Tell me, rich man, for what intent
Thou load'st with gold thy vestiment?
Thou load'st with gold thy vestiment?
Robert Herrick - Hesperide and Noble Numbers
CHRIST'S BIRTH.
One birth our Saviour had; the like none yet
Was, or will be a second like to it.
183. THE VIRGIN MARY.
To work a wonder, God would have her shown
At once a bud and yet a rose full-blown.
184. ANOTHER.
As sunbeams pierce the glass, and streaming in,
No crack or schism leave i' th' subtle skin:
So the Divine Hand worked and brake no thread,
But, in a mother, kept a maidenhead.
185. GOD.
God, in the holy tongue, they call
The place that filleth all in all.
186. ANOTHER OF GOD.
God's said to leave this place, and for to come
Nearer to that place than to other some,
Of local motion, in no least respect,
But only by impression of effect.
187. ANOTHER.
God is Jehovah call'd: which name of His
Implies or Essence, or the He that Is.
188. 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 St. Bernard saith, but seemingly.
189. 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.
190. THE VIRGIN MARY.
The Virgin Mary 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 open'd more.
191. 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.
192. UPON WOMAN AND MARY.
So long, it seem'd, as Mary's faith was small,
Christ did her woman, not her Mary call;
But no more woman, being strong in faith,
But Mary call'd then, as St. Ambrose saith.
193. 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.
194. SABBATHS.
Sabbaths are threefold, as St. Austin says:
The first of time, or Sabbath here of days;
The second is a conscience trespass-free;
The last the Sabbath of Eternity.
195. THE FAST, OR LENT.
Noah the first was, as tradition says,
That did ordain the fast of forty days.
196. 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.
197. GOD.
God is more here than in another place,
Not by His essence, but commerce of grace.
198. THIS, AND THE NEXT WORLD.
God hath this world for many made, 'tis true:
But He hath made the World to Come for few.
199. EASE.
God gives to none so absolute an ease
As not to know or feel some grievances.
200. BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS.
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 look'd unto.
201. 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.
202. HELL FIRE.
The fire of hell this strange condition hath,
To burn, not shine, as learned Basil saith.
203. ABEL'S BLOOD.
Speak, did the blood of Abel cry
To God for vengeance? Yes, say I,
Ev'n as the sprinkled blood called on
God for an expiation.
204. ANOTHER.
The blood of Abel was a thing
Of such a rev'rend reckoning,
As that the old world thought it fit
Especially to swear by it.
205. A POSITION IN THE HEBREW DIVINITY.
One man repentant is of more esteem
With God, than one that never sinned 'gainst Him.
206. PENITENCE.
The doctors, in the Talmud, say,
That in this world one only day
In true repentance spent will be
More worth than heaven's eternity.
207. GOD'S PRESENCE.
God's present everywhere, 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.
_Hypostatical_, personal.
208. 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.
209. CHRIST'S SUFFERING.
Justly our dearest Saviour may abhor us,
Who hath more suffered by us far, than for us.
210. 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.
211. TEMPTATIONS.
No man is tempted so but may o'ercome,
If that he has a will to masterdom.
212. PITY AND PUNISHMENT.
God doth embrace the good with love; and gains
The good by mercy, as the bad by pains.
213. GOD'S PRICE AND MAN'S PRICE.
God bought man here with His heart's blood expense;
And man sold God here for base thirty pence.
214. CHRIST'S ACTION.
Christ never did so great a work but there
His human 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 human nature and His part divine.
215. PREDESTINATION.
Predestination is the cause alone
Of many standing, but of fall to none.
216. ANOTHER.
Art thou not destin'd? then with haste go on
To make thy fair predestination:
If thou can'st change thy life, God then will please
To change, or call back, His past sentences.
217. SIN.
Sin never slew a soul unless there went
Along with it some tempting blandishment.
218. ANOTHER.
Sin is an act so free, that if we shall
Say 'tis not free, 'tis then no sin at all.
219. 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.
220. PRESCIENCE.
God's prescience makes none sinful; but th' offence
Of man's the chief cause of God's prescience.
221. CHRIST.
To all our wounds here, whatsoe'er they be,
Christ is the one sufficient remedy.
222. CHRIST'S INCARNATION.
Christ took our nature on Him, not that He
'Bove all things loved it for the purity:
No, but He dress'd Him with our human trim,
Because our flesh stood most in need of Him.
223. HEAVEN.
Heaven is not given for our good works here;
Yet it is given to the labourer.
224. 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.
225. SIN.
There's no constraint to do amiss,
Whereas but one enforcement is.
226. ALMS.
Give unto all, lest he, whom thou deni'st,
May chance to be no other man but Christ.
227. 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.
