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[Page]Licensed and Entred according to Order.
THE MYSTERIES OF MOUNT CALVARY Opened and Improved. IN A DIALOGUE BETWIXT CHRIST and the SOUL.
Omnis creatura compatitur Christo morienti, sol obscuratur, terra movetur Petrae scinduntur, velum templi dividitur; Sepulchra aperiuntur, Solus homo Christo non Compatitur, pro quo tamen Solo Christus patitur.
S. Hieronymus in Mat. 27.
Aut prodesse volunt, aut delectare Poetae,
Aut simul & jucunda, & idonea dicere vitae.
Horat. de Arte Poetica.
By J. V Rector of Woodston, in the County of Huntington
LONDON: Printed for Thomas Parkhurst, at the Bible and Three Crowns at the lower end of Cheapside near Mercers Chappel. 1686.
THE MYSTERIES OF Mount CALVARY, &c.
SOUL.
GRant me O Lord! thy Spirit from above,
That I may know the mysteries of thy Love.
It cramps my Reason, and it damps my Faith,
To read the stories of thy Life and Death.
Thou art my God; infinite Wisdom can
Best solve the point why God became a man.
CHRIST.
Behold my Soul! God's a transcendent Sprite,
Love, Wisdom, Justice, Mercy, infinite.
[Page 2] Such is his Glorious Nature to the Eye,
Once to behold, is to behold and Dye.
Nor can a prospect of the Sun be made,
Ere grateful to the Eye but in a shade.
The Vail of Moses Face was as a Glass,
For to reflect the glory of his Face.
Moses Vail was my flesh, that pleasing shade,
In which Gods Attributes were all displai'd.
Sin was conceived first by Virgin Woman,
Since Adam knew her not, and she knew no man.
By Virgin woman sin found entrance in,
The Virgin Woman's seed attones the sin.
The birth of sins controuled by my birth,
Since I was pure and spotless born of Earth.
Pure as my birth, my life hence qualifi'd,
To expiate those sins for which I di'd.
Nor did my human nature less express,
Gods Wisdom equal to his Holiness.
'Twas Flesh and Blood that sin'd; to make this good,
Thy sin I did atone by Flesh and Blood.
'Twas man that sin'd, 'twas God that was offended,
Man di'd, God's satisfied, the quarrel ended.
God's peace with man's, proclaimed by my merit;
Man's peace with God's, procured by my Spirit.
I took thy nature, so imparted mine;
I was humane, that thou may'st be Divine.
I came from Heaven, to Heaven I plain'd the Rode,
God dwelt with man, that man may dwell with God.
When I for sin a Sacrifice was made,
Gods Justice like his Wisdom was display'd.
[Page 3] That mercy may be shown, God will be Just,
Either the sinner dyes, or Jesus must.
At the same instant Mercy meant thy good,
Justice procur'd it, with the price of Blood;
Nor do'st thou read God ever pard'ned Vice,
Scarce with, but ne'r without a Sacrifice:
For so the Jews in all their solemn Feasts,
To atone their sins they Sacrificed Beasts.
And when the Lamb was slain i'th' sinners stead,
The guilt pass'd over to th' accursed head.
By these and other rites, it was infer'd,
Sin was not strictly pardon'd, as transfer'd.
David pursu'd with guilt, to th' Altar flies;
His sin is pard'ned, but his Infant dies.
So Just is God, but yet so meek and mild,
He pardons sin, but punisheth his Child.
Fear to offend, Justice being so severe;
Since that thy pardon too doth cost so dear:
That God is merciful, thy sins do shew it.
His blessed nature prompts him daily to it.
But since I paid so dearly for thy sin,
Justice it self doth usher Mercy in;
So contrite Souls may in Gods Mercy trust,
Since God is merciful, 'cause he is just.
Buying thy Ransom at so dear a price,
Justice can ne'r demand the payment twice;
Gods Love like to his Mercy's infinite;
Exerting all its pow'rs with all its might.
Light ceases not to spread his Golden Bams,
Fountains would drain themselves in Silver Streams.
[Page 4] God can't be less than the work of his hands,
His very Nature is what love commands:
Thy self unto thy self God gave thee once,
Ten thousand times thy self he gave thee since;
But when thy sin and misery he spi'd,
Took flesh, so gave himself for thee, and di'd
Thus love from Heaven discharging every dart,
At last he threw himself into thy heart;
Not only took thy flesh, and so thy sin,
But being man like thee, became thy kin.
What friendship e're was found in any other,
Of Friend, Physician, Advocate, or Brother,
All meet in me; nay I am more then this,
Thy Flesh, thy Life, thy self, thy God, thy bliss.
SOUL.
Since 'twas my Lords blest purpose and intent,
Within my Nature for to pitch his Tent;
Since that thy house, meat, grave, they were not thine,
The reason is (my Lord) thou wouldst have mine.
Come Holy Ghost! and by thy spritely art,
Hover and breathe upon my barren heart.
Since the place sacred is where God will come,
Make my heart like unto the Virgins Womb.
Tho 'tis not pure, as knowing sin before,
Let it be Virgin, knowing sin no more;
Once in a Manger was thy Body lay'd,
But in a Jakes I blush to have it said.
[Page 5]Into a worldly mind thou canst not come,
'Tis pinching, narrow, and it wanteth room,
Nor can I hear thy sweet and secret Voice,
In a House fill'd with jangling War and noise.
Nor canst thou dwell in a revengeful Brest,
The noise and hurry will disturb thy Rest.
Nor can my Lord an Habitation find,
Fit for thy Presence, in an haughty mind;
Self taketh up the room, and fills thy space
Of residence, and scorns to give thee place.
Uncleanness doth thy sacred spirit choak,
Bees shun the Hive, when driven out by smoak
Drunkards do quench thy Sprite, pure and Divine,
Who cannot keep his own, he cannot thine.
Nor can the God of truth e're dwell within
A naughty mind, where treachery hath been,
Since it betrays him to each tempting sin.
Nor can a sin within thy Temple dwell,
No more than Heaven can e're accord with Hell,
What friendship hath my God with Belial?
Why wouldst thou condescend, Lord let me know,
Not to be made a man, but man so low?
CHRIST.
Such was thy pride, daring with God to vye;
And I atton'd it by humility.
God envys none his happiness; to know it,
When pride atempted it, and did foregoe it,
Humility points out the way unto it.
[Page 6] Such is the Virtue of an humble Soul,
Coupling all graces, and secures the whole.
Blest be the grace to which alone 'tis given,
To fetch God down to Earth, raise man to Heaven.
Such is its power and vertue that it can
Make man become like God, and God like man.
God greater than himself can never be,
Except in this, great in humility.
God and man courts this grace, Heaven is Gods seat,
He's but one more, the humble soul is it.
When greatness doth with goodness twist and twine,
What can be more Heroick and Divine.
What makes the Sun so graceful but his light,
Quickning the meanest object of our sight.
Never did Radient Pearl so please the eye,
As to behold an humble Deity,
Learn O my Child this blessed grace of me.
SOUL.
Thy pardon Lord! methinks thy sinful Creature,
Should learn this lesson of his wretched nature.
Earth should be Earth, and Worms are ever found,
Like other insects, crawling on the ground.
Man to be lowly, is as if I said,
Man should be man, dust dust, a spade a spade.
How can man pride himself, and himself flatter,
When sin's his form, and nothing is his matter.
Poor and proud! is the greatest monster, seeing
None but it self can give it self a being:
[Page 7]Man's all is God, nothing's his own beside;
That which is worse than nothing, that's his pride.
Pride therefore is a sin of Monstrous birth,
Who Serpent like, feeds on the slime o'th' Earth.
Black spawn of Hell! Void of intelligence,
Got in the darksome night of ignorance,
Who like a Viper eats through's Mother's side,
Since nothing but a nothing genders pride.
So bladders swell and skip for want of poise,
And empty Vessels make the greatest noise.
When Fruitful Trees of young and early Birth,
Do end their teeming burdens to the Earth,
So Pearls in dark and deepest Earth are found,
And sweetest Violets trail on the ground.
My self unto my self do thou disclose!
Who knows not his own nothing, nothing knows.
Gods greatness and mans sin's so deep a pit,
Such as no mortal man e're sounded yet.
Who counts himself a sinful wretched man;
He is more wretched than his thoughts can span.
Lord let me know and feel my nothingness;
Then do thou fill this wide and empty space
With plenitude and riches of thy grace.
Since I am nothing of my self alone,
And nothing nothing hath to bottom on,
Lord touch my heart as needle's touch't with stone!
That it may point and fix on thee alone.
Why did my Lord and Saviour think it best,
Before his Death t'appoint the Paschal Feast?
CHRIST.
[Page 8]When once the Lamb was slain and every door
Oth' Jewish Tribes was signed with the gore.
The quick-ey'd Angel spi'd it out, and slew
The Egyptian Host, but passed o're the Jew.
Then did the Jews conducted by the Hand
Of Moses, pass o're safe to th' promis'd Land.
Not that they did atchieve that land, till they
Had trac't their passage through the Ruddy Sea,
View how this rite was perfected by me.
I pass'd from Life to Death, by sinners slain,
I pass from Death to Life for sinners gain.
Look as the Lamb when on the Altar lay'd,
The owners debt was by the Victim pay'd;
And so the curse pass'd o're the sinners Head,
And fell upon the beast slain in its stead;
I was that Lamb ti'd fast upon the Tree,
Gods Justice like the Angel fell on me,
Th' Egyptian's slain, the Israelite is free.
Passing from Life to Death, I made all good,
Passing from Death to Life is understood,
The way to bliss is by and through my Blood.
Thus knowing my departure to draw on,
I joyn'd the Paschal-Supper with my own;
That both the Type and Antitype may meet,
And with a joynt Salute each other greet.
The Paschal-supper did commemorate,
The ancient thraldom of the Jewish State.
[Page 9] The signal was a pure and spotless Beast,
Offred in Sacrifice of Eucharist.
Nor did they only Sacrifice a Beast,
But on that Sacrifice they made a Feast.
Thus on the Cross I gave my Flesh and Blood,
Both on the Table are become thy Food.
