POEMS: Viz. I MISCELLANIES. II The Mistress, or, Love Verses. III PINDARIQVE ODES. And IU. Davideis, OR, A SACRED POEM OF THE TROUBLES OF DAVID.  
Written by A. COWLEY.  VIRG. GEORG. 3. 
— Tentanda via est quà me quoque possim  
Tollere humo, victórque virûm volitare per ora.  
LONDON, Printed for Humphrey Moseley, at the Prince's Arms in Saint Paul's Churchyard, M.DC.LVI.   

ELEGIA DEDICATORIA, ad ILLUSTRISSIMAM Academiam CANTABRIGIENSEM.  
HOc tibi de Nato ditissima Mater egeno  
Exiguum immensi pignus Amoris habe.  
Heu meliora tibi depromere dona volentes  
Astringit gratas parcior arca manus.  
Tune tui poteris vocem hic agnoscere Nati  
Tam malé formatam, dissimilemque tuae?  
Túne hic materni vestigia sacra decoris,  
Tu Speculum poteris híc reperire tuum?  
Post longum, dices, Coulei, sic mihi tempus?  
Sic mihi speranti, perfide, multa redis?  
Quae, dices, Sagae Lemurésque Déaeque nocentes,  
Hunc mihi in Infantis supposuere loco?  
At Tu, sancta Parens, crudelis tu quoque, Nati  
Ne tractes dextrâ vulnera cruda rudi.  
Hei mihi, quid Fato Genetrix accedis iniquo?  
Sit Sors, sed non sis Ipsa Noverca mihi.  
Si mihi natali Musarum adolescere in arvo,  
Si bené dilecto luxuriare solo,  
Si mihi de doctâ licuisset pleniús undâ  
Haurire, ingentem si satiare sitim,  
Non ego degeneri dubitabilis ore redirem,  
Nec legeres Nomen fusa rubore meum  
Scis bené, scis quae me Tempestas publica Mundi  
Raptatrix vestro sustulit é gremio,  
Nec pede adhúc firmo, nec firmo dente, negati  
Poscentem querulo murmure Lactis opem.  
Sic quondam aerium Vento bellante per aequor,  
Cum gravidum Autumnum saeva flagellet Hyems.  
Immatura suâ velluntur ab arbore poma,  
Et vi victa cadunt; Arbor & ipsa gemit▪  
Nondum succus inest terrae generosus avitae,  
Nondum Sol roseoredditur ore Pater.  
O mihi jucundum Grantae super omnia Nomen!  
O penitús toto corde receptus Amor!  
O pulchrae sine Luxu Aedes, vitaeque beatae,  
Splendida Paupertas, ingenuúsque decor!  
O chara ante alias, magnorum nomine Regnum  
Digna Domus! ●rini nomine digna Dei.  
O nimium Cereris cumulati munere Campi,  
Posthabitis Ennae quos colit illa jugis!  
O sacri Fontes! & sacrae Vatibus Vmbrae,  
Quas recreant Avium Pieridumque chori!  
O Camus! Phoebo nullus quo gratior amnis!  
Amnibus auriferis invidiosus inops!  
Ah mihi si vestrae reddat bona gaudia sedis,  
Detque Deus doctâ posse quiete frui!  
Qualis eram cum me tranquillâ ment sedentem  
Vidisti in ripâ, Came serene, tuâ;  
Mulcentem audisti puerili flumina cantu;  
Ille quidém immerito, sed tibi gratus erat.  
Nam, memini ripâ cum tu dignatus utrâque  
Dignatum est totum verba referre nemus.  
Tunc liquidis tacitisq, simul mea vita diebus,  
Et similis vestrae candida fluxit aquae.  
At nunc ●aenosae luces, atque obiice multo  
Rumpitur aetatis turbidus ordo meae.  
Quid mihi Sequanâ opus, Tamesisve aut Thybridisunda?  
Tu potis es nostram tollere, Came, sitim.  
Foelix qui nunquam plus uno viderit amne!  
Quique eadem Salicis littora more colit!  
Foelix qui non tentatus sordescere Mundus,  
Et cui Pauperies nota nitere potest!  
Tempore cui nullo misera experientia constat,  
Ut res humanas sentiat esse Nihil▪  
At nos exemplis Fortuna instruxit opimis,  
Et documentorum satque superque dedit.  
Cum Capite a vulsum, Diadema, infractaque sceptra,  
Contusasque Hominum Sorte minante minas,  
Parcarum ludos, & non tractabile Fatum,  
Et versas fundo vidimus orbis opes.  
Quis poterit fragilem post talia credere puppim  
In●ami scopulis naufragiisque Mari?  
Tu quoque in hoc Terrae tremuisti, Academia, Motu,  
(Nec frustrà) atque aedes contremuêre tuae.  
Contremuére ipsae pacatae Palladis arces;  
Et timuit Fulmen Laurea sancta novum.  
Ah quanquam iratum, pestem hanc avertere Numen,  
Nec saltem Bellis ista licere, velit!  
Nos, tua progenies, pereamus; & ecce, perimus!  
In nos jus habeat: Ius habet omne malum.  
Tu stabilis brevium genus immortale nepotum  
Fundes; nec tibi Mors ipsa superstes erit.  
Semper plena manens uteri de fonte perenni  
Formosas mittes ad mare Mortis aquas.  
Sic Venus humanâ quondam, Dea saucia dextrâ.  
(Namque so●ent ipsis Bella nocere Deis)  
Imploravit opem superûm, questusque cievit,  
Tinxit adorandus candida membra ●ruor.  
Quid quereris? contemne breves secura dolores;  
Nam tibi ferre Necem vulnera nulla valent.   

THE PREFACE.  
AT my return lately into England, I met by great accident (for such I accounted it to be, that any Copy of it should be extant any where so long, unless at his house who printed it) a Book entitled, The Iron Age, and published under my name, during the time of my absence. I wondered very much how one who could be so foolish to writ so ill Verses, should yet be so Wise to set them forth as another Man's rather then his own; though perhaps he might have made a better choice, and not fathered the Bastard upon such a person, whose stock of Reputation is, I fear, little enough for maintenance of his own numerous Legitimate Offspring of that kind. It would have been much lesle injurious, if it had pleased the Author to put forth some of my Write under his own name, rather then his own under my: He had been in that a more pardonable Plagiary, and had done lesle wrong by Robbery, then he does by such a Bounty; for no body can be justified by the Imputation even of another's Merit; and our own course Clotheses are like to become us better, then those of another man's, though never so rich▪ but these, to say the truth, were so beggarly, that I myself was ashamed to wear them. It was in vain for me, that I avoided censure by the concealment of my own writings, if my reputation could be thus Executed in Effigy; and impossible it is for any good Name to be in safety, if the malice of Witches have the power to consume and destroy it in an Image of their own making. This indeed was so ill made, and so unlike, that I hope the Charm took no effect. So that I esteem myself lesle prejudiced by it, then by that which has been done to me, since almost in the same kind, which is, the publication of some things of my without my consent or knowledge, and those so mangled and imperfect, that I could neither with honour acknowledge, nor with honesty quite disavow them. Of which sort, was a Comedy called The Guardian, printed in the year, 1650. but made and acted before the Prince, in his passage through Cambridge towards York, at the beginning of the late unhappy War; or rather neither made not acted, but rough-drawn only, and repeated; for the hasie was so great, that it could neither be ravised or perfected by the Author, nor learned without-Book by the Actors, nor set forth in any measure tolerably by the Officers of the College. After the Representation (which, I confess, was somewhat of the latest) I began to look it over, and changed it very much, striking out some whole parts, as that of the Poet and the Soldier; but I have lost the Copy, and dare not think it deserves the pains to writ it again, which makes me omit it in this publication, though there be some things in it which I am not ashamed of, taking in the excuse of my age and small experience in human conversation when I made it. But as it is, it is only the hasty first-sitting of a Picture, and therefore like to resemble me accordingly. From this which had happened to myself, I began to reflect upon the fortune of almost all Writers, and especially Poets, whose Works (commonly printed after their deaths) we found stuffed out, either with sergeant pieces, like false Money put in to fill up the Bag, though it add nothing to the sum; or with such, which though of their own Coin, they would have called in themselves, for the baseness of the Alloy: whither this proceed from the indiscretion of their Friends, who think a vast heap of Stones or Rubbish a better Monument, then a little Tomb of Marble, or by the unworthy avarice of some Stationers, who are content to diminish the value of the Author, so they may increase the price of the Book; and like Vintners with sophisticate mixtures, spoil the whole vessel of wine, to make it yield more profit. This has been the case with Shakespeare, Fletcher, johnson, and many others; part of whose Poems I should take the boldness to prune and lordship away, if the care of replanting them in print did belong to me; neither would I make any scruple to cut of from some the unnecessary young Suckars, and from others the old withered Branches; for a great Wit is no more tied to live in a Vast Volume, then in a Gigantie Body; on the contrary, it is commonly more vigorous, the lesle space it animates. And as Statius says of little Tydaeus, 
— Totos infusa per artus 
Stat. 1. ●. Theb.   
Major in exiguo regnabat corpore virtus.  I am not ignorant, that by saying this of others, I expose myself to some Raillery, for not using the same severe discretion in my own case, where it concerns me nearer: But though I publish here, more then in strict wisdom I aught to have done, yet I have suppressed and cast away more then I publish; and for the ease of myself and others, have lost, I believe too, more then both. And upon these considerations I have been persuaded to overcome all the just repugnances of my own modesty, and to produce these Poems to the light and view of the World; not as a thing that I approved of in itself, but as a lesser evil, which I chose rather then to stay till it were done for me by some body else, either surreptitiously before, or avowedly after my death; and this will be the more excusable, when the Reader shall know in what respects he may look upon me as a Dead, or at lest a Dying Person, and upon my Muse in this action, as appearing, like the Emperor Charles the Fifth, and assisting at her own Funeral.  
For to make myself absolutely dead in a Poetical capacity, my resolution at present, is never to exercise any more that faculty. It is, I confess, but seldom seen that the Poet dies before the Man; for when we once fall in love with that bewitching Art, we do not use to court it as a Mistress, but mary it as a Wife, and take it for better or worse, as an Inseparable Companion of our whole life. But as the Marriages of Infants do but rarely prospero, so no man aught to wonder at the diminution or decay of my affection to Poesy; to which I had contracted myself so much under Age, and so much to my own prejudice in regard of those more profitable matches which I might have made among the richer Sciences. As for the Portion which this brings of Fame, it is an Estate (if it be any, for men are not oftener deceived in their hopes of Widows, then in their opinion of, Exegi monumentum are perennius) that hardly ever comes in whilst we are Living to enjoy it, but is a fantastical kind of Reversion to our own selves: neither aught any man to envy Poets this posthumous and imaginary happiness, since they found commonly so little in present, that it may be truly applied to them, which S. Paul speaks of the first Christians, If their reward be in this life, they are of all men the most miserable.  
And if in quiet and flourishing times they meet with so small encouragement, what are they to expect in rough and troubled ones? if wi● be such a Plant, that it scarce receives heat enough to preserve it alive even in the Summer of our cold Climate, how can it choose but whither in a long and a sharp winter? a warlike, various, and a tragical age is best to writ of, but worst to writ in. And I may, though in a very unequal proportion, assume that to myself, which was spoken by Tully to a much better person, upon occasion of the Civil Wars and Revolutions in his time, 
Cic. de Clar. Orator.  Sed in te intuens, Brute, doleo, cujus in adolescentiam per medias laudes quasi●quadrigis vehentem transversa incurrit misera fortuna Reipublicae.  
Neither is the present constitution of my Mind more proper then that of the Times for this exercise, or rather divertisement. There is nothing that requires so much serenity and cheerfulness of Spirit▪ it must not be either overwhelmed with the cares of Life, or overcast with the Clouds of Melancholy and Sorrow, or shaken and disturbed with the storms of injurious Fortune; it must like the Halcyon, have fair weather to breed in. The Soul must be filled with bright and delightful Idaea's, when it undertakes to communicate delight to others; which is the main end of Poesy. One may see through the stile of Ovid de Trist. the humbled and dejected condition of Spirit with which he wrote it; there scarce remains any footsteps of that Genius, Quem nec jovis ira, nec ignes, etc. The cold of the Country had strucken through all his faculties, and benumbed the very feet of his Verses. He is himself, methinks, like one of the Stories of his own Metamorphosis; and though there remain some weak resemblances of Ovid at Rome, It is but as he says of Niobe, 
In vultu color oft sine sanguine, 
Ovid. Metam. l. 6.  lumina maestis  
Stant immota genis; nihil est in Imagine vivum,  
Flet tamen — The truth is, for a man to writ well, it is necessary to be in good humour; neither is Wit lesle eclypsed with the unquietness of Mind, then Beauty with the Indisposition of Body. So that 'tis almost as hard a thing to be a Poet in despite of Fortune, as it is in despite of Nature. For my own part, neither my obligations to the Muses, nor expectations from them are so great, as that I should suffer myself upon no considerations to be divorced; or that I should say like Horace, Quisquis erit vitae, 
Hor. Sat 1. l 2. Ser.  Seribam, color .I shall rather use his words in another place, 
Vixi Camaenis nuper idoneus, 
L. 3. Car. Ode 26. Vixi puellis▪ etc.   
Et militari non sine gloriâ,  
Nunc arma defunctúmque bello  
Barbiton hic paries habebit.  And this resolution of my does the more befit me, because my desire has been for some years past (though the execution has been accidentally diverted) and does still vehemently continued, to retire myself to some of our American Plantations, not to seek for Gold, or enrich myself with the traffic of those parts (which is the end of most men that travel thither; so that of these Indieses it is truer then it was of the former, 
Improbus extremos currit Mercator ad Indos  
Pauperiem fugiens—)  But to forsake this world for ever, with all the vanities and Vexations of it, and to bury myself in some obscure retreat there (but not without the consolation of Letters and Philosophy) Oblitúsque meorum, obliviscendus & illis .As my former Author speaks too, who has enticed me here, I know not how, into the Pedantry of this heap of Latin Sentences. And I think Doctor Donne's Sun Dial in a grave is not more useless and ridiculous then Poetry would be in that retirement. As this therefore is in a true sense a kind of Death to the Muses, and a real literal quitting of this World: So, methinks, I may make a just claim to the undoubted privilege of Deceased Poets, which is to be read with more favour, then the Living; Tanti est ut placeam tibi, 
Mart.  Perire.  
Having been forced for my own necessary justification to trouble the Reader with this long Discourse of the Reasons why I trouble him also with all the rest of the Book, I shall only add somewhat concerning the several parts of it, and some other pieces, which I have thought fit to reject in this publication: As first, all those which I wrote at School from the age of ten years, till after fifteen; for even so far backward there remain yet some traces of me in the little footsteps of a child; which though they were then looked upon as commendable extravances in a Boy (men setting a value upon any kind of fruit before the usual season of it) yet I would be loathe to be bound now to read them all over myself; and therefore should do ill to expect that patience from others. Besides, they have already past through several Editions, which is a longer Life then uses to be enjoyed by Infants that are born before the ordinary terms. They had the good fortune then to found the world so indulgent (for considering the time of their production, who could be so hard-hearted to be severe?) that I scarce yet apprehended so much to be censured for them, as for not having made advances afterwards proportionable to the speed of my setting out, and am obliged too in a manner by Discretion to conceal and suppress them, as Promises and Instruments under my own hand, whereby I stood engaged for more then I have been able to perform; in which truly, if I have failed, I have the real excuse of the honestest sort of Bankrupts, which is, to have been made Vnsolvable, not so much by their own negligence and ill-husbandry, as by some notorious accidents, and public disasters. In the next place, I have cast away all such pieces as I wrote during the time of the late troubles, with any relation to the differences that caused them; as among others, three Books of the Civil War itself, reaching as far as the first Battle of Newbury, where the succeeding misfortunes of the party stopped the work; for it is so uncustomary, as to become almost ridiculous, to make Laurels for the Conquered Now though in all Civil Dissensions, when they break into open hostilities, the War of the Pen is allowed to accompany that of the Sword, and every one is in a manner obliged with his Tongue, as well as Hand, to serve and assist the side which he engages in; yet when the event of battle, and the unaccountable Will of God has determined the controversy, and that we have submitted to the conditions of the Conqueror, we must lay down our Pens as well as Arms, we must march out of our Cause itself, and dismantle that, as well as our Towns and Castles, of all the Works and Fortifications of Wit and Reason by which we defended it. We aught not sure, to begin ourselves to revive the remembrance of those times and actions for which we have received a General amnesty, as a Favour from the Victor. The truth is, neither We, nor They, aught by the Representation of Places and Images▪ to make a kind of Artificial Memory of those things wherein we are all bound to desire like Themistocles, the Art of Oblivion. The enmities of Fellow-Citizens should be, like that of Lovers, the Redintegration of their Amity. The Names of Party, and Titles of Division, which are sometimes in effect the whole quarrel, should be extinguished and forbidden in peace under the notion of Acts of Hostility. And I would have it accounted not lesle unlawful to rip up old wounds, then to given new ones; which has made me not only abstain from printing any things of this kind, but to burn the very copies, and inflict a severer punishment on them myself, then perhaps the most rigid Officer of State would have thought that they deserved.  
As for the ensuing Book, it consists of four parts: The first is a Miscellany of several Subjects, and some of them made when I was very young, which it is perhaps superfluous to tell the Reader; I know not by what chance I have kept Copies of them; for they are but a very few in comparison of those which I have lost, and I think they have no extraordinary virtue in them, to deserve more care in preservation, then was bestowed upon their Brethrens; for which I am so little concerned, that I am ashamed of the arrogancy of the word, when I said, I had lost them.  
The Second, is called, The Mistress, or Love-Verses; for so it is, that Poets are scarce thought Freemen of their Company, without paying some duties, and obliging themselves to be true to Love. Sooner or later they must all pass through that Trial, like some Mahometan Monks, that are bound by their Order, once at lest, in their life, to make a Pilgrimage to Mecca, In furias ignémque ruunt; Amor omnibus idem .But we must not always make a judgement of their manners from their write of this kind; as the Romanists uncharitably do of Beza, for a few lascivious Sonnets composed by him in his youth. It is not in this sense that Poesy is said to be a kind of Painting; it is not the Picture of the Poet, but of things and persons imagined by him. He may be in his own practice and disposition a Philosopher, nay a Stoic, and yet speak sometimes with the softness of an amorous Sappho. Feret & rubus asper Amomum .He professes too much the use of Fables (though without the malice of deceiving) to have his testimony taken even against himself. Neither would I here be misunderstood, as if I affected so much gravity, as to be ashamed to be thought really in Love. On the contrary, I cannot have a good opinion of any man who is not at lest capable of being so. But I speak it to excuse some expressions (if such there be) which may hap to offend the severity of supercilious Readers; for much Excess is to be allowed in Love, and even more in Poetry; so we avoid the two unpardonable vices in both, which are Obscenity and Profaneness, of which I am sure, if my words be ever guilty, they have illrepresented my thoughts and intentions. And if, notwithstanding all this, the lightness of the matter here displease any body; he may found wherewithal to content his more serious inclinations in the weight and height of the ensuing Arguments.  
For as for the Pindaric Odes (which is the third part) I am in great doubt whither they will be understood by most Readers; nay, even by very many who are well enough acquainted with the common Roads, and ordinary Tracks of Poesy. They either are, or at lest were meant to be, of that kind of Style which Dion. Halicarnasseus calls, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and which he attributes to Alcaeus: The digressions are many, and sudden, and sometimes long, according to the fashion of all Lyriques, and of Pindar above all men living. The Figures are unusual and bold, even to Temereity, and such as I durst not have to do withal in any other kind of Poetry: The Numbers are various and irregular, and sometimes (especially some of the long ones) seem harsh and uncouth, if the just measures and cadencies be not observed in the Pronunciation. So that almost all their Sweetness and Numerosity (which is to be found, if I mistake not, in the roughest, if rightly repeated) lies in a manner wholly at the Mercy of the Reader. I have briefly described the nature of these Verses, in the Ode entitled, The Resurrection: And though the Liberty of them may incline a man to believe them easy to be composed, yet the undertaker will found it otherwise.  
— ut sibi quivis  
Speret idem, multum sudet frustraque laboret  
Ausus idem—.  
I come now to the last Part, which is, Davideis, or an Heroical Poem of the Troubles of David; which I designed into Twelve Books; not for the Tribes sake, but after the Pattern of our Master Virgil; and intended to close all with that most Poetical and excellent Elegy of David's upon the death of Saul and jonathan: For I had no mind to carry him quite on to his Anointing at Hebron, because it is the custom of Heroic Poets (as we see by the examples of Homer and Virgil whom we should do ill to forsake to imitate others) never to come to the full end of their Story; but only so neare, that every one may see it; as men commonly play not out the game, when it is evident that they can win it, but lay down their Cards, and take up what they have won. This, I say, was the whole Design, in which there are many noble and fertile Arguments behinded; as, The barbarous cruelty of Saul to the Priests at Nob, the several flights and escapes of David, with the manner of his living in the Wilderness, the Funeral of Samuel, the love of Abigal, the sacking of Ziglag, the loss and recovery of David's wives from the Amalekites, the Witch of Endor, the war with the Philistines, and the Battle of Gilboa; all which I meant to interweave upon several occasions, with most of the illustrious Stories of the Old Testament, and to embellish with the most remarkable Antiquities of the jews, and of other Nations before or at that Age. But I have had neither Leisure hitherto, nor have Appetite at present to finish the work, or so much as to revise that part which is done with that care which I resolved to bestow upon it, and which the Dignity of the Matter well deserves. For what worthier subject could have been chosen among all the Treasuries of past times, then the Life of this young Prince; who from so small beginnings, through such infinite troubles and oppositions, by such miraculous virtues and excellencies, and with such incomparable variety of wondered actions and accidents, become the greatest Monarch that ever sat upon the most famous Throne of the whole Earth? whom should a Poet more justly seek to honour, then the highest person who ever honoured his Profession? whom a Christian Poet, rather then the man after God's own heart, and the man who had that sacred pre-eminence above all other Princes, to be the best and mightiest of that Royal Race from whence Christ himself, according to the flesh, disdained not to descend? When I consider this, and how many other bright and magnificent subjects of the like nature, the Holy Scripture affords, and Proffers, as it were, to Poesy, in the wise managing and illustrating whereof, the Glory of God Almighty might be joined with the singular utility and noblest delight of Mankind: It is not without grief and indignation that I behold that Divine Science employing all her inexhaustible richeses of Wit and Eloquence, either in the wicked and beggarly Flattery of great persons, or the unmanly Idolising of Foolish Women, or the wretched affectation of scurril Laughter, or at best on the confused antiquated Dreams of senseless Fables and Metamorphoses. Among all holy and consecrated things which the Devil ever stole and alienated from the service of the Deity; as Altars, Temples, Sacrifices, Prayers, and the like; there is noon that he so universally, and so long usurped, as Poetry. It is time to recover it out of the Tyrant's hands, and to restore it to the Kingdom of God, who is the Father of it. It is time to Baptise it in jordan, for it will never become clean by bathing in the Waters of Damascus. There wants, methinks, but the Conversion of That, and the jews, for the accomplishing of the Kingdom of Christ. And as men before their receiving of the Faith, do not without some carnal reluctancies, apprehended the bonds and fetters of it, but found it afterwards to be the truest and greatest Liberty: It will far no otherwise with this Art, after the Regeneration of it; it will meet with wondered variety of new, more beautiful, and more delightful Objects; neither will it want Room, by being confined to Heaven. There is not so great a Lie to be found in any Poet, as the vulgar conceit of men, that Lying is Essential to good Poetry. Were there never so wholesome Nourishment to be had (but, alas, it breeds nothing but Diseases) out of these boasted Feasts of Love and Fables; yet, methinks, the unalterable continuance of the Diet should make us Nauseate it: For it is almost impossible to serve up any new Dish of that kind. They are all but the Cold-meats of the Ancients, new-heated, and new set forth. I do not at all wonder that the old Poets made some rich crops out of these grounds; the heart of the Soil was not then wrought out with continual Tillage: But what can we expect now, who come a Gleaning, not after the first Reapers. but after the very Beggars? Besides, though those mad stories of the Gods and Heroes, seem in themselves so ridiculous; yet they were then the whole Body (or rather Chaos) of the Theology of those times. They were believed by all but a few Philosophers, and perhaps some Atheists, and served to good purpose among the vulgar, (as pitiful things as they are) in strengthening the authority of Law with the terrors of Conscience, and Expectation of certain rewards, and unavoidable punishments. There was no other Religion, and therefore that was better then noon at all. But to us who have no need of them, to us who deride their folly, and are wearied with their impertinencies▪ they aught to appear no better arguments for Verse, then those of their worthy Successors, the Knights Errand What can we imagine more proper for the ornaments of Wit or Learning in the story of Deucalion, then in that of Noah? why will not the actions of Samson afford as plentiful matter as the Labours of Hercules? why is not Ieptha's Daughter as good a woman as Iphigenia? and the friendship of David and jonathan more worthy celebration, then that of Theseus and Pirithous? Does not the passage of Moses and the Israelites into the Holy Land, yield incomparably more Poetical variety, then the voyages of Ulysses or Aeneas? Are the obsolete threadbare tales of Thebes and Troy, half so stored with great, heroical and supernatural actions (since Verse will needs found or make such) as the wars of joshua, of the judges, of David, and divers others? Can all the Transformations of the Gods, given such copious hints to flourish and expatiate on, as the true Miracles of Christ, or of his Prophets, and Apostles? what do I instance in these few particulars? All the Books of the Bible are either already most admirable, and exalted pieces of Poesy, or are the best Materials in the world for it. Yet, though they be in themselves so proper to be made use of for this purpose; Noon but a good Artist will know how to do it: neither must we think to cut and polish Diamonds with so little pains and skill as we do Marble. For if any man design to compose a Sacred Poem, by only turning a story of the Scripture, like Mr. Quarle●'s, or some other godly matter, like Mr. Heywood of Angels, into Rhyme; He is so far from elevating of Poesy, that he only abases Divinity. In brief, he who can writ a profane Poem well, may writ a Divine one better; but he who can do that but ill, will do this much worse. The same fertility of Invention, the same wisdom of Disposition; the same judgement in observance of Decencies, the same lustre and vigour of Elocution; the same modesty and majesty of Number; briefly the same kind of Habit, is required to both; only this latter allows better stuff, and therefore would look more deformedly, if ill dressed in it. I am fare from assuming to myself to have fulfilled the duty of this weighty undertaking: But sure I am, that there is nothing yet in our Language (nor perhaps in any) that is in any degree answerable to the Idea that I conceive of it. And I shall be ambitious of no other fruit from this weak and imperfect attempt of my, but the opening of a way to the courage and industry of some other persons, who may be better able to perform it throughly and successfully.  
Miscellany.   

Errata.  
THe Reader is desired to correct with his pen, these ensuing errors, which are material, and corrupt the sense. False point, false spellings, and such like venial faults (as also some mistakes in the Greek) are recommended to his judgement and candour to mend as he reads them.  
Faults in the Preface .Gigantie for Gigantique, Tidaeus' for Tideus, Militari for Militavi.  
In the Miscellanies .Page 5. line 30. Past for Pass, p. 14. l. 6. Littled-Much for Little much, p. 21. l. 24. Natures for Nature, lb. l. 34. plac for place, p. 35. l. 16. Love for Loves.  
In the Pindariques. Page 24. l. 32. once for one, p. 26. l. 11. till for tis, p. 34. l. 13. to had for t'had, p. 37. l. 34. Poetry for Poverty, p. 38. l. 6. Claudines for Claudians', p. 46. l. 23. within for which in.  
In Davideis, B. 1. Page 9 l. 1. thy own for shine on, p. 10. l. 17. Noon for Moon, p. 25. l. 11. Nemessarius for Nemesianus, p. 26. l. 10. Mineius for Mincius, 1. 11. deal con, p. 27. l. 27. deal we, p. 28. l. 11. seem for seems, p. 34. l. 3. has for have, p. 36. l. 7. deal And, p. 41. l. 15. Tatus for Talus, l. 19 In Boetius for In Boeotic. p. 44. l. 5. The for de.  
David. B. 2. Page 47. l. 31. joy for Ivy, p. 49. l. 9 their for your, p. 75. l. 44. Syrians for Syrian, p. 60. l. 7. Angels for Angel, lb. l. 40▪ forepart for forepast, p. 62. l. Scrapeed neatly from pure Ar●ams, for Caught gliding over pure streams.  
David. B. 3. Page 86. l. 20. had for led, p. 87. l. 45. Nobler age for Noble rage, p. 94. l. 23. jesse for jessey. p. 96. l. 32. called for call, p. 99 l. 43. objects, for object, p. 110. l. 36. Beaten Chederl. for Beaten by Chederlaom. l. 44. deal or, p. 112. l. 28. Plato to the Comaed. for Plato the Comed. p. 114 l. 41. Reginem grava for Regina gravem.  
David. B. 4. Page 124. l. 26. Word for Sword, p. 129. l. 28. honour for horror, p. 142. l. 37. rent for went, p. 151. l▪ 45. josephus for joseph.  
David. in Lat. Page 3. l. 42. To ti pro Torti, p. 5. l. 12. Erebrum pro Erebum, p. 7. l. 46. justo pro jusso, p. 19 l. 11. Venatur pro venator.   

Miscellanies.  

THE MOTTO. Tentanda via est, etc.  
WHat shall I do to be for ever known,  
And make the Age to come my own?  
I shall like Beasts or Common People die,  
Unless you writ my Elegy;  
Whilst others Great, by being Born are grown,  
Their Mother's Labour, not their own.  
In this Scale Gold, in th'other Fame does lie,  
The weight of that, mounts this so high.  
These men are Fortunes jewels, moulded bright;  
Brought forth with their own fire and light.  
If I, her vulgar stone for either look;  
Out of myself it must be struck.  
Yet I must on; what sounded is't strikes my ear?  
Sure I Fame's Trumpet hear.  
It sounds like the last Trumpet; for it can  
Raise up the bur'ied Man  
Unpassed Alps stop me, but I'll cut through all,  
And march, the Muses Hannibal.  
Hence all the flattering vanities that lay  
Nets of Roses in the way▪  
Hence the desire of Honours, or Estate;  
And all, that is not above Fate.  
Hence Love himself, that Tyrant of my days,  
Which intercepts my coming praise.  
Come my best Friends, my Books, and led me on;  
'Tis time that I were gone.  
Welcome, great Stagirite, and teach me now  
All I was born to know.  
Thy Scholars vict'ories thou dost far outdo;  
He conquer'ed th' Earth, the whole World you.  
Welcome, learned Cicero, whose blessed Tongue and Wit  
Preserves Rome's greatness yet.  
Thou art the first of Ora'tors; only he  
Who best can praise Thee, next must be.  
Welcome the Mantu'an Swan, Virgil the Wise,  
Whose verse walks highest, but not flies.  
Who brought green Poesy to her perfect Age;  
And made that Art which was a Rage.  
Tell me, ye mighty Three, what shall I do  
To be like one of you.  
But you have climbed the Mountains top, there sit  
On the calm flourishing head of it,  
And whilst with wearied steps we upward go,  
See Us, and Clouds below.   

ODE. Of Wit.  

1.  
TEll me, OH tell, what kind of thing is Wit,  
Thou who Master art of it.  
For the First Matter loves Variety lesle;  
Lesle Women loved, either in Love or Dress.  
A thousand different shapes it bears,  
Comely in thousand shapes appears.  
Yonder we seen it plain; and here 'tis now,  
Like Spirits in a Place, we know not How.   

2.  
London that vents of false Ware so much store,  
In no Ware deceives us more.  
For men led by the Colour, and the Shape,  
Like Zeuxe's Birds fly to the painted Grape,  
Some things do through our judgement pass  
As through a Multiplying Glass.  
And sometimes, if the Object be too far,  
We take a Falling Meteor for a Star.   

3.  
Hence 'tis a Wit that greatest word of Fame  
Grows such a common Name.  
And Wits by our Creation they become,  
Just so, as Tit'ular Bishops made at Rome.  
'Tis not a Tale, 'tis not a jest  
Admir'ed with Laughter at a feast,  
Nor florid Talk which can that Title gain;  
The Proofs of Wit for ever must remain.   

4.  
'Tis not to force some lifeless Verses meet  
With their five gouty feet.  
All ev'ery where, like Man's, must be the Soul,  
And Reason the Inferior Powers control.  
Such were the Numbers which could call  
The Stones into the Theban wall.  
Such Miracles are ceased; and now we see  
No Towns or Houses raised by Poetry.   

5.  
Yet 'tis not to adorn, and gilled each part;  
That shows more Cost, then Art  
jewels at Nose and Lips but ill appear;  
Rather then all things Wit, let noon be there.  
Several Lights will not be seen,  
If there be nothing else between.  
Men doubt, because they stand so thick i'th' sky,  
If those be Stars which paint the Galaxy.   

6.  
'Tis not when two like words make up one noise,  
jests for Dutch Men, and English Boys.  
In which who finds out Wit, the same may see  
In An'agrams and Acrostiques Poetry.  
Much lesle can that have any place  
At which a Virgin hides her face,  
Such Dross the Fire must purge away; 'tis just  
The Author blush, there where the Reader must.   

7.  
'Tis not such Lines as almost crack the Stage  
When Bajazet gins to rage.  
Nor a tall Metaphor in th' Oxford way,  
Nor the dry chips of short lung'ed Seneca.  
Nor upon all things to obtrude,  
And force some odd Similitude.  
What is it then, which like the Power Divine  
We only can by Negatives define?   

8.  
In a true piece of Wit all things must be,  
Yet all things there agreed.  
As in the Ark, joined without force or strife,  
All Creatures dwelled; all Creatures that had Life.  
Or as the Primitive Forms of all  
(If we compare great things with small)  
Which without Discord or Confusion lie,  
In that strange Mirror of the Deity.   

9  
But Love that moulds One Man up out of Two.  
Makes me forget and injure you.  
I took you for myself sure, when I thought  
That you in any thing were to be Taught.  
Correct my error with thy Pen;  
And if any ask me then,  
What thing right Wit, and height of Genius is,  
I'll only show your Lines, and say, 'Tis This.    

To the Lord Falkland. For his safe Return from the Northern Expedition against the Scots.  
GReat is thy Charge, OH North; be wise and just,  
England commits her Falkland to thy trust;  
Return him safe: Learning would rather choose  
Her Bodley, or her Vatican to lose.  
All things that are but writ or printed there,  
In his unbounded Breast engraven are.  
There all the Sciences together meet,  
And every Art does all her Kindred greet.  
Yet justle not, nor quarrel▪ but as well  
Agreed as in some Common Principle.  
So in an Army govern'ed right we see  
(Though out of several Countries raised it be)  
That all their Order and their Place maintain,  
The English, Dutch, the Frenchman and the Dane.  
So thousand divers Species fill the air,  
Yet neither crowd nor mix confusedly there,  
Beasts, Houses, Trees, and Men together lie,  
Yet enter undisturbed into the Eye.  
And this great Prince of Knowledge is by Fate  
Thrust into th'noise and business of a State,  
All Virtues, and some Customs of the Court,  
Other men's Labour, are at lest his Sport.  
Whilst we who can no action undertake,  
Whom Idleness itself might Learned make,  
Who hear of nothing, and as yet scarce know,  
Whither the Scots in England be or no.  
Pace dully on, often tyre, and often stay,  
Yet see his nimble Pegasus fly away.  
'Tis Nature's fault who did thus partial grow,  
And her Estate of Wit on One bestow.  
Whilst we like younger Brothers, get at best  
But a small Stock, and must work out the rest.  
How could he answered, should the State think fit  
To question a Monopoly of Wit?  
Such is the Man whom we require the same  
We lent the North; untouched as is his Fame.  
He is too good for War, and aught to be  
As far from Danger, as from Fear he's free.  
Those Men alone (and those are useful too)  
Whose Valour is the only Art they know,  
Were for sad War and bloody Battles born;  
Let Them the State Defend, and He Adorn.   

On the Death of Sir Henry Wootton.  
WHat shall we say, since silent now is He  
Who when he Spoken all things would Silent be?  
Who had so many Languages in store,  
That only Fame shall speak of him in More!  
Whom England now not more returned must see.  
He's go to Heav'en on his Fourth Embassy.  
On earth he travelled often; not to say  
He'd been abroad, or past lose Time away.  
In whatsoever Land he chanc'ed to come,  
He read the Men and Manners, bringing home  
Their Wisdom, Learning, and their Piety,  
As if he went to Conquer, not to See.  
So well he understood the most and best  
Of Tongues that Babel sent into the West,  
Spoken them so truly, that he had (you'd swear)  
Not only Liv'ed, but been Born every where.  
justly each Nations Speech to him was known,  
Who for the World was made, not us alone.  
Nor aught the Language of that Man be lesle  
Who in his Breast had all things to express.  
We say that Learning's endless, and blame Fate  
For not allowing Life a longer date.  
He did the utmost Bounds of Knowledge found,  
He found them not so large as was his Mind.  
But, like the brave Pellaean Youth, did moan  
Because that Art had no more worlds then One.  
And when he seen that he through all had past,  
He dy'ed, jest he should Idle grow at last.   

On the Death of Mr. jordan, Second Master at Westminster School.  
HEnce, and make room for me, all you who come  
Only to read the Epitaph on this Tomb.  
Here lies the Master of my tender years,  
The Guardian of my Parent's Hope and Fears,  
Whose Government ne'er stood me in a Tear;  
All weeping was reserv'ed to spend it here.  
Come hither all who his rare virtues knew,  
And mourn with Me: He was your Tutor too.  
Let's join our Sighs, till they fly far, and show  
His native Belgia what she's now to do.  
The League of grief bids her with us lament;  
By her he was brought forth, and hither sent  
In payment of all Men we there had lost,  
And all the English Blood those wars have cost.  
Wisely did Nature this learned Man divide;  
His Birth was There's, his Death the mournful pride  
Of England; and t'avoid the envious strife  
Of other Lands, all Europe had his Life,  
But we in chief; our Country soon was grown  
A Debtor more to Him, then He to'his Own.  
He plucked from youth the follies and the crimes,  
And built up Men against the future times,  
For deeds of Age are in their Causes then,  
And though he taught but Boys, he made the Men.  
Hence 'twas a Master in those ancient days  
When men sought Knowledge first, and by it Praise,  
Was a thing full of Reverence, Profit, Fame;  
Father itself was but a Second Name.  
He scorned the profit; his Instructions all  
Were like the Science, Free and Liberal.  
He deserved Honours, but despis'ed them too  
As much as those who have them, others do.  
He knew not that which Compliment they call;  
Can Flatter noon, but Himself least of all.  
So true, so faithful, and so just as he,  
Was naught on earth, but his own Memory.  
His Memory, where all things written were  
As sure and fixed as in Fates Books they are.  
Thus he in Arts so vast a treasure gained,  
Whilst still the Use come in, and Stock remained.  
And having purchased all that man can know,  
He laboured with't to enrich others now.  
Did thus a new, and harder task sustain,  
Like those that work in Ours for others gain.  
He, though more nobly, had much more to do,  
To search the Vein, dig, purge, and mint it too.  
Though my Excuse would be, I must confess,  
Much better had his Diligence been lesle.  
But if a Muse hereafter smile on me,  
And say, Be thou a Poet, men shall see  
That noon could a more grateful Scholar have;  
For what I ow'ed his Life, I'll pay his Grave.   

On His Majesty's Return out of Scotland.  

1.  
WElcome, great Sir, with all the joy that's due  
To the return of Peace and You.  
Two greatest Blessings which this age can know;  
For that to Thee, for Thee to Heav'en we ow.  
Others by war their Conquests gain,  
You like a God your ends obtain.  
Who when rude Chaos for his help did call,  
Spoken but the Word, and sweetly Ordered all.   

2.  
This happy Concord in no Blood is writ,  
Noon can grutch heaven full thanks for it.  
Not Mothers here lament their Child's fate,  
And like the Peace, but think it comes too late.  
Not Widows hear the jocund Bells,  
And take them for their Husband's Knells.  
No Drop of Blood is spilt which might be said  
To mark our joyful Holiday with Red.   

3.  
'Twas only Heav'en could work this wondrous thing,  
And only worked by such a King.  
Again the Northern Hinds may sing and blow,  
And fear no harm but from the weather now.  
Again may Tradesmen love their pain  
By knowing now for whom they gain.  
The Armour now may be hung up to sight,  
And only in their Halls the Children fright.   

4▪  
The gain of Civil wars will not allow  
Bay to the Conqueror's Brow▪  
At such a Game what fool would venture in,  
Where one must loose, yet neither side can win?  
How justly would our Neighbours smile  
At these mad quarrels of our Isle  
Swelled with proud hopes to snatch the whole away,  
Whilst we Bet all, and yet for nothing Play?   

5▪  
How was the silver Tine frighted before,  
And durst not kiss the armed shore?  
His waters ran more swiftly then they use,  
And hasted to the Sea to tell the News.  
The Sea itself, how rough so ere,  
Can scarce believe such fury here.  
How could the Scots and we be Enemies grown?  
That, and its Master Charles had made us One.   

6.  
No Blood so loud as that of Civil war;  
It calls for Dangers from afar.  
Let's rather go, and seek out Them, and Fame;  
Thus our Before fathers got, thus left a Name.  
All their rich blood was spent with gains,  
But that which swells their Child's Veins.  
Why sit we still, our Spi'rits wrapped up in Lead?  
Not like them whilst they Liv'ed, but now they're Dead?   

7.  
This noise at home was but Fates policy  
To raise our Sp'irits more high.  
So a bold Lion ere he seeks his prey,  
Lashes his sides, and roars, and then away.  
How would the German Eagle fear,  
To see a new Gustavus there?  
How would it shake, though as 'twas want to do  
For jove of old, it now bore Thunder too!   

8.  
Sure there are actions of this height and praise  
Destin'ed to Charles his days.  
What will the Triumphs of his Battles be,  
Whose very Peace itself is Victory.  
When Heav'en bestows the best of Kings,  
It bids us think of mighty things.  
His Valour, Wisdom, Offspring speak not lesle;  
And we the Prophets Sons, writ not by Guess.    

On the Death of Sir Anthony Vandike, The famous Painter.  
VAndike is Dead; but what Bold Muse shall dare  
(Though Poets in that word with Painters share)  
T'express her sadness? Po'esie must become  
An Art, like Painting here, an Art that's Dumb.  
Let's all our solemn grief in silence keep,  
Like some sad Picture which he made to weep,  
Or those who saw't, for noon his works could view  
Unmov'ed with the same Passions which he drew.  
His pieces so with their live objects strive,  
That both or Pictures seem, or both Alive.  
Nature herself amazed, does doubting stand,  
Which is her own, and which the Painter's Hand.  
And does attempt the like with lesle success  
When her own work in Twins she would express.  
His All-resembling Pencil did out-pass  
The mimic Imagery of Looking-glass.  
Nor was his Life lesle perfect then his Art,  
Nor was his Hand lesle erring then his Heart.  
There was no false, or fading Colour there,  
The Figures sweet and well proportioned were.  
Most other men, set next to him in view,  
Appeared more shadows then the men he drew.  
Thus still he liv'ed till heaven did for him call,  
Where reverend Luke salutes him first of all.  
Where he beholds new sights, divinely fare;  
And could almost wish for his Pencil there;  
Did he not gladly see how all things shine,  
Wondrously painted in the Mind Divine,  
Whilst he for ever ravished with the show  
Scorns his own Art which we admire below.  
Only his beauteous Lady still he loves;  
(The love of heav'enly Objects Heav'en improves)  
He sees bright Angels in pure beams appear,  
And thinks on her he left so like them here.  
And you, fair Widow, who stay here alive,  
Since he so much rejoices, cease to grieve.  
Your joys and griefs were want the same to be;  
Begin not now, blessed Pair, to Disagree.  
Not wonder Death mov'ed not his gen'erous mind.  
You, and a newborn You, he left behind.  
Even Fate expressed his love to his dear Wife,  
And let him end your Picture with his Life.   

Prometheus' ill-painted.  
HOw wretched does Promethe'us state appear,  
Whilst he his Second Mis'ery suffers here!  
Draw him not more, jest as he tortur'ed stands,  
He blame great Ioves lesle then the Painters hands.  
It would the Vultures cruelty outgo,  
If once again his Liver thus should grow.  
Pity him jove, and his bold Theft allow,  
The Flames he once stole from thee grant him now.   

ODE.  

1.  
HEre's to thee Dick; this whining Love despise;  
Pledge me, my Friend, and drink till thou beest wise.  
It sparkles brighter far then she:  
'Tis pure, and right without deceit;  
And such no woman ere will be:  
Not; they are all Sophisticate.   

2.  
With all thy servile pains what canst thou win,  
But an ill-favoured, and uncleanly Sin?  
A thing so vile, and so short-lived,  
That Venus joys as well as she  
With reason may be said to be  
From the neglected Foam deriv'ed.   

3.  
Whom would that painted toy a Beauty move,  
Whom would it ere persuade to court and love,  
Can he a woman's Heart have seen,  
(But, o, no Light does thither come)  
And viewed her perfectly within,  
When he lay shut up in her womb?   

4.  
Follies they have so numberless in store,  
That only he who loves them can have more.  
Neither their Sighs nor Tears are true;  
Those idly blow, these idly fall,  
Nothing like to ours at all.  
But Sighs and Tears have Sexes too.   

5.  
Here's to thee again; thy senseless sorrows drowned;  
Let the Glass walk, till all things too go round;  
Again; till these Two Lights be Four;  
No error here can dangerous prove;  
Thy Passion, Man, deceiv'ed thee more;  
Noon Double see like Men in Love.    

Friendship in Absence.  

1.  
WHen chance or cruel business parts us two,  
What do our Souls I wonder do?  
Whilst sleep does our dull Bodies tie  
Methinks, at home they should not stay,  
Content with Dreams, but boldly fly  
Abroad, and meet each other half the way.   

2.  
Sure they do meet, enjoy each other there,  
And mix I know not How, nor Where.  
Their friendly Lights together twine,  
Though we perceive't not to be so,  
Like loving Stars which often combine,  
Yet not themselves their own Conjunctions know.   

3.  
'Tis an ill World, I'll swear, for every friend,  
If Distance could their Union end.  
But Love itself does far advance  
Above the power of Time and Space,  
It scorns such outward Circumstance,  
His Times for ever, every where his Place.   

4▪  
I'am there with Thee, yet here with Me Thou art,  
Lodged in each others heart.  
Miracles cease not yet in Love,  
When he his mighty Power will try  
Absence itself does Bounteous prove,  
And strangely e'en our Presence Multiply.   

5▪  
Pure is the flame of Friendship, and divine  
Like that which in Heau'ens' Sun does shine:  
He in the upper air and sky  
Does no effects of Heat bestow,  
But as his beams the farther fly  
He begets Warmth, Life, Beauty here below.   

6.  
Friendship is lesle apparent when too nigh,  
Like Objects if they touch the Eye.  
Lesle Meritorious then is Love,  
For when we Friends together see  
So much, so much Both One do prove,  
That their Love then seems but Self-love to be.   

7.  
Each day think on me, and each day I shall  
For thee make Hours Canonical.  
By every Wind that comes this way,  
Sand me at lest a sigh or two,  
Such and so many I'll repay  
As shall themselves make Winds to get to you.   

8.  
A thousand pretty ways we'll think upon  
To mock our Separation.  
Alas, ten thousand will not do;  
My heart will thus not longer stay,  
Not longer 'twill be kept from you,  
But knocks against the Breast to get away.   

9  
And when no Art affords me help or ease,  
I seek with verse my griefs t'appease.  
Just as a Bird that flies about  
And beats itself against the Cage,  
Finding at last no passage out  
It sits, and sings, and so o'ercomes its rage.    

To the Bishop of Lincoln, Upon his Enlargement out of the Tower.  
PArdon, my Lord, that I am come so late  
T'express my joy for your return of Fate.  
So when injurious Chance did you deprive  
Of Liberty, at first I could not grieve;  
My thoughts awhile, like you, Imprisoned lay;  
Great joys as well as Sorrows make a Stay;  
They hinder one another in the Crowd,  
And noon are heard, whilst all would speak aloud.  
Should every man's officious gladness hast,  
And be afraid to show itself the last;  
The throng of Gratulations now would be  
Another Loss to you of Liberty.  
When of your freedom men the news did hear  
Where it was wished for, that is every where,  
'Twas like the Speech which from your Lips does fall,  
As soon as it was heard it ravished all.  
So Eloqu'ence Tully did from exile come;  
Thus longed for he returned, and cherished Rome,  
Which could not more his Tongue and Counsels miss;  
Rome, the World's Head, was nothing without His.  
Wrong to those sacred Ashes I should do,  
Should I compare any to Him but You;  
You to whom Art and Nature did dispense  
The Consulship of Wit and Eloquence.  
Nor did your fate differ from his at all  
Because the doom of Exile was his fall,  
For the whole World without a native home  
Is nothing but a Pris'on of larger room,  
But like a melting Woman suffered He,  
He who before outdid Humanity.  
Nor could his Spi'rit constant and steadfast prove,  
Whose Art t'had been, and greatest end to Move.  
You put ill Fortune in so good a dress  
That it outsh one other men's Happiness.  
Had your Prosper'ity always clearly gone  
As your high Merits would have led it on,  
You'had Half been lost, and an Example then  
But for the Happy, the lest part of men.  
Your very sufferings did so graceful show,  
That some strait envy'ed your Affliction too.  
For a clear Conscience and Heroic Mind  
In I l their Business and their Glory found.  
So though lesle worthy stones are drowned in night,  
The faithful Diamond keeps his native Light,  
And is oblig'ed to Darkness for a ray  
That would be more oppressed then helped by Day.  
Your Soul then most showed her unconquered power,  
Was stronger and more armed then the Tower.  
Sure unkind fate will tempt your Spi'rit not more,  
She'has try'ed her Weakness and your Strength before.  
To'oppose him still who once has Conquered so,  
Were now to be your Rebel, not your Foe.  
Fortune henceforth will more of Provi'dence have,  
And rather be your Friend, then be your Slave.   

To a Lady who made Posies for Rings.  

1.  
I Little thought the time would ever be,  
That I should Wit in Dwarfish Posies see.  
As all Words in Few Letters live,  
Thou to few Words all Sense dost given.  
'Twas Nature taught you this rare art  
In such a Littled-Much to show,  
Who all the good she did impart  
To Womankind Epitomiz'ed in you.   

2.  
If as the Ancients did not doubt to sing,  
The turning Years be well compar'ed to a Ring,  
We'll writ what ere from you we hear,  
For that's the Posy of the Year.  
This difference only will remain,  
That Time his former face does show  
Winding into himself again,  
But your unweari'ed Wit is always New.   

3.  
'Tis said that Conju'rers have an Art found out  
To carry Spi'rits confin'ed in Rings about.  
The wonder now will lesle appear  
When we behold your Magic here.  
You by your Rings do Prisoners take,  
And chain them with your mystic Spells,  
And the strong Witchcraft full to make,  
Love, the great Dev'il, charm'ed to those Circles dwells.   

4.  
They who above do various Circles found,  
Say, like a Ring the Aequator Heav'en does bind.  
When Heaven shall be adorned by thee  
(Which then more Heav'en then 'tis will be)  
'Tis thou must writ the Posy there,  
For it wanteth one as yet,  
Though the Sun pass through't twice a year,  
The Sun who is esteemed the God of Wit.   

5.  
Happy the Hands which wear thy sacred Rings,  
Theill teach those Hands to writ mysterious things.  
Let other Rings, with jewels bright,  
Cast around their costly light,  
Let them want no noble Stone  
By Nature rich, and Art refined,  
Yet shall thy Rings given place to noon,  
But only that which must thy Marriage bind.    

Prologue to the Guardian 
 Before the Prince.  
WHo says the Times do Learning disallow?  
'Tis false, 'twas never Honoured so as Now.  
When you appear, Great Prince, our Night is done;  
You are our Morning Star, and shall be'our Sun.  
But our Scene's London now; and by the rout  
We perish, if the Roundheads be about.  
For now no ornament the Head must wear,  
No Bays, no Mitre, not so much as Hair.  
How can a Play pass safely, when ye know  
Cheapside Cross falls for making but a Show?  
Our only Hope is this, that it may be  
A Play may pass too, made Extempore.  
Though other Arts poor and neglected grow,  
They'l admit Po'esie which was always so.  
But we contemn the fury of these days,  
And scorn not lesle their Censure then their Praise.  
Our Muse, blessed Prince, does onely'on you rely;  
Would gladly Live, but not refuse to Die.  
Accept our hasty Zeal; a thing thats played  
Ere't is a Play, and Acted ere 'tis Made.  
Our Ign'orance, but our Duty too we show;  
I would all Igno'rant People would do so!  
At other Times expect our Wit or Art;  
This Comedy is Acted by the Heart.   

The Epilogue.  
THe Play, great Sir, is done; yet needs must fear,  
Though you brought all your Father's Mercies here,  
It may offend your Highness, and we've now  
Three hours done Treason here for aught we know.  
But power your grace can above Nature given,  
It can given power to make Abortives Live.  
In which if our bold wishes should be crossed,  
'Tis but the Life of one poor week t'has lost;  
Though it should fall beneath your mortal scorn,  
Scarce could it Die more quickly then 'twas Born.   

On the Death of Mr. William Hervey.  Immodicis brevis est aetas, & rara Senectus. Mart. 

1.  
IT was a dismal, and a fearful night,  
Scarce could the Morn drive on th'unwilling Light,  
When Sleep, Death's Image, left my troubled breast,  
By something liker Death possessed.  
My eyes with Tears did uncommanded flow,  
And on my Soul hung the dull weight  
Of some Intolerable Fate.  
What Bell was that? Ah me! Too much I know.   

2.  
My sweet Companion, and my gentle Peer,  
Why hast thou left me thus unkindly here,  
Thy end for ever, and my Life to moan;  
OH thou hast left me all alone!  
Thy Soul and Body when Death's Agony  
Besieg'ed around thy noble heart,  
Did not with more reluctance part  
Than I, my dearest Friend, do part from Thee.   

3.  
My dearest Friend, would I had dy'ed for thee!  
Life and this World henceforth will tedious be.  
Nor shall I know hereafter what to do  
If once my Griefs prove tedious too.  
Silent and sad I walk about all day,  
As sullen Ghosts stalk speechless by  
Where their hid Treasures lie;  
Alas, my Treasure's go, why do I stay?   

4▪  
He was my Friend, the truest Friend on earth;  
A strong and mighty Influence joined our Birth.  
Nor did we envy the most sounding Name  
By Friendship giv'en of old to Fame.  
Noon but his Brethrens he, and Sisters knew,  
Whom the kind youth preferred to Me;  
And even in that we did agreed,  
For much above myself I loved them too.   

5.  
Say, for you seen us, ye immortal Lights,  
How often unweari'ed have we spent the Nights?  
Till the Ledaean Stars so fam'ed for Love,  
Wondered at us from above.  
We spent them not in toys, in lusts, or wine;  
But search of deep Philosophy,  
Wit, Elequence, and Poetry,  
Arts which I lov'ed, for they, my Friend, were Thy.   

6.  
You fields of Cambridge, our dear Cambridge, say,  
Have ye not seen us walking every day?  
Was there a Tree about which did not know  
The Love betwixt us two?  
Henceforth, ye gentle Trees, for ever fade;  
Or your sad branches thicker join,  
And into darksome shades combine,  
Dark as the Grave wherein my Friend is laid.   

7.  
Henceforth no learned Touths beneath you sing,  
Till all the tuneful Birds to'your bows they bring;  
No tuneful Birds play with their wont cheer,  
And call the learned Youths to hear,  
No whistling Winds through the glad branches fly,  
But all with sad solemnity,  
Mute and unmoved be,  
Mute as the Grave wherein my Friend does lie.   

8.  
To him my Muse made haste with every strain  
Whilst it was new, and warm yet from the Brain.  
He lov'ed my worthless Rhymes, and like a Friend,  
Would found out something to commend.  
Hence now, my Muse, thou canst not me delight;  
Be this my latest verse  
With which I now adorn his Hearse,  
And this my Grief, without thy help shall writ.   

9  
Had I a wreath of Bays about my brow,  
I should contemn that flourishing honour now,  
Condemn it to the Fire, and joy to hear  
It rage and crackle there.  
Instead of Bays, crown with sad Cypress me;  
Cypress which Tombs does beautify;  
Not Phoebus griev'ed so much as I  
For him, who first was made that mournful Tree.   

10.  
Large was his Soul; as large a Soul as ere  
Submitted to Inform a Body here.  
High as the Place 'twas shortly in Heav'en to have,  
But low, and humble as his Grave.  
So high that all the Virtues there did come  
As to their chiefest seat  
Conspicuous, and great;  
So low that for Me too it made a room.   

11.  
He scorned this busy world below, and all  
That we, Mistaken Mortals, Pleasure call;  
Was filled with inn'ocent Gallantry and Truth,  
Triumphant o'er the sins of Youth.  
He like the Stars, to which he now is go,  
That shine with beams like Flame  
Yet burn not with the same,  
Had all the Light of Youth, of the Fire noon.   

12.  
Knowledge he only sought, and so soon caught,  
As if for him Knowledge had rather sought.  
Nor did more Learning ever crowded lie  
In such a short Mortality.  
When ere the skilful Youth discoursed or writ,  
Still did the Notions throng  
About his eloquent Tongue,  
Nor could his Ink flow faster then his Wit.   

13.  
So strong a Wit did Nature to him frame,  
As all things but his judgement overcame;  
His judgement like the heav'enly Moon did show,  
Tem'pring that mighty Sea below.  
O had he liv'ed in Learning's World, what bound  
Would have been able to control  
His overpowering Soul?  
We've lost in him Arts that not yet are found.   

14.  
His Mirth was the pure Spirits of various Wit,  
Yet never did his God or Friends forget.  
And when deep talk and wisdom come in view,  
Retir'ed and gave to them their due.  
For the rich help of Books he always took,  
Though his own searching mind before  
Was so with Notions written over  
As if wise Nature had made that her Book.   

15.  
So many Virtues joined in him, as we  
Can scarce pick here and there in History.  
Moore then old Writers Practice ere could reach,  
As much as they could ever teach.  
These did Religion, Queen of Virtues sway,  
And all their sacred Motions steer,  
Just like the First and Highest Sphere  
Which wheels about, and turns all Heav'en one way.   

16.  
With as much Zeal, Devotion, Piety,  
He always Liv'ed, as other Saints do Die.  
Still with his soul severe account he kept.  
Weeping all Debts out ere he slept.  
Than down in peace and innocence he lay,  
Like the Sun's laborious light,  
Which still in Water sets at Night,  
Unsullied with his journey of the Day.   

17.  
Wondrous young Man, why wert thou made so good,  
To be snatched hence ere better understood?  
Snatched before half of thee enough was seen!  
Thou Ripe, and yet thy Life but Green!  
Nor could thy Friends take their last sad Farewell,  
But Danger and Infectious Death  
Maliciously seized on that Breath  
Where Life, Spirit, Pleasure always used to devil.   

18.  
But happy Thou, ta'en from this frantic age,  
Where Igno'rance and Hypocrisy does rage!  
A fit time for Heav'en no soul ere choose,  
The place now only free from those.  
There 'mong the Blessed thou dost for ever shine,  
And wheresoever thou casts thy view  
Upon that white and radiant crew,  
Seest not a Soul clothed with more Light then Thy.   

19  
And if the glorious Saints cease not to know  
Their wretched Friends who fight with Life below;  
Thy Flame to Me does still the same abide,  
Only more pure and rarifieed.  
There whilst immortal Hymns thou dost rehearse,  
Thou dost with holy pity see  
Our dull and earthly Poesy,  
Where Grief and Mis'ery can be joined with Verse.    

ODE. In imitation of Horace his Ode. Quis multâ gracilis te puer in rosâ Perfusus, etc. Lib. 1. Od. 5.  

1.  
TO whom now Pyrrha, art thou kind?  
To what heart-ravished Lover,  
Dost thou thy golden locks unbind,  
Thy hidden sweets discover,  
And with large bounty open set  
All the bright stores of thy rich Cabinet?   

2.  
Ah simple Youth, how often will he  
Of thy chang'ed Faith complain?  
And his own Fortunes found to be  
So airy and so vain,  
Of so Camaeleon- like an hue,  
That still their colour changes with it too?   

3.  
How often, alas, will he admire  
The blackness of the Skies?  
Trembling to hear the Winds sounded higher,  
And see the billows rise;  
Poor unexperienc'ed He  
Who ne'er, alas, before had been at Sea!   

4.  
He'enjoys thy calmy Sunshine now,  
And no breath stirring hears,  
In the clear heaven of thy brow,  
Not smallest Cloud appears.  
He sees thee gentle, fair, and gay,  
And trusts the faithless April of thy May.   

5.  
Unhappy! thrice unhappy He,  
Whom Thou untry'ed dost shine!  
But there's no danger now for Me,  
Since over Loretto's Shrine  
In witness of the Shipwreck passed  
My consecrated Vessel hangs at last.    

In imitation of Martial's Epigram. Si tecum mihi care Martialis, etc. L. 5. Ep. 21:  
IF, dearest Friend, it my good Fate might be  
TO enjoy at once a quiet Life and Thee;  
If we for Happiness could leisure found,  
And wand'ring Time into a Method bind,  
We should not sure the Great Man's favour need,  
Nor on long Hopes, the Courts thin Diet, feed.  
We should not Patience found daily to hear,  
The Calumnies, and Flatteries spoken there.  
We should not the Lord's Tables humbly use,  
Or talk in Lady's Chambers Love and News.  
But Books, and wise Discourse, Gardens and Fields,  
And all the joys that unmixed Natures yields.  
Thick Summer shades where Winter still does lie,  
Bright Winter Fire's that Summer's part supply.  
Sleep not controlled by Cares, confin'ed to Night,  
Or bound in any rule but Appetite.  
Free, but not savage or ungracious Mirth,  
Rich Wines to given it quick and easy birth.  
A few Companions, which ourselves should choose,  
A Gentle Mistress, and a Gentler Muse.  
Such, dearest Friend, such without doubt should be  
Our Plac, our Business, and our Company.  
Now to Himself, alas, does neither Live,  
But sees good Suns, of which we are to given  
A strict account, set and march thick away;  
Knows a man how to Live, and does he stay?   

The Chronicle. A Ballad.  

1.  
MArgarita first possessed,  
If I remember well, my breast,  
Margarita first of all;  
But when a while the wanton Maid  
With my restless Heart had played,  
Martha took the flying Ball.   

2.  
Martha soon did it resign  
To the beauteous Cartharine.  
Beauteous Catharine gave place  
(Though loathe and angry she to part  
With the possession of my Heart)  
To Elisa's conqu'ering face.   

3.  
Elisa till this Hour might reign  
Had she not Evil Counsels ta'en.  
Fundamental Laws she broke,  
And still new Favourites she chose,  
Till up in Arms my Passions risen,  
And cast away her yoke.   

4.  
Mary then and gentle Ann  
Both to reign at once began.  
Alternately they swayed,  
And sometimes Mary was the Fair,  
And sometimes Ann the Crown did wear,  
And sometimes Both I obeyed.   

5.  
Another Mary then arose  
And did rigorous Laws impose.  
A mighty Tyrant she!  
Long, alas, should I have been  
Under that Iron-sceptered Queen,  
Had not Rebecca set me free.   

6.  
When fair Rebecca set me free,  
'Twas then a golden Time with me.  
But soon those pleasures fled,  
For the gracious Princess died  
In her Youth and Beauties pride,  
And judith reigned in her stead.   

7.  
One Month, three Days, and half an Hour  
judith held the Sovereign Power.  
Wondrous beautiful her Face,  
But so weak and small her Wit,  
That she to govern was unfit,  
And so Susanna took her place.   

8.  
But when Isabel come  
Armed with a resistless flame  
And th'Artillery of her Eye;  
Whilst she proudly marched about  
Greater Conquests to found out,  
She beaten out Susan by the By.   

9  
But in her place I then obeyed  
Black-eyed Bess, her Viceroy-Maid,  
To whom ensued a Vacancy.  
Thousand worse Passions then possessed  
The Interregnum of my breast.  
Bless me from such an Anarchy!   

10.  
Gentle Henriette than  
And a third Mary next began,  
Than jone, and jane, and Audria.  
And then a pretty Thomasine,  
And then another Katherine,  
And then a long Et caeera.   

11.  
But should I now to you relate,  
The strength and richeses of their state,  
The Powder, Patches, and the Pins,  
The Ribbons, jewels, and the Rings,  
The Lace, the Paint, and warlike things  
That make up all their Magazines:   

12.  
If I should tell the politic Arts  
To take and keep men's hearts,  
The Letters, Embassies, and Spies,  
The Frowns, and Smiles, and Flatteries,  
The Quarrels, Tears, and Perjuries,  
Numberless, Nameless Mysteries!   

13.  
And all the Little Lime-twigs laid  
By Matchavil the Waiting-Maid;  
I more voluminous should grow  
(Chief if I like them should tell  
All Change of Weathers that befell)  
Than Holinshead or Stow.   

14.  
But I will briefer with them be,  
Since few of them were long with Me.  
An higher and a nobler strain  
My present Empress does claim,  
He'll onora, First o'th' Name;  
Whom God grant long to reign!    

To Sir William Davenant. Upon his two first Books of Gondibert, finished before his voyage to America.  
MEthinks Heroic Poesy till now  
Like some fantastic Fairy Land did show,  
Gods, Devils, Nymphs, Witches and Giant's race,  
And all but Man in Man's chief work had place.  
Thou like some worthy Knight with sacred Arms  
Dost drive the Monsters thence, and end the Charms.  
Instead of those dost Men and Manners plant,  
The things which that rich Soil did chief want.  
Yet e'en thy Mortals do their Gods excel,  
Taught by thy Muse to Fight and Love so well.  
By fatal hands whilst present Empires fall,  
Thy from the Grave past Monarchies recall.  
So much more thanks from human kind does merit  
The Poet's Fury, then the Zelots' Spirit.  
And from the Grave thou mak'est this Empire rise  
Not like some dreadful Ghost t'affright our Eyes,  
But with more Luster and triumphant state,  
Than when it crowned at proud Verona sat:  
So will out God rebuild man's perished frame,  
And raise him up much Better, yet the same.  
So Godlike Poets do past things rehearse,  
Not change, but Heighten Nature by their Verse.  
With shame, methinks, great Italy must see  
Her Conqu'erors rais'ed to Life again by Thee.  
Raised by such pow'erful Verse, that ancient Rome  
May blush no lesle to see her Wit overcome.  
Some men their Fancies like their Faith derive,  
And think all Ill but that which Rome does given.  
The Marks of Old and Catholic would found,  
To the same Chair would Truth and Fiction bind.  
Thou in those beaten paths disdainest to tread,  
And scornest to Live by robbing of the Dead.  
Since Time does all things change, thou thinkest not fit  
This latter Age should see all New but Wit.  
Thy Fancy like a Flame its way does make,  
And leave bright Tracks for following Pens to take.  
Sure 'twas this noble boldness of the Muse  
Did thy desire to seek new Worlds infuse,  
And ne'er did Heav'en so much a Voyage bless,  
If thou canst Plant but there with like success.   

An Answer to a Copy of Verses sent me to jersey.  
AS to a Northern People (whom the Sun  
Uses just as the Romish Church has done  
Her Profane Laity, and does assign  
Bread only both to serve for Bread and Wine)  
A rich Canary Fleet welcome arrives;  
Such comfort to us here your Letter gives,  
Fraught with brisk racy Verses, in which we  
The Soil from whence they come, taste, smell, and see '  
Such is your Present to ' us; for you must know,  
Sir, that Verse does not in this Island grow  
No more then Sack; One lately did not fear  
(Without the Muses leave) to plant it here.  
But it produc'ed such base, rough, crabbed, hedge  
Rhymes, as e'en set the hearers Ears on Edge:  
Written by— Esquire, the  
Year of our Lord six hundred thirty three.  
Brave jersey Muse! and he's for this high stile  
Called to this day the Homer of the Iste.  
Alas, to men here no Words lesle hard be  
To Rhyme with, then 
* The name of one of the Castles in jersey.  Mount Orgueil is to me.  
Mount Orgueil, which in scorn o'th' Muse's law  
With no yoke-fellow Word will deign to draw.  
Stubborn Mount Orgueil! 'tis a work to make it  
Come into Rhyme, more hard then 'tiswere to take it.  
Alas, to bring your Tropes and Figures here,  
Strange as to bring Camels and Ele'phants were.  
And Metaphor is so unknown a thing,  
'Twould need the Preface of, God save the King.  
Yet this I'll say for th' honour of the place,  
That by God's extraordinary Grace  
(Which shows the people 'have judgement, if not Wit)  
The land is undefil'ed with Clinches yet.  
Which in my poor opinion, I confess,  
Is a most sing'ular blessing, and no lesle  
Than Ireland's wanting Spiders. And so fare  
From th' Actual Sin of Bombast too they are,  
(That other Crying Sin o'th' English Muse  
That even Satan himself can accuse  
Noon here (no not so much as the Divines)  
For th' Motus primò primi to Strong Lines.  
Well, since the soil then does not natu'rally bear  
Verse, who (a Devil) should import it here?  
For that to me would seem as strange a thing  
As who did first Wild Beasts into Islands bring.  
Unless you think that it might taken be  
As Green did Gond'ibert, in a Prize at Sea.  
But that's a Fortune falls not every day;  
'Tis true Green was made by it; for they say  
The Parliament did a noble bounty do,  
And gave him the whole Prize, their Tenths and Fifteen too.   

The Tree of Knowledge. That there is no Knowledge. Against the Dogmatists.  

1.  
THe sacred Tree midst the fair Orchard grew;  
The Phoenix Truth did on it rest,  
And built his perfum'ed Nest.  
That right Porphyrian Tree which did true Logic show,  
Each Leaf did learned Notions given,  
And th' Apples were Demonstrative.  
So clear rheir Colour and divine,  
The very shade they cast did other Lights outshine.   

2.  
Taste not, said God; 'tis mine and Angels meat;  
A certain Death does sit  
Like an ill Worm i'th' Core of it.  
You cannot Know and Live, nor Live or Know and Eat.  
Thus spoke God, yet Man did go  
Ignorantly on to Know;  
Grew so more blind, and she  
Who tempted him to this, grew yet more Blind then Herald   

3.  
The only Science Man by this did get,  
Was but to know he nothing Known.  
He strait his Nakedness did view,  
His ign'orant poor estate, and was asham'ed of it.  
Yet searches Probabilities,  
And Rhetoric, and Fallacies,  
And seeks by useless pride  
With slight and withering Leaves that Nakedness to hid   

4.  
Henceforth, said God, the wretched Sons of earth  
Shall sweated for Food in vain  
That will not long sustain,  
And bring with Labour forth each found Abortive Birth.  
That Serpent too, their Pride,  
Which aims at things denied,  
That learned and eloquent Lust  
Instead of Mounting high, shall creep upon the Dust.    

Reason. The use of it in Divine Matters.  

1.  
SOme blind themselves, 'cause possibly they may  
Be led by others a right way;  
They build on Sands, which if unmov'ed they found,  
'Tis but because there was no Wind.  
Lesle hard 'tis, not to Err ourselves, then know  
If our Before fathers erred or no.  
When we trust Men concerning God, we then  
Trust not God concerning Men.   

2.  
Visions and Inspirations some expect  
Their course here to direct,  
Like senseless Chemists their own wealth destroy,  
Imaginary Gold t'enjoy.  
So Stars appear to drop to us from sky,  
And gilled the passage as they fly.  
But when they fall, and meet th'opposing ground,  
What but a sordid Slime is found?   

3.  
Sometimes their Fancies they 'bove Reason set,  
And Fast, that they may Dream of Meat.  
Sometimes ill Spirits their sickly souls delude,  
And Bastard-Forms obtrude.  
So Endors wretched Sorceress, although  
She Saul through his disguise did know,  
Yet when the Dev'il comes up disguised, she cries,  
Behold, the Gods arise.   

4.  
In vain, alas, these outward Hopes are tried;  
Reason within's our only Guide.  
Reason, which (God be praised!) still Walks, for all  
Its old Original Fall.  
And since itself the boundless Godhead joined  
With a Reasonable Mind,  
it plainly shows that Mysteries Divine  
May with our Reason join.   

5.  
The Holy Book, like the eighth Sphere, does shine  
With thousand Lights of Truth Divine.  
So numberless the Stars, that to the Eye,  
It makes but all one Galaxy.  
Yet Reason must assist too, for in Seas  
So vast and dangerous as these,  
Our course by Stars above we cannot know,  
Without the Compass too below.   

6.  
Though Reason cannot through Faith's Myst'eries see,  
It sees that There and such they be;  
Leads to Heau'ens' Door, and there does humbly keep,  
And there through Chinks and Keyholes peep.  
Though it, like Moses, by a sad command  
Must not come in to th' Holy Land,  
Yet thither it infallibly does Guide,  
And from afar 'tis all Discry'ed.    

On the Death of Mr. Crashaw.  
POet and Saint! to thee alone are given  
The two most sacred Names of Earth and Heaven.  
The hard and rarest Union which can be  
Next that of Godhead with Humanity.  
Long did the Muse's banished Slaves abide,  
And built vain Pyramids to mortal pride,  
Like Moses Thou (though Spells and Charms withstand)  
Hast brought them nobly home back to their Holy Landlord  
Ah wretched We, Poets of Earth! but Thou  
Wert Living the same Poet which thou'rt Now.  
Whilst Angels sing to thee their airs divine,  
And joy in an applause so great as thine.  
Equal society with them to hold,  
Thou needest not make new Songs, but say the Old.  
And they (kind Spirits!) shall all rejoice to see  
How little lesle then They, Exalted Man may be.  
Still the old Heathen Gods in Numbers devil,  
The Heav'enliest thing on Earth still keeps up Hell.  
Nor have we yet quite purg'ed the Christian Land;  
Still Idols here like Calves at Bethel stand.  
And though Pan's Death long since all Oracles breaks,  
Yet still in Rhyme the Fiend Apollo speaks.  
Nay with the worst of Heathen dotage We  
(Vain Men!) the Monster Woman Deify.  
Find Stars, and tie our Fates there in a Face,  
And Paradise in them by whom we lost it, place.  
What different faults corrupt our Muses thus?  
Wanton as Girls, as old Wives, Fabulous!  
Thy spotless Muse, like Mary, did contain  
The boundless Godhead; she did well disdain  
That her eternal Verse employed should be  
On a lesle subject then Eternity.  
And for a sacred Mistress scorned to take,  
But her whom God himself scorned not his Spouse to make.  
It (in a kind) her Miracle did do;  
A fruitful Mother was, and Virgin too.  

* M. Crashaw died of a Fever at Loretto, being newly chosen Canon of that Church . How well (blessed Swan) did Fate contrive thy death;  
And made thee tender up thy tuneful breath  
In thy great Mistress Arms? thou most divine  
And richest Off'ering of Loretto's Shrine!  
Where like some holy Sacrifice t'expire,  
A Fever burns thee, and Love lights the Fire.  
Angels (they say) brought the fam'ed Chapel there,  
And bore the sacred Load in Triumph through the air.  
'Tis surer much they brought thee there, and They,  
And Thou, their charge, went singing all the way.  
Pardon, my Mother Church, if I consent  
That Angels led him when from thee he went,  
For even in Error sure no Danger is  
When joined with so much Piety as His.  
Ah, mighty God, with shame I speak't, and grief,  
Ah that our greatest Faults were in Belief!  
And our weak Reason were e'en weaker yet,  
Rather then thus our Wills too strong for it.  
His Faith perhaps in some nice Tenants might  
Be wrong; his Life, I'm sure, was in the right.  
And I myself a Catholic will be,  
So far at lest, great Saint, to Pray to thee.  
Hail, Bard Triumphant! and some care bestow  
On us, the Poets Militant below!  
Oppos'ed by our old En'emy, adverse Chance,  
Attacqu'ed by Envy, and by Ignorance,  
Enchained by Beauty, tortur'ed by Desires,  
Exposed by Tyrant-Love to savage Beasts and Fires.  
Thou from low earth in nobler Flames didst rise,  
And like Elijah, mount Alive the skies.  
Elisha-like (but with a wish much lesle,  
Moore fit thy Greatness, and my Littleness)  
Lo here I beg (I whom thou once didst prove  
So humble to Esteem, so Good to Love)  
Not that thy Spirit might on me Doubled be,  
I ask but Half thy mighty Spirit for Me.  
And when my Muse soars with so strong a Wing,  
'Twill learn of things Divine, and first of Thee to sing.   

Anacreontiques: OR, Some Copies of Verses Translated Paraphrastically out of Anacreon.  

I Love.  
I'll sing of Heroes, and of Kings;  
In mighty Numbers, mighty things,  
Begin, my Muse; but lo, the strings  
To my great Song rebellious prove;  
The strings will sounded of naught but Love.  
I broke them all, and put on new;  
'Tis this or nothing sure will do.  
These sure (said I) will me obey;  
These sure Heroic Notes will play.  
Strait I began with thundering jove,  
And all they immortal Pow'ers but Love.  
Love smil'ed, and from my'enfeebled Lyre  
Come gentle airs, such as inspire  
Melting love, and soft desire.  
Farewell then Heroes, farewell Kings,  
And mighty Numbers, mighty Things;  
Love tunes my Heart just to my strings.   

II Drinking.  
THe thirsty Earth soaks up the Rain,  
And drinks, and gapes for drink again.  
The Plants suck in the Earth, and are  
With constant drinking fresh and fare.  
The Sea itself, which one would think  
Should have but little need of Drink,  
Drinks ten thousand Rivers up,  
So filled that they o'erflow the Cup.  
The busy Sun (and one would guests  
By's drunken fiery face not lesle)  
Drinks up the Sea, and when'has don,  
The Moon and Stars drink up the Sun.  
They drink and dance by their own light,  
They drink and revel all the night.  
Nothing in Nature's Sober found,  
But an eternal Health goes round.  
Fill up the Bowl then, fill it high,  
Fill all the Glasses there, for why  
Should every creature drink but I,  
Why, Man of Morals, tell me why?   

III Beauty.  
Liberal Nature did dispense  
To all things Arms for their defence;  
And some she arms with sin'ewy force,  
And some with swiftness in the course;  
Some with hard Hoofs, or forked claws,  
And some with Horns, or tusked jaws.  
And some with Scales, and some with Wings,  
And some with Teeth, and some with Stings.  
Wisdom to Man she did afford,  
Wisdom for Shield, and Wit for Sword.  
What to beauteous Womankind,  
What Arms, what Armour has she'assigneed?  
Beauty is both; for with the Fair  
What Arms, what Armour can compare?  
What Steel, what Gold, or Diamond,  
Moore Impassable is found?  
And yet what Flame, what Lightning ere  
So great an Active force did bear?  
They are all weapon, and they dart  
Like Porcupines from every part.  
Who can, alas, their strength express,  
Armed, when they themselves undress,  
Cap a poe with Nakedness?   

IV. The Duel.  
YEs, I will love then, I will love,  
I will not now Love's Rebel prove,  
Though I was once his Enemy;  
Though ill-advised and stubborn I,  
Did to the Combat him defy,  
An Helmet, Spear, and mighty shield,  
Like some new Ajax I did wield.  
Love in one hand his Bow did take,  
In th'other hand a Dart did shake.  
But yet in vain the Dart did throw,  
In vain he often drew the Bow.  
So well my Armour did resist,  
So often by flight the blow I mist.  
But when I thought all danger past,  
His Quiver emptied quite at last,  
Instead of Arrow, or of Dart,  
He shot Himself into my Heart.  
The Living and the Kill Arrow  
Run through the skin, the Flesh, the Blood,  
And broke the Bones, and scorched the Marrow,  
No Trench or Work of Life withstood.  
In vain I now the Walls maintain,  
I set out Guards and Scouts in vain,  
Since th' En'emy does within remain.  
In vain a Breastplate now I wear,  
Since in my Breast the Foe I bear.  
In vain my Feet their swiftness try;  
For from the Body can they fly?   

V Age.  
Often am I by the Women told,  
Poor Anacreon thou growest old.  
Look how thy Hairs are falling all;  
Poor Anacreon how they fall?  
Whither I grow old or no,  
By th'effects I do not know.  
This I know without being told,  
'Tis Time to Live if I grow Old,  
'Tis time short pleasures now to take,  
Of little Life the best to make,  
And manage wisely the last stake.   

VI The Account.  
WHen all the Stars are by thee told,  
(The endless Sums of heav'enly Gold)  
Or when the Hairs are reckon'ed all,  
From sickly Autumn's Head that fall,  
Or when the drops that make the Sea,  
Whilst all her Sands thy Counters be.  
Thou then, and Thou alone mayst prove  
The Arithmeticean of my Love.  
An hundred Loves at Athens score,  
At Corinth writ an hundred more.  
Fair Corinth does such Beauties bear,  
So few is an Escaping there.  
Writ then at Chios seventy three;  
Writ then at Lesbo's (let me see)  
Writ me at Lesbos ninety down,  
Full ninety Loves, and half a One.  
And next to these let me present,  
The fare Ionian Regiment.  
And next the Carian Company,  
Five hundred both Effectively.  
Three hundred more at Rhodes and Crete;  
Three hundred 'tis I'am sure Complete.  
For arms at Crete each Face does bear,  
And every Eye's and Archer there.  
Go on; this stop why dost thou make?  
Thou thinkest, perhaps, that I mistake.  
Seems this to thee too great a Sum?  
Why many a Thousand are to come;  
The mighty Xerxes could not boast  
Such different Nations in his Host.  
On; for my Love, if thou beest weary,  
Must found some better Secretary.  
I have not yet my Persian told.  
Nor yet my Syrian Loves enrolled,  
Nor Indian, nor Arabian;  
Nor Cyprian Love's, nor African;  
Nor Scythian, nor Italian flames;  
There's a whole Map behinded of Names.  
Of gentle Love i'th' temperate Zone,  
And cold ones in the Frigid One,  
Cold frozen Loves with which I pine,  
And parched Loves beneath the Line.   

VII. Gold.  
A Mighty pain to Love it is,  
And 'tis a pain that pain to miss.  
But of all pains the greatest pain  
It is to love, but love in vain.  
Virtue now nor noble Blood,  
Nor Wit by Love is understood,  
Gold alone does passion move,  
Gold Monopolizes love!  
A curse on her, and on the Man,  
Who this traffic first began!  
A curse on him who found the Oar!  
A curse on him who digg'ed the store!  
A curse on him who did refine it!  
A curse on him who first did coin it!  
A curse all curses else above  
On him, who used it first in Love!  
Gold begets in Brethrens hate,  
Gold in Families debate;  
Gold does Friendships separate,  
Gold does Civil wars created.  
These the smallest harms of it!  
Gold, alas, does Love beget.   

VIII. The Epicure.  
FIll the Bowl with rosy Wine,  
Around our temples Roses twine,  
And let us cheerfully awhile;  
Like the Wine and Roses smile.  
Crowned with Roses we contemn  
Gyge's wealth Diadem.  
To day is Ours; what do we fear?  
To day is Ours; we have it here.  
Let's treat it kindly, that it may  
Wish, at lest, with us to stay.  
Let's banish Business, banish Sorrow;  
To the Gods belongs To morrow.   

IX.. Another.  
UNderneath this Myrtle shade,  
On flowery beds supinely laid,  
With od'orous Oils my head o'erflowing,  
And around it Roses growing,  
What should I do but drink away  
The Heat, and troubles of the Day?  
In this more then Kingly state,  
Love himself shall on me wait.  
Fill to me, Love, nay fill it up;  
And mingled cast into the Cup,  
Wit, and Mirth, and noble Fires,  
Vigorous Health, and gay Desires.  
The Wheel of Life not lesle will stay  
In a smooth then Rugged way.  
Since it equally does flee,  
Let the Motion pleasant be.  
Why do we precious Ointments shower,  
Nobler wines why do we pour,  
Beauteous Flowers why do we spread,  
Upon the Mon'uments of the Dead?  
Nothing they but Dust can show,  
Or Bones that hasten to be so.  
Crown me with Roses whilst I Live,  
Now your Wines and Ointments given.  
After Death I nothing crave,  
Let me Alive my pleasures have,  
All are Stoics in the Grave.   

X. The Grasshopper.  
HAppy Insect, what can be  
In happiness compar'ed to Thee?  
Fed with nourishment divine,  
The dewy Morning's gentle Wine!  
Nature waits upon thee still,  
And thy verdant Cup does fill,  
'Tis filled where ever thou dost tread,  
Nature self's thy Ganymede.  
Thou dost drink, and dance, and sing;  
Happier then the happiest King!  
All the Fields which thou dost see,  
All the Plants belong to Thee,  
All that Summer Hours produce,  
Fertile made with early juice.  
Man for thee does sow and blow;  
Farmer He, and Landlord Thou!  
Thou dost innocently joy,  
Nor does thy Luxury destroy;  
The Shepherd gladly heareth thee,  
Moore Harmonious then He.  
Thee Country Hinds with gladness hear,  
Prophet of the ripened year!  
Thee Phoebus loves, and does inspire;  
Phoebus is himself thy Sire.  
To thee of all things upon earth,  
Life is not longer then thy Mirth.  
Happy Insect, happy Thou,  
Dost neither Age, nor Winter know.  
But when thou'st drunk, and danc'ed, and sung,  
Thy fill, the flowery Leaves among.  
(Voluptuous, and Wise with all,  
Epicuraean Animal!)  
Sated with thy Summer Feast,  
Thou retir'est to endless Rest.   

XI. The Swallow.  
FOolish Prater, what dost thou  
So early at my window do  
With thy tuneless Serenade?  
Well t'had been had Tereus made  
Thee as Dumb as Philomela;  
There his Knife had done but well.  
In thy undiscover'ed Nest  
Thou dost all the winter rest,  
And dream'est o'er thy summer joys  
Free from the stormy seasons noise:  
Free from th'Ill thou'st done to me;  
Who disturbs, or seeks out Thee?  
Hadst thou all the charming notes  
Of all the woods Poetic Throats,  
All thy art could never pay  
What thou'st ta'en from me away;  
Cruel Bird, thou'st ta'en away  
A Dream out of my arms to day,  
A Dream that ne'er must equalled be  
By all that waking Eyes may see.  
Thou this damage to repair,  
Nothing half so sweet or fare,  
Nothing half so good canst bring,  
Though men say, Thou bring'st the Spring.    

ELEGY UPON ANACREON, Who was choked by a GRAPESTONE.  Spoken by the God of Love. 
HOw shall I lament thy end,  
My best Servant, and my Friend?  
Nay and, if from a Deity  
So much Deifi'ed as I,  
It sounded not too profane and odd,  
O my Master, and my God  
For 'tis true, most mighty Poet,  
(Though I like not Men should know it)  
I'am in naked Nature lesle,  
Lesle by much then in thy Dress.  
All thy Verse is softer fare  
Than the downy Feathers are,  
Of my Wings, or of my Arrows,  
Of my Mother's Doves or Sparrows.  
Sweet as Lover's freshest kisses,  
Or their riper following blisses,  
Graceful, cleanly, smooth and round,  
All with Venus Girdle bound,  
And thy Life was all the while  
Kind and gentle as thy Style.  
The smooth-pac'ed Hours of ev'ery day  
Glided numerously away.  
Like thy Verse each Hour did pass,  
Sweet and short, like that it was.  
Some do but their Youth allow me,  
Just what they by Nature own me,  
The Time that's mine, and not their own,  
The certain Tribute of my Crown,  
When they grow old, they grow to be  
Too Busy, or too wise for me.  
Thou wert wiser, and didst know  
Noon too wise for Love can grow,  
Love was with thy Life entwined  
Close as Heat with Fire is joined,  
A powerful Brand prescrib'ed the date  
Of thine, like Meleager's Fate.  
The Antiperistasis of Age  
Moore enflam'ed thy amorous rage,  
Thy silver Hairs yielded me more  
Than even golden curls before.  
Had I the power of Creation,  
As I have of Generation,  
Where I the matter must obey,  
And cannot work Plate out of Clay,  
My Creatures should be all like Thee,  
'Tis Thou shouldst their Idea be.  
They, like Thee, should throughly hate  
Bus'iness, Honour, Title, State.  
Other wealth they should not know  
But what my Living Ours bestow;  
The pomp of Kings they should confess  
At their Crowning to be lesle  
Than a Lover's humblest guise,  
When at his Mistress feet he lies.  
Rumour they no more should mind  
Than Men safe-landed do the Wind,  
Wisdom itself they should not hear  
When it presumes to be Severe.  
Beauty alone they should admire,  
Nor look at Fortunes vain attire,  
Nor ask what Parents it can show;  
With Dead or Old t'has naught to do.  
They should not love yet All, or Any,  
But very Much, and very Many.  
All their Life should gilded be  
With Mirth, and Wit, and Gaiety,  
Well remembering, and Applying  
The Necessity of Dying.  
Their cheerful Heads should always wear  
All that crowns the flowery year.  
They should always laugh, and sing,  
And dance, and strike the harmonious string.  
Verse should from their Tongue so flow,  
As if it in the Mouth did grow,  
As swiftly answering their command,  
As tunes obey the artful Hand.  
And whilst I do thus discover  
Th'ingredients of an happy Lover,  
'Tis, my Anacreon, for thy sake  
I of the Grape no mention make.  
Till my ' Anacreon by thee fell,  
Cursed Plant, I lov'ed thee well.  
And 'twas often my wanton use  
To dip my Arrows in thy juice.  
Cursed Plant, 'tis true I see,  
Th'old report that goes of Thee,  
That with Giant's blood the Earth  
Stained and poisoned gave thee birth,  
And now thou wreak'st thy ancient spite  
On Men in whom the God's delight.  
Thy Patron Bacchus 'tis no wonder  
Was brought forth in Flames and Thunder,  
In rage, in quarrels, and in fights,  
Worse then his Tigers he delights,  
In all our heaven I think there be  
No such ill-natur'ed God as Herald  
Thou pretendest, Trayt'erous Wine,  
To be the Muse's friend and Mine.  
With Love and Wit thou dost begin,  
False Fires, alas, to draw us in.  
Which, if our course we by them keep,  
Misguide to Madness, or to Sleep.  
Sleep were well; thou'st'hast learned a way  
To Death itself now to betray.  
It grieves me when I see what Fate  
Does on the best of Mankind wait.  
Poets or Lovers let them be,  
'Tis neither Love nor Poesy  
Can arm against Death's smallest dart  
The Poet's Head, or Lover's Heart.  
But when their Life in its decline,  
Touches th' Inevitable Line,  
All the World's Mortal to'um then,  
And Wine is Aconite to men.  
Nay in Death's Hand the Grapestone proves  
As strong as Thunder is in Ioves.  
FINIS.    

THE MISTRESS; OR, SEVERAL COPIES OF LOVE-VERSES.  
Written by A. COWLEY.  VIRG, Aen. 4. 
— Haeret lateri lethalis arundo.  
LONDON: Printed for Humphrey Moseley, and are to be sold at his shop at the Princes Arms in St. Paul's Churchyard. 1656.   

THE MISTRESS OR, SEVERAL COPIES OF Love-Verses.  

The Request.  

1.  
I Have often wished to love; what shall I do?  
Me still the cruel Boy does spare;  
And I a double task must bear,  
First to woe him, and then a Mistress too.  
Come at last and strike for shame;  
If thou art any thing besides a name.  
I'll think Thee else no God to be;  
But Poets rather Gods, who first created Thee.   

2.  
I ask not one in whom all beauties grow,  
Let me but love, what ere she be,  
She cannot seem deformed to me;  
And I would have her seem to others so.  
Desire takes wings and straight does fly,  
It stays not dully to inquire the Why.  
That Happy thing a Lover grown,  
I shall not see with others Eyes, scarce with my own.   

3.  
If she be coy and scorn my noble fire,  
If her i'll heart I cannot move,  
Why I'll enjoy the very Love,  
And make a Mistress of my own Desire.  
Flames their most vigorous heat do hold,  
And purest light, if compassed round with cold:  
So when sharp Winter means most harm,  
The springing Plants are by the Snow itself kept warm.   

4.  
But do not touch my heart, and so be gone;  
Strike deep thy burning arrows in:  
Lukewarmness I accounted a sin,  
As great in Love, as in Religion.  
Come armed with flames, for I would prove  
All the extremities of mighty Love.  
Th' excess of heat is but a fable;  
We know the torrid Zone is now found habitable.   

5.  
Among the Woods and Forests thou art found,  
There Boars and Lions thou dost tame;  
Is not my heart a nobler game?  
Let Venus, Men; and Beasts, Diana wound.  
Thou dost the Birds thy Subjects make;  
Thy nimble feathers do their wings o'ertake:  
Thou all the Spring their Songs dost hear,  
Make me Love too, I'll sing to 'thee all the year.   

6.  
What service can mute Fish do to Thee?  
Yet against them thy Dart prevails,  
Piercing the armour of their Scales;  
And still thy Sea-born Mother lives i'th' Sea.  
Dost thou deny only to me  
The no-great privilege of Captivity?  
I beg or challenge here thy Bow;  
Either thy pity to me, or else thy anger show.   

7.  
Come; or I'll teach the world to scorn that Bow:  
I'll teach them thousand wholesome arts  
Both to resist and cure thy darts,  
Moore then thy skilful Ovid ere did know.  
Music of sighs thou shalt not hear,  
Nor drink one wretched Lovers tasteful Tear:  
Nay, unless soon thou woundest me,  
My Verses shall not only wound, but murder Thee.    

The Thraldom.  

1.  
I Come, I See, and was undone;  
Lightning did through my bones and marrow run;  
A pointed pain pierced deep my heart;  
A swift, cold trembling seized on every part;  
My head turned round, nor could it bear  
The Poison that was entered there.   

2.  
So a destroying Angels breathe  
Blows in the Plague, and with it hasty Death.  
Such was the pain, did so begin  
To the poor wretch, when Legion entered in.  
Forgive me, God, I cried; for I  
Flattered myself I was to die.   

3.  
But quickly to my Cost I found,  
'Twas cruel Love, not Death had made the wound.  
Death a more generous rage does use;  
Quarter to all he conquers does refuse.  
Whilst Love with barbarous mercy saves  
The vanquished lives to make them slaves.   

4.  
I am thy slave then; let me know,  
Hard Master, the great task I have to do:  
Who pride and scorn do undergo,  
In tempests and rough Seas thy Galleys row;  
They pant, and groan, and sigh, but found  
Their sighs increase the angry wind.   

