'n vn-hangd, vn-turning, vn-transparent,
Vn-garnished, vn-gilt with Stars apparent;
So maist thou ghesse what Heav'n and Earth was that,
Where, in confusion, raigned such debate:
A Heau'n and Earth for my base stile most fit,
Not as they were, but as they were not, yet.
All without fashion, soule, and motion, quite.
Fire was no fire, the Water was no water,
Aire was no aire, the Earth no earthly matter.
Or if one could, in such a World, spy forth
The Fire, the Aire, the Water, and the Earth;
Th'Earth was not firme, the Fier was not hot,
Th'Aire was not light, the Water cooled not.
Briefly, suppose an Earth, poore, naked, vaine,
All void of verdure, without Hill or Plaine,
A Heav'n vn-hangd, vn-turning, vn-transparent,
Vn-garnished, vn-gilt with Stars apparent;
So maist thou ghesse what Heav'n and Earth was that,
Where, in confusion, raigned such debate:
A Heau'n and Earth for my base stile most fit,
Not as they were, but as they were not, yet.
This was not then the World: 'twas but the Matter,
The Nurcery whence it should issue after;
Or rather, th'Embryon, that within a Weeke
Was to be born: for that huge lump was like
The shape-less burthen in the Mothers womb,
Which yet in Time doth into fashion com:
Eyes, eares, and nose, mouth, fingers, hands, and feet,
And euery member in proportion meet;
Round, large, and long, there of it selfe it thriues,
And (Little-World) into the World arriues.
But that becomes (by Natures set direction)
From foul and dead, to beauty, life, perfection.
But this dull Heap of vndigested stuf
Had doubtless neuer come to shape or proof,
Had not th'Almighty with his quick'ning breath
Blow'n life and spirit into this Lump of death.
The Nurcery whence it should issue after;
Or rather, th'Embryon, that within a Weeke
Was to be born: for that huge lump was like
The shape-less burthen in the Mothers womb,
Which yet in Time doth into fashion com:
Eyes, eares, and nose, mouth, fingers, hands, and feet,
And euery member in proportion meet;
Round, large, and long, there of it selfe it thriues,
And (Little-World) into the World arriues.
But that becomes (by Natures set direction)
From foul and dead, to beauty, life, perfection.
But this dull Heap of vndigested stuf
Had doubtless neuer come to shape or proof,
Had not th'Almighty with his quick'ning breath
Blow'n life and spirit into this Lump of death.
The dreadfull Darknes of the Memphytists,
The sad black horror of Cimmerian Mists,
The sable fumes of Hell's infernall vault
(Or if ought darker in the World be thought)
Muffled the face of that profound Abyss,
Full of Disorder and fell Mutinies:
So that (in fine) this furious debate
Euen in the birth this Ball had ruinate,
Saue that the Lord into the Pile did pour
Some secret Mastick of his sacred Power,
To glew together, and to gouern faire
The Heav'n and Earth, the Ocean, and the Aire;
VVho ioyntly iustling, in their rude Disorder,
The new-borne Nature went about to murder.
The sad black horror of Cimmerian Mists,
The sable fumes of Hell's infernall vault
(Or if ought darker in the World be thought)
Muffled the face of that profound Abyss,
Full of Disorder and fell Mutinies:
8
Euen in the birth this Ball had ruinate,
Saue that the Lord into the Pile did pour
Some secret Mastick of his sacred Power,
To glew together, and to gouern faire
The Heav'n and Earth, the Ocean, and the Aire;
VVho ioyntly iustling, in their rude Disorder,
The new-borne Nature went about to murder.
As a good Wit, that on th'immortall Shrine
Of Memory, ingraues a Work Diuine,
Abroad, a-bed, at boord, for euer vses
To minde his Theam, and on his Book still muses:
So did Gods Spirit delight it selfe a space
To moue it selfe vpon the floting Masse:
No other care th'Almightie's mind possest
(If care can enter in his sacred brest).
Or, as a Hen that fain would hatch a Brood
(Some of her owne, some of adoptiue blood)
Sits close thereon, and with her liuely heat,
Of yellow-white bals, doth lyue birds beget:
Euen in such sort seemed the Spirit Eternall
To brood vpon this Gulf; with care paternall
Quickning the Parts, inspiring power in each,
From so foul Lees, so faire a World to fetch.
For 't's nought but All, in't selfe including All;
An vn-beginning, midless, endless Ball.
'Tis nothing but a World, whose superfice
Leaues nothing out, but what meer nothing is.
Of Memory, ingraues a Work Diuine,
Abroad, a-bed, at boord, for euer vses
To minde his Theam, and on his Book still muses:
So did Gods Spirit delight it selfe a space
To moue it selfe vpon the floting Masse:
No other care th'Almightie's mind possest
(If care can enter in his sacred brest).
Or, as a Hen that fain would hatch a Brood
(Some of her owne, some of adoptiue blood)
Sits close thereon, and with her liuely heat,
Of yellow-white bals, doth lyue birds beget:
Euen in such sort seemed the Spirit Eternall
To brood vpon this Gulf; with care paternall
Quickning the Parts, inspiring power in each,
From so foul Lees, so faire a World to fetch.
For 't's nought but All, in't selfe including All;
An vn-beginning, midless, endless Ball.
'Tis nothing but a World, whose superfice
Leaues nothing out, but what meer nothing is.
Now, though the great Duke, that (in dreadfull aw)
Vpon Mount Horeb learn'd th'eternall Law,
Had not assur'd vs that Gods sacred Power
In six Daies built this Vniuersall Bower;
Reason it selfe doth ouer-throw the grounds
Of those new Worlds that fond Leucippus founds:
Sith, if kinde Nature many Worlds could clip,
Still th'vpper World's water and earth would slip
Into the lower; and so in conclusion,
All would returne into the Old Confusion.
Besides, we must imagin empty distance
Between these Worlds, wherein, without resistance
Their wheels may whirle, not hindred in their courses,
By th'inter-iustling of each others forces:
But, all things are so fast together fixt
With so firme bonds, that there's no voyd betwixt.
Thence comes it, that a Cask pearc't to be spent,
Though full, yet runs not till we giue it vent.
