Classic Poem

Re turne my Muse from whence thou hast digrest,
(To toile thy selfe in state's deepe misteries)
And now directly prosecute the rest
Touching the soule's yet vntoucht faculties
Wee varied, where we toucht varieties
Of dispositions of the soule and sp'rite ,
In touching which, wee toucht these Policies
Wherein the worldlie wise so much delight,
Because they tend to rule the World aright.

The pleasures of the Minde (as erst was said)
As farre surmount all pleasures corporall
As the Minde doth the Bodie , which is swai'd
But by the Minde , with swaie Monarchicall ,
Yet some base bodies keepe the Minde in thrall:
Who doe s' extremely doate on fleshly ioies ,
That they doe wish they had no minde at all,
That so they might not feele the Minde's annoies,
For those delights which Flesh and Sprite destroies,

These Men-beastes are as if they never were ,
They burden but the Earth , yet are too light,
Who liue to lust , yet streight away they weare,
(Like Dew against the sunne in highest height)
With flesh -consuming fleshly fraile delight.
These senslesse spunges of Improbity
Are full of pleasure , but it is vnright;
For God's hand squizeth out their iollitie ,
And fils their Mindes with reall miserie .

The Minde her pleasures needs not intermit
And then retake them, as the senses must:
But changeth them as shee thinkes requisit,
(Sometimes the iust , for pleasures most vniust ,
So changing Loue too oft to lothsome Lust )
Except the powre , from whence the motion springs
Be hindred by (and so betrai'd in trust)
Some let in th' Organs , vsd in her workings ,
Which Wine's excesse, and sicknesse often brings

But those impediments bee'ng tane away,
Shee, like a River keepes her wonted course
In motion still, till shee bee at a stay
By some strong Damme , yet doth her selfe enforce
(Stil gath'ring strength , & courage from her Sourse )
To breake away through all Impediments ,
That so shee may imploy her wonted force
Vpon the pleasures , which her most contents,
Be they vaine Ioies or divine ravishments .

It then behoves vs to be wel advis'd
What matter we propose vnto our minde ,
Or good , or ill , or ill with good disguiz'd:
For if shee should therein a liking finde,
Shee will thereto be evermore inclin'de:
Like some pure virgins that nere knew the sport
That men doe yeeld them, in the kindest kinde ,
Having once tasted it, are all amort
But when (though damn'd) they are at that disport

If then we would cheere this ay-moving mind ,
We must haue care, that that be perfect good
Which shee doth chew (how different e're in kynd )
For, corrupt Aliments breede corrupt blood ,
And blood corrupted is Confusion's flood:
But sensuall pleasures cannot please the Sense
Without being cloied, though they change their mood ,
For Sense sometimes must hold them in suspence,
To sett an edge the while on her dull'd sence.

Likewise, the pleasures which we doe receave
From Nature's works haue much more force, then those
That we from Artificiall things conceaue:
For lett all Artes vnto our view expose
What Arte it selfe in each kinde can disclose,
They bring satiety soone with the sight;
But who is cloi'd to see a flowred Close ,
Hills, Dales, Brooks, Meads, Woods, Groues , all daintie dight,
Sunne, Moone , and Starrs , & al in perfect plight?

For we, being naturall , doe best agree
With things in nature no lesse naturall;
Yet, to confesse a wel-know'n veritee,
Our often seeing these faire Creatures all
Doth make the pleasure much lesse Cordial
Herehence it is, that we doe lesse admire
The pow'r of that Hand supernaturall,
Which did this al with al these Faires attire;
And so not praise him, as his workes require

Yet if a Child , confin'de't a Dungeon deepe
Vntil he had attained Manhood's yeares,
Should on a Sommer's -day from some high steepe
Vpon a suddaine see these glorious Fayres ,
His Eyes would ravisht be, how ere his Eares;
For Eares should solac'd be, aswell as Eyes —
With the melodious nimble-winged Quiers;
Nay I suppose such ioy would him surprise,
As he were plung'd in ioyes of Paradize .

But while he's Dungeon'd , let the expert'st Tonge
(That able were to create Living wordes )
Paint out the Earth with quicke- words , great with yonge ,
And though that Fry againe like Spawne affords,
And ev'ry one had pow'r to pierce like Swords
Into the nature of these Rarities ,
To make him comprehend the highest Lord's
Inferior'st workes , he could not well comprize
The thousandth part of grace which in them lies.

