Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE WOES OF EAY, by HENRY KING (1592-1669) Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Woe to the worldly men, whose covetous Last Line: Than dark'ned skies above, and hell below. | ||||||||
WOE to the worldly men, whose covetous Ambition labours to join house to house, Lay field to field, till their enclosures edge The plain, girdling a country with one hedge: That leave no place unbought, no piece of earth Which they will not engross, making a dearth Of all inhabitants, until they stand Unneighbour'd, as unblest, within their land. This sin cries in God's ear, who hath decreed The ground they sow shall not return the seed. They that unpeopled countries to create Themselves sole Lords, -- made many desolate To build up their own house, -- shall find at last Ruin and fearful desolation cast Upon themselves. Their mansion shall become A desert, and their palace prove a tomb. Their vines shall barren be, their land yield tares; Their house shall have no dwellers, they no heirs. Woe unto those, that with the morning Sun Rise to drink wine, and sit till he have run His weary course; not ceasing until night Have quench'd their understanding with the light: Whose raging thirst, like fire, will not be tam'd, The more they pour, the more they are inflam'd. Woe unto them that only mighty are To wage with wine; in which unhappy war They who the glory of the day have won, Must yield them foil'd and vanquish'd by the tun. Men that live thus, as if they liv'd in jest, Fooling their time with music and a feast; That did exile all sounds from their soft ear But of the harp, must this sad discord hear Compos'd in threats. The feet which measures tread Shall in captivity be fettered: Famine shall scourge them for their vast excess; And Hell revenge their monstrous drunkenness; Which hath enlarg'd itself to swallow such, Whose throats ne'er knew enough, though still too much. Woe unto those that countenance a sin, Siding with vice, that it may credit win By their unhallow'd vote: that do benight The truth with error, putting dark for light, And light for dark; that call an evil good, And would by vice have virtue understood: That with their frown can sour an honest cause, Or sweeten any bad by their applause. That justify the wicked for reward; And, void of moral goodness or regard, Plot with detraction to traduce the fame Of him whose merit hath enroll'd his name Among the just. Therefore God's vengeful ire Glows on his people, and becomes a fire, Whose greedy and exalted flame shall burn, Till they like straw or chaff to nothing turn. Because they have rebell'd against the right, To God and Law perversely opposite, As plants which Sun nor showers did ever bless, So shall their root convert to rottenness; And their succession's bud, in which they trust, Shall (like Gomorrah's fruit) moulder to dust. Woe unto those that, drunk with self-conceit, Value their own designs at such a rate Which human wisdom cannot reach; that sit Enthron'd, as sole monopolists of wit; That outlook reason, and suppose the eye Of Nature blind to their discovery, Whilst they a title make to understand Whatever secret's bosom'd in the land. But God shall imp their pride, and let them see They are but fools in a sublime degree: He shall bring down and humble those proud eyes, In which false glasses only they look'd wise; That all the world may laugh, and learn by it, There is no folly to pretended wit. Woe unto those that draw iniquity With cords, and by a vain security Lengthen the sinful trace, till their own chain Of many links, form'd by laborious pain, Do pull them into Hell; that, as with lines And cart-ropes, drag on their unwilling crimes: Who, rather than they will commit no sin, Tempt all occasions to let it in. As if there were no God, who must exact The strict account for every vicious fact; Nor judgement after death. If any be, Let him make speed (say they), that we may see. Why is his work retarded by delay? Why doth himself thus linger on the way? If there be any judge, or future doom, Let It and Him with speed together come. Unhappy men, that challenge and defy The coming of that dreadful Majesty! Better by much for you, he did reverse His purposed sentence on the Universe; Or that the creeping minutes might adjourn Those flames in which you, with the earth, must burn; That time's revolting hand could lag the year, And so put back his day which is too near. Behold his signs advanc'd like colours fly, To tell the world that his approach is nigh; And in a furious march, he's coming on Swift as the raging inundation, To scour the sinful world; 'gainst which is bent Artillery that never can be spent: Bows strung with vengeance, and flame-feather'd darts Headed with death, to wound transgressing hearts; His chariot wheels wrapp'd in the whirlwind's gyre, His horses hoov'd with flint, and shod with fire: In which amaze, where'er they fix their eye, Or on the melting earth, or up on high, To seek Heaven's shrunk lights, nothing shall appear, But night and horror in their hemisphere: Nor shall th' affrighted sense more objects know Than dark'ned skies above, and Hell below. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SIC VITA by HENRY KING (1592-1669) THE EXEQUY [ON HIS WIFE] by HENRY KING (1592-1669) UPON THE DEATH OF MY EVER CONSTANT FRIEND DOCTOR DONNE, DEAN OF PAUL'S by HENRY KING (1592-1669) A LETTER by HENRY KING (1592-1669) A PENTITENTIAL HYMN by HENRY KING (1592-1669) A RENUNCIATION by HENRY KING (1592-1669) A SALUTATION OF HIS MAJESTY'S SHIP THE SOVEREIGN by HENRY KING (1592-1669) A SECOND ELEGY ON THE COUNTESS OF LEISTER by HENRY KING (1592-1669) AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT by HENRY KING (1592-1669) AN ELEGY OCCASIONED BY SICKNESS by HENRY KING (1592-1669) AN ELEGY ON SIR CHARLES LUCAS AND SIR GEORGE LISLE by HENRY KING (1592-1669) AN ELEGY UPON MRS. KIRK, UNFORTUNATELY DROWNED IN THAMES by HENRY KING (1592-1669) |
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