Classic Poem

Ne Verbum mihi sit mortua Litera ,
Nec Christi Meritum Gratia vanida;
Sed Verbum fatuo sola Scientia,
Et Christus misero sola Redemptio.
Unletter'd Word , which never eare could heare;
Unwritten Word , which never eye could see,
Yet syllabled in flesh-spell'd character,
That so to senses thou might'st subject be;
Since thou in bread art stampt, in print art read,
Let not thy print-stampt Word to me be dead.

Thou all-contriving, all-deserving Spirit,
Made flesh to die, that so thou might'st be mine,
That thou in us, and we in thee might merit,
We thine, thou ours; thou humane, we divine;
Let not my dead lifes merit, my dead heart
Forfeit so deare a purchas'd deaths desert.

Thou Sunne of wisdome, knowledge infinite,
Made folly to the wise, night to prophane;
Be I thy Moon , oh let thy sacred light
Increase to th' full, and never, never wane:
Wise folly set in me, fond wisdome rise,
Make me renounce my wisdome, to be wise.

Thou Life eternall, purest blessednesse,
Made mortal, wretched, sinne it self for me;
Shew me my death, my sin, my wretchednesse,
That I may flourish, shine, and live in thee:
So I with praise shall sing thy life, deaths storie,
O thou my Merit, Life , my Wisdome, Glorie .