Classic Poem

Man is, of men the varied same and summe ,
As riuers runne the same, and not the same:
In Vnitie , the Odds do Odds or'e come:
Diffring in Time, Place, Person, Face and Name
Yet, all's but Man , and Man is all: that he
Should all the World of Men , t' a Woman be

But Man , made like, alike did marre his making:
So, must re made be, to be like his Maker ;
Which cannot be without a selfe-forsaking;
For Sinne of Grace can neuer be partaker
Sin , made him like Gods most unlike: then, he
To be like him that made him, grac't must be.

He must be grac't with Grace and Glory too;
For, God hath both, who made him to his moode
If Men haue both, they win still what they woo:
For, nought they woo that is not passing good ,
" Loue liues in likenes , it dies when it
" Meets with Vnlikenesse , both in Will , and Wit

In Beauty , I had rather Vertue finde,
Than seeke it in Deformitie ; for, grace
The gracefull guides: and Nature makes the Minde
The Body like; the Iewell fits the Case .
Beauty's a became of Heau'n DIVINITY:
But, vglinesse (like Hell ) but plagues the Eye.

Beautie is good; for, Goodnes made it so:
Which is Loues obiect: must good-men be
Haters of louing women , if they show
Lesse grace than beautie , in their goodnesse: he
Is no good husband that a wife will choose
For face , but grace; and grace , but grace to vse

Shape is but Natures grace to Naturals
As well as wise-men , nought then therein lies
Worthy those Ladies precious Pectorals
That are as good , as great , and kinde , as wise
Yet where both in , and outward Beautie's rise,
There is a Husband worth a Monarchs wife.

For, such rare Beauties rauish both the sense
Of soule and Body; such an heauenly sparke
Doth feast the eye of the Intelligence ,
As well as that which sees by light more darke .
Queans haue more choice then queens , that are as kings
Then seldom wiue they such celestial things

Where Fartune plaies the Prodigall , there can
Be seldome found but what Loue still doth hate
A Rig the wife , a Rake-hell (oft) the man ,
Although a paire of Princes in their state:
Aboundance clogs the soule , and so she sties
No more than swolne voluptuousnes can rise.

Wouldst thou (wise Virgin ) wiue no man thy foe?
Then taste , before that touch him: store of salt
Eaten with him, doth make him relish so
As he both seemes and is: Nay, tis a fault
To trust thy touch , or taste: unlesse he be
By Time , on Trials touch, found right for thee.

Right, take not wrong: for, no right golden-back
Right shape, state, birth , nor breeding , I intend
If all these Rights , a right good-mind do lacke,
They cannot make right Husband , or right Friend .
" He's most-most-bad, although an Angell still
" That is so bad but meerely in his Will ."

Forme is not matter: shape , no substance is:
And either neither is to be belou'd
Or loth'd, but as its meete, or most amisse
As it with Vice or Vertue still is mou'd:
Then, she that weds for forms sake, wiues a shade .
Or nought: or marr'd with nothing that is made .

Forme in an Image giues no Essence to it:
Or, gaue it Essence: if deform'd it were,
It could but moue to hate; which might vndo it:
Then, wouldst thou lone aright then feare
Ill motions , whereto, worst ill will is best,
Sith therewith naught , that is not worse can rest.

Beauty's but skin deepe , may it is not so;
It floates but on the skin beneath the skin
That (like pure Aire ) scarse hides her fullest flow:
It is so subtill, vading, fragile , and thin:
Were she skin-deepe , she could not be so shallow
To win but fooles her puritie to hallow.

Say that a Paire were matcht without a Peere
For Beauties grace: yet, if they should but sin ,
Their grace were more in crime , then beauty , clear:
And frailes then her Tiffany , the skin;
Their interchanged raies would then reflect
Either to each, but dulnesse and neglect

Heauen's outward beauty, Ioue , and wonder would
In all procare, were it but seldome seene;
But, but to Copper, Custome turns their gold
So, graiest loue of Grace , is euer greene
In beautie field enioy'd; but, with it cloy'd,
Both soule and sense thereby is still annoy'd.