Here thou may'st quell thy hunger, quench thy thirst,
Feeding upon the Sacrifice of Christ.
Since thus for thee I gave my Life and Breath,
Forget not the memorials of my Death?
SOUL.
Since that my Lord so freely did impart,
His Blood to me, sprinkle it on my Heart;
That so thy Justice may the signal view,
Making my sin th' Egyptian, me the Jew.
Slay my First born! O thou First-born of God!
My mighty sins with thine Almighty Rod.
Drown these Egyptians in thy Sea of Blood,
Then through this Sea, (Lord) make my passage good
Unto the Land of Canaan understood.
Help me too, through this Egypt where I dwell,
A Land of darkness, thraldom, sin, and Hell
Snce that my Bands are loosed by thy Merit!
Guide me Lord, through this desert by thy Spirit;
Let thy Hand be my Covert and my Shrowd,
Thy Law my fiery pillar and my Cloud.
Let truth that binds our words and actions fast,
Gird up my Loyns, and clasp about my Wast.
[Page 10]Bind on my feet the Sandals of thy Word,
Which to my steps alone can light afford.
Give me the staff of Faith too, in my Hand,
My Foes to conquer, or at least withstand,
Thus fix't, I'le trace my way to th' Holy Land.
Lest in this Pilgrimage I faint and pine,
I'le not forget my Viands, Bread and Wine.
My dayly wants and needs do prompt me to it,
Thy Dying Words (dear Lord) commands me, do it,
And am I not a treasure to attend,
The living pledges of my Dying Friend?
Thy cursed Death (dear Jesus) should be mine,
And shall I balk the blessed fruits of thine?
Thy Cross I should have born, tho pressed down,
And shall I be compell'd to wear my Crown?
Compulsion to a Feast seems very odd
Surely to such whose Friend and Food is God.
If that the Jewish Rites and thine accord,
I Feast not only with, but on my Lord.
Thou giv'st thy self on Earth, from Heaven above,
Thou giv'st thy self again, such is thy Love.
Shall not thy dying Love on Earth invite me?
Shall not thy living Love from Heaven excite me?
Canst thou do more than dye? Do more than love me?
Can't bleeding Love, nor feeding love too, move
Be angry Lord! and let my sins at least,
Harrass and toss me to this blessed Feast:
Then shall thy sacred Body and thy Blood,
Be Meat and Med'cine both, Physick and Food.
[Page 11]Give me this day my dayly Bread, I cry,
Or in this pilgrimage I faint and dye.
Why did my Lord and Saviour think it meet
To condescend to wash his servants Feet?
CHRIST.
To raise the price of that contemned grace,
Humility, born of a Heavenly Race.
If any one had reason to be high,
And lift his Head above the Tow'ring Sky,
None shews a better title to't than I.
I claim Gods Titles, Worship, Nature, Name.
God, and Gods Privy-Councellor I am;
My Births Divine, my works were works of Wonder:
My Life was Lightning, and my Voice was Thunder.
I was King too, but yet my power was shown,
In Kindness, Love, and Courtesy alone.
Great was my Works, as not to be withstood▪
Yet great in nothing more than doing good.
I raise the Dead, tho Dead to worldly pelf;
I Dy'd unto the VVorld, and to my Self.
For when my Miracles came to be known,
I stopt mens mouths, together with my own.
I rais'd the Sick, and still'd the Winds beside;
Yet knew not how to raise a puff of pride.
When I was once transfigured on high,
Both Moses and Elias standing by;
The only news they brought me, I must Dye.
[Page 12] When in a King like manner once I came
Riding in Triumph to Jerusalem;
My joys were soon allayed by my fears,
For then I wet my Palms with dewy Tears.
'Twas then and there I was to be a King,
But Consecrated such by Suffering.
My Throne was plac'd betwixt the Crosses Horns;
My Scepter was a Reed, my Crown of Thorns;
My Robes were Mocks, my Acclamations, Scorns.
Thus both my Life and Death commends to thee,
This Godlike vertue of Humility?
SOUL.
Could man but know himself, himself he'd know
To be a stinking Dunghil clad with Snow.
Vile Earth without, and viler Soul within,
A mighty nothing, superadded sin.
Methinks the sin of pride should find no place,
Nor yet Humility become a grace
In man, whose sinful nature is so base.
But when I see what once my Lord became,
I little, nothing worse, than nothing am.
Ne're do we seem so little in our [...]ye,
As when we look down on our selves from high.
When I consider what my Lord hath done,
I melt away like Snow-balls in the Sun.
When by thy light, and b [...]thy spritely Art,
I dig to th' center of my sinful Heart.
[Page 13]I am all fear, all dread, all in a maze,
Viewing the grizley Spirits which I raise.
But when I see a Nature so Divine,
Exerting so much goodness once in mine;
How Heaven courts Earth, and God becomes our brother,
How one Abyss doth call upon another;
Here self dissolves, struck by such potent Charms,
Expiring, like to Moses, in Gods Arms.
Here pride, that brat of darkness and of night,
Not daring to behold this glorious sight;
Makes off, like spirits at the day-brake light.
Oh! let me see my Face in this thy Glass!
Shall man be proud, when God so humble was?
Since that the meanest services were thine,
I will not grudg (my Lord) shall make them mine,
Whate're thy hand hath touched is Divine
I'le go from house to house, from door to door,
Healing thy sick, and visiting thy poor.
Since in these Offices I need not fear
To meet a Friend, for I shall meet thee there.
VVhy is't Recorded (Lord) why is it said,
That thou for thirty pieces wast betray'd?
CHRIST.
Thou sold'st thy self to sin; to set thee free,
The price of slaves was judg'd the price of me.
As in a Glass behold, my Child, and view,
The baseness of thy sin, and thraldom too.
[Page 14] Jesus thy Lord, setting so vile a rate on,
Making thy Soul do Homage unto Satan.
Pagans a Drunken Bacchus did adore,
Mars, Mammon, Pluto, Venus too, a Whore.
Who casts off these by his Baptismal vow,
Tho he thinks not, he may adore them now.
Uncleanness, rapine, riot, and excess;
Mars, Venus, Pluto, Bacchus was no less.
And all but Devils in a Godlike dress.
The Christian sins with Pagan rites accord,
Both Tribute pay to Satan as their Lord.
Tho sinners aim at nought but pleasing profit;
The Devils service is the meaning of it.
Pagans in all their superstitious evils,
They meant a God, tho Worshipt none but Devils.
Who owns himself a Christian by my Name,
And breaks my Precepts, does the very same:
When as I was about to be betray'd,
Lord is it I? The Traytor Judas said;
Nor was that wretch ever so void of sence,
To think my Person worth but thirty Pence.
'Twas not his Reason, but his Avarice,
That on his Master set so low a price.
'Twas lust that did above his Lord prevail,
So the beam lean'd too much to th' weakest scale.
Jesus more worth than worlds, a Judas cryes,
Rather than lust be starved, Jesus Dyes.
Such is the nature of a sin when bred,
VVhat cannot once be cured, must be fed.
[Page 15] VVhose heart the world doth sway, and that his bliss is,
He'le sell me (Judas like) for thirty pieces.
Tho in Exchange he doth impart a kiss,
I need not tell thee who his Master is.
For so in secret Caverns Serpents lurk,
Like hidden Springs, setting the Wheels on work.
SOUL.
In Lawful things we most of all offend,
When our desires want measure both, and end:
Whose swelling mind his Fortunes doth out go,
Five Hundred pounds is not so much as two.
Proud and ambitious Minds will draw a Sword
For that which meek men count not worth a Word.
The sober Person dines without a wish,
When Lust is pined at a double Dish.
Ne'r was there Judg that dare to be unjust,
Were he not bribed otherwise by Lust:
None covets sin, but lust for to fulfil,
And so sins willingly against his Will.
Down to my mean Estate, Lord bend my mind!
And let them both like Warp and Woof combin'd:
Sleeping securely thus on Natures Lap,
I'm safe from Satans wiles and Fortunes Clap.
Why did that Traytor wound thee with a Kiss,
And suck rank Poyson from the Streams of Bliss?
CHRIST.
To expiate thy foul Hypocrisie,
Which doth at once betray thy God and me:
[Page 16] My flesh it was a Mirror, to express
Gods Justice, Goodness, Truth and Righteousness:
Who makes a breach in any one of these,
Tho a Disciple, yet a Judas is;
Who in my Gospel Precepts doth be-lye me,
In all my Gospel Truths he will deny me:
He will not dye that dares not to be just:
He'l ne'r forsake his life that wont his lust:
Who shipwracks Conscience, as the Scripture saith;
Whose formal Christian only may as well,
(Bating the name of Hypocrite and Hell)
Become a Jew, a Turk, an Infidel;
He is my Friend, by the same reason so,
As Turk and Jew, and Pagan is my Fo;
And tho he wears my Coat, as Judas Kisses,
When th' Fashion alters, tears it all in pieces:
They who would make me King, did most deride me;
Who cri'd Hosanna most, they crucifi'd me.
SOUL.
Cursed Hypocrisie! that would outvye
The God of Wisdom, Truth, Sincerity:
Daring to kiss his Face, in's Courts to dwell,
More distant from him, than is Heav'n from Hell:
So Apes are counted most deformed Creatures,
VVho are not men, but would be men in features.
Grant I may love thee, Lord, by being like thee,
That I may ne'r at once both kiss and strike thee:
[Page 17]Let me detest all sin in every part,
That I may ne'r be Judas in my Heart.
The Garden is a Seat of Pleasure; why
VVas it the Scene of thy sad Tragedy?
CHRIST.
Here in a Garden I aton'd that Sin
Which in a Garden you know did begin.
For there we find the Tree of Good and Evil,
Which Adam eat of, tempted by the Devil:
Here I engag'd that Tempter in the Field,
Where first he made thy Parents for to yield:
Here my imbitter'd Cup did first confute
The fancied Pleasures of Forbidden Fruit.
That Curse of sweat when man procures his food *,
I here aton'd by sweating drops of Blood.
SOUL.
