Rufta' my life. 59. O Lord! do thou judge now.

Then heard' my wrong. 60. Their vengeance all they've wrought;

1. How they reproach'd thou'st heard, and what they thought;

What their lips utter'd, which againft me rofe, And what was ever whisper'd by my foes.

6 am their fong, whether they rife or fit. 4. Give them rewards, Lord! for their working fit, [thy might Sorrow of heart, thy curfe: 66. And with Paw, and from under heav'n deftroy them quite.

CHAP. IV.

1. He is the gold become so dim! how is Parc and finest gold thus chang'd to this! The Bones, which were ftones of the fan&tuary, r'd in corners of each street do lie.

- The precious fons of Sion, which should be
Vain'd as pureft gold, how do we fee
Low-rated now! as earthen pitchers, ftand,
Which are the work of a poor potter's hand.

3. Even the fea-calves draw their breafts, and give ark to their young: my people's daughter's live, by reafon of the foc's great cruelness,

As do the owls in the vaft wilderness.

4 And when the fucking child doth strive to draw,
His tongue for thirft cleaves to his upper jaw ;
And when for bread the little children cry,
There is no man that doth them fatisfy.

They which before were delicately fed,
Now in the streets forlorn have perified:
And they, which ever were in fcarlet cloth'4,

and embrace the dunghills which they loth'd.

6. The daughters of my people have finn'd more
That did the town of Sodom fin before,
Which being at once deftroy'd, there did remain
No hands amongst them to vex them again.

7. But heretofore purer her Nazarite
Was than the fnow, and milk was not fo white:
As carbuncles did their pure bodies shine;
And all their polifh'dnefs was faphirine.

[know 8. They're darker now than blacknefs; none can Them by the face, as through the street they go; For now their skin doth cleave unto their bone, And, withered, is like to dry wood grown.

[fhed

In the inhabitable world, believe That any adversary, any foe, Into Jerufalem should enter fo. 13. For the pricfts fins, and prophets, which have Blood in the freets, and the just murthered: 14. Which, when thefe men, whom they made blind, did stray

Thorough the streets, defiled by the way

With blood, the which impoffible it was
Their garment fhould 'fcape touching as they pals,
15. Would cry aloud," Depart, defiled men,
Depart, depart, and touch us not!" and then

They fled, and ftray'd, and with the Gentiles
were,
[there:
Yet told their friends they fhould not long dwell
16. For this they're fcatter'd by Jehovah's face,
Who never will regard theni more. No grace

Unto the old men fhall their foe afford, [fword:
For that they're priests redeem them from the
17. And we as yet, for all thefe miferies
Defiring our vain help, confume our eyes:

And such a nation as cannot fave,
We in defire and fpeculation have,

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

Our days accomplish'd are, this the last day;
19. Eagles of heav'n are not fo fwift as they
Which follow us; o'er mountains tops they flis
At us, and for us in the defert lie.

20. The Lord's anointed, breath of our noftris, he Of whom we faid, under his fladow we

Shall with more ease under the Heathen dwell,
Into the pit, which these men digged, fell.

Rejoice, O Edom's daughter! joyful be,
Thou that inhabit'ft Uz; for unto thee
This cup fhall pafs, and thou with drunkennefs
Shall fill thyfelf, and fhew thy nakedness.

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

CHAP. V.

1. REMEMBER, O Lord! what is fall'n on us; See and mark how we are reproached thus. 2. For unto strangers our poffeffion

Is turn'd, our houfes 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 word a price they lay.

5. Our perfecutors on our necks do fit ;
They make us travail, and not intermit.
6. We stretch our hands unto th' Egyptians
To get us bread, and unto th' Affyrians.

We think that Paradise and Calvary,

Chrift's crofs and Adam's tree, stood in one place;
Look, Lord! and find both Adams met in me:
As the first Adam's sweat surrounds my face,
May the laft Adam's blood my foul embrace.

So in his purple wrapp'd receive me, Lord!
By these his thorns give me his other crown;
And as to others fouls I preach'd thy word,
Be this my text, my fermon to mine own; [down.
Therefore, that he may raife, the Lord throws

THE

I SING the Progrefs of a deathlefs Soul,

Whom Fate, which God made, but doth not controul,

Plac'd in most shapes. All times, before the law
Yok'd us, and when, and fince, in this I fing,
And the great World t' his aged evening,
From infant morn through manly noon I draw:
What the gold Chaldee or filver Perfian faw,
Greek brafs, or Roman iron, 'tis in this one,
A work t' out-wear Seth's pillars, brick and ftone,
And (holy writ excepted) made to yield to none.

