HIS NOBLE NUMBERS: OR, HIS PIOUS PIECES, Wherein (amongst other things) he sings the Birth of his CHRIST: and sighs for his Saviour's suffering on the Cross.  HESIOD. 
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LONDON. Printed for John Williams, and Francis Eglesfield. 1647.   

HIS Noble Numbers: OR, His pious Pieces.  

His Confession.  
LOok how our foul Days do exceed our fair;  
And as our bad, more than our good Works are:  
Even so those Lines, penned by my wanton Wit,  
Triple the number of these good I've writ.  
Things precious are least numerous: Men are prone  
To do ten Bad, for one Good Action.   

His Prayer for Absolution.  
FOr Those my unbaptized Rhimes,  
Writ in my wild unhallowed Times;  
For every sentence, clause and word,  
That's not inlaid with Thee, (my Lord)  
Forgive me God, and blot each Line  
Out of my Book, that is not Thine.  
But if, 'mongst all, thou findest here one  
Worthy thy Benediction;  
That One of all the rest, shall be  
The Glory of my Work, and Me,   

To find God.  
WEigh me the Fire; or, canst thou find  
A way to measure out the Wind;  
Distinguish all those Floods that are  
Mixed in that watery Theatre;  
And taste thou them as saltlesse there,  
As in their Channel first they were.  
Tell me the People that do keep  
Within the Kingdoms of the Deep;  
Or fetch me back that Cloud again,  
Beshivered into seeds of Rain;  
Tell me the motes, dust, sands, and spears  
Of Corn, when Summer shakes his ears;  
Show me that world of Stars, and whence  
They noiselesse spill their Influence:  
This if thou canst; then show me Him  
That rides the glorious Cherubin.   

What God is.  
GOD is above the sphere of our esteem,  
And is the best known, not defining Him.   

Upon God.  
GOD is not only said to be  
An Ens, but Supraentitie.   

Mercy and Love.  
GOD hath two wings, which He doth ever move,  
The one is Mercy, and the next is Love:  
Under the first the Sinners ever trust;  
And with the last he still directs the Just.   

God's Anger without Affection.  
GOD when He's angry here with any one,  
His wrath is free from perturbation;  
And when we think His looks are sour and grim▪  
The alteration is in us, not Him.   

God not to be comprehended.  
'TIs hard to find God, but to comprehend  
Him, as He is, is labour without end.   

God's part.  
PRayers and Praises are those spotless two  
Lambs, by the Law, which God requires as due.   

Affliction.  
GOD ne'er afflicts us more than our desert,  
Though He may seem to overact His part:  
Sometimes He strikes us more than flesh can bear;  
But yet still less than Grace can suffer here.   

Three fatal Sisters.  
THree fatal Sisters wait upon each sin;  
First, Fear and Shame without, than Gild within.   

Silence.  
SUffer thy legs, but not thy tongue to walk:  
God, the most Wise, is sparing of His talk.   

Mirth.  
TRue mirth resides not in the smiling skin:  
The sweetest solace is to act no sin.   

Loading and unloading.  
GOD loads, and unloads, (thus His work gins)  
To load with blessings, and unload from sins.   

God's Mercy.  
GOD'S boundless mercy is (to sinful man)  
Like to the ever-wealthy Ocean:  
Which though it sends forth thousand streams, 'tis ne'er  
Known, or else seen to be the emptier:  
And though it takes all in, 'tis yet no more  
Full, and fild-full, then when fulfilled before.   

Prayers must have Poise.  
GOD He rejects all Prayers that are sleight,  
And want their Poise: words ought to have their weight.   

To God: an Anthem, sung in the Chapel at White-Hall, before the King.  

Verse.  
MY God, I'm wounded by my sin,  
And sore without, and sick within:   

Ver. Chor.  
I come to Thee, in hope to find  
Salve for my body, and my mind.   

Verse.  
In Gilead though no Balm be found,  
To ease this smart, or cure this wound;   

Ver. Chor.  
Yet, Lord, I know there is with Thee  
All saving health, and help for me.   

Verse.  
Then reach Thou forth that hand of Thine,  
That powers in oil, as well as wine.   

Ver. Chor.  
And let it work, for I'll endure  
The utmost smart, so Thou wilt cure.    

Upon God.  
GOD is all forepart; for, we never see  
Any part backward in the Deity.   

Calling, and correcting.  
GOD is not only merciful, to call  
Men to repent, but when He strikes withal.   

No escaping the scourging.  
GOD scourgeth some severely, some He spares;  
But all in smart have less, or greater shares.   

The Rod.  
GOds Rod doth watch while men do sleep; & then  
The Rod doth sleep, while vigilant are men.   

God has a twofold part.  
GOD when for sin He makes His Children smart,  
His own He acts not, but another's part:  
But when by stripes He saves them, then 'tis known,  
He comes to play the part that is His own.   

God is One.  
GOD, as He is most Holy known;  
So He is said to be most One.   

Persecutions profitable.  
AFflictions they most profitable are  
To the beholder, and the sufferer:  
Bettering them both, but by a double strain,  
The first by patience, and the last by pain.   

To God.  
DO with me, God as Thou didst deal with john,  
(Who writ that heavenly Revelation)  
Let me (like him) first cracks of thunder hear;  
Then let the Harps enchantments strike mine ear;  
Here give me thorns; there, in thy Kingdom, set  
Upon my head the golden coronet;  
There give me day; but here my dreadful night:  
My sackcloth here; but there my Stole of white.   

Whips.  
GOD has his whips here to a twofold end,  
The bad to punish, and the good t'amend.   

God's Providence.  
IF all transgressions here should have their pay,  
What need there then be of a reckoning day:  
IF God should punish no sin, here, of men,  
His Providence who would not question then?   

Temptation.  
THose Saints, which God loves best,  
The Devil tempts not lest.   

His Ejaculation to God.  
MY God look on me with thine eye  
Of pity, not of scrutiny;  
For if thou dost, thou then shalt see  
Nothing but loathsome sores in me.  
O then! for mercy's sake, behold  
These my eruptions manifold;  
And heal me with thy look, or touch:  
But if thou wilt not deign so much,  
Because I'm odious in thy sight,  
Speak but the word, and cure me quite.   

God's gifts not soon granted.  
GOD hears us when we pray, but yet defers  
His gifts, to exercise Petitioners:  
And though a while He makes Requesters stay,  
With Princely hand He'll recompense delay.   

Persecutions purify.  
GOD strikes His Church, but 'tis to this intent,  
To make, not mar her, by this punishment:  
So where He gives the bitter Pills, be sure,  
'Tis not to poison, but to make thee pure.   

Pardon.  
GOD pardons those, who do through frailty sin;  
But never those that persevere therein.   

An Ode of the Birth of our Saviour.  

1.  
IN Numbers, and but these few,  
I sing Thy Birth, Oh JESUS!  
Thou pretty Baby, borne here,  
With sup'rabundant scorn here:  
Who for Thy Princely Port here,  
Hadst for Thy place  
Of Birth, a base  
Out-stable for thy Court here.   

2.  
Instead of neat Enclosures  
Of inter-woven Osiers;  
Instead of fragrant Posies  
Of Daffodils, and Roses;  
Thy cradle, Kingly Stranger,  
As Gospel tells,  
Was nothing else,  
But, here, a homely manger.   

3.  
But we with Silks, (not Cruells)  
With sundry precious Jewels,  
And Lilly-work will dress Thee;  
And as we dispossess thee  
Of clouts, we'll make a chamber,  
Sweet Babe, for Thee,  
Of Ivory,  
And plastered round with Amber.   

4.  
The Jews they did disdain Thee,  
But we will entertain Thee  
With Glories to await here  
Upon Thy Princely State here,  
And more for love, than pity.  
From year to year  
we'll make Thee, here,  
A Freeborn of our City.    

Lip-labour.  
IN the old Scripture I have often read,  
The calf without meal ne'er was offered;  
To figure to us, nothing more than this,  
Without the heart, lip-labour nothing is.   

The Heart.  
IN Prayer the Lips ne'er act the winning part,  
Without the sweet concurrence of the Heart.   

Earrings.  
WHy wore th' Egyptians Jewels in the Ear?  
But for to teach us, all the grace is there,  
When we obey, by acting what we hear.   

Sin seen.  
WHen once the sin has fully acted been,  
Then is the horror of the trespass seen.   

Upon Time.  

TIme was upon  
The wing, to fly away;  
And I called on  
Him but a while to stay;  
But he'd be gone,  
For aught that I could say.   

He held out then,  
A Writing, as he went;  
And asked me, when  
False man would be content  
To pay again,  
What God and Nature lent.   

An hourglass,  
In which were sands but few,  
As he did pass,  
He showed, and told me too,  
Mine end near was,  
And so away he flew.    

His Petition.  
IF war, or want shall make me grow so poor,  
As for to beg my bread from door to door;  
Lord! let me never act that beggar's part,  
Who hath thee in his mouth, not in his heart.  
He who asks alms in that so sacred Name,  
Without due reverence, plays the cheater's game.   

To God.  
THou hast promised, Lord, to be  
With me in my misery;  
Suffer me to be so bold,  
As to speak, Lord, say and hold.   

His Litany, to the Holy Spirit.  

1.  
IN the hour of my distress,  
When temptations me oppress,  
And when I my sins confess,  
Sweet Spirit comfort me!   

2.  
When I lie within my bed,  
Sick in heart, and sick in head,  
And with doubts discomforted,  
Sweet Spirit comfort me!   

