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1The
Brahman1
, th’angry deities to appease,2He being afflicted with a sad disease,
3Unwilling to be
grated2
thus asunder,4He did an act made Alexander wonder:
5For on his funeral
flagrant3
pile4
he lies,6Becoming thus both priest and sacrifice.
7What was corporeal, the fire consumes;
8His soul its pristine glory reassumes.
9So doth the
Phœnix5
fan her gilded wings10Till
Phœbus’s6
rays her gaudy feathers sings7
;11Then, in that light in which she lives, she fries—
12A glorious virgin victim; thus she dies.
13Thus though the fire her
grosser8
part consumes,14A principle is left which reassumes
15The
azure9
, purple, scarlet, golden plumes10
16Which did adorn her gorgeous
gaudy11
mother;17Thus they succeed and still exceed each other.
18Who would not such a blessed change
explore12
?19Or who would such a change as this
deplore13
?20Although I cannot in
Sol’s fulgor14
fry,21Nor dare not like this
Gymnosophist15
die22(Such
Stoical16
tricks a Christian spirit loathes),23Yet as old
Aaron did put off his clothes17
,24So I, being worn with sorrow, sin, and age,
25Quite tired with acting in this scene and stage,
26Would gladly my mortality lay by.
27Who then can say, “
Hadassah18
here doth lie19
,”28
Whenas20
my soul shall reascend above29To God, the fount of life, light, joy, and love?
30Nor shall my scattered dust forgotten rest,
31But like the embryo in the Phœnix nest,
32
That Word that nothing did create in vain21
33Shall reinspire my
dormant dust22
again;34And from obscurity my atoms raise
35To sing in joy His everlasting praise,
36
And reunite my body to my spirit23
,37That we may those eternal joys inherit,
38Which I may claim by my dear Savior’s merit.