228. TO KEEP A TRUE LENT.
Is this a fast, to keep
The larder lean?
And clean
From fat of veals and sheep?
Is it to quit the dish
Of flesh, yet still
To fill
The platter high with fish?
Is it to fast an hour,
Or ragg'd to go,
Or show
A downcast look and sour?
No; 'tis a fast to dole
Thy sheaf of wheat,
And meat,
Unto the hungry soul.
It is to fast from strife,
From old debate
And hate;
To circumcise thy life.
To show a heart grief-rent;
To starve thy sin,
Not bin;
And that's to keep thy Lent.
229. NO TIME IN ETERNITY.
By hours we all live here; in Heaven is known
No spring of time, or time's succession.
230. 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 ev'ry 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.
_Affection_, partiality.
231. CLOTHES 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.
_Tettar_, scab.
232. 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 did'st promulgate,
Whenas the mountain quaked for dread,
And sullen clouds bound up his head.
No; lay Thy stately terrors by
To talk with me familiarly;
For if Thy thunder-claps I hear,
I shall less swoon than die for fear.
Speak Thou of love and I'll reply
By way of Epithalamy,
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.
_Mountain_, orig. ed. _mountains_.
233. 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!
234. THE JUDGMENT-DAY.
In doing justice God shall then be known,
Who showing mercy here, few prized, or none.
235. SUFFERINGS.
We merit all we suffer, and by far
More stripes than God lays on the sufferer.
236. 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.
237. GOD'S PRESENCE.
God is all-present to whate'er we do,
And as all-present, so all-filling too.
238. ANOTHER.
That there's a God we all do know,
But what God is we cannot show.
239. THE POOR MAN'S PART.
Tell me, rich man, for what intent
Thou load'st with gold thy vestiment?
Whenas the poor cry out: To us
Belongs all gold superfluous.
240. THE RIGHT HAND.
God has a right hand, but is quite bereft
Of that which we do nominate the left.
241. 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.
242. GOD SPARING IN SCOURGING.
God still rewards us more than our desert;
But when He strikes, He quarter-acts His part.
243. 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.
244. GOD'S DESCENT.
God is then said for to descend, when He
Doth here on earth some thing of novity;
As when in human nature He works more
Than ever yet the like was done before.
245. 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.
246. 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.
247. THE RESURRECTION.
That Christ did die, the pagan saith;
But that He rose, that's Christians' faith.
248. CO-HEIRS.
We are co-heirs with Christ; nor shall His own
Heirship be less by our adoption.
The number here of heirs shall from the state
Of His great birthright nothing derogate.
249. THE NUMBER OF TWO.
God hates the dual number, being known
The luckless number of division;
And when He bless'd each sev'ral day whereon
He did His curious operation,
'Tis never read there, as the fathers say,
God bless'd His work done on the second day;
Wherefore two prayers ought not to be said,
Or by ourselves, or from the pulpit read.
250. HARDENING OF HEARTS.
God's said our hearts to harden then,
Whenas His grace not supples men.
251. THE ROSE.
Before man's fall the rose was born,
St. Ambrose says, without the thorn;
But for man's fault then was the thorn
Without the fragrant rose-bud born;
But ne'er the rose without the thorn.
252. 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.
253. BAPTISM.
The strength of baptism that's within,
It saves the soul by drowning sin.
254. GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE.
Gold serves for tribute to the king,
The frankincense for God's off'ring.
255. 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.
256. THE CHEWING THE CUD.
When well we speak and 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.
257. CHRIST'S TWOFOLD COMING.
Thy former coming was to cure
My soul's most desp'rate calenture;
Thy second advent, that must be
To heal my earth's infirmity.
_Calenture_, delirium caused by excessive heat.
258. TO GOD, HIS GIFT.
As my little pot doth boil,
We will keep this level-coil,
That a wave and I will bring
To my God a heave-offering.
_Level-coil_, the old Christmas game of changing chairs; to "keep
level-coil" means to change about.
259. 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.
260. GOD'S COMMANDS.
In God's commands ne'er ask the reason why;
Let thy obedience be the best reply.
261. TO GOD.
If I have played the truant, or have here
Failed in my part, oh! 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.
262. 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.
263. 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 ere 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 marked-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 thieves 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 heav'n may stand amazed.
God and good angels guide Thee; and so bless
Thee in Thy several parts of bitterness,
That those who see Thee nail'd 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.
_Scurf and bran_, the rabble.
264. HIS WORDS TO CHRIST GOING TO THE CROSS.
When Thou wast taken, Lord, I oft have read,
All Thy disciples Thee forsook and fled.
Let their example not a pattern be
For me to fly, but now to follow Thee.