3.  
When the house doth sigh and weep,  
And the world is drowned in sleep,  
Yet mine eyes the watch do keep;  
Sweet Spirit comfort me!   

4.  
When the artless Doctor fees  
No one hope, but of his Fees,  
And his skill runs on the lees;  
Sweet Spirit comfort me!   

5.  
When his Potion and his Pill,  
His, or none, or little skill,  
Meet for nothing, but to kill;  
Sweet Spirit comfort me!   

6.  
When the passing-bell doth toll,  
And the Furies in a shoal  
Come to fright a parting soul;  
Sweet Spirit comfort me!   

7.  
When the tapers now burn blue,  
And the comforters are few,  
And that number more than true;  
Sweet Spirit comfort me!   

8.  
When the Priest his last hath prayed,  
And I nod to what is said,  
'Cause my speech is now decayed;  
Sweet Spirit comfort me!   

9  
When (God knows) I'm tossed about,  
Either with despair, or doubt;  
Yet before the glass be out,  
Sweet Spirit comfort me!   

10.  
When the Tempter me pursueth  
With the sins of all my youth,  
And half damns me with untruth;  
Sweet Spirit comfort me!   

11.  
When the flames and hellish cries  
Fright mine ears, and fright mine eyes,  
And all terrors me surprise;  
Sweet Spirit comfort me!   

11.  
When the Judgement is revealed,  
And that opened which was sealed,  
When to Thee I have appealed;  
Sweet Spirit comfort me!    

Thanksgiving.  
THanksgiving for a former, doth invite  
God to bestow a second benefit.   

Cockcrow.  
BEll-man of Night, if I about shall go  
For to deny my Master, do thou crow.  
Thou stoppest S. Peter in the midst of sin;  
Stay me, by crowing, ere I do begin;  
Better it is, premonished, for to shun  
A sin, then fall to weeping when 'tis done.   

All things run well for the Righteous.  
ADverse and prosperous Fortunes both work on  
Here, for the righteous man's salvation:  
Be he opposed, or be he not withstood,  
All serve to th' Augmentation of his good.   

Pain ends in Pleasure.  
AFflictions bring us joy in times to come,  
When sins, by stripes, to us grow wearisome.   

To God.  
I'll come, I'll creep, (though Thou dost threat  
Humbly unto Thy Mercy-seat:  
When I am there, this then I'll do,  
Give Thee a Dart, and Dagger too;  
Next, when I have my faults confessed,  
Naked I'll show a sighing breast;  
Which if that can't Thy pity woo,  
Then let Thy Justice do the rest,  
And strike it through.   

A Thanksgiving to God, for his House.  
LOrd, Thou hast given me a cell  
Wherein to dwell;  
And little house, whose humble Roof  
Is weather-proof;  
Under the sparres of which I lie  
Both soft, and dry;  
Where Thou my chamber for to ward  
Hast set a Guard  
Of harmless thoughts, to watch and keep  
Me, while I sleep.  
Low is my porch, as is my Fate,  
Both void of state;  
And yet the threshold of my door  
Is worn byth' poor,  
Who thither come, and freely get  
Good words, or meat:  
Like as my Parlour, so my Hall  
And kitchen's small:  
A little Buttery, and therein  
A little Been,  
Which keeps my little loaf of Bread  
Unchipt, unflead:  
Some brittle sticks of Thorn or Briar  
Make me a fire,  
Close by whose living coal I sit,  
And glow like it  
Lord, I confess too, when I dine,  
The Pulse is Thine,  
And all those other Bits, that be  
There placed by Thee;  
The Words, the Purslain, and the Mess  
Of Water-cresse,  
Which of Thy kindness Thou hast sent;  
And my content  
Makes those, and my beloved Beet,  
To be more sweet.  
'Tis thou that crownest my glittering Hearth  
With guiltless mirth;  
And giv'st me Wassail Bowls to drink,  
Spiced to the brink.  
Lord, 'tis thy plenty-dropping hand,  
That soils my land;  
And giv'st me, for my Bushel sown,  
Twice ten for one:  
Thou makest my teeming Hen to lay  
Her egg each day:  
Besides my healthful Ewes to bear  
Me twins each year:  
The while the conduits of my Kine  
Run Cream, (for Wine.)  
All these, and better Thou dost send  
Me, to this end,  
That I should render, for my part,  
A thankful heart;  
Which, fired with incense, I resign,  
As wholly Thine;  
But the acceptance, that must be,  
My Christ, by Thee.   

To God.  
MAke, make me Thine, my gracious God,  
Or with thy staff, or with thy rod;  
And be the blow too what it will,  
Lord, I will kiss it, though it kill:  
Beat me, bruise me, rack me, rend me,  
Yet, in torments, I'll commend Thee:  
Examine me with fire, and prove me  
To the full, yet I will love Thee:  
Nor shalt thou give so deep a wound,  
But I as patiented will be found.   

Another, to God.  
LOrd, do not beat me,  
Since I do sob and cry,  
And swowne away to die,  
Ere Thou dost threat me.  
Lord, do not scourge me,  
If I by lies and oaths  
Have soiled myself, or ,  
But rather purge me.   

None truly happy here.  
HAppy's that man, to whom God gives  
A stock of Goods, whereby he lives  
Near to the wishes of his heart:  
No man is blest through every part.   

To his everloving God.  
CAn I not come to Thee, my God, for these  
So very-many-meeting hindrances,  
That slack my pace; but yet not make me stay?  
Who slowly goes, rids (in the end) his way.  
Clear Thou my paths, or shorten Thou my miles,  
Remove the bars, or lift me o'er the styles:  
Since rough the way is, help me when I call,  
And take me up; or else prevent the fall.  
I kenn my home; and it affords some ease,  
To see far off the smoking Villages.  
Fain would I rest; yet covet not to die,  
For fear of future-biting penury:  
No, no, (my God) Thou knowst my wishes be  
To leave this life, not loving it, but Thee.   

Another.  
THou bidst me come; I cannot come; for why,  
Thou dwellest aloft, and I want wings to fly.  
To mount my Soul, she must have pinions given;  
For, 'tis no easy way from Earth to Heaven.   

To Death.  
THou bidst me come away,  
And I'll no longer stay,  
Then for to shed some tears  
For faults of former years;  
And to repent some crimes,  
Done in the present times:  
And next, to take a bit  
Of Bread, and Wine with it;  
To don my robes of love,  
Fit for the place above;  
To gird my loins about  
With charity throughout;  
And so to travail hence  
With feet of innocence:  
These done, I'll only cry  
God mercy; and so die.   

Neutrality loathsome.  
GOD will have all, or none; serve Him, or fall  
Down before Baal, Bel, or Belial:  
Either be hot, or cold: God doth despise,  
Abhor, and spew out all Neutralities.   

Welcome what comes.  
WHatever comes, let's be content withal:  
Among God's Blessings, there is no one small.   

To his angry God.  

THrough all the night  
Thou dost me fright.  
And hold'st mine eyes from sleeping;  
And day, by day,  
My Cup can say,  
My wine is mixed with weeping.   

Thou dost my bread  
With ashes knead,  
Each evening and each morrow:  
Mine eye and ear  
Do see, and hear  
The coming in of sorrow.   

Thy scourge of steel,  
(Ay me!) I feel,  
Upon me beating ever:  
While my sick heart  
With dismal smart  
Is disacquainted never.   

Long, long, I'm sure,  
This can't endure;  
But in short time 'twill please Thee,  
My gentle God,  
To burn the rod,  
Or strike so as to ease me.    

Patience, or Comforts in Crosses.  
ABundant plagues I late have had,  
Yet none of these have made me sad:  
For why, my Saviour, with the sense  
Of suffering gives me patience.   

Eternity.  

1  
O Years! and Age! Farewell:  
Behold I go,  
Where I do know  
infinity to dwell.   

2  
And these mine eyes shall see  
All times, how they  
Are lost i'th' Sea  
Of vast Eternity.   

3  
Where never Moon shall sway  
The Stars; but she,  
And Night, shall be  
Drowned in one endless Day.    

To his Saviour, a Child; a Present, by a child.  
GO pretty child, and bear this Flower  
Unto thy little Saviour;  
And tell Him, by that Bud now blown,  
He is the Rose of Sharon known:  
When thou hast said so, stick it there  
Upon his Bibb, or Stomacher:  
And tell Him, (for good handsel too)  
That thou hast brought a Whistle new,  
Made of a clean straight oaten reed,  
To charm his cries, (at time of need:)  
Tell Him, for Coral, thou hast none;  
But if thou hadst, He should have one;  
But poor thou art, and known to be  
Even as moneyless, as Herald  
Lastly, if thou canst win a kiss  
From those mellifluous lips of his;  
Then never take a second on,  
To spoil the first impression.   

The Newyears Gift.  
LEt others look for Pearl and Gold,  
Tissues, or Tabbies manifold:  
One only lock of that sweet Hay  
Whereon the blessed Baby lay,  
Or one poor Swadling-clout, shall be  
The richest Newyears Gift to me.   

To God.  
IF any thing delight me for to print  
My Book, 'tis this; that Thou, my God, art in't.   

God, and the King.  
HOw am I bound to Two! God, who doth give  
The mind; the King, the means whereby I live.   

God's mirth, Man's mourning.  
WHere God is merry, there writ down thy fears:  
What He with laughter speaks, hear thou with tears.   

Honour's are hindrances.  
GIve me Honours: what are these,  
But the pleasing hindrances?  
Styles, and stops, and stays, that come  
In the way 'twixt me, and home:  
Clear the walk, and then shall I  
To my heaven less run, then fly.   