As when a Man (though with an Angell's tongue)
Whilst we are Dungeon'd in this World of wo ,
Tels vs of Heau'n , and all that doth belonge
Vnto the state of those that thither go;
With words that from a well of Wisdome flo:
Yet tells he not the hundred thousandth part
Of that rare blisse which none on Earth can kno;
As good Soules wel perceave, when hence they part;
Which farr surmounts the highest thoughts of Hart.

But herein's faulty this Comparison:
To Mundane things is fixt satiety ,
But those blest Things that are aboue the Sun
Are priviledg'd from such deficiency;
For they are ful of all felicity
The more they are beheld the more they may
For they content Desire's best-sighted Eye ,
And please the more, because that still they stay;
" For true ioyes are compleate by their delay.

Aske that same third- Heau'n -rapt Saint , what hee saw
Or what he heard , when he was ravisht so;
Hee I tell you (though most learn'd in sacred Law
And no lesse learn'd each way) he doth not kno;
The ioye thereof his Sense did so oreflo.
If then so great a Clark , so pure a Saint ,
Being but in the Heau'n , two lofts belo,
Wants words the ioye thereof aright to paint
Who can the highest Heaven's blisse depaint?

Thus the Affects of ioy and Griefe , are giv'n
By him, that giues all onely to one end ,
To weet, his Glorie, and desire of Heau'n ;
Ioye to alure, and Griefe th' Affects to bend
From that which doth to Griefe and Horror tend.
Now then, to runne through other strong Affects ,
And to descend to Love , (that doth descend)
Which is a Passion powrefull in effects
And chiefely the chief- good by kinde respects

When Iudgment hath alow'd a thing for good
Shee foorth-with tenders it vnto the Will
Which doth embrace the same in ioyful moode,
Because it doth hir Soule's desire fulfill:
And when that ioy (conceav'd) doth tarry still
It 's called Loue which doth the wil incline
To simple good , or good scarce toucht with ill
Thus Loue is bredd or humane or divine ,
Which in the soule like a faire Flame doth shine

But Loue , that hath respect to any thing
Besides the goodnes of the thing belov'd,
Is rather doating , which doth loathing bring
When things therby desir'd are wel approv'd:
If God himselfe bee for his bounty lov'd
And onely therefore, who doth loue him so
Doth loue him for his goodnes , by him prov'd
Yea for that goodnes which to him doth flo,
Not for that good which he cannot forego

Who loveth vs for his owne goodnesse sake,
And for no good in vs, (for we have none)
We should loue him, not for he did vs make,
But for his goodnesse onely and alone,
And loue al goodnesse , for, and in that One
A father loues his sonne , not in regard
Of any gaine , but for he is his owne ,
Nor should a Sonne , his Sire loue for reward
But for he is his Sire in Nature dear'd

For, if we loue ought for the good we have
From it, we loue our selves more then the same
Or loue it for our selves , our selues to save
From want of that which from it to vs came:
So such loue is selfe-loue , which Love doth blame:
But we must loue the Lord of Love for love ,
Nay, though he hate vs, we must love his name
Sith to make man Loue onely did him move
But to loue him againe for Manne's behove.

If then we weigh, by what degrees wee mount
To him from whom our soules did first descend,
We finde that as through loue (which doth surmount)
They came from him, so to him they ascende
The selfe-same way , as to their proper end .
For comming from him , they must know him needs;
And knowing him , they needes must to him tend
But so they cannot but by loue's good- deedes ,
For what is not of loue , from sinne proceedes.

The order then, of the degrees to loue
Is, first wee at things corporall beginne;
For, our birth to that Steppe vs streight doth moue;
Vnto our outward senses then wee rinne,
To Fancie next, and so wee never linne
Till through Reas'n, Iudgement, Contemplation ,
We come to loue , and so wee rest therein:
But to descend by the selfe same gradation ,
And there to rest, descendeth to damnation .

For, to dismount from true loue's loftie pitch
(Loue of the High'st ) so lowe as to selfe-loue ,
Is, Sow -like, to lie mired in the ditch
Of lowest Hell , where we all Sorowes proue,
And cannot for our soules from thence remoue
Without kinde heav'nly loue's all-helping hand
Which onely and alone hath powre to moue
Our Mindes from Earth vnto the Living's Land,
And breake the linckes of selfe-loue's mortall Band

Loue makes an Vnion of Diversitie;
If then wee loue God, hee and wee are One ,
One (although diverse) through true amitie ,
Wee loue him and our selues for him alone:
So may we loue our selues, as wee loue none.
Likenesse breedes loue, which makes him loue vs so
Who made vs to his Image , and his Sonne
Assum'd our shape , which makes his loue the mo:
Then, by like reason, wee should loue him to.