Thence is't that Bellowes, while the snout is stopt,
So hardly heaue, and hardly can be op't.
Thence is't that water doth not freeze in Winter,
Stopt close in vessels where no aire may enter.
Thence is't that Garden-pots, the mouth kept close,
Let fall no liquor at their fiue-like nose.
And thence it is, that the pure siluer source,
In leaden pipes running a captiue course,
Contrary to it's nature, spouteth high:
To all, so odious is Vacuitie.
Vpon Mount Horeb learn'd th'eternall Law,
Had not assur'd vs that Gods sacred Power
In six Daies built this Vniuersall Bower;
Reason it selfe doth ouer-throw the grounds
Of those new Worlds that fond Leucippus founds:
Sith, if kinde Nature many Worlds could clip,
Still th'vpper World's water and earth would slip
Into the lower; and so in conclusion,
All would returne into the Old Confusion.
Besides, we must imagin empty distance
Between these Worlds, wherein, without resistance
Their wheels may whirle, not hindred in their courses,
By th'inter-iustling of each others forces:
But, all things are so fast together fixt
With so firme bonds, that there's no voyd betwixt.
Thence comes it, that a Cask pearc't to be spent,
Though full, yet runs not till we giue it vent.
Thence is't that Bellowes, while the snout is stopt,
So hardly heaue, and hardly can be op't.
9
Stopt close in vessels where no aire may enter.
Thence is't that Garden-pots, the mouth kept close,
Let fall no liquor at their fiue-like nose.
And thence it is, that the pure siluer source,
In leaden pipes running a captiue course,
Contrary to it's nature, spouteth high:
To all, so odious is Vacuitie.
God then, not only framed Nature one,
But also set it limitation
Of Forme and Time: exempting euer solely
From quantity his owne self's Essence holy.
How can we call the Heav'ns vnmeasured?
Sith measur'd Time their Course hath measured.
How can we count this Vniuerse immortall?
Sith many-waies the parts proue howerly mortall:
Sith his Commencement proues his Consummation,
And all things aye decline to alteration.
But also set it limitation
Of Forme and Time: exempting euer solely
From quantity his owne self's Essence holy.
How can we call the Heav'ns vnmeasured?
Sith measur'd Time their Course hath measured.
How can we count this Vniuerse immortall?
Sith many-waies the parts proue howerly mortall:
Sith his Commencement proues his Consummation,
And all things aye decline to alteration.
Let bold Greek Sages fain the Firmament
To be compos'd of a fift Element:
Let them deny, in their profane profoundnes,
End and beginning to th'Heav'ns rowling roundnes:
And let them argue, that Deaths lawes alone
Reach but the Bodies vnder Cynthias Throne:
The sandy grounds of their Sophistick brawling
Are all too-weake to keep the World from falling.
To be compos'd of a fift Element:
Let them deny, in their profane profoundnes,
End and beginning to th'Heav'ns rowling roundnes:
And let them argue, that Deaths lawes alone
Reach but the Bodies vnder Cynthias Throne:
The sandy grounds of their Sophistick brawling
Are all too-weake to keep the World from falling.
One Day, the Rocks from top to toe shall quiuer,
The mountaines melt and all in sunder shiuer:
The Heav'ns shall rent for feare; the lowely Fields,
Puft vp, shall swell to huge and mighty Hils:
Riuers shall dry: or if in any Flood
Rest any liquor, it shall all be blood:
The Sea shall all be fire, and on the shoar
The thirsty Whales with horrid noyse shall roar:
The Sun shall seize the black Coach of the Moon,
And make it midnight when it should be noon:
With rusty Mask the Heauens shall hide their face,
The Stars shall fall, and all away shall pass:
Disorder, Dread, Horror, and Death shall come,
Noise, Storms, and Darkness shall vsurp the roome.
And then the Chief-Chief-Iustice, venging Wrath
(Which heer already often threatned hath)
Shall make a Bon-fire of this mighty Ball,
As once he made it a vast Ocean all.
The mountaines melt and all in sunder shiuer:
The Heav'ns shall rent for feare; the lowely Fields,
Puft vp, shall swell to huge and mighty Hils:
Riuers shall dry: or if in any Flood
Rest any liquor, it shall all be blood:
The Sea shall all be fire, and on the shoar
The thirsty Whales with horrid noyse shall roar:
The Sun shall seize the black Coach of the Moon,
And make it midnight when it should be noon:
With rusty Mask the Heauens shall hide their face,
The Stars shall fall, and all away shall pass:
Disorder, Dread, Horror, and Death shall come,
Noise, Storms, and Darkness shall vsurp the roome.
And then the Chief-Chief-Iustice, venging Wrath
(Which heer already often threatned hath)
Shall make a Bon-fire of this mighty Ball,
As once he made it a vast Ocean all.
Alas! how faith-less and how modest-less
Are you, that (in your Ephemerides)
Mark th'yeer, the month and day, which euermore
Gainst years, months, dayes, shall dam-vp Saturnes dore!
(At thought whereof, euen now, my heart doth ake,
My flesh doth faint, my very soule doth shake)
You haue mis-cast in your Arithmetick,
Mis-laid your Counters, groapingly yee seek
In Nights black darknes for the secret things
Seal'd in the Casket of the King of Kings.
'Tis hee, that keeps th'eternall Clock of Time,
And holds the weights of that appointed Chime:
Hee in his hand the sacred booke doth bear
Of that close-clasped finall Calendar,
Where, in Red letters (now with vs frequented)
The certaine Date of that Great Day is printed;
That dreadfull Day, which doth so swiftly post,
That 'twill be seen, before fore-seen of most.
Then, then (good Lord) shall thy dear Son descend.
(Though yet hee seem in feeble flesh y pend)
In complete Glory, from the glistering Skie:
Millions of Angels shall about him flie:
Mercy and Iustice, marching cheek by ioule,
Shall his Diuine Triumphant Chariot roule;
Whose wheeles shall shine with Lightning round about,
And beames of Glory each-where blazing out.
Are you, that (in your Ephemerides)
Mark th'yeer, the month and day, which euermore
Gainst years, months, dayes, shall dam-vp Saturnes dore!
