THE MUSES MELODY IN A CONSORT OF Poetry. WITH Divers occasional and Compendious EPISTLES.  
Composed by the Author Tho. jordan.  
— Cum desertis Aganippe's  
●…allibus, esuriens migraret in Atria Clio.  
LONDON, Printed by I. C.   

POEMS.  

On a Citizen that was so unreasonably jealous of his wife, that he durst not trust her with the nearest in blood of her own kindred.  

WHy how now jack? are you the only man  
Whose forehead we must hang our hats upon?  
Shall the luxurious folly of your youth  
Araign all women at the Bar for truth?  
Can no man now be sociable and good,  
'Cause you have had a wildfire in your blood?  
Because your wife resolves to remain true  
Must your in imagination Cuckold you?  
" In what a Sea of sadness doth he swim  
" Whose own strong fancy doth make horns at him?  
May we not look on her? can we devise  
New ways of copulation by the eyes?  
Can smiles get children? Or if we should leave  
Some words behind us, can her ears conceive?  
Why dost thou search thy trunks and chests? as if  
It should be possible the Placket-theif  
Could get in there: is no place free from harms?  
" So soldiers (when the war; began) sought Arms  
" In silver Saltcellars, and springs set  
" To catch a Canon in a Cabinet:  
Go search her pocket too (to quit all fears)  
And pluck out little jeffery by th' ears.  
There are most sly conveyances in Love,  
'T may be Tom Thum is got into her Glove;  
Search every corner of the house, and then  
Sat down and coin new faces and new men.  
Thou sot in jealousy, whose fancy vents  
Impossibilities for Arguments:  
Quicksighted Quixot, thou that art inclined  
To look about for what thou dar'st not find:  
For (I protest) were I the man whom she  
Would choose to act his just revenge on thee,  
Thou shouldst discover me with greater fear  
Than men would pick sparks out of gunpowder.  
I'd make thee be (my rigour should be such)  
A Pillow to the thing thou fearest so much:  
Tempt me with hat in hand, and cast about  
To keep that in which thou wouldst now bring out.  
Conduct her to my very Arms, and grow  
Highly contented thou couldst please me so:  
The Law can not relieve in this distress  
Because thy own eyes are no witnesses:  
Which would exalt thy torture; thus would we  
Pay thy old private scores of Luxury:  
And thy mechanic spirit, without doubt,  
Will bear all this when thou art beaten to't.  
For shame reform thy folly, let her heart  
Be no more measured out by thy desert:  
Let not the ills which thou hast done, proclaim  
Suggested falsehood in another's Fame:  
He that thinks every man is his wife's suitor,  
Defiles his Bed, and proves his own Cornutor.    

Peccavi, to a virtuous Lady, who was viciously solicited by a Gentleman whilst she was in her mourning.  

AS guilty men unto the Altar fly  
There to appease th' incensed Deity,  
After the sin of Blasphemy, or blood  
Took from the breasts of Innocents', whose flood  
Cries up to heaven for vengeance; so come I  
To beg a pardon for this heresy  
Against your honour: Truth herself can tell  
No unbeseeming action, such as sell  
The loser wantoness of our times, made me  
Attempt to break your crystal chastity:  
I saw no gesture in you that could say  
I might have hopes to win the fatal day  
Of your undoing; but you did appear  
Stainless, and more immortal than you are  
Or can be, till the hand of heaven shall  
Transform your ashes to a funeral:  
Some men desire to speckle whitest paper.  
Venus will light her torch at Vesta's taper:  
It is a truth divided from all doubt,  
That ne'er a Nun'ry can keep Cupid out:  
I know your melting eyes, and mourning dress  
Might mortify another's wantonness,  
But it exalted mine, as if my flame  
Could feed upon no fuel but your Fame.  
This crime relates to that in Paradise,  
Your virtue was the Author of my vice.  
Your frowns advanced my blood, and made it boil,  
Your Prayers were Bonfires, and your tears were oil▪  
(To contract all) what ever I could see  
Like frost in you, was a fierce flame in me.  
" So cowards when made Conqueror, do boast,  
" And are more cruel when their slaves beg most.  
I fain would plead excuses, if I could  
Allege the frailty of our flesh and blood,  
Your feature and my love; your youth and tongue,  
That so I might extenuate the wrong.  
But my Religion says, To do one sin  
And then excuse it, brings another in:  
No, I'll submit to pardon: you that have  
Ability to judge, have power to save  
Your penitent offender: I confess  
My fault so criminal, I must address  
Myself unto your mercy, and I spy  
Her silver wing spread in your either eye  
To entertain my suit; remove the Bar,  
The witnesses and Executioner.  
You shall for this no Judge, or Jury call,  
At your own pleasure, I will stand or fall.    

On handsome women that will marry fools.  

SHe that will 〈◊〉 with a Fool 'tis plain  
Is either cra●…k'd in Cr●…i, or in Brain.    

An Apology to a coy Lady for a passionate Letter which a Gent. writ to her when she returned back to him a Diamond which he before had presented.  

MAdam! In such a calm of peaceful air  
As the self-sentenced sinner sighs in Prayer,  
I do salute your Candour; and desire  
Your mercy may with pardon, quench the fire  
Of my late Passions, for I must confess (dress:  
Though they were truths, they wore too wild a  
I quite forgot the boundless distance that  
Is set betwixt my lowness and your state:  
And should (but that I see you disapprove)  
In time have been a Leveler in Love:  
You have reformed my error, and (with high  
Distaste) dismounted my soft heresy;  
I am your Proselyte, and shall declare  
To Lovers (such as I am) that they are  
In desperate error if they dare to prove  
Man's merit can deserve a Lady's love:  
there's no such thing in nature; he that can  
But scent the air that issues from her fan,  
Hath happiness enough; and he that wears  
Her scorns, is paid for all his vows and tears.  
His rings and ribbons are oblations that  
Defile the shrine which they are offered at:  
Else (honoured Lady) sure that trifle which  
Your Ivory finger lately did enrich,  
Had not been with such detestation sent  
To him that loves you like his nourishment:  
What is the motive (Madam) I am more  
Tortured to know the cause, then feel the soar:  
Pray speak it plainly, for the noblest dress  
Of Truth is her own native nakedness:  
I never yet committed an offence  
That was too horrid for my Audience.  
I will attend you with undaunted ear,  
Although you utter all that I can fear:  
My constitution boldly shall endure  
To lose that limb which will admit no cure:  
I wish you all the happiness that can  
(With wisest search) be found in the best man:  
May him whom you shall please to favour be  
Sincere in all his services for she  
That leaves a true heart for a feigned one,  
Doth give a Di'mond for a Bristol Stone.    

