The World

When Adam first did from his Dust arise,
He did not see,
Nor could there be
A greater Joy before his Eys:
The Sun as bright for me doth shine;
The Spheres abov
Do shew his Lov,
While they to kiss the Earth incline,
The Stars as great a Service do;
The Moon as much I view
As Adam did, & all God's Works divine
Are Glorious still, & Mine.

Sin spoil'd them; but my Savior's precious Blood
Sprinkled I see
On them to be,
Making them all both safe & good:
With greater Rapture I admire
That I from Hell
Redeem'd, do dwell
On Earth as yet; and here a Fire
Not scorching but refreshing glows,
And living Water flows,
Which Dives more than Silver doth request,
Of Crystals far the best.

What shal I render unto thee, my God,
For teaching me
The Wealth to see
Which doth enrich thy Great Abode?
My virgin-thoughts in Childhood were
Full of Content,
And innocent,
Without disturbance, free & clear,
Ev'n like the Streams of Crystal Springs,
Where all the curious things
Do from the bottom of the Well appear
When no filth or mud is there.

For so when first I in the Sumer-fields
Saw golden Corn
The Earth adorn,
(This day that Sight its Pleasure yields)
No Rubies could more take mine Ey;
Nor Pearls of price,
By man's Device
In Gold set artificially,
Could of more worth appear to me,
How rich soe'r they be
By men esteem'd; nor could these more be mine
That on my finger shine.

The azure Skies did with so sweet a smile,
Their Curtains spread
Abov my Head
And with its hight mine Ey beguile;
So lovly did the distant Green
That fring'd the field
Appear, & yield
Such pleasant Prospects to be seen
From neighb'ring Hills; no precious Stone,
Or Crown, or Royal Throne,
Which do bedeck the Richest Indian Lord,
Could such Delight afford.

The Sun, that gilded all the bordering Woods,
Shone from the Sky
To beautify
My Earthly & my Hevenly Goods;
Exalted in his Throne on high,
He shed his Beams
In golden Streams
That did illustrat all the Sky;
Those Floods of Light, his nimble Rays,
Did fill the glitt'ring Ways,
While that unsufferable piercing Ey
The Ground did glorify.

The choicest Colors, Yellow, Green, & Blew
Did all this Court
In comly Sort
With mixt varieties bestrew;
Like Gold with Emeralds between;
As if my God
From his Abode
By these intended to be seen.
And so He was: I Him descry'd
In's Works, the surest Guide
Dame Nature yields; His Lov, His Life doth there
For evermore appear.

No House nor Holder in this World did I
Observ to be;
What I did see
Seem'd all Mine Own; wherin did ly
A Mine, a Garden, of Delights;
Pearls were but Stones;
And great King's Thrones,
Compared with such Benefits,
But empty Chairs; a Crown, a Toy
Scarce apt to pleas a Boy.
All other are but petty trifling Shews,
To that which God bestows.

A Royal Crown, inlaid with precious Stones,
Did less surprize
The Infant-Eys
Of many other little Ones,
Than the great Beauties of this Frame,
Made for my sake,
Mine Eys did take,
Which I Divine, & Mine, do name.
Surprizing Joys beyond all Price
Compos'd a Paradise,
Which did my Soul to lov my God enflame,
And ever doth the same.