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Herausgeber: Delphi Classics
Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
Serie: Delphi Poets Series
Sprache: Englisch
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

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Delphi Complete Works of George Herbert

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Leseprobe

George Herbert

(1593-1633)

Contents

The Life and Poetry of George Herbert

BRIEF INTRODUCTION: GEORGE HERBERT

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THE POETRY

The Poems

LIST OF POEMS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

LIST OF POEMS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

The Biography

THE LIFE OF MR. GEORGE HERBERT by Izaak Walton

Version 1

George Herbert

By Delphi Classics, 2015

NOTE

When reading poetry on an eReader, it is advisable to use a small font size and landscape mode, which will allow the lines of poetry to display correctly.

The Life and Poetry of George Herbert

Montgomery, Powys, Wales — George Herbert’s birthplace

BRIEF INTRODUCTION: GEORGE HERBERT

by Sidney Lee

GEORGE HERBERT (1593–1633), poet, born at Montgomery Castle on 3 April 1593, was fourth son of Sir Richard Herbert, by his wife Magdalen, and was brother of Edward, lord Herbert of Cherbury [q. v.], of Sir Henry Herbert [q. v.], and of Thomas Herbert [q. v.] [For an account of his mother and other members of his family see under Herbert, Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury.] As a child he was educated at home under the care of his mother, whose virtues he commemorated in verse, and he may have accompanied her in 1598 to Oxford, whither she went for four years to keep house for her eldest son, Edward. In his twelfth year (1604-5) George was sent to Westminster School ; and obtained there a king’s scholarship on 5 May 1609. He matriculated from Trinity College, Cambridge, on 18 Dec. 1609, graduating B.A. in 1612-13, and M.A. 1616. The master of the college, Dean Neville, recognised his promise, and he was elected a minor fellow on 3 Oct. 1614, major fellow 15 March 1615-16, and ‘sublector quartæ classis’ 2 Oct. 1617. Herbert was now a finished classical scholar. Throughout his life he was a good musician, not only singing, but playing on the lute and viol. His accomplishments soon secured for him a high position in academic society, and he attracted the notice of Lancelot Andrewes, bishop of Winchester (cf. Herbert’s letter to the bishop in Grosart, iii. 466). Herbert contributed two Latin poems to the Cambridge collection of elegies on Prince Henry (1612), and one to that on Queen Anne (1619). At an early period of his university career he wrote a series of satiric Latin verses in reply to Andrew Melville’s ‘Anti-Tami-Cami-Categoria’ (first published in 1604). Melville’s work was an attack on the universities of Oxford and Cambridge for passing resolutions hostile to the puritans at the beginning of James I’s reign. Herbert’s answer cleverly defended the established church at all points, and he declared himself strongly opposed to puritanism, an attitude which he maintained through life. Loyal addresses to James I and Charles, prince of Wales, were prefixed, but this work, although circulated in manuscript while Herbert was at Cambridge, was not printed till nearly thirty years after his death, when James Duport, dean of Peterborough, prepared it for publication (1662).

In 1618 Herbert was prelector in the rhetoric school at Cambridge, and on one occasion lectured on an oration recently delivered by James I, bestowing on it extravagant commendation (Hacket, Life of Williams, i. 175; cf. D’Ewes, Diary, i. 121). Despite his preferments, his income was small, and he was unable to satisfy his taste for book-buying. When appealing for money to his stepfather, Sir John Danvers (17 March 1617-18), he announced that he was ‘setting foot into divinity to lay the foundation of my future life,’ and that he required many new books for the purpose. Soon afterwards he left his divinity studies to become a candidate for the public oratorship at Cambridge— ‘the finest place [he declared] in the university.’ He energetically solicited the influence of Sir Francis Nethersole, the retiring orator, of his stepfather, of his kinsman, the Earl of Pembroke, and of Sir Benjamin Rudyerd. His suit proved successful, and on 21 Oct. 1619 he was appointed deputy orator. On 18 Jan. 1618-19 Nethersole finally retired, and Herbert was formally installed in his place. His duties brought him into relations with the court and the king’s ministers. He wrote on behalf of the university all official letters to the government, and the congratulations which he addressed to Buckingham in 1619 on his elevation to the marquisate, and to Thomas Coventry on his appointment as attorney-general in 1620, prove that he easily adopted the style of a professional courtier. He frequently attended James I as the university’s representative at Newmarket or Rovston,and he sent an effusively loyal letter of thanks to the king (20 May 1620) in acknowledgment of the gift to the university of a copy of the ‘Basilikon Doron.’ The flattery delighted the king. Herbert thenceforth was constantly at court, and received marks of favour from Lodowick, duke of Lennox, and James, marquis of Hamilton. He made the personal acquaintance of Bacon, the lord chancellor. As orator he had thanked Bacon for a gift to the university of his ‘Instauratio’ (4 Nov. 1620), and had written complimentary Latin verses on it in his private capacity. Bacon dedicated to Herbert his ‘translation of certaine psalms’ (1625), ‘in recognition of the pains that it pleased you to take about some of my writings.’ In 1623 Herbert delivered an oration at Cambridge congratulating Prince Charles on his return from Spain, and he expressed regret, in the interests of peace, that the Spanish match had been abandoned. Herbert at the time undoubtedly hoped to follow the example of Sir Robert Naunton and Sir Francis Nethersole, his predecessors in the office of orator, and obtain high preferment in the service of the state. But the death, in 1625, of the king and of two of his chief patrons, and his suspicions of the wisdom of Buckingham’s policy, led him to reconsider his position. His own early inclinations were towards the church, and his mother had often urged him to take holy orders. To resolve his doubts whether to pursue ‘the painted pleasures of a court life, or betake himself to a study of divinity,’ he withdrew to a friend’s house in Kent, and studied with such energy as to injure his health. While still undecided, John Williams, bishop of Lincoln, presented him to the prebend of Layton Ecclesia. To the prebend was attached an estate at Leighton Bromswold, Huntingdonshire, on which stood a dilapidated church. Herbert was not ordained, and was thus unable to perform the duties connected with the benefice; but the presentation called into new life the religious ardour of his youth.

Two miles from Leighton was Little Gidding, the home of Nicholas Ferrar [q. v.], with whom Herbert had some slight acquaintance while both were students at Cambridge. Herbert offered to transfer the prebend to Ferrar; but Ferrar declined the offer, and urged Herbert to set to work to restore the ruined church (Ferrar, Life of Nicholas Ferrar, ed. Mayor, p-50). Herbert eagerly followed Ferrar’s advice. Two thousand pounds were needed. His own resources were unequal to that demand, but with the help of friends he carried the work through. With Ferrar, who gave money as well as advice, Herbert thenceforth corresponded on terms of great intimacy. They styled each other ‘most entire’ friends and brothers, but they seem only to have met once in later years. Herbert’s final absorption in a religious life was doubtless largely due to Ferrar’s guidance. Donne, the friend of Herbert’s mother, proved also a sympathetic friend, especially at the time of Lady Danvers’s death in 1627. To Herbert, Donne gave one of his well-known seals, bearing on it a crucifix shaped like an anchor.

