Fons Lachrymarum or a fountain of tears: From whence doth flow Englands Complaint, Jeremiahs Lamentations paraphras'd with Divine Meditations and an elegy Upon that Son of Valor Sir Charles Lucas. Written by John Quarles |
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Penetrant Suspiria Cœlum.
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 | Fons Lachrymarum |  |
111
Penetrant Suspiria Cœlum.
Are
sighs so prevalent, that they can be
Admitted to the ears of Majestie?
Is Heav'n so weak, or sighs so strong, that they
Can make an on-set, and enforce their way
Unto the ears of GOD? Can sighs perswade
That Lamb to mercy, that our sins betray'd?
Can roaring Lyons meet, and can they part
Without a combate? Can a lep'rous heart
Meet GOD, and think t'out-brave him in his Sion?
(Our sins are Lyons, yet our God's a Lyon.)
Admitted to the ears of Majestie?
Is Heav'n so weak, or sighs so strong, that they
Can make an on-set, and enforce their way
Unto the ears of GOD? Can sighs perswade
That Lamb to mercy, that our sins betray'd?
Can roaring Lyons meet, and can they part
Without a combate? Can a lep'rous heart
Meet GOD, and think t'out-brave him in his Sion?
(Our sins are Lyons, yet our God's a Lyon.)
And what's a sigh? 'tis but a blast of wind
Blown from the Centre of a stormy mind:
And can the ayr of one poor sigh aspire
So high as Heav'n?—
Blown from the Centre of a stormy mind:
And can the ayr of one poor sigh aspire
So high as Heav'n?—
—Ah sighs can never tire
In such a progress; though they be but ayr,
Yet they condense within the sacred ear
Of nursing Majesty, who hears the sound
Of well-spent groans, & takes them at the bound.
Sighs are like morning Larks, sometimes they fly
And chatter praises to the blushing skie;
Then wearied with their flights, dart down amain,
Longing to repossess the earth again.
So sighs (the Souls best oratory,) fly
To the interpreter of groans, who'le not deny
To hear the hearts embassage, but delights
To see souls (wingd with sighs) to take such flights.
But when our hearts are loaded with the cares
Of this vile earth, and sigh themselves to tears,
Oh then he stops his ears, and makes them know
Their sighs are earthly, and they fly too low;
Nor can they reach the Suburbs of his ear,
Unless they mount into a higher sphere.
Then let thy well-directed sighs, my Soul,
Mount upwards still, that there they may condole
Thy ev'ning sorrow, and thy morning grief;
Then they'l (like Doves) return, and bring relief
Unto thy floating heart, and thou shalt find
The operations of a sigh; thy mind
Shall purge it self; thrice happy's thy condition,
Sighs are good physick, when Heav'n is Physitian.
In such a progress; though they be but ayr,
Yet they condense within the sacred ear
Of nursing Majesty, who hears the sound
Of well-spent groans, & takes them at the bound.
Sighs are like morning Larks, sometimes they fly
And chatter praises to the blushing skie;
Then wearied with their flights, dart down amain,
Longing to repossess the earth again.
So sighs (the Souls best oratory,) fly
To the interpreter of groans, who'le not deny
112
To see souls (wingd with sighs) to take such flights.
But when our hearts are loaded with the cares
Of this vile earth, and sigh themselves to tears,
Oh then he stops his ears, and makes them know
Their sighs are earthly, and they fly too low;
Nor can they reach the Suburbs of his ear,
Unless they mount into a higher sphere.
Then let thy well-directed sighs, my Soul,
Mount upwards still, that there they may condole
Thy ev'ning sorrow, and thy morning grief;
Then they'l (like Doves) return, and bring relief
Unto thy floating heart, and thou shalt find
The operations of a sigh; thy mind
Shall purge it self; thrice happy's thy condition,
Sighs are good physick, when Heav'n is Physitian.
| Fons Lachrymarum | |