British Wonders Or, A Poetical Description of the Several Prodigies and Most Remarkable Accidents That have happen'd in Britain since the Death of Queen Anne [by Edward Ward] |
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 | British Wonders |  |
The next surprising Scene, this Year,
Did in the Northern Heav'ns appear,
Where, after Sun-set, did arise
Strange Coruscations in the Skies.
At first a sullen Cloud ascended
I'th' North, which tow'rds the West extended,
And sailing gently with the Wind,
Eclips'd a seeming Fire behind,
For round its Edges we could see
A smoaky pale Lucidity,
As if the Cloud arose to hide
Some Blazing-Star on t'other side.
At length, to entertain our View,
The Sable Curtain burst in two,
And belching forth a fiery Train
Of flaming Sulphur, clos'd again.
Thus did it shut and open thrice,
Darting its Lightning cross the Skies,
And then, like huddl'd Fire and Smoke,
Into a strange Confusion broke,
Venting on e'ery side new Light,
That bolted forth in Streams upright,
Like blazing Rockets that display
Their Fury as they make their way,
Till Waves of Light'ning fill'd the Space,
And rowl'd, like Seas, from place to place,
The Heav'ns presenting to our View,
Each Moment, something that was new,
And thro' the Skies such Flashes hurl'd,
As if design'd to fire the World,
And Crystalize this dirty Mass,
Into a Globe of shining Glass,
So make the same, by Conflagration,
A Planet for the next Creation.
Did in the Northern Heav'ns appear,
Where, after Sun-set, did arise
Strange Coruscations in the Skies.
At first a sullen Cloud ascended
I'th' North, which tow'rds the West extended,
And sailing gently with the Wind,
Eclips'd a seeming Fire behind,
For round its Edges we could see
A smoaky pale Lucidity,
As if the Cloud arose to hide
Some Blazing-Star on t'other side.
47
The Sable Curtain burst in two,
And belching forth a fiery Train
Of flaming Sulphur, clos'd again.
Thus did it shut and open thrice,
Darting its Lightning cross the Skies,
And then, like huddl'd Fire and Smoke,
Into a strange Confusion broke,
Venting on e'ery side new Light,
That bolted forth in Streams upright,
Like blazing Rockets that display
Their Fury as they make their way,
Till Waves of Light'ning fill'd the Space,
And rowl'd, like Seas, from place to place,
The Heav'ns presenting to our View,
Each Moment, something that was new,
And thro' the Skies such Flashes hurl'd,
As if design'd to fire the World,
And Crystalize this dirty Mass,
Into a Globe of shining Glass,
48
A Planet for the next Creation.
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