Owing partly to ill-health, and partly to his attendance at court, Herbert had already delegated his duties as orator at Cambridge to a deputy, Herbert Thorndike, and at the close of 1627 he resigned the post altogether. Threatened with consumption he spent the year 1628 at the house of his brother, Sir Henry Herbert, at Woodford, Essex, and early in 1629 visited the Earl of Danby, brother of his stepfather, at Dauntsey, Wiltshire. There he met, and fell in love with, a relative of his host, Jane Danvers, whose father, Charles Danvers of Baynton, Wiltshire, lately dead, had formed a high opinion of Herbert’s character, and openly told him that he wished him to marry one of his daughters. The marriage took place at Edington on 5 March 1628-9. Soon afterwards, on 6 April 1630, Charles I, at the request of the Earl of Pembroke, presented Herbert to the rectory of Fugglestone with Bemerton, Wiltshire. He was in doubt whether or no to accept the presentation, but went to Wilton to thank the earl for his kind offices. Laud, bishop of London, was then with the king at Salisbury, and Pembroke immediately informed him of Herbert’s hesitation. Laud sent for Herbert, and convinced him that it was sinful to refuse the benefice. Tailors were summoned to supply clerical vestments, and Herbert was instituted to the rectory by John Davenant, bishop of Salisbury, on 26 April 1630. Herbert’s life at Bemerton was characterised by a saint-like devotion to the duties of his office. There he wrote his far-famed series of sacred poems. He still practised music in his leisure, and twice a week he walked to Salisbury Cathedral. He repaired Bemerton Church (thoroughly restored by Wyatt in 1866), and rebuilt the parsonage, inscribing on the latter some verses addressed to his successor. Friends contributed to these expenses, but he spent (he wrote to his brother Henry) 200l. from his own resources, ‘which to me that have nothing yet is very much.’ But consumption soon declared itself, and after an incumbency of less than three years he was buried beneath the altar of his church on 3 March 1632-3. He had no children, and left all his property to his wife, saving a few legacies of money and books to friends. His widow afterwards married Sir Robert Cook of Highnam House, Gloucestershire,whither she carried many of Herbert’s writings. These were burnt with the house by the parliamentary forces during the civil war. A library of books which Herbert had deposited, with chains affixed to the volumes, in a room in Montgomery Castle, met with a very similar fate (Powysland Club Coll. vii. 132). Herbert’s widow was buried at Highnam in 1656 (Notes and Queries, 1st ser. ii. 157).

Besides the Latin poems contributed to the Cambridge collections, Herbert only published in his lifetime ‘Parentalia,’ verses in Latin and Greek to his mother’s memory, which were appended to Dr. Donne’s funeral sermon (London, 1627,12mo), and ‘Oratioquâ auspicatissimum Serenissimi Principis Caroli Reditum ex Hispanijs celebrauit Georgius Herbert, Academiæ Cantabrigiensis Orator,’ printed by Cantrell Legge at the Cambridge University Press, 1623. All the poetic work by which he is remembered was published posthumously. On his deathbed Herbert directed a little manuscript volume of verse to be delivered to his friend Nicholas Ferrar of Little Gidding, with a view to publication. Ferrar at once applied for a license to the vice-chancellor of Cambridge University, who hesitated, on the ground that two lines in one of Herbert’s poems (‘The Church Militant’) alluded somewhat contemptuously to the emigration of religion from England to America. But the prohibition was soon withdrawn. The volume was entitled ‘The Temple: Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations,’ and Ferrar, the editor, described in a preface Herbert’s piety. Except the opening and closing poems,entitled respectively ‘The Church Porch’ and ‘The Church Militant,’ almost all the pieces are very brief. The earliest edition, which probably appeared within three weeks of Herbert’s death, bears no date on the title-page. It was apparently printed for private circulation only. A unique copy of it is in the Huth Library. The first edition issued to the public bears the date 1633. A second edition was issued in the same year, and later editions are dated 1634, 1635, 1638, 1641, 1656, 1660, 1667, 1674, 1679, 1703, and 1709. All editions earlier than 1650 were printed and published at Cambridge. Walton, writing in 1670, says that more than twenty thousand copies had been ‘sold since the first impression.’ ‘The Synagogue’ of Christopher Harvey [q. v.], which is printed in all the later editions, was first appended to that of 1641. A portrait of Herbert, engraved by R. White, was first introduced into the 1674 edition, with which Walton’s life was also reprinted. The text of the 1679 edition is disfigured by misprints, which have been repeated in many later editions. An alphabetical table was first added in 1709. Modern reprints are very numerous. An attractive edition, issued by Pickering, is dated 1846. Mr. J. H. Shorthouse wrote a preface for a facsimile reproduction in 1882. But the fullest edition of Herbert’s poems is that edited by Dr. Grosart in vols. i. and ii. of his collected edition of Herbert’s works (1874), and reproduced in the Aldine series in 1876. A manuscript copy (fol.) of the ‘Temple,’ which seems to have been presented by Ferrar to the vice-chancellor of Cambridge for his license in March 1632-3, is in the Bodleian Library. A manuscript volume containing portions of the ‘Temple,’ with a few other English poems by Herbert which are not included in Ferrar’s edition, and two collections of Latin epigrams, entitled respectively ‘Passio Discerpta’ and ‘Lucus,’ is in Dr. Williams’s Library, Gordon Square, London. It seems to have belonged to Ferrar, and to have been bound by him at Little Gidding. The English verses may possibly represent an early plan of the ‘Temple.’ Dr. Grosart, in his complete edition of Herbert’s poems, has carefully collated the text of the printed with the manuscript versions, and has published all the additional poems, both English and Latin, which are found in the Dr. ‘Williams’s MS.

Herbert is also credited with verse-renderings of eight psalms,which are signed ‘G.H.,’ in John Playford’s ‘Psalms and Hymns,’ London, 1671, fol. Walton, in his ‘Life of Herbert,’ prints two sonnets addressed by him to his mother. Aubrey quotes inscriptions assigned to Herbert on the tomb of Lord Dunvers at Dauntsey, and on the picture of Sir John Danvers, his stepfather’s father. A poem by Herbert called ‘A-Paradox’ in the Rawlinson MSS. at the Bodleian Library, and a poetic address to the queen of Bohemia in Brit. Mus. Harl. MS. 3910, p-2, were first printed by Dr. Grosart. In 1662 Herbert’s reply to Andrew Melville’s ‘Anti-Tami-Cami-Categoria’ of 1604 was published at Cambridge as an appendix to a volume entitled ‘Ecclesiastes Solomonis. Auctore Joan. Viviano. Canticum Solomonis: Nec non Epigrammata per Ja. Duportum.’ Herbert’s verses appear with a separate titlepage: ‘Georgii Herberti Angli Musæ Responsoriæ ad Andreæ Melvini Scoti, Anti-Tami-Cami-Categoriam.’

