Catarrhs yea Pox that mouts The feathers of our courtiers coxcombs so That they wear borrow'd heads lest they should show Their scalded crowns excess and drink prepares Their minds and bodies for those torrid wares Which they so dearly pay for that oft times They a bone-ague get to plague their crimes Excess of sickness-breeders is the King Most if not all diseases from her spring Yet cures she none hunger and thirst excepted Which might by temperance be intercepted With much more thrift to soul and bodie too As well's estate excess doth all undo Sardanapalus of great Nimrod's race And Heliogabalus that glutton base Feel this firm truth confirm'd And many more Great Emperours and Kings lie on the score Doom'd to eternal hunger thirst and pain Yea triple-crown'd earth-gods who erst did reign In Babylon mysterious are no doubt Where they with their false Keys can ne'er get out Epicurism hath tainted Peters Chair Most of all thrones on earth Romes very air Doth stink of surfeits it therewith infected All Christendom and made that vice neglected But ah poor England thou hast since out gone Thy giddy Mistress and art past by none Though Dutch and Dane go far it 's all our shame To be Deform'd in Deed Reform'd in Name Reformed Cburches Reformation need In Manners more then Doctrine if we heed How universally this sin doth reign ' Mongst us more rare in France abhor'd in Spain The Germans bought Excess at famines rate Speedy ensuing Lord prevent that fate From scourging ours and win our hearts with love Off from the creatures to the things above Spiritualize our appetites and then Feed us the fullest of all mortal men Indeed Lord so thou dost provide us store So great as never Nation had before But we thy Manna loath as did of old Thy people Israel our stomacks cold Are squeazy grown and turn the bread of life To noysome humours faction schism and strife Yea heresies are bred and foster'd by Thy means ordain'd for Truth and Unity Fulness hath wantoniz'd our appetites That one in this t' other in that delights A third in none knows what Yea oft the Cook Makes bad meat lik'd the Authors unread Book The Preachers Doctrine took on trust are priz'd Most men affect what 's vented or devis'd By those of their own faction howe'er bad Some all for old some for the new stuff mad That many preachers cook-like strain their wit For ev'ry coxcombs palate sawce to fit Whilst some like all some-none yet all are right In their own fancies darkness so is light Ah sharpen Lord our souls weak stomacks more To truth and unity then heretofore Evacuate those humours gross afford â—ls true digestion of thy sacred word That may pure nutriment abroad diffuse Into our Churches bodie grown profuse Not only stain'd with fleshly drunkenness And surfeiting but with soul-giddiness And Spirit'al intoxication Glutted with food of life Ah stupid Nation That none but you should strength of wit devote Poison to suck out of your Antidote To make your cordial suffocate your life The curing word of peace breed killing strife This drunkenness of spirit far exceeds â—n its malignity that which proceeds â—rom drinks inebriation that makes men â—egrade themselves to beasts and this agen â—romotes them with the mischief to be Devils â—oth are inflaming fuming flatuous evils â—otti-fer's spirit giddifies the first â—he last the sp'rit of Lucifer accurst â—ord sheild us from them both but most of all â—rom that most mortal which is Sp'ritual â—inse Lord our Nations from that beastial sin â—f bodily excess we wallow in â—hat we thy blessings temporal may use â—ith temperance and never more abuse â—…ur peerless plenty Ah! But rinse us too â—…om drunkenness of soul which will undo Both Church and State unless thy grace prevent Impow'r us Lord of both so to repent And both so to renounce henceforth that we From thy impending Judgements freed may be An Epigram on the same WHat Man turn'd Beast is Reason grown a yoke Tiresome that thou it sell'st for drink and smoke Are Health and Knowledge contemptible both That thou preferr'st to them Excesse and Sloth Is grace thy scorn thy body and thy soul Neither worth saving Then continue foul And so foul beast farewel Soft here 's another Both have one Father but not both one Mother Satan gets one of Flesh t'other of Spirit The last's his darling though both shall inherit His dismal Kingdom he doth her affect As his choice sieve to sift the Lords Elect She