If beautie then, be not faire Vertues Inne,
Nay, not her Heau'n wherein she resteth still,
She's loath'd of sense . If she do lodge but sinne:
Though sin and sense be friends: Sense loues no ill
It hath found ill: for ill can nere be lou'd;
Sith nought can loue that good that ill is prou'd

A man , in print , or made in waxe , these words
Transferre to our conceit the highest worth
Of ontward-shape; which ( dead ) more life affords
Than quickest flesh , as nature sets it forth:
" Yet if a man in print , be dull, or dead.
" He's a faire body , but a soule of lead "

Nay though that Body could be made to moue
In measures , most immeasurably in grace ,
Such measures , yet, but sinke apace her loue
That is not lewd, if he dance not with GRACE:
" A lofty Caprcall , is but high to rise
" Shaking, like one, nor great , nor good , nor wise

Yet this mad-mean the mean mounts, now , and then;
In marr-age oft: the goodnesse of the backe
Is all that is beloued in such men ,
Not well to backe them; sith no such they lacke
Whose bellies are all backe , to vndergo
The bellies charges that the backe vndo.

To flatter Beauty is to raise it hie
(As fowles do shel-fish ) so, to full , and brast .
To prey, at pleasure, on it inwardly:
Than, keepe off such: for they'l come on too fast:
Such clawers will be scratchers from thy state
And make the bed of loue , the lodge of hate .

These like bemired Dogges , with fawing, file,
As Witte it selfe, hath erst obseru'd: then, looke
Shee nere be tempted with such gawdy-guile:
Lest, with the Baite , she swallow down the Hook
The best mans praises sound, his hart doth ioy,
Then, what wilt doe a Woman? make her toy.

Such gawds wil make thee grieue, and griefe go round
In her owne Circle: issuing at her mouth,
To enter at her Eares , the secret wound ,
Sharp Praise doth giue, though but for real Truth
Proues oft more mortal than the wounds of death
That kil but flesh . Then, keep her from such breath

I would shee should be modest , but not sadde .
Yet modest sadness doth faire lookes decore:
As Shadowes doe more life to Pictures adde;
So, sober lookes , make bright ones beame the more
Beauty and Boldnesse oft togither goe,
But still as Foes , themselues to ouerthrow.

The praised, will to their owne Musicke dance:
For, nought is more melodious in the Eare ,
Than our high praises that our hearts aduance,
And make vs (ioy'd) too wanton them to heare
" The more Ambition in our Minde is nurst
" The more our praise wil swell it, til we burst."

The greatest good that bad Wiues can disclose,
Is Beauty: but in good Wiues t'is the least
Yet Beauty is, to Sense , a Damaske-Rose .
That doth for sweetnesse better Natures best:
But yet t'is but the Signe where Beauty lyes
More worth by grace; the minds good qualities.

Chast Eyes glue Eyes to Cupid : then, thou must
(If shee be fairely Modest ) haue a care,
And helpe her Loue to shunne Adultrers Lust ,
That by her grace , growes more irregular:
For, Innocencie is not always free
From causelesse shame : then, help her eyes to see

Her lookes (if well she looke) may frolike hope;
And bind it to the good behauiour too:
Yet, this more fires close hearts (that dare not ope
To giue it vent) which then, by lookes do woo:
And though they moue not, yet, the ouert thought
Makes modesty to blush as she were nought:

And blushing so, obseruations eyes
Mis-looke into the cause of that effect :
Whence rumors runne, while Slanders do arise
Against the name of vertue in affect:
Then, sith good name's (like glasse ) as frail , as clear
All care should keepe it cracklesse in thy Deer .

And if the husband liue as free from thought .
As act of falsehood to the marriage-bed ,
Much more the wife should , sith much more shee ought
For she may staine his blood , and paine his Head
As lieue had I she should b'in deede vntrue,
As wrong my right in thought , if it I knew

Ioynes she with me, for issue: and disioynes
Her selfe from me therein, in her best part?
Then, for my share , she lends me but her loynes .
While she to one, lesse worthy, giues her hart!
What patience can endure my base foes base
Should with my land run quite beyond my race .

Then, if her heart be gone: farewell my wife :
Nay, farewell I; perhaps shee'l me vndo!
Or cast about to cast away my life
Backeward , and forward , till I cast It too:
Then, if a peerelesse Peere the husband grow.
The wife will match lesse be, to mate him so.

The diuell is a matchlesse Alchymist;
He can transmute the richest mettl'd-man
To Lead , in her conceit, that is so blist;
And, make her, so, her owne good-fortune ban:
But, bann'd be all, that but assist herein,
To make the swolne with grace , to burst with sin .

To burst with Sinne O, that that damnd effect
Had neuer Diuell , to occasion it!
Then Loue might haue what it should best affect
Without the Sin of such a baneful fit
" But when the heau'ns , to wrack vs, are decreed,
" They blind our iudgements so, we ful with speed.