10
My flesh doth faint, my very soule doth shake)
You haue mis-cast in your Arithmetick,
Mis-laid your Counters, groapingly yee seek
In Nights black darknes for the secret things
Seal'd in the Casket of the King of Kings.
'Tis hee, that keeps th'eternall Clock of Time,
And holds the weights of that appointed Chime:
Hee in his hand the sacred booke doth bear
Of that close-clasped finall Calendar,
Where, in Red letters (now with vs frequented)
The certaine Date of that Great Day is printed;
That dreadfull Day, which doth so swiftly post,
That 'twill be seen, before fore-seen of most.
Then, then (good Lord) shall thy dear Son descend.
(Though yet hee seem in feeble flesh y pend)
In complete Glory, from the glistering Skie:
Millions of Angels shall about him flie:
Mercy and Iustice, marching cheek by ioule,
Shall his Diuine Triumphant Chariot roule;
Whose wheeles shall shine with Lightning round about,
And beames of Glory each-where blazing out.
Those that were loaden with proud marble Toombs,
Those that were swallow'd in wild Monsters woombs,
Those that the Sea hath swill'd, those that the flashes
Of ruddy Flames haue burned all to ashes,
Awaked all, shall rise, and all reuest
The flesh and bones that they at first possest.
All shall appear, and heare before the Throne
Of God (the Iudge without exception)
The finall Sentence (sounding ioy and terror)
Of euer-lasting Happiness or Horror.
Some shall his Iustice, some his Mercy taste;
Some call'd to ioy, some into torment cast,
VVhen from the Goats he shall his Sheep disseuer;
These Blest in Heav'n, those Curst in Hell for euer.
O thou that once (scornd as the vilest drudge)
Didst bear the doom of an Italian Iudge,
Daign (deerest Lord) when the last Trump shall summon,
To this Grand Sessions, all the World in common;
Daign in that Day to vndertake my matter:
And, as my Iudge so be my Mediator.
Those that were swallow'd in wild Monsters woombs,
Those that the Sea hath swill'd, those that the flashes
Of ruddy Flames haue burned all to ashes,
Awaked all, shall rise, and all reuest
The flesh and bones that they at first possest.
All shall appear, and heare before the Throne
Of God (the Iudge without exception)
The finall Sentence (sounding ioy and terror)
Of euer-lasting Happiness or Horror.
Some shall his Iustice, some his Mercy taste;
Some call'd to ioy, some into torment cast,
VVhen from the Goats he shall his Sheep disseuer;
These Blest in Heav'n, those Curst in Hell for euer.
O thou that once (scornd as the vilest drudge)
Didst bear the doom of an Italian Iudge,
Daign (deerest Lord) when the last Trump shall summon,
To this Grand Sessions, all the World in common;
Daign in that Day to vndertake my matter:
And, as my Iudge so be my Mediator.
Th'eternall Spring of Power and Prouidence,
In Forming of this All-circumference,
Did not vnlike the Bear, which bringeth-forth
In th'end of thirty daies a shapeless birth;
But after, licking, it in shape she drawes,
And by degrees she fashions out the pawes,
The head, and neck, and finally doth bring
To a perfect beast that first deformed thing.
For when his Word in the vast Voyd had brought
A confus'd heap of Wet-dry-cold-and-hot,
In time the high World from the lowe he parted,
And by it selfe, hot vnto hot he sorted;
Hard vnto hard, cold vnto cold he sent;
Moist vnto moist, as was expedient.
And so in Six Dayes form'd ingeniously
All things contain'd in th'Vniversitie.
In Forming of this All-circumference,
Did not vnlike the Bear, which bringeth-forth
In th'end of thirty daies a shapeless birth;
But after, licking, it in shape she drawes,
And by degrees she fashions out the pawes,
11
To a perfect beast that first deformed thing.
For when his Word in the vast Voyd had brought
A confus'd heap of Wet-dry-cold-and-hot,
In time the high World from the lowe he parted,
And by it selfe, hot vnto hot he sorted;
Hard vnto hard, cold vnto cold he sent;
Moist vnto moist, as was expedient.
And so in Six Dayes form'd ingeniously
All things contain'd in th'Vniversitie.
Not but he could haue, in a moment, made
This flowry Mansion where mankind doth trade;
Spred Heav'ns blew Curtains & those Lamps haue burnisht;
Earth, aire, and sea; with beasts, birds, fish, haue furnisht:
But, working with such Art so many dayes,
A sumptuous Palace for Mankinde to raise,
Yer Man was made yet; he declares to vs,
How kinde, how carefull, and how gracious,
He would be to vs being made, to whom
By thousand promises of things to-come
(Vnder the Broad-Seal of his deere Sons blood)
He hath assur'd all Riches, Grace, and Good.
By his Example he doth also shew-vs,
We should not heedless-hastily bestowe vs
In any Work, but patiently proceed
With oft re-vises Making sober speed
In dearest business, and obserue by proof,
That; What is well done, is done soon enough.
This flowry Mansion where mankind doth trade;
Spred Heav'ns blew Curtains & those Lamps haue burnisht;
Earth, aire, and sea; with beasts, birds, fish, haue furnisht:
But, working with such Art so many dayes,
A sumptuous Palace for Mankinde to raise,
Yer Man was made yet; he declares to vs,
How kinde, how carefull, and how gracious,
He would be to vs being made, to whom
By thousand promises of things to-come
(Vnder the Broad-Seal of his deere Sons blood)
He hath assur'd all Riches, Grace, and Good.
By his Example he doth also shew-vs,
We should not heedless-hastily bestowe vs
In any Work, but patiently proceed
With oft re-vises Making sober speed
In dearest business, and obserue by proof,
That; What is well done, is done soon enough.
O Father of the Light! of Wisedom fountain;
Out of the Bulk of that confused Mountain
What should (what could) issue, before the Light?
Without which, Beauty were no beauty hight.
