Of whom thou wilt make a foundation,
To raise thy new Hierusalem upon.
And, at the brightness of its rising, let
All nations with thy people shout for joy :
Salvation for walls and bulwarks set
About it, that nothing may it annoy.
Then the whole world thy Diocese shall be,
And Bishops all but Suffragans to Thee.
MARROW of time, Eternity in brief
Compendiums Epitomized, the chief
Contents, the Indices, the Title-pages
Of all past, present, and succeeding ages,
Sublimate graces, antedated glories,
The cream of holiness,
The inventories
Of future blessedness,
The Florilegia of celestial stories,
Spirits of joys, the relishes and closes
Of Angels' music, pearls dissolvèd, roses
Perfumed, sugar'd honey-combs, delights
Never too highly prized,
The marriage rites,
Which duly solemnized
Usher espoused souls to bridal nights,
Gilded sunbeams, refined Elixirs,
And quintessential extracts of stars :
Who loves not you, doth but in vain profess
That he loves God, or heaven, or happiness.
THE ANNUNCIATION, OR LADY-DAY.
UNTO the music of the spheres
Let men, and Angels, join in concert theirs.
So great a messenger
From heaven to earth
Is seldom seen,
Attired in so much glory;
A message welcomer,
Fraught with more mirth,
Hath never been
Subject of any story:
This by a double right, if any, may
Be truly styled the world's birth-day.
The making of the world ne'er cost
So dear, by much, as to redeem it lost.
God said but, Let it be,
And every thing
Was made straightway,
So as he saw it good:
But ere that he could see
A course to bring
Man gone astray.
To the place where he stood,
His wisdom with his mercy, for man's sake,
Against his justice part did take.
And the result was this day's news Able the messenger himself t' amuse,
As well as her, to whom
By him 'twas told,
That though she were
A Virgin pure, and knew
No man, yet in her womb
A son she should
Conceive and bear,
As sure as God was true.
Such high place in his favour she possess❜d,
Being among all women bless'd.
But bless'd especially in this,
That she believed, and for eternal bliss
Relied on him, whom she
Herself should bear,
And her own son
Took for her Saviour.
And if there any be,
That when they hear,
As she had done,
Suit their behaviour,
They may be blessèd, as she was, and say, "Tis their Annunciation-day.
THE NATIVITY, OR CHRISTMAS-DAY.
UNFOLD thy face, unmask thy ray,
Shine forth bright sun, double the day.
Let no malignant misty fume,
Nor foggy vapour, once presume
To interpose thy perfect sight
This day, which makes us love thy light
For ever better, that we could
That blessed object once behold,
Which is both the circumference,
And centre of all excellence :
Or rather neither, but a treasure
Unconfined without measure,
Whose centre, and circumference,
Including all pre-eminence,
Excluding nothing but defect,
And infinite in each respect,
Is equally both here and there,
And now, and then, and every where,
And always, one, himself, the same.
A being far above a name.
Draw nearer then, and freely pour
Forth all thy light into that hour,
Which was crowned with his birth,
And made heaven envy earth.
Let not his birth-day clouded be,
By whom thou shinest, and we see.
THE CIRCUMCISION, OR NEW-YEAR'S DAY.
SORROW betide my sins! Must smart so soon
Seize on my Saviour's tender flesh scarce grown
Unto an eighth day's age?
Can nothing else assuage
The wrath of heaven, but his infant-blood?
Innocent Infant, infinitely good!
Is this thy welcome to the world, great God!
No sooner born, but subject to the rod
Of sin-incensed wrath?
Alas! what pleasure hath
Thy Father's justice to begin thy passion,
Almost together with thine incarnation?
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