George Withers' Emblemes

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:
He needs notfeare-, ~a>bat]pigbt can doe-,
Whom Vertucfriends* and Fortune, Uo.
IOI
Illvstr. XXXIX.
Book.
Hen, in this Embhm here, obferve you fliall
h An Eaglet, perched, on a Winged-ball
*
Advanced on an Altar ;
and, havecy'd
The Snakes , aflayling him, on ev'ry fide:
Me thinkes, by thar, you ftraight mould apprehend
Their ftate, whom Wealth, and Vertue^ doe befriend.
My Iudgcment, by that Altar-ftone, conceives
The lollidnefTe, which, true Religion gives ȳ .
And, that falt-groundcd^Ww^, which, we fee,
In grave, and found Morality, to be.
The Flying-ball, doth, very wcll,cxpreflc
All mivar dbtefings, and, their jtckleneffe.
Our Eaglet ^meancth fuch Contemplative ,
As, in this world, docpafTe away their lives,
By fo pofleffingthat which they havegor,
As.if they car'u not, though, they had it not.
The Snakes, may well rcfcmblcthofc, among them,
Who, mccrely out of envie, fceke to wrong them ;
And, all ttieic Figures (thus together layd)
D< >c fpeake to mc, as it thefc words, they fayd
That man^ who builds upon the be(l foundation,
( And (preadt the wide ft wing* o/Contemplation)
Whdft,tnthe flcfli, he bidet, will needjome props
Of earthly-fortunes, tofupport his hopes ••
A,..d, other-while, thofc things^may meatus become,
The flings c/"Envic, to feenre htmfrom.
And, hence, 1 Icarnc ;
that, fuch, as will abide,
Againftall Envie, (ivongly fortify'd,
Mu^ joyne, great Vertues, and great Wealth, tpgethcr.
God hclpc us, then, poorc- fouk s, who farce have t it her !
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