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 |
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Eden.
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 | Du Bartas |  |
169
1. Eden.
THE FIRST PART OF THE FIRST DAY OF THE II. WEEK.
The Argvment.
Our Poet, first, doth Gods assistance seek:The Scope and Subiect of his Second Week.
Adam in Eden: Edens beauties rare;
A reall Place, not now discerned where:
The Tree of Life; and Knowledge-Tree withall:
Knowledge of Man, before and since his Fall:
His exercise, and excellent Delights,
In's Innocence: of Dreams and Ghostly Sights:
Nice Questions curb'd: Death, Sins effect; whereby
Man (else Immortall) mortall now, must Dy.
Great God, which hast this World's Birth made me see,
Vnfold his Cradle, shew his Infancy:
Walke thou, my Spirit, through all the flowring alleys
Of that sweet Garden, where through winding valleys
Foure liuely floods crauld: tell me what mis-deed
Banisht both Edens, Adam and his seed:
Tell who (immortall) mortalizing, brought-vs
The Balm from heav'n which hoped health hath wrought-vs:
Grant me the story of thy Church to sing,
And gests of Kings: Let me this Totall bring
From thy first Sabbath to his fatall toomb,
My stile extending to the Day of Doome.
Vnfold his Cradle, shew his Infancy:
Walke thou, my Spirit, through all the flowring alleys
Of that sweet Garden, where through winding valleys
Foure liuely floods crauld: tell me what mis-deed
Banisht both Edens, Adam and his seed:
Tell who (immortall) mortalizing, brought-vs
The Balm from heav'n which hoped health hath wrought-vs:
Grant me the story of thy Church to sing,
And gests of Kings: Let me this Totall bring
From thy first Sabbath to his fatall toomb,
My stile extending to the Day of Doome.
Lord, I acknowledge and confess, before,
This Ocean hath no bottom, nor no shore;
But (sacred Pilot) thou canst safely steer
My vent'rous Pinnasse to her wished Peer;
Where once arriv'd, all dropping wet I will
Extoll thy fauours, and my vows fulfill.
This Ocean hath no bottom, nor no shore;
But (sacred Pilot) thou canst safely steer
My vent'rous Pinnasse to her wished Peer;
170
Extoll thy fauours, and my vows fulfill.
The Translator, cōsidering his own weakness and insufficiency for a Work so rare & excellent, as all the World hath worthily admired: craueth also the assistance of the Highest, that (at least) his endeuour may both stir-vp som abler Spirit to vndertake this Task; & also prouoke all other good Wits to take in hand som holy Argument: and with-all, that Himselfe may be for euer sincerely affected, and (as it were) throughly seasoned with the sweet relish of these sacred & religious discourses.
Since it hath pleas'd thee task my tardy Muse
With these high Theames that through mine Art-less Pen
This holy Lamp may light my Country-men:
Ah, teach my hand, touch mine vnlearned lips;
Lest, as the Earths grosse body doth Eclipse
Bright Cynthia's beames, when it is interpos'd
'Twixt her and Phœbus: so mine ill-dispos'd,
Dark gloomy Ignorance obscure the rayes
Of this diuine Sun of these learned dayes.
O! furnish me with an vn-vulgar stile,
That I by this may wain our wanton Ile
From Ouids heirs, and their vn-hallowed spell
Heer charming senses, chaining soules in Hell.
Let this prouoke our modern Wits to sacre
Their wondrous gifts to honour thee, their Maker:
That our mysterious ELFINE Oracle,
Deep, morall, graue, Inventions miracle;
My deer sweet Daniel, sharp conceipted, brief,
Ciuill, sententious, for pure accents chief:
And our new Naso that so passionates
Th'heroike sighes of loue-sick Potentates:
May change their subiect, and aduance their wings
Vp to these higher and more holy things.
And if (sufficient rich in self-inuention)
They scorn (as I) to liue of Strangers Pension,
Let them deuise new Weeks, new works, new wayes
To celebrate the supreme Prince of praise.
And let not me (good Lord) be like the Lead
Which to som Citie from som Conduit-head
Brings holsom water; yet (self-wanting sense)
It selfe receiues no drop of comfort thence:
But rather, as the thorough-seasoned But
Wherein the tears of death-prest Grapes are put,
Retains (long after all the wine is spent)
Within it selfe the liquors liuely sent:
Let me still sauour of these sacred sweets
Till Death fold-vp mine earth in earthen sheets;
Lest, my young layes, now prone to preach thy glory
To Brvtvs heyrs, blush at mine elder Story.
Narration. God, hauing treated & established Man Lord of the creatures, lodgeth him in the fair Garden of Eden.
T'our Father Adam, this inferiour Throne;
Ranging beneath his rule the scaly Nation
That in the Ocean haue their habitation:
Those that in horror of the Desarts lurk:
And those that capering in the Welkin work;
171
A climate temperate both for cold and heat,
Which dainty Flora paveth sumptuously
With flowry Ver's inameld tapistry;
Pomona pranks with fruits, whose taste excels;
And Zephyr fils with Musk and Amber smels:
Where God himself (as Gardner) treads the allies,
With Trees and Corn covers the hils and vallies,
Summons sweet sleep with noyse of hundred Brooks,
And Sun-proof Arbours makes in sundry nooks:
He plants, he proins, he pares, he trimmeth round
Th'ever green beauties of a fruitfull ground;
Heer-there the course of th'holy Lakes he leads,
With thousand Dies hee motleys all the meades.
Ye Pagan Poets that audaciously
Haue sought to dark the ever Memory
Of Gods greeat works; from henceforth still be dum
Your fabled prayses of Elysium,
Which by this goodly module you haue wrought,
Through deaf tradition, that your Fathers taught:
For, the Almighty made his blisfull Bowrs
Better indeed, then you haue fained yours.
Haue sought to dark the ever Memory
Of Gods greeat works; from henceforth still be dum
Your fabled prayses of Elysium,
Which by this goodly module you haue wrought,
Through deaf tradition, that your Fathers taught:
For, the Almighty made his blisfull Bowrs
Better indeed, then you haue fained yours.
For, should I say that still, with smiling face,
Th'all-clasping Heav'ns beheld this happy place;
That honey sweet, from hollow rocks did drain;
That fostring milk flow'd vp and down the Plain;
That sweet as Roses smelt th'ill-savory Rew:
That in all soyls, all seasons, all things grew:
That still there dangled on the self-same treen
A thousand fruits, nor over-ripe, nor green:
That egrest fruits, and bitterest hearbs did mock
Madera Sugars, and the Apricock;
Yeelding more holesom food then all the messes,
That now taste-curious, wanton Plenty dresses,
Disguising (in a thousand costly dishes)
The various store of dainty Fowls and Fishes,
Which far and neer wee seek by Land and Seas,
More to provoke then hunger to appease;
Th'all-clasping Heav'ns beheld this happy place;
That honey sweet, from hollow rocks did drain;
That fostring milk flow'd vp and down the Plain;
That sweet as Roses smelt th'ill-savory Rew:
That in all soyls, all seasons, all things grew:
That still there dangled on the self-same treen
A thousand fruits, nor over-ripe, nor green:
That egrest fruits, and bitterest hearbs did mock
Madera Sugars, and the Apricock;
Yeelding more holesom food then all the messes,
That now taste-curious, wanton Plenty dresses,
Disguising (in a thousand costly dishes)
The various store of dainty Fowls and Fishes,
Which far and neer wee seek by Land and Seas,
More to provoke then hunger to appease;
Or should I say, each morning, on the ground
Not common deaw, but Manna did abound:
That never gutter-gorging durty muds
Defil'd the crystall of smooth-sliding floods,
Whose waters past, in pleasant taste, the drink
That now in Candia decks Cerathus brink:
That shady Groves of noble Palm-tree sprays,
Of amorous Myrtles, and immortall Bays
Never vn-leav'd; but evermore, their new
Self-arching arms in thousand Arbours grew:
Where thousand sorts of birds, both night and day,
Did bill and woo, and hop about, and play;
And, marrying their sweet tunes to th'Angels layes,
Sung Adams bliss and their great Makers prayse.
