Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

As if their day were only to be spent
In dressing, mistressing, and compliment.
Alas! poor joys, but poorer men, whose trust
Seems richly placed in sublimed dust!

(For such are clothes and beauty, which, though gay,
Are, at the best, but of sublimed clay)
Let then the world thy calling disrespect;
But go thou on, and pity their neglect.
What function is so noble, as to be
Ambassador to God and Destiny?

To open life, to give kingdoms to more

Than kings give dignities; to keep Heav'n's door?
Mary's prerogative was to bear Christ, so
'Tis preacher's to convey him; for they do,
As angels out of clouds, from pulpits speak;
And bless the poor beneath, the lame, the weak.
If then th' astronomers, whereas they spy
A new-found star, their optics magnify;

How brave are those, who with their engine can
Bring man to Heav'n, and Heav'n again to man?
These are thy titles and pre-eminences,

In whom must meet God's graces, men's offences; And so the Heav'ns, which beget all things here, And th' Earth, our mother, which these things doth Both these in thee are in thy calling knit, [bear, And make thee now a bless'd hermaphrodite.

A HYMN TO CHRIST,

AT THE AUTHOR'S LAST GOING INTO GERMANY.

In what torn ship soever I embark,
That ship shall be my emblem of thy ark;
What sea soever swallow me, that flood
Shall be to me an emblem of thy, blood.
Though thou with clouds of anger do disguise
Thy face, yet through that mask I know those eyes,
Which, though they turn away sometimes,
They never will despise.

I sacrifice this island unto thee,

And all, whom I love here, and who love me;
When I have put this flood 'twixt them and me,
Put thou thy blood betwixt my sins and thee,
As the tree's sap doth seek the root below
In winter, in my winter now I go,

Where none but thee, th' eternal root
Of true love, I may know.

Nor thou, nor thy religion, dost control
The amorousness of an harmonious soul;

But thou would'st have that love thyself: as thou
Art jealous, Lord, so I am jealous now.
Thou lov'st not, till from loving more thou free
My soul: who ever gives, takes liberty:
Oh, if thou car'st not whom I love,
Alas, thou lov'st not me.

Seal then this bill of my divorce to all,
On whom those fainter beams of love did fall;
Marry those loves, which in youth scatter'd be
Ou face, wit, hopes (false mistresses) to thee.
Churches are best for prayer, that have least light;
To see God only, I go out of sight:
And, to 'scape stormy days, I choose
An everlasting night.

ON THE SACRAMENT. He was the word that spake it, He took the bread and brake it; And what that word did make it, I do believe and take it'.

THE

LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMY,

FOR THE MOST PART ACCORDING TO TREMELLIUS.

CHAPTER I.

1. How sits this city, late most populous, Thus solitary, and like a widow thus? Amplest of nations, queen of provinces She was, who now thus tributary is.

2. Still in the night she weeps, and her tears fall Down by her cheeks along, and none of all Her lovers comfort her; perfidiously

Her friends have dealt, and now are enemy.

3. Unto great bondage and afflictions
Juda is captive led; those nations,
With whom she dwells, no place of rest afford;
In straits she meets her persecutor's sword.

4. Empty are th' gates of Sion, and her ways Mourn, because none come to her solemn days; Her priests do groan, her maids are comfortless; And she 's unto herself a bitterness.

5. Her foes are grown her head, and live at peace;
Because, when her transgressions did increase,
The Lord struck her with sadness: th' enemy
Doth drive her children to captivity.

6. From Sion's daughter is all beauty gone;
Like harts, which seek for pasture, and find none,
Her princes are: and now before the foe,
Which still pursues them, without strength they go.

7. Now in their days of tears, Jerusalem
(Her men slain by the foe, none succouring them)
Remembers what of old sh' esteemed most,
Whilst her foes laugh at her, for which she hath lost.

8. Jerusalem hath sinn'd, therefore is she
Remov'd, as women in uncleanness be:
Who honour'd, scorn her; for her foulness they
Have seen; herself doth groan, and turn away.

9. Her foulness in her skirts was seen, yet she
Remember'd not her end; miraculously
Therefore she fell, noue comforting: behold,
O Lord, my affliction, for the foe grows bold.

10. Upon all things, where her delight hath been,
The foe hath stretch'd his hand; for she hath seen
Heathen, whom thou command'st should not do so,
Into her holy sanctuary go.

1 These lines are in all the editions of Donne's works, but have been usually attributed to queen Elizabeth. C.

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

17. There's none, though Sion do stretch out her 8. The Lord hath cast a line, so to confound

hand,

To comfort her; it is the Lord's command,

That Jacob's foes girt him: Jerusalem

Is as an unclean woman amongst them.

18. But yet the Lord is just, and righteous still,

I have rebell'd against his holy will;

O hear, all people, and my sorrow see,
My maids, my young men in captivity.

19. I called for my lovers then, but they
Deceiv'd me, and my priests and elders lay
Dead in the city; for they sought for meat,
Which should refresh their souls, and none could get.

20. Because I am in straits, Jehovah, see
My heart o'erturn'd, my bowels muddy be;
Because I have rebell'd so much, as fast
The sword without, as death within doth waste.