best resembles him though both are evil The first 's a Beast the last's a perfect Devil Presumption one of sins tops MAke room for Rome's great Sov'raign who hath worâ— The triple-crown e'er since 't was made whose horâ— Pushes at Stars and shakes the Host of Heaven At least those seeming so whose hand hath given More fatal wounds to self deluding souls Then there are Stars betwixt the worlds two Poles Presumption 's Highness who loves room so well She takes up most part of the room in Hell For her attendants whom she rocks asleep With songs of heav'n till they approach that deep And vast Abyss whence none was ever freed Such dangers from security proceed Presumption flatters mankinde to damnation With false Plerophory of their salvation And so they run relying on dead faith Hand over head unto eternal death Perfidious Traytor thou hast Myriads slain Who deem'd their state secure till in that pain That hath nor ease nor end they plagued were And saw that thy seducements brought them there Thou hadst a hand in Mans and Angels falls Thou didst of old first found proud Babe's walls Which brought on Adams progeny confusion And probably was cause of the effusion Of all the blood that hath in war been spilt In all the ages since O horrid guilt For change of tongues to change of hearts inclin'd Had they one Tongue kept so they might one Mind She martial'd Aegypts people and their King Themselves away in the Red Sea to fling Who having tri'd Gods wonders oft before Would madly needs provoke him to one more VVhereby sad extirpation them befel Whose souls the sea did waft from earth to hell She ston'd the great Goliah whilst he braves And makes the Philistins to Isr'el slaves Most likely 't is the wisest Solomon VVas train'd to sin by foul Presumption As well as by strange women for a man Of his great knowledge and experience can Hardly great sin commit or grace withstand Unless Presumption have therein a hand Next his son Rehoboam ten Tribes lost By this proud Dames provoking him to boast Vaunting Sennacherib th' Assyrian King Play'd blasphemies upon thy untun'd string To humble Hezekiah's loathing ears Till he retreated fill'd with shame and fears When sudden vengeance from his camp had call'n A hundred fourscore and five thousand fall'n And afterwards to his eternal pain In Idol-worship by his sons was slain The greater Nebucadnezar presumes To make new gods the old gods
running A way chalk'd out by thine and our most cunning And mortal foes a way devis'd at Rome VVhich will these lands to desolation doom Our bodies to sharp sword and famine thin Our souls ro utter darkness for our sin Deprive us of thy candlestick that live And to posterity dark Lanthorns give To guide in pathes of death and to deceive Our progeny false Gospels to believe Unless thy grace prevent Bless'd God arise And let thy foes be scatter'd that despise And persecute thy truth and people thus Draw us to thee and be thou GOD WITH US Cease our divisions chase all schisms and errours All Heresies and Ath'ism hence with terrours And with confusion unto those that broach'd them And recantation to those that approach'd them Let Reformation true at last come in To our distracted Church and State which sin Hath long kept off let love with truth and peace And blessed union daily more increase In these distressed lands chase hence the swarms Of black-pits locusts whose inveigling charms Dicotomize the world whose industry Makes King fight King and men make war with thee Lord let eternal mercy turn us thus From all our sins and all thy wrath from us For none but thine Almighty hand can cure Our desp'rate wounds thy enemies make sure Shortly to sway these lands and therewithal To ruine thy reformed Churches all Unless thy grace prevent Help Lord at need It 's in the mount it 's time thou help indeed For vain is mans false help we fools have try'd By Egypt's friendship to be fortifi'd Whose broken reeds have pierc'd our heedless hands And drawn thy judgments on these sinful lands Avert them Lord and turn us unto thee Thy fury just from us else lost are we Thy stock of wonted mercies we have spent And are undone unless thy grace prevent We set up Princes Lord but not of thee Rulers whom thou know'st not who'll fatal be Unto this land and make us soon repent Our foolish choice unless thy Grace prevent Oh let the BRANCH spring forth and bud and bear If thou so will'st whilst we are pilgrims