Herbert’s chief work in prose is ‘A Priest to the Temple, or the Countrey Parson, his Character and Rule of Holy Life,’ which was first issued in a little volume (Lond. 1652, 12mo) bearing the general title ‘Herbert’s Remains,’ and including a second tract called ‘Jacula Prudentum’ (see below). A brief address to the reader, signed by Herbert, is dated 1632, and there is a biographical notice of the author by Barnabas Oley. The second edition (Lond. 1671, 12mo) contains a new preface by Oley, which deals only with the theological value of the volume. The book is a record of the duties and aspirations of a pious country clergyman, but the style is marred by affectations and wants simplicity. Herbert also added to his friend Ferrar’s English translation of Leonard Lessius’s ‘Hygiasticon’ a translation from the Latin of Cornaro entitled ‘A Treatise of Temperance and Sobrietie,’ and made at the request ‘of a noble personage.’ This was first published at the Cambridge University Press in 1634. With Ferrer’s translation of Valdezzo’s ‘Hundred and Ten Considerations … of those things … most perfect in our Christian profession’ (Oxford, 1638) were published a letter from Herbert to Ferrar on his work, and ‘Briefe Notes [by Herbert] relating to the dubious and offensive places in the following considerations.’ The licenser of the press in his imprimatur calls special attention to Herbert’s notes. In the 1646 edition of Ferrar’s Valdezzo Herbert’s notes are much altered. In 1640 there appeared in ‘Witt’s Recreations’ a little tract entitled ‘Outlandish Proverbs selected by Mr. G. H.’ — a collection of 1,010 proverbs. This tract was republished with many additions and alterations as ‘Jacula Prudentum, or Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, &c., selected by Mr. George Herbert, late Orator of the Universitie of Cambridge,’ in 1651, and with it were printed ‘The Author’s Prayers before and after Sermons’ (which also appear in Herbert’s ‘Country Parson’); his letter to Ferrar ‘upon the translation of Valdesso’ (dated from Bemerton, 29 Sept. 1632); and Latin verses on Bacon’s ‘Instanratio Magna,’ on Bacon’s death, and on Dr. Donne’s seal. The volume concludes with ‘An Addition of Apothegmes by Severall Authours.’ This book was reissued in 1652 as a second part of the volume entitled Herbert’s ‘Remains’ (Lond. 12mo).

Four affectionate letters to his younger brother, Sir Henry Herbert, dated 1618 and later, appear in Warner’s ‘Epistolary Curiosities,’ 1818, p-10. His letters to Ferrar are inserted in Webb’s ‘Life of Ferrar;’ his letters to his mother were printed by Walton, and some official letters from Cambridge as orator are extant in the university archives.

Herbert’s poems found much favour with his seriously-minded contemporaries. Richard Crashaw, in presenting the ‘Temple’ ‘to a Gentlewoman,’ speaks enthusiastically of Herbert’s ‘devotions’ and expositions of ‘divinest love.’ Walton, who in his ‘Angler’ quotes two of his poems, ‘Virtue’ and ‘Contemplation of God’s Providence,’ characterises the ‘Temple,’ in his life of Donne, as ‘a book in which, by declaring his own spiritual conflicts, he hath comforted and raised many a dejected and discomposed soul and charmed them with sweet and quiet thoughts.’ Richard Baxter found, ‘next the scripture poems,’ ‘none so savoury’ as Herbert’s, who ‘speaks to God like a man that really believeth in God’ (Poetical Fragments, pref. 1681). Henry Vaughan, in the preface to his ‘Silex Scintilians,’ 1650, credits Herbert with checking by his holy life and verse ‘the foul and overflowing stream’ of amatory poetry which flourished in his day. Charles I read the ‘Temple’ while in prison. Archbishop Leighton carefully annotated his copy with appreciative manuscript notes. Cowper’s religious melancholy was best alleviated by poring over the book all day long. Coleridge wrote of the weight, number, and compression of Herbert’s thoughts, and the simple dignity of the language (Biog. Lit.) But in spite of these testimonies Herbert’s verse, from a purely literary point of view, merits on the whole no lofty praise. His sincere piety and devotional fervour are undeniable, and in portraying his spiritual conflicts and his attainment of a settled faith he makes no undue parade of doctrinal theology. But his range of subject is very narrow. He was at all times a careful literary workman, and the extant manuscript versions show that he was continually altering his poems with a view to satisfying a punctilious regard for form. An obvious artificiality is too often the result of his pains. He came under Donne’s influence, and imitated Donne’s least admirable conceits. Addison justly censured his ‘false wit’ (Spectator, No. 58). In two poems, ‘Easter Wings’ and ‘The Altar,’ he arranges his lines so as to present their subjects pictorially. But on very rare occasions, as in his best-known poem, that on ‘Virtue,’ beginning ‘Sweet day so cool, so calm, so bright,’ or in that entitled ‘The Pulley,’ he shows full mastery of his art, and, despite some characteristic blemishes, writes as though he were genuinely inspired.

[Barnabas Oley’s biographical notice of Herbert prefixed to the 1652 edition of the Country Parson is valuable as the testimony of a personal friend. The very sympathetic memoir written by Izaak Walton, who was not personally acquainted with Herbert, was first published in 1670, with some letters written by Herbert to his mother while he was at Cambridge, and extracts from Donne’s correspondence with Lady Herbert. Walton’s Life was republished in 1674 with his collected lives of Donne, Hooker. &c., and with the 1674 and later editions of Herbert’s poems. See also Nicholas Ferrar, two lives edited by Professor J. E. B. Mayor (Cambridge, 1855, 8vo); Powysland Club collections, vii. 132 sq.; and Dr. Grosart’s valuable introduction to his collected edition of all Herbert’s known writings, with his notes on Walton’s memoir.]

S. L. L.

An early etching of the devotional poet

Herbert’s first biographer, Izaak Walton, wrote that the poet composed “such hymns and anthems as he and the angels now sing in heaven”.

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THE POETRY

CONTENTS

English Poems

THE TEMPLE

POEMS FROM IZAAK WALTON’S THE LIFE OF MR GEORGE HERBERT

SONNETS.

TO MY SUCCESSOR.

MISCELLANEOUS ENGLISH POEMS

THE HOLY COMMUNION.

LOVE.

TRINITY SUNDAY.

EVEN-SONG.

THE KNELL.

PERSEVERANCE.

TO THE RIGHT HON. THE L. CHANCELLOR BACON.

A PARADOX. THAT THE SICK ARE IN BETTER STATE THAN THE WHOLE.

TO THE LADY ELIZABETH QUEEN OF BOHEMIA.

L’ENVOY.

The Latin and Greek Poems

GEORGII HERBERTI ANGLI

ILLUSTRISS. CELSISSIMÓQUE CAROLO, WALLIAE, & IUUENTUTIS PRINCIPI.

REUERENDISSIMO IN CHRISTO PATRI AC DOMINO, EPISCOPO VINTONIENSI, &C.

PRO DISCIPLINA ECCLESIAE NOSTRAE EPIGRAMMATA APOLOGETICA.

