Religion
Emblem II.49: Shee shall increase in glory, still
From A Collection of Emblemes (1635), Book II
Shee shall increase in glory, still,
Vntill her light, the world, doth fill.
WHat in this Emblem, that mans meanings were,
Who made it first, I neither know nor care;
For, whatsoere, he purposed, or thought,
To serve my purpose, now it shall be taught;
Who, many times, before this Taske is ended,
Must picke out Moralls, where was none intended.
This knot of Moones (or Crescents) crowned thus,
Illustrate may a Mystery to us,
Of pious use (and, peradventure, such,
As fom old Hieroglyphicks, eres not much)
Old-times, upon the Moone, three names bstow'd;
Because, three diverse wayes, her selfe she show'd:
And, in the sacred-bookes, it may be showne,
That holy-Church, was figur'd by the Moone.
Then, these three Moones in one, may intimate
The holy-Churches threefold blest estate.
The Moone, still, biding in our Hemisphaere,
May typisie the Church, consisting, here,
Of mn, yet living: when she shewes her light
Among here, in portions of the night;
The Church it figures, as consist she may
Of them, whose bodies in the Grave doe stay;
And, whose blest spirits, are ascended thither,
Where Soule and Body meet, at last, together.
, when the Moone is hidden from our eyes,
The Church-triumphant, then, she signifies;
Which, is a Cresent yet, that, some, and some,
Must grow, till all her puts together come:
And, then, this Moone shall beames, at full, display;
LORD, hasten this great Coronation-day.
Cite this poem
MLA
Wither, George. “Emblem II.49: Shee shall increase in glory, still.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/wither/285/.
Chicago
Wither, George. “Emblem II.49: Shee shall increase in glory, still.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/wither/285/.
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