On a cruel Creditor.  

I Will make Dice on's Bones, so doth he cry  
Who hath the debtor in Captivity:  
Take heed, there's none will pity thy disaster  
When Lucifer (at last) cries Come the Caster.    

On Rebellion.  

REbellion is a Paradox, for they  
Are only put in trust that do betray.    

UILLAINIE. Anagram, I LIVE IN AL.  

I Live in all; show me that Name  
That hath a larger Anagram:  
But lest some should think that I  
Do assume ubiquity,  
Let them know I want the Art  
To be All in every part:  
But yet I live in all; I know  
All Languages, and Nations too:  
'Tis not France with all her Apes  
Can outvie me in my shapes;  
I wear a Cope, I wear a Crown,  
A Soldier's sword, a Lawyer's gown,  
And (with reverence be it spoke)  
The Surplice and extempore cloak:  
I wear a chain, sometimes a ruff,  
A purple Robe, a suit of Buff:  
A livery-hood, a Country coat,  
A seaman's cap (whose subtle boat  
Sails with all winds, and, as I can  
Change shapes, I li●…e in every Man,  
And every Place; I live at Court,  
And where an Army doth resort  
(By which so many men are undone.)  
I live at sea, I live in London:  
In all parts of it I range,  
And I always keep the change;  
I live in Courts of peace and war,  
On the Bench, and at the Bar:  
Sometimes like to love and fury,  
I have been in judge and jury:  
In Physicians I live close,  
But am used in every dose:  
In my coat of Arms I bear  
A Roundhead and a Cavalier.  
I wear all Passions; but I move  
Surest in the shape of Love:  
Or in Religion, there I fly (why?  
At God knows who, and who knows  
In a Shopkeeper you'll guests  
What I am when I profess:  
In a Politic I cry,  
Law, Religion, Liberty.  
In a Justice I lie hid,  
Yet in's Clerk I'm quickly spid:  
But my subtleties grow evener  
In a Broker and a Scrivener.  
In a Sectarist I flame  
Like the Air of Amsterdam:  
Covenants and Protestations  
Are my yearly Recreations.  
But I am (such is my fate)  
Never from the Counter-gate,  
And a house in Broadstreet, where  
I am in my proper sphere.  
But (to cut off prolixity) you shall  
Find (by my Anagram) I Live in all.    

Defence composed for his friend Mr. Th. Ea. who ignorantly had persuaded some Gentlemen his friends to wash their faces with Mercury, one of them being an elect Bridegroom, the night immediately before the Nuptials, who the next day were much blistered with the venom, and he much accused by the Ladies, as if it had been done on purpose.  

THE winged feet of fame that always brings  
On swiftest pinnion●…, most unwelcome things,  
Informed the Centinel that waits upon  
My late arraigned Reputation,  
That I have done an Act which much offends  
Men whom I balance with the best of friends:  
That I with venom should deform those faces  
Wherein fair Ladies found so many graces,  
At such a season when bright Hymen's taper  
Inflamed the Bride, and made the Bridegroom caper,  
When all prepared themsel●…es in the best dress  
Of civil Art, and 〈◊〉 coml●…ness:  
When active youth, and Beaut●… did put on  
Their smoothest brows, and best complexion;  
That I against this Time, without incitement,  
Should perpetrate this fact, so runs th' indictment:  
To which I plead Not guilty, cause th' event  
Doth make men Criminal, or innocent:  
That I was instrumental in't, I grant,  
But of the vile event as ignorant  
As cradled infants; 'tis an Act below  
My name, my spirit, and my Nature too:  
Did my Accusers know how much I prise  
My friends, they would with more indulgent eyes  
Look on this chance; the Ladies (as I hear)  
For it esteem me much their injurer,  
Which is (indeed) the greatest cause that I  
Make this Confession, and Apology:  
I am so much a servant to that Sex  
Whose ruby lips, bright brows, and Ivory necks  
Surprise all eyes, that their alone commands  
Have power enough to stay my active hands  
From my worst Enemy, if he be one  
That wears the badge of their Affection:  
How then should I accomplish a design  
Of such dishonour to their friends and mine?  
Salute the Ladies from me; let them see  
My Penitence and my integrity:  
Assure them that the sacred Nuptials which  
Their precious presence lately did enrich,  
Is of so much esteem with me, that I  
Disclaim all thoughts or Acts of injury.  
Tell them I am divided from all rest,  
Till they have signed me a Quietus est.    

A Letter to the Gentlemen, in which this Poem was enclosed.  
To his honoured friends, etc. Gentlemen,  
I Am so sensible of the Lady's sorrows for your disasters and my own sufferings for their displeasures, that I have penned this Poetical Apology to soften their ●…ensures: which being assisted with your manuduction, may be the more conducible to their satisfaction.  
The result of it, will (I hope) beget such a fair understanding, that the mistaken difference shall be reconci●…ed, and his repute restored, who is theirs and  
Your faithful servant The. Ea.   

An Ode composed for three voices, at a celebration of the Birthday of the much honoured G. D. Gent. on Novemb. 29.  

I. Voc.  
●…Oy in the Gates of him whose bi●…h  
Gives generation to our Mirth,  
Whose Fame and meritorious days,  
●…clipse the lustre of all praise.   

Chorus.  
Then let our invention  
Exceed Apprehension  
Let liberty dance a Lavalto,  
Till Ceres and Bacchus  
With jollity rack us.  
And every man's brains are in Alto.   