I. AD REGEM INSTITUTI EPIGRAMMATICI RATIO.

II. AD MELVINUM.

III. AD EUNDEM. IN MONSTRUM VOCABULI ANTI-TAMI-CAMI-CATEGORIA.

IV. PARTITIO ANTI-TAMI-CAMI-CATEGORIA.

V. IN METRI GENUS.

VI. DE LARUATÂ GORGONE.

VII. DE PRAESULUM FASTU.

VIII. DE GEMINÂ ACADEMIÂ.

IX. DE S. BAPTISMI RITU

X. DE SIGNACULO CRUCIS.

XI. DE IURAMENTO ECCLESIAE.

XII. DE PURIFICATIONE POST PUERPERIUM.

XIII. DE ANTICHRISTI DECORE PONTIFICALI.

XIV. DE SUPERPELLICEO.

XV. DE PILEO QUADRATO.

XVI. IN CATHARUM.

XVII. DE EPISCOPIS.

XVIII. AD MELVINUM: DE IJSDEM.

XIX. DE TEXTORE CATHARO.

XX. DE MAGICIS ROTATIBUS.

XXI. AD FRATRES.

XXII. DE LABE MACULÍSQUE.

XXIII. DE MUSICÂ SACRÂ.

XXIV. DE EÂDEM.

XXV. DE RITUUM VSU.

XXVI. DE ANNULO CONIUGALI.

XXVII. DE MUNDIS & MUNDANIS.

XXVIII. DE ORATIONE DOMINICÂ.

XXIX. IN CATHARUM QUENDAM.

XXX. DE LUPÂ LUSTRI VATICANI.

XXXI. DE IMPOSITIONE MANUUM.

XXXII. SUPPLICUM MINISTRORUM RAPTUS.

XXXIII. DE AUTORUM ENUMERATIONE.

XXXIV. DE AURI SACRÂ FAME.

XXXV. AD SCOTIAM. PROTREPTICON AD PACEM.

XXXVI. AD SEDUCTOS INNOCENTES.

XXXVII. AD MELVINUM.

XXXVIII. AD EUNDEM.

XXXIX. AD SEREN. REGEM.

XL. AD DEUM.

LUCUS

I. HOMO, STATUA.

II. PATRIA.

III. IN STEPHANUM LAPIDATUM.

IV. IN SIMONEM MAGUM.

V. IN S. SCRIPTURAS.

VI. IN PACEM BRITANNICAM.

VII. AUARITIA.

VIII. IN LOTIONEM PEDUM APOSTOLORUM.

IX. IN D. LUCAM.

X. PAPAE TITULUS NEC DEUS NEC HOMO.

XI. TRIBUTI SOLUTIO.

XII. TEMPESTAS CHRISTO DORMIENTE.

XIII. BONUS CIUIS.

XIV. IN VMBRAM PETRI.

XV. MARTHA: MARIA.

XVI. AMOR.

XVII. IN SUPERBUM.

XVIII. IN EUNDEM.

XIX. AFFLICTIO.

XX. IN ‘KENODOZIAN’

XXI. IN GULOSUM.

XXII. IN IMPROBUM DISERTUM.

XXIII. CONSOLATIO.

XXIV. IN ANGELOS.

XXV. ROMA.

XXVI. VRBANI VIII PONT. RESPONS.

XXVII. RESPONS. AD VRB. VIII.

XXVIII. AD VRBANUM VIII PONT.

XXX. IN THOMAM DIDYMUM.

XXXI. IN SOLARIUM.

XXXII. TRIUMPHUS MORTIS.

XXXIII. TRIUMPHUS CHRISTIANI. IN MORTEM.

XXXIV. IN IOHANNEM ‘EPISTETHION’

XXXV. AD DOMINUM.

PASSIO DISCERPTA

I. AD DOMINUM MORIENTEM.

II. IN SUDOREM SANGUINEUM.

III. IN EUNDEM.

IV. IN LATUS PERFOSSUM.

V. IN SPUTUM & CONUICIA.

VI. IN CORONAM SPINEAM.

VII. IN ARUND. SPIN. GENUFLEX. PURPUR.

VIII. IN ALAPAS.

IX. IN FLAGELLUM.

X. IN VESTES DIUISAS.

XI. IN PIUM LATRONEM.

XII. IN CHRISTUM CRUCEM ASCENSURUM.

XIII. CHRISTUS IN CRUCE.

XIV. IN CLAUOS.

XV. INCLINATO CAPITE. JOH. 19.

XVI. AD SOLEM DEFICIENTEM.

XVII. MONUMENTA APERTA.

XVIII. TERRAE-MOTUS.

XIX. VELUM SCISSUM.

XX. PETRAE SCISSAE.

XXI. IN MUNDI SYMPATHIAM CUM CHRISTO.

MEMORIAE MATRIS SACRUM

IN OBITUM HENRICI PRINCIPIS WALLIAE.

INNUPTA PALLAS, NATA DIESPITRE.

IN NATALES ET PASCHA CONCURRENTES.

IN OBITUM SERENISSIMAE REGINAE ANNAE.

AD AUTOREM INSTAURATIONIS MAGNAE.

COMPARATIO INTER MUNUS SUMMI CANCELLARIATUS ET LIBRUM.

IN HONOREM ILLUSTR. D. D. VERULAMIJ, STI ALBANI, MAG. SIGILLI CUSTODIS POST EDITAM AB EO INSTAURATIONEM MAGNAM.

AETHIOPISSA AMBIT CESTUM DIUERSI COLORIS VIRUM.

DUM PETIT INFANTEM.

IN OBITUM INCOMPARABILIS FRANCISCI VICECOMITIS SANCTI ALBANI, BARONIS VERULAMIJ.

IN SACRAM ANCHORAM PISCATORIS, G. HERBERT.

Latin and Greek Poems Translated

PARENTALIA.

I. AH Mater, quo te deplorem fonte? Dolores

II. Corneliae sanctae, graves Semproniae

III. Cur splendes, o Phoebe? ecquid demittere matrem

IV. Quid nugor calamo favens

V. Horti, deliciae Dominae, marcescite tandem

VI. Galene, frustra es, cur miserum premens

VII.Pallida materni Genii atque exsanguis imago

VIII. Parvam piamqne dum lubetner semitam

IX. Hoc, Genitrix, scriptum proles tibi sedula mittit.

X. Hempe hujusque notos tenebricosos

XI. Dum librata suis hacret radicibus ilex

XII. Facesse Stoica plebs, obambulans cautes.

XIII. Epitaphium.

XIV.Greek Poem

XV. Greek Poem

XVI. Greek Poem

XVII. Greek Poem

XVIII. Greek Poem

XIX. Excussos manibus calamos falcemque resumptam

ANTI-TAMI-CAMI-CATEGORIA

PARASYNAGMA PERTHENSE

A DEFENCE IN BEHALF OF THE PETITION OF THE EVANGELICAL MINISTERS IN ENGLAND

EPIGRAMS IN DEFENCE OF THE DISCIPLINE OF OUR CHURCH.

I. Augustissimo Potentissimoque Monarchae Jacobo, D. G. Magnae

II. Illustris celsissimoque Carolo, Walliae et Juventutis Principi.

III. Reverendissimo in Christo Patri ac Domino Episcopo Vintoniensi, &c.

IV. Ad Regem Epigrammata duo.

V. Ad Melvinum.

VI. In Monstrum vocabuli Anti-Tami-Cami-Categoria.

VII. Partitio Anti-Tami-Cami-Categoriae.

VIII. In Metri Genus.

IX. De Larvata Gorgone.

X. De Praesulum Fastu.

XI. De Gemina Academia.

XII. De S. Baptismi Ritu.

XIII. De Signaculo Crucis.

XIV. De Juramento Ecclesiae.

XV. De Purificatione post Puerperium.

XVI. De Antichristi decore Pontificali.

XVII. De Superpelliceo.

XVIII. De Pileo Quadrato.

XIX. In Catharum.

XX. De Episcopis.

XXI. De iisdem: ad Melvinum.

XXII. De Textore Catharo.

XXIII. De Magicis Rotatibus.

XXIV. Ad Fratres.

XXV. De labe maculisque.

XXVI. De Musica Sacra.

XXVII. De eadem.

XXVIII. De Rituum Usu.

XXIX. De Annulo Conjugali.

XXX. De Mundis et Mundanis.

XXXI. De Oratione Dominica.

XXXII. In Catharum quendam.

XXXIII. De Lupa lustri Vaticani.

XXXIV. De Impositione Manuum.

XXXV. Supplicum Ministroram Raptus κωμωδούμα,ος.

XXXVI. De Auctorum Enumeratione.

XXXVII. De Anri sacra Fame.

XXXVIII. Ad Scotiam Protrepticon ad Pacem.

XXXIX. Ad seductos Innocentes.

XL. Ad Melvinum.

XLI. Ad eundem.

XLII. Ad seven. Regem.

XLIII. Ad Deum.

OTHER LATIN POEMS.