Enough my Lord! thou'st fully paid my Scores,
Fitting thy Plaisters wisely to my Sores:
Approach you hither all you idle Drones;
View how your Lord both sweats, and sighs, and groans;
Behold you swearers how he faints and swoons,
Under the burthen of your cursed VVounds:
View how his Blood and Moisture is sunk up,
By drinking of the Drunkards poison'd Cup.
Come here my Lusts! and dare to taste no more
O'th' Fruit' the Tree of Good and Evil bore,
Y' have tasted of the Apple, view the Core!
[Page 18]Hear, O supine Devotion, his loud cry:
So strong, so fervent, that it pierc'd the Sky;
His very Prayer was an Agony.
VVhy didst thou deprecate thy Cup, and say,
Father, if possible, pass it away?
'Twas thy Baptismal Cup thou long'st for, how
Could'st thou desire it once, and dread it now?
CHRIST.
Oh 'twas a dreadful Cup as ne'r was seen,
Poison'd with Wrath of God, and dregs of Sin:
The greatest sorrow and the quickest sense,
Doth set the higher Price on Patience:
Once to desire it, now to drink it loath,
Doth signifie my love and sorrow both.
SOUL.
Shall I take pleasure in those cups and cates,
VVhich my dear Lord so dreads and deprecates?
Shall I delight in that by which he dies?
And sport with ponyards, and with Agonies?
Grant that thy Cup, more dreadful than thy Cross is,
May sour my sins, and sweeten all my losses:
Suffer me, Lord, thy love for to controul;
Thou sufferest in thy Body, why in Soul?
CHRIST.
Sin from thy soul, my child, did first begin;
My sorrows did commence as did thy sin:
[Page 19] And why I sweat such drops of such a sort,
The burden of thy sins must answer for't.
View how my soul's surrounded for thy sin,
Sweats Blood without, and feels a Hell within.
Such anguish as is never to be found,
Sweat without Heat, and Blood without a Wound:
With God, with Sin, with Satan did I strive,
Mine was the Life of Death, as Death of Life;
My Death was one, yet in that all may be;
Who di'd before and after, di'd in me:
Well may my Blood be squeez'd through all my Pores,
I had as many deaths, as I had Doors.
SOUL.
And shall my sins (dear Lord) increase thy store,
And cause thee for to dye ten Thousand more?
Sin robb'd thee of thy life; and 'tis as true,
It kills thy death, and stobs thy kindness too:
Mercy, Love, Truth, and Goodness, are a good
More dear to thee, than was thy Flesh and Blood:
This thou assum'st the other to display,
And yet in these thou suffer'dst every day.
Thy flesh ne'r felt so much from Daggers keen,
As did thy Heart and Mind feel by my sin.
O cursed sin! far harder to be born,
Than VVhips, than Deaths, than Daggers, Crowns of Thorn.
VVhy did the Jews, all in a spiteful Vogue,
Prefer before thee, Barabbas, a Rogue?
CHRIST.
[Page 20]To shew the sinners choice in every Vice,
Wh' on God and Conscience sets so low a Price,
To gain his Lust, will lose bis Paradise.
The value of a soul, wer't to be sold,
Weighs down a world, yea tho a world of Gold.
Gods Glory's more to be esteemed than
Ten Thousand worlds, than Millions of Men:
Put all into the scales, they wont outpoise
The wilful madness of the sinners choice.
There's no unjust man sins, but that in sinning
He stabs the mighty God that is within him:
Lust stares you in the face, heard in its groans,
Felt by its fires, smelt in its rotten bones:
The Drunkard of all sinners not the least,
Tho God hath stampt his image in his breast,
Changes that coin, and only buys a beast.
The Swearer sins not at the common rate,
Swallowing the Devils Hook without a Bait,
Pawning his soul but for a fruitless evil,
And not so much as cheapning with with the Devil.
Who fears man more than God, I'l answer for't,
He kills himself for fear of being hurt.
Thus through the sinners choice it comes to pass,
Each sin crys out, Not Him, but Barabbas.
SOUL.
The sinner's wretched choice doth far outvy,
What's said in Holy VVrit, or Hystory.
[Page 21] Esau stands fool on record for his dotage,
Selling his Birthright for a mess of Pottage.
Glaucus chang'd Gold for Brass; Crates they say,
To brave his folly, cast his Gold away.
The Romans fram'd an Altar to apppease
A feaverish God, worshipping a Disease.
The Sinners folly doth them all excel,
Exchanging Life for Death, and Heav'n for Hell.
If Souls more worth than Worlds, infer from hence
How cheap the're sold, when sold for thirty Pence.
Nay, for a filthy Lust, when pass'd and gone
Not to be found but in a Sigh or Groan.
Is this the Paramour, that most doth please us?
Is this the Barabbas that Vyes with Jesus?
Is there such charming Magick in its hue,
As to be Wed without a Dowry too?
Nay, pay a price down sor't, and such a price,
As Health, Wealth, Life, Soul, Bliss and Paradice.
Since thou dost guard the Tree of Life so well
With Cherubims of Death, and Flames of Hell,
How can I break the Fence, since to be blest,
It is my Duty both, and Interest.
Why wast thou stript (my Lord) I cannot fathom?
CHRIST.
To take on me the state of sinning Adam:
He and thou naked were, I naked am,
That thou may'st have my Robes to hide thy shame.
SOUL.
[Page 22]O Clothe me with the Robe of thy great Merit;
Adorn me with the Graces of thy Spirit.
Why wast thou bound (my Lord) why whipt with Cord?
My Faith begins to fail me, help me Lord!
CHRIST.
Was Adams sin nought in respect to thee,
Who robb'd Gods Orchard, the forbidden Tree?
Or did that Fruit ne're set thy Teeth on Edge?
Or Achan-like, did'st never steal a Wedg?
I for thy theft, was like a thief fast bound;
Not guilty, but for thee was guilty found.
Thy greater sins did Stob me to the heart;
The lesser were those Whips that made me smart,
Causing such ghastly Wounds in every part.
SOUL.
Let me not cherish, Lord, that viprous brood,
Which fed upon the reekings of thy Blood.
Oh, wound my sins, which caus'd such wounds in thee,
Then heal those wounds thy love hath made in me.
Why wast thou spit on (Lord) why mockt, why made
A Prophet, Priest and King in Masquerade.
CHRIST.
Learn where the sin of sin doth chiefly lye:
Offring affront to th' glorious Majesty.
[Page 23] Profaness lays him open to Disgrace,
And Malice spits him in the very face.
Drunkards deface his Image, spoil his Creature;
Lust would assoil his pure and spotless Nature.
The unbeliever fain would tye his hands,
From punishing the breach of his commands.
And what Injustice does, you soon may guess;
It strips him of his Robes of Righteousness:
In Robes of Scarlet, Scoffers make him stand,
And puts a Reeden Scepter in his hand.
Who with inflamed Blood, revenge doth seek,
Doth smite his blessed Maker on the Cheek:
The Proud Crown him with Thorns; the Swearers part,
Is for to strike his Ponyard through his heart.
All sin doth mean the same to th' Deity
What the Jews meant, and did effect in me.
SOUL.
To affront my God, it is the Sinners sport;
God may be injur'd, true! can he be hurt?
CHRIST.
I was both God and Man, conclude thou then,
What hurt sin brought to God, what hurt to men.
My Body felt its pangs, my Soul its fears,
My Eyes its taunts, its mocks and scoffs my Ears:
My head the prickled Crown, my Cheeks the nips;
My Hands and Feet the Nails, my Back the Whipts;
'Tis strange, but true, what cannot be deni'd,
God cannot dye, yet t'was a God that dy'd.
SOUL.
[Page 24]I clearly see my sins do wound my Lord,
Without a Trope, with and without a Sword.
Curst Serpent sin, since nought can quench his thirst,
Till he's imbib'd the precious Blood of Christ.
What Sinners make so light of, by their leaves,
It press'd God down, like as a Cart with Sheaves:
Nay, press'd forth Blood, when laid upon his back;
Poor Wretch am I, shall ne're a heartstring crack?
Shall both thy Head and sacred Temples reek,
And not a tear bedew my withered Cheek.
Indeared Mothers, when they see a Dart
Levelled at the tender Infants Heart;
They Cry, they Screek, I Faint, I Swound, I Dye;
So cannot I my Lord, so cannot I;
Yet I'm resolv'd these sins shall ne're be mine;
I'le spit them in the face, who spat in thine.
Grant that the Spittle, Malice cast on thee;
May wipe all foul Aspersions off from me.
But now again, my Lord, I'm at a loss,
What meant thy carrying up and down thy Cross?
CHRIST.
The Pagans, when a Judgment stroke a Town,
Did lead their Sacrifices up and down
T'appease their angry Gods; 'tis also said,
Isaac did bear the Wood on which he's laid.
Simon and I, bearing that weighty Tree,
Tells my Disciples what t'expect from me.
[Page 25] Come on my Child, with an undaunted heart,
Since I go first, and also bear a part.
SOUL.
Can I refuse, thy blessed Yoak to take,
Since born by thee, and fitted to my Neck?
Thy Cup was full of the red Wine of Sadness;
Thou fil'st it up to me with Oyl of gladness.
Thy Cross was fixt on Golgotha, a place
Where God from thee withheld his blessed Face.
Mine thou hast fixt on Mount Moriah's green,
The place where God once promis'd to be seen*.
A Crown of Thorns thy sacred head encloses;
Thou wear'st the Prickles, and I wear the Roses.
Truth Lord! who follows thee, shall have no loss:
The Cross bears him, who ever bears the Cross:
Is it unlawful, Lord, for me to say,
Why was thy Cross fixt on a Golgotha?
CHRIST.
This was the seal Tradition would maintain,
Where Isaac once had like to have been slain.
The place of Dead mens Skulls; 'tis also said
It was the place where Adam's buried.
This being so, as't hath been said of old,
Then Death was Conquer'd in his Fort and Hold.
Man found out sin, by sin Death first came in;
Sin brought forth Death, and Death hath conquer'd sin.
Who by the Serpents sting hath got a hurt,
The Oyl of Serpents is a plaister for't.
