A DIALOGUE BETWEEN A Blind Man AND DEATH.
Bl. M.
THE more Men see, the less they do enquire;
The worse they see, the more they do desire
Others to grant, what Blindness cannot give,
And for Intelligence grow Inquisitive;
They ask to be inform'd, who cannot see;
I know't by Sad Experience, Wo is me!
Death.
Where are you, Sir? What, sitting all alone?
I did suppose 'twas you by that Sad Moan:
Coming this way to gather what's my due,
I thought it not amiss to call on you.
B.
I do not know that Voice, 'tis sure some Stranger,
And by his words, he seems to Boad me Danger.
D.
You guess aright, Sir, and before I go,
I'le make you know me whether you will or no.
[...]
B.
Why, what are you? Pray tell me, what's your name?
And what's your Business? and from whence you came?
D.
I will declare what no Man can deny:
There's none so great a Traveller as I;
Yet you must know I am no wandring Rover,
For my Dominion lies the World all over:
I March through Court and Country, Town and City;
I know neither how to Fear, nor how to Pity.
The highest Cedar, and the lowest Flower,
Sooner or later do both feel my Power:
The mighty'st Emperours do Submit to me,
Nor is the poorest Tatter'd Beggar free:
In Peace I Glean here one, and there another;
Sometimes I sweep away whole Streets together.
In times of War, thus much I can Divine,
Whoever gets the Day, the Triumph's Mine.
I am indeed a very great Commander;
'Twas I that Conquer'd that Great
Alexander:
And after all the Victories he wan,
Compell'd him to Confess, he was a Man.
Were you
Goliah great, or
Sampson strong,
Were you as Wise, as Rich as
Solomon;
Were you as
Nestor Old, as Infant Young;
Had you the fairest Cheek, the sweetest Tongue:
Yet you must stoop, all these will nought avail,
For my Arrests do not admit of Bail;
For to deal plainly, Sir, my Name is
Death,
And 'tis my Business to Demand your Breath.
B.
My Breath and Life shall both go out together.
D.
And on that Errand 'twas that I came hither:
I'le have both Breath and Life without delay,
You must and shall dispatch: Come, Come away.
B.
What need such posting haste? pray change your Mind,
'Tis a poor Conquest to Surprise the Blind.
D.
You may not call it Posting, nor Surprise;
For you had warning when you lost your Eyes:
Nor could you hope your House should long be free,
After the Windows were possess'd by me.
B.
But Life is sweet; who would not, if he might,
Have a long Day before he bid good Night?
O spare me yet a while, slight not my Tears;
D.
Hard Hearts, and Hungry Bellies, have no Ears.
B.
I am not yet quite ready for the Table.
D.
All's one to me, I am Inexorable.
B.
Yet by your favour I may step aside;
D.
Be not deceiv'd, for 'tis in vain to hide;
My Forces are dispersed through all Places,
And Act for me without respect of Faces;
I have a Thousand ways to shorten Life,
Besides a Rapier, Pistol, Sword and Knife;
A Fly, an Hair, the Splinter of a Thorn,
A little Scratch, the cutting of a Corn
Have sometimes done my Business heretofore
So to the full, that I need wish no more;
Should all these fail, enough of Humours lurk
Within your Body, Sir, to do my work.
B.
Well then, let some one Run for my Physitian,
Tell him I want his Aid in this Condition.
D.
Run Boy, and fetch him, call the whole College, do,
For I intend to have them shortly too;
I value not their Potions, nor their Pills;
Nor all the Cordials in the Doctors Bills;
When my Time's come, let them do what they can,
We have my due, so vain a thing is Man!
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Should
Galen and
Hipocrates both join,
And
Paracelsus too, with them Combine,
Let them all meet to Countermine my strength,
Yet shall they be my Prisoners all, at length:
I grant, that Men of Learning, Worth, and Art,
May have the better of me at the Start.
But in long running they'l give out, and tire,
And quit the Field, and leave me my desire;
As for those Quacks who Threaten to undo me,
They are my Friends, and speed some Patients to me,
B.
Well, if I must, I will yield you the Day:
'Tis so Enacted, and I must Obey;
Henceforth I'le count my self among your Debtors:
For 'tis I see the measure of my Betters,
But tell me now, When did your Power Commence?
D.
My Power began from
Adam's first Offence.
B.
From
Adam's first Offence? O base Beginning?
Whose very first Original was Sinning.
D.
My Rising did from
Adam's Fall begin,
And ever since my strength and sting's from Sin.
B.
To know wherein the Enemy's strength doth lie,
In my Conceit, is half a Victory,
Have you Commission now for what you do?
D.
I have Commission, What's all this to you?
B.
Yes, very much; for now I understand,
I am not altogether at your Command:
My Life's at his who gave you this Commission;
To him I'le therefore make with my Petition;
I'le seek his Love, and on his Mercy trust,
And when my sins are Pardon'd, do your worst.