The more his Image is renew'd in vs,
The more he loues vs, and wee loue the more;
Then to deforme the same's most odious,
And he detesteth vs alone therefore,
Which makes vs likewise loath him and his lore
All which proceedes from dissimilitude
For, God and Beliall are foes evermore;
Then sith wee are with his faire Forme indu'd,
Let it by vs bee euermore renew'd.

For, Beauty is an vrgent cause of Loue;
If so, wee should embrace the fairest Faire
With loue that should be farre all loue aboue,
Yea, die for loue, that Loue might life repaire,
And glorifie the same as Beautie's Heire :
See wee an hue that mortall beauty staines
(As doth the Sunne the Moone by his repaire)
This sov'raigne Beauty all the glorie gaines
Sith but a sparke thereof the same sustaines

Then Beauty blush to glorie in thy Blaze ,
And much more blush to blaze thy glorie vaine
With coulors fresh, to make fraile eies to gaze
And such as cannot iudge of coulors , faine;
No coulor hast thou so thy selfe to staine:
The best is too too bad , and bad's the Best ,
That without coulor doe their face ingraine:
In earnest such (I thinke) doe loue to Iest ,
As Chaucer , but my Muse will owe the rest,

But outward beauty loue procures, because
It argues th' inward beauty of the Minde;
For goodnes is th' effect, Beauty the Cause ,
And both togither commonly we finde;
For Nature both togither stil doth binde
A good Complexion's disposition
Is, for the most part, vertuously inclinde;
But Weomen's beauty by permission
Being often tempted breedes suspition.

For hardly is that kept, that many craues,
And chastitie with beautie's stil at strife;
For, much more beautiful are Frailtie's slaues
Then (for the most part) they of vertuous life:
And, aske a man , that hath a beautious wife ,
How much he fears the fowle fal of his faire ,
Because that nothing in the world's more rife
Then at faire beautie's byding men's repaire;
And where they haunt , they do not stil repaire .

But this by accident is rather thus,
Then any waie to beauty naturall;
For it, by Nature , is most vertuous,
Sith Tempers good, to Ill are seldome thrall:
For, bodies meerely are Organicall ,
Whereon the mind doth play al parts in one:
If then they be in tune most cordiall
Their motions must be needs, sith there is none
That moues them but the minde or God alone.

But for that beauty stil alures the eie ,
The eie the hart , the hart the soule & Sp'rite
Of those, that on the same do chance to pry,
Because it doth beheau'n them with delight:
This makes them instantly the same incite
To yeeld to loue , or lust , and their desire ;
Then being subiect thus to restlesse fight
It oft enflames, and is enflam'd with fire ,
That Flesh and Sprite makes but one flame intire.

How many may we see distracted quight,
Or pyning liue, or rather dy with paine?
Yea some to spill themselues (with all despight)
For other's beautie which they cannot gaine?
If beauty then so ore fraile sense doth raigne
Sense , being subiect to her sov'raigntie
Doth sue and serue, her favour to obtaine,
With most impetuous importunitie,
Till shee as subiect, to her Subiect lie.

And never times (except the times of old,
For whose corruption al the world was drown'd)
But these curst times of ours, durst be so bold,
To make it common with estates renown'd
To court bright beauty match'd , as 't were vnbound
Call yee it Courtshippe? cal it what yee please
(Though it be in request ) it was not found
In chaster times , for oft it doth disease
The head with swellings which nought can appease.

Mee thinkes I see, (as I haue often seene)
A well-made Male , as male-content to stand
(In silke or silver clad right well-beseene)
Wringing a match'd faire Female by the hand.
Whil'st, in her eare , he lets her vnderstand
How much shee ought to loue him for his loue;
Meane while hard by stands Patience the Husband,
And lets Temptation his weake vessell proue,
Which in his sight her vnseene Spright doth moue.

It's prettie pastime so to passe the time,
It savoures of good breeding , and good Witt :
The Howres are made more pleasant by this Chime ,
Who would not stil to here the same stil sitt,
Although a man transformed were by it?
O tis a iolly matter to give eare,
Nay to give leaue to Musicke in her fitt:
He is a Beast that wil not then forbeare
Though he thereby be made a Beast to beare.