O Damn'd Desire , what wouldst? or what is it
That should to Change so much thy soule dispose?
No Blisse nor Beauty tis, conceyu'd by Wit:
For, Wit the truth of Natures secrets knowes.
Though Beauty then seem Sol , at least as rich,
It wil be found but Lune , on Tryalls touch.

O! whither wilt, prowd Flesh? To fall in state?
Think'st, there secure in spight of Spight to stand?
No: soon thou wilt be thrown through publike hate
To Ermines? nay: to Vermines Netherland:
Where thou bemyr'd with Clay, stil scor'nd shalt lye,
A Staue to Spades and Spights iust tyrannie

Good wit still wins Good will: and makes them glad
They haue good wit , yet haue not all good will
But yet good wit , without good will , is bad
Being Armed vice , that wounds, vnwounded still:
" That head is head strong, that is full of Brains:
And runnes awry if Grace hold not the Rains .

Learning and Wisdome are but seldome, when
Ioynd in one Sconfe: sith diuers in their powre
" The greatest Clarks are not the wisest men:
And wise men oft (like fools) for nought do lowre
Then as a Wife too witty, is too vaine:
So is a husband , bad, with too much Braine

The search of Wisedome , sith so close it lyes
Obscur'd from sight , is full of paines that kill;
Then, sith Ire burnes (like Fire ) in Agonies ,
A good wise man, makes no good Husband still:
For, hee is wayward, and his Wife must woo
For kindenesse , yet not be too forward too.

Sacred Religion best they loue and know
That runne no Bace beyond her ghastly Goale .
Such make good husbands , paying what they owe
To their kinde other Halfe; not when the whole
Is willing, but the Halfe; though, but for Lust
If shee would what be could , then needs he must.

A Man with Woman never can be said
To sinne, when sinne, by some iust circumstance
Is tane away, or iustly so allay'd
That Grace it selfe the same doth countenance:
" No deed's vniust, how ere vniust it bee,
" If it be so, but in so lust degree."

But Wit and Knowledge so the mind inflate
As make it most imperious: then, the Wife
That's matcht to him that is so stiffe in state ,
Must liue a supple Slaue , else die in strife:
Bookes better can the mind: but what they can
They do not, if they meet with such a man

Then let him be diuinely wise (like GOD)
Glad without loy , and Sid , without Offence;
That's all alike, to beare the Staffe and Rod;
With Temperance , so, to feast his soule and sence?
Kinde , and not Wanton; sober, yet not sowre
Still hauing all his Passions in his powre

Flowe Numbers on deepe streams of Helicon ,
Which in a world of Arte , are scarce found rife
Till you haue made one Husband- Paragon ,
To fitte one rare, but Ouer-buried Wife:
Hold Colours to the life, while I, by Art ,
Lyne out a Husband fitte to Iyne her Hart

Platonicall Ideas, stand aloofe,
And let my purest Pen delineate
No Husband meere suppos'd: but, one of proofe:
Without a checke , to giue a Queene the mate
Which may be found in earnest, yet Art can
Scarce with Arts colours, paint so rare a Man

Hee is a Lambe , whose All is all so deare
That nought of him is vselesse, loue to get:
Hee is a Lyon , making Beasts to feare
His vertues: so, is milde, sterne, small, and great:
Hee is, What not, if good? and yet to God
Hee is not, eu'n: yet with him neur odde.

His Birth and Breeding , (like his Body ) right:
His Minde , with witty Flashes (fir'd aboue)
Doth lighter oft, to giue his wife some light
To mend her misse, and all in mirth and loue
For, sowre Reproofs, and Iests, how euer sweet,
That come too-sharply , wound when they do greet.

For shee (if truely Noble) rather bad
In priuate dye, then publikely be checkt:
For publike shame make Reas'n , in Greatnes , mad:
And GRACES face it selfe will (so) be fleckt
With Vertues Rosie rayes: Then closely moue
To check thy mole in Game , to win her loue.

God left his Sonne , and he his Sire forewent
But for his wife , the Church: then for his wife
Man should himselfe forsake, ere himselfe rent
From her that is his ( honor ) life of life .
But, bitter taunts and checks, in publike, be
A rending her, thy honors life, from thee.

God chargeth man to loue (his bone ) his wife ,
As his owne flesh: nay, as himselfe: that is,
Both soule , and body . then, decline such strife
As may incline thy whole to do amisse.
Who hates his wife , his owne shame loues: for shee
His honor is: or (honoured) would be.