II. Voc.  
Let none appear under this roof,  
Whose spirits are not sorrow-proof.  
All constellations we defy  
That frown at this Nativity.   

Chorus.  
We laugh at the silly  
Presages of Lilly.  
We fear not the force of Invasion:  
The Schoolmen are dullmen:  
They fool men and gull men;  
'Tis Love is the Art of persuasion.   

III. Voc.  
Let no man in this Circle move  
Whose soul is crossed with Law or Love  
We likewise do exclude his Pate  
That deals in stratagem, and State.   

Chorus.  
The sum of our treasure  
Is freedom in pleasure.  
Nor will we forget to remember  
The motive that raises  
Our voices with Praises  
The 20 day of November.    

Vote to the much honoured THOMAS BRIDGES, Merchant in Alderman-bury London, and to his most virtuous wife.  

IF Health and Treasure, Love and Mirth  
Be all the happiness on earth,  
〈◊〉 wish that every thing you touch,  
Or can but think on, may be such.  
May all the Pleasures, that we see  
●…nder bright heaven's Canopy,  
Wait upon you, and may old Fame  
Receive advantage from your Name.  
Let your quick understanding be  
Clear and serene as Purity.  
May all your Excellencies prove  
The powerful Adamants of Love:  
And may that lustre of your life)  
Your fertile, chaste, ingenious wife  
Continue in her loyal flames,  
And be the guide to virtuous dames,  
May your children's children's merits  
Be the pictures of your spirits;  
Then may you draw an equal breath,  
With long sweet life, and easy death.  
May Cities, Towns, Ships, fields, & bowers  
Talk of no other worth but yours:  
And may no company (one minute)  
Be sorrowful when you are in it.    

An Epitaph on a scold.  

HEre lies, in dust, a married man's great woe,  
A nimble Linguist, or a quick-tongued shrew.  
Now she is dead, and dust to dust is flung;  
The earth holds her that ne'er could hold her tongue.    

On Jack Summer, who with two shillings, won twenty pounds of Captain Swallow.  

WHen poor jack Summer was an overcomer  
Of Swallows purse, one Swallow made a Summer.    

On Scorta.  

SCorta (the whore) says she'll pay all her owing  
In the next Term, if God send good her doings.    

An Epitaph on Mr. Will. Laws Bachelor in Music, who was mortally shot at the siege of Westchester.  

COncord is conquered: In this Urn there lies  
The Master of great music's mysteries,  
And in it is a riddle like the cause:  
Will. Laws was slain by such whose wills were laws.    

A Defence for Music in its Practic and Theoric, Dedicated to all Lovers of Harmony, but more especially to the much honoured Mr. JOHN ROGERS.  

EMpress of Order, whose eternal Arms  
Put Chaos into Concord; by whose Charms  
The Cherubims in Anthems clear and even  
Create a Consort for the King of Heaven:  
Inspire me with thy Magic, that my Numbers  
May rock the never-sleeping Soul in slumbers:  
Tune up my Lyre, that when I sing thy merits  
My subdivided Notes may sprinkle Spirits,  
Into mine Auditory, whilst their fears  
Suggest their souls are sallying through their ears.  
What Tropes or Figures can thy glories reach,  
That art thyself the splendour of all Speech?  
Mysterious Music! He that doth thee right,  
Must show thy Excellence by thy own Light:  
Thy Purity must teach us how to Praise,  
As men seek out the Sun, with his own rays.  
What Creature, that hath Being, Life, or Sense,  
But wears the badges of thy Influence?  
Music is Harmony, whose copious bounds  
Is nor confined only unto Sounds,  
'Tis the Eyes object (for without Extortion)  
It comprehends all things that have Proportion.  
Music is Concord, and doth hold allusion  
With every thing that doth oppose Confusion.  
In comely Architecture it may be  
Known by the Name of Uniformity,  
Where Pyramids to Pyramids relate,  
And the whole Fabric doth configurate:  
In perfectly proportioned Creatures we  
Accept it by the title Symmetry,  
When many Men for some design convent,  
And all concentre, it is called consent:  
Where mutual hearts in sympathy do move,  
Some few embrace it by the name of Love:  
But where the Soul and Body do agree  
To serve their God, it is Divinity:  
In all melodious Compositions we  
Declare and know it to be Symphony;  
Where all the Parts in Complication roll,  
And every one contributes to the whole.  
He that can set, and humour Notes aright,  
Will move the Soul to Sorrow, to Delight,  
To Courage, Courtesy, to Consolation,  
To Love, to Gravity, to Contemplation.  
It hath been known (by its Magnetic Mo●…  
To raise Repentance, and advance Devotion▪  
It works on all the Faculties, and why?  
The very Soul itself is Harmony.  
Music! it is the breath of Second Birth;  
The Saint's employment, and the Angel's Mirth.  
The Rhetoric of Seraphims, a Gem  
In the King's Crown of New jerusalem  
They sing continually; the Exposition  
Must needs infer there is no intermission  
I hear some men hate Music: let them show  
In holy writ, what else the Angels do:  
Then those that do despise such sacred Mirth  
Are neither fit for Heaven, nor for Earth.    

A Banquet of Discord, dished up and dedicated to all lovers of Confusion, and contemners of Concord.  

1.  
COme hither you to whom the breath  
Of Music is a second Death:  
Whose untuned ears are neither 〈◊〉  
For Concord, Poesy, nor wit.  
That chatter in unpointed Prose,  
And use no Organ but the Nose:  
Who fancy nothing but the rents  
Of Families and Governments;  
Whose spirits are as rude as Rocks,  
And Blasphemies are Orthodox.  
My fancy hath a mess of Ministr●…s which  
Shall please you all, and make your long ears itch,   

2.  
The first soft Music I can find,  
Are herds of Hogs perplexed with wind,  
And taught by Dogs of Farmer's house  
The tearing Sol-fa of the sauce.  
And next, to please your approbation,  
A Choir of Cats in Copulation.  
Where you will hear exceeding skill,  
If treble Pu●…s but hit the ●…rill.  
But to provoke your active heels,  
Fifty new Carts with ungreased Wheels. (sound,  
Then, when Hogs, Cats, and Wheels in Chorus  
Who will not say you are with Discord crowned?   

