15. From being anxious, or secure, Dead clods of sadness, or light squibs of mirth, Is only for our prison framed, Or that thou art covetous To them whom thou lovest, or that they're maimed From reaching this world's sweet, who seek thee thus With all their might, good Lord deliver us. 16. From needing danger, to be good, From owing thee yesterday's tears to-day, That in the hope, we wound our soul away, From light affecting, in religion, news, 17. From tempting Satan to tempt us, By our connivance, or slack company, From measuring ill by vicious, Neglecting to choke sin's spawn, vanity, Which might be scandalous, And cast reproach on Christianity, From being spies, or to spies pervious, From thirst, or scorn of flame, deliver us. 18. Deliver us for thy descent Into the virgin, whose womb was a place Of middle kind; and thou being sent To ungracious us, staid'st at her full of grace, And yet soon after riches didst allow, By accepting kings' gifts in the Epiphany; 19. And through that bitter agony, Which still is the agony of pious wits, And interrupted evenness, with fits; Though thereby they were then Made blind, so that thou might'st from them have gone ; Good Lord deliver us, and teach us when We may not, and we may blind unjust men. 20. Through thy submitting all, to blows Thy face, thy clothes to spoil; thy fame to scorn, All ways, which rage, or justice knows, And by which thou could'st show, that thou wast born; Which thou in death did'st show, 21. When senses, which thy soldiers are, We arm against thee, and they fight for sin; And work despair a breach to enter in; And love it, not him, whom it should reveal; Only to vent wit, Lord deliver us. 22. In churches, when the infirmity Of him which speaks, diminishes the Word; When magistrates do misapply To us, as we judge, lay, or ghostly sword; When plague, which is thine angel, reigns, Or wars, thy champions, sway; When heresy, thy second deluge, gains; In th' hour of death, th' eve of last judgment day, 23. Hear us, O hear us, Lord; to thee A sinner is more music, when he prays, Than spheres' or angels' praises be, In panegyric Alleluias: Hear us, for till thou hear us, Lord, We know not what to say. Thine ear t' our sighs, tears, thoughts, gives voice and word. O thou who Satan heard'st in Job's sick day, Hear thyself now, for thou in us dost pray. 24. That we may change to evenness Not threats in thunder may Awaken us to our just offices, What in thy book, thou dost, or creatures say, 25. That our ears' sickness we may cure, That we, by hearkening, not procure And senselessly decline, From hearing bold wits jest at kings' excess, That we may lock our ears, Lord open thine. 26. That living law, the magistrate, Which to give us, and make us physic, doth Our vices often aggravate; That preachers taxing sin, before her growth, That Satan, and envenom'd men Which will, if we starve, dine, When they do most accuse us, may see then Us to amendment hear them, thee decline, That we may open our ears, Lord lock thine. 27. That learning, thine ambassador, From thine allegiance we never tempt; For physic made, from poison be exempt; On nature's nothing, be not nothing too; That our affections kill us not, nor die, Hear us, weak echoes, O thou ear, and cry! 28. Son of God, hear us; and since thou And let not both us and thyself be slain; O Lamb of God, which took'st our sin O let it not return to us again, II. THE CROSS. SINCE Christ embraced the cross itself, dare I That it should bear the sin of scorning it? It shall not, for it cannot; for the loss No cross, is so extreme, as to have none; Who can deny me power, and liberty To stretch mine arms, and mine own cross to be? As perchance, carvers do not faces make : But that away, which hid them there, do take. And be his image, or not his, but he. |