5.  
Like an Egyptian Tyrant, some  
Thou weariest out, in building but a Tomb.  
Others with sad, and tedious art  
Labour i'th' ' Quarries of a stony Heart;  
Of all the works thou dost assign  
To all the several slaves of thine,  
Employ me, mighty Love, to dig the Mine.    

The Given Love.  

1.  
I'LL on; for what should hinder me  
From Loving, and Enjoying Thee?  
Thou canst not those exceptions make,  
Which thin-sould, under-mortals take;  
That my Fate's too mean and low;  
'Tis pity I should love thee so,  
If that dull cause could hinder me  
In Loving, and Enjoying thee.   

2.  
It does not me a whit displease,  
That the rich all honours seize;  
That you all Titles make your own,  
Are Valiant, Learned, Wise alone.  
But if you claim over Women too  
The power which over Men ye do;  
If you alone must Lovers be;  
For that, Sirs, you must pardon me.   

3.  
Rather then loose what does so near  
Concern my Life, and Being here,  
I'll some such crooked ways invent,  
As you, or your Forefathers went:  
I'll flatter or oppose the King,  
Turn Puritan, or Any Thing;  
I'll force my Mind to arts so new:  
Grow Rich, and Love as well as You.   

4.  
But rather thus let me remain,  
As Man in Paradise did reign;  
When perfect Love did so agreed  
With Innocence and Poverty.  
Adam did no jointure given,  
Himself was jointure to his Eve:  
Untouched with Av'arice yet or Pride,  
The Rib come freely back to 'his side.   

5.  
A curse upon the man who taught  
Women, that Love was to be bought;  
Rather dote only on your Gold;  
And that with greedy av'arice hold;  
For if Woman too submit  
To that, and cell herself for it,  
Found Lover, you a Mistress have  
Of her, thats but your Fellow-slave.   

6.  
What should those Poets mean of old  
That made their God to woe in Gold?  
Of all men sure They had no cause  
To bind Love to such costly Laws;  
And yet I scarcely blame them now;  
For who, alas, would not allow,  
That Women should such gifts receive,  
Can They, as He, Be what They given.   

7.  
If thou, my Dear, Thyself shouldst prise,  
Alas, what value would suffice?  
The Spaniard could not do't, though he  
Should to both Indieses jointure thee.  
Thy beauties therefore wrong will take,  
If thou shouldst any bargain make;  
To given All will befit thee well;  
But not at Under-Rates to sell.   

8.  
Bestow thy Beauty then on me,  
Freely, as Nature gave't to Thee;  
'Tis an exploded Popish thought  
To think that Heaven may be bought.  
Frayrs, Hymns; and Praises are the way;  
And those my thankful Muse shall pay;  
Thy Body in my verse enshrined,  
Shall grow immortal as thy Mind.   

9  
I'll fix thy title next in fame  
To Sacharissas' well-sung name.  
So faithfully will I declare.  
What all thy wondrous beauties are,  
That when at the last great Assize,  
All Women shall together rise,  
Men straight shall cast their eyes on Thee  
And know at first that Thou art She.    

The Spring.  

1.  
THough you be absent here, I needs must say  
The Trees as beauteous are, and flowers as gay,  
As ever they were want to be▪  
Nay the Birds rural music too  
Is as Melodious and free,  
As if they sung to pleasure you:  
I seen a Rose-Bud ope this morn; I'll swear  
The blushing Morning opened not more fair.   

2.  
How could it be so fair, and you away?  
How could the Trees be beauteous, Flowers sogay?  
Can they remember but last year,  
How you did Them, They you delight,  
The sprouting leaves which seen you here,  
And called their Fellows to the sight,  
Would, looking round for the same sight in vain,  
Creep back into their silent Barks again.   

3.  
Where ere you walked, trees were as reverend made,  
As when of old Gods dwelled in every shade.  
Is't possible they should not know,  
What loss of honour they sustain,  
That thus they smile and flourish now,  
And still their former pride retain?  
Dull Creatures! 'tis not without Cause that she,  
Who fled the God of wit, was made a Tree.   

4.  
In ancient times sure they much wiser were,  
When they rejoiced the Thracian verse to hear;  
In vain did Nature bid them stay,  
When Orpheus had his song begun,  
They called their wondering roots away,  
And bade them silent to him run.  
How would those learned trees have followed you?  
You would have drawn Them, and their Poet too.   

5.  
But who can tame them now? for, since you're go,  
They're here the only Fair, and Shine alone.  
You did their Natural Rights invade;  
Where ever you did walk or sit,  
The thickest Bows could make no shade,  
Although the Sun had granted it:  
The fairest Flowers could please not more, near you,  
Than Painted Flowers, set next to them, could do.   

6.  
When e'er then you come hither, that shall be  
The time, which this to others is, to Me.  
The little joys which here are now  
The name of Punishments do bear;  
When by their sight they let us Know  
How we deprived of greater are.  
'Tis you the best of Seasons with you bring;  
This is for Beasts, and that for Men the Spring.    

Written in juice of Lemmon.  

1.  
WHilst what I writ I do not see,  
I dare thus, even to you, writ Poetry.  
Ah foolish Muse, which dost so high aspire,  
And know'st her judgement well  
How much it does thy power excel,  
Yet darest be read by, thy just doom, the Fire.   

2.  
Alas, thou thinkest thyself secure,  
Because thy form is Innocent and Pure:  
Like Hypocrites, which seem unspotted here;  
But when they sadly come to die,  
And the last Fire their Truth must try,  
Scrauld over like thee, and blotted they appear.   

3.  
Go then, but reverently go,  
And, since thou needs must sin, confess it too:  
Confess't, and with humility clothe thy shame;  
For thou, who else must burned be  
An Heretic, if she pardon thee,  
May'st like a Martyr then enjoy the Flame.   

4.  
But if her wisdom grow severe,  
And suffer not her goodness to be there;  
If her large mercies cruelly it restrain;  
Be not discouraged, but require  
A more gentle Ordeal Fire,  
And bid her by Loves-Flames read it again.   

5.  
Strange power of heat, thou yet dost show  
Like winter earth, naked, or clothed with snow,  
But, as the quickening Sun approaching neare,  
The Plants arise up by degrees,  
A sudden paint adorns the trees,  
And all kind Nature's Characters appear.   

6.  
So, nothing yet in Thee is seen,  
But soon as Genial heat warms thee within,  
A new born Wood of various Lines there grows;  
Here buds an A, and there a B,  
Here sprouts a V, and there a T,  
And all the flourishing Letters stand in Rows.   

7.  
Still, silly Paper, thou wilt think  
That all this might as well be writ with Ink.  
O not; there's sense in this, and Mystery;  
Thou now mayst change thy Author's name,  
And to her Hand lay noble claim;  
For as She Reads, she Makes the words in Thee.   

8.  
Yet if thy own unworthiness  
Will still, that thou art my, not Hers, confess;  
Consume thyself with Fire before her Eyes,  
And so her Grace or Pity move;  
The Gods, though Beasts they do not Love,  
Yet like them when they're burnt In Sacrifice.    

Inconstancy.  
FIve years ago (says Story) I loved you,  
For which you call me most Inconstant now;  
Pardon me, Madam, you mistake the Man;  
For I am not the same, that I was than;  
No Flesh is now the same 'twas then in Me;  
And that my Mind is changed yourself may see.  
The same Thoughts to retain still, and Intents  
Were more inconstant far; for Accidents  
Must of all things most strangely ‛Inconstant prove,  
If from one Subject they t'another move;  
My Members then, the Father Members were  
From whence These take their birth, which now are here.  
If then this Body love what th'other did,  
'Tis Incest; which by Nature is forbidden.  
You might as well this Day inconstant name,  
Because the Wether is not still the same,  
That it was yesterday: or blame the Year,  
'Cause the Spring, Flowers; and Autumn, Fruit does bear.  
The World's a Scene of Changes, and to be  
Constant, in Nature were Inconstancy;  
For 'tiswere to break the Laws herself has made:  
Our Substances themselves do fleet, and fade;  
The most fixed Being still doth move and fly,  
Swift as the wings of Time 'tis measured by.  
T'imagine then that Love should never cease  
(Love which is but the Ornament of these)  
Were quite as senseless, as to wonder why  
Beauty and Colour stays not when we die.   

Not Fair.  
'TIs very true, I thought you once as fare,  
As women in th' Idea are.  
Whatever here seems beauteous, seemed to be  
But a faint Metaphor of Thee.  
But then (methoughts) there something shined within,  
Which cast this Lustre over thy skin.  
Nor could I choose but count it the Sun's Light,  
Which made this Cloud appear so bright.  
But since I knew thy falsehood and thy pride,  
And all thy thousand faults beside;  
A very Moor (methinks) placed neare to Thee,  
White, as his Teeth, would seem to be.  
So men (they say) by hell's delusions led,  
Have ta'en a Succu bus to their bed;  
Believe it fair, and themselves happy call,  
Till the cloven Foot discovers all:  
Than they start fromed, half Ghosts themselves with fear;  
And Devil, as 'tis, it does appear.  
So since against my will I found Thee foul,  
Deformed and crooked in thy Soul,  
My Reason straight did to my Senses show,  
That they might be mistaken too:  
Nay when the world but knows how false you are,  
There's not a man will think you fare.  
Thy shape will monstrous in their fancies be,  
They'l call their Eyes as false as Thee.  
Be what thou wilt; Hate will present thee so,  
As Puritans do the Pope, and Papists Luther do.   

Platonic Love.  

1.  
INdeed I must confess,  
When Souls mix, 'tis an Happiness;  
But not complete till Bodies too do join,  
And both our Wholes into one Whole combine;  
But half of Heaven the Souls in glory taste,  
Till by Love in Heaven at last,  
Their Bodies too are placed.   

2.  
In thy immortal part  
Man, as well as I, thou art.  
But something 'tis that differs Thee and Me;  
And we must one even in that difference be.  
I Thee, both as a man, and woman prize;  
For a perfect Love implies  
Love in all Capacities.   

3.  
Can that for true love pass,  
When a fair woman courts her glass?  
Something unlike must in Love's likeness be,  
His wonder is, one, and Variety.  
For he, whose soul naught but a Soul can move,  
Does a new Narcissus prove,  
And his own Image love.   

4.  
That souls do beauty know,  
'Tis to the Bodies help they owe;  
If when they know't, they straight abuse that trust,  
And shut the Body fromed, 'tis as injust,  
As if I brought my dearest Friend to see  
My Mistress, and at th' instant He  
Should steal her quite from Me.    

The Change.  

1.  
Love in her Sunny Eyes does basking play;  
Love walks the pleasant Mazes of her Hair;  
Love does on both her Lips for ever stray;  
And sows and reaps a thousand kisses there.  
In all her outward parts Love's always seen;  
But, o, He never went within.   

2.  
Within Love's foes, his greatest foes abide  
Malice, Inconstancy and Pride.  
So the Earth's face, Trees, Herbs and Flowers do dress,  
With other beauties numberless:  
But at the Centre, Darkness is, and Hell;  
There wicked Spirits, and there the Damned devil.   

3.  
With Me alas, quite contrary it fares;  
Darkness and Death lies in my weeping eyes,  
Despair, and Paleness in my face appears,  
And Grief, and Fear, Love's greatest enemies;  
But, like the Persian-Tyrant, Love within  
Keeps his proud Court, and ne'er is seen.   

4.  
O take my Heart, and by that means you'll prove  
Within, too stored enough of Love:  
Given me but Yours, I'll by that change so thrive,  
That Love in all my parts shall live.  
So powerful is this change, it tender can,  
My outside Woman, and your inside Man    

Clad all in White▪  

1.  
FAirest thing that shines below,  
Why in this robe dost thou appear?  
Wouldst thou a white most perfect show,  
Thou must at all no garment wear:  
Thou wilt seem much whiter so,  
Than Winter when 'tis clad with snow.   

2.  
'Tis not the Linen shows so fair:  
Her skin shines through, and makes it bright;  
So clouds themselves like Suns appear,  
When the Sun pierces them with Light:  
So Lilies in a glass enclose,  
The Glass will seem as white as those.   

3.  
Thou now one heap of beauty art;  
Naught outwards, or within is foul:  
Condensed beams make every part;  
Thy Body's Clothed like thy Soul.  
Thy soul, which does itself display,  
Like a star placed i'th' Milky way.   

4.  
Such robes the Saints departed wear,  
Wooven all with Light divine;  
Such their exalted Bodies are,  
And with such full glory shine.  
But they regard not mortals pain;  
Men pray, I fear, to both in vain.   

5.  
Yet seeing thee so gently pure,  
My hopes will needs continued still;  
Thou wouldst not take this garment sure,  
When thou hadst and intent to kill.  
Of Peace and yielding who would doubt,  
When the white Flag he sees hung out?    

Leaving Me, and then loving Many▪  
So Men, who once have cast the Truth away,  
Forsaken by God, do strange wild lusts obey;  
So the vain Gentiles, when they left t'adore  
One Deity, could not stop at thousands more.  
Their zeal was senseless strait, and boundless grown;  
They worshipped many a Beast, and many a Stone.  
Ah fair Apostate! couldst thou think to flee  
From Truth and Goodness, yet keep Unity?  
I reigned alone; and my blessed Self could call  
The Universal Monarch of her All▪  
Mine, my her fair East-indieses were above,  
Where those Sun's rise that cheer the world of Love;  
Where beauties shine like gems of richest price;  
Where Coral grows, and every breath is spice:  
My too her rich West-indieses were below,  
Where Ours of gold and endless treasures grow.  
But, as, when the Pellaean Conqueror died,  
Many small Princes did his Crown divide,  
So, since my Love his vanquished world forsook,  
Murdered by poisons from her falsehood took,  
An hundred petty Kings claim each their part,  
And rend that glorious Empire of her Heart.   

My Heart discovered▪  
HEr body is so gently bright,  
Clear, and transparent to the sight,  
(Clear as fair Crystal to the view,  
Yet soft as that, ere Stone it grew,)  
That through her flesh, methinks, is seen  
The brighter Soul that dwells within:  
Our eyes the subtle covering pass,  
And see that Lily through its Glass.  
I through her Breast her Heart espy,  
As Souls in hearts do Souls descry,  
I see't with gentle Motions beaten;  
I see Light in't, but found no Heat.  
Within, like Angels in the sky,  
A thousand guilded thoughts do fly:  
Thoughts of bright and noblest kind,  
Fair and chaste, as Mother-Mind.  
But, o, what other Heart is there,  
Which sighs and crowds to hers so near?  
'Tis all on flame, and does like fire,  
To that, as to its Heaven, aspire,  
The wounds are many in't and deep;  
Still does it bleed, and still does weep.  
Whose ever wretched Heart it be,  
I cannot choose but grieve to see;  
What pity in my Breast does reign?  
Methinks I feel too all its pain.  
So torn, and so defaced it lies,  
That it could ne'er be known by th'eyes;  
But, o, at last I heard it groan,  
And knew by th' Voice that 'twas my own.  
So poor Alcione, when she seen  
A shipwrecked body tow'ards her draw  
Beaten by the waves, let fall a Tear,  
Which only then did Pity wear:  
But when the Corpse on shore were cast,  
Which she her Husband found at last;  
What should the wretched widow do?  
Grief changed her straight; away she flew,  
Turned to a Bird: and so at last shall I,  
Both from my Murdered Heart, and Murderer fly.   

Answer to the Platonics.  
SO Angels love; so let them love for me;  
When I'am all soul, such shall my Love too be:  
Who nothing here but like a Spirit would do,  
In a short time (believe't) will be one too:  
But shall our Love do what in Beasts we see?  
E'ven Beasts eat too, but not so well as We.  
And you as justly might in thirst refuse  
The use of Wine; because Beasts Water use:  
They taste those pleasures, as they do their food;  
Undressed they take't, devour it raw, and crude:  
But to us Men, Love Cooks it at his fire,  
And adds the poignant sauce of sharp desire.  
Beasts do the same: 'tis true; but ancient fame  
Says, God's themselves turned Beasts to do the same.  
The Thunderer, who, without the female bed,  
Can Goddesses bring forth from out his head,  
Choose rather Mortals this way to created;  
So much he'esteemed his pleasure, 'bove his state.  
You talk of fires which shine, but never burn;  
In this cold world they'll hardly serve our turn;  
As useless to despairing Lovers grown,  
As Lambent flames, to men i'th' Frigid Zone.  
The Sun does his pure fires on earth bestow  
With nuptial warmth, to bring forth things below;  
Such is Love's noblest and divinest heat,  
That warms like his, and does, like his, beget.  
Lust you call this; a name to yours more just,  
If an Inordinate Desire be Lust:  
Pygmalion, loving what noon can enjoy,  
Moore lustful was, then the hot youth of Troy.   

The vain Love. Loving one first because she could love no body, afterwards loving her with desire.  
WHat newfound Witchcraft was in thee,  
With thy own Cold to kindle Me?  
Strange art! like him that should device  
To make a Burning-Glass of Ice;  
When winter, so, the Plants would harm,  
Her snow itself does keep them warm;  
Fool that I was! who having found  
A rich, and sunny Diamond,  
Admired the hardness of the Stone,  
But not the Light, with which it shone:  
Your brave and haughty scorn of all  
Was stately, and Monarchical.  
All Gentleness with that esteemed  
A dull and slavish virtue seemed;  
Shouldst thou have yielded then to me,  
Thou'dst lost what most I loved in thee;  
For who would serve one, whom he sees  
That he can Conquer if he please?  
It far'ed with me, as if a slave  
In Triumph led, that does perceive  
With what a gay majestic pride  
His Conqu'eror through the streets does ride,  
Should be contented with his woe,  
Which makes up such a comely show.  
I sought not from thee a return,  
But without Hopes or Fears did burn;  
My Covetous Passion did approve  
The Hoarding up, not Use of Love.  
My Love a kind of Dream was grown,  
A Foolish, but a Pleasant one:  
From which I'm wakened now, but, o,  
Prisoners to die are wakened so.  
For now th' Effects of Loving are  
Nothing, but Long with Despare:  
Despair, whose torments no men sure  
But Lovers, and the Damned endure.  
Her scorn I doted once upon,  
Ill object for Affection,  
But since, alas, too much 'tis proved,  
That yet 'twas something that I loved;  
Now my desires are worse, and fly  
At an Impossibility:  
Desires, which whilst so high they soar,  
Are Proud as that I loveed before.  
What Lover can like me complain,  
Who first loveed vainly, next in vain?   

The Soul▪  

1.  
IF my Eyes do e'er declare  
They have seen a second thing, that's fair;  
Or Ears, that they have Music found,  
Besides thy Voice, in any Sound;  
If my Taste do ever meet,  
After thy Kiss, with aught that's sweet;  
If my 'abused Touch allow  
Aught to be smooth, or soft, but You;  
If, what seasonable Springs,  
Or the Eastern Summer brings;  
Do you Smell persuade at all  
Aught Perfume, but thy Breath to call;  
If all my senses Objects be  
Not contracted into Thee,  
And so through Thee more powe'rful pass,  
As Beams do through a Burning-Glass;  
If all things that in Nature are  
Either soft, or sweet, or fair,  
Be not in Thee so ‛ Epitomised,  
That naught material's not comprised;  
May I as worthless seem to Thee  
As all, but Thou, appears to Me.   

2.  
If I ever Anger know,  
Till some wrong be done to You;  
If Gods or Kings my Envy move,  
Without their Crowns crowned by thy Love;  
If ever I an Hope admit,  
Without thy Image stamped on it;  
Or any Fear, till I begin  
To found that You're concerned therein;  
If a joy ere come to me,  
That Tastes of any thing but Thee;  
If any Sorrow touch my Mind,  
Whilst You are well, and not unkind;  
If I a minutes space debate,  
Whither I shall curse and hate  
The things beneath thy hatred fall,  
Though all the World, Myself and all;  
And for Love; if ever I  
Approach to it again so nigh,  
As to allow a Toleration  
To the least glimmering Inclination;  
If thou alone do'est not control  
All those Tyrants of my Soul,  
And to thy Beauties ty'est them so,  
That constant they as Habits grow;  
If any Passion of my Heart,  
By any force, or any art,  
Be brought to move one step from Thee,  
Mayst Thou no Passion have for Me.   

3.  
If my busy ‛Imagination  
Do not Thee in all things fashion;  
So that all fair Species be  
Hieroglyphic marks of Thee;  
If when She her sports does keep  
(The lower Soul being all asleep)  
She play one Dream with all her art,  
Where Thou hast not the longest part.  
If aught get place in my Remembrance,  
Without some badge of thy resemblance;  
So that thy parts become to me  
A kind of Art of Memory.  
If my Understanding do  
Seek any Knowledge but of You,  
If she do neare thy Body prise  
Her Bodies of Philosophies,  
If She to the Will do show  
Aught desirable but You,  
Or if That would not rebel,  
Should she ' another doctrine tell;  
If my Will do not resign  
All her Liberty to thine;  
If she would not follow Thee,  
Though Fate and Thou shouldst disagree;  
And if (for I a curse will given,  
Such as shall force thee to believe)  
My Soul be not entirely Thy;  
May thy dear Body ne'er be My.    

The Passions.  

1.  
FRom Hate, Fear, Hope, Anger, and Envy free,  
And all the Passions else that be,  
In vain I boast of Liberty,  
In vain this State a Freedom call;  
Since I have Love, and Love is all:  
Sot that I am, who think it fit to brag,  
That I have no Disease besides the Plague!   

2.  
So in a zeal the Sons of Israel,  
Sometimes upon their Idols fell;  
And they deposed the powers of Hell,  
Baal, and Astarte down they threw,  
And Accaron and Molock too:  
All this imperfect Piety did no good,  
Whilst yet, alas, the Calf of Bethel stood.   

3.  
Fond I boast, that I have dressed my vine  
With painful art, and that the wine  
Is of a taste rich and divine,  
Since Love by mixing Poison there,  
Has made it worse then vinegar.  
Love even the taste of Nectar changes so,  
That Gods choose rather water here below.   

4.  
Fear, Anger, Hope, all Passions else that be,  
Drive this one Tyrant out of Me,  
And practise all your Tyranny.  
The change of ills some good will do:  
Th'oppressed wretched Indian's so,  
Being slaves by the great Spanish Monarch made,  
Call in the States of Holland to their aid.    

Wisdom.  
'TIs mighty Wise that you would now be thought  
With your grave Rules from musty Morals brought:  
Through which some streaks too of Divinity ran,  
Partly of Monk, and partly Puritan;  
With tedious Repetitions too y'ave taken  
Often the name of Vanity in vein.  
Things, which, I take it, friend, you'd never recite,  
Should she I love, but say ye, Come at night.  
The wisest King refused all pleasures quite,  
Till Wisdom from above did him enlight.  
But when that gift his igno'rance did remove,  
Pleasures he chose, and placed them all in Love.  
And if by 'event the counsels may be seen,  
This wisdom 'twas that brought the Southern Queen.  
She come not, like a good old Wife, to know  
The wholesome nature of all plants that grow:  
Nor did so far from her own Country room,  
To cure scald heads, and broken shinns at Home▪  
She come for that, which more befits all Wives,  
The art of Giving, not of Saving Lives.   

The Despair.  

1.  
BEneath this gloomy shade,  
By Nature only for my sorrows made,  
I'll spend this voice in cries,  
In tears I'll waste these eyes  
By Love so vainly fed;  
So Lust of old the Deluge punished.  
Ah wretched youth, said I!  
Ah wretched youth! twice did I sadly cry:  
Ah wretched youth! the fields and floods reply.   

2.  
When thoughts of Love I entertain,  
I meet no words but Never, and In vain.  
Never (alas) that dreadful name,  
Which jewels the infernal flame:  
Never, my time to come must waste;  
In vain, torments the present, and the past.  
In vain, in vain! said I;  
In vain, in vain! twice did I sadly cry;  
In vain, in vain! the fields and floods reply;   

3.  
Not more shall fields or floods do so;  
For I to shades more dark and silent go:  
All this world's noise appears to me  
A dull ilLacted Comedy:  
Not comfort to my wounded sight,  
In the Sun's busy and imperti'nent Light.  
Than down I laid my head;  
Down on cold earth; and for a while was dead,  
And my freed Soul to a strange Somewhere fled.   

4.  
Ah sottish Soul; said I,  
When back t'his Cage again I seen it fly:  
Fool to resume his broken chain!  
And row his Galley here again!  
Fool, to that body to return  
Where it condemned and destined is to burn!  
Once dead, how can it be,  
Death should a thing so pleasant seem to Thee,  
That thou shouldst come to live it over again in Me?    

The Wish.  

1.  
WEll then; I now do plainly see,  
This busy world and I shall never agreed;  
The very Honey of all earthly joy  
Does of all meats the soon cloy,  
And they (methinks) deserve my pity,  
Who for it can endure the stings,  
The Crowd, and Buz, and Murmur  
Of this great Hive, the City.   

2.  
Ah, yet, ere I descend to th'grave  
May I a small House, and large Garden have!  
And a few Friends, and many Books, both true,  
Both wise, and both delightful too!  
And since Love never will from me flee,  
A Mistress moderately fair,  
And good as Guardian-Angels are,  
Only beloved, and loving me!   

3.  
O, Fountains, when in you shall I  
Myself, eased of unpeaceful thoughts, espy?  
O Fields! O Woods! when, when shall I be made  
The happy Tenant of your shade?  
Here's the Springhead of Pleasures flood;  
Where all the Richeses lie, that she  
Has coined and stamped for good.   

4.  
Pride and Ambition here,  
Only in far fetched Metaphors appear;  
Here naught but winds can hurtful Murmurs scatter,  
And naught but Echo flatter.  
The Gods, when they descended, hither  
From heaven did always choose their way;  
And therefore we may boldly say,  
That 'tis the way too thither.   

5.  
How happy here should I,  
And one dear She live, and embracing die?  
She who is all the world, and can exclude  
In deserts Solitude.  
I should have then this only fear,  
Jest men, when they my pleasures see,  
Should hither throng to live like Me,  
And so make a City here.    

My Diet.  

1.  
NOw by my Love, the greatest Oath that is,  
Noon loves you half so well as I:  
I do not ask your Love for this;  
But for heavens sake believe me, or I die.  
No Servant ere but did deserve  
His Master should believe that he does serve;  
And I'll ask no more wages, though I starve.   

2.  
'Tis no luxurious Diet this, and sure  
I shall not by't too Lusty prove;  
Yet shall it willingly endure,  
If't can but keep together Life and Love.  
Being your Priso'ner and your slave,  
I do not Feasts and Banquets look to have,  
A little Bread and water's all I crave.   

3.  
O'n a sigh of Pity I a year can live,  
One tear will keep me twenty at lest,  
Fifty a gentle look will given;  
An hundred years on one kind word I'll feast:  
A thousand more will added be,  
If you an Inclination have for Me;  
And all beyond is vast Eternity.    

The Thief.  

1.  
THou robbest my Days of business and delights,  
Of sleep thou robbest my Nights;  
Ah, lovely Thief what wilt thou do?  
What? rob me of Heaven too?  
Thou even my prayers dost steal from me.  
And I, with wild Idolatry,  
Begin, to God, and end them all, to Thee.   

2.  
Is it a Sin to Love, that it should thus,  
Like an ill Conscience torture us?  
What ere I do, where ere I go,  
(Noon Guiltless ere was haunted so)  
Still, still, methinks thy face I view,  
And still thy shape does me pursue,  
As if, not you Me, but I had murdered You.   

3.  
From books I strive some remedy to take,  
But thy Name all the Letters make;  
What ere 'tis writ, I found That there,  
Like Points and Commas every where;  
Me blest for this let no man hold;  
For I, as Midas did of old,  
Perish by turning every thing to Gold.   

4.  
What do I seek, alas, or why do I  
Attempt in vain from thee to fly?  
For making thee my Deity,  
I gave thee then Ubiquity.  
My pains resemble Hell in this;  
The Divine presence there too is,  
But to torment Men, not to given them bliss.    

All-over, Love.  

1.  
'Tis well, tis well with them (say I)  
Whose short-lived Passions with themselves can die:  
For noon can be unhappy, who  
Midst all his ills a time does know  
(Though never so long) when he shall not be so.   

2.  
What ever parts of Me remain,  
Those parts will still the Love of thee retain;  
For 'twas not only in my Heart,  
But like a God by powerful Art,  
'Twas all in all, and all in every Part.   

3.  
My ' Affection not more perish can  
Than the First Matter that compounds a Man  
Hereafter if one Dust of Me  
Mixed with another's substance be,  
'Twill Leaven that whole Lump with Love of Thee.   

4.  
Let Nature if she please disperse  
My Atoms over all the Universe,  
At the last they easi'ly shall  
Themselves know, and together call;  
For thy Love, like a Mark▪ is stamped on all.    

Love and Life.  

1.  
NOw sure, within this twelvemonth past,  
I'have loved at lest some twenty years or more:  
The account of Love runs much more fast  
Than that, with which our Life does score:  
So though my Life be short, yet I may prove  
The great Methusalem of Love.   

2.  
Not that Love's Hours or Minutes are  
Shorter then those our Being's measur'ed by:  
But they're more close compacted far,  
And so in lesser room do lie.  
Thin airy things extend themselves in space,  
Things solid take up little place.   

3.  
Yet Love, alas, and Life in Me,  
Are not two several things, but purely one,  
At once how can there in it be  
A double different Motion?  
OH yes, there may: for so the self same Sun,  
At once does slow and swiftly run▪   

4.  
Swiftly his daily journey'he goes,  
But treads his Annual with a statelier pace;  
And does three hundred Rounds enclose  
Within one yearly Circles space.  
At once with double course in the same Sphere,  
He runs the Day, and Walks the year.   

5.  
When Soul does to myself refer,  
'Tis then my Life, and does but slowly move;  
But when it does relate to her,  
It swiftly flies, and then is Love.  
Love's my Diurnal course, divided right  
Betwixt Hope and Fear, my Day and Night.    

The Bargain.  

1.  
TAke heed, take heed, thou lovely Maid,  
Nor be by glittering ills betrayed;  
Thyself for Money? o, let no man know  
The Price of Beauty fallen so low!  
What dangers ought'st thou not to dread,  
When Love that's Blind is by blind Fortune led?   

2.  
The foolish Indian that sells  
His precious Gold for beads and bells,  
Does a more wise and gainful traffic hold,  
Than thou who sell'st thyself for gold.  
What gains in such a bargain are?  
He'll in thy Ours dig better Treasures far.   

3.  
Can Gold, alas, with Thee compare?  
The Sun, that makes its not so fair;  
The Sun which can nor make, nor ever see  
A thing so beautiful as Thee,  
In all the journeys he does pass,  
Though the Sea serv'ed him for a Looking-glass.   

4.  
Bold was the wretch that cheapened Thee,  
Since Magus, noon so bold as he:  
Thou'rt so divine a thing that Thee to buy,  
Is to be counted Simony;  
Too dear he'll found his sordid price,  
H'as forfeited that, and the Benefice.   

5.  
If it be lawful Thee to buy,  
There's noon can pay that rate but I▪  
Nothing on earth a fitting price can be,  
But what on earth's most like to Thee.  
And that my Heart does only bear;  
For there Thyself, Thy very self is there.   

6.  
So much thyself does in me live,  
That when it for thyself I given,  
'Tis but to change that piece of Gold for this,  
Whose stamp and value equal is.  
And that full Weight too may be had,  
My Soul and Body; two Grains more, I'll add.    

The Long Life.  

1.  
LOve from Times wings hath stolen the feathers sure,  
He has, and put them to his own;  
For Hours of late as long as Days endure,  
And very Minutes, Hours are grown.   

2.  
The various Motions of the turning Year,  
Belong not now at all to Me:  
Each Summer's Night does Lucy's now appear,  
Each Winter's Day St. Barnaby.   

3.  
How long a space, since first I loved, it is?  
To look into a glass I fear;  
And am surprised with wonder when I miss,  
Grey-hairs and wrinkles there.   

4.  
Th'old Patriarches age and not their happi'ness too,  
Why does hard fate to us restore?  
Why does Love's Fire thus to Mankind renew,  
What the Flood washed away before?   

5.  
Sure those are happy people that complain,  
ON th' shortness of the days of man;  
Contract my, Heaven, and bring them back again  
To th'ordinary Span.   

6.  
If when your gift, long Life, I disapprove,  
I too ingrateful seem to be;  
Punish me justly, Heaven; make Her to love,  
And then 'twill be too short for Me.    

Counsel.  

1.  
GEntly, ah gently, Madam, touch▪  
The wound, which you yourself have made;  
That pain must needs be very much,  
Which makes me of your hand afraid.  
Cordials of Pity given me now,  
For I too weak for Purge grow.   

2.  
Do but a while with patience stay;  
For Counsel yet will do no good,  
Till Time, and Rest, and Heaven alloy  
The vi'olent burn of my blood,  
For what effect from this can flow,  
To chide men drunk, for being so?   

3.  
Perhaps the Physic's good you given,  
But never to me can useful prove;  
Medicines may Cure, but not Revive;  
And I'am not Sick, but Dead in Love.  
In Love's Hell, not his World, am I;  
At once I Live, am Dead, and Dy.   

4.  
What new found Rhetoric is thine?  
Even thy Diswasions me persuade,  
And thy great power does clearest shine,  
When thy Commands are disobeyed.  
In vain thou bidst me to forbear;  
Obedience were Rebellion here.   

5.  
Thy Tongue comes in, as if it meant  
Against thy Eyes t'assist my Heart;  
But different far was his intent:  
For strait the Traitor took their part.  
And by this new foe I'm bereft  
Of all that Little which was left.   

6.  
The act I must confess was wise,  
As a dishonest act could be:  
Well knew the Tongue (alas) your Eyes  
Would be too strong for That, and Me▪  
And part o'th' Triumph chose to get,  
Rather then be a part of it.    

Resolved to be beloved.  

1.  
'TIs true, I'have loved already three or four,  
And shall three or four hundred more;  
I'll love each fair one that I see,  
Till I found one at last that shall love Me.   

2.  
That shall my Canaan be, the fatal soil,  
That ends my wander, and my toil.  
I'll settle there and happy grow;  
The Country does with Milk and Honey flow.   

3.  
The Needle trembles so, and turns about,  
Till it the Northern Point found out:  
But constant then and fixed does prove,  
Fixed, that his dearest Pole as soon may move.   

4.  
Than may my Vessel torn and shipwrecked be,  
If it put forth again to Sea:  
It never more abroad shall room,  
Thought could next voyage bring the Indieses home.   

5.  
But I must sweated in Love, and labour yet,  
Till I a Competency get.  
They're slothful fools who leave a Trade,  
Till they a moderate Fortune by't have made.   

6.  
Variety I ask not; given me One  
To live perpetually upon.  
The person Love does to us fit,  
Like Manna, hath the Taste of all in it.    

The Same.  

1.  
FOr Heaven's sake, what d'ye mean to do?  
Keep me, or let me go, one of the two;  
Youth and warm hours let me not idly lose,  
The little Time that Love does choose;  
If always here I must not stay,  
Let me be go, whilst yet 'tis day;  
Jest I faint, and benighted loose my way.   

2.  
'Tis dismal, One so long to love  
In vain, till to love more as vain must prove:  
To hunt so long on nimble prey, till we  
Too weary to take others be;  
Alas, 'tis folly to remain,  
And waste our Army thus in vane,  
Before a City which will never be taken.   

3.  
At several hopes wisely to fly,  
Aught not to be esteemed Inconstancy;  
'Tis more Inconstant always to pursue,  
A thing that always flies from you;  
For that at last may meet a bound,  
But no end can to this be found,  
'Tis naught but a perpetual fruitless Round.   

4▪  
When it does Hardness meet and Pride,  
My Love does then rebound t'another side;  
But if it aught that's soft and yielding hit;  
It lodges there, and stays in it.  
Whatever 'tis shall first love me,  
That it my Heaven may truly be;  
I shall be sure to give't Eternity.    

The Discovery.  

1.  
BY 'Heaven I'll tell her boldly that 'tis She;  
Why should she ashamed or angry be,  
To be beloved by Me?  
The Gods may given their Altars over;  
They'l smoke but seldom any more,  
If noon but Happy Men must them adore.   

2.  
The Lightning which tall Oaks oppose in vain,  
To strike sometime does not disdain  
The humbly Furzes of the Plain.  
She being so high, and I so low,  
Her power by this does greater show,  
Who at such distance gives so sure a blow.   

3.  
Compared with her all things so worthless prove,  
That naught on earth can tow'ards her move,  
Till't be exalted by her Love.  
Aequal to her, alas, there's noon;  
She like a Deity is grown;  
That must Created, or else must be alone.   

4.  
If there be man, who thinks himself so high,  
As to pretend equality,  
He deserves her lesle, then I;  
For he would cheat for his relief;  
And one would given with lesser grief,  
To 'an undeserving Beggar, then a Thief.    

Against Fruition.  
NOT; thou'rt a fool, I'll swear, if ere thou grant:  
Much of my Veneration thou must want,  
When once thy kindness puts my Igno'rance out;  
For a learned Age is always least devout.  
Keep still thy distance; for at once to me  
Goddess and Woman too, thou canst not be;  
Thou'rt Queen of all that sees thee; and as such  
Must neither Tyrannize, nor yield too much;  
Such freedoms given as may admit Command,  
But keep rhe Forts and Magazines in thy hand.  
Thou'rt yet a whole world to me, and do'est fill  
My large ambition; but 'tis dangerous still,  
Jest I like the Pellaean Prince should be,  
And weep for other world's hav'ing conquered thee;  
When Love has taken all thou hast away,  
His strength by too much richeses will decay.  
Thou in my Fancy dost much higher stand,  
Than Women can be place by Nature's hand;  
And I must needs, I'm sure, a loser be,  
To change Thee, as Thou'rt there, for very Thee.  
Thy sweetness is so much within me placed,  
That shouldst thou Nectar given, 'twould spoil the taste.  
Beauty at first moves wonder, and delight;  
'Tis Nature's juggling trick to cheat the sight,  
We 'admire it, whilst unknown, but after more  
Admire ourselves, for liking it before.  
Love, like a greedy Hawk, if we given way,  
Does overgorge himself, with his own Prey;  
Of very Hopes a surfeit he'll sustain,  
Unless by Fears he cast them up again:  
His spirit and sweetness dangers keep alone;  
If once he loose his sting, he grows a Drone.   

Love undiscovered.  

1.  
I; Others may with safety tell  
The moderate Flames, which in them devil;  
And either found some Med'icine there,  
Or cure themselves e'en by Despair;  
My Love's so great, that it might prove  
Dang'erous, to tell her that I Love.  
So tender is my wound, it must not bear  
Any salute, though of the kindest air.   

2.  
I would not have her know the pain,  
The Torments for her I sustain.  
Jest too much goodness make her throw  
Her Love upon a Fate too low.  
Forbidden it Heaven my Life should be  
Weighed with her least Conveniency:  
Not; let me perish rather with my grief,  
Than to her disadvantage found relief.  
Yet when I die, my last breath shall  
Grow bold, and plainly tell her all.  
Like covetous Men who never descry,  
Their dear hid Treasures till they die.  
Ah fairest Maid, how will it cheer  
My Ghost, to get from Thee a tear!  
But take heed; for if me thou Pitiest then,  
Twenty to one but I shall live again.    

The given Heart.  

1.  
I Wonder what those Lovers mean, who say,  
They have giv'en their Hearts away.  
Some good kind Lover tell me how;  
For my is but a Torment to me now.   

2.  
If so it be, one place both hearts contain,  
For what do they complain?  
What courtesy can Love do more,  
Than to join Hearts, that parted were before?   

3.  
woe to her stubborn Heart, if once my come  
Into the self same room;  
'Twill tear and blow up all within,  
Like a Granado shot into a Magazine.   

4.  
Than shall Love keep the ashes, and torn parts,  
Of both our broken Hearts:  
Shall out of both one new one make,  
From hers, th' Alloy; from my, the Metal take.   

5.  
For of her heart, he from the flames will found  
But little left behind:  
My only will remain entire;  
No dross was there, to perish in the Fire.    

The Prophet.  

1.  
TEach me to Love? go teach thyself more wit;  
I chief Professor am of it.  
Teach craft to Scots, and thrift to jews,  
Teach boldness to the Stews;  
In Tyrant's Courts teach suppling flattery,  
Teach Jesuit's that have travelled far, to Ly.  
Teach fire to burn, and winds to blow,  
Teach restless fountains how to flow,  
Teach the dull earth, fixed, to abide,  
Teach Womankind inconstancy and Pride.  
See if your diligence here will useful prove;  
But, prithee, teach not me to Love.   

2.  
The God of Love, if such a thing there be,  
May learn to love from Me.  
He who does boast that he has been  
In every Heart since Adam's sin,  
I'll lay my Life, nay Mistress on't, that's more;  
I'll teach him things he never knew before;  
I'll teach him a Receipt to make  
Words that weep, and Tears that speak,  
I'll teach him Sighs, like those in Death,  
At which the Souls go out too with the breath:  
Still the Soul stays, yet still does from me run;  
As Light and Heat does with the Sun.   

3.  
'Tis I who Love's Columbus am; 'tis I,  
Who must new Worlds in it descry:  
Rich Worlds, that yield of Treasure more,  
Than all that has been known before▪  
And yet like his (I fear) my Fate must be,  
To found them out for others; not for Me.  
Me Times to come, I know it, shall  
Loves last and greatest Prophet call:  
But, ah, what's that, if she refuse,  
To hear the wholesome Doctrines of my Muse?  
If to my share the Prophets fate must come;  
Hereafter Fame, here Martyrdom.    

The Resolution.  

1.  
THe Devil take those foolish men,  
Who gave you first such powers;  
We stood on even grounds till then;  
If any odds, Creation made it ours.   

2.  
For shame let these weak chains be broke;  
Let's our slight bonds, like Samson, tear;  
And nobly cast away that yoke,  
Which we nor our Forefathers ere could bear.   

3.  
French Laws forbidden the female Reign;  
Yet Love does them to slavery draw,  
Alas, if we'll our rights maintain,  
'Tis all Mankind must make a Salic Law.    

Called Inconstant.  

1.  
HAVE! have! you think y'have killed my fame;  
By this not understood, yet common Name:  
A Name, that's full and proper when assigned  
To Womankind:  
But when you call us so,  
It can at best but for a Met'aphor go.   

2.  
Can you the shore Inconstant call,  
Which still as Waves pass by, embraces all?  
That had as leif the same waves always love,  
Did they not from him move?  
Or can you fault with Pilots found  
For changing course, yet never blame the wind?   

3.  
Since drunk with vanity you fell:  
The things turn round to you that steadfast devil;  
And you yourself, who from us take your flight,  
Wonder to found us out of sight.  
So the same error seizes you,  
As Men in motion think the Trees move too.    

The Welcome.  

1.  
GO, let the fatted Calf be killed;  
My Prodigal's come home at last;  
With noble resolutions filled,  
And filled with sorrow for the past.  
Not more will burn with Love or Wine:  
But quite has left his Women and his Swine.   

2.  
Welcome, ah welcome my poor Heart;  
Welcome; I little thought, I'll swear,  
('Tis now so long since we did part)  
Ever again to see thee here:  
Dear Wanderer, since from me you fled,  
How often have I heard that Thou were't dead.   

3.  
Hast thou not found each woman's breast  
(The Lands where thou hast traveled)  
Either by Savages possessed,  
Or wild, and uninhabited?  
What joy couldst take, or what repose  
In Countries so uncivilised as those?   

4.  
Lust, the scorching Dog-star, here  
Rages with immoderate beaten;  
Whilst Pride the rugged Northern Bear,  
In others makes the Cold too great.  
And where these are temperate known,  
The Soyl's all barren Sand, or rocky Stone.   

5.  
When once or twice you chanced to view  
A rich, well-governed Heart,  
Like China, it admitted You  
But to the Frontier-part.  
From Par'adise shut for evermore,  
What good is't that an Angel kept the Door?  
Well far the Pride, and the Disdain  
And Vanities with Beauty joined,  
I never had seen this Heart again,  
If any Fair one had been kind:  
My Dove, but once let lose, I doubt  
Would never return, had not the Flood been out.    

The Heart fled again.  

1.  
FAlse, foolish Heart! didst thou not say,  
That thou wouldst never leave me more?  
Behold again 'tis fled away;  
Fled as far from me as before▪  
I strove to bring it back again,  
I cried and hollowed after it in vain.   

2.  
Even so the gentle Tyrian Dame,  
When neither Grief nor Love prevail,  
See the dear object of her flame,  
Th'ingrateful Trojan hoist his sail:  
Aloud she called to him to stay;  
The wind bore him, and her lost words away.   

3.  
The doleful Ariadne so,  
On the wide shore forsaken, stood:  
False Theseus, wither dost thou go?  
Afar false Theseus cut the flood.  
But Bacchus come to her relief;  
Bacchus himself's too weak to ease my grief.   

4.  
Ah senseless Heart, to take no rest,  
But travel thus eternally!  
Thus to be freeze in every breast!  
And to be scorched in every Eye!  
Wand'ring about like wretched Cain,  
Thrust out, ill used by all, but by noon slain!   

5.  
Well; since thou wilt not here remain,  
I'll e'en to live without Thee try;  
My Head shall take the greater pain,  
And all thy duties shall supply;  
I can more easi'ly live I know  
Without Thee, then without a Mistress Thow.    

Woman's Superstition.  

1.  
OR I'm a very Dunce, or Womankind  
Is a most unintelligible thing:  
I can no Sense, nor no Contexture found,  
Nor their lose parts to Method bring,  
I know not what the Learned may see,  
But they're strange Hebrew things to Me.   

2.  
By Customs and Traditions they live,  
And foolish Ceremonies of antic date,  
We Lovers, new and better Doctrines given.  
Yet they continued obstinate;  
Preach we, Love's Prophets, what we will,  
Like jews, they keep their old Law still.   

3.  
Before their Mother's Gods, they fond fall,  
Vain Idol-Gods that have no Sense nor Mind:  
Honour's their Ashtaroth, and Pride their Baal,  
The Thundering Bâal of Womankind.  
With twenty other Devils more,  
Which They, as We do Them, adore.   

4.  
But then, like Men both Covetous and Devout,  
Their costly Superstition loathe t'omit,  
And yet more loathe to issue Monies out,  
At their own charge to furnish it.  
To these expensive Deities,  
The Hearts of Men they sacrifice.    

The Soul.  

1.  
SOme dull Philos'opher when he hears me say,  
My Soul is from me fled away;  
Nor has of late informed my Body here,  
But in another's breast does lie,  
That neither Is, nor will be I,  
As a Form Servient and Assisting there.   

2.  
Will cry, Absurd! and ask me, how I live:  
And Syllogisms against it given;  
A curse on all your vain Philosophies,  
Which on weak Nature's Law depend,  
And know not how to comprehend  
Love and Religion, those great Mysteries.   

3.  
Her Body is my Soul; laugh not at this,  
For by my Life I swear it is.  
'Tis that preserves my Being and my Breath,  
From that proceeds all that I do,  
Nay all my Thoughts and speeches too,  
And separation from it is my Death.    

Echo.  

1.  
TIr'ed with the rough denials of my prayer,  
From that hard she whom I obey,  
I come, and found a Nymph, much gentler here,  
That gives consent to all I say.  
Ah gentle Nymph who lik'st so well,  
In hollow, solitary Caves to devil,  
Her Heart being such, into it go,  
And do but once from thence answer me so.   

2.  
Complaisant Nymph, who do'est thus kindly share  
In griefs, whose cause thou do'est not know!  
Hadst thou but Eyes, as well as Tongue and Ear,  
How much compassion wouldst thou show!  
Thy flame, whilst living, or a flower,  
Was of lesle beauty, and lesle rav'ishing power;  
Alas, I might as easily,  
Paint thee to her, as describe Her to Thee.   

3.  
By repercussion Beams engender Fire,  
Shape's by reflection shapes beget;  
The voice itself, when stopped, does back retire,  
And a new voice is made by it.  
Thus things by opposition  
The gainers grow; my barren Love alone,  
Does from her stony breast rebound,  
Producing neither Image, Fire, nor Sound.    

The rich Rival.  

1.  
THey say your angry, and rant mightily,  
Because I love the same as you;  
Alas! you're very rich; 'tis true;  
But prithee Fool, what's that to Love, and Me?  
You 'have Land, and Money, let that serve;  
And know you ' have more by that then you deserve.   

2.  
When next I see my fair One, she shall know,  
How worthless thou art of her bed;  
And wretch, I'll strike thee dumb and dead,  
With noble verse not understood by you;  
Whilst thy sole Rhetoric shall be  
jointure, and jewels, and Our Friends agreed.   

3.  
Pox of your friends, that dote and Domineer:  
Lovers are better Friends then they:  
Let's those in other things obey;  
The Fates, and Stars, and Gods must govern here.  
Vain names of Blood! in Love let noon  
Advice with any Blood, but with their own.   

4.  
'Tis that which bids me this bright Maid adore;  
Not other thought has had access!  
Did she now beg Jed love not lesle,  
And were she'an Empress, I should love not more;  
Were she as just and true to Me,  
Ah, simple soul, what would become of Thee!    

Against Hope.  

1.  
HOpe, whose weak Being ruined is,  
Alike if it succeed, and if it miss;  
Whom Good or Ill does equally confounded,  
And both the Horns of Fates Dilemma wound,  
Vain shadow! which dost vanish quite,  
Both at full Noon, and perfect Night!  
The stars have not a possibility  
Of blessing Thee;  
If things then from their End we happy call,  
'Tis Hope is the most Hopeless thing of all.   

2.  
Hope, thou bold Taster of Delight,  
Who whilst thou shouldst but taste, devour'st it quite!  
Thou bringst us an Estate, yet leav'st us Poor,  
By clogging it with Legacies before!  
The joys which we entire should wed,  
Come deflowered Virgins to our bed;  
Good fortunes without gain imported be,  
Such mighty Custom paid to Thee.  
For joy, like Wine, kept close does better taste;  
If it take air before, his spirits waste.   

3.  
Hope, Fortune's cheating Lottery!  
Where for one prise an hundred blanks there be;  
Found Archer, Hope, who tak'st thy aim so far,  
That still or short or wide thy arrows are!  
Thin, empty Cloud, which th'eye deceives  
With shapes that our own Fancy gives!  
A Cloud, which gilt and painted now appears,  
But must drop presently in tears!  
When thy false beams over Reasons light prevail,  
By Ignes fatui for North-Stars we sail.   

4.  
Brother of Fear, more gaily clad!  
The merr'ier Fool o'th' two, yet quite as Mad:  
Sire of Repentance, Child of found Desire!  
That blowest the Chemics, and the Lover's fire!  
Leading them still insensibly 'on  
By the strange witchcraft of Anon!  
By Thee the one does changing Nature through  
Her endless Labyrinths pursue,  
And th'other chases Woman, whilst She goes  
Moore ways and turns then hunted Nature knows.    

For Hope.  

1.  
HOpe, of all Ills that men endure,  
The only cheap and Universal Cure!  
Thou Captives freedom, and Thou sick Man's Health!  
Thou Losers Victo'ry, and thou Beggar's wealth!  
Thou Manna, which from Heaven we eat,  
To every Taste a several Meat!  
Thou strong Retreat! thou sure entailed Estate,  
Which naught has power to alienate!  
Thou pleasant, honest Flatterer! for noon  
Flatter unhappy Men, but thou alone!   

2.  
Hope, thou First-fruits of Happiness!  
Thou gentle Dawning of a bright Success!  
Thou good Prepar'ative, without which our joy  
Does work too strong, and whilst it cures, destroy▪  
Who out of Fortune's reach dost stand,  
And art a blessing still in hand!  
Whilst Thee, her Earnest-Money we retain,  
We certain are to gain,  
Whither she'her bargain break, or else fulfil;  
Thou only good, not worse, for ending ill!   

3.  
Brother of Faith, 'twixt whom and Thee  
The joys of Heaven and Earth divided be!  
Though Faith be Heir, and have the fixed estate,  
Thy Portion yet in Movables is great.  
Happiness itself's all one  
In Thee, or in possession!  
Only the Future's Thine, the present His!  
Thine's the more hard and noble bliss;  
Best apprehender of our joys, which hast  
So long a reach, and yet canst hold so fast!   

4.  
Hope, thou sad Lovers only Friend!  
Thou Way that mayst dispute it with the End!  
For Love I fear's a fruit that does delight  
The taste itself lesle then the Smell and Sight.  
Fruition more deceitful is  
Than Thou canst be, when thou dost miss;  
Men leave thee by obtaining, and straight flee  
Some other way again to Thee;  
And that's a pleasant Country, without doubt,  
To which all soon return that travel out.    

Love's Ingratitude.  

1.  
I Little thought, thou found ingrateful Sin,  
When first I let thee in,  
And gave thee but a part  
In my unwary Heart,  
That thou wouldst ere have grown,  
So false or strong to make it all thy own.   

2.  
At my own breast with care I fed thee still,  
Letting thee suck thy fill,  
And daintily I nourished Thee  
With Idle thoughts and Poetry!  
What ill returns dost thou allow?  
I fed thee then, and thou dost starve me now.   

3.  
There was a time, when thou wast cold and i'll,  
Nor hadst the power of doing ill;  
Into my bosom did I take,  
This frozen and benumbed Snake,  
Not fearing from it any harm;  
But now it stings that breast which made it warm.   

4.  
What cursed weed's this Love! but one grain sow,  
And the whole field 'twill overgrow;  
Strait will it choke up and devour  
Each wholesome herb and beauteous flour!  
Nay unless something soon I do,  
'Twill kill I fear my very Laurel too.   

5.  
But now all's gone, I now, alas, complain,  
Declare, protest and threat in vain.  
Since by my own unforced consent,  
The Traitor has my Government,  
And is so settled in the Throne,  
That 'tiswere Rebellion now to claim my own.    

The Frailty,  

1.  
I Know 'tis sordid, and 'tis low;  
(All this as well as you I know)  
Which I so hotly now pursue;  
(I know all this as well as you)  
But whilst this cursed flesh I bear,  
And all the Weakness, and the Baseness there,  
Alas, alas, it will be always so.   

2.  
In vain, exceedingly in vain  
I rage's sometimes, and by't my Chain;  
For to what purpose do I by't  
With Teeth which never will break it quite?  
For if the chiefest Christian Head,  
Was by this sturdy Tyrant buffeted,  
What wonder is it, if weak I be slain?    

Coldness.  

1.  
AS water fluid is, till it do grow  
Solid and fixed by Cold;  
So in warm Seasons Love does loosely flow,  
Frost only can it hold.  
A Woman's rigour, and disdain,  
Does his swift course restrain,   

2.  
Though constant, and consistent now it be,  
Yet, when kind beams appear,  
It melts, and glides apace into the Sea,  
And loses itself there.  
So the Sun's amorous play,  
Kisses the Ice away.   

3.  
You may in Vulgar Loves found always this;  
But my Substantial Love  
Of a more firm, and perfect Nature is;  
No weathers can it move:  
Though Heat dissolve the Ice again,  
The Crystal solid does remain.    

The Enjoyment.  

1.  
THen like some wealth Island thou shalt lie;  
And like the Sea about it, I;  
Thou like fair Albion, to the Sailors Sight,  
Spreading her beauteous Bosom all in White:  
Like the kind Ocean I will be,  
With loving Arms for ever clasping Thee.   

2.  
But I'll embrace Thee gentli'er far then so;  
As their fresh Banks soft Rivers do,  
Nor shall the proudest Planet boast a power  
Of making my full Love to ebb one hour;  
It never dry or low can prove,  
Whilst thy unwasted Fountain feeds my Love.   

3.  
Such Heat and Vigour shall our Kisses bear,  
As if like Doves we'engendred there.  
Not bound nor rule my pleasures shall endure,  
In Love there's noon too much an Epicure.  
Naught shall my hands or Lips control;  
I'll kiss Thee through, I'll kiss thy very Soul.   

4.  
Yet nothing, but the Night our sports shall know;  
Night that's both blind and silent too.  
Alpheus found not a more secret trace,  
His loved Sicanian Fountain to embrace,  
Creeping so far beneath the Sea,  
Than I will do t' enjoy, and feast on Thee.   

5.  
Men, out of Wisdom; Women, out of Pride,  
The pleasant Thefts of Love do hid.  
That may secure thee; but thou'st'hast yet from Me  
A more infallible Security.  
For there's no danger I should tell  
The joys, which are to Me unspeakable.    

Sleep.  

1.  
IN vain, thou drowsy God, I thee invoak;  
For thou, who dost from fumes arise,  
Thou, who Man's Soul dost overshade  
With a thick Cloud by Vapours made,  
Canst have no power to shut his eyes,  
Or passage of his Spi'rits to choke,  
Whose flame's so pure, that it sends up no smoke.   

2.  
Yet how do Tears but from some Vapours rise?  
Tears, that bewinter all my Year?  
The fate of Egypt I sustain,  
And never feel the dew of Rain,  
From Clouds which in the Head appear,  
But all my too much Moisture owe,  
To overflow of the Heart below.   

3.  
Thou, who dost Men (as Nights to Colours do)  
Bring all to an Equality:  
Come, thou just God; and aequal me  
A while to my disdainful Shee;  
In that condition let me lie;  
Till Love does the same favour show;  
Love aequals all a better way then You.   

4.  
Than never more shalt thou be'invoakt by me;  
Watchful as Spirits, and Gods I'll prove:  
Let her but grant, and then will I,  
Thee and thy Kinsman Death defy.  
For betwixt Thee and them that love,  
Never will an agreement be;  
Thou scorn saint th' Unhappy; and the Happy, Thee.    

Beauty.  

1.  
BEauty, thou wild fantastic Ape,  
Who dost in every Country change thy shape!  
Here black, there brown, here tawny, and there white;  
Thou flatterer which compli'st with every sight!  
Thou Babel which confoundst the Eye  
With unintelligible variety!  
Who hast no certain What, nor Where,  
But vary'st still, and dost thyself declare  
Inconstant, as thy she-Possessors are.   

2.  
Beauty, Love's Scene and Maskerade,  
So gay by well-placed Lights, and Distance made;  
False Coin, with which th' Impostor cheats us still;  
The stamp and Colour good, but Metal ill!  
Which Light, or Base we found, when we  
Weigh by enjoyment and examine Thee!  
For though thy Being be but show,  
'Tis chief Night which men to Thee allow:  
And choose t' enjoy Thee, when Thou jest art Thou.   

3.  
Beauty, Thou active, passive Ill!  
Which diest thyself as fast as thou dost kill!  
Thou Tulip, who thy stock in paint dost waste,  
Neither for Physic good, nor Smell, nor Taste.  
Beauty, whose Flames but Meteors are,  
Short-lived and low, though thou wouldst seem a Star,  
Who dar saint not thine own Home descry,  
Pretending to devil richly in the Eye,  
When thou, alas, dost in the Fancy lie.   

4.  
Beauty, whose Conquests still are made  
O'er Hearts by Cowards kept; or else betrayed!  
Weak Victor! who thyself destroyed must be  
When sickness storms, or Time besieges Thee!  
Thou'unwholesome Thaw to frozen Age!  
Thou strong wine, which youths Fever dost enrage,  
Thou Tyrant which leav'st no man free!  
Thou subtle thief, from whom naught safe can be!  
Thou Murderer which hast killed, and Devil which wouldst Damn me.    

The Parting.  

1.  
AS Men in Groenland left beheld the Sun  
From their Horizon run;  
And thought upon the lad half year  
Of Cold and Darkness they must suffer there.   

2.  
So on my parting Mistress did I look,  
With such swollen eyes my farewell took;  
Ah, my fair Star! said I;  
Ah those blessed Lands to which bright Thou dost fly!   

3.  
In vain the Men of Learning comfort me;  
And say I'm in a warm degree;  
Say what they please; I say and swear  
'Tis beyond eighty at lest, if you're not here.   

4.  
It is, it is; I tremble with the Frost,  
And know that I the Day have lost;  
And those wild things which Men they call,  
I found to be but Bears or Foxes all▪   

5.  
Return, return, gay Planet of my East,  
Of all that shines Thou much the Best!  
And as thou now descend'st to Sea;  
Moore fair and fresh rise up from thence to Me.   

6.  
Thou, who in many a Propriety,  
So truly art the Sun to Me,  
Add one more likeness, which I'm sure you can,  
And let Me and my Sun beget a Man    

My Picture.  

1.  
HEre, take my Likeness with you, whilst 'tis so;  
For when from hence you go,  
The next Sun's rising will behold  
Me pale, and lean, and old.  
The Man who did this Picture draw,  
Will swear next day my face he never seen.   

2.  
I really believe, within a while,  
If you upon this shadow smile,  
Your presence will such vigour given,  
(Your presence which makes all things live)  
And absence so much altar Me,  
This will the substance, I the shadow be.   

3.  
When from your well-wrought Cabinet you take it,  
And your bright looks awake it;  
Ah be not frighted, if you see,  
The new-sould Picture gaze on Thee,  
And hear it breathe a sigh or two;  
For those are the first things that it will do.   

4▪  
My Rival-Image will be then thought blest,  
And laugh at me as dispossessed;  
But Thou, who (if I know thee right)  
I'th' substance dost not much delight,  
Will't rather sand again for Me.  
Who then shall but my Pictures Picture be.    

The Concealment.  

1▪  
NOT; to what purpose should I speak?  
Not, wretched Heart, swell till you break!  
She cannot love me if she would;  
And to say truth, 'tiswere pity that she should.  
Not, to the Grave thy sorrows bear,  
As silent, as they will be there:  
Since that loved hand this mortal wound does given,  
So handsomely the thing contrive,  
That she may guiltless of it live.  
So perish, that her kill Thee  
May a Chance-Medley, and no Murder be.   

2.  
'Tis nobler much for me, that I  
By'her Beauty, not her Anger die;  
This will look justly, and become  
An Execution; that, a Martyrdom.  
The censuring world will never refrain  
From judging men by Thunder slain.  
She must be angry sure, if I should be  
So bold to ask her to make me  
By being hers, happi'er then she.  
I will not; 'tis a milder fate  
To fall by her not Loving, then her Hate.   

3.  
And yet this death of my, I fear,  
Will ominous to her appear:  
When, sounded in every other part,  
Her Sacrifice is found without an Heart.  
For the last Tempest of my death  
Shall sigh out that too, with my breath.  
Than shall the world my noble rvine see,  
Some pity, and some envy Me,  
Than She herself, the mighty She,  
Shall grace my funerals with this truth;  
'Twas only Love destroyed the gentle Youth.    

The Monopoly.  

1.  
WHat Ours of Sulphur in my breast do lie,  
That feed th'aeternal burn of my heart?  
Not Aetna flames more fierce or constantly,  
The sounding shop of Vulcan's smoky art;  
Vulcan his shop has placed there,  
And Cupid's Forge is set up here.   

2▪  
Here all those Arrows mortal Heads are made,  
That fly so thick unseen through yielding air;  
The Cyclops here, which labour at the trade  
Are jealousy, Fear, Sadness and Despair.  
Ah cruel God and why to me  
Gave you this cursed Monopoly?   

3.  
I have the trouble, not the gains of it;  
Given me but the disposal of one Dart;  
And then (I'll ask no other benefit)  
Heat as you please your furnace in my Heart.  
So sweet's Revenge to me, that I  
Upon my foe would gladly die.   

4.  
Deep into'her bosom would I strike the dart;  
Deeper then Woman e'er was struck by Thee;  
Thou giv'st them small wounds, and so far from th' Heart,  
They flutter still about, inconstantly.  
Curse on thy Goodness, whom we found  
Civil to noon but Womankind!   

5.  
Vain God who women dost thyself adore!  
Their wounded Hearts do still retain the powers▪  
To travel, and to wander as before;  
Thy broken Arrows 'twixt that sex and ours  
So'unjustly are distributed;  
They take the Feathers, we the Head.    

The Distance▪  

1.  
Ine followed thee a year at lest,  
And never stopped myself to rest.  
But yet can thee o'ertake not more,  
Than this Day can the Day that went before.   

2.  
In this our fortunes aequal prove  
To Stars, which govern them above;  
Our Stars that move for ever round,  
With the same Distance still betwixt them found.   

3.  
In vain, alas, in vain I strive  
The wheel of Fate faster to drive;  
Since if a round it swiftlier fly,  
She in it mends her pace as much as I   

4.  
Hearts by Love, strangely shuffled are,  
That there can never meet a Pare!  
Tamelier then Worms are Lovers slain;  
The wounded Heart never turns to wound again▪    

The Increase▪  

1.  
I Thought, I'll swear, I could have loved no more  
Than I had done before;  
But you as easi'ly might accounted  
Till to the top of Numbers you amount,  
As cast up my Love's score.  
Ten thousand millions was the sum;  
Million of endless Million are to come.   

2.  
I'm sure her Beauties cannot greater grow;  
Why should my Love do so?  
A real cause at first did move;  
But my own Fancy now drives on my Love,  
With shadows from itself that flow.  
My Love, as we in Numbers see,  
By Ciphers is increased eternally.   

3.  
So the new-made, and untride Spheres above,  
Taken their first turn from th'hand of jove;  
But are since that beginning found  
By their own Forms to move for ever round.  
All violent Motions short do prove,  
But by the length 'tis plain to see  
That Love's a Motion Natural to Me.    

Love's Visibility.  

1▪  
WIth much of pain, and all the Art I knew  
Have I endeavoured hitherto  
To hid my Love, and yet all will not do▪   

2.  
The world perceives it, and it may be, she;  
Though so discreet and good she be,  
By hiding it, to teach that skill to Me.   

3.  
Men without Love have often so cunning grown,  
That something like it they have shown,  
But noon who had it ever seemed t have noon.   

4.  
Love's of a strangely open, simple kind,  
Can no arts or disguises found,  
But thinks noon sees it 'cause it self is blind.   

5.  
The very Eye betrays our inward smart;  
Love of himself left there a part,  
When thorough it he past into the Heart.   

6.  
Or if by chance the Face betray not it,  
But keep the secret wisely, yet,  
Like Drunkenness, into the Tongue 'twillwill get.    

Looking on, and discoursing with his Mistress.  

1.  
THese full two hours now have I gazing been,  
What comfort by it can I gain?  
To look on Heav'en with mighty Gulfs between  
Was the great Miser's greatest pain:  
So near was he to Heaven's delight,  
As with the blessed converse he might,  
Yet could not get one drop of water by't.   

2.  
Ah wretch! I seem to touch her now; but, o,  
What boundless spaces do us part?  
Fortune, and Friends, and all earth's empty show,  
My Lowness, and her high Desert:  
But these might conquerable prove;  
Nothing does me so far remove,  
As her hard Souls aversion from my Love.   

3.  
So Travellers, that loose their way by night,  
If from afar they chance t'spy  
Th'uncertain glimmer of a Tapers light,  
Take flattering hopes, and think it nigh;  
Till wearied with the fruitless pain,  
They sit them down, and weep in vain,  
And there in Darkness, and Despair remain.    

Resolved to Love.  

1.  
I Wonder what the Grave and Wise  
Think of all us that Love;  
Whither our pretty Fooleries  
Their Mirth or Anger move;  
They understand not Breath, that Words does want;  
Our Sighs to them are unsignificant.   

2.  
One of them seen me th'other day,  
Touch the dear hand, which I admire;  
My Soul was melting straight away,  
And dropped before the Fire.  
This silly Wiseman, who pretends to know,  
Asked why I looked so pale, and trembled so?   

3.  
Another from my Mistress'dore  
See me with eyes all watery come;  
Nor could the hidden cause explore,  
But thought some smoke was in the room;  
Such Igno'rance from unwounded Learning come;  
He knew Tears made by Smoak, but not by Flame.  
If learned in other things you be,  
And have in Love no skill,  
For God's sake keep your arts from me,  
For I'll be ign'orant still.  
Study or Action others may embrace;  
My Love's my Business, and my Books her Face.   

5.  
These are but Trifles, I confess,  
Which me, weak Mortal, move;  
Nor is your busy Seriousness  
Lesle trifling then my Love.  
The wisest King who from his sacred breast  
Pronounced all Van'ity, chose it for the best.    

My Fate▪  

1.  
GO bid the Needle his dear North forsake,  
To which with trembling rev'erence it does bend;  
Go bid the Stones a journey upwards make;  
Go bid th'ambitious Flame not more t'ascend:  
And when these false to their old Motions prove,  
Than shall I cease Thee, Thee alone to Love.   

2.  
The fast-linked Chain of everlasting Fate  
Does nothing tie more strong, then Me to You;  
My fixed Love hangs not on your Love or Hate;  
But will be still the same, what e'er you do.  
You cannot kill my Love with your disdain,  
Wound it you may, and make it live in pain.   

3.  
Me, my example let the Stoics use,  
Their sad and cruel doctrine to maintain,  
Let all Praedestinators me produce,  
Who struggle with aeternal bonds in vain.  
This Fire I'm born to, but 'tis she must tell,  
Whethered be Beams of Heav'en, or Flames of Hell.   

4.  
You, who men's fortunes in their faces read,  
To found out my, look not, alas, on Me;  
But mark her Face, and all the features heed;  
For only there is writ my Destiny.  
Or if stars show it, gaze not on the skies;  
But study the Astrol'ogy of her Eyes.   

5.  
If thou found there kind and propitious rays,  
What Mars or Saturn threaten I'll not fear;  
I well believe the Fate of mortal days  
Is writ in Heav'en; but, o my heaven is there.  
What can men learn from stars they 'scarce can see?  
Two great Lights rule the world; and her two, Me.    

The Heart- breaking.  

1.  
IT gave a piteous groan, and so it broke;  
In vain it something would have spoke:  
The Love within too strong fort was,  
Like Poison put into a Venice-Glass.   

2.  
I thought that this some Remedy might prove,  
But, o, the mighty Serpent Love,  
Cut by this chance in pieces small,  
In all still lived, and still it stung in all.   

3.  
And now (alas) each little broken part  
Feels the whole pain of all my Heart:  
And every smallest corner still  
Life's with that torment which the Whole did kill.   

4.  
Even so rude Armies when the field they quit,  
And into several Quarters get;  
Each Troop does spoil and ruin more,  
Than all joined in one Body did before.   

5▪  
How many Love's reign in my bosom now?  
How many Loves, yet all of you?  
Thus have I changed with evil fate  
My Monarch-Love into a Tyrant State.    

The Usurpation.  

1.  
THou'hadst to my Soul no title or pretence;  
I was my own, and free▪  
Till I had given myself to Thee;  
But thou hast kept me Slave and Prisoner since.  
Well, since so insolent thou'rt grown,  
Found Tyrant, I'll depose thee from thy throne;  
Such outrages must not admitted be  
In an Elective Monarchy.   

2.  
Part of my Heart by Gift did to Thee fall;  
My Country, Kindred, and my best  
Acquaintance were to share the rest;  
But thou, their Cov'etous Neighbour, drav'est out all:  
Nay more; thou makest me worship Thee,  
And wouldst the rule of my Religion be;  
Was ever Tyrant claimed▪ such power as you,  
To be both Emperor, and Pope too?   

3.  
The public Mise'ries, and my private fate  
Deserve some tears: but greedy Thou  
(Insatiate Maid!) wilt not allow  
That I one drop from thee should alienate.  
Nor wilt thou grant my sins a part,  
Though the sole cause of most of them thou art,  
Counting my Tears thy Tribute and thy Due,  
Since first my Eyes I gave to You.   

4.  
Thou all my joys and all my Hopes dost claim,  
Thou ragest like a Fire in me,  
Converting all things into Thee;  
Naught can resist, or not increase the Flame.  
Nay every Grief and every Fear.  
Thou dost devour, unless thy stamp it bear.  
Thy presence, like the crowned Basilisks breath,  
All other Serpents puts to death.   

5▪  
As men in Hell are from Diseases free,  
So from all other ills am I;  
Free from their known Formality:  
But all pains Eminently lie in Thee:  
Alas, alas, I hope in vain  
My conquered Soul from out thy hands to gain,  
Since all the Natives there thou'st overthrown,  
And planted Gar'isons of thy own.    

Maidenhead.  

1.  
THou worst estate even of the sex that's worst;  
Therefore by Nature made at first,  
T'attend the weakness of our birth!  
'Slight, outward Curtain to the Nuptial Bed!  
Thou Case to buildings not yet finished!  
Who like the Centre of the Earth,  
Dost heaviest things attract to thee,  
Though Thou a point imaginary be.   

2:  
A thing God thought for Mankind so unfit,  
That his first Blessing ruined it.  
Cold frozen Nurse of fiercest fires!  
Who, like the parched plains of Africks' sand,  
(A sterile, and a wild unlovely Land)  
Art always scorched with hot desires,  
Yet barren quite, didst thou not bring  
Monsters and Serpents forth thyself to sting!   

3:  
Thou that bewitchest men, whilst thou dost devil  
Like a close Conj'urer in his Cell!  
And fearest the days discovering Eye!  
No wonder'tis at all that thou shouldst be  
Such tedious and unpleasant Company,  
Who liv'st so Melancholily!  
Thou thing of subtle, slippery kind,  
Which Women loose, and yet no Man can found!   

4:  
Although I think thou never found wilt be,  
Yet I'm resolved to search for thee;  
The search itself rewards the pains.  
So, though the Chemic his great secret miss,  
(For neither it in Art nor Nature is)  
Yet things well worth his toil he gains:  
And does his Charge and Labour pay  
With good unsought exper'iments by the way.   

5.  
Say what thou wilt, Chastity is no more,  
Thee, then a Porter is his Dore.  
In vain to honour they pretend,  
Who guard themselves with Ramparts and with Walls,  
Them only fame the truly valiant calls,  
Who can an open breach defend.  
Of thy quick loss can be no doubt,  
Within so Hated, and so Loved without.    

Impossibilities.  

1.  
IMpossibilities? o not, there's noon;  
Can my bring thy Heart Captive home;  
As eas'ily other dangers were o'erthrown,  
As Caesar after vanquished Rome,  
His little Asian foes did overcome.   

2▪  
True Lovers often by Fortune are envied▪  
Often Earth and Hell against them strive;  
But Providence engages on their side,  
And a good end at▪ last does given;  
At last Iust Men and Lovers always thrive.   

3.  
As stars (not powerful else) when they conjoin,  
Change, as they please, the World's estate;  
So thy Heart in Conjunction with my,  
Shall our own fortunes regulate;  
And to our Stars themselves prescribe a Fate.   

4.  
'Twould grieve me much to found some bold Romance,  
That should two kind examples show,  
Which before us in wonders did advance;  
Not, that I thought that story true,  
But noon should Fancy more, then I would Do.   

5.  
Through spite of our worst Enemies, thy Friends,  
Through Local Banishment from Thee;  
Through the loud thoughts of less-concerning Ends,  
As easy shall my passage be,  
As was the Amo'rous Youth's ore Helles Sea.   

6.  
In vain the Winds, in vain the Billows rore;  
In vain the Stars their aid denied:  
He seen the Sestian Tower on th'other shore;  
Shall th' Hellespont our Loves divide?  
Not, not th' Atlantic Oceans boundless Tide.   

7.  
Such Seas betwixt us easily conquered are;  
But, gentle Maid, do not deny  
To let thy Beams shine on me from afar;  
And still that Taper let me'espy:  
For when thy Light goes out, I sink, and die▪    

Silence.  

1.  
CUrse on this Tongue, that has my Heart betrayed,  
And his great Secret open laid!  
For of all persons chief She,  
Should not the ills I suffer know;  
Since 'tis a thing might dangerous grow,  
Only in Her to Pity Me:  
Since 'tis for Me to loose my Life more fit,  
Than 'tis for Her to save and ransom it.   

2.  
Ah, never more shall thy unwilling ear  
My helpless story hear.  
Discourse and talk awake does keep  
The rude unquiet pain,  
That in my Breast does reign;  
Silence perhaps may make it sleep:  
I'll bind that Sore up, I did ill reveal▪  
The Wound, if once it Close, may chance to Heal.   

3.  
Not, 'twill never heal; my Love will never die,  
Though it should speechless lie.  
A River, ere it meet the Sea,  
As well might stay its source,  
As my Love can his course,  
Unless it join and mix with Thee.  
If any end or stop of it be found,  
We know the Flood runs still, though underground.    

The Dissembler.  

1.  
UNhurt, untouched did I complain;  
And terrified all others with the pain:  
But now I feel the mighty evil;  
Ah, there's no fooling with the Devil!  
So wanton men, whilst others they would fright,  
Themselves have met a real Spirit.   

2.  
I thought, I'll swear, an handsome lie  
Had been no sin at all in Poetry:  
But now I suffer an Arrest,  
For words were spoke by me in jest.  
Dull, sottish God of Love, and can it be  
Thou understandest not Raillery?   

3.  
Darts, and Wounds, and Flame, and Heat,  
I named but for the Rhyme, or the Conceit.  
Nor meant my verse should raised be,  
To this sad fame of Prophecy;  
Truth gives a dull Propriety to my stile,  
And all the Metaphors does spoil:   

4.  
In things, where Fancy much does reign,  
'Tis dangerous too cunningly to feign.  
The Play at last a Truth does grow,  
And Custom into Nature go.  
By this cursed art of begging I become  
Lame, with counterfeiting Lame.   

5.  
My Lines of amorous desire  
I wrote to kindle and blow others fire:  
And 'twas a barbarous delight  
My Fancy promiseed from the sight;  
But now, by Love, the mighty Phalaris, I  
My burning Bull the first do try.    

The Inconstant.  

1.  
I Never yet could see that face  
Which had no dart for me;  
From fifteen years, to fifties space,  
They all victorious be.  
Love thou'rt a Devil; if I may call thee One,  
For sure in Me thy name is Legion.   

2.  
Colour, or Shape, good Limbs, or Face,  
Goodness or Wit in all I found.  
In Motion or in Speech a grace,  
If all fail, yet 'tis Womankind;  
And I'm so weak, the Pistol need not be  
Double or triple charged to murder Me.   

3.  
If Tall, the Name of Proper slays;  
If Fair, she's pleasant as the Light;  
If Low, her Prettiness does please;  
If Black, what Lover loves not Night?  
If yellow haired, I Love, jest it should be  
Th'excuse to others for not loving Me.   

4.  
The Fat, like Plenty, fills my heart;  
The Lean, with Love makes me too so.  
If Streight, her Body's Cupid's Dart  
To me; if Crooked, 'tis his Bow.  
Nay Age itself does me to rage incline,  
And strength to Women gives, as well as Wine.   

5.  
Just half as large as Charity  
My richly-landed Love's become;  
And judged aright is Constancy,  
Though it take up a larger room:  
Him, who loves always one, why should they call  
Moore Constant, then the Man loves Always All?   

6.  
Thus with unwearied wings I flee  
Through all Love's Gardens and his Fields;  
And, like the wise, industrious Bee,  
No Weed but Honey to me yields!  
Honey still spent this diligence still supplies,  
Though I return not home with laden Thighs.   

7.  
My Soul at first indeed did prove  
Of pretty strength against a Dart;  
Till I this Habit got of Love;  
But my consumed and wasted Heart  
Once burnt to Tinder with a strong Desire,  
Since that by every Spark is set on Fire.    

The Constant.  

1.  
GReat, and wise Conqueror, who where ere  
Thou comest, dost fortify, and settle there!  
Who canst defend as well as get;  
And never hadst one Quarter beaten up yet;  
Now thou art in, Thou never wilt part  
With one inch of my vanquished Heart;  
For since thou took'st it by assault from Me,  
'Tis Garrisoned so strong with Thoughts of Thee,  
It fears no beauteous Enemy.   

2.  
Had thy charming strength been lesle,  
I'had served ere this an hundred Mistresses.  
I'm better thus, nor would compound  
To leave my Pris'on to be a Vagabound.  
A Pr'ison in which I still would be,  
Though every door stood op'e to Me.  
In spite both of thy Coldness and thy Pride,  
All Love is Marriage on thy Lover's side,  
For only Death can them divide.   

3.  
Close, narrow Chain, yet soft and kind,  
As that which Spi'rits above to good does bind,  
Gentle, and sweet Necessity,  
Which does not force, but guide our Liberty!  
Your love on Me were spent in vain,  
Since my Love still could but remain  
Just as it is; for what, alas can be  
Added to that which hath Infinity  
Both in Extent, and Quality?    

Her Name.  

1.  
WIth more then jewish Reverence as yet  
Do I the Sacred Name conceal;  
When, ye kind Stars, ah when will it be fit  
This Gentle Myst'ery to reveal?  
When will our Love be Named, and we possess  
That Christening as a Badge of Happiness?   

2.  
So bold as yet no verse of my has been,  
To wear that Gem on any Line;  
Nor, till the happy Nuptial Muse be seen,  
Shall any Stanza with it shine.  
Rest, mighty Name, till then; for thou must be  
Laid down by Her, e'er taken up by Me.   

3.  
Than all the fields and woods shall with it ring;  
Than Echoes burden it shall be;  
Than all the Birds in sev'eral notes shall sing,  
And all the Rivers murmur Thee;  
Than ever'y wind the Sound shall upwards bear,  
And softly whispered to some Angels Ear.   

4.  
Than shall thy Name through all my Verse be spread,  
Thick as the flowers in Meadows lie,  
And, when in future times they shall be read,  
(As sure, I think, they will not die)  
If any Critic doubt that They be my,  
Men by that Stamp shall quickly know the Coyn.   

5.  
Mean while I will not dare to make a Name  
To represent thee by;  
Adam (God's Nomenclator) could not frame  
One that enough should signify.  
Astraea 'or Caelia as unfit would prove  
For Thee, as 'tis to call the Deity, jove.    

Weeping.  

1.  
SEE where she sits, and in what comely wise,  
Drops Tears more fair then others Eyes!  
Ah, charming Maid, let not ill Fortune see  
Th'attire thy sorrow wears,  
Nor know the beauty of thy Tears:  
For she'll still come to dress herself in Thee.   

2.  
As stars reflect on waters, so I spy  
In every drop (methinks) her Eye.  
The Baby, which lives there, and always plays  
In that illustrious sphere,  
Like a Narcissus does appear,  
Whilst in his flood the lovely Boy did gaze.   

3.  
Near yet did I behold so glorious weather,  
As this Sunshine and Rain together.  
Pray Heav'en her Forehead, that pure Hill of snow,  
(For some such Fountain we must found,  
To waters of so fair a kind)  
Melt not, to feed that beauteous stream below.   

4.  
Ah▪ mighty Love, that it were inward Heat  
Which made this precious Limbeck sweated!  
But what, alas, ah what does it avail  
That she weeps Tears so wondrous cold,  
As scarce the Ass' hoof can hold,  
So cold, that I admire they fall not Hail.    

Discretion.  

1.  
DIscreet? what means this word Discreet?  
A Curse on all Discretion!  
This barbarous term you will not meet  
In all Loves-Lexicon.   

2.  
jointure▪ Portion, Gold, Estate,  
Houses, Householdstuff, or Land,  
(The Low Conveniences of Fate)  
Are Greek no Lovers understand.   

3.  
Believe me, beauteous one, when Love  
Enters into a breast,  
The two first things it doth remove,  
Are Friends and Interest.   

4.  
Passion's half blind, nor can endure  
The careful, scrup'lous Eyes,  
Or else I could not love, I'm sure,  
One who in Love were wise.   

5.  
Men, in such tempests tossed about,  
Will without grief or pain,  
Cast all their goods and richeses out,  
Themselves their Port to gain.   

6.  
As well might Martyrs, who do choose,  
That sacred Death to take,  
Mourn for the Clotheses which they must loose,  
When they're bound naked to the Stake.    

The Waiting-Maid.  

1.  
THy Maid? ah, found some nobler theme  
Whereon thy doubts to place;  
Nor by a low suspect blaspheme  
The glories of thy face.   

2.  
Alas, she makes Thee shine so fair,  
So tightly bright,  
That her dim Lamp must disappear  
Before thy potent Light.   

3.  
Three hours each morn in dressing Thee,  
Maliciously are spent;  
And make that Beauty Tyranny,  
That's else a Civil Government.   

4.  
The'adorning thee with so much art,  
Is but a barb'arous skill;  
'Tis like the poys'oning of a Dart  
Too apt before to kill.   

5.  
The Mini'string Angels noon can see;  
'Tis not their beauty'or face,  
For which by men they worshipped be;  
But their high office and their place.  
Thou art my Goddess, my Saint, She;  
I pray to Her, only to pray to Thee.    

Counsel.  

1.  
AH! what advice can I receive?  
Not, satisfy me first;  
For who would Physick-potions given  
To one that dies with Thirst?   

2.  
A little puff of breath we found,  
Small fires can quench and kill;  
But when they're great, the adverse wind  
Does make them greater still.   

3.  
Now whilst you speak, it moves me much;  
But straight I'm just the same;  
Alas, th'effect must needs be such  
Of Cutting through a Flame.    

The Cure.  

1.  
COme, Doctor, use thy roughest art,  
Thou canst not cruel prove;  
Cut, burn, and torture every part,  
To heal me of my Love.   

2.  
There is no danger, if the pain  
Should me to'a Fever bring;  
Compared with Heats I now sustain,  
A Fever is so Cool a thing,  
(Like drink which feverish men desire)  
That I should hope 'twould almost quench my Fire:    

The Separation.  

1.  
ASk me not what my Love shall do or be  
(Love which is Soul to Body, and Soul of Me)  
When I am sep'arated from thee;  
Alas, I might as easily show,  
What after Death the Soul will do;  
Twill last, I'm sure, and that is all we know.   

2.  
The thing called soul will never stir nor move,  
But all that while a liveless Carcase prove,  
For 'tis the Body of my Love;  
Not that my Love will fly away,  
But still continued, as, they say,  
Sad troubled Ghosts about their Graves do stray.    

The Tree.  

1.  
I Choose the flour'ishingst Tree in all the Park,  
With freshest Boughs, and fairest head;  
I cut my Love into his gentle Bark▪  
And in three days, behold, 'tis dead;  
My very written flames so vi'olent be,  
They'have burnt and withereed up the Tree.   

2.  
How should I live myself, whose Heart is found  
Deeply graven every where  
With the large History of many a wound,  
Larger then thy Trunk can bear?  
With art as strange, as Homer in the Nut,  
Love in my Heart has Volumes put.   

3.  
What a few words from thy rich stock did take  
The Leaves and Beauties all?  
As a strong Poison with one drop does make  
The Nails and Hairs to fall:  
Love (I see now) a kind of Witchcraft is,  
Or Characters could never do this.   

4.  
Pardon ye Birds and Nymphs who loved this Shade;  
And pardon me, thou gentle Tree;  
I thought her name would thee have happy made,  
And blessed Omens hoped from Thee;  
Notes of my Love, thrive here (said I) and grow;  
And with ye let my Love do so.   

5.  
Alas poor youth, thy love will never thrive!  
This blasted Tree Predestines it;  
Go tie the dismal Knot (why shouldst thou live?)  
And by the Lines thou there hast writ  
Deform'dly hanging, the sad Picture be  
To that unlucky History.    

Her Unbelief.  

1▪  
'TIs a strange kind of Igno'rance this in you!  
That you your Victories should not spy,  
Victories gotten by your Eye!  
That your bright Beams, as those of Comets do,  
Should kill, but not know How, nor Who.   

2.  
That truly you my Idol might appear,  
Whilst all the People smell and see  
The odorous flames, I offer thee,  
Thou sittest, and dost nor see, nor smell, nor hear  
Thy constant zealous worshipper.   

3.  
They see't too well who at my fires repined;  
Nay th'unconcerned themselves do prove  
Quick-eyed enough to spy my Love;  
Nor does the Cause in thy Face clearlier shine,  
Than the Effect appears in my.   

4:  
Fair Infidel! by what unjust decree  
Must I, who with such restless care  
Would make this truth to thee appear,  
Must I, who preach it, and pray for it, be,  
Damned by thy incredulity?   

5.  
I by thy Unbelief am guiltless slain;  
O have but Faith, and then that you  
May know that Faith for to be true,  
It shall itself by 'a Miracle maintain,  
And raise me from the Dead again.   

6.  
Mean while my Hopes may seem to be overthrown;  
But Lovers Hopes are full of Art,  
And thus dispute, that since my heart  
Though in thy Breast, yet is not by thee known,  
Perhaps thou may'st not know thy Own.    

The Gazers.  

1.  
COme let's go on, where Love and Youth does call;  
I've seen too much, if this be all.  
Alas, how far more wealth might I be  
With a contented Ign'orant Poverty?  
To show such stores, and nothing grant,  
Is to enrage and vex my want.  
For Love to Die an Infant's lesser ill,  
Than to Live long, yet live in Childhood still.   

2.  
We've both sat gazing only hitherto,  
As Man and Wife in Picture do.  
The richest crop of joy is still behind,  
And He who only Seas, in Love is Blind.  
So at first Pygmalion loved.  
But th' Amour at last improved:  
The Statue 'itself at last a woman grew,  
And so at last, my Dear, should you do too.   

3.  
Beauty to man the greatest Torture is,  
Unless it led to farther bliss  
Beyond the tyran'ous pleasures of the Eye.  
It grows too serious a Cruelty,  
Unless it Heal, as well as strike;  
I would not, Salamander-like,  
In scorching heats always to Live desire,  
But like a Martyr, pass to Heav'en through Fire.   

4.  
Mark how the lusty Sun salutes the Spring,  
And gently kisses every thing.  
His loving Beams unlock each maiden flower,  
Search all the Treasures, all the Sweets devower.  
Than on the earth with Bridegroom-Heat,  
He does still new Flowers beget.  
The Sun himself, although all Eye he be,  
Can found in Love more Pleasure then to see.    

The Incurable.  

1.  
I Tried if Books would cure my Love, but found  
Love made them Nonsense all.  
I'applyed Receipts of Business to my wound,  
But stirring did the pain recall.   

2.  
As well might men who in a fever fry,  
Mathematique doubts debate,  
As well might men, who mad in darkness lie  
Writ the Dispatches of a State.   

3.  
I tried Devotion, Sermons, frequent Prayer,  
But those did worse then useless prove;  
For Prayers are turned to Sin in those who are  
Out of Charity, or in Love.   

4▪  
I tried in Wine to drown the mighty care;  
But Wine, alas, was Oil to th' fire.  
Like Drunkards eyes, my troubled Fancy there  
Did double the Desire.   

5▪  
I tried what Mirth, and Gaiety would do,  
And mixed with pleasant Companies;  
My Mirth did graceless and insipid grow,  
And 'bove a Clinch it could not rise.   

6.  
Nay, God forgive me fort, at last I tried  
Against this some new desire to stir,  
And loved again, but 'twas where I espied  
Some faint Resemblances of Herald   

7.  
The Physic made me worse with which I strove  
This Mortal Ill t'expel,  
As wholesome Med'icines the Disease improve,  
There where they work not well.    

Honour  

1▪  
SHE Love's, and she confesses too;  
There's then at last, not more to do.  
The happy work's entirely done;  
Enter the Town which thou hast won;  
The first-fruits of Conquest now begin;  
Iô Triumph! Enter in.   

2.  
What's this, ye Gods, what can it be?  
Remains there still an Enemy?  
Bold Honour stands up in the Gate,  
And would yet Capitulate;  
Have I overcome all real foes,  
And shall this Phantom me oppose?   

3.  
Noisy Nothing! Stalking shade!  
Py what Witchcraft wert thou made?  
Empty cause of Solid harms!  
But I shall found out Counter-charms  
Thy airy Devi'lship to remove  
From this Circle here of Love.   

4.  
Sure I shall rid myself of Thee  
By the Night's obscurity,  
And obscurer secrecy.  
Unlike to every other spirit,  
Thou attemptest not men t'affright,  
Nor appear'st but in the Light.    

The Innocent Ill  

1▪  
THough all thy gestures and discourses be  
Coined and stamped by Modesty,  
Though from thy Tongue ne'er slipped away  
One word which Nuns at th' Altar might not say,  
Yet such a sweetness, such a grace  
In all thy speech appear,  
That what to th' Eye a beauteous face,  
That thy Tongue is to the Ear.  
So cunningly it wounds the heart,  
It strikes such heat through ev'ery part,  
That thou a Tempter worse then Satan art.   

2.  
Though in thy thoughts scarce any Tracks have been  
So much as of Original Sin,  
Such charms thy Beauty wears as might  
Desire's in dying confessed Saints excite.  
Thou with strange Adultery  
Dost in each breast a Brothel keep;  
Awake all men do lust for thee,  
And some enjoy Thee when they sleep.  
Ne re before did Woman live,  
Who to such Multitudes did given  
The Root and cause of Sin, but only Eve.   

3.  
Though in thy breast so quick a Pity be,  
That a Flies Death's a wound to thee.  
Though savage, and rock-hearted those  
Appear, that weep not e'en Romances woes.  
Yet never before was Tyrant known,  
Whose rage was of so large extent,  
The ills thou dost are whole thy own,  
Thou'rt Principal and Instrument,  
In all the deaths that come from you,  
You do the triple office do  
Of judge, of Tort'erer, and of weapon too.   

4:  
Thou lovely Instrument of angry Fate,  
Which God did for our faults created!  
Thou Pleasant, universal Ill,  
Which sweet as Health, yet like a Plague dost kill!  
Thou kind, well- natur'ed Tyranny!  
Thou chaste committer of a Rape!  
Thou voluntary Destiny,  
Which no man Can, or Would escape!  
So gentle, and so glad to spare,  
So wondrous good, and wondrous fare,  
(We know) e'ven the Destroying Angels are.    

DIALOGUE. After Enjoyment.  She. 

1.  
WHat have we done? what cruel passion moved thee,  
Thus to ruin her that loved Thee?  
Me thou'st'hast robb'ed, but what art thou  
Thy Self the richer now?  
Shame succeeds the short lived pleasure;  
So soon is spent, and go, this thy Ill-gotten Treasure.   Herald 

2.  
We've done no harm; nor was it Theft in me,  
But noblest Charity in Thee.  
I'll the well-gotten Pleasure  
Safe in my Mem'orie Treasure;  
What though the Flower itself do waste,  
The Essence from it drawn does long and sweeter last.   She. 

3.  
Not: I'm undone; my Honour Thou hast slain,  
And nothing can restore again.  
Art and Labour to bestow,  
Upon the Carcase of it now,  
Is but t'embalm a body dead,  
The Figure may remain, the Life and Beauty's fled.   Herald 

4.  
Never, my dear, was Honour yet undone,  
By Love, but Indiscretion.  
To th' wise it all things does allow;  
And cares not What we do; but How.  
Like Tapers shut in ancient Urns,  
Unless it let in air, for ever shines and burns.   She. 

