The grand Tryal :: :: University of Virginia Library

The grand Tryal

or, Poetical Exercitations upon the book of Job. Wherein, Suitable to each Text of that sacred Book, a modest Explanation, and Continuation of the several Discourses contained in it, is attempted by William Clark

Clarke, William (fl. 1684-1688)

II.

III.

II.

IV.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

XI.

XII.

XIII.

XIV.

XV.

III.

XVI.

XVII.

XVIII.

XIX.

XX.

XXI.

XXII.

XXIII.

XXIV.

XXV.

XXVI.

XXVII.

XXVIII.

XXIX.

XXX.

XXXI.

IV.

XXXII.

XXXIII.

XXXIV.

XXXV.

XXXVI.

XXXVII.

XXXVIII.

XXXIX.

XL.

Cap. XL.

XLI.

Cap. XLI.

XLII.

Cap. XLII.

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Cap. XL.

1. Moreover the Lord answered Iob, and said,

Thus the Almighty having fully showen
What was to the afflicted man unknowen;
(For all the wit, to which he laid pretence)
From what was said, he draws this inference.

2. Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty, instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.

Then since, he says, I now do plainly see
These questions on the Creatures puzzle thee
To frame an answer to 'em: sure if I
Should ask what think'st of my Divinity,
And what a mighty one thou didst suppose
Thy God must be, who made both thee, and those
Of which I've question'd thee, thou'd far less know
What answer thou should'st make; why even so
When thou cry'st out thou art oppress'd with pain,
And of afflictions dost so oft complain:
Asking a reason why thou art thus vex't,
Why thus with woes, and miseries perplex't?
And gladly wouldst thy Case with me debate,
Thou dost not understand what thou dost prate.
For if thou dost not understand the Creature,
And cannot comprehend the works of Nature,
O how much less:—
Wilt understand the works of Providence,
Which both transcend thy Reason, and thy Sense?

Then be not curious any more to know
The reason why thou art afflicted so:
Because what state of life doth best agree,
And what is most convenient for thee
At any time, is only knowen to me.
Though you of Mortal Race imagine when
I let Afflictions out on pious men;
I seem to counteract what all of you
Firmly conclude to Piety is due:
So what I long since have premeditate;
And from Eternity predestinate,

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For any of you, when it takes effect,
Because it is not such, as you expect,
Your ignorance makes you admire to see,
What knowingly is brought to pass by me.
Forbear hereafter then t'expostulate
Upon thy case, or offer to debate
With me, who gave thee life: know therefore thou,
Who seem'st to teach me what I ought to do,
That were it not I have some kindness yet
For thee, and will not totally forget
Thy former actions: I would let thee see
What it is truly to contend with me:
And show thee how, when with afflictions cross't
Others are humbled, thou appear'st to boast
Of thy great merits, and presumptuously
Dost think thou meet'st with incongruity,
In these my Dispensations: know then, know
I will not suffer thee to bluster so,
In thy mad humours, on my providence;
Or {confess} thus my actings, but from hence
I do command thee silence; speak not then
In thy late Gibbrish:—do no more complain
Of my proceedings—no—for if thou do it.
He that reproves his God, let him see to it.

3. Then Iob answered the Lord, & said.

And now the man, who formerly did speak
In a bold tone, and lofty dialect;
Who thought he so well understood his case,
As he could even debate it face to face,
With God himself: all overcome with fear,
Just like a man condemn'd, doth now appear:
With Joynts all trembling, Visage pale, and lean,
Eyes sunk so hollow, as if he had been
Within an hour to die.—
At the appearance of his Judge afraid,
Prostrate upon the ground, to all was said,
He only this short, humble answer made.

