That when Sin spies so many foes,
Thy whips, thy nails, thy wounds, thy woes,
All come to lodge there, Sin may say,
No room for me, and fly away.

Sin being gone, O fill the place,
And keep possession with thy grace ;
Lest sin take courage and return,
And all the writings blot or burn.

REDEMPTION.

HAVING been tenant long to a rich Lord,
Not thriving, I resolved to be bold,

And make a suit unto him, to afford
A new small-rented lease, and cancel th' old.

In Heaven at his manor I him sought:

They told me there, that he was lately gone About some land, which he had dearly bought Long since on earth, to take possession.

I straight return'd, and knowing his great birth,
Sought him accordingly in great resorts;
In cities, theatres, gardens, parks, and courts:
At length I heard a ragged noise and mirth

Of thieves and murderers: there I him espied,
Who straight, Your suit is granted, said, and died.

SEPULCHRE.

O BLESSED body! whither art thou thrown?
No lodging for thee, but a cold hard stone?
So many hearts on earth, and yet not one
Receive thee?

Sure there is room within our hearts good store;
For they can lodge transgressions by the score:
Thousands of toys dwell there, yet out of door
They leave thee.

But that which shows them large, shows them unfit.
Whatever sin did this pure rock commit,

Which holds thee now? Who hath indited it

Of murder?

Where our hard hearts took up of stones to brain thee, And missing this, most falsely did arraign thee;

Only these stones in quiet entertain thee,

And order.

And as of old, the Law by heavenly art
Was writ in stone; so thou, which also art
The letter of the word, find'st no fit heart

To hold thee.

Yet do we still persist as we began,

And so should perish, but that nothing can,
Though it be cold, hard, foul, from loving man
Withhold thee.

EASTER.

RISE, heart; thy Lord is risen. Sing his praise
Without delays,

Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise
With him may'st rise:

That, as his death calcined thee to dust,

His life may make thee gold, and much more, Just.

Awake, my lute, and struggle for thy part

With all thy art.

The cross taught all wood to resound his name

Who bore the same.

His stretched sinews taught all strings, what key
Is best to celebrate this most high day.

Consort both heart and lute, and twist a song
Pleasant and long:

Or since all music is but three parts vied,
And multiplied;

O let thy blessed Spirit bear a part,
And make up our defects with his sweet art.

I GOT me flowers to strew thy way;
I got me boughs off many a tree:
But thou wast up by break of day,

And brought'st thy sweets along with thee.

The Sun arising in the East,

Though he give light, and th' East perfume;

If they should offer to contest

With thy arising, they presume.

Can there be any day but this,

Though many suns to shine endeavour ?
We count three hundred, but we miss :
There is but one, and that one ever.

EASTER WINGS.

LORD, WHO CREATEDST MAN IN WEALTH AND STORE, THOUGH FOOLISHLY HE LOST THE SAME,

DECAYING MORE AND MORE,

TILL HE BECAME

MOST POOR :

WITH THEE

OH LET ME RISE

AS LARKS, HARMONIOUSLY,

AND SING THIS DAY THY VICTORIES:

THEN SHALL THE FALL FURTHER THE FLIGHT IN ME.

MY TENDER AGE IN SORROW DID BEGIN:

AND STILL WITH SICKNESSES AND SHAME

THOU DID'ST SO PUNISH SIN,

THAT I BECAME

MOST THIN.

WITH THEE

LET ME COMBINE,

AND FEEL THIS DAY THY VICTORY,

FOR, IF I IMP MY WING ON THINE,

AFFLICTION SHALL ADVANCE THE FLIGHT IN ME.

HOLY BAPTISM.

As he that sees a dark and shady grove,
Stays not, but looks beyond it on the sky;
So when I view my sins, mine eyes remove
More backward still, and to that water fly,

Which is above the heavens, whose spring and vent
Is in my dear Redeemer's pierced side.
O blessed streams! either ye do prevent
And stop our sins from growing thick and wide,

Or else give tears to drown them, as they grow. In you Redemption measures all my time, And spreads the plaster equal to the crime : You taught the book of life my name, that so,

Whatever future sins should me miscall,
Your first acquaintance might discredit all.

HOLY BAPTISM.

SINCE, Lord, to thee

A narrow way and little gate

Is all the passage, on my infancy

Thou didst lay hold, and antedate

My faith in me.

O let me still

Write thee great God, and me a child :