Foure kinds of divine fury are obseru'd,
The first (and first by right) Propheticall ,
Which by Apollo is rul'd, and conserv'd;
The next by Bacchus , called Misticall
The third by Muses , hight Poeticall;
The fourth and last, by Venus governed,
Is call'd the Fury Amatoriall ,
Which doe inferre, that Love is borne and bredd
Without the breach of Nature's Maidenhedd.

What force it hath, is better felt then showne,
For Words cannot expresse the force of loue ,
Call we it Love or Lust , it is well known
It hath the force of both, the Heart to move;
Which these can testifie that it did prove:
Semiramis (whose Vertue past compare)
This furious Passion her did so remoue
From that shee was; that lusting to reshare
Hir Sonne her Sonne her Threed of Life did share.

The Macedonian Philipp's peerelesse Sonne ,
That over-ranne the World with Sword and Fire
This flaming fury yet did so ore runne,
That for his Thais (that kindled his desire )
He burnt Persepolis , sans cause of ire
Yea, did not onely that fowle fact command,
But with his Hands he lab'red (as for hire )
To burne the buildings which as yet did stand
Till he had laid al level with the Land .

A Wonder worthy of all wonderment,
That he that foil'd what ere his force withstood,
Should bee thus foil'd , and made a President
Of Lust's fell force , which so enflam'd his Blood
That made his Flesh Wild- Fire in likelyhood:
A Man by woman , a King by a Queane
To be so overcome through Lustfull moode ,
(Being so effeminate and most obscene )
Argues, in Loue and Lust there is no meane.

Strange are th effects of Lust . For, Men with Men
Nay, Man with Beast . A Sinne not to be toucht
So much as with the Tongue , much lesse with Pen ,
And least of all with that too oft bewitcht,
With loue of that which is by Nature grutcht:
Lust is so blinde that it cannot discerne
A Man from Beast , (how ever beastly coucht)
But doth a Man -beast moue (though Nature yerne)
The tricks of Beasts , with lothsome Beasts to learne.

Graue Xenephon lov'd Clinias in this kinde;
So as hee crav'd of loue when Clinias di'de,
That (if he might see him , and still be blinde,
Or not see him , and still be perfect Eyde )
He rather mought the want of sight abide
To see him once, then still to haue his sight
And not see him , See see how blinde a Guide
Is lothsome Lust that leades men so vnright,
As for her pleasure so themselues to spight.

Semiramis an Horse (o brutish Lust! )
Did lust to haue (o monstrous Mare humane!)
Pasiphai long'd for a Bull to thrust
Her from a woman to a Cow vncleane:
And Cyparissus made an Hynde the meane
To coole his courage, Aristomachus
A silly Bee would haue to be his Queane
Lust whither wilt? wilt be so monstrous
To long for Bees that be but moates to vs?

Publius Pilatus fell in lusting loue
With Hellen's Image , and Pigmalion
For his owne Picture did like passion prove
Damn'd Lust what pleasure provd'st thou in a stone
That's cold by kind , as Snow on Libanon?
To tell the Mischiefes, Spoiles , & Masacres ,
By hate effected, though through loue begun,
Were but to tell the number of the Starrs;
For Lust and Mischeife are ioynt passengers .

Troy might (perhappes) haue stoode vnto this Age
Had Lust not laid it levell with the plaines;
And seas of Blood spent in that ten yeares' Siege
Might still haue kept the Chanells of the Vaynes
But lewde Lust is so loose that shee restraines
Her will in nought though it bringes all to nought:
Shee pleasure takes in pleasure causing paines;
For by her painfull pleasures such are wrought,
Yet on such pleasures shee doth fixe her thought .

Shee will not let the Thoughts so much as prie
A minute's space, on ought , but what shee loues;
Shee ( Tirant ) captivates the Fantasy ,
So that it cannot stirre till shee it moves:
Or if it doe shee forth-with it removes:
My Fancie's Mistris , saith some slaue to Lust ,
Is my Thought's Heau'n: So swallowed with his Loues
Are all his Thoughts , and though as dry as Dust
He lusts to please his loue with loue vniust.

For this, al that pertaines, must be in print ,
Weeds Words, Lookes, Loks , in print , not one awry,
Whose Motions must be currant for the Mynt ,
His glances must keepe iust time with her Eye ,
And seeme to die, se'ng her rich beauties dye
Yet with a carefull carelessenesse , he must
Avoide the hate which too much loue doth buy,
And loue no more then may provoke to lust ,
These are their loue- tricks, trickes of loue vniust.