265. ANOTHER TO HIS SAVIOUR.
If Thou be'st taken, God forbid
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-flayed with whipping-cheer,
I'll take my share; or else, my God,
Thy stripes I'll kiss, or burn the rod.
266. 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 bruis'd, and broke, and one
Who suffers not here for Mine own,
But for My friends' transgression!
Ah! Sion's 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 than for to show
What bitter cups had been your due,
Had He not drank them up for you.
267. 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.
_Vers. _ But yet it wounds my soul to think
That for my sin Thou, Thou must drink,
Even Thou alone, the bitter cup
Of fury and of vengeance up.
_Chor. _ Lord, I'll not see Thee to drink all
The vinegar, the myrrh, the gall:
_Vers. Chor. _ But I will sip a little wine;
Which done, Lord, say: The rest is Mine.
268.
This crosstree here
Doth Jesus bear,
Who sweet'ned first
The death accurs'd.
Here all things ready are, make haste, make haste away;
For long this work will be, and very short this day.
Why then, go on to act: here's wonders to be done
Before the last least sand of Thy ninth hour be run;
Or ere dark clouds do dull or dead the mid-day's 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,
Instead 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,
E'en as Thou di'st,
Look down, and see
Us weep for Thee.
And tho', 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.
Meanwhile let me,
Beneath this tree,
This honour have,
To make my grave.
269. TO HIS SAVIOUR'S SEPULCHRE: HIS DEVOTION.
Hail, holy and all-honour'd 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 far less fear
Than 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 flow'ry diaper.
How sweet this place is! as from hence
Flowed all Panchaia's frankincense;
Or rich Arabia did commix,
Here, all her rare aromatics.
Let me live ever here, and stir
No one step from this sepulchre.
Ravish'd 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.
_Panchaia_, a fabulous spice island in the Erythrean Sea.
270. 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 bring
Somewhat for my thank-offering.
Lo! thus I bring a virgin flower,
To dress my Maiden Saviour.
271. HIS COMING TO THE SEPULCHRE.
Hence they have borne 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 whatsoe'er we do,
God is the ΑΡΧΗ, and the ΤΕΛΟΣ too.
POEMS
NOT INCLUDED IN _HESPERIDES_.
THE DESCRIPTION OF A WOMAN.
Whose head, befringed with bescattered tresses,
Shows like Apollo's when the morn he dresses,[B]
Or like Aurora when with pearl she sets
Her long, dishevell'd, rose-crown'd trammelets:
Her forehead smooth, full, polish'd, bright and high
Bears in itself a graceful majesty,
Under the which two crawling eyebrows twine
Like to the tendrils of a flatt'ring vine,
Under whose shade two starry sparkling eyes
Are beautifi'd with fair fring'd canopies.
Her comely nose, with uniformal grace,
Like purest white, stands in the middle place,
Parting the pair, as we may well suppose.
Each cheek resembling still a damask rose,
Which like a garden manifestly show
How roses, lilies, and carnations grow,
Which sweetly mixed both with white and red,
Like rose leaves, white and red, seem[C] mingled.
Then nature for a sweet allurement sets
Two smelling, swelling, bashful cherrylets,
The which with ruby redness being tipp'd,
Do speak a virgin, merry, cherry-lipp'd.
Over the which a neat, sweet skin is drawn,
Which makes them show like roses under lawn:
These be the ruby portals, and divine,
Which ope themselves to show a holy shrine
Whose breath is rich perfume, that to the sense
Smells like the burn'd Sabean frankincense:
In which the tongue, though but a member small,
Stands guarded with a rosy-hilly wall;
And her white teeth, which in the gums are set
Like pearl and gold, make one rich cabinet.
Next doth her chin with dimpled beauty strive
For his white, plump, and smooth prerogative;
At whose fair top, to please the sight, there grows
The fairest[D] image of a blushing rose,
Mov'd by the chin, whose motion causeth this,
That both her lips do part, do meet, do kiss;
Her ears, which like two labyrinths are plac'd
On either side, with rich rare jewels grac'd,
Moving a question whether that by them
The gem is grac'd, or they grac'd by the gem.
But the foundation of the architect
Is the swan-staining, fair, rare, stately neck
Which with ambitious humbleness stands under,
Bearing aloft this rich, round world of wonder.
Her breast, a place for beauty's throne most fit,
Bears up two globes where love and pleasure sit,
Which, headed with two rich, round rubies, show
Like wanton rosebuds growing out of snow;
And in the milky valley that's between
Sits Cupid, kissing of his mother queen,
Fingering the paps that feel like sieved silk,
And press'd a little they will weep pure milk.
Then comes the belly, seated next below,
Like a fair mountain in Riphean snow,
Where Nature, in a whiteness without spot,
Hath in the middle tied a Gordian knot.
