41
Wit’s an unruly engine, wildly striking
Sometimes a friend, sometimes the engineer.
Hast thou the knack? pamper it not with liking:
But, if thou want it, buy it not too dear.
Many, affecting wit beyond their power, 245
Have got to be a dear fool for an hour.
42
A sad wise valour is the brave complexion,
That leads the van, and swallows up the cities.
The giggler is a milk-maid, whom infection,
Or a fir’d beacon frighteth from his ditties. 250
Then he’s the sport: the mirth then in him rests,
And the sad man is cock of all his jests.
43
Towards great persons use respective boldness:
That temper gives them theirs, and yet doth take
Nothing from thine: in service, care or coldness 255
Doth rateably thy fortunes mar or make.
Feed no man in his sins: for adulation
Doth make thee parcel-devil in damnation.
44
Envy not greatness: for thou mak’st thereby
Thyself the worse, and so the distance greater. 260
Be not thine own worm: yet such jealousy,
As hurts not others, but may make thee better,
Is a good spur. Correct thy passions’ spite;
Then may the beasts draw thee to happy light.
45
When baseness is exalted, do not bate 265
The place its honour, for the person’s sake.
The shrine is that which thou dost venerate;
And not the beast, that bears it on his back.
I care not though the cloth of state should be
Not of rich arras, but mean tapestry. 270
46
Thy friend put in thy bosom: wear his eyes
Still in thy heart, that he may see what’s there.
If cause require, thou art his sacrifice;
Thy drops of blood must pay down all his fear:
But love is lost; the way of friendship’s gone, 275
Though David had his Jonathan, Christ his John.
47
Yet be not surety, if thou be a father.
Love is a personal debt. I cannot give
My children’s right, nor ought he take it: rather
Both friends should die, than hinder them to live. 280
Fathers first enter bonds to nature’s ends;
And are her sureties, ere they are a friend’s.
48
If thou be single, all thy goods and ground
Submit to love; but yet not more than all.
Give one estate, as one life. None is bound 285
To work for two, who brought himself to thrall.
God made me one man; love makes me no more,
Till labour come, and make my weakness score.
49
In thy discourse, if thou desire to please:
All such is courteous, useful, new, or witty. 290
Usefulness comes by labour, wit by ease;
Courtesy grows in court; news in the city.
Get a good stock of these, then draw the card
That suits him best, of whom thy speech is heard.
50
Entice all neatly to what they know best; 295
For so thou dost thyself and him a pleasure:
(But a proud ignorance will lose his rest,
Rather than show his cards.) Steal from his treasure
What to ask further. Doubts well raised do lock
The speaker to thee, and preserve thy stock. 300
51
If thou be Master-gunner, spend not all
That thou canst speak, at once; but husband it,
And give men turns of speech: do not forestall
By lavishness thine own, and others’ wit,
As if thou mad’st thy will. A civil guest 305
Will no more talk all, than eat all the feast.
52
Be calm in arguing: for fierceness makes
Error a fault, and truth discourtesy.
Why should I feel another man’s mistakes
More than his sicknesses or poverty? 310
In love I should: but anger is not love,
Nor wisdom neither: therefore gently move.
53
Calmness is great advantage: he that lets
Another chafe, may warm him at his fire:
Mark all his wand’rings, and enjoy his frets; 315
As cunning fencers suffer heat to tire.
Truth dwells not in the clouds: the bow that’s there,
Doth often aim at, never hit the sphere.
54
Mark what another says: for many are
Full of themselves, and answer their own notion. 320
Take all into thee; then with equal care
Balance each dram of reason, like a potion.
If truth be with thy friend, be with them both:
Share in the conquest, and confess a troth.
55
Be useful where thou livest, that they may 325
Both want, and wish thy pleasing presence still.
Kindness, good parts, great places are the way
To compass this. Find out men’s wants and will,
And meet them there. All worldly joys go less
To the one joy of doing kindnesses. 330
56
Pitch thy behaviour low, thy projects high;
So shalt thou humble and magnanimous be:
Sink not in spirit: who aimeth at the sky,
Shoots higher much than he that means a tree.
A grain of glory mixt with humbleness 335
Cures both a fever and lethargicness.
57
Let thy mind still be bent, still plotting where,
And when, and how the business may be done.
Slackness breeds worms; but the sure traveller,
Though he alight sometimes, still goeth on. 340
Active and stirring spirits live alone.
Write on the others, Here lies such a one.
58
Slight not the smallest loss, whether it be
In love or honour: take account of all;
Shine like the sun in every corner: see 345
Whether thy stock of credit swell or fall.
