To HIMSELF.

I.

Not yet why v

Ot yet Convinc'd? why wilt thou ftill pursue
Through Nature's Field delufive Bliss?

'Tis falfe, or elfe too fugitive if true;

Thou may'st affoon thy Shadow overtake as this,
The gaudy Light ftill dances in thy Eye,
Thou hot and eager in the Chafe

Art drawn through many a thorny rugged Place,
Still labouring and fighing, but can'ft ne'er come nigh.
II.

Give o'r my Soul, give o'er, nor strive again
This treacherous Chymic Gold to find.

Tell me, why fhould'ft thou fancy there remain

Days yet to come more fweet, than thofe thou'ft left be A wifer Chymift far than thou, t' obtain

This Jewel all his Treasures spent,

But yet he fail'd in's grand Experiment,

(hind.

And all he gain'd was this, to know that all was vain.
III.

Forbear, and at another's Colt be Wife,
Nor longer this Coy Mistress woo,

He's mad that runs where none can win the Prize,
Why should't thou lofe thy Mistress,and thy Labour too?
Heaven does but fport with our Simplicity

By laying Jewels in our way,

For when we ftoop to feize the glittering Prey,
They'r fnatcht away again, and baulk our greedy Eye.
IV.

2

'Tis fo, the Choiceft good this World can give
Will never ftand Fruition's Teft.

This all by Experience find, yet few believe,
And in the Midst of Cheats hope they fhall once be blefl.
Strange Magic this. So Witches tho they find
No Comfort from their airy Meat,

Forget at next Cabal their fender Treat,
And greedily again fall to their Feast of Wind,

V.

But thou my Soul thy ftrong Conviction fhew,
And never reach at Bliss again.

Our beft Good here is Nature's Bounds to know,
And those Attempts to fpare, which elfe would be in vain.
Here then Contain thy felf, nor higher Good
In this inchanted Place purfue.

And pity thofe fhort-fighted Souls that do;
This World is best enjoy'd, when 'tis beft understood.

The REFUSAL.

1.

Hink not to Court me from my dear Retreat
No, I proteft 'tis all in vain.

My Stars did never mean I fhould be great
And I the very Thought difdain.

Or if they did, their Will I'll difobey,
And in my little Orb remain as Fix'd as they.

Honour, that Idol which the Moft adore,
Receives no Homage from my Knee.

Content in Privacy, I value more

Than all uneafie Dignity.

How fhould that Empty thing deferve my Care,
Which Virtue does not need, and Vice can never bear?

III.

Shall I change folid and unenvy'd Joys

Of a Serene, tho humble State,

For fplendid Trouble, Pomp and fenfelefs Noife
This I defpife as well as bate.

Poor Gain of that Condition, which will be
Envy'd by others, and as much diflik'd by me.

Hymn

HA

'Ail thou most facred Venerable thing!
What Mufe is worthy thee to fing?
Thee, from whose pregnant univerfal womb
All things, even Light thy Rival firft did come.
What dares he not attempt that fings of thee
Thou Firft and greatest Mystery?
Who can the Secrets of thy Effence tell?
Thou like the Light of God art inaccessible. ]
II.

Before Great Love this Monument did raise,
This ample Theatre of Praife.

Before the folding Circles of the Sky
Were tun'd by him who is all Harmony.
Before the Morning Stars their Hymn began,
Before the Councel held for Man.

Before the Birth of either Time or Place,

Thou reign'it unquestion'd Monarch in the empty Space.
III.

Thy native Lot thou didst to Light refign,
But ftill half of the Globe is thine.

Here with a quiet, but yet aweful Hand,
Like the best Emperours thou doft Command.
To thee the Stars above their Brightness owe,
And Mortals their Repofe below.

To thy Protection Fear and Sorrow flee,

And those that weary are of Light, find Reft in thee.

Tho Light and Glory be th' Almighty's Throne,
Darkness is his Pavilion.

From that his radiant Beauty, but from thee
He has his Terror and his Majesty.

Thus when he first proclaim'd his facred Law,
And would his Rebel Subjects awe.

Like Princes on fome great Solemnity,

H'appear'd in's Robes of State, and clad himself with thee.

V.

The Bleft above do thy fweet Umbrage prize,
When Cloy'd with Light, they veil their Eyes..

The Vifion of the Deity is made

More Sweet and Beatifick by thy Shade.
But we poor Tenants of this Orb below

Don't here thy Excellencies know,

Till Death our Understandings does improve,
And then our Wifer Ghofts thy filent Night-walks love..
vi.

But thee I now admire, thee would I chuse
For my Religion, or my Mufe.

'Tis hard to tell whether thy reverend Shade
Has more good Votaries or Poets made.
From thy dark Caves were Infpirations given,

And from thick Groves went Vows to Heaven.

Hail then thou Mufe's and Devotion's Spring, 'Tis just we fhould adore, 'tis just we thould thee fing.

Come

C

The INVITATION.

my Beloved let us go forth into the Field, let us lodge in the Villages, Cantic. 7. 11.

I.

Ome thou divineft Object of my Love,
This Noify Region don't with us agree;
Come let us hence remove,"

I cannot here enjoy my felf or thee.

Here Vice and Folly keep their Court,
Hither their chiefest Favourites refort,
Debauchery has here her Royal Chair,
This is her great Metropolis,

What e'er we fee or hear Contagion is
Their Manners are polluted like the Air.

(Skies.

From both unwholfom Vapours rife And blacken with ungrateful Steams the neighbouring

II. Come

II.

Come we'll e'n to our Country Seat repair,
The Native Home of Innocence and Love.

There we'll draw purer Air,

And pity Monarchs fitting in our Grove.
Here Virtue has her fafe Retreat,
Abandon'd by the Many and the Great.
Content does here her peaceful Scepter fway;

Here Faithfulness and Friendship dwell,
And Modefty has here her humble Cell:
Come my Beloved, Come, and let's away.
Be thou My Angel good and kind,

And I'll ne'r look at Sodom which we leave behind.

III.

In Fields and flow'ry Meadows, Woods and Groves,
The first and best Delights of humane Kind,
There we'll enjoy our Loves

All free, and only to our felves confin'd.
Here fhall my Eyes be fixt on thee,

Till every Paffion be an Extafie.
Each Hour to thee fhall be Canonical;

The Sweets of Nature fhall not stay,
My Soul, but only fhew to thee the way;
To thee; Thou Beauty's great Original.
Come My Beloved, let's go prove
These sweet Advantages of Peace, Content, and Love,

TH

Hus ye good Powers, thus let me ever be
Serene, retir'd, from Love and Business free;
1 he reft of your great World I here refign
To the Contentions of the great;

I only ask that this Retreat,

This little Tenement be mine.

All my Ambition's to this Point confin'd;
Others inlarge their Fortunes, I my Mind,

11. How