Fovre bookes of Du Bartas I. The Arke, II. Babylon, III. The Colonnyes, IIII. The Columues or Pyllars: In French and English, for the Instrvction and Pleasvre of Svch as Delight in Both Langvages. By William Lisle ... Together with a large Commentary by S. G. S |
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 | Fovre bookes of Du Bartas |  |
Oh who (good Reader) knowes, but fuller may be done
Hereaft'r, of some so zeal'd, this worke I first begon!
And, by the name of Saints giu'n t'eu'ry heau'nly Signe
In stead of heathen lyes, this Art made all-diuine?
Now heare we Heb'r againe; to Phaleg whose discourse
Of euery Planet shewes the downing and resours
Grau'n on the lasting brasse; and what's the Perigee,
Concentrike, Excentrike, Epicycl' Apogee;
And how the bring-day Sun, and Venus fond-of-mate,
Together with the starre of Mars the sow-debate,
Saturne and Iupiter, three circles haue in one;
And Mercurie only fiue, and only foure the Moone:
For those same heau'nly wits who taught vs first this Art,
Perceiuing well these Lights now that, now this-way, start;
That now alow they stoop, and now aloft they reach;
To banish from aboue th'vnlikely voide, the breach
And bodie-piercing broile, the which their course vneau'n
Might cause among the Spheres enclos'd by th'vpper heau'n;
Vnt'each eternall wheele, that round each Planet soops,
Haue, more then manly, durst appoint some lesser hoops;
Who kissing either-oth'r oppose not other-either:
So well is round to round distinctly set together,
A lesse one vnd'r a great with bent so close embras'd;
Euen as the Chesnut is in tender skin encas'd,
The tender skin ypent within a tanned hyde,
The tanned hide in huske thick, sharp, rough, brittle-dry'd.
Then takes he th'Astrolabe, & shewes the Sphere in flats:
The Pole-heights, Azimuths, Alcanthars, Almadrats.
(Ye Muses pardon me if I deface with blots
A table of such a price, if I with barbarots
So soile my faire discourse; for why? this matt'r of mine,
In case I speake it right, I may not speake it fine.)
Hereaft'r, of some so zeal'd, this worke I first begon!
174
In stead of heathen lyes, this Art made all-diuine?
Now heare we Heb'r againe; to Phaleg whose discourse
Of euery Planet shewes the downing and resours
Grau'n on the lasting brasse; and what's the Perigee,
Concentrike, Excentrike, Epicycl' Apogee;
And how the bring-day Sun, and Venus fond-of-mate,
Together with the starre of Mars the sow-debate,
Saturne and Iupiter, three circles haue in one;
And Mercurie only fiue, and only foure the Moone:
For those same heau'nly wits who taught vs first this Art,
Perceiuing well these Lights now that, now this-way, start;
That now alow they stoop, and now aloft they reach;
To banish from aboue th'vnlikely voide, the breach
And bodie-piercing broile, the which their course vneau'n
Might cause among the Spheres enclos'd by th'vpper heau'n;
Vnt'each eternall wheele, that round each Planet soops,
Haue, more then manly, durst appoint some lesser hoops;
Who kissing either-oth'r oppose not other-either:
So well is round to round distinctly set together,
A lesse one vnd'r a great with bent so close embras'd;
Euen as the Chesnut is in tender skin encas'd,
175
The tanned hide in huske thick, sharp, rough, brittle-dry'd.
Then takes he th'Astrolabe, & shewes the Sphere in flats:
The Pole-heights, Azimuths, Alcanthars, Almadrats.
(Ye Muses pardon me if I deface with blots
A table of such a price, if I with barbarots
So soile my faire discourse; for why? this matt'r of mine,
In case I speake it right, I may not speake it fine.)
| Fovre bookes of Du Bartas | |