Hath he not gotten mightie spoiles, and now diuision makes?
Each one a damosell hath or twaine which he as captiue takes;
Sisera of costly coloured robes, ful rich with needle wrought,
Hath got a pray which vnto him as chiefest spoiles are brought.
So let thine enemies, O Lord, sustaine and suffer blame;
And let thy chosen blessed ones, that loue and feare thy name,
Be like the son when in the morne his glorie doth increase,
Or like the land which many a yeare hath bin in rest and peace!
ANOTHER SONG OF THE FAITHFULL FOR THE MERCIES OF GOD.
In the xii. Chap, of the Frophesie of Isaiah.
OH liuing Lord, I still will laude thy name!
For though thou wert offended once with me,
Thy heauy wrath is turn’d from me againe,
And graciously thou now doost comfort mee.
Behold, the Lord is my saluation;
I trust in him, and feare not any power:
He is my song, the strength I leane vpon;
The Lord God is my louing Sauiour.
Therefore with ioy out of the well of life
Draw foorth sweet water which it dooth affoord,
And in the day of trouble and of strife
Cal on the name of God, the liuing Lord:
Extol his works and woonders to the sunne,
Ynto al people let his praise be showne,
Record in song the meruails he hath done,
And let his glorie through the world be blowne.
Crie out aloud and shout on Sion hill;
I giue thee charge that this proclaimed be, —
The great and mightie King of Israeli
Now onely dwelleth in the midst of thee.
A SONG OF THE FAITHFULL.
In the Third Chap, of the Prophesie of Habacucke.
LORD, at thy voice my heart for feare hath trembled
Vnto the world, Lord, let thy workes be showen;
In these our dales now let thy power be knowen,
And yet in wrath let mercie be remembred.
From Teman, loe, our God you may behold,
The Holie One from Paran mount so hie!
His glorie hath cleane couered the skie,
And in the earth his praises be inrolde.
His shining was more clearer than the light;
And from his hands a fulnesse did proceed,
Which did contain his wrath and power indeed;
Consuming plagues and fire were in his sight.
He stood aloft and compassed the land,
And of the nations doth defusion make;
The mountains rent, the hilles for feare did quake:
His vnknown pathes no man may vnderstand.
The Morians tentes, euen for their wickednes,
I might behold, the land of Midian,
Amaz’d and trembling, like vnto a man
Forsaken quite and left in great distresse.
What, did the riuers moue the Lord to ire?
Or did the floods his maiesty displease?
Or was the Lord offended with the seas,
That thou earnest forth in chariot hot as fire?
Thy force and power thou freely didst relate;
Vnto the tribes thy oath doth surely stand;
And by thy strength thou didst deuide the land,
And from the earth the riuers seperate.
The mountaines saw, and trembled for feare;
The sturdy streame with speed foorth passed by;
The mightv depthes shout out a hideous crie,
And then aloft their waues they did vpreare.
The sun and moon amid their course stood still;
Thy speares and arrowes forth with shining went:
Thou spoilest the land, being to anger bent,
And in displeasure thou didst slay and kill.
Thou wentest foorth for thine owne chosens sake,
For the sauegard of thine annointed one:
The house of wicked men is ouerthrowne,
And their foundations now goe all to wracke.
Their townes thou strikest, by thy mightie power,
With their own weapons made for their defence,
Who like a whyrl-wind came with the pretence,
The poore and simple man quite to deuoure.
Thou madest thy horse on seas to gallop fast,
Ypon the waues thou ridest here and there:
My intrals trembled then for verie feare,
And at thy voice my lips shooke at the last.
Griefe pierc’d my bones, and feare did me annoy,
In time of trouble where I might find rest;
For to reuenge when once the Lord is prest,
With plagues he wil the people quite destroy.
The fig-tree now no more shall sprout nor flourish,
The pleasant vine no more with grapes abound;
No pleasure in the citie shall be found,
The field no more her fruit shal feed nor nourish.
The sheep shall now be taken from the fold,
In stall of bullocks there shall be no choice:
Yet in the Lord, my Sauiour, I reioice,
My hope in God yet wil I surely hold.
God is my strength, the Lord my only stay;
My feet for swiftnesse it is he will make
Like to the hinds who none in course can take;
Ypon high places he will make me way.
A SONG OF THANKES TO GOD
IN THAT HEE SHEWETH HIMSELFE IUDGE OF THE WORLD IN PUNISHING THE WICKED AND MAINTAINING THE GODLIE.
In the xv. Chap, of the Prophesie of Isaiah.
OH Lord, my God, with praise I wil perseuer,
Thy blessed name in song I wil record,
For the great wonders thou hast done, O Lord!
Thy trueth and counsels haue bene certain euer.
A mightie citie thou makest ruinat,
The strongest townes thou bringest to decay,
A place where strangers vsually do stay,
And shall not be reduc’d to former state.
