Pia Desideria or, Divine Addresses, In Three Books. Illustrated with XLVII. Copper-Plates. Written in Latin by Herm. Hugo. Englished by Edm. Arwaker ... The Fourth Edition, Corrected |
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 | Pia Desideria |  |
53
XI.
Let not the Water-flood drown me: Neither let the Deep swallow me up,
Psal. lxix. 16.
Unconstant Motion of the restless Sea,
Whose treach'rous Waves the Sailors hopes betray!
So Calm sometimes, so Shining they appear,
No polish'd Crystal is more smooth or clear.
Sometimes they seem still as a standing Lake,
Whose modest Pools no stir, or motion make.
Sometimes the Waves, rais'd by a gentle breeze,
Curl their green Heads, the wand'ring Sight to please;
Then, in soft measures, round the Vessels dance,
And to the Musick of their Shrouds advance.
While thou, kind Sea, their Burthen dost sustain,
Ev'n while their Beaks plough Furrows on the Main:
Safe on thy yielding back each Vessel rides,
Tho' its rude Oars lash to a foam thy sides.
The groaning Earth scarce weightier Burthens feels
From heavy loaden Carts with I'rn-bound Wheels:
And that none may suspect thou wilt betray,
Thy Crystal Waves their Rocky Breasts display,
As if no Treach'ry cou'd be harbour'd there,
Where such fair Shows of Honesty appear.
Whose treach'rous Waves the Sailors hopes betray!
So Calm sometimes, so Shining they appear,
No polish'd Crystal is more smooth or clear.
Sometimes they seem still as a standing Lake,
Whose modest Pools no stir, or motion make.
Sometimes the Waves, rais'd by a gentle breeze,
Curl their green Heads, the wand'ring Sight to please;
Then, in soft measures, round the Vessels dance,
And to the Musick of their Shrouds advance.
While thou, kind Sea, their Burthen dost sustain,
Ev'n while their Beaks plough Furrows on the Main:
Safe on thy yielding back each Vessel rides,
Tho' its rude Oars lash to a foam thy sides.
The groaning Earth scarce weightier Burthens feels
From heavy loaden Carts with I'rn-bound Wheels:
And that none may suspect thou wilt betray,
Thy Crystal Waves their Rocky Breasts display,
54
Where such fair Shows of Honesty appear.
But when the Anchor's weigh'd, the Sails atrip,
And a kind Gale bear's on the floating Ship,
Soon as the Land can be perceiv'd no more,
And all Relief is distant as the Shoar,
Then the rough Winds their boist'rous Gusts discharge,
And all at once assault the helpless Barge.
Just as the furious Lybian Lions rave,
When eager to devour a Sentenc'd Slave;
Or as a Crew of sturdy Thieves prepare
To seize and plunder some lone Traveller;
Then the insulting Billows proudly rise,
And menace, with their lofty tops, the Skies:
Whilst the discolour'd Waters hide their head,
So much th'approaching Tempest's rage they dread.
And when each jarring Wind insults and raves,
And altogether hover o'er the Waves;
Short broken Seas ev'n from themselves are torn,
And different ways each crowding Billow born.
[All black below, above all foamy-white;
A horrid Darkness mixt with dreadful Light;
Here long, long Hills, roll far, and wide away;
There obrupt Vales fright back th'intruding Day.]
Here a vast Gulph of Ruin opens wide,
And the Ship's swallowed in the rapid Tide;
Or if born on a Tenth unlucky Wave,
The breaking bubble proves its watry Grave.
Thus the false Ocean treach'rously beguiles,
And thus in Frowns end its deceitful Smiles.
And a kind Gale bear's on the floating Ship,
Soon as the Land can be perceiv'd no more,
And all Relief is distant as the Shoar,
Then the rough Winds their boist'rous Gusts discharge,
And all at once assault the helpless Barge.
Just as the furious Lybian Lions rave,
When eager to devour a Sentenc'd Slave;
Or as a Crew of sturdy Thieves prepare
To seize and plunder some lone Traveller;
Then the insulting Billows proudly rise,
And menace, with their lofty tops, the Skies:
Whilst the discolour'd Waters hide their head,
So much th'approaching Tempest's rage they dread.
And when each jarring Wind insults and raves,
And altogether hover o'er the Waves;
Short broken Seas ev'n from themselves are torn,
And different ways each crowding Billow born.
[All black below, above all foamy-white;
A horrid Darkness mixt with dreadful Light;
Here long, long Hills, roll far, and wide away;
There obrupt Vales fright back th'intruding Day.]
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And the Ship's swallowed in the rapid Tide;
Or if born on a Tenth unlucky Wave,
The breaking bubble proves its watry Grave.
Thus the false Ocean treach'rously beguiles,
And thus in Frowns end its deceitful Smiles.