The Parasceve, or Preparation.  
TO a Lovefeast we both invited are:  
The figured Damask, or pure Diaper,  
Over the golden Altar now is spread,  
With Bread, and Wine, and Vessels furnished;  
The sacred Towel, and the holy Ewer  
Are ready by, to make the Guests all pure:  
Let's go (my Alma) yet  we receive,  
Fit, fit it is, we have our Parasceve.  
Who to that sweet Bread unprepared doth come  
Better he starved, then but to taste one crumb.   

To God.  
GOD gives not only corn, for need,  
But likewise sup'rabundant seed;  
Bread for our service, bread for show;  
Meat for our meals, and fragments too:  
He gives not poorly, taking some  
Between the finger, and the thumb;  
But, for our glut, and for our store,  
Fine flower pressed down, and running o'er.   

A will to be working.  
ALthough we cannot turn the fervent fit  
Of sin, we must strive 'gainst the stream of it:  
And howsoe'er we have the conquest mist;  
'Tis for our glory, that we did resist.   

Christ's part.  
CHRIST, He requires still, wheresoever He comes,  
To feed, or lodge, to have the best of Rooms:  
Give Him the choice; grant Him the nobler part  
Of all the House: the best of all's the Heart.   

Riches and Poverty.  
GOD could have made all rich, or all men poor;  
But why He did not, let me tell wherefore:  
Had all been rich, where then had Patience been?  
Had all been poor, who had His Bounty seen?   

Sobriety in Search.  
TO seek of God more than we well can find,  
Argues a strong distemper of the mind.   

Alms.  
GIve, if thou canst, an Alms; if not, afford,  
Instead of that, a sweet and gentle word:  
God crowns our goodness, when He sees,  
On our part, wanting all abilities.   

To his Conscience.  
CAn I not sin, but thou wilt be  
My private Protonotary?  
Can I not woo thee to pass by  
A short and sweet iniquity?  
I'll cast a mist and cloud, upon  
My delicate transgression,  
So utter dark, as that no eye  
Shall see the hug'd impiety:  
Gifts blind the wise, and bribes do please,  
And wind all other witnesses:  
And wilt not thou, with gold; be tied  
To lay thy pen and ink aside?  
That in the murky and tongueless night,  
Wanton I may, and thou not write?  
It will not be: And, therefore, now,  
For times to come, I'll make this Vow,  
From aberrations to live free;  
So I'll not fear the Judge, or thee.   

To his Saviour.  
LORD, I confess, that Thou alone art able  
To purify this my Augean stable:  
Be the Seas water, and the Land all Soap,  
Yet if Thy Blood not wash me, there's no hope.   

To God.  
GOD is all-sufferance here; here He doth show  
No Arrow nockt, only a stringless Bow:  
His Arrows fly; and all his stones are hurled  
Against the wicked, in another world.   

His Dream.  
I Dreamt, last night, Thou didst transfuse  
Oil from Thy Jarre, into my creuze;  
And pouring still, Thy wealthy store,  
The vessel full, did then run over:  
Me thought, I did Thy bounty chide,  
To see the waste; but 'twas replied  
By Thee, Dear God, God gives man seed  
Oft-times for waist, as for his need.  
Then I could say, that house is bare,  
That has not bread, and some to spare.   

God's Bounty.  
GOds Bounty, that ebbs less and less,  
As men do wane in thankfulness.   

To his sweet Saviour.  
NIght hath no wings, to him that cannot sleep;  
And Time seems then, not for to fly, but creep;  
Slowly her chariot drives, as if that she  
Had broke her wheel, or cracked her axletree.  
Just so it is with me, who listening, pray  
The winds, to blow the tedious night away;  
That I might see the cheerful peeping day.  
Sick is my heart; O Saviour! do Thou please  
To make my bed soft in my sicknesses:  
Lighten my candle, so that I beneath  
Sleep not for ever in the vaults of death:  
Let me Thy voice betimes i'th' morning hear;  
Call, and I'll come; say Thou, the when, and where:  
Draw me, but first, and after Thee I'll run,  
And make no one stop, till my race be done.   

His Creed.  
I Do believe, that die I must,  
And be returned from out my dust:  
I do believe, that when I rise,  
Christ I shall see, with these same eyes:  
I do believe, that I must come,  
With others, to the dreadful Doom:  
I do believe, the bad must go  
From thence, to everlasting woe:  
I do believe, the good, and I,  
Shall live with Him eternally:  
I do believe, I shall inherit  
Heaven, by Christ's mercies, not my merit:  
I do believe, the One in Three,  
And Three in perfect Unity:  
Lastly, that JESUS is a Deed  
Of Gift from God: And here's my Creed.   

Temptations.  
Temptation's hurt not, though they have access:  
Satan o'ercomes none, but by willingness.   

The Lamp.  
WHen a man's Faith is frozen up, as dead;  
Then is the Lamp and oil extinguished.   

Sorrows.  
Sorrows our portion are: Ere hence we go,  
Crosses we must have; or, hereafter woe.   

Penitency.  
A Man's transgression God does then remit,  
When man he makes a Penitent for it.   

The Dirge of Jephthahs' Daughter: sung by the Virgins.  

1  
O Thou, the wonder of all days!  
O Paragon, and Pearl of praise!  
O Virgin-martyr, ever blest  
Above the rest  
Of all the Maiden-Traine! We come,  
And bring fresh strew to thy Tomb.   

2  
Thus, thus, and thus we compass round  
Thy harmless and unhaunted Ground;  
And as we sing thy Dirge, we will  
The Daffodil,  
And other flowers, lay upon  
(The Altar of our love) thy Stone.   

3  
Thou wonder of all Maids, liest here,  
Of Daughters all, the Dearest Deer;  
The eye of Virgins; nay, the Queen  
Of this smooth Green,  
And all sweet Meads; from whence we get  
The Primrose, and the Violet.   

4  
Too soon, too dear did Jephthah buy,  
By thy sad loss, our liberty:  
His was the Bond and Covenant, yet  
Thou paid'st the debt,  
Lamented Maid! he won the day,  
But for the conquest thou didst pay.   

5  
Thy Father brought with him along  
The Olive branch, and Victor's Song:  
He slew the Ammonites, we know,  
But to thy woe;  
And in the purchase of our Peace,  
The Cure was worse than the Disease.   

6  
For which obedient zeal of thine,  
We offer here, before thy Shrine,  
Our sighs for Storax, tears for Wine;  
And to make fine,  
And fresh thy Hearse-cloth, we will, here,  
Four times bestrew thee every year.   

7  
Receive, for this thy praise, our tears:  
Receive this offering of our Hairs:  
Receive these Crystal Vials filled  
With tears, distilled  
From teeming eyes; to these we bring,  
Each Maid, her silver Filleting,   

8  
To gild thy Tomb; besides, these Cawls,  
These Laces, Ribbons, and these Faults,  
These Veils, wherewith we use to hid  
The Bashful Bride,  
When we conduct her to her Groom:  
All, all we lay upon thy Tomb.   

9  
No more, no more, since thou art dead,  
Shall we ere bring coy Brides to bed;  
No more, at yearly Festivals  
We Cowslip balls,  
Or chains of Columbines shall make,  
For this, or that occasions sake.   

10  
No, no; our Maiden-pleasures be  
Wrapped in the winding-sheet, with thee:  
'Tis we are dead, though not i'th' grave:  
Or, if we have  
One seed of life left, 'tis to keep  
A Lent for thee, to fast and weep.   

11  
Sleep in thy peace, thy bed of Spice;  
And make this place all Paradise:  
May Sweets grow here! & smoke from hence,  
Fat Frankincense:  
Let Balm, and Cassia send their scent  
From out thy Maiden-Monument.   

12  
May no Wolf howl, or Screech-owl stir  
A wing about thy Sepulchre!  
No boisterous winds, or storms, come hither,  
To starve, or whither  
Thy soft sweet Earth! but (like a spring)  
Love keep it ever flourishing.   

13  
May all  Maids, at wont hours,  
Come forth, to strew thy Tomb with flowers:  
May Virgins, when they come to mourn,  
Male-Incense burn  
Upon thine Altar! then return,  
And leave thee steeping in thy Urn.    

To God, on his sickness.  
WHat though my Harp, and Viol be  
Both hung upon the Willowtree?  
What though my bed be now my grave,  
And for my house I darkness have?  
What though my healthful days are fled,  
And I lie numbered with the dead?  
Yet I have hope, by Thy great power,  
To spring; though now a withered flower.   

Sins loathed, and yet loved.  
SHame checks our first attempts; but then 'tis proved,  
Sins first disliked, are after that belov'd.   

Sin.  
SIn leads the way, but as it goes, it feels  
The following plague still treading on his heels.   

Upon God.  
GOD when He takes my goods and chattels hence,  
Gives me a portion, giving patience:  
What is in God is God; if so it be,  
He patience gives; He giveth himself to me.   

Faith.  
WHat here we hope for, we shall once inherit:  
By Faith we all walk here, not by the Spirit.   

Humility.  
HUmble we must be, if to Heaven we go:  
High is the roof there; but the gate is low:  
When e'er thou speakest, look with a lowly eye:  
Grace is increased by humility.   

Tears.  
OUr present Tears here (not our present laughter)  
Are but the handsells of our joys hereafter.   

Sin and Strife.  
AFter true sorrow for our sins, our strife  
Must last with Satan, to the end of life.   

An Ode, or Psalm, to God.  

Dear God,  
If thy smart Rod  
Here did not make me sorry,  
I should not be  
With Thine, or Thee,  
In Thy eternal Glory.   