Now love invites me to survey her thighs,
Swelling in likeness like two crystal skies,
Which to the knees by Nature fastened on,
Derive their ever well 'greed motion.
Her legs with two clear calves, like silver tri'd,
Kindly swell up with little pretty pride,
Leaving a distance for the comely[E] small
To beautify the leg and foot withal.
Then lowly, yet most lovely stand the feet,
Round, short and clear, like pounded spices sweet,
And whatsoever thing they tread upon
They make it scent like bruised cinnamon.
The lovely shoulders now allure the eye
To see two tablets of pure ivory
From which two arms like branches seem to spread
With tender rind[F] and silver coloured,
With little hands and fingers long and small
To grace a lute, a viol, virginal.
In length each finger doth his next excel,
Each richly headed with a pearly shell.
Thus every part in contrariety
Meet in the whole and make a harmony,
As divers strings do singly disagree,
But form'd by number make sweet melody.
[B] MS. blesses.
[C] MS. lye.
[D] MS. blessed.
[E] MS. beauteous.
[F] W. R. vein'd.
MR. HERRICK: HIS DAUGHTER'S DOWRY.
Ere I go hence and be no more
Seen to the world, I'll give the score
I owe unto a female child,
And that is this, a verse enstyled
My daughter's dowry; having which,
I'll leave thee then completely rich.
Instead of gold, pearl, rubies, bonds
Long forfeit, pawned diamonds
Or antique pledges, house or land,
I give thee this that shall withstand
The blow of ruin and of chance.
These hurt not thine inheritance,
For 'tis fee simple and no rent
Thou fortune ow'st for tenement.
However after times will praise,
This portion, my prophetic bays,
Cannot deliver up to th' rust,
Yet I keep peaceful in my dust.
As for thy birth and better seeds
(Those which must grow to virtuous deeds),
Thou didst derive from that old stem
(Love and mercy cherish them),
Which like a vestal virgin ply
With holy fire lest that it die.
Grow up with milder laws to know
At what time to say aye or no;
Let manners teach thee where to be
More comely flowing, where less free.
These bring thy husband, like to those
Old coins and medals we expose
To th' show, but never part with. Next,
As in a more conspicuous text,
Thy forehead, let therein be sign'd
The maiden candour of thy mind;
And under it two chaste-born spies
To bar out bold adulteries,
For through these optics fly the darts
Of lust which set on fire our hearts.
On either side of these quick ears
There must be plac'd, for seasoned fears
Which sweeten love, yet ne'er come nigh
The plague of wilder jealousy.
Then let each cheek of thine entice
His soul as to a bed of spice
Where he may roll and lose his sense,
As in a bed of frankincense.
A lip enkindled with that coal
With which love chafes and warms the soul,
Bring to him next, and in it show
Love's cherries from such fires grow
And have their harvest, which must stand
The gathering of the lip, not hand;
Then unto these be it thy care
To clothe thy words in gentle air,
That smooth as oil, sweet, soft and clean
As is the childish bloom of bean,
They may fall down and stroke, as the
Beams of the sun the peaceful sea.
With hands as smooth as mercy's bring
Him for his better cherishing,
That when thou dost his neck ensnare,
Or with thy wrist, or flattering hair,
He may, a prisoner, there descry
Bondage more loved than liberty.
A nature so well formed, so wrought
To calm and tempest, let be brought
With thee, that should he but incline
To roughness, clasp him like a vine,
Or like as wool meets steel, give way
Unto the passion, not to stay;
Wrath, if resisted, over-boils,
If not, it dies or else recoils.
And lastly, see you bring to him
Somewhat peculiar to each limb;
And I charge thee to be known
By n'other face but by thine own.
Let it in love's name be kept sleek,
Yet to be found when he shall seek
It, and not instead of saint
Give up his worth unto the paint;
For, trust me, girl, she over-does
Who by a double proxy woos.
But lest I should forget his bed,
Be sure thou bring a maidenhead.
That is a margarite, which lost,
Thou bring'st unto his bed a frost
Or a cold poison, which his blood
Benumbs like the forgetful flood.
Now for some jewels to supply
The want of earrings' bravery
For public eyes; take only these
Ne'er travelled for beyond the seas;
They're nobly home-bred, yet have price
Beyond the far-fet merchandise:
Obedience, wise distrust, peace, shy
Distance and sweet urbanity;
Safe modesty, lov'd patience, fear
Of offending, temperance, dear
Constancy, bashfulness and all
The virtues less or cardinal,
Take with my blessing, and go forth
Enjewelled with thy native worth.
