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,

.

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 it1.

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 friends have dealt, and now are enemy.
Her lovers comfort her; perfidiously

3. Unto great bondage and afflictious
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, none 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.

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

11. And all her people groan and seek for bread;
And they have given, only to be fed,
All precious things, wherein their pleasure lay:
How cheap I'm grown, O Lord, behold and weigh.

12. All this concerns not you, who pass by me;
O see, and mark if any sorrow be
Like to my sorrow, which Jehovah hath
Done to me in the day of his fierce wrath?

13. That fire, which by himself is governed,
He hath cast from Heaven on my bones, and spread
A net before my feet, and me o'erthrown?
And made me languish all the day alone.

14. His hands hath of my sins framed a yoke,
Which wreath'd, and cast upon my neck, hath broke
My strength: the Lord unto those enemies
Hath given me, from whom I cannot rise.

15. He under foot hath trodden in my sight
My strong men, he did company accite
To break my young men; he the wine-press hath
Trod upon Juda's daughter in his wrath.

16. For these things do I weep, mine eye, mine eye
Casts water out; for he, which should be nigh
To comfort me, is now departed far;
The foe prevails, forlorn my children are.

2. The Lord unsparingly hath swallowed
All Jacob's dwellings and demolished
To ground the strength of Juda, and profan'd
The princes of the kingdom and the land.

3. In heat of wrath the horn of Israel he
Hath clean cut off, and, lest the enemy
Be hinder'd, his right hand he doth retire;
But is t'wards Jacob all-devouring fire.

4. Like to an enemy he bent his bow,
His right hand was in posture of a foe;
To kill what Sion's daughter did desire,
'Gainst whom his wrath he poured forth like fire.
5. For like an enemy Jehovah is,
Devouring Israel, and his palaces;
Destroying holds, giving additions
To Juda's daughter's lamentations.

6. Like to a garden hedge he hath cast down
The place, where was his congregation,
And Sion's feasts and sabbaths are forgot;
Her king, her priest, his wrath regarded not.

7. The Lord forsakes his altar, and detests His sanctuary; and in the foe's hands rests His palace, and the walls, in which their cries Are heard, as in the true solemnities.

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?"

16. Thy foes do gape upon thee, and they hiss,
And gnash their teeth, and say, "Devour we this;
For this is certainly the day, which we
Expected, and which now we find and see."

17. The Lord hath done that, which he purposed, Fulfill'd his word, of old determined;

He hath thrown down, and not spar'd, and thy foe Made glad above thee, and advanc'd him so.

18. But now their hearts unto the Lord do call,
Therefore, O walls of Sion, let tears fall
Down like a river day and night; take thee
No rest, but let thine eye incessant be.

19. Arise, cry in the night, pour out thy sins, Thy heart, like water, when the watch begins; Lift up thy hands to God, lest children die, Which, faint for hunger, in the streets do lie.

20. Behold, O Lord, consider unto whom
Thou hast done this; what shall the women come
To eat their children of a span? shall thy
Prophet and priest be slain in sanctuary?

21. Ou ground in streets the young and old do lie,
My virgins and young men by sword do die;
Them in the day of thy wrath thou hast slain,
Nothing did thee from killing them contain.

22. As to a solemn feast, all, whom I fear'd,
Thou call'st about me: when thy wrath appear'd,
None did remain or 'scape; for those, which I
Brought up, did perish by mine enemy.

CHAPTER III.

1. I AM the man which have affliction seen,
Under the rod of God's wrath having been.
2. He hath led me to darkness, not to light:
3. And against me all day his hand doth fight.

4. He hath broke my bones, worn out my flesh and
5. Built up against me; and hath girt me in [skin;
With hemloc, and with labour; 6. and set me
In dark, as they who dead for ever be.

7. He hath hedg'd me, lest I'scape, and added more To my steel fetters, heavier than before. [hath 8. When I cry out, he outshuts my prayer; 9. and Stopp'd with hewn stone my way,and turn'd my path.

10. And like a lion hid in secresy, Or bear, which lies in wait, he was to me. 11. He stops my way, tears me, made desolate; 12. And he makes me the mark he shooteth at.

13. He made the children of his quiver pass Into my reins. 14. I with my people was All the day long, a song and mockery. 15. He hath fill'd me with bitterness, and he

Hath made me drunk with wormwood. 16. He hath burst

My teeth with stones, and covered me with dust. 17. And thus my soul far off from peace was set, And my prosperity I did forget.

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.

63. I am their song, whether they rise or sit. 64. Give them rewards, Lord, for their working fit, 65. Sorrow of heart, thy curse: 66. and with thy might

Follow, and from under Heav'n destroy them quite.

CHAPTER IV.

1. How is the gold become so dim? How is Purest and finest gold thus chang'd to this? The stones, which were stones of the sanctu'ry, Scatter'd in corners of each street do lie.

2. The precious sons of Sion, which should be
Valu'd as purest gold, how do we see
Low-rated now, as earthen pitchers, stand,
Which are the work of a poor potter's hand!

3. Even the sea-calfs draw their breasts, and give
Suck to their young: my people's daughters live,
By reason of the foe's great cruelness,
As do the owls in the vast wilderness.

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, whịch 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 'scapetouching, 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.

13. 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 lie, 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?

I joy, that in these straits I see my west;
For thongh those currants yield return to none,
What shall my west hurt me? As west and east
In all flat maps (and I am one) are one,
So death doth touch the resurrection.

Is the Pacific Sea my home? Or are
The eastern riches? Is Jerusalem,
Anvan, and Magellan, and Gibraltar?

All straits, and none but straits are ways to them,
Whether where Japhet dwelt, or Cham, or Sem.

We think that Paradise and Calvary,'

Christ's cross 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 last Adam's blood my soul embrace.

So in his purple wrapp'd receive me, Lord,
By these his thorns give me his other crown;
And as to others' souls I preach'd thy word,

Be this my text, my sermon to mine own;
Therefore, that he may raise, the Lord throws down.

A

HYMN TO GOD THE FATHER.

WILT thou forgive that sin, where I begun,

Which was my sin, though it were done before? Wilt thou forgive that sin, through which I run, And do run still, though still I do deplore? When thou hast done, thou hast not done; For I have more.

Wilt thou forgive that sin, which I have won
Others to sin, and made my sins their door?
Wilt thou forgive that sin, which I did shun
A year or two, but wallow'd in a score?
When thou hast done, thou hast not done;
For I have more.

I have a sin of fear, that when I've spun
My last thread, I shall perish on the shore;
But swear by thyself, that at my death thy Son
Shall shine, as he shines now and heretofore:
And, having done that, thou hast done;

1 fear no more.

P

VOL V.