 | Manuductio ad Coelum. A Poem. In Two Parts. I. Of Joy and Sadness. How a good Man ought to rejoice. He that looks before him is not cast down. Several Antidotes against Sorrow. II. Of Patience: The Occasions and Effects of it. The Signs of it. An Exhortation to it; with Instructions how to behave our selves in Adversity. The necessity of Perseverance. Extracted out of the Writings of the Holy Fathers and Ancient Philosophers, by John Bona [i.e. Sir James Chamberlayne] a Cistertian Abbot: and turned into Verse by James Chamberlayne |  |
V.
Is there a Sickness, or a Pain so great,
So very stubborn, and so obstinate,
That in some measure Time will not allay,
Or take it from us utterly away?
If so, the Question is, Whether 'tis fit
That we our selves should put an end to it;
Or whether we with Patience should attend
Till it without us cometh to an end?
For Time, to whom all Earthly things must bow,
Will most assuredly at last that do;
Which common Prudence at the present might
Better perform, would it assert it's right.
So very stubborn, and so obstinate,
That in some measure Time will not allay,
Or take it from us utterly away?
If so, the Question is, Whether 'tis fit
That we our selves should put an end to it;
Or whether we with Patience should attend
Till it without us cometh to an end?
For Time, to whom all Earthly things must bow,
Will most assuredly at last that do;
Which common Prudence at the present might
Better perform, would it assert it's right.
Nay, had we ne're so prone, so great a Will,
To entertain and cherish in us still
Bewitching Melancholy, 'twould depart
At length, in spight of all our Pow'r and Art.
'Tis true, that Grief when it is fresh i'th' mind,
May Tenderness, and much Compassion find;
But when it waxeth old, it apish grows,
Than which there's nothing that's more odious.
To entertain and cherish in us still
Bewitching Melancholy, 'twould depart
At length, in spight of all our Pow'r and Art.
'Tis true, that Grief when it is fresh i'th' mind,
May Tenderness, and much Compassion find;
But when it waxeth old, it apish grows,
Than which there's nothing that's more odious.
If an unhappy Wretch advantag'd were
By sobbing and lamenting, he should ne're
By me be hinder'd, but have my consent
That's Days and Nights in Sighs and Groans be spent,
In all the Outrages that er'e was known
By a dejected Creature to be done;
But if our Howling and our Crying be
Of no advantage in our Miserie,
Let's to victorious Resolutions fly,
And fight our troubles till they vanguish'd lye.
That Pilot merits to be thrown o're-Bord
That in a Storm will not his skill afford,
But quits the Helm, and sets the Ship adrift,
In that great danger for her self to shift.
But he that stands with a Courageous heart,
Firm to his Tackle, and with all his Art
Bears briskly up against the Storm, though He
Should with the Vessel over-whelmed be,
Yet dies with Honour and the Comfort too
Of having done what he was bound to do.
By sobbing and lamenting, he should ne're
By me be hinder'd, but have my consent
That's Days and Nights in Sighs and Groans be spent,
In all the Outrages that er'e was known
By a dejected Creature to be done;
9
Of no advantage in our Miserie,
Let's to victorious Resolutions fly,
And fight our troubles till they vanguish'd lye.
That Pilot merits to be thrown o're-Bord
That in a Storm will not his skill afford,
But quits the Helm, and sets the Ship adrift,
In that great danger for her self to shift.
But he that stands with a Courageous heart,
Firm to his Tackle, and with all his Art
Bears briskly up against the Storm, though He
Should with the Vessel over-whelmed be,
Yet dies with Honour and the Comfort too
Of having done what he was bound to do.
| Manuductio ad Coelum. A Poem. In Two Parts. I. Of Joy and Sadness. How a good Man ought to rejoice. He that looks before him is not cast down. Several Antidotes against Sorrow. II. Of Patience: The Occasions and Effects of it. The Signs of it. An Exhortation to it; with Instructions how to behave our selves in Adversity. The necessity of Perseverance. Extracted out of the Writings of the Holy Fathers and Ancient Philosophers, by John Bona [i.e. Sir James Chamberlayne] a Cistertian Abbot: and turned into Verse by James Chamberlayne | |