Are wiues made helpes , and comforts too, by God?
Then, should they such be made by husbands too,
Be man and wife made euen; yet, be odd?
O! shame for one that so, of One makes Two ,
Yet cannot make Two, euen! Shall a Third
Be broght to make Two, euen? That were hard.

Then, at her errors winke with open sight,
As sacred Loue requires thee: thou must be
The Atlas of her frailties , thou must right
What is amisse, in Ioue , that faults doth see
To hide them: yet, to mend them: so shalt thou
But beare thine own Harts-case , and neuer Rue .

Of outward cares thou must the Camell be,
And beare them soundly for your Commonwealth
Ore highest Lets: as Cares-domesticke , she
Must beare, though sickely , for thy ease and health:
Thou canst not presse her more to make her fall,
Than still to make her beare the weight of all

Marriage contracted is (ere it be knit)
For strength , (sith two are stronger farre than one )
Yet must the man , with manly strength and wit ,
Beare all the heaulest loade himselfe alone:
" The weaker by the stronger must be casd;
" As by the weake the stronger must be pleasd"

And so Heau'ns queene, y'er knit, contracted was;
To shew (though heauen help) she help must haue
But of a feeble husband , and an Asse ,
The Lord of strength , made feeble , so to saue:
Then, must the husband of the happy wife
Be strong , to beare her Bale , and guard her life ,

For, what an abiect weakenesse is't to see
Her wrong'd by brutish force , defam'd by spight ,
Yet haue no strength or heart , in no degree
Of age or state , for so great wrong to right:
There is no Woman , though most full of feare
But hates (as hell ) a cowheard to her pheare .

Feare , is to cowardize more painfuil farre
Then death to the couragious , a faint-heart
Is hartlesse but to heare a Trumpeter :
Nor is his feare by Nature cur'd, or Art .
Then is a womans honour poore in plight,
That's guarded by a man so poore in sprite .

Marriage , that is most noble, should haue nought
But what is noble in it; noble-moods
To scorne that frailty , and despise that thought
That is not truly noble; marriage-goods
Are Ils , if good they be not made by these ,
Else to haue much , is much but to displease

It is of knots the sur'st: for, two in one
So fast it knits, that death can scarce diuide
Nay, many kindreds it doth so attone,
That, to Posteritie , they one abide.
The husband , then, for this strong vnitie ,
Should strongly prop this long Posterite

For Time , it's noble; sith at first the God
Of th' Vniuerse , did institute it, when
Man lackt an helper (sith he was but odd)
To fill the world with worlds of other men
He, was an husband call'd yer he had wife
So, next to God an husband's Lord of life

In Paradise it was ordain'd; and so,
For place it's noble: and, if innocence
May make that noble , which from thence doth flow
Nobilitie therein hath residence:
" The Lord of loue , who hatred most doth hate,
" Is matcht to those that loue in married state "

Then, Time, Place, Person , that did it effect
Being so noble, noble it must be
Aboue all Friendships , which we should affect;
Sith it is so transendent in degree:
Woman , was made for man , and (for his aide )
Made of that holpe; that holpe , then must be staied.

With Miracles 'twas honor'd: but none such
Are done but for Gods glory , and Mens loue
To make a Man a God; least God might grutch
That Man (his Image ) should not be aboue
The Angells : so, lest they his Grace should dym,
He made himselfe a Man , to grace but him

Then, to his Prototype , if man will bee
Like; he must like but what that Type doth please
Who loues the married Paires that well agree:
But sith men to their viues are winds and seas ,
Who moue as men do moue , it them behoues
With breath and motion sweets , to win their loues .

For of their Archetype they this lore do learne:
The Church , his floting Spouse , he moucth so:
His blessed wind blowes euer in her sterne ,
And makes his mercies seas to ebbe and flow
As best behoues her , till she hath attain'd
The hau'n , for which she was both pleasd and paind

The ribbe of man , whereof his wife was made
Was crooked : so, though wiues be such by kinde ,
Yet man , of God , in wisedome , learn'd, the trade
To bow them streight , then, gently them to binde
With cords of loue from starting back againe,
Till without stubburnnesse , they streight remain.

Of Earth his Maker made man , but of bone
God made his wife . then wiues still harder are
Than men , for bent: yet, husbands must turne stone ,
When throgh their softness , they their wiues do mar
" Men may be hard , and good: but hardly can
" A husband soft, e're make a good wife man ."

