A Lamb unspotted, white and pure, He is the King of kings, beset Of citizens, which hence are rid There be the prudent prophets all, And confessors betwixt. There doth the crew of righteous men And matrons all consist Young men and maids that here on earth The sheep and lambs, that hardly 'scaped Triumph in joy eternally, Whereof no tongue can tell ; And though the glory of each one Doth differ in degree, Yet is the joy of all alike And common, as we see. There love and charity do reign, Whom they most perfectly behold In joy celestial. They love, they praise-they praise, they love ; They "Holy, holy," cry; They neither toil, nor faint, nor end, But laud continually. O happy thousand times were I, I might with listening ears conceive By saved souls and angels sweet, O passing happy were my state, "O Father dear," quoth he, "let them Which Thou hast put of old To me, be there where lo! I am Thy glory to behold; Which I with Thee, before the world Was made in perfect wise, Have had from whence the fountain great Of glory doth arise." Again: "If any man will serve Thee, let him follow me; For where I am, he there, right sure, Then shall my servant be." And still: "If any man loves me, Him loves my Father dear, Whom do I love to him myself In glory will appear." Lord, take away my misery, And so in Zion see my King, My love, my Lord, my all- O blessed are the pure in heart- For I have dwelt within the tents Yet search me, Lord, and find me out! That all Thy angels may rejoice, While all Thy will I do. O mother dear! Jerusalem ! When shall I come to thee? Yet once again I pray thee, Lord, And dwell there all my life- To sing Thy praise, O God of Hosts! For ever and Amen! "I LOVE (AND HAVE SOME CAUSE TO LOVE) BY FRANCIS QUARLES.-1592-1644. [FRANCIS QUARLES was born near Romford in Essex, in 1592: was educated at Cambridge, and afterwards became a student of Lincoln's Inn. He was cupbearer to Elizabeth, daughter of James I., until her husband became King of Bohemia; he was then made Secretary to Archbishop Usher in Ireland; and afterwards Chronologer to the City of London. He died in 1644; his death being accelerated, it is supposed, by the ill treatment he received from the Republicans. Quarles' "Divine Emblems" were, and continue to be, the most popular of his works. His tendency to Puritanical sentiments, though a Royalist, was probably the cause of his writings being entirely neglected after the Restoration. His epigrammatic productions exhibit the rare union of wit and devotion; but he disobeyed the advice he gave to others :---“ Clothe not thy language either with obscurity or affectation."] I LOVE (and have some cause to love) the earth: She is my Maker's creature; therefore good: She is my mother, for she gave me birth; She is my tender nurse-she gives me food ; But what's a creature, Lord, compared with Thee? I love the air her dainty sweets refresh But what's the air or all the sweets that she I love the sea she is my fellow-creature, But, Lord of oceans, when compared with Thee, To heaven's high city I direct my journey, But what is heaven, great God, compared to Thee? |