For then, the Crowes, night-Rav'ns, and Howlets noise
Was like the Nightingals sweet-tuned voyce;
And Nightingals sung like divine Arion,
Like Thracian Orpheus, Linus, and Amphion.
Not common deaw, but Manna did abound:
That never gutter-gorging durty muds
Defil'd the crystall of smooth-sliding floods,
Whose waters past, in pleasant taste, the drink
That now in Candia decks Cerathus brink:
That shady Groves of noble Palm-tree sprays,
Of amorous Myrtles, and immortall Bays
Never vn-leav'd; but evermore, their new
Self-arching arms in thousand Arbours grew:
172
Did bill and woo, and hop about, and play;
And, marrying their sweet tunes to th'Angels layes,
Sung Adams bliss and their great Makers prayse.
For then, the Crowes, night-Rav'ns, and Howlets noise
Was like the Nightingals sweet-tuned voyce;
And Nightingals sung like divine Arion,
Like Thracian Orpheus, Linus, and Amphion.
Th'Aire's daughter Eccho, haunting woods among;
A blab that will not (cannot) keep her tongue,
Who never asks, but onely answers all,
Who lets not any her in vain to call;
She bore her part; and full of curious skill,
They ceasing sung, they singing ceased still:
There Musick raign'd, and ever on the Plain,
A sweet sound rais'd the dead-liue voyce again.
A blab that will not (cannot) keep her tongue,
Who never asks, but onely answers all,
Who lets not any her in vain to call;
She bore her part; and full of curious skill,
They ceasing sung, they singing ceased still:
There Musick raign'd, and ever on the Plain,
A sweet sound rais'd the dead-liue voyce again.
If there I say the Sun (the Seasons stinter)
Made no hot Sommer, nor no hoary Winter,
But louely Ver kept still in liuely lustre
The fragrant Valleys smiling Meads, and Pasture:
That boistrous Adams body did not shrink
For Northren windes, nor for the Southren wink:
But Zephyr did sweet musky sighes afford,
Which breathing through the Garden of the Lord,
Gaue bodies vigour, verdure to the field,
That verdure flowrs, those flowrs sweet savor yeeld:
That Day did gladly lend his sister, Night,
For half her moisture, half his shining Light:
That never hail did Harvest preiudice,
That never frost, nor snowe, nor slippery ice
The fields en-ag'd: nor any stormy stowr
Dismounted Mountains, nor no violent showr
Poverisht the Land, which frankly did produce
All fruitfull vapours for delight and vse:
I think I ly not, rather I confess
My stammering Muses poore vnlearnedness.
If in two words thou wilt her praise comprise,
Say 't was the the type of th'vpper Paradise;
Where Adam had (O wondrous strange!) discourse
With God himself, with Angels intercourse.
Made no hot Sommer, nor no hoary Winter,
But louely Ver kept still in liuely lustre
The fragrant Valleys smiling Meads, and Pasture:
That boistrous Adams body did not shrink
For Northren windes, nor for the Southren wink:
But Zephyr did sweet musky sighes afford,
Which breathing through the Garden of the Lord,
Gaue bodies vigour, verdure to the field,
That verdure flowrs, those flowrs sweet savor yeeld:
That Day did gladly lend his sister, Night,
For half her moisture, half his shining Light:
That never hail did Harvest preiudice,
That never frost, nor snowe, nor slippery ice
The fields en-ag'd: nor any stormy stowr
Dismounted Mountains, nor no violent showr
Poverisht the Land, which frankly did produce
All fruitfull vapours for delight and vse:
I think I ly not, rather I confess
My stammering Muses poore vnlearnedness.
If in two words thou wilt her praise comprise,
Say 't was the the type of th'vpper Paradise;
Where Adam had (O wondrous strange!) discourse
With God himself, with Angels intercourse.
Yet (over-curious) question not the site,
Where God did plant this Garden of delight:
Whether beneath the Equinoctiall line,
Or on a Mountain neer Latona's shine,
Nigh Babylon, or in the radiant East.
Humble content thee that thou know'st (at least)
That, that rare, plentious, pleasant, happy thing
Whereof th'Almighty made our Grand-sire King,
Was a choyce soil, through which did rowling slide
Swift Ghion, Pishon, and rich Tigris tyde,
And that fair stream whose silver waues do kiss
The Monarch Towrs of proud Semiramis.
Where God did plant this Garden of delight:
Whether beneath the Equinoctiall line,
Or on a Mountain neer Latona's shine,
Nigh Babylon, or in the radiant East.
Humble content thee that thou know'st (at least)
That, that rare, plentious, pleasant, happy thing
Whereof th'Almighty made our Grand-sire King,
173
Swift Ghion, Pishon, and rich Tigris tyde,
And that fair stream whose silver waues do kiss
The Monarch Towrs of proud Semiramis.
Now, if that (roaming round about the earth)
Thou finde no place that answers now in worth
This beautious place, nor Country that can showe
Where now-adayes, those noted flouds do flowe:
Include not all within this Close confin'd,
That labouring Neptunes liquid Belt doth binde.
A certaine place it was (now sought in vain)
Where set by grace, for sin remov'd again,
Our Elders were: whereof the thunder-darter
Made a bright Sword the gate, an Angel Porter.
Thou finde no place that answers now in worth
This beautious place, nor Country that can showe
Where now-adayes, those noted flouds do flowe:
Include not all within this Close confin'd,
That labouring Neptunes liquid Belt doth binde.
A certaine place it was (now sought in vain)
Where set by grace, for sin remov'd again,
Our Elders were: whereof the thunder-darter
Made a bright Sword the gate, an Angel Porter.
Nor think that Moses paints, fantastik-wise,
A mystike tale of fained Paradise:
('Twas a true Garden, happy Plenties horn,
And seat of graces) least thou make (forlorn)
An Ideall Adams food fantasticall,
His sinne suppos'd, his pain Poeticall:
Such Allegories serue for shelter fit
To curious Idiots of erronious wit;
And chiefly then, when reading Histories,
Seeking the spirit, they do the body leese.
A mystike tale of fained Paradise:
('Twas a true Garden, happy Plenties horn,
And seat of graces) least thou make (forlorn)
An Ideall Adams food fantasticall,
His sinne suppos'd, his pain Poeticall:
Such Allegories serue for shelter fit
To curious Idiots of erronious wit;
And chiefly then, when reading Histories,
Seeking the spirit, they do the body leese.
But if thou list to ghesse by likelyhood,
Think that the wreakfull nature-drowning flood
Spar'd not this beautious place, which formost saw
The first foul breach of Gods eternall law:
Think that the most part of the plants it pull'd,
And of the sweetest flowrs the spirits dull'd,
Spoild the fair Gardens, made the fat fields lean,
And chang'd (perchance) the rivers chanell clean:
And thinke, that Time (whose slippery wheel doth play
In humane causes with inconstant sway,
Who exiles, alters, and disguises words)
Hath now transform'd the names of all these Fordes,
For, as through sin we lost that place, I feare
(Forgetfull) we haue lost the knowledge where
'T was situate, and of the sugred dainties
Wherewith God fed vs in those sacred plenties.
Think that the wreakfull nature-drowning flood
Spar'd not this beautious place, which formost saw
The first foul breach of Gods eternall law:
Think that the most part of the plants it pull'd,
And of the sweetest flowrs the spirits dull'd,
Spoild the fair Gardens, made the fat fields lean,
And chang'd (perchance) the rivers chanell clean:
And thinke, that Time (whose slippery wheel doth play
In humane causes with inconstant sway,
Who exiles, alters, and disguises words)
Hath now transform'd the names of all these Fordes,
For, as through sin we lost that place, I feare
(Forgetfull) we haue lost the knowledge where
'T was situate, and of the sugred dainties
Wherewith God fed vs in those sacred plenties.
