The Estate

Summary

1

But shall my Soul no Wealth possess,

No Outward Riches have?

Shall Hands and Eys alone express

Thy Bounty? Which the Grave

Shall strait devour. Shall I becom

With in my self a Living Tomb

Of Useless Wonders? Shall the fair and brave

And great Endowments of my Soul lie Waste,

Which ought to be a fountain, and a Womb

Of Praises unto Thee?

Shall there no Outward Objects be,

For these to see and Taste?

Not so, my God, for Outward Joys and Pleasures

Are even the Things for which my Lims are Treasures.

2

My Palate ought to be a Stone,

To trie thy Joys upon:

And evry Member ought to be

A Tongue, to Sing to Thee.

There's not an Ey thats framd by Thee,

But ought thy Life and Lov, to see.

Nor is there, Lord, upon mine Head an Ear,

But that the Musick of thy Works should hear.

Each Toe, each Finger framed by thy Skill,

Ought Oyntments to Distill.

Ambrosia, Nectar, Wine should flow

From evry Joynt I owe,

Or Things more Rich; while all mine Inward Powers

Are Blessed, Joyfull, and Eternal Bowers.

3

They ought, my God, to be the Pipes,

And Conduits of thy Prais.

Mens Bodies were not made for Stripes,

Nor any thing but Joys.

They were not made to be alone:

But made to be the very Throne

Of Blessedness, to be like Suns, whose Raies,

Dispersed, Scatter many thousand Ways.

They Drink in Nectars, and Disburs again

In Purer Beams, those Streams,

Those Nectars which are causd by Joys.

And as the Spacious Main

Doth all the Rivers, which it Drinks, return,

Thy Love receivd doth make the Soul to burn.

4

Elixars richer are then Dross,

And Ends are more Divine

Then Causes are. Material loss

Materials (tho they Shine

Like Gold and Silver) are, compard

To what thy Spirit doth regard,

Thy Soul desire, thy Lov embrace, thy Mind

Esteem, thy Nature most Illustrious find.