W

The IMPATIENT.

I.

Hat envious Laws are thofe of Fate,
Which fix a Gulph (bleft Souls) 'twixt us and you!
How 'twou'd refresh and chear our Mortal State,
When our dejected Looks confefs
The Emptiness of earthly Blifs,

Could we in this black Night your brighter Glories view!
II.

Vain Comfort when I thus complain To hear the Wife and Solemn gravely fay, Your Grief and Curiofity restrain,

Death will e'er long this Bar remove,

And bring you to the Bleft above,

Till then with this great Profpect all your Longings stay.

III.

But ah the Joy peculiar here
Does from the greater Excellence arife,
Twill be worth nothing in an equal Sphere.
Let me your noble Converse have
Bleft Spirits, on this fide the Grave,
I fhall hereafter be as great as you, as wife.
IV.

Befides, when plung'd in Bliss divine

I fhall not tafte, nor need this leffer Joy.
What Comfort then does from this Profpect fhine?
'Tis juft as if in Depth of Night,

You rob a Traveller of his Light;
And promife to restor't when 'tis clear Day.

CON

CONTENT.

I.

I Blefs my Stars I envy none,

Not great, nor wealthy, no nor yet the Wife,
I've learn't the Art to like my own,
And what I can't attain to, not to prize.
Vast Tracts of Learning I defcry
Beyond the Sphere perhaps of my Activity,
And yet I'm ne'er the more concern'd at this,
Than for the Gems that lye in the profound Abyss.

II.

Should I my proper Lot difdain

As long as further good eclipfes mine,
I may t' Eternity complain,
And in the Manfions of the Bleft repine.
There fhall I Numbers vaft efpy

Of Forms more excellent, more wife, more bleft than I.
I fhall not then lament my unequal Fate.

And why should larger Profpects now moleft my State? III:

Where all in equal Stations move

What Place for Harmony can there be found?
The lower Spheres with those above

Agree, and dance as free and briskly round.
Degrees of Effences confpire

As well as various Notes t' accomplish Heaven's Quire.
Thus would I hav't below, nor will I care

So the Refult be Harmony, what Part I bear.

Against KNOWLEDGE.

1.

Well let it be the Cenfure of the Wife,
That Wisdom none but Fools defpife:
I like not what they gravely preach
And must another Doctrin teach.
Since all's fo falfe and vain below,
There's nought fo indifcreet as this, to know.
II. .*

The thoughtless, dull and lefs difcerning Mind
No Flaws in earthly Joys can find,
He Closes with what Courts his Sight,
All Coin will pass by his dim Light.
Though often baulk't, he hopes for Reft,
Sleeps on and Dreams, and is in Error Bleft.
III.

But he that has refin'd and high-rais'd Senfe,
Can nothing tafte but Excellence.
Nor can he Nature's Faults fupply,
By Fancy's happy Imagery.

He fees that all Fruition's vain,

Can't taste the present, nor yét trust again.

IV.

Our Joys, like Tricks, do all on Cheats depend,
And when once known, are at an end.
Happy and Wife, two Bleffings are

Which meet not in this mortal Sphere;
Let me be Ignorant below,

And when I've folid Good, then let me know.

Seeing a great Perfon lying in State.

W

I.

Ell now I needs must own

That I hate Greatnefs more and more;
'Tis now a juft Abhorrence grown
What was Antipathy before:
With other Ills I could difpence,
And acquiefce in Providence.

But let not Heaven my patience try
With this one Plague, left I repine and dye.

II.

I knew indeed before,

That 'twas the great Man's wretched fate,
While with the living to endure
The vain impertinence of State;
But fure thought I, in Death he'll be
From that and other troubles free:
What e're his Life, he then will Iye
As free, as undisturb'd, as calm as I.

III.

But 'twas a grofs mistake;
Honour, that too officious ill,

Won't even his breathlefs Corps forfake,
But haunts and waits about him ftill.
Strange perfecution, when the grave
Can't the diftreffed Martyr fave!
What Remedy can there avail,

Where Death the great Catholicon does fail ?
IV.

Thanks to my Stars that I

Am with fo low a fortune bleft,
That what e're Blessings fate deny,
I'm fure of privacy and rest.
'Tis well; thus long I am content,
And reft as in my Element.

Then

Then Fate, if you'll appear my friend, Force me not 'gainst my Nature to afcend.

V.

No, I would ftill be low,
Or else I would be very high,
Beyond the state which Mortals know,
A kind of Semi-deity.

So of the Regions of the Air
The High'ft and Loweft quiet are,
But 'tis this middle Height I fear,

For Storms and Thunder are ingendred there.

Second Chapter of the Cant. from verse 10. to 13.

"Twas m

I.

my Beloved fpake, I know his charming Voice, I heard him fay, Rife up my Love, my faireft one awake,

Awake and come away.

II.

The Winter all is past

And stormy Winds that with such rudeness blew,
The Heavens are no longer overcast,
But try to look like you.

III.

The Flowers their Sweets difplay,

The Birds in fhort preludiums tune their Throat,
The Turtle in low murmurs does effay
Her melancholy Note.

IV.

The fruitful Vineyards make.

An Odorous fmell, the Fig looks fresh and
Arife my Love, my faireft one awake,

Awake and come away.

gay,

To