II.

Thee, eye of heaven, this great Soul envies not;
By thy male force is all we have begot.
In the first eat thou now beginn'ft to fhine,
Suck'ft early balm, and island fpices there,
And wilt anon in thy loofe-rein'd career

At Tagus, Po, Seine, Thames, and Danow, dine,
And fee at night thy western land of mine;
Yet halt thou not more nations feen than fhe
That before thee one day began to be,

I launch at Paradife, and fail t'wards home: The course I there began fhall here be stay'd;

long outlive thec.

In Thames which were at Tygris and Euphrates

Where fir grew the forbidden learned tree;
For on that tree hung in fecurity

This Soul, made by the Maker's will from pulling free.

IX.

Prince of the orchard, fair as dawning morn,
Fenc'd with the law, and ripe as foon as born,
That apple grew which this foul did enlive,
Till the then climbing ferpent, that now creeps
For that offence for which all mankind weeps,
Took it, and t' her, whom the first man did
wive,

(Whom and her race only forbiddings drive)
He gave it, fhe t' her husband; both did eat:
So perifhed the eaters and the meat,

And we (for treafon taints the blood) thence die and sweat.

X.

Man all at once was there by woman flain,
And one by one we're here flain o'er again
By them. The mother poifon'd the well-head;
The daughters here corrupt us rivalers;

No fmalinefs 'fcapes, no greatnefs breaks, their

pets :

She thruit us out, and by them we are led
Aftray from turning to whence we are fied.
Were prifoners judges 't would feem rigorous;
She finn'd, we bear: part of our pain is thus
To love them whofe fault to this painful love
yok'd us.

31.

So fast in us doth this corruption grow,
That now we dare afk why we should be fo.
Would God (difputes the curious rebel) make
A law, and would not have it kept? or can
His creatures will crefs his? Of every man
For one will God (and be jutt) vengeance take?
Who finn'd? 'twas not forbidden to the fnake,
Nor her, who was not then made? nor is't writ
That Adam cropt or knew the apple; yct
The worm, and fhe, and he, and we, endure
for it.

Of fenfe than faith requires) fwiftly the flew
T'a dark and foggy plot; her her fates threw
There through th' earth's pores, and in a plant
hous'd her anew.

XIV.

The plant, thus abled, to itself did force
A place where no place was by Nature's course,
As air from water, water fleets away
From thicker bodies; by this root throng'd fo
His fpungy confines gave him place to grow :
Just as in our streets, when the people stay
To fee the prince, and fo fill up the way [near
That weafels fcarce could país; when he comes
They throng and cleave up, and a paffage clear,
As if for that time their round bodies flatten'd
were.

XV.

His right arm he thrust out towards the caft,
Weftward his left; th' ends did themselves digeft
Into ten leffer strings, thefe fingers were:
And, as a flumb'rer, ftretching on his bed,
This way he this and that way fcattered
His other leg, which feet with toes up bear;
Grew on his middle part, the first day, hair.
To fhew that in love's bus'nefs he should still
A dealer be, and be us'd, well or ill :

His apples kindle, his leaves force of conception kill.

XVI.

A mouth, but dumb, he hath; blind eyes, deaf

ears,

And to his shoulders dangle fubtle hairs;
A young Coloffas there he ftands upright;
And, as that ground by him were conquered,
A lazy garland wears he on his head
Enchas'd with little fruits fo red and bright,
That for them ye would call your love's lips white;
So of a lone unhaunted place poffeft,
Did this Soul's fecond inn, built by the guest
This living buried man, this quiet mandrake, reft,

XVII.

No luftful woman came this plant to grieve,
But 'twas because there was none yet but Eve,
And the (with other purpose) kill'd it quite :
Her fin had now brought in infirmities,
And fo her cradled child the moift-red eyes
Had never fhut, nor flept, fince it faw light:
Poppy fhe knew, fhe knew the mandrake's might,
And tore up both, and fo cool'd her child's blood.
Unvirtuous weeds might long unvex'd have flood,
But he's fhort liv'd that with his death can do
moft good.

To an unfetter'd Soul's quick nimble hafte
Are falling ftars and hearts thoughts but flow
pac'd,

Thinner than burnt air flies this Soul, and she,
Whom four new coming and four parting funs
Had found, and left the mandrake's tenant, runs,
Thoughtlefs of change, when her firm destiny
Confin'd and enjail'd her that feem'd fo free
Into a fmall blew fhell, the which a poor
Warm bird o'erfpread, and fat fill evermore,
Till her enclos'd child kick'd, and pick'd itself a
door.