Now of the Trees wherewith th'immortall Powr
Adorn'd the quarters of that blisfull Bowr,
All serv'd the mouth, saue two sustaind the minde:
All serv'd for food, saue two for seals assign'd.
Adorn'd the quarters of that blisfull Bowr,
All serv'd the mouth, saue two sustaind the minde:
All serv'd for food, saue two for seals assign'd.
God gaue the first, for honourable stile,
The tree of Life: true name; (alas the while!)
Not for th'effect it had, but should haue kept,
If Man from duty never had mis-stept.
For, as the ayr of those fresh dales and hils
Preserued him from Epidemick ills,
This fruit had ever-calm'd all insurrections,
All civill quarrels of the crosse complexions;
Had barr'd the passage of twice-childish age,
And ever-more excluded all the rage
Of painfull griefes, whose swift-slowe posting-pase
At first or last our dying life doth chase.
The tree of Life: true name; (alas the while!)
Not for th'effect it had, but should haue kept,
If Man from duty never had mis-stept.
174
Preserued him from Epidemick ills,
This fruit had ever-calm'd all insurrections,
All civill quarrels of the crosse complexions;
Had barr'd the passage of twice-childish age,
And ever-more excluded all the rage
Of painfull griefes, whose swift-slowe posting-pase
At first or last our dying life doth chase.
Strong counter-bane! O sacred Plant divine!
What metall, stone, stalk fruit, flowr, root, or ryne,
Shall I presume in these rude rymes to sute
Vnto thy wondrous World-adorning Fruit?
The rarest Simples that our fields present-vs
Heale but one hurt, and healing too torment-vs:
And with the torment, lingring our reliefe,
Our bags of Gold void, yer our bulks of griefe.
But thy rare fruits hid powr admired most,
Salveth all sores, sans pain, delay, or cost:
Or rather, man from yawning Death to stay,
Thou didst not cure, but keep all ils away.
What metall, stone, stalk fruit, flowr, root, or ryne,
Shall I presume in these rude rymes to sute
Vnto thy wondrous World-adorning Fruit?
The rarest Simples that our fields present-vs
Heale but one hurt, and healing too torment-vs:
And with the torment, lingring our reliefe,
Our bags of Gold void, yer our bulks of griefe.
But thy rare fruits hid powr admired most,
Salveth all sores, sans pain, delay, or cost:
Or rather, man from yawning Death to stay,
Thou didst not cure, but keep all ils away.
O holy, peer-less, rich preservatiue!
Whether wert thou the strange restoratiue
That suddenly did age with youth repair,
And made old Æson younger then his heir?
Or holy Nectar, that in heav'nly bowrs,
Eternally self-pouring Hebé pours?
Or blest Ambrosia (Gods immortall fare)?
Or else the rich fruit of the Garden rare,
Where, for three Ladies (as assured guard)
A fire-arm'd Dragon day and night did ward?
Or pretious Moly, which Ioues Pursuiuan
Wing-footed Hermes brought to th'Ithacan?
Or else Nepenthe, enemy to sadness,
Repelling sorrows, and repealing gladness?
Or Mummie? or Elixir (that excels
Saue men and Angels every creature els)?
No, none of these: these are but forgeries,
But toyes, but tales, but dreams, deceipts, and lies.
But thou art true, although our shallow sense
May honour more, then sound thine Excellence.
Whether wert thou the strange restoratiue
That suddenly did age with youth repair,
And made old Æson younger then his heir?
Or holy Nectar, that in heav'nly bowrs,
Eternally self-pouring Hebé pours?
Or blest Ambrosia (Gods immortall fare)?
Or else the rich fruit of the Garden rare,
Where, for three Ladies (as assured guard)
A fire-arm'd Dragon day and night did ward?
Or pretious Moly, which Ioues Pursuiuan
Wing-footed Hermes brought to th'Ithacan?
Or else Nepenthe, enemy to sadness,
Repelling sorrows, and repealing gladness?
Or Mummie? or Elixir (that excels
Saue men and Angels every creature els)?
No, none of these: these are but forgeries,
But toyes, but tales, but dreams, deceipts, and lies.
But thou art true, although our shallow sense
May honour more, then sound thine Excellence.
The Tree of Knowledge, th'other Tree behight:
Not that it selfly had such speciall might,
As mens duls wits could whet and sharpen so
That in a moment they might all things knowe.
'Twas a sure pledge, a sacred signe, and seal;
Which, being ta'n, should to light man reveal
What ods there is between still peace, and strife;
Gods wrath, and loue; drad death, and dearest life;
Solace, and sorrow; guile, and innocence;
Rebellious pride, and humble obedience.
Not that it selfly had such speciall might,
As mens duls wits could whet and sharpen so
That in a moment they might all things knowe.
'Twas a sure pledge, a sacred signe, and seal;
Which, being ta'n, should to light man reveal
What ods there is between still peace, and strife;
Gods wrath, and loue; drad death, and dearest life;
175
Rebellious pride, and humble obedience.
For, God had not depriv'd that primer season
The sacred lamp and light of learned Reason:
Mankinde was then a thousand fould more wise
Then now: blinde Error had not bleard his eyes,
With mists which make th'Athenian Sage suppose
That nought he knowes saue this, that nought he knowes.
That even light Pirrhons wavering fantasies
Reaue him the skill his vn-skill to agnize.
And th'Abderite, within a Well obscure,
As deep as dark, the Truth of things immure.
The sacred lamp and light of learned Reason:
Mankinde was then a thousand fould more wise
Then now: blinde Error had not bleard his eyes,
With mists which make th'Athenian Sage suppose
That nought he knowes saue this, that nought he knowes.
That even light Pirrhons wavering fantasies
Reaue him the skill his vn-skill to agnize.
And th'Abderite, within a Well obscure,
As deep as dark, the Truth of things immure.
He (happy) knew the Good, by th'vse of it:
He knew the Bad, but not by proof as yet:
But as hey say of great Hippocrates,
Who (though his limbs were numm'd with no excess,
Nor stopt his throat, nor vext his fantasie)
Knew the cold Cramp, th'Angine and Lunacy,
And hundred els-pains, whence in lusty flowr
He liv'd exempt a hundred yeers and foure.
Or like the pure Heav'n-prompted Prophets rather,
Whose sight so cleerly future things did gather,
Because the World's Soule in their soule enseal'd
The holy stamp of secrets most conceal'd.
He knew the Bad, but not by proof as yet:
But as hey say of great Hippocrates,
Who (though his limbs were numm'd with no excess,
Nor stopt his throat, nor vext his fantasie)
Knew the cold Cramp, th'Angine and Lunacy,
And hundred els-pains, whence in lusty flowr
He liv'd exempt a hundred yeers and foure.
Or like the pure Heav'n-prompted Prophets rather,
Whose sight so cleerly future things did gather,
Because the World's Soule in their soule enseal'd
The holy stamp of secrets most conceal'd.
But our now-knowledge hath, for tedious train,
A drooping lise, and over-racked brain,
A face forlorn, a sad and sullen fashion,
A rest-less toyl, and Cares self-pining passion.
Knowledge was then even the soules soule for light,
The spirits calm Port, and Lanthorn shining bright
To straight-stept feet: cleer knowledge; not confus'd:
Not sowr, but sweet: not gotten, but infus'd.
A drooping lise, and over-racked brain,
A face forlorn, a sad and sullen fashion,
A rest-less toyl, and Cares self-pining passion.
Knowledge was then even the soules soule for light,
The spirits calm Port, and Lanthorn shining bright
To straight-stept feet: cleer knowledge; not confus'd:
Not sowr, but sweet: not gotten, but infus'd.
Now Heav'ns eternall all-fore-seeing King,
Who never rashly ordereth any thing,
Thought good, that man (hauing yet spirits sound-stated)
Should dwell els-where, then where he was created;
That he might knowe, he did not hold this place
By Natures right, but by meer gift and Grace;
That he should never taste fruits vn-permitted,
But keep the sacred Pledge to him committed,
And dress that Park, which, God without all tearm,
On these conditions gaue him, as in farm.