5.  
Thou first perhaps who didst the fault commit,  
Will't make thy wicked boast of it.  
For Men, with Roman pride, above  
The Conquest, do the Triumph love:  
Nor think a perfect Victo'ry gained,  
Unless they through the streets their Captive led enchained.   Herald 

6.  
Who e'er his secret joys has open laid,  
The Bawd to his own Wife is made.  
Beside what boast is left for me,  
Whose whole wealth's a Gift from Thee?  
'Tis you the Conqu'eror are, 'tis you  
Who have not only ta'en, but bound, and gauged me too.   She. 

7.  
Though public pun'ishment we escape, the Sin  
Will rack and torture us within:  
Gild and Sin our bosom bears;  
And though fair, yet the Fruit appears,  
That Worm which now the Core does waste,  
When long t'has gnawed within will break the skin at last.   Herald 

8.  
That Thirsty Drink, that Hungry Food I sought,  
That wounded Balm, is all my fault.  
And Thou in pity didst apply,  
The kind and only remedy:  
The Cause absolves the Crime; since Me  
So mighty Force did move, so mighty Goodness Thee.   She. 

9▪  
Curse on thy Arts! methinks I Hate thee now;  
And yet I'm sure I love Thee too!  
I'm angry, but my wrath will prove,  
Moore Innocent then did thy Love.  
Thou hast this day undone me quite;  
Yet wilt undo me more, shouldst thou not come at Night.    

Verses lost upon a Wager.  

1.  
AS soon hereafter will I wagers lay,  
Against what an Oracle shall say,  
Fool, that I was, to venture to deny  
A Tongue so used to victory!  
A Tongue so blest by Nature and by Art,  
That never yet it spoke but gained an Heart:  
Though what you said, had not been true  
If spoke by any else but you▪  
Your speech will govern Destiny,  
And Fate will change rather then you should Ly.   

2.  
'Tis true If Human Reason were the Guide,  
Reason, methinks, was on my side,  
But that's a Guide, alas, we must resign,  
When th' Authoritie's Divine.  
She said, she said herself it would be so;  
And I, bold unbeliever answered Not,  
Never so justly sure before  
Error the name of Blindness bore,  
For whatsoever the Question be,  
There's no man that has eyes would bet for Me.   

3.  
If Truth itself (as other Angels do  
When they descend to human view)  
In a Material Form would deign to shine,  
'Twould imitate or borrow Thy,  
So daz'eling bright, yet so transparent clear,  
So well proportioned would the parts appear;  
Happy the eye which Truth could see  
Clothed in a shape like Thee,  
But happier far the eye  
Which could thy shape naked like Truth espy!   

4.  
Yet this lost wager costs me nothing more  
Than what I ow'ed to thee before.  
Who would not venture for that debt to play  
Which He were bound howe'er to pay?  
If Nature gave me power to writ in verse,  
She gave it me thy praises to rehearse.  
Thy wondrous Beauty and Thy Wit  
Has such a Sov'eraign Right to it,  
That no Man's Muse for public vent is free,  
Till she has paid her Customs first to Thee.    

Bathing in the River.  

1.  
THe fish around her crowded, as they do  
To the false light that treach'erous Fishers show,  
And all with as much ease might taken be,  
As she at first took me▪  
For ne'er did Light so clear  
Among the waves appear,  
Though ev'ery night the Sun himself set there.   

2.  
Why to Mute Fish shouldst thou thyself discover,  
And not to me thy not lesle silent Lover?  
As some from Men their buried Gold commit  
To Ghosts that have no use of it!  
Half their rich treasures so  
Maids bury; and for aught we know  
(Poor Ignorants) they're Mermaids all below.   

3.  
The amo'rous Waves would feign about her stay,  
But still new am'orous waves drive them away,  
And with swift current to those joys they haste,  
That do as swiftly waste,  
I laughed the wanton play to view,  
But 'tis, alas, at Land so too,  
And still old Lovers yield the place to new.   

4.  
Kiss her, and as you part, you am'orous waves  
(My happier Rivals, and my fellow slaves)  
Point to your flowery banks, and to her show  
The good your Bounties do;  
Than tell her what your Pride doth cost,  
And, how your use and beauty's lost,  
When rig'orous Winter binds you up with Frost.   

5.  
Tell her, her Beauties and her Youth, like Thee  
Hast without stop to a devouring sea;  
Where they will mixed and undistinguished lie  
With all the meanest things that die.  
As in the Ocean Thou,  
No privilege dost know,  
Above th' impurest streams that thither flow.   

6.  
Tell her, kind flood, when this has made her sad,  
Tell her there's yet one Rem'edy to be had;  
Show her how thou, though long since past, dost found  
Thyself yet still behind,  
Marriage (say to her) will bring  
About the selfsame thing,  
But she, found Maid, shuts and seals up the spring.    

Love given over.  

1.  
IT is enough; enough of time, and pain  
Hast thou consumed in vain;  
Leave, wretched Cowley, leave  
Thyself with shadows to deceive;  
Think that already lost which thou must never gain.   

2.  
Three of thy lustiest and thy freshest years,  
(Tossed in storms of Hopes and Fears)  
Like helpless Ships that be  
Set on fire i'th' midst o'the Sea,  
Have all been burnt in Love, and all been drowned in Tears.   

3.  
Resolve then on it, and by force or art  
Free thy unlucky Heart;  
Since Fate does disapprove  
Th'ambition of thy Love.  
And not one Star in heaven offers to take thy part.   

4.  
If ere I clear my Heart from this desire,  
If ere it home to'his breast retire,  
It never shall wander more about,  
Though thousand beauties called it out:  
A Lover Burned like me for ever dreads the fire.   

5.  
The Pox, the Plague, and every small disease,  
May come as often as ill Fate please;  
But Death and Love are never found  
To given a Second Wound,  
We're by those Serpent's bit, but we're devoured by these.   

6.  
Alas, what comfort is't that I am grown  
Secure of being again o'erthrown?  
Since such an Enemy needs not fear  
Lest any else should quarter there,  
Who has not only Sacked, but quite burnt down the Town.  
FINIS.     

Pindaric ODES, Written in Imitation of the STYLE & MANNER OF THE ODES OF PINDAR.  
By A. COWLEY.  HOR. EP. L. 1. 3. 
Pindarici fontis qui non expalluit haustus.  
LONDON: Printed for Humphrey Moseley, at the sign of the Princes Arms in St. Paul's Churchyard. 1656.   

PREFACE.  
IF a man should undertake to translate Pindar word for word, it would be thought that one Madman had translated another; as may appear, when a person who understands not the Original, reads the verbal. Traduction of him into Latin Prose, then which nothing seems more Raving. And sure, Rhyme, without the addition of Wit, and the Spirit of Poetry (quod nequio monstrate & sentio tantum) would but make it ten times more Distracted then it is in Prose. We must consider in Pindar the great difference of time betwixt his age and ours, which changes, as in Pictures▪ at lest the Colours of Poetry, the no lesle difference betwixt the Religions and Customs of our Countries, and a thousand particularities of places▪ persons, and manners, which do but confusedly appear to our eyes at so great a distance. And lastly, (which were enough alone for my purpose) we must consider that our Ears are strangers to the Music of his Numbers, which some times (especially in Songs and Odes) almost without any thing else, makes an excellent Poet; for though the Grammarians and Critics have laboured to reduce his Verses into regular feet and measures (as they have also those of the Greek and Latin Comedies) yet in effect they are little better then Prose to our Ears. And I would gladly know what applause our best pieces of English Poesy could expect from a Frenchman or Italian, if converted faithfully, and word for word, into French or Italian Prose. And when we have considered all this, we must needs confess, that after all these losses sustained by Pindar, all we can add to him by our wit or invention (not deserting still his subject) is not like to make him a Richer man then he was in his own Country. This is in some measure to be applied to all Translations; and the not observing of it, is the cause that all which ever I yet seen, are so much inferior to their Originals. The like happens too in Pictures, from the same root of exact Imitation; which being a vile and unworthy kind of Servitude, is incapable of producing any thing good or noble. I have seen Originals both in Painting and Poesy, much more beautiful then their natural Objects; but I never seen a Copy better then the Original, which indeed cannot be otherwise; for men resolving in no case to shoot beyond the Mark, it is a thousand to one if they shoot not short of it. It does not at all trouble me that the Grammarians perhaps will not suffer this libertine way of rendering foreign Authors, to be called Translation; for I am not so much enamoured of the Name Translator, as not to wish rather to be Something Better, though it want yet a Name. I speak not so much all this, in defence of my manner of Translating, or Imitating (or what other Title they please) the two ensuing Odes of Pindar; for that would not deserve half these words, as by this occasion to rectify the opinion of divers men upon this matter. The Psalms of David, (which I believe to have been in their Original, to the Hebrews of his time, though not to our Hebrews of Buxtorfius his making, the most exalted pieces of Poesy) are a great example of what I have said; all the Translators of which (even Mr. Sands himself; for in despite of popular error, I will be bold not to except him) for this very reason, that they have not sought to supply the lost Excellencies of another Language with new ones in their own; are so far from doing honour, or at lest justice to that Divine Poet, that, methinks, they revile him worse then Shimei. And Bucanan himself (though much the best of them all, and indeed a great Person) comes in my opinion not lesle short of David, then his Country does of judaea. Upon this ground, I have in these two Odes of Pindar taken, left out, and added what I please; nor make it so much my aim to let the Reader know precisely what he spoke, as what was his way and manner of speaking; which has not been yet (that I know of) introduced into English, though it be the noblest and highest kind of writing in Verse; and which might, perhaps, be put into the List of Pancirollus, among the lost Inventions of Antiquity. This Essay is but to try how it will look in an English habit: for which experiment, I have chosen one of his Olympic, and another of his Nemeaean Odes; which are as follows.   

THE SECOND Olympic Ode OF PINDAR.  
Written in praise of Theron Prince of Agrigentum (a famous City in Sicily built by his Ancestors) who in the seventy seventh Olympic won the Chariot-prize. He is commended from the Nobility of his Race (whose story is often touched upon) from his great Richeses (an ordinary Common-Place in Pindar) from his Hospitality, Munificence, and other Virtues. The Ode (according to the constant custom of the Poet) consists more in Digressions, then in the main subject: And the Reader must not be chocqued to hear him speak so often of his own Muse; for that is a Liberty which this kind of Poetry can hardly live without.  
ODE.  

1.  
QUeen of all Harmonious things,  
Dancing Words, and Speaking Strings,  
What God, what Hero wilt thou sing?  
What happy Man to equal glories bring?  
Begin, begin thy noble choice,  
And let the Hills around reflect the Image of thy Voice.  
Pisa does to jove belong,  
jove and Pisa claim thy Song.  
The fair First-fruits of War, th' Olympic Games,  
Alcides offered up to jove;  
Alcides too thy strings may move;  
But, O, what Man to join with these can worthy prove?  
join Theron boldly to their sacred Names;  
Theron the next honour claims;  
Theron to no man gives place,  
Is first in Pisa's, and in Virtues Race;  
Theron there, and he alone,  
E'en his own swift Forefathers has outgone.   

2.  
They through rough ways, o'er many stops they past,  
Till on the fatal bank at last  
They Agrigentum built, the beauteous Eye  
Of fair-fac'ed Sicily,  
Which does itself i'th' River by  
With Pride and joy espy.  
Than cheerful Notes their Painted Years did sing,  
And Wealth was one, and Honour th'other Wing.  
Their genuine Virtues did more sweet and clear,  
In Fortunes graceful dress appear.  
To which great Son of Rhea, say  
The Firm Word which forbids things to Decay.  
If in Olympus Top, where Thou  
Sit'st to behold thy Sacred Show,  
If in Alpheus silver flight,  
If in my Verse thou dost delight,  
My Verse, OH Rhea's Son, which is  
Lofty as that, and smooth as This.   

3.  
For the past sufferings of this noble Race  
(Since things once passed, and fled out of thy hand,  
Harken no more to thy command)  
Let present joys fill up their place,  
And with oblivions silent stroke deface  
Of foregone Ills the very trace.  
In no illustrious line  
Do these happy changes shine  
Moore brightly Theron then in thine.  
So in the Crystal Palaces  
Of the blue-eyed Nereids  
Ino her endless youth does please,  
And thanks her fall into the seas.  
Beauteous Semele does no lesle  
Her cruel Midwife Thunder bless,  
Whilst sporting with the Gods on high,  
She'enjoys secure, their Company,  
Plays with Lightnings as they fly,  
Nor trembles at the bright Embraces of the Deity.   

4.  
But Death did them from future dangers free,  
What God (alas) will Caution be  
For Living Man's security,  
Or will ensure our Vessel in this faithless Sea?  
Never did the Sun as yet  
So healthful a fair day beget,  
That Travelling Mortals might rely on it.  
But Fortune's favour and her Spite  
Rowl with alternate Waves like Day and Night.  
Vicissitudes which thy great race pursue,  
E'er since the fatal Son his Father slew,  
And did old Oracles fulfil  
Of Gods that cannot Lie, for they foretell but their own William   

5.  
Erynnis saw't, and made in her own seed  
The innocent Parricide to bleed,  
She slew his wrathful Sons with mutual blows;  
But better things did then succeed,  
And brave Thersander in amendss for what was passed arose.  
Brave Thersander was by noon  
In war, or warlike sports out done.  
Thou Theron his great virtues dost revive,  
He in my Verse and Thee again does live.  
Loud Olympus happy Thee,  
Isthmus and Nemea does twice happy see.  
For the well-natur'ed honour there  
Which with thy Brother thou didst share,  
Was to thee double grown  
By not being all thy Own.  
And those kind pious glories do deface  
The old Fraternal quarrel of thy Race.   

6.  
Greatness of Mind and Fortune too  
The Olympic Trophies show.  
Both their several parts must do  
In the noble Chase of Fame,  
This without that is Blind, that without this is Lame.  
Nor is fair Virtues Picture seen aright  
But in Fortunes golden light.  
Richeses alone are of uncertain date,  
And on short-Man long cannot wait.  
The Virtuous make of them the best,  
And put them out to Fame for Interest.  
With a frail good they wisely buy  
The solid Purchase of Eternity.  
They whilst Life's air they breath, consider well and know  
Th'account they must hereafter given below.  
Whereas th'unjust and Covetous above,  
In deep unlovely vaults,  
By the just decrees of jove  
Unrelenting torments prove,  
The heavy Necessary effects of Voluntary Faults.   

7.  
Whilst in the Lands of unexhausted Light  
Over which the Godlike Sun's unwearied sight,  
Near Sinks in Clouds, or Sleeps in Night,  
An endless Spring of Age the Good enjoy,  
Where neither Want does pinch, nor Plenty cloy.  
There neither Earth nor Sea they blow,  
Nor aught to Labour owe  
For Food, that whilst it nour'ishes does decay,  
And in the Lamp of Life consumes away.  
Thrice had these men through mortal bodies past,  
Did thrice the trial undergo,  
Till all their little Dross was purg'ed at last,  
The Furnace had no more to do.  
Than in rich Satur's peaceful state  
Were they for sacred Treasures plac'ed,  
The Muse-discovered World of Islands Fortunate.   

8.  
Soft-footed Winds with tuneful voices there  
Dance through the perfumed Air.  
There Silver Rivers through enamelled Meadows glide,  
And golden Trees enrich their side.  
The illustrious Leaves no dropping Autumn fear,  
And jewels for their fruit they bear.  
Which by the Blessed are gathered  
For Bracelets to the Arm, and Guirlands to the Head.  
Here all the Hero's, and their Poets live,  
Wife Rhadamanthus did the Sentence given,  
Who for his justice was thought fit  
With Sovereign Saturn on the Bench to sit.  
Peleus here, and Cadmus reign,  
Here great Achilles wrathful now not more,  
Since his blessed Mother (who before  
Had try'ed it on his Body 'in vain)  
Dipped now his Soul in Stygian Lake,  
Which did from thence a divine Hardness take,  
That does from Passion and from Vice Invulnerable make.   

9  
To Theron, Muse, bring back thy wand'ring Song,  
Whom those bright Troops expect impatiently;  
And may they do so long.  
How, noble Archer, do thy wanton Arrows fly  
At all the Game that does but cross thy Eye?  
Shoot, and spare not, for I see  
Thy sounding Quiver can ne'er emptied be;  
Let Art use Method and good Husbandry,  
Art lives on Nature's Alms, is weak and poor;  
Nature herself has unexhausted store,  
Wallows in Wealth, and runs a turning Maze,  
That no vulgar Eye can trace.  
Art instead of mounting high,  
About her humble Food does hov'ering fly,  
Like the ignoble Crow, rapine and noise does love,  
Whilst Nature, like the sacred Bird of jove,  
Now bears loud Thunder, and anon with silent joy  
The beauteous Phrygian Boy,  
Defeats the Strong, o'ertakes the Flying prey;  
And sometimes basks in th'open Flames of Day,  
And sometimes too he shrowds,  
His soaring wings among the Clouds.   

10.  
Leave, wanton Muse, thy roving flight,  
To thy loud String the well-fletcht Arrow put,  
Let Agrigentum be the But,  
And Theron be the White.  
And jest the Name of Verse should given  
Malicious men pretext to misbelieve,  
By the Castalian waters swear,  
(A sacred Oath no Poets dare  
To take in vain,  
Not more then Gods do that of Styx profane)  
Swear in no City ere before,  
A better man, or greater-souled was born,  
Swear that Theron sure has sworn  
No man neare him should be poor.  
Swear that noon ere had such a graceful art,  
Fortune's free gifts as freely to impart  
With an Unenvious hand, and an unbounded Heart.   

11.  
But in this thankless world the Givers  
Are envi'ed e'en by the Receivers.  
'Tis now the cheap and frugal fashion,  
Rather to Hid then Pay the Obligation.  
nay worse much then so  
It now an Artifice does grow,  
Wrongs and outrages to do,  
Jest men should think we ow.  
Such Monsters, Theron, has thy Virtue found,  
But all the malice they profess,  
Thy secure Honour cannot wound:  
For thy vast Bounties are so numberless,  
That them or to Conceal, or else to Tell,  
Is equally Impossible.   

NOTES.  

1.  
PInd. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
Hymni-dominantes Cytharae, quem Deum, quem Heroem. quem Virum celebraimus? Pisa quidem jovis est, Olympicum autem certamen instituit Hercules, primitias belli, sed Theronem ob cursum in quadrigis victorem sonare oportet voce, justum & hospitalem, columen Agrigenti, laudatorum progenitorum florem▪ rectorem urbium.  
Whereas Pindar addresses himself to his Song, I change it to his Muse; which, methinks, is better called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, then the Ode which she makes. Some interpret 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 passively (i) as subjects of the Harp; but the other sense is more Grammatical.  
Horace translates this beginning, Lib. 1. Ode 12. Quem virum aut Heroa Lyrâ vel acri Tibiâ fumes celebrare Clio. Quem Deum cujus resonet jocosa Nomen Imago? The latter part of which I have added to Pindar. Horace inverts the order; but the other is more natural, to begin with the God, and end with the Man  
Pisa, a Town in Elis, where the Olympic Games were celebrated every fifth year by the Institution of Hercules, after he had slain Augias' Prince of Elis, in honour of jupiter, surnamed Olympicus from the Mountain Olympus, which is just by Pisa.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. First-fruits, from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Top, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Heap, because they were taken from the Top of the Heap of Corn, etc. Some interpret it, the spoils of war dedicated to the Gods; so the old Greek Scholiast▪ I think the Olympic Games are so called, because they were sacred exercises that disposed and improved men for the war, a Sacred bloodless war, dedicated to the Gods.   

2.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Qui cum multum laborassent animo, sacram obtinuerunt sedem fluvii, Siciliaeque fuerunt oculus, Vitaque insequebatur foelix, divitias & gratiam afferns nativis virtutibus. Verum OH Saturnie fili Rheae, sedem Olympi habitans, & certaminum summitatem, viámque Alphei, delectatus Hymnis, benevolus, arvum patrium adhuc ipsis cura & postero generi.  
They say, that Haemon the Son of Polydorus, the Son of Cadmus, having slain one of his fellow Citizens as he was hunting, fled from Thebes to Athens, afterwards to Rhodes, and from thence into Sicily, where he built Agrigentum; and from him to Theron, are reckoned many generations; but the progenitors of Theron in a right line, come not thither till a long time after.  
I rather choose to call Agrigentum, then Therons' Ancestors (as Pindar does) the Eye of Sicily. The Metaphor in this sense is more natural. So julian terms Damascus, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Eye of all the East. So Catullus, Sirmion, Insularum ocellum, The Eye of Islands. Agrigentum took the name from the River Acragas. or Agragas, upon which it stands, that from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and γή as it were Primaria terra, An especial soil; or from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Land good for the plow. I know very well, that it is not certain that this Town was built by Therons' Ancestors; neither do the words of Pindar import more then their dwelling there: nevertheless, the thing being doubtful, I make bold to take that sense which pleases me best.  
juppiter.  
The River of Elis, by the side of which the Olympic Games were celebrated.   

3.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Actorum autem vel jure vel injuriâ infectum ne Tempus quidem omnium pater possit reddere operum finem. Sed Oblivio cum sorte prospera fiat. Bonis enim à gaudiis malum molestum domitum perit, quando divina sors mittit de coelo altas divitias. Convenit hic sermo Cadmi filiabus bono solio collocatis, illae passae sunt magna (mala) sed gravis luctus opprimitur à potioribus bonis. Vivit quidem in coelo mortua fragore fulminis capillis▪ passis Semele▪ Pallas autem illam amat, & maximè jupiter & filius ejus hederiger. Aiunt etiam in mari cum filiabus Nerei marinis Inoni vitam immortalem constitutam esse per omne tempus.  
Eurip. says excellently well of Oblivion to this purpose, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  OH Oblivion the wise Disposer of Evils, and the Goddess propitious to unhappy men!  
For the examples of the change of great misfortunes into greater felicities, he makes use of the Stories of Ino and Semele; because they were both of Therons' race, being the Daughters of Cadmus. Ino, after her husband Athamas in his madness had slain Learchus, be'lieving him to be a wild beast, fled with her other son Melicerta, in her arms, to a Rock, and from thence cast herself into the sea; where, at the desire of Venus, Neptune made the child a God, and her a Goddess of the sea; him by the name of Palaemon, and her of Leucothea. See Ovid. Metam. l. 4. The Blue-eyed Nereids (i) The Sea-Nymphs, who were the Daughters of Nereus and Doris. Nereus was the son of Oceanus and Thetis, and is taken figuratively by the Poets for the sea itself.  
A known Fable. See Ovid. Metam. l. 3. Semele having made jupiter promise, that he would deny her nothing, asked that he would lie with her in all his Majesty of the Thunderer, and as he was want to do with juno; which her mortal nature not being able to endure, she was burnt to death with his Thunder and Lightning; but Bacchus her child, by jupiter, then in the womb, was saved; for which reason, I call it her Midwife Thunder.  
Secure. Without fear of being burnt again.   

4.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Certe terminus nullus cognoscitur mortalium vitae, neque unquam tranquillum diem, filium Solis, stabili cum bono finiemus. Sed fluxus alias alii cum voluptatibus & laboribus homines invadunt. Sic & fatum, quod paternam hanc habet jucundam sortem cum divitiis à Deo profedite, aliquam etiam cladem contrariam adducit alio tempore, ex quo fatalis filius occurrens interfecit Laium, & in Pythone editum Oraculum vetus perfecit.  
Not men that go a journey, but all men, who in this life are termed Viatores, Travellers.  
Oedipus. Fatal, because of the Predictions. Laius' King of Thebes being married to jocasta the daughter of Creon, enquired of the Oracle concerning his Issue, and was told that he should be slain by it. Whereupon he commanded jocasta to put to death whatsoever she should bring forth; but she moved with natural compassion, and the great beauty of the Infant, caused one of her servants to expose it in the woods, who making an hole through the feet, hung it by them upon a Tree (from which wound in his feet, he was called Oedipus) and so left it. But Phorbas, chief Herdsman of Polybius; King of Corinth passing by, found the Child, and presented it to the Queen his Mistress; who having noon of her own, looked upon it as one given her by the Gods, and bred it up as her son; who being come to man's age, and desirous to know the truth of his birth, enquired it of the Oracle; and was answered, that he should meet his father in Phocis; wither he went, and there in a tumult ignorantly slew Laius, and after married his Mother jocasta, by whom he had Eteocles and Polynices, the latter Therons' ancestor.   

5.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Sed intuita Acris Erinnys interfecit ei per mutuam caedem prolem martiam, at relictus est Thersander interfecto Polynici juvenilibus & in certaminibus & in pugnis belli honoratus, germen auxiliare Adrastidum domui, a quo seminis habentem radicem decet filium Aenesidami encomiastica carmina lyrásque consequi, nam apud Olympiam ipse praemium accepit, apud Pythonam autem etc. Isthmum communes gratiae ad fratrem ejusdem sortis participem flores attulerunt quadrigarum duodecim cursus conficientium.  
One may ask, Why he makes mention of these tragical accidents and actions of Oedipus and his Sons, in an Ode dedicated to the praise of Theron and his Ancestors? I answer, That they were so notorious, that it was better to excuse then conceal them; for which cause, he attributes them to Fatality; and to mitigate the thing yet more, I add, The innocent Parricide.  
Eteocles and Polynices: The war of which two Brethrens, and their slaughter of one another, is made so famous by Statius his most excellent Poem, that it is needless to tell their History.  
Thersander, the Son of Polynices by Argia, together with Diomedes, brought an Army against Thebes, to revenge their Father's deaths, and took it: After that, he carried fifty ships to the siege of Troy, and was at last chosen for his valour to be one of the persons that were shut up in the belly of the wooden Horse, and so entered the Town. Virg. l. 2. Aen. 
— Laeti se robore promunt,  
Thersandrus, Stheneleusque Duces, & dirus Ulysses.   
There are several great actions of Therons' mentioned in History, besides his successes in the public Games, which were in that age, not lesle honourable then Victories in War; as that he expelled Terillus out of Hymera, which he had usurped, and defeated Hamilcar, General of the Carthaginians in Sicily, the same day that the Greeks overthrew the Persians' in that memorable battle of Salamis, Herod. l. 7.  
Because in the Olympic Games he obtained the victory alone, in those of Nemea and Isthmus jointly with his Brother, who had shared with him in the expense of setting forth the Chariots.   

6.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
Successus certaminis dispellit molestias, divitiae autem virtutibus ornatae afferunt (hujas rei) opportunitatem indagatricem, sustinentes profundam sollicitudinem. (OH Divitiae) stella praefulgida, verum homini lumen! qui eas habet, etiam futurum novit, quod mortuorum hîc intractabiles mentes poenas luunt, & quae fiant in hoc jovis imperio scelera judicat aliquis, inimicâ sententiam pronuntians necessitate.  
The Connexion of this Stanza is very obscure in the Greek, and could not be rendered without much Paraphrase.  
This is not a Translation of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. for that is rendered by (Above) but an innocent addition to the Poet, which does no harm, nor I fear, much Good.   

7.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
At aequaliter noctu semper, aequaliter interdiù Solem habentes non laboriosam boni degunt vitam, neque terram neque marinam aquam vexantes robore manuum inopem propter victum, sed apud honoratos deos (vel, Cum its qui honorantur à Diis) illi qui gaudebant fidelitate, illachrymabili fruuntur aevo, alii autem intolerabilem visu patiuntur cruciatum. Quicunque sustinuerunt ter commorati continere animam ab omnibus injustis peregerunt jovis viam ad Saturni urbem.  
A description of the Fortunate Islands, or Elysian Fields, so often mentioned by the Poets, and much after this manner. Valer. Hic Lucet via latè Igne Dei, donec silvas & amaena piorum Deveniant, campósque ubi Sol, totúmque per annum Durat aprica dies. Virg. Aen. 6. 
Devenere locos laetos & amaena vireta  
Fortunatorum nemorum sedésque beatas,  
Largior hic campos aether, & lumine vestit  
Purpureo, Solémque suum, sua sidera norunt.   
In which Homer shows the way to Pindar, and all. Odyss. 4. 
‛ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
‛ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,  
▪ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,  
‛ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,  
‛ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.   
According to the opinion of Pythagoras, which was much followed by the Poets, and become them better, that souls passed still from one body to another, till by length of time, and many pennances, they had purged away all their imperfections. Virg. Aen. 6. 
— Pauci laeta arva tenemus,  
Donec longa dies perfecto temporis orbe,  
Concretam exemit labem, purúmque reliquit  
Aetherium sensum atque aurai simplicis ignem.  And a little before, 
— Animae quibus altera fato  
Corpora debentur.  But the restriction of this to the third Metempsychosis, I do not remember any where else. It may be thrice is taken here indefinitely for several times, as is most frequent among the Poets.  
Saturn is said to govern here, because the Golden-Age was under his reign, from the resemblance of the condition of mankind then, to that of the Blessed now in the other World.   

8.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
Vbi beatorum Insulam Oceanides aurae perflant, florésque auri coruscant, alii quidem in humo ab illustribus arboribus, alios autem aqua educat, quorum monilibus manus implicant & corollis (capita) juxta recta decreta Rhadamanthi, quem pater Saturnus maritus Rheae omnium supremum habentis solium, dignum sibi habet Assessorem, Peleus & Cadmus inter hos recensentur, Achillémque eò transtulit mater, postquam jovis animum precibus flexit. There follows a Description of Achilles, from the slaughter of Hector, Cygnus, and Memnon, which I thought better to leave out; and instead of it, to add by what means Thetis made his Soul, that was before so tainted with Anger, Pride and Cruelty, capable of being admitted into this place; which I believed it not improper to attribute to her dipping of it in Styx, as she had formerly done his body, all but his heel, by which she held him, and which was therefore the only part where he was Vulnerable. That the water of Styx might have the like effects upon his soul, I am authorised to feign, by the common Tradition of the water of Lethe, whose power upon the Soul is no lesle.  
Of the three judges of the Dead, he names only one, Virg. Aen. 6. Gnossius haec Rhadamanthus habet durissima regna, etc. And the Grammarians derive his name from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, from taming men by the severity of his justice. Cadmus was chosen to be named here for one of the Heroes, by an apparent reason, Theron being descended from him; as for Peleus and Achilles, there is no particular cause. The Poets imitate sometimes the Divine proceeding, and will have mercy on whom they will have mercy, without any reflecting upon any peculiar merit. It was not hard indeed for those two to be admitted here; for Aeacus, one of the three judges, was Father to the one▪ and Grandfather to the other. I make bold to add, that the Poets are there too, for Pindar's honour, that I may not say, for my own.   

〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
Multae mihi sub cubito celeres Sagittae intrà Pharetram sunt sonantes prudentibus, apud vulgus autem interpretibus egent. Sapiens est qui multa novit naturae viribus, qui disciplina utuntur vehementes garrulitate sicut Corvi irrita clamant adversus jovis Avem divinam.  
The Connexion in the Poet is very obscure. This Metaphor of Quiver and Arrows does much delight him. Olymp. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Me autem rectum telorum mittentem, turbinem praeter scopum non oportet multa tela dirigere manibus. The like is in the first Olympic, and divers other places. Horace in imitation. Pro me reconditum Thalia telum, etc.  
Pindar falls frequently into this common place of preferring Nature before Art, as in the first Nemeaean Ode, etc. The Scholiast says, he does it in derogation from his adversary Bacchilides. The comparison of Art to a Crow, and Nature to an Eagle, is very nobly extravagant, but it was necessary to enlarge it.  
The Poets feigned, that the Eagle carried Ioves Thunder, because of the strength, courage and swiftness of that Bird. They likewise feigned, that jupiter falling in love with Ganymedes▪ the Son of Tros, a most beautiful Boy, carried him up to heaven upon the back of an Eagle, there to fill Nectar to him when he feasted, and for a more ungodly use. Hor. Expertus fidelem jupiter in Ganymed flavo.  
Nothing but the Eagle is said to be able to look full right into the Sun, and to make that trial of her young ones, breeding up noon but those that can do so.   

10.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
Intends nunc arcum in scopum; agedum anime mi; Quem petimus ex molli ment gloriosas sagittas mittentes? In Agrigentum dirigens proferam veraci ment jusjurandum peperisse nullam centum annis civitatem utrum amicis magis benevolum pectore, & minus invidum manu.  
Virg. 
— Stygiámque poludem  
Dii cujus jurare timent & fallere numen.  Castalian waters. A fountain in Phocis, at the foot of Parnassus, dedicated to Apollo and the Muses; so called from the Virgin Castalia, who flying from Apollo▪ was there turned into a Fountain.   

11:  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉;  
Sed Invidia laudem invasit injustè occurrens, à furiosis viris tumultuari volens, & occultare beneficia injuriis▪ Siquidem arena numerum refugit, ille quot gaudia aliis contulerit quis recensere poterit?     

THE FIRST Nemeaen Ode OF PINDAR.  
Chromius, the Son of Agesidamus, a young Gentleman of Sicily, is celebrated for having won the prize of the Chariot-Race in the Nemeaen Games (a Solemnity instituted first to celebrated the Funerals of Opheltes, as is at large described by Statius; and afterwards continued every third year, with an extraordinrry conflux of all Greece, and with incredible honour to the Conquerors in all the exercises there practised) upon which occasion, the Poet gins with the commendation of his Country, which I take to have been Ortygia (an Island blonging to Sicily, and a part of Syracuse, being joined to it by a Bridge) though the title of the Ode call him Aetnaean Chromius, perhaps because he was made Governor of that Town by Hieron. From thence he falls into the praise of Chromius his person, which he draws from his great endowments of Mind and Body, and most especially from his Hospitality, and the worthy, use of his richeses. He likeneth his beginning to that of Hercules, and according to his usual manner of being transported with any good Hint that meets him in his way, passing into a Digression of Hercules his slaying the two Serpents in his Cradle, concludes the Ode with that History.  
ODE.  

1.  
BEauteous Ortygia, the first breathing place  
Of great Alpheus close and amorous race,  
Fair Delos Sister, the Childbed  
Of bright Latona, where she bred  
The Original New-Moon,  
Who saw'st her tender Forehead ere the Horns were grown.  
Who like a gentle Scion, newly started out,  
From Syracusa's side dost sprout.  
Thee first my Song does greet  
With numbers smooth and fleet,  
As thy own Horses airy feet  
When they young Chromius Chariot drew,  
And o'er the ●emeaean race triumphant flew.  
jove will approve my Song and Me,  
jove is concerned in Nemea, and in Thee.   

2▪  
With jove, my Song; this happy man,  
Young Chromius too with jove began;  
From hence come his success,  
Nor aught he therefore like it lesle,  
Since the best Fame is that of Happiness.  
For whom should we esteem above  
The Men whom Gods do love.  
'Tis them alone the Muse too does approve.  
Lo how it makes this victory shine  
Over all the fruitful Isle of Proserpina!  
The Torches which her Mother brought  
When the ravished Maid she sought,  
Appeared not half so bright,  
But cast a weaker light  
Through earth, and air, and Seas, and up to th' heavenly Vauls'▪   

3▪  
To thee, OH Proserpina, this Isle I given,  
Said jove, and as he said,  
Smiled, and bend his gracious Head.  
And thou, OH Isle, said he, for ever thrive,  
And keep the value of our Gift alive.  
As Heaven with Stars, so let  
The Country thick with Towns be set,  
And numberless as Stars  
Let all the Towns be then  
Replenished thick with Men,  
Wise in Peace, and Bold in Wars.  
Of thousand glorious Towns the Nation,  
Of thousand glorious Men each Towns a Constellation.  
Nor let their warlike Laurel scorn,  
With the Olympic Olive to be worn,  
Whose gentler Honours do so well the Brows of Peace adorn.   

4.  
Go to great Syracuse, my Muse, and wait  
At Chromius Hospitable Gate.  
'Twill open wide to let thee in,  
When thy Lyres voice shall but begin.  
joy, Plenty, and free Welcome dwells within.  
The Tyrian Beds thou shalt found ready dressed,  
The Ivory Table crowded with a Feast.  
The Table which is free for every Guest,  
No doubt will thee admit,  
And feast more upon Thee, then Thou on it.  
Cromius and Thou art met aright,  
For as by Nature thou dost Writ,  
So he by Nature Love's, and does by Nature Fight.   

5.  
Nature herself, whilst in the womb he was,  
Sowed Strength and Beauty through the forming Mass,  
They mov'ed the vital Lump in every part,  
And carv'ed the Members out with wondrous art.  
She filled his Mind with Courage, and with Wit,  
And a vast Bounty, apt and fit  
For the great Dowry which Fortune made to it.  
'Tis Madness sure Treasures to hoard,  
And make them useless, as in Ours, remain,  
To loose th' Occasion Fortune does afford  
Fame, and public Love to gain.  
Even for self-concerning ends;  
'Tis wiser much to hoard up Friends.  
Though Happy men the present goods possess,  
The Unhappy have their share in future Hopes not lesle.   

6.  
How early has young Chromius begun  
The Race of Virtue, and how swiftly run,  
And born the noble Prize away,  
Whilst other youths yet at the Barriere stay?  
Noon but Alcides ere set earlier forth then He;  
The God, his Fathers, Blood naught could restrain,  
'Twas ripe at first, and did disdain  
The slow advance of dull Humanity,  
The big-limm'ed Babe in his huge Cradle lay,  
Too weighty to be rocked by Nurse's hands,  
Wrapped in purple swadling-bands.  
When, Lo, by jealous Juno's fierce commands,  
Two dreadful Serpents come  
Rolling and hissing loud into the room.  
To the bold Babe they trace their bidden way,  
Forth from their flaming eyes dread Lightnings went,  
Their gaping Mouths did forked Tongues like Thunderbolts present▪   

7.  
Some of th'amazed Women dropped down dead  
With fear, some wildly fled  
About the room, some into corners crept,  
Where silently they shook and wept.  
All naked from her bed the passionate Mother leapt  
To save or perish with her Child,  
She trembled, and she cry'ed, the mighty Infant smiled.  
The mighty Infant seemed well pleased  
At his gay gilded foes,  
And as their spotted necks up to the Cradle risen,  
With his young warlike hands on both he seis'ed;  
In vain they raged, in vain they hist,  
In vain their armed Tails they twist,  
And angry Circles cast about,  
Black Blood, and fiery Breath, and poys'onous Soul he squeezes out.   

8.  
With their drawn Swords  
In ran Amphitryo, and the Theban Lords,  
With doubting Wonder, and with troubled joy  
They seen the conquering Boy  
Laugh, and point downwards to his prey,  
Where in death's pangs, and their own gore they folding lay.  
When wise Tiresias this beginning knew,  
He told with ease the things t'ensue,  
From what Monsters he should free  
The Earth, the Air, and Sea,  
What mighty Tyrants he should slay,  
Moore Monsters far then They.  
How much at Phlaegras field the distressed Gods should own  
To their great Offspring here below,  
And how his Club should there outdo,  
Apollo's silver Bow, and his own Father's Thunder too.   

9  
And that the grateful Gods at last,  
The race of his laborious Virtue past,  
Heaven, which he sav'ed, should to him given,  
2 Where marry'ed to aeternal Youth he should for ever live;  
Drink Nectar with the Gods, and all his senses please  
In their harmonious golden Palaces.  
Walk with ineffable Delight  
Through the thick Groves of never-withering Light,  
And as he walks affright  
The Lion and the Bear,  
Bull, Centaur, Scorpion, all the radiant Monsters there.   

NOTES.  

〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Respiramen reverendum Alphei. Alpheus was a River in Elis, which the Poets feigned to have fallen in love with the Nymph Arethusa, whom when he was ready to ravish, Diana turned her into a Fountain; which jest her Lover should mix his waters with hers, fled by secret ways under ground, and under the Sea into Sicily, rising up in the Island Ortygia, wither Alpheus also followed, and there mingled with her.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Deli soror. The Commentator says, because Delos too was called Ortygia. I think, because Apollo was born in Delos, and Diana in Ortygia; therefore by a figure he calls the Islands too, where they were born Sisters. Hom. Hymn. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Which for Pindar's sake, I am content to take for this Ortygia, and not that Island among the Cycladeses of the same name.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Cubile Artemidis. Because she was born there, I therefore chose rather to call it, Latona's Childbed, then her Bed.  
Because other New Moons seem but returns of Diana (which is the same with the Goddess Luna) then she had her beginning.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Germen inclytarum Syracusarum, for the reason mentioned in the Argument.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. A te ●●a●iloquus Hymn●●s cum impetu aggreditur exponere magnam laudem procellipedûm equorum in jovis Aetnaei gratiam, Currus etiam Chromii & Nemea▪ me incitant ut adjungam meum laudatorium melos triumphantibus (certaminum) laboribus.  
In Nemea; because Hercules having slain the Nemeaean Lion, did sacrifice jovi Nem●ao▪ and dedicated the Games to him. In Thee: For having given this Island to Proserpina, for Ceres' sake, for the birth of Diana; for being himself surnamed (as before) Aetnaean jupiter, from Aetna, where his Thunder was likewise forged.   

2.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
Prooemia sumpta sunt à Diis etc. illius viri faelicibus virtutibus, est enim in felicitate summum fastigium omnis gloriae.  
Of these Torches which Ceres lighted at Aetna, and carried with her all about the world in the search of Proserpina, Claudian speaks thus, L. 3. de R. Proserp. 
Quacunque it, in aequore fulvis  
Adnatat umbra fretis, extremáque lucis imago  
Italiam Lybiámque ferit, clarescit Hetruscum  
Littus, & accenso resplendent aequore Syrteses.  At Enna, where Ceres was most religiously worshipped, her Statue was made with Torches in her hands. See Tull▪ 4. Act. in Verr.   

3.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
Nunc excita splendorem aliquem Insulae quam Olympi Dominus jupiter dedit Proserpinae & annuit capillis se principem fertilis soli Siciliam pinguem exaltaturum celebribus fastigiis civitatum, dedítque eis Saturnius populum equis gaudentem, & memorem ferrei belli qui spè etiam foliis aureis Olympiacarum Olivarum se immisceret.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Is very eloquent in the Greek, but I knew not how to tender it but by Head. Homer expresses the same sense most excellently. Il. 1. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.   
Pindar in his third Olympic, by a great Geographical Error (but pardonable in those times) says, that Hercules obtained of the Hyperborcans at the Fountain of Ister, or the Danube Plants of wild-olive, to set about the Temple of jupiter in Pisa; and ordained, that the Conquerors in those Games should always be crowned with Garlands of the said Olives, It may be asked, in the celebration of a Nemeaean Victory, why he rather mentions the Olympic Prizes, born away by the Sicilians, then those of Nemea? Some say, that in the Nemeaean Games too, the like Olive-Garlands were used at first before those of Apium; which I hardly believe, if the Institution of them was to celebrated a funeral, as the general opinion is. I think he chooses the Olympic Games, only because they were the most famous of all.   

4.  

〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.   
Steti autem in vestibulo viri hospitalis egregie cantans, ubi mihi conveniens coena adornata est, neque enim frequentium peregrinorum ignarae sunt aedes ejus.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Alias aliorum artes sunt, sed oportet rectis in viis ambulantem naturâ pugnare.   

5.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Auxiliatur enim operi quidem robur, consiliis autem mens, quibus naturalis est futurorum providentia, Tuis autem in moribus, ô Agesidami fili, horum & illorum est usus. Non cupio multas in aedibus divitias absconditas habere, sed ex iis quae adsunt bona percipere, & bené audire amicis subveniens, communes enim veniunt spes aerumnosor●m.   

6.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc.  
Ego autem Herculem amplector libenter in cacuminibus virtutum maximis antiquum proferens sermonem, etc.  
Pindar, according to his manner, leaves the Reader to found as he can, the connexion between Chromius and the story of Hercules, which it seemed to me necessary to make a little more perspicuous.   

7.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
Intolerabilis metus percussit mulieres quae inserviebant Alcmenae lecto, quin etiam ipsa sine vestibus prosiliens pedibus è lecto propulsavit injuriam bestiarum.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. In thalami penetralia lata venerunt pueris celeres malas circumplicare gestientes, sed ille rectum extendit caput, & specimen primum pugnae edidit. I leave out the mention of his Brother Iphiclus, who lay in the same cradle, because it would but embroil the story, and adds nothing to the simlitude. Pherecides writes, that Amphitryo himself put these Serpents into the Chamber, to try which was his, and which jupiters' Son.   

〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Confestim autem Cadmaeorum duces aereis cum armis accurrerunt, Amphitryo quoque nudum vaginâ ensem quatiens venit acutis doloribus saucius. I leave out a sentence that follows; which is a wise saying, but, methinks, to no great purpose in that place.  
This is excellently expressed in the Greek, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Constitit autem stupore a cerbo delectabiliq, permixtus.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Vicinum itaque advocavit jovis altissimi Prophetam eximium vera vaticinantem Tiresiam, hic autem ei dixit totique turbae in quibus versaturus esset fortunis.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Quot in terrâ interfecturus esset quot in mari belluas perniciosas, & cuinam hominum cum obliquâ insolentiâ incedenti, inimicissimo mortem daret, quinetiam cum Dii cum Gyantibus in campo Phlegrae praelio concurrerent, telorum illius impetu praeclaram pulveri commixtum iri illorum comam. Where I have ventured to change what he says of his Darts, into his Club, that being his most famous weapon.  
The Earth; as the Erymanthian Boar, the Nemeaean Lions. The Air, as the Stymphalian Birds. And the Sea, as the Whale, which the Scholiast says he slew, and cities Homer for the Story.  
As Antaeus, Busiris, Augias', etc.  
The place of the battle between the Gods and the Giants, was Phlegra, a Town in Thrace, where the Earth pronounced an Oracle, that the Giants could not be destroyed, but by the help of two Heroes, or Half-gods'; for which purpose, the Gods made choice of Hercules and Bacchus, and by their assistance got the victory. Phlegra is called so, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, To burn; perhaps, because of the Giants being destroyed there chief by Thunder; or, as others, from Baths of Hot-water which arise there. Eustathius says, it was likewise called Pallene, and gave occasion to the fable of the Giant's fight, from the wickedness of the Inhabitants.  
According to Homer's ordinary Epithet of Apollo, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Silver-bowed.   

9:  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Ipsum verò in pace omne tempus deinceps acturum, tranquillitatem magnorum laborum praemium eximium consecutum, receptâ in beatis aedibus Hebe coniuge florente, & nuptiis celebratis in domo jovis venerandi quam ipse admiratione videret.  
The Names of Constellations, so called first by the Poets, and since retained by the Astronomers. They might be frighted by Hercules, because he was the famous Monster-killer.     

The Praise of Pindar. In Imitation of Horace his second Ode, B. 4. Pindarum quisquis studet aemulari, etc.  

1.  
PIndar is imitable by noon;  
The Phoenix Pindar is a vast Species alone.  
Who ere but Daedalus with waxed wings could fly,  
And neither sink too low, nor soar too high?  
What could he who followed claim,  
But of vain boldness the unhappy fame,  
And by his fall a Sea to name?  
Pindar's unnavigable Song  
Like a swollen Flood from some steep Mountain pours along.  
The Ocean meets with such a Voice  
From his enlarged Mouth, as drowns the Ocean's noise.   

2.  
So Pindar does new Words and Figures roll  
Down his impetuous Dithyrambique Tide,  
Which in no Channel deigns t'abide,  
Which neither Banks nor Dikes control.  
Whither th' Immortal Gods he sings  
In a not lesle Immortal strain,  
Or the great Acts of God-descended Kings,  
Who in his Numbers still survive and Reign.  
Each rich embroidered Line,  
Which their triumphant Brows around,  
By his sacred Hand is bound,  
Does all their starry Diadems outshine.   

3.  
Whither at Pisa's race he please  
To carve in polished Verse the Conquer'ors Images,  
Whither the Swift, the Skilful, or the Strong,  
Be crowned in his Nimble, Artful, Vigorous Song:  
Whither some brave young man's untimely fate  
In words worth Dying for he celebrated,  
Such mournful, and such pleasing words,  
As joy to'his Mothers and his Mistress grief affords:  
He bids him Live and Grow in fame,  
Among the Stars he sticks his Name:  
The Grave can but the Dross of him devour,  
So small is Deaths, so great the Poet's power.   

4.  
Lo, how th'obsequious Wind, and swelling Air  
The Theban Swan does upwards bear  
Into the walks of Clouds, where he does play,  
And with extended Wings opens his liquid way.  
Whilst, alas, my tim'erous Muse  
Unambitious tracks pursues;  
Does with weak unballast wings,  
About the mossy Brooks and Springs;  
About the Trees new-blossom'ed Heads,  
About the Gardens painted Beds,  
About the Fields and flowery Meads,  
And all inferior beauteous things  
Like the laborious Bee,  
For little drops of Honey flee,  
And there with Humble Sweets contents her Industry.   

NOTES.  

1.  
PIndar was incredibly admired and honoured among the Ancients, even to that degree that we may believe, they seen more in him then we do now: Insomuch, that long after his death, when Thebes was quite burnt and destroyed (by the Lacedæmonians, and by Alexander the Great) both times the House wherein he had lived was along preserved by public Authority, as a place sacred and inviolable. Among the very many Eulogies of him, I will only cite that of Quinctilian (then whom no man perhaps ever living was a better judge) L. 10. c. 1. Novem Lyricorum longe Pindarus princeps, spiritus magnificentiâ, sententiis, figuris beatissimus, rerum verborúmque copiâ & velut quodam eloquentiae flumine, propter quae Horatius nemini credit eum imitabilem. Where he applies Horace his similitudes of a River to his Wit; but it is such a River, as when Poetical Fury, 
Tanquam fera diluvies quietum  
Irritat annem.  Hor. And like the rest of that description of the River. 
Nunc pace delabentis Hetrusc●m  
In mare, nunc lapides ades●s  
Stirpesque raptas & pecus & domos  
Volventis un● non ●ine montium  
Clamore vicinaeque silvae.  For which reason, I term his Song Vnnavigable; for it is able to drown any Head that is not strong built and well ballasted. Horace in another place calls it a Fountain; from the unexhausted abundance of his Invention.   

2.  
There are noon of Pindar's Dithyrambiques extant. Dithyrambiques were Hymus made in honour of Bacchus, who did, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, come into the world through two Doors, his Mother Semele's Womb, and his Father jupiters' Thigh. Others think, that Dithyrambus was the name of a Theban Poet, who invented that kind of verse, which others also attribute to Arion. Pindar himself in the 13. Olymp. seems to given the Invention to the Corinthians, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Vnde Bacchi exortae sunt venustates cum Boves agente Dithyrambo. For it seems an Ox was given in reward to the Poet; but others interpret 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, from the loud repeating or singing of them. It was a bold, free, enthysiastical kind of Poetry, as of men inspired by Bacchus, that is, Half-Drunk, from whence come the Greek Proverb. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
You are as mad as a Dithyrambique Poet.  And another, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
There are no Dithyrambiques made by drinking water.  Something like this kind (but I believe with lesle Liberty) is Horace his 19 Ode of the 2. B. 
Bacchum in remotis carmina r●pibus  
Vidi docentem, etc.  And nearer yet to it comes his 25 Ode of the 4. B. Quo me Bacche rapis tui plenum? quae n●mora, aut quos agor in specus, Velooc men●● nov●? For he is presently half-mad, and promises I know not what, 
Dicam insigne recens,  
Indictum ●re alio. And,  
Nil parvum a●t humili modo,  
Nil mortale loquar.  And then he ends like a man ranting in his drink, that falls suddenly asleep.  
Banks, natural; Dikes, artificial. It will neither be bounded and circumscribed by Nature, nor by Art  
Almost all the ancient Kings to make themselves more venerable to their subjects, derived their pedigree from some God, but at last that would not content them, and they made themselves Gods, as some of the Roman Emperors.  
Diadems (which were used by the ancient Kings, as Crowns are now, for the Mark of Royalty, and were much more convenient) were bindings of white Ribbon about the head, set and adorned with precious stones; which is the reason I call them Starry Diadems. The word comes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, To bind about.   

3.  
The Conquerors in the Olympic Games, were not only Crowned with a Garland of Wilde-Olive, but also had a Statue erected to them.  
The chief Exercises there were Running, Leaping, Wrestling, the Discus, which was the casting of a great round Stone, or Ball, made of Iron or Brass; The Cestus', or Whorlebats, Horse-races, and Chariot-races.  
For he wrote Threni; or Funeral Elegies: but they are all lost, as well as his Hymns, Tragedies, Encomid, and several other works.  
So Hor. 1. 4. Od. 25. 
Stellis inserere, & concilio jovis.    

4.  
From the Fabulous, but universally received Tradition of Swans singing most sweetly before their Death (though the truth is Geese and They are alike Melodious) the Poets have assumed to themselves the title of Swans, Hor. 1. 2. Od. 20. would be believed to be Metamorphosed into one, jam jam, residunt cruribus asperae Pelles, & album mutor in alitem Superné (or Superna) nascuntúrque leves Per digitos humerósque plumae. The Anthology gives the same name to Pindar, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Sweet-tongued Pindar the Heliconian Swan of Thebes. So Virgil is called, Mantuanus olor, The Swan of of Mantua; Theocritus terms the Poets, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The Birds of the Muses; which the Commentators say, is in allusion to Swans; to which Callimachus gives the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; and in another place calls them, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. A bold word, which I know not how to tender: but they were consecrated to Apollo, and consequently beloved by the Muses and Poets.     

The Resurrection.  

1.  
NOt Winds to Voyagers at sea,  
Nor Showers to Earth more necessary be,  
(Heau'ens' vital seed cast on the womb of Earth  
To given the fruitful Year a Birth)  
Than Verse to Virtue, which does do  
The Midwife's Office, and the Nurses too;  
It feeds it strongly, and it clothes it gay,  
And when it dies, with comely pride  
Embalms it, and erects a Pyramid  
That never will decay  
Till Heaven itself shall melt away,  
And naught behinded it stay.   

2.  
Begin the Song, and strike the Living Lyre;  
Lo how the Years to come, a numerous and well-fitted Choir,  
All hand in hand do decently advance,  
And to my Song with smooth and equal measures dance.  
Whilst the Dance lasts, how long so ere it be,  
My Music's voice shall bear it company.  
Till all gentle Notes be drowned  
In the last Trumpets dreadful sound.  
That to the Spheres themselves shall silence bring,  
Untune the Universal string.  
Than all the wide extended Sky,  
And all th' harmonious Worlds on high,  
And Virgil's sacred work shall die.  
And he himself shall see in one Fire shine  
Rich Natures ancient Troy, though built by Hands Divine.   

3.  
Whom Thunder's dismal noise,  
And all that Prophets and Apostles louder spoke,  
And all the Creatures plain conspiring voice,  
Can not whilst they liv'ed, awake,  
This mightier sound shall make  
When Dead t'arise,  
And open Tombs, and open Eyes  
To the long Sluggards of five thousand years.  
This mightier Sound shall make its Hearers Ears.  
Than shall the scatter'ed Atoms crowding come  
Back to their Ancient Home,  
Some from Birds, from Fish some,  
Some from Earth, and some from Seas,  
Some from Beasts, and some from Trees.  
Some descend from Clouds on high,  
Some from Metals upwards fly,  
And where th' attending Soul naked, and shivering stands,  
Meet, falute, and join their hands.  
As dispersed Soldiers at the Trumpets call,  
Haste to their Colours all.  
Unhappy most, like Tortur'ed Men,  
Their joints new set, to be new racked again.  
To Mountains they for shelter pray,  
The Mountains shake, and run about no lesle confus'ed then They.   

4.  
Stop, stop, my Muse, alloy thy vig'orous heat,  
Kindled at a Hint so Great.  
Hold thy Pindaric Pegasus closely in,  
Which does to rage begin,  
And this steep Hill would gallop up with violent course,  
'Tis an unruly, and a hard-mouthed Horse,  
Fierce, and unbroken yet,  
Impatient of the Spur or Bit.  
Now praunces stately, and anon flies or the place,  
Disdains the servile Law of any settled pace,  
Conscious and proud of his own natural force.  
'Twill no unskilful Touch endure,  
But flings Writer and Reader too that sits not sure.   

NOTES.  

1.  
THis Ode is truly Pindarical, falling from one thing into another, after his Enthysiastical manner, and he gives a Hint for the beginning of it in his 14. Olymp. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Est aliquando hominibus ventoru●● usus, aliquando aquarum 〈◊〉 filtarum nubis, sed siquis cum labore recl●e faciat dulces Hymni lli 〈◊〉 sunt futur● a g●oriae, & ●oedus ●idele faciunt cum magnis virtutibus.   

Whilst the Motion of Time lasts, which is compared to a Dance, from the regular measures of it. 2. According to the ancient opinion of the Pythagoreans, which does much better befit Poetry, then it did Philosophy.  
Shall see the whole world burnt to ashes like Troy, the destruction of which was so excellently written by him▪ though it was built like Troy too, by Divine hands. The walls of Troy were said to be built by Apollo and Neptune.   

3.  
Not natural effect gives such impressions of Divine fear, as Thunder; as we may see by the examples of some wicked Emperors, who though they were Atheists, and made themselves Gods, yet confessed a greater divine power when they heard it, by trembling and hiding themselves, Horat. Coelo Tonantem Credidimus jovem. And Lucret▪ speaks it of Epicurus, as a thing extraordinary and peculiar of him, that the very sound of Thunder did not make him superstitious, 
Quem neque fama Deûm, neque fu●●nina, hec minitanti  
Murmur compr●ssit coelum, etc.  Yet the Prophets and Apostles voice is truly termed Louder; for as S. Paul says, the voice of the Gospel was heard over all the habitable world, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
The ordinary Traditional opinion is, that the world is to last six thousand years 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that the Seventh Thousand is to be the Rest or Sabbath of Thousand: but I could not say, Sluggards of Six thousand years, because some then would be found alive, who had not so much as slept at all. The next Perfect Number (and Verse will admit of no Broken ones) was Five Thousand.     

The Muse.  

1.  
GO, the rich Chariot instantly prepare;  
The Queen, my Muse, will take the air,  
Unruly Fancy with strong judgement trace,  
Put in nimble-footed Wit,  
Smooth-pac'ed Eloquence join with it,  
Sounded Memory with young Invention place,  
Harness all the winged race.  
Let the P●stillian Nature mount, and let  
The Coachman Art be set.  
And let the airy Footmen running all beside,  
Make a long row of goodly pride.  
Figures, Conceits, Raptures, and Sentences  
In a well-worded dress.  
And innocent Loves, and pleasant Truths, and useful Lies,  
In all their gaudy Liveries.  
Mount, glorious Queen, thy travelling Throne,  
And bid it to put on;  
For long, though cheerful, is the way,  
And Life, alas, allows but one ill winter's Day.   

2.  
Where never Foot of Man, or Hoof of Beast,  
The passage pressed,  
Where never Fish did fly,  
And with short silver wings cut the low liquid Sky.  
Where Bird with painted Oars did never  
Row through the trackless Ocean of the Air.  
Where never yet did pry  
The busy Mornings curious Eye.  
The Wheels of thy bold Coach pass quick and free;  
And all's an open Road to Thee.  
Whatever God did Say,  
Is all thy plain and smooth, uninterrupted way.  
Nay even beyond his works thy Voyages are known,  
thou'st'hast thousand worlds too of thy own.  
Thou speak'st, great Queen, in the same stile as He,  
And a New world leaps forth when Thou sayest, Let it Be.   

3.  
Thou fadom'est the deep Gulf of Ages past,  
And canst pluck up with ease  
The years which Thou dost please,  
Like shipwrecked Treasures by rude Tempests cast  
Long since into the Sea,  
Brought up again to light and public Use by Thee.  
Nor dost thou only Dive so low,  
But Fly  
With an unwearied Wing the other way on high,  
Where Fates among the Stars do grow;  
There into the close Nests of Time do'est peep,  
And there with piercing Eye,  
Through the firm Shell, and the thick White dost spy,  
Years to come a forming lie,  
Close in their sacred Secundine asleep,  
Till hatched by the Sun's vital heat  
Which o'er them yet does brooding set  
They Life and Motion get,  
And ripe at last with vigorous might  
Break through the Shell, and take their everlasting Flight.   

4.  
And sure we may  
The same too of the Present say,  
If Past, and Future Times do thee obey.  
Thou stopst this Current, and dost make  
This running River settle like a Lake,  
Thy certain hand holds fast this slippery Snake.  
The fruit which does so quickly waste,  
Men scarce can see it, much lesle taste,  
Thou Comfitest in Sweets to make it last.  
This shining piece of Ice  
Which melts so soon away  
With the Sun's ray,  
Thy verse does solidate and Crystallise.  
Till it a lasting Mirror be;  
Nay thy Immortal Rhyme  
Makes this once short Point of Time,  
To fill up half the Orb of Round Eternity.   

NOTES.  

1.  
Pindar in the 6. Olymp. has a Fancy somewhat of this kind; where he says, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Sed, ● Phinty, junge jam mihi robur Mularum quibus celeritas est, ut 〈◊〉 ducamus ●urrum. Where by the Name of Phintis, he speaks to his own Soul. OH, my Soul, join me the strong and swift Mul●s together, that I may drive the Chariot in this fair waysome make 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be a Dialect for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: as if he should say. O my friend: Others (whom I rather believe) take it for the proper Name of some famous Chariot-driver. The Aurea Carm. use the same Metaphor, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Aurigâ supernè constitutâ optimâ ratione; Making right Reason the Chariot-driver of the Soul. Porphyrius calls the Spirits, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The Chariot of the Soul.   

2.  
For Fins do the same Office to Fish, that Wings do to Birds; and the Scripture itself gives authority to my calling the Sea the Low Sky; where it says, Gen. 1. 6. Let there be a firmament in the midst of waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.  
This Metaphor was used by the ancient Poets, Virg. Aen. 1. 
Volat ille per aera magnum Remigio alarm.  And elsewhere Lucret. before him, L. 6. 
Remigii oblitae pennarum.  Ovid in his Epistic applies the same to Mens Arms. 
Ramis ego corporis utar.  
I'll use the Bodies Oars.   
(i) Whatsoever God made; for his saying, Let it be, made all things. The meaning is that Poetry treats not only of all things that are, or can be, but makes Creatures of her own, as Centaurs, Satyrs, Fairies, etc. makes persons and actions of her own, as in Fables and Romances, makes Beasts, Trees, Waters, and other irrational and insensible things to act above the possibility of their natures, as to understand and speak, nay makes what Gods it pleases too without Idolatry, and varies all these into innumerable Systems, or Worlds of Invention.   

That is, The subject of Poetry is all Past, Future and Present Times; and for the Past▪ it makes what choice it pleases out of the wrack of Time of things that it will save from Oblivion.  
According to the vulgar (but false) opinion of the Influence of the Stars over men's actions and Fortunes. There is no difficulty, I think, in the Metaphor of making a year to come like an Egg that is not yet hatched, but a brooding.  
The thin Film with which an Infant is covered in the womb, so called, because it follows the Child. In Latin Secundae, as in the 9 Epistle of Seneca, where he says most admirably. Sed ut ex barb● capillos detonsos negligimus, it● divinus ille animus ●gressurus holiness quo receptaculum suum referatur, ignis illud exurat, an ferae distrabant, an terra c●nteg●t non 〈◊〉 ad se pertinere judicat quam Secund as ad editum infantem.   

A Snake with the Tail in the Mouth of it, was the ancient Hieroglyphique of the year.  
Because the course of the Sun seems to consume Time, as the Beams of it do Ice.  
There are two sorts of Eternity; from the Present backwards to Eternity, and from the Present forwards, called by the Schoolmen Aeternitas à parte ante, and Aeternitas à parte post. These two make up the whole Circle of Eternity, which the Present Time curs like a Diameter, but Poetry makes it extend to all Eternity to come, which is the Half-Circle.     

To Mr. Hobs.  

1.  
VAst Bodies of Philosophy  
I often have seen, and read,  
But all are Bodies Dead,  
Or Bodies by Art fashioned;  
I never yet the Living Soul could see,  
But in thy Books and Thee.  
'Tis only God can know  
Whither the fair Idea thou dost show  
Agreed entirely with his own or no:  
This I dare boldly tell,  
Till so like Truth 'twill serve our turn as well.  
Just, as in Nature thy Proportions be,  
As full of Concord their Variety,  
As firm the parts upon their Centre rest,  
And all so Solid are that they at lest  
As much as Nature, Emptiness detest.   

2.  
Long did the mighty Stagirite retain  
The Universal Intellectual reign,  
See his own Country's short-liv'ed Leopard slain;  
The stronger Roman-Eagle did outfly,  
Oftener renewed his Age, and seen that Dy.  
Mecha itself, in spite of Mahumet possessed,  
And chas'ed by a wild Deluge from the East,  
His Monarchy new planted in the West.  
But as in time each great imperial race,  
Degenerates, and gives some new one place:  
So did this noble Empire waste,  
Sunk by degrees from glories past,  
And in the Schoolman's hands it perished quite at last.  
Than naught but Words it grew,  
And those all Barb'arous too.  
It perished, and it vanished there,  
The Life and Soul breathed out, become but empty Air.   

3.  
The Fields which answered well the Ancients Blow,  
Spent and outworn return no Harvest now,  
In barren Age wild and unglorious lie,  
And boast of past Fertility,  
The poor relief of Present Poverty.  
Food and Fruit we now must want  
Unless new Lands we plant.  
We break up Tombs with Sacrilegious bands;  
Old Rubbish we remove;  
To walk in Ruins, like vain Ghosts, we love,  
And with found Divining Wandss  
We search among the Dead  
For Treasures Buried,  
Whilst still the Liberal Earth does hold  
So many Virgin Ours of undiscover'ed Gold.   

4.  
The Baltique, Euxin, and the Caspian,  
And slender-limb'ed Mediterranean,  
Seem narrow Creeks to Thee, and only fit  
For the poor wretched Fisherboats of Wit.  
Thy nobler Vessel the vast Ocean tries,  
And nothing sees but Seas and Skies,  
Till unknown Regions it descries,  
Thou great Columbus of the Golden Lands of new Philosophies.  
Thy task was harder much then his,  
For thy learned America is  
Not only found out first by Thee,  
And rudely left to Future Industry,  
But thy Eloquence and thy Wit,  
Has planted, peopled, built, and civilised it.   

5.  
I little thought before,  
(Nor being my own self so poor  
Can comprehend so vast a store)  
That all the Wardrobe of rich Eloquence,  
Can have afforded half enuff,  
Of bright, of new, and lasting stuff,  
To clothe the mighty Limbs of thy Gigantique Sense.  
Thy solid Reason like the shield from heaven  
To the Trojan Hero given,  
Too strong to take a mark from any mortal dart,  
Yet shines with Gold and Gems in every part,  
And Wonders on it graveed by the learned hand of Art,  
A shield that gives delight  
Even to the enemies sight,  
Than when they're sure to loose the Gombate by't.   

6.  
Nor can the Snow which now cold Age does shed  
Upon thy reverend Head,  
Quench or alloy the noble Fires within,  
But all which thou hast been,  
And all that Youth can be thou'rt yet,  
So fully still dost Thou  
Enjoy the Manhood, and the Bloom of Wit,  
And all the Natural Heat, but not the Fever too.  
So Contraries on Aetna's top conspire,  
Here hoary Frosts, and by them breaks out Fire.  
A secure peace the faithful Neighbours keep,  
Th'embold'ned Snow next to the Flame does sleep.  
And if we weigh, like Thee,  
Nature, and Causes, we shall see  
That thus it needs must be,  
To things Immortal Time can do no wrong,  
And that which never is to Die, forever must be Young.   

NOTES.  

2.  
ARistotle; So called from the Town of Stagira, where he was born, situated neare the Bay of Strimon in Matedonia.  
Outlasted the Grecian Empire, which in the Visions of Daniel, is represented by a Leopard, with four wings upon the back, and four Heads, Chap. 7. v. 6.  
Was received even beyond the bounds of the Roman Empire, and outlived it.  
For Aristotle's philosophy was in great esteem among the Arabians or Saracens, witness those many excellent Books upon him, or according to his principles, written by Averro, Auicenna, Avempace, and divers others. In spite of Mahumet: because his Law, being adapted to the barbarous humour of those people he had first to deal withal, and aiming only at greatness of Empire by the sword, forbids all the studies of Learning; which (nevertheless) flourished admirably under the Saracen Monarchy, and continued so, till it was extinguished with that Empire, by the Inundation of the Turks, and other Nations. Mecha, is the Town in Arabia where Mahumet was born.   

2.  
Virgula Divina; or a Divining Wand is a two-forked branch of an Hazel-tree, which is used for the finding out either of Veins, or hidden Treasures of Gold or Silver; and being carried about, bends downwards (or rather is said to do so) when it comes to the place where they lie.   

4.  
All the Navigation of the Ancients was in these Seas: they seldom ventured into the Ocean; and when they did, did only Littus leger●, coast about neare the shore.   

5.  
The meaning is, that his Notions are so New, and so Great, that I did not think it had been possible to have found out words to express them clearly; as no Wardrobe can furnish Clotheses to fit a Body taller and bigger then ever any was before for the Clotheses were made according to some Measure that then was.  
See the excellent description of this Shield, made by Vulcan at the request of Venus, for her Son Aeneas, at the end of the 8 Book of Aen. 
— Et ●lypei non enarrabile textum , Whereon was graven all the Roman History; and withal, it was so strong, that in the ●2 B. when Turnus struck with all his force (which was not small you may be sure in a Poetical Hero) 
— Corpore toto  
Aliè sublatum consurgit Turnus in ensem.  Insomuch, that it frighted all Aeneas his friends. 
(Exclament Troes trepidique Latini)  Instead of piercing through these arms, 
Perfidus ensis  
Frangitur, in medioque ardentem deserit ictu,  
Ni fuga subsidio subeat.  Which is just the case of men's arguing against Solid, and that is, Divine Reason; for when their argumentation is broken, they are forced to save themselves by flight, that is, by evasions, and seeking still new ground; and this Sword did Turnus good service upon the rest of the Trojans. 
Isq, diu, dum terga dabant palantia Teucri  
Suffecit, postquam arma Dei ad Vulcania ventum est.  
Mortalis Mucr● glaciet cum fusilis ictu  
Dissiluit.  It broke like a piece of Ice, when it met with the Arms of Vulcan.   

6.  
The Description of the Neighbourhood of Fire and Snow upon Aetna (but not the application of it) is imitated out of Claud. L. 1. De Raptu Pros. 
Sed quamvis nimio servens exuberet aestu,  
Scit nivibus servare fidem, pariterque favilia  
Durescit glacies, tanti secuta vaporia  
Arcano defensa gelu, fumoque fideli  
Lambit contiguit innoxia flamma pristinas : Where, methinks, is somewhat of that which Seneca objects to Ovid. Nescivit quod bené cessit relinquere. When he met with a Phrase that pleased him, he could not found in his heart to quit, or ever to have done with it. Tacinus has the like expression of Mount Libanus, Pracipuum montium Libanum, mirum dictu, tantos inter ardores opacum, fid●mque rivibus. Shady among such great heats, and faithful to the Snow; which is too Poetical for the Prose even of a Romance, much more of an Historian. Sil. Italic. of Aene. L. 14. 
Summo cana jugo cohibet (mirabile dictu)  
Vicinam flammis glaciem, aeternoque rigore  
Ardentes horrent scopuli, stat vertice celsi  
Collis hyems, calid●que nivem regit 〈◊〉 favill●.  See likewise Seneca, Epist. 79.     

Destiny.  Hoc quoque Fatale est sic ipsum expendere Fatum. Manil. 

1.  
STrange and unnatural! lets stay and see  
This Pageant of a Prodigy.  
Lo, of themselves th'enlivened Chessmen move,  
Lo, the unbred, ill-organed Pieces prove,  
As full of Art, and Industry,  
Of Courage and of Policy,  
As we ourselves who think there's nothing Wise but We.  
Here a proud Pawn I'admire  
That still advancing higher  
At top of all become  
Another Thing and Name.  
Here I'm amazed at th'actionactions of a Knight,  
That does bold wonders in the fight.  
Here I the losing party blame  
For those false Moves that break the Game,  
That to their Grave the Bag, the conquered Pieces bring.  
And above all, th' ill Conduct of the Mated King.   

2.  
What ere these seem, what ere Philosophy  
And Sense or Reason tell (said I)  
These Things have Life, Election, Liberty;  
'Tis their own Wisdom moulds their State,  
Their Faults and Virtues make their Fate.  
They do, they do (said I) but straight  
Lo from my'enlightned Eyes the Mists and shadows fell  
That hinder Spirits from being Visible.  
And, lo, I seen two Angels played the Mate.  
With Man, alas, not otherwise it proves,  
An un seen Hand makes all their Moves.  
And some are Great, and some are Small,  
Some climb to good, some from good Fortune fall,  
Some Wisemen, and some Fools we call,  
Figures, alas, of Speech, Destiny plays us all.   

3.  
Me from the womb the Midwife Muse did take:  
She cut my Navel, washed me, and my Head  
With her own Hands she Fashioned;  
She did a Covenant with me make,  
And circumcis ed my tender Soul, and thus she spoke,  
Thou of my Church shalt be,  
Hate and renounce (said she)  
Wealth, Honour, Pleasures, all the World for Me.  
Thou neither great at Court, nor in the war,  
Nor at th' Exchange shalt be, nor at the wrangling Bar.  
Content thyself with the small Barren Praise,  
That neglected Verse does raise.  
She spoke, and all my years to come  
Taken their unlucky Doom.  
Their several ways of Life let others choose,  
Their several pleasures let them use,  
But I was born for Love, and for a Muse.   

4.  
With Fate what boots it to contend▪  
Such I began, such am, and so must end.  
The Star that did my Being frame,  
Was but a Lambent Flame,  
And some small Light it did dispense,  
But neither Heat nor Influence.  
No Matter, Cowley; let proud Fortune see,  
That thou canst her despise no lesle then she does Thee.  
Let all her gifts the portion be  
Of Folly, Lust, and Flattery,  
Fraud, Extortion, Calumny,  
Murder, Infidelity,  
Rebellion and Hypocrisy.  
Do Thou nor grieve nor blush to be,  
As all th'inspired tuneful Men,  
And all thy great Forefathers were from Homer down to Ben.   

NOTES.  

1.  
THis Ode is written upon an extravagant suppositon of two Angels playing a Game at Chess; which if they did, the spectators would have reason as much to believe, that the pieces moved themselves, as we can have for thinking the same of Mankind, when we see them exercise so many, and so different actions. It was of old said by Plautus, Dii nos quasi Pilas homines habent. We are but Tennis Balls for the Gods to play withal, which they strike away at last, and still call for new ones: And S. Paul says, We are but the Clay in the hands of the Potter.  
For a Pawn being the lest of the pieces, if it can get up to such a degree, grows the greatest, and then has both another name, and other Motions and Powers; for it becomes a Queen, which it could never have done, if it had not been removed, and carried to such an height,  
Manum injicientibus fatis (says Amm. Marcellin.) hebetantur sensus hominum & obtund●●tur. When the Fates lay hold on a Man, when they arrest him, he's confounded, and loses his wits. And Vell. Paterc. speaking of the defeat of Quinctil. Varus. Praevalebant jam fata consiliis omnémque animi vim perstri●xerant, quippe it●● seres habet▪ ●ut qui fortunam m●taturus sit, etiam consilia corrumpat. Fatality grew too strong for Human Counsels and dazzled the sight of his judgement, for so it also happens, that the designs and counsels are corrupted of the Man that is to perish.   

2.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The Dies of the Gods neverfling out. Thucydid. says, with admirable shortness and weight, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: Which Sallust imitating, renders yet shorter; and beats him, as Seneca says, at his own weapon. Ress●cundae mirè vitiis sunt obtentui. Faults are not visible through Prosperity: and therefore the old Greek Verse is not much mistaken, that says, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  I had rather have a Drop of good fortune, then a whole Tun of Wisdom.     

Brutus.  

1.  
EXcellent Brutus, of all human race,  
The best till Nature was improv'ed by Grace,  
Till men above themselves Faith raised more  
Than Reason above Beasts before.  
Virtue was thy Life's Centre, and from thence  
Did silently and constantly dispense  
The gentle vigorous Influence  
To all the wide and fair Circumference,  
And all the parts upon it leaned so easily,  
Obeyed the mighty force so willingly  
That noon could discord or disorder see  
In all their Contrariety.  
Each had his motion natural and free,  
And the Whole no more mov'ed then the whole world could be.   

2.  
From thy strict rule some think that thou didst swerve  
(Mistaken Honest men) in Caesar's blood;  
What Mercy could the Tyrant's Life deserve,  
From him who killed Himself rather then serve?  
The Heroic Exaltations of Good  
Are so fare from Understood.  
We count it Vice, alas our Sight's so ill,  
That things which swiftest Move seem to stand still,  
We look not upon Virtue in her height,  
On her supreme Idea, brave and bright  
In the Original Light  
But as her Beams reflected pass  
Through our own Nature or ill Customs Glass.  
And 'tis no wonder so,  
If with dejected Eye  
In standing Pools we seek the sky,  
That Stars so high above should seem to us below.   

3.  
Can we stand by and see  
Our Mother robb'ed, and bound, and ravished be,  
Yet not to her assistance stir,  
Pleased with the Strength and Beauty of the Ravisher?  
Or shall we fear to kill him, if before  
The cancelled Name of Friend he bore?  
Ingrateful Brutus do they call?  
Ingrateful Caesar who could Rome enthral!  
And act more barbarous and unnatural  
(In th'exact balance of true Virtue tried)  
Than his Successor Nero's Parricide!  
There's noon but Brutus could deserve  
That all men else should wish to serve,  
And Caesar's usurped place to him should proffer;  
Noon can deserve't but he who would refuse the offer.   

4.  
Ill Fate assum'ed a Body thee t'affright,  
And wrapped itself i'th' terrors of the night,  
I'll meet thee at Philippi, said the Spirit;  
I'll meet thee there, saidst Thou,  
With such a voice, and such a brow,  
As put the trembling Ghost to sudden flight,  
It vanished as a Tapers light  
Goes out when Spirits appear in sight▪  
One would have thought to had heard the morning crow,  
Or seen her well-appointed Star  
Come marching up the Eastern Hill afar,  
Nor durst it in Philippi's field appear,  
But unseen attaqu'ed thee there.  
Had it presum'ed in any shape thee to oppose,  
Thou wouldst have forc'ed it back upon thy foes:  
Or slained like Caesar, though it be  
A Conqu'eror and a Monarch mightier far then Herald   

5.  
What joy can human things to us afford,  
When we see perish thus by odd events,  
Ill men, and wretched Accidents,  
The best Cause and best Man that ever drew a Sword?  
When we see  
The false Octavius, and wild Antony,  
Godlike Brutus, conquer Thee?  
What can we say but thy own Tragic Word,  
That Virtue, which had worshipped been by thee  
As the most solid Good, and greatest Deity,  
By this fatal proof become  
An Idol only, and a Name,  
Hold noble Brutus and restrain  
The bold voice of thy generous Disdain:  
These mighty Gulfs are yet  
Too deep for all thy judgement and thy Wit.  
The Time's set forth already which shall quell  
Stiff Reason, when it offers to Rebel.  
Which these great Secrets shall unseal,  
And new Philosophies reveal.  
A few years more, so soon hadst thou not dy'ed,  
Would have confounded Human Virtues pride,  
And showed thee a God crucifi'ed.    

To Dr. Scarborough.  
HOw long, alas, hath our mad Nation been  
Of Epidemic War the Tragic Scene,  
Whilst Slaughter all the while  
Seemed like its Sea, to embrace round the Isle,  
With Tempests, and read waves, Noise, and Affright?  
Albion not more, nor to be nam'ed from white!  
What Province, or what City did it spare?  
It, like a Plague, infected all the Air.  
Sure the unpeopled Land  
Would now untilled, desert, and naked stand,  
Had God's Almighty hand  
At the same time let lose Diseases rage's  
Their Civil Wars in Man to wage.  
But Thou by heaven wert sent  
This Desolation to prevent,  
A Medicine and a Counterpoison to the Age,  
Scarce could the Sword dispatch more to the Grave  
Than Thou didst save;  
By wondrous Art, and by successful care  
The Ruins of a Civil War thou dost alone repair.  

2.  
The Inundations of all Liquid pain,  
And Deluge Dropsy thou do'est drain.  
Fevers so hot that one would say  
Thou mightst as soon Hell-fires alloy  
(The Damned scarce more incurable then They)  
Thou dost so temper, that we found  
Like Gold the Body but refined;  
No unhealthful dross behind.  
The subtle Ague, that for sureness sake  
Takes his own times th' assault to make,  
And at each battery the whole Fort does shake,  
When thy strong Guards, and works it spies,  
Trembles for it self, and flies.  
The cruel Stone that restless pain  
That's sometimes rolled away in vain,  
But still, like Sisyphus his stone, returns again,  
Thou break'st and meltest by learned juices force,  
(A greater work, though short the way appear,  
Than Hannibal's by Vinegar)  
Oppressed Natures necessary course  
It stops in vain, like Moses, Thou  
S'trik'st but the Rock, and strait the Waters freely flow.   

3.  
The Indian Son of Lust, that foul Disease  
Which did on this his newfound World, but lately seize;  
Yet since a Tyranny has planted here,  
As wide and Cruel as the Spaniard there,  
Is so quite rooted out by Thee,  
That thy Patients seem to be  
Restor'ed not to Health only, but Virginity,  
The Plague himself, that proud Imperial Ill  
Which destroys Towns, and does whole Armies kill,  
If thou but secure the besieged Heart,  
Calls all his poisons forth, and does departed,  
As if he feared no lesle thy Art,  
Than Aaron's Incense, or then Phineas dart.  
What need there here repeated be by me  
The vast and barbarous Lexicon  
Of Man's Infirmity?  
At thy strong charms it must be gone  
Though a Disease, as well as Devil, were called Legion.   

4.  
From creeping Moss to soaring Cedar thou,  
Dost all the powers and several Portions know,  
Which Father-Sun, and Mother-Earth below  
On their green Infants here bestow.  
Canst all those Magic Virtues from them draw,  
That keep Disease, and Death in awe.  
Who whilst thy wondrous skill in Plants they see,  
Fear jest the Tree of Life should be found out by Thee.  
And Thy well-travelled knowledge too does given  
No lesle account of th' Empire Sensitive,  
Chief of Man, whose Body is  
That active Souls Metropolis.  
As the great Artist▪ in his Sphere of Glass  
See the whole Scene of Heav'enly Motions pass,  
So thou know'st all so well that's done within,  
As if some living Crystal Man thou'dst seen.   

5.  
Nor does this Science make thy Crown alone,  
But whole Apollo is thy own.  
His gentler Arts, belov'ed in vain by Me,  
Are wedded and enjoyed by Thee.  
Thou'rt by this noble Mixture free  
From the Physicians frequent Malady,  
Fantastic Incivility,  
There are who all their Patient's chagrin have,  
As if they took each morn worse potions then they gave.  
And this great race of Learning thou hast run,  
E'er that of Life be half yet done.  
Thou seest thyself still fresh and strong,  
And like t'enjoy thy Conquests long.  
The first fam'ed Aphorism thy great Master spoke,  
Did he live now he would revoke,  
And better things of Man report;  
For thou do'est make Life long, and Art but short.   

6.  
Ah, learned friend, it grieves me, when I think▪  
That Thou with all thy Art must die  
As certainly as I  
And all thy noble Reparations sink  
Into the sure-wrought Mine of treacherous Mortality,  
Like Archimedes, honourably in vain,  
Thou hold'st out Towns that must at last be ta'en  
And Thou thyself their great Defender slain.  
Let's e'en compound, and for the Present Live,  
'Tis all the Ready Money Fate can given,  
Unbend sometimes thy restless care;  
And let Thy Friends so happy be  
T'enjoy at once their Health and Thee.  
Some hours at lest to thy own pleasures spare.  
Since the whole stock may soon exhausted be,  
Bestowed not all in Charity.  
Let Nature, and let Art do what they please,  
When all's done, Life is an Incurable Disease.   

NOTES.  

2.  
Gouts, and such kind of Diseases proceeding from moisture, and affecting one or some parts of the Body, whereas the Dropsy swells the whole. Inundation signifies a lesle overflowing then Deluge.  
Found, Refined: These kind of Rhymes the French delight in, and call Rich Rhymes; but I do not allow of them in English, nor would use them at all in any other but this free kind of Poetry, and here too very sparingly, hardly at all without a third Rhyme to answer to both; as in the ninth slaffe of the Nemeaan Ode, Delight, Light, Affright. In the third staff to Mr. Hobbs, Ly, Fertility, Poetry. They are very frequent in Chaucer, and our old Poets, but that is not good authority for us now. There can be no Music with only one Note.  
The Fable of Sisyphus is so known, that it deserves not to be repeated. He was in his life a most famous Cozener and Robber. Ovid. Metam. 13. 
Quid sanguine cretus  
Sisiphio, furtis ac fraude simillimus illi?  For which he was slain by Theseus, and condemned in Hell to thrust eternally, a great rolling stone up and hill, which still fell down again upon him, alluding perhaps to the ill success of all his subtleties and wicked erterprises, in which he laboured incessantly to no purpose.  
Hannibal not being able to march with his Army over some Rocks in his passage on the Alps, made fires upon them, and when the stone was very hot, poured a great quantity of Vinegar upon it, by which it being softened and putrified, the Soldiers by that means were enabled to cut a way through it. See Livy the I Book of the 3. Decade. juven. 
Et montem rupit aceto.    

4.  
Archimedes: of which Sphere see Claudines Epigram: The like Sphere of Glass one of the Kings of Persia is said to have had, and sitting in the middle of it, as upon the Earth, to have seen round about him all the Revolutions and Motions of the heavenly Bodies.   

5.  
For Apollo is not only the God of Physic, but of Poetry, and all kind of Florid Letters.  
The first Aphorism in Hypocrates, Ars Longa, vita brevis. Known to all men.   

6.  
For whilst we are repairing the outward seeming Breaches, Nature is undermining the very foundations of life, and draining the Radical Moisture, which is the Well that the Town lives by.  
The great City of Syracuse (which Tully calls in his fourth against Verres, Vrbem omnium pulcherrimam atque ornatissimam) sustained a Siege of three years against Marcellus and the Roman Forces, almost only by the art and industry of the wondered Mathematician Archimedes; but at last, by the treason of some Commanders, it was entered and taken by the Romans, and in the confusion of the Sack, Archimedes, the honourable Defender of it so long, being found in his study drawing Mathematical Lines for the making of some new Engines to preserve the Town, was slain by a common Soldier, who knew him not; for there had been particular order given by the Roman General to save him. See this at large in Plut. the life of Marcellus and Livy 5 B. of the 3. Dec.     

Life and Fame.  

1.  
O Life, thou Nothings younger Brother!  
So like, that one might take One for the other!  
What's Some Body, or No Body?  
In all the Cobwebs of the Schoolman's trade,  
We no such nice Distinction woven see,  
As 'tis To be, or Not to Bee.  
Dream of a Shadow! a Reflection made  
From the false glories of the gay reflected Bow,  
Is a more solid thing then Thou.  
Vain weak-built Isthmus, which dost proudly rise  
Up betwixt two Eternities;  
Yet canst nor Wave nor Wind sustain,  
But broken and o'erwhelmed the endless Oceans meet again.   

2.  
1 And with what rare Inventions do we strive,  
Ourselves then to survive?  
Wise, subtle Arts, and such as well befit  
2 That Nothing Man's no Wit.  
3 Some with vast costly Tombs would purchase it,  
And by the proofs of Death pretend to Live.  
4 Here lies the Great— False Marble, where?  
Nothing but small and sordid Dust lies there.  
Some build enormous Mountain Palaces,  
The Fools and Architects to please.  
A lasting Life in well-hew'en Stone they rear,  
So he who on th' Egyptian shore,  
Was slain so many hundred years before,  
Life's still (O Life most happy and most dear!  
O Life that Epicures envy to hear!)  
Lives in the dropping Ruins of his Amphitheatre.   

3.  
His Father in Law an higher place does claim  
In the Seraphic Entity of Fame.  
He since that Toy his Death,  
Does fill all Mouths, and breathes in all men's Breath.  
'Tis true, the two Immortal Syllables remain,  
But, O ye learned men, explain,  
What Essence, what Existence this,  
What Substance, what Subsistence, what Hypostasis  
In Six poor Letters is?  
In those alone does the Great Caesar live,  
'Tis all the Conquered World could given.  
We Poets madder yet then all,  
With a refin'ed Fantastic Vanity,  
Think we not only Have, but Given Eternity.  
Feign would I see that Prodigal,  
Who his Tomorrow would bestow,  
For all old Homer's Life ere since he Dy'ed till now.   

NOTES.  

1.  
BEcause Nothing preceded it, as Privation does all Being; which perhaps is the sense of the Distinction of Days in the story of the Creation, Night signifying the Privation, and Day, the subsequent Being, from whence the Evening is placed first, Gen. 1. 5. And the Evening and the Morning were the first day.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Pindar, Quid est Aliquis, aut quid est Neme? Somnium Vmbrae▪ Homo est.  
The Distinctions of the Schoolmen may be likened to Cobwebs (I mean many of them. for some are better woven) either because of the too much fineness of the work which makes it slight, and able to catch only little Creatures; or because they take not the materials from Nature, but spin it out of Themselves.  
The Rainbow is in itself of No Colour; those that appear are but Reflections of the Sun's light received differently, 
Mille trahit varios adverso Sole Colores.  As is evident by artificial Rainbows; And yet this shadow, this almost Nothing makes sometimes another Rainbow (but not so distinct or beautiful) by Reflection.  
Isthmus is a neck of Land that divides a Peninsula from the Continent, and is betwixt two Seas, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. In which manner this narrow passage of Life divides the Past Time from the Future, and is at last swallowed up into Eternity.   

2.  
Pompey the Great.  
An Irony; that is, O Life which Epicures laugh at and contemn.   

3.  
Caesar, whose Daughter julia was married to Pompey; an Alliance fatal to the Commonwealth; which as Tully says, aught never to have been made, or never ended.  
Supernatural, Intellectual, Unintelligible Being.     

The Ecstasy.  

1.  
I Leave Mortality, and things below;  
I have no time in Compliments to waste,  
Farewell to'ye all in haste,  
For I am called to go.  
A Whirlwind bears up my dull Feet,  
Th'officious Clouds beneath them meet.  
And (Lo!) I mount, and (Lo!)  
How small the biggest Parts of Earth's proud Tittle show!   

2.  
Where shall I found the noble British Land?  
Lo, I at last a Northern Spec espy,  
Which in the Sea does lie,  
And seems a Grain o'th' Sand!  
For this will any sin, or Bleed?  
Of Civil Wars is this the Mede?  
And is it this, alas, which we  
(O Irony of Words!) we call Great Britainie▪   

3.  
I pass by th'arched Magazines, which hold  
Th'eternal stores of Frost, and Rain, and Snow;  
Dry, and secure I go,  
Nor shake with Fear, or Cold.  
Without affright or wonder  
I meet Clouds charged with Thunder,  
And Lightnings in my way  
Like harmless Lambent Fires about my Temples play.   

4.  
Now into'a gentle Sea of rolling Flame  
I plunge my ' ascents, and still mount higher there,  
As Flames mount up through air.  
So perfect, yet so tame,  
So great, so pure, so bright a fire  
Was that unfortunate desire,  
My faithful Breast did cover,  
Than, when I was of late a wretched Mortal Lover.   

5.  
Through several Orbs which one fair Planet bear,  
Where I behold distinctly as I pass  
The Hints of Galilaeos Glass,  
I touch at last the spangled Sphere.  
Here all th'extended Sky  
Is but one Galaxy,  
'Tis all so bright and gay,  
And the joint Eyes of Night make up a perfect Day.   

6.  
Where am I now? Angels and God is here;  
An unexhausted Ocean of delight  
Swallows my senses quite,  
And drowns all What, or How, or Where.  
Not Paul, who first did thither pass,  
And this great Worlds Columbus was,  
The tyrannous pleasure could express.  
O 'tis too much for Man! but let it ne'er be lesle.   

7.  
The mighty ' Elijah mounted so on high,  
That second Man, who leapt the Ditch where all  
The rest of Mankind fall,  
And went not downwards to the sky.  
With much of pomp and show  
(As Conquering Kings in Triumph go)  
Did he to Heav'en approach,  
And wondrous was his Way, and wondrous was his Coach.   

8.  
'Twas gaudy all, and rich in every part,  
Of Essences of Gems, and Spirit of Gold  
Was its substantial mould;  
Drawn forth by Chymique Angels art.  
Here with Moon-beams 'twas silvered bright,  
There double- gilt with the Sun's light  
And mystique Shape's cut round in it,  
Figures that did transcend a Vulgar Angels wit.   

9  
The Horses were of tempered Lightning made,  
Of all that in Heau'ens' beauteous Pastures feed,  
The noblest, sprightfulst breed,  
And flaming Mains their Necks arrayed.  
They all were shod with Diamond,  
Not such as here are found,  
But such light solid ones as shine  
On the Transparent Rocks o'th' Heaven Crystalline.   

10.  
Thus mounted the great Prophet to the skies;  
Astonished Men who often had seen Stars fall,  
Or that which so they call,  
Wondered from hence to see one rise.  
The soft Clouds melted him a way,  
The Snow and Frosts which in it lay  
A while the sacred footsteps bore,  
The Wheels and Horses Hoofs hizz d as they passed them over.   

11.  
He passed by th' Moon, and Planets, and did fright  
All the Worlds there which at this Meteor gaz'ed,  
And their Astrologers amazed  
With th'unexampled sight.  
But where he stopped will ne'er be known,  
Till Phoenix Nature aged grown  
To'a better Being do aspire,  
And mount herself, like Him, to ' Eternity in Fire.    

To the New Year.  

1.  
GReat janus, who dost sure my Mistress view  
With all thy eyes, yet thinkest them all too few:  
If thy Fore-face do see  
No better things prepar'ed for me,  
Than did thy Face behind,  
If still her Breast must shut against me be  
(For 'tis not Peace that Temples Gate does bind)  
O let my Life, if thou so many deaths a coming found,  
With thy old year its voyage take  
Born down, that stream of Time which no return can make.   