One makes an Idoll of his Mistris Glove,
And offers (thrice a day at least) a Kisse
Vnto each finger , so to show his loue;
Another her Haire-Bracelett makes his blisse ,
And Night and Day t'adore it wil not misse
These Fancies, fancie doe with kindnes cloy,
Witt nere, in loue , taught Pupill so of his,
(As saith the Book ) but doth his powres imploy
With kindnesse coy , to winne his witty Toy .

Whist, Muse , be mute; wilt thou like Naso proue,
And interlace thy Lynes with levity?
Wilt thou add Precepts to the Arte of Loue ,
And show thy vertue in such vanity?
So to polute thy purer Poesy!
No more, no more, ynough, (if not too much)
Is sedd already of this Mistery;
My Conscience at the same doth (grieving) grutch, —
But let it goe this once, with but this Touch .

And how-soere Beauty may bee abus'd,
It promiseth more good then shupelesnesse
If it proue otherwise it's thus excus'd;
The High'st to shew that good-guifts (more or lesse)
Proceede from him, and not from Nature's largesse,
Lets beauty fal, and soile it selfe with sinne;
Which is more dam'd if beauty it doth blesse,
As Vertue is most faire , that blest hath bin
With beauty , being resident therein.

But loue , that Beautie breedeth, is threefold
According to three obiects of that loue ,
All faire , some good , which thus we may vnfold;
The Pleasant , and the Profitable mooue
As doth the Honest , true loue , which we proue:
The first concerneth things that please the Sense ,
As beautie , and at what the sense doth roue;
The second hath to welfare reference;
The third and last to Iustice and Prudence .

The first and second kinds of lust or loue ,
Among the Perturbations may be put;
Sith they so many ill affections moue
That make man's life to be in Sorrow shut
Which like a Razor off the same doth cut:
But loue of honest things is vertuous,
And from man's praises take away the But ,
It shows the Minde is right magnanimous;
" For that's most great , that is most gracious.

This loue is kindled by that heav'nly Flame
That, like fine Gold , doth purifie the Sp'rite ,
And like it selfe (transmuted) maks the same
Good, gratious, holy, wise, iust, clear , & bright ,
Glory'ng in him that makes her glory right:
This is the loue of beauty most extreame
Wherein celestial soules doe most delight;
Of loue that feedes the Sp'rite it is the creame
Infus'd by Iustice Sonne's inlightning Beame .

This loue resembles that of Seraphins ,
Who burne in loue of the extremest Good ,
And makes Men like the sacred Cherubins
Still priviledg'd from outward charge , whose moode
Is stil t' attend on LOVE'S Trin-vnion-hood .
This loue , this beauty , (Loue of vertuous things
Whose beauty flowes from divine beautie's Flud )
Doth make Men Gods among the mighti'st Kings ,
And Kings with highest God , in high'st dwelling's .

Goodnesse is Beautie's Mother and true Loue's ,
Beauty and loue are both bred in one Wombe
Then loue and beautie stil it much behoues
To tend to Goodnesse , as vnto the Tombe
That must at last for ever them enwombe
But there are diverse loues , and beauties mo
According to the creatures all or some
Proceeding from that LOVE and BEAUTY , who
Sheds both on things aboue, and things belo.

Fowre special beauties, Goodnesse hath created;
The first is that, whereby the Minde and sp'rite
Hath Wit and Vnderstanding in them seated;
The second , them adornes with Knowledge bright
That mounts the Minde to Contemplation's height;
The third , in seede preserving mortall things ,
The last in corp'rall things that sense delight:
Science the Soule to Contemplation brings,
But her to things materiall Fancie flings.

Yet, did the soule but weigh how shee is bound
To her Creator , for his matchlesse loue;
Shee would from thence (by Reason ) soone rebound,
And wholy stil contemplate things aboue:
For this, his loue requitlesse doth approue;
He gaue her beeing , meerely of free grace
Before shee Was , or could his mercie moue;
Then if shee loue him, her loue is but base
Compar'd with his that made her what shee was

Who giues a Guift much more affection shoes
Then the Receaver for it can bewray;
The giver giues, beeing free to giue or choose,
But the Receaver's bound to loue alway:
Yet, if the giver giues to th' end to pray ,
It's not of Loue , but Lucre , (loth'd of Loue ,)
GOD cannot giue so, in whom all doth stay:
But Men giue thanks for Blessings which they proue
And God thereby to giue them more doe moue.

Such loue in giver and receiver both
Is meerely merc'nary corrupt, and base,
Which hatefull loue the Lord of loue doth loth,
And from such lovers turnes his loving face ,
As from false Hypocrites , abusing grace:
But true love's scope, is (in a gracious moode )
To loue all those that Mercie shoulde embrace,
Respecting nought, but to streame foorth the flud
Of goodnesse , which it hath for others' good.