In vain Timanthes had his Cyclop drawn,
In vain Parrhasius counterfeited Lawn,
In vain Apelles Venus had begun,
Zeuxis Penelope; if that the Sun,
To make them seen, had neuer showen his splendor:
In vain, in vain, had been (those Works of Wonder)
Th'Ephesian Temple, and high Pharian-Tower,
And Carian Toomb (Tropheis of Wealth and Power)
In vain had they been builded euery one,
By Scopas, Sostrates, and Ctesiphon;
Had All been wrapt-vp from all humane sight,
In th'obscure Mantle of eternall Night.
Out of the Bulk of that confused Mountain
What should (what could) issue, before the Light?
Without which, Beauty were no beauty hight.
In vain Timanthes had his Cyclop drawn,
In vain Parrhasius counterfeited Lawn,
In vain Apelles Venus had begun,
Zeuxis Penelope; if that the Sun,
To make them seen, had neuer showen his splendor:
In vain, in vain, had been (those Works of Wonder)
Th'Ephesian Temple, and high Pharian-Tower,
And Carian Toomb (Tropheis of Wealth and Power)
In vain had they been builded euery one,
By Scopas, Sostrates, and Ctesiphon;
Had All been wrapt-vp from all humane sight,
In th'obscure Mantle of eternall Night.
What one thing more doth the good Architect
In Princely Works (more specially) respect,
Then lightsomness? to th'end the Worlds bright Eye,
Careering daily once about the Sky,
May shine therein; and that in euery part
It may seem pompous both for Cost and Art.
In Princely Works (more specially) respect,
Then lightsomness? to th'end the Worlds bright Eye,
Careering daily once about the Sky,
12
It may seem pompous both for Cost and Art.
Whether Gods Spirit mouing vpon the Ball
Of bubbling Waters (which yet couered All)
Thence forc't the Fire (as when amid the Sky
Auster and Boreas iusting furiously
Vnder hot Cancer, make two clouds to clash,
Whence th'aire at mid-night flames with lightning flash):
Whether, when God the mingled Lump dispackt,
From Fiery Element did Light extract:
Whether about the vast confused Crowd
For twice six-howrs he spread a shining Cloud,
Which after he re-darkned, that in time
The Night as long might wrap-vp either Clime:
Whether that God made, then, those goodly beams
Which gild the World, but not as now it seems:
Or whether else some other Lamp he kindled
Vpon the Heap (yet all with Waters blindled)
Which flying round about, gaue light in order
To th'vnplac't Climates of that deep disorder;
As now the Sun, circling about the Ball
(The Light's bright Chariot) doth enlighten All.
No sooner said he, Be there Light, but lo
The form-less Lump to perfect Form gan growe;
And, all illustred with Lights radiant shine,
Doft mourning weeds, and deckt it passing fine.
Of bubbling Waters (which yet couered All)
Thence forc't the Fire (as when amid the Sky
Auster and Boreas iusting furiously
Vnder hot Cancer, make two clouds to clash,
Whence th'aire at mid-night flames with lightning flash):
Whether, when God the mingled Lump dispackt,
From Fiery Element did Light extract:
Whether about the vast confused Crowd
For twice six-howrs he spread a shining Cloud,
Which after he re-darkned, that in time
The Night as long might wrap-vp either Clime:
Whether that God made, then, those goodly beams
Which gild the World, but not as now it seems:
Or whether else some other Lamp he kindled
Vpon the Heap (yet all with Waters blindled)
Which flying round about, gaue light in order
To th'vnplac't Climates of that deep disorder;
As now the Sun, circling about the Ball
(The Light's bright Chariot) doth enlighten All.
No sooner said he, Be there Light, but lo
The form-less Lump to perfect Form gan growe;
And, all illustred with Lights radiant shine,
Doft mourning weeds, and deckt it passing fine.
All-hail pure Lamp, bright, sacred and excelling;
Sorrow and Care, Darknes and Dread repelling:
Thou World's great Taper, Wicked mens iust Terror,
Mother of Truth, true Beauties only Mirror,
Gods eldest Daughter: O! how thou art full
Of grace and goodnes! O! how beautifull!
Sith thy great Parent's all-discerning Eye
Doth iudge thee so: and sith his Maiesty
(Thy glorious Maker) in his sacred layes
Can doo no less then sing thy modest prayse.
Sorrow and Care, Darknes and Dread repelling:
Thou World's great Taper, Wicked mens iust Terror,
Mother of Truth, true Beauties only Mirror,
Gods eldest Daughter: O! how thou art full
Of grace and goodnes! O! how beautifull!
Sith thy great Parent's all-discerning Eye
Doth iudge thee so: and sith his Maiesty
(Thy glorious Maker) in his sacred layes
Can doo no less then sing thy modest prayse.
But yet, because all Pleasures wex vnpleasant,
If without pawse we still possesse them, present;
And none can right discerne the sweets of Peace,
That haue not felt Wars irkesom bitterness;
And Swans seem whiter if swart Crowes be by
(For, Contraries each other best discry)
Th'All's-Archietect, alternately decreed
That Night the Day, the Day should Night succeed.
If without pawse we still possesse them, present;
And none can right discerne the sweets of Peace,
That haue not felt Wars irkesom bitterness;
And Swans seem whiter if swart Crowes be by
(For, Contraries each other best discry)
Th'All's-Archietect, alternately decreed
That Night the Day, the Day should Night succeed.
The Night, to temper Daies exceeding drought,
Moistens our Aire, and makes our Earth to sprout.
The Night is she that all our trauailes easeth,
Buries our cares, and all our griefs appeaseth.
The Night is she, that (with her sable wing,
In gloomy Darknes hushing euery thing)
Through all the World dumb silence doth distill,
And wearied bones with quiet sleep doth fill.
Moistens our Aire, and makes our Earth to sprout.
The Night is she that all our trauailes easeth,
Buries our cares, and all our griefs appeaseth.
13
In gloomy Darknes hushing euery thing)
Through all the World dumb silence doth distill,
And wearied bones with quiet sleep doth fill.
Sweet Night, without Thee, without Thee (alas!)
Our life were loathsom; euen a Hell to pass:
For, outward paines and inward passions still,
With thousand Deaths, would soule and body thrill.