[Page 26] 'Twas humane Flesh that caus'd the first to dye;
So humane Flesh obtain'd the Victory.
Under my Cross Death like a Victim lies,
And as a Sacrifice o'th' Altar dyes.
So that of Golgotha it may be said,
Here is the place where Death lies buried.
Courage my Soul! Death's done his utmost spite;
The Serpent he may hiss, but cannot bite.
Spred his cold hand he may, and press upon
Thy spriteless Corps, but cannot break a Bone.
Hence Death, a dark and shady Entry call,
Bending thy footsteps to a spacious Hall.
SOUL.
When through Death's valley I shall bend my way,
Thy Cross shall be my Rod, my Staff, my Stay:
Can'st thou, my Soul, refuse to lay thy Head
Within that place where Jesus made his Bed?
Once 'twas a Golgotha of stench and smell;
The Pagans call'd it Hades, the Jews say Hell.
Since Christ lay there, and from thence did arise,
Call it from hence, the Gate of Paradise.
Chide not (dear Lord) my curiosity;
Why was thy Cross exalted up on high?
CHRIST.
It was Gods penal Law, and his Decree *;
Cursed is every one that hangs o'th' Tree.
[Page 27] I to atone thy Sin, thy Curse, thy Shame,
Did dye that Death which did attest the same.
Altho it was a Roman Death I dy'd;
Yet an All-seeing Eye did so provide,
That the curse should contain that Ignomy
The Law pronounc't to him that hung oth' Tree.
Hast thou not read the place, where 'tis rehearsed,
And they shall look on him whom they have pierced.
By this 'tis plain, my Cross I was to bear,
And dye that Death, whose piercing was by Spear.
When th' Lamb of old was to the Altar ti'd,
Mounted aloft, and then upon it di'd;
My Crosses Exaltations verifi'd.
That sacrificed Ram (as 'tis related *,
At the time when the Priest was consecrated,
'Twas waved to and fro, heav'd up and hurld,
Pointed to the four corners of the World.
When I was consecrated on the Tree,
That Jewish rite was well becoming me:
For so my Cross was mounted up on high,
That all the World may their Redeemer spy.
Thus plac't 'twixt Earth, Gods footstool and Heavens Throne,
To reconcile both God and Man in one.
The Brazen Serpent in the Desert was
A Type of me, relating to my Cross:
The Jews being stung with Serpents, were made whole,
By a brass Serpent fixed on a Pole
To cure the Wound, caus'd by that cursed Creature;
Art can't effect the cure, no more could Nature;
[Page 28] For if it was a Serpent, then I'm sure,
Serpents by nature rather kill then cure;
A fiery Serpent too, who can indure?
The sting of Death is sin, by th' Serpent shown,
The Venom too, cause 'twas a fiery one.
What more averse to Reason, Sense or Faith,
Than to seek Life from an accursed Death.
A crucified Jesus did bespeak
Spite to the Jew, and folly to the Greek.
But if you look at Gods wise end in this,
The cursed Tree's become the Tree of bliss.
Look as th' aforesaid Serpent made of Brass,
Was not a Serpent, but its Image was:
So without sin, I'm made a sinful Creature,
And by my Death gave Life to humane Nature;
And this Life is convey'd, as Scripture saith,
By looking on my Cross, with lively faith:
A Faith that puts the Serpent to the rout;
Pulls out his sting, and lets the Poyson out.
SOUL.
Since that my Lord thus rais'd himself on high;
Why doth my Soul, oth' ground thus grov'ling lie!
O, fix my heart on this thy blessed Tree!
So as to tast the fruit, and healed be:
What boot's thy pardon, tho so full, so free,
If that my Conscience will not pardon me?
I have been told, that this thy Towring cross,
The downfal of the Devils Kingdom was.
CHRIST.
[Page 29]Some make the brazen Serpent for to be
A fitting Emblem of this Verity.
A dead and wounded Serpent on a Tree,
Bespeaks the wounds Satan receiv'd from me.
For thus my Cross became the Stage and Scene,
Where that curst Serpent vents his utmost spleen.
Nor did I break his Scepter and his Rod
By force of Arms alone, as being God;
By Martial Law I entred in the Field,
By a new Conquest made my Foe to yeild.
My Innocence did quench his fiery Dart,
My Patience smote him to the very Heart.
My Foe by wounding me, did himself wound,
Meeting his fiery Dart at the rebound.
Murdering the Son of God i'th' sinners stead:
He brought both shame and curse upon his Head.
And thus I caught the Devil in that gin,
By which he made Adam and Eve to sin.
I'th' Serpents shape at first he did appear,
Not in his own, 'twas full of dread and fear,
And by this Craft he got the Womans Ear.
In love to man, mans Flesh and Blood took I,
Cloathing my Godhead with Humanity:
The Serpent by this art, I did outvy.
Who views my Cross, now with a faithful Eye,
May see the cursed Serpent wounded lye.
What once was term'd the ignominious Tree,
Now proves a Trophy of my Victory.
Set up a Trophy of their great Renown.
At first it was a Garment, or some Cloaths,
Stript from the back of their new conquer'd Foes;
Then fastned to a Transverse Beam it was;
Then mounted on a Pole, my very Cross.
I having spoild the Devil on the Tree,
I made the shew on't, Triumpht openly *:
My Cross that was so cursed, doth appear
To be my Chariot, and triumphing Chair.
SOUL.
If that the Serpent's crucifi'd with thee,
Why do I find him daily tempting me?
Is not my heart more Devil e're then he?
Grant that as Satan felt thy Crosses smart,
So do thou Rule and Reign within my Heart.
Why would my Lord, girt with a Crown of Thorns,
Be nail'd and rivetted to Crosses horns?
CHRIST.
The Earth once curst by Adams sin, did bear
Bryars and Thorns, which on my Head I wear,
And for that Curse I make Atonement here.
Before the Heathens Oxes Blood was shed,
They put a Crown of Flowers on his Head.
When I was Crown'd with Thorns upon the Tree,
The Heathen may behold the Mystery.
Had like to bave been once a Sacrifice,
A Ram was caught i'th' Thickets of the VVood,
Christ crown'd with Thorns is that Ram understood:
In every Jewish Sacrifice of Old,
My Cross was but the story often told:
For when the Lamb was slain, his joints stretcht out,
Then ti'd to th' Altars Horns, without all doubt
The Mystery of the Cross was pointed out.
SOUL.
Since that the Jewish sacrifice and thine,
Did in one Altar meet and so combine:
Oh let my sins be fastned to the Tree,
And like a sacrifice be slain with thee:
So shall the Jews and Christian Rites agree,
And Christ be all in all in them and me.
Let all my crosses, losses, mocks, and scorns,
Be dignified by thy Crown of Thorns
I have not done, methinks thy Cross points out,
Some latent Truth behind, (Lord) clear my doubt,
CHRIST.
How doth the God of Love, void of all evil,
Run counter to the Malice of the Devil?
Since that the cursed Caitiffs proper food,
Is for to glut o'th' streams of humane Blood.
But God is Love, tho Justice might step in,
And claim mans blood, as forfeited by sin:
[Page 32] Yet Goodness is so full of his own good,
Rather than man shall lose his life and blood,
God by the hands of his own Justice dies:
Not man, but God becomes the Sacrifice:
The powers of darkness and eternal night
Were spoiled here, and here expos'd to sight.
By the same sword thy Lord receiv'd his wound,
He smote the cursed Serpent to the ground.
Here Satan, more than Christ seems to be dead:
He bruis'd his heel indeed, but he his head:
Nor was he hurt alone, but 'tis as true,
He was disarm'd of all his weapons too.
Can he condemn? The sinner soon replies,
Man shall not dye, since God himself here dies.
When that the Creditor's become thy friend,
The Bailiffs inquisition's at an end.
Here Hell was hy its captive, captive led,
And the destroyer, Death, slain by the dead.
That Hand-writing which threatned man with th' loss
Of life, is cancell'd here, and nailed to th' cross.
So laws of old, when that their power was lost,
They were expos'd, transfixed to a Post:
And to make all compleat, Gods Justice too,
For thy contentment is expos'd to view.
Here both Gods Arms of Justice, with his Hands,
Were fastned to the cross by loving hands:
He cannot lift them up (since they are bound)
To strike the contrite sinner to the ground:
Nor can his weighty feet (since they are pent)
Trip up the heels of any Penitent.
[Page 33] Only his hands are stretcht, as silent charms,
T' allure the soul to fall into his arms.
The mouth of Justice here is still and mute,
And only bows his head to th' sinners suit.
His side is pierc't, his blood trails on the ground
To fetch you in, and so close up the wound.
SOUL.
Since that my soul for sin can find no ease,
Toss'd on the billows of the angry seas,
I'l fly unto thy Cross, and there imbark,
Creeping in at the Windows of that Ark,
Thy side I mean, Lord grant me entrance in,
Then let thy precious wounds close up my sin.
Nor am I pleas'd my sins are covered,
Till they be crucifi'd with thee, and dead.
How shall I sound thy pangs, thy pains, thy smart,
And what a sufferer for me thou wert,
Till that I find and feel thy pois'ned dart,
Lye throbbing in each Fibre of my Heart.
The Jew before the Victims blood was shed,
(Laying his hand upon th' accursed head)
Cri'd out, 'Twas I that merited this pain,
Thus to be bound and strangled, cut and slain:
My sin, that cursed beast, that goard my Lord,
I'l bind him to thy Altar fast with cord,
Then slay the slayer with the slayers sword,
'Twas sin that forc't thy death, or't had not been;
Shall not thy death enforce the death of sin?
[Page 34]I'le therefore stretch its hands and arms full wide
Upon thy Cross, and wound them through thy side.
Thy pangs shall through my hollow bowels move,
And eccho back again thy dying love:
My tears shall meet thy blood, then safely I
May say thy death is mine, when thus I dye,
Pardon my suit, O Lord, discover why
Thou choosest such a painful death to dye?
CHRIST.
Small was the instance of mans first offence;
The greater was his disobedience:
Scarce do ye sin, or ever go astray,
Till pleasure goes before and leads the way.