And now if there a man be found
That looks for such prepared ground,
Let him, but with indifferent skill,
So good a soil bestock and till;
He may ere long have such a wife
Nourish in's breast a tree of life.
One birth our Saviour had; the like none yet
Was, or will be a second like to it.
183. THE VIRGIN MARY.
To work a wonder, God would have her shown
At once a bud and yet a rose full-blown.
184. ANOTHER.
As sunbeams pierce the glass, and streaming in,
No crack or schism leave i' th' subtle skin:
So the Divine Hand worked and brake no thread,
But, in a mother, kept a maidenhead.
185. GOD.
God, in the holy tongue, they call
The place that filleth all in all.
186. ANOTHER OF GOD.
God's said to leave this place, and for to come
Nearer to that place than to other some,
Of local motion, in no least respect,
But only by impression of effect.
187. ANOTHER.
God is Jehovah call'd: which name of His
Implies or Essence, or the He that Is.
188. 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 St. Bernard saith, but seemingly.
189. 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.
190. THE VIRGIN MARY.
The Virgin Mary 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 open'd more.
191. 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.
192. UPON WOMAN AND MARY.
So long, it seem'd, as Mary's faith was small,
Christ did her woman, not her Mary call;
But no more woman, being strong in faith,
But Mary call'd then, as St. Ambrose saith.
193. 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.
194. SABBATHS.
Sabbaths are threefold, as St. Austin says:
The first of time, or Sabbath here of days;
The second is a conscience trespass-free;
The last the Sabbath of Eternity.
195. THE FAST, OR LENT.
Noah the first was, as tradition says,
That did ordain the fast of forty days.
196. 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.
197. GOD.
God is more here than in another place,
Not by His essence, but commerce of grace.
198. THIS, AND THE NEXT WORLD.
God hath this world for many made, 'tis true:
But He hath made the World to Come for few.
199. EASE.
God gives to none so absolute an ease
As not to know or feel some grievances.
200. BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS.
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 look'd unto.
201. 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.
202. HELL FIRE.
The fire of hell this strange condition hath,
To burn, not shine, as learned Basil saith.
203. ABEL'S BLOOD.
Speak, did the blood of Abel cry
To God for vengeance? Yes, say I,
Ev'n as the sprinkled blood called on
God for an expiation.
204. ANOTHER.
The blood of Abel was a thing
Of such a rev'rend reckoning,
As that the old world thought it fit
Especially to swear by it.
205. A POSITION IN THE HEBREW DIVINITY.
One man repentant is of more esteem
With God, than one that never sinned 'gainst Him.
206. PENITENCE.
The doctors, in the Talmud, say,
That in this world one only day
In true repentance spent will be
More worth than heaven's eternity.
207. GOD'S PRESENCE.
God's present everywhere, 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.
_Hypostatical_, personal.
208. 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.
209. CHRIST'S SUFFERING.
Justly our dearest Saviour may abhor us,
Who hath more suffered by us far, than for us.
210. 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.
211. TEMPTATIONS.
No man is tempted so but may o'ercome,
If that he has a will to masterdom.
212. PITY AND PUNISHMENT.
God doth embrace the good with love; and gains
The good by mercy, as the bad by pains.
213. GOD'S PRICE AND MAN'S PRICE.
God bought man here with His heart's blood expense;
And man sold God here for base thirty pence.
214. CHRIST'S ACTION.
Christ never did so great a work but there
His human 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 human nature and His part divine.
215. PREDESTINATION.
Predestination is the cause alone
Of many standing, but of fall to none.
216. ANOTHER.
Art thou not destin'd? then with haste go on
To make thy fair predestination:
If thou can'st change thy life, God then will please
To change, or call back, His past sentences.
217. SIN.
Sin never slew a soul unless there went
Along with it some tempting blandishment.
218. ANOTHER.
Sin is an act so free, that if we shall
Say 'tis not free, 'tis then no sin at all.
219. 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.
220. PRESCIENCE.
God's prescience makes none sinful; but th' offence
Of man's the chief cause of God's prescience.
221. CHRIST.
To all our wounds here, whatsoe'er they be,
Christ is the one sufficient remedy.
222. CHRIST'S INCARNATION.
Christ took our nature on Him, not that He
'Bove all things loved it for the purity:
No, but He dress'd Him with our human trim,
Because our flesh stood most in need of Him.
223. HEAVEN.
Heaven is not given for our good works here;
Yet it is given to the labourer.
224. 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.
225. SIN.
There's no constraint to do amiss,
Whereas but one enforcement is.
226. ALMS.
Give unto all, lest he, whom thou deni'st,
May chance to be no other man but Christ.
227. 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.
228. TO KEEP A TRUE LENT.
Is this a fast, to keep
The larder lean?
