Four Birds of Noah's Ark

A Prayer Book from the Time of Shakespeare

Thomas Dekker, Robert Hudson, Robert Hudson

• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781467448369
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

A timeless, little-known literary classic to engage a new generation of readers

As the Black Death ravaged London in 1608, in the midst of societal chaos and tragedy, playwright Thomas Dekker wrote Four Birds of Noah's Ark, a book containing fifty-six prayers for the people of London and all of England.

The prayers in this book bear witness to Dekker's deep faith with a power and poignancy that few written prayers in English literature achieve. Bringing Dekker's devotional classic back into print for the first time since 1924, editor Robert Hudson has annotated the prayers and modernized their language without sacrificing their enchanting beauty and simplicity. Hudson's substantive and illuminating introduction is a gem in itself.

PART ONE

Prayers of Blessing for the Poor, the Humble, and All Those Who Labor in the Cities and Fields

To the Reader

The Dove was the first bird that being sent out of Noah’s ark brought comfort to Noah. So prayer being sent out of the ark of our bodies is the only and first bringer of comfort to us from heaven.

The Dove went out twice before it could find an olive branch (which was the sign of peace). So our prayers must fly up again and again and never stop beating at the doors of heaven until they fetch from there the olive branch of God’s mercy as a symbol that we are at peace with our Lord and that our sins have been pardoned.

The Dove no sooner brought that bough of good tidings into the ark than the universal flood receded and sank into the bowels of the deep. So no sooner do our hearty prayers pierce the bosom of the Lord Almighty than the waters of divine indignation shrink away, melting like hills of snow to nothing; and the universal deluge of sin that flows forty days and nights together (which is to say, every hour of all our lifetime), to drown both soul and body, is driven back and ebbs into the bottomless gulf of hell.

The Dove is said to be without gall. Our prayers must be without bitterness and not to the detriment of our neighbor (for such prayers are curses), lest we pull down vengeance on our heads.

Such was the Dove that Noah sent out of the ark. With such wings let our prayers carry our messages up to heaven.

A Prayer for a Child Going to School

[Matthew 19:13–15]

O God, who is the fountain of all wisdom¹

and the founder of all learning,

breathe into my soul the spirit of understanding

so that in my childhood I may learn and,

as I grow further in years, practice

only the study of you and your laws.

Feed me, O Lord, as babes are fed, with the milk

of your holy Word so that I may grow strong

in setting forth your praises.

Make me, O Jesus, Son of God, one of those

of whom you say: “Suffer the little children

to come unto me, and forbid them not.”²

And as you have promised that your wonders

should be sounded forth by the tongues

of infants and sucking babes, so pour into my lips

the waters of the well of life, so that whatever

I learn may be to proclaim your glory.

Polish my mind, O God, that it may shine bright

in goodness and that I may not defile nor deface

this temple of my body by corrupted manners

or lewd speech but may season my tongue

so that all the lessons I learn may seem

to have been taught to me in your own school.

Be my Schoolmaster to instruct me,

that I may repeat the rules of true wisdom.

Make me obedient to my parents,

dutiful to my teachers,

loving to my schoolfellows,

humble to my superiors,

full of reverence toward the elderly,

proud toward no one—

so that I may win the love of all.

Bless me, O Lord, this day;

guide my feet,

direct my mind,

sanctify my studies,

govern all my actions,

preserve my body in health,

my soul from uncleanness.

Grant this, O my God, for your Son’s sake, Jesus Christ;

and if it be your pleasure to cut me off

before night, so that this flower of my youth

shall fade in all the beauty of it,

yet make me, O my gracious Shepherd,

one of your lambs, to whom you will sa...