The proudest people therefore stoupe to thee,
The strongest cities haue thee still in feare:
Thou strengthnest the poore man in dispaire,
And helpest the needie in necessitie;
Thou art a sure refuge against a shower,
A shadow which doth from the heat defend:
The raging blasts the mighty forth doth send,
Is like a storme which shakes the stateliest tower.
Thou shalt abate the forraine strangers pride,
Like as the heat doth drie the moistest place;
The glorie of the proud thou shalt deface,
Like as the cloudes the sunny beames doo hide.
The Lord of hostes shal in this mount prouide,
And to his people here shal make a feast
Of fatted things and dainties of the best,
Of marrow and wines finely purified:
And in this mountaine by his mightie hand
That same dark cloud the Lord wil cleane destroy,
Euen with the vaile which doth his folke annoy;
And death no more before his face shall stand.
The Lord will wipe out of his chosens eies
The teares which doo their faces so distaine;
And their rebuke shal now no more remaine;
Thus saith the Lord, these be his promises.
And men shal say then, loe, this same is he,
This is our God on whom we did attend,
This is the Lord that will vs stil defend!
We will be glad and ioyfull, Lord, in thee:
Thy hand, oh Lord, here in this mount shall rest;
And cursed Moab shall by thee be beaten,
As in thy iudgment thou of long doost threaten,
As in Mamena straw of men is thresht!
And ouer them the Lord his hand shal holde,
&
nbsp; As he that swimmeth stretcheth him at length;
And by his power and by his mighty strength
The proud and stout by him shal be controlde.
Thy highest walles and towers of all thy trust
He shall bring downe, and lay them all full lowe;
Vnto the ground his hand shall make them bow,
And lay thy pride and glorie in the dust.
ANOTHER SONG OF THE FAITHFULL, WHEREIN IS DECLARED IN WHAT CONSISTETH THE SALUATION OF THE CHURCH.
In the xvi. Chap, of the Prophesie of Isaiah.
AND in that day this same shal be our song,
In Iuda land this shall be sung and said;
We haue a citie which is woondrous strong,
And for the walles the Lord himself our aid.
Open the gates, yea, set them open wide,
And let the godly and the righteous passe;
Yea, let them enter, and therein abide,
Which keepe his lawes, and do his trueth imbrace.
And in thy iudgment thou wilt sure preserue
In perfect peace those which doo trust in thee:
Trust in the Lord which dooth all trust deserue;
He is thy strength, and none but onelie he.
He will bring downe the proud that looke so hie;
The stateliest buildings he wil soone abase,
And make them euen with the ground to lie,
And vnto dust he will their pride deface:
It shall be troden to the verie ground;
The poore and needy downe the same shal tread:
The iust mans way in righteousnes is found;
Into a path most plaine thou wilt him lead.
But we haue waited long for thee, oh Lord!
And in thy way of iudgment we do rest;
Our soules doth ioy thy name still to record,
And thy remembrance doth content vs best.
My soule hath long’d for thee, oh Lord! by night,
And in the morn my spirit for thee hath sought:
Thy iudgments to the earth giue such a light,
As al the world by them thy trueth is taught.
But shew thy mercie to the wicked man, —
He wil not learne thy righteousnes to know;
His chiefe delight is still to curse and ban,
And vnto thee himselfe he will not bow.
They doo not once at all regard thy power;
Thy peoples zeale shall let them see their shame:
But with a fire thou shalt thy foes deuoure,
And cleane consume them with a burning flame.
With peace thou wilt preserue vs, Lord, alone,
For thou hast wrought great woonders for our sake;
And other gods beside thee haue we none,
Only in thee we all our comfort take.
The dead and such as sleep within the graue,
Shal giue no glorie nor yeeld praise to thee,
Which here on earth no place nor being haue,
And thou hast rooted out of memorie.
Oh Lord! thou doost this nation multiply,
Thou, Lord, hast blest this nation with increase:
Thou art most glorious in thy maiesty;
Thou hast inlarg’d the earth with perfect peace.
We cride to thee, and oft our hands did wring,
When we haue seen thee bent to punishment;
Like to a woman in childbyrth traueiling,
Euen so in paine we moume and doo lament:
We haue concern’d and laboured with paine,
But only wind at last we forth haue brought;
Ypon the earth no hope there doth remaine,
The wicked world likewise auailes vs nought.
The dead shal liue, and such as sleep in graue
With their own bodies once shal rise againe:
Sing, ye that in the dust your dwelling haue;
The earth no more her bodies shall retaine.
Come, come, my people, to my chamber here,
And shut the doores vp surely after thee;
Hide thou thy selfe, and doo not once appeare,
Nor let thine eies mine indignation see:
For from aboue the Lord is now dispos’d
To scourge the sinnes that in the world remaine:
His seruants blood in earth shal be disclosde,
And she shal now yeeld vp her people slaine.
FINIS.
HEREAFTER FOLLOVVE CERTAIN OTHER SONGS AND PRAIERS OF GODLY MEN AND WOMEN, OUT OF THE BOOKES OF APOCRIPHA.
