Reflexion

An Electronic Edition · Edward Taylor (1642-1729)

Original Source: The poetical works of Edward Taylor. Edited with an introduction and notes by Thomas H. Johnson. New York, Rockland editions, 1939.

Copyright 2003. This text is freely available provided the text is distributed with the header information provided.

Full Colophon Information


Canticles 2:1 •I am the rose of Sharon.•

Lord, art thou at the Table Head above  
Meat, Med’cine, Sweetness, sparkling Beautys, to  
Enamour Souls with Flaming Flakes of Love,  
And not my Trencher, nor my Cup o’reflow?  
Ben’t I a bidden guest? Oh! sweat mine Eye: .
O’reflow with Teares: Oh! draw thy fountains dry. 

Shall I not smell thy sweet, oh! Sharons Rose?  
Shall not mine Eye salute thy Beauty? Why?  
Shall thy sweet leaves their Beautious sweets upclose?  
As halfe ashamde my sight should on them ly?  
Woe’s me! For this my sighs shall be in grain.
Offer’d on Sorrows Altar for the same. 

Had not my Soule’s, thy Conduit, Pipes stopt bin  
With mud, what Ravishment would’st thou Convay?  
Let Graces Golden Spade dig till the Spring  
Of tears arise, and cleare this filth away.  
Lord, let thy Spirit raise my sighings till .
These Pipes my soule do with thy sweetness fill. 

Earth once was Paradise of Heaven below,  
Till inkefac’d sin had it with poyson stockt;  
And Chast this Paradise away into  
Heav’ns upmost Loft, and it in Glory Lockt.  
But thou, sweet Lord, hast with thy golden Key .
Unlock[t] the Doore, and made a golden day. 

Once at thy Feast, I saw thee Pearle-like stand  
‘Tween Heaven and Earth, where Heavens Bright glory all  
In streams fell on thee, as a floodgate and  
Like Sun Beams through thee on the World to Fall.  
Oh! Sugar sweet then! My Deare sweet Lord, I see .
Saints Heaven-lost Happiness restor’d by thee. 

Shall Heaven and Earth’s bright Glory all up lie,  
Like Sun Beams bundled in the sun in thee?  
Dost thou sit Rose at Table Head, where I  
Do sit, and Carv’st no morsell sweet for mee?  
So much before, so little now! Sprindge, Lord, .
Thy Rosie Leaves, and me their Glee afford. 

Shall not thy Rose my Garden fresh, perfume?  
Shall not thy Beauty my dull Heart assaile?  
Shall not thy golden gleams run through this gloom?  
Shall my black Velvet Mask thy fair Face Vaile?  
Pass o’re my Faults: shine forth, bright sun; arise! .
Enthrone thy Rosy-selfe within mine Eyes. 

Full Colophon Information

Genre: Poetry
Subjects: Puritans
Period: 1650-1700
Location: New England
Format: verse

This poem was completed ca. 1685but not published until 1939 in New York.

The text of the document was initially prepared from and proofed against The poetical works of Edward Taylor. Edited with an introduction and notes by Thomas H. Johnson (New York, Rockland editions, 1939). All preliminaries and notes have been omitted except those for which the author is responsible. All editorial notes have been omitted except those that indicate significant textual variations. Line and paragraph numbers contained in the source text have been retained. In cases where the source text displays no numbers, numbers are automatically generated. In the header, personal names have been regularized according to the Library of Congress authority files as "Last Name, First Name" for the REG attribute and "First Name Last Name" for the element value. Names have not been regularized in the body of the text.