While Eue was made, her Make did soundly sleep
But oft, while husbands sleep, their wiues are marr'd:
The house-wife , then, the house doth hardly keepe,
When, in soft-sleepe , she sees he sleepeth bard:
Then wakefull be, to keep thy wife from sin ,
And running out, that marres thy commings in.

She made was of the Rib , not of the Head:
Then, keepe thy headship , for thine honors sake:
And for her grace , and good : and keepe thy bed
(But sleep not much) from that which keeps thee wake:
For, if they touch thy Brow , t'will swell vnseene,
Which ranking inward, outward shews thy teene .

The fertile seed-plot of the world should be
Free from pollution, marriage should be cleane:
Pure Seed , well Sowne, from cockle should be free;
That so the crop , or fruite , might be a meane
Whereby the tribe , maintain'd, might still endure
In name as right , as in fame firme and pure .

And so to keepe it, it behoues thee much
To make thy wife no wanton ; for, thou maist
Make her thy whore , with many a wanton-touch :
Be prudent then, when e're thou with her plai'ste,
And set straite limits to thy lust , for she
Will proue a libertine , if so thou be.

It's thy fault: though thy right she wrong therein:
Art thou her stay , yet mak'st her fall the more?
Yea, fall into adulterous three-fold sinne?
For, so she is thy widow, wife , and whore
Then, let no lawlesse lust the bed pollute,
That may make sacred marriage dissolute.

Would'st haue the body chast, and not the head?
That cannot be: but, she the body is,
Whose head thou art: by thee she's bred or led
To good or ill ; then, do not thou amisse.
" As good the head were empty , as not full
" Of braines to gouerne all beneath the scull ."

The dueties of the bed may, but may not
Be well, perform'd with some secret staine :
For each least wandring thought incurres a blot ;
From which, what loue could euer thoght restrain?
So, we are all too sinfull, ere we sinne,
Sith we by this are all couceiu'd therein.

Can the desire but thinke vpon the deede
As 'tis an Act of Generation ,
And neuer let the thought , on fancies breede
(Through heate of lust ) some loth'd corruption?
Lust mixed with loue , begets the race of men ;
Then, who knows lusts lust rise , or keeps it then?

Say, it's but so much as but warmes Desier
To get our like ; yet who doth mete so much ,
But in the measure may be found, a lyer ,
Sith Iustice seales are turn'd but with a touch :
Whose eye still waits, so, on their turning right
That each least tricke of lust is found too light.

Then, let thy lust thy pure loue neuer let:
For, loue lusts not: or, if it do, it is
But complement all , or our likes to get,
While loue is kept a-foote the more for this:
Yet loue may be so pure and so intire ,
That it will hate least heate of foraigne-fire .

O! to a soule that simply pure it is
Irkesome to do pure marriage duest rights ;
Whose spirit suspects fraile flesh doth still amisse
In all her workes , so, with it, still she fights:
But women , weak'st of flesh, are yet so strong,
As, if thou wrong'st thy self, thy right she'l wrong.

From sense of ill then keepe her; for, she's wax
To take impressions apt, and hold them too;
She'l lacke no time nor place, nor wit she lacks
To do what her will , marr'd by thee, would do:
No maruell then, though Fame the bugle winds
Thou seek'st thy self: and follow what she finds.

Teach not thy wife to speake facundiously :
Much lesse affectedly: but still to speake
Her natiue dialect with puritie
(Yet short as seld ) when e're she silence breakes:
To make thy wife a Parrat , she't giue thee
A Daw (perhaps) or Cuckow for thy fee.

Do thou thy selfe what thou wouldst haue her do
( Examples more than Precepts leade the way )
And, of her sex, rehearse Examples too
Mellow and moderne: these will runne away
With her Affections: so to emulate
Their Vertues that all worlds so celebrate.

To keepe Loue greene , forbeare the Custome gray
Of lying whollie , with thy Halfe each night:
Yet not sans- leaue , least the Halfe fall away
But, with consent, it breedes the more delight
In Loues delight; for, that doth but annoy
Which loathd Societie doth still enioy.

If shee be faire , it's fowle to bring her to
Mad-merry meetings, Reuells , or to Court
Kinde Natures , as their like , there needs must do:
So there thy Browes may batter'd be in sport:
" Thats hardly kept that many doe desire,
" Then, not (inflame her , keepe her out of Fire .

If her Behauiour bear surer Barre ,
Then is her No , then tempt not That too much:
Shee is a Woman , so, too weake to warre
With Compleat men , that take but with a Touch:
" Many that haue resisted long , with strength ,
" Yet striuing still, grow weake , and fall at length ."