And clean
From fat of veals and sheep?
Is it to quit the dish
Of flesh, yet still
To fill
The platter high with fish?
Is it to fast an hour,
Or ragg'd to go,
Or show
A downcast look and sour?
No; 'tis a fast to dole
Thy sheaf of wheat,
And meat,
Unto the hungry soul.
It is to fast from strife,
From old debate
And hate;
To circumcise thy life.
To show a heart grief-rent;
To starve thy sin,
Not bin;
And that's to keep thy Lent.
229. NO TIME IN ETERNITY.
By hours we all live here; in Heaven is known
No spring of time, or time's succession.
230. 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 ev'ry 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.
_Affection_, partiality.
231. CLOTHES 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.
_Tettar_, scab.
232. 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 did'st promulgate,
Whenas the mountain quaked for dread,
And sullen clouds bound up his head.
No; lay Thy stately terrors by
To talk with me familiarly;
For if Thy thunder-claps I hear,
I shall less swoon than die for fear.
Speak Thou of love and I'll reply
By way of Epithalamy,
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.
_Mountain_, orig. ed. _mountains_.
233. 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!
234. THE JUDGMENT-DAY.
In doing justice God shall then be known,
Who showing mercy here, few prized, or none.
235. SUFFERINGS.
We merit all we suffer, and by far
More stripes than God lays on the sufferer.
236. 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.
237. GOD'S PRESENCE.
God is all-present to whate'er we do,
And as all-present, so all-filling too.
238. ANOTHER.
That there's a God we all do know,
But what God is we cannot show.
239. THE POOR MAN'S PART.
Tell me, rich man, for what intent
Thou load'st with gold thy vestiment?
Whenas the poor cry out: To us
Belongs all gold superfluous.
240. THE RIGHT HAND.
God has a right hand, but is quite bereft
Of that which we do nominate the left.
241. 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.
242. GOD SPARING IN SCOURGING.
God still rewards us more than our desert;
But when He strikes, He quarter-acts His part.
243. 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.
244. GOD'S DESCENT.
God is then said for to descend, when He
Doth here on earth some thing of novity;
As when in human nature He works more
Than ever yet the like was done before.
245. 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.
246. 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.
247. THE RESURRECTION.
That Christ did die, the pagan saith;
But that He rose, that's Christians' faith.
248. CO-HEIRS.
We are co-heirs with Christ; nor shall His own
Heirship be less by our adoption.
The number here of heirs shall from the state
Of His great birthright nothing derogate.
249. THE NUMBER OF TWO.
God hates the dual number, being known
The luckless number of division;
And when He bless'd each sev'ral day whereon
He did His curious operation,
'Tis never read there, as the fathers say,
God bless'd His work done on the second day;
Wherefore two prayers ought not to be said,
Or by ourselves, or from the pulpit read.
250. HARDENING OF HEARTS.
God's said our hearts to harden then,
Whenas His grace not supples men.
251. THE ROSE.
Before man's fall the rose was born,
St. Ambrose says, without the thorn;
But for man's fault then was the thorn
Without the fragrant rose-bud born;
But ne'er the rose without the thorn.
252. 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.
253. BAPTISM.
The strength of baptism that's within,
It saves the soul by drowning sin.
254. GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE.
Gold serves for tribute to the king,
The frankincense for God's off'ring.
255. 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.
256. THE CHEWING THE CUD.
When well we speak and 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.
257. CHRIST'S TWOFOLD COMING.
Thy former coming was to cure
My soul's most desp'rate calenture;
Thy second advent, that must be
To heal my earth's infirmity.
_Calenture_, delirium caused by excessive heat.
258. TO GOD, HIS GIFT.
As my little pot doth boil,
We will keep this level-coil,
That a wave and I will bring
To my God a heave-offering.
_Level-coil_, the old Christmas game of changing chairs; to "keep
level-coil" means to change about.
259. 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.
260. GOD'S COMMANDS.
In God's commands ne'er ask the reason why;
Let thy obedience be the best reply.
261. TO GOD.
If I have played the truant, or have here
Failed in my part, oh! 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.
262. 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.
263. 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 ere 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 marked-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 thieves 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 heav'n may stand amazed.
God and good angels guide Thee; and so bless
Thee in Thy several parts of bitterness,
That those who see Thee nail'd 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.
_Scurf and bran_, the rabble.
264. HIS WORDS TO CHRIST GOING TO THE CROSS.
When Thou wast taken, Lord, I oft have read,
All Thy disciples Thee forsook and fled.
Let their example not a pattern be
For me to fly, but now to follow Thee.
265. ANOTHER TO HIS SAVIOUR.
If Thou be'st taken, God forbid
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-flayed with whipping-cheer,
I'll take my share; or else, my God,
Thy stripes I'll kiss, or burn the rod.