But since  
Thou didst convince  
My sins, by gently striking;  
Add still to those  
First stripes, new blows,  
According to Thy liking.   

Fear me,  
Or scourging tear me;  
That thus from vices driven,  
I may from Hell  
Fly up, to dwell  
With Thee, and Thine in Heaven.    

Graces for Children.  
WHat God gives, and what we take,  
'Tis a gift for Christ His sake:  
Be the meal of Beans and Pease,  
God be thanked for those, and these:  
Have we flesh, or have we fish,  
All are Fragments from His dish.  
He His Church save, and the King,  
And our Peace here, like a Spring,  
Make it ever flourishing.   

God to be first served.  
HOnour thy Parents; but good manners call  
Thee to adore thy God, the first of all.   

Another Grace for a Child.  
HEre a little child I stand,  
Heaving up my either hand;  
Cold as Paddocks though they be,  
Here I lift them up to Thee,  
For a Benison to fall  
On our meat, and on us all. Amen.   

A Christmas Caroll, sung to the King in the Presence at White-Hall.  

Chor.  
WHat sweeter music can we bring,  
Then a Carol, for to sing  
The Birth of this our heavenly King?  
Awake the Voice! Awake the String!  
Heart, Ear, and Eye, and every thing  
Awake! the while the active Finger  
Runs division with the Singer.    

From the Flourish they came to the Song.  

1  
Dark and dull night, fly hence away,  
And give the honour to this Day,  
That sees December turned to May.   

2  
If we may ask the reason, say;  
The why, and wherefore all things here  
Seem like the Springtime of the year?   

3  
Why does the chilling Winter's morn  
Smile, like a field beset with corn?  
Or smell, like to a Mead new-shorne,  
Thus, on the sudden? 4. Come and see  
The cause, why things thus fragrant be:  
'Tis He is borne, whose quickening Birth  
Gives life and lustre, public mirth,  
To Heaven, and the under-Earth.   

Chor.  
We see Him come, and know him ours,  
Who, with His Sunshine, and His showers,  
Turns all the patiented ground to flowers.   

1  
The Darling of the world is come,  
And fit it is, we find a room  
To welcome Him. 2. The nobler part  
Of all the house here, is the heart,   

Chor.  
Which we will give Him; and bequeath  
This Holly, and this Ivy Wreath,  
To do Him honour; who's our King,  
And Lord of all this Revelling.   The Musical Part was composed by M. Henry Laws.  

The Newyears Gift, or Circumcisions Song, sung to the King in the Presence at White-Hall.  

1  
PRepare for Songs; He's come, He's come;  
And be it sin here to be dumb,  
And not with Lutes to fill the room.   

2  
Cast Holy Water all about,  
And have a care no fire goes out,  
But ' cense the porch, and place throughout.   

3  
The Altars all on fire be;  
The Storax fries; and ye may see,  
How heart and hand do all agree,  
To make things sweet.  

Chor.  
Yet all less sweet than Herald    

4  
Bring Him along, most pious Priest,  
And tell us then, when as thou seest  
His gently-gliding, Dovelike eyes,  
And hearest His whimp'ring, and His cries;  
How canst thou this Babe circumcise?   

5  
Ye must not be more pitiful than wise;  
For, now unless ye see Him bleed,  
Which makes the Bapti'me; 'tis decreed,  
The Birth is fruitless:  

Chor.  
Then the work God speed.    

1  
Touch gently, gently touch; and here  
Spring Tulips up through all the year;  
And from His sacred Blood, here shed,  
May Roses grow, to crown His own dear Head.   

Chor.  
Back, back again; each thing is done  
With zeal alike, as 'twas begun;  
Now singing, homeward let us carry  
The Babe unto His Mother Marie;  
And when we have the Child commended  
To her warm bosom, than our Rites are ended.   Composed by M. Henry Laws.  

Another Newyears Gift, or Song for the Circumcision.  

1  
HEnce, hence profane, and none appear  
With any thing unhallowed, here:  
No jot of Leven must be found  
Concealed in this most holy Ground.   

2  
What is corrupt, or soured with sin,  
Leave that without, then enter in;  

Chor.  
But let no Christmas mirth begin  
Before ye purge, and circumcise  
Your hearts, and hands, lips, ears, and eyes.    

3  
Then, like a perfumed Altar, see  
That all things sweet, and clean may be:  
For, here's a Babe, that (like a Bride)  
Will blush to death, if ought be spied  
Ill-scenting, or unpurified.   

Chor.  
The room is censed: help, help t'invoke  
Heaven to come down, the while we choke  
The Temple, with a cloud of smoke.   

4  
Come then, and gently touch the Birth  
Of Him, who's Lord of Heaven and Earth;   

5  
And softly handle Him: you'd need,  
Because the pretty Babe does bleed.  
Poore-pittied Child! who from Thy Stall  
Bring'st, in Thy Blood, a Balm, that shall  
Be the best New-year's Gift to all.   

1  
Let's bless the Babe: And, as we sing  
His praise; so let us bless the King:   

Chor.  
Long may He live, till He hath told  
His Newyears trebled to His old:  
And, when that's done, to reaspire  
A newborn Phoenix from His own chaste fire.    

God's Pardon.  
WHen I shall sin, pardon my trespass here;  
For, once in hell, none knows Remission there.   

Sin.  
SIn once reached up to God's eternal Sphere,  
And was committed, not remitted there.   

Evil.  
EVill no Nature hath; the loss of good  
Is that which gives to sin a livelihood.   

The Star-Song: A Carol to the King; sung at White-Hall. The Flourish of Music: then followed the Song.  

1  
TEll us, thou clear and heavenly Tongue,  
Where is the Babe but lately sprung?  
Lies He the Lillie-banks among?   

2  
Or say, if this new Birth of ours  
Sleeps, laid within some Ark of Flowers,  
Spangled with deaw-light; thou canst clear  
All doubts, and manifest the where.   

3  
Declare to us, bright Star, if we shall seek  
Him in the Morning's blushing cheek,  
Or search the beds of Spices through,  
To find him out?  

Star.  
No, this ye need not do;  
But only come, and see Him rest  
A Princely Babe in's Mother's Breast.    

Chor.  
He's seen, He's seen, why then a Round,  
Let's kiss the sweet and holy ground;  
And all rejoice, that we have found  
A King, before conception crowned.   

4  
Come then, come then, and let us bring  
Unto our pretty Twelfth-Tide King,  
Each one his several offering;   

Chor.  
And when night comes, we'll give Him wassailing:  
And that His triple Honours may be seen,  
we'll choose Him King, and make His Mother Queen.    

To God.  
WIth golden Censers, and with Incense, here,  
Before Thy Virgin-Altar I appear,  
To pay Thee that I own, since what I see  
In, or without; all, all belongs to Thee:  
Where shall I now begin to make, for one  
Lest loan of Thine, half Restitution?  
Alas! I cannot pay a jot; therefore  
I'll kiss the Tally, and confess the score.  
Ten thousand Talents lent me, Thou dost write:  
'Tis true, my God; but I can't pay one mite.   

To his dear God.  

I'll hope no more,  
For things that will not come;  
And, if they do, they prove but cumbersome;  
Wealth brings much woe:  
And, since it fortunes so;  
'Tis better to be poor,  
Then so t'abound,  
As to be drowned,  
Or overwhelmed with store.   

Pale care, avaunt,  
I'll learn to be content  
With that small stock, Thy Bounty gave or lent.  
What may conduce  
To my most healthful use,  
Almighty God me grant;  
But that, or this,  
That hurtful is,  
Deny Thy suppliant.    

To God, his good will.  
GOld I have none, but I present my need,  
O Thou, that crownest the will, where wants the deed.  
Where Rams are wanting, or large Bullocks thighs,  
There a poor Lamb's a plenteous sacrifice.  
Take then his Vows, who, if he had it, would  
Devote to Thee, both incense, myrrh, and gold,  
Upon an Altar reared by Him, and crowned  
Both with the Ruby, Pearl, and Diamond.   

On Heaven.  
PErmit mine eyes to see  
Part, or the whole of Thee,  
O happy place!  
Where all have Grace,  
And Garlands shared,  
For their reward;  
Where each chaste Soul  
In long white stole,  
And Palms in hand,  
Do ravished stand;  
So in a ring,  
The praises sing  
Of Three in One,  
That fill the Throne;  
While Harps, and Vlolls then  
To Voices, say, Amen.   

The Sum, and the Satisfaction.  
LAst night I drew up mine Account,  
And found my Debits to amount  
To such a height, as for to tell  
How I should pay, 's impossible:  
Well, this I'll do; my mighty score  
Thy mercy-seat I'll lay before;  
But therewithal I'll bring the Band,  
Which, in full force, did daring stand,  
Till my Redeemer (on the Tree)  
Made void for millions, as for me.  
Then, if Thou bidst me pay, or go  
Unto the prison, I'll say, no;  
Christ having paid, I nothing own:  
For, this is sure, the Debt is dead  
By Law, the Bond once canceled.   

Good men afflicted most.  
GOD makes not good men wantoness, but doth bring  
Them to the field, and, there, to skirmishing;  
With trials those, with terrors these He proves,  
And hazards those most, whom the most He loves:  
For Sceva, darts; for Cocles, dangers; thus  
He finds a fire for mighty Mutius;  
Death for stout Cato; and besides all these,  
A poison too He has for Socrates;  
Torments for high Attilius; and, with want,  
Brings in Fabricius for a Combatant:  
But, bastard-slips, and such as He dislikes,  
He never brings them once to th' push of Pikes.   

