Rules And Lessons
When first thine eyes unveil, give thy soul leave To do the like: our bodies but
The spirit's duty. True hearts spread and
Unto their God, as flowers do to the sun.
Give Him thy first thoughts then; so shalt thou
Him company all day, and in Him sleep.
Yet never sleep the sun up:
Prayer
Dawn with the day.
There are set awful hours'Twixt Heaven and us.
The manna was not
After sunrising: far day sullies flowers.
Rise to prevent the sun: sleep doth sin's glut,
And Heaven's gate opens, when this world's shut.
Walk with thy fellow-creatures; note the
And whispers amongst them. There's not a
Or leaf but hath his morning hymn; each
And oak doth know I AM.
Canst thou not sing?
O leave thy cares and follies! go this way,
And thou art sure to prosper all the day.
To heighten thy devotions, and keep
All mutinous thoughts, what business e'er thou hast,
Observe God in his works; how fountains flow,
Birds sing, beasts feed, fish leap, and th' earth stands fast;
Above are restless motions, running lights,
Vast circling azure, giddy clouds, days, nights.
When seasons change, then lay before thine
His wondrous method; mark the various
In Heaven; hail, thunder, rainbows, snow, and ice,
Calms, tempests, light and darkness, by his means;
Thou canst not miss his praise; each tree, herb, flower,
Are shadows of his wisdom, and his power.
Henry Vaughan
Other author posts
The Shepherds
Sweet, harmless lives (on whose holy leisure Waits innocence and pleasure), Whose leaders to those pastures, and clear springs, Were patriarchs, saints, and kings, How happened it that in the dead of night You only saw true light,...
Quickness
False life, a foil and no more, Wilt thou be gone Thou foul deception of all That would not have the true come on
The World
I saw Eternity the other night, Like a great ring of pure and endless light, All calm, as it was bright; And round beneath it, Time in hours, days, years, Driv'n by the spheres Like a vast shadow mov'd; in which the world And all her train we...
The Call
1 ME, my heart come, my head, In sighs, and tears 'Tis now, since you have lain thus dead, Some twenty years ; Awake, awake, Some pity take Upon yourselves