2.  
Alas, what need I thus to pray?  
Th'old avaricious year  
Whither I would or not, will bear  
At lest a part of Me away.  
His well-horst Troops, the Months▪ and Days, and Hours,  
Though never any where they stay,  
Make in their passage all their prey.  
The Months, Days, Hours that march i'th' Rear can found  
Naught of Value left behind.  
All the good Wine of Life our drunken youth devours;  
Sourness and Leeses, which to the bottom sink,  
Remain for latter years to Drink.  
Until some one offended with the taste  
The Vessel breaks, and out the wretched Relics run at last.   

3.  
If then, young year, thou needs must come,  
(For in Times fruitful womb  
The Birth beyond his Time can never tarry,  
Nor never can miscarry)  
Choose thy Attendants well; for 'tis not Thee  
We fear, but 'tis thy Company,  
Let neither Loss of Friends, or Fame, or Liberty,  
Nor pining Sickness, nor tormenting Pain,  
Nor Sadness, nor uncleanly Poverty,  
Be seen among thy Train,  
Nor let thy Livery be  
Either black Sin, or gaudy vanity;  
Nay, if thou lov'est me, gentle Year,  
Let not so much as Love be there:  
Vain fruitless Love, I mean; for, gentle Year,  
Although I fear,  
There's of this Caution little need,  
Yet, gentle Year, take heed  
How thou dost make  
Such a Mistake.  
Such Love I mean alone  
As by thy cruel Predecessors has been shown,  
For though I'have too much cause to doubt it,  
I feign would try for once if Life can Live without it.   

4.  
Into the Future Times why do we pry,  
And seek to Antedate our Misery?  
Like jealous men why are we longing still  
To See the thing which only seeing makes an Ill?  
'Tis well the Face is veiled; for 'tiswere a Sight▪  
That would even Happiest men affright,  
And something still they'd spy that would destroy  
The past and Present joy  
In whatsoever Character;  
The Book of Fate is writ,  
'Tis well we understand not it,  
We should grow Mad with little Learning there.  
Upon the Brink of every Ill we did Foresee,  
Undecently and foolishly  
We should stand shivering, and but slowly venture  
The Fatal Flood to enter,  
Since willing, or unwilling we must do it,  
They feel least cold and pain who plunge at once into it.   

NOTES:  

1.  
Ianus' was the God to whom the Year was dedicated, and therefore it began with his Festival; and the first Month was denominated from him; for which cause he was represented with two Faces, to show that he looked both Backward upon the time past, and Forward upon the time to come; and sometimes with four Faces, to signify (perhaps, for I know other Reasons are given) the four Seasons of the year, 
Annorum niditique sator pulcherrime Mundi,  
Publica quem primum vota prec●sque canunt. Mart.   
This alludes to that most notorious custom of Shutting up janus his Temple in time of an universal peace; as was thrice done from Numa to Augustus his reign: and when any War began it was opened again with great Ceremony by the chief Magistrate; from which opening and shutting of his Temple gates, janus is called Clu●ius and Patulcius, and esteemed Deus belli ac pacis arbiter.     

Life.  Nascentes Morimur▪ Manil. 
WE're ill by these Grammarians used;  
We are abused by Words, grossly abused;  
From the Maternal Tomb,  
To the Graves fruitful Womb,  
We call here Life; but Life's a name  
That nothing here can truly claim:  
This wretched Inn, where we scarce stay to bait,  
We call our Dwelling-place;  
We call one Step a Race:  
But Angels in their full enlightened state,  
Angels who Live, and know what 'tis to Bee,  
Who all the nonsense of our Language see,  
Who speak Things, and our Words, their ill-drawn Pictures scorn,  
When we by'a foolish Figure say,  
Behold an old man Dead! then they  
Speak properly, and cry, Behold a man-child born.  

2.  
My Eyes are opened, and I see  
Through the Transparent Fallacy:  
Because we seem wisely to talk  
Like men of business; and for business walk  
From place to place,  
And mighty voyages we take,  
And mighty journeys seem to make,  
Ore Sea and Land, the little Point that has no space.  
Because we fight, and Battles gain;  
Some Captives call, and say, the rest are slain.  
Because we heap up yellow Earth, and so,  
Rich, valiant, wise, and virtuous seem to grow;  
Because we draw a long Nobility  
From Hieroglyphic proofs of Heraldry,  
And impudently talk of a Posteritie,  
And, like Egyptian Chroniclers,  
Who writ of twenty thousand years,  
With Maravedies make they account,  
That single Time might to a sum amount,  
We grow at last by Custom to believe,  
That really we Live.  
Whilst all these Shadows that for Things we take,  
Are but the empty Dreams within Deaths sleep we make.   

3.  
But these fantastic errors of our Dream,  
Led us to solid wrong▪  
We pray God▪ our Friends torments to prolong,  
And wish uncharitably for them,  
To be as long as Dying as Methusalem.  
The ripened Soul longs from his pris▪ on to come,  
But we would seal, and sow up, if we could, the Womb.  
We seek to close and plaster up by Art  
The cracks and breaches of they extended Shell,  
And in that narrow Cell  
Would rudely force to devil,  
The noble vigorous Bird already winged to part.   

NOTES:  

1.  
PLato in Timaeus makes this distinction: That which Is, but is not generated; and That which is generated, but Is not, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. This he took from Trismegistus. whose Sentence of God was written in the Egyptian Temples, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉▪ I am all that Was, Is, or shall be. And he drew this from the very fountain where he calls himself, Exod. 3. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, I am that I am, or, That which is. This doctrine of Plato, that nothing truly Is but God, is approved by all the Fathers. Simplicius explains it thus, That which has more degrees of Privation, or Not-Being then of Being (which is the case of all Creatures) is not properly said to Be; and again, That which is in a perpetual Fieri or Making, never is quite Made; and therefore never properly Is. Now because this perperual Flux of Being is not in Angels, or Scparated Spirits, I allow them the Title of Being and Living, and carry not the Figure (for in truth it is no other) so far as Plato.  
That the Gods call things by other names then we do, was the fancy of Homer, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  And the like in several other places, as also in other Authors, Athenaeus, l. 7. c. 9 Ovid. Metam. etc. and this is likewise drawn from Scripture; for Isaiah (Chap. 40. v. 36.) makes it a Property of God, that he calls the Stars by their Names.  
So Euripid. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Who knows whither to Live, be not to Die; and to Die to Live?   

2.  
Isa. 40. 26. Behold the Nations are as the drop of a Bucket, and are counted as the small Dust of the Balance, etc.  
Because Heraldry consists in the Figures of Beasts, Stars, Flowers, and such like, as the Hieroglyphics did of the ancient Egyptians.  
An uncertain Number for a Certain. The Egyptian Kingdom, according to Manethon, had 31 Dynasties before Alexander's time, 5355 years; others content not themselves with so small a Number; for Diod. says, lib. 1. from Osiris to Alexander, they reckon above ten thousand years; or as others will have it, little lesle then 23 thousand. See the Egyptian Priests discourse to Solon in Plato's Timaeus. But these vast accounts arose from the aequivocal term of a year among them, which sometimes they made Solar, sometimes of Four, sometimes of Three, nay, Two, or One Month. Xenoph. de Tempor. Aquin. Solin. c. 7. Plin. l. 7. c. 11. Macrob. in Somn. Scipion. etc.  
A Spanish Coin, one of the lest that is.     

The 34 Chapter of the Prophet Isaiah.  

1.  
AWake, and with attention hear,  
Thou drowsy World, for it concerns thee neare;  
Awake, I say, and listen well,  
To what from God, I, his loud Prophet, tell.  
Bid both the Poles suppress their stormy noise,  
And bid the roaring Sea contain his voice.  
Be still thou Sea, be still thou Air and Earth,  
Still, as old Chaos, before Motions birth,  
A dreadful Host of judgements is go out;  
In strength and number more  
Than ere was raised by God before,  
To scourge the Rebel World, and march it round about.   

2.  
I see the Sword of God brandished above;  
And from it streams a dismal ray;  
I see the Scabbard cast away.  
How read anon with Slaughter will it prove!  
How will it sweated and reek in blood!  
How will the Scarlet Glutton be oregorged with his food!  
And devour all the mighty Feast!  
Nothing soon but Bones will rest.  
God does a solemn Sacrifice prepare;  
But not of Oxen, nor of Rams,  
Not of Kids, nor of their Dams,  
Not of Heifers, nor of Lams'.  
The Altar all the Land, and all Men in't the Victims are,  
Since wicked Man's more guilty blood to spare,  
The Beasts so long have sacrificed been,  
Since Men their Birthright forfeit still by Sin,  
'Tis fit at last Beasts their Revenge should have,  
And Sacrificed Men their better Brethrens save.   

3.  
So will they fall, so will they flee;  
Such will the Creatures wild distraction be,  
When at the final Doom,  
Nature and Time shall both be Slain,  
Shall struggle with Death's pangs in vain,  
And the whole world their Funeral Pile become.  
The wide-stretcht Scroll of Heaven, which we,  
Immortal as the Deity think,  
With all the beauteous Characters that in it  
With such deep Sense by God's own Hand were writ,  
Whose Eloquence though we understand not, we admire,  
Shall crackle, and the parts together shrink  
Like Parchment in a fire.  
Th'exhausted Sun to th' Moon not more shall lend;  
But truly then headlong into the Sea descend.  
The glittering Host, now in such fair array,  
So proud, so well appointed, and so gay,  
Like fearful Troops in some strong Ambush ta'en,  
Shall some fly routed, and some fall slain,  
Thick as ripe Fruit, or yellow Leaves in Autumn fall,  
With such a violent Storm as blows down Tree and all.   

4.  
And Thou, OH cursed Land,  
Which wilt not see the Precipice where thou dost stand,  
Though thou stand'st just upon the brink;  
Thou of this poisoned Bowl the bitter Dregss shalt drink:  
Thy Rivers and thy Lakes shall so  
With human blood o'erflow.  
That they shall fetch the slaughtered corpse away,  
Which in the fields around unburied lay,  
And rob the Beasts and Birds to given the Fish their prey.  
The rotting corpse shall so infect the air;  
Beget such Plagues, and putrid Venoms there,  
That by thy own Dead shall be slain,  
All thy few Living that remain.  
As one who buys, Surveys a ground,  
So the Destroying Angel measures it around.  
So careful and so strict he is,  
Jest any Nook or Corner he should miss.  
He walks about the perishing Nation,  
Ruin behind him stalks and empty Desolation.   

5.  
Than shall the Market and the Pleading-place  
Be choked with Brambles and oregrown with grass.  
The Serpents through thy Streets shall roll,  
And in thy lower rooms the Wolves shall howl,  
And thy gilt Chambers lodge the Raven and the Owl,  
And all the winged Ill-omen of the air,  
Though no new-Ills can be fore-boded there.  
The Lion then shall to the Leopard say,  
Brother Leopard come away;  
Behold a Land which God has giv'en us in prey!  
Behold a Land from whence we see  
Mankind expulsed, His and Our common Enemy!  
The Brother Leopard shakes himself, and does not stay.   

6.  
The glutted Vultures shall expect in vain  
New Armies to be slain.  
Shall found at last the business done,  
Leave their consumed Quarters, and be go.  
Th'unburied Ghosts shall sadly moan,  
The Satyrs laugh to hear them groan.  
The Evil Spirits that delight  
To dance and revel in the Mask of Night,  
The Moon and Stars, their sole Spectators shall affright.  
And if of lost Mankind  
Aught hap to be left behind,  
If any Relics but remain,  
They in the Dens shall lurk, Beasts in the Palaces shall reign.   

NOTES.  

1:  
COme neare ye Nations to hear, 
* Isa changed 34. v. 1.  Terra & plenitudo ejus, and harken ye people, let the Earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. 2. For the Indignation of the Lord is upon all Nations, and his fury upon all their Armies; he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.  
The manner of the Prophets writing, especially of Isaiah, seems to me very like that of Pindar; they pass from one thing to another with almost Invisible connexions, and are full of words and expressions of the highest and boldest flights of Poetry, as may be seen in this Chapter. Where there are as extraordinary Figures as can be found in any Poet whatsoever; and the connexion is so difficult, that I am forced to add a little, and leave out a great deal to make it seem Sense to us, who are not used to that elevated way of expression. The Commentators differ, and some would have it to be a Prediction of the destruction of judea, as Hugo, Lyran, and others; the rest understand it as a Prophecy of the Day of judgement. The design of it to me seems to be this, first to denounce great desolations and ruins to all Countries, and then to do it more particularly to judaea, as which was to suffer a greater measure of them then the rest of the world; as it has done, I think, much more then any other Land under the Sun; and to illustrate these confusions by the similitude of them to those of the last Day, though in the Text there be no Transition from the subject to the similitude; for the old fashion of writing, was like Disputing in Enthymemes, where half is left out to be supplied by the Hearer: ours is like Syllogisms, where all that is meant is express.  
For as soon as Motion began, it ceased to be Chaos, this being all Confusion, but Natural Motion is regular: I think I have read it somewhere called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The Scripture says, And darkness was upon the face of the earth, and the spirit of God moved upon the waters. So that the first Motion, was that of the Spirit of God upon Chaos, to which succeeded the Motion in Chaos. And God said (that is, the Motion of the Spirit of God, for it is a Procession of his will to an outward Effect) let there be light, and there was light (that is, the first Motion of Chaos.)   

2.  
Ver. 5. For my sword shall be bathed in heaven, behold it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse to judgement. 6. The sword of God is filled with blood, it s made fat with fatness, and with the blood of Lambs, and Goats, with the fat of the Kidneys of Rams; for the Lord has a Sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the Land of Idumea. Quoniam inebriatus est in coelo gladius meus, & sup. populum interfectiones meae ad judicium. Incrassatus est adipe.  
I have left out the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth Verses; in which, where the Prophet says unicorns and Bulls, I take that to be a Metaphor only of Great Tyrants, and men of the mightiest power; the Horn signifying that in Hebrew, and other Languages too; as Horace, Addet cornua pauperi, etc. And the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion, Annus retributionis judicii Zion. This makes Vatabl. Montan. Sanchez, and divers other interpret, judicium Sionis, the judgement which God shall exercise against the Idumaeans in revenge of Zion; but I take it rather to be, This is the year when Zion shall be judged for her judgement; that is, for the condemnation and execution of her Messiah, who likewise foretells the same things; as Isaiah, concerning the destruction of jerusalem, and even in the same manner, part of the threaten seeming to belong particularly to jerusalem, and part being only applicable to the Day of judgement. Observe this remarkable conformity in the 24 of Matthew.  
As not intending to put it up again, or to be ever reconciled; in which sense it was said, as I take it, to the great Duke of Guise, that he who draws his sword against his Prince, should fling away the Scabbard.  
For the Text says, it is made drunk with blood, and made fat with flesh. Like the rich Glutton in the Gospel, who is described to be clothed with Purple.  
The Text seems to say quite contrary to this, It shall be made fat with fatness, and with the blood of Lambs and Goats, and kidney of Rams, etc. But the names of Beasts in that place must necessarily be understood, as put for Men; all sorts of Men. Cornel. à Lap. says, that by Lambs are signified the Common People; by Goats, the Captains and Princes; by Rams, the Magistrates. But these two last interpretations of Goats and Rams, seem very slight and forced; the meaning is, that all sorts of men shall be sacrificed to God's justice, as Lambs, Goats, and Rams were want to be. It may be asked, Why Idumaea and Bozra (the Metropolis of it) are here particularly mentioned? Is it not with allusion to the Names? for Idumaea (or Edom) signifies Read, a Country that shall be read with bloodshed; and Bozra signifies a Strong fortified Place. So that in the 108. Psalm, v. 10. where we read, Who will bring me into the Strong City; the Hebrew is, Who will bring me into Bozra? From which word too by a Metathesis of the Letters, some derive Byrsa, the strong Castle of Carthage, which was founded by the Phaenicians, and therefore it is more likely the Castle should have a phoenician (which Language is said to have been little different from the Hebrew) then a Grecian name, to wit, from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an Hide, because Dido is reported to have bought of jarbas as much ground as could be compassed with an Ox's hide, which cut into very narrow thongs, took up the whole space where she built the Castle. Virg. 
Mercatique solum facti de nomine Byrsam,  
Taurino quantum possent circumdare tergo.  Wherhfore under the name of Bozra, the Prophet threatens all strong Places, and more especially of judaea, which God will make an Edom, or read, or bloody Country.  
Though Beasts were first created in time, yet because Man was first and chief designed, and they only in order to him, the right of Primogeniture belongs to him; and therefore all Beasts at first obeyed and feared him. We need not be angry, or ashamed to have them called our Brethrens; for they are literally so, having the same Creator or Father; and the Scripture gives us a much worse kindred; I have said to Corruption, thou art my Father; and to the worm, thou art my mother and my sister. job 17. v. 14.   

3.  
Verse 4. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, * and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroull, and all their Host shall fall down as the leaf falleth from the vine, and as a falling fig from the Figtree. * Et complicabuntur sicut Liber Coeli, etc. D. Thomas Hug. and divers others, interpret this to be an Hyperbolical expression of the calamities of those times; which shall be so great, that men shall think the world at an end, and shall be so distracted, that the heavens shall seem to be rolled together, and the stars to fall. But, methinks, it is more naturally taken for a real description of the end of the world, but by way of a Similitude, to illustrate the confusions that are foretold.  
The vulgar opinion, and that of Aristotle, and most Philosophers, hath always been, that the Heavens are Immutable and Incorruptible, nay, even Immaterial; in which, though experience itself of visible Mutations in them (as: the production and extinction two years after of the New-star in Cassiopaeâ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 might sufficiently by natural reason convince them, yet some men are so given up even to the most reprobate senses of Aristotle, that not so much as the Divine Authority can draw them from it; as in this point Suarez, and many others, are so far from the opinion of the Heavens being now Corruptible and Mutable, that they will allow them to be changed only Accidentally (as they call it) and not Substantially at the last Day. Of which Maldon. upon S. Matth. says well, That he had rather believe Christ who affirms it, then Aristotle who denies it.  
The Stars may well be termed Characters or Letters, where the Heavens are called a Scroll, or Book, in which perhaps Man's fortunes, God's Glory is certainly written; and in this sense the Psalmist speaks, The heavens shall declare his righteousness. Origen cites a Book of great authority in his days, called Narratio joseph, in which jacob says to his Sons, Legi● in tabulis coeli quaecunque contingent vobis & filiis vestris.  
The Text is, rolled up like a Scroll, or rather Book; for the ancient Books were not like ours, divided into leaves; but made of sheets, of skins, or parchment, and rolled upon a Cilinder, after the fashion of our Maps. So that when they had read them, they rolled them up again, as God will the Heavens, when he has done with them. But I thought that this comparison of Parchment that shrivels up in the fire does more represent the violence of their destruction, which is to be by burning.  
He supplies now the Moon and Stars that shine by reflection from him, but then shall want light for himself. In those days the Sun shall be darkened, and the Moon shall not given her light. Mat. 24. Where I take Her to have an Emphasis; even her own little Light: for I believe the Moon and Stars not to be totally opaque and dark bodies.  
Truly, is Emphatical; for according to the fables, whensoever he sets, he descends into the Sea, but now he really does so; that is, he will be mingled with the Sea and Earth, and all other things that must then be dissolved: And the Heathens had both this opinion of the end of the world, and fell almost into the same expressions. As Lucan. 
Mistress Sidera sideribus concurrent, Ignea pontum  
Astra petent — St. Matthew and Mark, And the stars of heaven shall fall; and here, Their host shall fall down etc. Sen. ad Marc. Sidera sideribus incurrent, & omni flagrante materiá, uno igne, quicquid nunc ex disposito lucet, ardebit. And one might cast up a pedantical heap of authorities to the same purpose.  
It is, I hope, needless to admonish any tolerable Reader, that it was not negligence or ignorance of Number, that produced this Stumbling Verse, not more then the other before, And truly then headlong into the Sea descend. And several others in my book of the like kind.  
That of the wind is added to the Text here, but taken out of another just like it in the Revelations, Chap. 6. v. 13. And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a figtree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And there follows too the similitude of the Scroll.   

4.  
Verse 11. And he shall stretch out upon it the Line of confusion, and the Stones of Emptiness. The Latin very differently, Et extendetur super eam mensura, ut redigatur ad nihil, & perpendiculum in desolationem. The Metaphor is, that as a Carpenter draws a Line to mark exactly the space that he is to build, so God does here, to mark that which he is to destroy.  
Our Translation follows Vatabl. Extendet super eam regulam inanitatis, & lapides vacuitatis. Which stones of emptiness may have two interpretations, either making the Stones, Termini, that is Bound-stones of Desolation, as if he should say, This is the land of Desolation, and I have set these bounds and limits to circumscribe it. Or else he says, the Stones of Emptiness, is an effect of Desolation; for when a ground is uncultivated and abandoned, it grows stony. According to the vulgar Latin Translation it is very like another Text of Isaiah, Ch. 28. v. 17. judgement also will I lay to the Line, and righteousness to the Plummet. Which is no more in plain language, then, I will be exact in judgement and Righteousness. There is a much harder Text with the same Metaphor in 2 Sam. 8. Ch. 2. Verse. And he smote Moab, and measured them with a Line, casting them down to the ground, even with two lines measured he to put to Death, and with one full Line to keep alive; And so the Moabites become David's servants, and brought gifts, Which some interpret, that he put two parts of them to the sword, and saved the third, who become his servants. And that he did this, not by a just account, or polling of them (for the number was too great) but by measuring out the Land into three parts, and destroying two of them, 2 King. 21. 13. I will stretch over jerusalem the Line of Samaria, and the Plummet of the House of Abab, and I will wipe jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish wiping and turning it upside down. The Latin, Pondus domus Achab: and instead of a dish▪ uses a more noble Metaphor of a Table-book. Delebo jerusalem sicut deleri solent Tabula, & delens vertam. & ducam crebrius stilum super faciem ejus.   

5.  
Verse 11. The Cormorant and the Bittern shall possess it, the Owl and the Raven shall devil in it. V 15. And thorns shall come up in her Palaces, and Brambles in the fortresses thereof; and it shall be an habitation for Dragons, and a Court for Owls.  
Et possidebunt illam Onocrotalus & Ericius, Ibis & Corvus habitabunt in eâ, V 13. Et orientur in domibus ejus spinae & urticae, & paliurus in munitionibus ejus, & erit cubile Draconum & pascua struthionum. The Cormorant is called Onocrotalus, from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Ass, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Noise▪ because it makes a noise like the braying of an Ass. I know not whither we are in the right, who translate it a Bittern, or the Latin, which calls it Ericius, an Hedgehog. Ericius among the Classic Authors, signifies an Instrument of war, made with iron pikes, like Palissadees sticking out of it. Some think a Portcullis, from the similitude of which, Echinus was in the time of corrupted Latin, called Ericius. Ibis is a Bird like a Stork most known in Egypt, and worshipped there, because it kills multitudes of Serpents, which would else infested the Country. We erroneously translate it Owl, for mention of Owls is made afterwards. I do nor use the same names of Beasts and Birds exactly which the Prophet does; nor is that material; for the meaning only is, that the Land shall be possessed by Beasts instead of Men.  
Of Birds from which the Ancients took auguries: Some were called Oscines, from whose voices they drew their divinations, and other Praepetes, from their manner of flight, Crows, Swallows, Kites, Owls, and such like, were counted inauspicious Birds; and others (as Vultures) in some cases portended good, and in others evil.  
Though the Lion might call any Beast Brother, yet it may more properly the Leopard; for the Leopard is begot of a Lioness, and a he- Panther, which is called Pardus.   

6.  
Verse 14. The wild beasts of the Desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the Islands, and the Satire shall cry to his fellow; the Skrichowl shall also rest there, and found for herself a place of rest. V 15. There shall the great Owl make her nest, and lay, and nest, and gather under her shadow; There shall the Vultures also be gathered every one with her Mate. V 14. Et occurrent Daemonia Onocentauris, & Pilosus clamabit alter ad alterum; Ibi cubavit Lamia, & invenit sibi requiem. V 15. Ibi habuit foveam Ericius, & enutrivit catulos, & circumfodit, & fovit in umbrâ ejus; illuc congregari sunt Milvi, alter ad alterum.  
Here is a great difference between the two Translations; and it appears, methinks, that noon perfectly understood the Hebrew, neither in this nor many other places. From whence they given the fabulous Greek names, as those of Satyrs, Lamiaes, Onocentaurs, unicorns, Dragons, Orion, Pleiades, and the like, to several Hebrew words, whose true signification was lost; which is no wonder, for even in the Greek and Latin we have much ado to translate all the names of Birds, Beasts, Fish, and Herbs, etc. and I am afraid we are often mistaken in them. So the Septuag. in job 42. v. 14. translate the name of jobs third Daughter, The Horn of Amalthaea, alluding to a Grecian fable born long after jobs time. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which the Latin Cornu stibii, the Horn of Antimony, perhaps because Antimony is accounted by some the Mother of Metals. We (I know not why) name her Kerenhappuch, not according to the signification, but the word of the Hebrew. It seems by the Greek, that jobs three Daughters names signified Sweetness; Light, or Beauty; Plenty, or Fruitfulness. So in the 15 of judith it is translated; Nec filii Titan percusserunt eum: when the meaning is, They were not the sons of Giants that slew him, but, etc. Not great strong men, but a weak woman.  
The Latin says Milvi: which Translation is best I know not, nor does it import. The Vultures from their devouring of dead Bodies, were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Living Tombs. They are said to assemble themselves together by a natural Divinatory Instinct in the places where any great slaughters are to be made; which Tradition arises, because they use to follow Armies; not as foreseeing the day of Battle, but because even in the marches of Armies there are always a great many men, horses, and other beasts, that fall here and there by the way. job has the like description of the Eagle, Ch. 39 1. 30. And where the slain are, there is she.  
The English mentions only Satyrs, the Latin besides that (for Pilosi, are the same) Daemonia, and Lamiaes, Hobgoblins. The Hebrew is said to signify Nocturnum spectrum, An appearance of something in the Night. From whence the Chald. Transl● it An Owl, the English a Skrichowl. Whither there be any such creatures in Nature as Satyrs, etc. I will not determine. S. Antony seeking S. Paul the Hermit is reported by Athanasius to have met with a Monster half Man, and Beast, which he drove away with the sign of the Cross; and S. Hierom in the Life of the Hermit, says that such a kind of Monster was in his time brought to Alexandria. Pliny testifies, that he himself seen an Hippocentaur, the body of which was preserved in honey, and brought to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but I am sorry he does not describe the form of it, Lib. 7. Cap. 3.     

The Plagues of Egypt.  

1.  
IS this thy Brav'ery Man, is this thy Pride?  
Rebel to God, and Slave to all beside!  
Captiv'ed by every thing! and only Free  
To fly from thy own Liberty!  
All Creatures the Creator said Were Thy;  
No Creature but might since, say, Man is My!  
In black Egyptian Slavery we lie;  
And sweat and toil in the vile Drudgery  
Of Tyrant Sin;  
To which we Trophies raise, and wear out all our Breath,  
In building up the Monuments of Death;  
We, the choice Race, to God and Angels Kin!  
In vain the Prophets and Apostles come  
To call us home,  
Home to the promis'ed Canaan above,  
Which does with nourishing Milk, and pleasant Honey flow;  
And e'en i'th'way to which we should be fed  
With Angels tasteful Bread:  
But, we, alas, the Fleshpots love,  
We love the very Leeks and sordid roots below.   

2.  
In vain we judgements feel, and Wonders see;  
In vain did God to descend hither da'ine,  
He was his own Ambassador in vein,  
Our Moses and our Guide himself to be.  
We will not let ourselves to go,  
And with worse hardened hearts do our own Pharaohs grow;  
Ah, jest at last we perish so!  
Think, stubborn Man, think of th' Egyptian Prince,  
(Hard of Belief and Will, but not so hard as Thou)  
Think with what dreadful proofs God did convince  
The feeble arguments that human pow'e● could show;  
Think what Plagues attended on Thee.  
Who Moses God dost now refuse, more often then Moses Herald   

3.  
If from some God you come (said the proud King)  
With half a smile and half a Frown;  
(But what God can to Egypt be unknown?)  
What Sign, what Powers, what Credence do you bring?  
Behold his Seal, behold his Hand,  
Cries Moses, and casts down th' Almighty Wand.  
The Almighty Wand scarce touched the Earth,  
When with an undiscerned birth  
The Almighty Wand a Serpent grew  
And his long half in painted folds behinded him drew.  
Upwards his threatening Tail he threw;  
Upwards he cast his threatening Head,  
He gap'ed and hist aloud;  
With flaming Eyes surveyed the trembling crowd,  
And like a Basilisk almost looked th'Assembly dead;  
Swift fled th' Amazed King, the Guards before him fled.   

4.  
jannes' and jambres stop their flight,  
And with proud words allayed th'affright.  
The God of Slaves (said they) how can he be  
Moore powerful then their Master's Deity▪  
And down they cast their Rods,  
And mutter'ed secret sounds that charm the servile Gods,  
The evil Spirits their charms obey▪  
And in a subtle cloud they snatch the Rods away,  
And Serpents in their place the airy jugglers lay.  
Serpents in Egypt's monstrous land,  
Were never not at hand,  
And ready all at the Old Serpents first command.  
And they too gap'ed, and they too hist,  
And they their threatening Tails did twist,  
But straight on both the Hebrew-Serpent flew▪  
Broken both their active Backs, and both it slew,  
And both almost at once devour'ed,  
So much was over-powereed  
By God's miraculous Creation  
His Servant Nature's slightly-wrought, and feeble Generation.   

5.  
On the fameed bank the Prophets stood,  
Touched with their Rod, and wounded all the Flood;  
Flood now not more, but a long Vein of putrid Blood▪  
The helpless Fish were found  
In their strange Current drowned,  
The Herbs and Trees washed by the mortal Tide  
About it blushed and died.  
Th'amazed Crocodiles made haste to ground;  
From their vast trunks the dropping gore they spied,  
Thought it their Own, and dreadfully aloud they cried.  
Nor all thy Priests, nor Thou  
O King, couldst ever show  
From whence thy wand'ring Nile gins his course;  
Of this new Nile thou seest the sacred Source;  
And as thy Land that does o'erflow,  
Take heed jest this do so.  
What Plague more just could on thy Waters fall?  
The Hebrew Infants Murder stains them all.  
The kind, instructing Punishment enjoy;  
Whom the Read River cannot Mend, the Red-sea shall Destroy.   

6.  
The River yet gave one Instruction more,  
And from the rotting Fish and unconcocted Gore,  
Which was but Water just before,  
A loathsome Host was quickly made,  
That scaleed the Banks, & with loud noise did all the Country invade.  
As Nilus when he quits his sacred Bed  
(But like a Friend he visits all the Land  
With welcome presents in his hand)  
So did this Living Tide the Fields overspread.  
In vain th'alarmed Country tries  
To kill their noisome Enemies,  
From th'unexhausted Source still new Recruits arise.  
Nor does the Earth these greedy Troops suffice,  
The Towns and Houses they possess,  
The Temples and the Palaces,  
Nor Pharaoh, nor his Gods they fear;  
Both their importune croak hear.  
Unsatiate yet they mount up higher,  
Where never Sun-born Frog durst to aspire;  
And in the silken Beds their slimy Members place;  
A Luxury unknown before to all the Watery Race.   

7.  
The Water thus her Wonders did produce;  
But both were to no use.  
As yet the Sorcerers mimic power serv'ed for excuse.  
Try what the Earth will do (said God) and, Lo?  
They struck the Earth a fertile blow.  
And all the Dust did straight to stir begin;  
One would have thought some sudden Wind t'had been;  
But, Lo, 'twas nimble Life was got within!  
And all the little Springs did move,  
And every Dust did an arm'ed Vermin prove,  
Of an unknown and new-created kind,  
Such as the Magick-gods' could neither make nor found.  
The wretched shameful Foe allow'ed no rest  
Either to Man or Beast.  
Not Pharaoh from th'unquiet Plague could be,  
With all his change of Raiments free;  
The Devils themselves confessed  
This was God's Hand; and 'twas but just  
To punish thus man's pride, to punish Dust with Dust.   

8.  
Lo the third Element does his Plagues prepare,  
And swarming Clouds of Insects fill the Air.  
With sullen noise they take their flight,  
And march in Bodies infinite;  
In vain 'tis Day above, 'tis still beneath them Night.  
Of harmful Flies the Nations numberless,  
Compos'ed this mighty Armies spacious boast;  
Of different Manners, different Languages;  
And different Habits too they wore,  
And different Arms they bore.  
And some, like Scythians, liv'ed on Blood,  
And Some on Green, and some on Flowery Food,  
And Accaron, the Airy Prince, led on this various Host.  
Houses secure not Men, the populous ill  
Did all the Houses fill.  
The Country, all around,  
Did with the cries of tortured Cattles sounded;  
About the fields enrag'ed they flew,  
And wished the Plague that was t'ensue.   

9  
From poisonous Stars a mortal Influence come  
(The mingled Malice of their Flame)  
A skilful Angel did th'Ingredients take,  
And with just hands the sad Composure make,  
And over all the Land did the full viol shake.  
Thirst, Giddiness, Faintness, and putrid Heats,  
And pining Pains, and Shivering Sweats,  
On all the Cattles, all the Beasts did fall;  
With deform'ed Death the Country's covered all.  
The labouring Ox drops down before the Blow;  
The crowned Victims to the Altar led  
Sink, and prevent the lifted blow:  
The generous Horse from the full Manger turns his Head;  
Does his Lov'ed Floods and Pastures scorn,  
Hate's the shrill Trumpet and the Horn,  
Nor can his lifeless Nostril please,  
With the once-ravishing smell of all his dappled Mistresses.  
The starving Sheep refuse to feed,  
They bleat their innocent Souls out into air;  
The faithful Dogs lie gasping by them there;  
Th'astonished Shepherd weeps, and breaks his tuneful Reed.   

10.  
Thus did the Beasts for Man's Rebellion die,  
God did on Man a Gentler Medicine try,  
And a Disease for Physic did apply.  
Warm ashes from the Furnace Moses took;  
The Sorcerers did with wonder on him look;  
And smil'ed at th'unaccustomed Spell  
Which no Egyptian Rituals tell.  
He flings the pregnant Ashes through the Air,  
And speaks a mighty Prayer,  
Both which the Ministering Winds around all Egypt bear.  
As gentle western Blasts with downy wings  
Hatching the tender Springs  
To the'unborn Buds with vital whispers say,  
You living Buds why do ye stay?  
The passionate Buds break through the Bark their way.  
So wheresoever this tainted Wind but blue,  
Swelling Pains and Ulcers grew;  
It from the body call'ed all sleeping Poisons out,  
And to them added new;  
A noisome Spring of Sores, as thick as Leaves did sprout.   

11.  
Heaven itself is angry next;  
Woe to Man, when Heav'en is vexed.  
With sullen brow it frowned,  
And murmur'ed first in an imperfect sound.  
Till Moses lifting up his hand,  
Waves the expected Signal of his Wand,  
And all the full-charg'ed clouds in ranged Squadrons move,  
And fill the spacious Plains above.  
Through which the rolling Thunder first does play,  
And opens wide the Tempests noisy way.  
And strait a stony shower  
Of monstrous Hail does downwards pour,  
Such as ne'er Winter yet brought forth  
From all her stormy Magazines of the North.  
It all the Beasts and Men abroad did slay,  
Over the defaced corpse, like Monuments, lay,  
The houses and strong-body'ed Trees it broke,  
Nor asked aid from the Thunder's stroke.  
The Thunder but for Terror through it flew,  
2 The Hail alone the work could do.  
The dismal Lightnings all around,  
Some flying through the Air, some running on the ground,  
Some swimming o'er the waters face,  
Filled with bright Horror every place.  
One would have thought their dreadful Day to have seen,  
The very Hail, and Rain itself had kindled been.   

12.  
The Infant Corn, which yet did scarce appear,  
Escap'ed this general Massacer  
Of every thing that grew,  
And the well-stored Egyptian year  
Begun to clothe her Fields and Trees anew.  
When, Lo, a scorching wind from the burnt Countries blue,  
And endless Legions with it drew  
Of greedy Locusts, who where ere  
With sounding wings they flew,  
Left all the Earth depopulate and bore,  
As if Winter itself had marched by there.  
What ere the Sun and Nile  
Gave with large Bounty to the thankful soil,  
The wretched Pillagers bore away,  
And the whole Summer was their Prey.  
Till Moses with a prayer  
Breathed forth a violent Western wind,  
Which all these living clouds did headlong bear  
(Not Stragglers left behind)  
Into the purple Sea, and there bestow  
On the luxurious Fish a Feast they ne'er did know.  
With untaught joy, Pharaoh the News does hear,  
And little thinks their Fate attends on Him, and His so neare.   

13.  
What blindness or what Darkness did there ere  
Like this undocile King's appear▪  
What ere but that which now does represent  
And paint the Crime out in the Punishment?  
From the deep, baleful Caves of Hell below,  
Where the old Mother Night does grow,  
Substantial Night, that does disclaim,  
Privation's empty Name,  
Through secret conduits monstrous shades arose,  
Such as the Sun's whole force could not oppose,  
They with a Solid Cloud  
All Heavens Eclypsed Face did shroud.  
Seemed with large Wings spread o'er the Sea and Earth  
To brood up a new Chaos his deformed birth.  
And every Lamp, and every Fire  
Did at the dreadful sight wink and expire,  
To th' Empyrean Source all streams of Light seemed to retire.  
The living Men were in their standing- houses buried;  
But the long Night no slumber knows,  
But the short Death finds no repose.  
Ten thousand terrors through the darkness fled,  
And Ghosts complained, and Spirits murmured.  
And Fancies multiplying sight  
Viewed all the Scenes Invisible of Night.   

14.  
Of God's dreadful anger these  
Were but the first light Skirmishes;  
The Shock and bloody battle now gins,  
The plenteous Harvest of full-riponed Sins.  
It was the time, when the still Moon  
Was mounted softly to her Noon,  
And dewy sleep, which from Night's secret springs arose,  
Gently as Nile the land oreflows.  
When (Lo!) from the high Countries of refined Day,  
The Golden Heaven without allay,  
Whose dross in the Credtion purg'ed away,  
Made up the Sun's adulterace ray,  
Michael, the warlike Prince, does downwards fly  
Swift as the journeys of the Sight,  
Swift as the race of Light,  
And with his Winged Will cuts through the yielding sky.  
He passed through many a Star, and as he past,  
Shone (like a star in them) more brightly there,  
Than they did in their Sphere  
On a tall Pyramids pointed Head he stopped at last,  
And a mild look of sacred Pity cast  
Down on the sinful Land where he was sent  
T'inflict the tardy panishment.  
Ah! yet (said He) yet stubborn King repent;  
Whilst thus unarm'ed I stand,  
E'er the keen Sword of God fill my commanded Hand;  
Suffer but yet Thyself, and Thy to live;  
Who would, alas! believe  
That it for Man (said He)  
So hard to be Forgiven should be,  
And yet for God so easy to Forgive!   

15.  
He spoke, and downwards flew,  
And o'er his shining Form a well-cut cloud he threw  
Made of the blackest Fleece of Night,  
And close-wrought to keep in the powerful Light,  
Yet wrought so fine it hindered not his Flight.  
But through the Keyholes and the chinks of doors,  
And through the narrow'est Walks of crooked Pores,  
He passed more swift and free,  
Than in wide air the wanton Swallows flee.  
He took a pointed Pestilence in his hand,  
The Spirits of thousand mortal poisons made  
The strongly tempered Blade,  
The sharpest Sword that ere was laid  
Up in the Magazines of God to scourge a wicked Landlord  
Through Egypt's wicked Land his march he took.  
And as he marched the sacred First born struck  
Of every womb; noon did he spare;  
Noon from the meanest Beast to Cenchres purple Heir.   

16.  
The swift approach of endless Night,  
Breaks open the wounded Sleepers rolling Eyes▪  
They'awake the rest with dying cries,  
And Darkness doubles the affright.  
The mixed sounds of scattered Deaths they hear,  
And loose their parted Souls 'twixt Grief and Fear,  
Louder then all the shreiking Woman's voice  
Pierces this Chaos of confused noise  
As brighter Lightning cots a way  
Clear, and distinguished, through the Day  
With lesle complaints the Zoan Templess sound,  
When the adored Haifer's drowned,  
And no true marked Successor to be found,  
Whilst Health, and Strength, and Oladuess does possess  
The festal Hebrew Cottages;  
The blessed Destroyer comes not there  
To interrupt the sacred cheer  
That new gins their well reformed▪ Year.  
Upon their doors he read, and understood.  
God's Protection writ in Blood,  
Well was he skilled i'th' Character Divine▪  
And though he passed by it in haste,  
He bowed and worshipped as he past,  
The mighty Mystery through its humble Sign.   

17.  
The Sword strikes now too deep and neare,  
Longer with its edge to play;  
No Diligence or Cost they spare  
To haste the Hebrews now away,  
Pharaoh himself chides their delay;  
So kind and bountiful is Fear!  
But, o, the Bounty which to Fear we own,  
Is but like Fire struck out of stone.  
So hardly got, and quickly go,  
That it scarce outlives the Blow.  
Sorrow and fear soon quit the Tyrant's breast;  
Rage and Revenge their place possessed  
With a vast Host of Chariots and of Horse,  
And all his powerful Kingdoms ready force  
The travelling Nation he pursues;  
Ten times overcome, he still th'unequal war renews,  
Filled with proud hopes, At lest (said he)  
The Egyptian Gods from Syrian Magic free  
Will now revenge Themselves and Me;  
Behold what passless Rocks on either hand  
Like Prison walls about them stand!  
Whilst the Sea bounds their Flight before,  
And in our injur'ed justice they must found  
A worse stop then Rocks and Seas behinded.  
Which shall with crimson gore  
New paint the Waters Name, and double die the shore.   

18.  
He spoke; and all his Host  
Approv'ed with shouts th' unhappy boast,  
A bidden wind bore his vain words away,  
And drowned them in the neighbouring Sea.  
Not means t'escape the faithless Travellers spy,  
And with degenerous fear to die,  
Curse their new-gotten Liberty.  
But the great Guide well knew he led them right,  
And seen a Fath hide yet from human sight.  
He strikes the raging waves, the waves on either side  
Unloose their close Embraces, and divide;  
And backwards press, as in some solemn show  
The crowding People do  
(Though just before no space was seen)  
To let the admired Triumph pass between.  
The wondering Army seen on either hand  
The not lesle wondering Waves, like Rocks of Crystal stand.  
They marched betwixt, and boldly trod  
The secret paths of God.  
And here and there all scattered in their way  
The Seas old spoils, and gaping Fish lay  
Deserted on the sandy plain,  
The Sun did with astonishment behold  
The inmost Chambers of the opened Main,  
For whatsoever of old  
By his own Priests the Poets has been said,  
He never sunk till then into the Oceans Bed.   

19  
Led cheerfully by a bright Captain Flame,  
To th'other shore at Morning Dawn they come,  
And seen behinded th'unguided Foe  
March disorderly and slow.  
The Prophet strait from th' Idimaean strand  
Shakes his Imperious Wand.  
The upper waves, that highest crowded lie,  
The beckoning Wand espy.  
Strait their first right-hand files begin to move,  
And with a murmuring wind  
Given the word March to all behind.  
The lefthand Squadrons not lesle ready prove,  
But with a joyful louder noise  
Answer their distant fellows voice,  
And haste to meet them make,  
As several Troops do all at once a common Signal take.  
What tongue th'amazment and th'affright can tell  
Which on the Chamian Army fell,  
When on both sides they seen the roaring Maine  
Broken lose from his Invisible Chain?  
They seen the monstrous Death and watery war  
Come rolling down loud Ruin from afar.  
In vain some backward, and some forwards fly  
With helpless haste; in vain they cry  
To their Celestial Beasts for aid;  
In vain their guilty King they'upbraid,  
In vain on Moses he, and Moses God does call,  
With a Repentance true too late;  
They're compassed round with a devouring Fate  
That draws, like a strong Net, the mighty Sea upon them All.   

NOTES.  

3:  
LIke that of Virgil, Subridens mistâ Mezentius irâ .And Mezentius was like Pharaoh in his contempt of the Deity, contemptorque Deûm Mezentius, Exod. 5. 2. And (Pharaoh) answered, who is the Lord, that I should hear his voice, and let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.  
For no Nation under the Sun worshipped so many Gods as Egypt; so that probably Pharaoh would have known the name of any God but the true one, jehovah.  
That Pharaoh asked a sign; appears by Exod. 7. 9 And when Pharaoh shall say to you, Show me a sign, etc.  
Almighty, as it was the Instrument of the Almighty in doing wonders; for which it is called the Rod of the Lord, as well as of Moses and Aaron; and in this sense Fortune is rightly called by Virgil Omnipotens.  
We may well suppose that the King and his Guards fled for fear at the sight, since Moses himself did so at first, Exod. 4. 2. And it was turned into a Serpent, so that Moses fled from it.   

4.  
So the Apostle calls the chief of Pharaoh's Magicians, 2 Tim. 3. 8. but S. Hieron. translates their names johannes and Mambres; and they say there is a Tradition in the Talmud, that juhani And Mamre, chief of Pharaoh's Magicians, said to Moses, Thou bringest straw into Aepraim, which was where abundance of corn grew; as if they should have said, to Bring your magical Arts hither, is to as much purpose, as to bring water to Nilus. jannes' was famous even among heathen Authors. Pliu. lib. 3. c. 1. Est & alia Magices factio, a Mose, & janne & jotape judaeis pendens. and Numenius the Pythagorean names him in Euseb. 1. 9 Prapaerat. Evang. They here are called by several names, in several Translations, by the Septuag, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Venefici, Poisoners, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Incantatores, Enchanters; by Sulpitius Severus, Chaldaans', that is, Astrologers; by others, Sapientes & Malefici, Wisemen (that is, Men esteemed so among the Egyptians) Philosophers and Witches.  
Fecerunt etiam ipsi per incantationes Aegyptiacos & arcana quaedam similiter. Their Gods may well be called Servile, for in all Enchantments we fiade them threatened by the Conjurers, and forced whither they will or not, by the power of Spelli, to do what they are commanded. Tiresias in the 4 Theb. because they did not obey him at first word, speaks to them like a Schoolmaster, with a rod in his hand, 
— Et nobis saevire facultas:  
— An Scythicis quoties armata venenis  
Colchis aget trepido pallebunt Tartara motu,  
Nostri cura minor? etc.  And Lucan says of Erichtho, 
Omne nefas superi prima jam voce precantis  
Concedunt, carmenque timent audire secundum.  And the Witches used always some obscure murmur in their charms. So of Erichth, 
Tum vox Lethaeos cunctis pollentior herbis  
Excantare Deos, confundit murmura primum  
Dissona, & humanae multum discordia Linguae.   
There are four opinions concerning this action of the Magicians; the first, that their Rods appeared Serpents by an Illusion of the sight. This was josephus his opinion; for he says, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Tertullian, Hierom, Gregory Nyssen, are cited for it too. Sedulius in lib. 4. Carm. 
— Sed imagine falsa  
Visibus human is magicos tribuere figuras.  This I like not, by no means; for if the appearance of the Serpents was an Illusion, so was the devouring of them too by Moses his Serpent. Therefore the second opinion to salve this difficulty, says, that the Devil for the Magicians, did really on the sudden, make up some bodies that looked like true Serpents, but were not so, and those bodies were truly devoured by Moses his true Serpent. But it does not fully answer the objection; and besides, by this Deceit, they might as well have imitated the other miracles. The third is, Thom. Aquinor, and Cajetans', and Delrios, and divers others, That they were true Serpents, not Created in an instant by the Devil (for that is granted by all to exceed his power) but Generated in a moment of Time by application of all things required to the generation of Serpents, which is Spontaneous sometimes. The fourth is of Peretius, Abulensis, and many more, that the Devil snatched away the Rods. and had true Serpents there in readiness to put in their place, and this agrees better with the swiftness of the action, for which, and some other reasons, I follow it.   

5:  
The Bank of Nilus, which is incomparably the most famous River in the world, whither we consider the greatness and length of it (for it runs about 900 Germane miles) or the things that it produces, or the miraculous flowing and ebbing of it. It is therefore called absolutely in the Scripture, Machal Misraim, The River of Egypt. From whence the word Nile is not unnaturally derived Nahal, Naal, Neel, Neil; as Bahal, Baal, Bel, Βῆλος: and Pompon. Mela reports, 1. 5. c. 10. That the fountain of Nilus is called Nachul by the Ethiopians. Now whereas God says to Moses, Go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he shall go forth to the Water: I believe, as the Perfians worshipped every morning the rising Sun, so the Egyptians did Nile; and that this going forth of the King to the River, was a constant act of Devotion, Theodoret 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nay I doubt whither Osiris (their great Deity) be not worshipped for Nilus. Seld. de Dils Syris.  
The fountain of Nilus is now known to be in the mountains called Lunaemontes, and one of the Titles of Prester john is, King of Goyome. Where Nile gins; but the ancients were totally ignorant of it, insomuch, that this was reckoned among the famous proprieties of Nilus, that it concealed its Spring, Fontium quicelat origines; of which see Lucan in the 10. Book; where, among other things, he says most admirably of Nilus. 
— Vbicunque videris,  
Quaereris, & multi contingit gloria genti  
ut Nilo sit laeta suo.   
Theodoret upon Exodus, says thus of this change of Nilus, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Being changed into Blood, it accused the Egyptians of the Infants murder; and the Book of Wisdom in Chap. 11. makes the same observation.   

6.  
Computruit fluvius; and before the Septuag. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where the vulgar Edition says, Computrescent aqua; that is, fervebit, vel effervescet fluvius, relating perhaps to Blood, which when it corrupts Boils, and burns as it were in the veins: when the water had been corrupted in this manner, it is no wonder if it produced a great number of Frogs; but the wonder consists in that the number was so infinite, in that it was so suddenly produced upon the action of Aaron, and that contrary to their nature, they come to molest the Egyptians in their very houses. The like judgement with this we found in prosane Histories, and to be attributed to the same hand of God, though the Rod was Invisible. Athenaeus in his 8 Book, and 2 Ch. reports, that in Paonia and Dardanium (now called Bulgarie) there reigned down so many Frogs from heaven (that is, perhaps they were suddenly produced after great showers) that they filled all the public ways, and even private houses, that their domestical furniture was convered with them, that they found them in the very pots where they boiled their meat; and that what with the trouble of the Living, and the smell of the Deadones, they were forced at last to forsake their Country. And Pliny reports in his 8. B. Ch, 29. That a whole City in Gallia hath been driven away by Frogs, and another in Africa by Locusts; and many examples of this kind might be collected.  
Sen lib. 4. Quaest Natur. c. 11. Nilus brings both Water and Earth too to the thirsty and sandy soil; for flowing thick and troubled, he leaves all his Leeses, as it were, in the Clests of the parched ground, and covers the dry places with the fatness which he brought with him, so that he does good to the Country two ways, both by over flowing, and by manuring it. So that Herod. calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The Husbandman. Tibul. Te propter nullos Tellus tua postulat imbres, Arida necpluvio supplicat herba jovi; for which reason Lucan says, that Egypt hath no need of jupiter, 
— Nihil indiga mercis  
Aut jovis, in solo tanta est fiducia Nile.  And one in Athenaus bolder, yet calls Nilus excellently well, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou Egyptian jupiter: nay, it was termed by the Egyptians themselves, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The River that emulates and contends with Heaven.   

7.  
What kind of Creature this was, no man can tell certainly. The Sept. translate it both here, and in the Psaim 105. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And so Philo, and the vulgar edition retains the word, Sciniphes, Ciniphes, or Kniphes, seem to come from the word, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which signifies to Prick, and they were a kind of Gnat: and Pliny renders them Culices muliones, and sometimes simply Culices; as likewise Columella. Dioscorid. cap. 112. terms them, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Hesych. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So Isidor. 1. 12. Origin. and Oros. 7, 8. and so Origen. Yet junius and Tremell. and the French, and the English, and divers other Translations, tender it by Lice, and Lice too might have wings; for Diod. Sicul. 1. 3. c. 3. speaking of the Acridophagi, or carer: of Locusts, says, that when they grow old, their bodies breed a kind of vinged Lice, by which they are devoured. It seems to me most probab c, that it was some new kind of creature, called analogically by an old known name, which is Pererius his conjecture, and is approved by River: And this I take to be the reason why the Magicians could not counterfeit this miracle, as it was easy for them to do those of the Serpents, the Blood and the Frogs, which were things to be had every where. This I think may pass for a more probable cause then the pleasant sincy of the Hebrews, who say, that the Devil's power is bounded to the producing of no creature lesle then a grain of Barley, or then S. Augustine's allegorical reason, and too poetical even for Poetry, who affirms, that the Magicians sailed in the ibird Plague, to show the defect of human Philosophy, when it comes to the mystery of the Trinity but, such pitiful allusions do more hurt then good in Divinity.   

8.  
A grievous Swarm of Flies— So our English Translation; St. Higher Omne genus muscarum. All sorts of Flies. The Septuag. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Canina Musca, a particular kind of Fly, called a Dog-Fly, from his biting. If it be not to be read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which may signify Aquila's, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Some translate this place, A mixture of Beasts. The French, une mes●●e de bestes. jun. and Tremell. Colluviem: and it should seem that josephus understood it of several sorts of wild Beasts that infested The Country. For he says, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; and Pagninus, Omne genus serarum; which is not very probable, for the punishments yet were rather troublesome then mortal, and even this punishment of Infinite numbers of small Tormentors, is so great a one, that God calls them his Army, joel, 2. 25. nay, his Great Army, The Locust, the canker-worm, and the catterpillar, and the palmer worm, my great Army, which I sent among you.  
The God of Flies, Belzebub, a Deity worshipped at Accaron, jupiter, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, either from bringing or diving away of Swarms of Flies, Plin. lib. ●● c. 28. Those of Cyrene worship the God Achor, great multitudes of Flies causing there a Pestilence, which presently die upon the sacrificing to this God; where Achor, I conceive, to be the same with Accaron, most of the sea-coasta of Africa, being ancient Colonies of the Phoenicians. Clement reports, that in Acarnaniâ at the Temple of Actium Apollo, they sacrificed an Ox to Flies, And Aelian, 〈◊〉 de Animal c. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Both, as I suppose, meaning that they sacrifiecd the Ox, not to the flies themselves, but to Apollo or jupiter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Pausan. l. ● 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Eleans sacrifice to jupiter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the driving away of Flies, from the Country of 〈◊〉. The Romans called this God not jupiter, but Hercules Apomyius, though we read not of the kill of Flies among his Labours. Plin. 1. 29. c. 6. Not living creature has lesle of understanding, or is lesle 〈◊〉 (then flies) which makes it the more wondered, that at the Olympic Games, upon the sacrificing of an Ox to the God whom they call Myiodes, whole clouds of them fly out of the Territory. And among the Trachinians, we read of Hercules. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Driver away of Gnats with the Erythraeans of Hercules 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the killer of worms, that hurt the Vines and many more Deities of the like honourable employment are to be found among the ancients.  
Many sorts of Flies molest the Castle, noon so as the Afilus or Oestrus (the Gad-Fly) Virg. Georg. 3. 
Oestrum, Graeci vertêre vacantes,  
Asper, acerba sonans, quo tota exterrita silvis  
Diffugiunt armenta  With the plague that was to ensue; that is, not in the sense that Claudian speaks of Pluto's Horses, Crastina venturae exspectantes gaudia praeda For how (as Scaliger says) could they know it) but simply, Wished for death.   

9  
(i) Poisoning: The conjunction of which produce Poisons (1) Infectious diseases, according to the received opinion of Astrologers. Virgil says, By the sick, or Diseased Heaven; that is, which causes diseases, but Heaven is there perhaps taken for the Air, 
Hic quondam Morbo coeli miseranda coorta est  
Tempestaa, totoque Autumni incanduit aestu, etc.  Where see his most incomparable description of a Pestilence.   

10.  
Not Books or Write of the Rites of Magic among the Egyptians.  
It is called by Moses, Chap 9, 10. Vicus inflationum Germinans in homine, etc. Sptou'lng out with blains, etc. which jun. and Tremel. Erumpens multis pustulis. This in Deuteronomy is one of the curses with which the disobedience to God is threatened, Chap. 18. 27. The Lord shall smite thee with the botch of Egypt, etc. From hence, I believe, come the calumny, that Trog. Pompeius, Diod. Siculus, Tacitus, and other heathens cast upon the Hebrews, to wit, that they were expelled out of Egypt for being scabbed and leprous, which mistake was easy, instead of being dismissed for having brought those diseases upon the Egyptians.   

11.  
Not each one like a Monument, for that Metaphor would be too big; but many of them together, like a Monument, and the most ancient Monuments, we know, were heaps of stones, not great Tombstones.   

12.  
(i) The Wheat and Rye. See Chap. 9 v. 32.  
Ch. 10. v. 13. Our Translation has East-wind: And the Lord brought an East-wind upon the Lord all that day, and all the night, etc. The vulgar has Ventum urentem. The Septuagint a Southwind. and Eugub. says, There is no doubt but it was a South wind; which opinion I follow (though the jews unanimously will have it to be an East-wind) because the Southern parts of Africa were most insested with Locusts, where they are in some places, the chief sood of the inhabitants: so that from thence they might easily be searched; for I cannot agreed with some, who imagine, that the hot wind blowing all day and night, produced them.  
Wondered are the things which Authors report of these kind of Armies of Locusts, and of the order and regularity of their marches. Aldroandus and Fincelius (as I found them cited) say thus, That in the year 8 yr. they were seen to fly over twenty miles in Germany in a day, in manner of a form Army, divided into several squadrons, and having their quarters apart when they rested. That the Captains, with some few, marched a days journey before the rest, to choose the most opportune places for their camp. That they never removed till Sunrising, and just then went away in as much order as an Army of men could do. That at last having done great mischief wheresover they past; after prayers made to God, they were driven by a violent wind into the Belgic Ocean, and there drowned, but being cast again by the sea, upon the shore, caused a great pestilence in the Country. Some add, that they covered an hundred and forty Acres at a time. St. Hier. upon joel, speaks thus. When the armies of Locusts come lately into these parts, and filled all the air, they flew in so great order, that slates in a pavement cannot be laid more regularly, neither did they ever stir one inch out of their ranks and files. There are reckoned thirty several sorts of Locusts, some in India (if we dare believe Plimy) three soot long. The same Author adds, of Locusts (Lib. 11. cap. 29.) That they pass in troops over great seas, enduring hunger for many days together in the search of foreign food. They are believed to be brought by the anger of the Gods; for they are seen sometimes very great. and make such a noise with their wings in flying, that they might be taken for Birds. They overcast the Sun, whilst people stand gazing with terror, jest they should fall upon their lands— out of Africa chief they infested Italy. and the people are forced to have recourse to the Sibyl's Books, to inquire for a remedy. In the Country of Cyrene there is a Law to make war against them thrice a year, first by breaking their eggs, then by kill the young ones, and lastly, the old ones, etc.  
The Read sea, which, methinks, I may better be allowed to call Purple, then Homer and Virgil to term any sea so. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  Virg. 
In Mare purpureum violentior influit amnis.  Pliny says, Purpuram irati maris faciem referre and Theophr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.   

13.  
Chap. v. Even darkness that may be felt. The Vulgar, Tam densae (tenebrae) ut palpari queant. Whither this darkness was really in the air, or only in their eyes, which might be blinded for the time: Or whither a suspension of Light from the act of Illumination in that Country; or whither it were by some black, thick, and damp vapour which possessed all the air, it is impossible to determine. I fancy that the darkness of Hell below, which is called Utter Darkness, arose and overshadowed the Land; and I am authorised by the Wisdom of Solom. Chap. 17. v. 14. where he calls it a night that come upon them out of the bottoms of inevitable Hell, and therefore was the more proper to be (as he says after) An Image of that darkness which should afterwards receive them.  
That all Fires and Lights went out, is to be plainly collected from the Text; for else how could it be truly said, that they could not see one another? and is confirmed by the Wisdom of Solony. Chap. 17. 5. No power of the fire might given them light. 3. See the above-cited, Chap. 17.   

14.  
Midnight, called also by the Latins Meridies noctis.  
It is very much disputed what that Light was that was created the first day. That it was the Empyraean heaven, seems to me the most probable opinion, out of which the Sun, Moon and Stars were made the fourth day: and therefore before I say, that all Light seemed to be returned to the Empyrean or highest heaven from whence it come at first.  
Some think that God inflicted this plague upon the Egyptions immediately himself, because he says, Chap. 11. v. 4. About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt. And to the same effect, Chap. 12. 12. but it is an ordinary manner of speech, to attribute that to God, which is done by one of his Angels; and that this was an Angel, appears out of Chap. 12. 23. The Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the Destroyer to come into your houses to smite you. From which place, and Psalm 78. v. 49. where it is said (of the Egyptians) He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil Angels among them; Some collect, that God used here the ministry of an Evil or Evil Angels; but I cannot believe, that God and the Magicians had the same Agents, and that Text of the Psalm is perhaps ill translated. jun. and Tremel. understand by it Moses and Aaron, as Nuntios Malorum; and if we interpret it (as others) of Angels, it were better rendered in English, Destroying or Punishing Angels. Infficters of Evil upon them. I attribute this infliction to the Archangel Michael: first, because it was he (by name) who sought with the Dragon, and smore him and his Angels, Revel. 12. 7. Secondly, because in Daniel too he is mentioned as an Angel of War, Chap. 10. v. 13. And lastly, because the very name is said to signify Percussio Dei. The Smiting of God. The Wisdom of Solomon, Chap. 18. v. 14. 15. 16. gives a little hint of the fancy of this Stance: For whilst all things were in quiet silence, and that the night was in the midst of her swift course, Thy Almighty Word, leapt down from heaven out of thy royal at Throne. as a fierce man of war into the midst of a Land of destruction: And brought thy unfergned command as a sharp sword, and standing up, filled all things with death, etc.   

15.  
That this Plague was a pestilence, is the opinion of josephus, and most Interpreters.  
The Law of consecrating all first-borns to God, seems Exod. the 13. to be grounded upon this slaughter of the Egyptian Firstborn. But that was rather the addition of a new cause why the Hebrews should exactly observe it, then that it was the whole reason of it; for even by natural right, the Firstborn, and First-fruits of all things are Sacred to God; and therefore anciently, not only among the jews, but also other Nations, the Priesthood belonged to the Elder Sons.  
The Name of that Pharaoh who was drowned in the Red-sea There is great confusion in the succession of the Egyptian Kings, and divers named by some Chronologers, that are quite omitted by others; as Amenophis, whom Mercator, and some others, will have to be the King drowned in the Read sea; but that it was Cenchres, is the most probable, and most received opinion.   

16.  
That Zoan, or Tzoan, was the place where Moses did his miracles, and consequently the City where Pharaoh Cenchres lived, we have the authority of Psalm 78. 12. It was likewise called Tanis (by the Grecians) and from it that mouth of the Nile neare which it stood, Ostium Taniticum. So that they are mistaken, who make Noph, or Moph, that is, Memphis, the place where Pharaoh kept his Court, for that was built afterwards, and lies more Southward.  
The Adored Heifer. Apis, and Serapis, and Osiris (who was Misraim) I conceive to have been the same Deity among the Egyptians, known by other Nations by the names of Mithra, Baal, Tamuz, Adonis, etc. and signifying the Sun, the great lamentations for the disappearing or loss of Osiris, Tamuz, and Adonis, and rejoicing for their return, signifying nothing but the Elongation by Winter, and re-approach of the Sun by Summer. The Egyptians under Apis, or Osiris, did likewise worship Nilus; and their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signified the overflowing of Nilus, and return of it to the channel. Now owing all their sustenance to the Sun and Nilus for that reason they figured both under the shape of an Ox; and not, I believe, as Vossius, and some other learned men imagine, to represent joseph, who fed them in the time of the famine: Besides, the Images of this Ox (like that which Aaron made for the children of Israel, in the imitation of the Egyptian Idolatry) they kept a living one, and worshipped it with great reverence, and made infinite lamentations at the death of it, till another was found with the like marks, and then they thought that the old one was only returned from the bottom of Nilus, wither they fancied it to retreat at the death or disappearing, 
— Quo se gurgite Nili  
Condat adoratus trepidis pastoribus Apis.  Stat. The Marks were these. It was to be a black Bull, with a white streak along the back, a white mark like an Halfmoon on his right shoulder, two hairs only growing on his tail, with a square blaze in his forehead, and a bunch, called Cantharus, under his Tongue: By what art the Priests made these marks, is hard to guests. It is indifferently named Ox, Calf, or Heifer, both by the Hebrews, Greeks, and Latins. So that which Exodus terms a Calf, Psalm 106. renders an Ox.  
See Chap. 12. 2. From this time the Heorews had two computations of the beginning of the year; the one common, the other Sacred: The Common began in Tisri, which answers to our September, at the Autumnal Aequinoctial; and all civil matters were regulated according to this, which was the old account of the year. The Sacred, to which all Festivals, and all Religious matters had relation, began at the vernal Aequinoctial, and was in stitured in commemoration of this deliverance.   

17.  
(i) Given a new occasion for it to be called the Red-sea. Concerning the name of which, the opinions are very different; that which seems to me most probable is, that it is denominated from Idumaea, and that from Edom, or Esau, that signifies Read; and the King Erithra, or Erythrun, from whence the Grecians derive it was Esau, and Erythraea his Country, Idumaea, both signifying the same thing in Hebrew and in Greek; but because that opinion of the Redness of the shore in some places, has been most received, and is confirmed even to this day by some Travellers, and sounds most poetically, I allude to it here, whither it be true or not.   

18.  
Plutarch de Is. & Osyr. testifies, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was an ancient name of Egypt, and that it was called so long after by the most skilful of the Egyptian Priests; that is, the Country of Cham: As also, the Scripture terms it, Psalm 105. Et jacob peregrinus fuit in terra Cham. From whose son it was afterwards named Misraim, and by the Arabians Mesre to this day.  
Beasts that were deified by the Egyptians, who chose at first the figures of Beasts for the Symbols or Hieroglyphical signs of their Gods, perhaps no otherwise then as the Poets make them of Constellations, but in time the worship come even to be terminated in them.    
FINIS.   

Davideis, A SACRED POEM OF THE TROUBLES OF DAVID.  
In FOUR BOOKS.  VIRG. GEORG. 2: 
Me verò primum dulces ante omnia Musae,  
Quarum sacra fero ingenti percussus amore,  
Accipiant, Coelique vias ac Sidera monstrent.  
LONDON: Printed for Humphrey Moseley, at the Princes Arms in St. Paul's Churchyard. 1656.   


THE CONTENTS.  
THe Proposition. The Invocation. The entrance into the History from a new agreement betwixt Saul and David. A description of Hell. The Devil's Speech. Envys reply to him. Her appearing to Saul in the shape of Benjamin, her speech and Saul's to himself after she was vanished. A description of Heaven. God's Speech: he sends an Angel to David, the Angels Message to him. David sent for to play before Saul. A Digression concerning Music. David's Psalm. Saul attempts to kill him. His escape to his own house, from whence being pursued by the King's Guard, by the artifice of his wife Michol he escapes, and flies to Naioh, the Prophet's College at Ramah. Saul's speech, and rage at his escape. A long Digression describing the Prophets College, and their manner of life there, and the ordinary subjects of their Poetry. Saul's Guards pursue David thither, and prophesy. Saul among the Prophets. He is compared to Balaam, whose Song concludes the Book.  
DAVIDEIS The first Book.  

, I Sing the Man who judah's Sceptre bore  
In that right hand which held the Crook before;  
Who from best Poet, best of Kings did grow;  
The two chief Gifts Heaven could on Man bestow.  
Much danger first, much toil did he sustain,  
Whilst Saul and Hell crossed his strong fate in vain.  
Nor did his Crown lesle painful work afford;  
Lesle exercise his Patience, or his Sword;  
So long her Conque'ror Fortune's spite pursu'ed;  
Till with unwearied Virtue he subdueed  
All homebred Malice, and all foreign boasts;  
Their strength was Armies, his the Lord of Hosts.  
Thou, 
joh. 8. 58.  who didst David's royal stem adorn,  
And gav'st him birth from whom thyself was't born.  
Who didst in Triumph at Death's Court appear,  
And slew'st him with thy Nails, thy Cross and Spear,  
Whilst Hell's black Tyrant trembled to behold,  
The glorious light he forfeited of old,  
Who Heau'ens' glad burden now, and justest pride,  
Sit'st high enthron'ed next thy great Father's side,  
(Where hallowed Flames help to adorn that Head  
Which once the blushing Thorns environed,  
Till crimson drops of precious blood hung down  
Like Rubies to enrich thy humble Crown.)  
E'en Thou my breast with such blessed rage inspire,  
As mov'ed the tuneful strings of David's Lyre,  
Guide my bold steps with thy old trav'elling Flame, 
Exod. 13. 21.   
In these untrodden paths to Sacred Fame;  
Lo, with pure hands thy heav'enly Fires to take,  
My well-chang'ed Muse I a chaste Vestal make!  
From earth's vain joys, and loves soft witchcraft free,  
I consecrated my Magdalene to Thee!  
Lo, this great work, a Temple to thy praise,  
On polished Pillars of strong Verse I raise!  
A Temple, where if Thou vouchfafe to devil,  
. It Solomon's, and Herod's shall excel.  
Too long the Muses-Lands have Heathen been;  
Their Gods too long were Dev'ils, and Virtues Sin;  
But Thou, Eternal Word, hast call'ed forth Me  
. The Apostle, to convert that World to Thee;  
T'unbind the charms that in flight Fables lie,  
And teach that Truth is truest Poesy.  
The malice now of jealous Saul grew lesle,  
O'ercome by constant Virtue, and Success;  
He grew at last more weary to command  
New dangers, then young David to withstand  
Or Conquer them; he feared his mastering Fate,  
And envy'ed him a King's unpowerful Hate.  
Well did he know how Palms by'oppression speed,  
. Victorious, and the Victors sacred Mede!  
The Burden lifts them higher. Well did he know,  
How a tame stream does wild and dangerous grow  
By unjust force; he now with wanton play,  
Kisses the smiling Banks, and glides away.  
But his known channel stopped, gins to roar,  
. And swell with rage, and buffet the dull shore.  
His mutinous waters hurry to the war,  
And Troops of Waves come rolling from afar.  
Than scorns he such weak stops to his free source,  
And overruns the neighbouring fields with violent course.  
This knew the Tyrant, and this useful thought  
His wounded mind to health and temper brought.  
He old kind vows to David did renew,  
Sworn constancy, and meant his oath for true.  
A general joy at this glad news appeared,  
For David all men lov'ed, and Saul they feared.  
Angels and Men did Peace, and David love,  
But Hell did neither Him, nor That approve;  
From Man's agreement fierce Alarms they take;  
And Quiet here, does there new Business make.  
Beneath the silent chambers of the earth,  
Where the Sun's fruitful beams given metals birth,  
Where he the growth of fatal Gold does see,  
Gold which above more Influence has then He.  
Beneath the dens where unfletcht Tempests lie,  
And infant Winds their tender Voices try,  
Beneath the mighty Oceans wealth caves,  
. Beneath th'aeternal Fountain of all Waves,  
Where their vast Court the Mother-waters keep,  
And undisturbed by Moons in silence sleep,  
There is a place deep, wondrous deep below,  
Which genuine Night and Horror does o'erflow;  
No bound controls th'unwearied space, but Hell  
Endless as those dire pains that in it devil.  
Here no dear glimpse of the Sun's lovely face,  
Strikes through the Solid darkness of the place;  
No dawning Morn does her kind reds display;  
One slight weak beam would here be thought the Day.  
Not gentle stars with their fair Gems of Light  
Offend the tyr'annous and unquestioned Night.  
Here Lucifer, the mighty Captive, reigns,  
Proud, midst his Woes, and Tyrant in his Chains.  
Once General of a guilded Host of Sprights,  
Like Hesper, leading forth the spangled Nights.  
But down like Lightning, which him struck, he come;  
And roared at his first plunge into the Flame.  
Myriads of Spirits fell wounded round him there;  
With dropping Lights thick shone the singed Air.  
Since when the dismal Solace of their woe,  
Has only been weak Mankind to undo;  
Themselves at first against themselves they'excite,  
(Their dearest Conquest, and most proud delight)  
And if those Ours of secret Treason fail,  
With open force man's Virtue they assail;  
Unable to corrupt, seek to destroy;  
And where their Poisons miss, the Sword employ.  
Thus sought the Tyrant Fiend young David's fall;  
And against him armed the powerful rage of Saul.  
He seen the beauties of his shape and face,  
His female sweetness, 
1 Sam. 16. 12.  and his manly grace,  
He seen the nobler wonders of his Mind,  
Great Gifts, which for great works he knew designed.  
He seen (t'ashame the strength of Man and Hell) 
1 Sam. 17.   
How by's young hands their Gathite Champion fell.  
He seen the reverend Prophet boldly shed  
. The royal drops round his enlarged Head. 
1 Sam. 16. 13.   
And well he knew what Legacy did place, 
Gen. 49. 10.   
The sacred Sceptre in blessed judah's race,  
From which th' aeternal Shilo was to spring;  
A Knowledge which new Hells to Hell did bring!  
And though no lesle he knew himself too weak  
The smallest Link of strong-wrought Fate to break;  
Yet would he rage's, and struggle with the Chain;  
Lov'ed to Rebel though sure that 'twas in vain.  
And now it broke his formed design, to found  
The gentle change of Saul's recov'ering Mind.  
He trusted much in Saul, and rag'ed and grieved  
(The great Deceiver) to be Himself Deceived.  
Thrice did he knock his iron teeth, thrice howl,  
And into frowns his wrathful forehead roll.  
His eyes dart forth read flames which scare the night,  
And with worse fires the trembling Ghosts affright.  
A troop of ghastly Fiends compass him round,  
And greedily catch at his lips feared sounded.  
Are we such Nothings then (said He) Our will  
Crossed by a Shepherd's Boy? and you yet still  
Play with your idle Serpents here? dares noon  
Attempt what becomes Furies? be ye grown  
Benumbed with Fear, or Virtues sprightless cold,  
You, who were once (I'm sure) so brave and bold?  
O my ill-chang'ed condition! o my fate!  
Did I loose Heav'en for this?  
With that, with his long tail he lashed his breast,  
And horribly spoke out in Looks the rest.  
The quaking Pow'ers of Night stood in amaze,  
And at each other first could only gaze.  
A dreadful Silence filled the hollow place,  
Doubling the native terror of Hell's face;  
Rivers of slaming Brimstone, which before  
So loudly rag'ed, crept softly by the shore;  
No hiss of Snakes, no clanck of Chains was known;  
The Souls amid their Tortures durst not groan.  
Envy at last crawls forth from that dire throng,  
Of all the direfulst; her black locks hung long,  
Attir'ed with curling Serpents; her pale skin  
Was almost dropped from the sharp bones within,  
And at her breast stuck Vipers which did prey  
Upon her panting heart, both night and day  
Sucking black blood from thence, which to repair  
Both night and day they left fresh poisons there.  
Her garments were deep stained in human gore,  
And torn by her own hands, in which she bore  
A knotted whip, and bowl, that to the brim  
Did with green gall, and juice of wormwood swim.  
With which when she was drunk, she furious grew  
And lashed herself; thus from th'accursed crew,  
Envy, the worst of Fiends, herself presents,  
Envy, good only when she'herself torments.  
Spend not, great King, thy precious rage (said she)  
Upon so poor a cause; shall Mighty We  
The glory of our wrath to him afford?  
Are We not Furies still? and you our Lord?  
At thy dread anger the fixed World shall shake,  
And frighted Nature her own Laws forsake.  
Do Thou but threat, loud storms shall make reply,  
And Thunder eccho'it to the trembling Sky,  
Whilst raging Seas swell to so bold an height,  
As shall the Fires proud Element affright.  
Th'old drudging Sun from his long-beaten way,  
Shall at thy Voice start, and misguid the day.  
The jocund Orbs shall break their measureed pace,  
And stubborn Poles change their allotted place.  
Heau'ens' guilded Troops shall flutter here and there,  
Leaving their boasting songs tun'ed to a Sphere;  
. Nay their God too— for fear he did, when We  
Taken noble Arms against his Tyranny,  
So noble Arms, and in a Cause so great,  
That Triumphs they deserve for their Defeat.  
There was a Day! o might I see't again  
Though he had worse flames to thrust us in!  
And can such pow'ers be by a Child withstood?  
Will Slings, alas, or Peebles do him good?  
What th'untamed. Lion, whet with hunger too,  
And Giants could not, that my Word shall do;  
I'll soon dissolve this Peace; were Saul's new Love  
(But Saul we know) great as my Hate shall prove,  
Before their Sun twice more be go about,  
I, and my faithful Snakes would drive it out.  
. By Me Cain offered up his Brother's gore, 
Gen. 4. 8   
A Sacrifice far worse then that before;  
I seen him fling the stone, as if he meant,  
At once his Murder, and his Monument,  
And laughed to see (for 'twas a goodly show)  
The Earth by her first Tiler fattened so. 
Ib. v. 2. Exod. 14 23.   
I drove proud Pharaoh to the parted sea;  
He, and his Host drank up cold death by Me;  
By Me rebellious arms fierce Corah took,  
And Moses (curse upon that Name!) 
Num. 16. 1  forsaken;  
. Hither (ye know) almost alive he come  
Through the cloven Earth; 
Ib. 31.  Ours was his Fun'eral Flame.  
By Me— but I loose time, methinks, and should  
Perform new acts whilst I relate the old;  
David's the next our fury must enjoy;  
'Tis not thy God himself shall save thee, Boy;  
Not, if he do, may the whole World have Peace;  
May all ill Actions, all ill Fortune cease,  
And banished from this potent Court below,  
May I a ragged, contemned Virtue grow.  
She spoke; all star'ed at first, and made a pause;  
But straight the general murmur of applause  
Run through Death's Courts; she frowned still, and begun  
To envy at the praise herself had won.  
. Great Belzebub starts from his burning throne  
To'embrace the Fiend, but she now furious grown  
To act her part; thrice bowed, and thence she fled;  
The Snakes all hist, the Fiends all murmured.  
It was the time when silent night began  
T'enchain with sleep the busy spirits of Man;  
And Saul himself, though in his troubled breast  
The weight of Empire lay, took gentle rest:  
So did not Envy; but with haste arose;  
And as through Israel's stately Towns she goes,  
She frowns and shakes her head; thy own (says she)  
Ruins ere long shall your sole Mon'uments be.  
The silver Moon with terror paler grew,  
And neighbouring Hermon sweated flow●y dew;  
Swift jordan started, and strait backward fled,  
Hiding among thick reeds his aged head;  
Lo, at her entrance Saul's strong Palace shook;  
And nimbly there the reverend shape she took  
of Father Benjamin; so long her beard,  
So large her limbs, so grave her looks appeared:  
Just like his statue which bestrid Saul's gate,  
And seemed to Guard the race it did created.  
In this known form she'approacht the Tyrant's side;  
And thus her words the sacred Form belied.  
Arise, lost King of Isra'el; canst thou lie  
Dead in this sleep, and yet thy Last so nigh?  
If King thou be'est, if jesses' race as yet  
Sat not on Israel's Throne! and shall he sit?  
Did ye for this from fruitful Egypt fly?  
From the mild Brick-hills nobler slavery?  
For this did Seas your pow'erful Rod obey?  
Did Wonders guide, and feed you on your way?  
Can ye not there great Pharaoh's bondage bear,  
You who can serve a Boy, and Minstrel here?  
Forbidden it God, if thou beest just; this shame  
Cast not on Saul's, on my, and Israel's Name.  
Why was I else from Canaan's Famine led?  
Happy, 
Gen. 43.  thrice happy had I there been dead  
E'er my full Loins discharg'ed this num'erous race,  
This luckless Tribe, e'en Crowned to their Disgrace!  
Ah Saul, thy Servants Vassal must thou live?  
Place to his Harp must thy dread Sceptre given?  
What wants he now but that? canst thou forget  
(If thou beest man thou canst not) how they met  
The Youth with Songs? 
●. Sam. 18. 7.  Alas, poor Monarch! you  
Your thousand only, he ten thousand slew!  
Him Isra'el loves, him neighbouring Countries fear;  
You but the Name, and empty Title bear;  
And yet the Traitor lives, lives in thy Court;  
The Court that must be his; where he shall sport  
Himself with all thy Concubines, thy Gold,  
Thy costly robes, thy Crown; Wert thou not told  
This by proud Samuel, 
1 Sam. 13. 13.  when at Gilgal he  
With bold false threats from God affronted Thee?  
The dotard lied; God said it not I know;  
Not Baal or Moloch would have used thee so;  
Was not the choice his own? did not thy worth  
Exact the royal Lot, 
1 Sam. 19 21.  and call it forth?  
Hast thou not since (my best and greatest Son)  
To Him, and to his perishing Nation done  
Such lasting ben'efits as may justly claim  
A Sceptre as aeternal as thy Fame?  
Poor Prince, whom Madmen, Priests, and Boys invade!  
By thy own Flesh thy ingrateful Son betrayed!  
Unnat'ural Fool, who can thus cheated be!  
By Friendship's Name against a Crown and Thee!  
Betray not too thyself; take courage, call  
Thy'enchanted Virtues forth, and be Whole Saul.  
Lo, this great cause makes thy dead Fathers rise,  
Breaks the firm Seals of their closed Tombs and Eyes.  
Nor can their jealous Ashes, whilst this Boy  
Survives, the Priv'iledge of their Graves enjoy.  
Rise quickly Saul, and take that Rebels breath  
Which troubles thus thy Life, and e'en our Death.  
Kill him, and thou'rt secure; 'tis only He  
That's boldly interpos'ed 'twixt God and Thee,  
As Earth's low Globe robs the High Noon of Light;  
When this Eclipse is past, thy Fate's all bright.  
Trust me, dear Son, and credit what I tell;  
I'have seen thy royal Stars, and know them well.  
Hence Fears and dull Delays! Is not thy Breast  
(Yes, Saul it is) with noble thoughts possessed?  
May they beget like Acts With that she takes  
One of her worst, her best beloved Snakes,  
Softly, dear Worm, soft and unseen (said she)  
Into his bosom steal, and in it be  
My Viceroy. At that word she took her flight,  
And her lose shape dissolv'ed into the Night.  
The infected King leapt from his bed amazed,  
Scarce knew himself at first, but round him gazed,  
And started back at piec'ed-up shapes, which fear  
And his distracted Fancy painted there.  
Terror froze up his hair, and on his face  
Show'ers of cold sweat rolled trembling down apace.  
Than knocking with his angry hands his breast,  
Earth with his feet; He cries, O 'tis confessed;  
I'have been a pious fool, a Woman-King;  
Wronged by a Seer, a Boy, every thing.  
Eight hundred years of Death is not so deep,  
So unconcerned as my Lethargic sleep.  
My Patience e'en a Sacrilege becomes,  
Disturbs the Dead, and opens their sacred Tombs.  
Ah Benjamin, kind Father! who for me  
This cursed World endur'est again to see!  
All thou hast said, Great Vision, is so true,  
That all which thou command'st and more I'll do:  
Kill him? yes mighty Ghost the wretch shall die,  
Though every Star in heaven should it deny;  
Nor mock th'assaultassault of our just wrath again,  
Had he ten times his fameed ten thousand slain.  
Should that bold popular Madman, 
1 Sam. 8. 19  whose design  
Is to revenge his own disgrace by My,  
Should my ingrateful Son oppose th'intent,  
Should my own heart grow scrup'ulous and relent.  
Curse me, just Heaven (by which this truth I swear)  
If I that Seer, my Son, or Self do spare.  
Not gentle Ghost, return to thy still home;  
Thither this day my, and thy Foe shall come.  
If that cursed object longer vex my sight,  
It must have learned to appear as Thou to night.  
Whilst thus his wrath with threats the Tyrant fed,  
The threatened youth slept fearless on his bed;  
Sleep on, rest quiet as thy Conscience take,  
For though Thou sleepest thyself, thy God's awake.  
Above the subtle fold of the Sky,  
Above the well-set Orbs soft Harmony,  
Above those petty Lamps that gild the Night;  
There is a place o'reslown with hallowed Light;  
Where Heaven, as if it left itself behind,  
Is stretched out far, nor its own bounds can found:  
Here peaceful Flames swell up the sacred place,  
Nor can the glory contain itself in th'endless space.  
For there no twilight of the Sun's dull ray,  
Glimmers upon the pure and native day.  
No pale-fac'ed Moon does in stolen beams appear,  
Or with dim Taper scatters darkness there.  
On no smooth Sphere the restless seasons slide,  
No circling Motion doth swift Time divide;  
Nothing is there To come, and nothing Past,  
But an Eternal Now does always last.  
There sits th' Almighty, First of all, and End;  
Whom nothing but Himself can comprehend.  
Who with his Word commanded All to Bee,  
And All obeyed him, for that Word was He.  
Only he spoke, and every thing that Is  
From out the womb of Fertile Nothing ris.  
O who shall tell, who shall describe thy throne,  
Thou Great Three-One?  
There Thou thyself dost in full presence show,  
Not absent from these meaner Worlds below;  
Not, if thou wert, the Elements League would cease,  
And all thy Creatures break thy Nature's peace▪  
The Sun would stop his course, or gallop back,  
The stars drop out, the Poles themselves would crack:  
Earth's strong foundations would be torn in twain,  
And this vast work all ravel out again  
To its first Nothing; For his Spirit contains  
The well-knit Mass, from him each creature gains  
Being and Motion, which he still bestows;  
From him th' effect of our weak Action flows.  
Round him vast Armies of swift Angels stand,  
Which seven triumphant Generals command,  
They sing loud anthems of his endless praise,  
And with fixed eyes drink in immortal rays.  
Of these he called out one; all Heav'en did shake,  
And silence kept whilst its Creator spoke.  
Are we forgotten then so soon? can He  
Look on his Crown, and not remember Me  
That gave it? can he think we did not hear  
(Found Man!) his threats? and have we made the Ear  
To be accounted deaf? Not, Saul, we heard;  
And it will cost thee dear; the ills thou'st feared,  
Practised, or thought on, I'll all double sand;  
Have we not spoke it, and dares Man contend!  
Alas, poor dust! did saint thou but know the day  
When thou must lie in blood at Gilboa, 
1 Sam. 31.   
Thou, and thy Sons, thou wouldst not threaten still,  
Thy trembling Tongue would stop against thy william  
Than shall thy Head fixed in cursed Temples be,  
And all their foolish Gods shall laugh at Thee.  
That hand which now on David's Life would pray,  
Shall then turn just, and its own Master slay;  
He, whom thou hat'est, on thy lov'ed Throne shall sit,  
And expiate the disgrace thou do'est to it.  
Hast then; tell David what his King has sworn,  
Tell him whose blood must paint this rising Morn.  
Yet bid him go securely when he sends;  
'Tis Saul that is his Foe, and we his Friends.  
The Man who has his God no aid can lack,  
And we who bid him Go, will bring him back.  
He spoke; the Heavens seemed decently to bow,  
With all their bright Inhabitants; and now  
The jocund Spheres began again to play,  
Again each Spirit sung Halleluia.  
Only that Angel was straight gone; E'en so  
(But not so swift) the morning Glories flow  
At once from the bright Sun, and strike the ground;  
So winged Lightning the soft air does wound.  
Slow Time admires, and knows not what to call  
The Motion, having no Account so small.  
So flew this Agel, till to David's bed  
He come, and thus his sacred Message said,  
Awake, young Man, hear what thy King has sworn;  
He swore thy blood should paint this rising Morn.  
Yet to him go securely when he sends;  
'Tis Saul that is your Foe, and God your Friends.  
The Man who has his God, no aid can lack;  
And he who bids thee Go, will bring thee back.  
Up leapt jessides, and did round him stare;  
But could see naught; for naught was left but air,  
Whilst this great Vision labours in his thought,  
Lo, the short Prophecy t'effect is brought.  
In treacherous haste he's sent for to the King,  
And with him bid his charmful Lyre to bring. 
1 Sam. 18. 10. & 19 9   
The King, they say, lies raging in a Fit,  
Which does no cure but sacred tunes admit;  
And true it was, 
1 Sam. 16. 23.  soft music did appease  
Th'obscure fantastic rage of Saul's disease.  
Tell me, o Muse (for Thou, or noon canst tell  
The mystic pow'ers that in blessed Numbers devil,  
Thou their great Nature know'st, nor is it fit  
This noblest Gem of thy own Crown t'omit)  
Tell me from whence these heavenly charms arise;  
Teach the dull world t'admire what they despise,  
As first a various unformed Hint we found  
Rise in some godlike Poets fertile Mind,  
Till all the parts and words their places take,  
And with just marches verse and music make;  
Such was God's Poem, this World's new Essay;  
So wild and rude in its first draught it lay;  
Th'ungoverned parts no Correspondence knew,  
An artless war from thwarting Motions grew;  
Till they to Number and fixed rules were brought  
By the aeternal minds Poetic Thought.  
Water and Air he for the Tenor chose,  
Earth made the Base, the Triple Flame arose,  
To th'active Moon a quick brisk stroke he gave,  
To Satur's string a quick brisk stroke he grave,  
The motions Straight, and Round, and Swift, and Slow,  
And Short and Long, were mixed and woven so,  
Did in such artful Figures smoothly fall,  
As made this decent measur'ed Dance of All.  
And this is Music; Sounds that charm our ears,  
Is but one Dressing that rich Science wears.  
Though no man hear't, though no man it rehearse,  
Yet will there still be music in my Verse.  
In this Great World so much of it we see;  
The Lesser, Man, is all over Harmony.  
Storechouse of all Proportions! single Choir!  
Which first God's Breath did tunefully inspire!  
From hence blessed Musics heav'enly charms arise,  
From sympathy which Them and Man allies.  
Thus they our souls, thus they our Bodies win,  
Not by their Force, but Party that's within.  
Thus the strange Cure on our spilt Blood applied,  
Sympathy to the distant Wound does guide.  
Thus when two Brethrens strings are set alike,  
To move them both, but one of them we strike.  
Thus David's Lyre did Saul's wild rage control,  
And tuned the harsh disorders of his Soul.  
When Isra'el was from bondage led, 
Psal. 114. 41   
Led by th' Almighty's hand  
From out a foreign land,  
The great Sea beheld, and fled.  
As men pursu'ed, when that fear passed they found,  
Stop on some higher ground to look behind,  
So whilst through wondrous ways  
The sacred Army went,  
The waves afar stood up to gaze,  
And their own Rocks did represent,  
Solid as Waters are above the Firmament.   

Old jordans' waters to their spring  
Start back with sudden fright;  
The spring amazed at sight,  
Asks what News from Sea they bring.  
The Mountains shook; and to the Mountains side,  
The little Hills leapt round themselves to hid;  
As young affrighted Lambs  
When they aught dreadful spy,  
Run trembling to their helpless Dams;  
The mighty Sea and River by,  
Were glad for their excuse to see the Hills to fly.   

What ailed the mighty Sea to flee?  
Or why did jordans' tide  
Back to his fountain glide?  
jordans' Tide, what ailed Thee?  
Why leapt the Hills? why did the Mountains shake?  
What ailed them their fixed Natures to forsake?  
Fly where thou wilt, OH Sea!  
And jordans' currant cease;  
jordan there is no need of thee,  
For at God's word, when e'er he please,  
The Rocks shall weep new Waters forth instead of these. 
Exo. 17. 6. Num. 20. 11.    