Good Christians  
PLay their offensive and defensive parts,  
Till they be hid o'er with a wood of darts.   

The Will the cause of Woe.  
WHen man is punished, he is plagued still,  
Not for the fault of Nature, but of will.   

To Heaven.  
OPen thy gates  
To him, who weeping waits,  
And might come in,  
But that held back by sin.  
Let mercy be  
So kind, to set me free,  
And I will straight  
Come in, or force the gate.   

The Recompense.  
ALL I have lost, that could be rapt from me;  
And far it well: yet Herrick, if so be  
Thy Dearest Saviour renders thee but one  
Smile, that one smile's full restitution.   

To God.  
PArdon me God, (once more I Thee entreat)  
That I have placed Thee in so mean a seat,  
Where round about Thou seest but all things vain,  
Uncircumcised, unseasoned, and profane.  
But as Heaven's public and immortal Eye  
Looks on the filth, but is not soiled thereby;  
So Thou, my God, may'st on this impure look,  
But take no tincture from my sinful Book:  
Let but one beam of Glory on it shine,  
And that will make me, and my Work divine.   

To God.  
LOrd, I am like to Misletoe,  
Which has no root, and cannot grow,  
Or prosper, but by that same tree  
It clings about; so I by Thee.  
What need I then to fear at all,  
So long as I about Thee crawl?  
But if that Tree should fall, and die,  
Tumble shall heaven, and down will I.   

His wish to God.  
I Would to God, that mine old age might have  
Before my last, but here a living grave,  
Some one poor Almshouse; there to lie, or stir,  
Ghost-like, as in my meaner sepulchre;  
A little piggin, and a pipkin by,  
To hold things fitting my necessity;  
Which, rightly used, both in their time and place,  
Might me excite to fore, and after-grace.  
Thy Cross, my Christ, fixed 'fore mine eyes should be,  
Not to adore that, but to worship Thee.  
So, here the remnant of my days I'd spend,  
Reading Thy Bible, and my Book; so end.   

Satan.  
WHen we 'gainst Satan stoutly fight, the more  
He tears and tugs us, than he did before;  
Neglecting once to cast a frown on those  
Whom ease makes his, without the help of blows.   

Hell.  
HEll is no other, but a soundlesse pit,  
Where no one beam of comfort peeps in it.   

The way.  
WHen I a ship see on the Seas,  
Cuffed with those watery savages,  
And therewithal, behold, it hath  
In all that way no beaten path;  
Then, with a wonder, I confess,  
Thou art our way i'th' wilderness:  
And while we blunder in the dark,  
Thou art our candle there, or spark.   

Great grief, great glory.  
THe less our sorrows here and sufferings cease,  
The more our Crowns of Glory there increase.   

Hell.  
HEll is the place where whipping-cheer abounds,  
But no one Jailor there to wash the wounds.   

The Bellman.  
A Long the dark, and silent night,  
With my Lantern, and my Light,  
And the tinkling of my Bell,  
Thus I walk, and this I tell:  
Death and dreadfulness call on,  
To the general Session;  
To whose dismal Bar, we there  
All accounts must come to clear:  
Scores of sins  made here many,  
Wiped out few, (God knows) if any.  
Rise ye Debtors then, and fall  
To make payment, while I call.  
Ponder this, when I am gone;  
By the clock 'tis almost One.   

The goodness of his God.  

WHen Winds and Seas do rage,  
And threaten to undo me,  
Thou dost their wrath assuage,  
If I but call unto Thee.   

A mighty storm last night  
Did seek my soul to swallow,  
But by the peep of light  
A gentle calm did follow.   

What need I then despair,  
Though ills stand round about me;  
Since mischiefs neither dare  
To bark, or by't, without Thee?    

The Widow's tears: or, Dirge of Dorcas.  

1  
COme pity us, all ye, who see  
Our Harps hung on the Willowtree:  
Come pity us, ye Passers by,  
Who see, or hear poor Widow's cry:  
Come pity us; and bring your ears,  
And eyes, to pity Widow's tears.  

Chor.  
And when you are come hither;  
Then we will keep  
A Fast, and weep  
Our eyes out all together.    

2.  
For Tabytha, who dead lies here,  
Clean washed, and laid out for the Beer;  
O modest Matrons, weep and wail!  
For now the Corn and Wine must fail:  
The Basket and the Bynn of Bread,  
Wherewith so many souls were fed  

Chor.  
Stand empty here for ever:  
And ah! the Poor,  
At thy worn Door,  
Shall be relieved never.    

3.  
Woe worth the Time, woe worth the day,  
That reaved us of thee Tabytha!  
For we have lost, with thee, the Meal,  
The Bits, the Morsels, and the deal  
Of gentle Paste, and yielding Dow,  
That Thou on Widows didst bestow.  

Chor.  
All's gone, and Death hath taken  
Away from us  
Our maundy; thus,  
Thy Widows stand forsaken.    

4.  
Ah Dorcas, Dorcas! now adieu  
We bid the Creusa and Pannier too:  
I and the flesh, for and the fish,  
Doled to us in That Lordly dish.  
We take our leaves now of the Loom,  
From whence the housewives cloth did come:  

Chor.  
The web affords now nothing;  
Thou being dead,  
The worsted thread  
Is cut, that made us clothing.    

5.  
Farewell the Flax and Reaming wool,  
With which thy house was plentiful.  
Farewell the Coats, the Garments, and  
The Sheets, the Rugs, made by thy hand.  
Farewell thy Fire and thy Light,  
That ne'er went out by Day or Night:  

Chor.  
No, or thy zeal so speedy,  
That found a way  
By peep of day,  
To feed and clothe the Needy.    

6.  
But, ah, alas! the Almond Bough,  
And Olive Branch is withered now.  
The Wine Press now is ta'en from us,  
The Saffron and the Calamus.  
The Spice and spikenard hence is gone,  
The Storax and the Cinnamon,  

Chor.  
The Carol of our gladness  
Has taken wing,  
And our late spring  
Of mirth is turned to sadness.    

7.  
How wise wast thou in all thy ways!  
How worthy of respect and praise!  
How Matron-like didst thou go dressed!  
How soberly above the rest  
Of those that prank it with their Plumes;  
And jet it with their choice purfumes.  

Chor.  
Thy vestures were not flowing:  
Nor did the street  
Accuse thy feet  
Of mincing in their going.    

8.  
And though thou here liest dead, we see  
A deal of beauty yet in thee.  
How sweetly shows thy smiling face,  
Thy lips with all diffused grace!  
Thy hands (though cold) yet spotless, white,  
And comely as the Chrysolite.  

Chor.  
Thy belly like a hill is,  
Or as a neat  
Clean heap of wheat,  
All set about with Lilies.    

Sleep with thy beauties here, while we  
Will show these garments made by thee;  
These were the Coats, in these are read  
The monuments of Dorcas dead.  
These were thy Acts, and thou shalt have  
These hung, as honours o'er thy Grave,  

Chor.  
And after us (distressed)  
Should fame be dumb;  
Thy very Tomb  
Would cry out, Thou art blessed.     

To God, in time of plundering.  
RApine has yet took nought from me;  
But if it please my God, I be  
Brought at the last to th' utmost bit,  
God make me thankful still for it.  
I have been grateful for my store:  
Let me say grace when there's no more.   

To his Saviour. The New years gift.  

THat little pretty bleeding part  
Of Foreskin send to me:  
And I'll return a bleeding Heart,  
For Newyears gift to thee.   

Rich is the Gem that thou didst send,  
Mine's faulty too, and small:  
But yet this Gift Thou wilt commend,  
Because I send Thee all.    

Doomsday.  
LEt not that Day God's Friends and Servants scare▪  
The Bench is then their place; and not the Bar.   

The Poors Portion.  
THe sup'rabundance of my store,  
That is the portion of the poor:  
Wheat, Barley, Rye, or Oats; what is't  
But he takes toll of? all the Griest.  
Two raiments have I: Christ then makes  
This Law; that He and I part stakes.  
Or have I two loaves; then I use  
The poor to cut, and I to choose.   

The white Island: or place of the Blessed.  

IN this world (the Isle of Dreams)  
While we sit by sorrow's streams,  
Tears and terrors are our themes  
Reciting:   

But when once from hence we fly,  
More and more approaching nigh  
Unto young Eternity  
Uniting:   

In that whiter Island, where  
Things are evermore sincere;  
Candour here, and lustre there  
Delighting:   

There no monstrous fancies shall  
Out of hell an horror call,  
To create (or cause at all)  
Affrighting.   

There in calm and cooling sleep  
We our eyes shall never steep;  
But eternal watch shall keep,  
Attending   

Pleasures, such as shall pursue  
Me immortalised, and you;  
And fresh joys, as never too  
Have ending.    

To Christ.  
I Crawl, I creep; my Christ, I come  
To Thee, for curing Balsamum:  
Thou hast, nay more, Thou art the Tree,  
Affording salve of Sovereignty.  
My mouth I'll lay unto Thy wound  
Bleeding, that no Blood touch the ground:  
For, rather than one drop shall fall  
To waste, my JESUS, I'll take all.   

To God.  
GOD! to my little meal and oil,  
Add but a bit of flesh, to boil:  
And Thou my Pipkinnet shalt see,  
Give a wave-offring unto Thee.   

Free Welcome.  
GOD He refuseth no man; but makes way  
For All that now come, or hereafter may.   

God's Grace.  
GOD'S Grace deserves here to be daily fed,  
That, thus increased, it might be perfected.   