Who say, I care not, those I give for lost;
And to instruct them, twill not quit the cost.
59
Scorn no man’s love, though of a mean degree;
(Love is a present for a mighty king). 350
Much less make anyone thy enemy.
As guns destroy, so may a little sling.
The cunning workman never doth refuse
The meanest tool, that he may chance to use.
60
All foreign wisdom doth amount to this, 355
To take all that is given; whether wealth,
Or love, or language; nothing comes amiss:
A good digestion turneth all to health:
And then as far as fair behaviour may,
Strike off all scores; none are so clear as they. 360
61
Keep all thy native good, and naturalise
All foreign of that name; but scorn their ill:
Embrace their activeness, not vanities.
Who follows all things, forfeiteth his will.
If thou observest strangers in each fit, 365
In time they’ll run thee out of all thy wit.
62
Affect in things about thee cleanliness,
That all may gladly board thee, as a flower.
Slovens take up their stock of noisomeness
Beforehand, and anticipate their last hour. 370
Let thy mind’s sweetness have his operation
Upon thy body, clothes, and habitation.
63
In Alms regard thy means, and others’ merit.
&n
bsp; Think heav’n a better bargain, than to give
Only thy single market-money for it. 375
Join hands with God to make a man to live.
Give to all something; to a good poor man,
Till thou change names, and be where he began.
64
Man is God’s image; but a poor man is
Christ’s stamp to boot: both images regard. 380
God reckons for him, counts the favour his:
Write, So much giv’n to God; thou shalt be heard.
Let thy alms go before, and keep heav’n’s gate
Open for thee; or both may come too late.
65
Restore to God his due in tithe and time: 385
A tithe purloin’d cankers the whole estate.
Sundays observe: think when the bells do chime,
’Tis angels’ music; therefore come not late.
God then deals blessings: If a king did so,
Who would not haste, nay give, to see the show? 390
66
Twice on the day his due is understood;
For all the week thy food so oft he gave thee.
Thy cheer is mended; bate not of the food,
Because ’tis better, and perhaps may save thee.
Thwart not th’ Almighty God: O be not cross. 395
Fast when thou wilt; but then ’tis gain, not loss.
67
Though private prayer be a brave design,
Yet public hath more promises, more love:
And love’s a weight to hearts, to eyes a sign.
We all are but cold suitors; let us move 400
Where it is warmest. Leave thy six and seven;
Pray with the most: for where most pray, is heaven.
68
When once thy foot enters the church, be bare.
God is more there, than thou: for thou art there
Only by his permission. Then beware, 405
And make thyself all reverence and fear.
Kneeling ne’er spoil’d silk stocking: quit thy state.
All equal are within the church’s gate.
69
Resort to sermons, but to prayers most:
Praying’s the end of preaching. O be dresst; 410
Stay not for th’ other pin: why thou hast lost
A joy for it worth worlds. Thus hell doth jest
Away thy blessings, and extremely flout thee,
Thy clothes being fast, but thy soul loose about thee.
70
In time of service seal up both thine eyes, 415
And send them to thine heart; that spying sin,
They may weep out the stains by them did rise:
Those doors being shut, all by the ear comes in.
Who marks in church-time others’ symmetry,
Makes all their beauty his deformity. 420
71
Let vain or busy thoughts have there no part:
Bring not thy plough, thy plots, thy pleasures thither.
Christ purg’d his temple; so must thou thy heart.
All worldly thoughts are but thieves met together
To cozen thee. Look to thy actions well: 425
For churches are either our heav’n or hell.
72
Judge not the preacher; for he is thy Judge:
If thou mislike him, thou conceiv’st him not.
God calleth preaching folly. Do not grudge
To pick out treasures from an earthen pot. 430
The worst speak something good: if all want sense,
God takes a text, and preacheth patience.
73
He that gets patience, and the blessing which
Preachers conclude with, hath not lost his pains.
He that by being at church escapes the ditch, 435
Which he might fall in by companions, gains.
He that loves God’s abode, and to combine
With saints on earth, shall one day with them shine.
74
Jest not at preacher’s language, or expression:
How know’st thou, but thy sins made him miscarry? 440
Then turn thy faults and his into confession:
God sent him, whatso’er he be: O tarry,
And love him for his Master: his condition,
Though it be ill, makes him no ill Physician.
75
None shall in hell such bitter pangs endure, 445
As those, who mock at God’s way of salvation.
Whom oil and balsams kill, what salve can cure?
They drink with greediness a full damnation.
The Jews refusèd thunder; and we, folly.
Though God do hedge us in, yet who is holy? 450
76
Sum up at night, what thou hast done by day;
And in the morning, what thou hast to do.