here The birth is at wombs mouth Oh God help strength To bring that bless'd production forth at length Which our sins keep obstructed in the womb And let the Son of David's Kingdom come But out great crimes defer that blest event And urge thy wrath Lord let thy Grace prevent Prevent our just-deserved ruine Lord Let love obliterate our crimes abhor'd Recruit our stock of grace so vainly spent And our just fears Lord let thy grace prevent Angliae Omen OH stupid England how hath S. befool'd thee Not to give ear to what thy G. hath told thee But to F. P. thou willingly canst hearken Which will I fear thy brightest glory darken E. and D. fight like fools by J. deceived To make S. sport unless by G. relieved G. chalk'd thee out a way yet thou refusest Therein to walk his mercies thou abusest Pervert'st the means of grace to schism and faction Wrest'st profer'd peace into perverse distraction P. B. is spil'd whence P. in mirth exceedeth Whil'st P. spoyls P. the heart of C. C. bleedeth And thou still glorying in thy shame abidest Sweet mercies scornest judgments fierce deridest Exceed'st in pride oppression blood and thieving Excess and bold profaneness never grieving For all thy horrid acts whose exclamation Rings up to Heav'n and croaks thy desolation For which thy crimes one of these are attending Thy soon repentance or thy latter ending It is not to me unknown that divers exquisite pens have poëtically translated the following Lamentations whose Labours I honour and aym not herein to detract from neither strive I to claw mans ear or tickle his fancie but have as neer as I was enabled kept the very words of the Text it self in our most usual English Translations hoping the divine gravity and interwoven plainness of that stile may prove powerful above all mans ingenious flourishes hereon as fitting best the parallel times and people whereâ—n and for whom they were first written Amen Hodie mihi Cras tibi Let Jury Britain's warner be Let Jebus London teach That we Gods ways may heed and see Whilst Jews to English preach The Lamentations of Jeremiah in metre CHAP. I. verse 1 HOw doth the thronged City sit desert How art thou widowed O thou that wert The great among the Nations Princess took Of Provinces and now in tributes yoak verse 2 Her nightly tears make torrents o'er her cheeks In vain she comfort from all lovers seeks Her friends perfidious all are foes become verse 3 Judah's gone captive from her native home Because of servitude and great affliction Among the Heathen she finds no refection Her persecuters 'twixt the straights o'ertake her verse 4 Zions wayes mourn since solemn feasts forsake her Her Priests do sigh her gates are desolate verse 5 Virgins afflicted She in bitter state Her soes are chief and prosper for the Lord Hath her afflicted for her most abhorr'd And multipli'd transgressions and her Sons Her enemies led captive all at once verse 6 All Zions Daughters beauty is departed Her Princes are like Harts in pastute thwarted verse 7 As finding none and they are strengthless gone verse 8 Before pursuers Jebus now thinks on Her pleasant things in days of old enjoy'd By miserie 's afflicting hand made voyd Her Sons faln in the hands of enemies Quite helpless foes her Sabbaths did despise verse 9 Jerusalem hath sinned grievously Therefore removed of her friends cast by Who saw her shame she sighs backward turns verse 10 Her filth is in her skirts and she adjourns The day of her last end whence she descends To wonderment yet voyd of cheering friends Lord view my sorrow for the foe doth boast verse 11 And snatch our pleasant things we value most She in her Temple sees the Heathen Nations Whom thou forbad'st t' approach thy Congregations verse 12 Her people sigh and seek their bread they give Their pleasant things for food them to relieve See Lord consider for I vile am grown verse 13 Is it to you as nothing have yee known O all by-passers any grief like mine In his fierce angers day by sacred Trine verse 14 Afflicted fire from Heaven he hath sent Into my bones his net spread with intent My feet to trap Yea he hath turn'd me back And made me faint and desolate alack verse 15 His hand hath bound the yoak of my transgressions Which wreathed mount cause my neck 's oppressions My strength he made to fall he gives me over Into their hands from whom I can't recover verse 16 In me he trampled on my men of might Assembled those that crush'd my young men quite As in a wine-press he that wears Heav'ns crown The Virgin Judah's Daughter hath trod down verse 17 For this I weep mine eye mine eye fleets on Because from me the Comforter is gone That should relieve my soul And desolate My children are ' cause those prevail'd
