The Amaranth Or, religious poems; consisting of fables, visions, emblems, etc. Adorned with copper-plates from the best masters [by Walter Harte] |
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| THE MEDITATION OF THOMAS A KEMPIS. |
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 | The Amaranth |  |
THE MEDITATION OF THOMAS A KEMPIS.
1.
The art of living well is wise men's praise.
If death, not length of life, engag'd our view,
Life would be happier, and death happier too .
The King, the insect dies; and so must We.
What's necessary;—none should evil call.
Check thy fond love of life, and human pride;
Shall man repine at death, when Christ has dy'd?
This and the following passages marked with a note of reference are extracted almost verbatim from Kempis's Book of the Imitation of Christ. Lib. I, C. 1, 2. See also Lib. I, C. 19. 23.
2.
He that can calmly view the mask of death,Will never tremble at the face beneath:
Probationer of Heav'n, be starts no more
To see the last sands ebb, than those before .
“Death, when compared to life, seems to be a remedy and not a punishment.” St. Macar.
On the same point another Primitive Christian hath observed, “That the Supreme Being made life short; since, as the troubles of it cannot be removed from us, we may the sooner be removed from them.” St. Bernard.
3.
In vain we argue, boast, elude, descant;—No man is honest that's afraid of want.
No blood of confessors that bosom warms ,
Which starts at hunger, as the worst of harms.
“Dost thou fear poverty? Christ calls the poor man blessed.— —Art thou afraid of labour? Pains are productive of a crown. —Art thou hungry? A true confidence in God fears no famine: —for the Supreme Governour of the world beholds thy warfare; and prepares for thee a crown of glory and everlasting rest.”— Hieron. in Epist.
4.
Check'd but not stop'd; retarded but not tir'd;
Straiten'd by foes, yet sure of a retreat,
In Heav'n's protection rests securely great :
Hears ev'ry sharp alarm without dismay;
Midst dangers dauntless, and midst terrors gay;
Indignant of obstruction glows his flame,
And, struggling, mounts to Heav'n, from whence it came:
Oppress'd it thrives; its own destroyers tires,
And with unceasing fortitude aspires.
When man desponds, [of human hope bereft,]
Patience and Christian heroism are left.
Let Patience be thy first and last concern;
The hardest task a Christian has to learn !
Advances, on the side it now goes back.
Was never storm'd; by art 'tis undermin'd .
Senec. “Human fear depresses, the fear of God exhilarates.”
Cassian.
“True christian piety was never made a real captive; it may be killed, but cannot be conquered.” St. Jerom.
5.
All seek for knowledge. Knowledge is no moreThan this; To know ourselves, and God adore.
Wouldst thou with profit seek, and learn with gain?—
Unknown thyself, in solitude remain.
Virtue retires, but in retirement blooms,
Full of good works, and dying in perfumes .
In thy own heart the living waters rise
Good conscience is the wisdom of the wise!
Is the firm trust that God is on his side!
Like Aaron's rod, the Faithful and the Just,
Torn from their tree, shall blossom in the dust.
“The retired christian, in seeking after an happy life, actually enjoys one; and possesses that already which he only fancies he is pursuing.” St. Eucher.
“Drink waters out of thine own cisterns. Prov. C. v, V. 15. See also Rev. C. xxii, V. 1. “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal.” See John C. vii, V. 38.
“The only means of obtaining true security is to commit all our interests to God, who constantly knows and is ever willing to bestow good things on them that ask him as they ought.”
Cassian.“Security is no-where but in the love and service of God. It is neither in Heaven, nor Paradise, much less in the present world. In Heaven the Angels fell from the divine presence: In Paradise Adam lost his abode of pleasure: In the world Judas fell from the school of our Saviour.” St. Bernard.
6.
Who gives Himself, his Spirit, and his Son.
“With quails miraculous, and heav'nly bread.
“Is thirst oppressive?—Lift thy eyes, and see
“Cat'racts of water fall from rocks for thee.
“Art thou in darkness?—Uncreated light
“Is all thy own, and guides thy erring sight.
“The vestments of Eternity are thine.
“Art thou a widow?—God's thy consort true.
“Art thou an orphan?—He's thy father too.”
7.