Thus sung the great Musician to his Lyre;  
And Saul's black rage grew softly to retire;  
But Envys serpent still with him remained,  
And the wise Charmers healthful voice disdained. 
Psa. 58. 5.   
Th'unthankful King cur'ed truly of his fit,  
Seems to lie drowned and buried still in it.  
From his past madness draws this wicked use,  
To sin disguis'ed, and murder with excuse:  
For whilst the fearless youth his cure pursues,  
And the soft Medicine with kind art renews;  
The barb'arous Patient casts at him his spear, 
1 Sam. 18. 11. & 19 10.   
(The usual Sceptre that rough hand did bear)  
Casts it with violent strength, but into th'room  
An Arm more strong and sure then his was come;  
An Angel whose unseen and easy might  
Put by the weapon, and misled it right.  
How vain Man's power is! unless God command,  
The weapon disobeys his Master's hand!  
Happy was now the error of the blow;  
At Gilboa it will not serve him so.  
One would have thought, Saul's sudden rage t'have seen,  
He had himself by David wounded been.  
He scorned to leave what he did ill begin,  
And thought his Honour now engag'ed i'th' Sin.  
A bloody Troop of his own Guards he sends  
(Slaves to his Will, and falsely call'ed his Friends)  
To mend his error by a surer blow,  
So Saul ordain'ed, but God ordain'ed not so.  
Home flies the Prince, and to his trembling Wife  
Relates the new-past hazard of his life,  
Which she with decent passion hears him tell;  
For not her own fair Eyes she lov'ed so well.  
Upon their Palace top beneath a row  
Of Lemon Trees, which there did proudly grow,  
And with bright stores of golden fruit repay  
The Light they drank from the Sun's neighbouring ray,  
(A small, but artful Paradise) they walked;  
And hand in hand sad gentle things they talked.  
Here Michol first an armed Troop espies  
(So faithful and so quick are loving Eyes)  
Which marched, and often glisteren through a wood,  
That on right hand of her fair Palace stood; 
1 Sam. 19 11.   
She seen them; and cried out; They're come to kill  
My dearest Lord; Saul's spear pursues thee still.  
Behold his wicked Guards; Haste quickly, fly,  
For heavens sake haste; My dear Lord, do not die.  
Ah cruel Father, whose ill-natur'ed rage  
Neither thy Worth, nor Marriage can assuage!  
Will he part those he joined so late before?  
Were the two-hundred Foreskins worth no more?  
He shall not part us; 
1 Sam. 18. 27.  (Than she wept between)  
At yonder Window thou mayst scape unseen;  
This hand shall let thee down; stay not, but hast;  
'Tis not my Use to sand thee hence so fast.  
Best of all women, he replies— and this  
Scarce▪ spoke, she stops his answer with a Kiss;  
Throw not away (said she) thy precious breath,  
Thou stayest too long within the reach of death.  
Timely he'obeys her wise advice, and strait  
To unjust Force she 'opposes just deceit. 
1 Same 19 13.   
She meets the Murd'erers with a virtuous Lie,  
And good dissembling Tears; May he not die  
In quiet then? 
1 Sam. 19▪ 14.  (said she) will they not given  
That freedom who so fear lest he should Live?  
Even fate does with your cruelty conspire,  
And spares your guilt, yet does what you desire.  
Must he not live? for that ye need not sin;  
My much-wronged Husband speechless lies within,  
And has too little left of vital breath  
To know his Murderers, or to feel his Death.  
One hour will do your work—  
Here her well-governed Tears dropped down apace;  
Beauty and Sorrow mingled in one face  
Hath such resistless charms that they believe,  
And an unwilling aptness found to grieve  
At what they come for; A pale Statues head  
In linen wrapped appeared on David's bed;  
Two servants mournful stand and silent by,  
And on the table medicinal relics lie;  
In the close room a wel-plac'ed Tapers light,  
Adds a becoming horror to the sight.  
And for the Impression God prepar'ed their Sense;  
They seen, believed all this, and parted thence.  
How vain attempts Saul's unblessed anger tries,  
By his own hands deceived, and servants Eyes!  
It cannot be (said he) no, can it? shall  
Our great ten thousand Slayer idly fall?  
The silly rout thinks God protects him still;  
But God, alas, guards not the bad from ill.  
O may he guard him! may his members be  
In as full strength, and well-set harmony  
As the fresh body of the first made Man  
E'er Sin, or Sins just meed, Disease began.  
He will be else too small for our vast Hate;  
And we must share in our revenge with fate.  
Not; let us have him Whole; we else may seem  
To 'have snatched away but some few days from him  
And cut that Thread which would have dropped in two;  
Will our great anger learn to stoop so low?  
I know it cannot, will not; him we prise  
Of our just wrath the solemn Sacrifice,  
That must not blemished be; let him remain  
Secure, and grow up to our stroke again.  
'Twill be some pleasure then to take his breath,  
When he shall strive, and wrestle with his death;  
Go, let him live— And yet— shall I then stay  
So long? good and great actions hate delay.  
Some foolish piety perhaps, or He  
That has been still my honour's Enemy,  
Samuel may change or cross my just intent,  
And I this Formal Pity soon repent.  
Besides Fate gives him me, and whispers this,  
That he can fly not more, if we should miss;  
Miss? can we miss again; go, bring him straight,  
Though gasping out his Soul; 
1 Sam. 19 15.  if the wished date  
Of his accursed life be almost past,  
Some joy 'twill be to see him breathe his last:  
The Troop returned, of their short Virtue 'ashameed,  
Saul's courage praised, and their own weakness blam'ed,  
But when the pious fraud they understood,  
Scarce the respect due to Saul's sacred blood,  
Due to the sacred beauty in it reign'ed,  
From Michols murder their wild rage restrain'ed.  
She'alleag'ed the holiest chains that bind a wife,  
Duty and Love; 
1 Sam. 19 17.  she alleag'ed that her own Life,  
Had she refus'ed that safety to her Lord,  
Would have incurred just danger from his sword.  
Now was Saul's wrath full grown; he takes no rest;  
A violent Flame rolls in his troubled breast,  
And in fierce Lightning from his Eye does break;  
Not his own fav'orites, and best friends dare speak,  
Or look on him; but mute and trembling all,  
Fear where this Cloud will burst, and Thunder fall.  
So when the pride and terror of the Wood,  
A Lion pricked with rage and want of food,  
Espies out from afar some well-fed beast,  
And brustles up preparing for his feast;  
If that by swiftness scape his gaping jaws;  
His bloody eyes he hurls round, his sharp paws  
Tear up the ground; then runs he wild about,  
Lashing his angry tail, and roaring out.  
Beasts creep into their dens, and tremble there;  
Trees, though no wind be stirring, shake with fear;  
Silence and horror fill the place around;  
Echo itself dares scarce repeat the sound.  
Midst a large Wood that joins fair Ramahs Town  
(The neighbourhood fair Ramas chief renown)  
A College stands, 
1 Sam. 19 19  where at great Prophets feet  
The Prophets Sons with silent dilig'ence meet,  
By Samuel built, and mod'erately endow'ed,  
Yet more to'his lib'eral Tongue then Hands they ow'ed.  
There himself taught, and his blessed voice to hear,  
Teachers themselves lay proud beneath him there.  
The House was a large Square; but plain and low;  
Wise Natures use Art strove not to outgo.  
An inward Square by well-ranged Trees was made;  
And midst the friendly covert of their shade,  
A pure, well-tasted, wholesome Fountain risen;  
Which no vain cost of Marble did enclose;  
Nor through carved shapes did the forc'ed waters pass,  
Shape's gazing on themselves i'th' liquid glass.  
Yet the chaste stream that 'mong lose pebbles fell  
For Cleanness, Thirst, Religion served as well.  
The Scholars, Doctors▪ and Companions here,  
Lodg'ed all apart in neat small chambers were:  
Well-furnished Chambers, for in each there stood,  
A narrow Couch, Table and Chair of wood;  
More is but clog where use does bound delight;  
And those are rich whose Wealth's proportion'ed right  
To their Life's Form; more goods would but become  
A burden to the man contracts his room.  
A second Court more sacred stood behind,  
Built fairer, and to nobler use designed:  
The Hall and Schools one side of it possessed;  
The Library and Synagogue the rest.  
Tables of plain-cut Fir adorn'ed the Hall;  
And with beasts skins the beds were cov'red all.  
The reverend Doctors take their seats on high,  
The Elect Companions in their bosoms lie.  
The Scholars far below upon the ground,  
On fresh-strewed rushes place themselves around▪  
With more respect the wise and ancient lay;  
But eat not choicer Herbs or Bread then they,  
Nor purer Waters drank, their constant feast;  
But by great days, and Sacrifice increased.  
The Schools built round and higher, at the end  
With their fair circle did this side extend;  
To which their Synagogue on th'other side,  
And to the Hall their Library replied.  
The midst tow'ards their large Gardens open lay,  
To'admit the joys of Spring and early day.  
I'th' Library a few choice Authors stood;  
Yet 'twas well stor'ed, for that small store was good;  
Writing, Man's Spir'itual Physic was not then  
Itself, as now, grown a Disease of Men.  
Learning (young Virgin) but few Suitors knew;  
The common Prostitute she lately grew,  
And with her spurious brood loads now the press;  
Laborious effects of Idleness!  
Here all the various forms one might behold  
How Letters saveed themselves from Death of old;  
Some painfully engrav'ed in thin wrought plates,  
Some cut in wood, some lightlier trac'ed on slates;  
Some drawn on fair Palm leaves, with short-lived toil,  
Had not their friend the Cedar lent his Oil.  
Some wrought in Silks, some writ in tender barks;  
Some the sharp Style in waxed Tables marks;  
Some in beasts skins, and some in Biblos reed;  
Both new rude arts, which age and growth did need.  
The Schools were painted well with useful skill;  
Stars, Maps, and Stories the learned wall did fill.  
Wise wholesome Proverbs mixed around the room▪  
Some writ, and in Egyptian Figures some.  
Here all the noblest Wits of men inspir'ed,  
From earth's slight joys, and worthless toils retireed,  
Whom Samuel's Fame and Bounty thither led,  
Each day by turns their solid knowledge read.  
The course and power of Stars great Nathan taught,  
And home to man those distant wonders brought,  
How toward both Poles the Sun's fixed journey bends,  
And how the Year his crooked walk attends.  
By what just steps the wand'ring Lights advance,  
And what aeternal measures guide their dance.  
Himself a Prophet; but his Lectures shew'ed  
How little of that Art to them he owed.  
Mahol th'inferior world's fantastic face,  
Though all the turns of Matters Maze did trace,  
Great Natures well-set Clock in pieces took;  
On all the Springs and smallest Wheels did look  
Of Life and Motion; and with equal art  
Made up again the Whole of every Part.  
The Prophet Gad in learned Dust designs  
Th'immortal solid rules of fanci'ed Lines.  
Of Numbers too th' unnumbered wealth he shows,  
And with them far their endless journey goes.  
Numbers which still increase more high and wide  
From One, the root of their turned Pyramid.  
Of Men, and Ages passed Seraiah read;  
Embalmed in long-liveed History the Dead.  
Showed the steep falls, and slow ascent of States;  
What Wisdom and what Follies make their Fates.  
Samuel himself did God's rich Law display;  
Taught doubting men with judgement to obey.  
And often his ravished Soul with sudden flight  
Soared above present Times, and human sight.  
These Arts but welcome strangers might appear,  
Music and Verse seemed born and bred up here;  
Scarce the blessed Heav'en that rings with Angels voice,  
Does with more constant Harmony rejoice.  
The sacred Muse does here each breast inspire;  
Heman, and sweet-mouthed Asaph rule their Choir:  
Both charming Poets, and all strains they played,  
By artful Breath, or nimble Fingers made.  
The Synagogue was dressed with care and cost,  
(The only place where that they'esteemed not lost)  
The glittering roof with gold did daze the view,  
The sides refreshed with silks of sacred blue.  
Here thrice each day they read their perfect Law,  
Thrice pray'ers from willing Heav'en a blessing draw;  
Thrice in glad Hymns swelled with the Great One's praise,  
The pliant Voice on her sev'en steps they raise,  
Whilst all th' enlivened Instruments around  
To the just feet with various concord sounded;  
Such things were Muses then, contemned low earth;  
Decently p●oud, and mindful of their birth.  
'Twas God himself that here tun'ed every Tongue;  
And gratefully of him alone they sung.  
They sung how God spoke out the world's vast ball;  
From Nothing, and from No where called forth All.  
Not Nature yet, or place fort to possess,  
But an unbottom'ed Gulf of Emptiness.  
Full of Himself, th' Almighty sat, his own  
Palace, and without Solitude Alone.  
But he was Goodness whole, and all things willled;  
Which ere they were, his active word fulfilled;  
And their astonished heads o'th' sudden rear'ed;  
An unshap'ed kind of Something first appeared,  
Confessing its new Being, and undressed  
As if it stepped in haste before the rest.  
Yet buried in this Matters darksome womb,  
Lay the rich Seeds of ev'ery thing to come.  
From hence the cheerful Flame leapt up so high;  
Close at its heels the nimble Air did fly;  
Dull Earth with his own weight did downwards pierce  
To the fixed Navel of the Universe,  
And was quite lost in waters: till God said  
To the proud Sea, shrink in your ins'olent head,  
See how the gaping Earth has made you place;  
That durst not murmur, but shrunk in apace.  
Since when his bounds are set, at which in vain  
He foams, and rages, and turns back again.  
With richer stuff he bade Heau'ens' fabric shine,  
And from him a quick spring of Light divine  
Swelled up the Sun, from whence his cher'ishing flame  
Fills the whole world, like Him from whom it come.  
He smoothed the rough-cast Moon's imperfect mould,  
And comb'ed her beamy locks with sacred gold;  
Be Thou (said he) Queen of the mournful night,  
And as he spoke, she'arose clad over in Light,  
With thousand stars attending on her train;  
With her they rise, with her they set again.  
Than Herbs peep'ed forth, new Trees admiring stood,  
And smelling Flow'ers painted the infant wood.  
Than flocks of Birds through the glad air did flee,  
joyful, and safe before Man's Luxury,  
Teaching their Maker in their untaught lays:  
Nay the mute Fish witness not lesle his praise.  
For those he made, and clothed with silver scales;  
From Minoes to those living Islands, Whales.  
Beasts too were his command: what could he more?  
Yes, Man he could, the bond of all before;  
In him he all things with strange order hurled;  
In him, that full Abridgement of the World.  
This, and much more of God's great works they told;  
His mercies, and some judgements too of old:  
How when all earth was deeply stained in sin;  
With an impetuous noise the waves come rushing in.  
Where birds ere while dwelled, and securely sung;  
There Fish (an unknown Net) entangled hung.  
The face of shipwrecked Nature naked lay;  
The Sun peeped forth, and beheld naught but Sea.  
This men forgot, and burnt in lust again;  
Till showers, strange as their Sin, of fiery rain,  
And scalding brimstone, dropped on Sodom's head;  
Alive they felt those Flames they fry in Dead.  
Not better end rash Pharaoh's pride befell  
When wind and Sea wag'ed war for Israel.  
In his gilt chariots amazed fishes sat,  
And grew with corpse of wretched Princes fat.  
The waves and rocks half-eaten bodies slain;  
Nor was it since called the Read sea in vain.  
Much too they told of faithful Abraham's fame,  
To whose blessed passage they own still their Name:  
Of Moses much, and the great seed of Nun;  
What wonders they performed, what lands they won.  
How many Kings they slew or Captive brought;  
They held the Swords, but God and Angels fought.  
Thus gained they the wise spending of their days▪  
And their whole Life was their dear Maker's praise.  
Not minutes rest, no swiftest thought they sold  
To that beloved Plague of Mankind, Gold.  
Gold for which all mankind with greater pains  
Labour towards Hell, then those who dig its veins.  
Their wealth was the Contempt of it; which more  
They valued then rich fools the shining Ore.  
The Silk-worm's precious, death they scorned to wear,  
And Tyrian Die appeared but sordid there.  
Honour, which since the price of Souls become,  
Seemed to these great ones a low idle Name.  
Instead of Down, hard beds they chose to have,  
Such as might bid them not forget their Grave.  
Their Board dispeopled no full Element,  
Free Natures bounty thriftily they spent  
And spar'ed the Stock; nor could their bodies say  
We own this Crudeness t'Excess yesterday.  
Thus Souls live cleanly, and no soiling fear,  
But entertain their welcome Maker there.  
The Senses perform nimbly what they're bid,  
And honestly, nor are by Reason chid.  
And when the Down of sleep does softly fall,  
Their Dreams are heavenly then, and mystical.  
With hasty wings Time present they outfly,  
And tread the doubtful Maze of Destiny.  
There walk and sport among the years to come;  
And with quick Eye pierce ev'ery Causes womb:  
Thus these wise Saints enjoyed their Little All;  
Free from the spite of much-mistaken Saul:  
For if man's Life we in just balance weigh,  
David deserved his Envy lesle then They.  
Of this retreat the hunted Prince makes choice,  
Adds to their Choir his nobler Lyre and Voice.  
But long unknown even here he could not lie;  
So bright his Lustre, so quick Envy's Eye!  
Th'offended Troop, 
1 Sam. 19 20.  whom he escap'ed before,  
Pursue him here, and fear mistakes no more;  
Belov'ed revenge fresh rage to them affords;  
Some part of him all promise to their Swords:  
They come, but a new spirit their hearts possessed,  
Scattering a sacred calm through every breast:  
The furrows of their brow, so rough erewhile,  
Sink down into the dimples of a Smile.  
Their cooler veins swell with a peaceful tide,  
And the chaste streams with even current glide.  
A sudden day breaks gently through their eyes,  
And Morning-b●ushes in their cheeks arise.  
The thoughts of war, of blood, and murder cease;  
In peaceful tunes they adore the God of Peace.  
New Messengers twice more the Tyrant sent, 
Ib. v. 21.   
And was twice more mocked with the same event.  
His heightened rage not longer brooks delay;  
It sends him there himself; 
Ib. v. 23.  but on the way  
His foolish Anger a wise Fury grew,  
And Blessings from his mouth unbidden flew.  
His Kingly robes he laid at Naioth down,  
Begun to understand and scorn his Crown;  
Employed his mounting thoughts on nobler things;  
And felt more solid joys then Empire brings.  
Embrac'ed his wondering Son, and on his head  
The balm of all past wounds, kind Tears he shed.  
So cov'etous Balam with a found intent  
Of cursing the blessed Seed, 
Num. 22.  to Moab went.  
But as he went his fatal tongue to cell;  
His Ass taught him to speak, God to speak well. 
Ib. v. 28.   
How comely are thy Tents, 
Num, 24. 5.  o Israel!  
(Thus he began) what conquests they foretell!  
Lesle fair are Orchards in their autumn pride,  
Adorned with Trees on some fair Rivers side.  
Lesle fair are Valleys their green mantles spread!  
Or Mountains with tall Cedars on their head!  
'Twas God himself (thy God who must not fear?)  
Brought thee from Bondage to be Master here.  
Slaughter shall wear out these; new weapons get;  
And Death in triumph on thy darts shall sit.  
When judah's Lion starts up to his prey,  
The beasts shall hung their ears, and creep away.  
When he lies down, the Woods shall silence keep,  
And dreadful Tigers tremble at his sleep.  
Thy Cursers, jacob, shall twice cursed be;  
And he shall bless himself that blesses Thee.   

NOTES UPON THE FIRST BOOK.  
THe custom of beginning all Poems, with a Proposition of the whole work, and an Invocation of some God for his assistance to go through with it, is so Solemnly and religiously observed by all the ancient Poets, that though I could have found out a better way, I should not (I think) have ventured upon it. But there can be, I believe, noon better; and that part, of the Invocation, if it become a Heathen, is no lesle then Necessary for a Christian Poet. A jove principium, Musae; and it follows then very naturally, jovis omnia plena. The whole work may reasonably hope to be filled with a Divine Spirit, when it gins with a Prayer to be so. The Grecians built this Portall with lesle state, and made but one part of these Two; in which, and almost all things else, I prefer the judgement of the Latins; though generally they abused the Prayer, by converting it from the Deity, to the worst of Men, their Princes: as Lucan addresses it to Nero, and Statius to Domitian; both imitating therein (but not equalling) Virgil, who in his Georgics chooses Augustus for the Object of his Invocation, a God little superior to the other two.  
I call it Judah's, rather then Israel's Sceptre (though in the notion of distinct Kingdoms, Israel was very much the greater) First, because David himself was of that Tribe. Secondly, because he was first made King of judah, and this Poem was designed not farther then to bring him to his Inauguration at Hebron. Thirdly, because the Monarchy of judah lasted longer, not only in his Race, but outlasted all the several races of the Kings of Israel. And lastly, and chief, because our Saviour descended from him in that Tribe, which makes it infinitely more considerable then all the rest.  
I hope this kind of boast (which I have been taught by almost all the old Poets) will not seem immodest; for though some in other Languages have attempted the writing a Divine Poem; yet noon, that I know of, hath in English: So Virgil says in the 3 of his Georgics 
Sed me Parnassi deserta per ardua dulcis  
Raptat amor, juvat ire jugis, quà nulla priorum  
Castaliam molli divertitur orbita clivo.  Because noon in Latin had written of that subject. So Horace, 
Libera, per vacuum posui vestigia princeps,  
Non aliena meo pressi pede. — And before them both Lucretius, 
Avia Pieridum peragro loca, nullius antè  
Trita solo, juvat integros accedere fontes  
Atque haurire — And so Nemessarius, 
— Ducitque per avia, quà sola nunquam  
Trita rotis — Though there he does wrong to Gratius, who treated of the same argument before him. And so Oppian, 1o Ven. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. My own allusion here is to the passage of the Israelites through the Wilderness, in which they were guided by a Pillar of Flame.  
Though there have been three Temples at jerusalem, the first built by Solomon, the second by Zorobabel, and the third by Herod (for it appears by josephus, that Herod plucked down the old Temple, and built a new one) yet I mention only the first, and last, which were very much superior to that of Zorobabel in richeses and magnificence, though that was forty six years a building, whereas Herod's was but eight, and Solomon's seven; of all three the last was the most stately; and in that, and not Zerubbabel's Temple, was fulfilled the Prophecy of Hagai, that the glory of the last House should be greater then of the first.  
To be made an Apostle for the conversion of Poetry to Christianity, as S. Paul was for the conversion of the Gentiles; which was done not only by the Word, as Christ was the Eternal Word of his Father; but by his becoming a Particular Word or Call to him. This is more fully explained in the Latin Translation.  
It was the same case with Hercules; and therefore I am not afraid to apply to this subject that which Seneca makes juno speak of him in Hercul. Fur. 
Superat, & crescit malis,  
Irâque nostrâ fruitur, in laudes suas  
Mea vertit odia, dum nimis saeva impero.  
Patrem probavi; gloriae feci locum.  And a little after, 
Minorque labour est Herculi jussa exequi,  
Quàm mihi jubere—   
In the public Games of Greece, Palm was made the sign and reward of Victory, because it is the nature of that Tree to resist, overcome, and thrive the better for all pressures, 
— Palmaque nobilis  
Terrarum dominos evehit ad Deos. Hor. Od. 1.  From whence Palma is taken frequently by the Poets, and Orators too, for the Victory itself. And the Greek Grammarians say, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (to overcome) is derived from the same sense, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, à non cedendo.  
Shore is properly spoken of the Sea, and Banks of Rivers: and the same difference is between Littus and Ripa; but yet Littus is frequently taken among the best Latin Authors for Ripa, as I do here Shore for Bank; Virgil 
Littora quae dulces auras diffunditis agris , Speaking of Minéius.  
That the Matter of winds is an Exhalation arising out of the conconcavities, of the Earth, is the opinion of Aristotle, and almost all Philosophers since him, except some few who follow Hypocrates his doctrine, who defined the wind to be Air in motion, or flux. In those concavities when the Exhalations (which Seneca calls (Subterranean Clouds) overcharge the place, the moist ones turn into water, and the dry ones into Winds; and these are the secret Treasuries, out of which God is in the Scripture said to bring them. This was also meant by the Poets, who feigned that they were kept by Aeolus, imprisoned in deep caves, 
— Hic vasto Rex Aeolus antro  
Luct antes ventos tempestatesque sonoras  
Imperio premit, ac vinclis & carcere fraenat.  Upon which methinks, Seneca is too critical, when he says, Non intoller it, nec id quod clausum est, esse adhuc ventum, nec id quod ventus est, posse claudi; nam quod in clause est, quiescit, & aeris statio est, emnis in fugâ ventus est: For though it get not yet out, it is wind as soon as it stirs within, and attempts to do so. However, my Epithet of unfletcht Tempests might pass with him; for as soon as the wings are grown, it either flies away, or in case of extreme resistance (if it be very strong) causes an Earthquake. juvenal Sat. 5. expresses very well the South wind, in one of these dens. 
— Dum se continet Auster,  
Dum sedet, & siccat madidas in carcere pennas.   
To given a probable reason of the perpetual supply of waters to Fountains and Rivers, it is necessary to establish an Abyss or deep gulf of waters, into which the Sea discharges itself, as Rivers do into the Sea; all which maintain a perpetual Circulation of water, like that of Blood in man's body: For to refer the original of all Fountains to condensatîon, and afterwards dissolution of vapours under the earth, is one of the most unphilosophical opinions in all Aristotle. And this Abyss of waters is very agreeable to the Scriptures. jacob blesses joseph with the Blessings of the heavens above, and with the Blessings of the Deep beneath; that is, with the dew and rain of heaven, and with the fountains and rivers that arise from the Deep; and Esdras conformably to this, asks, What habitations are in the heart of the Sea, and what veins in the root of the Abyss? So at the end of the Deluge, Moses says, that God stopped the windows of heaven, and the fountains of the Abyss.  
And undisturbed by Moons in silence sleep. For I suppose the Moon to be the principal, if not sole cause of the Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea, but to have no effect upon the waters that are beneath the Sea itself.  
This must be taken in a Poetical sense; for else, making Hell to be in the Centre of the Earth, it is far from infinitely large, or deep; yet, on my conscience, where ere it be, it is not so straight, as that Crowding and sweeting should be one of the Torments of it, as is pleasantly fancied by Bellarmin. Lessius in his Book de Morib. Divinis, as if he had been there to surveyed it, determines the Diameter to be just a Dutch mile. But Ribera, upon (and out of the Apocalypse) allows Pluto a little more elbow-room, and extends it to 1600 furlongs, that is 200 Italian miles. Virgil (as good a Divine for this matter as any of them both) says it is twice as deep as the distance betwixt heaven and earth: 
Bis patet in praeceps tantum. tenditque sub umbras  
Quantus ad aethereum coeli supectus Olympum.  Hesiod is more moderate: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Statius puts it very low, but is not so punctual in the distance: He finds out an Hell beneath the vulgar one, 
Indespecta tenet vebis qui Tartara, quorum  
Vos est is superi — Which sure Aeschylus meant too by what he calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Scripture terms it Utter Darkness, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
There are two opinions concerning Samuel's anointing of David: one (which is josephus his) that he did it privately, and that it was kept as a secret from David's Father and Brethrens; the other, that it was done before them, which I rather follow; and therefore we use the word Boldly: nay, I believe, that most of the people, and jonathan, and Saul himself knew it, for so it seems by Saul's great jealousy of his being appointed to succeed him; and jonathan avows his knowledge of it to David himself; and therefore makes a Covenant with him, that he should use his family kindly when he come to be King. Anointing did properly belong to the Inauguration of High Priests; and was applied to Kings (and likewise even to Prophets) as they were a kind of extraordinary High Priests, and did often exercise the duties of their function, which makes me believe that Saul was so severely reproved and punished; not so much for offering Sacrifice (as an usurpation of the Priests office) as for his infidelity in not staying longer for Samuel, as he was appointed by Samuel; that is, by God himself. But there is a Tradition out of the Rabbins, that the manner of anointing Priests and Kings was different; as, that the Oil was poured in a Cross (decussatim, like the figure of Ten X) upon the Priests heads, and Round in fashion of a Crown upon their Kings; which I follow here, because it sounds more poetically (The royal drops round his enlarged head) not that I have any faith in the authority of those Authors.  
The Prophecy of jacob at his death concerning all his Sons, Gen. 49. v. 10. The Sceptre shall not departed from judah, nor the Lawgiver from between his feet, till Shilo come, and to him shall belong the assembling of Nations. All Interpreters agreed, that by Shilo is meant the Messiah; but almost all translate it differently. The Septuagint, Donec veniant, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, quae reposita sunt ei. Tertullian, and some other Fathers, Donec veniat cui repositum est. The vulgar Edition, Qui mittendus est; some of the Rabbis, Filius ejus; others, Filius mulieris others, Rex Messiah; others, Sospitator, or Tranquillator; ours, and the French Translation retain the word Shilo, which I choose to follow.  
Though noon of the English Poets, nor indeed of the ancient Latin, have imitated Virgil in leaving sometimes half verses (where the sense seem to invite a man to that liberty) yet his authority alone is sufficient, especially in a thing that looks so naturally and gracefully: and I am far from their opinion, who think that Virgil himself intended to have filled up those broken Hemistiques: There are some places in him, which I dare almost swear have been made up since his death by the putid officiousness of some Grammarians; as that of Dido, 
— Moriamur inultae?  
Sed moriamur, ait. — Here I am confident Virgil broke of; and indeed what could be more proper for the passion she was then in, then to conclude abruptly with that resolution? nothing could there be well added; but if there were a necessity of it, yet that which follows, is of all things that could have been thought on, the most improper, and the most false, 
Sic, sic juvat ire sub umbras ; Which is contrary to her sense; for to have died revenged, would have been 
Sic, sic juvat ire sub umbras.  Shall we die (says she) unrevenged? That's all that can make death unpleasant to us: but however it is necessary to die. I remember, when I made once this exception to a friend of my, he could not tell how to answer it, but by correcting the Print, and putting a note of Intorrogation after the first Sic. 
Sic? sic juvat ire sub umbras : Which does indeed a little mend the sense; but then the expression (to make an Interrogation of Sic alone) is lame, and not like the Latin of Virgil, or of that age: But of this enough. Though the Ancients did not (as I said) imitate Virgil in the use of these broken verses; yet that they approved it, appears by Ovid, who (as Seneca reports in the 16 Controversy) upon these two verses of Varro. 
Desierant latrare canes, urbesque silebant,  
Omnia noctis erant placidâ compôsta quiete , Said they would have been much better, if the latter part of the second verse had been left out; and that it had ended, 
Omnia noctis erant — Which it is pity that Ovid seen not in some of his own verses, as most remarkably in that, 
Omnia pontus erant, deêrant quoque littora ponto,  
All things was Sea, nor had the Sea a Shore.  Where he might have ended excellently with 
Omnia pontus erat — But the addition is superfluous, even to ridiculousness.  
An Aposiopoesis, like Virgil's 
Quos ego— Sed motos praestat componere fluctus.  This would ill befit the mouth of any thing but a Fury; but it were improper for a Devil to make a whole speech without some lies in it; such are those precedent exaltations of the Devil's power, which are most of them false, but not All, for that were too much even for a Fury; nor are her boasts more false, then her threaten vain, where she says afterwards, 'Tis not thy God himself— yet Seneca ventures to make a man say as much in Herald Fur. 
Amplectere aras, nullus eripiet Deus  
Te m●hi—   
Cain was the first and greatest example of Envy in this world; who slew his Brother, because his Sacrifice was more acceptable to God then his own; at which the Scripture says, He was sorely angered, and his countenance cast down. It is hard to guests what it was in Cain's Sacrifice that displeased God; the Septuagint make it to be a defect in the Quality, or Quantity of the Offering, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; If thou hast offered right, but not rightly divided, hast thou not sinned? but this Translation, neither the Vulgar Edition, nor ours, nor almost any follows. We must therefore be content to be ignorant of the cause, since it hath pleased God not to declare it; neither is it declared in what manner he slew his Brother: And therefore I had the Liberty to choose that which I thought most probable; which is, that he knocked him on the head with some great stone, which was one of the first ordinary and most natural weapons of Anger. That this stone was big enough to be the Monument or Tombstone of Abel, is not so Hyperbolical, as what Virgil says in the same kind of Turnus, 
— Saxum circumspicit ingens,  
Saxum antiquum ingens, campo qui fortè jacebat  
Limbs agro positus, litem ut discerneret agris,  
Vix illud lecti bis sex cervice subirent,  
Qualia nunc hominum producit corpora tellus,  
Ille manu raptum trepidâ torquebat in hostem : Which he takes from Homer, but adds to the Hyperbole, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Il. 21. Ovid is no lesle bold, Metamorph. 12. 
Codice qui misso quem vix juga bina moverent  
juncta, Phololeniden à summo vertice fregit.   
Though the jews used to buty, and not to Burn the Dead, yet it is very probable that some Nations, even so anciently, practised Burning of them, and that is enough to make it allowable for the Fury here to allude to that custom: which if we believe Statius, was received even among the Grecians before the Theban War.  
Belzebub. That one evil Spirit presided over the others, was not only the received opinion of the ancients, both jews and Gentiles; but appears out of the Scriptures, where he is called, Prince of this world▪ john 12. 31. Prince of this age, Corinth. 11. 6. Prince of the power of the air, Ephes. 11. 2. Prince of Devils, Mat. 12. 24. by the express name of Belzebub, which is the reason why I use it here. Porphyrius says his name is Serapis, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. According to which Statius calls him Triplicis mundi summum; but names him not: for he adds, Quem scire nefastum est. This is the Spirit to whom the two verses, cited by the same Porphyry address themselves, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  OH thou Spirit that hast the command of guilty souls, beneath the vaults of the air, and above those of the eatth; which I should rather read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; And beneath the vaults of the earth too.  
Now for the name of Belzebub, it signifies the Lord of Flies; which some think to be a name of scorn given by the jews to this great jupiter of the Syrians, whom they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, id est, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, because the Sacrifices in his Temple were infested with multitudes of Flies, which by a peculiar privilege, notwithstanding the darly great number of Sacrifices, never come (for such is the Tradition) into the Temple at jerusalem. But others believe it was no mock-name, but a Surname of Baal, as he was worshipped at Ekron, either from bringing or driving away swarms of Flies, with which the Eastern Countries were often molested; and their reason is, because Ahaziah in the time of his sickness (when it is likely he would not railly with the God from whom he hoped for relief) sends to him under this name of Belzebub.  
That even insensible things are affected with horror at the presence of Devils, is a frequent exaggeration of stories of that kind; and could not well be omitted at the appearance of Poetical Spirits, 
Tartaream intendit vocem, quà protinus omne  
Contremuit nemus, & sylvae intonuere profundae.  
Audiit & Triviae longè lacus, etc.— Virg. Aeneid. 7.  And Seneca nearer to my purpose in Thyestes: Sensit introitus tuos Domus, & nefando tota contactu horruit— jam tuum moestiae pedem Terrae gravantur, Cernis ut fontes liquor Introrsus actus linquat, ut regio vacent, etc: And after, Imo mugit è fundo solum, Tonat dies serenus ac totis domus ut fracta tectis crepuit, & moti Lares vertere vultum. When Statius makes the Ghost of Laius to come to Eteocles to encourage him to the war with his Brother, I cannot understand why he makes him assume the shape of Tiresias, Longaevi vatis opacoes Induitur vultus, vocémque & vellera, since at his going away he discovers him to be Laius, 
— Ramos, ac vellera fronti  
Diripuit confessus avum — Neither do I more approve in this point of Virgil's method, who in the 7 Aeneid, brings Allecto to Turnus at first in the shape of a Priestess, 
Fit Calybe junonis anus; — But at her leaving of him, makes her take upon her, her own figure of a Fury, and so speak to him▪ which might have been done, methinks, as well at first, or indeed better not done at all; for no person is so improper to persuade man to any undertaking, as the Devil without a disguise: which is the reason why I make him here both come in, and go out too in the likeness of Benjamin, who as the first and chief of Saul's Progenitors, might the most probably seem concerned for his welfare, and the easiliest be believed and obeyed.  
I fancy here that the statue of Benjamin stood in manner of a Colossus over Saul's gate; for which perhaps I shall have some Critics fall severely upon me; it being the common opinion, that the use of all statues, nay, even pictures, or other representations of things to the sight, was forbidden the jews. I know very well, that in latter ages, when they were most rigid in observing of the Letter of the Law (which they began to be about the time when they should have left it) even the civil use of Images was not allowed, as now among the Mahometans. But I believe that at first it was otherwise: And first, the words of the Decalogue forbidden the making of Images, not absolutely, but with relation to the end of bowing down, or worshipping them; and if the Commandment had employed more, it would bind us Christians as well as the jews, for it is a Moral one. Secondly, we have several examples in the Bible, which show that statues were in use among the Hebrews, nay, appointed by God to be so, as those of the Cherubins, and divers other Figures, for the ornament of the Tabernacle and Temple; as that likewise of the Brazen Serpent, and the Lions upon Solomon's Throne, and the statue of David, placed by Michol in his Bed, to deceive the Soldiers who come to murder him; of which more particularly hereafter. Vasques says, that such Images only were unlawful, as were Erectae aut constitutae modo accommodato adorationi, made, erected, or constituted in a Manner proper for Adoration; which Modus accommodatus adorationis, he defines to be, when the Image is made or erected Per se, for its own sake, and not as an Appendix or addition for the ornament of some other thing; as for example, Statues are Idols, when Temples are made for them; when they are only made for Temples, they are but Civil Ornaments.  
Enchanted Virtues. That is, whose operation is stopped, as it were, by some Enchantment. Like that Fascination called by the French, Novement d'esguillette, which hinders the natural faculty of generation.  
So Homer, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉▪ And Virg. OH verè Phrygiae, neque enim Phryges!  
The number of years from Benjamin to Saul's reign; not exactly: but this is the next whole number, and Poetry will not admit of broken ones: and indeed, though it were in prose, in so passionate a speech it were not natural to be punctual.  
In this, and some like places, I would not have the Reader judge of my opinion by what I say; no more then before in divers expressions about Hell, the Devil, and Envy. It is enough that the Doctrine of the Orbs, and the Music made by their motion had been received very anciently, and probably come from the Eastern parts; for Pythagoras (who first brought this into Greece) learned there most of his Philosophy. And to speak according to common opinion, though it be false, is so far from being a fault in Poetry, that it is the custom even of the Scripture to do so; and that not only in the Poetical pieces of it; as where it attributes the members and passions of mankind to Devils, Angels, and God himself; where it calls the Sun and Moon the two Great Lights, whereas the latter is in truth one of the smallest; but is spoken of, as it seems, not as it Is, and in too many other places to be collected here. Seneca upon Virgil's Verse, Tarda venit seris factura nepotibus umbram ,Says in his 86 Epistle, That the Tree will easily grow up to given shade to the Planter: but that Virgil did not look upon, what might be spoken most Truly, but what most gracefully; and aimed more at Delighting his Readers, then at instructing Husbandmen: Infinite are the examples of this kind among the Poets; one there is, that all have from their Master Homer; 'tis in the description of a Tempest (a common place that they all ambitiously labour in) where they make all the four winds blow at once, to be sure to have enough to swell up their Verse, 
Unà Eurúsque Notúsque ruunt, creberque procellis  And so all the rest. Of this kind I take those Verses to be of Statius to Sleep in his fist Sylva, which are much commended, even by Scaliger himself, 
— jacet omne pecus, volucresque feraeque,  
Et simulant fessos curvata cacumina somnos.  Hitherto there is no scruple; for he says only, The bowing Mountains seem to nod. He adds, 
Nec trucibus fluviis idem sonus, occidit horror  
Aequoris, & terris maria inclinata quie scunt;   
Which is false, but so well said, that it were ill changed for the Truth.  
I am sorry that it is necessary to admonish the most part of Readers, that it is not by negligence that this verse is so lose, long, and, as it were, Vast; it is to paint in the number the nature of the thing which it describes, which I would have observed in divers other places of this Poem, that else will pass for very careless verses: as before, And overruns the neighbouring fields with violent course. In the second Book, Down a precipice deep, down he casts them all— and, And fell adown his shoulders with lose care. In the 3. Brass was his Helmet, his Boots brass, and o'er his breast a thick plate of strong brass he wore. In the 4. Like some fair Pine orelooking all th'ignobler Wood; and, Some from the Rocks cast themselves down headlong; and many more: but it is enough to instance in a few. The thing is, that the disposition of words and numbers should be such, as that out of the order and found of them, the things themselves may be represented. This the Greeks were not so accurate as to bind themselves to; neither have our English Poets observed it, for aught I can found. The Latins (qui Musas colunt severiores) sometimes did it, and their Prince, Virgil, always. In whom the examples are innumerable, and taken notice of by all judicious men, so that it is superfluous to collect them.  
Eternity is defined by Boet. Lib. 5. de Consolat. Interminabilis vitoe tota simul & perfecta possessio. The whole and perfect possession, ever all at once, of a being without beginning or ending. Which Definition is followed by Tho: Aquin, and all the Schoolmen; who therefore call Eternity Nunc stans, a standing Now, to distinguish it from that Now, which is a difference of time, and is always in Fluxu.  
Seneca, methinks, in his 58 Epist. expresses this more divinely then any of the Divines: Manent enim cuncta, non quia aeterna sunt, sed quià defenduntur curâ regent is, Immortalia tutore non egent, haec conservat Artifex, fragilitatem materiae vi suâ vincens. And the Schoolmen all agreed (except, I think, Durandus) that an immediate Concourse of God is required as well now for the Conservation, as at first it was necessary for the Creation of the world, and that the nature of things is not left to itself to produce any action, without a concurrent act of God; which when he was pleased to omit, or suspend, the fire could not burn the three young men in the redhot furnace.  
The Book of Tobias speaks of Seven Angels superior to all the rest; and this has been constantly believed according to the Letter, by the ancient jews and Christians. Clem. Alex and, Stromat. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The Seven that have the greatest power, the Firstborn Angels; Tob. 12. 15. I am Raphael, one of the Seven holy Angels, which present the prayers of the Saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy one; and this Daniel may very well be thought to mean, when he says, Chap. 10. 13. Lo Michael, one of the chief Princes come to help me. That some Angels were under the command of others, may be collected out of Zechar. 2. 3. where one Angel commands another; Run, speak to this young man, etc. and out of Reu. 12. 7. where Michael and his Angels, fought with the Dragon and his Angels. The number of just seven supreme Angels, Grotius conceived to be drawn from the seven chief Princes of the Persian Empire; but I doubt whither the seven there were so ancient as this Tradition. Three names of these seven the Scripture affords, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael; but for the other four, Oriphiel, Zachariel, Samael, and Anael, let the Authors of them answer, as likewise for their presiding over the Seven Planets.  
The Verses attributed to Orpheus has an expression very like this of the Angels, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  So Gabriel is called Luke 1. 19 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. He that stands before the face of God. And Daniel had his vision interpreted by one, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of the standers before God.  
The Poets are so civil to jupiter, as to say not lesle when he either Spoken, or so much as Nodded. Hom. 
— 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
Virgil. Annuit, & totum nutu tremefecit Olympum.  
Stat.— Placido quatiens tamen omnia vultu.   
Friends in the plural, as an intimation of the Trinity; for which cause he uses sometimes We, and sometimes I, and Me.  
I do not like Homer's repeating of long messages just in the same words: but here I thought it necessary, the message coming from God, from whose words no creature aught to vary, and being delivered by an Angel, who was capable of doing it punctually. To have made him say a long, eloquent, or figurative speech, like that before of Envy to Saul, would have pleased perhaps some Readers, but would have been a crime against 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is, Decency.  
That Timotheus by Music inflamed and appeased Alexander to what degrees he pleased, that a Musician in Denmark by the same art enraged King Ericus, even to the striking of all his friends about him, that Pythagoras taught by the same means a woman to stop the fury of a young man, who come to set her house on fire; that his Scholar Empedocles hindered another from murdering his father, when the sword was drawn for that purpose; that the fierceness of Achilles his nature was allayed by playing on the harp (for which cause Homer gives him nothing else out of the spoils of Eëtion: that Damon by it reduced wild and drunken youths; and Asclepiades, even seditious multitudes to temper and reason; that the Corybantes and effeminate Priests of Cybele, could be animated by it to cut their own flesh (with many more examples of the like kind) is well known to all men conversant among Authors. Neither is it so wondered, that sudden passions should be raised or suppressed (for which cause Pindar says to his Harp, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Thou quenchest the raging Thunder. But that it should cure settled diseases in the body, we should hardly believe, it we had not both Human and Divine testimony for it. Plin. Lib. 28. cap. I Dixit Homerus profluvinm sanguinis vulnerato femine Ulyssem inhibuisse carmine, Theophrastus Ischiadicos sanari, Cato prodidit luxatis membris carmen auxiliari. Mar. Varro Podagris; Where Carmen is to be understood as joined with musical notes. For the cure of the Sciatick, Theophrastus commends the Phrygian Music upon the Pipe, and A. Gell. for giving ease to it, Ut memoriae proditum est, as it is (says he) reported. Apollon. in his Book de Miris speaks thus. It is worthy admiration, that which Theophrastus writes in his Treatise of Enthysiasm, that Music cures many passions and diseases, both of the Mind and Body, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And the same Author witnesses, that many in his time, especially the Thebans, used the Pipe for the cure of several sicknesses, which Galen calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Super loco affecto tibia canere; or, Loca dolentia decantare. So Zenocrates is said to have cured Mad men, Terpander and Arion divers other Maladies. But if it were not for this example of David, we should hardly be convinced of this Physic, unless it be in the particular cure of the Tarantism, the experiments of which are too notorious to be denied or eluded, and afford a probable argument that other diseases might naturally be expelled so-too, but that we have either lost, or not found out yet the Art For the explication of the reason of these cures, the Magicians fly to their Colcodea; the Platoniques, to their Anima Mundi; the Rabbis to Fables and Prodigies not worth the repeating. Baptista Porta in his Natural Magic, seems to attribute it to the Magical Power of the Instrument, rather then of the Music; for he says, that Madness is to be cured by the harmony of a Pipe made of Hellebore, because the juice of that plant is held good for that purpose; and the Sciatique by a Musical Instrument made of Poplar, because of the virtue of the Oil of that Tree to mitigate those kind of pains. But these, and many Sympathetical experiments are so false, that I wonder at the negligence or impudence of the Relators. Picus Mirand says, That Music moves the Spirits to act upon the Soul, as Medicines do to operate upon the body, and that it cures the body by the Soul, as Physic does the Soul by the Body. I conceive the true natural reason to be, that in the same manner as Musical sounds move the outward air, so that does the Inward, and that the Spirits, and they the Humours (which are the seat of Diseases) by Condensation, Rarefaction, Dissipation, or Expulsion of Vapours, and by Virtue of that Sympathy of Proportion, which I express afterwards in Verse. For the producing of the effect desired, Athan. Kercherus requires four conditions: 1. Harmony. 2. Number and Proportion. 3. Efficacious and pathetical words joined with the Harmony (which (by the way) were fully and distinctly understood in the Music of the Ancients.) And 4. An adapting of all these to the Constitution, Disposition, and Inclinations of the Patient. Of which, and all things on this subject, he is well worth the diligent reading, Liber de Arte magnâ Consoni & Dissoni.  
Scaliger in his Hypercrit. blames Claudian for his excursion concerning the burning of Aetna, and for enquiring the cause of it in his own person. If he had brought in, says he, any other person making the relation, I should endure it. I think he is too Hypercritical upon so short a Digression; however, I choose here upon this new occasion, by the by to make a new short Invocation of the Muse, and that which follows, As first a various unform'ed, and is to be understood as from the person of the Muse. For this second Invocation upon a particular matter, I have the authority of Homer and Virgil; which nevertheless I should have omitted, had the digression been upon any subject but Music. Hom. Il. 2. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  And Virgil twice in the same Book (Aen. 7.) 
Nunc age qui Reges, Erato—  
Tu Vatem tu Diva moan, etc. — And a little after, 
Pandite nunc Helicona Deae, cantúsque ciete—  
Et meministis enim Divae, & memorare potestis,  
Ad nos vix tenuis famae perlabitur auras.   
I have seen an excellent saying of S. Augustine's, cited to this purpose, Ordinem saeculorum tanquam pulcherrimum Carmen ex quibusdam quasi antithet is honestavit Deus— sicut contraria contrariis opposita sermonis pulchritudinem reddunt, ità quâdam non verborum sed rerum eloquentia contrariorum oppositione soeculi pulchritudo componitur. And the Scripture witnesses, that the World was made in Number. Weight, and Measure; which are all qualities of a good Poem. This order and proportion of things is the true Music of the world, and not that which Pythagoras, Plato, Tully, Macrob. and many of the Fathers imagined, to arise audibly from the circumvolution of the Heavens. This is their musical and loud voice, of which David speaks, Psal. 19 The heavens declare the glory of the Lord— There is no Speech nor Language where their voice is not heard. Their sound is go out through all the Earth, and their words to the end of the world— Or as our Translation nearer the Hebrew (they say) renders it, Their Line is go out, Linea, vel amuss is eorum. To show the exactness of their proportion.  
Even this distinction of sounds in the art of Music, is thought by some to have been invented from the consideration of the elementary qualities: In imitation of which, Orpheus is said to have form an Harp with four strings, and set them to different Tunes: The first to Hypate, to answer to the Fire. The second to Parhypate, for the Water. The third to Paranete, for the Air. And the fourth to Neat, for the Earth.  
Because the Moon is but 28 days, and Saturn above 29 years in finishing his course.  
There is so much to be said of this subject, that the best way is to say nothing of it. See at large Kercherus in his 10 Book de Arte Consoni & Dissoni.  
The Weapon salve.  
The common Experiment of Sympathy in two Unisons, which is most easily perceived by laying a straw upon one of the strings, which will presently move upon touching the other.  
Here may seem to want connexion between this verse and the Psalm. It is an Elleipsis, or leaving something to be understood by the Reader; to wit; That David sung to his Harp, before Saul, the ensuing Psalm. Of this kind is that in Virgil, 
jungimus hospitio dextras, & tecta subimus.  
Templa Dei saxon venerabar structa vetusto.  
Da propriam Thymbrae domum, etc. — Where is understood Et venerans dixi, or some such words, which, methinks; are more gracefully omitted, then they could have been supplied by any care. Though Scaliger be of another mind in the 4 Book of Poesy, where he says, that there are some places in Virgil, where the sense is discontinued and interrupted by the leaving out of some verses, through the overmuch severity of his judgement (morosissimo judicio) with an intent of putting in better in their place; and he instances in these, where for my part I should be sorry that Virgil himself had filled up the gap. The like Elleipsis is in his 5 Book, upon the death of Palinurus, 
Multa gemens casuque animum percussus amici,  
O nimium coelo & pelago confise sereno,  
Nudus in ignotâ Palinure jacebis arenâ : And such is that in Statius, 2 Theb. 
— Ni tu Tritonia Virgo  
Consilio dignata virum.— Sat gente superbi  
Oeneos, absentes cui dudum vincere Thebas  
Annuimus — And why do I instance in these, since the examples are so frequent in all Poets?  
For this liberty of inserting an Ode into an Heroic Poem, I have no authority or example; and therefore like men who venture upon a new coast, I must run the hazard of it. We must sometimes be bold to innovate, 
Nec minimum meruere decus vestigia Graeca  
Ausi deserere— Hor.   
Psal. 58. 5. They are like the deaf Adder, that stoppeth her ear, which will not harken to the voice of the Charmer, charm he never so wisely. So jerem. 8. 17. Behold I will sand Serpents, Cockatrices among you, which will not be charmed. Serpent's Regulos quibus non est Incantatio: which Texts are ill produced by the Magick-mongers for a proof of the power of Charms. For the first is plainly against them, Adder being there taken for Serpent in general, not for one Species of Serpents, which alone had a quality of resisting Incantations. And the other is no more then if the Prophet should have said, Though you practise Magic Arts, like other Nations; and think like them, that you can charm the very Serpents, yet you shall found with all your Magic, no remedy against those which I shall sand among you; for nothing in all the whole human, or diabolical Illusion of Magic was so much boasted of as the power of Spells upon Serpents, they being the creatures most antipathetical and terrible to human nature. 
Frigidus in pratis cantando rumpitur anguis. Virg.  
Vipereas rumpo verbis & carmine fauces. Ovid.  
Inque pruinoso coluber distenditur arvo,  
Viperei coëunt abrupto corpore nodi,  
Humanoque cadit Serpens afflata veneno. Lucan.   
Nothing is more notorious (for it was accounted one of the wonders of the World) then the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, rendered by the Latins, Hortus pensilis at Babylon, which was planted on the top of prodigious buildings, made for that purpose, fifty cubits high, foursquare, and each side containing four Acres of ground. It was planted with all sorts of Trees, even the greatest, and adorned with many Banquetting-houses. The particular description see in Diodor. Sicul. l. 11. and out of him in Qu. Curt. 1. 5. It was built, they say, by a Syrian King (to wit, Nabucodonosar, for so josephus, l 10. and Suidas expressly say) in favour of a Persian Wife of his, who as Q. Curt. speaks, Desiderio nemorum sylvarumque in campestribus locis virum compulit naturae genium amoenitate hujus operis imitari. And D. Chrusostom mentions another of the like kind at Susa, in his Sermon of Richeses, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. These were miracles of their kind; but the use of Gardens made upon the top of Palaces, was very frequent among the ancients, Seneca, Trag. Act. 3. Thyest.  
Nulla culminibus meis Imposita nutat sylva. Sen. Epist. 122. Non vivunt contra naturam qui pomaria in summis turribus serunt? quorum silvae in tect is domorum ac fastigiis nutant, inde ortis radicibus, quò improb&é cacumina egissent. Plin. In tecta olim Romae scandebant silvae; Which luxury, as all others, come out of Asia into Europe; and that it was in familiar use among the Hebrews, even in David's time, several Texts of Scripture make me conjecture, 2 Sam. 26. 22. They spread for Absalon a Tent upon the Top of the House, and Absalon went unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel, 2 Sam. 11. 2. And it come to pass in an evening, that David arose from of his bed, and walked upon the roof of the King's house; and from the roof he seen a woman washing herself. And 1 Sam. 9 25. Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house. And again, verse 26.  
1 Sam. 19 13. And Michol took an image, and put it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats hair for his ●olster, and covered it with a cloth. An Image, the Hebrew is Theraphim, a word much disputed of, and hardly ever used in a good sense but here. The Images that Rachel stole from Laban, are so called; which there the Septuagint translate by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in other places by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, sometimes by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, here by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the most improperly of all, Hearse or the representations of the Dead, laid upon Hearses. The Latin uses Simulachrum, or Statua, and Aquila, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The fancy of josephus is extraordinarily Rabbinical. He says, that Michol put between the clothes the Liver of a she Goat, newly cut out, and shown the palpitation of it under the coverlet to the Soldiers saying that it was David, and that he had not slept all night: How come such men as he to have such odd dreams? Ribera upon Hosea says thus, What Statue was it that she placed in the bed? Certainly no Idol, for those were not to be found in the house of David; nor any Astronomical Image, made for the reception of celestial influences, which R. Abraham believes, for those were not allowable among the jews; but she made some figure like a man, out of several clothes, which she stuffed with other things, like Scarecrows, or those figures presented to wild Bulls in the Theatres, or those that are placed upon great men's Hearses. And she put the skin of a she-Goat about his head, to represent his read hair; which last is most ridiculous, and all before only improbable: For what time had she to make up such a Puppet? I do therefore believe, that she had a statue of David in the house, and laid that in the bed, pretending that he was speechless; and even this deceit I am forced to help, with all the circumstances I could imagine, especially with that most material one, And for th'impression God prepared their sense. And now concerning the Civil use of Images among the jews, I have declared my opinion before, which whither it be true or no, is not of importance in Poetry, as long as it hath any appearance of probability.  
It was a necessary condition required in all Sacrifices, that they should be without Blemish. See Levit. 1. and this was observed too among the Heathen.  
Rama, or Ramatha, and Naioth, were not several Towns, but Naioth was a place in, or close by Rama, where there were want to be solemn Religious meetings. Adricom.  
The Description of the Prophets College at Naioth, looks at first sight, as if I had taken the pattern of it from ours at the Universities; but the truth is, ours (as many other Christian customs) were form after the example of the jews. They were not properly called Prophets, or foretellers of future things, but Religious persons, who separated themselves from the business of the world, to employ their time in the contemplation and praise of God; their manner of praising him was by singing of Hymns, and playing upon Musical Instruments: for which cause in 1 Sam. 10. 5. they carried with them a Psaltery, Tabret, Pipe, and Harp; These it is probable were instituted by Samuel; for the 19, and 20. they seen the the company of Prophets prophesying (that is, seen them together in Divine Service) and Samuel standing, as appointed over them, Stantem super eos; which the Chaldee interprets Stantem docentem eos, Preaching to them. These are the first Religious Orders heard of in Antiquity, for whom David afterwards composed Psalms. They are called by the Chaldee Scribes, because they laboured in reading, writing, learning and teaching the Scriptures; and they are called Filii Prophetarum, as 2 King. 2. 3. The Sons of the Prophets that were at Bethel; and v. 5. the Sons of the Prophets that were at jericho: out of which may be collected, that Colleges of them were founded in several Towns. They are thus named (Sons of the Prophets) either because they were taught by Samuel, Elias, Elisha, or some of the great and properly called Prophets, or in the sense that the Greeks term Physicians, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The Sons of the Physicians; and the Hebrews Men, the Sons of Men, but I rather believe the former, and that noon but the young Scholars or Students are meant by this appellation. To this alludes S. Matth. 11. 19 Wisdom is justified of her Children. And the Masters were called Fathers, as Elisha to Elijah, 2 King. 2. 12. My Father, my Father, etc.  
For the several Sprinkle and Purifications by water, commanded in the Law of Moses, and so often mentioned in the Books of Exod. Levit. Numb. and Deuteron. the omission of which, in some cases was punished with no lesle then Death, Exod. 30. 20.  
I have learned much of my Masters, or Rabbis, more of my Companions, most of my Scholars, was the speech of an ancient Rabbi; from whence we may collect this distinction, of Scholars, Companions, and Rabbis, or Doctors. The chief Doctor's fate in the Synagogues, or Schools, in high chairs (perhaps like Pulpits) the Companions upon Benches below them, and the Scholars on the ground at the feet of their Teachers, from whence S. Paul is said to be brought up at the feet of Gamaliel; and Mary sat at jesus his feet, and heard his word, Luke 10. 39 After the Scholars had made good progress in learning, they were Elected and made, by imposition of hands, Companions to the Rabbis, like our Fellows of Colleges to the Masters, which makes me call them Th'Elect Companions.  
The Furniture of the Prophet Elisha's chamber, 2 Kings 4. 10.  
It was the ancient custom to cover the Seats and Table-Beds with Beasts skins: So Eumaeus places Ulysses, Odyss. 14. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
Collocavit super pellem villosoe silvestris caprae.  So Euander Aeneas, 8 Aeneid. 
Praecipuumque, toro & villosi pelle Leonis  
Accipit Aeneam.—  
Ovid. Qui poterat pelles addere, dives erat.   
There is a great dispute among the Learned, concerning the antiquity of this custom of Lying down at meat; and most of the Critics are against me, who make it here so ancient. That the Romans at first used sitting at Table, is affirmed by Pliny; that the Grecians did so too, appears by Athenaeus, l. 7. c. 15. That in our Saviour's time (long before which the Romans and Grecians had changed sitting into lying) the jews lay down is plain from the several words used in the New Testament upon this occasion, as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Luk. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Matth. 26. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Luke 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Mat. 14. so john is said to lean on jesus bosom, joh. 13. 23. that is, lay next to him at the feast; and alluding to this custom, Christ is said to be in the bosom of his Father, and the Saints in the bosom of Abraham. Some think the jews took this fashion from the Romans after they were subdued by them, but that is a mistake; for the Romans rather took it from the Eastern people: even in the Prophets time we have testimony of this custom, EZek. 23. 41. Thou sattest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, Amos 2. 8. They lay themselves upon clothes laid to pledge by every Altar; that is, They used garments laid to pledge instead of Beds, when at the Altars they eat things sacrificed to Idols. What was the fashion in Samuel's time, is not certain; it is probable enough for my turn, that Discubation was then in practice, and long before; for the plucking of their shoes when they went to Table, seems to imply it, that being done to preserve the Beds clean. And why had the jews a strict particular command to have their shoes on their feet at the eating of the Passover, but because they were want to have their shoes of at other meals?  
There is no matter capable of receiving the marks of Letters, that hath not been made use of by the ancients for that purpose. The twelve Tables of the Roman Laws were engraven in Brass; so was the League made with the Latins, Liu. Dec. j. Lib. 2. and Tatus among the Cretans was seigned to be a Man made of Brass by Vulcan (of whom they report many ridiculous stories) because he carried about in that Country the Laws graven in brass, and put them severely in execution. Pausan. in Boetius makes mention of the whole Book of Hesiods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, written in Lead; which kind of plates, Sueton. in Nerone calls Chartam plumbeam, Leaden paper. This fashion was in use before jobs time; for he says, job 19 23, 24. O that my words were graven with an Iron pen and Lead in the rock for ever. Rock, that is, the Leaden plates should be placed upon Rocks or Pillars. They likewise anciently engraved the very pillars themselves; as those two famous ones of Enoch, one of which was extant even in jasephus his days. And jamblicus avows, that he took the principles of his mystical Philosophy from the Pillars of Mercury. Plin. l. 7. 56. reports, that the Babylonians and Assyrians writ their Laws in Coctis lateribus, that is, Pillars of Brick. Moses his in Stone. Horace, 
Non incisa not is marmor a publicis.  But of this kind of writing, I was not to make mention in a private Library. They used also of old Plates or Leaves of Ivory; from whence they were termed Libri Elephantini; not as some conceive, from their bigness. Mart. 
Nigra tibi niveum littera pingat ebur.  As for Wood and Slates, we may easily believe, that they and all other capable materials were written upon. Of thin shave of wood the Longobards at their first coming into Italy, made Leaves to writ on; some of which Pancirollus had seen and read in his time.  
See Plin. l. 13. 11. From whence Letters are called Phoenicean, not from the Country, but from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Palm Tree. But Guiland. de Papyro thinks that Phoenicea in Pliny is not the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and has a long discourse to prove that Palm Leaves were not in use for writing, and that we should read Malvarum instead of Palmarum, which is a bold correction upon very slight grounds. It is true, they did anciently writ too upon Mallows, as appears by Isidor. and the Epigram of Cinna cited by him: 
Haec tibi Arateis multùm invigilata lucernis  
Carmina queis ignes novimus aethereos,  
Laevis in aridulo Malvoe descripta libello  
Prusiacâ vexi munera naviculâ.  But this was a rarity; for Mallows are too soft to be proper for that use. At Athens the names of those who were expelled the Senate, were written in some kind of Leaf, from whence this sentence was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as the names of those banished by the people were in Shells; but at Syracuse, it was in Olive Leaves, and called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And in this manner wrote Virgil's Sibylla, 
Foliis tantum ne carmina manda.   
Pliny testifies that the Books of Numa continued so long a time under ground unperished, by having been rubbed over with the Oil of Cedar. Horace, de Ar. Po. 
— Speramus carmina fingi  
Posse linenda cedro, aut laevi servanda Cupresso?  
Ovid.— Nec Cedro charta notetur; and,  
— Cedro digna locutus ; Who speaks things worthy to be preserved always by Cedar Oil; which was likewise used in the Embalming of dead Bodies.  
Of Linen Books Livy makes often mention: They were called Libri Lintei, and were Public Records; by others termed too Linteae Mappae, and Carbasina volumina, Silken Volumes, Claud. de B. Get. 
— Quid carmine poscat  
Fatidico custos Romani carbasus aev●.  And Sym. l. 4. Epist. Monitus Cumanos lintea texta sumpserunt. And Pliny says, the Parthians used to have Letters woven in their clothes.  
Tender Barks. The thin kind of skin between the outward Bark and the body of the Tree. The paper used to this day in China, and some part of the Indieses, seems to be made of the same kind of stuff. The name of Liber, a Book, comes from hence.  
Some the sharp style, etc. These waxed Table-books were very ancient, though I am not sure there were any of them in the Library at Naioth. Iliad. 6. Proetus sent a Letter in such Table-books by Bellerophon. The Style or Pen with which they wrote, was at first made of Iron, but afterwards that was forbidden at Rome, and they used styles of Bone; it was made sharp at one end to cut the Letters, and flat at the other to deface them; from whence stylum vertere. Pliny says, that Paper (so called from the Name of the Reed of which it was made) or Charta (termed so of a Town of that name in the Marshes of Egypt) was not found out till after the building of Alexandria; and Parchment, not till Eumenes his time, from whose royal City of Pergamus it was denominated Pergamena. In both which he is deceived; for Herod. in Terps. says, That the jonians still call paper skins, because formerly when they wanted Paper, they were forced to make use of skins instead of it. See Melch. Guiland. de Pap. upon this argument. And the Diptherae of the Grecians were nothing else but the skins of Beasts; that wherein jupiter is feigned to keep his Memorials of all things was made of the she-goat that gave him milk. And many are of opinion, that the famous Golden-Fleece was nothing but a Book written in a Sheep. skin. Diod. Sicul. l. 2. affirms that the Persian Annals were written in the like Books; and many more Authorities, if needful, might be produced: however, I call Parchment and the Paper of Egypt new Arts here, because they were later then the other.  
Hieroglyphics. The use of which it is very likely the jews had from Egypt, where they had lived so long, Lucan. l. 3. 
Nondum flumineas Memphis contexere Biblos  
Noverat, & saxis tantùm volucresque fereaeque  
Sculptaque servabant magicas animalia linguas.   
Nathan and Gad were famous Prophets in David's time; and therefore it is probable they might have lived with Samuel in his College, for their particular Professorships, the one of Astronomy, the other of Mathematics, that is a voluntary gift of my to them, and I suppose the places were very lawfully at my disposing. Seraia was afterwards Scribe or Secretary to David, called 1 King. 42. Sisha, and 1 Chron. 18. 16. Shausha. Mahol the Reader of Natural Philosophy, is mentioned, 1 King. 4. 31. Heman and Asaph are often spoken of in the Scripture, 1 King. 4. 1 Chron. 15. 17, 19 and 16. 5. and 37. 41, 42. and 25.  
A Pyramid is a figure broad beneath, and smaller and sharper by degrees upward, till it end in a point, like our Spire-Steeples. It is so called from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Fire, because Flame ascends in that Figure. Number is here called a Turned Pyramid, because the bottom of it is the point One (which is the beginning of Number, not properly Number, as a Point is of Magnitude) from whence it goes up still larger and larger, just contrary to the nature of Pyramidical Ascension.  
Sacred Blue. Because of the use of it in the Curtains of the Tabernacle, the curtain for the door, the Veil, the Priest's Ephod, Breastplate, and briefly all sacred Ornaments. The reason of choosing Blue, I suppose to have been in the Tabernacle, to represent the seat of God, that is, the Heavens, of which the Ta'ernacle was an Emblem, Numb. 15. 38. The jews are commanded to make that lace or ribbon of Blue, wherewith their fringes are bound to their clothes; and they have now left of the very wearing of Fringes, because, they say, the art is lost of dying that kind of Blue, which was the perfectest skye-colour. Coeruleus is derived by some, Quasi coeluleus.  
Virg. 1. 6. Aen. 
Obloquitur number is Septem discrimina vocum.  From which Pancirollus conjectures that, as we have now six notes in Music, Ut. Re. Mi. Fa. So. La. (invented by a Monk from the Hymn to St. john, beginning every line with those syllables) so the ancients had seven; according to which Apollo too instituted the Lyre with 7 strings; And Pindar calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, his Interpreter, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and the Argives forbade under a penalty, the use of more strings.  
Porphyrius affirmed, as he is cited by Eusebius, 3. Praepar. Evang. that the Egyptians (that is, the Thebans in Egypt) believed but one God, whom they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (whom Plutarch also names the Is. & Osyr. & Strabo, l. 17. Cnuphis) and that the image of that God was made with an Egg coming out of his Mouth, to show that he spoke out the world, that is, made it with his word; for an Egg with the Egyptians was the symbol of the world. So was it too in the mystical Ceremonies of Bacchus, instituted by Orpheus, as Plut. Sympos. l. 11. Quaest 3. and Macrob. l. 7. c 16. whence Iroclus says upon Timaeus, To 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be the same things. Vess. de Idol.  
Theophil. l. 2. adversus Gent. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is in no place, but is the Place of all things and Philo, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Which is the same with the expression here.  
Gen. 14. 13. And there come one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew, etc. which Text hath raised a great controversy among the Learned, about the derivation of the name of the Hebrews: The general opinion received of old was, that it come from Eber; which is not improbable, and defended by many learned men, particularly of late by Rivet upon Gen. 11. The other, which is more followed by the late Critics, as Arpennius, Grotius, and our Selden, is, that the name come from Abraham's passage over Euphrates into Canaan (as the name of Welch is said to signify no more then strangers, which they were called by the people among whom they come, and ever after retained it) which opinion is chief grounded upon the Septuagint Translation in this Text, who tender Abram the Hebrew, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The Passenger; and Aquila, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
For even these Sons of the Prophets that were Students in Colleges did sometimes likewise foretell future things, as to Elisha the taking up of Elijah, 2 King. 2. 3, etc.    

THE CONTENTS.  
THe Friendship betwixt jonathan and David; and upon that occasion a digression concerning the nature of Love. A discourse between jonathan and David, upon which the latter absents himself from Court, and the former goes thither, to inform himself of Saul's resolution. The Feast of the New-Moon, the manner of the Celebration of it; and therein a Digression of the History of Abraham. Saul's Speech upon David's absence from the Feast, and his anger against with jonathan. David's resolution to fly away; he parts with jonathan, and falls asleep under a tree. A Description of Fancy; an Angel makes up a Vision in David's head; the Vision itself, which is, A Prophecy of all the succession of his race till Christ's time, with their most remarkable actions. At his awaking, Gabriel assumes an human shape, and confirms to him the truth of his Vision.  
Davideis, The second Book.  
BUt now the early Birds began to call  
The morning forth; up risen the Sun and Saul;  
Both, as men thought, risen fresh from sweet repose;  
But both, alas, from restless labours risen.  
For in Saul's breast, Envy, the toilsome Sin,  
Had all that night active and tyr'annous been,  
She'expelled all forms of Kindness, Virtue, Grace;  
Of the past day no footstep left or trace.  
The newblown sparks of his old rage appear,  
Nor could his Love devil longer with his fear.  
So neare a storm wise David would not stay,  
Nor trust the glittering of a faithless Day.  
He seen the Sun call in his beams apace,  
And angry Clouds march up into their place.  
The Sea itself smooths his rough brow awhile,  
Flattering the greedy Merchant with a smile;  
But he, whose shipwrecked Bark it drank before,  
Seas the deceit, and knows it would have more.  
Such is the Sea, and such was Saul.  
But jonathan, his Son, and Only Good,  
Was gentle as fair jordans' useful Flood.  
Whose innocent stream as it in silence goes,  
Fresh Honours, and a sudden spring bestows  
On both his banks to every flower and tree;  
The manner How lies hid, th' effect we see.  
But more then all, more then Himself he lov'ed  
The man whose worth his Father's Hatred mov'ed.  
For when the noble youth at Dammin stood  
Adorned with sweat, and painted gay with Blood,  
jonathan pierceed him through with greedy Eye  
And understood the future Majesty  
Than destin'ed in the glories of his look; 
1 Sam. 18. 1.   
He seen, and straight was with amazement struck,  
To see the strength, the feature, and the grace  
Of his young limbs; he seen his comely face  
Where Love and Reverence so well mingled were;  
And Head, already crowned with golden hair.  
He seen what Mildness his bold Spi'rit did tame,  
Gentler then Light, yet powerful as a Flame.  
He seen his Valour by their Safety prov'ed;  
He seen all this, and as he seen, he Lov'ed.  
What art thou, Love, thou great mysterious thing?  
From what hide stock does thy strange Nature spring?  
'Tis thou that mov'est the world through every part  
And hold'st the vast frame close, that nothing start  
From the due Place and Office first ordained.  
By Thee were all things Made, and are sustained.  
Sometimes we see thee fully, and can say  
From hence thou took'est thy Rise, and wentest that way;  
But oftener the short beams of Reasons Eye,  
See only, There thou art, not How, nor Why.  
How is the Loadstone, Nature's subtle pride,  
By the rude Iron wooed, and made a Bride?  
How was the Weapon wounded? what hid Flame  
The strong and conqu'ering Metal overcame?  
Love (this World's Grace) exalts his Natural state;  
He feels thee, Love, and feels no more his Weight.  
You learned Heads, whom joy guirlands grace,  
Why does that twining plant the Oak embrace?  
The Oak for courtship most of all unfit,  
And rough as are the Winds that fight with it?  
How does the absent Pole the Needle move?  
How does his Cold and Ice beget hot Love?  
Which are the Wings of Lightness to ascend?  
Or why does Weight to th' Centre downwards bend?  
Thus Creatures voided of Life obey thy Laws,  
And seldom We, They never know the Cause.  
In thy large state, Life gives the next degree,  
Where Sense, and Good Apparent places thee;  
But thy chief Palace is Man's Heart alone,  
Here are thy Triumphs, and full glories shown,  
Handsome Desires, and Rest about thee flee,  
Union, Inherence, Zeal, and Ecstasy.  
Thousand bright joys cluster around thy head,  
O'er which a gall-less Dove her wings does spread,  
A gentle Lamb, purer and whiter fare  
Than Consciences of thy own Martyrs are,  
Lies at thy feet; and thy right hand does hold  
The mystic Sceptre of a Cross of Gold.  
Thus do'est thou sit (like Man ere sin had fram'ed  
A guilty blush) Naked, but not Asham'ed.  
What cause then did the fab'ulous Ancients found,  
When first their superstition made thee blind?  
'Twas They, alas, 'twas They who could not see,  
When they mistook that Monster, Lust, for Thee.  
Thou art a bright, but not consuming Flame;  
Such in th'amazed Bush to Moses come; 
Exo. 3 2.   
When that secure its'new-crowned head did rear,  
And child the trembling Branches needless fear.  
Thy Darts of healthful Gold, and downwards fall  
Soft as the Feathers that they're fletcht withal.  
Such, and no other, were those secret Darts,  
Which sweetly touched this noblest pair of Hearts.  
Still to one end they both so justly drew,  
As courteous Doves together yoked would do.  
No weight of Birth did on one side prevail,  
Two Twins lesle even lie in Nature's Scale.  
They mingled Fates, and both in each did share,  
They both were Servants, they both Princes were.  
If any joy to one of them was sent,  
It was most his, to whom it least was meant,  
And fortunes malice betwixt both was crossed,  
For striking one, it wounded th'other most.  
Never did Marriage such true Union found,  
Or men's desires with so glad violence bind;  
For there is still some tincture left of Sin,  
And still the Sex will needs be stealing in.  
Those joys are full of dross, and thicker fare,  
These, without matter, clear and liquid are.  
Such sacred Love does he'aveus bright Spirits fill,  
Where Love is but to Understand and Will,  
With swift and unseen Motions; such as We  
Somewhat express in heightened Charity.  
OH ye blessed One! whose Love on earth become  
So pure that still in He'aven 'tis but the same!  
There now ye sit, and with mixed souls embrace,  
Gazing upon great Loves mysterious Face,  
And pity this base world, where Friendship's made  
A bait for sin, or else at best a Trade.  
Ah wondrous Prince! who a true Friend couldst be,  
When a Crown Flatter'ed, and Saul threatened Thee!  
Who held'st him dear, whose Stars thy birth did cross!  
And bought'st him nobly at a Kingdoms loss!  
Isra'els' bright Sceptre far lesle glory brings;  
There have been fewer Friends on earth then Kings.  
To this strange pitch their high affections flew;  
Till Nature's self scarce looked on them as Two.  
Hither flies David for advice and aid,  
As swift as Love and Danger could persuade,  
As safe in jonathans' trust his thoughts remain  
As when Himself but dreams them over again.  
My dearest Lord, farewell (said he) farewell;  
He'aven bless the King; may no misfortune tell  
Th'injustice of his hate, when I am dead;  
They 'are coming now, perhaps; my guiltless head  
Here in their sight, perhaps, must bleeding lie,  
And scarce your own stand safe for being nigh.  
Think me not scareed with death, howereed appear,  
I know thou canst not think so: 'tis a fear  
From which thy Love, and Dammin speaks me free;  
I'have met him face to face, and ne'er could see  
One terror in his looks to make me fly  
When Virtue bids me stand; but I would die  
So as becomes my Life, so as may prove  
Saul's Malice, and at lest excuse your Love.  
He stopped, and spoke some passion with his eyes;  
Excellent Friend (the gallant Prince replies)  
Thou hast so proved thy Virtues, that they're known  
To all good men, more then to each his own.  
Who lives in Israel, that can doubtful be  
Of thy great actions? for he lives by Thee.  
Such is thy Valour, and thy vast success,  
That all things but thy Loyalty are lesle.  
And should my Father at thy rvine aim,  
'Twould wound as much his Safety as his Fame.  
Think them not coming then to slay thee here,  
But doubt mishaps, as little as you fear.  
For by thy loving God who e'er design  
Against thy Life must strike at it through My.  
But I my royal Father must acquit  
From such base guilt, or the low thought of it.  
Think on his softness when from death he freed  
The faithless King of Am'alecks' cursed seed, 
1 Sam. 15. 9   
Can he to'a Friend, to'a Son so bloody grow,  
He who e'en sinn'ed but now to spare a Foe?  
Admit he could; but with what strength or art  
Can he so long close, and seal up his heart?  
Such counsels jealous of themselves become,  
And dare not fix without consent of some.  
Few men so boldly ill, great sins to do,  
Till licens'ed and approv'ed by others too.  
Not more (believe'it) could he hid this from me, 
1 Sam. 20. 2.   
Than I, had he discovered it, from Thee.  
Here they embraces join, and almost tears;  
Till gentle David thus new prov'ed his fears.  
The praise you pleased (great Prince) on me to spend  
Was all out-spoken when you stil'ed me Friend.  
That name alone does dang'erous glories bring,  
And gives excuse to th' Envy of a King.  
What did his Spear, force, and dark plots impart  
But some eternal rancour in his heart?  
Still does he glance the fortune of that day  
When drowned in his own blood Goliath lay,  
And covered half the plain; still hears the sound  
How that vast Monster fell, and struck the ground  
The Dance, and, David his ten thousand slew,  
Still wound his sickly soul, and still are new.  
Great acts t'ambitious Prince's Treasons grow,  
So much they hate that Safety which they ow.  
Tyrants dread all whom they raise high in place,  
From the Good, danger; from the Bad, disgrace.  
They doubt the Lords, mistrust the People's hate,  
Till Blood become a Principle of State.  
Secured nor by their Guards, nor by their Right,  
But still they Fear e'en more then they Affright.  
Pardon me, Sir, yours Father's rough and stern:  
His Will too strong to bend, too proud to learn.  
Remember, Sir, the Honey's deadly sting;  
Think on that savage justice of the King.  
When the same day that seen you do before  
Things above Man, should see you Man not more.  
Tis'true th'accursed Agag mov'ed his ruth,  
He pitied his tall Limbs and comely youth  
Had seen, alas the proof of he'avens fierce hate,  
And feared no mischief from his powerless fate.  
Remember how th'old Seer come raging down,  
And taught him boldly to suspect his Crown.  
Since then his pride quakes at th' Almighty's rod,  
Nor dares he love the men belov'ed by God.  
Hence his deep rage and trembling Envy springs;  
Nothing so wild as jealousy of Kings.  
Whom should he counsel ask, with whom advice,  
Who Reason and God's counsel does despise?  
Whose headstrong will no Law or Conscience daunt,  
Dares he not sin, d'ye think, without your grant?  
Yes, if the truth of our fixed love he knew,  
He would not doubt, believe't, to kill e'en you.  
The Prince is mov'ed, and strait prepares to found  
The deep resolves of his grieved Father's mind.  
The danger now appears, Love can soon show't,  
And force his Stubborn Piety to know't.  
They'agree that David should concealed abide, 
1 Sam. 20. 5, etc.   
Till his great friend had the Courts temper tried,  
Till he had Saul's most secret purpose found,  
And searched the depth and rancour of his wound.  
'Twas the years seventh-born Moon; 
Leu. 23. 24.  the solemn Feast  
That with most noise its sacred mirth expressed. 
Nu. 29. 1.   
From op'ening Morn till night shuts in the day,  
On Trumpets and Shrill Horns the Levites play.  
Whither by this in mystic Type we see  
The New-years-Day of great Eternity,  
When the changed Moon shall not more changes make,  
And scattered Deaths by Trumpets sounded awake;  
Or that the Law be kept in Mem'ory still, 
Exo. 19 19   
Giv'en with like noise on Sina's shining Hill.  
Or that (as some men teach) it did arise  
From faithful Abraham's righteous Sacrifice,  
Who whilst the Ram on Isaac's fire did fry,  
His Horn with joyful tunes stood sounding by.  
Obscure the Cause; but God his will declar'ed;  
And all nice knowledge then with ease is spared.  
At the third hour Saul to the hallowed Tent  
Midst a large train of Priests and Courtiers went;  
The sacred Herd marched proud and softly by;  
Too fat and gay to think their deaths so nigh.  
Hard fate of Beasts, more innocent then We!  
Prey to our Lux'ury, and our Piety!  
Whose guiltless blood on boards and Altars spilt,  
Serves both to Make, and Exp'iat too our guilt!  
Three Bullocks of free neck, two guilded Rams,  
Two well-washt Goats, and fourteen spotless Lambs,  
With the three vital first-fruits, Wine, Oil, and Bread,  
(Small fees to heaven of all by which we're fed)  
Are offer'ed up; the hallowed flames arise,  
And faithful prayers mount with them to the skies.  
From thence the King to th'outmost Court is brought,  
Where heav'enly things an inspir'ed Prophet taught,  
And from the sacred Tent to'his Palace gates,  
With glad kind shouts th'Assembly on him waits;  
The cheerful Horns before him loudly play,  
And fresh-strewed flowers paint his triumphant way.  
Thus in slow state to th' Palace Hall they go,  
Rich dressed for solemn Luxury and Show;  
Ten pieces of bright Tap'estry hung the room,  
The noblest work ere stretched on Syrian loom;  
For wealth Adri'el in proud Sydon wrought  
And giv'en to Saul when Saul's best gift he sought  
The bright-eyed Merab; for that mindful day  
No ornament so proper seemed as they. 
1 Sam. 18. 19   
There all old Abraham's story you might see;  
And still some Angel bore him company.  
His painful, but well-guided Travels, show  
The fate of all his Sons, 
Gen. 121 14.  the Church below.  
Here beauteous Sara to great Pharo come,  
He blushed with sudden passion, she with shame;  
Troubled she seemed, and lab'oring in the strife  
Betwixt her own Honour, and her Husband's Life.  
Here on a conqu'ering Host that careless lay,  
Drowned in the joys of their new got prey, 
Gen. 14.   
The Patriarch falls; well mingled might you see  
The confused marks of Death and Luxury.  
In the next piece blest Salem's mystic King  
Does sacred Presents to the Victor bring; 
Gen. 14. 18.   
Like him whose Type he bears, his rights receives;  
Strictly requires his Due, yet freely gives.  
E'en in his port, his habit, and his face;  
The Mild, and Great, the Priest and Prince had place.  
Here all their starry host the heavens display; 
Gen. 15. 5.   
And, Lo, an heav'enly Youth, more fair then they,  
Leads Abram forth; points upwards; such, said he,  
So bright and numberless thy Seed shall be.  
Here he with God a new Alliance makes, 
Gen. 17.   
And in his flesh the marks of Homage takes;  
Here he the three mysterious persons feasts, 
Gen. 18. 2.   
Well paid with joyful tidings by his Guests. 
Ver. 10.   
Here for the wicked Town he prays, 
Gen. 18. 23.  and neare  
Scarce did the wicked Town through Flames appear. 
Gen. 19 24.   
And all his Fate, and all his Deeds were wrought,  
Since he from 
* Gen. 11. 31.  Ur to 
* Gen. 25. 9  Ephrons' cave was brought.  
But noon amongst all the forms drew then their eyes  
Like faithful Abraham's righteous Sacrifice.  
The sad old man mounts slowly to the place, 
Gen. 22.   
With Nature's power triumphant in his face  
O'er the Minds courage; 
Ver. 3.  for in spite of all  
From his swollen eyes resistless waters fall.  
The inn'ocent Boy his cruel burden bore  
With smiling looks, 
Ver. 6.  and sometimes walked before,  
And sometimes turned to talk; above was made  
The Altars fatal Pile, 
Ver. 9  and on it laid  
The Hope of Mankind; patiently he lay,  
And did his Sire, as he his God, obey.  
The mournful Sire lifts up at last the knife, 
Ver. 10.   
And on one moments string depends his life  
In whose young loins such brooding wonders lie.  
A thousand Spir'its peeped from th'affrighted sky,  
Amazed at this strange Scene; and almost feared,  
For all those joyful Prophecies they'd heard.  
Till one leapt nimbly forth by God's command▪  
Like Lightning from a Cloud, 
Ver. 11.  and stopped his hand.  
The gentle Spirit smil'ed kindly as he spoke,  
New beams of joy through Abraham's wonder broke.  
The Angel points to'a tust of bushes neare, 
Ver. 13.   
Where an entangled Ram does half appear,  
And struggles vainly with that fatal net,  
Which though but slightly wrought, was firmly set.  
For, lo, anon, to this sad glory doomed,  
The useful Beast on Isaac's Pile consum'ed;  
Whilst on his Horns the ransom'ed couple played,  
And the glad Boy danced to the tunes he made.  
Neare this Halls end a Sittim Table stood;  
Yet well-wrought plate strove to conceal the wood.  
For from the foot a golden vine did sprout,  
And cast his fruitful richeses all about.  
Well might that beauteous Oar the Grape express,  
Which does weak Man intoxicate not lesle,  
Of the same wood the guilded beds were made,  
And on them large embroidered carpets laid,  
From Egypt the rich shop of Follies brought  
But Arts of Pride all Nations soon are taught  
Behold sev'en comely blooming Youths appear,  
And in their hands sev'en silver washpots bear,  
Curled, and gay clad: the choicest Sons that be  
Of Gibeons race, and Slaves of high degree.  
Seven beauteous Maids marched softly in behind;  
Bright scarves their clothes, their hair fresh Garlands bind,  
And whilst the Princes wash, they on them shed  
Rich Ointments, which their costly odours spread  
Over the whole room; from their small prisons free  
With such glad haste through the wide air they flee.  
The King was plac'ed alone, 
1 Sam. 20. 25.  and over his head  
A well-wrought Heav'en of silk and gold was spread.  
Azure the ground, the Sun in gold shone bright,  
But pierced the wand'ring Clouds with silver light.  
The right hand bed the Kings three Sons did grace,  
The third was Abners, Adriels', David's place.  
And twelve large Tables more were filled below,  
With the prime men Saul's Court and Camp could show;  
The Palace did with mirth and music sound,  
And the crowned goblets nimbly mov'ed around.  
But though bright joy in every guest did shine  
The plenty, state, music, and sprightful wine  
Were lost on Saul; an angry care did devil  
In his dark breast, and all gay forms expel.  
David's unusual absence from the feast, 
1 Same 20 26, 27.   
To his sick spir'it did jealous thoughts suggest.  
Long lay he still, nor drank, nor eat, nor spoke,  
And thus at last his troubled silence broke.  
Where can he be? said he; It must be so:  
With that he pawsed awhile; Too well we know  
His boundless pride: he grieves and hates to see  
The solemn triumphs of my Court and Me.  
Believe me, friends, and trust what I can show  
From thousand proofs, th'ambitious David now  
Does those vast things in his proud soul design  
That too much business given for Mirth or Wine.  
He's kindling now perhaps, rebellious fire  
Among the Tribes, and does even now conspire  
Against my Crown, and all our Lives, whilst we  
Are loathe e'en to suspect, what we might See.  
By the Great Name, 'tis true.  
With that he struck the board, and no man there  
But jonathan durst undertake to clear  
The blameless Prince; 
1 Sam. 20 28, 29.  and scarce ten words he spoke,  
When thus his speech th'enraged Tyrant broke. 
V 30, 31.   
Disloyal Wretch! thy gentle Mother's shame!  
Whose cold pale Ghost e'en blushes at thy name!  
Who fears jest her chaste bed should doubted be,  
And her white fame stained by black deeds of thee!  
Canst thou be My? a Crown sometimes does hire  
E'en Sons against their Parents to conspire,  
But ne'er did story yet, or fable tell  
Of one so wild, who merely to Rebel  
Quit th'unquestioned birthright of a Throne,  
And bought his Father's rvine with his own:  
Thou needest not pled th'ambitious youths defence;  
Thy crime clears his, and makes that Innocence.  
Nor can his foul Ingratitude appear,  
Whilst thy unnatural guilt is plac'ed so neare.  
Is this that noble Friendship you pretend?  
My, thine own Foe, and thy worst En'emies Friend?  
If thy low spirit can thy great brithright quit,  
The things but just, so ill deserv'est thou it.  
I, and thy Brethrens here have no such mind;  
Nor such prodigious worth in David found,  
That we to him should our just rights resign,  
Or think God's choice not made so well as Thive.  
Shame of thy House and Tribe! hence, from my Eye,  
To thy false Friend, and servile Master fly;  
He's e'er this time in arms expecting thee;  
Haste, for those arms are rais'ed to ruin Me.  
Thy sin that way will nobler much appear,  
Than to remain his Spy and Agent here.  
When I think this, Nature by thee forsook,  
Forsakes me too. With that his spear he took  
To strike at him; 
Ver 33.  the mirth and music case;  
The guests all rise this sudden storm t'appease.  
The Prince his danger, 
Ver. 34.  and his duty knew;  
And low he bowed, and silently withdrew  
To David straight, 
Ver. 35.]  who in a forest nigh  
Waits his advice, the royal Friend does fly.  
The sole advice, now like the danger clear,  
Was in some foreign land this storm t'outwear.  
All marks of comely grief in both are seen;  
And mournful kind discourses past between.  
Now generous tears their hasty tongues restrain, 
Ver 42.   
Now they begin, and talk all over again  
A reverend Oath of constant love they take, 
Ver. 42:   
And God's high name their dreaded witness make;  
Not that at all their Faiths could doubtful prove;  
But 'twas the tedious Zeal of endless Love.  
Thus ere they part, they the short time bestow  
In all the pomp Friendship and Grief could show.  
And David now with doubtful cares oppressed,  
Beneath a shade borrows some little rest;  
When by command divine thick mists arise,  
And stop the Sense, and close the conque'red eyes.  
There is a place which Man most high doth rear,  
The small Worlds Heav'en, where Reason moves the Sphere.  
Here in a robe which does all colours show,  
(Th'envy of birds, and the clouds gaudy bow)  
Fancy, wild Dame, with much lascivious pride  
By twin- Chameleons drawn, does gaily ride.  
Her coach there follows, and throngs round about  
Of shapes and airy Forms an endless rout.  
A Sea rolls on with harmless fury here;  
Strait 'tis a field, and trees and herbs appear.  
Here in a moment are vast Armies made,  
And a quick Scene of war and blood displayed.  
Here sparkling wines, and brighter Maids come in,  
The bawds for sense and lying baits of sin.  
Some things arise of strange and quar'elling kind,  
The forepart Lion, and a Snake behind;  
Here golden mountains▪ swell the cove'tous place,  
And Centaurs ride Themselves a painted race.  
Of these slight wonders Nature sees the store,  
And only then accounts herself but poor.  
Hither an Angel comes in David's trance;  
And finds them mingled in an antique dance;  
Of all the numerous forms fit choice he takes,  
And joins them wisely, and this Vision makes.  
First David there appears in Kingly state,  
Whilst the twelve Tribes his dread commands await; 
2 Sam. 5. 1.   
Strait to the wars with his joined strength he goes,  
Settles new friends, 
1 Chro. 12. 23.  and frights his ancient Foes.  
To Solima, 
Ver. 6.  Cana'ans old head, they come,  
(Since high in note, then not unknown to Fame)  
The Blind and Lame th'undoubted wall defend, 
2 Sam. 5. 6.   
And no new wounds or dangers apprehended.  
The busy image of great joab there  
Disdains the mock, and teaches them to fear.  
He climbs the airy walls, leaps raging down,  
New-minted shapes of slaughter fill the town.  
They curse the guards their mirth and bravery chose;  
All of them now are slain, or made like those.  
Far through an inward Scene an Army lay,  
Which with full banners a fair Fish display. From Sidon plains to happy Egypt's coast  
They seem all met; 
2 Sam. 5. 17, 18, 19 20, 21, 22  a vast and warlike Host.  
Thither hastes David to his destin'ed prey, 
1 Chron. 14. 8.   
Honour, and noble Danger led the way;  
The conscious Trees shook with a reverend fear  
Their unblown tops; 
Ver. 22. 23, 24.  God walked before him there.  
Slaughter the wearied Riphaims' bosom fills, 
1 Chro. 14. 14.   
Dead corpse imboss the vail with little hills.  
On th'other side Sophenes mighty King  
Numberless troops of the blessed East does bring: 
2 Sam. 8. 3.   
Twice are his men cut of, 
1 Chron. 18. 3.  and chariots ta'en;  
Damascus and rich Adad help in vein. 
Ver. 5.   
Here Nabathaean troops in battle stand, 
2 Sam. 10. 6.   
With all the lusty youth of Syrian land; 
1 Chro. 19 6. & 19 8.   
Undaunted joab rushes on with speed,  
Gallantly mounted on his fiery steed;  
He hews down all, and deals his deaths around;  
The Syrians leave, or possess dead the ground.  
On th'other wing does brave Abishai ride  
Reeking in blood and dust; 
Ver 10.  on every side  
The perjured sons of Ammon quit the field,  
Some basely die, and some more basely yield.  
Through a thick wood the wretched Hanun flies,  
And far more justly then fears Hebrew Spies. 
2 Sam. 10. 3, 4.   
Moloch, 
1 Chro. 19 3.  their bloody God, thrusts out his head,  
Grinning through a black cloud; 
1 Chro. 19 3.  him they'd long fed  
In his sev'en Chambers, and he still did eat  
New-roasted babes, his dear, delicious meat.  
Again they 'arise, 
Ver. 15.  more ang'red then dismayed;  
Euphrates, 
1 Chro. 19 16.  and Swift Tigris sends them aid:  
In vain they sand it, for again they're slain,  
And feast the greedy birds on Helay plain. 
2 Sam. 11. 1.   
Here Rabath with proud towers affronts the sky,  
And round about great joabs' trenches lie. 
1 Chr. 20   
They force the walls, 
2 Sam. 12. 30.  and sack the helpless town;  
On David's head shines Ammon's massy Crown.  
Midst various torments the cursed race expires, 
1 Chro 20. 2.   
David himself his severe wrath admires. 
Ver. 31.   
Next upon Isra'els' throne does bravely sit  
A comely Youth endow'ed with wondrous wit. 
1 Chro 20. 3.  
1 King. 1.   
Far from the parched Line a royal Dame, 
1 Chro. 23. 1.   
To hear his tongue and boundless wisdom come. 
1 King. 3. 12.   
She carried back in her triumphant womb  
The glorious stock of thousand Kings to come. 
2 Chro. 1. 12.   
Here brightest forms his pomp and wealth display, 
1 Kim. 10.   
Here they a Temples vast foundations lay. 
Mat. 12. 42.   
A mighty work; 
Lu. 11. 31  and with fit glories filled.  
For God inhabit, 
2 Chr 19  and that King to build.  
Some from the quarries hue out massy stone, 
1 Kin. 6.   
Some draw it up with cranes, 
2 Chr. 3. etc. 4, 5.  some breathe and groan  
In order o'er the anvil; some cut down  
Tall Cedars, the proud Mountains ancient crown;  
Some carve the Trunks, and breathing shapes bestow,  
Giving the Trees more life then when they grow;  
But, o (alas) what sudden cloud is spread  
About this glorious King's eclypsed head? 
1 Kin. 11.   
It all his same benights, and all his store,  
Wrapping him round, and now he's seen no more.  
When strait his Son appears at Sichem crowned. 
1 Kin. 12. 2 Chr. 10   
With young and heedless Council circled round;  
Unseemly object! but a falling state  
Has always its own errors joined with fate.  
Ten Tribes at once forsake the jessian throne,  
And bold Adoram at his Message stone; 
Ver. 18.   
Brethrens of Israel! 
2 Chro. 10. 18. — more he feign would say,  
But a flint stops his mouth, and speech i'th'way.  
Here this found King's disasters but begin,  
He s destined to more shame by his Father's sin.  
Susack comes up, 
1 K. 14. 25  and under his command  
A dreadful Army from scorched Africks' sand  
As numberless as that; 
2 Chro. 12. 2.  all is his prey,  
The Temples sacred wealth they bear away;  
Adrazars' shields and golden loss they take;  
Even David in his dream does sweat and shake.  
Thus fails this wretched Prince; 
1 Kin. 12 10.  his Loins appear  
Of lesle weight now, 
2 Chro. 10. 10.  then Solomon's Fingers were.  
Abijah next seeks Isra'el to regain, 
1 K. 15. 1   
And wash in seas of blood his Father's stain;  
Never seen the aged Sun so cruel fight, 
2 Chro. 13. 1. & 13. 3.   
Scarce seen he this, but hid his bashful light.  
Nebats cursed son fled with not half his men,  
Where were his Gods of Dan and Bethel then? 
2 Chro. 13. 17.   
Yet could not this the fatal strife decide;  
God punished one, but blessed not th'other side.  
Asan a just and virtuous Prince succeeds; 
1 K. 15. 9   
High raised by fame for great and godly deeds. 
2 Chro. 14. 1.   
He cut the solemn groves where Idols stood, 
ver. 13.   
And Sacrificeed the Gods with their own wood. 
2 Chro. 14. 3.   
He vanquished thus the proud weak powers of hell,  
Before him next their doting servants fell.  
So huge an Host of Zerahs' men he slew,  
As made e'en that Arabia Desert too. 
2 Chr. 14. 9   
Why feared he then the perjured Baasha's fight? 
2 Chro. 16. 2.   
Or bought the dangerous aid of Syrian's might?  
Conquest Heau'ens' gift▪ 
ver. 18.  cannot by man be sold;  
Alas, 
2 Chro. 16. 8.  what weakness trust he? Man, and Gold.  
Next josaphat possessed the royal state;  
An happy Prince, 
1 K. 15. 24 & 22 43.  well worthy of his fate;  
His often Oblations on God's Altar made, 
2 Chr. 17   
With thousand flocks, 
2 Chro. 17. 11▪  and thousand herds are paid,  
Arabian Tribute! what mad troops are those,  
Those mighty Troops that dare to be his foes? 
2 Chro. 20. 17.   
He Prays them dead; with mutual wounds they fall;  
One fury brought, one fury slays them all.  
Thus sits he still, 
1 Kings 22. 30.  and sees himself to win;  
Never overcome but by's Friend Ahab's sin; 
2 Chro. 18. 19   
On whose disguise fates then did only look;  
And had almost their Gods command mistake.  
Him from worse danger heaven securely brings, 
2 Kin. 3. 14 & 3. 9 & 3. 8.   
And for his sake two ripely wicked Kings.  
Their Armies languish, burnt with thirst at Seere,  
Sighs all their Cold, Tears all their Moisture there.  
They fix their greedy eyes on th'empty sky,  
And fancy clouds, and so become more dry.  
Elisha calls for waters from afar  
To come; 
2 King 3. 1s.  elisha calls, and here they are.  
In helmets they quaff round the welcome flood; 
2 Kin. 3. 24.   
And the decrease repair with Moab's blood. 
2 Kin. 8. 16. & 8. 25.   
jehoram next, and Ochoziah throng  
For judah's Sceptre; both short lived too long▪  
A Woman too from Murder Title claims; 
2 Chr. 21 1. & 22. 1   
Both with her Sins and Sex the Crown she shames. 
2 Kings 11. 1.   
Proud cursed Woman! but her fall at last  
To doubting men clears heaven for what was past. 
2 Chro. 22. 10.   
joas at first does bright and glorious show; 
2 Kin 12   
In life's fresh morn his fame did early Crow. 
2 Chr 24   
Fair was the promise of his dawning ray,  
But Prophets angry blood overcast his day.  
From thence his clouds, 
2 Chro. 24 21.  from thence his storms begin,  
It cries aloud, 
2 King. 12 18.  and twice let's Aram in.  
So Amaziah lives, so ends his reign;  
Both by their Trayt'erous servants justly slain. 
2 Chro. 2●. 23.   
Edom at first dreads his victorious hand, 
2 K. 14.   
Before him thousand Captives trembling stand. 
2 Chr. 25.   
Down a precipice deep, 
2 K 14. 7  down he casts them all,  
The mimic shapes in several postures fall. 
2 Chro. 25 11. & ●5 12.   
But then (mad fool! 
2 Chr. 25. 14 ) he does those Gods adore,  
Which when plucked down, 
2 K. 14 13  had worshipped him before.  
Thus all his life to come is loss and shame; 
2 Chron. 25. 43.   
No help from Gods who themselves helped not come. 
2 K▪ 15. 1   
All this Uzziahs' strength and wit repairs, 
2 Chr 26   
Leaving a well-built greatness to his Heirs. 
2 K 15. 5   
Till leprous scurff over his whole body cast, 
2 Chr 26 10.   
Takes him at first from Men, 
2 K. 15. 32.  from Earth at last.  
As virtuous was his Son, 
2 Chr. 27  and happier far;  
Buildings his Peace, 
2 Chr. 27 4.  and Trophies grac'ed his War.  
But Achaz heaps up sins, 
2 K 16. 1.  as if he meant  
To make his worst forefathers innocent. 
2 Chr. 28.   
He burns his Son at Hinon, 
2 K 16. 1  whilst around  
The roaring child drums and loud Trumpets sounded. 
2 Chr. 28 3.   
This to the boy a barb'arous mercy grew,  
And snatched him from all mis'eries to ensue.  
Here Peca comes, 
2 K. 16. 5.  and hundred thousands fall,  
Here Rezin marches up, 
2 Cho. 28. 6.  and sweeps up all.  
Till like a Sea the Great Belochus Son  
Breaks upon both, 
2 K. 16. 7.  and both does overrun.  
The last of Adads' ancient stock is slain, 
2 K. 16. 9 & 15. 27.   
Isra'el captiv'ed, and rich Damascus ta'en.  
All this wild rage to revenge Juda's wrong;  
But woe to Kingdoms that have Friends too strong! 
2 Chro. 28. 20.   
Thus Hezechiah the torn Empire took, 
2 Kin. 18.   
And Assurs King with his worse Gods forsook, 
2 Chr. 29.   
Who to poor juda worlds of Nations brings,  
There rages; 
2 K. 18. 7  utters vain and mighty things.  
Some dream of triumphs, 
2 King. 18. 17.  and exalted names,  
Some of dear gold, 
2 Chr. 32.  and some of beauteous dames;  
Whilst in the midst of their huge sleepy boast, 
Isa. 36.   
An Angel scatters death through all the host. 
2 K. ● 19 35.   
Th'affrighted Tyrant back to Babel hies, 
2 Chro. 32. 21.   
There meets an end far worse then that he flies. 
2 Kin. 19 37.   
Here Zezekiahs' life is almost done! 
2 Chr. 32, 21.   
So good, and yet, alas! so short 'tis spun.  
Th'end of the Line was ravelled, weak and old;  
Time must go back, 
2 Kin. ●0  and afford better hold  
To tie a new thread to't, 
2 Chr. 32. 24.  of fifteen years;  
'Tis done; The almighty power of prayer and tears!  
Backward the Sun, 
2 K. 20. 11.  an unknown motion, went;  
The Stars gaz'ed on, 
2 Chr. 3●.  and wondered what he meant?  
Manasses next (forgetful man! 
2 K. 21? ) gins;  
Enslav'ed, 
2 Chr. 33.  and sold to Ashur by his sins.  
Till by the rod of learned mis'ery taught,  
Home to his God and Country both he's brought. 
2 K. 21. 19   
It taught not Ammon, 
2 Chr. 33. 21.  nor his hardness broke;  
He's made th' Example he refused to take. 
2 Kin. 22   
Yet from this root a goodly Cyon springs; 
2 Kin. 29   
josiah best of Men, as well as Kings.  
Down went the Calves with all their gold and cost;  
The Priests then truly griev'ed, Osiris lost.  
These mad Egyptian rites till now remained;  
Fools! 
2 Kin. 23 10. Ib. v. 13.  they their worse thraldom still retained!  
In his own Fires Moloch to ashes fell,  
And no more flames must have besides his Hell.  
Like end Astartes horned Image found,  
And Baal's spired stone to dust was ground:  
Not more were Men in female habit seen,  
Or They in Man's by the lewd Syrian Queen.  
Not lustful Maids at Benos Temple sit,  
And with their bodies shame their marriage get.  
The double Dagon neither nature saves,  
Nor flies She back to th' Erythraean waves.  
The trav'elling Sun sees gladly from on high  
His Chariots burn, 
2 Kin. 23. 11.  and Nergal quenched lie.  
The King's impartial Anger lights on all.  
From flyblown Acca'ron to the thundering Baâl.  
Here David's joy unruly grows and bold;  
Nor could Sleeps silken chain its vio'lence hold;  
Had not the Angels to seal fast his eyes  
The humours stirred, and bade more mists arise:  
When strait a Chariot hurries swift away,  
And in it good josiah bleeding lay.  
One hand's held up, one stops the wound; in vain  
They both are used; alas, he's slain, he's slain.  
Iehoia's and jehoikim next appear; 
2 Kin. 23 31.   
Both urge that vengeance which before was neare. 
Ib. v 36.   
He in Egyptian fetters captive dies, 
2 Chro. 35. 1. & 5   
This by more courteous anger murdered lies. 
2 Kin. 23 34.   
His Son and Brother next do bonds sustain,  
Israe'ls now solemn and imperial Chain. 
2 Chro. 36. 4.   
Here's the last Scene of this proud Cities state; 
jer. 36. 30.   
All ills are met ty'ed in one knot of Fate. 
2 Kin. 24. 8.   
Their endless slavery in this trial lay;  
Great God had heaped up Ages in one Day: 
2 Chr. 36▪   
Strong works around the wall the Caldees build,  
The Town with grief and dreadful bus'iness filled. 
2 King. 25. 1.   
To their carv'ed Gods the frantic women pray, 
jer. 52. 4   
Gods which as neare their rvine were as they.  
At last in rushes the prevailing foe,  
Does all the mischief of proud conquest show.  
The wondering babes from mother's breasts are rend, 
2 Chr. 36 17.   
And suffer ills they neither feared nor meant.  
No silver rev'erence guards the stooping age,  
No rule or method ties their boundless rage.  
The glorious Temple shines in flame all over, 
2 Chro. 26. 19   
Yet not so bright as in its Gold before. 
2 King. 25. 9   
Nothing but fire or slaughter meets the eyes,  
Nothing the ear but groans and dismal cries.  
The walls and towers are levi'ed with the ground,  
And scarce aught now of that vast City's found  
But shards and rubbish which weak signs might keep  
Of forepart glory, and bid Trav'ellers weep.  
Thus did triumphant Assur homewards pass,  
And thus Ierus'alem left, jerusalem that was:  
This Zedechiah seen, and this not all;  
Before his face his Friends and Children fall, 
2 King. 25. 7.   
The sport of ins'olent victors; 
Ier 52. ●0.  this he views,  
A King and Father once; ill fate could use  
His eyes no more to do their master spite;  
All to be seen she took▪ and next his Sight.  
Thus a long death in prison he outwears;  
Bereft of griefs last solace, e'en his Tears.  
Than jeconiahs' son did foremost come, 
Mat. 1. 12   
And he who brought the captiv'ed nation home; 
Luk. 3.   
A row of Worthies in long order passed  
Ore the short stage; of all old joseph last.  
Fair Angels past by next in seemly bands,  
All gilt, with gilded basquets in their hands.  
Some as they went the blue-eyed violets strew,  
Some spotless Lilies in lose order threw.  
Some did the way with full-blown roses spread;  
Their smell divine and colour strangely read;  
Not such as our dull gardens proudly wear,  
Whom weathers taint, and winds rude kisses tear.  
Such, I believe, was the first Roses hue,  
Which at God's word in beauteous Eden grew.  
Queen of the Flowers, which made that Orchard gay;  
The morning blushes of the Springs new Day.  
With sober pace an heav'enly Maid walks in,  
Her looks all fair; no sign of Native sin  
Through her whole body writ; Immod'erate Grace  
Spoken things far more then human in her face.  
It casts a dusky gloom over all the flowers;  
And with full beams their mingled Light devowrs.  
An Angel strait broke from a shining cloud,  
And pressed his wings, and with much reve'rence bowed.  
Again he bowed, and grave approach he made,  
And thus his sacred Message sweetly said:  
Hail, 
Lu. 1. 28  full of Grace, thee the whole world shall call  
Above all blessed; Thee, who shalt bless them all.  
Thy Virgin womb in wondrous sort shall shroud  
jesus the God; (and then again he bowed)  
Conception the great Spirit shall breathe on thee;  
Hail thou, who must God's Wife, God's Mother be!  
With that, his seeming form to heaven he reared;  
She low obeisance made, and disappeared.  
Lo a new Star three eastern Sages see;  
(For why should only Earth a Gainer be? 
Mat. 2. 10.   
They seen this Phosphors infant-light, and knew  
It bravely ushered in a Sun as New.  
They hasted all this rising Sun t'adore;  
With them rich myrrh, and early spices bore.  
Wise men; not fit gift your zeal could bring;  
Yoole in a noisome stable found your King.  
Anon a thousand Dev'ils run roaring in;  
Some with a dreadful smile deform'edly grin.  
Some stamp their cloven paws, some frown and tear  
The gaping Snakes from their black-knotted hair.  
As if all grief, and all the rage of hell  
Were doubled now, or that just now, they fell.  
But when the dreaded Maid they entering seen,  
All fled with trembling fear and silent awe.  
In her chaste arms th' Eternal Insant lies,  
The Almighty voice chang'ed into feeble cries.  
Heav'en contained Virgins often, and will do more;  
Never did Virgin contain Heav'en before.  
Angles peep round to view this my stick thing,  
And Halleluiah round, all Halleluiah sing  
Not longer could good David quiet bear,  
The unwieldy pleasure which o'erflowed him here.  
It broke the fetters, and burst open his eye.  
Away the tim'erous Forms together fly.  
Fixed with amaze he stood; and time must take,  
To learn if yet he were at last awake.  
Sometimes he thinks that heaven this Vision sent,  
And order'ed all the Pageants as they went.  
Sometimes, that only 'twas wild Fancies play,  
The lose and scattered relics of the Day.  
When Gabriel (no blest Spirit more kind or fair)  
Bodies and clothes himself with thickened air.  
All like a comely youth in life's fresh bloom;  
Rare workmanship, and wrought by heavenly loom!  
He took for skin a cloud most soft and bright,  
That ere the midday Sun pierc'ed through with light▪  
Upon his cheeks a lively blush he spread;  
Washed from the morning beauty's deepest read.  
An harmless flaming Meteor shone for hair.  
And fell adown his shoulders with lose care,  
He cuts out a silk Mantle from the skies,  
Where the most sprightly azure pleased the eyes.  
This he with starry vapours spangles all,  
Taken in their prime ere they grow ripe and fall.  
Of a new Rainbow ere it fret or fade,  
The choicest piece took out, a Scarf is made.  
Small streaming clouds he does for wings display,  
Not Virtuous Lover's sighs more soft then They.  
These he gilds over with the Sun's richest rays,  
Scrap'ed neatly from pure streams on which he plays.  
Thus dressed the joyful Gabriel posts away,  
And carries with him his own glorious day  
Through the thick woods; the gloomy shades awhile  
Put on fresh looks, and wonder why they smile.  
The trembling Serpents close and silent lie,  
The birds obscene far from his passage fly.  
A sudden spring waits on him as he goes,  
Sudden as that which by Creation risen.  
Thus he appears to David, at first sight  
All earth-bred fears and sorrows take their flight.  
In rushes joy divine, and hope, and rest;  
A Sacred calm shines through his peaceful breast.  
Hail, Man belov'ed! from highest heaven (said he)  
My mighty Master sends thee health by me.  
The things thou saw'est are full of truth and light,  
Shaped in the glass of the divine Foresight.  
Even now old Time is harnessing the years  
To go in order thus; hence empty fears;  
Thy Fate's all white; from thy blessed seed shall spring  
The promised Shilo, the great Mystic King.  
Round the whole earth his dreaded name shall sounded,  
And reach to Worlds, that must not yet be found.  
The Southern Clime him her sole Lord shall style,  
Him all the North, e'en Albion's stubborn Isle.  
My fellow-servant, credit what I tell.  
Strait into shapeless air unseen he fell.  

