Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A53278
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The works of Mr. John Oldham, together with his Remains; Works. 1684
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Oldham, John, 1653-1683.; Ovid, 43 B.C.-17 or 18 A.D. Metamorphoses.
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1684
(1684)
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Wing O225; ESTC R5199
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181,282
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676
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streams of thy unbounded Glory reach Beyond the straits of scanty Time and Place Beyond the ebbs and flows of matter 's narrow Seas They reach and fill the Ocean of Eternity and Space Infus'd like some vast mighty soul Thon do'st inform and actuate this spacious whole Thy unseen hand does the well-joynted Frame sustain Which else would to its primitive Nothing shrink again But most thou do'st thy Majesty display In the bright Realms of everlasting Day There is Thy residence there do'st Thou reign There on a State of dazling Lustre sit There shine in Robes of pure refined Light Where Sun 's coarse Rays are but a Foil and Stain And refuse Stars the sweepings of thy glorious Train 3. There all Thy Family of menial Saints Huge Colonies of bless'd Inhabitants Which Death through countless Ages has transplanted hence Now on Thy Throne for ever wait And fill the large Retinue of thy heav'nly State There reverend Prophets stand a pompous goodly show Of old thy Envoys extraordinary here Who brought thy sacred Embassies of Peace and War That to th' obedient this the rebel world below By them the mighty Twelve have their abode Companions once of the Incarnate suffâ—…ring God Partakers now of all his Triumphs there As they on earth did in his Miseries share Of Martyrs next a crown'd and glorious Quire Illustrious Heroes who have gain'd Through dangers and Red Seas of Bloud the Promis'd Land And pass'd through Ordeal Flames to the Eternity in Fire There all make up the Consort of thy Praise To Thee they sing and never cease Loud Hymns and Hallelujah's of Applause An Angel-Laureat does the Sense and Strains compose Sense far above the reach of mortal Verse Strains far above the reach of mortal ears And all a Muse unglorified can fancy or rehearse 4. Nor is this Consort only kept above Nor is it to the Bless'd alone confin'd But Earth and all thy Faithful here are joyn'd And strive to vie with them in Duty and in Love And tho they cannot equal Notes and Measures raise Strive to return th' imperfect Ecchoes of thy Praise They through all Nations own thy glorious Name And every where the great Three-One proclaim Thee Father of the World and Us and Him Who must Mankind whom Thou didst make Redeem Thee blessed Saviour the ador'd true only Son To man debas'd to rescue Man undone And Thee Eternal Holy Power Who do'st by Grace exalted Man restore To all he lost by the old Fall and Sin before You bless'd and glorious Trinity Riddle to baffled Knowledg and Philosophy Which cannot conprehend the mighty Mystery Of numerous One and the unnumber'd Three Vast topless Pile of Wonders at whose sight Reason it self turns giddy with the height Above the flutt'ring pitch of humane Wit And all but the strong wings of Faith that Eagle's towring flight 5. Bless'd Jesu how shall we enough adore Or thy unbounded Love or thy unbounded Pow'r Thou art the Prince of Heav'n thou are the Almighty's Heir Thou art th' Eternal Off-spring of th' Eternal Sire Hail thou the Worlds Redeemer whom to free From bonds of Death and endless misery Thou thought'st it no disdain to be Inhabiter in low mortality Th' Almighty thought it no disdain To dwell in the pure Virgins spotless Womb There did the boundless Godhead and whole Heav'n find room And a small point the Circle of Infinity contain Hail Ransom of Mankind all-great all-good Who didst attone us with thy Bloud Thy self the Offering Altar Priest and God Thy self didst die to be our glorious Bail From Death's Arrests and the eternal Flaming Jail Thy self thou gav'st th' inestimable Price To Purchase and Redeem our morgag'd Heav'n and Happiness Thither when thy great Work on Earth had end When Death it self was slain and dead And Hell with all its Powers captive led Thou didst again triumphantly Ascend There do'st Thou now by Thy great Father sit on high With equal Glory equal Majesty Joynt-Ruler of the everlasting Monarchy 6. Again from thence thou shalt with greater triumph come When the last Trumpet sounds the general Doom And lo thou