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 |  |
59
XII.
Oh, that thou would'st hide me in the Grave! that thou would'st keep me secret, until thy Wrath be past!
Job xiv. 13.
Who, who will grant me a secure retreat,
Where I may shun thy furies scorching heat?
Whose piercing Flames whene'er I call to mind,
I fear I can no safe Concealment find:
Then I desire the covert of the Wood
And Caves, whence Beasts are rang'd to seek their Food:
Then in Earth's Womb wou'd hide my fearful Head,
Or in some Sea-worn Rock compose my Bed:
In hilly Caverns then my Self I'd save,
Or fly for Refuge to the silent Grave:
Or far remote from the fair Orbs of Light,
Wou'd in thick Darkness dwell, and endless Night.
Where I may shun thy furies scorching heat?
Whose piercing Flames whene'er I call to mind,
I fear I can no safe Concealment find:
Then I desire the covert of the Wood
And Caves, whence Beasts are rang'd to seek their Food:
Then in Earth's Womb wou'd hide my fearful Head,
Or in some Sea-worn Rock compose my Bed:
In hilly Caverns then my Self I'd save,
Or fly for Refuge to the silent Grave:
Or far remote from the fair Orbs of Light,
Wou'd in thick Darkness dwell, and endless Night.
When the loud Thunder rolls along the Sky,
Men to the Lawrels shelter trembling fly:
In vain (alas!) they hope Protection thence,
The helpless Tree proves not its own Defence;
Much less can that a place of Refuge be
From an All-seeing angry Deity.
Men to the Lawrels shelter trembling fly:
In vain (alas!) they hope Protection thence,
The helpless Tree proves not its own Defence;
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From an All-seeing angry Deity.
Thy Eyes the closest Solitudes invade,
And pierce and pry into the darkest Shade.
The Wretch who took his Ruin from a Tree,
In vain with Leaves wou'd hide his Shame from Thee:
For while to shun thy Presence he assay'd,
Ev'n his Absconding his Offence betray'd.
In vain (alas!) to Caves and Dens we run,
We carry with us what we cannot shun.
The Den that did the Hebrew Captive save,
When He was freed, prov'd his Accusers Grave:
Nor was Lot's Incest hidden in his Cave.
As much in vain we court the Earths dark Womb,
And fly for shelter to the silent Tomb:
Vengeance, ev'n thither, will our Flight pursue,
And rise to punish those Black Ills we do.
Thus vainly Cain stopt Righteous Abel's Breath,
The mouth of Blood was opened by his Death
As vainly Jonas in the Sea conceal'd
His faithless Flight, ev'n by the Sea reveal'd:
His living Tomb obey'd Heav'ns great Command,
And cast him back to the forsaken Land.
A brittle Faith is all the glassy Sea can boast
Transparent Waves betray what they shou'd cover most.
Nor can we hope Concealment in a Tomb,
That casts our Bones from its o'er-burthen'd Womb.
In Rocks and Caves we must no Trust repose,
For their own sound the Secret will disclose.
And Leaves, and Trees themselves, alike will fade,
And then Expose what they were meant to Shade.
Nor Sea, nor Lands, nor Cave, nor Den, nor Wood,
Nor Stars, nor Heav'n it self can do me good:
Thou, Lord, alone canst hide my fearful Head,
Where I no Veng'ance, nor ev'n Thine can dread.
Whilst Thy kind Hand aside thy Thunder lays,
Stretch'd out, Disarm'd, a suppliant Wretch to raise.
And pierce and pry into the darkest Shade.
The Wretch who took his Ruin from a Tree,
In vain with Leaves wou'd hide his Shame from Thee:
For while to shun thy Presence he assay'd,
Ev'n his Absconding his Offence betray'd.
In vain (alas!) to Caves and Dens we run,
We carry with us what we cannot shun.
The Den that did the Hebrew Captive save,
When He was freed, prov'd his Accusers Grave:
Nor was Lot's Incest hidden in his Cave.
As much in vain we court the Earths dark Womb,
And fly for shelter to the silent Tomb:
Vengeance, ev'n thither, will our Flight pursue,
And rise to punish those Black Ills we do.
Thus vainly Cain stopt Righteous Abel's Breath,
The mouth of Blood was opened by his Death
As vainly Jonas in the Sea conceal'd
His faithless Flight, ev'n by the Sea reveal'd:
His living Tomb obey'd Heav'ns great Command,
And cast him back to the forsaken Land.
A brittle Faith is all the glassy Sea can boast
Transparent Waves betray what they shou'd cover most.
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That casts our Bones from its o'er-burthen'd Womb.
In Rocks and Caves we must no Trust repose,
For their own sound the Secret will disclose.
And Leaves, and Trees themselves, alike will fade,
And then Expose what they were meant to Shade.
Nor Sea, nor Lands, nor Cave, nor Den, nor Wood,
Nor Stars, nor Heav'n it self can do me good:
Thou, Lord, alone canst hide my fearful Head,
Where I no Veng'ance, nor ev'n Thine can dread.
Whilst Thy kind Hand aside thy Thunder lays,
Stretch'd out, Disarm'd, a suppliant Wretch to raise.
Whither, O Adam! have thy Transgressions led thee, that thou shunn'st thy God, whom before thou sought'st? That Fear betrays thy Crime, that Flight thy Prevarication.
Amb. in Jerem. cap. 9.
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