Tixall Poetry/Life a Preparation for Eternity
Life a Preparation for Eternity.
Time slowly moves to them that beBusy in infelicity;Whose every sun dos still begetAn age of woes before it set,And ere their noone of life is gone,They thinke the world's Jong course they've run.Grief is time's multiplying glas,By which we judge we slowly pasOn to the grave, the place of restTo the unhappy and opprest. Here, by tempestuous winds overblown,And there, by thunder stricken downe;Here, clouds of rain doe overcast,And there, the furious lightnings blast.Now mountain seas do deluge joy,And there a rock stands to destroy;On every side there's nothing foundBut numerous cares with triumph crown'd,Which poor man's life doe still invade,Least we forget for what were made,And from the love of things possestEnd our desires of being more blest.Wise heaven, who knew our childish willDid thus provide against the ill;Ord'ring our course of life to beA passing change of misery.Where the strong pain of every sense(Which various terrors doe commence,)Our soûles and bodys make agreeTo strive for heaven's felicity;And our weake bark steer to that lightWhich dissipates the world's long night, Whose glorys we can never seeWhilest burden'd with mortality.Contempt and want, the world's great care,Are a rich freight to carry there,If that our will submission bringAnd patience in the suffering,Whose great reward we shall receiveWhen we this earthly prison leave;And every atome of our painFind an eternity of gain.