And Do They So?

"

Etenim res creatoe exerto capite observantesexpectant revelationem Filiorum Dei.

":

"For created things, watching with head erect,

await the revelation of the Sons of God."

And do they so? Have they a sense

Of aught but influence?

Can they their heads lift, and expect,

And groan too? Why the elect

Can do no more; my volumes said

They were all dull, and dead;

They judged them senseless, and their state

Wholly inanimate.

Go, go, seal up thy looks,

And burn thy books.

I would I were a stone, or tree,

Or flower, by pedigree,

Or some poor highway herb, or spring

To flow, or bird to sing!

Then should I, tied to one sure state,

All day expect my date;

But I am sadly loose, and stray

A giddy blast each way;

O let me not thus range,

Thou canst not change!

Sometimes I sit with Thee and tarry

An hour or so, then vary;

Thy other creatures in this scene

Thee only aim and mean;

Some rise to seek Thee, and with heads

Erect, peep from their beds;

Others, whose birth is in the tomb,

And cannot quit the womb,

Sigh there, and groan for Thee,

Their liberty.

O let me not do less! Shall they

Watch, while I sleep or play?

Shall I thy mercies still abuse

With fancies, friends, or news?

O brook it not!  Thy blood is mine,

And my soul should be Thine;

O brook it not! why wilt Thou stop,

After whole showers, one drop?

Sure Thou wilt joy to see

Thy sheep with Thee.

Brook: Tolerate, endure.