For loue is free, and freely would be lov'd;
It's actiue, like a Flame in operation;
Saue that, like fire it is not vpwardes mou'd,
But doth descende by Reason's computation,
For such descent on Reason hath foundation
The Sire doth loue the Sonne , more then the Sonne
Doth loue the Sire , because by generation
Part of the Sire into the Sonne doth runne
But no part of the Sonne in Sire doth wonne.

Sith loue in nature stil doth thus descende ,
God loues man more then Man his God can loue;
For Man proceedes from God who is his ende ,
But God from Man likewise cannot remoue,
For Man is finite , and in God doth moue:
This made him loue Men when they were his foes ,
And for their loues a world of woe did proue:
Therefore hee's Fount of Loue whence all loue floes
Which loues for hate , and hate doth loue -dispose.

Now, how to loue this Well of loue the more
Loue doth direct, by kindling the Desire
Truely to know and minde it evermore;
Both which so sets the soule's frame all on fire,
That it is made one flame of loue intire:
The more wee know it, it the more wee minde
The more wee minde it, it wee more require ,
The more we seeke , the more wee it doe finde ,
And being found , it quite doth lose the Minde .

For then the Minde's no more that which it was ,
For to this loue it's transubstantiate
To weete, as neere as loue can bring to passe
It's ev'n the selfe-same thing immaculate,
And like this LOVE , this loue doth contemplate;
Reiecting all that would inveagle it
To loue ought els, and stil doth meditate
To loue nought els, and bends all powres of wit
To make it selfe for this Loue onely fit.

Thus Sinners may turne Seraphins by Loue ,
Wounding with Loue-shafts God's hart (pure alone;)
So, as the one's hart so the other's moue
As twixt them al there were no Hart but one :
This is to lye next the chiefe Corner-stone
In the Church militant , ( Triumphant rather,)
For God and man this Loue doth so attone
As doth, nay more then loue doth Sonne and Father ,
For loue makes both intire still altogether.

For Loue doth graue (though in an Hart of Brasse )
The forme of the Beloued in the Hart ,
So that a Lover's Hart is like a Glasse
Where the Belou'd is seene in ev'ry part ,
So, in God's Hart w' are graven by Love's Arte,
And in our harts Loue doth his forme ingrave;
Thus interchang'd we either's forme impart
To other's liking by the Loue we have,
And make the Hart the Lodge it to receave.

The ende or scope of loue is to vnite ,
The faster therefore it conglutinates
Two harts, or of them makes an vnion right,
So much the more her vertue shee elates,
And perfectly her kinde effectuates:
Then, Loue in God (in whom Love perfect is)
His vertue so to man participates,
That they become one through that loue of his;
For Man partakes his Image and his Blisse

But man (meere Chaos of extreame Defect )
Doth loue, but loveth onely in desire:
He longs (perhapps) to loue with al effect,
That God and he thereby might be intire ,
Whereto his leaden loue would faine aspire;
From which desire proceeds a pleasant paine ,
Pleasant, in that it setts the soule on fire
With loue so good; And paine it breeds again,
For what it hath not, what it would haue fain.

But what is lacking in Man's loue, the same
God doth supply out of his boundlesse loue ,
And makes Man's loue therby a working flame ,
Which to presse through al Pressures stil doth prove,
And towards God (her Spheare ) doth ever move:
This Flame doth melt the marrow of the Sp'rite
Making it liquid sooner to remove
In't Mercie's Mould , where it 's reform'd aright,
And made intire with LOVE , true loue's delight

For when the lover loues himselfe no more,
But the Beloved in whom he abides,
Or, if he loue himselfe, it is therefore
To weet, for that he in his loue resides;
Then Loue is pure, & at high'st pitch besides,
But such high Raptures are too rarely found,
In fraile humanity , that on Earth bides;
Though loue the Soule therfore perhaps may wound
Yet stil t' wil be to the owne Body bound.

How shal I end with everlasting Loue ,
To ease my Reader tir'd with heavy lines?
Vnto this Labarinth of Loue (I prove)
The Author ( LOVE ) no comming out assignes;
Yet rest I may, though it my Muse confines:
As Zeuxis drue a vaile (with curious skill)
Ore that, hee wanted skill t' expresse by Lines:
So I the like in Loue must now fulfill,
And leave the Reader to thinke what he will.