Who never rashly ordereth any thing,
Thought good, that man (hauing yet spirits sound-stated)
Should dwell els-where, then where he was created;
That he might knowe, he did not hold this place
By Natures right, but by meer gift and Grace;
That he should never taste fruits vn-permitted,
But keep the sacred Pledge to him committed,
And dress that Park, which, God without all tearm,
On these conditions gaue him, as in farm.
God would, that (void of painfull labour) he
Should liue in Eden; but not idlely:
For, Idleness pure Innocence subverts,
Defiles our body, and our soule perverts:
Yea, sobrest men it makes delicious,
To vertue dull, to vice ingenious.
But that first trauell had no sympathy
With our since-trauails wretched cruelty,
Distilling sweat, and panting, wanting winde,
Which was a scourge for Adams sin assign'd.
Should liue in Eden; but not idlely:
For, Idleness pure Innocence subverts,
Defiles our body, and our soule perverts:
Yea, sobrest men it makes delicious,
To vertue dull, to vice ingenious.
176
With our since-trauails wretched cruelty,
Distilling sweat, and panting, wanting winde,
Which was a scourge for Adams sin assign'd.
For, Edens earth was then so fertile fat,
That he made onely sweet Essayes, in that,
Of skilfull industry, and naked wrought
More for delight, then for the gain he sought.
In briefe, it was a pleasant exercise,
A labour lik't, a paine much like the guise
Of cunning dauncers; who, although they skip,
Run, caper, vault, trauerse, and turn, and trip,
From Morn till Even, at night again full merry,
Renew their dance, of dancing never weary.
Or else of Hunters, that with happy luck
Rousing betimes som often breathed Buck,
Or goodly Stagge, their yelping Hounds vncouple,
Winde lowd their horns, their whoops and halloos double,
Spur-on and spare not, following their desire,
Themselues vn-weary, though their Hackneys tyre.
That he made onely sweet Essayes, in that,
Of skilfull industry, and naked wrought
More for delight, then for the gain he sought.
In briefe, it was a pleasant exercise,
A labour lik't, a paine much like the guise
Of cunning dauncers; who, although they skip,
Run, caper, vault, trauerse, and turn, and trip,
From Morn till Even, at night again full merry,
Renew their dance, of dancing never weary.
Or else of Hunters, that with happy luck
Rousing betimes som often breathed Buck,
Or goodly Stagge, their yelping Hounds vncouple,
Winde lowd their horns, their whoops and halloos double,
Spur-on and spare not, following their desire,
Themselues vn-weary, though their Hackneys tyre.
But, for th'end of all their iolity,
There's found much stifness, sweat and vanity.
I rather match it to the pleasing pain
Of Angels pure, who ever sloath disdain:
Or to the Suns calm course, who pain-less ay
About the welkin posteth night and day.
There's found much stifness, sweat and vanity.
I rather match it to the pleasing pain
Of Angels pure, who ever sloath disdain:
Or to the Suns calm course, who pain-less ay
About the welkin posteth night and day.
Doubtless, when Adam saw our common aire,
He did admire the mansion rich and faire
Of his Successors. For, frosts keenly cold
The shady locks of Forrests had not powl'd:
Heav'n had not thundred on our heads as yet,
Nor given the Earth her sad Diuorces Writ.
He did admire the mansion rich and faire
Of his Successors. For, frosts keenly cold
The shady locks of Forrests had not powl'd:
Heav'n had not thundred on our heads as yet,
Nor given the Earth her sad Diuorces Writ.
But when he once had entred Paradise,
The remnant world he iustly did despise:
[Much like a Boor far in the Countrey born,
Who, never having seen but Kine and Corn,
Oxen, and Sheep and homely Hamlets thatcht
(Which, fond, he counts as kingdomes; hardly matcht)
When afterward he happens to behold
Our wealthy London's wonders manifold,
The silly peasant thinks himselfe to be
In a new World; and gazing greedily,
One while he Art-less, all the Arts admires,
Then the Fair Temples, and their top-less spires,
Their firm foundations, and the massie pride
Of all their sacred ornaments beside:
Anon he wonders at the differing graces,
Tongues, gests, attires, the fashions and the faces,
Of busie buzzing swarms, which still he meets
Ebbing and flowing ouer all the streets;
Then at the signes, the shops, the waights, the measures,
The handy-crafts, the rumours trades, and treasures.
But of all sights, none seems him yet more strange
Then the rare, beautious, stately, rich Exchange.
Another while he maruails at the Thames,
Which seems to bear huge mountains on her streams:
Then at the fur-built Bridge; which he doth iudge
More like a tradefull Citie then a Bridge;
And glancing thence a-long the Northren shore,
That princely prospect doth amaze him more.]
The remnant world he iustly did despise:
[Much like a Boor far in the Countrey born,
Who, never having seen but Kine and Corn,
Oxen, and Sheep and homely Hamlets thatcht
(Which, fond, he counts as kingdomes; hardly matcht)
When afterward he happens to behold
Our wealthy London's wonders manifold,
The silly peasant thinks himselfe to be
In a new World; and gazing greedily,
One while he Art-less, all the Arts admires,
Then the Fair Temples, and their top-less spires,
Their firm foundations, and the massie pride
Of all their sacred ornaments beside:
Anon he wonders at the differing graces,
Tongues, gests, attires, the fashions and the faces,
177
Ebbing and flowing ouer all the streets;
Then at the signes, the shops, the waights, the measures,
The handy-crafts, the rumours trades, and treasures.
But of all sights, none seems him yet more strange
Then the rare, beautious, stately, rich Exchange.
Another while he maruails at the Thames,
Which seems to bear huge mountains on her streams:
Then at the fur-built Bridge; which he doth iudge
More like a tradefull Citie then a Bridge;
And glancing thence a-long the Northren shore,
That princely prospect doth amaze him more.]
For in that Garden man delighted so,
That (rapt) he wist not if he wak't or no;
If he beheld a true thing or a fable;
Or Earth, or Heav'n: all more then admirable.
For such excess his extasie was small:
Not having spirit enough to muse withall,
He wisht him hundred-fold redoubled senses,
The more to taste so rare sweet excellences;
Not knowing, whether nose, or ears, or eyes,
Smelt, heard, or saw, more sauours, sounds, or Dies.
That (rapt) he wist not if he wak't or no;
If he beheld a true thing or a fable;
Or Earth, or Heav'n: all more then admirable.
For such excess his extasie was small:
Not having spirit enough to muse withall,
He wisht him hundred-fold redoubled senses,
The more to taste so rare sweet excellences;
Not knowing, whether nose, or ears, or eyes,
Smelt, heard, or saw, more sauours, sounds, or Dies.
But, Adams best and supreame delectation,
Was th'often haunt and holy conversation
His soule and body had so many wayes
With God, who lightned Eden with his Rays.
For spirits, by faith religiously refin'd,
'Twixt God and man retain a middle kinde:
And (Vmpires) mortall to th'immortall ioyne;
And th'infinite in narrow clay confine.
Was th'often haunt and holy conversation
His soule and body had so many wayes
With God, who lightned Eden with his Rays.
For spirits, by faith religiously refin'd,
'Twixt God and man retain a middle kinde:
And (Vmpires) mortall to th'immortall ioyne;
And th'infinite in narrow clay confine.
Som-times by you, O you all-faining Dreams,
We gain this good; but not when Bacchus streames
And glutton vapours over-flowe the Brain,
And drown our spirits, presenting fancies vain:
Nor when pale Phlegm, or Saffron coloured Choler,
In feeble stomacks belch their divers dolor,
And print vpon our Vnderstandings Tables;
That, Water-wracks; this other, flamefull fables:
Nor when the Spirit of lies, our spirits deceiues,
And guilefull visions in our fancy leaues:
Nor when the pencill of Cares ouer-deep
Our day-bred thoughts depainteth in our sleep.