I bore those pains most contrary to sence,
Mans cheap and pleasant sin to recompence.
What was thy pleasure, let it be thy fear,
Since what's so cheap to thee, to me's as dear.
A living death, a dying life had I;
I di'd in dying, yet I could not dye:
My bones disjointed, and my Nerves extended,
I di'd in every part, yet no life ended.
My lingring death, that death may signifie,
Where sinners always live, and always die.
By this death, without death, it may be shown,
(If Infinite by Finite can be known)
Thy ever dying death I did atone.
SOUL.
[Page 35]A death so painful; shameful, ne'r was seen,
Nay cursed too; I wish't had never been.
CHRIST.
I wish so too; but such hecame thy sin:
For never was there sin thou didst commit,
But pain, and shame, and curse attended it.
SOUL.
Truth, Lord: in every breach of thy command,
The Pain doth take the Pleasure by the hand.
The Proud shall never want their pain and trouble,
The reason is, they bottom on a bubble.
The worldlings in their plenty still do crave,
And pain'd in this they want the goods they have:
The envious to themselves prove very Devils,
Making their brothers goods become their evils.
Lust is a Devil too, that first doth tempt us,
Then making conscience Devil to torment us.
The lyar finds a truth, who never said it;
He suffers from his conscience and his credit.
Injustice that withdraws anothers pelf,
Doth the exactest Justice on it self.
It is a truth too true, we may relye on't:
Each sin doth bear his cross, but will not dye on't
Thy death was painful (Lord) but I'm offended,
That by a shameful death thy life was ended.
CHRIST.
[Page 36]My Cross was as a Pulpit plac'd on high
Preaching a Sermon visible to th' eye
Of Meekness, Patience, Love, Humility.
These virtues in the mind could make no stamp,
Had I appear'd array'd in worldly Pomp:
Phocian, Thrasias, and such men as these,
Regulus, Aristides, Socrates:
Such Heroes Virtues ne'r could climb the sky,
Were not their persons once condemn'd to dye:
So stars shine brightest in a frosty night,
The biggest least appearing in our sight.
In love to man, and tender sympathy
To man in troubles 'twas but meet that I
Should feel the brunt of all, and therefore dye.
Now love's a law never to be controul'd,
What e're it toucheth, turneth all to Gold:
From an accursed death exalts its fame;
Nobles disgrace finds dignity in shame.
Since God must be aton'd too, I'm content
To undergo this legal punishment:
Condemn'd to dye in shame, what greater dread,
Than to dye once, be killed too when dead.
Can worse be meant, what all men always have:
My pains must want a death, my death a grave.
This was thy shame (my soul) mine ne'r had been,
Wer't not to expiate thy shameful sin.
That sin is cloath'd with shame, this doth express it;
Men dare to sin, but dare not to confess it.
[Page 37] Sin dyes thy Aspect red, or makes it pale;
Nature to hide thy shame, pulls on her Vail.
Like to the cursed Serpent, such is lust,
It creeps on's belly, and it licks the dust.
Lyars want feet to stand on, yet they can
Dare to affront a God, but sneak from man.
Drunkards have naught to speak them humane creatures,
But inward guilt, and some few outward features:
Would they but once in my word view their face,
They'd curse the Image, but commend the Glass.
The Misers sins as base, base earth at best,
Making it self the center of its rest.
Thus shame to wait on sin will never fail,
Bating the sting that's in the vipers tail.
SOUL.
Most shameful sin! tho Hell had never been;
Methinks there's Hell enough in every sin:
Shall I create a Title and a Name
To that which made my God a publick shame?
Since sin expos'd my Lord, I'le here begin,
From this example to expose my sin.
I'le search and try, judg and condemn its cause,
At the most strict Tribunal of thy Laws.
I'le strip the Varlet of his vain pretences,
Then Scourge him roundly for his vile Offences.
I'le bind him fast in this fast twisted Cord,
Sins guilt, deaths curse, Gods Ire, Hells Flaming Sword.
I'le make him feel his burden with Remorse,
Of conscience, bear, and dye too on the Cross.
[Page 38]I'le cause my luxuries to take a sup
O'th' mixtures they prepared for thy Cup.
Here my intemperance like thee, O Christ,
Shall on thy Cross cry out, I thirst! I thirst!
My whoredorms, riots, revels in the Night,
Shall here do penance in thy Robes of White.
My Oaths that stabb'd thee to the Heart, shall feel
The pangs and pains of thy side-peircing Steel.
My pride that cannot stoop, nor bear a frown,
Shall feel the pungent prickles of thy Crown.
My lusts, those Nayls that ty'd thee to the Tree,
Shall feel themselves fast bound and ty'd with thee.
Those fierce and fiery passions that most please us,
Shall here lye prostrate at the Feet of Jesus.
Thus shall my sins with all their mighty Host,
Be stretcht and nailed to thy cursed Post,
Then cry aloud, and so give up the Ghost.
Why wouldst thou dye upon that cursed Wood,
Methinks ther'es something yet (Lord) understood?
CHRIST.
T' attone the sin of the forbidden Tree,
Once curs'd by Adam, but more curse to me.
O Cross! the name and quintessence of Evils,
Cursed by God, by Angels, Men, and Devils.
What curse is greater, except this be worse,
I am at length become the Creatures curse?
The Sun at Noon-day hides his Glorious Face,
Blushing at such an object of disgrace.
[Page 39] My Corps they must not rest a night o'th' Tree,
Lest that the Air should take offence at me.
The Earth that's curs'd by mine, tho Adams sin,
Won't let me touch her with my nether skin.
That Earth where Serpents feed, and Beasts do tread on,
I must not find a place to lay my head on.
Rocks put on sence, and seem for to condole,
The pangs and dolors of my dying Soul.
The Temple seems to be profan'd by me,
And rents its Cloaths as hearing Blasphemy.
SOUL.
If spotless innocence hath thus been used,
Can sins Excuses ever be excused?
Who counts his sin but small, of little weight,
Must say the same of God, if he say right.
Count thy sin small, if any can be such,
'Tis not a little that thou lov'st it much.
For so a Bodkin if it reach thy Heart,
Kills thee as sure as doth a greater Dart.
The prickles of that Crown which Jesus wore,
Bedew'd his Temples with a purple gore.
The smaller instance doth enhanse the sin;
VVilt loose Gods Grace and Favour for a pin?
In smallest cranies serpents will not fayl,
First to twine in the Head, and then the tayl.
VVho takes an earnest penny, he engages
To do more work, when Satan bids more wages.
Nor must thou reckon at the common rate,
Thy sin was small, cause the temptation's great.
[Page 40]Such as man is, such is the power of sin,
Prevailing not without, but from within.
Some Healthful persons will devour a mess,
VVhen squeamish stomacks will recoyl at less.
Joseph was Tempted more than e're was David,
The one fell foul, the other he was saved.
Poor thirty pieces did prevail upon
Judas, when thousands could not on St. John;
VVho for a pound won't sin, but will for seven,
This is to set a price on God and Heaven.
VVhat's Infinite, and what's Eternal Life,
Equal outweighs five thousand pounds, as five.
But for Temptation this had never bin,
Is nought to say, but that you love the sin.
Nor can sins pleasure or its pleasing Profit
Excuse the sin for the Commission of it.
Since in its tempting and commodious ware,
Jesus outbids the Devils market far.
Judg whether Vice or Virtue is more gainful,
Since Life to come's so sweet, and Death so painful.
Nor canst thou say 'tis thine unhappy state,
Sin never was thy choice, but 'tis thy Fate.
Can Life cause Death? Good Evil, Truth a lye?
Life, Goodness, Truth crys out, why wilt thou dye?
Is man a Creature of a rank no higher
Than artificial Puppet made of Wier.
Are praises, promises, rewards, all one,
As if you should sing well to please a stone?
Is man no more blame worthy for his sin,
Than is a Watch not pointing right the Pin?
[Page 41]Conscience would never smite thee for a Vice,
Did not thy Nature prompt thee otherwise.
Is't not the Drunkards choice to set at nought
That cup where Aconite is made the draught?
And cannot Heaven nor Hell make him refrain,
Can Heaven e're lose its price, or Hell its pain?
Strange Fate; ne're fix'd on ought but what are evils,
As if God ne're made men, but all were Devils.
If sin hath caught thee in its fatal gin,
Thy punishment's as fatal as thy sin.
But after all, is there no strength and force
In this, that sin made God himself a curse?
Then sinner take thy fill, carouse and quaff,
But canst thou drink oth' Cup that Christ drank of?
Or can thy back once bear that direful Rod,
Prest with the Arm of an Almighty God?
If sin made God so cursed, Oh what can
Make sin more cursed unto sinful man!
If innocence did under wrath so groan,
What comfort can the sinner look for? none.
I beg thy Favour Lord for to relate,
Why thou wast Crucifi'd without the Gate?
CHRIST.
For to compleat a Jewish Type of note,
Th' accursed Sacrifice o'th' Scapen Goat.
Nor was it fit my Merits and my Grace
Should be confin'd only to th' Jewish Race.
I dy'd a Pagan Death, my erected wood
Stood 'loft, that all may view it for their good.
[Page 42] My Arms were stretched out from East to West,
To close with every Soul that would be Blest.
My Titles wrote in Hebrew Latin, Greek;
All Nations in me may Salvation seek.
SOUL.
Thou dyd'st for all; nought can it falsify,
But only cursed Infidelity.
Were not thy Death of Value infinite,
It could not make atonement for one sprite.
But being infinite, it satisfi'd,
Both for this world, and thousand worlds beside.
Let my name in thy Cross Engraven be;
Thou didst not dye for all, if not for me.
But why in Holy Writ is't verifi'd,
My Lord betwixt two Malefactors dy'd.
CHRIST.
There is a reason why th' Apostle said it,
Not only for to save the Prophets credit.
I was esteem'd a greater thief to be
Than either of those Thieves that dy'd with me.
But yet by dying thus I mercy meant
To th' greatest thief, the greatest penitent.
When Adam robb'd the Tree to make him VVise,
And then deny'd it, lost his Paradise.