4. Behold I am vile, what shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my [illeg.].

Why, Lord, sayes he, I freely do confess
I am all sin, I am all guiltiness:
I am all vileness, nay I am not able
By strength of words t'express how despicable
And mean a thing I am, what dost expect?
What answer, Lord, can such as I am make,
To all thy questions? what, good Lord, I pray
Can such a silly Worm as I am say
To all thou dost demand?—no I will lay
My hand upon my mouth: I will forbear
My former language, and with silence hear
What thou wilt speak, for now I clearly see
There's no more arguing in the case for me.

5. Once I have spoken, but I will not answer; yea twice, but I will proceed no further.

Then, since what I have spoke has given offence
To thee, good Lord, I shall forbear from hence
To speak one word, as I have done before,
But here shut up my mouth, and speak no more.

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6. Then answered the Lord unto Iob out of the whirlwind, and said,

To this th'Almighty soon did answer make,
And out of Whirlwind, thus again did speak.

7. Gird up thy loyns now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

Well now I see thou art convinc'd that what
In thy wild ravings thou hast spoke of late
Deserves reproof; I see thou hast some sense
Of thy extravagant impatience;
But notwithstanding all that thou hast said
Has not such total satisfaction made
As I require: I'le therefore question thee
Again what are thy thoughts concerning me;
Go to then, and behave thee like a man
I will demand thee, answer if thou can.

8. Wilt thou also disanul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me that thou mayest be righteous?

Thou sayst that thou art righteous, dost not know
Iniquity i'th' least:—why be it so:—
Then here the question lyes 'twixt me and thee,
Which of us two most righteous must be:
For either I in my proceedings must,
Or thou in thy complaining be unjust:
Ther is no medium, as the Case doth ly
And thinkst thou this the way to justify
Thy self, by quarrelling of my equity?
Consider well what thou hast done, reflect
Upon thy misdemeanors; recollect
Thy Reason, and examine how of late
Thou with thy Maker hast expostulate:
Then judge thy self, if for what thou hast said
Thou dost not merit to be punished.

9. Hast thou an arm like God: or canst thou thunder with a voice like him:

For now I ask thee, canst thou in the least
Give room to such a motion in thy breast
That any thing like parity can be
But even suppos'd betwixt thy God, and thee?
That thou shouldst value thy own righteousness
At such a rate! and so thy self express,
As if t'afflict so good a man as thee,
Did savour of iniquity in me.
Well wherein then dost think th'equality
Can be conceiv'd 'twixt God and thee to ly?
Canst make huge Armies at thy call assemble,
And with uplifted hand make Nations tremble?
Canst make the Scouts of Lightnings fly abroad,
And manage Thunder, with a voice, like God?

10. Deck thy self now with majesty and excellency, and aray thy self with glory and beauty.

Canst' thou appear in splendid majesty,
Equal in beauty, and excellency;
With me? can thou, poor dying man, display
Such glory, and thy self with light array,
More bright then th'Sun at Noon-tide of the day?

11. Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath, and behold every one that is proud, and abuse him.

Canst thou send out the Serjeants of thy Wrath,
Bring in the proud, and prosecute to death
All those who dare presumptuously dream
They're such, as I can hardly humble them:
Canst thou, sad Creature, cover such with shame?
As I can do? canst in the view of all
With great contempt make such high-soarers fall

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From top of all the hopes, which they conceive
Down to the very bottom of the Grave?

12. Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low, and tread down the wicked in their place

Canst break the Projects long time hatch'd by such,
As are ambitious to command too much:
Who vex their Neighbours with unjust Pretences,
And will not hearken to their just Defences;
But with their Sword in hand, do boldly seize
On what they can, and do even what they please:
Whom Oaths, and Treaties can no longer tye,
Then with fresh Troops they can themselves supply.
Which done,—
A Quarrel suitable to their design
Is slily fabricate, and then the Mine
Doth quickly spring, and at the Trumpets sound,
The peaceful Nations are involv'd around
In Blood again; whilst the voracious things
Mounted aloft upon Ambitions wings,
With confidence at no less Prey do fly,
Then that of universal Monarchy.
Do'st thou then,—thou—, thou man of words, do'st know
The ways and methods, how to bring such low?
Canst' take them down? can'st their ambition crush,
And make those mighty Conquerours sadly blush
To see themselves out-done by such as they
Did look upon as conquer'd 't other cay?
And where their Armies us'd abroad to roam,
Canst' turn the chace, and give them work at home?

