Chapter 8

A man's friend will not be fully tried in prosperity; and his enemy will not be hidden in adversity. In a man's prosperity his enemies are grieved; and in his adversity even his friend will be separated from him. Never trust thine enemy, for like as the brass rusteth, so is his wickedness: though he humble himself, and go crouching, yet take good heed, and beware of him, and thou shalt be unto him as one that hath wiped a mirror, and thou shalt know that he hath not utterly rusted it. Set him not by thee, lest he overthrow thee and stand in thy place; let him not sit on thy right hand, lest he seek to take thy seat, and at the last thou acknowledge my words, and be pricked with my sayings. Who will pity a charmer that is bitten with a serpent? or any that come nigh wild beasts? Even so who will pity him that goeth to a sinner, and is mingled with him in his sins? For a while he will abide with thee, and if thou give way, he will not hold out. And the enemy will speak sweetly with his lips, and in his heart take counsel how to overthrow thee into a pit; the enemy will weep with his eyes, and if he find opportunity, he will not be satiated with blood. If adversity meet thee, thou shalt find him there before thee; and as though he would help thee, he will trip up thy heel. He will shake his head, and clap his hands, and whisper much, and change his countenance.

He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled; and he that hath fellowship with a proud man shall become like unto him. Take not up a burden above thy strength; and have no fellowship with one that is mightier and richer than thyself. What fellowship shall the earthen pot have with the kettle? this shall smite, and that shall be dashed in pieces. The rich man doeth a wrong, and he threateneth withal: the poor is wronged, and he shall entreat withal. If thou be profitable, he will make merchandise of thee; and if thou be in want, he will forsake thee. If thou have substance, he will live with thee; and he will make thee bare, and will not be sorry. Hath he had need of thee? then he will deceive thee, and smile upon thee, and give thee hope: he will speak thee fair, and say, What needest thou? and he will shame thee by his meats, until he have made thee bare twice or thrice. And at the last he will laugh thee to scorn; afterward will he see thee, and will forsake thee, and shake his head at thee. Beware that thou be not deceived, and brought low in thy mirth. If a mighty man invite thee, be retiring, and so much the more will he invite thee. Press not upon him, lest thou be thrust back; and stand not far off, lest thou be forgotten. Affect not to speak with him as an equal, and believe not his many words: for with much talk will he try thee, and in a smiling manner will search thee out. He that keepeth not to himself words spoken is unmerciful; and he will not spare to hurt and to bind. Keep them to thyself, and take earnest heed, for thou walkest in peril of thy falling.

Every living creature loveth his like, and every man loveth his neighbour. All flesh consorteth according to kind, and a man will cleave to his like. What fellowship shall the wolf have with the lamb? so is the sinner unto the godly. What peace is there between the hyena and the dog? and what peace between the rich man and the poor? Wild asses are the prey of lions in the wilderness; so poor men are pasture for the rich. Lowliness is an abomination to a proud man; so a poor man is an abomination to the rich. A rich man when he is shaken is held up of his friends; but one of low degree being down is thrust away also by his friends. When a rich man is fallen, there are many helpers; he speaketh things not to be spoken, and men justify him: a man of low degree falleth, and men rebuke him withal; he uttereth wisdom, and no place is allowed him. A rich man speaketh, and all keep silence; and what he saith they extol to the clouds: a poor man speaketh, and they say, Who is this? and if he stumble, they will help to overthrow him. Riches are good that have no sin; and poverty is evil in the mouth of the ungodly.

