Iron forgets 'tis iron;
the chains dissemble too;
Nor has the prison doors
for Peter now.
Free truly is that pris'ner
who by the prison's freed;
Whom chains themselves unbind
free is indeed.
LX.
Deferebantur a corpore ejus sudaria, &c. Act. xix. 12.
Imperiosa premunt morbos, et ferrea fati
Jura ligant, Pauli lintea tacta manu.
Unde haec felicis laus est et gloria lini?
Haec, reor, e Lachesis pensa fuere colo.
From his body there were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs, &c.
They quell disease, and sway Fate's iron bands,
These lordly linen cloths touched by Paul's hands.
Whence rose the glory of their happy fame?
From the Fates' distaff, sure, these kerchiefs came. R. Wi.
LXI.
Christus vitis ad vinitorem Patrem. Joan. xv. 1-6.
En serpit tua, purpureo tua palmite vitis
Serpit, et, ah, spretis it per humum foliis.
Tu viti succurre tuae, mi Vinitor ingens:
Da fulcrum; fulcrum da mihi: quale? crucem.
Christ the Vine to the Vinedresser-Father.