DIVINE GLIMPSES OF A Maiden Muse Being Various MEDITATIONS and EPIGRAMS On Several SUBjECTS With A probable future CURE Of Our present Epidemical MALADY If the means be not too long neglected By Chr. Clobery Esquire LONDON Printed by James Cottrel 1659. To his undoubted though unknown Friend George Wither Esq Britain's Ancient REMEMBRANCER SIr though to me unknown your person be Your better parts my soul doth plainly see In your fulfill'd predictions and in those Which shall fulfilled be how soon none knows But he who them inspir'd Yet I dare say I 'm sure they shall and hope to see the day Of their fulfilling when our Rulers here Shall hearken to a slighted Engineer And shall have ears to hear and eyes to see The wayes of truth of peace and unity And walk therein Mean while dear Sir peruse This Widows Mite of an old Maiden-Muse Wherein what you approve let stand what not Razeout If all be faulty all out blot And blot my folly too let silence shie Make its remembrance in your censure die I much desir'd to be a Witness true Unto these Nations long since warn'd by you Of God's proceedings with them and that he Call'd you of old their Watchman here to be And that you faithfully discover'd to them Time after time their ways that would undo them And shew'd their way of peace yet we march on On the wrong fork of your Greek Ypsilon The Lord sound our retreat for he alone Can guide right who so long astray have gone And here I testifie unto these Nations That though they fall you sought their preservations And that their fall is wilful but however You have a sure reward laid up for ever And this I hope will some small comfort be To your oppressed Muse when she shall see An English man attest that she 's divine And sun-like shall in Britain henceforth shine When future Generations unseal'd eyes Shall see accomplish'd your past prophecies Which if our souls with patience can attend Gods glory and our good shall be the end Christopher Clobery To the Reader REader this Poem verbally the same was composed divers years since and dedicated to Mr. Wither a man to me utterly unknown and about three years since at my first sight of him offered to him whose modest refusal to own my attributes concurring with my bashful timidity of publishing it hath hitherto suppress'd it And the great God who hath since by his providences whipt me to it knows that with much reluctancy of spirit I now divulge it as that which hath been kept secret from my near and dear Relations whose pardon I here implore for the same Cover the defects hereof with candid connivence the Errours of the Press with the consideration of my neer 200 miles distance from the Printer If this profit my Countrey or thee it will redound to my joy if it disprofit my self to my contentation and submittance to his Divine Will who wrought this impulse on the spirit of Thy Friend in Him C. C. ERRATA PAge 3. line 2. for Embyron read Embryon p. 8. l. 1. r. man p. 14. l. 4. f. sores r. snares p. 16. l. 7. f. ambitious r. ambition's p. 21. l. 22. f. grudgeth r. grudg'th p. 26. l. 18. f. he r. her p. 32. l. 21. f. fained r. famed p. 34. l. 30. f. overcometh r. o'ercometh p. 35. l. 36. f. the r. this p. 41. l. 6. f. his r. is ibid l. 11. f. judgement r. judgements l. 13. f. presumptious r. presumption 's l. 29. f. profan'th r. profan'st l. 34. r. presumption 's l. 35. f. works r. work p. 47. l. 1. f. whip'd r. wip'd p. 48. l. 3. f. neer r. new l. 24. f. move r. moare l. 29. f. dewie r. drery p. 51. l. 9. f. victual r. victuals p. 53. l. 24. r. keeps p. 55. l. 18. r. foyes l. 22. r. should f. shall p. 57. l. 30. f. souls r. fowls ibid f. whom r. when p. 61. l. 19. f. hive r. hine l. 24. f. flame r. flames f. wants r. want p. 66. l. 20. r. all thy customers p. 67. l. 4. f. no r. on p. 70. l. 1. r. provok'st l. 23. f. putifri'st r. putrifi'st l. 30. r. corrosives p. 71. l. 10. r. autocrator p. 73. l. 11. r. mislead p. 79. l. 16. r. foiles l. 18. r. panpharmacon f. paupharmacon p. 87. l. 26. f. divine r. dimne p. 89. l. 9. f. first r. fixt p. 97. l. 11. f. sphaere r. peere p. 110. l. 15. f. leave r. lave p. 111. l. 15. f. you 're r. you 've