But when no more the soules chiefe faculties,
Are sperst to serue the bodie many waies,
When all self-vned, free from days disturber,
Through such sweet Transe, she findes a quiet harbour;
Where som in riddles, som more plain exprest,
She sees things future, in th'almighties brest.
We gain this good; but not when Bacchus streames
And glutton vapours over-flowe the Brain,
And drown our spirits, presenting fancies vain:
Nor when pale Phlegm, or Saffron coloured Choler,
In feeble stomacks belch their divers dolor,
And print vpon our Vnderstandings Tables;
That, Water-wracks; this other, flamefull fables:
Nor when the Spirit of lies, our spirits deceiues,
And guilefull visions in our fancy leaues:
Nor when the pencill of Cares ouer-deep
Our day-bred thoughts depainteth in our sleep.
But when no more the soules chiefe faculties,
Are sperst to serue the bodie many waies,
When all self-vned, free from days disturber,
Through such sweet Transe, she findes a quiet harbour;
Where som in riddles, som more plain exprest,
She sees things future, in th'almighties brest.
178
And yet far higher is this holy Fit,
When (not from flesh, but from flesh cares, acquit)
The wakefull soule it selfe assembling so,
All selfly dies; while that the body though
Liues motion-less: for, sanctified wholly,
It takes th'impression of Gods Signet solely;
And in his sacred Crystall Map, doth see
Heav'ns Oracles, and Angels glorious glee:
Made more then spirit, Now, Morrow, Yesterday,
To it, all one, are all as present ay.
And though it seem not (when the dream's expir'd)
Like that it was; yet is it much admir'd
Of rarest men, and shines among them bright
Like glistering Stars, through gloomy shades of night.
When (not from flesh, but from flesh cares, acquit)
The wakefull soule it selfe assembling so,
All selfly dies; while that the body though
Liues motion-less: for, sanctified wholly,
It takes th'impression of Gods Signet solely;
And in his sacred Crystall Map, doth see
Heav'ns Oracles, and Angels glorious glee:
Made more then spirit, Now, Morrow, Yesterday,
To it, all one, are all as present ay.
And though it seem not (when the dream's expir'd)
Like that it was; yet is it much admir'd
Of rarest men, and shines among them bright
Like glistering Stars, through gloomy shades of night.
But aboue all, that's the divinest Transe,
When the soules eye beholdes Gods countenance;
When mouth to mouth familiarly he deales,
And in our face his drad-sweet face he seales.
As when S. Paul on his deer Masters wings,
Was rapt aliue vp to th'eternall things:
And he that whilom for the chosen flock,
Made wals of waters, waters of a rock.
When the soules eye beholdes Gods countenance;
When mouth to mouth familiarly he deales,
And in our face his drad-sweet face he seales.
As when S. Paul on his deer Masters wings,
Was rapt aliue vp to th'eternall things:
And he that whilom for the chosen flock,
Made wals of waters, waters of a rock.
O sacred flight! sweet rape! loues soverain bliss!
Which very loues deer lips dost make vs kiss:
Hymen, of Manna, and of Mel compact,
Which for a time dost Heav'n with Earth contract:
Fire, that in Limbeck of pure thoughts divine
Doost purge our thoughts, and our dull earth refine:
And mounting vs to Heav'n, vn-moving hence,
Man (in a trice) in God doost quintessence:
O! mad'st thou man divine in habitude,
As for a space; O sweetest solitude,
Thy bliss were equall with that happy Rest
Which after death shall make vs ever-blest.
Which very loues deer lips dost make vs kiss:
Hymen, of Manna, and of Mel compact,
Which for a time dost Heav'n with Earth contract:
Fire, that in Limbeck of pure thoughts divine
Doost purge our thoughts, and our dull earth refine:
And mounting vs to Heav'n, vn-moving hence,
Man (in a trice) in God doost quintessence:
O! mad'st thou man divine in habitude,
As for a space; O sweetest solitude,
Thy bliss were equall with that happy Rest
Which after death shall make vs ever-blest.
Now, I beleeue that in this later guise
Man did converse in Pleasant Paradise
With Heav'ns great Architect, and (happy) there
His body saw, (or bodie as it were)
Gloriously compast with the blessed Legions
That raign aboue the azure-spangled Regions.
Man did converse in Pleasant Paradise
With Heav'ns great Architect, and (happy) there
His body saw, (or bodie as it were)
Gloriously compast with the blessed Legions
That raign aboue the azure-spangled Regions.
Adam, quoth He, the beauties manyfold
That in this Eden thou doest heer behold,
Are all thine, onely: enter (sacred Race)
Come, take possession of this wealthy place,
The Earth's sole glory: take (deer Son) to thee,
This Farm's demains, leaue the Chief right to me;
And th'only Rent that of it I reserue, is
One Trees fair fruit, to shew thy sute and service:
Be thou the Liege, and I Lord Paramount,
I'le not exact hard fines (as men shall woont).
For signe of Homage, and for seal of Faith,
Of all the profits this Possession hath,
I onely aske one Tree; whose fruit I will
For Sacrament shall stand of Good and Ill.
Take all the rest, I bid thee: but I vow
By th'vn-nam'd name, where-to all knees doo bow,
And by the keen Darts of my kindled ire
(More fiercely burning then consuming fire)
That of the Fruit of Knowledge if thou feed,
Death, dreadfull Death shall plague Thee and thy Seed.
If then, the happy state thou hold'st of me,
My holy mildness, nor high Maiesty,
If faith nor Honour curb thy bold ambition,
Yet weigh thy self, and thy owne Seeds condition.
That in this Eden thou doest heer behold,
Are all thine, onely: enter (sacred Race)
Come, take possession of this wealthy place,
The Earth's sole glory: take (deer Son) to thee,
This Farm's demains, leaue the Chief right to me;
And th'only Rent that of it I reserue, is
One Trees fair fruit, to shew thy sute and service:
179
I'le not exact hard fines (as men shall woont).
For signe of Homage, and for seal of Faith,
Of all the profits this Possession hath,
I onely aske one Tree; whose fruit I will
For Sacrament shall stand of Good and Ill.
Take all the rest, I bid thee: but I vow
By th'vn-nam'd name, where-to all knees doo bow,
And by the keen Darts of my kindled ire
(More fiercely burning then consuming fire)
That of the Fruit of Knowledge if thou feed,
Death, dreadfull Death shall plague Thee and thy Seed.
If then, the happy state thou hold'st of me,
My holy mildness, nor high Maiesty,
If faith nor Honour curb thy bold ambition,
Yet weigh thy self, and thy owne Seeds condition.
Most mighty Lord (quoth Adam) heer I tender
All thanks I can, not all I should thee render
For all thy liberall fauours, far surmounting
My hearts conceit, much more my tongues recounting.
At thy command, I would with boyst'rous shock
Go run my selfe against the hardest rock:
Or cast me headlong from som Mountain steep,
Down to the whirling bottom of the Deep:
Yea, at thy beck, I would not spare the life
Of my deer Phœnix, sister-daughter-wife:
Obeying thee, I finde the things impossible,
Cruell, and painfull; pleasant, kinde, and possible.
All thanks I can, not all I should thee render
For all thy liberall fauours, far surmounting
My hearts conceit, much more my tongues recounting.
At thy command, I would with boyst'rous shock
Go run my selfe against the hardest rock:
Or cast me headlong from som Mountain steep,
Down to the whirling bottom of the Deep:
Yea, at thy beck, I would not spare the life
Of my deer Phœnix, sister-daughter-wife:
Obeying thee, I finde the things impossible,
Cruell, and painfull; pleasant, kinde, and possible.