Dress and undress thy soul: mark the decay
And growth of it: if with thy watch, that too
Be down, then wind up both; since we shall be 455
Most surely judg’d, make thy accounts agree.
77
In brief, acquit thee bravely; play the man.
Look not on pleasures as they come, but go.
Defer not the least virtue: life’s poor span
Make not an ell, by trifling in thy woe. 460
If thou do ill; the joy fades, not the pains:
If well; the pain doth fade, the joy remains.
SUPERLIMINARE
Thou, whom the former precepts have
Sprinkled and taught, how to behave
Thyself in church; approach, and taste
The church’s mystical repast.
Avoid, Profaneness; come not here: 5
Nothing but holy, pure, and clear,
Or that which groaneth to be so,
May at his peril further go.
THE CHURCH
THE ALTAR.
A broken ALTAR, Lord, thy servant rears,
Made of a heart, and cemented with tears:
Whose parts are as thy hand did frame;
No workman’s tool hath touch’d the same.
A HEART alone 5
Is such a stone,
As nothing but
Thy pow’r doth cut.
Wherefore each part
Of my hard heart 10
Meets in this frame,
To praise thy name:
That if I chance to hold my peace,
These stones to praise thee may not cease.
O let thy blessed SACRIFICE be mine, 15
And sanctify this ALTAR to be thine.
THE SACRIFICE.
O, all ye, who pass by, whose eyes and mind
To worldly things are sharp, but to me blind;
To me, who took eyes that I might you find:
Was ever grief like mine?
The Princes of my people make a head 5
Against their Maker: they do wish me dead,
Who cannot wish, except I give them bread:
Was ever grief like mine?
Without me each one, who doth now me brave,
Had to this day been an Egyptian slave. 10
They use that power against me, which I gave:
Was ever grief, & c.
Mine own Apostle, who the bag did bear,
Though he had all I had, did not forbear
To sell me also, and to put me there: 15
Was ever grief, & c.
For thirty pence he did my death devise,
Who at three hundred did the ointment prize,
Not half so sweet as my sweet sacrifice:
Was ever grief, & c. 20
Therefore my soul melts, and my heart’s dear treasure
Drops blood (the only beads) my words to measure:
O let this cup pass, if it be thy pleasure:
Was ever grief, & c.
These drops being tempered with a sinner’s tears, 25
A Balsam are for both the Hemispheres:
Was ever grief, & c.
Yet my Disciples sleep: I cannot gain
One hour of watching; but their drowsy brain 30
Comforts not me, and doth my doctrine stain:
Was ever grief, & c.
Arise, arise, they come. Look how they run.
Alas! what haste they make to be undone!
How with their lanterns do they seek the sun! 35
Was ever grief, & c.
With clubs and staves they seek me, as a thief,
Who am the way of truth, the true relief;
Most true to those, who are my greatest grief:
Was ever grief, & c. 40
Judas, dost thou betray me with a kiss?
Canst thou find hell about my lips? and miss
Of life, just at the gates of life and bliss?
Was ever grief like mine?
See, they lay hold on me, not with the hands 45
Of faith, but fury: yet at their commands
I suffer binding, who have loos’d their bands:
Was ever grief, & c.
All my Disciples fly; fear puts a bar
Betwixt my friends and me. They leave the star, 50
That brought the wise men of the East from far.
Was ever grief, & c.
Then from one ruler to another bound
They lead me; urging, that it was not sound
What I taught: Comments would the text confound. 55
Was ever grief, & c.
The Priest and rulers all false witness seek
‘Gainst him, who seeks not life, but is the meek
And ready Paschal Lamb of this great week:
Was ever grief, & c. 60
Then they accuse me of great blasphemy,
That I did thrust into the Deity,
Who never thought that any robbery:
Was ever grief, & c.
Some said, that I the Temple to the floor 65
In three days razed, and raisèd as before.
Why, he that built the world can do much more:
Was ever grief, & c.
Then they condemn me all with that same breath,
Which I do give them daily, unto death. 70
Thus Adam my first breathing rendereth:
Was ever grief, & c.
They bind, and lead me unto Herod: he
Sends me to Pilate. This makes them agree;
But yet their friendship is my enmity: 75
Was ever grief, & c.
Herod and all his bands do set me light,
Who teach all hands to war, fingers to fight,
And only am the Lord of hosts and might:
Was ever grief, & c. 80
Herod in judgement sits, while I do stand;
Examines me with a censorious hand:
I him obey, who all things else command:
Was ever grief, & c.
The Jews accuse me with despitefulness; 85
George Herbert- Collected Poetical Works Page 4
