In prison in thy womb; and tho' he there
Can take no sin, nor thou give, yet he'll wear,
Taken from thence, flesh, which death's force may
Ere by the spheres time was created thou
Wast in his mind, who is thy son and brother, Whom thou conceiv'st conceived; yet thou 'rt now Thy Maker's maker, and thy Father's mother; Thou 'hast light in dark, and shutt'st in little room Immensity, cloister'd in thy dear womb.
"IMMENSITY, cloister'd in thy dear womb,"
Now leaves his well-belov'd imprisonment;
There he hath made himself to his intent
Weak enough, now into our world to come:
But oh! for thee, for him, hath th' inn no room?
Yet lay him in his stall, and from the orient
Stars and wise men will travel, to prevent
Th' effect of Herod's jealous general doom.
Seest thou my soul with thy faith's eye, how he,
Which fills all place, yet none holds him, doth lie?
Was not his pity towards thee wondrous high,
That would have need to be pitied by thee?
Kiss him, and with him into Egypt go,
With his kind mother, who partakes thy woe.
"WITH his kind mother, who partakes thy woe," Joseph! turn back; see where your child doth sit Blowing, yea, blowing out those sparks of wit Which himself on the Docters did bestow: The Word but lately could not speak, and, lo, It suddenly speaks wonders. Whence comes it That all which was, and all which should be writ, A shallow-seeming child should deeply know ?. His Godhead was not soul to his manhood, Nor had time mellow'd him m to this ripeness: But as for one which hath a long task 'tis good With the sun to begin his business, He in his age's morning thus began, By miracles exceeding power of man.
"By miracles exceeding power of man."
He faith in some, envy in some begat;
For what weak spirits admire ambitious hate;
In both affections many to him ran:"
But oh! the worst are most, they will and can
Alas! and do unto th' immaculate,
Whose creature Fate is, now prescribe a fate,
Measuring self-life's infinite to span,
Nay, to an inch. Lo, where, condemned, he
Bears his own cross with pain; yet by and by,
When it bears him, he must bear more and die.
Now thou art lifted up, draw me to thee,
And, at thy death giving such liberal dole;
Moist with one drop of thy blood my dry soul.
"MOIST with one drop of thy blood my dry soul," Shall (tho' she now be in extreme degree
Too stony hard, and yet too fleshy) be
Freed by that drop from being starv'd, hard, or foul;
And life, by this death abled, shall controul
Death, whom thy death slew; nor shall to me
Fear of first or last death bring misery,
If in thy life's-book my name thou inroll:
Flesh in that long sleep is not putrified,
But made that there of which, and for which 'twas,
Nor can by other means be glorified.
May then sin's sleep, and death soon from me pass,
That, wak'd from both, I again risen may
Salute the last and everlasting day.
"SALUTE the last and everlasting day;" Joy at th' uprising of this Sun and Son Ye whose true tears or tribulation
Have purely wash'd or burnt your drossy clay;
Behold the highest, parting hence away,
Lightens the dark clouds which he treads upon;
Nor doth he by ascending shew alone,
But first he, and he first, enters the way.
O strong Ram! which hast batter'd heav'n for me, 9
Mild Lamb, which with thy blood hast mark'd the path,
Bright torch, which shin'st, that I the way may see,
Oh! with thy own blood quench thy own just wrath,
And if thy holy Spirit my Muse did raise,
Deign at my hands this crown of prayer and praise. 14
ON THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.
N that, O Queen of queens! thy birth was free
From that which others doth of grace bereave,
When in their mother's womb they life receive,
Cod, as his sole born daughter, loved thee.
To match thee like thy birth's nobility
He thee his Spirit for his spouse did leave,
By whom thou didst his only Son conceive,
And so wast link'd to all the Trinity.
Cease then, O Queens! that earthly crowns do wear,
To glory in the pomp of earthly things;
If men such high respects unto you bear,
Which daughters, wives, and mothers, are of kings,
What honour can unto that queen be done
Who had your God for father, spouse, and son?
SINCE Christ embrac'd the Cross itself, dare I,
His image, th' image of his Cross deny ?
Would I have profit by the sacrifice,
And dare the chosen altar to despise?
It bore all other sins, but is it fit
That it should bear the sin of scorning it?
Who from the picture would avert his eye,
How would he fly his pains who there did die?
From me no pulpit nor misgrounded law,
Nor scandal taken shall this Cross withdraw;
It shall not, for it cannot; for the loss
Of this Cross were to me another cross;
Better were worse, for no affliction,
No cross is so extreme as to have none.
Who can blot out the Cross, which th' instrument
Of God dew'd on me in the sacrament?
Who can deny me power and liberty
To stretch mine arms, and mine own Cross to be?
Swim, and at every stroke thou art thy Cross :
The mast and yard make one where seas do toss.
Look down, thou spy'st our crosses in small things;
Look up, thou seest birds rais'd on crossed wings.
All the globe's frame and spheres is nothing else
But the meridian's crossing parallels.
Material Crosses then good physic be,
But yet spiritual have chief dignity.
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