vi

The Wisdom of Business and the Wisdom of Leisure

The wisdom of the scribe cometh by opportunity of leisure; and he that hath little business shall become wise. How shall he become wise that holdeth the plow, that glorieth in the shaft of the goad, that driveth oxen, and is occupied in their labours, and whose discourse is of the stock of bulls? He will set his heart upon turning his furrows; and his wakefulness is to give his heifers their fodder. So is every artificer and workmaster, that passeth his time by night as by day; they that cut gravings of signets, and his diligence is to make great variety; he will set his heart to preserve likeness in his portraiture, and will be wakeful to finish his work. So is the smith sitting by the anvil, and considering the unwrought iron; the vapour of the fire will waste his flesh, and in the heat of the furnace will he wrestle with his work; the noise of the hammer will be ever in his ear, and his eyes are upon the pattern of the vessel; he will set his heart upon perfecting his works, and he will be wakeful to adorn them perfectly. So is the potter sitting at his work, and turning the wheel about with his feet, who is alway anxiously set at his work, and all his handywork is by number; he will fashion the clay with his arm, and will bend its strength in front of his feet; he will apply his heart to finish the glazing, and he will be wakeful to make clean the furnace. All these put their trust in their hands; and each becometh wise in his own work. Without these shall not a city be inhabited, and men shall not sojourn nor walk up and down therein. They shall not be sought for in the council of the people, and in the assembly they shall not mount on high, they shall not sit on the seat of the judge, and they shall not understand the covenant of judgement; neither shall they declare instruction and judgement, and where parables are they shall not be found. But they will maintain the fabric of the world; and in the handywork of their craft is their prayer.

Not so he that hath applied his soul, and meditateth in the law of the Most High. He will seek out the wisdom of all of the ancients, and will be occupied in prophecies. He will keep the discourse of the men of renown, and will enter in amidst the subtilties of parables. He will seek out the hidden meaning of proverbs, and be conversant in the dark sayings of parables. He will serve among great men, and appear before him that ruleth. He will travel through the land of strange nations; for he hath tried good things and evil among men. He will apply his heart to resort early to the Lord that made him, and will make supplication before the Most High, and will open his mouth in prayer, and will make supplication for his sins. If the great Lord will, he shall be filled with the spirit of understanding: he shall pour forth the words of his wisdom, and in prayer give thanks unto the Lord. He shall direct his counsel and knowledge, and in his secrets shall he meditate. He shall shew forth the instruction which he hath been taught, and shall glory in the law of the covenant of the Lord. Many shall commend his understanding, and so long as the world endureth, it shall not be blotted out; his memorial shall not depart, and his name shall live from generation to generation; nations shall declare his wisdom, and the congregation shall tell out his praise. If he continue, he shall leave a greater name than a thousand: and if he die, he addeth thereto.

vii

Life as a Joy shadowed by the Judgment

An Essay with a Sonnet

Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun. Yea, if a man live many years, let him rejoice in them all; and remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity. Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgement. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for youth and the prime of life are vanity.

The Coming of the Evil Days

Remember also thy Creator in the days of thy youth:

Or ever the evil days come, And the years draw nigh, When thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them:

Or ever the sun. And the light, And the moon, And the stars, Be darkened, And the clouds return after the rain: In the days when the keepers of the house shall tremble, And the strong men shall bow themselves, And the grinders cease because they are few, And those that look out of the windows be darkened, And the doors shall be shut in the street;

When the sound of the grinding is low, And one shall rise up at the voice of a bird, And all the daughters of music shall be brought low;

Yea, they shall be afraid of that which is high. And terrors shall be in the way;

And the almond tree shall blossom, And the grasshopper shall be a burden, And the caperberry shall burst:

Because man goeth to his long home, And the mourners go about the streets:

Or ever the silver cord be loosed, Or the golden bowl be broken, Or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, Or the wheel broken at the cistern:

And the dust return to the earth, As it was; And the spirit return unto God Who gave it.

SONNETS[5]

[Footnote 5: For the difference of form between the Hebrew and the modern sonnet see Notes, page 255.]

i

The Sluggard

Go to the ant, thou Sluggard; Consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no chief, Overseer, Or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, And gathereth her food in the harvest.

How long wilt thou sleep, O Sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? "Yet a little sleep, A little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep"-- So shall thy poverty come as a robber, And thy want as an armed man!

ii

The Mourning for the Fool

Weep for the dead, For light hath failed him; And weep for a fool, For understanding hath failed him:

Weep more sweetly for the dead, Because he hath found rest; But the life of the fool Is worse than death.