But since thy first Law doth more grace afford
Vnto the Subiect, then the soverain Lord:
Since (bountious Prince) on me and my Descent,
Thou doost impose no other tax, nor Rent,
But one sole Precept, of most iust condition
(No Precept neither, but a Prohibition);
And since (good God) of all the fruits in Eden
Ther's but one Apple that I am forbidden,
Even only that which bitter Death doth threat,
(Better, perhaps, to look on then to eat)
I honour in my soule, and humbly kiss
Thy iust Edict (as Author of my bliss):
Which, once transgrest, deserues the rigor rather
Of sharpest Iudge, then mildness of a Father.
Vnto the Subiect, then the soverain Lord:
Since (bountious Prince) on me and my Descent,
Thou doost impose no other tax, nor Rent,
But one sole Precept, of most iust condition
(No Precept neither, but a Prohibition);
And since (good God) of all the fruits in Eden
Ther's but one Apple that I am forbidden,
Even only that which bitter Death doth threat,
(Better, perhaps, to look on then to eat)
I honour in my soule, and humbly kiss
Thy iust Edict (as Author of my bliss):
Which, once transgrest, deserues the rigor rather
Of sharpest Iudge, then mildness of a Father.
The Firmament shall retrograde his course,
Swift Euphrates goe hide him in his source,
Firm Mountains skip like Lambs; beneath the Deep
Eagles shall diue; Whales in the ayr shall keep,
Yer I presume, with fingers ends to touch
(Much less with lips) the Fruit forbod so much.
Swift Euphrates goe hide him in his source,
Firm Mountains skip like Lambs; beneath the Deep
Eagles shall diue; Whales in the ayr shall keep,
Yer I presume, with fingers ends to touch
(Much less with lips) the Fruit forbod so much.
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Thus, yet in league with Heav'n and Earth, he liues;
Enioying all the Goods th'Almighty giues:
And, yet not treading Sins false mazy measures,
Sails on smooth surges of a Sea of pleasures.
Enioying all the Goods th'Almighty giues:
And, yet not treading Sins false mazy measures,
Sails on smooth surges of a Sea of pleasures.
Heer, vnderneath a fragrant Hedge reposes,
Full of all kindes of sweet all-coloured Roses,
Which (one would think) the Angels daily dress
In true-loue-knots, tri-angles, lozenges.
Full of all kindes of sweet all-coloured Roses,
Which (one would think) the Angels daily dress
In true-loue-knots, tri-angles, lozenges.
Anon he walketh in a levell lane
On either side beset with shady Plane,
Whose arched boughs, for Frize and Cornich bear
Thick Groues, to shield from future change of air:
Then in a path impal'd, in pleasant wise,
With sharp-sweeet Orange, Limon, Citron trees;
Whose leauy twigs, that intricately tangle,
Seem painted wals whereon true fruits do dangle.
On either side beset with shady Plane,
Whose arched boughs, for Frize and Cornich bear
Thick Groues, to shield from future change of air:
Then in a path impal'd, in pleasant wise,
With sharp-sweeet Orange, Limon, Citron trees;
Whose leauy twigs, that intricately tangle,
Seem painted wals whereon true fruits do dangle.
Now in a plentious Orchard planted rare
With vn-graft trees, in checker, round and square:
Whose goodly fruits so on his will doe wait,
That plucking one, another's ready straight:
And having tasted all (with due satiety)
Findes all one goodness, but in taste variety.
With vn-graft trees, in checker, round and square:
Whose goodly fruits so on his will doe wait,
That plucking one, another's ready straight:
And having tasted all (with due satiety)
Findes all one goodness, but in taste variety.
Anon he stalketh with an easie stride,
By som cleer River's lilly-paved side,
Whose sand's pure gold, whose pebbles pretious Gemms,
And liquid silver all the curling streams:
Whose chiding murmur, mazing in and out,
With Crystall cisterns moats a mead about:
And th'art-less Bridges, over-thwart this Torrent,
Are rocks self-arched by the eating current:
Or loving Palms, whose lusty Femals willing
Their marrow-boyling loues to be fulfilling,
(And reach their Husband-trees on th'other banks)
Bow their stiff backs, and serue for passing-planks.
By som cleer River's lilly-paved side,
Whose sand's pure gold, whose pebbles pretious Gemms,
And liquid silver all the curling streams:
Whose chiding murmur, mazing in and out,
With Crystall cisterns moats a mead about:
And th'art-less Bridges, over-thwart this Torrent,
Are rocks self-arched by the eating current:
Or loving Palms, whose lusty Femals willing
Their marrow-boyling loues to be fulfilling,
(And reach their Husband-trees on th'other banks)
Bow their stiff backs, and serue for passing-planks.
Then in a goodly Garden's alleys smooth
Where prodig Nature sets abroad her booth
Of richest beauties, where each bed and border
Is like pide posies divers dies and order.
Where prodig Nature sets abroad her booth
Of richest beauties, where each bed and border
Is like pide posies divers dies and order.
Now, far from noise, he creepeth covertly
Into a Caue of kindly Porphyry,
Which, rock-fall'n spowts, congeald by colder air,
Seem with smooth anticks to haue seeled fair:
There laid at ease, a cubit from the ground,
Vpon a Iaspir fring'd with yvie round,
Purfled with veins, thick thrumm'd with mossie Bever,
Hee falls asleep fast by a silent River;
Whose captiue streams, through crooked pipes still rushing,
Make sweeter Musick with their gentle gushing,
Then now at Tiuoli, th'Hydrantick Braul
Of rich Ferrara's stately Cardinall:
Or Ctesibes rare engins, framed there
Whereas they made of Ibts, Iupiter.
Into a Caue of kindly Porphyry,
Which, rock-fall'n spowts, congeald by colder air,
Seem with smooth anticks to haue seeled fair:
There laid at ease, a cubit from the ground,
Vpon a Iaspir fring'd with yvie round,
Purfled with veins, thick thrumm'd with mossie Bever,
Hee falls asleep fast by a silent River;
Whose captiue streams, through crooked pipes still rushing,
Make sweeter Musick with their gentle gushing,
181
Of rich Ferrara's stately Cardinall:
Or Ctesibes rare engins, framed there
Whereas they made of Ibts, Iupiter.
Musing, anon through crooked Walks he wanders,
Round-winding rings, and intricate Meanders,
Fals-guiding paths, doubtfull beguiling strays,
And right-wrong errors of an end-less Maze:
Not simply hedged with a single border
Of Rosemary, cut-out with curious order,
In Satyrs, Centaurs Whales, and half-men-Horses,
And thousand other counterfaited corses;
But with true Beasts, fast in the ground still sticking,
Feeding on grass, and th'airy moisture licking:
Such as those Bonarets, in Scythia bred
Of slender seeds, and with green fodder fed;
Although their bodies, noses, mouthes and eys,
Of new-yeand Lambs haue full the form and guise;
And should be very Lambs, saue that (for foot)
Within the ground they fix a liuing root,
Which at their nauell growes, and dies that day
That they haue brouz'd the neighbour-grass away.
Round-winding rings, and intricate Meanders,
Fals-guiding paths, doubtfull beguiling strays,
And right-wrong errors of an end-less Maze:
Not simply hedged with a single border
Of Rosemary, cut-out with curious order,
In Satyrs, Centaurs Whales, and half-men-Horses,
And thousand other counterfaited corses;
But with true Beasts, fast in the ground still sticking,
Feeding on grass, and th'airy moisture licking:
Such as those Bonarets, in Scythia bred
Of slender seeds, and with green fodder fed;
Although their bodies, noses, mouthes and eys,
Of new-yeand Lambs haue full the form and guise;
And should be very Lambs, saue that (for foot)
Within the ground they fix a liuing root,
Which at their nauell growes, and dies that day
That they haue brouz'd the neighbour-grass away.
O wondrous vertue of God onely good!
The Beast hath root, the Plant hath flesh and blood:
The nimble Plant can turn it to and fro;
Then numméd Beast can neither stir nor go:
The Plant is leaf-less, branch-less, void of fruit;
The Beast is lust-less, sex-less, fire-less, mute:
The Plant with Plants his hungry panch doth feed;
Th'admired Beast is sowen a slender seed.