l. 26. f. past r. part p. 121. l. 33. f. the r. thee p. 129. l. 1. f. valedictionis r. valedictiones p. 136. l. 8. f. the r. thee p. 154. l. 17. f. precious stones r. precious sons p. 155. l. 6. f. betten r. better p. 162. l. 12. f. self-proud sway r. selfs proud sway DIVINE GLIMPSES OF A MAIDEN MUSE On Election REveal'd things may be Christian Poets song But hidden things to God alone belong LOVE was the reason why he thus did do But such a LOVE as none can dive into On the Creation LOrd what a wonder 's here which none but thou Could bring to pass as Atheists must avow Nature sayes Out of nothing nothing's had But Natures God of nothing all things made Heav'n Earth and Sea with all that in them is Angels and Men yet nought of all amiss Till those whom thou most perfect mad'st of all Corrupted all the rest by their base fall Angels and Men were they that robb'd of glory The whole Creation and made transitory What thou mad'st permanent their sinning drew Vanity on the creature and thence grew Each Discord and Dissention that doth raign Among them all and us and shall remain Until thy Kingdom come when thou shalt right Whatever we made crooked in thy sight Which hasten Lord that if thy pleasure be In this our pilgrimage we may it see The wondrous work of thy well-tim'd creation Deserves observance and our admiration Times date and birth from this first week of years Or day of weeks or hour of days appears And as we know there was no Time before Our Faith foresees when Time shall be no more Here all these temporary things begun Fram'd by thy Word and when their time is run Shall by the same Word cease again to be Save what eterniz'd is by thy Decree A parte post which everlasting made Though time began them shall not with time fade Such Angels are and such our souls and we Shall such in bodies after Judgement be Yea now such are onely here 's interruption Till this corruption put on incorruption Till this mortality invested be With immortality which change to thee Is less then nothing though to us most strange Who changest what thou wilt yet dost not change Our Bodies pulverated nay much more Admit annihilated thou'lt restore Identically such again to be The very same as we the same now see Save what may perfectize thine
that raigns for evermore 10. To Father FArewel my being's instrumental Cause Assign'd by him from whom all beings flow Who my new Father is and old one was Ere you were so methinks my heart doth grow With grief to part But yet part needs I must From all relations that Heav'ns Canopy Surrounds to find the merciful and just Who 's Father to us all whose Progeny Are all man-kind whose wonderful affection By his Son's blood redeem'd me who before Made love sole ground of my poor souls election For which I 'll sing his praise for evermore Father if you are loath I gone should be Come but to him you 'll surely come to me 11. To Mother FArewel dear mold where in my mortal clay First by th' eternal potter formed was In pain that baâ—'st me nine months night and day And after grievous travel gav'st me pass Into this vale of tears thy torments bind Me to a boundless love yet wonder not If I now leave thee for a new I find Who hath me born again since 't was thy lot A mother militant who hath prepar'd A third triumphant for me who doth dwell Where never to approach a foe yet dar'd Above the fear and spite of Earth and Hell Oh let me fly and haste thee after me For she to both of us will mother be 12. To Children FArewel sweet implings quick Epitomes Of me and my dear second I must leave Your lov'd society death 's Writ of Ease Doth me remove yet not of life bereave That 's length'ned by my change you I commit Unto a faithful guardian yea a father To me and you with whom I go to sit In everlasting glory who will gather You all to me again when his time comes Only be faithful to the death and he Will give you crowns of life when your bless'd homes Shall be th' imperial Heaven where with me With Angels Saints and Martyr's crowned throng You 'll sing for ever Sion's Lamb 's sweet song 13. To Wife FArewel my better half life of my life And sub-celestial comforts we must cleave One heart in two at parting dearest wife As we made one of two at meeting leave Spare those heart-melting cries those thriftless tears Thy frailties to bewail in those streams swim Home to thy harbour where my faith me bears There my Bridegroom and thine doth mansions trim For us with everlasting ornaments With whom we both shall newly marri'd be And raign eternally fill'd with contents Passing what heart can think ear hear eye see I do but go before and thee expect Among the number of the Lord's Elect. 