13. Hide them in the dust, and bind their faces in secret?

Canst' crumble all these men in dust together,
And send them, with their glory, who knows whither?
In some dark corner canst thou make them die,
Where they're attended by no weeping eye,
And not in publick, where the pitying Croud
Of curious Spectators can make proud
The dying Wretches, where they cann't declaim,
Or bribe the favour of a whiffling fame,
By a set speech:
Where none are present, where no standers by
Observe with what composed looks they die,
And so spoil Deaths beloved Pageantry?

14. Then will I confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.

If all this thou canst do, then I'le confess
And willingly acknowledge thou'rt no less
In power then I am, and that thou canst save
By thy own strength thy body from the Grave.
But since thou art a man so mean, and weak,
As thou canst hardly speak what I can act:

15. Behold now Behemoth which I made with thee, he eateth grass as an ox.

Then O, poor Mortal, how I pity thee
That proudly offerest to debate with me
Not knowing, as thou shouldst do, who I am,
Nor valuing the glory of my Name
At its true rate: for if thou didst but know
With whom thou hadst to do, thou hadst not so
Express'd thy self, as thou of late has done,
Like mad-man, in the view o'th' open Sun.
For thou must know that I who form'd both thee
And all what thou around dost hear, or see,

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Must know how all things should be governed,
Better then any creature I have made.
Know then, that though on Earth there were no more
T'expresse my power, then those of which before
I've made relation: yet since they transcend
Thy knowledge, and thou cans't not comprehend
How, and for what use they at first were fram'd,
And why not men, as well as beasts were nam'd,
I'll show thee in two special instances,
The one on Land, the other on the Seas,
How much my creatures do my worth expresse.

Observe then Behemoth a first-rate creature,
A beast indeed of a stupendious feature,
Which you may think is that which you do call
The Elephant:—well then, there's one for all,
Observe his body, how he doth exceed
In bulk all creatures that on Earth do feed.
This same huge Animal I did create:
This bulky thing these hands did fabricate:
And yet for all his bulk, and vast extent
Of bones, and sinews I made him content
With the poor Oxe, that labours in the plow,
To feed on grasse, and Hay, and glad so too.

16. Lo now, his strength is in his loyns, and his force is in the navel of his belly.

Observe then, Job, of how much strength, and force
This creature is, exceeding far the Horse,
And Lyon: for all creatures in the field,
To th'Elephant in force, and strength do yeeld.
His legs, like brazen pillars, do sustain
His close-built body, which with little pain
They bear from place to place, as he doth ramble,
Whilst all the other beasts in forrest tremble
At his appearance: no less honouring
That stately creature, then he were their king.

17. He moveth his tail like a cedar, the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.

When his proboscis in the Air he shakes,
With violence, he such a figure makes,
As if a tall, and lofty Cedar spread,
Its Trunk, with all its boughs above its head.
'Tis wonderful to think what strength doth ly
In this proboscis, what activity,
What art, what cunning, what dexterity.
When with it, as one with his hand would do,
He'll mannage Faulchion, Sword, and Dagger too?
When with it he on man, or beast will seize,
Lift them from ground, and throw 'em up with ease,
To th'Garrison o'th' Tower upon his back,
Where they are kill'd: the sinews, which do make
His Trunk so strong, are twisted so together,
As branches of a tree, and move it hither,
And thither, as it pleaseth wantonly,
Though big, and long, with great agility.

18. His bones areas strong pieces of brass, his bones are like bars of iron.

Like staves of brass his great bones do appear,
His lesser bones like bars of Iron are.