I. Ad Auctorem Instaurationis Magnae [Franciscum Bacon].

II. In honorem illustrissimi Domini Francisci de Verulamio, Vice Comitis Sti Albani.

III. Comparatio inter Munus Summi Cancellariatus et Librum.

IV. Aethiopissa ambit Cestum diversi coloris Virum.

V. In Obitum incomparabilis Vice-Comitis Sancti Albani, Baronis Verulamii.

VI. In Natales et Pascha concurrentes.

VII. Ad Johannem Donne, D.D.

VII. On the Anchor-Seal.

VIII. Cum petit Infantem Princeps, Grantamque Jacobus

IX. Vero verius ergo quid sit audi

X. In Obitum serenissimae Reginae Annae.

XI. In Obitum Henrici Principis Walliae.

XII. Innupta Pallas, nata Diespatre

VIII. PASSIO DISCERPTA. LUCUS.

PASSIO DISCERPTA.

I. Ad Dominum morientem.

II. In Sudorem sanguineum.

III. In eundem.

IV. In Latus perfossum.

V. In Sputum et Convicia.

VI. In Coronam spineam.

VII. In Arund., Spin., Genufl., Purpur.

VII. In Alapas.

IX. In Flagellum.

X. In Vestes divisas.

XI. In pium Latronem.

XII. In Christum Crucem ascensurum.

XIII. Christus in Cruce.

XIV. In Clavos.

XV. Inclinato capite. John xix. 30.

XVI. Ad Solem deficientem.

XVII. Monumenta aperta.

XVIII. Terrae-motus.

XIX. Velum scissum.

XX. Petrae scissae.

XXI. In Mundi Sympathiam cum Christo.

LUCUS.

I. Homo Statua.

II. Patria.

III. In Stephanum lapidatum.

IV. In Simonem Magum.

V. In S. Scripturas.

VI. In Pacem Britannicam.

VII. Avaritia.

VIII. In Lotionem Pedum Apostolorum.

IX. In D. Lucam.

X. Papae Titulus nec Deus nec Homo.

XI. Tributi Solutio.

XII. Tempestas, Christo dormiente.

XIII. Bonus Civis.

XIV. In Umbram Petri.

XV. Martha: Maria.

XVI. Amor.

XVII. In Superbum.

XVIII. In eundem.

XIX. Afflictio.

XX. In κενοδοξίαν.

XXI. In Gulosum.

XXII. In Improbum disertum.

XXIII. Consolatio.

XXIV. In Angelos.

XXV. Roma: Anagr[ Oram. Ramo. Mora. Amor

XXVI. Urbani VIII. Pont. Restons.

XXVII. Respons ad Urb. VIII.

XXVIII. Ad Urbanum VIII. Pont.

XXIX. Greek Poem.

XXX. In Thomam Didymum.

XXXI. In Solarium.

XXXII. Triumphus Mortis.

XXXIII. Triumphus Christiani in Mortem.

XXXIV. In Johannem ί’πιστήθίοΐ’.

XXXV. Ad Dominum.

The first edition of ‘The Temple’

The original title page of Herbert’s masterpiece

A demonstration of one of Herbert’s ‘pattern’ or ‘shape’ poems: ‘Easter Wings’, where the poem is not only meant to be read, but its shape is meant to be appreciated. In this case, the poem was printed (original image here shown) on two facing pages of a book, sideways, so that the lines suggest two birds flying upward, with wings spread out.

English Poems

THE TEMPLE

CONTENTS

THE DEDICATION.

THE CHURCH-PORCH.

PERIRRHANTERIUM

SUPERLIMINARE

THE CHURCH

THE ALTAR.

THE SACRIFICE.

THE THANKSGIVING.

THE REPRISAL.

THE AGONY.

THE SINNER.

GOOD FRIDAY.

REDEMPTION.

SEPULCHRE.

EASTER.

EASTER-WINGS.

HOLY BAPTISM I.

HOLY BAPTISM II.

NATURE.

SIN I.

AFFLICTION I.

REPENTANCE.

FAITH.

PRAYER I.

THE HOLY COMMUNION.

ANTIPHON I.

LOVE I.

LOVE II.

THE TEMPER I.

THE TEMPER II.

JORDAN I.

EMPLOYMENT I.

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES I.

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES II.

WHITSUNDAY.

GRACE.

PRAISE I.

AFFLICTION II.

MATINS.

SIN II.

EVENSONG.

CHURCH-MONUMENTS.

CHURCH-MUSIC.

CHURCH-LOCK AND KEY.

THE CHURCH-FLOOR.

THE WINDOWS.

TRINITY SUNDAY.

CONTENT.

THE QUIDDITY.

HUMILITY.

FRAILTY.

CONSTANCY.

AFFLICTION III.

THE STAR.

SUNDAY.

AVARICE.

TO ALL ANGELS AND SAINTS.

EMPLOYMENT II.

DENIAL.

CHRISTMAS.

UNGRATEFULNESS.

SIGHS AND GROANS.

THE WORLD.

COLOSS. 3:3

VANITY I.

LENT.

VIRTUE.

THE PEARL

AFFLICTION IV.

MAN.

ANTIPHON II.

UNKINDNESS.

LIFE.

SUBMISSION.

JUSTICE I.

CHARMS AND KNOTS.

AFFLICTION (5).

MORTIFICATION.

DECAY.

MISERY.

JORDAN II.

PRAYER II.

OBEDIENCE.

CONSCIENCE.

SION.

HOME.

THE BRITISH CHURCH.

THE QUIP.

VANITY II.

THE DAWNING.

IESU.

BUSINESS.

DIALOGUE.

DULLNESS.

LOVE-JOY.

PROVIDENCE.

HOPE.

SIN’S ROUND.

TIME.

GRATEFULNESS.

PEACE.

CONFESSION.

GIDDINESS.

THE BUNCH OF GRAPES.

LOVE UNKNOWN.

MAN’S MEDLEY.

THE STORM.

PARADISE.

THE METHOD.

DIVINITY.

EPHES. 4:30. GRIEVE NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT, & C.

THE FAMILY.

THE SIZE.

ARTILLERY.

CHURCH-RENTS AND SCHISMS.

JUSTICE II.

THE PILGRIMAGE.

THE HOLDFAST.

COMPLAINING.

THE DISCHARGE.

PRAISE II.

AN OFFERING.

LONGING.

THE BAG.

THE JEWS.

THE COLLAR.

THE GLIMPSE.

ASSURANCE.

THE CALL.

CLASPING OF HANDS.

PRAISE III.

JOSEPH’S COAT.

THE PULLEY.

THE PRIESTHOOD.

THE SEARCH.

GRIEF.

THE CROSS.

THE FLOWER.

DOTAGE.

THE SON.

A TRUE HYMN.

THE ANSWER.

A DIALOGUE-ANTHEM.

THE WATER-COURSE.

SELF-CONDEMNATION.

BITTER-SWEET.

THE GLANCE.

THE 23D PSALM.

MARY MAGDALENE.

AARON.