The Beast hath root, the Plant hath flesh and blood:
The nimble Plant can turn it to and fro;
Then numméd Beast can neither stir nor go:
The Plant is leaf-less, branch-less, void of fruit;
The Beast is lust-less, sex-less, fire-less, mute:
The Plant with Plants his hungry panch doth feed;
Th'admired Beast is sowen a slender seed.
Then vp and down a Forrest thick he paseth;
Which, selfly op'ning in his presence, baseth
Her trembling tresses never-vading spring,
For humble homage to her mighty King:
Where thousand Trees, waving with gentle puffs
Their plumy tops, sweep the celestiall roofs:
Yet envying all the massie Cerbas fame,
Sith fifty pases can but clasp the same.
Which, selfly op'ning in his presence, baseth
Her trembling tresses never-vading spring,
For humble homage to her mighty King:
Where thousand Trees, waving with gentle puffs
Their plumy tops, sweep the celestiall roofs:
Yet envying all the massie Cerbas fame,
Sith fifty pases can but clasp the same.
There springs the Shrub three foot aboue the grass,
Which fears the keen edge of the Curtelace,
Whereof the rich Egyptian so endears
Root, bark and fruit, and much-much more the tears.
Which fears the keen edge of the Curtelace,
Whereof the rich Egyptian so endears
Root, bark and fruit, and much-much more the tears.
There liues the Sea-Oak in a little shel;
There growes vntill'd the ruddy Cochenel:
And there the Chermez, which on each side Arms
With pointed prickles all his precious arms;
Rich Trees, and fruitfull in those Worms of Price,
Which pressed, yeeld a crimsin-coloured juyce,
Whence thousand Lambs are died so deep in grain,
That their own Mothers knowe them not again.
There growes vntill'd the ruddy Cochenel:
And there the Chermez, which on each side Arms
With pointed prickles all his precious arms;
Rich Trees, and fruitfull in those Worms of Price,
Which pressed, yeeld a crimsin-coloured juyce,
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That their own Mothers knowe them not again.
There mounts the Melt, which serues in Mexico
For weapon, wood, needle, and threed (to sowe)
Brick, hony, sugar, sucket, balm and wine,
Parchment, perfume, apparell, cord and line:
His wood for fire, his harder leaues are fit
For thousand vses of inventiue wit.
Somtimes thereon they graue their holy things,
Laws, lauds of Idols, and the gests of Kings:
Somtimes, conioyned by a cunning hand,
Vpon their roofs for rowes of tile they stand:
Somtimes they twine them into equall threeds;
Small ends make needles; greater, arrow-heads:
His vpper sap the sting of Serpents cures:
His new-sprung bud a rare Conserue indures:
His burned stalks, with strong fumosities
Of pearcing vapours, purge the French disease:
And they extract, from liquor of his feet,
Sharp vinegar pure hony, sugar sweet.
For weapon, wood, needle, and threed (to sowe)
Brick, hony, sugar, sucket, balm and wine,
Parchment, perfume, apparell, cord and line:
His wood for fire, his harder leaues are fit
For thousand vses of inventiue wit.
Somtimes thereon they graue their holy things,
Laws, lauds of Idols, and the gests of Kings:
Somtimes, conioyned by a cunning hand,
Vpon their roofs for rowes of tile they stand:
Somtimes they twine them into equall threeds;
Small ends make needles; greater, arrow-heads:
His vpper sap the sting of Serpents cures:
His new-sprung bud a rare Conserue indures:
His burned stalks, with strong fumosities
Of pearcing vapours, purge the French disease:
And they extract, from liquor of his feet,
Sharp vinegar pure hony, sugar sweet.
There quakes the Plant, which in Pudefetan
Is call'd the Sham-faç't: for, asham'd of man,
If towards it one doo approach too much,
It shrinks his boughs, to shun our hatefull touch;
As if it had a soule, a sense, a sight,
Subiect to shame, fear, sorrow and despight.
Is call'd the Sham-faç't: for, asham'd of man,
If towards it one doo approach too much,
It shrinks his boughs, to shun our hatefull touch;
As if it had a soule, a sense, a sight,
Subiect to shame, fear, sorrow and despight.
And there, that Tree from off whose trembling top
Both swimming shoals, and flying troops doo drop:
I mean the Tree now in Iuturna growing,
Whose leaues, disperst by Zephyr's wanton blowing,
Are metamorphos'd both in form and matter;
On land to Fowls, to Fishes in the water.
Both swimming shoals, and flying troops doo drop:
I mean the Tree now in Iuturna growing,
Whose leaues, disperst by Zephyr's wanton blowing,
Are metamorphos'd both in form and matter;
On land to Fowls, to Fishes in the water.
But, seest thou not (dear Muse) thou treadst the same
Too-curious path thou dost in others blame?
And striv'st in vain to paint This Work of choice,
The which no humane spirit, nor hand, nor voice,
Can once conceiue, less pourtray, least express,
All over-whelm'd in gulfs so bottomless.
Who (matching Art with Nature) likeneth
Our grounds to Eden, fondly measureth
By painted Butter-flies th'imperiall Eagle;
And th'Elephant by every little Beagle.
Too-curious path thou dost in others blame?
And striv'st in vain to paint This Work of choice,
The which no humane spirit, nor hand, nor voice,
Can once conceiue, less pourtray, least express,
All over-whelm'd in gulfs so bottomless.
Who (matching Art with Nature) likeneth
Our grounds to Eden, fondly measureth
By painted Butter-flies th'imperiall Eagle;
And th'Elephant by every little Beagle.
This fear to fail, shall serue me for a bridle,
Lest (lacking wings and guide) too busie-idle,
And over-bould, Gods Cabinet I clime,
To seek the place, and search the very time
When both our Parents, or but one was ta'en
Out of our Earth, into that fruitfull Plain:
How long they had that Garden in possession,
Before their proud and insolent Transgression:
What Children there they earned, and how many,
Of whether sex: or, whether none or any:
Or how (at least) they should haue propagated,
If the sly malice of the serpent hated,
Causing their fall, had not defil'd their kin,
And vnborn seed, with leprosie of Sin.
Lest (lacking wings and guide) too busie-idle,
And over-bould, Gods Cabinet I clime,
To seek the place, and search the very time
When both our Parents, or but one was ta'en
Out of our Earth, into that fruitfull Plain:
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Before their proud and insolent Transgression:
What Children there they earned, and how many,
Of whether sex: or, whether none or any:
Or how (at least) they should haue propagated,
If the sly malice of the serpent hated,
Causing their fall, had not defil'd their kin,
And vnborn seed, with leprosie of Sin.
If void of Venus; sith vnlike it is,
Such blessed state the noble flowr should miss
Of Virgin-head; or, folk so perfect chaste
Should furious feel, when they their loues imbraç't,
Such tickling flames as our fond soule surprise
(That dead a-while in Epilepsie lies)
And slack our sinews all, by little and little
Drowning our reason in foul pleasure brittle.
Such blessed state the noble flowr should miss
Of Virgin-head; or, folk so perfect chaste
Should furious feel, when they their loues imbraç't,
Such tickling flames as our fond soule surprise
(That dead a-while in Epilepsie lies)
And slack our sinews all, by little and little
Drowning our reason in foul pleasure brittle.
Or whether else as men ingender now,
Sith spouse-bed spot-less laws of God allow,
If no excess command: sith else again
The Lord had made the double sex in vain.
Sith spouse-bed spot-less laws of God allow,
If no excess command: sith else again
The Lord had made the double sex in vain.
Whether their Infants should haue had the powr
We now perceiue in fresh youths lusty flowr,
As nimble feet, limbs strong and vigorous,
Industrious hands, and hearts courageous;
Sith before Sin, Man ought not less appear
In Natures gifts, then his then-seruants were:
And lo the Partridge, which new-hatched bears
On her weak back her parent-house, and wears
(In stead of wings) a bever-supple Down,
Follows her dam through furrows vp and down.