3.  
The next (in stead of Drums, and Tabors)  
Twelve Strumpets in abo●…tive Labours  
To mix with these, a shrill Grand Jury  
Of Fi●…-wives filled with Ale and fury,  
Whose every close doth sweetly roar  
With Witch, and Bitch, and Bawd, and Whore;  
Ten Pewterers, with Platters empty,  
Tinkers and Kettles four and twenty,  
Thirty Lock-smiths, forty fellows:  
Blowing of as many Bellows;  
And whilst all these in Parts together chime,  
I will have sixteen rag-mills to beat time.   

4.  
Then for the melody of Fowls,  
Thirteen Peacocks, nineteen Owls,  
Fifteen Ravens, eighteen Daws,  
Naked Rooks with empty Craws:  
And instead of Lutes and Citterns  
chattering Magpies, Crows, and Bitterns:  
With a set of Trencher-scrapers  
That will make your teeth cut Capers:  
And (to fill ye with amazements)  
Northern winds, and open Casements.  
If these will not content, (to help the Choir)  
The Bells shall ring as when a Town's on fire.   

5  
Dying men when they are Racked,  
women's cries when Towns are sacked,  
Irish mourners when they howl  
Over some departed soul:  
Wracks at Sea where few are saviours,  
Whirlwinds cut in Semiquavers:  
For I know (without misprision)  
You are Lovers of Division:  
This is Music fit for them  
Who do Harmony contemn.  
When this grows stale, and that you wish for new,  
The other world may better furnish you.    

An Epigram on a Madman.  

A Friend desired me once, as I passed by  
Bedlam (the Dippers' University)  
To walk in there with him, where when I came,  
I did behold one as much out of frame  
As was the Chaos in continual Night,  
Before Jehovah said, Let there be Light;  
Madness and Drunkenness conjoined in one,  
Would sure have made a less confusion  
Then that within his Brayn: some people by  
Observing so supreme an Ecstasy,  
Asked if he were married that had this strange fit:  
No (quoth the madman) I'm not so mad yet.    

A mere Soldier's Resolution, written by his own a●…rection in the year 1642.  

PReach not to me the justice of your Cause,  
Your Privileges, or the Kingdom's Laws,  
Nor call't Religion to oppose your King;  
Such stale pretences framed for quarrelling  
I'll neither hear, nor aid; I come to be  
A sacrifice for my Necessity.  
Give me the Coin, show me the golden showers,  
That only is my Cause, and why not yours?  
But (late) I heard a winged Herald sing,  
The Cause hath left us, and is gone to th' King.  
Why then beat up your Drums, levy your Men  
We all go for the Cause, to fetch't again;  
Yet stir not till the Troopers have their pay,  
The price of blood, just thirty pence a day:  
This makes me mount my Jennet; do not tell  
What else we fight for, and the Fiends of hell,  
Circled with unextinguishable fires  
Shall never daunt: But when your Cause requires,  
There I am lost again, foiled with a fright:  
Your Cause is th' only cause I cannot fight.    

An Elegy and Epitaph, in two Acrostics, composed on the pious memory of Mistress Grace Dray●…on, late wife to William Dray●…on 〈◊〉, 〈◊〉 whom she was married the 20 of Ja●…y 16●…2. and 〈◊〉 the 20 of June 1653.  

●…onder of women, give us leave to 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on thy sacred UrneWord;  
●…et our 〈◊〉 tears ●…ll 〈◊〉 thy Hearse▪  
●…ke th●…se 〈◊〉 drops that pierce  
〈◊〉 hard Ma●…ble. She is gone in whom  
All female excell●… 〈◊〉 hath found a Tomb  
Modesty, Prudence, Temperance, and Wit,  
Devotion, Love and Loyalty do yet  
●…enown her Name; she was as true a wise,  
As was her husband's blood unto his Life:  
Young wives, k●…ng but her, might learn from thence  
The A●… to twist Love and Obedience:  
One in whose ever active soul did move  
Nothing but ●…ial fear, and Nuptial Love.   

The Epitaph.  

〈◊〉, or go by, 〈◊〉 that true grief forbea●…▪  
〈◊〉 that in triumph which we writ in tears.  
All ●…ys we banish●…; they are as contrary,  
Compared with as, as june and january:  
Every Mourner that doth not present  
Distilling eyes, destroys ou●… 〈◊〉.  
Reader! within this Cabinet there 〈◊〉  
A Jewel bright, as So●…s meridian Eyes:  
Touth mi●…'d with mental beauty, 〈◊〉 was 〈◊〉  
That made all Virtues her Complexion.  
〈◊〉! l●… 〈◊〉 tears flow freely, for we shall  
Ne'er find more cause to wash a Funeral.     

To his disdainful Mistress, from whom he received a Repulse at the presentment of his service to lead her by the Arm in the street.  