The men of Science aim themselves to show ,And know just what imports them not to know .
[Once having miss'd the truth, they farther stray:
As men ride fastest who have lost their way;]
Whilst the poor peasant that with daily care
Improves his lands and offers Heav'n his pray'r,
With conscious boldness may produce his face
Where proud philosophers shall want a place.
Philosophy in anxious doubts expires:
Religion trims her lamp, as life retires.
Maintains its sterling pureness to the last.
Conscience will ev'ry pious act attest :
A silent panegyrist, but the best!
“It is good to know much and live well: but, if we cannot attain both, it is better to desire piety than learning: for knowledge makes no man truly happy, nor doth happiness consist in intellectual acquisitions. The only valuable thing is a religious life.” Sti. Greg. Magn. Moral.
And again: “That only is the best knowledge which makes us better.”
As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man. Prov. xxvii, V. 19. “Thou canst avoid, sooner or later, whatever molesteth Thee, except Thy own conscience.” Augustin. in Psalm xxx.
8.
All chastisements for private use are giv'n;The REVELATIONS PERSONAL of Heav'n:
But man in misery mistakes his road,
Sighs for lost joys and never turns to God.
Heav'n more that meets her child with sorrows try'd;
Her dove brings olive, e'er the waves subside. .
Heav'n makes old gifts the precedents for new.
“God causeth (afflictions) to come, either for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.” Job C. xxxvii, V. 13.
“It is the work and providence of God's secret counsel, that the days of the Elect should be troubled in their pilgrimage. This present life is the way to our eternal abode: God therefore in his secret wisdom afflicts our travel with continual trouble, lest the delights of our journey might take away the desire of our journey's end.” Sti. Greg. Mag.
“No servant of Christ is without affliction. If you expect to be free from persecution, you have not yet so much as begun to be a Christian.” St. August.
9.
Afflictions have their use of ev'ry kind;At once they humble, and exalt the mind:
The ferment of the soul by just degrees
Refines the true clear spirit from the lees.
Boast as we will, and argue as we can,
None ever knew the virtues of a man,
Except affliction sifts the flour from bran:
Say, is it much indignities to bear,
When God for thee thy nature deign'd to wear?
If slander vilifies the good man's name,
It hurts not; but prevents a future shame.
The censure and reproaches of mankind
Are the true christian Mentors of the mind.
No other way vain-glory is restrain'd.
Nor worse, nor better we, if praise or blame
Lift or depress—The man is still the same.
The happy, if they're wise, must all things fear;
Nor need th'unhappy, if they're good, despair.
10.
Hard is the task 'gainst nature's strength to strive:Perfection is the lot of none alive;
Or grant frail man could tread th'unerring road,
How could we suffer for the sake of God?
Affliction's ordeal, sharp, but brightly shines;
Sep'rates the gold , and ev'ry vice calcines.
In adverse fortune, when the storm runs high,
And sickness graves death's image on the eye,
Ask God to send thee patience or relief.
The infant Moses 'scap'd his watry grave
Heav'n half-o'erwhelms the man it means to save!
“For Gold is tried in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity.” Ecclus. C. ii, V. 5.
11.
Th'Ambitious and the Covetous desireMore than their worth deserves, or wants require:
Not merely for the profit things may yield,
But ah, their neighbour's pittance maims their field:
Thus, gain'd by force, or fraudulent design,
The grapes of Naboth yield them blood for wine .
“He that gathereth by defrauding his own soul, gathereth for others, that shall spend his goods riotously. A covetous man's eye is not satisfied with his portion, and the iniquity of the wicked drieth up his soul.” Ecclus. C. xiv.
“Ahab's excuse to Naboth, when he said give me thy vineyard that I may make it a garden of herbs, represents in a lively manner the pretences that avaricious and ambitious men use, when they want to make new acquisitions. They lye to their consciences; asking a seeming trifle, and meaning to obtain something very valuable.” St. Ambrrose.”
“Woe unto them that covet fields, and take them away by violence.” Micah C. ii, V. 2.
“They enlarge their desire as hell, and are as death, and cannot be satisfied: Woe unto them that encrease that which is not theirs.” Hab. C. ii, V. 5, 6.
12.
