Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A HYMN IN THE GLORIOUS EPIPHANIE OF OUR LORD, GOD, by RICHARD CRASHAW Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Bright babe! Whose awfull beautyes make Last Line: The world's and his hyperion. Subject(s): Epiphany; Twelfth Night | ||||||||
(1. Kinge.) Bright BABE! Whose awfull beautyes make The morn incurr a sweet mistake; (2.) For whom the'officious heavns devise To disinheritt the sun's rise, (3.) Delicately to displace The Day, and plant it fairer in thy face; (1.) O thou born KING of loves, (2.) Of lights, (3.) Of joyes! (Cho.) Look up, sweet BABE, look up and see For love of Thee Thus farr from home The EAST is come To seek her self in thy sweet Eyes. (1.) We, who strangely went astray, Lost in a bright Meridian night, (2.) A Darkenes made of too much day, (3.) Becken'd from farr By thy fair starr, Lo at last have found our way. (Cho.) To THEE, thou DAY of night! thou east of west! Lo we at last have found the way. To thee, the world's great universal east. The Generall and indifferent DAY. (1.) All-circling point. All centring sphear. The world's one, round, AEternall year. (2.) Whose full and all-unwrinkled face Nor sinks nor swells with time or place; (3.) But every where and every while Is One Consistent solid smile; (1.) Not vext and tost (2.) 'Twixt spring and frost, (3.) Nor by alternate shredds of light Sordidly shifting hands with shades and night. (Cho.) O little all! in thy embrace The world lyes warm, and likes his place. Nor does his full Globe fail to be Kist on Both his cheeks by Thee. Time is too narrow for thy YEAR Nor makes the whole WORLD thy half-sphear. (1.) To Thee, to Thee From him we flee (2.) From HIM, whom by a more illustrious ly, The blindnes of the world did call the eye; (3.) To HIM, who by These mortall clouds hast made Thy self our sun, though thine own shade. (1.) Farewell, the world's false light. Farewell, the white AEgypt! a long farewell to thee Bright IDOL; black IDOLATRY. The dire face of inferior DARKNES, kis't And courted in the pompous mask of a more specious mist. (2.) Farewell, farewell The proud and misplac't gates of hell, Pertch't, in the morning's way And double-guilded as the doores of DAY. The deep hypocrisy of DEATH and NIGHT More desperately dark, Because more bright. (3.) Welcome, the world's sure Way! HEAVN'S wholsom ray. (Cho.) Wellcome to us; and we (SWEET) to our selves, in THEE. (1.) The deathles HEIR of all thy FATHER'S day! (2.) Decently Born. Embosom'd in a much more Rosy MORN, The Blushes of thy All-unblemish't mother. (3.) No more that other Aurora shall sett ope Her ruby casements, or hereafter hope From mortall eyes To meet Religious welcomes at her rise. (Cho.) We (Pretious ones!) in you have won A gentler MORN, a juster sun. (1.) His superficiall Beames sun-burn't our skin; (2.) But left within (3.) The night and winter still of death and sin. (Cho.) Thy softer yet more certaine DARTS Spare our eyes, but peirce our HARTS. (1.) Therefore with HIS proud persian spoiles (2.) We court thy more concerning smiles. (3.) Therfore with his Disgrace We guild the humble cheek of this chast place; (Cho.) And at thy FEET powr forth his FACE. (1.) The doating nations now no more Shall any day but THINE adore. (2.) Nor (much lesse) shall they leave these eyes For cheap AEgyptian Deityes. (3.) In whatsoe're more Sacred shape Of Ram, He-goat, or reverend ape, Those beauteous ravishers opprest so sore The too-hard-tempted nations. (1.) Never more By wanton heyfer shall be worn (2.) A Garland, or a guilded horn. The altar-stall'd ox, fatt OSYRIS now With his fair sister cow, (3.) Shall kick the clouds no more; But lean and tame, (Cho.) See his horn'd face, and dy for shame. And MITHRA now shall be no name. (1.) No longer shall the immodest lust Of Adulterous GODLES dust (2.) Fly in the face of heav'n; As if it were The poor world's Fault that he is fair. (3.) Nor with perverse loves and Religious RAPES Revenge thy Bountyes in their beauteous shapes; And punish Best Things worst; Because they stood Guilty of being much for them too Good. (1.) Proud sons of death! that durst compell Heav'n it self to find them hell; (2.) And by strange witt of madnes wrest From this world's EAST the other's WEST. (3.) All-Idolizing wormes! that thus could crowd And urge Their sun into thy cloud; Forcing his sometimes eclips'd face to be A long deliquium to the light of thee. (Cho.) Alas with how much heavyer shade The shamefac't lamp hung down his head For that one eclipse he made Then all those he suffered! (1.) For this he look't so bigg; and every morn With a red face confes't his scorn. Or hiding his vex't cheeks in a hir'd mist Kept them from being so unkindly kis't. (2.) It was for this the day did rise So oft with blubber'd eyes. For this the evening wept; and we ne'er knew But call'd it deaw. (3.) This dayly wrong Silenc't the morning-sons, and damp't their song (Cho.) Nor was't our deafnes, but our sins, that thus Long made th'Harmonious orbes all mute to us. (1.) Time has a day in store When this so proudly poor And self-oppressed spark, that has so long By the love-sick world bin made Not