We now perceiue in fresh youths lusty flowr,
As nimble feet, limbs strong and vigorous,
Industrious hands, and hearts courageous;
Sith before Sin, Man ought not less appear
In Natures gifts, then his then-seruants were:
And lo the Partridge, which new-hatched bears
On her weak back her parent-house, and wears
(In stead of wings) a bever-supple Down,
Follows her dam through furrows vp and down.
Or else as now; sith in the womb of Eue
A man of thirty yeers could never liue:
Nor may we iudge 'gainst Natures course apparant,
Without the sacred Scriptures speciall warrant:
Which for our good (as Heav'ns dear babe) hath right
To countermaund our reason and our sight.
A man of thirty yeers could never liue:
Nor may we iudge 'gainst Natures course apparant,
Without the sacred Scriptures speciall warrant:
Which for our good (as Heav'ns dear babe) hath right
To countermaund our reason and our sight.
Whether their seed should with their birth haue brought
Deep Knowledge, Reason, Vnderstanding-thought;
Sith now we see the new-fall'n feeble Lamb
Yet stain'd with bloud of his distressed Dam,
Knowes well the Wolf, at whose fell sight he shakes,
And, right the teat of th'vnknowne Ewe he takes:
And sith a dull Dunce, which no knowledge can,
Is a dead image, and no living man.
Deep Knowledge, Reason, Vnderstanding-thought;
Sith now we see the new-fall'n feeble Lamb
Yet stain'd with bloud of his distressed Dam,
Knowes well the Wolf, at whose fell sight he shakes,
And, right the teat of th'vnknowne Ewe he takes:
And sith a dull Dunce, which no knowledge can,
Is a dead image, and no living man.
Or the thick vail of ignorance's night
Had hooded-vp their issues inward sight;
Sith the much moisture of an Infant brain
Receives so many shapes, that over-lain
New dash the old; and the trim commixation
Of confus'd fancies, full of alteration,
Makes th'vnderstanding hull, which settle would,
And findes no firm ground for his Anchors hould.
Had hooded-vp their issues inward sight;
Sith the much moisture of an Infant brain
Receives so many shapes, that over-lain
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Of confus'd fancies, full of alteration,
Makes th'vnderstanding hull, which settle would,
And findes no firm ground for his Anchors hould.
Whether old Adam should haue left the place
Vnto his Sons; they, to their after-race:
Or whether all together at the last
Should gloriously from thence to Heav'n haue past;
Search whoso list: who list let vaunt in pride
T'haue hit the White, and let him (sage) decide
The many other doubts that vainly rise.
For mine own part I will not seem so wise:
I will not waste my trauell and my seed
To reap an empty straw, or fruit-less reed.
Vnto his Sons; they, to their after-race:
Or whether all together at the last
Should gloriously from thence to Heav'n haue past;
Search whoso list: who list let vaunt in pride
T'haue hit the White, and let him (sage) decide
The many other doubts that vainly rise.
For mine own part I will not seem so wise:
I will not waste my trauell and my seed
To reap an empty straw, or fruit-less reed.
Alas! we knowe what Orion of grief
Rain'd on the curst head of the creatures Chief,
After that God against him war proclaim'd,
And Satan princedom of the earth had claim'd.
But none can knowe precisely, how at all
Our Elders liv'd before their odious Fall:
An vnknowne Cifer, and deep Pit it is,
Where Dircean Oedipus his marks would miss:
Sith Adam's self, if now he liv'd anew,
Could scant vnwinde the knotty snarled clew
Of double doubts and questions intricate
That Schools dispute about this pristin state.
Rain'd on the curst head of the creatures Chief,
After that God against him war proclaim'd,
And Satan princedom of the earth had claim'd.
But none can knowe precisely, how at all
Our Elders liv'd before their odious Fall:
An vnknowne Cifer, and deep Pit it is,
Where Dircean Oedipus his marks would miss:
Sith Adam's self, if now he liv'd anew,
Could scant vnwinde the knotty snarled clew
Of double doubts and questions intricate
That Schools dispute about this pristin state.
But this sole point I rest resolved in,
That, seeing Death's the meer effect of sin,
Man had not dreaded Death's all-slaying might,
Had he still stood in Innocence vpright.
That, seeing Death's the meer effect of sin,
Man had not dreaded Death's all-slaying might,
Had he still stood in Innocence vpright.
For, as two Bellows, blowing turn by turn,
By litte and little make cold coals to burn,
And then their fire inflames with glowing heat
An iron bar; which, on the Anvill beat,
Seems no more iron, but flies almost all
In hissing sparks, and quick bright cinders small:
So, the World's Soule should in our soule inspire
Th'eternall force of an eternall fire,
And then our soule (as form) breathe in our corse
Her count-less numbers, and Heav'n-tuned force,
Wherewith our bodies beauty beautifi'd,
Should (like our death-less soule) haue never di'd.
By litte and little make cold coals to burn,
And then their fire inflames with glowing heat
An iron bar; which, on the Anvill beat,
Seems no more iron, but flies almost all
In hissing sparks, and quick bright cinders small:
So, the World's Soule should in our soule inspire
Th'eternall force of an eternall fire,
And then our soule (as form) breathe in our corse
Her count-less numbers, and Heav'n-tuned force,
Wherewith our bodies beauty beautifi'd,
Should (like our death-less soule) haue never di'd.
Heer (wot I well) som wranglers will presume
To say, Small fire will by degrees consume
Our humor radicall: and, how-be-it
The differing vertues of those fruits, as yet
Had no agreement with the harmfull spight
Of the fell Persian dangerous Aconite;
And notwithstanding that then Adam's taste
Could well haue vsed all, without all waste,
Yet could they not restore him every day
Vnto his body that which did decay;
Because the food cannot (as being strange)
So perfectly in humane substance change:
For, it resembleth Wine, wherein too rife
Water is brew'd, whereby the pleasant life
Is over-cool'd; and so there rests, in fine,
Nought of the strength, sauour, or taste of Wine.
Besides, in time the naturall faculties
Are tyr'd with toil; and th'Humour-enemies,
Our death conspiring, vndermine, at last,
Of our Soules prisons the foundations fast.
To say, Small fire will by degrees consume
Our humor radicall: and, how-be-it
The differing vertues of those fruits, as yet
Had no agreement with the harmfull spight
Of the fell Persian dangerous Aconite;
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Could well haue vsed all, without all waste,
Yet could they not restore him every day
Vnto his body that which did decay;
Because the food cannot (as being strange)
So perfectly in humane substance change:
For, it resembleth Wine, wherein too rife
Water is brew'd, whereby the pleasant life
Is over-cool'd; and so there rests, in fine,
Nought of the strength, sauour, or taste of Wine.
Besides, in time the naturall faculties
Are tyr'd with toil; and th'Humour-enemies,
Our death conspiring, vndermine, at last,
Of our Soules prisons the foundations fast.
I, but the Tree of life the strife did stay
Which th'Humours caused in this house of clay;
And stopping th'evill, changed (perfect good)
In body fed, the body of the food:
Onely the Soules contagious malady
Had force to frustrate this high remedy.
Which th'Humours caused in this house of clay;
And stopping th'evill, changed (perfect good)
In body fed, the body of the food:
Onely the Soules contagious malady
Had force to frustrate this high remedy.
Immortall then, and mortall, Man was made;
Mortall he liv'd, and did immortall vade:
For, 'fore th'effects of his rebellious ill,
To dy or liue, was in his power and will:
But since his Sin, and proud Apostasie,
Ah! dy he may, but not (alas!) not-dy;
As after his new-birth, he shall attain
Onely a powr to never-dy again.
Mortall he liv'd, and did immortall vade:
For, 'fore th'effects of his rebellious ill,
To dy or liue, was in his power and will:
But since his Sin, and proud Apostasie,
Ah! dy he may, but not (alas!) not-dy;
As after his new-birth, he shall attain
Onely a powr to never-dy again.
FINIS.
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