The Complete Works of Richard Crashaw, Volume IICrashaw, Richard
General
The Complete Works of Richard Crashaw, Volume II
Crashaw, Richard
English poetry -- Early modern, 1500-1700
Under thy shadow may I lurke awhile,
Death's busie search I'le easily beguile:
Thy shadow, Peter, must show me the sun;
My light's thy shadowe's shadow, or 'tis done. CR.
ANOTHER RENDERING.
O Peter, Peter, let thy shadow fall
Where I in wretchedness a-weary crawl:
Here vainly shall my fates upon me call.
Thy shadow me shall guide unto my sun--
Whoe'er sought Him in truth, and was undone?--
And so my light, thy shadow, shall be one. G.
LVIII.
_Quid turbati estis? Videte manus meas et pedes, quia ego ipse sum._
Luc. xxiv. 39.
En me et signa mei, quondam mea vulnera: certe,
Vos nisi credetis, vulnera sunt et adhuc.
O nunc ergo fidem sanent mea vulnera vestram:
O mea nunc sanet vulnera vestra fides.
_Why are ye troubled?... Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I
myself._
'Tis I; behold My proofs, My wounds of old;
Wounds which still bleed, if you will not believe.
O, now to heal your faith My wounds behold,
And healing from your faith My wounds receive.
LIX.
_In vincula Petro sponte delapsa, et apertas fores._ Act. xii. 7, 10.
Ferri non meminit ferrum: se vincula Petro
Dissimulant: nescit carcer habere fores.
Quam bene liber erit, carcer quem liberat! ipsa
Vincula quem solvunt, quam bene tutus erit!
_The chains spontaneously fell from Peter, and the (prison)-doors
opened._
Iron forgets 'tis iron;
the chains dissemble too;
Nor has the prison doors
for Peter now.
Free truly is that pris'ner
who by the prison's freed;
Whom chains themselves unbind
free is indeed.
LX.
_Deferebantur a corpore ejus sudaria, &c._ Act. xix. 12.
Imperiosa premunt morbos, et ferrea fati
Jura ligant, Pauli lintea tacta manu.
Unde haec felicis laus est et gloria lini?
Haec, reor, e Lachesis pensa fuere colo.
_From his body there were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs, &c._
They quell disease, and sway Fate's iron bands,
These lordly linen cloths touched by Paul's hands.
Whence rose the glory of their happy fame?
From the Fates' distaff, sure, these kerchiefs came. R. WI.
LXI.
_Christus vitis ad vinitorem Patrem._ Joan. xv. 1-6.
En serpit tua, purpureo tua palmite vitis
Serpit, et, ah, spretis it per humum foliis.
Tu viti succurre tuae, mi Vinitor ingens:
Da fulcrum; fulcrum da mihi: quale? crucem.
_Christ the Vine to the Vinedresser-Father._
Lo, Thy vine trails, trails with a purple shoot,
Scatt'ring its leaves before it beareth fruit.
Succour Thy vine, great Vinedresser, from loss:
Support, support me, Lord: how? With Thy cross. G.
LXII.
_Pene persuades mihi ut fiam Christianus._ Act. xxvi. 28.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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