THE PRAIER OF IUDITH FOR THE DELIUERANCE OF THE PEOPLE.
In the ix. Chap, of the book of Iudith.
Oh Lord! the God of Simeon, my soueraigne father deare,
To whom thou gauest strength and might the sword in hand to beare,
To take reuenge on those which first the maidens wombe did tame,
And spoiled her virginitie with great reproch and shame;
For which offence thou gauest vp their princes to be slaine,
So that their wounds with gory blood their beds did all distain;
Their seruants with their lords, ech one, haue felt thy wrath alike,
Who sitting in their roial seat thou sparest not to strike;
Their wiues, their daughters, and their goods, thou gau’st, for thy behoue,
As prais, as captiues, and as spoiles, to those whom thou didst loue,
Who, moou’d with zeale, could not abide their blood defil’d to see;
Then heare me, Lord, a widow poore which here do cal to thee.
Things past, and things not yet discern’d, thy prouidence hath wrought,
Things present, and the things to come, by thee to passe are brought $
Each thing is present at thy call thy wisdome doth deuise,
Thy secret iudgments long before thy knowledge doth comprise.
Th’ Assirians now in multitude a mighty number are,
Whose horsmen on their barbed horse themselues to war prepare;
Their hope in footmen doth consist, in sling, in speare, and shield;
They know not thee to be the Lord whose force doth win the field.
Let all their force, their strength, and power be by thy might abated,
Who vow thy temple to defile which thou hast consecrated,
Yea, to pollute thy tabernacle, thy house, and holy place,
And with their instruments of war thine altars to deface.
Behold their pride, and poure on them thy wrath and heauy yre,
And strength my hand to execute the thing I now desire;
Smite thou the seruant and the lord, as they together stand,
Abate their glory and their pride euen by a womans hand:
For in the greatest multitude thou takest not delight,
Nor in the strong and valiant men consisteth not thy might;
But to the humble, lowly, meeke, the succourlesse, and poore,
Thou art a help, defence, refuge, and louing sauiour.
My father in thy name did trust, O Israels Lord most deare,
Of heauen, of earth, of sea and land! doo thou my praier heare:
Grant thou me wit, sleight, power, strength to wound them, which aduance
Themselues ouer thy Sion hil and thine inheritance:
Declare to nations far and neare, and let them know ful well,
Thou art the Lord whose power and strength defendeth Israeli.
THE SONG OF IUDITH, HAUING SLAINE HOLOPHERNES.
In the xvi. Chap of the book of Iudith.
TUNE vp the timbrels, then, with laud vnto the Lord,
Sound foorth his praise on simbals loud, with songs of one accord;
Declare and shew his praise, also his name rehearse,
In song of thankes exactly pend, of sweet and noble verse.
The Lord he ceaseth warres, euen he the verie same,
Tis he that doth appease all strife; Iehouah is his name;
The which hath pitcht his tent, our surest strength and aide,
Amongst vs here, least that our foes shuld make vs once dismaid.
From northren mountain tops proud Assur came a downe,
With warlike men, a multitude of famous high renowne,
Whose footmen stopt the streams where riuers woont to flowe,
And horsmen couered all the vales that lay the hilles belowe.
His purpose was for to destroy my land with sword and fire,
To put my yongmen to the sword did thirst with hot desire,
My children to captiuitie he would haue borne away,
My virgins so by rape and force as spoiles and chiefest
But yet the high and mighty Lord his people doth defend,
And by a silly womans hand hath brought him to his end;
For why, their mightie men with armes were not subdude,
Nor with their blood our yoong mens hands were not at al imbrude,
No, none of Titans line this proud Assirian slue,
Nor any gyants aid we crau’d this souldier to subdue;
But Iudith she alone, Meraris daughter deere,
Whose heauenly hue hath bred his baine, and brought him to his beere.
She left her mourning weed, and deckt her selfe with gold,
In royall robes of seemly showe, all Israeli to behold;
With odors she perfum’d her selfe after the quaintest guise,
Her haire with fillet finely bound as art could wel deuise;
Her slippers neat and trim his eies and fancie fed,
Her beautie hath bewitcht his mind, her sword cut off his head.
The Perseans were amaz’d, her modestie was such,
The Medes at her bold enterprise they marueiled as much;
Amongst th’ Assyrians then great clamors can arise,
When as the fact so lately done apear’d before their eies.
The sons, which erst my daughters haue euen on their bodies born,
Haue slaine them as they fled in chace, as men so quite forlorne;
Euen at the presence of the Lord the stoutest turn’d his backe,
His power did so astonish them that al things went to wracke.
A song now let vs sing of thankes vnto the Lord,
Yea, in a song of pleasant tune let vs his praise record.
Oh God, thou mightie Lord! who is there like to thee?
In strength and power to thee, oh Lord, none may compared be!
Thy creatures all obey and serue thee in their trade,
For thou no sooner spakst the word but euery thing was made;
Thou sentest foorth the spirit which did thy worke fulfill,
Collected Works of Michael Drayton Page 5