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THOMAS HEYWOOD.

SEARCH AFTER GOD.

I SOUGHT thee round about, O thou my God!
In thine abode.

I said unto the earth, "Speak, art thou he?"
She answer'd me,

"I am not."—I enquired of creatures all,

In general,

Contain❜d therein;-they with one voice proclaim, That none amongst them challenged such a name.

I ask'd the seas, and all the deeps below,
My God to know.

I ask'd the reptiles, and whatever is
In the abyss;

Even from the shrimp to the leviathan
Enquiry ran:

But in those deserts which no line can sound,
The God I sought for was not to be found.

I ask'd the air, if that were he? but,
It told me No.

I from the towering eagle to the wren,
Demanded then,

If any feather'd fowl 'mongst them were such?
But they all, much

Offended with my question, in full quire,

Answered," To find thy God thou must look higher."

I ask'd the heavens, sun, moon, and stars, but they Said, "We obey

The God thou seek'st."-I ask'd, what eye or ear
Could see or hear;

What in the world I might descry or know
Above, below:

-With

an unanimous voice, all these things said,

"We are not God, but we by him were made."

I ask'd the world's great universal mass,
If that God was?

Which with a mighty and strong voice replied,
As stupified,

I am not he, O man! for know that I,
By him on high,

Was fashion'd first of nothing, thus instated,
And sway'd by him, by whom I was created."

I sought the court; but smooth-tongued flattery there

Deceived each ear:

In the throng'd city there was selling, buying,
Swearing, and lying;

I' the country, craft in simpleness array'd :
And then I said,

"Vain is my search, although my pains be great

Where my God is there can be no deceit."

A scrutiny within myself I, then,

Even thus began:

"O man, what art thou ?"-What more could I

Than dust and clay?

Frail, mortal, fading, a mere puff, a blast,

That cannot last;

Enthroned to-day, to-morrow in an urn;
Form'd from that earth to which I must return.

I ask'd myself, what this great God might be
That fashion'd me?

I answer'd-the all-potent, solely immense,
Surpassing sense;

Unspeakable, inscrutable, eternal,
Lord over all;

The only terrible, strong, just, and true,
Who hath no end, and no beginning knew.

He is the well of life, for he doth give
To all that live,

Both breath and being: he is the Creator
Both of the water,

say,

Earth, air, and fire. Of all things that subsist,
He hath the list;

Of all the heavenly host, or what earth claims,
He keeps the scroll, and calls them by their names.

And now, my God, by thine illumining grace,
Thy glorious face,

(So far forth as it may discover'd be,)

Methinks I see;

And though invisible and infinite,

To human sight,

Thou, in thy mercy, justice, truth, appearest; In which to our weak senses thou comest nearest.

O make us apt to seek, and quick to find,
Thou God, most kind!

Give us love, hope and faith in thee to trust,
Thou God, most just!

Remit all our offences, we intreat;

Most Good, most Great!

Grant that our willing, though unworthy quest May, through thy grace, admit us 'mongst the blest.

LIMITS OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE.

To rip up God's great counsels who shall strive, Or search how far his hidden works extend? Into the treasure of his wonders dive,

Or think his majesty to comprehend? These things are granted unto none alive.

For how can such as know not their own end, Nor can of their beginning reason show, Presume his power and might unspeakable to know?

If of thyself thou canst no reason show,
By all the understanding thou canst claim,
How in the womb thou first began'st to grow,
Or how thy life into thy body came-
Yet all these things to be we see and know,
They lie before us, and we give them name:
But, if we cannot show the reason why,

How can we search the mysteries of the most High?

Number we may as well the things to come,
Gather the scatter'd drops of the last rain,
The sands that are upon the shores to sum,
Or make the wither'd flowers grow fresh again;

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