But I suspected not th'unfaithful Main,
Nor did of its inconstancy complain;
I ne'er the fury of the Winds did blame,
Nor on the Tempests boisterous Rage exclaim;
(Which twists the surly Billows, till they rise,
And foaming-mad, attack the lowring Skies;)
Nor Curst the hardy Wretch that led the way,
And taught the World to perish in the Sea.
My Vessel ne'er lanch'd from my Native Shoar,
Nor did the Navigator's Art explore.
I study'd not the Chard, nor gave my mind
To learn to tack and catch the veering Wind.
Too soon these Artists of their Skill repent,
And perish by the Arts they did invent.
My Life's the Sea, whose treach'ry I declare,
My Self the Vessel Toss'd and Shipwrack'd there,
All the loud Storms of the insulting Wind,
Are restless Passions of my troubled Mind.
Thus harrest in this fluctuating State,
I pass thro' strange Vicissitudes of Fate.
Nor did of its inconstancy complain;
I ne'er the fury of the Winds did blame,
Nor on the Tempests boisterous Rage exclaim;
(Which twists the surly Billows, till they rise,
And foaming-mad, attack the lowring Skies;)
Nor Curst the hardy Wretch that led the way,
And taught the World to perish in the Sea.
My Vessel ne'er lanch'd from my Native Shoar,
Nor did the Navigator's Art explore.
I study'd not the Chard, nor gave my mind
To learn to tack and catch the veering Wind.
Too soon these Artists of their Skill repent,
And perish by the Arts they did invent.
My Life's the Sea, whose treach'ry I declare,
My Self the Vessel Toss'd and Shipwrack'd there,
All the loud Storms of the insulting Wind,
Are restless Passions of my troubled Mind.
56
I pass thro' strange Vicissitudes of Fate.
Deceitful Life! whose false Serenity
Chang'd in a moment, ends in Misery!
Thou want'st no sweet Allurements to betray:
Thy Beauty ever Charming, ever Gay;
While Love and Lust wrack the Distracted Mind,
No dang'rous Sands, no Rocks, or Shores we find:
But when a Tide of Crimes breaks fiercely in,
And beats the Soul on fatal Shelves of Sin;
Then, ah too late! the dismal Gulph it spies,
In which 'tis plung'd, and sunk by treach'rous Vice.
Chang'd in a moment, ends in Misery!
Thou want'st no sweet Allurements to betray:
Thy Beauty ever Charming, ever Gay;
While Love and Lust wrack the Distracted Mind,
No dang'rous Sands, no Rocks, or Shores we find:
But when a Tide of Crimes breaks fiercely in,
And beats the Soul on fatal Shelves of Sin;
Then, ah too late! the dismal Gulph it spies,
In which 'tis plung'd, and sunk by treach'rous Vice.
O! that, at least like wretched drowning Men,
These sinking Souls wou'd rise and float agen!
That, while their grosser Parts do downward move,
Their pure Devotion wou'd remain above!
But, just as Men to whom Earths gaping Womb
Becomes at once their Murth'rer and their Tomb;
Or as the Wretch beneath some falling Rock,
At once is Kill'd and Bury'd with the stroke:
Or those to whom deceitful Ice gives way,
In vain wou'd rise agen to distant Day:
So fare the Men by Sins swift Current born,
Thoughtless of Heav'n, by Heav'n th'are left forlorn.
These sinking Souls wou'd rise and float agen!
That, while their grosser Parts do downward move,
Their pure Devotion wou'd remain above!
But, just as Men to whom Earths gaping Womb
Becomes at once their Murth'rer and their Tomb;
Or as the Wretch beneath some falling Rock,
At once is Kill'd and Bury'd with the stroke:
Or those to whom deceitful Ice gives way,
In vain wou'd rise agen to distant Day:
So fare the Men by Sins swift Current born,
Thoughtless of Heav'n, by Heav'n th'are left forlorn.
57
See, Lord, how I with Wind and Tide engage,
While on each Hand unequal War they wage!
See how my Head is bow'd unto the Grave,
While I am forc'd to court the drowning Wave!
Seest thou my Soul lost in a double Death,
And wilt thou not reprieve my flitting Breath?
Behold, O Lord! behold, and Pity me,
And leave me not to Perish in the Sea:
O hold me up by thy Almighty Hand,
And I shall quickly reach the wish'd-for Land.
Be thou my Pylot, and my Motion guide,
Then I shall swim in spight of Wind and Tide.
While on each Hand unequal War they wage!
See how my Head is bow'd unto the Grave,
While I am forc'd to court the drowning Wave!
Seest thou my Soul lost in a double Death,
And wilt thou not reprieve my flitting Breath?
Behold, O Lord! behold, and Pity me,
And leave me not to Perish in the Sea:
O hold me up by thy Almighty Hand,
And I shall quickly reach the wish'd-for Land.
Be thou my Pylot, and my Motion guide,
Then I shall swim in spight of Wind and Tide.
The multitude of our Lusts raise a mighty Tempest, which so tosses them that sail in the Ocean of the Body, that the Mind cannot be its own Pylot.
Ambros. Apolog. pro David cap. 3.
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