21, Of all, which here I mourn, none comforts me;
My foes have heard my grief, and glad they be,
That thou hast done it; but thy promis'd day
Will come, when, as I suffer, so shall they.

22. Let all their wickedness appear to thee,
Do unto them, as thou hast done to me
For all my sins: the sighs, which I have had,
Are very many, and my heart is sad.

CHAPTER II.

1. How over Sion's daughter hath God hung
His wrath's thick cloud! and from Heaven hath flung
To Earth the beauty of Israel, and hath
Forgot his foot-stool in the day of wrath!

And level Sion's walls unto the ground;

He draws not back his hand, which doth o'erturn The wall and rampart, which together mourn.

9. The gates are sunk into the ground, and he Hath broke the bar; their kings and princes be Amongst the heathen, without law, nor there Unto the prophets doth the Lord appear.

10. There Sion's elders on the ground are plac'd, ·
And silence keep; dust on their heads they cast,
In sackcloth have they girt themselves, and low
The virgins towards ground their heads do throw.

11. My bowels are grown muddy, and mine eyes
Are faint with weeping: and my liver lies
Pour'd out upon the ground, for misery,
That sucking children in the streets do die.

12. When they had cry'd unto their mothers, "Where

Shall we have bread and drink?" they fainted there;
And in the street like wounded persons lay,
Till 'twixt their mothers' breasts they went away.

13. Daughter Jerusalem, oh! what may be

A witness, or comparison for thee?
Sion, to ease thee, what shall I name like thee?
Thy breach is like the sea; what help can be?

14. For thee vain foolish things thy prophets sought,
Thee thine iniquities they have not taught,
Which might disturn thy bondage: but for thee
False burthens and false causes they would see.

15. The passengers do clap their hands, and hiss,
And wag their head at thee, and say, “ Is this
That city, which so many men did call
Joy of the Earth, and perfectest of all?"

[blocks in formation]

18. My strength, my hope, (unto myself I said) Which from the Lord should come, is perished, 19. But when my mournings I do think upon, My wormwood, hemloc, and affliction;

20. My soul is humbled in rememb'ring this;
21. My heart considers; therefore hope there is,
22. 'T is God's great mercy we 're not utterly
Consum'd, for his compassions do not die;

23. For every morning they renewed be;
For great, O Lord, is thy fidelity.
24. The Lord is, saith my soul, my portion,
And therefore in him will I hope alone.

25. The Lord is good to them, who on him rely, And to the soul, that seeks him earnestly. 26. It is both good to trust, and to attend The Lord's salvation unto the end.

27. 'T is good for one his yoke in youth to bear. 28. He sits alone, and doth all speech forbear, Because he hath borne it: 29. and his mouth he lays Deep in the dust, yet then in hope he stays.

30. He gives his cheeks to whosoever will Strike him, and so he is reproached still. 31. For not for ever doth the Lord forsake; 32. But when he hath struck with sadness, he doth take

Compassion, as his mercy 's infinite.

33. Nor is it with his heart, that he doth smite, 34. That under foot the prisoners stamped be; 35. That a man's right the judge himself doth see

To be wrung from him. 36. That he subverted is
In his just cause, the Lord allows not this.
37. Who then will say, that aught doth come to pass,
But that, which by the Lord commanded was?

38. Both good and evil from his mouth proceeds; 39. Why then grieves any man for his misdeeds? 40. Turn we to God, by trying out our ways; 41. To him in Heav'n our hands with hearts upraise.

42. We have rebell'd, and fall'n away from thee;
Thou pardon'st not; 43. usest no clemency;
Pursu'st us, kill'st us, cover'st us with wrath;
44. Cover'st thyself with clouds, that our prayer hath

No pow'r to pass: 45. and thou hast made us fall,
As refuse, and off-scouring to them all.
46. All our foes gape at us. 47. Fear and a snare,
With ruin and with waste, upon us are.

48. With watry rivers doth mine eye o'erflow,
For ruin of my people's daughters so;
49. Mine eye doth drop down tears incessantly;
50. Until the Lord look down from Heav'n to sec.

51. And for my city, daughter's sake, mine eye
Doth break mine heart. 52. Causeless mine enemy
Like a bird chas'd me. 53. In a dungeon
They 've shut my life, and cast me on a stone.

54. Waters flow'd o'er my head; then thought I, I'm
Destroy'd: 55. I called, Lord, upon thy name
Out of the pit; 56. and thou my voice didst hear:
Oh! from my sight and cry stop not thine ear.

57. Then when I call'd upon thee, thou drew'st near Unto me, and saidst unto me, Do not fear. [thou 58. Thou, Lord, my soul's cause handled hast, and Rescu'st my life. 59. O Lord, do thou judge now.

Thou heard'st my wrong. 60. Their vengeance all they 've wrought; [they thought; 61. How they reproach'd, thou 'st heard, and what 62. What their lips utter'd, which against me rose, And what was ever whisper'd by my foes.