Humble confession finds admission in
To Paradise thus lost by Adams sin.
Wht one Thief lost, you see the other found;
Who falls and riseth soon, he gaineth ground.
[Page 43] But he that lives in sin, in sin shall dye,
Yea tho his Lord and Saviour standeth by.
VVho hopes for Heaven, but will not change his vice,
May find a Hell, yea in a Paradise.
His very hopes are founded in his fears,
Since lust would fire a Heaven about his Ears.
Bateing my word, each sinner can foretel,
Sin hath a Central force that points at Hell.
I need not say, Depart out of my sight,
It never was, nor can be his delight.
VVho to my sacred Laws hath small regard,
Hath less of reason to expect reward.
My Cross here seems to represent my Throne,
VVhich at the last day I shall sit upon;
O'th left hand stands the Goats, my Sheep o'th' right,
As meet inheritors with Saints in light?
SOUL.
By these two Thieves, my Lord hath clearly shown,
Justice and Mercy doth uphold his Throne.
Th' one aws my hopes, th' other checks my fears,
Th' one hoists up Sail, whil'st that the other stears.
To th' dying Thief much was thy mercy shown,
I won't presume on't, cause he was but one.
'Twas his first time he ever heard of thee,
The same can ne're be verifi'd of me.
He for his Lord and Saviour once did take thee,
In that weak state when all thy friends forsake thee.
Thou own'st him at thy death, he thee at thine,
The same can ne're be truly said of mine.
[Page 44]I'le now resolve, God ne're held forth to morrow;
Or if he did, did not repenting sorrow.
That I shall turn to God, can it be said.
When that I scarce can turn me in my Bed?
My time is short, way heavy, long the course;
Shall all the burden lye o'th' weakest Horse?
My debts run on, shall I discharge the score,
And pay them bitter when I owe the more?
I blush to think whats dreadful for to own,
My lusts shall have the Marrow, God the Bone.
When on the dying Thief thou cast thine Eyes,
Methinks thy words some potent truth implies,
This day thou shalt be with m' in Paradise?
CHRIST.
The Jews held forth a double Paradise,
That on the Earth, and that above the Skies;
The place where earthly joys all met together,
The one the fitter umbrage of the other.
From hence th' Elysian Fields first took their rise,
Shades of the Trees that grew in Paradise:
Both Jew and Greek concur that men survive
Their mortal clay, and then are most alive.
Nothing to nothing tends, and more say I,
'Tis by a Metaphor my Saints can dye.
God's not the God o'th' dead, but of the living,
The Souls of Abraham, Isaac, still surviving.
Moses, Elias, in the Mount appears
Alive, tho dead above two thousand years.
Cries out, some Beast hath kill'd him, I'm undone;
Whilst thus lamenting his unhappy fate,
Joseph's alive, and Lives in Princely state.
Whilst mine and thy dear friend do spriteless lie,
Inexorable to thy sighs and cry,
They are not Dead, but are alive as I,
Leaving their Grave-Cloaths for to wipe thine Eye.
Hast thou not seen a Student at his Book,
Close pent, and pris'ned in some private nook.
He's then all Mind, all Soul, all Life, all Sprite,
And most alive, when dead to Human sight.
Hast thou not seen two Combatants Engage,
Till one seems prostrate dead upon the Stage;
But when drawn off, dragg'd through a Postern Door,
He is alive, as e're he was before.
So have I seen the Branches of a Vine,
At Winters season faint away and pine.
When at that instant each luxuriant shoot,
Tho seeming dead, yet is alive at Root.
And when the Sun imparts its gentle light,
Each branch appears again in pregnant plight.
Thy Life on Earth is hid with Christ above,
And when the Sun of Righteousness and Love,
Quickneth thy Soul, all truth shall be display'd,
And latent forms of things which have been dead.
Hast thou not heard the pangs and pains that come
From teeming Mothers of a pregnant Womb?
Presaging, as Aurora doth the Morn,
A welcome Infant shortly to be born.
[Page 46] Thus when Expiring Souls do vent their grones,
Their sighs, their sobs, and such like dying tones.
Conclude upon this struggle and this strife,
The souls new Birth into a better Life.
Thus shaking off this cold clay clod of Earth,
It joys to reassume its former birth.
Fast fixing on the center of its Rest;
Knows nothing, but this one thing, to be blest.
SOUL.
How doth the Soul forget her noble Birth,
When she's confin'd within these Walls of Earth;
Kissing her shadow, courting to her slave,
Thinking her self no bigger than a grave.
As if a Bird that's soaring up on high,
Should cast her eyes down on the Earth, and spie
Her shadow there, and say that it was I,
When she's a climbing up the Towring Sky.
So doth the Soul by her dear Flesh inclin'd,
Impress her false opinions on her mind.
Counting that only true what's in her sight,
And what she sees and feels of bulky weight.
As if a Child pent in its Mothers Womb,
Sould say the world affords no larger Room.
So Children fancy there's no more of Sky,
Nor Earth, than what is bounded by the Eye.
The folly of our Souls no less appears,
As in our fancies here, so in our fears.
Fearful of Death, who ne're had fearful been,
Till he put on the Vizard of our sin.
[Page 47]When e're he strikes me with his gentle Wand,
And takes me by the cold and clammy Hand.
He wounds my sin, not me, since that I dye,
Only in dear and tender sympathy,
To this vile Earth of mine, which is not I.
So have I heard a loving Mother cry.
When that her Child was stricken, Ah! I dye.
When all's but love, and care, and sympathy,
To her dear Babe, for she's alive as I.
These Bodies we dwell in, they are but Tents,
Tenants can live without their Tenements.
Or in some others dwell; nor do we lose
This Mortal Life, when stripped of our Cloaths.
Paul wish'd to be dissolv'd to be with Christ,
Knowing that after death he should exist.
For tho it was his pleasure for to dye,
Yet as before, so after, he was I.
And I with Christ, and that is all in all;
St. Paul he was with Christ, Christ with St. Paul.
Can Saints in Paradise e're faint and dye,
Having the Tree of Life thus standing by?
Can they fall in Gods Arms? thirst at a Well?
Freeze at a Fire? can ever Heaven be Hell?
Or can a Soul sun'd in the beams of Light,
Be wrapt in shades of everlasting Night?
Like to the dying Thief, I beg thine Ear
For to be open to my constant Pray'r.
When Death shall spred a cold shute on my Bed,
And wreath his Poppey Garland on my Head,
[Page 48]Then close the Casements of my tender Eyes;
My Soul may close with thee in Paradise!
Why doth th' Apostle Lord, report thy crying,
With a loud voice, when at the point of dying?
CHRIST.
When all my Members were upon the Wrack,
And all the sins o'th' World lay on my Back,
No wonder that they made so great a crack.
The Thunder never sent forth such a sound,
Nor ever Lightning pierc'd so deep a wound.
It rent the Rocks, and made the Earth to quake,
The Heav'ns went into Mourning for my sake.
To th' lower parts o'th' Earth my Voice is fled,
It burst the Tomb-stones, and awak'd the Dead.
Hell heard the Voice too, the same poys'ned dart
That pierc'd my side, did rend the sinners heart.
All Creatures mourn at my sad obsequies,
Nature must sink when th' God of Nature dyes.
SOUL.
Grant that the Voice which clove the Rocky Pit,
May pierce my Heart too, harder far than it.
Let my Soul eccho back to this thy grone,
Shall the Rocks find thee Ears, and I have none?
I'th' Caverns of my Heart let thy voice sound,
And let it reach the Heav'ns at the rebound.
My sins thus smote by this thy weighty Rod,
I safe may say, this was the Son of God.
[Page 49]Hear me Lord too, when at the point of Death,
My strength doth fail me most, strengthen my Faith.
Why is it said or can be said by thee,
My God! my God! why hast forsaken me?
CHRIST.
This is the fruit of that imbitter'd Tree,
Which once I tasted for the World and thee.
Which sets thy teeth on edg, but mine much more;
Thou hast the kernells of it, I the core.
O sting of sin! all sorrows met in one,
Such sorrows as were felt, but can't be known.
View O my Child what a great good God is,
And how thou wast Created for that Bliss.
As knifes were made to cut, and stones do tend
With their main force to th' center as their end.
As Vessels to be fill'd, and as a Glass
Was only made to represent thy Face;
So wast thou shap't and form'd for Happiness.
What Torment Nature finds, hence may be guest,
When she's with held from th' center of her rest.
The Object of mans Bliss is infinite,
Having a quick sense of it in his sprite,
And tending to it too, with all his might.
To be rent from this bliss, is such a loss,
As ne're was felt on Earth, but on my Cross.
Embosom'd in my Fathers Brest were I,
None better knew where happiness did lie,
And must a Cloud withdraw it from my Eye?
[Page 50] Gods will was mine, my nature of the same,
Born of a Virgin, and dy'd like a Lamb;
Can innocence be made a publike shame?
I came from Heaven, and know what joys were there,
Reveal'd them too, and must I lose them here?
I was Gods Son; Gods Darling too were I.
Can God forsake himself, his Son, and dye?
The Eccho of thy sin (my Child) says I.
SOUL.
Hear me, O Lord! and let thy dying throb,
Give all my cursed sins their mortal stob.
How can I bear sins damned Curse for ay.
Which bow'd the Back of God all in a day!
Well may the damned wish they ne're had been
And call to th' Mountains for to hide them in,
More ease to bear a Mountain than a sin.
Lord pardon what is past, and I'le amend,
Why should I kiss that knife that kill'd my Friend.
Which cut a wound so deep as ne're did Thunder,
That rends the Rocks, this God himself asunder.
VVhy did my Lord, dying o'th' cursed Post,
Express his Death by giving up the Ghost?
CHRIST.
VVhen Nature most did fail, my cries were most,
To shew how freely I gave up the Ghost.
None takes away my Life, nor none can crave it,
But God from whence I had it, he must have it.
[Page 51] Know that these dying words, this truth implies,
The Fragrant Odour of my Sacrifice.
The Pagans thought their Gods would not impart
Their favours to a Victim wanting heart.
Or if it came to pass the beast had cry'd,
Or loud, or strugled before he dy'd.