THE ODOUR. 2 COR. 2:15

THE FOIL.

THE FORERUNNERS.

THE ROSE.

DISCIPLINE.

THE INVITATION.

THE BANQUET.

THE POSY.

A PARODY.

THE ELIXIR.

A WREATH.

DEATH.

DOOMSDAY.

JUDGEMENT.

HEAVEN.

LOVE III.

FINIS.

THE CHURCH MILITANT

L’ENVOY.

THE PRINTERS TO THE READER.

The dedication of this work having been made by the author to the Divine Majesty only, how should we now presume to interest any mortal man in the patronage of it? Much less think we it meet to seek the recommendation of the Muses, for that which himself was confident to have been inspired by a diviner breath than flows from Helicon. The world therefore shall receive it in that naked simplicity with which he left it, without any addition either of support or ornament more than is included in itself. We leave it free and unforestalled to every man’s judgement, and to the benefit that he shall find by perusal. Only for the clearing of some passages we have thought it not unfit to make the common Reader privy to some few particularities of condition and disposition of the Person.

Being nobly born, and as eminently endued with gifts of the mind, and having by industry and happy education perfected them to that great height of excellency, whereof his fellowship of Trinity College in Cambridge, and his Oratorship in the University, together with that knowledge which the King’s Court had taken of him, could make relation far above ordinary. Quitting both his deserts and all the opportunities that he had for worldly preferment, he betook himself to the Sanctuary and Temple of God, choosing rather to serve at God’s Altar, than to seek the honour of State employments. As for those inward enforcements to this course (for outward there was none) which many of these ensuing verses bear witness of, they detract not from the freedom but add to the honour of this resolution in him. As God had enabled him, so he accounted him meet not only to be called but to be compelled to this service: wherein his faithful discharge was such as may make him justly a companion to the primitive Saints, and a pattern or more for the age he lived in.

To testify his independency upon all others and to quicken his diligence in this kind, he used in his ordinary speech, when he made mention of the blessed name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to add, My Master.

Next God, he loved that which God himself has magnified above all things, that is, his Word: so as he has been heard to make solemn protestation, that he would not part with one leaf thereof for the whole world, if it were offered him in exchange.

His obedience and conformity to the Church and the discipline thereof was singularly remarkable. Though he abounded in private devotions, yet went he every morning and evening with his family to the Church; and by his example, exhortations and encouragements drew the greater part of his parishioners to accompany him daily in the public celebration of Divine Service.

As for worldly matters, his love and esteem to them was so little, as no man can more ambitiously seek than he did earnestly endeavour the resignation of the Ecclesiastical dignity, which he was possessor of. But God permitted not the accomplishment of this desire, having ordained him his instrument for re-edifying of the Church belonging thereunto that had lain ruinated almost twenty years. The reparation whereof, having been uneffectually attempted by public collections, was in the end by his own and some few others’ private free-will offerings successfully effected. With the remembrance whereof, as of an especial good work, when a friend went about to comfort him on his deathbed, he made answer, It is a good work, if it be sprinkled with the blood of Christ: otherwise than in this respect he could find nothing to glory or comfort himself with, neither in this nor in any other thing.

And these are but a few of many that might be said, which we have chosen to premise as a glance to some parts of the ensuing book, and for an example to the Reader. We conclude all with his own Motto, with which he used to conclude all things that might seem to tend any way to his own honour:

Less than the least of God’s mercies.

THE DEDICATION.

Lord, my first fruits present themselves to thee;Yet not mine neither: for from thee they came,And must return. Accept of them and me,And make us strive, who shall sing best thy name. Turn their eyes hither, who shall make a gain: Theirs, who shall hurt themselves or me, refrain.

THE CHURCH-PORCH.

PERIRRHANTERIUM

Thou, whose sweet youth and early hopes enhanceThy rate and price, and mark thee for a treasure;Harken unto a Verser, who may chanceRhyme thee to good, and make a bait of pleasure. A verse may find him, who a sermon flies, 5 And turn delight into a sacrifice.

Beware of lust: it doth pollute and foulWhom God in Baptism washt with his own blood.It blots thy lesson written in thy soul;The holy lines cannot be understood. 10 How dare those eyes upon a Bible look, Much less towards God, whose lust is all their book?

Abstain wholly, or wed. Thy bounteous LordAllows thee choice of paths: take no byways;But gladly welcome what he doth afford; 15Not grudging, that thy lust hath bounds and stays. Continence hath his joy: weigh both; and so If rottenness have more, let Heaven go.

If God had laid all common, certainlyMan would have been th’ incloser: but since now 20God hath impaled us, on the contraryMan breaks the fence, and every ground will plough. O what were man, might he himself misplace! Sure to be cross he would shift feet and face.

Drink not the third glass, which thou canst not tame, 25When once it is within thee; but beforeMayst rule it, as thou list; and pour the shame,Which it would pour on thee, upon the floor. It is most just to throw that on the ground, Which would throw me there, if I keep the round. 30

He that is drunken, may his mother killBig with his sister; he hath lost the reins,Is outlaw’d by himself: all kind of illDid with his liquor slide into his veins. The drunkard forfeits Man, and doth devest 35 All worldly right, save what he hath by beast.

Shall I, to please another’s wine-sprung mind,Lose all mine own? God hath giv’n me a measureShort of his can, and body; must I findA pain in that, wherein he finds a pleasure? 40 Stay at the third glass: if thou lose thy hold, Then thou art modest, and the wine grows bold.

If reason move not gallants, quit the room,(All in a shipwrack shift their several way)Let not a common ruin thee entomb: 45Be not a beast in courtesy; but stay, Stay at the third cup, or forgo the place. Wine above all things doth God’s stamp deface.

Yet, if thou sin in wine or wantonness,Boast not thereof; nor make thy shame thy glory. 50Frailty gets pardon by submissiveness;But he that boasts, shuts that out of his story. He makes flat war with God, and doth defy With his poor clod of earth the spacious sky.

Take not his name, who made thy mouth, in vain: 55It gets thee nothing, and hath no excuse.Lust and wine plead a pleasure, avarice gain:But the cheap swearer through his open sluice Lets his soul run for nought, as little fearing. Were I an Epicure, I could bate swearing. 60

When thou dost tell another’s jest, thereinOmit the oaths, which true wit cannot need:Pick out of tales the mirth, but not the sin.He pares his apple, that will cleanly feed. Play not away the virtue of that name, 65 Which is thy best stake, when griefs make thee tame.

The cheapest sins most dearly punished are;Because to shun them also is so cheap:For we have wit to mark them, and to spare.O crumble not away thy soul’s fair heap. 70 If thou wilt die, the gates of hell are broad: Pride and full sins have made the way a road.

Lie not; but let thy heart be true to God,Thy mouth to it, thy actions to them both:Cowards tell lies, and those that fear the rod; 75The stormy working soul spits lies and froth. Dare to be true. Nothing can need a lie: A fault, which needs it most, grows two thereby.

Fly idleness, which yet thou canst not flyBy dressing, mistressing, and compliment. 80If those take up thy day, the sun will cryAgainst thee: for his light was only lent. God gave thy soul brave wings; put not those feathers Into a bed, to sleep out all ill weathers.