I Shall give truth the lie, and must engage  
In your defence the Pens of this whole Age,  
Not to acknowledge that your form and features  
Make you shine brightest amongst the best of Crea-  
He that surveys your Person with my Sense (tures.  
Shall meet (at once) Light, Heat, and Influence;  
Yet where you scorn, Experience bids me say,  
You raise December in the midst of May. (Crowns  
The Chairs of State, the Sceptres, Thrones, and  
Of Life and Death are in your smiles and frowns,  
This truth I freely vent, although you crack  
The sinews of my soul upon the rack  
Of undeserved displeasure, I must needs  
Confess, all Virtue in your bosom breeds;  
You are the mirror of all worth: Yet why  
(If I may so capitulate) must I  
For some offence unacted, or unknown,  
Be tortured thus under the frigid Zone  
Of your contempt? What have I done that can  
Divest me of that Privilege which Man  
And manners justly claim? What is in me  
So opposite unto civility,  
That you should scatter your disdains upon  
The soft Address of my Devotion?  
W●…y should the bared Head, and bended Knee  
Of faithful service meet such nicety?  
You make me doubt myself, and wonder what  
Great Error (like an Attom or a Gnat)  
I am accused of; whether I did stand  
Right with my Legs, or gave you the wrong Hand:  
Whether my Gloves were on, or I did err  
In wearing some unbuttoned Handkerchief:  
Which of these heinous sins it is, I can  
No more conceive then a deceased man.  
Pray manifest the Cause, and let me know  
What is the cruel Author of my woe,  
That I may curb the Love which did intrude,  
And (for the future) cease to be so rude  
With such Perfection; I will let the world  
(To my own scorn) know why my hopes are hurled  
From your bright Mercy: they shall understand  
It is like Sacrilege to kiss your hand,  
And that to Arm you brings as bad a fate,  
As to be found in Arms against the State.    

On Mrs. Owlet, and Mrs. Boone.  

FIckle (they say) loves Owlets daughter, she  
That is his eldest, Mistress Margery:  
And some suppose the wddow Boon will draw  
All his Affection, (Mistress Barbara)  
But will not he appear a gross Buffoon  
To marry with Madge Owlet, or Bab Boone?    

To a Bla●…-moor that had married a deformed Spanish-woman, and was jealous of an English Gentleman.  

BLack Don de Negro fears that I will be  
A sharer in his ●…ty Venery  
He doth believe that in his absence I  
Invoke his devil to Adultery,  
When (Heaven knows) 'tis such a Creature, no●…  
But one that doubts the Resurrection  
Would meddle with, a face Men fly in drink,  
Whose eyes are Torches, and whose veins ●…un 〈◊〉  
A thing that sure some Succubus hath nursed,  
And only waits the hour of Go ye cursed.  
Yet this strange muddy medley of things horrid,  
Makes Don doubt horns upon his woollen forehead  
And I must be the object of his doubt,  
I tell thee Don, and all thy sable rout,  
Thou fear'it in vain; I would not (I protest)  
Add one pin feather to thy Magpies nest  
For both the Indies: many (by this light)  
Have been undone only with black and white  
Besides, he is betrayed by self-deceiving,  
That takes an armful of the devils leave.  
Dost think I'll deal in Charcoal? smack a smother▪  
And dig in one hell to deserve another?  
Or will I leave my lovely Pol●…ie  
With all her Virgin sweets, to sweep thy Chymnie?  
Dost think I'll ●…ine thy Buck●…m with my Tissue?  
And contribute unto thy chequered Issue?  
To fright the Midwife with a womb that swells  
With a stripped stripling armed in Tortoise shells?  
And in a time where Reformation hath  
Made Venery as venial as the Bath?  
Dost think I'll have my 〈◊〉 look like a Leper?  
Like Snow and Gunpowder? or Salt and Pepper?  
I hate that hand of Cards, where he that rubs  
Hath nothing dealt him but the ten of Clubbs.  
Shall I pollute my Limbs with an embrace  
For a pied Ki●…ling with a dappled face?  
A Cradle full of twilight? prirt and Margin?  
A Coat parte-per-fess, sable and argent?  
A speckled spawn? joy twisted with disaster?  
Or je●… concorporate with Alabaster?  
Forbear thy frantic follies, thou mayst be  
●…ooner persuaded I could bed with thee.  
Can thy ambitious fears think any one  
Would taste of that which thou hast blown upon?  
Decline these doubts: when 〈…〉  
With a conjuncti●…e generating postu●…, (〈◊〉,  
The pregnan●… womb of Wolves shall bring forth  
The robbing 〈…〉  
Of rocking Bears shall (against 〈…〉)  
Embrace the 〈…〉.  
When we do mix in a ●…real 〈◊〉.  
The late dead ●…ng and 〈…〉  
In Westminster Religion shall 〈◊〉  
The lofry longings of a Statesman's Soul.    

An Epitaph on a Prisoner for Debt, who died of Fever in the Counter.  

HEre falls the trophy of a rich man's pride,  
Who by a Creditor was crucified:  
The Goal became his Cross, a Fever's flashes  
Designed his Death, his Altar, and his Ashes:  
Therefore a Gamester lies under this Tile,  
To whom the Counter proved both Cross and Pyle    

A Bull made Sense.  

AS Three were walking by a Hedge, one cries  
I spy a cluster of red Blackberries.  
The second laughed, the third (in his defence)  
Said he would justify it to be Sense,  
And with this Question gravely steps between  
Are not Blackberries red when they are green?    

On Cavaliers wearing of much Ribbon.  

WOuld you know why sequestered Cavaliers  
(Like Haberdashers shops that vent small wares)  
Wear so much Ribbon? Who before were forced  
To fly from Naseby ragged and unhorsed?  
The State took care for them that since their fall,  
They should be dressed in Haberdashers-hall.    

A Congratulatory to the bountiful Lover of the Liberal Sciences, Sir THOMAS PRESTWICH Baronet.  

BRight Beam of honour, in whose worth and w●…  
The ravished ruins of the Muses sit;  
If wishes winged with the felicious flight  
Of nimble numbers may create delight,  
Or if this composition may set forth  
The zeal of one that hath more will then worth,  
●…uspend your approbation, and you'll see  
How much my Lo●…e exceeds my Poetry.  
Heroic thoughts inflame your soul; may no  
Affronts afflict you wheresoever you go:  
All that is mixed in Consolations dish,  
What studious man can think, or we can wish,  
Crown all your Contemplations; may the sky  
With fattest favours fill your Treasury:  
Honour embalm your Name, and may your fall  
Make you rebound to joys Aethereal.  
May all the happiness that can be due  
To a redeemed Spirit wait on you.  
Love be your Manuductor; may the tears  
Of Penitence free you from future fears.  
Divinity direct your wary ways,  
And guard you from the forth of bad men's praise.  
These wishes issue from the soul of one  
Who means you more than he can think upon.    