[blocks in formation]

4. And when the sucking child doth strive to draw,
His tongue for thirst cleaves to the upper jaw:
And when for bread the little children cry,
There is no man that doth them satisfy.

5. They, which before were delicately fed,
Now in the streets forlorn have perished:
And they, which ever were in scarlet cloth'd,
Sit and embrace the dunghills, which they loath'd.

6. The daughters of my people have sinn'd more,
Than did the town of Sodom sin before;
Which being at once destroy'd, there did remain
No hands amongst them to vex them again.

7. But heretofore purer her Nazarite
Was than the snow, and milk was not so white:
As carbuncles, did their pure bodies shine;
And all their polish'dness was saphirine.

8. They're darker now than blackness; none can know

Them by the face, as through the street they go: For now their skin doth cleave unto their bone, And wither'd is like to dry wood grown.

9. Better by sword than famine 't is to die;
And better through-pierc'd than through penury.
10. Women, by nature pitiful, have eat [meat.
Their children (dress'd with their own hand) for

11. Jehovah here fully accomplish'd hath
His indignation, and pour'd forth his wrath;
Kindled a fire in Sion, which hath pow'r
To eat, and her foundations to devour.

12. Nor would the kings of the Earth, nor all, which In the inhabitable world, believe, [live That any adversary, any foe, Into Jerusalem should enter so.

13. For the priests' sins, and prophets', which have Blood in the streets, and the just murthered: [shed 14. Which, when those men, whom they made blind, Thorough the streets, defiled by the way [did stray

With blood, the which impossible it was
Their garment should 'scape touching, as they pass;
15. Would cry aloud, " Depart, defiled men,
Depart, depart, and touch us not ;" and then

They fled, and stray'd, and with the Gentiles were, Yet told their friends, they should not long dwell there.

16. For this they 're scatter'd by Jehovah's face, Who never will regard them more; no grace

Unto the old men shall their foe afford;

Nor, that they're priests, redeem them from the sword;

17. And we as yet, for all these miseries
Desiring our vain help, consume our eyes:

And such a nation, as cannot save,
We in desire and speculation have.

18. They hunt our steps, that in the streets we fear To go; our end is now approached near.

Our days accomplish'd are, this the last day;
Eagles of Heav'n are not so swift as they,
19. Which follow us; o'er mountains' tops they fly
At us, and for us in the desert lie.

20. The Lord's anointed, breath of our nostrils, he,
Of whom we said, "Under his shadow we
Shall with more ease under the heathen dwell,"
Into the pit, which these men digged, fell."

21. Rejoice, O Eden's daughter; joyful be,
Thou that inhabit'st Uz; for unto thee
This cup shall pass, and thou with drunkenness
Shalt fill thyself, and show thy nakedness.

22. And then thy sins, O Sion, shall be spent;
The Lord will not leave thee in banishment:
Thy sins, O Edom's daughter, he will see,
And for them pay thee with captivity.

CHAPTER V.

1. REMEMBER, O Lord, what is fall'n on us;
See and mark, how we are reproached thus.
2. For unto strangers our possession
Is turn'd, our houses unto aliens gone.

3. Our mothers are become as widows, we
As orphans all, and without fathers be.
4. Waters, which are our own, we drink, and pay;
And upon our own wood a price they lay.

5. Our persecutors on our necks do sit,
They make us travail, and not intermit.
6. We stretch our hands unto th' Egyptians
To get us bread; and to th' Assyrians.

7. Our fathers did these sins, and are no more; But we do bear the sins they did before.

8. They are but servants, which do rule us thus ; Yet from their hands none would deliver us.

9. With danger of our life our bread we gat; For in the wilderness the sword did wait. 10. The tempests of this famine we liv'd in Black as an oven colour'd had our skin.

11. In Juda's cities they the maids abus'd By force, and so women in Sion us'd.

12. The princes with their hands they hung; no grace

Nor honour gave they to the elder's face.

15. Unto the mill our young men carry'd are, And children fell under the wood they bear: 14. Elders the gates, youth did their songs forbear; Gone was our joy; our dancings mournings were.

15. Now is the crown fall'n from our head; and wo Be unto us, because we 've sinned so. 16. For this our hearts do languish, and for this Over our eyes a cloudy dimness is:

17. Because Mount Sion desolate doth le, And foxes there do go at liberty.

18. But thou, O Lord, art ever; and thy throne From generation to generation.

19. Why should'st thou forget us eternally;
Or leave us thus long in this misery?
20. Restore us, Lord, to thee; that so we may
Return, and, as of old, renew our day.

21. For oughtest thou, O Lord, despise us thus, 22. And to be utterly enrag'd at us?

HYMN TO GOD,

MY GOD, IN MY SICKNESS.

SINCE I am coming to that holy room,
Where with the choir of saints for evermore
I shall be made thy music, as I come,

I tune the instrument here at the door;
And, what I must do then, think here before.

Whilst my physicians by their love are grown
Cosmographers, and I their map, who lie
Flat on this bed, that by them may be shown
That this is my south-west discovery
Per fretum febris, by these straits to die.

[blocks in formation]

VOL V.

« ElőzőTovább »