Their parents' love and care they overlook, They take the counsels of the wanton, rather They'll jostle parents out of place and power, But, wretched Child, how canst thou thus requite Thy mother, long before she brought thee forth, Took care thou should'st want neither food nor cloth. Thy father glad was at his very heart, But now, behold! how they rewarded are, They brought this bird up to pick out their eyes. A SHEET OF WHITE PAPER. THIS Paper's handled by the sons of men, COMPARISON. Some Souls are like unto this Blank, or Sheet, (Though not in whiteness;) the next man they meet, Be what he will, a good man or deluder, A kuave or fool, the dangerous intruder May write thereon, to cause that man to err, In doctrine, or in life, with blot or blur. Nor will that soul conceal wherein it swerves, But shew itself to each one that observes. A reading man may know who was writer, And, by the hellish nonsense, the inditer. THE FIRE. WHо falls into the fire shall burn with heat, COMPARISON. While some tormented are in hell for sin, On earth some greatly do delight therein. Yea, while some make it echo with their cry, Others count it a fable and a lie. END OF THE EMBLEMS. A CAUTION TO STIR UP TOWATCH AGAINST SIN. THE first eight lines oue did commend to me, I. SIN will at first just like a beggar crave, It will come in, and may go out no more. 11. SIN, rather than 't will out of action be, Will beg to stay, though a short space, with thee. One night, one hour, one moment, will it cry; Embrace me in thy bosom or I die! Time to repent (saith it) I will allow : And help if to repent thou know'st not how. But if you give it entrance at the door, It will come in, and may go out no more. III. If begging doth not do, SIN promise will Rewards to those that shall its lusts fulfil; Some pence, yea, and some pounds, 't will offer thee, If at its beck and motion thou wilt be. "Twill seem to out-bid heaven, thy love to gain; But give it not admittance at thy door, IV. If promising and begging will not do, But if you give it entrance at the door, V. Rather than fail, SIN will itself divide : VI. SIN, if you will believe it, will accuse What is not hurtful, and itself excuse: "Twill make a vice of virtue, and 'twill say, Good is destructive, doth men's souls betray; 'Twill make a law where God has made man free, And break those laws by which men bounded be. Look to thyself then, keep it out of door, Thee 't would entangle, and enlarge thy score. VII. SIN is that beastly thing that will defile Both soul and body in a little while: "Twill make him who some time God's image was, Look like the devil, love and plead his cause; Like to the plague, poison, or leprosy, It will defile and spread contagiously. Wherefore, beware; against it, shut the door; SIN, once possessed of the heart, will play The tyrant, force its vassal to obey: "Twill make thee thine own happiness oppose: That love thee best: yea, make thee to defy Beware then, keep this tyrant out of door, SIN harden can thy heart against thy God, Judgments forseen will not deter the soul; X. SIN is a prison, hath its bolts and chains, Brings into bondage whom it entertains; Hangs shackles on him, bends him to his will, Holds him as Sampson, grinding at the mill; "Twill blind him, make him deaf; yea, 'twill him gag, And ride him as the devil rides his hag. Wherefore look to it, keep it out of door; If once its slave, thou may'st be free no more. G |