To Coll. Washington, on his word Away with't, &c▪ Composed in 1643.  

COme Gentlemen Away with't, stand t'your Arms  
In wa●… the valiant prove most free from harms  
The Rear's not more secure than is the Van;  
Death doth not always meet the foremost Man:  
What would become of me then, who did ne'er  
Bring up the Front to fall into the Rear,  
Like some wise Leader; who can well endure  
The Guns to quarrel whilst they stand secure?  
Who fain would purchase honour if they durst.  
He that Commands in chief should be served first,  
And so will I be, though the field be set  
With Henbane, Wormwood, deadly Acconi●…,  
Or what soever comes terrible to fright  
The Feeling, Hearing, Tasting, Sent, or Sight.  
My word's Away with't: if you'll know the Cause.  
'Tis this, it comprehends my Martial Laws:  
Let not a Soldier dare (that bears a Gun)  
Having received his weekly pay, to run  
Away with't, lest the Marshal (armed with death)  
Stop (both at once) his running and his Breath  
Let 〈◊〉 a soldier from a Townsmans' grass  
Drive forth a Lamb, or Sheep; he shall not pass  
Away with't, lest he suffer that, and more  
(If more can be) than his Comrade before:  
Let not a Soldier in his Quarters break  
A Trunk or Chest for gold; he shall not sneak  
Away with't; 'tis his Majesty's intent  
〈◊〉 should command an honest Regiment.  
But (hear me soldiers) if you sack a Town  
That is in opposition to the Crown,  
And in their bags or Cabinets do know  
Where Plate and Jewels are, I'll bid ye go  
Away-withed: 'tis no more th●… su●…um 〈◊〉  
To pillage them that come to Plunder us:  
If you find Linen, Woollen, Swords and Knives,  
Or any thing, but their unuseful wives,  
Away with't: but you sots that do encl●…e  
To pillage Cellars of their Beer and Wine,  
Take heed of Ratsbane, such fair baits are se●…  
To tempt your Palates, and you'll hardly ge●…  
Away with't: if ye find Powder and Match,  
●…ikes, Musquers, Bullets, with all quick dispatch  
Away with't, load the Cart, when all is done,  
〈◊〉 march Away with it, quoth Washington,    

On 〈◊〉 ●…-Precher.  

Went the other day to see a Layman  
Ascend the Pulpit (some say 'twas a Dray-ma●…▪  
〈◊〉 in his Prayers he made (as ●…me believed)  
〈◊〉 hundred sev●…ral faces: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
●…o see him so, for (i●… he w●… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉)  
●…ey were no 〈◊〉▪ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.    

To the great lover and protector of Honour and Sciences Sir Henry Newton Knight, etc.  

SIR, I salute your Candour, and commit  
These courser Compositions to your Wit:  
All that I can commend unto your youth  
And abler skill, is this, That they are truth:  
Much Learning and Humanity we see  
Doth issue from your ingenuity.  
Vice is your Enemy, and there doth flow  
Nothing but worth from your Seraglio;  
Excellent Sir, I know you use to sip  
Much of the Muses fair good-fellowship,  
Leander and loved Hero's Life and Death,  
With all the Verse since Queen Elizabeth,  
Lists not the front of fancy up so high  
As you can when your Genius will comply.  
All that is Excellently, Good, and New,  
Pious and profitable, chaste, and true,  
You have an interest in, y'are one of those  
That love all worth which men e'er spoke in Prose.  
Reason and all the rules of Art have taught  
You to excel in things above my thought.  
The figure of your fame deserves to grow  
Green in the leaves of Michael Angelo,  
Xeuxes, or great Apelles. I shall then  
Conclude, and leave you to a nobler Pen.     

EPISTLES Quaint, And COMPENDIOUS.  

To a Lady of most Excellent Perfections.  
Honoured Madam,  
PErmit the humblest of your faithful servants, to invade your sacred retirements with a few expressions proceeding from the white verity of a Genius, made eloquent only by your Excellence: I will not enter into a commendation of your Beauty, because it is so high a degree above my Rhetoric, that to attempt it, were as vain as to wash white the snow-crowned hills of Italy; or cast Vermilion upon Roses. To give a character of your swift wit, sober judgement, curious fancy, and capacious intellect, with a rough draught from my rude Pencil, were as impertinent and impossible, as to discover the Sun in his Meridian with the bashful rays of a wax candle: I shall therefore (in glories of this kind) convert all expression to admiration.  
But if you will believe that your Excellencies have wrought in me delights of such a ravishing nature, that they exceed all temporal felicity, and that you dare extend your favours to one who loves you next to his Relion, that would esteem it greater honour to serve you, then to command both the Indies, and all things else in the world which that treasure can purchase, vouchsafe the cordial encouragements of your literal returns, and felicious presence, to  
(Madam) The humblest of your Admirers.   

To a young Lady from a Gent. whose Parents commanded him to desist from loving.  
Madam,  
THat I was once your Servant, and that your virtue was the object of my sincere devotion, is so fair a verity, that I shall never blush to acknowledge it; nor is there any intervenient evil on yours or my part, that can claim the cruel privilege to mortify your merit or myaffection: but since we all live within the circumscription of God and Nature, I must take leave (sadly) to tell you that I am constrained to let obediential fear, nullify nuptial love; and that no less a power then what doth solely sway divine and humane actions, could have put so unwelcome a period to our little less than perfect unity; my parent and my natural alliance being the only hindrance, which I beseech you (in your native clemency so to consider) that if ever you untie your tongue to tell the story of our successless Loves, you may not prove too rigorous in the mention of him, who (at a sacred distance) shall ever remain,  
(Madam) Your penitent servant.   

