Her lovely nest; and where the new-born brier Breathes forth the sweetness that her April yields:

Come, come, my lovely fair, and let us try

These rural delicates; where thou and I May melt in private flames, and fear no stander-by.

Soul. My heart's eternal joy, in lieu of whom The earth's a blast, and all the world's a bubble; Our city-mansion is the fairest home,

But country sweets are ting'd with lesser trou

ble:

Let's try them both, and choose the better; come; A change in pleasure makes the pleasure double; On thy commands depends my go or tarry, I'll stir with Martha, or I'll stay with Mary: Our hearts are firmly fit, altho' our pleasures vary.

Ch. Our country-mansion (situate on high)
With various objects, still renews delight;
Her arched roof's of unstain'd ivory:
Her walls of fiery-sparkling chrysolite;
Her pavement is of hardest porphyry;

Her spacious windows are all glaz'd with bright And flaming carbuncles; no need require Titan's faint rays, or Vulcan's feeble fire; And ev'ry gate's a pearl; and ev'ry pearl entire.

Soul. Fool that I was! how were my thoughts

deceiv'd!

How falsely was my fond conceit possess'd! I took it for an hermitage, but pav'd

And daub'd with neighb'ring dirt, and thatch'd at best.

Alas! I ne'er expected more nor crav'd
A turtle; hop'd but for a turtle's nest:

Come, come, my dear, and let no idle stay Neglect th' advantage of the head-strong day; How pleasure grates, that feels the curb of dull delay!

Ch. Come, then, my joy; let our divided paces Conduct us to our fairest territory;

O there we'll twine our souls in sweet embraces; Soul. And in thine arms I'll tell my passion's

story;

Ch. O there I'll crown thy head with all my graces; Soul. And all those graces shall reflect thy glory: Ch. O there I'll feed thee with celestial manna;

I'll be thy Elkanah. Soul. And I, thy Hannah. Ch. I'll sound my trump of joy. Soul. And I'll resound Hosannah.

S. BERN.

O blessed contemplation! the death of vices, and the life of virtues! thee the law and the prophets admire: who ever attained perfection, if not by thee? O blessed solitude, the magazine of celestial treasure! by thee, things earthly and transitory are changed into heavenly and eternal.

S. BERN. in Ep.

Happy is that house, and blessed is that congregation, where Martha still complaineth of Mary.

EPIG. 7.

Mechanic soul, thou must not only do

With Martha, but with Mary ponder too: Happy's that house where these fair sisters vary ; But most, when Martha's reconcil'd to Mary.

Draw me; we will run after thee because of the savour of thy good ointments.

THUS, like a lump of the corrupted mass,
I lie secure, long lost before I was:

And like a block, beneath whose burthen lies
That undiscover'd worm that never dies,

I have no will to rouse, I have no power to rise.

P

Can stinking Lazarus compound or strive
With death's entangling fetters, and revive?
Or can the water-buried axe implore

A hand to raise it, or itself restore,

[shore. And from her sandy deeps approach the dry-foot

So hard's the task for sinful flesh and blood
To lend the smallest step to what is good,
My God! I cannot move the least degree:
Ah! if but only those that active be,
[see.
None should thy glory see, none should thy glory

But, if the potter please t' inform the clay:
Or some strong hand remove the block away:
Their lowly fortunes soon are mounted higher;
That proves a vessel, which before was mire;
And this, being hewn, may serve for better use
than fire.

And if that life-restoring voice command
Dead Laz'rus forth; or that great Prophet's hand
Should charm the sullen waters, and begin
To beckon, or to dart a stick but in, [again.
Dead Laz'rus must revive, and the axe must float

LORD, as I am, I have no pow'r at all

To hear thy voice, or echo to thy call;

The gloomy clouds of mine own guilt benight me; Thy glorious beams, not dainty sweets, invite me; They neither can direct, nor these at all delight me.