The Pilgrims Progress | Page 3

fill With
what doth our imaginations please; Likewise it tends our troubles to
appease.
Sound words, I know, Timothy is to use, And old wives' fables he is to
refuse; But yet grave Paul him nowhere did forbid The use of parables;
in which lay hid That gold, those pearls, and precious stones that were
Worth digging for, and that with greatest care.
Let me add one word more. O man of God, Art thou offended? Dost
thou wish I had Put forth my matter in another dress? Or, that I had in
things been more express? Three things let me propound; then I submit
To those that are my betters, as is fit.
{8} 1. I find not that I am denied the use Of this my method, so I no
abuse Put on the words, things, readers; or be rude In handling figure or

similitude, In application; but, all that I may, Seek the advance of truth
this or that way Denied, did I say? Nay, I have leave (Example too, and
that from them that have God better pleased, by their words or ways,
Than any man that breatheth now-a-days) Thus to express my mind,
thus to declare Things unto thee that excellentest are.
2. I find that men (as high as trees) will write Dialogue-wise; yet no
man doth them slight For writing so: indeed, if they abuse Truth, cursed
be they, and the craft they use To that intent; but yet let truth be free To
make her sallies upon thee and me, Which way it pleases God; for who
knows how, Better than he that taught us first to plough, To guide our
mind and pens for his design? And he makes base things usher in
divine.
3. I find that holy writ in many places Hath semblance with this method,
where the cases Do call for one thing, to set forth another; Use it I may,
then, and yet nothing smother Truth's golden beams: nay, by this
method may Make it cast forth its rays as light as day. And now before
I do put up my pen, I'll shew the profit of my book, and then Commit
both thee and it unto that Hand That pulls the strong down, and makes
weak ones stand.
This book it chalketh out before thine eyes The man that seeks the
everlasting prize; It shews you whence he comes, whither he goes;
What he leaves undone, also what he does; It also shows you how he
runs and runs, Till he unto the gate of glory comes.
{9} It shows, too, who set out for life amain, As if the lasting crown
they would obtain; Here also you may see the reason why They lose
their labour, and like fools do die.
This book will make a traveller of thee, If by its counsel thou wilt ruled
be; It will direct thee to the Holy Land, If thou wilt its directions
understand: Yea, it will make the slothful active be; The blind also
delightful things to see.
Art thou for something rare and profitable? Wouldest thou see a truth
within a fable? Art thou forgetful? Wouldest thou remember From

New-Year's day to the last of December? Then read my fancies; they
will stick like burs, And may be, to the helpless, comforters.
This book is writ in such a dialect As may the minds of listless men
affect: It seems a novelty, and yet contains Nothing but sound and
honest gospel strains. Wouldst thou divert thyself from melancholy?
Wouldst thou be pleasant, yet be far from folly? Wouldst thou read
riddles, and their explanation? Or else be drowned in thy contemplation?
Dost thou love picking meat? Or wouldst thou see A man in the clouds,
and hear him speak to thee? Wouldst thou be in a dream, and yet not
sleep? Or wouldst thou in a moment laugh and weep? Wouldest thou
lose thyself and catch no harm, And find thyself again without a charm?
Wouldst read thyself, and read thou knowest not what, And yet know
whether thou art blest or not,
By reading the same lines? Oh, then come hither, And lay my book, thy
head, and heart together.
JOHN BUNYAN.

THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS In the Similitude of a Dream
{10} As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a
certain place where was a Den , and I laid me down in that place to
sleep: and, as I slept, I dreamed a dream. I dreamed, and behold, I saw
a man clothed with rags, standing in a certain place, with his face from
his own house, a book in his hand, and a great burden upon his back.
[Isa. 64:6; Luke 14:33; Ps. 38:4; Hab. 2:2; Acts 16:30,31] I