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ANONYMOUS.

THE INVITATION.

LORD, what unvalued pleasures crown'd
The days of old;

When thou wert so familiar found,
Those days were gold ;—

When Abram wish'd thou couldst afford With him to feast;

When Lot but said, "Turn in, my Lord," Thou wert his guest.

But, ah! this heart of mine doth pant,
And beat for thee;

Yet thou art strange, and wilt not grant
Thyself to me.

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O thou great ALPHA! King of kings!

Or bow to me,

Or lend my soul seraphic wings,
To get to thee.

THE FAREWELL.

METHINKS I draw but sickly breath:
Who knows but I

Before next night may sleeping lie,
Rock'd in the arms of death?

The swift-foot minutes pass away;
For Time hath wings,

That flag not for the breath of kings,
Nor brook the least delay.

And what a parcel of my sand

Is yet to pass,

Or what may break the crazy glass,
How shall I understand?

Then, base delights and dunghill joys!
Farewell, adieu!

While yet I live I'm dead to you,
And such-like toys.

I would not longer own a thought
That crawls so low,

Or lavish out my wishes so

In quest of less than nought.

My soul is winged with quick desires

То pass

the sky;

Nothing below what is most high
Allays those noble fires.

Lord, as the kindling is from thee,
So thine the breath

That must continue it, till death
Be dead and cease to be.

EMPLOYMENT.

MAN is a busy thing, and he
Will deal in all sorts of affairs,
Weighty and trivial; each may be,
The subject of his greatest cares:
But this shall my employment be,
Still to be busied, Lord, with thee.

Some are all spirit, and will fly
At nothing lower than a throne;
The proudest spires of dignity

They, in their hopes, have made their own:
But this shall my employment be,

To seek my honour all from thee.

Some that are sprung from coarser clay

Adore a paint-disguised face,

And daily their devotion pay
To spotted beasts, or else as base:
But this shall my employment be,
Duly to serve and wait on thee.

Some so enhance the price of gold,
They judge their souls to be but dross;
And are so saving, that they hold
The air, the breath, a mighty loss:
But this shall my employment be,
I will love nothing like to thee.

Some are so loyal to the book
Till they can criticise, and tell
How many steps old Time has took
Since our great father Adam fell:
But this shall my employment be,
Better to know myself and thee.

ADVICE.

PUT off the sinner, then put on the saint,
A rotten post doth not become the paint;
Who needs will tread a holy ground, 'tis meet
He leave his shoes behind, and wash his feet.

Seek not thy pleasure in another's shame,
Nor spoil the ointment of thy neighbour's name;
From nakedness the modest turn the head,
Who paddles in the dirt is but ill-bred.

Banish all baser fears, let them not rest
In the more noble mansion of thy breast;
Who is a bondsman unto slavish fears,
His conscience at another's pleasure wears.

Fly such as frolic it in cups of wine,
Why should another's health endanger thine?

The drunkard is a vessel weakly mann'd, That's wreck'd and cast away upon dry land.

If in the family thou art the best,

Pray oft, and be the mouth unto the rest; Whom God hath made the heads of families, He hath made priests to offer sacrifice.

Daily let part of Holy Writ be read,
Let as the body so the soul have bread;
For look, how many souls in thy house be,
With just as many souls God trusteth thee.

The day that God calls his make not thine own
By sports or play, though 'tis a custom grown;
God's day of mercy whoso doth profane,
God's day of judgment doth for him remain.

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