NOTES UPON THE SECOND BOOK.  
Honours, that is, Beauties, which make things Honoured; in which sense Virgil often uses the word, and delights in it: 
Et laetos oculis afflârat Honours.  And in the 2 Georg. (as in this place) for Leaves. Frigidus & silvis Aquilo decussit honorem.  
josephus calls David's, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The yellow; that is, yellow-haired Boy, or rather, Youth. Cedrenus says, that Valentinian the Emperor was like David, because he had beautiful Eyes, a ruddy complexion, and read, or rather, yellow hair.  
Power, Love, and Wisdom, that is, the whole Trinity (The Father, Power; the Son, Love; the Holy Ghost, Wisdom) concurred inthe Creation of the world: And it is not only preserved by these Three, the Power, Love, and Wisdom of God, but by the emanations and beams of them derived to, and impressed in the Creatures. Which could not subsist without Power to Act, Wisdom to direct those Actions to Ends convenient for their Natures, and Love or Concord, by which they receive mutual necessary assistances and benefits from one another. Which Love is well termed by Cicero Cognatio Naturae, The Kindred, or Consanguinity of Nature. And to Love the Creation of the world, was attributed even by many of the ancient Heathens, the Verse of Orph. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Wisdom and Love were parents of the world: And therefore Hesiod in his mad confused Poem of the Generation of the Gods, after Chaos, the Earth, and Hell, brings in Love, as the first of all the Gods, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Pherecides said excellently, that God transformed himself into Love, when he began to make the world, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.   
As Human Nature is elevated by Grace, so other Agents are by Love to Operations that are above, and seem contrary to their Nature, as the ascension of heavy bodies, and the like.  
Guirlands of Ivy were anciently the ornaments of Poets, and other learned men, as Laurel of Conquerors, Olive of Peacemakers, and the like. Horace, 
Me doctarum Hederae praemia frontium  
Diis miscent superis — Me Ivy the reward of learned brows does mingly with the Gods. Virg. 
— Atque hanc sine tempora circum  
Inter victrices hederam tibi serpere laurus.  And let this humble Ivy creep around thy Temples with triumphant Laurel hound. Because Ivy is always, green, and requires the support of some stronger Tree, as Learning does of Princes and great men.  
The Object of the Sensitive Appetite is not that which is truly good, but that which Appears to be Good. There is great caution to be used in English in the placing of Adjectives (as here) after their Substantives. I think when they constitue specifical difference of the Substantive, they follow best; for then they are to it like Cognomina, or Surnames to Names, and we must not say, the Great Pompey, or the Happy sylla, but Pompey the Great, and Sylla the Happy; sometimes even in other cases the Epithet is put last very gracefully, of which a good ear must be the judge for aught I know, without any Rule. I choose rather to say Light Divine, and Command Divine, then Divine Light, and Divine Command.  
These are the Effects of Love, according to Th. Aquinas in Prima Sec. Quaest 28. the 1, 2, 3, and 4. Artic. to whom I refer for the proof and explanation of them, Amor est affectus quo cum re amatâ aut unimur, aut perpetuamus unionem. Scal. de subt.  
1 Sam. 5. And David said unto jonathan, behold to morrow is the new-Moon, and I should not fail to sit with the King at meat, but let me go, etc. Ecce Calendae sunt crastino, & ego ex more sedere soleo juxtà regem ad vescendum, etc. The first day of every month was a Festival among the jews: for the First-fruits of all things, even all distinctions of Times were Sacred to God; In it they neither bought nor sold, Amos 8. 4. When will the new-Moon be go, that we may cell Corn? the Vulg. Quando transibit mensis (that is, Primus dies, or Festum Mensis) & venundabimus merces? They went to the Prophets to hear the word as upon Sabbath, 2 Kings 4. 23. Wherhfore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither New-moon nor Sabbath; which was likewise a Custom among the Romans: for the day of the Calendss the High priests called together the people (from whence the name of Calendss a Calando plebem) to instruct them in the divine duties which they were to perform that month, Macro. 1. Saturnal. And lastly, there were greater Sacrifices on that, then upon other ordinary days, Numb. 28 11. But of all New Moons, that of the seventh month was the most solemn, it being also the Feast of Trumpets. It is not evident that this was the New-moon spoken of in this story of David; but that it was so, may probably be conjectured, in that the Text seems to imply a greater solemnity then that of ordinary Calendss, and that the feast lasted above one day, 1 Sam. 20. 27. And it come to pass, that on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, David's place was empty. Now the reason of this greater observation of the Calendss of the Seventh Month (called Tisri, and answering to our September) was, because according to the Civil Computation (for the jews had two accounts of the beginning of the year, one Civil, the other Religious; this latter being instituted in memory of their passage out of Egypt in the month Abib, that is, about our March) this was the beginning of the year, from hence contracts, and the account of Sabbatical years and jubilees bore date. It is called by some Sabbathum Sabbathorum, because it is the Sabbath of Months; for as the seventh day, and the seventh year, so the seventh month too was consecrated to God. Of this New-Moon it is that David speaks, Psal. 81. 3. Blow the Trumpet in the New-Moon, in the time appointed on our solemn Feast-day. In insigni die solennitatis vestrae. And the Psalm is inscribed, Pro Torcularibus; which concurs just with this seventh Moon; which Philo in Decal. terms, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And S. August. reads, In initio Mensis Tubae. See the Institution of this Festival, Levit. 23. 24. and Numb. 29▪ 1.  
The Priests were want to blow the Trumpets upon all Festivals, the year of jubilee was proclaimed by them with the sound of Trumpets through the whole Land; nay the Sabbath itself was begun with it, as josephus testifies, l. 5. Bel. jud. c. 9 But why the Trumpets were sounded more extraordinarily on this day, is hard to found out; for which it is named Dies Clangoris. Some will have it to be only as a Solemn Promulgation of the New-year; which opinion is likewise adorned with an allusion to the beginning (or as it were New-years-Day) of Eternity; which is to be proclaimed by Angels in that manner with a great sound of a Trumpet, Mat. 24. 31.  
This was Faint Basil's opinion, but is not much followed, because when Festivals are instituted in memory of any past Blessing, they used to be observed on the same day that the blessing was conferred.  
This third is the common opinion of the jews; who therefore call this when Festival Festum Cornu, and say, that they sounded only upon Rams Horns: but that, methinks, if this be the true reason of it, is not necessary.  
The Third Hour; 1. Nine a clock in the morning: For the day began at six a clock, and contained twelve Little, or Four Great Hours, or Quarters. The first Quarter from Six to Nine, was called the Third Hour, because that closed up the Quarter.  
Gay, because the Beasts to be Sacrificed, used to be Crowned with Guirlands, and sometimes had their Horns gilded, as I say afterwards.  
For on the ordinary New-Moons there was offered up two Bullocks, one Ram, and seven Lambs of the first year without spot, Numb. 28. 11. and a Kid of the Goats, v. 15. and there was added on this New-Moon, one young Bullock, one Ram, seven Lambs of the first year without blemish, and one Kid, Numb. 29. which joined, make up my number. Bullocks of Free-neck; that is, which had never been yoked, employed in the Epithet Young. Intactâ cervice juvenci.  
The outmost Court of the Tabernacle.  
The custom of having Stories wrought in Hang, Coverlits, nay even wearing garments, is made to be very ancient by the Poets. Such is the history of Theseus and Ariadne in the coverlit of Thet is Pulvinar, or Marriage Bed. Catull. Argonaut. 
Talibus amplificè vestis variata figuris  
Polvinar complexa suo velabat amictu.  So Aeneas in 5. Aen. gives Coat to Cloanthus, in which was wrought the rape of Ganymed, 
Intextusque puer frondosâ regius Idâ.  And many authorities of this kind might be alleged if it were necessary.  
You might see. That is, It might be seen, or, Any one might see▪ This manner of speaking, which puts the second person Indefinitely, is very frequent among the Poets; as Homer, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  Virg. 4. Aen. 
Migrantes cernas:  Upon which Servius says, Honesta figura si rem tertiae personae in secundam tranferas. Mugire videbis, that is, Videbit aut poterit videre aliquis. So 8. Aen. 
Credas innare revulsas Cycladas; that is, Credat quis.   
God is said to have spoken with Abraham Nine times; that is, so many times Angles brought him Messages from God. An Angel is called by josephus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
Some make Sara to be the Daughter of Haran, Abraham's Brother; others of Therah by another wife, which marriages were then lawful, but the Scripture Gen. 11. calls her Terahs' daughter in Law, not Daughter; others think she was only Abraham's Kinswoman; all which the Hebrews called Sisters. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Grot. Beauteous were a strange Epithet for her at the Age she then had, which was above threescore years, but that the Scripture calls her so, and she proved herself to be so, by striking two Kings in love, Pharaoh, and Abimelech. It is to be believed, that people in those days bore their age better then now, and her barrenness might naturally contribute somewhat to it; but the chief reason I suppose to be a Blessing of God as particular, as that of her childbearing after the natural season.  
The Scripture does not say particularly, that Abram surprised this Army in, or after a debauch, but it is probable enough for my turn, that this was the case. Of these Confused marks of death and luxury, there is an excellent description in the 9 Aeneid, where Nisus and Euryalus fall upon a quarter of the Enemy, 
Somno vinoque sepultam.  
Purpuream vomit ille animam, & cum sangnine mista  
Vina refert moriens, etc.  But I had no leisure to expatiate in this place.  
St. Hierom says this Salem was a Town neare Scythopolis, called Salem even to his Time; and that there were then remaining some ruins of the Palace of Melchisedec, which is not very probable. I rather believe him to have been King of jerusalem; for being a Type of Christ, that seat was most proper for him, especially since we are sure that jerusalem was once named Salem, Psal. In Salem is his Tabernacle, and his habitation in Zion. And the addition of jeru to it, was from jebu, the jebusites; that is, Salem of the jebusites, Adric. The situation of jerusalem agrees very well with this story. For Abram coming to Hebron from the parts about Damascus, passes very neare jerusalem, nay nearer then to the other Salem. But concerning this King of Salem, Melchisedec, the difficulties are more important. Some make him to be no man, but God himself, or the Holy Ghost, as the ancient Melchisedecians and Hieracites; others, to be Christ himself; others, an Angel, as Origen; others; to be Sem the son of Noah; which is little more probable then the former extravagant fancies. That which is most reasonable, and most received too, is, that he was a King of a little Territory among the Canaanites, and a Priest of the true God, which makes him so remarkable among those Idolatrous Nations; for which cause he is termed, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, because he was not of any of the Genealogies of the Scripture; and therefore the better typified or represented Christ, as being both a King and a Priest, without being of the Tribe of Levi: But this and the other controversies about him, are too copious to be handled in a Comment of this Nature.  
Ver. 18. And Melchisedec King of Salem brought forth bread and wine, etc. The Romanists maintain, that this was only a Sacrifice, and a Type of the Eucharist, as Melchisedec himself was of Christ; others, that it was only a Present for the relief of Abraham's men. Why may we not say that it was both? and that before the men were refreshed by bread and wine, there was an offering or prelibation of them to God, by the Priest of the most High God, as he is denominated? for even this oblation of bread and wine (used also among the Hebrews) is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Levit. 2. and Philo says of Melchisedec upon this occasion, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. I therefore name them Sacred Presents. Like him whose Type he bears; that is, Christ. And the Deuce he received were Tenths, whither of all Abraham's substance, or of the present Spoils (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) is a great controversy.  
Gen. 15. 5. and Gen. 22. 17. I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand upon the sea shore. An ordinary proverb in all languages, for great numbers. Catul, Aut quot sidera multa cum tacet nox; and in another place he joins the sand of the sea too as this Text does. Ille pulveris Erythraei Siderúmque micantium subducat numerum. It does no hurt, I think, to add Bright as well as Numberless to the similitude.  
Gen. 17. It is called a Covenant; and circumcision may well be termed a Mark of Homage, because it was a renouncing of the flesh, and peculiar dedication of Abram and his seed to the service of the true God.  
The received opinion is, that two of these persons were Angels, and the Third, God himself; for after the two Angels were go towards Sodom, it is said, Gen. 18. 22. But Abraham stood yet before the Lord. So Sulpit. Sever. Dominus qui cum duobus Angelis ad eum venerat. Lyra and Tostatus report, that the jews have a Tradition, that these Three were Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. The first of which represented God, and remained with Abraham, the second destroyed Sodom, and the third brought Lot out of it. It was a very ancient opinion that these were the Three persons of the Trinity; from whence arose that notorious saying, Tres vidit & unum adoravit. This appearing of Gods in the manner of strangers to punish and reward men was a common tradition too among the Heathens, Hom. ρ. Odyss. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  The Gods in the habits of strangers went about to several Towns to be eye-witnesses of the justice and injustice of men. So Homer makes the Gods to go once a year to feast, — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 With the unblameable Aethiopians. And we found these peregrinations frequent in the Metamorphosis, 
Summo delabor Olympo,—  
Et Deus humanâ lustro sub imagine terras. 1. Metam.   
From Ur, the place of his Birth to Ephrons' Cave, the place of his Burial. Ur of the Chaldees, Gen. 11. 31. Some of the jews take Ur here for Fire, and tell a ridiculous fable, that Abraham and Haran his brother were cast by the Caldaeans into a burning furnace for opposing their Idolatry, in which Haran was consumed, but Abraham was preserved. josephus and Eusebius, lib. 9 Praepar. Evang say Ur was the name of a City, which josephus calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. and Plin. 1. 5. c. 24. makes mention of Ura, a place Usque quem fertur Euphrates. It was perhaps denominated from the worship of Fire in that country. The name continued till Ammianus his time. Ammian. lib. 25.  
Mounts. For the place was the Hill Moriah, which the Vulgar translates Montem Visionis. Aquila 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; which I conceive to be, not as some tender it, In terram lucidam, but terram apparentem, the place which appears a great way of, as being a Mountain. Symmachus for the same reason has 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which is the same with the Latin Visionis; and the Septuag. call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the High Country; others interpret it, The Country of Worship, by Anticipation. And it was not perhaps without relation to this Sacrifice of Abraham's, that this was chosen afterwards to be the seat of Solomon's Temple.  
The Boy. Our English Translation, Lad, which is not a word for verse, the Latin Puer, Boy. Aben EZra is cited to make him at that time but ten or twelve years old. Put that is an age unfit for the carrying of such a Burden as he does here. Rivet for that reason conceives that he was about sixteen years of age, josephus 25 Others 33. because at that age our Saviour (whose Type he was) was sacrificed. Some of the jews 36. none of which are contrary to the Hebrew use of the word Boy; for so all young men are termed, as Benjamin, Gen. 43. 8: and joseph, joshua, and David when he fought with Goliath. The Painters commonly make him very young, and my description agrees most with that opinion, for it is more poetical and pathetical then the others.  
Because the Covenant and Promises were made in Isaac, Gen. 17. 21. Heb. 11. 17, 18.  
The ancients (both Hebrews and other Nations) never omitted the washing at lest of their hands and feet before they sat or lay down to Table. judg. 19 21. it is said of the Levite and his Concubine, They washed their feet and did eat and drink. So Abraham says to the three Angels, Gen. 18. 4. Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the Tree, and I will fetch a morsel of Bread, etc. So likewise josephs' Steward treats his Master's brethrens. So David to Uriah, 2 Sam. 11. 8. Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet, etc. and there followed him a mess of meat from the King. It is in vain to add more authorities of a thing so notorious. And this custom was then very necessary, for their Legs and Thighs being bore, they could not but contract much dirt, and were (of which this custom is some argument) to lie down upon Beds, which without washing they would have spoiled. Homer makes the Wives and Daughters even of Princes to wash the feet of their guests, — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Athen. L. 1. c. 8. For this (says he) was the ancient custom; and so the daughters of Cocalus washed Minos at his arrival in Sicily. But the more ordinary, was to have young and beautiful servants for this and the like ministeries. Besides this, it was accounted necessary to have washpots standing by at the jewish feasts, to purify themselves, if they should hap to touch any thing unclean. And for these reasons six Water-pots stood ready at the wedding feast of Cana in Galilee.  
Eccles. 2. 8. I gate men-singers, and women-singers, the delights of the sons of men, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. He and she, servants to fill wine, says the Septuagint: Though I know the Vulgar, and our English Edition translate it otherwise; both differently: And it is incredible, how curious the ancients were in the choice of Servants to wait at Table. Mart. Stant pueri, Dominos quos precer esse meos.  
After washing they always anointed themselves with precious oil. So judith 10. 2. So Naomi to Ruth, Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thyself. So David after the death of his child, Risen up and washed, and anointed himself, etc. So Hom. Od. 6. of Nausicaa and her maids, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  But this too is as notorious as the other fashion of washing. Small Prisons. Boxes of Ointments, such as the woman poured upon the head of our Saviour, Mat. 26. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is, as we say an Inkhorn, though it be not made of Horn, but any other matter; for this was not of Alabaster, S. Mark affirming that it was broken. Horace, 
Nardi parvus Onyx.  
Claudian. Gemmatis alii per totum balsama tectum  
Effudêre cadis—   
The Roman custom was, to have three Beds to each Table (from whence the word Triclinium) and three persons to each bed (though sometimes they exceeded in both; and it is likely they took this from the Asiatiques as well as the very fashion of discubation, for conveniently there could be not more. To Saul for state I given a whole Bed; and the other two, to his own Sons, jonathan, Ishui and Melchisua, 1 Sam. 14. 49. to Abner his Cousin German, and Captain of his Hosts, and to his two Sons in Law, Adriel and David. Neither does it convince me, that Lying down was not in use, because it is said here, 1 Sam. 20. 25. And Saul sat upon his seat as at other times, even upon a Seat by the wall: because the words of Session and Accubation are often confounded, both being in practice at several times, and in several Nations.  
At the feasts of the ancients, not only the rooms were strewed with flowers, but the Guests and the Waiters, and the very drinking Bowls were crowned with them. Virg. 
Crateras magnos statuunt & vina coronant; and,  
Tum pater Anchises magnum cratera coronâ  
Induit, implevitque mero — Which cannot be interpreted as some do Homer's, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 .Which they say are said to be Crowned, when they are filled so full, that the liquor standing higher then the brims of the Bowl, looks like a Crown upon it. Athen l. j. c. 11. But why may we not construe Homer, They crowned, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Bowls of drink, as well as They crowned Bowls with drink?  
The name of God, the Tetragrammaton, that was not to be pronounced.  
1 Sam. 20. 30. Thou Son of the perverse rebellious woman, etc. The Vulg. Fili mulieris virum ultrò rapientis; that is as much as to say, Thou Son of a whore. Upon which place Grotius. Sons use to be like their Parents, and therefore Saul who would not accuse himself, casts the fault of his stubbornness and ill nature upon his Mother. In which I cannot abide to be of his opinion; the words are so ungracious from the mouth of a Prince: I rather think that they import this, Thou who art so stubborn and unnatural, that thou mayest seem to be not my son, but a Bastard, the son of a whore or rebellious woman; and that which follows in the same verse confirms this to me. Thou hast chosen the Son of jesse to thy own confusion, and to the confusion of thy Mother's nakedness; that is, to her shame, who will be thought to have had thee of some other man, and not of me.  
1 Sam. 20. 34. And jonathan arose from the Table in fierce anger, In irâ furoris. But his passion (it seems) did not overcome his duty or discretion; for he arose without saying any thing. I omit here jonathans' shooting arrows, and sending his page for them, from the 35 to the 40 verse: By Horace his rule, 
— Et quae  
Desperes tractata nitescere posse, relinquas.  And what art or industry could make that story shine? besides it was a subtlety that I cannot for my life comprehend; for since he went to David, and talked to him himself, what needed all that  
politic trouble of the shooting?  
The Head, which is the seat of Fancy. These are called by the Schoolmen, Entia Rationis, but are rather Entia Imaginationis, or Fantastic Creatures. Inter se quorum discordia membra videmus, Lucr. L. 5. And afterwards, Prima Leo, postrema Draco, media▪ ipsa Chimaera ,Which is out of Homer, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
When the Country people in Thessaly seen men first that come on horseback, and drove away their Cattles, they imagined the Horse and Men to be all one, and called them Centaurs from driving away of Oxen; according to which fancy, they are truly said to ride upon themselves.  
Unless thou take away the Lame and the Blind, thou shalt not come in hither, thinking David cannot come in hither, 2 Sam. 5. 6. There are some other interpretations of the place, then that which I here given; as that the Idols of the jebusites were meant by the Lame and the Blind. But this carries no probability. Thinking David cannot come hither; is a plain proof that they did it in scorn of David, and confidence of the extraordinary strength of the place; which without question was very great, or else it could not have held out so many hundred years since the entrance of the Israelites into the land, in the very midst of them.  
Fish; Dagon the Deity most worshipped by the Philistines.  
The English says Mulberry Trees; the Latin, Pear Trees; the safest is to leave it indefinite. The sound of a going in the Tops of the Mulberry Trees, v. 24. Some interpret, The noise of the dropping of the dew like Tears from the Trees. From whence the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
Hadad-Eser King of Zobah, which is called by josephus Sophene, a part of Coelosyria, confining upon the Half Tribe of Manasses. This Kingdom is first mentioned, 1 Sam. 14. 47. at what time (it seems) it was under several Princes, and against the Kings of Zoba.  
Adad was at that time King of Damascus, according to josephus, and the family of the Adads' reigned there long after in great lustre.  
The Children of Ammon.  
Moloch is called peculiarly the God of the Ammonites, 1 King. 11. 5. & 7. Fonseca takes it to be Priapus, confounding it with Belphegor of the Moabites; Arias Montanus will have it to be Mercury, deriving it from Malach, Nuncius. Others more probably, Saturn, because the like Worship and like Sacrifices were used to him. Macrob. 1. Saturn. Curt. Lib 4. Diodor. L. 20, etc. I rather believe the Sun was worshipped under that name by the Ammonites, as the King of Heaven: for the word signifies King; and it is the same Deity with Baal, or Bel of the Assy ians and Sidonians, signifying Lord. Some think that children were not burnt or sacrificed to him, but only consecrated and initiated by passing between two fires; which perhaps might be a custom too. But it is evident by several places of Scripture, that this was not all: And the jews say, that Passing through the Fire, is but a Phrase for Burning. He had seven Chapels from the number of the Planets, of which the Sun is King; for which reason the Persians' likewise made seven Gates to him. In the fifst Chapel was offered to him a Cake of fine flower, in the second a Turtle, in the third a Sheep, the fourth a Ram, the fisth an Heifer, the sixth an Ox, and the seventh a Man, or Child, commonly a young Child. The Image was of Brass, of wondered greatness, with his hands spread, and set on fire within, perhaps to represent the heat of the Sun, and not as some think, to burn the Children in his Arms. He had likewise the face of a Bullock, in which figure too Osiris among the Egyptians represented the Sun, and Mithra among the Persians', Stat. Indignata sequi torquentem cornua Mithram. But though they intended the worship of the Sun, under this name of Moloch, it was indeed the Devil that they worshipped; which makes me say, Grinning through a black Cloud, etc.  
Swift Tigris. Curt. L. 4. No River in the East runs so violently as Tigris, from which swiftness it takes the name; for Tigris in the Persian Language signifies an Arrow.  
Helam, or Chelam, which Ptolemy calls Alamatha, a Plain neare the Fords of Euphrates.  
The Metropolis of Ammon, since Philadelphia.  
And he took their King's Crown from of his head (the weight whereof was a Talon of Gold, with the precious stones) and it was set on David's head, 2 Same 12. 30. and the like, 1 Chro 2●. 2. Tulit diadema regis eorum de capite ejus, etc. But the Seventy have it, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. He took the Crown of Molchom their King from of his head. That is, The crown upon the head of their Idol Moloch, or Melcom; which makes some of the Greek Fathers say, That Melchoms Image had a bright precious stone in form of the Morningstar, placed on the top of his forehead. I rather follow the English Translation.  
Some would have Solomon to have begun his reign at eleven years old, which is very unreasonable. Sir W. Raughley, methinks, convinces that it was in the 19 year of his age; at which time it might truly be said by David to Solomon, Thou art a wise man; and by Solomon to God, I am but a young child.  
I am not ignorant that I go contrary to most learned men in this point, who make Saba, of which she was Queen, a part of Arabia Foelix, Virg. Solis est thurea virga Sabaeis. And Frankincense was one of her presents to Solomon. Psalm 72. The Kings of Arabia and Saba. The City where she lived they say was called Marab; by Strabo, Mariaba; and her, some name, Nicanna; others, Makeda; the Arabians, Bulkiss. This consists well enough with her title of the Queen of Ethiopia; for there were two Ethiopia's, the one in Asia, the other in Africa. Nevertheless, I make her here Queen of this latter Ethiopia for two reasons; first because she is called in the New Testament Queen of the South, which seems to me to be too great a Title for the Queen of a small Territory in Arabia, lying full East, and but a little Southward of judaea; and therefore the Wisemen who come to worship Christ from those parts, are termed Eastern, and not Southern Sages. Secondly, all the Histories of the Abyssines or African-Ethiopians affirm, that she was Queen of their Country, and derive the race of their Kings from her and Solomon, which the ordinary names of them seem to confirm, and the custom of Circumcision used even to this day, though they be Christians. In fine, whatever the truth be, this opinion makes a better sound in Poetry.  
This Egyptian King's name is very variously written. Shishac the English, Sesac Latin, Susakim Septuagint, Susac. josephus, Susesin Cedrenus also▪ Sasuges, Sosonchis, Sosachiss; and by Eusebius Smendes, josephus, l. 8. proves that Herodot. falsely ascribes the acts of this Susac to Sosostris, and particularly his setting up of pillars in Palestine, with the figures of womens' privy parts graven upon them, to reproach the effeminateness of those nations. The Scripture says, his Army was without number, composed of Lubims, 1. Lybians, the Country's west of Egypt. Sukkyms, from Succoth Tents, Lat. Trogloditae, a people bordering upon the Read sea; by others, Arabes Egyptii, or Ichthyophagi; and Ethiopians, Cusitae, josep. which is more probable, then to make them, as some do, the people of Arabia Deserta and Petraea. From this time the Egyptians claimed the Sovereignty of judaea, 2 Chr. 12. 8.  
Adadesar, 1 Chron. 18. 7. I mention rather the golden shields taken by David, then those made by Solomon, because David might be more concerned in them.  
The story of this great battle between Abijah and jeroboam is one of the strangest and humanely most hard to believe, almost in the whole Old Testament, that out of a Kingdom, not half so big as England, five hundred thousand chosen and valiant men should be slain in one battle; and of this not so much, as any notice taken in Abijah's or jeroboams' lives in the first of Kings. It adds much to the wonder, that this defeat should draw no other consequence after it but Abijah's recovery of two or three Towns; no more then all the mighty troubles and changes in Israel, that happened afterwards in Asa's time, who had besides, the advantage of being a virtuous and victorious Prince. Sir W. Raughley makes a good discourse to prove the reason of this to have been, because the successors of Solomon still kept up that severity and arbitrariness of Government▪ which first caused the separation, but that all the Kings of Israel allowed those liberties to the people, upon the score of which jeroboam possessed himself of the Crown; which the people chose rather to enjoy, though with great wars and disturbances, then to return to the quiet which they enjoyed with servitude under Solomon. There may be something of this perhaps in the case; but even though this be true, it is so strange that the Kings of judah should never (among so many changes) found a party in Israel to call them in again, that we must fly to the absolute determination of God's will for a cause of it, who being offended with the sins of both, made both his instruments of vengeance against one another, and gave victories and other advantages to judah, not for blessings to that, but for Curses and Scourges to Israel. God punished one, but blessed not the other side.  
This Superstition of consecrating Groves to Idols grew so frequent, that there was scarce any fair green Tree that was not dedicated to some Idol, 
— Lucosque vetustâ  
Religione truces & robora Numinis instar.  Claud. The word itself Lucus is conceived by some to come à Lucendo, from the constant Light of Sacrifices burnt there to the Gods, or rather perhaps from Tapers continually burning there in honour of them. At last the very Trees grew to be the Idols: — Quercus, oracula prima. Ovid. The Druidaes had their name from worshipping an Oak; and among the Celtaes an Oak was the Image of jupiter, the Holm Tree had no lesle honour with the Etrurians. Tacitus says the ancient Germane called Trees by the names of the Gods, 2 King. 23. 6. josiah is said to bring out the Groves from the house of the Lord; where it seems the Idols themselves are called Groves; either having gotten that name from standing commonly in Groves, or perhaps because they were the Figures of Trees adored by them, or of Idols with Trees represented too about them; as Acts 19 24. the silver similitudes of Diana's Temple, made by Demetrius, are termed Temples of Diana.  
The number of the Armies is here likewise more then wondered, Asa's consisting of five hundred and eighty thousand, and Zerahs of ten hundred thousand men, called Ethiopians, Cusitae: Now though I took the Cusites of Susacs' Army to be the Ethiopians of Africa, for it is very likely he might bring up those as well as Lybians, into Palestine; yet it is improbable that Zerah should march with such an Army through all Egypt, out of that Ethiopia; besides, Gerar and the Cities thereabouts are spoiled by Asa, as belonging to Zera, but that is in Arabia Petraea, which I suppose to be his Kingdom, though perhaps with other Countries thereabouts; and with the help of his neighbour Princes: for otherwise it is hard to believe, that his Army could be so great. It is clear that the Arabians were called Ethiopians as well as the Abyssines, both descending from Chus. He lost so many of his Subjects of Arabia Petraea, as might make that like Arabia Deserta.  
It is strange, that after his being able to bring such an Army into the field, after his great success against Zerah, and his fathers but a little before against jeroboam, he should be so alarmed with the War of Baasha (a murderer, and an unsettled Usurper; for which cause I call him Perjured) as to given his own and the Temples Treasures for the assistance of Benhadad: But it was not so much out of fear of Baasha alone, as of Benhadad too at the same time, who would have joined with Baasha, if he had not been bought of to join with Asa. The family of the Adads' then reigning in Damascus, were grown mighty Princes, and so continued long after. But the Assistance was very Dangerous; for the Syrians having by this occasion found the weakness of both Kingdoms, of Israel and judaea, and enriched themselves at once upon both, never ceased afterwards to molest and attaque them.  
The Fates; that is, according to the Christian Poetical manner of speaking, the Angels, to whom the Government of this world is committed. The meaning is, that having a command to kill the King, and seeing jehosaphat in Kingly robes, and looking only upon the outward disguise of Ahab (without staying to consider who the person was) they had like to have caused the King of judah to be slain instead of the King of Israel. He had like to have died as Virgil says, Alieno vulnere.  
Seir, A little Country lying between Edom and Moab.  
jehoram is said to have reigned eight years in jerusalem, 2 King: 8. 17. 2 Chron. 21. 20. but it is apparent by most evident collection out of the Text, that either seven of those eight years (as some will have it) or at lest four, are to be reckoned in the life of his father jehosaphat. Which makes me wonder at Sulpit. Severus his mistake, who says, joram filius regnum tenuit (josaphat rege defuncto) annos duo deviginti: Reigned eighteen years. I rather think it should be annos duos, and that deviginti is crept in since. Ochosia, or Ahazia reigned scarce one year.  
Athalia, by some Gotholia. Her murder of all that remained (as she thought) of the family of David, made her only pretence to the Government, which was then Vacua possessio, and belonged to the first possessor. She had been in effect in possession of it all the time of her Husband jehoram, and son Ochosia, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. joseph. And after these Murders here was a double Usurpation of Athaliah first as she was not of the House of David. And secondly, as she was a Woman. For the Crown of David did not, as the French say, Fall to the Distaff, Tomber en quenoüille, Deut. 17. 15. Yet she reigned peaceably almost seven years, which was very much to be wondered at, not only in regard of her murders, usurpation, tyranny and Idolatry at home, but because jehu then King of Israel, was a sworn enemy of the house of Ahab, and had vowed to root it all out, which likewise he effected, except in the person of this wicked woman, who nevertheless perished at last as she deserved, Absolvitque Deum.  
2 King's mentions but one Invasion of Hazael's King of Aram or Syria, which was compounded by joas for a great sum of money. The 2 of Chronicles mentions likewise but one, which ended in the loss of a battle by joas, and the slaughter of most of the Princes of judah. Some think that both those places signify but one war, and that the composition followed the victory. That they were several Invasions appears to me more probable, and that mentioned in the Chronicles to be the former of the two, though it be generally otherwise thought; for it is more likely, that joas should be driven to accept of that costly and shameful composition, after the loss of a battle, and of the greatest part of his Nobility, against a small number, then before he had ever tried his fortune in the field against the Aramites. Neither is it so probable that the Syrians having made that agreement for a vast treasure, should again break it, and invade them with a small company, as that having at first with a party only defeated the judaean Army, they should afterwards enter with greater Forces to prosecute the Victory, and therewith force them to accept of so hard and dishonourable conditions. But it may be objected, that it is said, 2 Chron. 24. 25. When they (the Syrians) departed from him (for they left him in great diseases) his own servants conspired against him, and slew him; as if this followed immediately after the battle. But he that observes the manner of writing used in the Kings and Chronicles, and indeed all other Historical parts of the Scripture, shall found the relation very imperfect and confused (especially in circumstances of Time) reciting often the latter things first, by Anticipation. So that When they departed, etc. may relate not to this defeat which in the Text it immediately follows, but to the other composition afterwards; which may be here omitted, because that second Invasion was but a consequence; and almost Continuance of the former: In which respect one Relation (2 Chronicles) mentioning the first part, which was the battle only; and the other (2 Kings) the second, which was the sending in of new Forces, and the conditions of agreement, both have fulfilled the duty of Epitomies.  
That is, In the same manner as his Father joas; both being virtuous and happy at first, wicked and unfortunate at last; with the same resemblance in their defeats, the one by the Syrians, the other by the Israelites; and in the consequences of them, which were the loss of all their treasures, and those of the Temple, a dishonourable peace; and their murders, by their own servants.  
This punishment, I suppose, was inflicted on them as Rebels, not as enemies.  
Uzziah, so he is called in our Translation of the Chronicles, the Septuagint, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and so josephus; but in Kings he is named Azarias, which was the High Priests name in his time.  
At first from men, 2 Chron. 26. 21. Dwelled in an house apart, being a Leper. So likewise 2 King. 15. 5. according to the Law concerning Lepers, Levit. 13. 46. From earth at last: For josephus reports, that the grief caused his death, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
josephus gives jothan an high elegy. That he wanted no kind of virtue, but was religious towards God, just to men, and wise in Government.  
To the Idol Moloch, of which before. When they burned the child in Sacrifice, it was the custom to make a great noise with Drums, Trumpets, Cymbals, and other Instruments, to the end that his cries might not be heard. Hinnon, a valley full of Trees close by jerusalem, where Moloch was worshipped in this execrable manner, called Gehinnon, from whence the word Gehenna comes for Hell; it was called likewise Tophet. Some think (as Theodor. Salia. etc.) that Achaz only made his Son pass between two fires for a Lustration and Consecration of him to Moloch, because it is said, 2 Kings 16. 2. He made his Son to pass through the fire. But 2 Chron. 28. 3. Explains it, He burned his children in the fire. And josephus, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
Tiglat-pilleser, or, Tiglat-Phul-aser. The Son of Phul, called by Annius Phul Belochus, by others Belosus, by Diodor. Belese, the Associate of Arbaces in destroying Sardanapalus, and the Assyrian Empire. After which, the Government of Babylon and Assyria was left to him by Arbaces, which he soon turned into an absolute Sovereignty, and made other great additions to it by conquest.  
For after the spoil of Syria and Israel, which he destroyed upon Achas quarrel, he possessed himself also of a great part of judaea, which he come to secure, bore away the chief richeses of the Country, and made Achas his Tributary and servant.  
The Rabbis, and out of them Abulensis and Cajetan say the Angel of God destroyed them by fire from heaven. josephus says by a Pestilence, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
He was slain in the Temple of Nesroth, Septuagint, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, josephus, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, by his two eldest Sons Adramelec and Sarasar, some say, because in his distress at Pelusium (of which see Herodot.) he had bound himself by vow to sacrifice them to his Gods. Others more probably, because he had declared Asarhaddon, their younger brother by another Mother, his Successor. Herod. reports that this Sennacherib's Statue was in the Temple of of Vulcan in Egypt, with this Inscription, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Let him who looks upon me learn to fear God.  
It is not plain by the Scripture, that the Sun went backward, but that the shadow only, upon that particular Dial, which Vatablus, Montanus, and divers others believe. However, this opinion hath the authority of all the Greek and Latin Fathers.  
Forgetful Man, which is the signification of his name.  
The Egyptians worshipped Two Calves, Apis and Mnevis, the one dedicated to the Sun, and the other to the Moon; or rather, the one being an Idol or Symbol of the Sun, and the other of the Moon; that is in their Sacred Language, of Osiris and Isis. From the Egyptians the Israelites took this Idolatry, but applying to it the name of the True God, whom they thought fit to worship under the same figure, as they had seen Osiris worshipped in Egypt. Such was Aaron's Calf, or Ox, and jeroboams two Calves erected in Dan and Bethel (which Religion he learned at the time of his banishment in Egypt) which I do not believe to have been two different Idols, in imitation of Api2 and Mnevis, but that both were made to represent the same true God, which he thought might as well be adored under that Figure, as the Osiris was, or Sun of the Egyptians. Of Osiris, see before the Note upon the Ode called, The Plagues of Egypt, ib.  
See Note 47. where I say that his Image was of Brass; how then could it fall to Ashes in his own Fires? that is, it was first melted, and then beaten to dust, as the graven Image of the Groves which Manasses set up, and which josiah burned, and then stamped to powder, which stamping was not necessary if it had been of wood, for then it would have burnt to ashes. 2 King. 23 6.  
The Sydonians had two Principal Idols. Baal and Astarte, or Ashtaroth, i The Sun and the Moon; which Astarte is perhaps the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, mentioned often in the Septuagint, Tob. 1. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They sacrificed to She-Baal the Cow. Both the Sun and Moon were represented anciently under that Figure, Luc. de Deâ Sir 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, her Image was the Statue of a Woman, having on her head the head of a Bull. Syderum Regina bicornis. Hor.  
Herodian testifies, that Heliogabalus (that is, the Baal of the Tyrians) was worshipped in a Great stone, round at bottom, and ending in a spire; to signify the nature of Fire. In the like figure Tacitus reports that Venus Paphia was worshipped, that is, I suppose, the Moon; Astarte (for the Cyprian superstition is likely to have come from the Tyrians) the wife of Baal. I found also Lapis to have been a surname of jupiter; jupiter Lapis.  
Dea Syria, which is thought to be Venus Urania, that is, the Moon, Men sacrificed to her in the habit of women, and they in that of men, because the Moon was esteemed, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, both Male and Female, Macrob. Saturn. 3. 8. from whence it was called Lunus as well as Luna, and Venus too, Deus Venus, jul. Firm. says of these Priests, Virilem sexum ornatu muliebri dedecorant, which is the occasion of the Law, Deut. 22. 5.  
2 Kings 17. 30. And the men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth; that is, built a Temple or Tabernacle (for Succoth is a Tabernacle) to Benoth, or Benos, or Binos; for Suid. has, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, (i) To Melita, the Babylonian Venus. Of whose worship Herodot. L. 1. reports, That Virgins crowned with Guirlands sat in order in her Temple, separated from one another by little cords, and never stirred from thence till some stranger come in, and giving them a piece of money took them out to lie with them; and till th●n they could not be married.  
Some make Dagon to be the same with jupiter Aratrius, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, deriving it from Dagan, Corn; but this is generally exploded, and as generally believed, that it comes from Dag, a Fish; and was an Idol, the upper part Man, and the lower Fish. Desinit in Piscem mulier formosa superné. I make it rather Female then Male, because I take it to be the Syrian Atergatis (Adder dagan, the mighty Fish) and Derecto, whose Image was such, and her Temple at Ascalon, which is the place where Dagon was worshipped. Diodor. says of the Image L. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And Lucian, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. There is an ancient Fable, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a creature Half-man, and Half-Fish, arose out of the Red-sea, and come to Babylon, and there taught men several arts, and then returned again to the Sea. Apollodor. reports, that four such Oannes in several ages had arose out of the Red-sea, and that the name of one was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. From whence our learned Selden fetches Dagon, whom see at large upon this matter. De D. Syris. Syntag. 2. c. 3.  
2 King. 23 11. Chariots and Horses were dedicated to the Sun, in regard of the swiftness of his motion. See Zen. l. 8. de Cyro. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Pausan. in Lacon. Heliodor. Aeth. 10. justin. 1. Herod. 1. They were Living white Horses to represent the Light. Nergal, 2 King. 17. 30. And the men of Cuth made Nergal, which signifies fire; to wit, the sacred fire that was kept always burning in honour of the Sun, as that of Vesta among the Romans. the ancient Persians' worshipped it, and had no other Idol of the Sun. From thence the Cuthites brought it, when they were removed into Samaria, who come from the borders of Cuthus, a River in Persia. Strabo says of the Persians', 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which was the reason they abhorred the burning of dead bodies, as a profanation of their Deity.  
Belzebub▪ The God of Ekron or Accaron. The God of Flies. See the Note on the eighth Stanza of the Ode called, The Plagues of Egypt, and the Note 18. upon the first Book. Thundering Baal. The jupiter and Sun of the Sidonians, and other neighbouring Countries. See the Note 45. L. 3.  
Neither the Book of Kings nor Chronicles make particular mention of the slaughter of jehoiakim by the Assyrians. Nay the second of Chron. 36. 6. seems at first sight to imply the contrary. Against him come up Nebucadnezar, and bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon. That is, he first bound him with an intent to carry him away captive, but after caused him to be slain there, to fulfil the Prophecies of jeremiah, jer. 36 30. and josephus says expressly, that Nebuchadnezar commanded him to be slain, and his body to be cast over the walls.  
jehoiachin, the son of jehoiakim, a Child, and who was taken away captive after three months and ten days, Zedechia being set up in his place, the younger brother of jehoias' and jehoiakim; The fourth King of the jews successively, that was made a Bondslave. Israel's now solemn and imperial chain: for it was the custom of the great Eastern Monarches, as afterwards of the Romans too, Ut haberent instrument a servitutis & reges. Tacit.  
For though they were restored again to their country, yet they never recovered their ancient Liberty, but continued under the yoke of the Persians', Macedonians, and Romans till their final destruction.  
In this manner Oedipus speaks, after he had put out his own eyes. In Theb. Quid hîc manes meos detineo ?Why do I keep my Ghost alive here so long? And to Antigone, 
Funus extendis meum,  
Longasque vivi ducis exequias patris.  And Oed. Act. 5. 
Mors eligatur longa, quaeratur via  
Quà nec sepultis mistus & vivis tamen  
Exemptus errem.— Seneca the Philosop.  (But as a Poet, not a Philosopher) calls Banishment itself (the least of Zedechia's affliction) a Death, nay a Burial, 
Parce religatis, hoc est, jam parce sepultis.  
Vivorum cineri sit tua terra Levis.  But Seneca the Father in the 19 Controvers. has raised an objection against the next verse, Bereft of griefs, etc. Cestius (says he) spoke a most false sense, into which many fall. She was the more to be lamented, because she could not weep herself. And again, So much cause, and no power to weep. As if (says he) Blind people could not weep. Truly, Philosophically speaking, The moisture that falls through the place of the Eyes, if provoked by grief, is as much weeping, as if the Eyes were there; yet (sure) weeping seems to depend so much upon the Eyes, as to make the expression Poetically true, though not Literally. And therefore the Tragedian was not frighted with his Criticism; for Oedip. says in Theb. 
Cuncta sors mihi infesta abstulit.  
Lacrymae supererant, has quoque eripui mihi.  I confess indeed in a Declamation I like not those kind of Flowers so well.  
I do not mean, that she was without Original Sin, as her Roman Adorers hold very temerariously; but that neither Disease nor Imperfection, which are the effects and footsteps, as it were, of Sin, were to be seen in her body.  
Their mingled Light; i Their Colours; which are nothing but the several mixtures of Light with Darkness in the superficies of opacous bodies; as for example, Yellow is the mixture of Light with a little darkness; Green, with a little more; Read with more yet. So that Colours are nothing but Light diversely reflected and shadowed. Plato calls them, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Flames, that is, Light continually flowing from Bodies; and Pindar. Od. 6. elegantly attributes to Flowers, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Purple Beams.  
God's wife. Though the word seem bold, I know no hurt in the figure. And Spouse is not an Heroical Word. The Church is called Christ's Spouse, because whilst it is Militant, it is only as it were Contracted, not Married, till it becomes Triumphant, but here is not the same reason.  
Early, i Eastern Spices. From Arabia, which is Eastward of judaea▪ Therefore the Scripture says, that these Arabian wise men come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. We have seen his Star, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Virg. Ecce Dionaei processit Caesaris astrum .And the Presents which these wise men brought, show that they come from Arabia.  
Gabriel; the name signifies, The power of God. I have seen in some Magical Books, where they given barbarous names to the Guardian Angels of great persons, as that of Mathattron to the Angel of Moses, that they assign one Cerviel to David, And this Gabriel to joseph, josua and Daniel. But I rather use this then that Diabolical Name (for aught I know) of an Angel, which the Scripture makes no mention of. Especially because Gabriel is employed particularly in things that belong to the manifestation of Christ, as to the Prophet Daniel, to Zacharia, and to Mary. The Rabbis account Michael the Minister of God's justice, and Gabriel of his Mercies, and they call the former Fire, and the latter Water.  
Tho: Aquinas, upon the second of the Senten. Distinct. 9 Art 2. It is necessary that the Air should be thickened, till it come neare to the propriety of earth; that is, to be capable of Figuration, which cannot be but in a solid body, etc. And this way of Spirits appearing in bodies of condensed air (for want of a better way, they taking it for granted that they do frequently appear) is approved of by all the Schoolmen, and the Inquisitors about Witches. But they are beholding for this Invention to the ancient Poets. Virg. 12. 
Tum Dea nube cauâ tenuem sine viribus umbram,  
In faciem Aen. etc.  Which is the reason (perhaps) that Apollo, as the drawer up, and best Artificer of Vapours, is employed to make the Phantasm of Aeneai, 5 Iliad. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉   
Obscene was a word in use among the Augurs, signifying that which portended ill Fortune. And it is most frequently applied to Birds of ill Omen. Virg. 3. Aen. 
Sive Deae, ceu sint Dirae, obscaenaeque volucres.  
Aen. 12.— Nec me terrete timentem  
Obscaenae volucres.—  
Ovid.— Obscaenae quo prohibentur aves.  And Servius interprets Virgil's Obscaenam famem, to be, The hunger that drives men to Obscene, that is, unclean or shameful things, or because it was foretold by an Obscene; i unlucky Bird.  
It is rightly termed a Glass or Mirror, for God foresees all things by looking only on himself in whom all things always are.  
Albion is the ancientest name of this Island, yet I think not so ancient as David's time. But we must content ourselves with the best we have. It is found in Arist. de Mundo. In Plin. Ptolem. and Strabo; by which appears the vanity of those who derive it from a Latin word, Ab Albis Rupibus.  
So the Angel to S. john, Revel. 19 10. and 22. 9 calls himself His Fellow-servant.  

Virg.— Cum circumfusa repenté  
Scindit se nubes & in aera purgat apertum; and again,  
Tenues fugit ceu Fumus in auras.  
Hom. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.     

THE CONTENTS.  
Davids' flight to Nob, and entertainment there by the High Priest; from thence to Gath in disguise, where he is discovered and brought to Achis; He counterfeits himself Mad, and escapes to Adullam. A short enumeration of the forces which come thither to him. A description of the Kingdom of Moab, wither David flies; His entertainment at Moab's Court, a Digression of the History of Lot, Father of the Moabites, represented in Picture. Melchors Song at the feast; Moab desires joab to relate the story of David. Which he does; His Extraction, his excellency in Poesy, and the effects of it in curing Saul's malady. The Philistines Army encamped at Dammin, the description of Goliath and his arms, his Challenge to the Israelites, David's coming to the camp, his speech to Saul to desire leave to fight with Goliath; several speeches upon that occasion, the combat and slaughter of Goliath, with the defeat of the Philistines Army. Saul's envy to David. The Characters of Merab and Micol. The Love between David and Micol, his Song at her window, his expedition against the Philistines, and the Dowry of two hundred foreskins for Micol, with whom he is married, The Solemnities of the Wedding; Saul's relapse, and the causes of David's flight into the Kingdom of Moab.  
Davideis, The third Book.  
Raised with the news he from high Heav'en receives, 
1 Sam. 21. 1.   
Strait to his diligent God just thanks he gives.  
To divine Nobe directs then his flight,  
A small Town great in Fame by Levy's right,  
Is there with sprightly wines, 
v. 4, 5, 6.  and hallowed bread,  
(But what's to Hunger hallowed? 
Mar. 12. 4. ) largely fed.  
The good old Priest welcomes his fatal Guest,  
And with kind talk prolongs the hasty feast.  
He lends him vain Goliah's Sacred Sword, 
Ver ●.   
(The fittest help just fortune could afford)  
A Sword whose weight without a blow might slay,  
Able unblunted to cut Hosts away,  
A Sword so great, that it was only fit  
To take of his great Head who come with it.  
Thus he arms David; I your own restore,  
Take it (said he) and use it as before.  
I seen you then, and 'twas the bravest sight  
That ere these Eyes ow'ed the discov'ering light. 
1 Sam. 17   
When you stepped forth, how did the Monster rage,  
In scorn of your soft looks, and tender age!  
Some your high Spirit did mad Presumption call,  
Some piti'ed that such Youth should idly fall.  
Th'uncircumcised smil'ed grimly with disdain;  
I knew the day was yours: I seen it plain.  
Much more the Reverend Sire prepar'ed to say,  
Rapt with his joy; how the two Armies lay;  
Which way th'amazed Foe did wildly flee,  
All that his Hearer better knew then He.  
But David's haste denies all needless stay;  
To Gath an Enemy's Land, 
1 Sam. 21 10.  he hastes away,  
Not there secure, but where one Danger's neare,  
The more remote though greater disappear.  
So from the Hawk, Birds to Man's succour flee,  
So from fir'ed Ships Man leaps into the Sea.  
There in disguise he hopes unknown t'abide!  
Alas! in vain! what can such greatness hid?  
Stones of small worth may lie unseen by Day,  
But Night itself does the rich Gem betray.  
Tagal first spi'ed him, a Philistian Knight,  
Who erst from David's wrath by shameful flight  
Had saved the sordid remnant of his age;  
Hence the deep sore of Envy mixed with Rage.  
Strait with a band of Soldiers tall and rough,  
Trembling, for scarce he thought that band enough,  
On him he seizes whom they all had feared,  
Had the bold Youth in his own shape appeared.  
And now this wished-for, but yet dreadful prey  
To Achis Court they had in haste away.  
With all unmanly rudeness which does wait  
Upon th' Immod erate Vulgars' joy and Hate.  
His valour now and strength must useless lie,  
And he himself must arts unusu'al try;  
Sometimes he rends his garments, 
1 Sam. 21. 13.  nor does spare  
The goodly curls of his rich yellow hair.  
Sometimes a violent laughter screwed his face,  
And sometimes ready tears dropped down apace.  
Sometimes he fixed his staring eyes on ground,  
And sometimes in wild manner hurled them round.  
Moore full revenge Philistians could not wish,  
But call't the justice of their mighty Fish.  
They now in height of anger, 
Ver. 15.  let him Live;  
And Freedom too, t'increase his scorn, they given.  
He by wise Madness freed does homeward flee,  
And Rage makes them all that He seemed to be. 
1 Sam. 22. 1.   
Neare to Adullam in an aged Wood,  
An Hill part earth, part rocky stone there stood,  
Hollow and vast within, which Nature wrought  
As if by 'her Scholar Art she had been taught.  
Hither young David with his Kindred come,  
Servants, and Friends; many his spreading fame,  
Many their wants or discontents did call; 
1 Sam. 22. 1.   
Great men in war, and almost Armies all!  
Hither come wise and valiant joab down,  
One to whom David's self must own his Crown,  
A mighty man, had not some cunning Sin,  
Amid so many Virtues crowded in. 
1 Chr. 1●. 2.   
With him Abishai come by whom there fell  
At once three hundred; with him Asahel:  
Asahel, 
1 Chr. 11. 26.  swifter then the Northern wind;  
Scarce could the nimble Motions 
2 Sam. 2. 18.  of his Mind  
Outgo his Feet; so strangely would he run,  
That Time itself perceiv'ed not what was done.  
Often o'er the Lawns and meadows would he pass,  
His weight unknown, and harmless to the grass;  
Often o'er the sands and hollow Dust would trace,  
Yet no one Atom trouble or displace.  
Unhappy Youth, 
2 Sam. 2. 23.  whose end so neare I see!  
There's naught but thy Ill Fate so swift as Thee.  
Hither jessides wrongs Benaiah drew,  
He who the vast exceeding Monster slew. 
1 Chro. 11. 22.   
The Egyptian like an Hill himself did rear,  
Like some tall Tree upon it seemed his Spear.  
But by Benaiahs' staff he fell o'erthrown; 
Ver. 23.   
The Earth, as if worst struck, did loudest groan.  
Such was Benaiah; in a narrow pit  
He seen a Lion, 
Ver. 22.  and leapt down to it.  
As eas'ily there the royal Beast he tore  
As that itself did Kids or Lambs before.  
Him Ira follow'ed, 
1 Chro. 11. 28.  a young lovely boy,  
But full of Sp'irit, and Arms was all his joy.  
Often when a child he in his dream would fight  
With the vain Air, and his wak'ed Mother fright.  
Often would he shoot young birds, and as they fall,  
Would laugh, and fancy them Philistians all.  
And now at home not longer would he stay,  
Though yet the face did scarce his Sex betray.  
Dodos great Son come next, 
1 Chro. 11. 12.  whose dreadful hand  
Snatched ripened Glories from a conqu'ering band;  
Who knows not Dammin, and that barley field;  
Which did a strange and bloody Harvest yield?  
Many besides did this new Troop increase;  
Adan, whose wants made him unfit for peace.  
Eliel, 
1 Chro. 11. 46.  whose full quiv'er did always bear  
As many Deaths as in it Arrows were.  
Noon from his hand did vain or inn'ocent flee,  
Scarce Love or Fate could aim so well as He.  
Many of judah took wrong'ed David's side, 
1 Chr. 12. 16.   
And many of old jacobs' youngest Tribe;  
But his chief strength the Gathite Soldiers are, 
1 Chro▪ 12. 8.   
Each Single man able t'o'ercome a War!  
Swift as the Darts they fling through yielding air,  
And hardy all as the strong Steel they bore,  
A Lions nobler age sits in their face, 
1 Chr▪ 12. 8.   
Terrible comely, arm'ed with dreadful grace!  
Th'undaunted Prince, though thus well guarded here,  
Yet his stout Soul durst for his Parents fear;  
He seeks for them a safe and quiet seat,  
Nor trusts his Fortune with a Pledge so great.  
So when in hostile fire rich Asia's pride  
For ten years' siege had fully satisfi'ed,  
Aeneas stole an act of higher Fame, 
Virg 2. Aen.   
And bore Anchises through the wondering flame,  
A nobler Burden, and a richer Prey,  
Than all the Grecian forces bore away.  
Go pious Prince, in peace, in triumph go;  
Enjoy the Conquest of thy Overthrow;  
To have saved thy Troy would far lesle glorious be;  
By this thou Overcom'est their Victory.  
Moab, next judah, an old Kingdom, lies;  
jordan their touch, and his cursed Sea denies.  
They see North-stars from over Amoreus ground,  
Edom and Petra their south part does bound.  
Eastwards the lands of Cush and Ammon lie,  
The morning's happy beams they first espy.  
The region with fat soil and plenty's blessed,  
A soil too good to be of old possessed  
By monstrous Emins; but Lot's offspring come  
And conquer'ed both the People and the Name.  
Till Seon drove them beyond Arnon's flood, 
Num. 21. 26.   
And their sad bounds marked deep in their own blood.  
In Hesbon, his triumphant Court he plac'ed,  
Hesbon by Men and Nature strangely graced.  
A glorious Town, and fill'ed with all delight.  
Which Peace could yield, though well prepar'ed for fight.  
But this proud City and her prouder Lord  
Felt the keen rage of Israel's Sacred Sword, 
Num. 21. 24, 25.   
Whilst Moab triumphed in her torn estate,  
To see her own become her Conqu'erers' fate:  
Yet that small remnant of Lots parted Crown  
Did arm'ed with Israel's sins pluck Israel down,  
Full thrice six years they felt fierce Eglons' yoke, 
judg. 3. 14.   
Till Ehud's sword God's vengeful Message spoke; 
Ib. v. 21.   
Since then their Kings in quiet held their own,  
Quiet the good of a not envied Throne.  
And now a wise old Prince the Sceptre swayed,  
Well by his Subjects and Himself obeyed.  
Only before his Father's Gods he fell;  
Poor wretched Man, almost too good for Hell!  
Hither does David his blessed Parents bring, 
1 Sam. 22. 3.   
With humble greatness begs of Moab's King,  
A safe and fair abode, where they might live,  
Free from those storms with which himself must strive.  
The King with cheerful grace his svit approved,  
By hate to Saul, and love to Virtue moved.  
Welcome great Knight, and your fair Troop (said he)  
Your Name found welcome long before with me.  
That to rich Ophirs rising Morn is known,  
And stretched out far to the burnt swarthy Zone.  
Swift Fame, when her round journey she does make,  
Scorns not sometimes Us in her way to take.  
Are you the man, did that huge Giant kill?  
Great Bâal of Phegor! and how young he's still!  
From Ruth we heard you come; 
Ru. 1. 4.  Ruth was born here,  
In judah sojourned, and (they say) matched there  
To one of Bethlem; 
Ru. 4. 10.  which I hope is true;  
Howe'er your Virtues here entitle you.  
Those have the best alliance always been,  
To Gods as well as Men they make us Kin.  
He spoke, and strait led in his thankful Guests,  
To'a stately Room prepar'ed for Shows and Feasts.  
The room with golden Tap'estry glister'ed bright,  
At once to please and to confounded the sight,  
Th'excellent work of Babylonian hands;  
In midst a Table of rich Iv'ory stands,  
By three fierce Tigers, and three Lions born,  
Which grin, and fearfully the place adorn.  
Widely they gape, and to the eye they roar,  
As if they hungered for the food they bore.  
About it Beds of Lybian Citron stood,  
With cover dy'ed in Tyrian Fish blood,  
They say, th' Herculean art; but most delight  
Some pictures gave to David's learned sight.  
Here several ways Lot and great Abram go, 
Gen. 13. 6.   
Their too much wealth, vast, and unkind does grow.  
Thus each extreme to equal danger tends,  
Plenty as well as Want can separate Friends;  
Here Sodom's Towers raise their proud tops on high;  
The Towers as well as Men outbrave the sky.  
By it the waves of rev'erend jordan run,  
Here green with Trees, there gilded with the Sun.  
Hither Lot's Household comes, 
Ib. v. 10.  a numerous train,  
And all with various business fill the plain.  
Some drive the crowding sheep with rural hooks,  
They lift up their mild heads, and bleat in looks.  
Some drive the Herds; here a fierce Bullock scorns  
Th'appointed way, and runs with threatening horns;  
In vain the Herdman calls him back again;  
The Dogs stand of afar, and bark in vain.  
Some led the groaning wagons, loaded high,  
With stuff, on top of which the Maidens lie.  
Upon tall Camels the fair Sisters ride,  
And Lot talks with them both on either side.  
Another Picture to cursed Sodom brings  
Elams proud Lord, 
Gen. 14. 11. 12.  with his three servant Kings:  
They sack the Town, and bear Lot bound away;  
Whilst in a Pit the vanquished Bera lay, 
Ib. v. 10.   
Buried almost alive for fear of Death.  
But heav'ens just vengeance sav'ed as yet his breath.  
Abraham pursues, 
Gen. 14. 13.  and slays the Victor's Host  
Scarce had their Conquest leisure for a boast.  
Next this was drawn the reckless City's flame, 
Gen. 19 24.   
When a strange Hell poured down from Heaven there come.  
Here the two Angels from Lot's window look  
With smiling anger; the lewd wretches, struck  
With sudden blindness, 
Ib. v. 11.  seek in vain the door,  
Their Eyes, first cause of Lust, first Veng'eance bore.  
Through liquid Air, heaven's busy Soldiers fly,  
And drive on Clouds where seeds of Thunder lie.  
Here the sad sky gloes read with dismal streaks,  
Here Lightning from it with short trembling breaks.  
Here the blue flames of scalding brimstone fall,  
Involving swiftly in one rvine all.  
The fire of Trees and Houses mounts on high,  
And meets half way new fires that shower from sky.  
Some in their arms snatch their dear babes away;  
At once drop down the Father's arms, and They.  
Some into waters leap with kindled hair,  
And more to vex their fate, are burnt e'en there.  
Men thought, so much a Flame by Art was shown,  
The Pictures self would fall in ashes down.  
A far old Lot toward little Zoar hies,  
And dares not move (good man) his weeping eyes. 
Gen. 19 17.   
Behind his Wife stood ever fixed alone; 
Ib. v. 26.   
Not more a Woman, not yet quite a Stone.  
A lasting Death seized on her turning head;  
One cheek was rough and white, the other read,  
And yet a Cheek; in vain to speak she strove;  
Her lips, though stone, a little seemed to move.  
One eye was clos'ed, surpris'ed by sudden night,  
The other trembled still with parting light.  
The wind admir'ed which her hair loosely bore,  
Why it grew stiff, and now would play not more.  
To heaven she lifted up her freezing hands,  
And to this day a Suppliant Pillar stands.  
She try'ed her heavy foot from ground to rear,  
And raised the Heel, but her Toes rooted there▪  
Ah foolish woman! who must always be,  
A sight more strange then that she turned to see!  
Whilst David fed with these his curious eye,  
The Feast is now serv'ed in, and down they lie.  
Moab a goblet takes of massy gold,  
Which Zippor, and from Zippor all of old  
Quaffed to their Gods and Friends; an Health goes round  
In the brisk grape of Arnon's richest ground.  
Whilst Melchor to his harp with wondrous skill  
(For such were Poets then, and should be still)  
His noble verse through Nature's secrets led;  
He sung what Spirit, through the whole Mass is spread,  
Ev'ery where All; how Heavens God's Law approve,  
And think it Rest eternally to Move.  
How the kind Sun usefully comes and goes,  
Wants it himself, yet gives to Man repose.  
How his round journey does for ever last,  
And how he baits at every Sea in haste.  
He sung how Earth blots the Moon's gilded Wain,  
Whilst foolish men beaten sounding brass in vein,  
Why the Great Waters her slight Horns obey,  
Her changing Horns, not constanter then They,  
He sung how grisly Comets hung in air,  
Why Sword, and Plagues attended their fatal hair.  
God's Beacons for the world, drawn up so far,  
To publish ills, and raise all earth to war.  
Why Contraries feed Thunder in the cloud,  
What Motions vex it, till it roar so loud.  
How Lambent Fires become so wondrous tame,  
And bear such shining Winter in their Flame.  
What radiant Pencil draws the Watery Bow.  
What types up Hail, and picks the fleecy Snow.  
What Palsy of the Earth here shakes fixed Hills,  
From of her brows, and here whole Rivers spills.  
Thus did this Heathen Nature's Secrets tell,  
And sometimes missed the Cause, but sought it Well.  
Such was the sauce of Moab's noble feast,  
Till night far spent invites them to their rest.  
Only the good old Prince stays joab there,  
And much he tells, and much desires to hear.  
He tells deeds antique, and the new desires;  
Of David much, and much of Saul inquires.  
Nay gentle Guest (said he) since now you're in,  
The story of your gallant friend begin.  
His birth, his rising tell, and various fate,  
And how he slew that man of Gath of late,  
What was he call'ed? that huge and monstrous man?  
With that he stopped, and joab thus began:  
His birth, 
1 Chr. 2. 16.  great Sir, so much to my is tied,  
That praise of that might look from me like pride.  
Yet without boast, his veins contain a flood  
Of th'old judaean Lions richest blood. 
Gen. 49. 9   
From judah Pharez, 
1 Chr. 2.  from him Esrom come  
Ram, Nashon, Salmon, Names spoke loud by Fame.  
A Name not lesle aught Boaz to appear, 
Mat. ●.   
By whose blessed match we come no strangers here.  
From him and your fair Ruth good Obed sprung,  
From Obed jesse, jesse whom fame's kindest tongue,  
Counting his birth, and high nobil'ity, shall  
Not jesse of Obed but of David call,  
David born to him sev'enth; 
1 Chr. 2 15.  the six births passed  
Brave Trials of a work more great at last. 
1 Sam. 16.   
Bless me! how swift and growing was his Wit?  
The wings of Time flagged dully after it.  
Scarce passed a Child, all wonders would he sing  
Of Nature's Law, and power of Natures King.  
His sheep would scorn their food to hear his lay,  
And savage Beasts stand by as tame as they.  
The fight Winds would stop there, and admire;  
Learning Consent and Concord from his Lyre.  
Rivers, whose waves roll'ed down aloud before;  
Mute, as their Fish, would listen to'wards the shore.  
'Twas now the time when first Saul God forsook,  
God Saul; 
1 Sam. 16. 14.  the room in's heart wild Passions took;  
Sometimes a Tyrant-Frensie revell'ed there,  
Sometimes black sadness, and deep, deep despair.  
No help from herbs or learned drugs he finds,  
They cure but sometime Bodies, never Minds.  
Music alone those storms of Soul could lay;  
Not more Saul them▪ then Music they obey.  
David's now sent for, 
1 Sam. 16 23.  and his harp must bring;  
His harp that Magic bore on ev'ery string.  
When Saul's rude passions did most tumult keep;  
With his soft notes they all dropped down asleep.  
When his dull Spir'its lay drowned in Death and Night;  
He with quick strains raised them to Life and Light.  
Thus cheered he Saul, thus did his fury swage,  
Till wars began, and times▪ more fit for rage.  
To Helah Plain Philistian Troops are come, 
1 Sam. 17   
And wars loud noise strikes peaceful Music dumb.  
Back to his rural Care young David goes,  
For this rough work Saul his stout Brethrens chose.  
He knew not what his hand in war could do,  
Nor thought his Sword could cure men's Madness too.  
Now Dammin's destin'ed for this Scene of Blood,  
On two neare Hills the two proud Armies stood.  
Between a fatal valley stretched out wide,  
And Death seemeed ready now on either side,  
When (Lo!) their Host raised all a joyful shout,  
And from the midst an huge and monstrous man stepped out. 
1 Sam. 17▪ 4.   
Aloud they shouted at each step he took;  
We and the Earth itself beneath him shook,  
Vast as the Hill, down which he marched, he'appeared;  
Amazed all Eyes, nor was their Army feared.  
A young tall Squire (though then he seemed not so)  
Did from the Camp at first before him go;  
At first he did, but scarce could follow straight.  
Sweeting beneath a Shields unruly weight.  
On which was wrought the Gods, and Giants fight,  
Rare work! all fill'ed with terror and delight.  
Here a vast Hill, against thundering Bâal was thrown,  
Trees and Beasts on't fell burnt with Lightning down.  
One flings a Mountain, and its River too  
Torn up with't; that reins back on him that threw.  
Some from the Main to pluck whole Islands try;  
The Sea boils round with flames shot thick from sky.  
This he believed, and on his shield he bore,  
And praised their strength, but thought his own was more.  
The Valley now this Monster seemed to fill;  
And we (methoughts) looked up to'him from our Hill.  
All arm'ed in brass, the richest dress of war  
(A dismal glorious sight) he shone afar.  
The Sun himself started with sudden fright,  
To see his beams return so dismal bright.  
Brass was his Helmet, 
1 Sam. 17 7, etc.  his Boots brass; and over  
His breast a thick plate of strong brass he wore,  
His Spear the Trunk was of a lofty Tree,  
Which Nature meant some tall ships Mast should be,  
The'huge i'ron head six hundred shekels weighed,  
And of whole bodies but one wound it made,  
Able Death's worst command to overdo,  
Destroying Life at once and Carcase too;  
Thus armed he stood; all direful, and all gay,  
And round him fling a scornful look away.  
So when a Scythian Tiger gazing round,  
An Herd of Kines in some fair Plain has found  
Lowing secure, he swells with angry pride,  
And calls forth all his spots on ev'ery side.  
Than stops, and hurls his haughty eyes at all,  
In choice of some strong neck on which to fall.  
Almost he scorns, so weak, so cheap a prey,  
And grieves to see them trembling haste away.  
You men of jury, 
I●▪ v. 8.  he cries, if Men you be,  
And such dare prove yourselves to Fame and Me,  
Choose out amongst all your Troops the boldest Knight,  
To try his strength and fate with me in fight.  
The chance of war let us two bear for all,  
And they the Conqu'eror serve whose Knight shall fall. 
Ib. v. 9, 10.   
At this he pawsed awhile; strait, I defy  
Your Gods and You; dares noon come down and die?  
Go back for shame, and Egypt's slav'ery bear,  
Or yield to us, and serve more nobly here.  
Alas, there's no more Wonders to be done,  
Your Sorce'rer Moses now and Iosua's go,  
Your Magic Trumpets then could Cities take,  
And sounds of Triumph did your Battles make. 
Io●. 6. 20   
Spears in your hands and manly Swords are vain;  
Get you your Spells, and Conj'uring Rods again.  
Is there no Samson here? O that there were!  
In his full strength, 
judg. 16. 17.  and long Enchanted Hair.  
This Sword should be in the weak Razors stead;  
It should not cut his Hair of, but his Head.  
Thus he blasphemed aloud; the Valleys round  
Flatt'ering his voice restor'ed the dreadful sound.  
We turned us trembling at the noise, and feared  
We had behind some new Goliath heard.  
'Twas Heav'en, 
1 Sam. 17. 11.  Heav'en sure (which David's glory meant  
Through this whole Act) such sacred terror sent  
To all our Host, for there was Saul in place,  
Who ne'er seen fear but in his Enemy's face,  
His godlike Son there in bright armour shone,  
Who scorned to conquer Armies not Alone. 
1 Same 14   
Fate her own Book mistrusted at the sight;  
On that side War, on this a Single Fight.  
There stood Benaiah, and there trembled too,  
He who th' Egyptian, proud Goliath slew.  
In his pale fright, 
1 Chr. 11  rage through his eyes shot flame,  
He seen his staff, and blushed with generous shame.  
Thousand beside stood mute and heartless there,  
Men valiant all; nor was I us'ed to Fear.  
Thus forty days he marched down armed to fight,  
Once every morn he marched, and once at night.  
Slow risen the Sun, but galloped down apace,  
With more then Evening blushes in his face.  
When jesse to the Camp young David sent; 
1 Sam. 17 12, etc.   
His purpose low, but high was Fates▪ intent.  
For when the Monsters pride he seen and heard,  
Round him he looked, and wondered why they feared.  
Anger and brave disdain his heart possessed,  
Thoughts more then manly swelled his youthful breast.  
Much the rewards proposed his spirit inflame, 
1 Sam. 17. 25.   
Saul's Daughter much, and much the voice of fame.  
These to their just intentions strongly move,  
But chief God, and his dear Country's Love,  
Resolv'ed for combat to Saul's tent he's brought,  
Where thus he spoke, as boldly as he fought:  
Henceforth not more, 
Ib. v. 32.  great Prince, your sacred breast  
With that hung talking wretch of Gath molest.  
This hand alone shall end his cursed breath;  
Fear not, the wretch blasphemes himself to death,  
And cheated with false weight of his own might,  
Has challenged Heaven, not Us, to single fight.  
Forbidden it God, that where thy right is tried,  
The strength of man should found just cause for pride!  
Firm like some Rock, and vast he seems to stand,  
But Rocks we know were op'ed at thy command. 
Exod. 17. 6.   
That Soul which now does such large members sway,  
Through one small wound will creep in haste away.  
And he who now dares boldly Heaven defy,  
To ev'ery bird of Heav'en a prey shall lie.  
For 'tis not human force we aught to fear;  
Did that, alas, plant our Forefathers here?  
Twice fifteen Kings did they by that subdue? 
josh. 12.   
By that whole Nations of Goliah's slew?  
The wonders they performed may still be done;  
Moses and josua is, but God's not go.  
We've lost their Rod and Trumpets; not their skill:  
Prayers and Belief are as strong Witchcraft still.  
These are more tall, more Giants far then He,  
Can reach to Heav'en, and thence pluck Victory.  
Count this, and then, Sir, my th'advantage is;  
He's stronger far then I, my God then His.  
Amazement seized on all, and shame to see,  
Their own fears scorned by one so young as Herald 
1 Sam. 17. 33.   
Brave youth (replies the King) whose daring mind  
E'er come to Manhood, leaves it quite behind;  
Reserve thy valour for more equal fight,  
And let thy Body grow up to thy Spirit.  
Thou'rt yet too tender for so rude a foe,  
Whose touch would wound thee more then him thy blow.  
Nature his Limbs only for war made fit,  
In thine as yet naught beside Love she'has writ.  
With some lesle Foe thy unflesht valour try;  
This Monster can be no first Victory.  
The Lions royal whelp does not at first  
For blood of Basan Bulls or Tiger's thirst.  
In timorous Deer he hansels his young paws,  
And leaves the rugged Bear for firmer claws.  
So vast thy hopes, so unproportioned be,  
Fortune would be asham'ed to second Thee.  
He said, and we all murmured and assent;  
But naught moves David from his high intent.  
It brave to him, and om'inous does appear,  
To be oppos'ed at first, and conquer here,  
Which he resolves; Scorn not (said he) my age,  
For Vict'ory comes not like an Heritage, 
1 Sam. 17. 33.   
At set-years; when my Father's flock I fed,  
A Bear and Lion by fierce hunger led,  
Broken from the wood, and snatched my Lambs away;  
From their grim Mouths I forc'ed the panting prey.  
Both Bear and Lion e'en this hand did kill,  
On our great Oak the Bones and jaws hung still.  
My God's the same, which then he was, to day,  
And this wild wretch almost the same as They.  
Who from such danger sav'ed my Flock, will he  
Of Isra'el, his own Flock lesle careful be?  
Be't so then (Saul bursts forth:) and thou on high,  
Who often in weakness dost most strength descry,  
At whose dread beck Conquest expecting stands,  
And casts no look down on the Fighters hands,  
Assist what Thou inspir'est; and let all see,  
As Boys to Giants, Giants are to Thee.  
Thus; and with trembling hopes of strange success,  
In his own Arms he the bold Youth does dress. 
1 Sam. 17. 34.   
On's head an helm of well wrought brass is place,  
The top with warlike Plume severely graced.  
His breast a plate cut with rare Figures bore,  
A Sword much practis'ed in Deaths art he wore.  
Yet David useed so long to no defence,  
But those light Arms of Spirit and Innocence,  
No good in fight of that gay burden knows,  
But fears his own arms weight more then his Foes.  
He lost himself in that disguise of war,  
And guarded seems as men by Prisons are.  
He therefore to exalt the wondrous sight,  
Prepares now, and disarms himself for fight.  
Against Shield, 
1 Sam. 17. 40.  Helm, Breastplate, and instead of those,  
Five sharp smooth stones from the next brook he chose,  
And fits them to his sling; then marches down;  
For Sword, his Enemies he esteemed his Own.  
We all with various passion strangely gaz'ed  
Some sad, some'sham'ed, some angry, all amazed.  
Now in the Valley'he stands; through's youthful face  
Wrath checks the Beauty, and sheds manly grace.  
Both in his looks so joined, that they might move  
Fear even in Friends, and from an En'emy Love.  
Hot as ripe Noon, sweet as the blooming Day,  
Like july furious, but more fair then May.  
Th'accursed Philistian stands on th'other side, 
Ib. v. 45.   
Grumbling aloud, and smiles 'twixt rage and pride.  
The Plagues of Dagon! a smooth Boy, said he,  
A cursed beardless foe opposed to Me!  
Hell! with what arms (hence thou found Child) he's come!  
Some friend his Mother called to drive him home.  
Not go yet? if one minute more thou stay,  
The birds of heaven shall bear thee dead away.  
God's! a cursed Boy! the rest then murmuring out,  
He walks, and casts a deadly grin about.  
David with cheerful anger in his Eyes,  
Advances boldly on, and thus replies,  
Thou com'est, 
Ib. v. 45.  vain Man, all arm'ed into the field,  
And trustest those War toys, thy Sword, and Shield;  
Thy Pride's my Spear, thy Blasphemies my Sword;  
My Shield, thy Maker, Fool; the mighty Lord  
Of Thee and Battles; who hath sent forth me  
Unarm'ed thus, not to Fight, but Conquer Thee.  
In vain shall Dagon thy false Hope withstand;  
In vain thy other God, thy own right hand.  
Thy fall to man shall heavens strong justice show;  
Wretch! 'tis the only Good which thou canst do.  
He said; our Host stood dully silent by;  
And durst not trust their Ears against the Eye.  
As much their Champions threats to him they feared,  
As when the Monsters threats to them they heard,  
His flaming Sword th'enraged Philistian shakes,  
And haste to'his rvine with loud Curses makes.  
Backward the Winds his active Curses blew,  
And fatally round his own head they flew.  
For now from David's sling the stone is fled, 
Ib. v. 49.   
And strikes with joyful noise the Monsters head.  
It struck his forehead, and pierc'ed deeply there;  
As swiftly as it pierc'ed before the Air.  
Down, down he falls, and bites in vain the ground;  
Blood, Brain, and Soul crowd mingled through the Wound.  
So a strong Oak, which many years hath stood  
With fair and flourishing bows, itself a Wood;  
Though it might long the Axes violence bear,  
And played with Winds which other Trees did tear;  
Yet by the Thunder's stroke from th'root 'tis rent;  
So sure the blows that from high heaven are sent.  
What tongue the joy and wonder can express,  
Which did that moment our whole Host possess?  
Their jocund shouts th'air like a storm did tear,  
Th'amazed Clouds fled swift away with Fear.  
But far more swift th'accursed philistians fly, 
1 Sam. 17. 52.   
And their ill fate to perfect, basely die.  
With thousand corpse the ways around are strown,  
Till they, by the days flight secure their own.  
Now through the Camp sounds naught but David's name;  
All joys of several stamp and colours come  
From several passions; some his Valour praise,  
Some his free Speech, some the fair pop'ular rays  
Of Youth, and Beauty, and his Modest guise;  
Gifts that mov'ed all, but charm'ed the Female Eyes.  
Some wonder, some they thought 'twould be so swear;  
And some seen Angels flying through the Ayr.  
The basest spir'its cast back a crooked glance  
On this great act, 
1 Sam. 18. 6.  and feign would give't to Chance.  
Women our Host with Songs and Dances meet, 
Ib. v. 8. ●   
With much joy Saul, David with more they greet▪  
Hence the King's politic rage and envy flows,  
Which first he hides, and seeks his life t'expose  
To gen'erous dangers that his hate might clear,  
And Fate or Chance the blame, nay David bear.  
So vain are man's designs! for Fate, and Chance,  
And Earth, and Heav'en conspir'ed to his advance;  
His Beauty, 
1 Sam. 18. 16.  Youth, Courage and wondrous Wit,  
In all Mankind but Saul did Love begit.  
Not Saul's own house, not his own nearest blood,  
The noble causes sacred force withstood.  
youhave met no doubt, and kindly us'ed the fame,  
Of Godlike jonathans' illustrious Name;  
A Name which ev'ery wind to heaven would bear,  
Which Men to speak, and Angels joy to hear.  
No Angel e'er bore to his Brother-Mind  
A kindness more exalted and refined,  
Than his to David, which looked nobly down,  
And scorned the false Alarms of a Crown.  
At Dammin field he stood, 
1 Sam. 18 1,  And from his place  
Leapt forth, the wondrous Conqu'eror to embrace;  
On him his Mantle, 
Ib. v. 4.  Girdle, Sword, and Bow,  
On him his Heart and Soul he did bestow.  
Not all that Saul could threaten or persuade,  
In this close knot the smallest looseness made.  
Often his wise care did the King's rage suspend.  
His own life's danger sheltered often his Friend. 
1 Sam. 20. 33.   
Which he expos'ed a Sacrifice to fall  
By th' undiscerning rage of furious Saul.  
Nor was young David's active virtue grown  
Strong and triumphant in one Sex alone.  
Imperious Beauty too it durst invade,  
And deeper Prints in the soft breast it made, 
1 Sam. 18 20, 28.   
For there t'esteem and Friendships graver name,  
Passion was poured like Oil into the Flame.  
Like two bright Eyes in a fair Body plac'ed,  
Saul's royal House two beauteous Daughters grac'ed.  
Merab the first, Michol the younger nam'ed,  
Both equally for different glories fam'ed.  
Merab with spacious beauty fill'ed the sight,  
But too much awe chastis'ed the bold delight.  
Like a calm Sea, which to th'enlarged view,  
Gives pleasure, but gives fear and rev'erence too.  
Michols sweet looks clear and free joys did move,  
And no lesle strong, though much more gentle Love.  
Like virtuous Kings whom men rejoice t'obey,  
Tyrants themselves lesle absolute then They.  
Merab appeared like some fair Princely Tower,  
Michol some Virgin Queen's delicious Bower.  
All Beauties stores in Little and in Great;  
But the contracted Beams shot fiercest heat.  
A clean and lively Brown was Merabs die,  
Such as the Prouder colours might envy.  
Michols pure skin shone with such taintless White,  
As scattered the weak rays of human sight.  
Her lips and cheeks a nobler read did show,  
Than e'er on first-fruits or flowers Heau'ens' Pencil drew.  
From Merabs eyes fierce and quick Lightnings come  
From Michols the Sun's mild, yet Active Flame;  
Merabs long hair was glossy chestnut brown,  
Tresses of palest gold did Michol crown.  
Such was their outward form, and one might found  
A difference not unlike it in the Mind.  
Merab with comely Majesty and state  
Boar high th'advantage of her Worth and Fate.  
Such humble sweetness did soft Michol show,  
That noon who reached so high ere stooped so low.  
Merab rejoyc'ed in her wracked Lover's pain,  
And forthfi'ed her virtue with Disdain.  
The griefs she caus'ed gave gentle Michol grief,  
She wished her Beauties lesle for their relief,  
E'en to her Captives civil; yet th'excess  
Of naked Virtue guarded her not lesle.  
Business and Power Merabs large thoughts did vex,  
Her wit disdained the fetters of her Sex.  
Michol not lesle disdained affairs and noise,  
Yet did it not from Ignorance, but Choice.  
In brief, both Copies were more sweetly drawn;  
Merab of Saul, Michol of jonathan.  
The day that David great Goliath slew,  
Not great Goliah's Sword was more his due,  
Than Merab; by Saul's public promise she  
Was sold then and betrothed to Victory.  
But haughty she did this just match despise,  
Her Pride debauched her judgement and her Eyes.  
An unknown Youth, ne'er seen at Court before,  
Who Shepherds-staff, and Shepherds habit bore;  
The seventh-born Son of no rich house, were still  
Th'unpleasant forms which her high thoughts did fill.  
And much aversion in her stubborn mind  
Was bred by being promis'ed and designed.  
Long had the patiented Adriel humbly born  
The roughest shocks of her imperious scorn,  
Adriel the Rich, but richeses were in vain,  
And could nor set him free, nor her enchain.  
Long liveed they thus; but as the hunted Dear  
Closely pursu'ed quits all her wont fear,  
And takes the nearest waves, which from the shore  
She often with horror had beheld before.  
So whilst the violent Maid from David fled, 
1 Sam. 18. 19   
She leapt to Adriels' long avoided bed.  
The match was nam'ed, agreed, and finished strait;  
So soon comply'ed Saul's Envy with her Hate.  
But Michol, in whose breast all virtues move  
That hatch the pregnant seeds of sacred Love,  
With juster eyes the noble Objects meets,  
And turns all Merabs Poison into Sweets.  
She seen and wondered how a Youth unknown,  
Should make all Fame to come so soon his own:  
She seen, and wondered how a Shepherds Crook  
Despised that Sword at which the Sceptre shook.  
Though he seventh-born, and though his House but poor,  
She knew it noble was, and would be more.  
Often had she heard, and fancied often the sight,  
With what a generous calm he marched to fight.  
In the great danger how exempt from Fear,  
And after it from Pride he did appear.  
Greatness, and Goodness, and an Air divine,  
She seen through all his words and Actions shine.  
She heard his eloquent Tongue, and charming Lyre,  
Whose artful sounds did violent Love inspire,  
Though us'ed all other Passions to relieve;  
She weighed all this, and well we may conceive,  
When those strong thoughts attaqu'ed her doubtful breast,  
His Beauty not lesle active then the rest.  
The fire thus kindled soon grew fierce and great,  
When David's breast reflected back its heat.  
Soon she perceived (scarce can Love hidden lie  
From any sight, much lesle the Loving Eye)  
She Conqu'eror was as well as Overcome,  
And gain d no lesle Abroad then lost at Home.  
even the first hour they met (for such a pair,  
Who in all mankind else so matchless were,  
Yet there own Equals, Nature's self does wed)  
A mutual warmth through both their bosoms spread.  
Fate gave the Signal; both at once began  
The gentle Race, and with just pace they ran.  
E'en so (methinks) when two Fair Tapers come,  
From several Doors entering at once the room,  
With a swift flight that leaves the Eye behind;  
Their amorous Lights into one Light are joined.  
Nature herself, were she to judge the case,  
Known not which first began the kind embrace▪  
Michol her modest flames sought to conceal,  
But Love even th' Art to hid it does reveal.  
Her soft unpractis'ed Eyes betrayed the Theft,  
Love past through them, and there such footsteps left.  
She blushed when he approached, and when he spoke,  
And suddenly her wand'ring answers broke,  
At his names sounded, and when she heard him praised,  
With concerned haste her thoughtful looks she raised.  
Uncall'ed for sighs often from her bosom flew,  
And Adriels' active friend she ' abruptly grew.  
Often when the Courts gay youth stood waiting by,  
She strove to act a cold Indifferency;  
In vain she acted so constrained a part,  
For thousand Nameless things disclosed her Heart.  
On th'other side David with silent pain  
Did in respectful bounds his fires contain.  
His humble fear t'offend, and trembling awe,  
Impos'ed on him a not lesle rigorous Law  
Than Modesty on her, and though he strove  
To make her see't, he durst not tell his Love.  
To tell it first the timorous youth made choice  
Of Music's bolder and more active voice.  
And thus beneath her Window, did he touch  
His faithful Lyre; the words and numbers such,  
As did well worth my Memory appear,  
And may perhaps deserve your princely Ear.  

