In balmy showrs;

O fill our senses, And take from vs

All force of so Prophane a Fallacy

To think ought sweet but that which smells of Thee.
Fair, flowry Name; In none but Thee

And Thy Nectareall Fragrancy,

Hourly there meetes

An vniuersall SYNOD of All sweets;
By whom it is defined Thus

That no Perfume

For euer shall presume

To passe for Odoriferous,

But such alone whose sacred Pedigree

Can proue it Self some kin (sweet name) to Thee.
SWEET NAME, in Thy each Syllable

A Thousand Blest ARABIAS dwell;
A Thousand Hills of Frankincense;
Mountains of myrrh, & Beds of spices,
And ten Thousand PARADISES

The soul that tasts thee takes from thence.
How many vnknown WORLDS there are
Of Comforts, which Thou hast in keeping!
How many Thousand Mercyes there
In Pitty's soft lap ly a sleeping!
Happy he who has the art

To awake them,

And to take them

Home, & lodge them in his HEART.

O that it were as it was wont to be!

When thy old Freinds of Fire, All full of Thee,

Fought against Frowns with smiles; gaue Glorious chase
To Persecutions; And against the Face

Of DEATH & feircest Dangers, durst with Braue

And sober pace march on to meet A GRAVE.

On their Bold BRESTS about the world they bore thee

And to the Teeth of Hell stood vp to teach thee,

In Center of their inmost Soules they wore thee,

Where Rackes & Torments striu'd, in vain, to reach thee.
Little, alas, thought They

Who tore the Fair Brests of thy Freinds,

170

180

190

200

188 soul that] soules tastes 48 205 wore] ware 48

186 spices 48: species 52 thence. 48: thence 52 203 bore] bare 48

Their Fury but made way

For Thee; And seru'd therein Thy glorious ends.
What did Their weapons but with wider pores
Inlarge thy flaming-brested Louers

More freely to transpire

That impatient Fire

The Heart that hides Thee hardly couers.

What did their Weapons but sett wide the Doores
For Thee Fair, purple Doores, of loue's deuising;
The Ruby windowes which inrich't the EAST

Of Thy so oft repeated Rising.

Each wound of Theirs was Thy new Morning;

And reinthron'd thee in thy Rosy Nest,

With blush of thine own Blood thy day adorning,

It was the witt of loue o'reflowd the Bounds

Of WRATH, & made thee way through All Those WOVNDS.
Wellcome dear, All-Adored Name!

For sure there is no Knee

That knowes not THEE.

Or if there be such sonns of shame,
Alas what will they doe

When stubborn Rocks shall bow

And Hills hang down their Heaun-saluting Heads

To seek for humble Beds

Of Dust, where in the Bashfull shades of night
Next to their own low NOTHING they may ly,

And couch before the dazeling light of thy dread majesty.
They that by Loue's mild Dictate now

Will not adore thee,

Shall Then with Iust Confusion, bow

And break before thee.

210

220

230

IN

THE HOLY

NATIVITY

OF

OVR LORD GOD

A

HYMN

SVNG AS BY THE

SHEPHEARDS.

In the Holy Nativity &c. For version in 1646 and collation with MSS. see p. 106, above. 52 generally follows 48, with exceptions given below. Heading in 48: An Hymne of the Nativity, sung as by the Shepheards.

Quem vidistis Pastores? &c.

Natum vidimus &c.

THE

HYMN.

CHORVS.

Ome we shepheards whose blest Sight

Com

Hath mett loue's Noon in Nature's night;
Come lift we vp our loftyer Song

And wake the SVN that lyes too long.

To all our world of well-stoln joy

He slept; and dream't of no such thing.
While we found out Heaun's fairer ey

And Kis't the Cradle of our KING.
Tell him He rises now, too late
To show vs ought worth looking at.

Tell him we now can show Him more

Then He e're show'd to mortall Sight;
Then he Himselfe e're saw before;

Which to be seen needes not His light.
Tell him, Tityrus, where th'hast been
Tell him, Thyrsis, what th'hast seen.

Tityrus. Gloomy night embrac't the Place
Where The Noble Infant lay.

The BABE look't vp & shew'd his Face;
In spite of Darknes, it was DAY.

It was THY day, SWEET! & did rise
Not from the EAST, but from thine EYES.

Chorus It was THY day, Sweet

Thyrs. WINTER chidde aloud; & sent
The angry North to wage his warres.
The North forgott his feirce Intent;

And left perfumes in stead of scarres.
By those sweet eyes' persuasiue powrs..
Where he mean't frost, he scatter'd flowrs.

10

20

30

2 Noon] noone, 48 4 After this, 52 indents ll. 1, 3, and 5 of each stanza 16 Thyrsis 48: Thysis 52 th'hast] th-hast 52 23 Sweet] sweet, &c. 48 28 eyes'] eyes 48: eye's 52 (cp. l. 30)

Eyes, &c. 48

30 eyes']