To a virtuous Gentlewoman immediately after the first sight.  
Worthy Lady,  
ALthough I am a stranger to your person, and may justly allow you liberty, to wonder at my present confidence, yet I have some assurance that when time & truth shall permit me, to manifest the motive which hath induced me to this amorous incivility, you will 〈◊〉 my aims and ends are noble, as this Gentleman (●…yed Friend) is further able to inform you; to 〈◊〉 ●…ndoubted fidelity, if you dare communicate the m●…ns when, where, and how I shall wait on you, that we may a little entertain the interchange of chaste discourse, I do not doubt but that I shall give you such a testimony of a fair union begun betwixt your immaculate merit, and my clear affection, that (in the lowest sense) you cannot confess me less than  
(Madam) The devoutest Honourer of your virtue.   

To a Lady that had heard an evil rumour of her servants Fame.  
Dearest,  
ENvy and detraction are so much devoted enemies to Love and Virtue, that the pious practices of Princes, nor the most religious leagues of Lovers, could be ever constantly free from their contagion; but where an holy unity is cordially contracted with a righteous interchange of faith, and loyal promises, their mischeif●… are as ineffectual as arrows against Adamant. It is in you (my Dear) to apply this: and to consider the violent indignities of my accusers, whose sly slanders (though causeless) aim at the utter dissolution of your Love and my Lovalty, which I would preserve inviolate with all my faculties of Soul and Body: for (without any ostentation) I dare assure you, that the Pelican loves her young (whose heartblood is their aliment) with less affection than I do you: nor can the indulgent Loadstone prefer its cold devotion to the North beyond my constancy to you; which is so truly fervent, that when the whole world is consumed to cinders, the divinity of my Affection will still be burning; and confess me then, what I am now,.  
(Lady) The faithfullest of your humble servants.   

To a Lady after her father had banished him from her presence.  
Much honoured Madam,  
ALthough the prudent curiosity of your Parent hath (at the present for a season) set a period to my personal solic tations, I hope (without the breach of obedience in you, or violation of civil manners in me) I may visit your virtuous solitude with some pertinent repetitions of my devoted service. To say I love you, or how much I love you, were a tautology injurious to your fidelity: I have already insisted upon that, as much as I can speak, though less than I can act, I must confess your perfections are so magnetical, that I can compare this instant banishment to nothing less violent than the pains of hell to purchase heaven: yet if the severity of this trial may add one Cubit to your faith, and intimate to your intellect what I have (with so much reiteration) vowed, I shall grow proud of that Laurel that so crowns my sufferings. In a word, although I assume not that serenity of judgement, perfection of person, activity of wit, dignity of Birth, multiplicity of Riches, as many which make your vertute the object of their devotion, yet I dare measure Love with the largest pretender; but I see what I intended only for a breviate, is almost swelled to a large Epistle. I shall therefore conclude, desiring (if your love and leisure will permit) that (at this distance) I may kiss your fair hand in some few lines of pardon. It will very much relieve the imprisoned spirits of him who would willingly relinquish all styles of honour for the beloved title of  
(Madam) Your sincere servant.   

To a Noble Lady.  
Honoured Madam,  
SUffer the sworn servant to your virtue, to return this mean manifestation of his gratitude, in answer to those noble favours which he received in the honour of your late visit, when a companied with your virtuous kinswoman, whose perfections cannot fully be expressed in one Language. I must confess Mada●… that the hours which then I spent in your sweet society, were attended with so much innocent felicity that I cannot but suppose them effectual enough to redeem all the misspent minutes I have cast away since my creation; and that him whom you shall make happy in a nuptial obligation, hath found a sufficient Antidote against all Adversities.  
I am truly sorry to discover, by sad experience, that duty and affection flow in several channels, and that love and obedience (two such supreme virtues) should move in opposition to each other; although I must acknowledge your free and favourable expressions relish of a clear spirit accomplished with much love and honour, and one whom the rigour of my destiny hath thought I fear too mighty for me. But since the fury of misfortune hath sentenced my affection to flame at the stake of such merciless Allegiance, let me but remain a martyr in your memory, and I shall kiss the cruelty. These are the solitary contemplations of  
(Madam) Your faithful suffering servant,   

A return of thanks to a Virtuous Lady.  
Dear Lady,  
I Am so sensible of those numerous civilities which the freedom of your noble nature so liberally extended in the gracious entertainment of my friends & myself so unprovoked by any merit in us, that I should have thought it an ingratitude out of the l●…st of pardon, not to have returned our acknowledgement, acceptance, and thanks. I should be very frequent in my personal visits, did not something (though of a lower Nature, which cannot be neglected, as I have already informed you) prove an impediment, at the present, but shall stand upon the arrear of satisfaction, when opportunity and I are grown better acquainted. The liberty you allow me to exercise my Pen in the Expression of an Affection, that deserveth larger Language, doth somewhat mitigate the severity of this ungentle separation, and gives me the much desired advantage of kissing your f●…r hand at a distance. I do very much congratula●…e the Compliance of our affections, and cherish myself with hope that they will walk hand in hand to eternity, not doub●…ing of God's benediction, because you are guided by the sober rules of your parents counsels: I beseech you pardon the absurdities of this hasty letter, and measure not the length of my Love by the lownes of my langu●…ge, but consider that there is least art where there is most ●…ffection. Such are the humble concept●…ons of him whom nothing can make so pardonably proud, as the pr●…viledge of being  
(Madam) Your sole devoted servant.   

To the worthiest of Ladies.  
Virtuous Madam,  
YOu will find by this enclosed Poem, what are the hourly objects of my contemplation. I cannot call my best thought good, when you are not concerned in it. Your are so truly virtuous, that I mix you with my prayer, and find it an excellent means to exalt my devotion.  

All joys attend you; May your virtues be  
Beatified with true felicit:  
Nothing surprise your spirits, but the bright  
Eternal tapers of Lo●…'s sacred Light.  
No ill approach your presence: May your Name  
Live in the royal register of ●…ame,  
Excuse these Ryhmes, and credit him that can  
Love you in Prose better than any man.   
You will fear I flatter, because your m●…desty will not let you own such truths as proclaim your perfections. If you dare meet mi●…flame w●…th equal ●…dency, & lay by the old man's musty a 〈◊〉, you shall s●…n find (by my actions) the clarity of my intentions. I pray forget not (that which is every m●…e in my memory) our next meeting in the Park, where (if you please) we will conclude such a conjunction, that silver shall not separate: till there, I remain.  
(Madam) Your Loyal Honourer.   