266. 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 bruis'd, and broke, and one
Who suffers not here for Mine own,
But for My friends' transgression!
Ah! Sion's 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 than for to show
What bitter cups had been your due,
Had He not drank them up for you.
267. 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.
_Vers. _ But yet it wounds my soul to think
That for my sin Thou, Thou must drink,
Even Thou alone, the bitter cup
Of fury and of vengeance up.
_Chor. _ Lord, I'll not see Thee to drink all
The vinegar, the myrrh, the gall:
_Vers. Chor. _ But I will sip a little wine;
Which done, Lord, say: The rest is Mine.
268.
This crosstree here
Doth Jesus bear,
Who sweet'ned first
The death accurs'd.
Here all things ready are, make haste, make haste away;
For long this work will be, and very short this day.
Why then, go on to act: here's wonders to be done
Before the last least sand of Thy ninth hour be run;
Or ere dark clouds do dull or dead the mid-day's 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,
Instead 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,
E'en as Thou di'st,
Look down, and see
Us weep for Thee.
And tho', 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.
Meanwhile let me,
Beneath this tree,
This honour have,
To make my grave.
269. TO HIS SAVIOUR'S SEPULCHRE: HIS DEVOTION.
Hail, holy and all-honour'd 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 far less fear
Than 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 flow'ry diaper.
How sweet this place is! as from hence
Flowed all Panchaia's frankincense;
Or rich Arabia did commix,
Here, all her rare aromatics.
Let me live ever here, and stir
No one step from this sepulchre.
Ravish'd 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.
_Panchaia_, a fabulous spice island in the Erythrean Sea.
270. 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 bring
Somewhat for my thank-offering.
Lo! thus I bring a virgin flower,
To dress my Maiden Saviour.
271. HIS COMING TO THE SEPULCHRE.
Hence they have borne 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 whatsoe'er we do,
God is the ΑΡΧΗ, and the ΤΕΛΟΣ too.
POEMS
NOT INCLUDED IN _HESPERIDES_.
THE DESCRIPTION OF A WOMAN.
Whose head, befringed with bescattered tresses,
Shows like Apollo's when the morn he dresses,[B]
Or like Aurora when with pearl she sets
Her long, dishevell'd, rose-crown'd trammelets:
Her forehead smooth, full, polish'd, bright and high
Bears in itself a graceful majesty,
Under the which two crawling eyebrows twine
Like to the tendrils of a flatt'ring vine,
Under whose shade two starry sparkling eyes
Are beautifi'd with fair fring'd canopies.
Her comely nose, with uniformal grace,
Like purest white, stands in the middle place,
Parting the pair, as we may well suppose.
Each cheek resembling still a damask rose,
Which like a garden manifestly show
How roses, lilies, and carnations grow,
Which sweetly mixed both with white and red,
Like rose leaves, white and red, seem[C] mingled.
Then nature for a sweet allurement sets
Two smelling, swelling, bashful cherrylets,
The which with ruby redness being tipp'd,
Do speak a virgin, merry, cherry-lipp'd.
Over the which a neat, sweet skin is drawn,
Which makes them show like roses under lawn:
These be the ruby portals, and divine,
Which ope themselves to show a holy shrine
Whose breath is rich perfume, that to the sense
Smells like the burn'd Sabean frankincense:
In which the tongue, though but a member small,
Stands guarded with a rosy-hilly wall;
And her white teeth, which in the gums are set
Like pearl and gold, make one rich cabinet.
Next doth her chin with dimpled beauty strive
For his white, plump, and smooth prerogative;
At whose fair top, to please the sight, there grows
The fairest[D] image of a blushing rose,
Mov'd by the chin, whose motion causeth this,
That both her lips do part, do meet, do kiss;
Her ears, which like two labyrinths are plac'd
On either side, with rich rare jewels grac'd,
Moving a question whether that by them
The gem is grac'd, or they grac'd by the gem.
But the foundation of the architect
Is the swan-staining, fair, rare, stately neck
Which with ambitious humbleness stands under,
Bearing aloft this rich, round world of wonder.
Her breast, a place for beauty's throne most fit,
Bears up two globes where love and pleasure sit,
Which, headed with two rich, round rubies, show
Like wanton rosebuds growing out of snow;
And in the milky valley that's between
Sits Cupid, kissing of his mother queen,
Fingering the paps that feel like sieved silk,
And press'd a little they will weep pure milk.
Then comes the belly, seated next below,
Like a fair mountain in Riphean snow,
Where Nature, in a whiteness without spot,
Hath in the middle tied a Gordian knot.
