O NATURE, carefull mother of vs all, | |
| How canst thou liue to see thy God thus die? | |
| To heare his paints, thus, thus for pittie call, | |
| And yet to find no grace in pittie’s eie! | |
| Thy frame, deere Nature, should be quite dissolu’d, | 5 |
| Or thy whole powers into teares resolu’d. | |
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| His anguish hauing this in silence said, | |
| See now how he sore labours for the last: | |
| The last deneere of sinne’s debt being defraid, | |
| It now remains that Death the reckning cast: | 10 |
| But heauy Death, because the summe is great, | |
| Takes yet some longer time to doe the feat. | |
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| But now, my soule, here let vs make a station, | |
| To view perspicuously this sad aspect: | |
| And through the Jacob’s staffe of Christ his passion | 15 |
| Let’s spie with our right eie his paines’ effect: | |
| That in the lab’rinth of his languishment | |
| We may, though lost therein, find solagement. | |
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| The mind, still crost with heart-tormenting crosses, | |
| Here finds a crosse to keepe such crosses out: | 20 |
| Here may the loser find more than his losses, | |
| If Faith beleeue what here Faith cannot doubt: | |
| For all his wounds with voice vociferant | |
| Crie out they can more than supply each want. | |
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| This holy crosse is the true Tutament, | 25 |
| Protecting all ensheltered by the same; | |
| And though Disaster’s face be truculent, | |
| Yet will this engine set it fair in frame: | |
| This is the feeble soule’s nere-failing crouch, | |
| And grieued bodies hard but wholesom’st couch. | 30 |
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| Looke on this crosse, when thou art stung with care; | |
| It cures forthwith like Moises’ metl’d snake: | |
| What can afflict thee when thy passions are | |
| Pattern’d by his, that paines perfections make? | |
| Wilt be so God-vnlike, to see thy God | 35 |
| Embrace the whip, and thou abhorre the rod? | |
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| See, see, the more than all soule-slaying paines, | |
| Which more than all for thee and all he prou’d: | |
| What man, except a God he be, sustaines | |
| Such hels of paine for man with mind unmou’d? | 40 |
| What part, as erst was said, of all his parts, | |
| But tortur’d is with smarts, exceeding smarts? | |
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| His vaines and nerues, that channelize his blood, | |
| By violent conuulsions all contracted; | |
| His bones and ioynts, from whence they whilome stood, | 45 |
| With rackings quite disloked and distracted: | |
| His head, hands, feet, yea, all from top to toe, | |
| Make but the imperfect corpse of perfect woe. | |
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| O that mine head were head of seau’nfold Nyle, | |
| That from the same might flowe great floods of teares, | 50 |
| Therein to bathe his bloodlesse body, while | |
| His blood effuz’d, in sight confuz’d appeares! | |
| Then should my teares egelidate his gore, | |
| That from his blood founts for me flow’d before. | |
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| O burning loue! O large and lasting loue! | 55 |
| What angel’s tongue thy limits can describe? | |
| That dost extend thyself all loue aboue, | |
| For which all praise loue ought to thee ascribe: | |
| Sith skarce the tongue of God’s humanitie | |
| Can well describe this boundlesse charitie. | 60 |
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| Why do I liue? alas, why do I liue? | |
| Why is not my heart loue-sicke to the death? | |
| But shall I liue my louing Lord to grieue? | |
| O no! O rather let me lose my breath: | |
| Then take me to thee, Loue; O let me die, | 65 |
| Onely but for thy loue, and sinne to flie. | |
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| Stay me with flagons; with fruit comfort me; | |
| Now I am sicke, heart-sicke of sweetest loue: | |
| Then let me liue, sweet Loue, alone in thee, | |
| For loue desires in that Belou’d to moue: | 70 |
| I liue and moue in thee, but yet, O yet, | |
| I liue to mone; that is, to make thee fret. * * * * * * | |
| O let the summe of all be all, and some, | |
| Comprised in thy heau’n-surmounting praise: | |
| Thou wast, and art, and shalt be aye to come, | 75 |
| The subiect of thy subiects’ thankfull laies; | |
| Who with aduanced voice doe carroll forth | |
| The praise of thine inestimable worth. | |
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| And sith thy soule for me is so conflicted, | |
| My soule to thee in griefes shall be affected: | 80 |
| And, for thy flesh through loue is so afflicted, | |
| My flesh for thy high loue shall be deiected: | |
| Soule, flesh, and spirit, for thy spirit, flesh, and soule, | |
| Shall longing pine in flesh-repining dole. | |
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| Mine onely schoole shall be mount Caluerie; | 85 |
| The pulpit but the crosse; and teacher none, | |
| But the mere crucifixe to mortifie; | |
| No letters but thy blessed wounds alone: | |
| No commaes but thy stripes; no periods | |
| But thy nailes, crowne of thornes, speare, whips, and rods. | 90 |
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| None other booke but thy vnclasped side, | |
| Wherein’s contain’d all skils angelical: | |
| None other lesson but Christ crucified | |
| Will I ere learne; for that is all in all: | |
| Wherein selfe curiositie may find | 95 |
| Matter to please the most displeased mind. | |
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| Here, by our Master’s nakednesse, we learne | |
| What weeds to weare; by his thorne-crowned head, | |
| How to adorn vs; and we may discerne | |
| By his most bitter gall, how to be fed: | 100 |
| How to reuenge, by praying for his foes; | |
| And, lying on his crosse, how to repose. | |
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| For when we read him ouer, see we shall | |
| His head with thornes, his eares with blasphemies, | |
| His eies with teares, his honnied mouth with gall, | 105 |
| With wounds his flesh, his bones with agonies, | |
| All full: and yet with all to heare him say, | |
| So man might liue, he would thus languish aye! | |
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