D.
That you may know how far my Power Extends,
I will Divorse you from your dearest Friends;
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You shall resign your Jewels, Money, Plate;
Your Earthly Joys shall all be out of date;
I will deprive you of your dainty Fare;
I'le strip you to your Skin, Naked and Bare;
Linnen or Woolen you shall have to wind you,
As for the rest, all must be left behind you:
Bound Hand and Foot I'le bring you to my Den,
Where constant, Dreadful Darkness Reigns; and then
Your only Dwelling-House shall be a Cave,
Your Lodging Room, a little narrow Grave,
A Chest your Closet, and a Sheet your Dress;
And your Companions, Worms and Rottenness.
B.
If this be all the Mischief you can do,
Your Harbingers deserve more Dread than you:
Diseases are your Harbingers I am sure,
Many of which, 'tis grievous to endure;
But when once Dead, I shall not then complain
Of Cold or Hunger, Poverty or Pain.
D.
There's one thing more, which here to mind I call,
When once I come, then come I once for all;
And when my stroak doth Soul and Body Sever,
What's left undone, must be undone for Ever.
B.
That's a great Truth, and I have learn't to know,
That there's no Working in the Grave below;
To be before-hand therefore I will try,
That then I may have nought to do but Die:
But tell me, Sir, do all Men Die alike?
D.
To me they do, for whom God bids, I strike,
Look how the Foolish Die, so Die the Wise,
As do the Righteous, so the Sinner Dies;
The greatest difference will appear hereafter,
But that's a thing that is beyond my Charter.
That I to some prove better, to some worse,
To some a Blessing, and to some a Curse,
That's none of mine, I may not undertake it,
'Tis God's appointment, and Mens works that make it.
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Hence 'tis that Sinners Troubles never Cease,
And that the Upright Man his End is Peace.
B.
There now remains but only one thing more:
Will not your Power be one Day out of Door?
D.
Must I needs tell you, Sir? 'tis certain true,
There is a Death for me as well as you,
And mine's the worse, for I must Die for Ever,
You may Revive again, but I shall Never.
B.
By all that hath been said, now I do see,
You needed not have been so rough with me.
D.
Come, let that pass; The kinder to appear,
I will reveal a Secret in your Ear.
The Death of Christ upon the painful Cross,
Which seem'd to be my Gain, turn'd to my Loss:
All in his Hair the Strength of
Sampson lay,
All with his Hair went
Sampson's Strength away.
I have no strength but what I had from Sin,
I have no sting but what lies hid therein;
Christ Suffering Death to put this Sin away,
Hath made me his, whom I suppos'd my Prey;
My strength is now Decay'd, my sting Rebated,
My Boldness Checkt, and my Dominion Mated;
And I am now both Faint and Feeble grown,
Much like to
Sampson, when his Hair was gone;
In my own Craft I was completly Routed;
My Jaws were broken, and my Holders Outed:
What now I Catch I have no Power to keep,
My very Name is chang'd from Death, to Sleep.
'Tis true, I seiz'd on Christ, and had him down,
And Bound him in a Prison of my own;
But all my strongest Doors, Bars, Bolts, and Bands,
Were but meer Nothings in his Mighty Hands:
He broke through all, and left my Doors wide Ope,
And all his Servants Prisoners of Hope;
For though they Die, yet with Devout Affection
They do expect a Joyful Resurrection;
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And with their Master to be brought again,
That they with him for ever may remain.
Thus Christ by Dying did become Victorious,
And from his Bed of Darkness rose more Glorious.
And I by Binding him, made my self Fast,
And his, I know, will prove my Death at Last.
B.
These words give Comfort, and Instruction too,
Henceforth I shall be better pleas'd with you.
Decree'd it is for all Men once to Die,
After that Judgment, then Eternity.
To Prayer therefore will I join Endeavour,
So to Live here, that I may Live for Ever:
And seeing they that have, and keep Christ's words,
Whether they Live or Die, be all the Lords,
Repentance, Faith, and New-obedience shall
Fit and prepare me for my Funeral;
From whence I trust my Saviour will Translate me
In Season due, beyond their reach that Hate me;
Even to that place of Life and Glory too,
Where neither Death, nor Sin, hath ought to do:
This Hope in me, that Word of his doth Cherish,
He that Believes in me shall never Perish.
Now welcome Death upon my Saviours Score,
Who would not Die to Live for Evermore?
D.
Sir, I perceive you speak not without Reason,
I'le leave you now, and call some other Season.
B.
Call when you please, I will await that Call,
And while I stand, make ready for my Fall:
In the mean time, my constant Prayers shall be,
From Sudden, and from Endless Death
Good Lord deliver me.
Judg not of Death by Sense, lest you mistake it:
Death's neither Friend nor Foe, but as you make it.
Live as you should, you need not to Complain,
For where to Live is Christ, to Die is Gain.
R. S.
FINIS.