Now love invites me to survey her thighs,
Swelling in likeness like two crystal skies,
Which to the knees by Nature fastened on,
Derive their ever well 'greed motion.
Her legs with two clear calves, like silver tri'd,
Kindly swell up with little pretty pride,
Leaving a distance for the comely[E] small
To beautify the leg and foot withal.
Then lowly, yet most lovely stand the feet,
Round, short and clear, like pounded spices sweet,
And whatsoever thing they tread upon
They make it scent like bruised cinnamon.
The lovely shoulders now allure the eye
To see two tablets of pure ivory
From which two arms like branches seem to spread
With tender rind[F] and silver coloured,
With little hands and fingers long and small
To grace a lute, a viol, virginal.
In length each finger doth his next excel,
Each richly headed with a pearly shell.
Thus every part in contrariety
Meet in the whole and make a harmony,
As divers strings do singly disagree,
But form'd by number make sweet melody.
[B] MS. blesses.
[C] MS. lye.
[D] MS. blessed.
[E] MS. beauteous.
[F] W. R. vein'd.
MR. HERRICK: HIS DAUGHTER'S DOWRY.
Ere I go hence and be no more
Seen to the world, I'll give the score
I owe unto a female child,
And that is this, a verse enstyled
My daughter's dowry; having which,
I'll leave thee then completely rich.
Instead of gold, pearl, rubies, bonds
Long forfeit, pawned diamonds
Or antique pledges, house or land,
I give thee this that shall withstand
The blow of ruin and of chance.
These hurt not thine inheritance,
For 'tis fee simple and no rent
Thou fortune ow'st for tenement.
However after times will praise,
This portion, my prophetic bays,
Cannot deliver up to th' rust,
Yet I keep peaceful in my dust.
As for thy birth and better seeds
(Those which must grow to virtuous deeds),
Thou didst derive from that old stem
(Love and mercy cherish them),
Which like a vestal virgin ply
With holy fire lest that it die.
Grow up with milder laws to know
At what time to say aye or no;
Let manners teach thee where to be
More comely flowing, where less free.
These bring thy husband, like to those
Old coins and medals we expose
To th' show, but never part with. Next,
As in a more conspicuous text,
Thy forehead, let therein be sign'd
The maiden candour of thy mind;
And under it two chaste-born spies
To bar out bold adulteries,
For through these optics fly the darts
Of lust which set on fire our hearts.
On either side of these quick ears
There must be plac'd, for seasoned fears
Which sweeten love, yet ne'er come nigh
The plague of wilder jealousy.
Then let each cheek of thine entice
His soul as to a bed of spice
Where he may roll and lose his sense,
As in a bed of frankincense.
A lip enkindled with that coal
With which love chafes and warms the soul,
Bring to him next, and in it show
Love's cherries from such fires grow
And have their harvest, which must stand
The gathering of the lip, not hand;
Then unto these be it thy care
To clothe thy words in gentle air,
That smooth as oil, sweet, soft and clean
As is the childish bloom of bean,
They may fall down and stroke, as the
Beams of the sun the peaceful sea.
With hands as smooth as mercy's bring
Him for his better cherishing,
That when thou dost his neck ensnare,
Or with thy wrist, or flattering hair,
He may, a prisoner, there descry
Bondage more loved than liberty.
A nature so well formed, so wrought
To calm and tempest, let be brought
With thee, that should he but incline
To roughness, clasp him like a vine,
Or like as wool meets steel, give way
Unto the passion, not to stay;
Wrath, if resisted, over-boils,
If not, it dies or else recoils.
And lastly, see you bring to him
Somewhat peculiar to each limb;
And I charge thee to be known
By n'other face but by thine own.
Let it in love's name be kept sleek,
Yet to be found when he shall seek
It, and not instead of saint
Give up his worth unto the paint;
For, trust me, girl, she over-does
Who by a double proxy woos.
But lest I should forget his bed,
Be sure thou bring a maidenhead.
That is a margarite, which lost,
Thou bring'st unto his bed a frost
Or a cold poison, which his blood
Benumbs like the forgetful flood.
Now for some jewels to supply
The want of earrings' bravery
For public eyes; take only these
Ne'er travelled for beyond the seas;
They're nobly home-bred, yet have price
Beyond the far-fet merchandise:
Obedience, wise distrust, peace, shy
Distance and sweet urbanity;
Safe modesty, lov'd patience, fear
Of offending, temperance, dear
Constancy, bashfulness and all
The virtues less or cardinal,
Take with my blessing, and go forth
Enjewelled with thy native worth.
And now if there a man be found
That looks for such prepared ground,
Let him, but with indifferent skill,
So good a soil bestock and till;
He may ere long have such a wife
Nourish in's breast a tree of life.
