QUARLES's EMBLEMS,

BOOK 5. N° 14.

How amiable are thy Tabernacles, O God of Hofts! Palm Lxxxiv. 1.

A

NCIENT of Days, to whom all Times are Now,

Before whofe glory feraphims do bow

Their blufhing cheeks, and veil their blemish'd faces, That, uncontain'd, at once doft fill all places; How glorious, O how far beyond the height Of puzzled quills, or the obtufe conceit Of flesh and blood, or the too flat reports Of mortal tongues are they expreflefs courts; Whofe Glory to paint forth with greater art, Ravish my fancy, and inspire my heart; Excufe my bold attempt, and pardon me For fhewing fenfe, what faith alone fhould

A fee.

B

Ten

Ten thousand millions, and ten thousand

more

Of angel-meafur'd leagues, from th' eaftern fhore

Of dungeon earth, his glorious palace ftands, Before whofe pearly gates ten thousand band's Of armed angels wait to entertain

Thofe purged fouls, for which the Lamb was flain;

Whose guiltless death and voluntary yielding Of whofe giv'n life, gave the brave court her building;

The lukewarm blood of this dear Lamb, being fpilt,

To Rubies turn'd, whereof her posts were built;

And what dropp'd down in a kind gelid gore, Did turn rich Sapphires, and did pave her floor:

The brighter flames, that from his eye-balls ray'd,

Grew Chryfolites, whereof her walls were made:

The milder glances sparkled on the ground,
And groundfil'd ev'ry door with Diamond;
But dying, darted upwards, and did fix
A battlement of pureft Sardonyx.

Her ftreets with burnifh'd Gold are paved round:

Stars lie like pebbles scatter'd on the ground:

Pearl

Pearl mixt with Onyx, and the Jasper stone,
Made gravel'd causeways to be trampled on.
There Thines no fun by day, no moon by
night;

The palace glory is, the palace light:
There is no time to measure motion by,
There time is fwallow'd in eternity:
Wry-mouth'd difdain, and corner-hunting
luft,

And twy-fac'd fraud, and beetle-brow'd
diftruft,

Soul-boiling rage, and trouble-ftate fedition,
And giddy doubt, and goggle-ey'd fufpicion,
And lumpifh forrow, and degen'rous fear,
Are banifh'd thence, and death's a stranger
there :

But fimple love, and fempiternal Joys,
Whose sweetness neither gluts, nor fulness
cloys;

Where face to face our ravish'd eye fhall fee
Great ELOHIM, that glorious One in
Three,

And Three in One, and seeing him shall bless
him,

And bleffing love him, and in love poffefs
him,
Here ftay, my foul, and, ravifh'd in relation
Thy words being spent, spend now in con-
templation.

St. GREG. in Pfal. 7. pœnitent, Sweet Jefus, the Word of the Father, the brightness of paternal glory, whom angels delight to view, teach me to do thy will, that led by thy good Spirit, I may come to that blef fed city, where day is eternal, where there is certain fecurity, and fecure eternity, and eternal peace, and peaceful happiness, and happy fweetness, and fweet pleasure; where. thou, O God, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, liveft and reignet world without end.

Ibidem.

There is light without darkness; jay without grief; defire without punishment; love without fadness; fatiety without loathing; fafety without fear; health without disease, and life without death.

My foul, pry not too nearly; the complexion Of Sol's bright face is feen by the reflection: But would't thou know what's heav'n? I'll tell thee what,

Think what thou canst not think, and heav'n is that, i

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