Religion

These Asclepiads of Mr. H. S. translated and enlarged

by Phineas Fletcher 1582–1650

Translated by Phineas Fletcher (1633) · From Poeticall Miscellanies (1633)

Religion

Nè Verbum mihi sit mortua Litera,
Nec Christi Meritum Gratia vanida;
Sed Verbum fatuo sola Scientia,
Et Christus misero sola Redemptio.

UNletter'd Word, which never eare could heare;
Unwritten Word which never eye could see,
Yet syllabled in flesh-spell'd character,
That so to senses thou might'st subject be;
Since thou in bread art stampt, in print art read,
Let not thy print-stampt Word to me be dead.

Thou all-contriving, all-deserving Spirit,
Made flesh to die, that so thou might'st be mine,
That thou in us, and we in thee might merit,
We thine, thou ours; thou humane, we divine;
Let not my dead lifes merit, my dead heart
Forfeit so deare a purchas'd deaths desert.

Thou Sunne of wisdome, knowledge infinite,
Made folly to the wise, night to prophane;
Be I thy Moon, oh let thy sacred light
Increase to th' full, and never, never wane:
Wise folly set in me, fond wisdome rise,
Make me renounce my wisdome, to be wise.

Thou Life eternall, purest blessednesse,
Made mortal, wretched, sinne it self for me;
Shew me my death, my sin, my wretchednesse,
That I may flourish, shine, and live in thee:
So I with praise shall sing thy life, deaths storie,
O thou my Merit, Life, my Wisdome, Glorie.

✦ ✦ ✦

The Latin Asclepiad quatrain is by H. S.; the English verses are Phineas Fletcher's own translation, 'translated and enlarged'.

MLA

Fletcher, Phineas. “These Asclepiads of Mr. H. S. translated and enlarged.” Translated by Phineas Fletcher. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/fletcher_p/28/.

Chicago

Fletcher, Phineas. “These Asclepiads of Mr. H. S. translated and enlarged.” Translated by Phineas Fletcher. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/fletcher_p/28/.

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