O Night, thou pullest the proud Mask away
Where-with vaine Actors, in this Worlds great Play,
By Day disguise-them. For, no difference
Night makes between the Peasant and the Prince,
The poore and rich, the Prisoner and the Iudge,
The foul and faire, the Master and the Drudge,
The foole and wise, Barbarian and the Greek:
For, Night's black Mantle couers all alike.
Our life were loathsom; euen a Hell to pass:
For, outward paines and inward passions still,
With thousand Deaths, would soule and body thrill.
O Night, thou pullest the proud Mask away
Where-with vaine Actors, in this Worlds great Play,
By Day disguise-them. For, no difference
Night makes between the Peasant and the Prince,
The poore and rich, the Prisoner and the Iudge,
The foul and faire, the Master and the Drudge,
The foole and wise, Barbarian and the Greek:
For, Night's black Mantle couers all alike.
He that, condemn'd for some notorious vice,
Seeks in the Mines the baits of Auarice;
Or, swelting at the Furnace, fineth bright
Our soules dire sulphur; resteth yet at night.
He that, still stooping, toghes against the tide
His laden Barge alongst a Riuers side,
And filling shoares with shouts, doth melt him quite;
Vpon his pallet resteth yet at Night.
He, that in Sommer, in extreamest heat
Scorched all day in his owne scalding sweat,
Shaues, with keen Sythe, the glory and delight
Of motly Medowes; resteth yet at Night,
And in the arms of his deer Pheer forgoes
All former troubles and all former woes.
Onely the learned Sisters sacred Minions,
While silent Night vnder her sable pinions
Foldes all the World, with pain-lesse paine they tread
A sacred path that to the Heav'ns doth lead;
And higher then the Heav'ns their Readers raise
Vpon the wings of their immortall Layes.
Seeks in the Mines the baits of Auarice;
Or, swelting at the Furnace, fineth bright
Our soules dire sulphur; resteth yet at night.
He that, still stooping, toghes against the tide
His laden Barge alongst a Riuers side,
And filling shoares with shouts, doth melt him quite;
Vpon his pallet resteth yet at Night.
He, that in Sommer, in extreamest heat
Scorched all day in his owne scalding sweat,
Shaues, with keen Sythe, the glory and delight
Of motly Medowes; resteth yet at Night,
And in the arms of his deer Pheer forgoes
All former troubles and all former woes.
Onely the learned Sisters sacred Minions,
While silent Night vnder her sable pinions
Foldes all the World, with pain-lesse paine they tread
A sacred path that to the Heav'ns doth lead;
And higher then the Heav'ns their Readers raise
Vpon the wings of their immortall Layes.
Even Novv I listned for the Clock to chime
Dayes latest hower; that for a little time,
The Night might ease My Labours: but, I see
As yet Aurora hath scarce smil'd on me;
My Work still growes: for, now before mine eyes
Heav'ns glorious Hoast in nimble squadrons flyes.
Dayes latest hower; that for a little time,
The Night might ease My Labours: but, I see
As yet Aurora hath scarce smil'd on me;
My Work still growes: for, now before mine eyes
Heav'ns glorious Hoast in nimble squadrons flyes.
Whether, This-Day, God made you, Angels bright,
Vnder the name of Heav'n, or of the Light:
Whether you were, after, in th'instant borne
With those bright Spangles that the Heav'ns adorne:
Or, whether you deriue your high Descent
Long time before the World and Firmament
(For, I nill stifly argue to and fro
In nice Opinions, whether so, or so;
Especially, where curious search, perchance,
Is not so safe as humble Ignorance);
I am resolv'd that once th'Omnipotent
Created you immortall, innocent,
Good, faire, and free; in briefe, of Essence such
As from his Owne differd not very much.
Vnder the name of Heav'n, or of the Light:
Whether you were, after, in th'instant borne
With those bright Spangles that the Heav'ns adorne:
Or, whether you deriue your high Descent
Long time before the World and Firmament
14
In nice Opinions, whether so, or so;
Especially, where curious search, perchance,
Is not so safe as humble Ignorance);
I am resolv'd that once th'Omnipotent
Created you immortall, innocent,
Good, faire, and free; in briefe, of Essence such
As from his Owne differd not very much.
But euen as those, whom Princes fauours oft
Aboue the rest haue rais'd and set-aloft,
Are oft the first that (without right or reason)
Attempt Rebellion and do practice Treason;
And so, at length are iustly tumbled down
Beneath the foot, that raught aboue the Crown:
Euen so, some Legions of those lofty Spirits
(Enuying the glory of their Makers merits)
Conspir'd together, stroue against the streame,
T'vsurpe his Scepter and his Diademe.
But He, whose hands doe neuer Lightnings lack
Proud sacrilegious Mutiners to wrack,
Hurld them in th'Aire, or in some lower Cell:
For, where God is not, euery where is Hell.
Aboue the rest haue rais'd and set-aloft,
Are oft the first that (without right or reason)
Attempt Rebellion and do practice Treason;
And so, at length are iustly tumbled down
Beneath the foot, that raught aboue the Crown:
Euen so, some Legions of those lofty Spirits
(Enuying the glory of their Makers merits)
Conspir'd together, stroue against the streame,
T'vsurpe his Scepter and his Diademe.
But He, whose hands doe neuer Lightnings lack
Proud sacrilegious Mutiners to wrack,
Hurld them in th'Aire, or in some lower Cell:
For, where God is not, euery where is Hell.
This cursed Crew, with Pride and Fury fraught,
Of vs, at least, haue this aduantage got,
That by experience they can truely tell
How far it is from highest Heav'n to Hell:
For, by a proud leap they haue tane the measure,
When headlong thence they tumbled in displeasure.
Of vs, at least, haue this aduantage got,
That by experience they can truely tell
How far it is from highest Heav'n to Hell:
For, by a proud leap they haue tane the measure,
When headlong thence they tumbled in displeasure.
These Fiends are so far-off from bett'ring them
By this hard Iudgement, that still more extream,
The more their plague, the more their pride encreases,
The more their rage: as Lizards, cut in peeces,
Threat with more malice, though with lesser might,
And euen in dying shew their liuing spight.
