Salt Upon Salt, Title page – Author to the reader
Salt upon Salt: Made out of certain INGENIOUS VERSES Upon the Late STORM And the Death of His HIGHNESS Enſuing.
By which Contemplative Object, Occaſion is taken, to offer to Conſideration the probable neer approaching of greater Storms, and more ſad Conſequences.
By GEO. WITHER, Eſquire.
SALT ſeaſons all things, ſaving onelyonly thoſe Which muſt feed Fiſhes, Maggots, Dogs and Crows.
Read it, and heed it, For you need it; And ſo, God ſpeed it.
London, Printed for L. Chapman, at the Crown in Popes-Head-Alley, 1659.
To the READER
OCcaſion from a trifling Object ſprings,
Once more, to offer heed of ſerious Things.
For, by peruſing ſome late printed Rimes,
That, which may much concern the preſent Times,
Was tender'd to my Thought; and what to me
Was offer'd, ſhall to you now offer'd be.
When I began to know the World, and Men,
I made Records of what I found them then,
Continuing ever ſince, to take good heed,
How they ſtood ſtill, went back, or did proceed,
Till of my Scale of Time, aſcending Heav'n,
The Round I ſtand on, maketh ten times Seven;
And, being likely, now, ere long to leave them,
A Memorandum, I intend to give them,
Of what, this day, they do appear to me,
As alſo, what they may here after be;
(According as they ſhall direct their Courſe)
That, whether they are better grown, or worſe,
It may be to GOD's Honour ſeen and read,
(What ere beſals) when they and I, am dead.
When in this Iſle my Muſes first were known,
The heads of VICE were not ſo Monſtrous grown,
(Nor then ſo numerous) as now they be;
For, Cerberus in thoſe dayes had but three,
And Hydra ſeven: At preſent, they are more
In Number, and more Large, then heretofore:
So that theſe Monſters, for whoſe overthrow
I was ingag'd, nigh fifty yeers ago,
Are grown ſo formidable, that, they make
The Fortreſſes of Moral Vertue ſhake,
And, yield at preſent, work enough to do,
For Hercules, and Mighty Sampſon too.
Yet I have loſt no Ground, but kept the Field;
And will, till I have Conquer'd, or am Kild:
For, though ſome daily fall off, who pretended
Adherence to the Cauſe which we defended,
(And though my Elder Brethren do but flout me)
I find an Unſeen Army, pitch'd about me,
Which takes my Part, and will effect at length,
That, which is far beyond my ſingle ſtrength:
And, he, who dies, in making good his Place,
Though he prevails not, dies without Diſgrace.
The Liſt, I enter not, with guileful Charms,
Of Humane Eloquence, nor with ſuch Arms
Defenſive, or offenſive, as were brought
By them, who have of late, our Battails fought;
But onelyonly with a Sling, Stones, and a Staff,
At which my Friends jeer, and my Foes do laugh;
Yet (mark the Sequel) for, a day will come,
That ſhall place Juſtice in the higheſt Room;
That, they who by their Brethren were envide,
(Or by their Maſters wronged) ſhall be tride;
That thoſe Poor People, who oppreſſed be,
In Body, or in Conſcience, ſhall be free;
And, that, though this be ſcorn'd, it ſhall be ſed
Whilſt I am Living, or, when I am Dead,
That, by thoſe, now-contemned Pebble-ſtones,
Which I have flung, there will be Broken-Bones,
And Bruiſed Braines, which did to ſome of thoſe.
Prove Mortal, who have been my Countries Foes.
Mean while, I'll proſecute what I intend,
Not much regarding what a Foe, or Friend,
Shall either Counter-act, or Counter-ſay,
But, bear their Spights, and Cenſures as I may.
Nor to my Theam will I ſo cloſe be tide,
As not, ſometimes, to make a ſtep aſide,
To take in that, which may conduce unto
The Work, which I in chief, intend to do;
But, act as my INSPIRER, moveth me:
For, I'm by Him inſpir'd, not He by Me.
And therefore, here, before I take my leave,
I'll warn you, (leſt your thoughts I may deceive)
That Method not to look for, which by thoſe
Is uſed, who expreſs their Mindes in Proſe;
For, Things, not in pre-meditated Thought,
(To me upon a ſudden, being brought)
I took in, as they came; and what they were
Oft knew not, till in Words, they did appear:
Which having ſignifi'd, you may thereby
Gueſs, what to judge of them, as well, as I;
And, whether, that ſhould not your hearts incline
To think, there's ſomewhat in them more then Mine.
Laſt Year, I ſent a FLASH, which is let paſs,
Unheeded, as a Thing that never was:
Now follows the Report, or Clap of Thunder,
which have been ſeen and heard, thus far aſunder,
To give the longer Warning; for the SHOT
And THUNDER BOLT'S, (if Grace prevent them not)
Will next year fly among you: GOD amend us,
And, then, I am aſſur'd, He will defend us.
Your Servant and Remembrancer, GEORGE WITHER.