Coming to Christ.  
TO him, who longs unto his CHRIST to go,  
Celerity even itself is slow.   

Correction.  
GOD had but one Son free from sin; but none  
Of all His sons free from correction.   

God's Bounty.  
GOD, as He's potent, so He's likewise known,  
To give us more than Hope can fix upon.   

Knowledge.  
SCience in God, is known to be  
A Substance, not a Quality.   

Salutation.  
CHRIST, I have read, did to His Chaplains say,  
Sending them forth, Salute no man byth' way:  
Not, that He taught His Ministers to be  
Unsmooth, or sour, to all civility;  
But to instruct them, to avoid all snares  
Of tardidation in the Lords Affairs.  
Manners are good: but till his errand ends,  
Salute we must, nor Strangers, Kin, or Friends.   

Lasciviousness.  
Lasciviousness is known to be  
The sister to saturity.   

Tears.  
GOD from our eyes all tears hereafter wipes,  
And gives His Children kisses then, not stripes.   

God's Blessing.  
IN vain our labours are, whatsoever they be,  
Unless God gives the Benedicite.   

God, and Lord.  
GOD, is His Name of Nature; but that word  
Implies His Power, when He's called the LORD.   

The judgment-day.  
GOD hides from man the reckoning Day, that He  
May fear it ever for uncertainty:  
That being ignorant of that one, he may  
Expect the coming of it every day.   

Angels.  
Angels are called Gods; yet of them, none  
Are Gods, but by participation:  
As Just Men are entitled Gods, yet none  
Are Gods, of them, but by Adoption.   

Long life.  
THe longer thread of life we spin,  
The more occasion still to sin.   

Tears.  
THe tears of Saints more sweet by fare,  
Then all the songs of sinners are.   

Manna.  
THat Manna, which God on His people cast,  
Fitted itself to every Feeders taste.   

Reverence.  
TRue reverence is (as Cassiadore doth prove)  
The fear of God, commixed with cleanly love.   

Mercy.  
MErcy, the wise Athenians held to be  
Not an Affection, but a Deity.   

Wages.  
AFter this life, the wages shall  
Not shared alike be unto all.   

Temptation.  
GOD tempteth no one (as S. Aug'stine saith)  
For any ill; but, for the proof of Faith:  
Unto temptation God exposeth some;  
But none, of purpose, to be overcome.   

God's hands.  
GOds Hands are round, & smooth, that gifts may fall  
Freely from them, and hold none back at all.   

Labour.  
LAbour we must, and labour hard  
I'th' Forum here, or Vineyard.   

Mora Sponsi, the stay of the Bridegroom.  
THe time the Bridegroom stays from hence,  
Is but the time of penitence.   

Roaring.  
ROaring is nothing but a weeping part,  
Forced from the mighty dolour of the heart.   

The Eucharist.  
HE that is hurt seeks help: sin is the wound;  
The salve for this i'th' Eucharist is found.   

Sin severely punished.  
GOD in His own Day will be then severe,  
To punish great sins, who small faults whipped here.   

Montes Scripturarum, the Mounts of the Scriptures.  
THe Mountains of the Scriptures are (some say)  
Moses, and jesus, called joshua:  
The Prophet's Mountains of the Old are meant;  
Th' Apostles Mounts of the New Testament.   

Prayer.  
A Prayer, that is said alone,  
Starves, having no companion.  
Great things ask for, when thou dost pray,  
And those great are, which ne'er decay.  
Pray not for silver, rust eats this;  
Ask not for gold, which metal is:  
Nor yet for houses, which are here  
But earth: such vows ne'er reach God's ear.   

Christ's sadness.  
CHrist was not sad, i'th' garden, for His own  
Passion, but for His sheep's dispersion.   

God hears us.  
GOD, who's in Heaven, will hear from thence;  
If not toth' sound, yet, to the sense.   

God.  
GOD (as the learned Damascen doth write)  
A Sea of Substance is, Indefinite.   

Clouds.  
HE that ascended in a cloud, shall come  
In clouds, descending to the public Doom.   

Comforts in contentions.  
THe same, who crownes the Conqueror, will be  
A Coadjutor in the Agony.   

Heaven.  
Heaven is most fair; but fairer He  
That made that fairest Canopy.   

God.  
IN God there's nothing, but 'tis known to be  
Even God Himself, in perfect Entity.   

His Power.  
GOD can do all things, save but what are known  
For to imply a contradiction.   

Christ's words on the Cross, My God, My God.  
CHRIST, when He hung the dreadful Cross upon,  
Had (as it were) a Dereliction;  
In this regard, in those great terrors He  
Had no one Beam from God's sweet Majesty.   

JEHOVAH.  
JEHOVAH, as Boëtius saith,  
No number of the Plural hath.   

Confusion of face.  
GOd then confounds man's face, when He not hears  
The Vows of those, who are Petitioners.   

Another.  
THe shame of man's face is no more  
Than prayers repelled, (says Cassiodore.)   

Beggars.  
IAcob God's Beggar was; and so we wait  
(Though ne'er so rich) all beggars at His Gate.   

Good, and bad.  
THe Bad among the Good are here mixed ever:  
The Good without the Bad are here placed never.   

Sin.  
SIn no Existence; Nature none it hath,  
Or Good at all, (as learned Aquinas saith.)   

Martha, Martha.  
THe repetition of the name made known  
No other, than Christ's full Affection.   

Youth, and Age.  
GOD on our Youth bestows but little ease;  
But on our Age most sweet Indulgences.   

God's Power.  
GOD is so potent, as His Power can  
Draw out of bad a sovereign good to man.   

Paradise.  
PAradise is (as from the Learned I gather)  
A choir of blessed Souls circling in the Father.   

Observation.  
THe Jews, when they built Houses (I have read)  
One part thereof left still unfinished:  
To make them, thereby, mindful of their own  
Cities most sad and dire destruction.   

The Ass.  
GOD did forbid the Israelites, to bring  
An Ass unto Him, for an offering:  
Only, by this dull creature, to express  
His detestation to all slothfulness.   

Observation.  
THe Virgin-Mother stood at distance (there)  
From her Son's Cross, not shedding once a tear:  
Because the Law forbade to sit and cry  
For those, who did as malefactors die.  
So she, to keep her mighty woes in awe,  
Tortured her love, not to transgress the Law.  
Observe we may, how Mary Joses then,  
And th'other Mary (Marry Magdalen)  
Sat by the Grave; and sadly sitting there,  
Shed for their Master many a bitter tear:  
But 'twas not till their dearest Lord was dead;  
And then to weep they both were licenced.   

Tapers.  
THose Tapers, which we set upon the grave,  
In funeral pomp, but this importance have;  
That souls departed are not put out quite;  
But, as they walked here in their vestures white,  
So live in Heaven, in everlasting light.   

Christ's Birth.  
ONe Birth our Saviour had; the like none yet  
Was, or will be a second like to it.   

The Virgin Mary.  
TO work a wonder, God would have her shown,  
At once, a Bud, and yet a Rose full-blown.   

Another.  
AS Sunbeams pierce the glass, and streaming in,  
No crack or Schism leave i'th' subtle skin:  
So the Divine Hand worked, and broke no thread,  
But, in a Mother, kept a maidenhead.   

God.  
GOD, in the holy Tongue, they call  
The Place that filleth All in all.   

Another of God.  
GOD's said to leave this place, and for to come  
Nearer to that place, then to other some:  
Of local motion, in no least respect,  
But only by impression of effect.   

Another.  
GOD is Jehovah called; which name of His  
Implies or Essence, or the He that Is.   

God's presence.  
GOD's evident, and may be said to be  
Present with just men, to the verity:  
But with the wicked if He doth comply,  
'Tis (as S. Bernard saith) but seemingly.   

God's Dwelling.  
GOD's said to dwell there, wheresoever He  
Puts down some prints of His high Majesty:  
As when to man He comes, and there doth place  
His holy Spirit, or doth plant His Grace.   

The Virgin Mary.  
THe Virgin Marie was (as I have read)  
The House of God, by Christ inhabited;  
Into the which He entered: but, the Door  
Once shut, was never to be opened more.   

To God.  
GOD's undivided, One in Persons Three;  
And Three in Inconfused Unity:  
Original of Essence there is none  
'Twixt God the Father, Holy Ghost, and Son:  
And though the Father be the first of Three,  
'Tis but by Order, not by Entity.   

Upon Woman and Mary.  
SO long (it seemed) as Mary's Faith was small,  
Christ did her Woman, not her Mary call:  
But no more Woman, being strong in Faith;  
But Mary called then (as S. Ambrose saith.)   

North and South.  
THe Jews their beds, and offices of ease,  
Placed North and South, for these clean purposes;  
That man's uncomely froth might not molest  
God's ways and walks, which lie still East and West.   

Sabbaths.  
SAbbaths are threefold, (as S. Austin says:)  
The first of Time, or Sabbath here of Days;  
The second is a Conscience trespasse-free;  
The last the Sabbath of Eternity.   

The Fast, or Lent.  
NOah the first was (as Tradition says)  
That did ordain the Fast of forty Days.   

Sin.  
THere is no evil that we do commit,  
But hath th' extraction of some good from it:  
As when we sin; God, the great Chemist, thence  
Draws out th' Elixir of true penitence.   

God.  
GOD is more here, then in another place,  
Not by His Essence, but commerce of Grace.   

This, and the next World.  
GOD hath this world for many made; 'tis true:  
But He hath made the world to come for few.   

Ease.  
GOD gives to none so absolute an Ease,  
As not to know, or feel some Grievances.   