1.  
Awake, awake my Lyre,  
And tell thy silent Masters humble tale,  
In sounds that may prevail;  
Sounds that gentle thoughts inspire,  
Though so Exalted she  
And I so Lowly be,  
Tell her such diffe'rent Notes make all thy Harmony.   

2.  
Hark, how the Strings awake,  
And though the Moving Hand approach not neare,  
Themselves with awful fear,  
A kind of num'erous Trembling make.  
Now all thy forces try,  
Now all thy charms apply,  
Revenge upon her Ear the Conquests of her Eye.   

3.  
Weak Lyre! thy virtue sure  
Is useless here, since thou art only found  
To Cure, but not to Wound,  
And she to Wound, but not to Cure.  
Too weak too wilt thou prove  
My Passion to remove,  
Physic to other Ills, thou'rt Nourishment to Love.   

4▪  
Sleep, sleep again, my Lyre;  
For thou canst never tell my humble tale,  
In sounds that will prevail,  
Nor gentle thoughts in her inspire;  
All thy vain mirth lay by,  
Bid thy strings silent lie,  
Sleep, sleep again, my Lyre, and let thy Master die.  
She heard all this, and the prevailing sound  
Touched with delightful pain her tender wound.  
Yet though she joyed th' authentic news to hear,  
Of what she guest before with jealous fear.  
She checked her forward joy, and blushed for shame,  
And did his boldness with forc'ed anger blame.  
The senseless rules, which first False Honour taught,  
And into Laws the Tyrant Custom brought,  
Which Woman's Pride and Folly did invent,  
Their Lovers and Themselves too to torment,  
Made her next day a grave displeasure feign,  
And all her words, and all her looks constrain  
Before the trembling youth; who when he seen  
His vital Light her wont beams withdraw,  
He cursed his voice, his fingers, and his Lyre,  
He cursed his too bold Tongue, and bold Desire.  
In vain he cursed the last, for that still grew;  
From all things Food its strong Complexion drew;  
His joy and Hope their cheerful motions ceased,  
His Life decayed, but still his Love increased.  
Whilst she whose Heart approv'ed not her Disdain,  
Saw and endur'ed his pains with greater pain.  
But jonathan, to whom both hearts were known  
With a concernment equal to their own,  
joyful that Heav'en with his sworn love complied  
To draw that knot more fast which he had tied,  
With well-tim'ed zeal, and with an artful care,  
Restor'ed, and bettered soon the nice affaire.  
With ease a Brothers lawful power o'ercame  
The formal decencies of virgin-shame.  
She first with all her heart forgave the past,  
Herd David tell his flames, and told her own at last.  
Lo here the happy point of prosperous Love!  
Which e'en Enjoyment seldom can improve!  
Themselves agreed, which scarce could fail alone,  
All Israel's wish concurrent with their own.  
A Brothers powerful aid firm to the side,  
By solemn vow the King and Father tide:  
All jealous fears, all nice disguises past,  
All that in less-ripe Love offends the Taste,  
In either's Breast their Souls both meet and wed,  
Their Heart the Nuptial-Temple and the Bed.  
And though the grosser cates were yet not dressed,  
By which the Bodies must supply this Feast;  
Bold Hopes prevent slow Pleasures lingering birth,  
As Saints assur'ed of Heav'en enjoy't on Earth.  
All this the King observed, and well he seen  
What scandal, and what danger it might draw  
T'oppose this just and pop'ular match, but meant  
TO out-malice all Refusals by Consent.  
He meant the pois'onous grant should mortal prove,  
He meant t'ensnare his Virtue by his Love.  
And thus he to him spoke, 
1 Sam. 18. 2●.  with more of art  
And fraud, then well become the Kingly part.  
Your valour, David, and high worth (said he)  
To praise, is all men's duty, my to see  
Rewarded; and we shall t'our utmost powers  
Do with like care that part, as you did yours.  
Forbidden it God, we like those Kings should prove,  
Who Fear the Virtues which they're bound to Love.  
Your Pi'ety does that tender point secure,  
Nor will my Acts such humble thoughts endure.  
Your nearness to't rather supports the Crown,  
And th' honours giv'en to you increase our own.  
All that we can we'll given; 'tis our intent  
Both as a Guard, and as an Ornament  
To place thee next ourselves; Heav'en does approve,  
And my Son's Friendship, and my Daughter's Love,  
Guide fatally, methinks, my willing choice;  
I see, methinks, Heav'en in't, and I rejoice.  
Blush not, my Son, that Michols Love I name,  
Nor need she blush to hear it; 'tis no shame  
Nor secret now; Fame does it loudly tell,  
And all men but thy Rivals like it well.  
If Merabs choice could have comply'ed with my,  
Merab, my elder comfort, had been thine.  
And hers at last should have with my comply'ed,  
Had I not Thy and Michols heart descry'ed.  
Take whom thou lov'est, and who loves thee; the last  
And dearest Present made me by the chaste  
Ahinoam; and unless she me deceive,  
When I to jonathan my Crown shall leave,  
'Twill be a smaller Gift.  
If I thy generous thoughts may undertake  
To guess, they are what jointure thou shalt make,  
Fitting her birth and fortune: and since so  
Custom ordains, we mean t'exact it too.  
The jointure we exact, is that shall be  
No lesle advantage to thy Fame then She.  
Go where Philistian Troops infested the land;  
Renew the terrors of thy conquering hand.  
When thy own hand, which needs must conque'ror prove,  
In this joint cause of Honour and of Love,  
An hundred of the faithless foe shall slay, 
1 Sam. 18. 25.   
And for a Dowry their hundred foreskins pay,  
Be Michol thy Reward; did we not know  
Thy mighty Fate, and Worth that makes it so,  
We should not cheaply that dear blood expose  
Which we to mingle with our own had chose.  
But thou'rt secure; and since this match of thine  
We to the public benefit design,  
A public good shall its beginning grace,  
And given triumphant Omens of thy race.  
Thus spoke the King: the happy Youth bowed low;  
Modest and graceful his great joy did show;  
The noble task well pleased his generous mind;  
And naught t'except against it could he found,  
But that his Mistress price too cheap appeared,  
No Danger, but her Scorn of it he feared.  
She with much different sense the news receiv'ed,  
At her high rate she trembled, blushed, and griev'ed.  
'Twas a lesle work the conquest of his foes,  
Than to obtain her leave his life t'expose.  
Their kind debate on this soft point would prove  
Tedious, and needless to repeat: If Love  
(As sure it has) ere touched your princely breast,  
'Twill to your gentle thoughts at full suggest  
All that was done, or said; the grief, hope, fears;  
His troubled joys, and her obliging Tears.  
In all the pomp of Passions reign, they part;  
And bright prophetic forms enlarge his heart;  
Vict'ory and Fame; and that more quick delight  
Of the rich prize for which he was to fight.  
Tow'ards Gath he went; and in one month (so soon  
A fatal and a willing work is done)  
A double Dowry, two hundred foreskins brought  
Of choice Philistian Knights with whom he fought,  
Men that in birth and valour did excel,  
Fit for the Cause and Hand by which they fell.  
Now was Saul caught; nor longer could delay  
The two resistless Lovers happy day.  
Though this days coming long had seemed and slow,  
Yet seemed his stay as long and tedious now.  
For now the violent weight of eager Love,  
Did with more haste so neare its Centre move,  
He cursed the stops of form and state, which lay  
In this last stage like Scandals in his way.  
On a large gentle Hill, crowned with tall wood,  
Near where the regal Gabaah proudly stood,  
A Tent was pitched, of green wrought Damask made,  
And seemed but the fresh Forests natu'ral shade,  
Various, and vast within, on pillars born  
Of Sittim Wood, that usefully adorn.  
Hither to grace the Nuptial-Feast does Saul  
Of the Twelve Tribes th' Elders and Captains call,  
And all around the idle, busy crowd,  
With shouts and Blessings tell their joy aloud.  
Lo, the press breaks, and from their several homes  
In decent pride the Bride and Bridegroom comes.  
Before the Bride, in a long double row  
With solemn pace thirty choice Virgins go,  
And make a Moving Galaxy on earth;  
All heav'enly Beauties, all of highest Birth;  
All clad in liveliest colours, fresh and fair,  
As the bright flowers that crowned their brighter Hair,  
All in that newblown age, which does inspire  
Warmth in Themselves, in their Beholder's Fire.  
But all this, and all else the Sun did ere,  
Or Fancy see, in her lesle bounded Sphere,  
The Bride herself outshone; and one would say  
They made but the faint Dawn to her full Day.  
Behind a numerous train of Ladies went,  
Who on their dress much fruitless care had spent,  
Vain gems, and unregarded cost they bore,  
For all men's eyes were tied to those before.  
The Bridegroom's flourishing Troop fill'ed next the place,  
With thirty comely youths of noblest race,  
That marched before; and heaven around his head,  
The graceful beams of joy and Beauty spread.  
So the glad star which Men and Angels love,  
Prince of the glorious Host that shines above,  
No Light of Heav'en so cheerful or so gay,  
Lists up his sacred Lamp, and opens Day.  
The King himself, at the Tents crowned gate  
In all his robes of ceremony'and state  
Sat to receive the train; or either hand  
Did the High Priest, and the Great Prophet stand.  
Adriel behind, jonathan, Abner, jesse,  
And all the Chiefs in their due order press.  
First Saul declar'ed his choice, and the just cause,  
Avowed by'a gene'ral murmur of applause,  
Than sign'ed her Dow're, and in few words he prayed,  
And blest, and gave the joyful trembling Maid  
T'her Lovers hands, who with a cheerful look  
And humble gesture the vast Present took.  
The Nuptial-Hymn strait sounds, and Music's play,  
And Feasts, and Balls shorten the thoughtless day  
To all but to the wedded; till at last  
The long-wished night did her kind shadow cast;  
At last th' inestimable hour was come  
To led his Conquering prey in triumph home,  
To'a Palace neare, dressed for the Nuptial-bed  
(Part of her Dowry) he his fair Princess led,  
Saul, the Highpriest, and Samuel here they leave,  
Who as they part, their weighty Blessings given.  
Her Veil is now put on; and at the gate  
The thirty Youths, and thirty Virgins wait  
With golden Lamps, bright as the flames they bore,  
To light the Nuptial-pomp, and march before.  
The rest bring home in state the happy Pair,  
To that last Scene of Bliss, and leave them there  
All those free joys insatiably to prove  
With which rich Beauty feasts the Glutton Love.  
But scarce, alas, the first sev'en days were past,  
In which the public Nuptial Triumphs last,  
When Saul this new Alliance did repent,  
Such subtle cares his jealous thoughts torment,  
He envy'ed the good work himself had done;  
Feared David lesle his Servant then his Son.  
Not longer his wild wrath could he command;  
He seeks to slain his own imperial hand  
In his Son's blood; and that twice cheated too,  
With Troops and Armies does one Life pursue.  
Said I but One? his thirsty rage extends  
To th'lives of all his kindred, and his friends;  
E'en jonathan had died for being so,  
Had not just God put by th'unnatural blow.  
You see, Sir, the true cause which brings us here;  
No sullen discontent, or groundless fear,  
No guilty Act or End calls us from home.  
Only to breath in peace a while we come,  
Ready to Serve, and in mean space to Pray  
For you who us receive, and Him who drives away.   

NOTES UPON THE THIRD BOOK.  
A Town not far from jerusalem, according to S. Heiron. in his Commentary upon Isaiah, by which it seems it was re-edified, after the destruction of it by Saul; he says that jerusalem might be seen from it. Adricomius knows not whither he should place it in the Tribe of Benjamin, or Ephraim. Abulensis sure is in an error, placing it in the Half Tribe of Manasses beyond jordan. I call it Nobe according to the Latin Translation; for (methinks) Nob is too unheroical a name.  
Panes Propositionis, in the Septuagint, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, from the Hebrew, in which it signifies Panes Facierum, because they were always standing before the Face of the Lord; which is meant too by the English word Shewbread. The Law concerning them, Levit. 23. commands not only that they should be eaten by the Priests alone, but also eaten in the holy Place. For it is most holy unto him, of the offerings made unto the Lord by fire, by a perpetual statute, Verse 9 In the Holy place; that is, at the door of the Tabernacle; as appears, Leu. 8. 31. and that which remained was to be burnt, lest it should be eaten by any but the Priests. How comes it then to pass, not only that Ahimelech gave of this bread to David and his company, but that David says to him, 1 Sam. 21. 5. The bread is in a manner common? The Latin differently, Porro via haec polluta est, sed & ipsa hodiè sanctificabitur in vasis. The words are somewhat obscure; the meaning sure must be, that seeing here are new Breads to be set upon the Table, the public occasion (for that he pretended) and present necessity makes these as it were common. So, what more sacred then the Sabbath? yet the Maccabees ordained, that it should be lawful to fight against their enemies on that day. Seneca says very well, Necessitas magnum humanae imbecillitatis patrocinium, quicquid cogit excusat. And we see this act of David's approved of in the Evangelists.  
Fatal, in regard his coming was the cause of Ahimeleches murder, and the destruction of the Town.  
Sacred: made so by David's placing it in the Tabernacle as a Trophy of his Victory, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Thus judith dedicated all the stuff of Holophernes his Tent as a Gift unto the Lord, jud. 16. 19 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, where the Latin corruptly adds Oblivionis; in anathema oblivionis, which should be left out. josephus of this Sword, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And Sulpit. Sever. Gladium posteâ in Templum posuit; i In Tabernaculum Nobae: where, methinks, In Templum signifies more then if he had said in Templo. The reason of this custom is, to acknowledge that God is the giver of Victory. And I think all Nations have concurred in this duty after successes, and called (as Virgil says) In praedam partémque jovem. —So the Philistines hung up the Arms of Saul in the Temple of Ashtaroth, and carried the Ark into the Temple of Dagon. Nicol. de Lyra believes that this Sword of Goliath was not consecrated to God: for then Ahimelech in giving, and David in taking it had sinned; for it is said, Levit. 27, 28. Whatsoever is devoted is most holy unto the Lord; but that it was only laid up as a Monument of a famous victory, in a public place. There is no need of this evasion; for not every thing consecrated to God is unalienable (at lest for a time) in case of necessity, since we see the very vessels of the Temple were often given to Invaders by the Kings of judah, to make peace with them. Pro Rep. plerumque Templa nudantur. Sen. in Controvers.  
This particular of Tagal and David's going in disguise into the Land of the Philistines (which seems more probable then that he should go immediately and avowedly to Achis Court so soon after the defeat of Goliath) is added to the History by a Poetical Licence, which I take to be very harmless, and which therefore I make bold to use upon several occasions.  
Their Goddess Dagon, a kind of Mermaid-Deity. See on the second Book.  
Adullam, An ancient Town in the Tribe of judah, even in Judah's time, Gen. 38. in Joshua's it had a King, josh. 12. 15. The Cave still remains; and was used by the Christians for their refuge upon several eruptions of the Turks, in the same manner as it served David now.  
In this Enumeration of the chief People who come to assist David, I choose to name but a few. The Greek and Latin Poets being in my opinion too large upon this kind of subject, especially Homer, in enumerating the Graecian Fleet and Army; where he makes a long list of Names and Numbers, just as they would stand in the Roll of a Muster-Master, without any delightful and various descriptions of the persons; or at lest very few such. Which Lucan (methinks) avoids viciously by an excess the other way.  
2 Sam. 2. And Asael was as swift of foot as a wild Roe. joseph. says of him, that he would outrun 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which is no such great matter. The Poets are all bolder in their expressions upon the swiftness of some persons. Virgil upon Nisus Aen. 5. Emicat & ventis, & fulminis ocyor alis .But that is Modest with them. Hear him of Camilla, Aen. 7. 
Illa vel intactae segetis per summa volaret  
Gramina, nec teneras cursu laesisset aristas.  
Vel mare per medium fluctu suspensa tumenti  
Ferret iter, celeres nec tingeret aequore plantas.  From whence I have the hint of my description, Often over the Lawns, etc. but I durst not in a Sacred Story be quite so bold as he. The walking over the waters is too much, yet he took it from Homer, 20. Iliad. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  They ran upon the top of flowers without breaking them, and upon the back of the Sea, etc. where the Hyperbole (one would think) might have satisfied any moderate man; yet Scal. 5. de Poet. prefers Virgil's from the increase of the miracle, by making Camilla's flight over a tenderer thing then Antherici, and by the exaggerations of Intactae, Gramina, Volaret, Suspensa, Nec tingeret. Apollon. 1. Argonant. has the like Hyperbole, and of Polyphemus too, a Monster, that one would believe should rather sink the Earth at every tread, then run over the Sea with dry feet, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  And Solinus reports historically of Ladas (the man so much celebrated by the Poets) cap. 6. That he ran so lightly over the dust (suprà cavum pulverem) that he never left a mark in it. So that a Greek Epigram calls his 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
The swiftness of a God.  All which, I hope, will serve to excuse me in this place.  
jessides, the Son of jesse; a Patronymique after the Greek form.  
Moab, that part of the Kingdom of Moab that was possessed by Reuben, lying upon the Dead-Sea, which divides it from the Tribe of judah; but jordan divides it from the Tribes of Benjamin and Ephraim, so judah is not here taken in a precise sense for that Tribe only.  
His: because jordan runs into it, and is there lost. It is called promiscuously a Sea, or Lake, and is more properly a Lake.  
Amoreus was the fourth Son of Canaan; the Country of his Sons extended East and West between Arnon and jordan, North and South between jaboc and the Kingdom of Moab. They were totally destroyed by the Israelites, and their Land given to the Tribe of Gad, Gen. 10. 14 Numb. 21. 32. Deut 3. josh 13. judg. 12.  
Edom: called by the Greeks Idumaea: denominated from Esau. josephus makes two Idumaeas, the Upper and the Lower; the upper was possessed by the Tribe of judah, and the Lower by Simeon: but still the Edomites possessed the Southern part of the Country, from the Sea of Sodom towards the Read, or, Idumaean Sea. The great Map of Adricomius places another Edom & Montes Seir, a little North of Rabath of the Ammonites, which I conceive to be a mistake. The Greeks under the name of Idume include sometimes all Palestine and Arabia.  Petra. The Metropolis of Arabia Petraea. Adric. 77. Petraea autem dicta à vetustissimo oppido Petra deserti ipsius Metropoli suprà mare mortuum sitâ. 
It is hard to set the bounds of this Country (and indeed of all the little ancient Kingdoms in those parts;) for sometimes it includes Moab, Edom, Amalec, Cedar, Madian, and all the Land Southward to Egypt, or the Red-Sea: but here it is taken in a more contracted signification, for that part of Arabia which lies neare the Metropolis Petra, and denominates the whole. I doubt much, whither Petra Deserti, which Adric. makes to be the same, were not another City of the same name. Adric. is very confused in the description of the Countries bordering upon the jews, nor could well be otherwise, the matter is so intricate, and to make amendss not much important.  
Cush. Arabia Sabaea, so called from Saba the Son of Cush, and Grandchild of Cham. All the Inhabitants of Arabia, down to the Red-sea (for Jethro's daughter of Midian was a Cusite, though taken by josephus to be an African Ethiop) are called sometimes in Scripture Cusites, and translated Ethiopians; and I believe the other Ethiopians beyond Egypt descended from these, and are the Cusitae at other times mentioned in the Scripture. Ammon is by some accounted a part of Arabia Foelix, and the Country called since Philadelphia, from the Metropolis of that name, conceived by Adricom. to be the same with Rabath of Ammon, the Son of Lot.  
Accounted of the race of the Giants, that is, a big, strong, and warlike sort of people; as Amos says Poetically of the Amorites, As tall as Cedars, and strong as Oaks. These Emins were beaten Cheder-laomer, Gen. 14. and extirpated afterwards by the Moabites, who called all that Country Moab, from their Ancestor the Son of Lot.  
Seon King of the Amorites, who conquered the greatest part of the Kingdom of Moab all westward of Arnon, and possessed it himself till the Israelites slew him, and destroyed his people. Arnon, a River that discharges itself into the Dead-sea, and rises in an high Rock in the Country of the Amorites, called Arnon, which gives the name to the River, and that to the City Arnon, or Aroer seated upon it. Or,  
Esebon. A famous and strong City seated upon an hill, and encompassed with brick-walls, with many Villages and Towns depending on it. It was twenty miles distant from jordan. Adric.  
For Saul had made war upon the Moabites, and done them much hurt, 1 Sam. 14. 49.  
I take it for an infallible certainty, that Ophir was not as some imagine in the West-indieses; for in Solomon's time, where it is first mentioned, those Countries neither were nor could be known, according to their manner of Navigation. And besides, if all that were granted, Solomon would have set out his fleet for that voyage from some port of the Mediterranean, and not of the Red-sea. I therefore without any scruple say, Ophirs rising Morn, and make it a Country in the East-indieses, called by josephus and S. Hierome, The Golden Country. Grotius doubts whither Ophir were not a Town seated in the Arabian Bay, which Arrian calls Aphar, Pliny Saphar, Ptolemy Sapphara, Stephanus Sapharina, wither the Indian's brought their Merchandizes, to be fetched from thence by the Merchants of the more Western Countries. But that small similitude of the name is not worth the change of a received opinion.  
Like this is that of Dido to Aeneas, 
Non obtusa adeò gestamus pectora Poeni,  
Nec tam aversus equos Tyriâ Sol jungit ab urbe.  And in Stat. of Adrastus to Polynices, 
Nec tam aversum fama  
Mycaenis Volvit iter.   
Phegor, or Phogor, or Peor, was an high Mountain upon the Top of which Balaam was desired by Balac to curse, but did bless Israel. This place was chosen perhaps by Balac, because upon it stood the Temple of his God Baal. Which was, I believe the Sun, the Lord of Heaven, the same with Moloch of the Ammonites and the Moabites Chemos; only denominated Baâl Phegor, from that particular place of his worship, as jupiter Capitolinus. Some think that Baal Peor was the same with Priapus the obscene Idol, so famous in ancient Authors; it may be the Image might be made after that fashion, to signify that the Sun is the Baal, or Lord of Generation.  
The making of Hang with Figures come first from Babylon, from whence they were called Babylonica, Plin. l. 8. c. 48. Colores diversos picturae intertexere Babylon maximè Celebravit, & nomen imposuit. Plaut. in Sticho. 
Tum Babylonica peristromata consutaque tapetia  
Advexit minimúm bonea rei.  He calls the like Hang in Pseud. 
Alexandrina belluata conchiliata peristromata.  Mars L. 8. 
Non ego praetulerim Babylonica picta superbè  
Texta Semiramiâ quae variantur acu.  And long before, Lucret. l 4. Babylonica magnifico splendore.  
These kind of Ivory Tables born up with the Images of Beasts, were much in esteem among the Ancients. The Romans had them, as also all other instruments of Luxury, from the Asiatiques, 
— Putere videntur  
Unguenta atque rosae latos nisi sustinet orbes  
Grande ebur, & magno sublimis Pardus hiatu,  
Dentibus ex illis quos mittit porta Sienes  
Et Mauri celeres. juven. 11.  
Mart. Et Mauri Lybicis centum stint dentibus orbes.   
Citron: It is not here taken for the Lemon Tree (though that be in Latin called Citrus too, and in French Citronnier) but for a Tree something resembling a wild Cypress, and growing chief in Africa: it is very famous among the Roman Authors, and was most used for banqueting Beds and Tables. Martial says it was more precious then Gold. 
Accipe faelices, Atlantica munera, mensas,  
Aurea qui dederit dona, minora dabit.  See Plin l. 13. c. 15. The spots and crispness of the wood, was the great commendation of it: From whence they were called, Tygrinae and Pantherinae Mensae. Virg. Ciris. 
Nec Lybis Assyrio sternetur Lectulus ostro.  Where Lybis Lectulus may signify either an Ivory, or a Citron Bed.  
Purple Coverlits were most in use among great persons. Hom. Il. 9 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Virg. 
Sarrano dormiat ostro.  That is, Tyrian purple. Stat. Theb. 1. 
— Pars ostro tenues auróque sonantes  
Emunire toros. — They lie (says Plato to the Comedian in Athen. 2.) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. The Purple of the Ancients was taken out of a kind of Shellfish called Purpura; where it was found in a white vein running through the middle of the mouth, which was cut out and boiled; and the blood used afterwards in Dying, produced the colour Nigrantis rosae sublucentem, which Pliny witnesses to be the true Purple, though there were other sorts too of it, as the colour of Violet, Hyacinth, etc. Of this Invention now totally lost, see Plin. l. 9 c. 38. and Pancirollus. The greatest Fishing for these Purples was at Tyre, and there was the greatest manufacture and Trade of Purple; there likewise was the invention of it, which is attributed to Hercules Tyrius, who walking upon the shore, seen his Dog by't one of those Fish, and found his mouth all stained with that excellent colour, which gave him the first hint of teaching the Tyrians how to Die with it: From whence this colour is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Aristot. quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the work of the sea; and Plato in Tim. defines 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be Read mingled with White and Black.  
So Aeneas in the 1. Aen. finds the story of all the Trojan War painted upon the walls of Juno's Temple at Carthage. I choose here the history of Lot, because the Moabites descended from him.  
Chedor-laomer, who according to the general opinion, was King of Persia, but to me it seems altogether improbable that the King of Persia should come so far, and join with so many Princes to make a war upon those five little Kings, whose whole Territories were scarce so big as the lest shire in England, and whose very names are unlikely to have been heard of then, so far as Persia. Besides Persia was not then the chief Eastern Monarchy, but Assyria under Ninias or Zamaeis, who succeeded Semiramis; which makes me likewise not doubt but that they are mistaken too, who take Amraphel King of Shinaar, which is interpreted Babylonia, for the same with Ninias, since Chedor-laomer commanded over him; a fouler error is theirs, who make Arioch King of Ellasar to be the King of Pontus, as Aquila and S. Hierome translate it; or as Tostatus, who would have it to be the Hellespont. Stephan. de Urb. places Ellas in Coelosyria, others on the borders of Arabia, and that this was the same with Ellasar has much more appearance. But for my part, I am confident that Elam, Shinaar, Ellasar and Tidal, were the names of some Cities not far distant from Sodom and Gomorra, and their Kings such as the thirty three that joshua drove out of Canaan; otherwise how could Abraham have defeated them (abating miracles) with his one family only? perhaps they were called of Elam, that is Persia, of Shinaar, that is Babylonia, of Ellasar, that is Pontus, or rather the other Ellas, because they were Colonies brought from those Countries; which the fourth King's title, of Tidal, seems to confirm; that is, of Nations; Latin, Gentium; Symmach. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to with, of a City compounded of the conflux of people from several Nations. The Hebrew is Goijm, which Vatablus, not without probability, takes for the proper name of a Town.  
That he might be consumed presently after with his whole people and Kingdom, by fire from Heaven.  
For Fire and Brimstone is named in Scripture; as the Torment of Hell; for which cause the Apostle juda, v. 7. says that Sodom and Gomorra are set forth for an example, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire; So our English; Latin, Ignis aeterni poenam sustinentes. But I wonder noon have thought of interpreting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 adverbially; for, Instar habentes ignis aeterni. Suffering the similitude of eternal, that is, Hell Fire. So 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used Arist de Mund. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, nay even 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the subst▪ is taken sometimes in that sense, as Homer, Ulyss. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  For this is the Manner or fashion of Suitors. It is not improbable that this Raining of Fire and Brimstone was nothing but extraordinary Thunders and Lightnings; for Thunder hath sulphur in it, which (Grotius) says is therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as it were, Divine, because it comes from above. Several profane Authors make mention of this destruction of Sodom; as Tacitus, L 5. Histor. Fulminum ictu arsisse, etc. and by and by, Igne coelesti flagrasse, etc  
The blindness with which these wretches were strooken, was not a total Blindness or Privation of their sight, but either such a sudden darkness in the air as made them grope for the door, or a sudden failing of the sight, as when men are ready to fall into a Trance; I blovissement; or that which the Greeks term 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, when men see other things, but not the thing they look for. For says S. Augustine, De Civit. Dei Lib. 22. c. 19 If they had been quite blind, they would not have sought for the door to go into Lot's house, but for guides to conduct them back again to their own.  
I describe her not after she was changed, but in the very act or moment of her changing, Gen. 19 26. Our English says, she become a Pillar of Salt, following the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The Latin is, Statua Salis. Some call it Cumulum; others, Columnam. Sulpit. Sever. Reflexit oculos, statimque in molem conversa traditur. It is pity josephus, who says he seen the Statue himself, omitted the description of it. Likely it is, that it retained her form. So Cyprian in better verse then is usual among the Christian Poets, 
Stetit ipsa Sepulchrum,  
Ipsaque Imago sibi, formam sine corpore servans.  Some with much subtlety, and some probability, understand a Pillar of Salt, to signify only an Everlasting Pillar, of what matter soever, as Numb. 18, 19 A Covenant of Salt. But we may very well too understand it Literally; for there is a Mineral kind of Salt which never melts, and serves for building as well as stone▪ of which Pliny speaks, l. 31 c. 7. besides, the conversion into Salt is very proper there, where there is such abundance, mixed with Sulphur, and which place God had▪ as it were, sowed with Salt, in token of eternal barrenness, of which this Statue was set up for a Monument. The Targum of jerusalem is cited, to given this reason why she looked back; it says, she was a woman of Sodom, and that made her impatient to see what become of her friends and Country. The moral of it is very perspicuous, but well expressed by S. August. Uxor Loth in Salem conversa magno admonuit Sacramento neminem in viâ liberationis suae praeterita desiderare debere.  
Zippor the Father of Balac, and first King of Moab mentioned in Scripture. Some Authors, I know, name one Vaheb before him, but Zippor is the more known, more authentical, and better sounding Name. Among the Ancients there was always some heareditary Bowl with which they made their Libations to the Gods, and entertained Strangers. Virg. 
Hic Regina gravem gemmis auroque poposcit  
Implevitque mero pateram, quâ Belus etc omnes  
A Belo soliti — And presently she gins to the Gods. So Stat. l. 1. Theb. 
Signis perfectam auroque nitentem  
jasides pateram famulos ex more poposcit,  
Quâ Danaus libare This, seniorque Phoroneus  
Assueti — And then he adds the Stories engraven on the Bowl, which would not have been so proper for me in this place, because of the Pictures before. Sen. Thyest. Poculum infuso Cape Gentle Baccho. This Libation to the Gods at the beginning of all Feasts come from the natural custom of paying the First Fruits of all things to the Divinity by whose bounty they enjoyed them.  
This too was an ancient custom that never failed at solemn Feasts, to have Music there (and sometimes dancing too) which Homer calls, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  The Appendices; or as Heisich interprets, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Ornaments of a Feast. And as for wise and honourable persons, there was no time of their Life lesle lost, then that they spent at Table; for either they held then some profitable and delightful discourses with Learned men, or heard some remarkable pieces of Authors (commonly Poets) read or repeated before them; or if they were Princes, had some eminent Poet (who was always then both a Philosopher and Musician) to entertain them with Music and Verses, not upon slight or wanton, but the greatest and noblest subjects. So does jopas in Virg. 
Cytharâ crinitus jopas  
Personat auratâ docuit quae maximus Atlas  
Hic canit errantem Lunam Solisque labores, etc.  So does Orpheus in Apollon. 1. Argonaut. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc.  So does Demodocus in Homer; though there the subject, methinks, be not so well chosen.  
See Athen. L. 1. c. 12. upon this matter, where among other things, he speaks to this sense, The Poets were anciently a race of wise men, both in learning and practice Philosophers; and therefore Agamemnon (at his expedition for Troy) leaves a Poet with Clytaemnestra, as a Guardian and Instructor to her, who by laying before her the virtues of women, might given her impressions of goodness and honour, and by the delightfulness of his conversation, divert her from worse pleasures. So Aegisthus was not able to corrupt her till he had killed her Poet. Such a one was he too who was forced to sing before Penelope's Lovers, though he had them in detestation. And generally all Poets were then had in especial reverence. Demodocus among the Phaeacians, sings the adultery of Mars and Venus, not for the approving of the like actions, but to divert that voluptuous people from such unlawful appetites, etc. The old Scholiast upon Homer, says, 3. Odyss. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Anciently Poets held the place of Philosophers. See Quintil. l. 1. c. 10. Strab. 1. Geogr. etc.  
By drawing up vapours from them, with which the Ancients believed that the Stars were nourished. Virg. Polus dum sidera Pascit.  
This was an ancient fashion among the Heathens, not unlike to our ringing of Bells in Thunder. juvenal says of a loud scolding woman, that she alone was able to relieve the Moon out of an Eclipse, Sola laboranti poter at succurrere Lunae .This superstition took the original from an opinion, that Witches by muttering some charms in verse, caused the Eclipses of the Moon, which they conceived to be when the Moon (that is, the Goddess of it) was brought down from her Sphere by the virtue of those enchantments; and therefore they made a great noise by the beating of Brass, sounding of Trumpets, whooping and hallowing, and the like, to drown the Witches murmurs, that the Moon might not hear them, and so to tender them ineffectual. Ovid. 
To quoq, Luna traho, quamvis Temesina labores  
Aera tuos minuant.—  
Tib. Cantus & é curru I unam diducere tentat,  
Et faceret. si non aera repulsa sonent.  
Stat. 6. Theb.— Attonitis quoties avellitur astris  
Solis opaca soror, procul auxiliantia gentes  
Aera crepant.  
Sen. in. Hippol. Et nuper rubuit, nullaque jucidis  
Nubes sordidior vultibus obstitit.  
At nos solliciti lumine turbido  
Tractam Thessalicis carminibus rati  
Tinnitus dedimus.   
The world had had this hard opinion of Comets from all ages, and not only the vulgar, who never stay for a Cause to believe any thing, but even the Learned, who can found no reason for it, though they search it, and yet follow the vulgar belief. Aristotle says, Comets naturally produce Droughts by the extraction of vapours from the earth to generate and feed them; and droughts more certainly produce sicknesses; but his authority cannot be great concerning the effects of Comets, who supposes them to be all Sublunary. And truly there is no way to defend this Prediction of Comets but by making it, as God speaks of the Rainbow, Gen. 9 the supernatural Token of a Covenant between God and Man; for which we have no authority, and therefore might do well to have no fear. However the ancients had, 
Luc. Terris mutantem regna Comettem.  
Claud. Et nunquam coelo spectatum impunè Cometem.  
Sil. Ital. Regnorum eversor rubuit laethale Comets.   
For Thunder is an Exhalation hot and dry shut up in a cold and moist Cloud, out of which striving to get forth, it kindless itself by the agitation, and then violently breaks it.  
Lambent fire is, A thin unctuous Exhalation made out of the Spirits of Animals, kindled by Motion, and burning without consuming any thing but itself. Called Lambent, from Licking over, as it were, the place it touches. It was counted a Good Omen. Virg. describes the whole nature of it excellently in three verses, Aen. 2. 
Ecce levis summo de vertice visus Iüli  
Fundere lumen apex, tactuque innoxia molli  
Lambere flamma comas & circum tempora pasci.   
Fleecy Snow, Psal. 147. He giveth Snow like Wool. Pliny calls Snow ingeniously for a Poet, but defines it ill for a Philosopher. The Foam of Clouds when they hit one another. Aristotle defines it truly and shortly. Snow is a Cloud congealed, and Hail Congealed Rain.  
Gen. 49. 9 judah is a Lion's whelp; from the prey my son thou art gone up, he stooped down, he couched as a Lion, and as an old Lion, who shall rouse him up?  
1 Sam. 17. 4. And there went out a Champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, etc. wherein we follow the Septuagint, who tender it, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Strong man: but the Latin Translation hath, Et egressus est vir spurius, a Bastard. Grotius notes, that the Hebrews called the Giants so; because being contemners of all laws, they lived without matrimony, and consequently their fathers were not known. It is probable he might be called so, as being of the race of the Anakims (the remainders of which seated themselves in Gath) by the Gather, and a Gathite by the Mothe.  
See Turnus his shields, 7 Aen. and Aeneas his 8. Aen. with the stories engraven on them.  
For Baal is no other then jupiter. Baalsemen jupiter Olympius. But I like not in an Hebrew story to use the European names of Gods. This Baal and jupiter too of the Grecians, was at first taken for the Sun, which raising vapours out of the earth, out of which the Thunder is engendered, may well be denominated the Thunderer, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and juvans Pater fits with no God so much as the Sun. So Plato in Phaed. interprets jupiter; and Heliogabalus is no more but jupiter-sol.  
The Fable of the Giants fight with God's, was not invented by the Grecians, but come from the eastern people, and arose from the true story of the building of the Tower of Babel.  
This perhaps will be accused by some severe men for too swelling an Hyperbole; and I should not have endured it myself, if it had not been mitigated with the word Methought; for in a great apprehension of fear, there is no extraordinary or extravagant species that the imagination is not capable of forming. Sure I am, that many say of this kind, even without such excuse or qualification, will be found not only in Lucan or Statius, but in the most judicious and divine Poet himself. He calls tall young men, 
Patriis & montibus aequos.  Equal to the Mountains of their Country .He says of Polyphemus, 
— Graditurque per aequor  
jam medium, nec dum fluctus latera ardua tingit.  That walking in the midst of the Sea, the waves do not wet his sides. Of Orion, 
— Quam magnus Orion  
Cum pedes incedit medii per maxima Nere●  
Stagna viam scindens humero sup reminet undas.  
Aut summis referens annosam montibus ornum,  
Ingrediturque solo, & caput inter nubila condit.  And in such manner (says he) Mezentius presented himself. He says of another, that he fling no small part of a Mountain, Haud partem exiguam Montis .Of which Seneca, though he adds to the greatness, he does not impudently recede from truth. One place in him occurs; for which Sen. 1. Suasor. makes that defence which will serve better for me, 
— Credas innare revulsas  
Cycladas, aut montes concurrere montibus altos.  That is, speaking of great ships, but yet such as would seem very little ones if they were neare the Sovereign; you would think the Cycladeses loosened from their roots were floating, or that high Mountains encountered one another. Non dicit hoc fieri, sed videri; propitiis auribus auditur quicquid incredibile est, quod excusatur antequam dicitur. He does not say it Is, but Seems to be (for so he understands Credas) and any thing, though never so improbable, is favourably heard, if it be excused before it be spoken. Which will serve to answer for some other places in this Poem; as, 
The Egyptian like an Hill himself did rear;  
Like some tall Tree upon it seemed his spear.  Like an Hill, is much more modest then Montibus aequus.  
Because Gold is more proper for the ornaments of Peace then War.  
Sen. in Thyest. jeiuna silvis qualis in Gangeticis Inter juvencos Tigris erravit duos, Utriusque praeda cupida, quo primos ferat Incerta morsus, flectit húc rictus suos, Illo reflectit, & famem dubiam tenet. And the Spots of a Tiger appear more plainly when it is angered. 
Stat. 2. Theb. Qualis ubi audito venantum murmure Tigris  
Horruit in Maculas, etc. — Nay Virgil attributes the same marks of Passion to Dido, 
Sanguineam volvens aciem, Maculisque trementes  
Interfusa genas.—   
See the like conditions of a public duel in Homer between Paris and Menelaus; in Virgil, between Turnus and Aeneas; in Livy, between the Horatij and Curiatij.  
The Egyptian-Goliah; i The Egyptian-Gyant, whom he slew only with his Staff, and therefore at the sight of it might well be ashamed, that he durst not now encounter with Goliath. This is that shame which Virgil calls Conscia Virtus.  
They were 33 but Poetry instead of the broken number, chooses the next entire one, whither it be more or lesle then the truth.  
It appears by this, that David was about 20 years old (at lest) when he slew Goliath; for else how can we imagine that the Armour and arms of Saul (who was the tallest man in all Israel) should fit him? neither does he complain that they were too big or heavy for him, but that he was not accustomed to the use of them; besides he handled dextrously the sword of Goliath, & not long after said, There is noon like it. Therefore though Goliath call him Boy, & Child, I make Saul term him Youth.  
For the men who are so proud and confident of their own strength make that a God to themselves, as the human Politicians are said in Scripture to Sacrifice to their own Nets. That is, their own Wit. Virg. of Mezent. Dextra mihi Deus, & Telum quod missile libro. And Capaneus is of the same mind in Statius; 
Illic Augur ego, & mecum quicunque parati  
Insanire manu—   
The Poets made always the Winds either to disperse the prayers that were not to succeed, or to carry those that were. Virg. 
Audiit, & voti Phoebus succedere partem  
Mente dedit, partem volucres dispersit in auras.  Ovid. de Trist. 
Terribilisque Notus jactat mea verba, precesque  
Ad quos mittuntur non sinit ire Deos.  
Virg. Partem aliquam venti Diuûm referatis ad aures, etc.   
i To another Angel.  
1 Sam. 18. 4. And jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his Sword, and to his Bow, and to his Girdle. Some understand this gift exclusively, as to the Sword, Bow, and Girdle, believing those three to be the proper marks of a Soldier, or Knight; and therefore not to be parted with. But therefore, I say, to be parted with upon this occasion. Girdle was perhaps a mark of Military honour; for joab promises to him that should kill Absalon, ten shekels of silver, and a Girdle, 2 Sam. 18. 12. But it was besides that, a necessary part of every man's dress, when they did any work, or went abroad, their under Robe being very long and troublesome, if not bound up. If the Sword, Bow and Girdle had not been given; it could not have been said. And his Garments; for nothing would have been given but the outward Robe or Mantle, which was a lose garment not exactly fitted to their bodies (for the profession of Tailors was not so ancient, but clotheses were made by the wives, mothers and servants even of the greatest persons) and so might serve for any size or stature.  
1 Sam. 18. 20. Septuagint. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which our English Translation follows, but the Latin Translations vary; for some have, Dilexit autem Michol filia Saul altera David. Michol Saul's daughter loved David. And others, Dilexit autem David Michol filiam Saul alteram. David loved Michol Saul's daughter. To reconcile which, I make them both love one another.  
The Husband at the Contract gave his Espoused certain Gifts, as pledges of the Contract. Thus Abraham's Steward in the name of Isaac gave to Rebecca jewels of silver, and of gold, and raiment, Gen. 24. 53. which custom the Greeks too used, and called the presents 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. But at the day of the marriage he gave her a Bill of jointure or Dowry.  
josephus says▪ Saul demanded so many Heads of the Philistines, which word he uses instead of Foreskins to avoid the raillery of the Romans. Heads I confess, had been a better word for my turn too, but Foreskins will serve, and sounds more properly for a jewish Story. Besides the other varies too much from the Text; and many believe that Saul required Foreskins, and not Heads, that David might not deceive him with the heads of Hebrews, instead of Philistines.  
If it might have been allowed David to carry with him as many Soldiers as he pleased, and so make an inroad into the Philistines Country, and kill any hundred men he could meet with, this had been a small Dowry for a Princess, and would not have exposed David to that hazard for which Saul chose this manner of jointure. I therefore believe, that he was to kill them all with his own hands.  
As Heavy Bodies are said to move the swifter, the nearer they approach to the Centre. Which some deny, and others given a reason for it from the Medium through which they pass, that still presses them more and more; but the natural Sympathetical attractive power of the Centre is much received, and is consonant to many other experiments in Nature.  
Scandals in the sense of the new Testament, are Stumbling blocks, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Stops in a man's way, at which he may fall, however they retard his course.  
jansenius in his explication of the Parable of the Virgins, thinks it was the custom for the Bridegroom to go to the Bride's house, and that the Virgins come out from thence to meet him. For in that Parable there is no mention (in the Greek though there be in the Latin) of meeting any but the Bridegroom.  
Others think that Nuptials were celebrated neither in the Brides nor Bridegroom's house, but in public houses in the Country neare the City, built on purpose for those Solemnities, which they collect out of the circumstances of the Marriage, 1 Maccab. 9 37. Host 2. 14. and Cant. 8. 5, etc. Whatever the ordinary custom was, I am sure the ancients in great Solemnities were want to set up Tents on purpose in the fields for celebration of them. See the description of that wondered one of Ptolemaeus Philadelphus in Athen. l 5. c. 6. and perhaps Psal. 19 4, 5. alludes to this. He hath set a Tabernacle for the Sun, which is as a Bridegroom coming out of his chamber.  
Habits of divers colours were much in fashion among the Hebrews. See judges 5. 30. Ezek. 16. 10. & 26. 16. such was josephs' coat, Gen. 37. 3. Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; as Homer calls Peplum Minervae, vestes Polymitae.  
It appears by several places in Scripture, that Guirlands too were in great use among the jews at their feasts, and especially Nuptials, Isa. 61. 10. The Latin reads, like a Bridegroom crowned with Guirlands. Wisd. 2. 8. Ezek. 16. 12. Lam. 5. 15. Eccles. 32. 1, etc.  
I take the number of Thirty Maids, and Thirty young Men from the story of Samson's mariage-feast, judg. 14 11. where Thirty Companions were sent to him, whom I conceive to have been, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Children of the Bridegroom, as they are called by S. Matthew.  

Qualis ubi Oceani perfusus Lucifer undâ,  
Quem Venus ante alios astrorum diligit ignes,  
Extulit os coelo sacrum, tenebrasque resolvit. Virg.  Which verses Scaliger says, are sweeter then Ambrosia. Homer led him the way. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and,  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.   
The Bride also brought a Dowry to her Husband. Raguel gave with his daughter Sara half his goods, servants, cattle and money, Tob. 10. 10. See Exod. 22. 17, etc.  
The Marriage-Song was called Hillalim, Praises, and the house itself Beth-hillula, the House of Praise, Psalm 78. 63. Their Maidens were not given to marriage; the Chald. Paraphras. reads, Are not celebrated, with Epithalamiums. So Arias too, and Aquila, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
See Gen. 29. 22. Tab. c. 7. Esth. 2. 18. Luke 14. 1. judg. 14. 17. Apoc. 19 9  
The custom seems to have been for the Bridegroom to carry home the Bride to his house, 2 King 11. 27. judg. 12. 9 Gen. 24. 67. Cant. 3. 4. but because Micol was a Princess, and David not likely to have any Palace of his own at that time, I chose rather to bring them to one of the King's houses assigned to them by the Dowry.  
The Bride when she was delivered up to her Husband, was want to cover herself with a Veil (called Radid from Radad, to bear rule) in token of her subjection, Gen. 24. 65, etc.  
See the Parable of the Virgins, Mat. 25.  
The time of the Marriage-feast appears clearly to have been usually seven days. See judg. 14. 10. and 29. 27. Fulfil her week, etc. It was a Proverb among the jews, Septem dies ad convivium, & Septem ad Luctum.    

THE CONTENTS.  
MOab carries his Guests to hunt at Nebo, in the way falls into discourse with David, and desires to know of him the reasons of the Change of Government in Israel, how Saul come to the Crown, and the story of Him and jonathan. David's Speech, containing, The state of the Commonwealth under the judges, the Motives for which the people desired a King; their Deputies speech to Samuel upon that subject, and his reply. The assembling of the People at the Tabernacle to inquire God's pleasure. God's Speech. The Character of Saul, his Anointing by Samuel, and Election by Lot; the defection of his people. The war of Nahas King of Ammon against jabes Gilead; Saul and jonathans' relieving of the Town. jonathans' Character, his single fight with Nahas, whom he slays, and defeats his Army. The confirmation of Saul's Kingdom at Gilgal, and the manner of Samuel's quitting his office of judge. The war with the Philistines at Macmas, their strength, and the weakness of Saul's Forces, his exercising of the Priestly function, and the judgement denounced by Samuel against him, jonathans' discourse with his Esquire; their falling alone upon the enemies out guards at Senes, and after upon the whole Army, the wondered defeat of it; Saul's rash vow, by which jonathan is to be put to death, but is saved by the People.  
Davideis, The fourth Book.  
THough state and kind discourse thus robbed the Night  
Of half her natural and more just delight,  
Moab, whom Temp'erance did still vig'orous keep,  
And regal cares had us'ed to mod'erate sleep,  
Up with the Sun arose, and having thrice  
With lifted hands bowed towards his shining rise,  
And thrice to'wards Phegor, his Baâls holiest Hill,  
(With good and pious prayers directed ill)  
Call'ed to the Chase his friends, who for him stayed;  
The glad Dogs barked, the cheerful Horses neighed.  
Moab his Chariot mounts, drawn by four Steeds,  
The best and noblest that fresh Zerith breeds,  
All white as Snow, and sprightful as the Light,  
With Scarlet trapped, and foaming Gold they by't.  
He into it young David with him took,  
Did with respect and wonder on him look  
Since last nights story, and with greedier ear,  
The Man, of whom so much he heard, did hear.  
The wellborn Youth of all his flourishing Court  
March gay behind, and joyful to the sport.  
Some arm'ed with Bows, some with straight javelines ride;  
Rich Swords and gilded Quivers grace their side.  
Midst the fair Troop David's tall Brethrens road,  
And joab comely as a Fanci'ed God;  
They entertained th'attentive Moab Lords,  
With lose and various talk that chance affords,  
Whilst they pac'ed slowly on; but the wise King  
Did David's Tongue to weightier subjects bring.  
Much (said the King) much I to joab own,  
For the fair Picture drawn by him of you.  
'Twas drawn in little, but did acts express  
So great, that largest Histories are lesle.  
I see (methinks) the Gathian Monster still,  
His shape last night my mindful Dreams did fill.  
Strange Tyrant Saul with Envy to pursue  
The praise of deeds whence his own safety grew!  
I'have heard (but who can think it?) that his Son  
Has his life's hazard for your friendship run;  
His matchless Son, whose worth (if Fame be true)  
Lists him'above all his Countrymen but you,  
With whom it makes him One; Low David bows,  
But no reply Moab's swift tongue allows.  
And'pray, kind Guest, whilst we ride thus (says he)  
(To gameful Nebo still three leagues there be)  
The story of your royal friend relate;  
And his ungoverned Sire's imperious fate,  
Why your great State that nameless fam'ily chose,  
And by what steps to Israel's Throne they risen.  
He stayed; and David thus; from Egypt's Land  
youhave heard, Sir, by what strong, unarmed hand  
Our Fathers come; Moses their sacred Guide,  
But he in sight of the Giv'en Country dy'ed. 
Deut. 34   
His fatal promis'ed Canaan was on high;  
And Joshua's I word must th' active Rod supply.  
It did so, and did wonders. 
josh. 1. 4.   
From sacred jordan to the Western main,  
From well-clad Lib'anus to the Southern Plain  
Of naked sands, his winged Conquests went;  
And thirty Kings to Hell uncrowned he sent. 
josh. 12.   
Almost four hundred years from him to Saul,  
In too much freedom past, or foreign thrall.  
Often Strangers Iron Sceptres bruis'ed the Land  
(Such still are those born by a Conquering Hand)  
Often pity'ing God did well-formed Spirits raise,  
Fit for the toilsome business of their days,  
To free the groaning Nation, and to given  
Peace first, and then the Rules in Peace to live.  
But they whose stamp of Power did chief lie  
In Characters too fine for most men's Eye,  
Graces and Gifts Divine; not painted bright  
With state to awe dull minds, and force t' affright,  
Were ill obeyed whilst Living, and at death,  
Their Rules and Pattern vanished with their breath.  
The hungry Rich all neare them did devour,  
Their judge was Appetite, and their Law was Power.  
Not Want itself could Luxury restrain,  
For what that empti'ed, Rapine filled again.  
Robbery the Field, Oppression sacked the Town;  
What the Swords Reaping spar'ed, was gleaned by th' Gown.  
At Courts, and Seats of justice to complain,  
Was to be robbed more vexingly again.  
Nor was their Lust lesle active or lesle bold,  
Amid this rougher search of Blood and Gold.  
Weak Beauties they corrupt, and force the strong;  
The Pride of Old Men that, and this of young.  
youhave heard perhaps, Sir, of lewd Gibeahs' shame, 
judg. 19   
Which Hebrew Tongues still tremble when they name,  
Alarmed all by one fair strangers Eyes,  
As to a sudden War the Town does rise  
Shaking and pale, half dead ere they begin  
The strange and wanton Trag'edy of their sin,  
All their wild Lusts they force her to sustain,  
Till by shame, sorrow, weariness, and pain,  
She midst their loathed, and cruel kindness dies;  
Of monstrous Lust th' innocent Sacrifice.  
This did ('tis true) a Civil War created  
(The frequent curse of our loose-governed State)  
All Gibea's, and all jabes blood it cost;  
Neare a whole Tribe and future Kings we lost. 
judg. 20. and 21.   
Firm in this general Earthquake of the Land,  
How could Religion, its main pillar, stand?  
Proud, and found Man, his Father's worship hates,  
Himself, God's Creature, his own God Creates.  
Hence in each Household sev'eral Deities grew,  
And when no old one pleased, they framed a New.  
The only Land which serv'ed but one before,  
Did th' only then all Nations Gods adore.  
They served their Gods at first, and soon their Kings;  
Their choice of that this latter slavery brings.  
Till special men arm'ed with Gods warrant broke  
By justest force th'unjustly forced yoke.  
All matchless persons, and thrice worthy they  
Of Power more great, or Lands more apt t'obey.  
At last the Priesthood joined in Itha'mars' Son, 
1 Sam. 1.   
Moore weight and lustre to the Sceptre won.  
But whilst mild Ely, and good Samuel were  
Busi'ed with age, and th' Altars sacred care;  
To their wild Sons they their high charge commit, 
1 Sam. 2. 12.   
Who 'expose to Scorn and Hate both them and it.  
Ely's cursed House th'exemplar vengeance bears  
Of all their Blood, and all sad Isra'els' Tears.  
His Sons abroad, Himself at home lies slain,  
Israel's captiv'ed, God's Ark and Law are taken. 
1 Sam. 4.   
Thus twice are Nations by ill Princes vexed,  
They suffer By them first, and For them next.  
Samuel succeeds; 
1 Sam. 7. 6.  since Moses noon before  
So much of God in his bright bosom bore.  
In vain our arms Philistian Tyrants seized; 
1 Sam. 7.   
Heau'ens' Magazines he opened when he pleased.  
He Rains and Winds for Auxili'aries brought, 
Ib. v. 10.   
He mustered Flames and Thunders when he fought.  
Thus thirty years with strong and steady hand  
He held th'unshaken Balance of the Landlord  
At last his Sons th'indulgent Father chose 
1 Sam. 8. 1.   
To share that State which they were born to loose.  
Their hateful acts that Changes birth did haste,  
Which had long growth i'th' Womb of Ages past.  
To this (for still where some great Periods set,  
There's a strong knot of seve'ral Causes met)  
The threats concurred of a rough neighbouring war;  
A mighty storm long gathering from afar.  
For Ammon, heightened with mixed Nations aid,  
Like Torrents swollen with rain prepar'ed the land to'invade.  
Samuel was old, and by his sons ill choice  
Turned Dotard in th' unskilful Vulgars' voice.  
His Sons so scorned and hated, that the Land  
Nor hop'ed nor wished a Victory from their hand:  
These were the just and faultless causes why  
The general voice did for a Monarch cry,  
But God ill grains did in this Incense smell,  
Wrapped in fair Leaves he seen the Canker devil.  
A mut'inous Itch of Change, a dull Despair  
Of helps divine, often prov'ed; a faithless care  
Of Common Means; the pride of heart, and scorn  
Of th' humble-yoke under low judges born.  
They seen the state and glittering pomp which blest  
In vulgar Sense the Sceptres of the East.  
They seen not Powers true Source, and scorned t'obey  
People that look'ed no dreadfuller then They.  
They missed Courts, Guards, a gay and num'erous train;  
Our judges, like their Laws, were rude and plain.  
On an old bench of wood, her Seat of State  
Beneath the well-known Palm, Wise Debo'ra sat. 
judg. 4. 5.   
Her Maids with comely dil'igence round her spun,  
And she too, when the Plead there were done:  
With the same Goad Samgar his Oxen drives  
Which took the Sun before six hundred lives 
judge 3. 31.   
From his sham'ed foes; He midst his work dealt Laws;  
And oft was his Blow stopped to hear a Cause.  
Nor did great Gide'on his old Flail disdain, 
judg. 6. 14.   
After won Fields, sacked Towns, and Princes slain.  
His Sceptre that, and Ophras Threshing Flore  
The Seat and Emblem of his justice bore.  
What should I jair, the happiest Father, name? 
judg. 10. 3.   
Or mournful jephta known no lesle to fame  
For the most wretched? 
judg. 11. 34.  Both at once did keep  
The mighty Flocks of Isra'el and their Sheep.  
Often from the field in hast they summoned were  
Some wighty foreign Embassy to hear,  
They call'ed their Slaves, their Sons and Friends around,  
Who all at several cares were scattered found,  
They washed their feet, their only Gown put on;  
And this chief work of Cer'emony was done.  
These reasons, and all else that could be said,  
In a ripe hour by factious Eloquence spread  
Through all the Tribes, make all desire a King;  
And to their judge selected Dep'uties bring  
This harsh demand; 
1. Sam. 8. 3.  which Nacol for the rest  
(A bold and artful Mouth) thus with much grace expressed.  
We're come, most sacred judge, to pay th' Arrears  
Of much-ow'ed thanks for the bright thirty years  
Of your just Reign; and at your feet to lay  
All that our grateful hearts can weakly pay  
In unproportion'ed words; for you alone  
The not unfit Reward, who seek for noon.  
But when our forc-past ills we call to mind,  
And sadly think how Little's left behind  
Of your important Life, whose sudden date  
Would disinherit th'unprovided State.  
When we consider how unjust 'tis, you,  
Who ne'er of Power more then the Burden knew  
At once the weight of that and Age should have;  
Your stooping days pressed doubly towards the grave.  
When we behold by Ammon's youthful rage,  
Proud in th'advantage of your peaceful age;  
And all th'united East our fall conspired;  
And that your Sons, whom chief we desired  
As Stamps of you, in your lov'ed room to place, 
1 Sam. 8. 5.   
By unlike acts that noble Stamp deface:  
Midst these new fears and ills, we're forc'ed to fly  
To'a new, and yet unpractis'ed Remedy;  
A new one, but long promis'ed and foretold,  
By Moses, and to Abraham shown of old. 
Deut. 17. 4.   
A Prophecy long forming in the womb  
Of teeming years, and now to ripeness come.  
This Remedie's a King; for this we all  
With an inspired, and wantless Union call.  
And in one found when all men's voices join,  
The Music's tun'ed (no doubt) by'an hand divine.  
'Tis God alone speaks a whole Nations voice;  
That is his Public Language; but the choice  
Of what Peculiar, Head that Crown must bear  
From you who his Peculiar Organ are  
We'expect to hear; the People shall to you  
Their King, the King his Crown and People owe.  
To your great name what lustre will it bring  
T'have been our judge, and to have made our King!  
He bowed, and ended here; 
1 Sam. 8. 6.  and Samuel strait,  
Pausing a while at this great questions weight,  
With a grave sigh, and with a thoughtful Ey  
That more of Care then Passion did descry,  
Calmly replies: You're sure the first (said he)  
Of freeborn men that begged for Slavery.  
I fear, my friends, with heav'enly Manna fed,  
(Our old forefather's crime) we lust for Bread.  
Long since by God from Bondage drawn, I fear,  
We build anew th' Egyptian Brick hill here.  
Cheat not yourselves with words: 
1 Sam. 8. 16. 11.  for though a King  
Be the mild Name, a Tyrant is the Thing.  
Let his power lose, and you shall quickly see  
How wild a thing unbounded Man will be.  
He'll led you forth your hearts cheap blood to spill,  
Where ere his Guidless Passion leads his William  
Ambition, Lust, or Spleen his wars will raise,  
Your Lives best price his thirst of Wealth or Praise.  
Your ablest Sons for his proud Guards he'll take,  
And by such hands your yoke more grievous make.  
Your Daughters and dear Wives he ll force away,  
His Lux'ury some, and some his Lust t'obey.  
His idle friends your hungry toils shall eat,  
Drink your rich Wines, mixed with your Blood and Sweat.  
Than you'll all sigh, but sighs will Treasons be;  
And not your Griefs themselves, or Looks be free.  
Robbed even of Hopes, when you these ills sustain,  
Your watery eyes you'll then turn back in vain,  
On your old judges, and perhaps on Me,  
Nay e'en my Sons, howe'er they'unhappy be  
In your displeasure now; Not that Jed clear  
Their Gild, or my own Innocence endear,  
Witness th' unutterable Name, there's naught  
Of private ends into this question brought.  
But why this yoke on your own necks to draw?  
Why Man your God, and Passion made your Law?  
Methinks (thus Moab interrupts him here)  
The good old Seer against Kings was too severe.  
'Tis jelt to tell a People that they're Free,  
Who, or How many shall their Masters be  
Is the sole doubt; Laws guide, but cannot reign;  
And though they bind not Kings, yet they restrain.  
I dare affirm (so much I trust their Love)  
That no one Moabite would his speech approve.  
But, pray go on. 'Tis true, Sir, he replies;  
Yet men whom age and action renders wise,  
So much great changes fear, that they believe  
All evils will, which may from them arrive.  
On men resolved these threats were spent in vain, 
1 Sam. 8. 19   
All that his power or elo'quence could obtain.  
Was to inquire God's will ere they proceed  
To'a work that would so much his blessing need.  
A solemn day for this great work is set,  
And at th' Anointed Tent all Israel met 
Ex. 48. 9 & 30. 26.   
Expect th'event; 
* Ib. v. 5, 6.  below fair bullocks fry  
In hallowed flames; 
* Ib. v. 5, 6.  above, there mounts on high  
The precious clouds of Incense, and at last  
The Sprinkling, Pray'ers, and all due Honours past.  
Lo! we the Sacred Bells o'th' sudden hear, 
Exo. 39 25. & 28.   
And in mild pomp grave Samuel does appear.  
His Ephod, Mitre, well-cut Diadem on, 
Exod. 39 2. Ib. 8.   
The Orac ulous Stones on his rich Breast plate shone  
Tow'ards the blue curtains of God's holiest place  
(The Temples bright Third Heaven) he turned his face.  
Thrice bowed he, thrice the solemn Music played,  
And at third rest thus the great Prophet prayed:  
Almighty God, to whom all men that be  
Own all they have, yet noon so much as We;  
Who though thou fill'st the spacious world alone,  
Thy too small Court, hast made this place thy Throne.  
With humble Knees, and humbler Hearts, Lo, here,  
Blest Abrah'ams' ●eed implores thy gracious Eare.  
Hear them, great God, and thy just will inspire;  
From Thee, their long-known King, they'a King desire.  
Some gracious signs of thy good pleasure sand,  
Which, lo, with Souls resign'ed we humbly here attended.  
He spoke, and thrice he bowed, and all about  
Silence and reverend Honour seized the rout.  
The whole Tent shakes, the Flames on th' Altar by,  
In thick dull rolls mount flow and heavily.  
The 
* Exod. 25 37. 1  seven Lamps wink; and what does most dismay,  
The Orac'ulous Gems shut in their nat'ural day.  
The Rubies Cheek grew pale, the Em'eraud by  
Faded, a Cloud o'ercast the Sapphires Sky,  
The Di'amonds Eye looked Sleepy, and swift night  
Of all those little Suns eclypst the Light.  
Sad signs of God's dread anger for our sin,  
But strait a wondrous brightness from within  
Struck through the Curtains, for no earthly Cloud  
Can those strong beams of heave'nly glory shrowded.  
The Altars fire burnt pure, and every Stone  
Their radiant Parent the gay Sun outshone.  
Beauty th' illustrious Vision did impart  
To ev'ery Face, and joy to ev'ery heart.  
In glad effects God's presence thus appeared,  
And thus in wondrous founds his Voice was heard:  
This stubborn land sins still, nor is it Thee, but Us  
(Who have been so long their King) they seek to cast of thus  
Five hundred rolling years hath this stiff Nation strove  
To'exhaust the boundless stores of our unfadom'ed Love.  
Be't so then; yet once more are we resolved to try  
T'outweary them through all their Sins Variety.  
Assemble ten days hence the num'erous people here;  
To draw the Royal Lot which our hid Mark shall bear.  
Dismiss them now in peace; but their next crime shall bring  
Ruin without redress on Them, and on their King.  
The Almighty spoke; th'astonished people part  
With various stamps impressed on every heart.  
Some their demand repent, others prais'ed,  
Some had no thoughts at all, but star'ed and gaz'ed.  
Their dwelled a Man, nam'ed Kiss in Gib'eah Town, 
1 Sam. 9 1. Ib v. 2.   
For wisdom much, and much for Courage known.  
Moore for his Son, his mighty Son was Saul,  
Whom Nature, ere the Lots, to'a Throne did call.  
He was much Prince, and when, or wheresoever  
His birth had been, Than had he reigned and There.  
Such Beauty as great Strength thinks no disgrace,  
Smil'ed in the manly features of his Face.  
His large black Eyes, filled with a sprightful light,  
Shot forth such lively and illustrious Night,  
As the Sun beams, on jet reflecting show,  
His Hair, as black, in long curled waves did flow.  
His tall, straight Body amid thousands stood,  
Like some fair Pine orelooking all th'ignobler Wood  
Of all our rural sports he was the pride;  
So swift, so strong, so dextrous noon beside.  
Rest was his Toil, Labours his Lust and Game;  
No natu'ral wants could his fierce dil'igence tame,  
Not Thirst, nor Hunger; he would journeys go  
Through raging Heats, and take repose in Snow.  
His Soul was ne'er unbent from weighty care;  
But active as some Mind that turns a Sphere.  
His way once chose, he forward thrust outright,  
Nor stepped aside for Dangers or Delight.  
Yet was he wise all dangers to foresee;  
But born t' affright, and not to fear was He.  
His Wit was strong; not Fine; and on his tongue  
An Artless grace above all Eloq'uence hung.  
These Virtues too the rich unusual dress  
Of Modesty adorned and Humbleness. 
1 Sam. 9 21. Ib. 10 v. 22.   
Like a clear Varnish o'er fair Pictures laid,  
Moore fresh and Lasting they the Colours made.  
Till Power and violent Fortune, which did found  
No stop or bound, o'erwhelmed no lesle his Mind,  
Did, Deluge-like, the natu'ral forms deface,  
And brought forth unknown Monsters in their place.  
Forbidden it God, my Master's spots should be,  
Were they not seen by all, disclos'ed by me!  
But such he was; and now to Ramah went  
(So God disposeed) with a strange, low intent.  
Great God he went lost Asses to inquire, 
Ib. v. 8.   
And a small Present his small questions hire,  
Brought simply with him to that Man to given.  
From whom high Heau'ens' chief Gift he must receive,  
Strange Play of Fate! when might'est human things  
Hung on such small, Imperceptible Strings! 
1 Sam. 9 12.   
'Twas Samuel's Birthday, a glad ann'ual feast  
All Rama kept; Samuel his wondering Guest  
With much respect leads to it, and does grace  
With the choice meats o'th' feast 'and highest place. 
Ib. v. 22, 23, 24.   
Which done, him forth alone the Prophet brings,  
And feasts his ravished ears with nobler things. 
Ib. v. 26.   
He tells the mighty Fate to him assigned,  
And with great rules fills his capacious mind. 
1 Sam. 10. 1.   
Than takes the sacred Viol, and does shed  
A Crown of mystique drops around his head.  
Drops of that Royal Moisture which does know  
No Mixture, and disdains the place below.  
Soon comes the Kingly Day, and with it brings 
1 Sam. 10. 17.   
A new Account of Time upon his wings.  
The people met, the rites and prayers all past,  
Behold, the Heav'en-instructed-Lot is cast.  
'Tis taught by heaven its way, and cannot miss;  
Forth Benjamin, forth leaps the House of Cis.  
As Glimm'ering stars just at the 'approach of Day,  
Cashiered by Troops, at last drop all away,  
By such degrees all men's bright hopes are go,  
And, like the Sun, Saul's Lot shines all alone.  
E'en here perhaps the people's shout was heard,  
The loud long shout when God's fair choice appeared.  
Above the whole vast throng he'appeared so tall,  
As if by Nature made for th' Head of All.  
So full of grace and state, that one might know  
'Twas some wise Eye the blind Lot guided so.  
But blind unguided Lots have more of choice  
And constancy then the slight Vulgars' voice.  
E'er yet the Crown of sacred Oil is dry,  
Whilst Echoes yet preserve the joyful cry,  
Some grow enraged their own vain hopes to miss,  
Some envy Saul, some scorn the house of Cis.  
Some their first mut'inous wish, A King, repent,  
As if, since that, quite spoilt by God's consent.  
Few to this Prince their first just duties pay;  
All leave the Old, but few the New obey.  
Thus changes Man, but God is constant still  
To those eternal grounds, that mov'ed his William  
And though he yielded first to them, 'tis fit  
That stubborn Men at last to him submit.  
As midst the Main a low small Island ies,  
Assaulted round with stormy Seas and skies.  
Whilst the poor heartless Natives ev'ery hour  
Darkness and Noise seems ready to devour.  
Such Israel's state appear'ed, whilst o'er the West  
Philistian clouds hung threatening, and from th'East  
All Nations wrath into one Tempest joins,  
Through which proud Nahas like fierce Lightning shines.  
Tigris and Nile to his assistance sand,  
And waters to swollen Iabo'cs Torrent lend.  
Seir, Edom, Soba, Amales add their force,  
Up with them march the Three Arabia's Horse.  
And amongst all these noon more their hope or pride,  
Than those few Troops your warlike land supply'ed.  
Around weak jabes this vast Host doesly, 
1 Sam. 11. 1.   
Disdains a dry and bloodless Victory.  
The hopeless Town for Slave'ry does entreat,  
But barb'arous Nahas thinks that grace too great.  
He (his first Tribute) their right Eyes demands, 
Ib. v. 2.   
And with their Faces shame disarms their Hands. 
Ver 3.   
If unreliev'ed sev'en days by Israel's aid,  
This bargain for ore-rated ●ife is made.  
Ah, mighty God, let thy own Israel be  
Quite blind itself, ere this reproach it see!  
By'hiss wanton people the new King forsook;  
To homely rural cares himself betook. 
Ver. 5.   
In private plenty lived without the state,  
Lustre and Noise due to a public fate.  
Whilst he his slaves and cattle follows home,  
Lo the sad Messengers from jabes come,  
Implore his help, 
1 Sam. 11. 4.  and weep as if they meant  
That way at lest proud Nahas to prevent.  
Mov'ed with a Kingly wrath his strict command, 
Ver. 7.   
He issues forth t'assemble all the land.  
He threatens high, and disobedient they  
Wak'ed by such princely terrors learned t'obey. 
Ver. 8.   
A mighty Host is raised; th'important cause  
Age from their Rest; Youth, from their Pleasure draws.  
Armed as unfurnished Haft could them provide,  
But Conduct, Courage, Anger that supply'ed.  
All night they march, and are at th'early dawn  
On jabes health in three fair bodies drawn  
Saul did himself the first and strongest band, 
1 Sam. 11. 11.   
His Son the next, Abner the third command.  
But pardon, Sir, if naming Saul's great Son,  
I stop with him a while ere I go on.  
This is that jonathan, the joy and Grace,  
The beautifullest, and best of Human Race.  
That jonathan in whom does mixed remain  
All that kind Mother's wishes can contain.  
His Courage such as it no stop can know,  
And Victory gains by ' astonishing the Foe.  
With Lightnings force his enemies it confounds,  
And melts their Hearts, ere it the Bosom wounds.  
Yet he the Conquered with such Sweetness gains,  
As Captive Lovers found in Beauties Chains.  
In War the adverse Troops he does assail,  
Like an impet'uous storm of wind and Hail.  
In Peace, like gentlest Dew that does assuage  
The burning Months, and temper Syrius rage.  
Kind as the Sun's blessed Influence; and where ere  
He comes, Plenty and joy attended him there.  
To Help seems all his Power, his Wealth to Given;  
To do much Good his sole Prerogative.  
And yet this gen'eral Bounty of his Mind,  
That with wide arms embraces all Mankind,  
Such artful Prudence does to each divide,  
With diffe'rent measures all are satisfi'e.  
Just as wise God his plenteous Manna dealt, 
Exod. 16. 18.   
Some gather'ed more, but want by noon was felt.  
To all Relations their just rights he pays,  
And worths reward above its claim does raise.  
The tenderest Husband, Master, Father, Son,  
And all those parts by his Friendship far outdone.  
His Love to Friends not bound or rule does know,  
What He to Heav'en, all that to Him they ow.  
Keen as his Sword, and pointed is his Wit:  
His judgement, like best Armour, strong and fit.  
And such an El'oquence to both these does join,  
As makes in both Beauty and Use combine.  
Through which a noble Tincture does appear  
By Learning and choice Books imprinted there.  
As well he knows all Times and People go,  
As he himself to th' future shall be known.  
But his chief study is God's sacred Law;  
And all his Life does Comments on it draw,  
As never more by Heav'en to Man was giv'en,  
So never more was paid by Man to Heav'en.  
And all these Virtues were to Ripeness grown,  
E'er yet his Flower of Youth was fully blown.  
All Autumns store did his rich Spring adorn;  
Like Trees in Par'dice he with Fruit was born.  
Such is his Soul; and if, as some men tell,  
Souls form and build those mansions where they devil;  
Whoere but sees his Body must confess,  
The Architect no doubt, could be not lesle.  
From Saul his growth and manly strength he took,  
Chastis'ed by bright Ahino'ams' gentler look.  
Not bright Ahino'am, Beauty's loudest Name, 
1 Sam. 14. 50.   
Till she to'her Children lost with joy her fame,  
Had sweeter strokes, Colours more fresh and fair,  
Moore darting Eyes, or lovelier auborn Hair.  
Forgive me that I thus your patience wrong,  
And on this boundless subject stay so long.  
Where too much hast ever to end 'twould be,  
Did not his Acts speak what's untold by Me.  
Though from the time his hands a Sword could wield,  
He ne'er missed Fame and Danger in the field.  
Yet this was the first day that called him forth,  
Since Saul's bright Crown gave lustre to his worth.  
'Twas the last morning whose unchearful rise,  
Sad jabes was to view with both their Eyes.  
Secure proud Nahas slept as in his Court,  
And dreamt, vain man! of that days barb'arous sport  
Till noise and dreadful tumults him awoke;  
Till into 'his Camp our vi'olent Army broke.  
The careless Guards with small resistance killed,  
Slaughter the camp, and wild Confusion filled.  
Nahas his fatal duty does perform,  
And marches boldly up t'outface the storm.  
Fierce jonathan he meets, as he pursues  
The Arabian Horse, and an hot fight renews.  
'Twas here your Troops behaved themselves so well,  
Till Uz and jathan their stout Col'onels fell.  
'Twas here our Vict'ory stopped, and gave us cause  
Much to suspect th'intention of her pause.  
But when our thundering Prince Nahas espied,  
Who with a Courage equal to his Pride  
Broken through our Troops, and tow'ards him boldly pressed,  
A gen'erous joy leapt in his youthful breast.  
As when a wrathful Dragons dismal light  
Strikes suddenly some warlike Eagles' sight.  
The mighty foe pleases his fearless eyes,  
He claps his joyful wings, and at him flies:  
With vain, though vi'olent force, their darts they fling;  
In Ammon's plated belt jonathans' hung,  
And stopped there; Ammon did his Helmet hit,  
And gliding of, bore the proud crest from it.  
Strait with their Swords to the fierce shock they come,  
Their Swords, their Armour, and their Eyes shot flame.  
Blows strong as Thunder, thick as Rain they dealt;  
Which more then They th'engaged Spectators felt.  
In Ammon force, in jonathan address,  
(Though both were great in both to an excess)  
To the well judging Eye did most appear;  
Honour, and Anger in both equal were.  
Two wounds our Prince receiv'ed, and Ammon three;  
Which he enrag'ed to feel, and 'sham'd to see,  
Did his whole strength into one blow collect;  
And as a Span'el when we our aim direct  
To shoot some Bird, impatiently stands by  
Shaking his tail, ready with joy to fly  
Just as it drops, upon the wounded prey;  
So waited Death itself to bear away  
The threatened Life; did glad and greedy stand  
At sight of mighty Ammon's lifted hand.  
Our watchful Prince by bending sav'ed the wound,  
But Death in other coin his reckoning found:  
For whilst th' immod'erate strokes miscarry'ing force  
Had almost born the striker from his Horse,  
A nimble thrust his active En'emy made,  
Betwixt his right ribs deep pierc'ed the furious blade,  
And opened wide those secret vessels, where  
Life's Light goes out, when first they let in air.  
He falls, his Armour clanks against the ground,  
From his faint tongue imperfect curses found.  
His amazed Troops straight cast their arms away;  
Scarce fled his Soul from thence more swift then they.  
As when two Kings of neighbour Hives (whom rage  
And thirst of Empire in fierce wars engage,  
Whilst each lays claim to th' Garden as his own,  
And seeks t'usurp the bordering flowers alone)  
Their well-armed Troops drawn boldly forth to fight,  
In th'airs wide plain dispute their doubtful right.  
If by sad chance of battle either King  
Fall wounded down, struck with some fatal sting,  
His Armies hopes and courage with him die;  
They sheathe up their faint Swords, and routed fly.  
On th'other sides at once with like success  
Into the Camp, great Saul and Abner press,  
From Ion'athans' part a wild mixed noise they hear,  
And whatsoever it mean long to be there,  
At the same instant from glad jabes Town,  
The hasty Troops march loud and cheerful down.  
Some few at first with vain resistance fall,  
The rest is Slaughter, and vast Conquest all.  
The fate by which our Host thus far had gone,  
Our Host with noble heat drove farther on.  
Victorious arms through Ammon's land it bore;  
Ruin behind, and Terror marched before.  
Where ere from Rabba's towers they cast their sight,  
Smoke clouds the Day, and Flames make clear the Night.  
This bright success did Saul's first action bring,  
The Oil, the Lot, and Crown lesle crowned him King.  
The Happy all men judge for Empire fit,  
And noon withstands where Fortune does submit.  
Those who before did God's fair choice withstand, 
1 Sam. 11. 12.   
The excessive Vulgar now to death demand.  
But wiser Saul repealed their hasty doom; 
Ver. 13.   
Conquest abroad, with Mercy crowned at home.  
Nor stained with civil slaughter that days pride,  
Which foreign blood in nobler purple dy'ed.  
Again the Crown th'assembled people given, 
Ver. 15.   
With greater joy then Saul could it receive.  
Again, th'old judge resigns his sacred place, 
1 Sam. 12. 1.   
God Glorifi'ed with wonders his disgrace.  
With decent pride, such as did well befit  
The Name he kept, and that which he did quit.  
The long-past row of happy years he showed,  
Which to his heav'enly Government they owed.  
How the torn state his just and prudent reign  
Restor'ed to Order, Plenty, Power again.  
In war what conqu'ering Miracles he wrought;  
God, then their King, was Gen'eral when they fought.  
Whom they depos'ed with him. And that (said he)  
You may see God concerned in't more then Me,  
Behold how storms his angry presence shroud,  
Hark how his wrath in thunder threats allowed.  
'Twas now the ripen'ed Summer's highest rage,  
Which no faint cloud durst mediate to assuage.  
The Earth hot with Thirst, and hot with Lust for Rain,  
Gap'ed, and breathed feeble vapours up in vain,  
Which strait were scattered, or devoured by th' Sun;  
When, Lo, ere scarce the active speech was done,  
A vi'olent Wind risen from his secret Cave,  
And troops of frighted Clouds before it drove.  
Whilst with rude haste the confus'ed Tempest crowds,  
Swift dreadful flames shot through th'encount'ring clouds.  
From whose torn womb th'imprisoned Thunder broke,  
And in dire sounds the Prophet's sense it spoke.  
Such an impet'uous Shower it downwards sent,  
As if the Waters 'bove the Firmament  
Were all let lose; Horror and fearful noise)  
Filled the black Scene; till the great Prophets voice  
Swift as the wings of Morn, reduc'ed the Day;  
Wind, Thunder, Rain and Clouds fled all at once away.  
Fear not (said he) God his fierce wrath removes, 
1 Sam. 12 20.   
And though this State my service disapproves,  
My Prayers shall serve it constantly: Not more,  
I hope, a pardon for past sins to'implore,  
But just rewards from gracious heaven to bring  
On the good deeds of you, and of our King.  
Behold him there! and as you see, rejoice  
In the kind care of God's impartial choice.  
Behold his Beauty, Courage, Strength and Wit!  
The Honour heaven has clothed him with, sits fit  
And comely on him; since you needs must be  
Ruleed by a King, you're happy that 'tis Herald  
Obey him gladly, and let him too know  
You were not made for Him, but he for You,  
And both for God.  
Whose gentliest yoke if once you cast away,  
In vain shall he command, and you obey.  
To foreign Tyrants both shall slaves become,  
Instead of King, and Subjects here at home. 
1b. v. 25.   
The Crown thus several ways confirm'ed to Saul,  
One way was wanting yet to crown them all;  
And that was Force, which only can maintain  
The Power that Fortune gives, or worth does gain. 
1 Sam. 13. 2.   
Three thousand Guards of big, bold men he took;  
Tall, terrible, and Guards e'en with their Look;  
His sacred person two, and throne defend,  
The third on matchless jonathan attended.  
Over whose full thoughts, Honour, and youthful Heat,  
Sat brooding to hatch Actions good and great. 
Ib. 3.   
On Geba first, where a Philistian band  
Lies, and around torments the fettered land,  
He falls, and slaughters all; his noble rage  
Mixed with Design his nation to engage  
In that just war, which from them long in vain,  
Honour and Freedoms voice had strove t'obtain.  
Th'accursed Philistian roused with this bold blow, 
Ib. v. 5.   
All the proud marks of enrag'ed Power does show.  
Raises a vast, well-armed, and glittering Host,  
If human strength might authorise a boast,  
Their Threats had reason here; for ne'er did we  
Ourselves so weak, or foe so potent see.  
Here we vast bodies of their Foot espy,  
The Rear out reaches far th' extended Eye.  
Like fields of Corn their armed Squadrons stand;  
As thick and numberless they hid the land.  
Here with sharp neighs the warlike Horses sounded;  
And with proud prance beaten the putrid ground.  
Here with worse noise three thousand Chariots pass  
With plates of Iron bound, or louder Brass.  
About it forks, axes, and scythes, and spears,  
Whole Magazines of Death each Chariot bears.  
Where it breaks in, there a whole Troop it mows,  
And with lopped panting-limbs the field bestrows.  
Alike the Valiant, and the Cowards die;  
Neither can they resist, nor can these fly. 
Ib. v. 5. Ver. 7.   
In this proud equipage at Macmas they;  
Saul in much different state at Gilgal lay.  
His forces seemed no Army, but a Crowd,  
Heartless, unarm'ed, disorderly, and loud.  
The quick Contagion Fear ran swift through all,  
And into trembling Fits th'infected fall.  
Saul, and his Son (for no such faint Disease  
Can on their strong-complexioned Valour seize)  
In vain all parts of virtuous Conduct showed,  
And on deaf Terror gen'erous words bestowed.  
Thousand from thence fly scattered ev'ery day;  
Thick as the Leaves that shake and drop away,  
When they th'approach of stormy winter found  
The noble Tree all bore exposed to they Wind.  
Some to sad jordan fly, and swimed for haste,  
And from his farther bank look back at last.  
Some into woods and caves their cattle drive,  
There with their Beasts on equal terms they live,  
Nor deserve better; some in rocks on high,  
The old retreats of Storks and Ravens lie.  
And were they wing'ed like them, scarce would they dare  
To stay, or trust their frighted safety there.  
As th'Host with fear, so Saul disturbed with care, 
Ib. 8.   
T'avert these ills by Sacrifice and Prayer,  
And God's blessed will t'enquire, for Samuel sends;  
Whom he six days with troubled haste attends.  
But ere the seventh unlucky day (the last  
By Samuel set for this great work) was past,  
Saul (alarmed hourly from the neighbouring foe,  
Impatient ere God's time God's mind to know,  
‛Shamed and enrag'ed to see his Troops decay,  
jealous of an affront in Samuel's stay,  
Scorning that any's presence should appear  
Needful besides when He himself was there.  
And with a pride too nat'ural thinking Heaven  
Had given him All, because much Power t had giv'en)  
Himself the Sacrifice and Offring's made,  
Himself did th'high selected charge invade,  
Himself inquir'ed of God; who then spoke naught;  
But Samuel strait his dreadful answer brought.  
For strait he come, and with a Virtue bold,  
As was Saul's Sin, the fatal Message told.  
His foul Ingratitude to heaven he chid,  
To pluck that Fruit which was alone forbidden  
To Kingly power in all that plenteous land,  
Where all things else submit to his command.  
And as fair Eden's violated Tree,  
To ' Immortal Man brought in Mortality:  
So shall that Crown, which God eternal meant,  
From thee said he) and thy great House be rend, 
1 Sam. 13. 14.   
Thy Crime shall Death to all thy Honours sand,  
And given thy ' Immortal Royalty an End.  
Thus spoke the Prophet, but kind heaven (we hope)  
(Whose threats and anger know no other scope  
But Man's Amendment) does long since relent,  
And with Repentent Saul itself Repent.  
Howe'er (though noon more pray for this then we  
Whose wrongs and sufferings might some colour be  
To do it lesle) this speech we sadly found  
Still extant, and still active in his Mind.  
But then a worse effect of it appeared;  
Our Army which before Modestly feared,  
Which did by stealth and by degrees decay,  
Disbanded now, and fled in troops away.  
Base Fear so bold and impudent does grow,  
When an excuse and colour it can show.  
Six hundred only (scarce a Princely train)  
Of all his Host with distressed Saul remain 
1 Sam. 13 15.   
Of his whole Host six hundred; and e'en those  
(So did wise heaven for mighty ends dispose,  
Nor would that useless Multitudes should share  
In that great Gift it did for One prepare)  
Armed not like Soldiers marching in a war,  
But country- Hinds alarmed from afar  
By Wolves loud hunger, when the well-known sound  
Raises the'affrighted Villages around. 
Ib. v. 19 20, 21.   
Some goads, flails, ploughshares, forks, or axes bore,  
Made for Life's use and better ends before,  
Some knotted clubs, and darts or arrows drieed  
I'th'fire, the first rude arts that Malice tri'ed,  
E'er Man the sins of too much Knowledge knew,  
And Death by long Experience witty grew.  
Such were the Numbers, such the Arms which we  
Had by fate left us for a Victory  
Over well-arm'ed Million; nor will this appear  
Useful itself, when jonathan was there.  
'Twas just the time when the new Ebb of Night  
Did the moist world unveil to human sight.  
The Prince, who all that night the field had beaten  
With a small party, and no en'emy met  
(So proud and so secure the en'emy lay,  
And drenched in sleep th'excesses of the day)  
With joy this good occasion did embrace,  
With better leisure, and at nearer space,  
The strength and order of their Camp to view;  
Abdon alone his gen'erous purpose knew;  
Abdon a bold, a brave and comely Youth,  
Well-born, well bred, with Honour filled and Truth,  
Abdon his faithful Squire, whom much he lov'ed,  
And often with grief his worth in dangers prov'ed.  
Abdon, whose love to 'his Master did exceed  
What Natures Law, or Passions Power could breed,  
Abdon alone did on him now attended;  
His humblest Servant, and his dearest Friend. 
1 Sam. 14. 1.   
They went, but sacred fury as they went.  
Chang'ed swiftly, and exalted his intent.  
What may this be (the Prince breaks forth) I found,  
God or some powerful Spirit invade my mind.  
From aught but Heaven can never sure be brought  
So high, so glorious, and so vast a thought.  
Nor would ill Fate that meant me to surprise,  
Come clothed in so unlikely a Disguise.  
Yond Host, which its proud Fish spreads so wide,  
Over the whole Land, like some swollen Rivers Tide,  
Which terrible and numberless appears,  
As the thick waves which their rough Ocean bears,  
Which lies so strongly e'ncampt, that one would say  
The Hill might be removed as soon as they,  
We two alone must fight with and defeat;  
Thou'rt struck, and startest at a sounded so great.  
Yet we must do't; God our weak hands has choose  
T'ashame the boasted Numbers of our Foes,  
Which to his strength not more proportioned be,  
Than Million are of Hours to his Eternity.  
If when their careless Guards espy us here,  
With sportful scorn they call to 'us to come near, 
1 Sam. 14. 9   
We'll boldly climb the Hill, and charge them all;  
Not They, but Israel's Angel gives the call.  
He spoke, and as he spoke, a Light divine  
Did from his Eyes, and round his Temples shine,  
Louder his Voice, larger his Limbs appeared;  
Lesle seemed the num'erous Army to be feared.  
This seen, and heard with joy the brave Esquire,  
As he with God's, filled with his Master's Fire.  
Forbidden it Heav'en (said he) I should decline,  
Or wish (Sir) not to make your danger my. 
1 Sam. 14. 7.   
The great Example which I daily see  
Of your high worth is not so lost on me;  
If wonder struck I at your words appear,  
My wonder yet is Innocent of Fear.  
The Honour which does your Princely breast inflame,  
Warms my too, and joins there with Duties name.  
If in this Act ill Fate our Tempter be,  
May all the Ill it means be aimed at me.  
But sure, I think, God leads, nor could you bring  
So high thoughts from a lesle exalted Spring.  
Bright signs through all your words and looks are spread,  
A rising Vict'ory dawns around your head.  
With such discourse blowing their sacred flame,  
Lo to the fatal place and work they come.  
Strongly encamped on a steep Hills large head,  
Like some vast wood the mighty Host was spread. 
Ib. v. 4.   
The onely'access on neighbouring Gabaa's side,  
An hard and narrow way, which did divide  
Two cliffy Rocks, Boses and Senes named,  
Much for themselves, and their big strangeness famed,  
Moore for their Fortune, and this stranger day;  
On both their points Philistian outguards lay;  
From whence the two bold Spies they first espied;  
And, lo! the Hebrews! proud Elcanor cried;  
From Senes top; Lo; from their hungry caves  
A quicker fate here sends them to their graves.  
Come up (aloud he cries to them below)  
You ' Egyptian Slaves, and to our Mercy owe  
The rebel lives long since t'our justice due;  
Scarce from his lips the fatal Omen flew,  
When th'inspired Prince did nimbly understand  
God, and his Godlike Virtues high command.  
It called him up, and up the steep ascent  
With pain and labour, haste and joy they went.  
Elcanor laughed to see them climb, and thought  
His mighty words th'affrighted Suppliants brought,  
Did new affronts to the great Hebrew Name,  
(The barbarous!) in his wanton Fancy frame.  
Short was his sport; for swift as Thunder's stroke  
Rives the frail trunk of some heav'en-threatning Oak,  
The Prince's Sword did his proud head divide;  
The parted scull hung down on either side.  
Just as he fell, his vengeful steel he drew  
Half way; not more the trembling joints could do,  
Which Abdon snatched, and dy'ed it in the blood  
Of an amazed wretch that next him stood.  
Some close to earth shaking and grove'ling lie,  
Like Larks when they the Tyrant Hobby spy.  
Some wonder struck stand fixed; some fly, some arm  
Wiloly, at th'unintelligible Alarm.  
Like the main Channel of an high-swollen Flood,  
In vain by Dikes and broken works withstood:  
So jonathan, once climbed th'opposing hill,  
Does all around with noise and rvine fill.  
Like some large Arm of which another way  
Abdon oreflows; him too no bank can stay.  
With cries th'affrighted Country flies before,  
Behind the following waters loudly roar.  
Twenty at lest slain on this out-guard lie, 
1 Sam. 14. 14.   
To th'adjoined Camp the rest distracted fly,  
And ill mixed wonders tell, and into'it bear,  
Blind terror, deaf disorder, helpless fear.  
The Conqu'erors too press boldly in behind,  
Doubling the wild confusions which they found.  
Hamgar at first, the Prince of Ashdod Town,  
Chief amongst the Five in richeses and renown, 
1 Sam. 6. 4.   
And General then by course oppos'ed their way,  
Till drowned in Death at jonathans' feet he lay,  
And cust the Heavens for rage, and bitten the ground;  
His Life for ever spilt stained all the grass around.  
His Brother too, who virtuous haste did make  
His fortune to revenge, or to partake,  
Falls grov'eling over his trunk, on mother earth;  
Death mixed no lesle their Bloods then did their birth.  
Mean while the well-pleased Abdons restless Sword  
Dispatched the following train t'attend their Lord.  
On still o'er panting corpse great jonathan led;  
Hundred before him fell, and Thousand fled.  
Prodigious Prince! which does most wondrous show,  
Thy ' Attempt, or thy Success! thy Fate or Thou!  
Who durst alone that dreadful Host assail,  
With purpose not to Die, but to Prevail!  
Infinite Numbers thee no more affright,  
Than God, whose Unity is Infinite.  
If heaven to men such mighty thoughts would given,  
What Breast but thy capacious to receive  
The vast Infusion? or what Soul but Thy  
Dared have believ'ed that Thought to be Divine?  
Thou follow'dst Heav'en in the Design, and we  
Found in the Act 'twas Heav'en that followed Thee.  
Thou ledst on Angels, 
1 Same 14. 15.  and that sacred band  
(The De'ities great Lieut'enant) didst command.  
'Tis true, Sir, and no Figure, when I say  
Angels themselves fought under him that day.  
Clouds with ripe Thunder charg'ed some thither drew,  
And some the dire Materials brought for new.  
Hot drops of Southern Showers (the sweats of Death)  
The voice of storms and winged whirlwinds breath▪  
The flames shot forth from fight Dragons Eyes▪  
The smokes that from scorched Fevers Ovens rise,  
The reddest fires with which sad Comets glow;  
And Sodom's neighbouring Lake did spir'its bestow  
Of finest Sulphur; among which they put  
Wrath, Fury, Horror, and all mingled shut  
Into a cold moist Cloud t'inflame it more;  
And make th'enraged Prisoner louder roar.  
Th'assembled Clouds burst over their Army's head;  
Noise, Darkness, dismal Lightnings round them spread.  
Another Spir'it with a more potent wand  
Than that which Nature feared in Moses hand,  
And rend the way that pleased, the Mountain struck;  
The Mountain felt it; the vast Mountain shook.  
Through the wide air another Angel flew  
About their Host, and thick among them threw  
Discord, Despair, Confusion, Fear, Mistake;  
And all th' Ingredients that swift rvine make.  
The fertile glebe requires no time to breed;  
It quickens and receives at once the Seed.  
One would have thought, this dismal day to'have seen,  
That Nature's self in her Death-pangs had been.  
Such will the face of that great hour appear;  
Such the distracted Sinners conscious fear.  
In vain some few strive the wild flight to stay;  
In vain they threaten, and in vain they pray;  
Unheard, unheeded, trodden down they lie,  
Beneath the wretched feet of crowds that fly.  
Over their own Foot trampled the vi'olent Horse.  
The guidless Chariots with impet'uous course  
Cut wide through both; and all their bloody way  
Horses, and Men, torn, bruised, and mangled lay.  
Some from the Rocks cost themselves down headlong;  
The faint weak Passion grows so bold and strong.  
To almost certain present death they fly  
From aremore and causeless fear to die.  
Much diffe'rent error did some troops possess;  
And Madness that looked better, though no lesle.  
Their fellow troops for th'entered foe they take; 
1 Sam. 14. 20.   
And Isra'els' war with mutual slaughrer make.  
Mean while the King from Gabaas hill did view, 
Ib. v. 16.   
And hear the thickening Tumult as it grew  
Still great and loud; and though he knows not why  
They fled, not more then they themselves that fly;  
Yet by the storms and terrors of the air,  
Guesses some vengeful Sp'irits are working there;  
Obeys the loud occasions sacred call,  
And fiercely on the trembling Host does fall.  
At the same time their Slaves and Prisoners rise; 
Ib. 21.   
Nor does their much wished Liberty suffice  
Without Revenge; the scattered arms they seize;  
And their proud vengeance with the memory please  
Of who so lately bore them; 
Ib. V. 22.  All about  
From Rocks and Caves the Hebrews issue out  
At the glad noise; joyed that their foes had shown  
A fear that drowns the scandal of their own.  
Still did the Prince midst all this storm appear,  
Still scattered Deaths and Terrors every where.  
Still did he break, still blunt his wearied Swords;  
Still slaughter new supplies to'his hand affords.  
Where troops yet stood, there still he hotly flew,  
And till at last all fled, scorned to pursue.  
All fled at last, but many in vain; for still  
Th'insatiate Conque'ror was more swift to kill  
Than they to save their Lives. Till, lo▪ at last,  
Nature, whose power he had so long surpassed,  
Would yield not more, but to him stronger soes,  
Drought, faintness, and fierce Hunger did oppose.  
Reeking all ore in dust, and blood, and sweat,  
Burned with the Suns and violent actions heat,  
Against an old Oak his trembling Limbs he stayed,  
For some short ease; Fate in th'old Oak had laid  
Provisions up for his relief; and Lo!  
The hollow trunk did with bright Honey flow.  
With timely food his decayed Sp'irits recruit; 
1 Sam. 14. 27.   
Strong he returns, and fresh to the pursuit,  
His strength and sp'irits the Honey did restore;  
But, o, the bitter-sweet strange poison bore!  
Behold, Sir, and mark well the treach'erous fate,  
That does so close on human glories wait!  
Behold the strong, and yet fantastic Net  
T'ensnare triumphant Virtue darkly set!  
Can it before (scarce can it since) be thought,  
The Prince who had alone that morning fought  
A Duel with an Host, had th' Host o'erthrown,  
And threescore thousand hands disarmed with One;  
Washed of his Country's shame, and doubly died  
In Blood and Blush's the Philistian pride,  
Had sav'ed and fixed his Father's tott'ering Crown,  
And the bright Gold new burnished with renown,  
Should be ere night by's King and Father's breath,  
Without a fault, vowed and condemned to death?  
Destin'ed the bloody Sacrifice to be  
Of Thanks Himself for his own Victory?  
Alone with various fate like to become,  
Fight, an Host; Dying, an Hecatomb?  
Yet such, Sir, was his case.  
For Saul, 
1 Sam. 14. 24.  who feared jest the full plenty might  
(In the abandon'ed Camp expos'ed to sight)  
His hungry men from the pursuit dissuade;  
A rash, but solemn vow to heaven had made.  
Cursed be the wretch, thrice cursed let him be  
Who shall touch food this busy day (said he)  
Whilst the blessed Sun does with his fav'ouring light  
Assist our vengeful Swords against their flight.  
Be he thrice cursed; and if his Life we spare,  
On us those Curses fall that he should bear.  
Such was the King's rash vow; who little thought  
How neare to him Fate they Application brought.  
The two-edged Oath, wounds deep, performed or broke;  
even Perjury its least and bluntest stroke.  
'Twas his own Son, whom God and Mankind lov'ed,  
His own victorious Son that he devov'ed;  
On whose bright head the baleful Curses light;  
But Providence, his Helmet in the fight,  
Forbids their entrance or their settling there;  
They with brute sounded dissolv'ed into the air.  
Him what Religion, or what vow could bind,  
Unknown, unheard of, till he 'his Life did found  
Entangled in't? whilst wonders he did do  
Must he die now for not being Prophet too?  
To all but him this Oath was meant and said;  
He afar of, the ends for which 'twas made  
Was acting then, till faint and out of breath,  
He grew half dead with toil of giving death.  
What could his Crime in this condition be,  
Excus'ed by Ign'orance and Necessity?  
Yet the remorseless King, who did disdain  
That man should hear him swear or threat in vain,  
Though'gainst himself; or fate a way should see  
By which attacked and conquered he might be.  
Who thought Compassion, female weakness here,  
And Equity Injustice would appear  
In his own Cause; who falsely feared beside  
The solemn Curse on Ion'athan did abide,  
And the infected Limb not cut away,  
Would like a Gangrene o'er all Isra'el stray;  
Prepar'ed this Godlike Sacrifice to kill;  
And his rash vow more rashly to fulfil.  
What tongue can th'horror and amazement tell  
Which on all Israel that sad moment fell?  
Tamer had been their grief, fewer their tears,  
Had the Philistian fate that day been theirs.  
Not Saul's proud heart could master his swollen Eye;  
The Prince alone stood mild and patiented by,  
So bright his sufferings, so triumphant showed,  
Lesle to the best then worst of fates he ow'ed.  
A victory now he o'er himself might boast;  
He Conquered now that Conqu'eror of an Host.  
It charmed through tears the sad Spectators sight,  
Did reverence, love, and gratitude excite  
And pious rage, with which inspir'ed they now  
Oppose to Saul's a better public Vow.  
They all consent all Israel aught to be  
Accursed and killed themselves rather then Herald  
Thus with kind force they the glad King withstood,  
And sav'ed their wondrous Saviour's sacred blood. 
1 Sam. 14. 45.   
Thus David spoke; and much did yet remain  
Behind th'attentive Prince to entertain,  
Edom and Zoba's war, 
Ib. v. 47.  for what befell  
In that of Moab, was known there too well.  
The boundless quarrel with cursed Am'alecs' land; 
1 Sam. 15. 3.   
Where Heav'en itself did Cruelty command  
And practis'ed on Saul's Mercy, nor did ere  
Moore punish Inno'cent Blood, then Pity there. 
Ib. v. 23.   
But, Lo! they 'arriv'ed now at th'appointed place;  
Well-chosen and well furnished for the Chase.  