For, euer since, against the King of Heav'n
Th'Apostate Prince of Darknes still hath striv'n,
Striv'n to depraue his Deeds t'interr their Story,
T'vndoo his Church, to vnder-mine his Glory;
To reaue this World's great Body, Ship, and State,
Of Head, of Master, and of Magistrate.
By this hard Iudgement, that still more extream,
The more their plague, the more their pride encreases,
The more their rage: as Lizards, cut in peeces,
Threat with more malice, though with lesser might,
And euen in dying shew their liuing spight.
For, euer since, against the King of Heav'n
Th'Apostate Prince of Darknes still hath striv'n,
Striv'n to depraue his Deeds t'interr their Story,
T'vndoo his Church, to vnder-mine his Glory;
To reaue this World's great Body, Ship, and State,
Of Head, of Master, and of Magistrate.
But, finding still the Maiesty diuine
Too strongly fenc't for him to vnder-mine;
His Ladders, Canons, and his Engines, all
Force-less to batter the celestiall Wall;
Too weak to hurt the Head, he hacks the Members:
The Tree too hard, the Branches he dismembers.
Too strongly fenc't for him to vnder-mine;
His Ladders, Canons, and his Engines, all
Force-less to batter the celestiall Wall;
Too weak to hurt the Head, he hacks the Members:
The Tree too hard, the Branches he dismembers.
The Fowlers, Fishers, and the Foresters,
Set not so many toyls and baits, and snares,
To take the Fowle, the Fish, the sauage Beasts,
In Woods, and Floods, and fear-full Wilderness:
As this false Spirit sets Engines to beguile
The cunningest that practice nought but wile.
Set not so many toyls and baits, and snares,
15
In Woods, and Floods, and fear-full Wilderness:
As this false Spirit sets Engines to beguile
The cunningest that practice nought but wile.
With wanton glance of Beauties burning eye
He snares hot Youth in sensuality.
With Gold's bright lustre doth he Age intice
To Idolize detested Auarice.
With grace of Princes, with their pomp, and State,
Ambitious Spirits he doth intoxicate.
With curious Skill-pride, and vain dreams, he witches
Those that contemn Pleasure, and State, and Riches.
Yea, Faith it selfe, and Zeale, be sometimes Angles
Wherewith this Iuggler Heav'n-bent Soules intangles:
Much like the green Worm, that in Spring deuours
The buds and leaues of choisest Fruits and Flowrs;
Turning their sweetest sap and fragrant verdure
To deadly poyson, and detested ordure.
He snares hot Youth in sensuality.
With Gold's bright lustre doth he Age intice
To Idolize detested Auarice.
With grace of Princes, with their pomp, and State,
Ambitious Spirits he doth intoxicate.
With curious Skill-pride, and vain dreams, he witches
Those that contemn Pleasure, and State, and Riches.
Yea, Faith it selfe, and Zeale, be sometimes Angles
Wherewith this Iuggler Heav'n-bent Soules intangles:
Much like the green Worm, that in Spring deuours
The buds and leaues of choisest Fruits and Flowrs;
Turning their sweetest sap and fragrant verdure
To deadly poyson, and detested ordure.
Who but (alas!) would haue been gull'd yer-whiles
With Night's black Monark's most malicious wiles?
To heare Stones speak, to see strange wooden Miracles,
And golden Gods to vtter wondrous Oracles?
To see Him play the Prophet, and inspire
So many Sibyls with a sacred fire?
To raise dead Samuel from his silent Toomb,
To tell his King Calamities to-come?
T'inflame the Flamine of Ioue Ammon so
With Heathen-holy fury-fits to knowe
Future euents, and somtimes truely tell
The blinded World what afterwards befell?
To counterfait the wondrous Works of God;
His Rod turn Serpent, and his Serpent Rod?
To change the pure streams of th'Egyptian Flood
From clearest water into crimsin blood?
To rain-down Frogs, and Grass-hoppers to bring
In the bed-chambers of the stubborn King?
For, as he is a Spirit, vnseen he sees
The plots of Princes, and their Policies;
Vnfelt, he feeles the depth of their desires;
Who harbours vengeance, and whose heart aspires:
And, as vs'd daily vnto such effects,
Such feats and fashions, iudges of th'effects.
Besides, to circumvent the quickest sprighted,
To blind the eyes euen of the clearest sighted,
And to enwrap the wisest in his snares,
He oft foretels what hee himselfe prepares.
With Night's black Monark's most malicious wiles?
To heare Stones speak, to see strange wooden Miracles,
And golden Gods to vtter wondrous Oracles?
To see Him play the Prophet, and inspire
So many Sibyls with a sacred fire?
To raise dead Samuel from his silent Toomb,
To tell his King Calamities to-come?
T'inflame the Flamine of Ioue Ammon so
With Heathen-holy fury-fits to knowe
Future euents, and somtimes truely tell
The blinded World what afterwards befell?
To counterfait the wondrous Works of God;
His Rod turn Serpent, and his Serpent Rod?
To change the pure streams of th'Egyptian Flood
From clearest water into crimsin blood?
To rain-down Frogs, and Grass-hoppers to bring
In the bed-chambers of the stubborn King?
For, as he is a Spirit, vnseen he sees
The plots of Princes, and their Policies;
Vnfelt, he feeles the depth of their desires;
Who harbours vengeance, and whose heart aspires:
And, as vs'd daily vnto such effects,
Such feats and fashions, iudges of th'effects.
Besides, to circumvent the quickest sprighted,
To blind the eyes euen of the clearest sighted,
And to enwrap the wisest in his snares,
He oft foretels what hee himselfe prepares.
For, if a Wise-man (though Mans daies be don
As soon almost as they be heer begun;
And his dul Flesh be of too slowe a kinde
T'ensue the nimble Motions of his minde)
By th'onely power of Plants and Minerals
Can work a thousand super-naturals:
Who but will think, much more these Spirits can
Work strange effects, exceeding sense of Man?
Sith, being immortall, long experience brings
Them certain knowledge of th'effects of things;
And, free from bodie's clog, with less impeach,
And lighter speed, their bold Designes they reach.
As soon almost as they be heer begun;
16
T'ensue the nimble Motions of his minde)
By th'onely power of Plants and Minerals
Can work a thousand super-naturals:
Who but will think, much more these Spirits can
Work strange effects, exceeding sense of Man?