Beginnings and End.  
PAul, he began ill, but he ended well;  
Judas began well, but he foully fell:  
In godliness, not the beginnings, so  
Much as the ends are to be looked unto.   

Temporal goods.  
THese temporal goods God (the most Wise) commends  
To th' good and bad, in common, for two ends:  
First, that these goods none here may o'er esteem,  
Because the wicked do partake of them:  
Next, that these ills none cowardly may shun;  
Being, oft here, the just man's portion.   

Hell fire.  
THe fire of Hell this strange condition hath,  
To burn, not shine (as learned Basil saith.)   

Abel's Blood.  
SPeak, did the Blood of Abel cry  
To God for vengeance? yes say I;  
Even as the sprinkled blood called on  
God, for an expiation.   

Another.  
THe blood of Abel was a thing  
Of such a reverend reckoning,  
As that the old World thought it fit,  
Especially to swear by it.   

A Position in the Hebrew Divinity.  
ONe man repentant is of more esteem  
With God, than one, that never sinned 'gainst Him.   

Penitence.  
THe Doctors, in the Talmud, say,  
That in this world, one only day  
In true repentance spent, will be  
More worth, than heavens Eternity.   

God's presence.  
GOD's present ev'ry where; but most of all  
Present by Union Hypostatical:  
God, He is there, where's nothing else (Schools say)  
And nothing else is there, where He's away.   

The Resurrection possible, and probable.  
FOr each one Body, that i'th' earth is sown,  
There's an uprising but of one for one:  
But for each Grain, that in the ground is thrown,  
Threescore or fourscore spring up thence for one:  
So that the wonder is not half so great,  
Of ours, as is the rising of the wheat.   

Christ's suffering.  
Justly our dearest Saviour may abhor us,  
Who hath more suffered by us fare, then for us.   

Sinners.  
SInners confounded are a twofold way,  
Either as when (the learned Schoolmen say)  
men's sins destroyed are, when they repent;  
Or when, for sins, men suffer punishment.   

Temptations.  
NO man is tempted so, but may o'ercome,  
If that he has a will to Masterdom.   

Pity, and punishment.  
GOD doth embrace the good with love; & gains  
The good by mercy, as the bad by pains.   

God's price, and man's price.  
GOd bought man here wtsh his heart's blood expense;  
And man sold God here for base thirty pence.   

Christ's Action.  
CHRIST never did so great a work, but there  
His humane Nature did, in part, appear:  
Or, ne'er so mean a piece, but men might see  
Therein some beams of His Divinity:  
So that, in all He did, there did combine  
His Humane Nature, and His Part Divine,   

Predestination.  
PRedestination is the Cause alone  
Of many standing, but of fall to none.   

Another.  
ARt thou not destined? then, with haste, go on  
To make thy fair Predestination:  
If thou canst change thy life, God then will please  
To change, or call back, His past Sentences.   

Sin.  
SIn never slew a soul, unless there went  
Along with it some tempting blandishment.   

Another.  
SIn is an act so free, that if we shall  
Say, 'tis not free, 'tis then no sin at all.   

Another.  
SIn is the cause of death; and sin's alone  
The cause of God's Predestination:  
And from God's Prescience of man's sin doth flow  
Our Destination to eternal woe.   

Prescience.  
GOds Prescience makes none sinful; but th'offence  
Of man's the chief cause of God's Prescience.   

Christ.  
TO all our wounds, here, whatsoever they be,  
Christ is the one sufficient Remedy.   

Christ's Incarnation.  
CHRIST took our Nature on Him, not that He  
'Bove all things loved it, for the purity:  
No, but He dressed Him with our humane Trim,  
Because our flesh stood most in need of Him.   

Heaven.  
HEaven is not given for our good works here:  
Yet it is given to the Labourer.   

God's keys.  
GOD has four keys, which He reserves alone;  
The first of Rain, the key of Hell next known:  
With the third key He opes and shuts the womb;  
And with the fourth key He unlocks the tomb.   

Sin.  
THere's no constraint to do amiss,  
Whereas but one enforcement is.   

Alms.  
GIve unto all, lest he, whom thou deni'st,  
May chance to be no other man, but Christ.   

Hell fire.  
ONe only fire has Hell; but yet it shall,  
Not after one sort, there excruciate all:  
But look, how each transgressor onward went  
Boldly in sin, shall feel more punishment.   

To keep a true Lent.  

1  
IS this a Fast, to keep  
The Larder lean?  
And clean  
From fat of Veals, and Sheep?   

2  
Is it to quit the dish  
Of Flesh, yet still  
To fill  
The platter high with Fish?   

3  
Is it to fast an hour,  
Or raged to go,  
Or show  
A downcast look, and sour?   

4  
No: 'tis a Fast, to dole  
Thy sheaf of wheat,  
And meat,  
Unto the hungry Soul.   

5  
It is to fast from strife,  
From old debate,  
And hate;  
To circumcise thy life.   

6  
To show a heart grief-rent;  
To starve thy sin,  
Not Been;  
And that's to keep thy Lent.    

No time in Eternity.  
BY hours we all live here, in Heaven is known  
No spring of Time, or Time's succession.   

His Meditation upon Death  
BE those few hours, which I have yet to spend,  
Blest with the Meditation of my end:  
Though they be few in number, I'm content;  
If otherwise, I stand indifferent:  
Nor makes it matter, Nestor's years to tell,  
If man lives long, and if he live not well.  
A multitude of days still heaped on,  
Seldom brings order, but confusion.  
Might I make choice, long life should be withstood;  
Nor would I care how short it were, if good:  
Which to effect, let every passing Bell  
Possess my thoughts, next comes my doleful knell:  
And when the night persuades me to my bed,  
I'll think I'm going to be buried:  
So shall the Blankets which come over me,  
Present those Turfs, which once must cover me:  
And with as firm behaviour I will meet  
The sheet I sleep in, as my Winding-sheet.  
When sleep shall bathe his body in mine eyes,  
I will believe, that then my body dies:  
And if I chance to wake, and rise thereon,  
I'll have in mind my Resurrection,  
Which must produce me to that General Doom,  
To which the Peasant, so the Prince must come,  
To hear the Judge give sentence on the Throne,  
Without the least hope of affection.  
Tears, at that day, shall make but weak defence;  
When Hell and Horror fright the Conscience.  
Let me, though late, yet at the last, begin  
To shun the least Temptation to a sin;  
Though to be tempted be no sin, until  
Man to th' alluring object gives his will.  
Such let my life assure me, when my breath  
Goes thieving from me, I am safe in death;  
Which is the height of comfort, when I fall,  
I rise triumphant in my Funeral.   

 for Continuance.  
THose Garments lasting evermore,  
Are works of mercy to the poor,  
Which neither Tettar, Time, or Moth  
Shall fray that silk, or fret this cloth.   

To God.  
COme to me God; but do not come  
To me, as to the general Doom,  
In power; or come Thou in that state,  
When Thou Thy Laws didst promulgate,  
When as the Mountains quaked for dread,  
And sullen clouds bound up his head.  
No, lay thy stately terrors by,  
To talk with me familiarly;  
For if Thy thunderclaps I hear,  
I shall less swoone, then die for fear.  
Speak thou of love and I'll reply  
By way of Epithalamie,  
Or sing of mercy, and I'll suit  
To it my Viol and my Lute:  
Thus let Thy lips but love distil,  
Then come my God, and hap what will,   

The Soul.  
WHen once the Soul has lost her way,  
O then, how restless does she stray!  
And having not her God for light,  
How does she err in endless night!   

The Judgement day.  
IN doing justice, God shall then be known,  
Who showing mercy here, few prized, or none.   

Sufferings.  
WE merit all we suffer, and by far  
More stripes, than God lays on the sufferer.   

Pain and pleasure.  
GOD suffers not His Saints, and Servants dear,  
To have continual pain, or pleasure here:  
But look how night succeeds the day, so He  
Gives them by turns their grief and jollity.   

God's presence.  
GOD is allpresent to what e'er we do,  
And as allpresent, so all-filling too.   

Another.  
TThat there's a God, we all do know,  
But what God is, we cannot show.   

The poor man's part.  
TEll me rich man, for what intent  
Thou loadest with gold thy vestiment?  
When as the poor cry out, to us  
Belongs all gold superfluous.   

The right hand.  
GOD has a Right Hand, but is quite bereft  
Of that, which we do nominate the Left.   

The Staff and Rod.  
TWo instruments belong unto our God;  
The one a Staff is, and the next a Rod:  
That if the twig should chance too much to smart,  
The staff might come to play the friendly part.   

God sparing in scourging.  
GOD still rewards us more than our desert:  
But when He strikes, He quarter-acts His part.   

Confession.  
COnfession twofold is (as Austin says,)  
The first of sin is, and the next of praise:  
If ill it goes with thee, thy faults confess:  
If well, then chant God's praise with cheerfulness.   

God's descent.  
GOD is then said for to descend, when He  
Doth, here on earth, some thing of novity;  
As when, in humane nature He works more  
Than ever, yet, the like was done before.   

No coming to God without Christ.  
GOod and great God How should I fear  
To come to Thee, if Christ not there!  
Could I but think, He would not be  
Present, to plead my cause for me;  
To Hell I'd rather run, than I  
Would see Thy Face, and He not by.   

Another, to God.  
THough Thou be'st all that Active Love,  
Which heats those ravished Souls above;  
And though all joys spring from the glance  
Of Thy most winning countenance;  
Yet sour and grim Thou'dst seem to me;  
If through my Christ I saw not Thee.   