To a beautiful Lady for a second sight.  
Noble Lady,  
THe lustre of your late presence doth yet remain so bright in my happy memory, and your incomparable wit hath left so harmonious a relish in the ear of my intellect, that (if it may consort with civility) I should desire to be honoured with the felicity of a second interview, especially at such a season when your will and leisure may hold correspondency.  
I must confess my rudeness may be the object of your reproof, but the serenity of my intentions must needs be the subje●…t of your pardon: If you will honour me so far as to kiss your fair hand in a few lines (thus remote) I shall put it in the list of my greatest engagements, and extract esp●…cial motives to hope that I cannot miscall my affection, when I do honour myself with the subscription of  
(Fair Lady) Your humblest servant.   

To a witty Gentlewoman who commanded him to provide her an ginger.  
Madam,  
SInce I received the honour of your commands, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by so much interest into your privacies, I have been very industrious to accomplish your wishes. I have sought that man out to whom the book of destiny is never shut, One that hath made discovery of all things since the Chaos, and can musier up each public and private transaction that shall re●…te to Religion, State, Love, or Trade, every minute betwixt this and the world's inflammation.  
He doth not only know all the Houses, but (by a late purchase) hath made himself Lord of the Manor. He hath as much familiarit●… with the Stars as you have with your jewels, and (without doubt) will very readily resolve the pretty mystery which you intent to propound, provided that your Ladyship will be pleased to send me a convenient warning of your approach, that so nothing may be wanting or unready in him that shall curse the Conjurer and all his constellations, if he do not demonstrate to you that I am  
(Lady) The best of your servants.   

To a Lady upon separation.  
Virtuous Madam,  
TO tell you how greatly I am grieve●… for our late unlooked for separation, is much too large for your saith and my expression. I should declare more of truth than fancy, to let you know that nothing else can equal it, but the divorce of soul and body.  
This unkind disunion hath (at one stroke) not only set you at a distance from me, but my sleep and quiet: There now remaineth nothing, but that I clear myself in point of reputation, and manifest, that what is done (as relating to this unwelcome period) is as utterly opposite to my expectation and affection, as Love and Usury.  
I must confess I am sincerely sorry that we had no milder arbitrators in the business of our fortunes, and am troubled that your Father's curiosity was answered with so much nicety. I have assumed the forbidden privilege to tell you this, that hereafter my reputation may stand upright in your opinion, when time and your better proposals shall lessen the value of my love in your affection. And since I am (like the ●…ble of Tantalus) cast away in the very harb●… of gl●…mmering happiness, I will never again make my way through Dust and Ashes to Love and Beauty. If you please to honour me with some small Scripture (in answer of this disordered composition) you will somewhat alleviate the misery of him, who is hardly restrained from cursing those causes that will Eclipse the title of  
(Madam) Your sorrowful servant.   

Ad Amicum suum Tho. Jordan. Datae vigessimo primo die Octobris.  
MIror equidem nec immerito (poetarum praestantissimum) fronte, nec lingua, nec calamo, huc usque tibi notum ut mihi offer as, tanta tua opera tam insignia melio●…i omnino Patrocinatori digna, de quibus verior ne olim dicunt, indigne dedicasti sed quid retribuere nescio, vel qua oratione ea perstringere, quod non sum cogitando: eloquium vile existimo, ubi beneficium excepi; Et tibi praecipue, nunc dideci, idque nuperrime tuis carminibus praecipue, sed etiam & ab amicis t●…i nominis famaeque splendorem, tam late ubique disseminari ut ignavissimum quemquam in tantam tuae e●…cellentiae admirationem inducat: vel invitè literas congratulatorias extorquere possit, teque hisce literis admirationis meae t●…em facerem non possum fateor egregias tuas dotes, tam graphicè depingere concessit vero deus nobis praecordia retribuendi, quod aliquatinus meritis tuis respondeat, sed facultas deest. Vero dico, & iterum atque iterum dico Musas tuas amo etiam & veneror; Nam profectò me judice, nihil tantum voluptatis hominibus administrare possit, quantum mentis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quae dominum suum vere divitem reddunt, & foelicem, sed de his satis, cetera reffero, donec me foelicem optata tua societate reddas. Vale. Deus Opt. Max. tibi & this Musis bene dicat.  
A●…us ●…uus fidelis, Henricus Stonestreet.   

To his Learned and ingenious friend Mr. Hen. Stonestreet.  
I Have perused (with a grateful exultation, best of patrons) your elegant Epistle, and most incomparable Encomium, wherein you have with so sublime a sense, excelled the subject, and (with such ●…nsuperable expressions) made the paraphrase exceed the Text, that the lustre of your language) I behold the enormities of my own well-intended) intrusions, with an imperfect piece so much beneath your capacity, 
Et veniam pro laude peto laudatus abunde  
Non fastiditus, si tibi Lector ero.  I must confess some of those Poems which you have wronged your patience to read, want much of their native Majesty, their easy excellence consisting in the aptitude of Musical compositions, a relish of which I pre-present to your pregnant apprehension in three Parts, to a Poem entitled, An Elegy on a good man: if it find the same effect I wish, I shall be ready (in answer of your least commands) to provide the residue, desiring (if it may not much conduce to your dishonour) we may communicate at a more favourable distance.  
I beseech you pardon the prolixity of my uncivil silence, for the interveniency of some occurrent casualties since my thankful reception of your Letters (contrary to my desires) have obstructed the celerity of my returns. I am very much pleased with the artful composition of your genuine Panegyric, so much, that if my book take its flight from the Press, I should gladly (with your allowance) wear the undeserved honour of it in the front of my whole im●…ression, but (since I cannot) I will transcribe it in my memory with indelible Characters; nor shall the least of your favours be obliterated whilst my hand is able to subscribe,  
SIR, Your humble servant THO. JORDAN.