Ver. Dost thou to ruling stars dispense

What virtue, they diffuse,
Such seafons here to influence,

As thou, forfooth, shalt chuse?

SONG LXXXII.
Quest. 13. Concerning the Formation and Renovation
of the Soul, or intellectual Spirit, in Man.

Job xxxviii. 36.
WHO knowledge did to man impart,

That ray of light divine ?
Who did with wisdom fill his heart?

Was this thy work, or mine?
To man a noble soul is giv'n

With shining pow'r supply'd ;
More bright than all the stars of heav'n,

To angels fair ally'd.
The fun above the light doth bring,

Though seen in air below;
From light divine the foul doth spring,

Her pow'rs in Aesh to show.
The God of nature did impart

This intellectual mind;
The God of grace renews the heart,
With light and fight refin'd.

SONG LXXXIII.
A Digression concerning the Soul's SPIRITUALITY
and its NATURE; quite distinct from tbe Body and
its senses. A number of Proofs and Demonstrations

bereof *.
MAN's soul, while in the felh he lives,

Her pow'r doth exercise
Within the body, yet survives

Although the body dies.
She's by herself an active thing,

That hath a working might;
Which not from sense's pow'r doth spring,

Nor yet from humour's spright. * See Sir John Davies's Poem on this Subje&.

Were she the bodies quality,

She might be fick and blind;
But in decaying flesh we see

A perfect healthy mind.
When in th'effects the cause she sees,

From fruits the roots doth know;
Her views not from her body's eyes,

But from her own do flow.
When swifter than the light’nings Ay,

Her thoughts from east to west,
And round the centre, 'bove the sky,

Move, though the body rest :
When first her works she forms within,

And sees her perfect end,
Ere she to act at all begin ;

No aid can fenfes lend.
When without hands fhe builds up tow'rs,

And without feet doth run;
Sees without eyes, by her own pow'rs

These miracles are done.
When se on vice and virtue thinks,

Considers general things;
And from known truths, in divers links,

A right conclusion brings :
These actions by herself alone

Retir'd she does fulfil;
Of all her body's organs none

Can aid her wit or will.
Yet lhe in flesh imprison'd lies,

Must thrvugh its windows look,
Her pow’rs of sense to exercise,

And read the world's great book. Though scarce the soul can judge of ought,

But what the sense home brings ;
Yet judging pow'rs, and what's thus brought,

Are vastly diff'rent things.
Our eyes can nought but colours see,

Yet colours give not fight;
The soul, when seen her objects be,

Views them by her own light.

Workmen, øn stuff their skill to show,

The stuff ne'er gave them skill;
No more, from objects seen, can flow

Soul pow'rs to act or will.
Yea, oft to check the sense she's sure,

Nor when it errs agrees;
But crosses it; for, with a pow'r,

Above the sense she sees.
No sense the holy joys conceives

Which in her closets be;
The ravish'd soul her senses leaves,

And hath her motions free.
Her distinct nature shines in this,

That her choice works alone
She works : this nature's touch-stone is,

Things by their works are known.
But why the soul and sense divide,

When sense is but a pow'r, The foul extends on ev'ry fide,

Her objects to explore ?
Mere sense cannot one thought command;

For eyes and ears perceive
No more than glasses understand,

What faces they receive.
Souls guide the fight; for, chance but we

To fix our thoughts elsewhere ;
. Our eyes, though open, cannot see,

But, like a statue, stare.
i And, if one pow'r, which senses bound,

Did not both hear and see ;
Then, most confus’d, our sight and sound

Would always double be.
The foul then sense's pow'r contains,

Within a greater pow's,
Which still employs the sense's pains,

But rules in her own bow'r,
Heav'n in man's foul these pow'rs did grave,

Ev'n her's alone to be ;
On earth no other creatures have
These heav'nly pow’rs but we.]

Ver. WHO

SONG LXXXIV.
Quest. 14. About staying the clouds, or stopping the

Rain. Job xxxviii. 37, 38.
JHO can the clouds vast number tell,
37 That spread from pole to pole?
Who can their falling rain repel,

When pouring out their bowl?
38 When rain enough hath drench'd the clay,

And clos'd the cleaving clods,
Whose hand can heav'n's full bottle stay?
Tell; is it thine, or God's?

SONG LXXXV.
Quest. 15. Concerning Provision for the Lions and

Ravens, Job xxxviii. 39, 40, 41. 39 WILD beails in forests, and in fens,

Whole proper care are they? 40 The lions old that lurk in dens, The young

that wait their prey ?
41 Who feeds the ravens and their brood,

When, unto God they cry,
And wander far for lack of food ?
Say; is it you, or I ?

SONG LXXXVI.
Quest. 16. About the wild Goats and the Hinds.

Job xxxix. 1,-4.
Now'st thou the time wild goats bring forth

The increase of their flock ?
The time when they commit their birth

Unto the flinty rock ?
2 Canst thou declare the months how long

The pregnant hinds complete?
And when to calve, or caft their young,

They to the brakes retreat ?
3 Ia pangs they bow themselves, the wood

Affords them no relief?
Yet there, at once, they both exclude

Their offspring and their grief.

KN

Ver. Their calves go seek their meat, and find,
4 In ranging hill and wood,
Their fatning curn; nor to the hind

Return for want of food.

SONG LXXXVII.
Quest

. 17 Concerning the wild Afs. Job xxxix. 5,-8. 5 WHO did to the wild ass’s heart,

That knows no bit or rein,
A sense of liberty impart,

All drivers to dildain?
6 The tame ass is to labour bound,

But Itill the wild is free ;
His house I made the desart round,

His home the barren lee.
7 He fcorns the city's multitude,

Refuses to be driven;
8 The range of mountains for his food,

And piles of grass are given.
With freedom bless'd he roves apace,

And ne'er the defart quits,
But mocks the tame and Itupid ass,

That his base neck submits.

SONG LXXXVIII.
Quest. 18 Concerning what is called obe Unicorn.

Job xxxix. 9; -12.
9 WILL th’unicorn, or savage bull,

The bealt of pow'r and pride,
Tame to thy service, bow his will,

Or by the crib abide ?
10 Will he thy yoke or labour bear,

And meekly lland in awe ?
Or with the plow thy furrows tear,

On vales thy harrows draw ?
11 Because in ftrength this rural king

Is mighty, wilt thou yield, 12 That he be trusted home to bring

Thy harvest from the field ?