Nothing but truth can claim a lasting date;Time is truth's surest judge, and judges late:
And, for thy guide, be HE alone believ'd,
Who never can deceive, nor is deceiv'd !
Thus safe thro' waves the sons of Isr'el trod;
Their better magnet was the lamp of God:
And thus Heav'n's star earth's humble shepherds led
To their Messiah in his humbler bed.
13.
Flatt'ry and fame at death the Vain forsake,And other knaves and fools their honours take .
“There is no work that shews more art and industry than the texture of a spider's web. The delicate threads are so nicely disposed, and so curiously interwoven one with another, that you would think it produced by the labour of a celestial Being; yet nothing in the event is more fragil and insubstantial. A breath of wind tears it to pieces, and carries it away. Just so are worldly acquisitions made by men in exalted stations, and reputedly wise and cunning.” Origen.
14.
Teize not thy mind; nor run a restless roundIn search of science better lost than found.
Still teach thy soul a sober course to try,
And shun the track of singularity!
15.
Presumptuous flights and sceptical debatesForetell [Cassandra-like] the fall of states.
So Greece and Rome soon moulder'd to decay,
When Epicurus' system gain'd the day.
But those who make prophaneness stand for wit,
Desp'rate apply the pigeons to their feet:
Bankrupts of sense, and impudently bad;
Their judgement ruin'd, and their fancy mad!
Like Daniel's Goat in th'insolence of youth,
Stars they displace, and over-turn the truth.
16.
He, who adopts religions, wrong or right,Is not a convert, but an hypocrite:
Him, seeming what he is not, man esteems;
God hates him, for he is not what he seems.
The bull-rush thus a specious out-side wears,
Smooth as the shining rind the poplar bears:
And all is insubstantial sponge within.
When not a whisper breathes upon the trees,
Unmov'd it stands, but bends with ev'ry breeze.
It boasts th'ablution of a silver flood,
But feeds on mire, and roots itself in mud.
17.
Self-love is foolish, criminal, and vain ;Therefore, O man, such partial views restrain:
And often take this counsel for a rule,
To please one's self is but to please one fool .
“He that loveth himself most, hath of all men the happiness of finding the fewest rivals.” Anon. Vet.
18.
We lose: Possessing only what we gave
But, if vain-glory prompts the tongue to boast,
In vain we strive to give, the gift is lost.
Misers have wealth, but taste it not;—and die.
There's still a rent, which wily Satan tears :
A man may mend it, at returning light,
But the Arch-Fiend un-darns the work at night.
Useless, O Miser, are thy labours found;
And all thy vintage leaks on thirsty ground .
Chimeric nonsense! Riches un-employ'd
In doing good, are riches un-enjoy'd.
The slave who sets his soul on worthless pelf,
Is a mere DIOCLESIAN to himself;
A wretched martyr in a wretched cause;
Alive, un-honour'd; dead, without applause!
A Paula's name is better known in Heav'n.
“There is that scattereth and yet encreaseth; and there is that witholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.” Prov. C. xi, V. 24.
“The riches which thou treasurest up, are lost; those which thou charitably bestowest, are truly thine.” St. August.
Paula was a Roman lady descended from the Gracchi and Scipios. Her husband was of the Julian race. After his decease, she gave most of her possessions to the poor, and retired from Rome to a solitude at Bethlehem. That incomparable virgin Eustochium was her daughter. Both their Histories are drawn at large by St. Jerom, and addressed to Euslochium. Paula has written some excellent verses on religious subjects.
She built a temple at Emmäus in honour of our Blessed Saviour. Her tomb is at Bethlehem. The inscription for her and her daughter was written by St. Jerom. Sandy's Trav. fol. 135, 139, &c.
19.
Of yonder Rhyne, which our Mount-Agnes laves.
Th'impatient waters no continuance make;
Adopt new owners, and their old forsake.
Refund the draughts which nature cannot bear;
(Whilst bile and gall corroding in their breast
Demand a passage, and admit no rest:)
Just so rapacious misers swell their store;
To di'monds di'monds add, and oar to oar;
And clay-cold qualms, discharge the load again.
Death bursts the casket, and the farce is o'er;
(Curst is that wealth, which never eas'd the Poor!)
Whilst fools and spend-thrifts sweep it from the floor.