The force of Womans loue in vertuous course ,
Is Lyon-like , not first to be withstood:
But sooner tam'de by following than by force .
For Bloods made hottest oft, in coldest blood .
Like Wells in Winter ; so the Leacher can
Be first a good, and then a Beastly Man .

Is shee but young? Then t'is but young , to bring
Thine Olde-acquaintance to her. Is shee olde?
Olde-Doings yet may rise from Communing :
The olde and young from such Occasions holde:
Yet not so straite her, as shee may espie,
Through pure Restriction , as grosse Iealausie .

There's none extreamly good, or passing badde
Vpon the sudden; but by slowe degrees.
No sober soule is at an Instant madde,
But falis too't peece-meale in her Faculties :
First Fantasie , and then Intelligence:
Then Iudgement , with each other Inward Sense .

So must thou looke thy Wife vntyr'd may runne
In Vertues progresse, right, from grace to grace
Sith running backe, she may be ouerrunne
By Vice and so be ruin'd in the Race .
Custome , is Natures second-selfe: and so
By Custome shee'l runne right, and upright goe .

The higher Pow'rs doe second Causes make,
As Accessaries to their just Decrees .
And that vnwittingly; then make thy Make
Vnwares to doe what with thee best agrees,
Who art the second Cause , of what shee is;
Then thou hast chiefest Cause to looke to this.

" Its good to keepe a Hatch before the Dore;"
And yet that Hatch , to hatch no euill will
In Wife nor Friend ; nor yet in rich , nor poore;
But to doe good let it but keepe out Ill
An Husband should be carefull of his Wife ,
Then, can not be too carefull of her life.

Its no mistrust of thy Wiues truth, to keepe
Thy Chest fast lockt, wherein thy Treasure lyes;
But, for shee may be either Shrew , or Sheepe ,
Thou letst her keep it, while thou keepst the keyes
And so both keepe it safe, and both enioy
That which false-Friends by stealth would but destroy

Care's no Distrust , the wittiest Wife hath said,
That ere was made for wisest Husbands vse:
Care of her Honor , is her Honors ayde:
Neglect may be her Honors deaths excuse:
Loue's Lord himselfe is iealous of his Honor ,
And loues those that with care do wayt upon her.

Nay, hee is iealous likewise of our Loue:
Yet hee is God of Order, loue , and right :
Then, what hee doth in Wisedome , we may proue
In Prudence , without Iealousie , or spight :
If thou do loue thy Wife , thou lou'st her Fame
More than her life , sith longer liues the same .

Yet looke vpon her Frailtyes with more Loue
Then Iudgement , so to hide them; for, thou must
(So shee be true to thee) as often proue
As shee desires the Sport , though but of Lust :
All haue not Continence , their Fame to crowne:
Then must shee be conteyned with her owne.

And though it bee a torment to a Man ,
(Cold in this kinde) to force Fire out of Ice :
Yet if shee would, hee should , though ill he can ,
Sith sinne it is not then to pleasure Vice .
Grace makes sinne Grace , in this necessitie ,
Sith Grace , this wrong to Grace doth rectifie.

Then, loue her not the worse for this , sith that
It is (perhaps) Complexions sinne: and so
Some other may be thine as deprauate
She matcht to know no more then she might know
Then, if what well she may, she vse at neede ,
Loue her for that the more, sith don with heede

Man, Wife , and Children are Correlatiues,
Then must the Man , his Wife and Children vse
As Vessalls (not as Vassalls , chiefly Wiues )
Of Honour , which hee should no way abuse.
Gods , and thy grace , must make thy Children good;
And not the grace , nor glory of thy Bloud .

A Bloody grace , is but a Beastly glory ,
For, all the grace of Bloud from Blood proceedes;
The brauest Victor bath the brightest Story
Made of his Acts ; That is, his Bloudy-decdes .
Then, from thy Spirit , into thy sonne infuse
More then thy Flesh in him could ere effuse.

Children are Blessings , if they blessed bee;
Or else, with Cham , accurst. One going wrong
More grieues than ten right running: O! ay mee!
This is the Burden of my beauyest Song ;
Nature's more apt to grieue, then ioy in all;
Sith sold to Sorrow , by the First Mans fall.

It is an vnknowne Good then, to haue none;
If none be had without such cause to mourne,
What need we for but Heires to make such mone,
Sith when we part, we neuer more returne?
Haue we no Kinne , nor Poore? if either, then
We, haue Heyres: for, all are our deer Brethren .