VVhen e're the Jew did Sacrifice a Beast,
It was to be his own, and of the best.
Chiefly a Lamb of pure and spotless Feature,
A meek, a harmless, and a gentle Creature.
After the Victim had incurd his death,
He was consumed by a Heavenly Breath.
Nor did this sacrifice acceptance find,
Unless performed by a grateful mind.
That sweet Perfume, that incense that did savour
The sacrifice, and so procured favour.
The Jewish Rites were relative of mine,
Who was a Sacrifice pure and Divine.
A Male, the choicest, first-born set apart,
Form'd, fram'd, and fashioned by Heavenly Art.
And when I did the wrath of God atone,
'Twas by a free-will Off'ring of my own.
Making the Jewish Mincha Off'ring good,
When freely pouring out my Life and Blood.
Led as a Lamb, and as a Lamb too dy'd,
Closing my Mouth, but opening wide my side.
My Sacrifice it was my precious Life,
My free consent, the Sacrificing Knife.
My Godhead, what the Altar did of Old,
It sanctifi'd the Gift, and made it Gold.
[Page 52] I was consumed too, as from above,
With Flagrant Flames of everlasting Love.
Look as Eliah when about to dye,
Mounts in a Fiery Chair, then climbs the Sky,
Dropping his Mantle to the standers by.
In fervent Love to man, from Heaven I came,
And thither went, all in a Fiery Flame.
Expiring out to God my Vital Breath,
Casting my Bodies Mantle on the Earth.
So dying persons commonly commend
Their choicest Treasure to their choicest friend.
To thee my Child, I left my precious Merit,
My Body to my Friends, for them to bury 't,
And to my God I did commend my spirit.
SOUL.
The Death of Saints, as David doth Record
Is precious in the aspect of the Lord*.
When Enoch walk'd with God, God clos'd his eye;
Nor known, nor heard, nor seen he was to dye.
Abr'am gave up the Ghost, and therefore blest.
Gods Bosome was the pillow of his rest.
When Moses dy'd, such was the Jewish Faith,
'Twas by a Kiss from God, his Soul in Death
Being extracted by a Heavenly Breath.
Scaree can we say, Eliah ever dy'd,
Since both in Soul and Body he bestired
The Fiery Chair, and unto Heaven did ride.
Lord let me now depart, Old Simeon cryes,
And like a Swan sings sweet before he dies.
[Page 53]Sweetly expiring by such tempting Charms!
As he in Christs, and Christ within his Arms.
Saint Paul perceiving death a drawing on,
Calls it no more than dissolution:
And so the Tent-maker took down his Tent,
VVithout a Crack, or Noise, or any Rent.
This is the truth of what the Wiseman‖ saith,
That Righteousness deliv'reth from death:
Since that his Darts can ne'r be felt as keen,
Till they be whetted at the forge of sin:
Nor doth he ever ride the pale-fac'd† Horse,
Till Guilt and Hell engageth in the Course.
Who wrongs his Prince, and what is more, his God,
Must dread the Usher of the sable Rod.
So have I seen a Pris'ner in a swound,
When at th' Assize he heard the Trumpet sound;
The Musick's good, but such he cannot find it,
Since that he knows the Judg comes close behind it.
Such is the Musick of a Passing-Bell,
Each sinner knows the meaning too too well,
Death goes before, and after follows Hell.
Who makes his soul and body of one crust,
Of Heaven and heavenly things can have no gust,
Nor can with ease be turned into dust.
Who stews his flesh in Riot and Excess,
And lull'd asleep with steams of drunkenness,
That soul can never hope in Heav'n to dwell,
Since he's descended to the lowest Hell.
[Page 54]Aethereal Mansions are too pure and clear,
For him to hope to have a dwelling there:
That state of bliss, 'twould be his state of pain,
His lusts would poise him down to Hell again.
Who strives to make his Prison strong within,
As 'tis without, by gratifying sin;
That captive must conclude without all doubt,
His labour must be painful to get out:
And that which pains him most, and grieves him more,
He's worse, got out, than e're he was before.
Nor could that Gospel-fool this world † depart,
Till death by force of arms tore out his heart.
Knock off my chains (dear Lord) and make me free,
Dead to the world, and the world dead to me.
Thus dying in the flesh, and to it more,
Death can compleat, but what is done before:
Laying his gentle hand upon my back,
My soul may part from hence without a crack.
My spirit failing, and my strength exhaust,
I freely may like thee give up the Ghost.
Why did the Sun (my Lord) withdraw his Light,
Changing bright day into a darksom night?
CHRIST.
At a full Moon the Sun eclips'd, to see
It was both Miracle and Mystery:
A Glorious Star points out my Glorious Birth;
A greater Star's eclipsed at my death:
[Page 55] By both conclude this truth was verifi'd,
'Twas God that once was born, 'twas God that dy'd.
This dreadful darkness (child) had ne'r been seen,
Wer't not for Thine, the Jews, and Adam's sin.
Thick darkness overspread th' Egyptian Coast.
That dreadful day of doom shall make this good,
The Sun to darkness turns, the Moon to blood.
So base is sin, and of so foul a feature,
That neither God can view it, nor his creature.
SOUL.
Who would not hate his sin, and fear his God,
That for its baseness, and this for his Rod.
Tho God's not cloath'd with passions of man,
His anger far outgoes mans Passion:
What Tyrants frown like to the louring sky,
Ratling down Fire and Brimstone from on high.
The Lions roaring, and the Thunders noise,
Is but the Eccho of his angry Voice:
Night-hag of Hell, clad in its black Attire,
Is but the shadow of his dreadful Ire:
If darkness be so full of fear and fright,
What is the darkness of Eternal Night?
O sin of Hell! or rather Hell of sin;
Darkness without, and darkness too within!
[Page 56]But here my doubts return to me again,
Why was the Vail o'th' Temple rent in twain?
CHRIST.
The Temple of the Jews did typifie
This lower World, and that above the sky:
The outward Court, this outward world did mean,
Where all do meet in, and where beasts are slain.
That inward Court, wherein God had his Throne,
By that the Heaven of Heavens is clearly shown:
To this most Holy Place none could prevail
To enter in, 'twas guarded with a Vail;
Now this Vail was thy sins that dismal shroud,
Which on the place of glory draws a cloud:
This is that Cherub who with flaming Rod,
Bars up thy passage to the Living God:
Nor was it meet, till th' bars of Hell be broken,
This passage-gate to Heav'n should e're be open.
Whose sins do chain them to the posts of Hell,
In heav'nly places are unfit to dwell.
In likeness of thy sinful flesh and blood,
Thy sins I did atone upon the Wood:
And when my flesh was torn with dying pain,
Thy sins with Temples vail were rent in twain:
Now is the Vail pull'd off from Moses Face,
And the way plain'd to the most Holy Place:
Where neither Peasant, Priest, nor King did venture
For to approach, all holy souls may enter.
Nor is man reconcil'd to God. alone,
But Jew and Gentile too, here meet in one.
SOUL.
[Page 57]Grant that thy voice which made the vail to part,
May rend the Vail of sin off from my heart!
My sin's the Gulf that Dives knew so well,
Makes that vast distance between Heav'n and Hell.
Let this wide space be fill'd with thy great Merit,
And circumcise my heart too with thy Spirit.
What boots it Lord, if Heaven's laid ope to me,
If that my souls unfit for Heaven and Thee.
Silence my doubts, dear Lord, and make this clear,
Why was thy side once pierced with a spear?
From thence came Water, and from thence came Blood:
Methinks there must be something understood.
CHRIST.
Near to the Heart, so Providence thought fit,
A Cruse of VVater's plac'd, to cool its heat.
VVhen Blood and VVater from my side burst out,
That I was truly dead, thou needst not doubt.
Except it did appear I truly di'd,
My Resurrection can't be verifi'd:
VVhen Moses in the Desart strook the Rock,
He smote my side with a Prophetick Knock.
The Covenant of old was then made good,
And so the Covenant that did come after,
It was confirmed too by Blood and VVater.
[Page 58] This VVater and this Blood th' Apostle saith,
Are the great witnesses o'th' Christian Faith.
Pure as the water, such my Doctrine was,
My Patience was exemplar on the cross.
What I have teached, you may build your faith on;
And what I promis'd, that I took my death on.
In the old Law there's no atonement made,
Till the blood of the Sacrifice was shed.
That sacrificing Rite was then appli'd
To me, when that the Dagger pierc'd my side:
This bloody spout, once gaged for thy sin,
Lets my Life out, and lets thy death come in:
My Blood comes forth, thy Pardon for to merit,
Water concurreth for to cleanse thy spirit:
For so of old, to make a Leper pure,
Blood mixt with Water must effect the cure.
Such Cordials from this Lymbeck were distill'd,
Thy Font with one, thy Cup with others sill'd.
As Woman first was fram'd from Adam's side,
So from my Breast was form'd the Church my Bride;
First form'd by vital Water, then my Blood
And body both, became her spritely food.
SOUL.
What greater favour could my Lord impart,
Than through his side, that I may view his heart,
More wounded by his Love than Daggers Art▪
What greater love than this was ever read?
My Lord will live in me when he is dead.
The Cross display'd thy Death, 'twas thy intent,
Thy Life should be convey'd by th' Sacrament.
[Page 59]Once to my flesh thou didst thy self impart,
Nothing will please thee now, except my heart.
What said (Hypocrates) is here made good,
If all the Spirits in the Creatures blood,
Were once extracted and imbibed, then
Men that are mortal would be immortal men.
Who drinks thy blood, draws in thy vital breath,
Must find a life, yea in the Jaws of Death.
Thou art the Tree of Life in Paradise;
VVhose Faith can strongly feed on thee, ne'r dies.
Let thy VVounds and thy Blood, Lord make me whole,
And with this water purifie my soul.
I beg thy Favour (Lord) what did't betoken,
Not one bone of thy body shall be broken?
CHRIST.
God counts our hairs, and heareth all our grones;
And is in Cov'nant with our very bones.
That mine might be preserv'd, I'd the defence
Of Promise, Prophecy, and Providence.