19. He is the chief of the ways of God, he that made him, can make his sword approach unto him.

Amongst the beasts he terrible appears,
His Trunk the Horse in battel only fears:

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The Lion, when he sees him, shrinks apace,
The Tiger dares not look him in the face:
The Boar, the wild Bull, the Rhinoceros,
The Unicorn, and Panther are but dross
Beside pure mettal, when with him compar'd,
The Stag, the Bear, the Wolf, and Leopard
Are all afraid of him, and run for fear,
When, like a walking-Tower, he doth appear.
Yea, man himself no less amaz'd doth fly,
When he perceives this dreadful Beast draw nigh.
For when you men do in closs Battel stand,
And threatning Swords appear in every hand,
With many Bows, and Shields, and many Spears,
And pointed Launces, yet he shrewdly fears
Th'approach of this four-footed Warriour;
Whose blows and throwings he cannot endure.
Yet this same dreadful Beast, I can with ease
Beat down, like other creatures, when I please,
For though—
By reason of his bloods frigidity,
He sometimes lives a hundred years, yet I,
Who made him live, can make him sooner die.

20. Surely the mountains bring him forth food: where all the beasts of the field play.

And now this Beast, as dreadful as he is,
Is tame, and gently peaceable in this,
That with the other Creatures, who do breed
Upon the Mountains, he on Grass doth feed;
As if they were his equals every day,
Whilst round him all the lesser Beasts do play,
Now fearless, not suspecting in the least
The killing wrath of this familiar Beast.

21. He lyeth under the shady trees, in the covert of reeds, and fens,

Yet though by day he on the Hills doth feed,
When night approaches he doth make his bed
In warmer places, and delights to ly
Under the sweet, and spacious Canopy
Of some tall branching Oak: where this tall Beast
As in a Pallace doth securely rest:
Or under covert of Bull-rushes, Reeds,
Low-spreading Willows, or thick bushy Weeds,
That flourish about Fenns, and Marishes,
And there he lays him down, and sleeps with ease.

22. The shady trees cover him with their shadow: the willows of the brook compass him about.

Under the shadow of the Trees he lyes,
Couching upon his Belly, with his Thighs
And Legs laid under him, and doth not lean
Upon the Trunk o'th' Tree, as some do faign,
'Cause wanting Joynts, he could not rise again,
Should he ly down: no, but as other Beasts,
For all his bulk, he feeds, he moves, he rests.

23. Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Iordan into his mouth.

When to the River he for drink draws nigh,
Like other Beasts, he drinks not hastily,
As if the Huntsman, with his Hounds were by:
Nor stands he on the Bank, but boldly wades
Into the Channel, and securely treads
The onzy Bottom, whilst his bulk doth seem
To stop the very current of the stream.
For, ere he drink, he plunges for some time,

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And with his feet doth raise, and mix the slime,
O'th' bottome with the current, till it be
So thick, and muddy, as he cannot see
His feet below him, for he doth not care
To drink the water, when 'tis pure, and clear,
As other beasts are us'd to do, but when
He has thus troubled all about him, then
He drinks securely at his ease, and leasure,
Void of all fear, with great delight, and pleasure.
Yes, Tuns of Water to appease his drouth,
He by his Trunk doth pump into his mouth.
Nay, should he chance by Jordans streams to graze
He'd drain that River in not many days.

24. He taketh it with his eyes, his nose pierceth through snares.

For in his thirst he greedily doth seem,
As at one draught, hee'd swallow up the stream:
And then he drinks too, with such eagerness,
As though both Reeds and Bushes he doth press
For water, and what else doth him oppose,
He bores it through with his prodigious nose.
Now this same creature, though he doth excell
In strength, both thee, and all on earth that dwell;
Yet owes he all this strength to me alone,
Who gave it to him, and will stoop to none,
But me, for while he has my liberty,
He lives, when I recall it, instantly
For all his strength, he mustly down, and dy.