American Puritan & Colonial

Verse on the Death of Elijah Corlet

Nehemiah Walter (1663-1750) · 605 words · 3 min

The source for this document is http://name.umdl.umich.edu/N29468.0001.001

Project Note

This is licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND. This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.

The source of this document is the Early English Books Online (EEBO-TCP) website. Those books were transcribed in a character for character manner and can be very cumbersome to read since there was no standard spelling during that time. Many spelling variations such as "unlesse", "vnlesse", and "vnles" regularly appear.

This project was conceived to clean up those books as much as possible and make them more accessible to the interested reader, leading to the creation of a massive list of variant spellings and their corrections. This was used to clean up the text, but is of course only as complete as the list itself. Because of the nature of the original transcription, some words have missing characters or places where the original language (e.g., Greek) was not transcribed. This effort does not change that. Be aware that the original transcription can also be faulty and in some cases entire sentences may be missing.

Although this is no substitute for a properly compared, proofed, and scholarly edition, I believe that the result is a document which is far more accessible, particularly for searching for terms using standard spelling. The document has been cleaned and presented in what I hope is a pleasing and useful format for the vast majority of Christian brothers and sisters who just want access to read these spiritually nourishing works.

However, a word of warning: The Puritans were a very diverse group of people and their age was characterized with godliness, but also much upheaval, disputation and strife. They disagreed on many doctrines and some of these works contain less orthodox or Scriptural views than others. The reader is strongly advised to read with discernment, particularly if it is unknown whether author is trustworthy.

This project took a huge amount of time and skill to bring to fruition. I would particularly like to thank David Jonescue for the initial list of Puritans he found on EEBO and the concept behind this project as well as the continuous, unceasing efforts toward seeing this complete. Without his labor, this would not be available. Alex Sarrouf was invaluable in providing the initial list of over 7,000 spelling variations he had identified and corrected, as well as continuing to review more than 16,000 additions to that list for any typos.

Logan West
(with David Jonescue and Alex Sarrouf)
www.puritansearch.org

An ELEGIACK VERSE, On the Death Of the Pious and Profound GRAMMARIAN and RHETORICIAN, Mr. ELIJAH CORLET, SCHOOL-MASTER of CAMBRIDGE , Who Deceased Anno Aetatis 77. Feb. 24. 1687.

        ON
        
         Roman
        
        Feet my stumbling
        
         Muse
        
        declines
       
        To walk unto his Grave, lest by her Fall
       
        She trespass, in accosting of his Head
       
        With undeserved breach. In jingling
        
         Rythme
        
        She thinks it not convenient to Dance
       
        Upon his Sacred Herse; but
        
         mournful
        
        Steps
       
        If Metrically ordered, she computes
       
        The most becoming of this Tragic Scene.

        Could Heavens
        
         ignific Ball
        
        (whose boundless Womb
       
        Millions of flaming
        
         Aetna
        
        's does ingulf)
       
        From Candle's dull and oleaginous
       
        Transfused Beams, a glowing
        
         Atom
        
        draw,
       
        Which might a super-added Luster give
       
        Unto its conick Rayes; then might our Verse
       
        Swell with impregnant
        
         hopes
        
        o
        
         •
        
        bringing
        
         〈◊〉
        
        Some rich Display of
        
         Corlet
        
        's Virtues rare.
       
        But this
        
         Herculean
        
        Labor forced we deem
       
        Not second to
        
         Impossibilities
        
        .
       
        This presses hard our tim'rous heart whence flows
       
        A Torrent of amazing Fears, whose
        
         Waves
        
        Bode Universal
        
         Deluge
        
        to that Verse
       
        That dares pretend to equalize his
        
         Fame
        
        .
       
         Creep
        
        then, poor
        
         Rythmes
        
        , and like a
        
         timid Hare
        
        Encircle his rich Vault, then gently
        
         squatt
        
        Upon his Grave the Center there proclaim
       
        Tho' he
        
         subside
        
        , yet his abounding Worth
       
        Does infinitely
        
         supersede
        
        thy
        
         Lays
        
        .

        Tell to the World what Dowries Nature shower'd
       
        Into his large capacious Soul; almost
       
        Profuse in large Donations; yet kind Art
       
        Still adds unto the store, striving to reach
       
         Perfection
        
        's Top, during a
        
         mortal
        
        state.
       
        Sagacious Nature, provident that naught
       
        Of her dispensed bounty frustrate prove,
       
        Boyls up this
        
         Font
        
        of
        
         Learning
        
        to an head,
       
        Which over-topping of its Banks she glides
       
        Through Nature's
        
         Conduit-pipes
        
        into the Soil
       
        Of tender
        
         Youth
        
        , which gaping sucks it in,
       
        Like thirsty
        
         Stars
        
        Bright
        
         Phebus
        
        's liquid
        
         light
        
        .
       
        A
        
         Master of his Trade
        
        , whose Art could
        
         square
        
         Pillars
        
        of rooted
        
         strength
        
        whose shoulders might
       
        A Common-Wealth uphold.
        
         Aholiab
        
        -like
       
        Divinely qualified with curious Skill
       
        To carve out
        
         Temple
        
        work, and clothe the
        
         Priest
        
        With sacred Robes, adapted for the Use
       
        Of Functions so divine.—
       
        Rivers of
        
         Eloquence
        
        like
        
         Nectar
        
        flowed
       
        From his Vast Ocean, where a
        
         Tully
        
        might
       
        Surfeit with draughts of
        
         Roman
        
        Eloquence.
       
        Immortal
        
         Oaks
        
        (whose
        
         golden mouth
        
        never blew
       
        A blast defiled with indisposed Speech)
       
        Suspecting his own parts, rarely pronounced
       
        His
        
         Ciceronean
        
        lines, until they touched
       
        This
        
         Lydius Lapis
        
        CORLET: then approved
       
        They're
        
         Eloquence-proof
        
        esteemed, and challenged
       
        The
        
         Roman
        
        Tribe of Orators to spend
       
        Their subtlety, and pierce their
        
         E
         
          ••
         
         le's
        
        Eyes
       
        Into their very bottom.—
       
        Had
        
         Grecian
        
        Dialect and
        
         Roman
        
        Tongue
       
        Surviv'd this Age within their native Soyl,
       
        Endless had been their Feud;
        
         Athens
        
        and
        
         Rome
        
        Had set their
        
         Tully
        
        's and
        
         Demosthenes
        
        to fight
       
        With Swords brandish'd with shining
        
         Eloquence
        
        For to decide the Controverse, and prove
       
        To whom by right Great CORLET did pertain.
       
        This proving unsuccessful, naught can quench
       
        Their flaming zeal, save by (
        
         Colossos
        
        like)
       
        Erecting his large Statue, whose proud feet
       
        Might fix their Station on the Pinnacles
       
        Of each of these
        
         Metropolies
        
        of Art.
       
        Nor were his Parts exclusive of his
        
         Zeal
        
        In serving his rich Donor. No Serpent
       
        Bearing a fulgent Jewel in his Crest,
       
        While cursed Poison steeps his venom'd heart.
       
        But
        
         Grace
        
        the Crown of all shone like a Sun
       
        Fixit in the Center of that
        
         Microcosm
        
        .
       
        Blown to the full, perfumed with sacred smell,
       
        This flower
        
         Heaven
        
        plucked. When
        
         Natures
        
        Too feeble grown to bear such ponderous fruit
       
         Elijah
        
        's Chariot born on
        
         Seraph's
        
        wings,
       
        Mounts with this Treasure to the port of
        
         Bliss
        
        .

Sic moestus cecinit

NEHEMIAH WALTER.