com'st and lo the direful sound does make Through Deaths wide Realm Mortality awake And lo they all appear At Thy Dread Bar And all receive th' unalterable Sentence there Affrighted Nature trembles at the dismal Day And shrinks for fear and vanishes away Both that and Time breath out their last and now they die And now are swallow'd up and lost in vast Eternity Mercy O mercy angry God! Stop stop thy flaming Wrath too fierce to be withstood And quench it with the Deluge of thy Bloud Thy precious Bloud which was so freely spilt To wash us from the stains of Sin and Guilt O write us with it in the Book of Fate Amongst thy Chosen and Predestinate Free Denizens of Heav'n of the Immortal State 7. Guide us O Saviour guide thy Church below Both Way and Star Compass and Pilot Thou Do thou this frail and tâ—…tt'ring Vessel steer Through Life's tempestuous Ocean here Through all the tossing Waves of Fear And dang'rous Rocks of black Despair Safe under Thee we shall to the wish'd Haven move And reach the undiscover'd Lands of Bliss above Thus low behold to thy great Name we bow And thus we ever wish to grow Constant as Time does thy fix'd Laws obey To Thee our Worship and our Thanks we pay With these we wake the chearful Light With these we Sleep and Rest invite Anâ—… thus we spend our Breath and thus we spend our Days And never cease to Sing and never cease to Praise 8. While thus each Breast and Mouth and Ear Are filled with thy Praise and Love and Fear Let never Sin get room or entrance there Vouchsafe O Lord through this and all our days To guard us with Thy pow'rful Grace Within our hearts let no usurping Lust be found No rebel Passion tumult raise To break thy Laws or break our Peace But set thy Watch of Angels on the Place And keep the Tempter still from that forbidden ground Ever O Lord to us thy mercies grant Never O Lord let us thy mercies want Ne're want Thy Favour Bounty Liberality But let them ever on us be Constant as our own Hope and Trust on Thee On Thee we all our Hope and Trust repose O never leave us to our Foes Never O Lord desert our Cause Thus aided and upheld by Thee We 'll fear no Danger Death nor Misery Fearless we thus will stand a falling world With crushing Ruins all about us hurl'd And face wide gaping Hell all its slighted Pow'rs defie A Letter from the Country to a Friend in Town giving an Account of the Author's Inclinations to Poetry Written in July 1678. AS to that Poet if so great a one as he May suffer in comparison with me When heretofore in Scythian exile pent To which he to ungrateful Rome was sent If a kind Paper from his Country came And wore subscrib'd some known and faithful
after other persons The Satyr had been made into a Scene by Ben Johnson in a Play of his called the Poetaster After I had finished my imitation thereof I came to learn that it had been done likewise by Dr. Sprat and since I have had the sight of it amongst the Printed Translations of Horace 's Works The Odes are there done too but not so excellently well as to discourage any farther endeavours If these of mine meet with good entertainment in the world I may perhaps find leisure to attempt some other of them which at present suffer as much from their Translaters as the Psalms of David from Sternhold and Hopkins The two sacred Odes I designed not to have made publick now forasmuch as they might seem unfit to appear among Subjects of this nature and were intended to come forth apart hereafter in company of others of their own kind But having suffer'd Copies of them to straggle abroad in Manuscript and remembring the Fate of some other Pieces of mine which have formerly stoln into the Press without my leave or knowledg and be exposed to the world abominably false and uncorrect to prevent the same misfortune likely enâ—…ugh to befal these I have been persuaded to yield my consent to their Publishing amongst the rest Nor is the Printing of such Miscellanies altogether so unpresidented but that it may be seen in the Editions of Dr. Donne and Mr. Cowley 's Works whether done by their own appointment or the sole direction of the Stationers I am not able to determine As for the two Essays out of Greek they were occasioned by a report that some persons found fault with the roughness of my Satyrs formerly published tho upon what ground they should do it I could be glad to be informed Unless I am mistaken there are not many Lines but will endure the reading without shocking any Hearer that is not too nice and censorious I confess I did not so much mind the Cadence as the Sense and expressiveness of my words and therefore chose not those which were