Sith, being immortall, long experience brings
Them certain knowledge of th'effects of things;
And, free from bodie's clog, with less impeach,
And lighter speed, their bold Designes they reach.
Not that they haue the bridle on their neck,
To run at random without curb or check,
T'abuse the Earth, and all the World to blinde,
And tyrannize our bodie and our minde.
God holds them chain'd in Fetters of his Power;
That, without leaue, one minute of an hower
They cannot range. It was by his permission,
The Lying Spirit train'd Achab to perdition;
Making him march against that Foe with force,
Which should his body from his soule diuorce.
Arm'd with Gods sacred Pass-port, he did try
Iust humble Iob's renowned Constancy:
He reaues him all his Cattell, many wayes,
By Fire and Foes: his faithfull Seruants slayes:
To loss of Goods he adds his Childrens loss,
And heaps vpon him bitter cross on cross.
For th'Only Lord, sometimes to make a tryall
Of firmest Faith, somtimes with Errors violl
To drench the Soules that Errors sole delight,
Lets loose these Furies: who with fell despight
Driue still the same Nail, and pursue (incensed)
Their damned drifts in Adam first commenced.
To run at random without curb or check,
T'abuse the Earth, and all the World to blinde,
And tyrannize our bodie and our minde.
God holds them chain'd in Fetters of his Power;
That, without leaue, one minute of an hower
They cannot range. It was by his permission,
The Lying Spirit train'd Achab to perdition;
Making him march against that Foe with force,
Which should his body from his soule diuorce.
Arm'd with Gods sacred Pass-port, he did try
Iust humble Iob's renowned Constancy:
He reaues him all his Cattell, many wayes,
By Fire and Foes: his faithfull Seruants slayes:
To loss of Goods he adds his Childrens loss,
And heaps vpon him bitter cross on cross.
For th'Only Lord, sometimes to make a tryall
Of firmest Faith, somtimes with Errors violl
To drench the Soules that Errors sole delight,
Lets loose these Furies: who with fell despight
Driue still the same Nail, and pursue (incensed)
Their damned drifts in Adam first commenced.
But, as these Rebels (maugre all that will)
T'assist the Good, be forc't t'assault the Ill:
Th'vnspotted Spirits that neuer did intend
To mount too high, nor yet too lowe descend,
With willing speed they euery moment goe
Whither the breath of diuine grace doth blowe:
Their aimes had neuer other limitation
Then God's owne glory, and his Saints saluation.
Law-less Desire ne'r enters in their breast,
Th'Almightie's Face is their Ambrosiall Feast:
Repentant tears of strayed Lambs returning,
Their Nectar sweet: their Musick, Sinners Mourning.
Ambitious Man's greedy Desire doth gape
Scepter on Scepter, Crown on Crown to clap:
These neuer thirst for greater Dignities.
Trauail's their ease, their bliss in seruice lies.
For, God no sooner hath his pleasure spoken,
Or bow'd his head, or giuen som other token,
Or (almost) thought on an Exploit, wherein
The Ministery of Angels shall be seen,
But these quick Postes with ready expedition
Flie to accomplish their diuine Commission.
T'assist the Good, be forc't t'assault the Ill:
Th'vnspotted Spirits that neuer did intend
To mount too high, nor yet too lowe descend,
With willing speed they euery moment goe
Whither the breath of diuine grace doth blowe:
Their aimes had neuer other limitation
Then God's owne glory, and his Saints saluation.
Law-less Desire ne'r enters in their breast,
Th'Almightie's Face is their Ambrosiall Feast:
Repentant tears of strayed Lambs returning,
Their Nectar sweet: their Musick, Sinners Mourning.
Ambitious Man's greedy Desire doth gape
Scepter on Scepter, Crown on Crown to clap:
These neuer thirst for greater Dignities.
Trauail's their ease, their bliss in seruice lies.
For, God no sooner hath his pleasure spoken,
17
Or (almost) thought on an Exploit, wherein
The Ministery of Angels shall be seen,
But these quick Postes with ready expedition
Flie to accomplish their diuine Commission.
One followes Agar in her pilgrimage,
And with sweet comforts doth her cares asswage.
Another guideth Isaacs mighty Hoasts;
Another, Iacob on th'Idumean Coasts.
Another (skill'd in Physick) to the Light
Restores old faithfull Tobies failing sight.
In Nazareth, another rapt with ioy,
Tels that a Virgin shall bring-forth a Boy;
That Mary shall at-once be Maid-and-Mother,
And bear at-once her Son, Sire, Spouse, and Brother:
Yea, that Her happy fruitfull woomb shall hold
Him, that in Him doth all the World infold.
Some in the Desart tendred consolations,
While Iesvs stroue with Sathans strong Temptations.
One, in the Garden; in his Agonies,
Cheers-vp his feares in that great enterprise,
To take that bloody Cup, that bitter Chalice,
And drink it off, to purge our sinfull Malice.
Another certifies his Resurrection
Vnto the Women, whose faith's imperfection
Suppos'd his cold limbs in the Graue were bound,
Vntill th'Archangels lofty Trump should sound.
Another, past all hope, doth pre-auerr
The birth of Iohn, Christ's holy Harbenger.
One, trusty Seriant for diuine Decrees,
The Iewes Apostle from close Prison frees:
One, in few howers, a fearfull slaughter made
Of all the First-born that the Memphians had;
Exempting Those vpon whose door-posts stood
A sacred token of Lambs tender blood.
Another mowes-down in a moments space,
Before Ierusalem (Gods chosen place)
Senacharib's proud ouer-daring Hoast,
That threatned Heav'n, and 'gainst the Earth did boast;
In his blasphemous Braues, comparing ev'n
His Idol-Gods, vnto the God of Heav'n.
And with sweet comforts doth her cares asswage.
Another guideth Isaacs mighty Hoasts;
Another, Iacob on th'Idumean Coasts.
Another (skill'd in Physick) to the Light
Restores old faithfull Tobies failing sight.