The Jew wont break a bone o'th' Paschal Lamb
VVhen sacrific'd; that Sacrifice I am:
VVhat in my natural body's understood,
My body Mystical shall make it good.
My Bride so dearly bought, I'le love and cherish,
Not the least member of her once shall perish:
My piercing eye beholds each dust, and whither
Retir'd, my hand can bind up all together,
I di'd, 'tis true, but yet I live, and I
As little can in my poor Member dye.
[Page 60] My flesh and blood, my soul and life he is,
Can such a member ever fail of bliss?
VVill not God cherish that life he's begun,
Or can you cut a Ray off from the Sun?
The dearest husband may forsake a wife,
But God whiles God can ne're forego his Life.
Souls full of Goodness, Truth, Integrity,
The Life and Spirit of the Deity
Then ceases for to live when God can dye.
SOUL.
Lord hear my voice, and listen to my cry,
Reach me thy hand, or else I faint and dye!
VVhat loving Mother but will hear the crying
Of her dear Child when at the point of dying?
Suffer not thy dear self to be in pain,
VVhy should my Lord and Saviour dye again?
VVhat life I have in me, 'tis thine alone,
Let not thy foes and mine once break a bone,
Nor suffer me to see corruption.
Vouchsafe (my Lord) this secret to disclose,
VVhy at thy death we read the dead arose?
CHRIST.
Under that curse of dying thou shalt dye
A double death, for sin did couched lye:
Sin rob'd thy body of its vital breath,
And caus'd thy soul to dye a second death:
My body from my soul was rent o'th' Cross;
My soul from God o'th' two the greater loss.
[Page 61] But yet by dying thus, 'twas truly shown,
Thy double death I satisfi'd in one.
I loos'd deaths bonds, bursting Hell-gates asunder,
Out comes the dead, and tells abroad the wonder.
Hast thou not heard nor seen that wonted Fashion
Of Potent Princes at their Coronation,
To make their Glory and their Joy combine,
The very Conduit-Pipes must flow with VVine;
To shew withal their Grace and Clemency,
The Prison's open, and the captives free.
So in Triumphal Conquests, Princes please
To cast about their Gifts and Largesses.
My Cross it was my Throne, tho curst by sin,
Where I was consecrated Priest and King.
When that my side was pierced by my foe,
My blood more choice than wine did freely flow:
Having discharg'd thy debts upon the Tree,
Both from the Grave and Hell I set thee free,
And here I made the Goal-delivery.
Mounting on my Triumphant Chariot, I
Led sin and Satan in captivity,
Dragging them at my Chariot-Wheels, and then
I freely gave my gifts and grace to men.
Such was the glorious conquest of my Cross,
That sin, death, grave, and hell, my Vassals was.
SOUL.
If so, my Lord, why am I dead in sin?
As if what thou hast done had never been.
[Page 62]Since thou hast broke the Prison of the Grave,
Why doth my sin fetter me like a slave,
Making my soul forget her former birth,
Sinking her deeper in this mud of earth?
And tho within this Clay she can't stay long,
Why should she strive to make her Prison strong?
Since that my soul's enlarg'd from th' nether Hell,
I will no more in that dark dungeon dwell:
Since thou hast paid so dearly for thy slave,
Shall not my Lord his dear-bought purchase have?
My debts are paid, shall I begin the score,
And load thy Cross with sins and sorrows more?
Oh that the breath of life would breath upon
This rotten Carkass, and this dryed Bone,
That I may testifie two Truths in one,
Thy mighty Death, and Resurrection!
One question more, VVhy did th' Apostles all
So faithfully record thy Burial?
CHRIST.
Thou wilt not leave my soul i'th' nether Hell.
I dy'd with wicked, with the rich inter'd.
Joseph's Pit, Daniel's Den, and Jonah's Whale
VVere but the umbrage of my Burial.
'Tis a religious seed in nature bred,
All Nations do prepare t' inter the dead:
[Page 63] Such was the custom of th' Egyptian Sages,
Holding the Soul to live immortal Ages,
Lest after death the soul might transmigrate,
The body was embalm'd in Princely State,
That both uniting, they might frustrate death,
Aping an Immortality on Earth.
The Grecian Rites, tho different, did tend
To perfect and compleat the self-same end;
Fetching the Souls Original no higher,
Than that its nature was like unto Fire;
The Piles erected, and the Bodies burned:
By this the soul to her first state returned:
The body too, thus purged in the fire,
Like to the soul, may never more expire.
The Romans did no less their bodies burn,
Closing the ashes in sepulchral Urn.
The corps drencht of its dregs was thus calcin'd,
And made Aethereal, like to the mind:
These uncorrupted Ashes did presage
Their firm belief of an immortal age.
The Jews best taught of God, abhorred burning,
The soul next aftr death to God returning;
The body was committed to the Earth,
Its proper Parent, whence it had its birth.
It was Gods penal law too, sinners must,
As dust they were, return unto the dust.
Nor did Gods Law consign men to this fate,
Without a prospect of a future state:
VVas afterwards expos'd, but then inter'd;
[Page 64] Lest perishing o'th tree may thence create
A foul opinion of a future state:
For so Gods image would have been beli'd;
As if the soul like to the body di'd;
The body too prey'd on by winged Fowl,
Should never more return unto the soul:
The Washings, Oyntments, Gums, with other cost:
Suggests this Truth, None that are dead are lost.
Nor can we (Judas-like) this question state,
Why was this Oyntment spent at such a rate?
VVhy are our Cloaths wrapt up, so neatly spread,
But that the Grave's a Wardrope for the Dead?
VVhen th' Sacrifice o'th' Altar was consum'd,
The Ashes by the Priest was then assum'd.
Then Faithfully deposited abroad,
As Relicks that were Relative to God.
The Earth, the Elements, the spacious Globes,
Are but one chest to keep my Servants Robes.
The Keys are hung upon my Royal Throne,
And when I turn my hand, all know their own.
None is so rich in death, but that he hath
Either a Monument, or Epitaph;
Nor none so poor, but that he thinks it meet,
A stone should Crown his Head, or shoe his Feet.
This truth by this dumb Language is display'd,
Man fain would be alive when he is dead.
Thus stones do speak, and speak it to the full,
That man both is, and would be living Soul.
Thus Custom, Nature, Piety withal,
Brings Gums and Spikenard for my Burial.
[Page 65] Nor did my due interment want its sence,
Both as to time, and place, and circumstance,
The seventh day was the season God had blest,
The very day on which I took my rest.
O'th' six't day Adams Body had its Birth;
O'th' six't my Body visited the Earth.
This held for truth, and for a truth related,
Adam the same day fell he was created,
On the same day I gave the Thief a tast,
O'th' Fruit of Paradise which Adam lost.
Nor was it less Mysterious that I have
A Garden-plat, wherein to pitch my Grave.
By this cunclude, my Death a way hath forc't,
To Paradise again which Adam lost.
'Tis not without remark I laid my Head
In a new Tomb where none was buried.
As I was spotless in the Virgins Womb,
My Purity requir'd a Virgin Tomb.
Were I inter'd with sinners as I dy'd,
My Resurection would have been beli'd.
Had others slept with me, it might be said,
Some other person's risen in my stead.
My Tomb was therefore new, hewn out of stone,
That so my Resurrection may be known.
Had it been built of stones, stones more than one,
The Bottom might be raz'd, the Body stone.
But since it was a stone cut out of Rock,
Had Pilates Signet too, to be the Lock.
Since that a weighty stone too, guards the Cell;
And did become its sturdy Centinel.
[Page 66] And to make sure, a band of Soldiers taken,
Whom envy, malice, fear, did keep awaken.
This Rock so Guarded, was the Corner-stone
Of the truth of my Resurrection.
SOUL.
Since my Lord dy'd for me, shall I not come,
And break a Box of Spikenard on thy Tomb?
I know thy purity and innocence
Needs not my Myrrh, my Gums, my Fankincense
For to preserve thy sacred person whole,
As uncorrupt in Body as in Soul.
What Pow'r in Gums and Oyntments e're can be,
The Body from corruption to keep free;
Such was the power of thy Divinity:
Since that I cannot now Embalm my Head,
I will Anoint the Members in its stead,
Thy Body, Hands, and Feet shall nor go free,
What to the Members done, is done to thee.
Since thou wilt have a Tomb cut out by Art,
Oh let thy Spirit work it in my Heart!
It is a Rocky Stone, but yet it will
Make thee a Tomb when Polisht by thy skill.
Since it was so, as thou my Lord hast said,
Thou wast inter'd where no man else was lay'd;
Oh let no wilful sin dare once to dwell
Within that place where God hath made his Cell:
Seal it then with the signet of thy VVord,
That no vile lust may steal away my Lord.
[Page 67]Help me to watch my Lips, and guard my Heart,
That no ill thought, ill speaking, or ill Art,
May offend my Lord and cause him to depart.
VVhat I engag'd in my Baptismal Vow,
I here remember, and do promise now,
That since my Lord was Dead and Buried,
This Truth in me shall be accomplished.
My sins shall dye with thee upon the Cross,
A painful lingring Death as Jesus was.
VVhen once they'r Dead, Oh let it ne're be said,
I shall renew acquaintance with the Dead.
But like our dearest Friends, when dead and rotten,
Become vile Earth, and therefore soon forgotten.
So Abra'm said of Sarah when she dy'd,
Take her away, let her no more be ey'd.
If that my sin with thee is thus inter'd,
And that I am made free among the dead,
I shall with joy at last lift up my head:
Lord lay me lower in this bed of dust,
Then raise me to the mansions of the Just.
The Close.
I am thy Servant Lord! I am no Poet;
As thou dost know, and all that know me know it.
If I have ask't, or made thee say amiss,
I beg thy pardon on my beaded knees;
Grant me thy Spirit, Lord, and by its art
Do thou imprint these Lines upon my heart,
[Page 68]That then my scribble, not till then, shall be
Esteemed to be good Divinity.
VVhat's said amiss, thy pardon, Lord, that mine is;
What well, the Grace and Favour only thine is:
As thou hast been my Alpha, be my —
FINIS.