Art thou a magistrate? then be severe: 85If studious; copy fair, what time hath blurr’d;Redeem truth from his jaws: if soldier,Chase brave employments with a naked sword Throughout the world. Fool not: for all may have, If they dare try, a glorious life, or grave. 90

O England! full of sin, but most of sloth;Spit out thy phlegm, and fill thy breast with glory:Thy gentry bleats, as if thy native clothTransfused a sheepishness into thy story: Not that they all are so; but that the most 95 Are gone to grass, and in the pasture lost.

This loss springs chiefly from our education.Some till their ground, but let weeds choke their son:Some mark a partridge, never their child’s fashion:Some ship them over, and the thing is done. 100 Study this art, make it thy great design; And if God’s image move thee not, let thine.

Some great estates provide, but do not breedA mast’ring mind; so both are lost thereby:Or else they breed them tender, make them need 105All that they leave: this is flat poverty. For he, that needs five thousand pound to live, Is full as poor as he, that needs but five.

The way to make thy son rich, is to fillHis mind with rest, before his trunk with riches: 110For wealth without contentment, climbs a hill To feel those tempests, which fly over ditches. But if thy son can make ten pound his measure, Then all thou addest may be called his treasure.

When thou dost purpose ought (within thy power), 115Be sure to do it, though it be but small:Constancy knits the bones, and makes us stour,When wanton pleasures beckon us to thrall. Who breaks his own bond, forfeiteth himself: What nature made a ship, he makes a shelf. 120

Do all things like a man, not sneakingly:Think the king sees thee still; for his King does.Simp’ring is but a lay-hypocrisy:Give it a corner, and the clue undoes. Who fears to do ill, sets himself to task: 125 Who fears to do well, sure should wear a mask.

Look to thy mouth; diseases enter there.Thou hast two sconses, if thy stomach call;Carve, or discourse; do not a famine fear.Who carves, is kind to two; who talks, to all. 130 Look on meat, think it dirt, then eat a bit; And say withal, Earth to earth I commit.

Slight those who say amidst their sickly healths,Thou liv’st by rule. What doth not so, but man?Houses are built by rule, and common-wealths. 135Entice the trusty sun, if that you can, From his Ecliptic line: beckon the sky. Who lives by rule then, keeps good company.

Who keeps no guard upon himself, is slack,And rots to nothing at the next great thaw. 140Man is a shop of rules, a well truss’d pack,Whose every parcel underwrites a law. Lose not thyself, nor give thy humours way: God gave them to thee under lock and key.

By all means use sometimes to be alone. 145Salute thyself: see what thy soul doth wear.Dare to look in thy chest; for ’tis thine own:And tumble up and down what thou find’st there. Who cannot rest till he good fellows find, He breaks up house, turns out of doors his mind. 150

Be thrifty, but not covetous: therefore giveThy need, thine honour, and thy friend his due.Never was scraper brave man. Get to live;Then live, and use it: else, it is not true That thou hast gotten. Surely use alone 155 Makes money not a contemptible stone.

Never exceed thy income. Youth may makeEv’n with the year: but age, if it will hit,Shoots a bow short, and lessens still his stake,As the day lessens, and his life with it. 160 Thy children, kindred, friends upon thee call; Before thy journey fairly part with all.

Yet in thy thriving still misdoubt some evil;Lest gaining gain on thee, and make thee dimTo all things else. Wealth is the conjurer’s devil; 165Whom when he thinks he hath, the devil hath him. Gold thou mayst safely touch; but if it stick Unto thy hands, it woundeth to the quick.

What skills it, if a bag of stones or goldAbout thy neck do drown thee? raise thy head; 170Take stars for money; stars not to be toldBy any art, yet to be purchasèd. None is so wasteful as the scraping dame. She loseth three for one; her soul, rest, fame.

By no means run in debt: take thine own measure. 175Who cannot live on twenty pound a year,Cannot on forty: he’s a man of pleasure,A kind of thing that’s for itself too dear. The curious unthrift makes his cloth too wide, And spares himself, but would his tailor chide. 180

Spend not on hopes. They that by pleading clothesDo fortunes seek, when worth and service fail,Would have their tale believèd for their oaths,And are like empty vessels under sail. Old courtiers know this; therefore set out so, 185 As all the day thou mayst hold out to go.

In clothes, cheap handsomeness doth bear the bell.Wisdom’s a trimmer thing, than shop e’er gave.Say not then, This with that lace will do well;But, This with my discretion will be brave. 190 Much curiousness is a perpetual wooing Nothing with labour; folly long a-doing.

Play not for gain, but sport. Who plays for more,Than he can lose with pleasure, stakes his heart;Perhaps his wife’s too, and whom she hath bore; 195Servants and churches also play their part. Only a herald, who that way doth pass, Finds his crack’d name at length in the church glass.

If yet thou love game at so dear a rate,Learn this, that hath old gamesters dearly cost: 200Dost lose? rise up: dost win? rise in that state.Who strive to sit out losing hands, are lost. Game is a civil gunpowder, in peace Blowing up houses with their whole increase.

In conversation boldness now bears sway. 205But know, that nothing can so foolish be,As empty boldness: therefore first assayTo stuff thy mind with solid bravery; Then march on gallant: get substantial worth. Boldness gilds finely, and will set it forth. 210

Be sweet to all. Is thy complexion sour?Then keep such company; make them thy allay:Get a sharp wife, a servant that will lour.A stumbler stumbles least in rugged way. Command thyself in chief. He life’s war knows, 215 Whom all his passions follow, as he goes.

Catch not at quarrels. He that dares not speakPlainly and home, is coward of the two.Think not thy fame at ev’ry twitch will break:By great deeds show, that thou canst little do; 220 And do them not: that shall thy wisdom be; And change thy temperance into bravery.

If that thy fame with ev’ry toy be pos’d,’Tis a thin web, which poisonous fancies make:But the great soldier’s honour was compos’d 225Of thicker stuff, which would endure a shake. Wisdom picks friends; civility plays the rest. A toy shunn’d cleanly passeth with the best.

Laugh not too much: the witty man laughs least:For wit is news only to ignorance. 230Less at thine own things laugh; lest in the jestThy person share, and the conceit advance. Make not thy sport, abuses: for the fly That feeds on dung, is colourèd thereby.

Pick out of mirth, like stones out of thy ground, 235Profaneness, filthiness, abusiveness.These are the scum, with which coarse wits abound:The fine may spare these well, yet not go less. All things are big with jest: nothing that’s plain, But may be witty, if thou hast the vein. 240

Wit’s an unruly engine, wildly strikingSometimes a friend, sometimes the engineer.Hast thou the knack? pamper it not with liking:But, if thou want it, buy it not too dear. Many, affecting wit beyond their power, 245 Have got to be a dear fool for an hour.

A sad wise valour is the brave complexion,That leads the van, and swallows up the cities.The giggler is a milk-maid, whom infection,Or a fir’d beacon frighteth from his ditties. 250 Then he’s the sport: the mirth then in him rests, And the sad man is cock of all his jests.

Towards great persons use respective boldness:That temper gives them theirs, and yet doth takeNothing from thine: in service, care or coldness 255Doth rateably thy fortunes mar or make. Feed no man in his sins: for adulation Doth make thee parcel-devil in damnation.

Envy not greatness: for thou mak’st therebyThyself the worse, and so the distance greater. 260Be not thine own worm: yet such jealousy,As hurts not others, but may make thee better, Is a good spur. Correct thy passions’ spite; Then may the beasts draw thee to happy light.