In Nazareth, another rapt with ioy,
Tels that a Virgin shall bring-forth a Boy;
That Mary shall at-once be Maid-and-Mother,
And bear at-once her Son, Sire, Spouse, and Brother:
Yea, that Her happy fruitfull woomb shall hold
Him, that in Him doth all the World infold.
Some in the Desart tendred consolations,
While Iesvs stroue with Sathans strong Temptations.
One, in the Garden; in his Agonies,
Cheers-vp his feares in that great enterprise,
To take that bloody Cup, that bitter Chalice,
And drink it off, to purge our sinfull Malice.
Another certifies his Resurrection
Vnto the Women, whose faith's imperfection
Suppos'd his cold limbs in the Graue were bound,
Vntill th'Archangels lofty Trump should sound.
Another, past all hope, doth pre-auerr
The birth of Iohn, Christ's holy Harbenger.
One, trusty Seriant for diuine Decrees,
The Iewes Apostle from close Prison frees:
One, in few howers, a fearfull slaughter made
Of all the First-born that the Memphians had;
Exempting Those vpon whose door-posts stood
A sacred token of Lambs tender blood.
Another mowes-down in a moments space,
Before Ierusalem (Gods chosen place)
Senacharib's proud ouer-daring Hoast,
That threatned Heav'n, and 'gainst the Earth did boast;
In his blasphemous Braues, comparing ev'n
His Idol-Gods, vnto the God of Heav'n.
His Troups, victorious in the East before,
Besieg'd the Citie, which did sole adore
The onely God; so that, without their leaue,
A Sparrow scarce the sacred Wals could leaue.
Then Ezechias, as a prudent Prince,
Poyzing the danger of these sad euents
(His Subiects thrall, his Cities wofull Flames,
His childrens death, the rape of noble Dames,
The Massacre of Infants and of Eld,
And's Royall Selfe with thousand weapons queld;
The Temple raz'd, th'Altar and Censer void
Of sacred vse, Gods Seruants all destroid)
Humbled in Sack-cloath and in Ashes, cries
For aid to God, the God of Victories;
Who heares his suit, and thunders down his Fury
On those proud Pagan Enemies of Iury.
For, while their Watch within their Corps de Garde
About the Fire securely snorted hard,
From Heav'n th'Almighty looking sternly down
(Glancing his Friends a smile, his Foes a frown)
A sacred Fencer 'gainst th'Assyrians sent,
Whose two-hand Sword, at euery veny, slent,
Not through a single Souldiers feeble bones,
But keenly slyces through whole Troops at once;
And heaws broad Lanes before it and behinde,
As swiftly whirling as the whisking winde.
Besieg'd the Citie, which did sole adore
The onely God; so that, without their leaue,
A Sparrow scarce the sacred Wals could leaue.
Then Ezechias, as a prudent Prince,
Poyzing the danger of these sad euents
(His Subiects thrall, his Cities wofull Flames,
18
The Massacre of Infants and of Eld,
And's Royall Selfe with thousand weapons queld;
The Temple raz'd, th'Altar and Censer void
Of sacred vse, Gods Seruants all destroid)
Humbled in Sack-cloath and in Ashes, cries
For aid to God, the God of Victories;
Who heares his suit, and thunders down his Fury
On those proud Pagan Enemies of Iury.
For, while their Watch within their Corps de Garde
About the Fire securely snorted hard,
From Heav'n th'Almighty looking sternly down
(Glancing his Friends a smile, his Foes a frown)
A sacred Fencer 'gainst th'Assyrians sent,
Whose two-hand Sword, at euery veny, slent,
Not through a single Souldiers feeble bones,
But keenly slyces through whole Troops at once;
And heaws broad Lanes before it and behinde,
As swiftly whirling as the whisking winde.
Now gan they fly; but all too slowe to shun
A flying Sword that follow'd euery one.
A Sword they saw; but could not see the arm
That in one Night had done so dismall harm:
As we perceiue a Winde-mils sails to go;
But not the Winde, that doth transport them so.
A flying Sword that follow'd euery one.
A Sword they saw; but could not see the arm
That in one Night had done so dismall harm:
As we perceiue a Winde-mils sails to go;
But not the Winde, that doth transport them so.
Blushing Aurora, had yet scarce dismist
Mount Libanus from the Nights gloomy Mist,
When th'Hebrew Sentinels, discov'ring plain
An hundred foure score and fiue thousand slain,
Exceeding ioyfull, gan to ponder stricter,
To see such conquest and not know the Victor.
Mount Libanus from the Nights gloomy Mist,
When th'Hebrew Sentinels, discov'ring plain
An hundred foure score and fiue thousand slain,
Exceeding ioyfull, gan to ponder stricter,
To see such conquest and not know the Victor.
O sacred Tutors of the Saints! you Guard
Of Gods Elect, you Pursuiuants prepar'd
To execute the Counsails of the Highest;
You Heav'nly Courtiers, to your King the nighest;
Gods glorious Heralds, Heav'ns swift Harbengers,
'Twixt Heav'n and Earth you true Interpreters;
I could be well content and take delight
To follow farther your celestiall Flight;
But that I feare (heer hauing ta'n in hand
So long a iourney both by Sea and Land)
I feare to faint, if at the first (too fast
I cut away, and make too-hasty haste:
For, Trauailers, that burn in braue desire
To see strange Countries manners and attire,
Make haste enough, if only the First Day
From their owne Sill they set but on their way.
So Morne and Euening the First Day conclude,
And God perceiu'd that All his Works were good.
Of Gods Elect, you Pursuiuants prepar'd
To execute the Counsails of the Highest;
You Heav'nly Courtiers, to your King the nighest;
Gods glorious Heralds, Heav'ns swift Harbengers,
'Twixt Heav'n and Earth you true Interpreters;
I could be well content and take delight
To follow farther your celestiall Flight;
But that I feare (heer hauing ta'n in hand
So long a iourney both by Sea and Land)
I feare to faint, if at the first (too fast
I cut away, and make too-hasty haste:
For, Trauailers, that burn in braue desire
To see strange Countries manners and attire,
Make haste enough, if only the First Day
From their owne Sill they set but on their way.
So Morne and Euening the First Day conclude,
And God perceiu'd that All his Works were good.
| Du Bartas | |