best disposed to placing themselves in Rhyme but rather the most keen and tuant as being the most sutable to my Argument And certainly no one that pretends to distinguish the several Colours of Poetry would expect that Juvenal when he is lashing of Vice and Villany should flow so smoothly as Ovid or Tibullus when they are describing Amours and Gallantries and have nothing to disturb and ruffle the evenness of their Stile Howbeit to shew that the way I took was out of choice not want of judgment and that my Genius is not wholly uncapaâ—…e of performing upon more gay and agreeable Subjects if my humour inclined me to exercise it I have pitch'd upon these two which the greatestmen of sense have allowed to be some of the softest and tenderest of all Antiquity Nay if we will believe Rapine one of the best Criticks which these latter Ages have produced they have no other fault than that they are too exquisitely delicate for the Character of Pastoral which should not seem too laboured and wâ—…ose chief beauty is an unaffected air of plainness and simplicity That which laments the Death of Adonis has been attempted in Latine by several great Masters namely Vulcanius Douza and Monsieur le Fevre The last of them has done it Paraphrastically but left good part of the Poem toward the latter end untouch'd perhaps because he thought it not so capable of Ornament as the rest Him I chiefly chose to follow as being most agreeable to my way of translating and where I was at a loss for want of his guidance I was content to steer by my own Fancy The Translation of that upon Bion was begun by another Hand as far as the first fifteen Verses but who was the Author I could never yet learn I have been told that they were done by the Earl of Rochester but I could not well believe it both because he seldom medled with such Subjects and more especially by reason of an uncorrect line or two to be found amongst them at their first coming to my hands which never us'd to flow from his excellent Pen. Conceiving it to be in the Original a piece of as much Art Grace and Tenderness as perhaps was ever offered to the Ashes of a Poet I thought fit to dedicate it to the memory of that incomparable Person of whom nothing can be said or thought so choice and curious which his Deserts do not surmount If it be thought mean to have borrowed the sense of another to praise him in yet at least it argues at the same time a value and reverence that I durst not think any thing of my own good enough for his Commendation This is all which I judg material to be said of these following Resveries As for what others are to be found in the parcel I reckon them not worth mentioning in particular but leave them wholly open and unguarded to the mercy oâ—… the Reader let him make his Attaques how and where he please HORACE His ART of POETRY Imitated in English Address'd by way of Letter to a Friend SHould some ill Painter in a wild design To a mans Head an Horses shoulders joyn Or Fishes Tail to a fair Womans Wasâ—… Or draw the Limbs of many a different Beast Ill match'd and with as motly Feathers drest If you by chance were to pass by his Shop Could you forbear from laughing at the Fop And not believe him whimsical or mad Credit me Sir that Book is quite as bad As worthy laughter which throughout is fill'd With monstrous inconsistencies more vain and wild Than sick mensDreams whose neither head nor tail Nor any parts in due proportion fall But 't will be said None ever did deny Painters and Poets their free liberty Of feigning any thing We grant it true And the same privilege crave and allow But to mix natures clearly opposite To make the Serpent and the Dove unite Or Lambs from savage Tygers seek defence Shocks Reason and the Rules of common Sense Some who would have us think they meant to treat At first on Arguments of greatest weight Are 〈◊〉 when here and there a glittering line Does through the mass of their coarse rubbish shine In gay digtessions they delight to rove Describing here a Temple there a Grove A Vale enamel'd o're with pleasant streams A painted Rainbow or the gliding Thames But how does this relate to their design Though good elsewhere 't is here but foisted in A common Dawber may perhaps have skill To paint a Tavern Sign or Landskip well But what is this to drawing of a Fight A Wrack a Storm or the last Judgment right When the fair Model and Foundation shews That you some great Escurial would produce How comes it dwindled to a Cottage thus In fine whatever work you mean to frame Be uniform and every where the same Most Poets Sir 't is easie to observe Into the worst of faults are