so much their sun as SHADE, Weary of this Glorious wrong From them and from himself shall flee For shelter to the shadow of thy TREE; (Cho.) Proud to have gain'd this pretious losse And chang'd his false crown for thy CROSSE. (2.) That dark Day's clear doom shall define Whose is the Master FIRE, which sun should shine. That sable Judgment-seat shall by new lawes Decide and settle the Great cause Of controverted light, (Cho.) And natur's wrongs rejoyce to doe thee Right. (3.) That forfeiture of noon to night shall pay All the idolatrous thefts done by this night of day; And the Great Penitent presse his own pale lipps With an elaborate love-eclipse To which the low world's lawes Shall lend no cause (Cho.) Save those domestick which he borrowes From our sins and his own sorrowes. (1.) Three sad hour's sackcloth then shall show to us His penance, as our fault, conspicuous. (2.) And he more needfully and nobly prove The nations' terror now then erst their love. (3.) Their hated loves changd into wholsom feares, (Cho.) The shutting of his eye shall open Theirs. (1.) As by a fair-ey'd fallacy of day Mis-ledde before they lost their way, So shall they, by the seasonable fright Of an unseasonable night, Loosing it once again, stumble'on true LIGHT (2.) And as before his too-bright eye Was Their more blind idolatry, So his officious blindnes now shall be Their black, but faithfull perspective of thee; (3.) His new prodigious night, Their new and admirable light; The supernaturall DAWN of Thy pure day. While wondring they (The happy converts now of him Whom they compell'd before to be their sin) Shall henceforth see To kisse him only as their rod Whom they so long courted as GOD, (Cho.) And their best use of him they worship't be To learn of Him at lest, to worship Thee. (1.) It was their Weaknes woo'd his beauty; But it shall be Their wisdome now, as well as duty, To'injoy his Blott; and as a large black letter Use it to spell Thy beautyes better; And make the night it self their torch to thee. (2.) By the oblique ambush of this close night Couch't in that conscious shade The right-ey'd Areopagite Shall with a vigorous guesse invade And catche thy quick reflex; and sharply see On this dark Ground To descant THEE. (3.) O prize of the rich SPIRIT! with what feirce chase Of his strong soul, shall be Leap at thy lofty FACE, And seize the swift Flash, in rebound From this obsequious cloud; Once call'd a sun; Till dearly thus undone, (Cho.) Till thus triumphantly tam'd (o ye two Twinne SUNNES!) and taught now to negotiate you. (1.) Thus shall that reverend child of light, (2.) By being scholler first of that new night, Come forth Great master of the mystick day; (3.) And teach obscure MANKIND a more close way By the frugall negative light Of a most wise and well-abused Night To read more legible thine originall Ray, (Cho.) And make our Darknes serve THY day; Maintaining t'wixt thy world and ours A commerce of contrary powres, A mutuall trade 'Twixt sun and SHADE, By confederat BLACK and WHITE Borrowing day and lending night. (1.) Thus we, who when with all the noble powres That (at thy cost) are call'd, not vainly, ours We vow to make brave way Upwards, and presse on for the pure intelligentiall Prey; (2.) At lest to play The amorous Spyes And peep and proffer at thy sparkling Throne; (3.) In stead of bringing in the blissfull PRIZE And fastening on Thine eyes, Forfeit our own And nothing gain But more Ambitious losse, at lest of brain; (Cho.) Now by abased liddes shall learn to be Eagles; and shutt our eyes that we may see. The Close. Therfore to THEE and thine Auspitious ray (Dread sweet!) lo thus At lest by us, The delegated EYE of DAY Does first his Scepter, then HIMSELF in solemne Tribute pay. Thus he undresses His sacred unshorn treses; At thy adored FEET, thus, he layes down (1.) His gorgeous tire Of flame and fire, (2.) His glittering ROBE, (3.) his sparkling CROWN, (1.) His GOLD, (2.) his MIRRH, (3.) his FRANKINCENCE, (Cho.) To which He now has no pretence. For being show'd by this day's light, how farr He is from sun enough to make THY starr, His best ambition now, is but to be Somthing a brighter SHADOW (sweet) of thee. Or on heavn's azure forhead high to stand Thy golden index; with a duteous Hand Pointing us Home to our own sun The world's and his HYPERION. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HYMN: FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY: 2 by REGINALD HEBER EPIPHANIE CAROL by JOSEPH BEAUMONT THE WRECK ON LOCH MCGARRY by ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE HYMN: FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY: 1 by REGINALD HEBER HYMN: SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY: 1 by REGINALD HEBER HYMN: SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY: 2 by REGINALD HEBER OLD CHRISTMAS MORNING; A KENTUCKY MOUNTAIN BALLAD by ROY ADDISON HELTON THE EPIPHANY by EMILY HENRIETTA HICKEY A HYMN [TO THE NAME AND] IN HONOR OF SAINT TERESA by RICHARD CRASHAW A SONG [OF DIVINE LOVE] by RICHARD CRASHAW AN EPITAPH UPON HUSBAND AND WIFE WHO DIED AND WERE BURIED by RICHARD CRASHAW |
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