The Resurrection.  
THat Christ did die, the Pagan saith;  
But that He risen, that's Christians Faith.   

Coheires.  
WE are Coheires with Christ; nor shall His own  
Heireship be less, by our adoption:  
The number here of Heirs, shall from the state  
Of His great Birthright nothing derogate.   

The number of two.  
GOD hates the Dual Number; being known  
The luckless number of division:  
And when He blest each several Day, whereon  
He did His curious operation;  
'Tis never read there (as the Fathers say,)  
God blest His work done on the second day:  
Wherefore two prayers ought not to be said,  
Or by ourselves, or from the Pulpit read.   

Hardening of hearts.  
GOD's said our hearts to harden then,  
When as His grace not supples men.   

The Rose.  
BEfore Man's fall, the Rose was born  
(S. Ambrose says) without the Thorn:  
But, for Man's fault, than was the Thorn,  
Without the fragrant Rose-bud, born;  
But ne'er the Rose without the Thorn.   

God's time must end our trouble.  
GOD doth not promise here to man, that He  
Will free him quickly from his misery;  
But in His own time, and when He thinks fit,  
Then He will give a happy end to it.   

Baptism.  
THe strength of Baptism, that's within;  
It saves the soul, by drowning sin.   

Gold and Frankincense.  
GOld serves for Tribute to the King;  
The Frankincense for Gods Offering.   

To God.  
GOD, who me gives a will for to repent,  
Will add a power, to keep me innocent;  
That I shall ne'er that trespass recommit,  
When I have done true Penance here for it.   

The chewing the Cud.  
WHen well we speak, & nothing do that's good,  
We not divide the Hoof, but chew the Cud:  
But when good words, by good works, have their proof,  
We then both chew the Cud, and cleave the Hoof.   

Christ's twofold coming.  
THy former coming was to cure  
My souls most  Calenture;  
Thy second Advent, that must be  
To heal my Earth's infirmity.   

To God, his gift.  
AS my little Pot doth boil,  
We will keep this Levell-Coyle;  
That a Wave, and I will bring  
To my God, a Heave-offering.   

God's Anger.  
GOD can't be wrathful; but we may conclude,  
Wrathful He may be, by similitude:  
God's wrathful said to be, when He doth do  
That without wrath, which wrath doth force us to.   

God's Commands.  
IN God's Commands, ne'er ask the reason why;  
Let thy obedience be the best Reply.   

To God.  
IF I have played the Truant, or have here  
Failed in my part; O! Thou that art my dear,  
My mild, my loving Tutor, Lord and God  
Correct my errors gently with Thy Rod.  
I know, that faults will many here be found,  
But where sin swells, there let Thy grace abound.   

To God.  
THe work is done; now let my Laurel be  
Given by none, but by Thyself, to me:  
That done, with Honour Thou dost me create  
Thy Poet, and Thy Prophet Laureate.   

Good Friday: Rex Tragicus, or Christ going to His Cross.  
PUt off Thy Robe of Purple, then go on  
To the sad place of execution:  
Thine hour is come; and the Tormentor stands  
Ready, to pierce Thy tender Feet, and Hands.  
Long before this, the base, the dull, the rude,  
Th' inconstant, and unpurged Multitude  
Yawn for Thy coming; some  this time cry,  
How He defers, how loath He is to die!  
Amongst this scum, the Soldier, with his spear,  
And that sour Fellow, with his vinegar,  
His sponge, and stick, do ask why Thou dost stay?  
So do the scurf and Bran too: Go Thy way,  
Thy way, Thou guiltless man, and satisfy  
By Thine approach, each their beholding eye.  
Not as a thief, shalt Thou ascend the mount,  
But like a Person of some high account:  
The Cross shall be Thy Stage; and Thou shalt there  
The spacious field have for Thy Theatre.  
Thou art that Roscius, and that markt-out man,  
That must this day act the Tragedian,  
To wonder and affrightment: Thou art He,  
Whom all the flux of Nations comes to see;  
Not those poor Thiefs that act their parts with Thee:  
Those act without regard, when once a King,  
And God, as Thou art, comes to suffering.  
No, No, this Scene from Thee takes life and sense,  
And soul and spirit plot, and excellence.  
Why then begin, great King! ascend Thy Throne,  
And thence proceed, to act Thy Passion  
To such an height, to such a period raised,  
As Hell, and Earth, and Heaven may stand amazed.  
God, and good Angels guide Thee; and so bless  
Thee in Thy several parts of bitterness;  
That those, who see Thee nailed unto the Tree,  
May (though they scorn Thee) praise and pity Thee.  
And we (Thy Lovers) while we see Thee keep  
The Laws of Action, will both sigh, and weep;  
And bring our Spices, to embalm Thee dead;  
That done, we'll see Thee sweetly buried.   

His words to Christ, going to the Cross.  
WHen Thou wast taken, Lord, I oft have read,  
All Thy Disciples Thee forsaken, and fled.  
Let their example not a pattern be  
For me to fly, but now to follow Thee.   

Another, to his Saviour.  
IF Thou be'st taken, God forbidden,  
I fly from Thee, as others did:  
But if Thou wilt so honour me,  
As to accept my company,  
I'll follow Thee, hap, hap what shall,  
Both to the Judge, and Judgment-Hall:  
And, if I see Thee posted there,  
To be all-flayd with whipping-cheere,  
I'll take my share; or else, my God,  
Thy stripes I'll kiss, or burn the Rod.   

His Saviour's words, going to the Cross.  

HAve, have ye no regard, all ye  
Who pass this way, to pity me,  
Who am a man of misery!   

A man both bruised, and broke, and one  
Who suffers not here for mine own,  
But for my friend's transgression!   

Ah! Zions Daughters, do not fear  
The Cross, the Cords, the Nails, the Spear,  
The Myrrh, the Gall, the Vinegar:   

For Christ, your loving Saviour, hath  
Drunk up the wine of God's fierce wrath;  
Only, there's left a little froth,   

Less for to taste, then for to show,  
What bitter cups had been your due,  
Had He not drank them up for you.    

His Anthem, to Christ on the Cross.  

WHen I behold Thee, almost slain,  
With one, and all parts, full of pain:  
When I Thy gentle Heart do see  
Pierced through, and dropping blood, for me,  
I'll call, and cry out, Thanks to Thee.   

Verse.  
But yet it wounds my soul, to think,  
That for my sin, Thou, Thou must drink,  
Even Thou alone, the bit●er cup  
Of fury, and of vengeance up.   

Chor.  
Lord, I'll not see Thee to drink all  
The Vinegar, the Myrrh, the Gall:   

Ver. Chor.  
But I will sip a little wine;  
Which done, Lord say, The rest is mine.    


This Cross Tree here  
Doth JESUS bear,  
Who sweet'ned first,  
The Death accursed.   
HEre all things ready are, make haste, make haste away;  
For, long this work will be, & very short this Day.  
Why then, go on to act: Here's wonders to be done,  
Before the last lest sand of Thy ninth hour be run;  
Or e'er dark Clouds do dull, or dead the Middays Sun.  
Act when Thou wilt,  
Blood will be spilt;  
Pure Balm, that shall  
Bring Health to All.  
Why then, Begin  
To pour first in  
Some Drops of Wine,  
In stead of Brine,  
To search the Wound,  
So long unsound:  
And, when that's done,  
Let Oil, next, run,  
To cure the Sore  
Sin made before.  
And O! Dear Christ,  
Even as Thou diest,  
Look down, and see  
Us weep for Thee.  
And though (Love knows)  
Thy dreadful Woes  
We cannot ease;  
Yet do Thou please,  
Who Mercy art,  
T'accept each Heart,  
That gladly would  
Help, if it could.  
Mean while, let me,  
Beneath this Tree,  
This Honour have,  
To make my grave.   

To his Saviour's Sepulchre: his Devotion.  
Hail holy, and all-honoured Tomb,  
By no ill haunted; here I come,  
With shoes put off, to tread thy Room.  
I'll not profane, by soil of sin,  
Thy Door, as I do enter in:  
For I have washed both hand and heart,  
This, that, and every other part;  
So that I dare, with fare less fear,  
Then full affection, enter here.  
Thus, thus I come to kiss Thy Stone  
With a warm lip, and solemn one:  
And as I kiss, I'll here and there  
Dress Thee with flowery Diaper.  
How sweet this place is! as from hence  
Flowed all Panchaia's Frankincense;  
Or rich Arabia did commix,  
Here, all her rare Aromaticks.  
Let me live ever here, and stir  
No one step from this Sepulchre.  
Ravished I am! and down I lie,  
Confused, in this brave Ecstasy.  
Here let me rest; and let me have  
This for my Heaven, that was Thy Grave:  
And, coveting no higher sphere,  
I'll my Eternity spend here.   

His Offering, with the rest, at the Sepulchre.  
TO join with them, who here confer  
Gifts to my Saviour's Sepulchre;  
Devotion bids me hither being  
Somewhat for my Thankoffering.  
Lo! Thus I give a Virgin-Flower,  
To dress my Maiden-Saviour.   

His coming to the Sepulchre.  

HEnce they have born my Lord: Behold! the Stone  
Is rolled away; and my sweet Saviour's gone!  
Tell me, white Angel; what is now become  
Of Him, we lately sealed up in this Tomb?  
Is He, from hence, gone to the shades beneath,  
To vanquish Hell, as here He conquered Death?  
If so; I'll thither follow, without fear;  
And live in Hell, if that my Christ stays there.   

OF all the good things whatsoever we do,  
God is the ΑΡΧΗ, and the ΤΕΛΟΣ too.