No More Learning

Tho' kingdoms fall,
This pillar never shall
Decline or waste at all;
But stand for ever by his own
Firm and well-fix'd foundation.


To his book's end this last line he'd have placed:
_Jocund his muse was, but his life was chaste_.




HIS

NOBLE NUMBERS:

_OR_,

HIS PIOUS PIECES,

Wherein (amongst other things)

he sings the Birth of his CHRIST;
and sighes for his _Saviours_ suffering
on the _Crosse_.


HESIOD.


? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .
? ? ? ? ? ? ', ? ? ? ' ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .

[Illustration]


LONDON
Printed for _John Williams_, and _Francis Eglesfield_.
1647.




HIS NOBLE NUMBERS:

OR,

HIS PIOUS PIECES.


1. HIS CONFESSION.

Look how our foul days do exceed our fair;
And as our bad, more than our good works are,
E'en so those lines, pen'd by my wanton wit,
Treble the number of these good I've writ.
Things precious are least numerous: men are prone
To do ten bad for one good action.


2. HIS PRAYER FOR ABSOLUTION.

For those my unbaptised rhymes,
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 find'st here one
Worthy Thy benediction;
That one of all the rest shall be
The glory of my work and me.


3. TO FIND GOD.

Weigh me the fire; or canst thou find
A way to measure out the wind;
Distinguish all those floods that are
Mix'd in that watery theatre;
And taste thou them as saltless 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
Beshiver'd 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 noiseless spill their influence:
This if thou canst, then show me Him
That rides the glorious cherubim.

_Keep_, abide.


4. WHAT GOD IS.

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


5. UPON GOD.

God is not only said to be
An Ens, but Supraentity.


6. 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.


7. GOD'S ANGER WITHOUT AFFECTION.

God when He's angry here with anyone,
His wrath is free from perturbation;
And when we think His looks are sour and grim,
The alteration is in us, not Him.


8. GOD NOT TO BE COMPREHENDED.

'Tis hard to find God, but to comprehend
Him, as He is, is labour without end.


9. GOD'S PART.

Prayers and praises are those spotless two
Lambs, by the law, which God requires as due.


10. 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.


11. THREE FATAL SISTERS.

Three fatal sisters wait upon each sin;
First, fear and shame without, then guilt within.


12. SILENCE.

Suffer thy legs, but not thy tongue to walk:
God, the Most Wise, is sparing of His talk.


13. MIRTH.

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


14. LOADING AND UNLOADING.

God loads and unloads, thus His work begins,
To load with blessings and unload from sins.


15. 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 fill'd full, than when full fill'd before.


16. PRAYERS MUST HAVE POISE.

God, He rejects all prayers that are slight
And want their poise: words ought to have their weight.


17. TO GOD: AN ANTHEM SUNG IN THE CHAPEL AT WHITEHALL 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 pours in oil, as well as wine,
_Ver. Chor. _ And let it work, for I'll endure
The utmost smart, so Thou wilt cure.


18. UPON GOD.

God is all fore-part; for, we never see
Any part backward in the Deity.


19. CALLING AND CORRECTING.

God is not only merciful to call
Men to repent, but when He strikes withal.


20. NO ESCAPING THE SCOURGING.

God scourgeth some severely, some He spares;
But all in smart have less or greater shares.


21. THE ROD.

God's rod doth watch while men do sleep, and then
The rod doth sleep, while vigilant are men.


22. 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.


23. GOD IS ONE.

God, as He is most holy known,
So He is said to be most one.


24. 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.


25. 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 stroke 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.

_Stroke_, text _strike_.


26. WHIPS.

God has His whips here to a twofold end:
The bad to punish, and the good t' amend.

27. 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?


28. TEMPTATION.

Those saints which God loves best,
The devil tempts not least.


29. 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.


30. 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.


31. 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.


32. PARDON.

God pardons those who do through frailty sin,
But never those that persevere therein.


33. AN ODE OF THE BIRTH OF OUR SAVIOUR.

In numbers, and but these few,
I sing Thy birth, O JESU!
Thou pretty baby, born 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.

Instead of neat enclosures
Of interwoven osiers,
Instead of fragrant posies
Of daffodils and roses,
Thy cradle, Kingly Stranger,
As Gospel tells,
Was nothing else
But here a homely manger.
But we with silks, not crewels,
With sundry precious jewels,
And lily-work will dress Thee;
And as we dispossess Thee
Of clouts, we'll make a chamber,
Sweet babe, for Thee
Of ivory,
And plaister'd round with amber.

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.

_Crewels_, worsteds.
_Clouts_, rags.


34. 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.


35. THE HEART.

In prayer the lips ne'er act the winning part,
Without the sweet concurrence of the heart.


36. 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.


37. SIN SEEN.

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


38. UPON TIME.

Time was upon
The wing, to fly away;
And I call'd on
Him but awhile to stay;
But he'd be gone,
For ought that I could say.

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

An hour-glass,
In which were sands but few,
As he did pass,
He show'd, and told me, too,
Mine end near was;
And so away he flew.


39. 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.


40. TO GOD.

Thou hast promis'd, Lord, to be
With me in my misery;
Suffer me to be so bold
As to speak, Lord, say and hold.


41. HIS LITANY TO THE HOLY SPIRIT.

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

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

When the house doth sigh and weep,
And the world is drown'd in sleep,
Yet mine eyes the watch do keep,
Sweet Spirit, comfort me!

When the artless doctor sees
No one hope, but of his fees,
And his skill runs on the lees,
Sweet Spirit, comfort me!

When his potion and his pill
Has, or none, or little skill,
Meet for nothing, but to kill;
Sweet Spirit, comfort me!

When the passing bell doth toll,
And the furies in a shoal
Come to fright a parting soul,
Sweet Spirit, comfort me!

