The Hesperides & Noble Numbers Part 91

78. HIS CREED.

I do believe that die I must, And be return'd from out my dust: I do believe that when I rise, Christ I shall see, with these same eyes: I do believe that I must come, With others, to the dreadful doom: I do believe the bad must go From thence, to everlasting woe: I do believe the good, and I, Shall live with Him eternally: I do believe I shall inherit Heaven, by Christ's mercies, not my merit.

I do believe the One in Three, And Three in perfect unity: Lastly, that JESUS is a deed Of gift from G.o.d: and here's my creed.

79. TEMPTATIONS.

Temptations hurt not, though they have access: Satan o'ercomes none, but by willingness.

80. THE LAMP.

When a man's faith is frozen up, as dead; Then is the lamp and oil extinguished.

81. SORROWS.

Sorrows our portion are: ere hence we go, Crosses we must have; or, hereafter woe.

82. PENITENCY.

A man's transgressions G.o.d does then remit, When man He makes a penitent for it.

83. THE DIRGE OF JEPHTHAH'S DAUGHTER: SUNG BY THE VIRGINS.

O thou, the wonder of all days!

O paragon, and pearl of praise!

O virgin-martyr, ever blest Above the rest Of all the maiden train! We come, And bring fresh strewings to thy tomb.

Thus, thus, and thus we compa.s.s round Thy harmless and unhaunted ground; And as we sing thy dirge, we will The daffodil And other flowers lay upon The altar of our love, thy stone.

Thou wonder of all maids, liest here.

Of daughters all the dearest dear; The eye of virgins; nay, the queen Of this smooth green, And all sweet meads; from whence we get The primrose and the violet.

Too soon, too dear did Jephthah buy, By thy sad loss, our liberty: His was the bond and cov'nant, yet Thou paid'st the debt: Lamented maid! he won the day, But for the conquest thou didst pay.

Thy father brought with him along The olive branch and victor's song: He slew the Ammonites, we know, But to thy woe; And in the purchase of our peace, The cure was worse than the disease.

For which obedient zeal of thine, We offer here, before thy shrine, Our sighs for storax, tears for wine; And to make fine And fresh thy hea.r.s.e-cloth, we will, here, Four times bestrew thee ev'ry year.

Receive, for this thy praise, our tears: Receive this offering of our hairs: Receive these crystal vials fill'd With tears distill'd From teeming eyes; to these we bring, Each maid, her silver filleting,

To gild thy tomb; besides, these cauls, These laces, ribbons, and these falls, These veils, wherewith we use to hide The bashful bride, When we conduct her to her groom: And all we lay upon thy tomb.

No more, no more, since thou art dead, Shall we e'er bring coy brides to bed; No more, at yearly festivals We cowslip b.a.l.l.s Or chains of columbines shall make For this or that occasion's sake.

No, no; our maiden pleasures be Wrapp'd in the winding-sheet with thee: 'Tis we are dead, though not i' th' grave: Or, if we have One seed of life left, 'tis to keep A Lent for thee, to fast and weep.

Sleep in thy peace, thy bed of spice, And make this place all paradise: May sweets grow here: and smoke from hence Fat frankincense: Let balm and ca.s.sia send their scent From out thy maiden-monument.

May no wolf howl, or screech-owl stir A wing about thy sepulchre!

No boisterous winds, or storms, come hither To starve or wither Thy soft sweet earth! but, like a spring, Love keep it ever flouris.h.i.+ng.

May all shy maids, at wonted hours, Come forth to strew thy tomb with flow'rs: May virgins, when they come to mourn, Male-incense burn Upon thine altar! then return, And leave thee sleeping in thy urn.

_Cauls_, nets for the hair.

_Falls_, tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs hanging loosely.

_Male-incense_, incense in globular drops.

84. TO G.o.d: ON HIS SICKNESS.

What though my harp and viol be Both hung upon the willow tree?

What though my bed be now my grave, And for my house I darkness have?

What though my healthful days are fled, And I lie number'd with the dead?

Yet I have hope, by Thy great power, To spring; though now a wither'd flower.

85. SINS LOATHED, AND YET LOVED.

_Shame checks our first attempts_; but then 'tis prov'd _Sins first dislik'd are after that belov'd_.

86. SIN.

Sin leads the way, but as it goes, it feels The following plague still treading on his heels.

87. UPON G.o.d.

G.o.d, when He takes my goods and chattels hence, Gives me a portion, giving patience: What is in G.o.d is G.o.d; if so it be He patience gives, He gives Himself to me.

88. FAITH.

What here we hope for, we shall once inherit; By faith we all walk here, not by the Spirit.

89. HUMILITY.

Humble we must be, if to heaven we go: High is the roof there; but the gate is low: Whene'er thou speak'st, look with a lowly eye: Grace is increased by humility.

90. TEARS.