O! but our House , and Name , (two nameless Things ,
For deerenesse) then (say wee) must bee extinct;
" But sith Kings come of Slaues , and slaues of Kings ;
As good its Common , as to be distinct
In Reason ; and in Nature , all is one;
If oddes there bee, it is in grace alone.

What haue wee heere to doe, when we are hence
As farre as Heau'n or Hell , and euer there?
Can the Sonnes weale, the Syres woes recompence
That's dampn'd? or's future hopes , his present feare?
Or, can heau'ns blisse , b'increasd by the sones mirth
In Earth? If neither, leaue thy House to Earth .

The World and Wee do at one Instant end:
And, eythers Relickes , senseless are to each,
Then, from my Sonne , sith I can not ascend,
It skills not though my House recelue a Breacke
To lette in others: I my Center keepe
When well I wake in GOD, and in Earth sleepe

Children , and Comforts , are Correlatiues ,
The first being good: or, if but dissolute,
How ere wee may be blessed in our Wiues ,
Yet are wee most accursed in our Fruite ;
And nought there is, that can this Curse preuent,
But GOD, by grace ; and thou , by Gouernment

Our Husband then must know the Rules of RVLE:
And when to vse them too; and vse them then:
Else, if an Asse be taught but by a Mute
Hee'l stil be bratish. Olde must teach Young men:
As wise , the fond : And so, our Petty-god ;
In his Homes- heau'n , must vse the staffe , and rod .

With which these three must be cheerd or checkt ;
Wife, Children, Seruants , in their kindes: but, so
As thou maist both thy good and theyrs effect
The Lambe and Lyon must vnited go
To this great Worke , and with them, still the Fox ,
To work on These , with kindnes, craft , and knocks .

But, must thy selfe bee subiect to thy Rodde?
Thy Wife's thy Selfe ; or halfe thy selfe, at least.
Why? must not Man (made like) be like his God
In Iustice? Did not God , when Man trangrest
Correct himselfe as Man , for Man? Then must
A Man correct his wife , when it is iust.

Christ , and his Church are Two ; yet make but One ;
As Man and Wife doe: yet, though shee do erre,
He dide r'appease his Ire for That, alone;
And yet, for That, hee oft chastiseth her:
So double beats himselfe for Single-sinne
Himselfe the Shell of his Sweete-selfe within.

So, teach thy wife , by ruling to obay;
And, by obedience, rule with greater might:
Thou rul'st aright, when she no worse doth sway,
As kings do when their iudges iudge aright:
Good Iudges make ill Kings rule graciously:
But thou must make hers thy rule glorifie.

Yet Blowes are brutish, if thy Wife they touch,
Vnlesse she man kind turne, in furious moode :
Then, maist thou giue her more, at least as much
As she bestowes; and all but for her good .
" The paine of One that pleasure brings to Two
" Made One , make loue more free and faster too."

A mankind woman , is a monstrous man:
That's a she man , or Ioth'd Hermophradise ,
Taking the name, of what most in her can
Do in each sex: then, if she loue to smite,
She is a monstrous wo-man , of man made,
But man to marre; or making, to inuade.

Looke how'th Angell staied great Abrahams stroke
At point to fall . so should the sacred Name
Of Wife , alone, the falling Blow reuoke
Yer fall, t'her sorrow , and the strikers shame:
The God of Peace dwels not in Tents of warre ;
Much lesse with man and wife that so do iarre.

Conteution is resembled to a fire ;
And fire leaues nought, but worse then nought
That's, Dust or smoake ; and so, such hate and ire
Wasts all, saue (worst of all) foule Rumors wind:
Which doth pursue their cinders , till they'ly
In Lethe , or in rotten memory.

The voyce of Nature (which nere sounds amisse)
Still cries, that Peace , is Heau'n , and warre , is Hell
Is thy wife good? then great thy Fortune is
If ill; she is thy cross: yet beare it well:
And how so ere, let nought thy mind offend,
But what thou canst, and yet thou wilt not, mend.

The parcels of thy selfe (thy children ) strike
When they misdo ; yet, not so oft as then:
Some times to winke at what we do mislike,
Is well to be and to do like prudent men
That is, when sweetnes , more then sharpnes , will
Their proper good , keepe from improper ill .

And such an hand still beare thou on the raines ,
As bridle may, with ease , their Coltish will ;
With ease to either; for, to neither paines
Are pleasing: so that Kindnesse do not kill.
As fond Apes do their yong: Thy children, so,
Thy will, with ease , shall still both do and know

Yet, to their carriage , euer haue an Eye ,
And check when least they trip , lest much they fal:
Nay beare not with them euen the lightest lie ;
The burden's more than may be borne with all:
So, with strict vse of going-well , they will,
With pleasure , beare them selues most vpright still.