Seven days are the days of mourning for the dead: But for a fool and an ungodly man, all the days of his life.

iii

The Two Paths

Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; And the years of thy life shall be many. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in paths of uprightness. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; And if thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. Take fast hold of instruction; Let her not go: Keep her; For she is thy life.

Enter not into the path of the wicked, And walk not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, Pass not by it; Turn from it, And pass on. For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence.

But the path of the righteous is as the light of dawn, That shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness: They know not at what they stumble.

iv

The Creator has made Wisdom the Supreme Prize

My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; Neither be weary of his reproof: For whom the LORD loveth he reproveth; Even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, And the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, And the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: And none of the things thou canst desire are to be compared unto her.

Length of days is in her right hand; In her left hand are riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, And all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: And happy is every one that retaineth her.

The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding he established the heavens. By his knowledge the depths were broken up, And the skies drop down the dew.

v

Watchfulness of Lips and Heart

Who shall set a watch over my mouth, And a seal of shrewdness upon my lips, That I fall not from it, And that my tongue destroy me not?

O Lord, Father and Master of my life, Abandon me not to their counsel: Suffer me not to fall by them.

Who will set scourges over my thought, And a discipline of wisdom over mine heart? That they spare me not for mine ignorances, And my heart pass not by their sins: That mine ignorances be not multiplied, And my sins abound not; And I shall fall before mine adversaries, And mine enemy rejoice over me?

O Lord, Father and God of my life, Give me not a proud look, And turn away concupiscence from me. Let not greediness and chambering overtake me, And give me not over to a shameless mind.

vi

Wisdom and the Fear of the Lord

All wisdom cometh from the Lord, And is with him for ever. The sand of the seas, And the drops of rain, And the days of eternity, who shall number? The height of the heaven, And the breadth of the earth, and the deep, And wisdom, who shall search them out? Wisdom hath been created before all things, And the understanding of prudence from everlasting.

To whom hath the root of wisdom been revealed? And who hath known her shrewd counsels? There is one wise, Greatly to be feared, The Lord sitting upon his throne: He created her, And saw, and numbered her, And poured her out upon all his works. She is with all flesh according to his gift; And he gave her freely to them that love him.

The fear of the Lord Is glory and exultation, And gladness, and a crown of rejoicing.

The fear of the Lord Shall delight the heart, And shall give gladness, and joy, and length of days.

Whoso feareth the Lord, It shall go well with him at the last, And in the day of his death he shall be blessed.

To fear the Lord Is the beginning of wisdom; And it was created together with the faithful in the womb. With men she laid an eternal foundation; And with their seed shall she be had in trust.

To fear the Lord Is the fulness of wisdom; And she satiateth men with her fruits. She shall fill all her house with desirable things, And her garners with her produce.

The fear of the Lord Is the crown of wisdom, Making peace and perfect health to flourish. He both saw and numbered her; He rained down skill and knowledge of understanding, And exalted the honour of them that hold her fast.

To fear the Lord Is the root of wisdom; And her branches are length of days.

vii

Wisdom and the Strange Woman

1

My son, keep my words, And lay up my commandments with thee. Keep my commandments, and live; And my law, as the apple of thine eye. Bind them upon thy fingers; Write them upon the table of thine heart. Say unto Wisdom, Thou art my sister; And call Understanding thy kinswoman: That they may keep thee from the Strange Woman, From the stranger which flattereth with her words.

2

For at the window of my house I looked forth through my lattice; And I beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, A young man, Void of understanding,

Passing through the street near her corner, And he went the way to her house; In the twilight, in the evening of the day, In the blackness of night and the darkness; And behold, there met him a Woman With the attire of an harlot, and wily of heart.

She is clamorous and wilful; Her feet abide not in her house; Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places, And lieth in wait at every corner. So she caught him, and kissed him, With an impudent face she said unto him:

"Sacrifices of peace offerings are with me; This day have I paid my vows; Therefore came I forth to meet thee, Diligently to seek thy face, And I have found thee. I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry, With striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt; I have perfumed my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love Until the morning; Let us solace ourselves with loves; For the goodman is not at home, He is gone a long journey: He hath taken a bag of money with him; He will come home at the full moon."

