The Poetry of the Westminster Divines

 

Books

Edward, Howard (Authorship Uncertain) – Poems, and Essays: with a Paraphrase on Cicero’s Lælius, or, Of Friendship  ToC

Greene, John – A Brief Unveiling of God and Man’s Glory, in which is: 1. A Brief Rehearsal of Happiness in General, 2. How this Happiness is Manifested by Jesus Christ, 3. The Soul’s Song of Love, 1641.

Greene, John – The Worlds’ Riddle and the Saint’s Bliss ToC

Seldon, John – A commendatory poem to The Poems of William Browne, p. 9

Taylor, Francis – Grapes from Canaan, or, The Believer’s present taste of future glory expressed in a short divine poem, the issue of spare hours and published at the request and for the entertainment of those whose hopes are above their present enjoyments ToC

 

 

Poems

Thomas Gataker

The poem is untitled and was found in his papers after his death.  HT: Andrew Myers

I thirst for thirstiness; I weep for tears;
Well-pleased I am to be displeased thus;
The only thing I fear is want of fears,
Suspecting I am not suspicious.
I cannot choose but live, because I die;
And when I am not dead, how glad am I!
Yet, when I am thus glad for sense of pain,
And careful am, lest I should careless be,
Then do I grieve for being glad again,
And fear lest carelessness take care from me.
Amidst these restless thoughts this rest I find,
For those that rest not here, there’s rest behind.

 

 

Reference

Alexander Chalmers, ‘Life of the Author’, in The Works of Edward Reynolds, Vol. 1, p. lxxi.  HT: Andrew Myers

‘Dr. [Edward] Reynolds was somewhat of a poet, as appears by a few elegies in Clarke’s Lives, if indeed these were not the production of his son of the same name. They are ill suited to the spirit and elegance of his prose, which is enriched by much striking imagery, and many apt illustrations, the whole guided by a solid judgment.’

 

 

Latin Verses  HT: Andrew Myers

Samuel Rutherford

Letter of Samuel Rutherford, p. 3  5 lines

 

Alexander Henderson

in John Row, Hebreae Linguae Institutiones Compendiosissimae et facillimae in Discipulorum gratiam primum concinnatae, 1644  1 page, Search for ‘Henderson’

 

John Conant, Edmund Staunton and Henry Wilkinson

in Britannia Rediviva  1660  Written upon the occasion of King Charles II’s return.

 

 

 

 

Related Pages

Richard Rogers – A Sweet Meditation: A Poem on the Benefit of Reading, Conference, Musing on Holy Things, and Prayer, 1603

All of the Writings of the Westminster Divines Online

All of the Writings of the Westminster Divines Online by Topic