NOTES UPON THE FOURTH BOOK.  
THat is, He bowed thrice towards the Sun itself (which Worship is most notorious to have been used all over the East) and thrice towards the chief Temple and Image of the Sun standing upon the Hill Phegor. For I have before declared that Baal was the Sun, and Baal Peor, a surname, from a particular place of his worship. To which I meet with the opposition of a great person, even our Selden, who takes Baal Peor to be Stygian jupiter, or Pluto (De D. Syris Synt. j. c. 5.) building it upon the authority of the 105 (according to our English Translation the 106) Pasl. v. 20. They joined themselves to Baal-Peor, and eat the Sacrifices of the Dead; which Sacrifices he understands to be justa, or Inferias, Offerings in memory of the Dead. Novendiales ferias. But why by the name of the Dead may not Idols be meant? The Sacrifices of Idols? it being usual for the jews to given Names of reproach and contempt to the Heathen Gods, as this very Baal-Peor they called Chemos, jer. 48. 7. & 13, etc. that is, Blindness, in contradiction to his Idolaters, who called him the Eye of the World? or perhaps they are called Sacrifices of the Dead, in regard of the immolation of men to him; for Baal is the same Deity with Moloch of the Ammonites, and had sometimes, though not so constantly, human Sacrifices. However, these verses will agreed as well with Mr. Selden's interpretation; for then the sense of them will be, that he bowed first to the Sun, and next to Baal, another Deity of that Country.  
Zerith, a place in Moab neare the River Arnon.  
White Horses were most in esteem among the Ancients; such were those consecrated to the Sun. Herodian calls them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, jupiters' Horses, which is the same. This was the reason that Camillus contracted so much Envy for riding in Triumph with white Horses as a thing Insolent and Profane, Maximè conspectus ipse est, curru equis albis juncto urbem invectus, parumque id non civile modo sed humanum etiam visum, jovis Solisq equis aequiparatum Dictatorem in religionem etiam trahebant Liu. Horace, Barros ut equis praecurreret albis .Ovid. I de Art Am. 
Quatuor in niveis aureus ibis equis.  
Virg. 12: jungit equos, gaudétque tuens ante ora frementes  
Qui candore Nives anteirent curfibus auras.  In which he imitates Homer. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
Their side. Scal. l. 5. Poer. says, that noon but Apollo and Diana wore their Quivers upon their Shoulders; others, by their Sides, which he collects out of some places in Virg. 1. Aen. of Diana, 
— Illa pharetram  
Fert humero, gradiensque Deas supereminet omnes.  Aen. 4. of Apollo, 
Yela sonant humeris.  But of a Carthaginian Virgin, 
Succinctam pharetrâ — Yet I am afraid the observation is not solid; for Aen. 5. speaking of the Troop of Ascanius and the Boys, he hath, 
Pars leves humero pharetras.  However Side is a safe word.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Like a God, is a frequent Ep there in Homer for a beautiful person.  
Nebo was a part of the Mountain Abarim in the land of Moab; but not only that Hill, but the Country about, and a City, was called so too, jer. 48. 1. Deut. 32. 49.  
1 Sam. 9 21. And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the Tribes of Israel; and my family the lest of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Wherhfore then speakest thou so to me?  
josh. 41. 4. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even unto the great River, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great Sea, towards the going down of the Sun, shall be your coast. This was fulfilled all ways but Eastward, for their Dominion never reached to Euphrates; and it was but just fulfilled to the Letter, Westward, for they had very little upon the Mediterranean or Western Main. Their own sins were the cause, which made God preserve for thorns in their sides those Nations which he had conditionally promis'ed to root out. It is true, they went Eastward beyond jordan, but that was not much; and therefore, like an odd Number in accounts (as presently, where I say but Thirty Kings) may be left out. jordan is the most noble and notorious Boundary.  
For all the wickednesses and disorders that we read of during the time of the judges, are attributed in Scripture to the want of a King. And in those days there was no King in Israel.  
For it was the Tribe of Benjamin that was almost extirpated, from whence Saul the first King descended. David says, Kings, as seeming to suppose that Saul's Sons were to succeed him.  
In Eli, who descended from Ithamar, the youngest Son of Aaron, till which time the High Priesthood had continued in Eleazar the elder Brother's race. This was the succession, Aaron, Eleazar, Phineas, Abisua, Bukki, Uzzi, and then Eli of the younger house come in. In which it continued till Solomon's time.  
The Sceptre is not appropriated to Kings, but to the Supreme Magistrates, as in the famous prophecy, Gen. 49. 10. The Sceptre shall not departed from judah, nor a Lawgiver from between his feet, till the Shilo come.  
There is nothing in the whole Scripture that admits of more several opinions then the time of Saul's and Samuel's reign. This I will take in the first place for granted, that the 40 years assigned by S. Paul (Acts 13. 20.) to Saul, are to include Samuel's judicature; for else there would be found more then 480 years from the departure out of Egypt, to the building of Solomon's Temple, neither could Saul be a young man when he was elected; besides, David would not have been born at the time when he is said to slay Goliath. We are therefore to seek how to divide those 40 years between Samuel and Saul. josephus gives Saul 38 years, 18 with Samuel, and 20 after his death. Most Chronologers (says Sulpit. Severus) 30. Ruffin. and divers others 20, to wit, 18 with Samuel, and two after. Noon of which can be true; for the Ark was carried to Cariath-jearim before Saul's reign, and at the end of 20 years was removed from thence by David to jerusalem; wherhfore Salianus allows Saul 18 years, Calvisius 15, Petavius 12. some 11. Bucolcer 10. Others make Saul to have reigned but two years, and these considerable Authors, as Arias Montan. Mercator, Adricom. etc. grounding it upon a Text of Scripture, 1 Same 13. 1. Filius unius anni erat Saul, cùum regnare coepisset, & duobus annis regnavit super Israel; which others understand to be three years, to wit, two after the first. Sulpit. Sever. indefinitely, parvo admodum spacio tenuit imperium; which opinion seems to me extremely improbable: 1. Because cannot well crowd all Saul's actions into so small a time. 2. Because we David must then have been about 29 years old when he slew Goliath; for he began to reign at Hebron at 30. 3. Because it is hard, if that be true, to make up the 20 years that the Ark abode at Cariath-jearim. 4. The Text whereon this is built, doth not import it; for it signifies no more, then that he had reigned one year before his confirmation at Gilgal, and two when he chose himself Guards. Our Translation hath, Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, he chose him 3000 men, etc. To determine punctually how long he reigned, is impossible; but I should guess about 10 years, which his actions will well require, and David will be a little above 20 years old (a fit age) when he defeated the Giant, and the 20 years of the Arks abiding at Cariath-jearim will be handsomely made up, to wit, three years before Saul's anointing, and 10 during his Government, and seven whilst David was King at Hebron. So that of the 40 assigned by the Apostle to Samuel and Saul, there will remain 30 years for the Government of Samuel.  
For first, the Israelites knew they were to be governed at last by Kings. And secondly, they desired it by reason of the great disorders and afflictions which they suffered for want of it; and it is plain, that this is not the first time that they thought of this remedy; for they would have chosen Gideon King, and annexed the Crown to his Race, and did after actually choose Abimelech.  
See Moses his Prophecy of it, Deut. 17. 14. and to Abraham God himself says, Genes. 17. 6. And Kings shall come out of thee.  
It is a vile opinion of those men, and might be punished without Tyranny, if they teach it, who hold, that the right of Kings is set down by Samuel in this place. Neither did the people of Israel ever allow, or the Kings avow the assumption of such a power, as appears by the story of Ahab and Naboth. Some indeed did exercise it, but that is no more a proof of the Right, then their Practice was of the Lawfulness of Idolatry. When Cambyses had a mind to mary his Sister, he advised with the Magis, whither the Laws did permit it; who answered, that they knew of no Law that did allow it, but that there was a Law which allowed the King of Persia to do what he would. If this had been the case with the Kings of Israel, to what purpose were they enjoined so strictly the perpetual reading, perusing, and observing of the Law (Deut. 17.) if they had another particular Law that exempted them from being bound to it?  
The Tetragrammaton, which was held in such reverence among the jews, that it was unlawful to pronounce it. It was called therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Unutterable. For it they read Adonai; the reason of the peculiar Sanctity of this Name, is, because other names of God were applyable to other things, as Elohim, to Princes; but this name jehovah, or jave, or jai (for it is now grown unutterable, in that no body knows how to pronounce it) was not participated to any other thing. Wherhfore God says, Exod. 3. 16. This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial to all generations. And Exod. 6. 3. But by my name jehovah was I not know unto them. josephus calls this Tetragrammaton, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The Sacred Letters; and, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A name of which it is not Lawful for me to speak; and again, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The Dreadful Name of God. Stat. 
Triplicis mundi summum, quem Scire Nefastum est.  
Whose name it is not lawful to know.  And Philo relating how Caligula used him and his fellow Ambassadors from the jews. You (said Caligula to them) are Enemies to the Gods, and will not acknowledge me to be One▪ who am received for such by all the rest of the world: but by the God that you dare not name (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) and then lifting up his hands to heaven, he spoke out the Word, which it is not lawful so much as to hear, etc. And the Heathens had something like this custom; for the Romans kept secret the name of the Tutelar God of their City; jest the enemies, if they knew how to call him right, might by charms draw him away. And in their Solemn Evocation of Gods from the Cities which they besieged, for fear jest they should mistake the Deities proper name, they added always, Sive quo alio nomine voceris.  
The Tabernacle, Exod. 39 9 And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the Tabernacle, and all that is therein; and shalt hollow it, and the vessels therein; and it shall be holy.  
The Bells upon the High-Priests Garments, Exodus 38. 25.  
There want not Authors, and those no sleight ones, who maintain that Samuel was Highpriest as well as judge; as S. Augustine, and Sulpit. Severus, who says, Admodum senex sacerdotio functus refertur. And some make him to have succeeded Eli, others Achitoh. But this is a manifest error, for he was not so much as a Priest, but only a Levite; of the Race of Isahar, the younger Brother of Amram, from whom Aaron come, and all the succession of Priests, 1 Chronic. 6. It will be therefore asked, Why I make him here perform the office of the Highpriest, and dress him in the Pontifical Habits? for the first, it is plain by the story that he did often do the duties of the Highpriest, as here, and when Saul was appointed to stay for his coming to celebrated the Sacrifice, etc. For the latter, I know not why he might not as well wear the Habit, as exercise the function; nay, I believe the function could not be well exercised without the habit. I say therefore with Petavius, L. 10. de Doctr. Tempor. That he was constituted of God, High Priest Extraordinary, and looked upon as such by reason of the extraordinary visible marks of Sanctity, Prophecy, and Miracles, without which singular testimonies from God we know that in latter times there were often two at once, who did execute the High-Priests Office, as Annas and Caiphas.  
Well-cut Diadem: i The Plate of pure Gold tied upon the Mitre, on which was engraven, Holiness to the Lord, Exod. 28. 36. & Exod. 39  
This Breastplate is called by the Septuagint, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The Oracle of judgements: Because whensoever the Highpriest consulted God, he was to have it upon his Breast. The Description of it, and the stones in it, see Exod. 28. 15. These stones so engraven, and disposed as God appointed, I conceive to be the Urim and Thummim mentioned Verse 30. the Doctrina & Veritas, as the Latin; the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Light and Perfection, as Aquila; the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Truth and Demonstration, as the Septituagint: All which signify no more then Truth and Manifestation, or, the Manifestation of Truth by those Stones; which some say, was by the shining of those particular Letters in the Names of the Tribes, that made up some words or word to answer the question propounded. Others, that when the stones shone very brightly, it employed an Affirmative to the question; and when they looked dimly and cloudily, a Negative. But when the Demands required a prolix, or various answer, that was either given by Illumination of the High-Priests understanding, making him speak as God's Organ or Oracle (as the Devil is believed to have inspired his Sibyls and Pythian Priests) or by an audible voice from within the Sanctum Sanctorum; which latter way I take here, as most proper for Roetry.  
The Tabernacle is called a Temple, 1 Sam. 1. 9 2 Sam. 22. 7. Psalm 18. 3. josephus' terms it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, A Movable Temple— The Temples bright third Heaven— The Tabernacle being God's seat upon earth, was made to Figure out the Heavens, which is more properly his habitation; and was therefore divided into three parts, to signify the same division of the Heavens in Scripture Phrase. The first was the Court of the Tabernacle, where the Sacrifices were slain and consumed by fire, to represent the whole space from the earth up to the Moon (which is called very frequently Heaven in the Bible) where all things are subject to corruption. The second was the Sanctum, the Holy Place, wherein stood the Altar of Incense, to represent all that space above which is possessed by the Stars. The third was the Sanctum Sanctorum, the Holiest Place, to represent the third Heaven (spoken of by S. Paul) which is the Dwelling-Place of God, and his Cherubins or Angels. Neither did the colours of the Curtains allude to any thing but this similitude betwixt the Tabernacle and Heaven.  
In all times and all Countries it hath been counted a certain sign of the displeasure of the Deity to whom they sacrificed, if the Fire upon the Altar burned not clear and cheerfully. Seneca in Thyest. 
Et ipse fumus tristis ac nebulâ gravis  
Non rectus exit, seque in excelsum levans  
Ipsos Penates nube deformi obsidet.  And a little after, Vix lucet ignis, etc.  
According to the old senseless opinion, that the Heavens were divided into several Orbs or Spheres, and that a particular Intelligence or Angel was assigned to each of them, to turn it round (like a Mill-horse, as Scaliger says) to all eternity.  
How come it to pass that Samuel would make a solemn Sacrifice in a place where the Tabernacle was not? which is forbidden, Deut. 12. 8. Grotius answers, first, that by reason of the several removes of the Tabernacle in those times, men were allowed to sacrifice in several places. Secondly, that the authority of an extraordinary Prophet was above that of the Ceremonial Law. It is not said in the Text, that it was Samuel's Birthday; but that is an innocent addition, and was proper enough for Rama, which was the Town of Samuel's usual Residence.  
A choice part of the meat (for we hear nothing of several Courses) namely the Shoulder. The Left Shoulder (Grotius observes) for the right belonged to the Priest, Levit. 7. 32. This josephus terms 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The Princely portion. The men over subtle in Allusions, think this part was chosen to signify the Burden that was then to be laid upon his shoulders. So Menochius, as Philo says that josephus sent a part of the Breast to Benjamin, to intimate his hearty affection. These are pitiful little things, but the Ancients did not despise sometimes as odd Allusions. In old time even at feasts men did not eat of dishes in common among them, but every one had his Portion apart; which Plut. calls, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Homerique Feasts; because Homer makes always his Heroes to eat so, with whom the better men had always the most commons. Aiax, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, hath a Chine of Beef, Perpetui tergum bovis. And Diomedes hath both more meat and more cups of drink set before him; of which see Athen. l. 1. c. 11. who says likewise that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Feast, comes a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, from dividing equally, which makes Homer call it so often, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
See Note 12. on Book 1. That Oil mixed with any other liquor, still gets uppermost, is perhaps one of the chiefest Significancies in the Ceremony of Anointing Kings and Priests.  
The Kingly day. The day for election of a King, which causes a new Aera, or Beginning of Chronological accounts. As before they were want to reckon, From the Going out of Egypt, or From the beginning of the Government by judges: So now they will, From the Entrance of their Kings. Almost all great changes in the world are used as Marks for separation of Times.  
In many Countries it was the custom to choose their Kings for the comeliness and majesty of their People; as Aristotle reports of the Ethiopians; and Heliogabalus, though but a Boy, was chosen Emperor by the Roman Soldiers at first sight of him, for his extraordinary beauty. Eurip. says finely, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a countenance that deserved a Kingdom.  
Aristotle says, L. 6. Pol. That it was a popular Institution to choose Governors by Lots. But Lots left purely in the hand of Fortune would be sure a dangerous way of Electing Kings. Here God appointed it, and therefore it was to be supposed would look to it; and no doubt all Nations who used this custom did it with reliance upon the care of their Gods. Priests were likewise so chosen. Laocoon ductus Neptuni sorte sacerdos.  
This Seneca in Th. says, was the case of Ithaca. 
Et putat mergi sua posse pauper  
Regna Laertes Ithacâ trement.   
jaboc, a River, or Torrent in the Country of Ammon, that runs into the River Arnon.  
Arabia the Stony, Arabia the Desert, and Arabia the Happy.  
For some conceive that the reason of this extravagant demand of Nahas, was to disable them from shooting.  
It was Themistius his saying, that the Soul is the Architect of her own dwelling place. Neither can we attribute the Formation of the Body in the womb to any thing so reasonably as to the Soul communicated in the Seed; this was Aristotle's opinion, for he says, Semen est artifex, The Seed is a skilful Artificer. And though we have no Authorities of this nature beyond the Grecian time; yet it is to be supposed, that wise men in and before David's days had the same kind of opinions and discourses in all points of Philosophy.  
In allusion to the Lamps burning in the Sepulchers of the Ancients, and going out as soon as ever the Sepulchers were opened and air let in. We read not (I think) of this Invention but among the Romans. But we may well enough believe (or at lest say so in verse) that it come from the Eastern parts, where there was so infinite expense and curiosity bestowed upon Sepulchers. That Naas was slain in this battle, I have josephus his authority; that jonathan slew him, is a stroke of Poetry.  
In emulation of the Virgilian Verse, Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum.  
The Text says, Thirty thousand Chariots; which is too many for six thousand Horse. I have not the confidence to say Thirty thousand in Verse. Grotius believes it should be read Three Thousand. Figures were often mistaken in old Manuscripts, and this may be suspected in several places of our Bibles, without any abatement of the reverence we owe to Scripture.  
I confess I incline to believe, that it was not so much Saul's invasion of the Priestly office, by offering up the Sacrifice himself (for in some cases (and the case here was very extraordinary) it is probable he might have done that) as his disobedience to God's command by Samuel, that he should stay seven days, which was the sin so severely punished in him. Yet I follow here the more common opinion, as more proper for my purpose.  
1 Sam. 13. 10. 27. So it come to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hands of any of the people that were with Saul and jonathan; but with Saul and jonathan his Son there were found, etc. And before, There was no Smith throughout the land of Israel. But for all that, it is not to be imagined, that all the people could be without arms, after their late great victories over the Philistines and Ammonites; but that these six hundred by God's appointment were unarmed, for the greater manifestation of his glory in the defeat of the enemy, by so small and so ill-provided a party; as in the story of Gideon, God so disposed it, that but three hundred of two and twenty thousand lapped the water out of their hands, because (says he) the people are yet too many.  
At first men had no other weapons but their Hands, etc. Arma antiqua, manus, ungues, dentesq▪ suerunt .Than Clubs, Stipitibus duris agitur sudibusqque praustis .And at last iron, 
Tum Ferri rigour, etc.  
Tum variae venere artes, etc.  
Hic torre armatus adusto,  
Stipitis hic gravidi nodis, quod cuiqque repertum  
Rimanti, telum ira facit.   
The Mediterranean, upon the coast of which the whole Counitrey of the Philistines lies, and contains but very few miles in breadth.  
Hom. 6. Odyss. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
Vir. Lumenqque juventae  
Purpureum, & laetos oculis afflârat honores.   
Hom. 5. II 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  And in the 13. Il. there is an excellent comparison of Hector to a River, and the like too in the 11. so that it seems he pleased himself much with the similitude. And Virgil too liked it very well, 
Non sic aggeribus ruptis cùm spumeus amnis  
Exiit, etc.  And in several other places.  
1 Sam. 6. 4. Five golden Emerods', and five golden Mice, according to the number of the Lords of the Philistines.  
His Blood. Moses says often, that the Soul is in the Blood, thrice in one Chapter, Levit. 17. and he gives that reason for the Precept not to eat Blood. Virg. Purpuream vomit ille animam.  
See the Cyclops making of Thunder in Virg. Aen. 8.  
Brute. That signified nothing. So Thunder's from whence the ancients could collect no Prognostications, were called Brute Thunders; From Brute Beasts, whose sounds are inarticulate.    
FINIS.   

DAVIDEIDOS,  

LIBER PRIMUS.  Authore A. COWLEY. 
BElla cano, fatique vices, Regémque potentem  
Murato qui Sceptra pedo Solymaeïa gessit  
Rex olim Vatum; duo maxima munera coeli;  
Multa priùs tu'it immotâ discrimina ment  
Et Sauli & Barathri furiis imbellibus actus.  
Mu●ta quoque & regno; tam longâ exercuit irâ  
Victorem Fortuna suum; nec pulsa quievit.  
Ast illam Virtus tandem indefessa domavit  
Et populos laté fudit, gentésque rebelles  
Nequicquam numeris & magno milite saevas;  
Hi Bello, hic ipso Bellorum Numine fretus!  
At Tu, jessaei qui sanguinis Author & Haeres,  
Bethlemiae intactâ quondam de Virgine natus,  
Qui Ligno, Clavis, Hastâ, omnipotentibus armis,  
Ipsam (sic visum est) potu●sti occidere Mortem,  
Ingentes referens per Tartara victa Triumphos,  
Dum tremuit Princeps Erebi metuitque videre  
Aeternúm amissos divinae Lucis honores.  
Qui nuncipse sedes placidi leve pondus Olympi,  
Ad dextram Patris, & gaudentia Sydera calcas,  
Frontem ibi (quam cinxit merito suffusa rubore  
Spina ferox, carus de quâ cruor undique fluxit,  
Ut preti●sa humilem decoraret gemma Coronam)  
Frontem illam innocuae redimitus sidere flammae,  
Tu, precor ô, sanctum dimitte in corda furorem,  
Da mihi Iessiden jessidae carmine magno,  
Et cantu celebrare pari; tua Flamma Ministra,  
Isacidûm longis ductrix erroribus olim,  
Dirigat audaces ignoto in limit gressus,  
Producatque sacrae non trita per avia famae.  
En sanctos manibus puris ut sumeret Ignes  
Vestalem se Musa facit; bené libera curis  
Libera deliciisque jocisque & amore profano  
Consecrat, ecce, tibi reliquos mea Magdalis annos▪  
Ecce opus hoc solidis numerorum immane Columnis,  
Templum ingens statuo, varium & multâ arte politum.  
Ingredere, ô Numen, quò te plaudentibus alis  
Musa vocat▪ sanctos Cheruborum imitata recessus.  
Si facias, cedent illi Solomonia Templa,  
Regis Idumaei cedent, sat tempore longo  
Quae finxêre sibi coluëre Idola Camaenae,  
Sed Tu me, Verbum aeternum, tu voce vocâsti,  
Et novus insolito percussus lumine Paulus,  
Prodeo Musarum immensos convertere Mundos,  
Et Coelum seris ignotum aperire Poëtis.  
Ut juvat, ô, purgare suis sacra flumina monstris!  
Ut vili purgare algâ, caenoque profundo,  
Et liquidi ingenuos Fontes inducere Veri!  
jam paenê obductum est Saulo sub pectore vulnus;  
Integra jesidae per tot certamina virtus  
Lassatam magnis frangit successibus iram.  
Assuetis superare timet concurrere Fatis,  
Et famam tantae sine viribus invidet illi  
Invidiae; vidit pressam sub pondere palmam,  
Et jam paene suae redeuntem in viscera terrae  
Mox laetum coelo caput ostentare propinquo  
Ipso onere alatam, & sua brachia ferre sub auras▪  
Vidit pacatis jordanem currere lymphis,  
Dum fovet amplexu ripas, atque oscula libat,  
At siquis motos posito premit objice fluctus  
Et notum praecludit iter, mox colligit iras  
Ore ●umens rapido, & contorquet vortice silvas,  
Tum sonitu ingenti vocat ad nova praelia fluctus,  
Longus poné ruit furiosae Exercitus undae.  
Cum pecore ac natis montem petit inscius, amens  
Pastor, & attonito decrescunt arva Colono.  
Hoc metuens Saulus premit alto corde dolorem,  
Et vultum induitur placidum, similemque Davidi;  
Dat dextram, testémque Deum, amplexúsque paternos;  
Nec violaturum se sensit pignora tanta;  
Nequicquam; nam quid potuit, nescivit & ipse,  
Ac Dominos intùs gestavit victus acerbùs.  
Excipiunt plausu Abramidae nova foedera laeti,  
Tanta in Iessiden pietas indigna ferentem  
Multa diú, & saevi reverentia tanta Tyranni.  
Exultant homines, exultant agmina coeli  
Sidera, sidereaeque animae; dulcissima Pacis  
Nomina jessidaeque illis; at turba Barathri  
Neutrum amat; infernos Concordia nostra Tumultus  
Progenerat, magnósque qu●es humana labores.  
Subter ubi in matris secreta cubilia Terrae  
Descendit solis virtus foecunda Mariti,  
Fatalísque Auri videt incunabula flava.  
(Auri quod superis simul ac caput extulit oris,  
Perstringit mundum, nec vi, nec luce minori)  
Subter ubi implumis nido jacet Aura profundo,  
Et tener innocuo vagit cum murmure Ventus.  
Subter ubi aeternâ longé sub mole repôsti  
Thesauri ingentes magnarum arcentur Aquarum,  
(Oceanus Maris ipsius, quo Fluminis instar  
Fertur, & omnigenas inter confunditur undas)  
Nulla ubi sopitos fluctus exuscitat aura,  
Nec Dominae i●ritat placidos vis improba Lunae.  
Est locus immensum in spacium, immensúmqque profundum  
Porrectus, quem nox, genuinúsque obruit horror.  
Illum indefessum nullo objice me●a coërcet,  
Nec Loca se minùs extendunt quam Te●pora poen●.  
Non illum recreat dulcis tenuissima co●li  
Rima, nec Eois scintilla excussa quadrigis  
(Unica quae nomen potuisset ferre Diei)  
Perstringit, solidasve valet terebrare tenebras.  
Non hic gemmatis stillantia sidera guttis  
●mpugnant saevae jus inviolabile Noctis,  
Lucifer hoc laté tenet illaetabile regnum  
Inter vincla minax, inter tormenta superbus,  
Ipso, quem pat●●ur, crudelior Igne Tyrannus.  
Dux quondam aethereae praefulgentissimus aulae,  
Qualis ubi in cu●ru procedens Hesperus aureo  
Militiam aeternam stellar úmque agmina ducit.  
Fulmine sed c●●idit correptus, Fulminis instar  
Ipse ruens, nec enim gemitum dedit ore minorem,  
Ut primum sensit medios absorptus in ignes.  
At comites ci●cum, conjurataeque catervae  
(Ingens turba) cadunt. Aër crepat undique adustus,  
Et densâ nive flammarum praetexitur aether.  
Ex illo aeternae solamina tristia poenae,  
Aeternae socios mortales reddere poenae.  
To●ti & Carnifices! Hominem tentamine primo  
In se armant ipsum; magna & coelo aequa voluptas!  
Quos cauta & foelix virtus s●●v aserit hamos,  
Victricem bello tandem aggrediuntur aperto,  
Et malé tentatis succedunt Arma Venenis.  
Hâc vi Iessiden (neque enim corrumpere sperat)  
Oppugnat furvus barathri noctísque Tyrannus,  
Exacuitque animos Sauli invidíamque potentem;  
Viderat egregio generosam in corpore formam,  
Virgineóque maritatam cum flore virilem  
Majestatem oris; miracula viderat alti  
Nobiliora animi, vastámque in pectore mentem;  
Viderat augustâ perfusam aspergine frontem,  
Divinaeque novos spirantem lucis honores.  
Condiderátque alto sub corde Oracula sacra  
Imperium judae quae concessere perenne,  
Venturúsque Shilo stimulos subjecerat acres,  
Et nimíum vigiles Erebi sufflaverat ignes.  
Scit miser incassum tantis se opponere rebus,  
Nec validam fati perrumpere posse catenam,  
Vincula sed morsu tentat, dentésque fatigat,  
Et vinci certus gaudet tamen▪ esse rebellis.  
Sed jam conversa in melius violentia Sauli,  
Consiliúmque dolósque & spes turbavit inanes.  
Nam multúm Saulo, quem longo noverat usu  
Fidit, & erubuit falli fraudum ipse Magister.  
Quid faciat? quo se rerum hoc in cardine verset?  
Ferrati frendet ●er concusto ordine dentis,  
Ter quatit iratae rugosa volumina frontis,  
Ter fremit horrendum exululans, oculúsque cruentus  
Commixtum ardenti jaculatur sanguine lumen.  
Ferrea lux terret noctem, Manésque perustos  
Ignotus trepidos habet & crudelior Ignis.  
Et jam vociferans; Nihil ergó possumus? inquit,  
Me, me ipsum infoelix puer, & mea regna triumpho  
Ducet ovans? dum vos (pudet oh!) torpetis inertes.  
Innocui ludunt & adhuc per colla Cerastae?  
Nil Furiis dignum & populo memorabile nostro  
Quod timeat Deus, & quod vel stupeam Ipse, paratis?  
Quae nova Formido, aut pejor formidine Virtus  
Corda gelat? quondam (memini) fortissima corda?  
Perdidi ob hoc Coelum?  
Pectora tum longae percellit verbere caudae,  
Iratus tantae quod non suffecerit Irae.  
Deinde sedet, vultúque horrendum caetera profert.  
Stant Furiae juxtà, & se lumine circumspectant,  
Dum laté loca vasta silent, sauáque quiete  
Tristis nativi duplicata horroris imago est.  
Ipsi flammantes insano sulphure rivi  
jam tacitis serpunt per littora conscia limphis,  
Vincula nulla sonant, non Angues sibila mittunt,  
Non audent inter tormenta gemiscere Sontes:  
Tandem prorepit dirae foedissima turbae  
Invidia; impexis crinem serpentibus atrum  
It crispata; cutis multum laxata pependit,  
Ossáque liquit iners, ossa aspera longo luctu▪  
Dipsas (monstrum atrox) latitat sub pectore anhelo,  
Nocte diéque bibens nigrum insaturata cruorem,  
Et ne tam crebro fontem consumeret haustu  
Nocte diéque suo compensat damna veneno.  
Sanguine deformatam hominum, tabóque fluentem  
Pallam humeris gerit, & dextrâ rotat alta flagellum.  
Immanem laeuâ craterae sustinet orbem  
Spumantem felle atque absynthia tetra vomentem  
Quo bibit assidué, & sese ebria facta flagellat.  
Hoc jam torva modo, se pro medio agmine sistit  
Invidia; ô barathro Furiarum maxima toto  
Invidia! ô nunquam, nisi cum se punit, amanda!  
Summe Pater, clamat stygii Barathri, & mihi Numen,  
Se puer imbellis nostros meruisse timores  
jactabit, magnóque Erebrum miscere tumultu  
His Colubris, Méque & Te, nostro Principe, salvis?  
Te minitante tremet perterrita fabrica mundi,  
Et legum errabit Natura oblita suarum,  
Te minitante dabunt rapidae responsa procellae  
Et timidum horrendo resonabit fulmine coelum.  
Tunc & inauratos temeré Sol contrahet ignes,  
Exiliétque, diémque abducet limit noto.  
Foedera dirumpet Pontus, supera ardua tangens,  
Vicinásque undas Flammarum elementa pavescent,  
Ipse Polus fixam sedem & loca jussa relinquet  
Sphaerarúm que hilarum cessabit lubricus orbis,  
Diffugient nitidi húc illúc picta agmina coeli,  
Ipse etiam Deus illorum.  
Námque olim timuit certé cum sumpsimus arma  
Nobilia arma, & quae meruerunt victa triumphum!  
O laudanda dies! ô ingens gloria nostri!  
O iterum talem liceat mihi cernere lucem,  
Ipse licet vincat, licet in nova tartara trudat  
Et pejora istis, possint si talia fingi.  
His par concurret pastor rudis & puer armis?  
Quid possunt tortae stridentia verbera fundae?  
Quem torvus longâque fame stimulatus & irâ●  
Non domuit Leo, non infandus membra Goliath,  
Hunc mea vox perdet sola, & sub tartara mittet  
Multa priús passum, & nequicquam Numine fisum.  
Quod si Iessiden tantâ pietate foveret  
(Sed satis est longo notus mihi tempore) Saulus,  
Quanto nos odio premimus, quantóque furore  
Ante bis exactos superis ex ordine soles,  
Corde novum toto longé excutiemus amorem,  
Ipsa, &, vos cari, fidissima turba, Colubri.  
Me suadente nefas, fraterno sanguine fecit  
Cainus, & aetatum dedit Omina laeta sequentum.  
Vidi toto ingens connixum corpore saxum  
jactantem, fratris mortem, & monumenta sepulti.  
Quis potuit risus (equidem risi ipsa) tenere  
Cum sua sic primus nutriret rura Colonus?  
Post eadem à tergo spirans furiale venenum,  
Divisum pepuli ad ma●mor Pharaona super●um,  
Currúsque, clypeósque virûm, ardentésque caballos,  
Me gelidam mortem suadente & frigida fata,  
Hauserunt avidi pestis, mentem ipsa manúmque  
Dathano armavi, cum tela rebellia sumpsit,  
Cum Magicum (cujus nomen detestor & Ipsum)  
Deseruit pulchrâ pro libertate Tyrannum.  
Húc (vidistis enim) cava per penetralia longé  
Desiluit, vasto terrarum exhaustus hiatu,  
Próque Rogo, nostros descendit vivus in Ignes.  
Me suadente, moras quid cesso abrumpere inanes?  
Quid nova non agito, dum gesta antiqua recordor?  
jam tibi, jessides (viden'?) hic tibi sibilat anguis!  
Nil tua te pietas, nil te, Puer, ipse juvabit  
Cui frustrá inservis, Deus; ô, si, te juvet, orbis  
Laté omnis longâ compostus pace senescat,  
Nec Mores, vel Fata hominum nascantur iniqua.  
Ipsa autem his meritó dilectis exul ab oris  
Contempta evadam in terris, miserandáque Virtus.  
Dixerat, at simul ora premunt, & lumina versant,  
Mox fremitus currunt obscuráque murmura circum,  
Gaudentúmque & mirantûm; nihil illa movetur,  
Sed fremit, & tantas sibi laudes invidet ipsi.  
Exilit ardenti solio Rex Di●is acerbi  
Amplexúsque petit; subito cum mota furore  
Ter submissa genu rapidâ fugit ocyor aurâ.  
Murmura dant Furiae, dant sibila laeta C●lubri.  
Nox erat, humanos & vasta silentia sensus  
Spargebántque brevi Lethe, plumbóque ligabant.  
Ipsum etiam regni molem sub corde ferentem  
jactantémque graves curas sopor altus habebat  
Cissiden, sopor Invidiam sed nullus habebat.  
Illa per Isacidûm magnas it saevior urbes,  
Utque videt structas ingenti marmore turres,  
Atque ebur, & fulvi discrimina clara metalli,  
Pergite jam clamat, propriis tumulata ruinis  
Haec ego tecta dabo, & solú lucentia flammâ.  
Substitit in cursu medio, ac fraena remisit  
Pallida Luna, novis sudavit floridus H●rmon  
Roribus, ipse Zion trepidavit vertice toto.  
Iordanes latebram in ripâ quaesivit utrâque  
Territus, & multâ tandem caput abdidit algâ.  
Ecce domum ingreditur Sauli, quae tota tremiscit,  
Ipsáque fundamenta tremunt, tremit excita tellus;  
Hic veneranda senis sese convertit in ora  
Benjamini, oculósque graves, vultúmque severum,  
Brachiáque, & latos humeros, & fortia membra  
Assimilat, pendétque ingens pro pectore barba;  
Qualis ubi steterat super atria celsa pala●i,  
(Egregium Sculptoris opus) de marmore factus  
Ad portam magni laetus vigilare nepotis:  
Hâc adstans Saulo notae sub imagine formae,  
Formae verba sacrae non respondentia fundit.  
Surge, age, Rex brevis Abramidum; sic nempe sepultu●  
Omen alis fati? Somnus tibi ferreus instat  
Atque aeterna quies; Si Regem rit● vocavi,  
Si nondum tua sceptra gerit Past●rculus ille.  
Nondum? unqu●mne geret? vigila, & totum indue Saulum.  
Nec tu, magne Deus, justi siqua est tibi cura,  
(Quod dubito, meliúsque irent mortalia vellem)  
Dedecus hoc Saulo, atque Mihi pa●iaris inustum,  
Abramidisque tuis, sacrae que in saecula genti.  
O Cananaea fames! quid non me absumpseris ante  
Quàm femur in genus exhausis●em fertile tantum?  
Heu genus infaelix nullâque in sorte beatum,  
Donatum magno in poenam atque opprobria Sceptro!  
Coctile quid fugistis opus, Memphitica jussa,  
Invito Pharaone truci, auspiciisque sinistris?  
Quid magicae (infandum) virgae mare paruit ipsum,  
Densatumque vias nova per divortia duxit?  
Quin, si me auditis, rubri per marmora ponti,  
Per nemorum errores, immanisque invia silvae,  
Argillam Aegypti, laterésque requirite vestros.  
Dedecus hoc quanto minus est Pastore Tyrann●?  
Túne potes Domino contentus vivere Servo?  
Concedent tua Sceptra Lyrae? jam sceptra supersunt  
Sola tibi, titulique & regni nomen inane.  
Illum aliae magnâ laudant formidine gentes,  
Illum omnis judaea colit, Meministin' ovantem  
(Si quicquam in te, Saul, viri est, meminisse necesse est)  
Cum cantu rediisse domum, festisque choreis?  
Mille viros gladio Saulus confoderit; esto;  
Quis dederit letho decies totidem, arduus, audax,  
Plusquam Agmen Puer? & vivit tamen ille, tui●que  
Perfruitur damnis; illi tua regia servit;  
Quam non illa diú Tua? jam diadema capessit,  
Conscenditque tuos thalamos, Saulique potentis  
jessidae dabit haredem (pro dedecus!) Uxor.  
Hoc struit, hoc sperat Samuel; talem tibi pestem  
Molitur, cum dicta Dei crudelia spargit  
Per populos passim, cum vana Oracula mendax  
Quaeque optat, fingit; Deus est, Deus illa minatus?  
Sic te tractâsset Rex Diuûm Homin●m●ue B●älus?  
Aut tam aversa suis Astarte magna fuisset?  
Quid queritur? sacram te vi rapuisse coronam?  
At magnae processerunt justo ordine sortes;  
Néve aliter potuit (quid enim taceam?) Ipse jubere;  
Non u●quam plus te Sortíive Deóve fatebor  
Qu●m meritis debere tuis. Quid tempore ab illo  
Ipse Deus, populusque dei tibi debeat, ulli  
Haud reor obscurum; tantâ tu laude coronam  
(O mi chare nepos, ô magnae maxime gentis)  
Divinum tanto cumulâsti munere munus,  
Nequicquam; nam quae tantis data praemia factis?  
Te Puer, & Vates furiosus & omnia vorsant,  
Contrà Te sanguis tuus, & Natura rebellat,  
Ac vanum infidi profertur nomen Amici,  
(O furor, ô scelus infandum!) Sceptróque Patríque!  
Cui causae indormis? quae Manes suscitat ipsos;  
Fixa sepulchrorum atque oculorum claustra resignat;  
Nec cineres puer ille sinit dormire sepultos  
Sed negat aeternae jus indubitabile Noctis:  
Quid facis? aut talem quid non interficis hostem  
Qui turbat vitamque tuam mortémque tuorum?  
Aude, age, nil illo restat tibi triste remoto,  
Solus hic objectus (seu Terrae ignobilis umbra  
Ausa laboranti quae solem avertere Lunae)  
Ad te ventura & tibi debita munera coeli  
Occupat, ac sacri radios intercipit ignis,  
Defectum post hunc superant tibi candida fata,  
Formosíque dies, & vitae lucidus ordo.  
Natales nos, Nate, tuos, regaliaque astra  
Conscriptámque notis Fortunam vidimus aureis.  
Nondum, ô, nondúmne ardescit tibi pectus honesto  
(Ardescit certè) vindictae ac laudis amore?  
Magnum aliquid pariat. Memor esto Tuíque Meíque:  
jamque vale, feror ad coelum sedesque tuorum,  
Et luce, & nutu magni revocatus Abrami.  
Dixit, & ora viri flatu percussit iniquo;  
Intrat Lethalis labefactas aura medullas;  
Olli vanescit dubii nubecula somni,  
Húc illc fert circum, oculos; tremit inde repente  
Dum simulacra videt formis volitantia mixtis,  
Quae consuta malé in vacuo timor a●re pingit.  
Stant crines, sudor perfundit f●igidus artus,  
Et toto ingentes decurrunt corpore guttae.  
jam pedibus terram, manibus jam pectora tundens  
Incipit; Et verum est; oravit vera, fuíque  
Israëlitis adhuc; pietas me stulta fefell●t,  
Me Puer, & Vates furiosus & omnia vors●nt.  
Sacrilega, heu, facta est patientia nostra, sepultos  
Heu violat cineres, tumulósque recludit avi●os.  
Octingentorum minus est Mors ipsa profunda  
Annorum, quam quo torpet mea Vita veterno.  
Indigno, tu sancte parens, ignosce Nepoti,  
Quem propter placidas voluisti linquere sedes,  
Mortalésque aegros; miserúmque revisere mundum.  
Sancte parens, tua justa libens mandata capescam,  
Et te vincam odio, & tandem me vivere nosces.  
Nec frustrá hunc tantum capies, Magna Umbra, laborem.  
Non Homines illum nobis, non Sidera coeli,  
Non Deus eripiet.  
Intereà in placidas, Tu Dive, relabere sedes,  
Et repete antiquam pacatâ ment quietem  
Su● terras, ubi Iessiden mox affore tristem  
Laetus, & effuso pallentem sanguine cernes.  
Post lucem hanc nostros iterùm si laedat ocellos,  
A Te, magne Pate●, perrumpere discat oportet  
Naturae Leges, & ferrea claustra Sepulchri.  
His dictis nutrit flammam stimulátque furores;  
jessides secu●us abest; illum Sopor udus  
Non iam rore levi, sed plenâ proluit Urnâ,  
Dormiat, & solidum accipiat per membra soporem,  
Qualem animus castus, qualem mens integra dona●,  
Quis metus est vigilante Deo, dormire Davidem?  
Palantes nubes suprà impli●itósque labores  
Aetheris, atque volumen inaxtricabile Coeli,  
Gau●ia sphaerarum suprà & modulamina certa  
Supra Orbem, qui perpetuo benè pervigil igne  
Exiguis Splendet Gemmis, numerúmque requirit,  
Est Locus immensâ qui exhaustus luce fatiscit;  
Hîc Polus excurrit longè, & se ponè relinquit,  
Nec proprias lassus valet ipse attingere Metas.  
Igne tumet blando, & tranquillo fulgure vibrat,  
Gloria nec tanto in spacio ●mmoderata tenetur.  
Non hîc obscuri tremebunda crepuscula Solis  
Nativum jubar inficiunt castúmque Serenum.  
Non hîc Luna suis vestitur pallida furtis,  
Nec face languenti spargit per inane Tenebras,  
Non hîc praecipiti Tempus super orbe rotatur,  
Nec vaga partitur repetitis Saecula gyris  
Vertigo; Nihil hîc Fuit, & nihil hîc▪ Erit unquam.  
Sed constans, immotúmque aeternúmque sedet Nunc,  
●aec domus, hoc magni sanctum penetrale Tonantis;  
Hîc labour angusti, dulcis labour Infiniti,  
Occupat atque implet Coelum, sed limit coeli  
Contentus nullo; Solus se continet Ipse.  
Quondam immane fuit Vacuum; Sint omnia dixit;  
Ille simul dixit, parent simul omnia Verbo,  
Nam Verbum suit Ipse suum. Turgescere coepit  
Foecundum Nihil, & plenâ cuncta edidit alvo.  
Quis vos, O Deus, aut quis vestra palatia pandet  
Tres-une!  
Hîc te perfrueris toto, atque has maximus arces  
Plusque tuus colis, intercà non deseris orbem  
Quem fecisti olim nostrum, sed pondera vasta  
Exagitas nutu informans molémque sequacem.  
Quod si vim tacitam auferres dextrámque potentem  
Extemplo turbata fides ac foedera rerum,  
Ipse die rector fusis nullo ordine habenis  
Retró ageret currus, & mundi cardo coacti  
Cum sonitu rueret, laxis discurrere stellis,  
Et sine lege hominum confundere fata liceret.  
Ipsa etiam rationis egens Natura pararet  
In Nihilum properare suum; nam Spiritus aptum  
Tornatúmque exercet opus, seque addit ubique  
Ni faciat subito torperent cuncta, malóque  
Tota laborarent somno, aeternóque veterno.  
Omnia nobiscum (qui Nos) Deu● efficit, orsis  
Non dedignatus socium se adjungere nostris.  
Stant circúm aurati, turma officiosa, Ministri;  
Atque Dei jussa expectant, gaudéntque juberi.  
Hínc Domini in vultu immenso sine fine bibentes  
Immortalem oculis lucem fixo ore tenentur.  
Unum ex his nutu vocat ipse; silentia servat  
Regia coelorum, & reverentér tota tremiscit.  
Ergoné tam subitó excidimus? (sic infit ab alto)  
Sceptra videt, nec Nos simul? imperióque potitus  
Ignorat per quem steterat? crediné procellas  
Irrita per pontum rapuisse ferocia verba  
Injustasque mina●? Surdine effecimus Aures?  
Falleris, O demens, audivimus omnia, Saul,  
Atque emptum optabis magno nil tale locutum.  
Quae mala jessidae intentas meliora merenti  
Cuncta tui in caput unius conversa ferentur.  
Diximus: an dictis nostris Gens Terra repugnet?  
Ah imbelle lutum! non hoc tua Lingua referret,  
Injussa in medio subsisteret icta palato,  
Si tibi nota dies fieret, quo tu ipse jacebîs  
Gilboacos multo deformans sanguine campos,  
Ipse miser, natique tui, & capita illa superba  
Pendebunt Templis monumentum infame profanis,  
Stultorum jocus, & ludibria saeva Deorum.  
Dextera jessidae immeritò quae tanta minatur  
justa aderit vindex, & te, te occiderit ipsum,  
Quocum nunc iras atque implacabile bellum  
Nequicquam geris, ille tuo lucebit in auro,  
Dilectóque nimis cinget diademate frontem,  
Et quod tu Solium fecisti infame piabit.  
Ergo age, jessidae insani fer dicta Tyranni;  
Ipse nihil; sed enim timeat, properantior ipsam  
Arcessitus eat (nam Rex arcesset) ad aulam.  
Non ullum metuet, bené si nos noverit, hostem.  
Incolumem (dixi) qui nunc jubeo ire, reducam.  
Sic ait, inflectit sese polus ipse decenter,  
Nec non turba poli● famulatrix; ocyùs omnes  
Interrupta iterum exercent modulamina Sphaerae,  
Angelicaeque simul renovant sacra orgia Turma.  
At non qui missus jessidae Nuncius ibat;  
Ille vehens pennis magnum per inane citatis,  
Nubila plus solito jam candescentia tranat,  
Quáque volat niveus signat vestigia limes.  
Aligerum coeli sic vulnerat aera fulgur,  
Plurima sic primae currit strictura diei,  
(Sic aut tarda magis) cum vixdúm Sole relict●  
Ecce simul terram ferit, atque resurgit in altum.  
Vix ipsum rapidi Tempus miracula Motus  
Percipit attonitum, & mensuram non habet ullam  
Tam curtam, excelso sic praepes ab aethere lapsus  
Nuncius astabat jessidae, ac talia fa●ur▪  
Surge, bone, insaníque exaudi dicta Tyranni  
Aspera, nempe tuo jam mane cruore litabit;  
Ipse nihil, sed enim timeas; properantior ipsam  
Arcessitus eas (nam Rex arcesset) ad aulam.  
Tutum (dixit enim) qui te jubet ire, reducet.  
Exilit ille toris, & circum lumina versat  
Nequicquam; nox undíque & undiqque funditur aer.  
Spesque Metúsque adsunt dubii, vicibúsque recursant.  
Quos vario exagitans convolvit pectore, donec  
Albescunt primo montana cacumina Sole,  
Cum Rex Iessiden arcessit saevus, ut aegram  
(Incautum specie si fallere posset honestâ)  
Soletur fidibus mentem, curásque soporet.  
Dic mihi, Musa, sacri quae tanta potentia Versûs?  
(Nam tibi scire datum, & versu memorare potenti,  
Cuncta vides, nec te poterit res tanta latere  
In regno, Regina, tuo) vim Diva reclusam  
Carminis, & laté penetralia ditia pande,  
Thesaurosque, & opes, & inenarrable Sceptrum▪  
Quáe sprevere homines, tandém ut mirentur améntqque,  
Divisqque accedat reverentia justa Poetis.  
Ut sacri primúm foecundo in pectore Vatis  
Indigesta operis surgunt El●menta futuri,  
Materies donec paulatím sumere formas  
Incipiat, jussóque incedant ordine verba,  
Ac bené dispositus leni fluat agmine versus:  
Talis erat Naturae olim nascentis Imago,  
Sic magnum Mundi divino ex ore Poema  
Prodit, artificisque informis massa supremam  
Imploravit opem, longo impatienter amore.  
Indociles nondúm subierunt foedere Partes  
Fraterno commune jugum; bellúmque sine arte  
Gesserunt discurrentes nullo ordine Motus.  
Aeterni Ratio quos tandém Musica verbi  
Discreuítque locis, & vincula dulcia victis  
Imposuit; Numerósque pios, facilémque tenorem  
Elicuit; Medios Aer atque Unda Sonor●●  
Concentu referunt muto; l●vis Ignis acutos,  
Terra graves rapido Lunam diverberat ictu,  
At lentam Saturni operoso pollice Chordam.  
Sic celeres Motus cum tardis intertexti,  
jam festum Recti, Curvi, Longique Brevisque  
Exercent Ludum, & docto discrimine plaudunt,  
Ut peccent magnae vestigia nulla Chorea.  
Haec est quae Menti auditur Symphonia dulcis,  
Ornatu cernendam alio sese exhibet Auri,  
Dives opum, varióque superba Scientia cultu,  
Haec habitat vatum libris, haec carmine in isto  
Harmonia est; non Cantoris, non illa Legentis  
Indiget, in charta multúm facunda silenti.  
Haec agilis Magni percurrit corpora Mundi,  
Haec Parvi toto se miscet corpore Mundi.  
Totus Homo Harmonia est; omnes Symmetria census  
Congerit híc, omnis Naturae Archiva tenentur.  
Ipse ●horum facit Unus, & est Deus ipse Choragus.  
Hinc in nos nata est Numerorum sancta potestas,  
Nam simul ac portas humani corporis intrant  
Inveniunt Fratrésque suos, charósque Sodales  
Et pariles numeros & respondentia metris  
Metra suis; jungunt dextras, reddúntque salutem.  
Nec nos vi victos capiunt, bellóque subactos,  
Stant ●ives intús dilecti à partibus Hostis.  
Et sese dedunt sine Proditione volentes,  
Hoc rerum ingenio mirâ medicatus ab arte  
Effusus Sanguis distantia vulnera quaerit  
Ignotum per iter, quámque accipit ipse falutem  
Absenti gaudet gratus transmittere Fonti.  
Haud aliter parili tentis conamine Chordis  
Fraterno haec trepidat, cum tangitur altera, motu.  
Illa suo▪ haec solo Naturae vivida pulsu.  
Sic Lyra jessidae, tam dulci callida furto  
Aegra subintravit miseri praecorda Regis,  
Placauítque aestus animi, saeuósque tumultus.  
Psalmus 114.  
CUm sacra saevis Isacidum manus  
Exiret oris, terribilem procul  
Audivit, aspexítq, gentem,  
Et refluum trepidavit aequor.  
Ut qui sequentes antevolans fugâ  
Evasit hostes, stat procul arduo  
De monte respectans, & omnes  
Aure sonos bibit inquietâ  
Erexit undas sic Mare turbidum  
Ut signa vidit praetereuntia,  
Fluctusque pendentes utrímque  
Ut Scopuli steterunt acuti.  
Chrystallini non maenia lympida  
Mundi figurâ plus stabili manent  
Ex elaborato nitentûm  
Marmore con●olidata aquarum.  
Non audet Amnis ad mare progredi,  
Fontem revisit mentis inops suum.  
●ato latebrosos recessus  
Fons aperit, gremiúmque victo.  
Circùm tremiscunt culmina Montium,  
Mul●úsque Collis Montibus adsilit,  
Ut matris abscondunt sub alis  
Se teneri trepidántque Pulli.  
Gaudere viso fluctivagum mare,  
Gaudere Flumen nobile, nec fuit  
Fugisse post Montes fugaces  
Mobilibus pudor ullus Undi●  
Nobis nocebit nil fuga Montium,  
Versi nocebit nil fuga Fluminis,  
I Flumen, î formi●olosum,  
Et pavidi procúl ite Montes.  
Aequare summis ima valet Deus.  
Discent in altum plana tumescere,  
Vallésque turgescent, feréntque  
Attonito capita● alta coelo:  
Fontemque Flumen si repetis tuum,  
Fontem refundet dura silix novum;  
Nec faxa cessabunt, nec ipsae  
Flumina suppeditare rupes.  
Sic cecinit sanctus vates, digitósque volantes  
Innumeris per fila modis trepidantia movit,  
Intimáque●licuit medici miracula plectri.  
Audivère sonum, & victi cessère furores.  
At non Invidiae Sauli de pectore cessit  
Indomitus Serpens; vocem nihil ille salubrem.  
Incantatoris nihil irrita carmina curat.  
Fingit ad húc morbum, & spumas agit ore Tyrannus,  
Et verum falso scelus excusare furore  
Heu nimiùm ingratus tantae oblitúsque salutis!)  
Sperat, adhúc miser, & nequicquam ment receptâ.  
jamque inopinatam sustollens fervidus hastam  
(Quam caram sibi pro Sceptro gestare solebat)  
Dentibus infrendens, oculisque immane minatus,  
Pectora jessidae crudeli destinat ictu,  
Dulcia dum sacrae renovat medicamina vocis,  
Nil meritus metuens've mali; volat illa per auras,  
Stridens, oppositoque dat irrita vulnera muro.  
Námque polo lapsus Miles coelestis ab alto  
Detorsitque manu, justóque errore fefellit.  
O caecas hominu●● vires, frustráque superbas!  
Arma sui dextram Domini mandataque fallunt,  
Ni jubeat Deus infirmúmque impellat acumen.  
Vulneris ille tui jam faelicisimus error,  
Tam bené Gilboacis non deludêris in arvis!  
Indè tuam excipiet gentem, & fatalia sceptra  
jessides, manésque tuos ea fama (sub imo  
Siquid res hominum mersos Acheronte movebunt)  
Semper morte nouâ & faecundo vulnere rodet.  
Hinc Deus ipse tuas dedit illi evadere fauces  
Incolumem, hinc Parcas jam fila extrema legentes  
Instaurare opus, & telam producere jussit.  
Ille fugam celerans vix duro elapsus ab hoste  
Sentit adhúc; sed & arma sequi, sed & agmina credit  
A tergo; credítque hastam exaudire volantem.  
Nec frustrá; tantos causa urget honesta timores,  
Ipsáque Formido illius divina futuri est.  
Nam superaccensa est fato violentia Regis,  
Et quae Iessiden non fixit lancea, Saulum  
Vulnerat haec ipsum; salvo jam nescit honore  
Exuere insanam mentem, nec judicat esse  
Regis, inexpletum crudúmque relinquere crimen.  
Ergo manum lectam juenum quos ipse furentes  
Impulerat monitis, scelerúmque incoxerat 〈◊〉,  
Vi, ferro, jubet incautum superare Davidem,  
Errorémque suum successu abolere ne●as●o.  
Sic animo Saulus, contrá Deus omnia volvit.  
Intereá Michole jessides multa tim●nti,  
Multáque ploranti curisque decentibus aegrae,  
(Nàmque oculis plus illa suis, plus lumine coeli  
Dilexit, non ipsa minús dilecta, Maritum)  
Facta refert, & parva sui discrimina lethi.  
Forte super Micholes dotalia tecta, ubi & Hortus  
Aethereus mitâ florebat 〈◊〉 arte,  
Parvum ubi multa nemus pandebat citrea malus,  
Quámque dedit ucem coeli vicinia, flavis  
Reddebat pomis, ut Solu lumina Stellae;  
Lenti incedebant manibúsque oculísque plicatis,  
Plurimáque alloquio lenibant tristia dulci.  
Cum Michole (visus nam plusquam aquilinus amantûm est)  
Heu veniunt diri, veniunt, exterrita clamat,  
Carnifices; equitum video agmen, equósq, frementes  
Audio; clarescunt med●is in ●rondibus arma,  
Saeuáaque per densam transmittunt ●ulgura silvam.  
Tolle gradum citus, & propera, ●uge quolibet, inquit,  
Ne morere, O Conjux; ●uge dictis ocyus; adsunt;  
Quid nos, quid vinclo junxit pater ipse jugali,  
Voce vocans in sacra Deum, veniámque prec●tus?  
Bis centum meruisse nihil praeputia credit?  
Ingratus! Sudor, sanguis, bellíq labores  
Dos tibi noster erant. Tum pleno uberrima fonte  
Discurrit, vocisq, vicem pia lacryma servat.  
Mox iterúm; Nihil efficiet; per aperta fenestrae  
Hinc te demittam incolumem; tu quà via caeca,  
Arripe iter; fuge mî Conjux; non haec tibi dico  
More meo, invisa est tua jam praesentia primúm.  
Ille refert contra; O cunctis praestantior una  
Conjugibus!— Mìchole dicturum plurima molli  
Occupat amplexu, & raptím multa oscula turbat.  
Dum lacrymas Luctûs, ac gaudia miscet Amoris.  
Parce, ait, incassúm pretiosa effundere verba,  
Aspice quanta tuae tristis vicinia mortis.  
Ergó alacer paret dictis; haec callida lec●o  
jessidae Statuam, mirâ factam arte reponit;  
jamque manus juvenum sese in penetralia fnndit  
Dedignata moram sceleris, jámque ensibus ipsum  
Illum ipsum exposcunt, & verba haúd mollia jactant  
At Michole laudanda parat mendacia contrá,  
Docta piam fraudem, ac dives muliebri bus armis,  
Flet scindítque comas, & luctisono ululatu  
Tecta replet; tum sic bene ficto pectore fatur.  
Quid facitis? quem vos prohibetis vivere, duri,  
Huic ipsam misero mortem, & sua fata negatis?  
Quaeritis exitium jessida? parcite Vobis;  
Nil opus est Scelere; ardentis vis improba morbi  
Iamdudúm inservit Patri, & vos esse nocentes  
Non sinit; ecce illum jamdudum Lingua Oculique  
Deficiunt; tantam frustrá quid perditis iram?  
Nec Mortem, nec Vos, nec vestros sentiet Enses.  
Si vos innocui sitis urget tanta cruoris;  
(Me miseram!) facite ut lubet, & satiate furorem.  
Non faciet brevis hora minus; nec tempore longo  
Restabo infelix; Tum lumina jussa decoro  
Imbre madent, mirósque oculis dolour afflat honores.  
O quem non Luctus dominaeque potentia Formae  
Viribus admixtis frangent? turbaimpia discit  
Credere jamprimúm & miserescere; linquere moestam  
Tristis & ipsa domum properat; Statua ipsa recumbit  
Fasciolisque voluta caput, stratóque Sepulta  
Purpureo, atque refert morientis mortua vultum.  
Lugentes famuli circúm tacitíque ministrant,  
Et medicinalis panduntur fercula pompae,  
Triste ornamentum mensae; dat & arte locata  
Horrorem obscurum non clara lucerna cubili;  
Scilicet ista favent fraudi; at super omnia Numen,  
Suffudit spectantum oculos caligine sacrâ.  
O tandem nullo foelix in crimine cessa  
Virtutem imbelli frustrá tentare duello,  
O manibus decepte tuis, oculisque tuor●m!  
Saulus, ut haec audit, Quis talia crederet, inquit?  
Illum igitur bis quinque virûm quì millìa fudit  
Illum animam segni tandém deponere letho?  
Nim●rúm Deus hunc fertur defendere sontem;  
Sons've insons've fuat, defend at; sit precor illi  
Talis membrorum modus & concordia justa  
Qualis erat primis olim mortalibus ante  
Quam Scelus, aut sceleris Morbi digniffima merces  
Robora fregissent subito nativa veneno;  
Nostrum immane odium est, totúmque explere Davides  
Integer haud poterit; quid se laudem addit in istam  
Adjutrix Fortuna m●hi? memorabile nil est  
Partitâ in poenâ. Pereuntem extinguere lucem  
Quid juvat? exhaustae quid faecem emittere vitae,  
Et paené attritum feriendo abrumpere filum?  
Usque adeóne hur●ilem mea vera & nobilis ira  
Se dabit? Ah meliús! solennis victima nobis  
jessidae vita est, & non nisi opima, litabit.  
Nondúm vindictae maturus, crescat in iram  
Pinguescatque meam; tunc ipse libidine quantâ  
Singultantem animâ multúm luctante videbo,  
Pugnantémque diù & productâ morte cadentem?  
Quid loquor? aut qu● nunc vindictam differo seram  
Cunctator?  
Forsitan & pietas stulta & clementia segnis  
juratusque meo Samuel malus hostis honori,  
Quae mihi nunc fixa est, mutabunt denique mentem.  
Adde quod & nostrae vindex Fortuna querelae  
Implicitum tenet, & fugiendi copia nulla est;  
Hasta impuné erret, jam saepé ferire licebit,  
Et geminare ictus, totúmque haurire cruorem.  
Si fato oppetere, & placid â jam morte necesse est;  
At videam extremos trepidanti pectore sensus  
Fundentem, atque oculos optato funere pascam.  
Ergo agite hûc, juvenes, Iessiden sistite nobis,  
Expirantem animam licet, & suprema gementem.  
jam pulchrae apparent laté vestigia fraudis;  
At Michole irati jussa incusare Maritì,  
Crudelésque minas, & vim praetendere facto.  
Saulus ut haec; viximmodicâ se sustinet irâ,  
Volventésque premit luctanti pectore curas,  
Amens, & rubris suffectus lumina flammis.  
Sic olim Hircanae metuenda potentia silvae  
Indomitus Leo, cuì rabiem jejunia longa  
Addiderunt, siquem incautum procul ire juvencum  
Aspcit, ille jubam quassat, dapibusque futuris  
Accingit sese laetus, tum caeca viarum  
Speratam si forté tegunt erroribus escam,  
Deluduntque famen, torquet flammantia circum  
Lumina, & irato tellurem vulnerat ungue,  
Horrendúmque fremens silvas rimatur opertas.  
Nil opus est vento, trepidant formidine frondes,  
Speluncisque feras timor abdit & urget in ipsis.  
Moestus ubíque horror, nemorúmque silentia vasta,  
Non audet turbata rugitum imitarier Eccho  
In medio silvae immensae quae proxima Ramam  
Obtegit, illustraitque verendi nominis umbrâ,  
Inclita sanctorum sita sunt Collegia Vatum,  
Sub magnis juvenum fervens ubi turba Magistris,  
Ad sacros effusa pedes didicere silentes,  
Cordáque coelesti stipatunt cerea melle.  
Succrescunt palmo veluti radicibus alta  
Germina, rore Dei, & materno lacte repasta,  
Nunc parva, haud umbras olím factura minores.  
Non tam mole suâ quam fundatore superbit  
Grata Domus, nollet Samuelis nomine marmor  
Aut mutare aurum; tantum decus addidit author.  
Hanc pius extruxit Vates; modicósque & honestos  
Suffecit reditus, paupertatémque decoram.  
Nec sese tantum dextrae tamen illa benignae,  
Quam Linguae debere putat, quae prodiga sacros  
Explicuit census, magníque aeraria coeli.  
Doctores illic Samuel cunctósque Prophetas  
Sub pedibus laetos vidit; nec gloria tanta  
Quod docu●re alios, quám quod dedicêre sub illo.  
Quadrata exiguis includitur area tectis;  
Nam non illa Artis fabricavic inepta libido,  
Sed Naturae usus, quae gaudet maxima parvo.  
Intus quadratae viridis stat portícus umbrae,  
Et densae Solis propellunt spicula Laurus,  
Securae coeli, rapidósque ad fulguris ictus  
Impavidae; in medióque argentea vena salubris  
Exiliebat aquae, violatae carere nullo  
Marmoris, aut tristi plangentis vincla susurro,  
Sed laetae topho viridi, argu●ísque lapillis.  
Non minús illa tamen, corpus purgare, levare  
Apta sitim, aut sacros accedere pa●per ad usus.  
Hic sua cuique data est cella, & sua cuique supellex  
(Lautities veterum Sanctorum & copia dives)  
Sponda brevis, scamnum, necnon ex abiete eodem  
Mensa tripes; portam clausissent plura volenti  
Inferre; antiqui pomaeria justa Necessi  
Servantes, pulchréque ausi contemnere Vana.  
Fallimur heu! nec magna opulentum aut plurima reddunt,  
Sed forma, ac generi bené respondentia vitae.  
Impedit, atque onerat dominum numerosa supellex.  
In paruâ congesta domo. Poné altera surgit  
Altior, atque usu cultúque augustior aedes.  
Ad latus hîc laevum se pandunt Aula, Schol●que.  
Bibliotheca tenet dextrum, & Synagoga, precantum  
Nunquam muta choro. Stat plurima fagina mensa  
Ornamentum Aulae; non invidiosa, nec impar  
Pellibus instratis, quibus est circumdata, Lectis.  
Accumbunt primi capitisq comaeque verendae  
Doctores, Socii in gremiis jacuêre recepti.  
At juvenes infra bené laeti rebus egenis  
Graminibus super aggestis, uluâque palustri  
Decumbunt; Lectos, Mensásque Dapésque ministrat  
Terra ferax, & Sole Coquo convivia gaudent.  
Bibliotheca fuit paucis decorata libellis,  
Non ●nerata malis; nondum insatiata libido  
Scribendi (pestis jucunda) invaserat orbem,  
Nec Medicina Artes curand is mentibus aptae  
In morbum fucrant ipsae scabiémque pudendam  
Conversae, quae nunc laté contagia serpunt.  
Scilicet hos importunos exclusit Amantes  
Virgo Musa, novae gemmanti in flore juventae  
Spectari pavida, & vultum velata modestum.  
Nunc fugit amplexus Merctrix deperdita nullos,  
Garrula, vana, procax, cultu mendica superbo,  
Et populo compressa (nefas) parit horrida Monstra.  
Quis furor hic tanto frustrâ sudare labore  
Desidiam, miseróque insanae more Sibyllae  
Scribere, quo volitent vacuis ludibria Ventis?  
Diversas illic artésque modósque videres,  
Queis brevis atque fugax Verborum Natio vitam  
Exuit aeriam, & firmum sibi vindicat aevum.  
Tesserulis quaedam leviter commissa caducis,  
Ast alia in solido deposta fideliter aere,  
Palmarum haec foliis vano mandata labore  
Ni cognata Oleum praeberet Cedrus amicum.  
Hîc longa arboreis scribuntur carmina libris,  
Tam bene florenti non vixit in arbore cortex;  
Illic Pictor is signata elementa videres,  
Hic Textoris acu, doctaeque volumina vestis.  
Illic ceratásque stilo perarante tabellas,  
Ast hic membranas tenues, biblónque palustrem,  
Tunc iudia, atque artis nova tentamenta futurae,  
Nec non & paries perfungitur ipse Scholarum  
Munere librorum; to●us describitur orbis,  
Aequoreaeque viae, sparsaeque per aequora terrae,  
Aetheriaeque Plagae, palantésque aethere Stellae.  
Adduntur Sententiolae, monitúsque ucrendi,  
H●storiaeque breves; pars clara & aperta legenti,  
At pars Niliacis animantum obscura figuris.  
Hic sociatorum sacra Constellatio Vatum  
(Quos foelix virtus evexit ad aethera, nubes  
Luxuriae suprà, Tempestatésque Laborum)  
Dispersit laté radios, tenebrásque fugavit,  
Doctrinae effundens Lucem Influxúmque benignum:  
Astrorum Nathanus virésque viásque latentes,  
Aureáque explicuit superi penetralia mundi.  
Haud magico coelis deducens Sydera versu  
Sobuti utrosque polos conversâ luce salutat  
Gaudentes; sequitúrque volubilis Annus euntem.  
Quam gravibus numeris argentea Scena supern●,  
Procedit, quantáque coercita lege vagatur  
Ipse quidem Vates, sed enim ●●l debuit Astris;  
Contemnens Rivos, & Fonte replecus ab ipso  
Materiam ingenti Mahol insectatur amore,  
Per gyros, per maeandros, per caeca viarum  
Venatur, sugit illa levis, premit ille ●ugacem,  
Oráque vertentem, & tentantem evadere furto.  
At solidas signare notas in pulvere docto  
Gaddus, & aeternas gaudet turbare figuras.  
Necnon & longe Numeros sine fine vagantes  
Producit patiens Comes; exuperabile nunquam  
Tentat adire jugum, punctóque ascendit ab Uno.  
Pyramidem inversam, & crescentem semper acervum,  
Defunctis victura struit monumenta Seraias,  
Condit aromaticâ prohibétque purrescere laude.  
Et quos praeteriti vastum Mare Temporis annos  
Absorp●it, fundo petit Urinator ab imo.  
Quam celer occasus, tardúmque sit incrementum  
Imperiis; & quae fabricat solerria Fatum  
Edocet; at Samuel divina oracula fidus  
Explicat interpres; nec caecos more ferarum  
Sed laetos parere homines jubet, atque scientes.  
Saepè etiam abreptus mentis violen tibus a●●s,  
Temporis ingreditur 〈◊〉, celsa 〈◊〉  
Implumésque videt nidis 〈◊〉 annos.  
Hae reliquaeque Artes hic excipluntur amico  
Hospitio tantúm; poterat sed sancta Poesis  
Hoc nata atque educta loco, & regnate videri.  
Non magis assiduo resonat domus aurea cantu  
Angelici coeli; nullo non sp●rat ab ore  
Carmen; dulcisonúmque chorum moderantur Asaphu●  
Hemanúsque ambo genio excellente Poei●,  
Voce pares liquidâ, digitisque, 〈◊〉 ambo.  
Parte aliâ Synagoga pio pulcherrima luxu  
Splendebat (nam sunt illic dispendia frugi)  
Perstringunt oculos auro laquearla fulvo,  
Spectantum; sed quos recreant aulaea vicissi●●  
Caeruleo, sacróque colore; 〈◊〉 Pr●ce forti  
Térque die soliti vim coelo inferre volenti,  
Tér● die sanctum Mosis versare volumen,  
Térque piis, totisque Deum resonantibus Hymnis,  
Exercent laetam stadio ●eptemplice vocem.  
Talis erat quondam, tam celso Musa volatu  
Sprevit humum, generis memor, atque superb● decenter.  
Carmen e●at Deus hunc Mund●m qua voce loqâ●utus;  
Námque priús tenebrae diffundebantur inanes,  
Immensúmque Nihil, Vacuique informis hiatus.  
Plenus ubi; q sui, propria ipse Palatia sedit  
Omnipotens, sese contentus & Omnia Solus.  
Ille autem totus Bonitas, Sapientia totus,  
Totus Amor, voluit gratis producere cuncta;  
Cuncta Voluntati, nondúm producta gerebant  
Artifici morem, & laté capita alta ferebant.  
Anté alia imperio citiús sese extulit ingens  
Immane, indigestum Aliquid; sine lumine formae,  
Et sine honore jacens; (Monogramma Exordia Mundi!)  
Festinosse illud scires, dum sancta capescit  
jussa libens, rebú●que aliis praecurrere gaudet.  
Hoc tamen in gremio, & nil promittente recessu,  
Ditia cunctarum glomerantur semina rerum.  
Emicat hinc subitó lucenti vortice Flamma,  
Ascendítque Polum, & multo sese implicat orbe;  
Olli se jungit comitem & vestigia tent at  
Fusus circúm Aer; Tellus onerosa grauísque  
Ad Mundi medium nativo pondere se dat  
Mersa mari; sed mox densae penetralia terrae  
Vasta aperit Pater, & magnum descendere Pontum,  
Voce jubet, penitúsque cavis habitare latebris.  
At timidi contra non audent hiscere fluctus,  
Inque uterum terrae sine murmure delabuntur.  
Convexa accendit coeli meliore metallo,  
Iámque nova arcano prorumpit gloria fonte,  
Atque implet Solem exundans; hinc flumine vivo  
Lucis inexhaustae mundum se spargit in omnem  
Magnum, quo facta est, Numen studiosa referre.  
Inde rudem Lunae massam, simpléxque polivit  
Voce opus, & radios aurato pectine compsit.  
Surge, ait, & moestae regnum vigil accipe noctis;  
Surrexit, traxítque sacrae vaga Syrmata lucis.  
Attollunt famulas hinc atque hinc sidera taedas,  
Et pulchram cingunt Dominam, & comitantur euntem:  
Turget humus foecunda, & pubescentibus herbis  
Miratur risúmque suum, insolitósque colores.  
Iámque iter aerium radunt impuné volantes,  
Exultantque alacres passim formidine nullâ,  
Nondum luxuries illis humana minata est,  
Nondum laethalis modulamina rupit arundo.  
Tum magnum tenui cecinerunt gutture Numen  
Securae fraudum; Numen nám●, omnia laudant,  
Fluctivagi P●sces, mutum genus; illius ipsi  
Munus erant, Montésque maris, volventia Cete,  
Quique suas parvo superant vix corpore arenas.  
Inde ferae immissae silvis, coelestia jussa;  
Quidnam ultrà potuit; Coeli Terrae catenam,  
Ipsum Hominem potuit; quo miscuit omnia in uno:  
Admirandum opus, & co●pendia ditia Mundi.  
Tum veró magni monitrix clementia Patris  
Carmen erat, raraeque irae, fulménque coactum,  
Impia cum sacras damnassent crimina terras,  
Unda ruens victrix magno sonìtúque ruinâque  
Omnia vasta dedit; frondentia tecta volucrum  
Implicuère hilares frustrâ, nov● retia, pisces.  
Naufragi●m passa est Natura; os Phoebus ab alto  
Extulit, & solos percussit lumine fluctus.  
Non tamen haec homines memori sub pectore condunt  
Insani, feruétque iterúm furiosa libido;  
Cum subitó ardescunt nubes, incendia coelo  
Tetra micant, totúsque in poenam excandet Olympus.  
Mox Sodom as tabescentes, liquefact●que tecta  
Corripuit rapidus flammanti sulphure nimbus.  
Senserunt vivi membris crepitantibus ●gnem  
Qui nunc aeternùm miseros post funera torret.  
Longé alia implicuit pestis Pharaona superbum.  
Cum fluctus conjurati, & commilito ventus  
Auxilium Abramidis tulerant; pecus omne profundi  
Miratur, Regúmque sedent in curribus aureis  
Regum corporibus satiati; in gurgite toto  
Apparent semesi artus, natat unda cruore,  
Nec Mare jam vano censetur nomine Rubrum.  
Plurimus ipse etiam in carmen veniebat Abramus,  
Cujus iter genti mansurum in saecula nomen  
Hebraeae dedit, & Moses, Nunnique propago  
Bellipotens; quantósque illi fregere Tyrannos,  
Sihonem, membrísque superbum ingentibus Oggum,  
Zipporidenque Hohamùmque trucem, fortémque Debirum,  
Quos dextrâ Isacidum divina potentia stravit.  
Sic fragilis vitae fugientia tempora prendunt,  
Pacatisque animis coelum labuntur in ipsum.  
Non illos aurum perstringit fulgure sacro  
Dulce malum, ignotum saeclis quibus Aurea Now●n.  
Cujus nunc ergo sudore ad tartara multo  
Heu non à miseris tantúm effossaribus itur.  
Quantum ô stultorum turbam superabat avaram  
Dives opum contemptus, & ingens copia mentis!  
Non illos Bombie x● pretioso sedulus ornat  
Funere, nec Tyrio deformant corpora suco  
Gloria, nunc animis aeternóque empta dolore,  
Aura illic visa est levis, & sine pondete nomen.  
Accipit ingenuum fessos durúmque cubile.  
Quódque bené extremi iubeat meminisse sepulchri;  
In medium facilis per silvam quaeritur esca,  
Nec populant fluvios. crudeli, aut aera ventre,  
Nec crudo hesternas accusant pectore coen●s  
Conturbat nunquam tali Natura 〈◊〉  
Et rerum usuram expendet, sed sarte relictâ.  
Haec bona mundities animi est; rubìgine nullâ  
Inficitur vitii, nitidum sic sord● bus aevum  
Deterget miseris, puróque incedit amictu.  
Hinc Deus intrat agens sacro praecordia mo●u,  
Nec propriam coeli praesentior incolit aedem.  
Hinc alacres justo funguntur munere Sensus,  
Nec titubant, revocántve, gradum Ratione magistrâ.  
Hinc simulacra animo depingit mystica Somnus  
Molliter in victos simul ac defluxit ocellos.  
Transilit admisso praesentia Tempora saltu,  
Aetatúmque inter silvas, & amaena vireta  
Ambulat, atque annos jam nunc exire parantes,  
Fraenáque mordentes cernit; micat undíque fati  
Ordo ingens, valvaeque patent, longíque recessus.  
O fortunatos nimèum, & bona qui sua norunt!  
O quàm praecelso despectant culmine mundum!  
Et nubes rerum, & jactatum turbine Saulum!  
Haec domus hospitio Iessiden laeta recepit  
Solantem curas, & densa pericula cantu,  
At manus húc juvenum (quò non penetraverit ir●  
Invidiaeque oc●lus?) Regisque suoque furore  
Saeva venit; votis d●mnati immanibus omnes.  
Segnis erat qui non pestem juraverat amens  
jessida, membrúmque aliquod pr●miserat ensi.  
Sic absens totum partita est Ira cadaver.  
Iámque adsunt, subitóque 〈◊〉 corda sereno,  
Ignotum insinuat sese per pectora coelum.  
Lascivit paulatím horror, vultúsque recedit  
Fulgur atrox; & jam pacato ●idere vernat.  
Venarum casto gandentes flumine rivi,  
Lené micant; signat divinus tempora candor.  
Mira dies frontis, facto quae susa pudore  
Prima rubet; ponit belli caed●sque cupido,  
Dum Numen pacis celebrant, & carmind sumdunt  
Pacis opus; bis jámque alios, bis jusus eisdem  
Miserat exemplis, ipsum jam plena Tyrannum  
Ire jubet rabies laesámque ulc●●●iet iram.  
Cum melior subitó furor implet mentem animumque  
Pérque omnes sensus, pér●, 〈◊〉 pertinet ossa.  
Tum chlamidem illusam geminis, 〈◊〉 rigeutem  
Exuit, & capitis deponit noble pondus.  
Ah puduit regni decus atque insignia ferre  
Turpe jugum vitii, & servilia jura ferentem;  
Tum primúm Rex Saulus erat; lux unabeatae 〈◊〉  
Instar habet vitae, & longum ●rpan●  
Miratur populus, dictúmque emanat ubique  
Ipsum etiam vatum turbae se adjungere 〈◊〉.  
Balamus sic Beorid●● Moabitida venit,  
Ut benedictam ageret diris & carmine gentem,  
Et pretio infaelix fatalia venderer ora,  
Sic secum; at didicit tandém (mirabile dictu)  
Ipso Asino sapere, ac fari meliora magistro.  
O magnum Isacidum decus! ô pulcherrima castra!  
O arma ingentes olim paritura triumphos!  
Non sic herbarum vario subridet amictu,  
Planities pictae vallis, montisve supini  
Clivus, perpetuis cedrorum versibus altus.  
Non sic aestivo quondam nitet hortus in anno,  
Frondésque fructúsque ferens, formosa secundum  
Flumina, mollis ubi viridísque supernatat umbra.  
Quid video? mortem Isacidum super arma sedentem!  
Laeta sedet, praedámque expectat avara futuram.  
Plures Isacidae gladios, plura arma parate;  
Scilicet haec crebro Victoria conteret usu.  
Cum Leo se attollit judae, toruúmque tuetur,  
Omnia diffugient pressis animalia longé  
Auribus; & medio si forté recumbit in antro,  
Murmura tum ponent silvae, metuendáque Tigris  
Praetereuns ipso vel dormitante tremiscet.  
Quae mala, quis judae vel prospera fata precatur,  
Omnia in ipsius caput ingeminata ferentur.  
FINIS.