With her much fair speech she causeth him to yield, With the flattering of her lips she forceth him away.

He goeth after her straightway, As an ox goeth to the slaughter, Or as one in fetters to the correction of the fool; Till an arrow strike through his liver; As a bird hasteth to the snare, And knoweth not that it is for his life.

3

Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me, And attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thine heart decline to her ways, Go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded: Yea, all her slain are a mighty host. Her house is the way to Sheol, Going down to the chambers of death.

4

Doth not Wisdom cry, And Understanding put forth her voice? In the top of high places by the way, Where the paths meet, She standeth; Beside the gates, at the entry of the city, At the coming in at the doors, She crieth aloud:

Unto you, O men, I call; And my voice is to the sons of men. O ye simple, understand subtilty; And ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart. Hear, for I will speak excellent things; And the opening of my lips shall be right things. For my mouth shall utter truth; And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

All the words of my mouth are righteousness; There is nothing crooked or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth, And right to them that find knowledge Receive my instruction, and not silver; And knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; And all the things that may be desired are not to be compared unto her.

5

I Wisdom have made subtilty my dwelling, And find out knowledge and discretion.

The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogancy, And the evil way, And the froward mouth, do I hate.

Counsel is mine, And sound knowledge; I am understanding, I have might.

By me kings reign, And princes decree justice; By me princes rule, And nobles, even all the judges of the earth.

I love them that love me; And those that seek me diligently shall find me.

Riches and honour are with me; Durable riches and righteousness; My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; And my revenue than choice silver.

I walk in the way of righteousness, In the midst of the paths of judgement: That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance, And that I may fill their treasuries.

6

The LORD formed me in the beginning of his way, Before his works of old.

I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, Or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth, When there were no fountains abounding with water.

Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills, was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth, Nor the fields, Nor the beginning of the dust of the world.

When he established the heavens, I was there: When he set a circle upon the face of the deep: When he made firm the skies above: When the fountains of the deep became strong: When he gave to the sea its bound, That the waters should not transgress his commandment:

When he marked out the foundations of the earth, Then I was by him, As a master workman, And I was daily his delight, Sporting always before him; Sporting in his habitable earth; And my delight was with the sons of men.

7

Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me: For blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction, and be wise, And refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, And shall obtain favour of the LORD; But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul; All they that hate me love death.

LYRICS

I

AN ELEGY OF A BROKEN HEART

1

Let the day perish wherein I was born; And the night which said, There is a man child conceived!

Let that day be darkness; Let not God regard it from above, Neither let the light shine upon it! Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own; Let a cloud dwell upon it; Let all that maketh black the day terrify it!

As for that night, let thick darkness seize upon it; Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; Let it not come into the number of the months! Lo, let that night be barren; Let no joyful voice come therein! Let them curse it that curse the day, Who are ready to rouse up leviathan! Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark! Let it look for light, but have none; Neither let it behold the eyelids of the morning:

Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, Nor hid trouble from mine eyes!

2

Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should suck?

For now should I have lien down and been quiet; I should have slept; then had I been at rest, With kings and counsellors of the earth, Which built solitary piles for themselves; Or with princes that had gold, Who filled their houses with silver; Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; As infants which never saw light. There the wicked cease from troubling; And there the weary be at rest. There the prisoners are at ease together; They hear not the voice of the taskmaster. The small and great are there; And the servant is free from his master. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, And life unto the bitter in soul? Which long for death, but it cometh not; And dig for it more than for hid treasures; Which rejoice exceedingly, And are glad when they can find the grave. Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, And whom God hath hedged in? For my sighing cometh before I eat, And my roarings are poured out like water. For the thing which I fear cometh upon me, And that which I am afraid of cometh unto me. I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, Neither have I rest: but trouble cometh!

II

THE CREATOR'S JOY IN HIS CREATION