14. To all Joyntly FArewel World Europe Britain native Shire And Parish too servants acquaintance friâ—…ds Kindred with Father Mother children dear And dearest Wise have all contented mindes Fot I am to so high preferment call'd That if you lov'd me you would urge me on To haste away that I may be install'd A death-less prince crown'd King by him whose throne Is over all whose Scepter sways at once Heav'n Earth and Hell with their inhabitants That Triple Crown that girts the pride-puft sconce Of Antichrist who there of falsly vaunts Is this Kings right alone stil'd in truth's words The only King of Kings and Lord of Lords The Charge BRitain thy glory 's sunk swoln are thy sins To an o'erwhelming torrent that begins Thee to o'erwhelm thy erst indulgent God Hath turn'd his hand against thee see his rod Begins to whip thy follies whose dread sword Did lately fight thy battels whose pure word Made the earth's Goshen thou begin'st to grope In an Egyptian darkness many hope To see th' unbottom'd pits black mists o'ercloud Thy splendent Sun yea thy own sons have vow'd To put out that great light to raise thereby Their ignis fatuus light of phantasie Father of lights frustrate their curs'd design The comfort shall be ours but glory thine Let not the pit's black torches smokie fumes Eclipse thy Sun-shine here though he presumes To see it so who is the man of sin Who among us those false fires usher'd in To light us on to darkness Lord return Those fires into his bosom let them burn Mysterious Babylon their heat calcine The scarlet whore and beast to ashes fine Their light discover Antichrist to all That they and their false fires together fall Quench'd in eternal flames and then on high And here beneath thy Church shall glorifie Thy aweful name But ah Lord we betray Our selves to them by sin wildely display Our nakedness and what defects we have Thy hand 's not shortned that it cannot save Nor thine ear heavie that it will not hear But our iniquities O God most dear Have separated us from thee our sins Have stockt our feet in their intangling gins Our gross abominations in thy sight Have thee provok'd to take from us the light That we so long unworthily enjoy'd Thanklesly too which made the favour void Our disesteeming of thy sacred light Perverting it to doctrines of the night To schisms and errours heresies and factions Have justly brought on us these sad distractions And since so many of us dare to scoft it Thou justly may'st henceforth deprive us of it Thou may'st remove our candlestick to those who 'll bring forth better fruit then our vain shows Our painted leaves and blossoms which discrie Our faith but fain'd our zeal hypocrisie Provoke thy patience to fierce wrath's effusion And woo thy vengeance to our own confusion But Lord forbid forbid dear God the sins Of us poor nothings who have nothing in 's But sin and folly ever should out-vie Thy boundless mercy force thee to defie Fond weakling worms yet thy own creatures Lord Create ' Redeem'd preserved by thy word And those whom thou hast lov'd Oh rather turn Us from our sins to thee for them to mourn Then thee from us to view them and in wrath For them to punish Lord thy mercy hath Ways to prevent thy justice and can give Light unto all that all may see to live Hoping to live to see the gen'ral call Of nations to the light by all in all Who shall have all the glory that redounds Eccho'd from Heav'ns and earth's remotest bounds And when all other Kingdoms are o'erthrown Pow'r and dominion shall be all his own Which hasten Lord that we may see with joy To thine Elect and to their foes annoy And oh prepare us for that glorious day Turn us from each perverse and crooked way Wherein we wander fit this Island 's ghests For thy bright coming and for the arrests Of death and judgment that whate'er befal The glory may be thine joy ours in all But Lord our sins have at such height o'erbore us That they transcend all Nations past before us It well may make at sight of our base pride Lucifer blush to see himself out-vi'd And we have those by us'ry and oppression Who would wrest Mammon's self out of possession Fraud and deceit to such a height are grown That most men