The gold of Ophyr dazzles their weak eyes,
Turquoises next their weaker minds surprize,
Rich, deeply azur'd, like Italian skies.
Then are the fiery rubies to be seen,
And em'ralds tinctur'd with the rain-bow's green:
Translucent beryl , flame-ey'd chrysolite ,
And sardŏnix refresher of the sight;
And opaz , vein'd with riv'lets, mildly shines.
Whirl'd down th'impetuous torrent, call'd an heir.
Part of this Paragraph, printed in Italics, is copied from Job C. xx, V. 14, 15, 18. Compare also Job C. xxvii, V. 19, 20, 21.
Gold of Ophir. See 1 Kings C. ix, V. 28. 1 Chron. xxix, V. 4. 2 Chron. viii, V. 18. Psalm xlv, V. 9. Isaiah xiii. V. 12.
Turquoises. “The true oriental turquoise comes out of the old rock in the mountains of Piriskua, about eighty miles from the town of Moscheda.” Hist. of Gust. Adolph. Vol. II, p. 342.
19.
Religion's harbour, like th'Etrurian bay ,Secure from storms is land-lock'd ev'ry way.
Safe, midst the wreck of worlds, the vessel rides,
Nor minds the absent rage of winds and tides:
Whilst from his prow the pilot, looking down,
Surveys at once God's image and his own ;
Heav'n's favour smoothes th'expanse, and calmness sleeps
On the clear mirror of the silent deeps.
“One way to know God is perfectly to know one's self.” Hugo de anima.
“Why dost thou wonder, O man, at the height of the stars, or depth of the sea? Examine rather thine own soul, and wonder there.” Isidor.
20.
Nor earth and Heav'n the self-same mind employ.
Two diff'rent ways th'unsocial objects draw:
Flesh strives with Spirit, Nature combats Law:
Reason and Revelation live at strife,
Tho' meant for mutual aid, like man and wife. .
One eye is sacrific'd, that one may see.
Canals, for pleasure made, with pleasure stray;
But drain at length the middle stream away.
“It is not only difficult but impossible to enjoy Heaven here and hereafter; or, in other words, to live in pleasure and dissipation, and at the same time attain spiritual happiness. No man hath passed from one Paradise to another: No man hath been the mirror of felicity in both worlds, nor shone with equal glory in earth and in heaven.” Hieron.
21.
Life's joys and pomp at distance should appear,Possession brings the vulgar dawbing near.
Who can rejoice to tread a devious road,
Led by false views, and serpentine from God?
Copy his deeds, and imitate his mind
No man can worldly happiness ensure;
Heav'n's consolation all men may procure.
22.
Resistance, not compliance, wins the day.
Here av'rice, there ambitious schemes prevail;
Who can quench flames when double winds assail?
Boast as we will, our christian glories lie
In humble suff'ring, not proud apathy.
Submission an eternal crown procures;
Heav'n's hero conquers most, who most endures.—
[What time the prophet slept by Chebar's stream]
Walks forward still, in one unvarying line :
Nor wealth, nor pow'r, attract his wand'ring sight;
He swerves not to the left hand, nor the right.
Humbly he eats, and finds the proffer'd scroll
Sweet to the taste, inspiring to the soul .
So when Saul's weary'd Son his fasting broke
With honey dropping from Philistian oak,
Returning strength and sprightliness arise,
Glow on his cheeks, and sparkle in his eyes .
Man's heart, well-pleas'd, may think itself devout:
But, when ill days, and nights of pain, succeed,
Let him bear well, and he's devout indeed.
23.
Those who revenge a deed that injures them,Copy the very sin, which they condemn .
They snatch God's own prerogative from God!
Michael in bitterness of strife consign'd
The final verdict to th'unerring mind .—
From turbulence of anger wisely keep;
The hind who soweth winds, shall whirlwinds reap .
“To return one injury for another is to revenge like man: Whereas to revenge like God is to love our enemies. It is a great happiness not to be able to hurt one's neighbour, nor to have the power and parts to do mischief. The ingenuity of [what we call] men of the world, consists in knowing how to injure others, and revenge ourselves when injured. Whereas, on the contrary, not to return evil for evil is the true honour and vital principle of the Gospel.” Leon.