When baseness is exalted, do not bate 265The place its honour, for the person’s sake.The shrine is that which thou dost venerate;And not the beast, that bears it on his back. I care not though the cloth of state should be Not of rich arras, but mean tapestry. 270

Thy friend put in thy bosom: wear his eyesStill in thy heart, that he may see what’s there.If cause require, thou art his sacrifice;Thy drops of blood must pay down all his fear: But love is lost; the way of friendship’s gone, 275 Though David had his Jonathan, Christ his John.

Yet be not surety, if thou be a father.Love is a personal debt. I cannot giveMy children’s right, nor ought he take it: ratherBoth friends should die, than hinder them to live. 280 Fathers first enter bonds to nature’s ends; And are her sureties, ere they are a friend’s.

If thou be single, all thy goods and groundSubmit to love; but yet not more than all.Give one estate, as one life. None is bound 285To work for two, who brought himself to thrall. God made me one man; love makes me no more, Till labour come, and make my weakness score.

In thy discourse, if thou desire to please:All such is courteous, useful, new, or witty. 290Usefulness comes by labour, wit by ease;Courtesy grows in court; news in the city. Get a good stock of these, then draw the card That suits him best, of whom thy speech is heard.

Entice all neatly to what they know best; 295For so thou dost thyself and him a pleasure:(But a proud ignorance will lose his rest,Rather than show his cards.) Steal from his treasure What to ask further. Doubts well raised do lock The speaker to thee, and preserve thy stock. 300

If thou be Master-gunner, spend not allThat thou canst speak, at once; but husband it,And give men turns of speech: do not forestallBy lavishness thine own, and others’ wit, As if thou mad’st thy will. A civil guest 305 Will no more talk all, than eat all the feast.

Be calm in arguing: for fierceness makesError a fault, and truth discourtesy.Why should I feel another man’s mistakesMore than his sicknesses or poverty? 310 In love I should: but anger is not love, Nor wisdom neither: therefore gently move.

Calmness is great advantage: he that letsAnother chafe, may warm him at his fire:Mark all his wand’rings, and enjoy his frets; 315As cunning fencers suffer heat to tire. Truth dwells not in the clouds: the bow that’s there, Doth often aim at, never hit the sphere.

Mark what another says: for many areFull of themselves, and answer their own notion. 320Take all into thee; then with equal care Balance each dram of reason, like a potion. If truth be with thy friend, be with them both: Share in the conquest, and confess a troth.

Be useful where thou livest, that they may 325Both want, and wish thy pleasing presence still.Kindness, good parts, great places are the wayTo compass this. Find out men’s wants and will, And meet them there. All worldly joys go less To the one joy of doing kindnesses. 330

Pitch thy behaviour low, thy projects high;So shalt thou humble and magnanimous be:Sink not in spirit: who aimeth at the sky,Shoots higher much than he that means a tree. A grain of glory mixt with humbleness 335 Cures both a fever and lethargicness.

Let thy mind still be bent, still plotting where,And when, and how the business may be done.Slackness breeds worms; but the sure traveller,Though he alight sometimes, still goeth on. 340 Active and stirring spirits live alone. Write on the others, Here lies such a one.

Slight not the smallest loss, whether it beIn love or honour: take account of all;Shine like the sun in every corner: see 345Whether thy stock of credit swell or fall. Who say, I care not, those I give for lost; And to instruct them, twill not quit the cost.

Scorn no man’s love, though of a mean degree;(Love is a present for a mighty king). 350Much less make anyone thy enemy.As guns destroy, so may a little sling. The cunning workman never doth refuse The meanest tool, that he may chance to use.

All foreign wisdom doth amount to this, 355To take all that is given; whether wealth,Or love, or language; nothing comes amiss:A good digestion turneth all to health: And then as far as fair behaviour may, Strike off all scores; none are so clear as they. 360

Keep all thy native good, and naturaliseAll foreign of that name; but scorn their ill:Embrace their activeness, not vanities.Who follows all things, forfeiteth his will. If thou observest strangers in each fit, 365 In time they’ll run thee out of all thy wit.

Affect in things about thee cleanliness,That all may gladly board thee, as a flower.Slovens take up their stock of noisomenessBeforehand, and anticipate their last hour. 370 Let thy mind’s sweetness have his operation Upon thy body, clothes, and habitation.

In Alms regard thy means, and others’ merit.Think heav’n a better bargain, than to giveOnly thy single market-money for it. 375Join hands with God to make a man to live. Give to all something; to a good poor man, Till thou change names, and be where he began.

Man is God’s image; but a poor man isChrist’s stamp to boot: both images regard. 380God reckons for him, counts the favour his:Write, So much giv’n to God; thou shalt be heard. Let thy alms go before, and keep heav’n’s gate Open for thee; or both may come too late.

Restore to God his due in tithe and time: 385A tithe purloin’d cankers the whole estate.Sundays observe: think when the bells do chime,’Tis angels’ music; therefore come not late. God then deals blessings: If a king did so, Who would not haste, nay give, to see the show? 390

Twice on the day his due is understood;For all the week thy food so oft he gave thee.Thy cheer is mended; bate not of the food,Because ’tis better, and perhaps may save thee. Thwart not th’ Almighty God: O be not cross. 395 Fast when thou wilt; but then ’tis gain, not loss.

Though private prayer be a brave design,Yet public hath more promises, more love:And love’s a weight to hearts, to eyes a sign.We all are but cold suitors; let us move 400 Where it is warmest. Leave thy six and seven; Pray with the most: for where most pray, is heaven.

When once thy foot enters the church, be bare.God is more there, than thou: for thou art thereOnly by his permission. Then beware, 405And make thyself all reverence and fear. Kneeling ne’er spoil’d silk stocking: quit thy state. All equal are within the church’s gate.

Resort to sermons, but to prayers most:Praying’s the end of preaching. O be dresst; 410Stay not for th’ other pin: why thou hast lostA joy for it worth worlds. Thus hell doth jest Away thy blessings, and extremely flout thee, Thy clothes being fast, but thy soul loose about thee.

In time of service seal up both thine eyes, 415And send them to thine heart; that spying sin,They may weep out the stains by them did rise:Those doors being shut, all by the ear comes in. Who marks in church-time others’ symmetry, Makes all their beauty his deformity. 420

Let vain or busy thoughts have there no part:Bring not thy plough, thy plots, thy pleasures thither.Christ purg’d his temple; so must thou thy heart.All worldly thoughts are but thieves met together To cozen thee. Look to thy actions well: 425 For churches are either our heav’n or hell.

Judge not the preacher; for he is thy Judge:If thou mislike him, thou conceiv’st him not.God calleth preaching folly. Do not grudgeTo pick out treasures from an earthen pot. 430 The worst speak something good: if all want sense, God takes a text, and preacheth patience.

He that gets patience, and the blessing whichPreachers conclude with, hath not lost his pains.He that by being at church escapes the ditch, 435Which he might fall in by companions, gains. He that loves God’s abode, and to combine With saints on earth, shall one day with them shine.

Jest not at preacher’s language, or expression:How know’st thou, but thy sins made him miscarry? 440Then turn thy faults and his into confession:God sent him, whatso’er he be: O tarry, And love him for his Master: his condition, Though it be ill, makes him no ill Physician.

None shall in hell such bitter pangs endure, 445As those, who mock at God’s way of salvation.Whom oil and balsams kill, what salve can cure?They drink with greediness a full damnation. The Jews refusèd thunder; and we, folly. Though God do hedge us in, yet who is holy?

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