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| NOW hath the great Creator, for man’s sake, | |
| The second Adam cast into a sleepe: | |
| Whiles of his heart-blood hee his spouse doth make, | |
| For whom his heart doth blood and water weepe: | |
| Which compound teares are turn’d to ioy intire; | 5 |
| For his heart-blood effects his heart’s desire. | |
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| Which deere desire was our deere spouse to haue, | |
| To be co-partner of his griefes and ioyes; | |
| Which when he wooke his God vnto him gaue, | |
| To comfort him in comforts and annoies; | 10 |
| Which when he saw, he held (most faire to se!) | |
| Flesh of his flesh, bone of his bones, to be! | |
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| Now hath the monster, flesh-devouring Death, | |
| Got him within his bowels: but though dead, | |
| Looke how a woman groaning languisheth | 15 |
| In childbirth till shee be delivered: | |
| So groaneth Death, who trauelleth in paine, | |
| Till of his charge he be discharg’d again. * * * * * | |
| O! that all spirits of high intelligence, | |
| By royall armies, would themselues immure | 20 |
| In my blunt braines; that by their confluence | |
| I might expresse with nectar’d phrases pure | |
| The praise that to this passion right pertaines, | |
| Whose sacred vertue sacred vertue staines! | |
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| The vertue of this passion is of pow’r | 25 |
| Reuenges red to change to mercies white: | |
| This passion’s vertue is so passing pure, | |
| That fowle to faire it turnes, and darke to light: | |
| The landmarke to true rest, when troubles tosse | |
| In sorrowes’ seas, is Christ vpon the crosse. | 30 |
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| Ye vnconfused orders angellick, | |
| In order come to take this blood effuz’d. | |
| Bring forth celestiall bowles, with motion quick, | |
| To which this pretious blood may be infuz’d: | |
| Let not one drop be lost of such rare blood, | 35 |
| That makes men passing bad exceeding good. | |
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| Couer this Aqua vitæ with your wings | |
| From touch of infidels and Jewes prophane: | |
| They haue no interest in this King of kings, | |
| Whose blood they suck’d, which blood will be their bane: | 40 |
| Make much thereof, sith but the least drop of it | |
| Is worth ten thousand worlds for price and profit. | |
| |
| Yet let poore-spirited conuerts drinke their fill, | |
| And swill their drie soules till with it they swell: | |
| Such diuine surfetting is wholesome still; | 45 |
| For noysome humors it doth quite expell. | |
| Yea, though with griefe they swell and breake with paine, | |
| Such griefe brings ioy, and makes them whole againe. | |
| |
| The elephants of yore, inur’d to warre, | |
| Before the fight some blood were vsed to see, | 50 |
| Which them incenst, the more to make them dare: | |
| Then if a beast shall not our better be, | |
| Sith Christ wee see quite drown’d thus in his blood, | |
| We must endure the racke as he the rood. | |
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| Fine founts he opens, whence doe gushing flow | 55 |
| Red seas to drowne our blacke Egyptian sinnes, | |
| That they no more may seeke our ouerthrow: | |
| Then should we goe, like Israell’s denizens, | |
| Through wasts of woes, orethrowing eu’ry let, | |
| Till we into the Land of Promise get. | 60 |
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