Hosea C. viii, V. 7. Hind is the head-servant in husbandry-matters. Chaucer, Dryden, and in the west of England at present.
24.
The Worldling, TEMPTER of himself, pursuesIdols of his own making; ideot's views;
(Unhappy wretch! wrapt up in thin disguise!
Where All that is not impious, is unwise!)
On eggs of basilisks, and scorpion-spawn :
And, after all the care he can impart,
His foster'd miscreants sting him to the heart;
Swift thro' each vein the mystic poisons roul,
Fatal alike to body and to soul !
25.
Perfect would be our nature and our joyIf man could ev'ry year one vice destroy .
Withdraw thee from the sins that most assail,
And labour where thy virtues least prevail.
“Instead of standing still, going backward, or deviating, always add, always proceed: Not to advance, in some sense is to retire. It is better to creep in the right way than fly in the wrong way.” St. August. in Serm.
26.
False joys elate, and griefs as false controulThe little pismire with an human soul :
Oh, were he like th'un-reas'ning ant, who strives
For solid good, and but by instinct lives.
27.
To wail and not amend a life mispentMeans to confess, but means not to repent:
Tongue-penitents, like him who too much owes,
Run more in debt, and live but to impose.
28.
Deem not th'unhappy, vicious; nor devoteTo sarcasm and contempt the thread-bare coat.
Oft have we seen rich fields of genuine corn
Edg'd round with brambles, and begirt with thorn.
The pow'rs of Zeuxis' pencil are the same,
Enclos'd in gilded, or in sable frame.
29.
The down that smoothes the great man's anxious bed,Was gather'd from a quiet poor man's shed:
Content and peace are found in mean estate,
And Jacob's dreams on Jacob's pillow wait .
Nurtur'd his herds with leaves, and humbly fed .
30.
Good turns of friends we scribble on the sand,But injuries engrav'd on marble stand .
31.
With pray'rs thy ev'ning close, thy morn begin;But Heav'n's true Sabbath is to rest from sin.
32.
An Hermit once cry'd out in private pray'r,“Oh, if I knew that I should persevere!”
An angel's voice reply'd, in placid tone,
“What would'st thou do, if the great truth were known?
“Do now , what thou intendest then to do,
“And everlasting safety shall ensue.” —
To chuse, implies delay; whilst Time devours
The sickly blossoms of preceding hours.
As bones, well set, grow stronger than before.
“A Christian hath no to-morrow; that is to say, a Christian should put off no duty till to-morrow.” Tertull.
33.
When Heav'n excites thee to a better way,Catch the soft summons, and the call obey.
Thus Mary left her solitude and tears,
When Martha whisper'd, Lo thy Christ appears!
34.
The virtues of the world, which most men move,Are lay'rs from pride, or graftings on self-love :
Whatever for itself is not esteem'd,
Proves a false choice, and is not as it seem'd .
“There is a sort of seeming Good, which, if a rational mind loves, it sinneth; inasmuch as it is an object beneath the consideration of such a mind.” St. August. de Ver. Relig.
“Whatever is not loved on account of its own intrinsic worth, is not properly loved.” Idem in Soliloq. L. I, C. 13.
“In this life there is no virtue but in loving that which is truly amiable. To chuse this, is prudence; to be averted from it by no terrifying circumstances, is fortitude. To be influenced by no sort of temptation, is temperance; and to be affected by no ambitious views, is considering the thing with impartial justice as we ought to do.” Idem de Ver. Felicitat. L. II.
35.
The track to Heav'n is intricate and steep;Narrow to tread, and difficult to keep:
On either hand sharp precipices lie,
And our steps faulter with the swerving eye;
That passage clear'd, a level road remains,
Thro' quiet valleys and refreshing plains.
36.
Most would buy Heav'n without a price or loss;They like the PARADISE, but shun the CROSS.
Many participate of Christ's repast;
Few chuse his abstinence, or learn to fast.
Few relish Christianity; and most
(In private) wish their Lord would leave their coast :
Thousands may counterfeit th'apparent part;
And thousands may be Gergesenes at heart .
Few have the faith to suffer for his sake.
His tasteful bread by many mouths is sought;
Few chuse to drink his Passion's bitter draught.
| The Amaranth | |