A sponge drinks in the water, which Is afterwards exprest. A liberal hand must first be rich: Who blesseth must be blest. The thirsty earth drinks in the rain, The trees suck moisture at their roots, Before the one can lavish herbs again, Before the other can afford us fruits. No tenant can raise corn or pay his rent, Nor can even have a lord, That has no land. No spring can vent, No vessel any wine afford Wherein no liquor's put. No empty purse, Can pounds or talents of itself disburse. V Flame that ejects its golden beams Sups up the grosser air; To seas that pour out their streams In springs, those streams repair; Receiv'd ideas make even dreams. No fancy painteth foul or fair But by the ministry of inward light, That in the spirits cherisheth its sight. The moon returneth light, and some men say The very sun no ray Nor influence could have, did it No foreign aids, no food admit. The earth no exhalations would afford, Were not its spirits by the sun restored. VI All things do first receive, that give: Only 'tis God above, That from and in Himself doth live; Whose all-sufficient love Without original can flow And all the joys and glories shew Which mortal man can take delight to know. He is the primitive eternal spring The endless ocean of each glorious thing. The soul a vessel is, A spacious bosom, to contain All the fair treasures of His bliss, Which run like rivers from, into the main, And all it doth receive returns again. AMENDMENT I That all things should be mine, This makes His bounty most divine: But that they all more rich should be, And far more brightly shine, As used by me; It ravisheth my soul to see the end, To which this work so wonderful doth tend. II That we should make the skies More glorious far before Thine eyes Than Thou didst make them, and even Thee Far more Thy works to prize, As used they be Than as they're made, is a stupendous work, Wherein Thy wisdom mightily doth lurk. III Thy greatness, and Thy love, Thy power, in this, my joy doth move; Thy goodness, and felicity In this exprest above All praise I see: While Thy great Godhead over all doth reign, And such an end in such a sort attain. IV