The Lord borne on the ass.

Does He, base ass, thus deign to honour thee,
Unworthy thus to bear th' incarnate God?

Alas, Thy patience strangely tried I see,

Thee carried thus who bear'st sin's awful load! B.

ANOTHER RENDERING.

A common ass does the Lord dignify?

O, how unworthy such a burden high!

With the Lord's patience, ah, what can compare?

So to be borne, this also was to bear.

R. WI.

LXXXVII.

Videbunt Filium hominis venientem in nube. Luc. xxi. 27.

Immo, veni: aërios, ô Christe, accingere currus,

Inque triumphali nube coruscus ades.

Nubem quaeris erunt nostra, ah! suspiria nubes:
Aut sol in nubem se dabit ipse tuam.

They shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud.
Come, yoke Thy chariots of the air, O Lord;
Triumphal honours let bright clouds afford.
Dost seek a cloud? Our sighs a cloud will be,
Or the sun melt into a cloud for Thee.

LXXXVIII.

Nisi digitum immisero, &c. Joan. xx. 25.

G.

Impius ergo iterum clavos? iterum impius hastam ?
Et totum digitus triste revolvet opus?
Tune igitur Christum, Thoma, quo vivere credas,
In Christum faceres, ah truculente! mori?

CHRIST TO THOMAS.

Except I shall put my finger, d'c.

Thy impious finger, would it, then, re-borrow

The nails, the spear, each circumstance of sorrow?

That on a living Christ thou mayst rely,
Cruel, wouldst thou thy Christ re-crucify?

LXXXIX.

Ad Judaeos mactatores S. Stephani. Act. vi. 9-12.
Quid datis, ah miseri saxis nolentibus iras?
Quid nimis in tragicum praecipitatis opus?
In mortem Stephani se dant invita: sed illi
Occiso faciunt sponte sua tumulum.

To the Jews stoning St. Stephen.
Wretches, do ye put rage into cold stones?
Why rush so eagerly to work so vile?
Your stones unwilling add to Stephen's moans,
But gladly heap a tomb for him the while.

XC.

Sancto Joanni dilecto discipulo.

G.

Tu fruere, augustoque sinu caput abde, quod ô tum
Nollet in aeterna se posuisse rosa.

Tu fruere; et sacro dum te sic pectore portat,
O sat erit tergo me potuisse vehi.

To St. John the beloved disciple.

Upon His breast thy happy head reposes,

G.

Nor would that pillow change for Heaven's own roses :

While thus His bosom bears up happy thee,
To press His shoulders were enough for me.

XCI.

In lactentes martyres. Matt. ii. 16, 17.

Vulnera natorum qui vidit et ubera matrum,
Per pueros fluviis, ah! simul ire suis:
Sic pueros quisquis vidit, dubitavit an illos
Lilia coelorum diceret, anne rosas.

Upon the infant martyrs.

To see both blended in one flood,

The mothers' milk, the childrens' blood,

Makes me doubt if Heaven will gather

Roses hence, or lillies rather.

ANOTHER RENDERING.

Who saw the infants' blood and milk of mother

Flowing, alas, in a commingl'd tide, Doubtingly ask'd, and gaz'd from one to other, Whether Heav'n's rose or lily they espy'd.

XCII.

Deus nobiscum. Matt. i. 23.

G.

CR.

G.

Nobiscum Deus est? vestrum hoc est, hei mihi! vestrum :
Vobiscum Deus est, ô asini atque boves.
Nobiscum non est; nam nos domus aurea sumit:
Nobiscum Deus est, et jacet in stabulo?
Hoc igitur nostrum ut fiat, dulcissime Jesu,
Nos dandi stabulis, vel tibi danda domus.

His en primitias n ́strac, Pater, accipe n›itis ;

Vit an ex pas empi, vivere de HHL

Ina, Pater, trade pluvia

Olim ibit fluviis 1.

ustaverit ista:

latus omne suis.

Tue sitiat livet et sitiat, bibet et bibet us que :

Tune teit toto fonte superba frui.

Nane hastae interea possit praeludere culter:
Indolis in poenas spes erit ista meae.!

XCIV.

In Epiphaniam Domini. Matt. ii. 2.

Non solita contenta dies face lucis Eoae,

Ecce micat radiis caesariata novis.

Porsa sagax, propera: discurre per ardua regum
Tecta, per auratas marmoreasque domus :

1 For Crashaw's own full rendering of this epigram, see our vol. i. pp. 15-9. G.

Quaere ô, quae intepuit Reginae purpura partu;
Principe vagitu quae domus insonuit.
Audin' Persa sagax? Qui tanta negotia coelo
Fecit, Bethlemiis vagiit in stabulis.

The Epiphany of our Lord.

Scorning her wonted herald, lo, the Day
Now decks her forehead with a brighter ray.
Sage Persian, haste; ask where high roofs unfold
Their royal wealth of marble and of gold;
In what rich couch an Empress-mother lies;
What halls have heard a new-born Prince's cries.
Wouldst know, sage Persian? He for whom Heaven

keeps

Such festival, in Bethlehem's manger weeps.

CL.

XCV.

Ecce quaerebamus te, &c. Luc. ii. 49.

Te quaero misera, et quaero: tu nunc quoque tractas Res Patris; Pater est unica cura tibi.

Quippe quod ad poenas tantum et tot nomina mortis, Ad luctum et lacrymas, hei mihi! mater ego.

Lo, we have sought Thee, dc.

I seek Thee mourning, and I seek again :

Thou still Thy Father's business dost attend;

And me, alas, sad mother of all pain,

Of grief and tears, Thou surely wilt befriend. G.