XVI.
In Atheniensem merum. Act. xvii. 28.
Ipsos naturae thalamos sapis, imaque rerum
Concilia, et primae quicquid agunt tenebrae,
Quid dubitet refluum mare, quid vaga sydera volvant;
Christus et est studiis res aliena tuis.
Sic scire, est tantum nescire loquacius illa:
Qui nempe illa sapit sola, nec illa sapit.
Of the 'blue-blood' pride of the Athenians.
Thou knowest Nature's secret things
And all her deepest counsellings—
All wonders of the primal Night
Conceal'd from prying human sight;
Knowest how the sea-tide pauses,
The wandering stars too in their causes.
But while to thee, in all else wise,
Christ from thy thoughts an alien lies,
In earthly studies to advance
Is but loquacious ignorance;
And he whose wisdom is but such,
Of those things even knows not much.
O, study thou beneath the Cross,
Or all thy labour is but loss! G.
XVII.
Ego vitis vera. Joan. xv. 1.
Credo quidem, sed et hoc hostis te credidit ipse
Caiaphas, et Judas credidit ipse, reor.
Unde illis, Jesu, vitis nisi vera fuisses,
Tanta tui potuit sanguinis esse sitis?
I am the True Vine.
'Believe!' e'en Caiaphas, thy foe, believèd
Thee the True Vine; and Judas too, I think.
Had they not, Lord, Thee as True Vine receivèd,
Could they have thirsted so Thy Blood to drink? G.