3 Here flowing fall,4 And chide, and call,5 As if his liquid, loose retinue stay’d6 Ling’ring, and were of this steep place afraid;7 The common pass8 Where, clear as glass,9 All must descend10 Not to an end,11 But quicken’d by this deep and rocky grave,12 Rise to a longer course more bright and brave.13 Dear…
That keep’st account till he returnOf all his dust left here ;As easily Thou might’st prevent,As now produce, these tears,And add unto that day he wentA fair supply of years.But ’twas my sin that forc’d Thy handTo cull this primrose out,That by Thy early choice forewarn’dMy soul might look about.O what a vanity is man…
I shelter in, is slaveTo no such piece.When I am gone,I shall no wardrobes leaveTo friend, or son,But what their own homes weave.2.Such, though not proud nor full,May make them weep,And mourn to see the woolOutlast the sheep :Poor, pious wear !Hadst thou been rich, or fine,Perhaps that tearHad mourn’d thy loss, not mine.3.Why then…
How in thy absence thou dost steerMe from above!A life well ledThis truth commends,With quick or deadIt never ends.Stars are of mighty use; the nightIs dark, and long;The road foul; and where one goes right,Six may go wrong.One twinkling ray,Shot o’er some cloud,May clear much away,And guide a crowd.God’s saints are shining lights: who staysHere…
Twelve hundred hours, and not a browBut clouds hang on.As he that in some cave’s thick dampLockt from the light,Fixeth a solitary lamp,To brave the night,And walking from his sun, when pastThat glim’ring rayCuts through the heavy mists in hasteBack to his day,So o’r fled minutes I retreatUnto that hourWhich show’d thee last, but did…
From her faint bosom breath’d thee, the diseaseOf her sick waters and infectious ease.But now at even,Too gross for heaven,Thou fall’st in tears, and weep’st for thy mistake.2.Ah ! it is so with me : oft have I press’dHeaven with a lazy breath ; but fruitless thisPierc’d not ; love only can with quick accessUnlock…
2 The day-star springs, I’ll wake again.SOUL3 Go, sleep in peace; and when thou liest4 Unnumber’d in thy dust, when all this frame5 Is but one dram, and what thou now descriest6 In sev’ral parts shall want a name,7 Then may his peace be with thee, and each dust8 Writ in his book, who ne’er…
No soft luxurious diet thenHad effeminated men:No other meat, nor wine, had anyThan the coarse mast, or simple honey;And by the parents’ care laid up,Cheap berries did the children sup.No pompous wear was in those days,Of gummy silks or scarlet blaize.Their beds were on some flow’ry brink,And clear spring-water was their drink.The shady pine in…
3 Where I sometimes had seen the soil to yield4 A gallant flow’r;5 But winter now had ruffled all the bow’r6 And curious store7 I knew there heretofore.8 Yet I, whose search lov’d not to peep and peer9 I’ th’ face of things,10 Thought with my self, there might be other springs11 Besides this here,12…
I begged here long, and groaned to knowWho gave the clouds so brave a bow,Who bent the spheres, and circled inCorruption with this glorious ring;What is His name, and how I mightDescry some part of His great light.I summoned nature: pierced through all her store,Broke up some seals which none had touched before:Her womb, her…