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

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

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

When the tempter me pursu'th
With the sins of all my youth,
And half damns me with untruth,
Sweet Spirit, comfort me!

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

When the judgment is reveal'd,
And that open'd which was seal'd,
When to Thee I have appeal'd,
Sweet Spirit, comfort me!


42. THANKSGIVING.

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


43. COCK-CROW.

Bellman of night, if I about shall go
For to deny my Master, do thou crow.
Thou stop'dst St. Peter in the midst of sin;
Stay me, by crowing, ere I do begin:
Better it is, premonish'd for to shun
A sin, than fall to weeping when 'tis done.


44. ALL THINGS RUN WELL FOR THE RIGHTEOUS.

Adverse and prosperous fortunes both work on
Here, for the righteous man's salvation;
Be he oppos'd, or be he not withstood,
All serve to th' augmentation of his good.


45. PAIN ENDS IN PLEASURE.

Afflictions bring us joy in times to come,
When sins, by stripes, to us grow wearisome.


46. 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.


47. A THANKSGIVING TO GOD FOR HIS HOUSE.

Lord, Thou hast given me a cell
Wherein to dwell;
A little house, whose humble roof
Is weather-proof;
Under the spars 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 by th' 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 bin
Which keeps my little loaf of bread
Unclipt, 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 worts, the purslain, and the mess
Of water-cress,
Which of Thy kindness Thou hast sent;
And my content
Makes those, and my beloved beet,
To be more sweet.
'Tis Thou that crown'st 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 mak'st 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.

_Unflead_, lit. unflay'd.
_Purslain_, an herb.


48. 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 shall Thou give so deep a wound
But I as patient will be found.


49. ANOTHER TO GOD.

Lord, do not beat me,
Since I do sob and cry,
And swoon away to die,
Ere Thou dost threat me.
Lord, do not scourge me,
If I by lies and oaths
Have soil'd myself or clothes,
But rather purge me.


50. 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.


51. TO HIS EVER-LOVING 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 stiles;
Since rough the way is, help me when I call,
And take me up; or else prevent the fall.
I ken 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 know'st my wishes be
To leave this life, not loving it, but Thee.

_Rids way_, gets over the ground.


52. ANOTHER.

Thou bid'st me come; I cannot come; for why?
Thou dwell'st 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.


53. TO DEATH.

Thou bid'st me come away,
And I'll no longer stay
Than 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 travel hence
With feet of innocence:
These done, I'll only cry
God mercy, and so die.


54. 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.


55. WELCOME WHAT COMES.

Whatever comes, let's be content withal:
Among God's blessings there is no one small.


56. 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 mix'd 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,
Ah 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.


57. 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 suff'ring gives me patience.


58. ETERNITY.

O years! and age! farewell:
Behold, I go
Where I do know
Infinity to dwell.

And these mine eyes shall see
All times, how they
Are lost i' th' sea
Of vast eternity.

Where never moon shall sway
The stars; but she
And night shall be
Drown'd in one endless day.


59. 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 bib or stomacher;
And tell Him, for good handsel too,
That thou hast brought a whistle new,
Made of a clean strait 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 He.
Lastly, if thou canst win a kiss
From those mellifluous lips of His;
Then never take a second on,
To spoil the first impression.

_Handsel_, earnest money.


60. THE NEW-YEAR'S 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 swaddling-clout, shall be
The richest New-Year's gift to me.

_Tabbies_, shot silks.


61. TO GOD.

If anything delight me for to print
My book, 'tis this: that Thou, my God, art in't.


62. GOD AND THE KING.

How am I bound to Two! God, who doth give
The mind; the king, the means whereby I live.


63. GOD'S MIRTH: MAN'S MOURNING.

Where God is merry, there write down thy fears:
What He with laughter speaks, hear thou with tears.


64. HONOURS ARE HINDRANCES.

Give me honours! what are these,
But the pleasing hindrances?
Stiles, 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 than fly.


65. THE PARASCEVE, OR PREPARATION.

To a love-feast we both invited are:
The figur'd 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, ere we receive,
Fit, fit it is we have our parasceve.
Who to that sweet bread unprepar'd doth come,
Better be starv'd, than but to taste one crumb.

_Parasceve_, preparation.


66. 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 flour press'd down, and running o'er.


67. 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 miss'd,
'Tis for our glory that we did resist.


68. CHRIST'S PART.

Christ, He requires still, wheresoe'er 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.


69. 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?


70. SOBRIETY IN SEARCH.

To seek of God more than we well can find,
Argues a strong distemper of the mind.


71. ALMS.

Give, if thou canst, an alms; if not, afford,
Instead of that, a sweet and gentle word:
_God crowns our goodness wheresoe'er He sees,
On our part, wanting all abilities_.


72. 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 hugg'd impiety;
Gifts blind the wise, and bribes do please
And wind all other witnesses;
And wilt not thou with gold be ti'd
To lay thy pen and ink aside?
That in the mirk 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.

_Protonotary_, once the title of the chief clerk in the Courts of
Common Pleas and King's Bench.


73. 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.


74. 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 hurl'd
Against the wicked in another world.

_Nockt_, placed ready for shooting.


75. HIS DREAM.

I dreamt, last night, Thou didst transfuse
Oil from Thy jar into my cruse;
And pouring still Thy wealthy store,
The vessel full did then run o'er;
Methought I did Thy bounty chide
To see the waste; but 'twas replied
By Thee, dear God, God gives man seed
Ofttimes for waste, as for his need.
Then I could say that house is bare
That has not bread and some to spare.


76. GOD'S BOUNTY.

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


77. 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 crack'd her axletree.
Just so it is with me, who, list'ning, pray
The winds to blow the tedious night away,
That I might see the cheerful, peeping day.
Sick is my heart!