Thy Seruants ( Portions of thy goods ) if ill,
Mend with sound strokes ; but yet remember'd be
Thou hast a Master too, and thwartst his will ;
Then, strike, for that , as he for this , should thee:
Do as thou would'st be done to , is his Heast ,
Than, do no more; but so to do, is best.

Those of her Sex , set vnder her comand,
Leaue to her chastisement when they misdo:
The Seruant-maide waits on her Mistresse hand,
Then, by that hand she should be punish't too:
It's for more lowe, then mans worth should aspire
To hurt a maide in sport : much more in ire .

Hirelings , that are not yet as meniall ,
More freely vse then thy bond-seruants still;
Yet not, as to one good, giue to all :
But, let thy front distinguish good from ill ;
From whose squint-eyes hide wel thy il-vsd power
For, it they'l vent with breath as soft as sow'r .

Prouision (soule of hospitalitie )
To Inne it well, must be the husbands care
Megnificence liues Frugalitie :
Be sparing, then, to spend; and spending, spare
Beare , and Forbeare , forbeare least vaine expence
Of wealth, to beare vp thy Magnificence .

Labour, to Be ; but, idle be to Seeme
(Sith but to seeme is idle) so, shalt thou
Behold more deere , the lesse thou dost esteeme
Of thine owne worth . To rise , then, is to bow :
But, in thy house thou must retaine that state ,
That there is fittest to predominate.

Thou must be a King , a Prophet , and a Priest ,
To gouerne teach and pray ; so Masters ought
To be lesse good than wise , doth ill resist:
To be more good than wise , is euill thought
For government; for such will fall at length
By the strong pow'r of their owne weaknes strength .

When thou dost feast, (so that the poore fast not)
Feast thou as oft, as well thy state may beare,
Haue Guests that haue no pleasure in the pot,
But, sadly gamesome: witty as austere:
So, shalt thou bind to thee (in loue , at least)
Men worth thy meate ; in earnest , and in iest .

Life , and Societie do so accord,
As, if they be diuided, die they will:
And, frolicke Fate doth (lightly) load that Bord
That fedes the honest and the hungry , still:
Yet, boord no Buffons , that are boorders broad;
Their Loue is light: and yet, a heauy loade .

They are but Baskets of the Diuels almes
Which keepe his scraps of wit for wicked wills!
These wound with will , and then giue witty balms ;
With laughter feed; than, bring in saddest Bills ,
Meere moaths of great-men ; good mens eye sores O!
I would, nor good , nor great-men , such did know.

Then such to shun, and with them, other Pests ,
Pray euer to be taught in Wisedomes schooles;
And craue the Master of thy soules requests
To blesse thee from the sacrifice of fooles ;
Be thou not Bell , whose guilefull Priests did eat
(While, senalesse, he lookt on) his means and meat .

Let Mornes , and Eu'nings neuer passe their prime
But, with the little Church , or petty state
In thy home's signiory pray out that Time ,
To be preseru'd from Sense so reprobate;
Then, Wisedome, Feare , and Loues deuotion shall
Be as Triumuirate , to rule thine All .

And, when thy life, thus spent, draws neer her date
Let Prudence , and Compassion penne thy Will ,
For, they'l make Loue and Rights so part thy state ,
As All shall like: and, for it, loue thee still:
So, Thine , and th' other Thine (the poore ) shalbe
Still ioy'd, in griefe , and grieu'd, in Ioy , for thee.

Now sleeps this husband , (in his latest home ,)
While heau'nly glory watcheth when he wakes,
To take him to her temple , from his tombe ;
Sith Fame , her selfe, of him , an Idoll makes;
But Heau'nly glory enuy'ng his Fames praise,
Swallows Fames beams into her brighter raies .

Which will but more discouer (by their light )
The best of husbands staines, that scarce appeare
By which their own clear raies becom most bright
Yet all too browne for her that is more cleare .
Then, shine fair Pair , til som more heau'nly sprites
Do make your glory like the light of lights .

And let her Fame flie euer in the Aire
Of the sweet'st Muses breath, that ere shal breath
The Aire of Art and Nature , till Despaire
Damne Enuy , looking still but for her death .
But selfe-life cannot die. Then this deare Wife
Shall liue till death be endlesse Glories life.