| Nicholson & Lee, eds. The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse. 1917. |
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| 37. Rules and Lessons |
| By Henry Vaughan (1621–1695) |
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| WHEN first thy Eies unveil, give thy Soul leave | |
| To do the like; our Bodies but forerun | |
| The spirits duty; True hearts spread, and heave | |
| Unto their God, as flow’rs do to the Sun. | |
| Give him thy first thoughts then; so shalt thou keep | 5 |
| Him company all day, and in him sleep.… | |
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| Walk with thy fellow-creatures: note the hush | |
| And whispers amongst them. There’s not a Spring, | |
| Or Leafe but hath his Morning-hymn; Each Bush | |
| And Oak doth know I AM; canst thou not sing? | 10 |
| O leave thy Cares, and follies! go this way | |
| And thou art sure to prosper all the day.… | |
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| Spend not an hour so, as to weep another, | |
| For tears are not thine own; If thou giv’st words | |
| Dash not thy friend, nor Heav’n; O smother | 15 |
| A vip’rous thought; some Syllables are Swords. | |
| Unbitted tongues are in their penance double, | |
| They shame their owners, and the hearers trouble.… | |
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| When Seasons change, then lay before thine Eys | |
| His wondrous Method; mark the various Scenes | 20 |
| In heav’n; Hail, Thunder, Rain-bows, Snow, and Ice, | |
| Calmes, Tempests, Light, and darknes by his means; | |
| Thou canst not misse his Praise; Each tree, herb, flowre | |
| Are shadows of his wisedome, and his Pow’r. | |
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