Du Bartas His Divine Weekes And Workes with A Compleate Collectio[n] of all the other most delight-full Workes: Translated and written by yt famous Philomusus: Iosvah Sylvester |
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 | Du Bartas |  |
267
3. The Colonies.
THE THIRD PART OF THE SECOND DAY OF THE II. WEEK.
The Argvment.
To stop ambition, Strife, and Auarice,Into Three Parts the Earth diuided is:
To Sem the East, to Cham the South; the West
To Iapheth falls; their seuerall scopes exprest:
Their fruitfull Spawn did all the World supply:
Antiquities vncertain Search, and why:
Assyria sceptred first; and first imparts,
To all the rest, Wealth, Honour, Arms, and Arts:
The New-found World: Mens diuers humors strange:
The various World a mutuall Counter-change.
While through the Worlds vnhanted wilderness
I, th'old, first Pilots wandring House address:
While (Famous Drake-like) coasting every strand
I do discover many a New-found-Land:
And while, from Sea to Sea, with curious pain
I plant great Noahs plentious Vine again:
What bright-brown cloud shall in the Day protect me?
What fiery Pillar shall by Night direct me
Toward each Peoples primer Residence,
Predestin'd in the Court of Providence,
Yer our bi-sexed Parents, free from sin,
In Eden did their double birth begin?
I, th'old, first Pilots wandring House address:
While (Famous Drake-like) coasting every strand
I do discover many a New-found-Land:
And while, from Sea to Sea, with curious pain
I plant great Noahs plentious Vine again:
What bright-brown cloud shall in the Day protect me?
What fiery Pillar shall by Night direct me
Toward each Peoples primer Residence,
Predestin'd in the Court of Providence,
Yer our bi-sexed Parents, free from sin,
In Eden did their double birth begin?
O sacred Lamp! that went'st so brightly burning
Before the Sages, from the spycie Morning,
To shew th'Almighty Infants humble Birth;
O! chace the thick Clouds, driue the darknes forth
Which blindeth me: that mine aduenturous Rime,
Circling the World, may search out every Clime.
For, though my Wits, in this long Voyage shift
From side to side; yet is my speciall drift,
My gentle Readers by the hand to bring
To that deer Babe, the Man-God, Christ, our King.
Before the Sages, from the spycie Morning,
To shew th'Almighty Infants humble Birth;
O! chace the thick Clouds, driue the darknes forth
268
Circling the World, may search out every Clime.
For, though my Wits, in this long Voyage shift
From side to side; yet is my speciall drift,
My gentle Readers by the hand to bring
To that deer Babe, the Man-God, Christ, our King.
A comparison expressing the effect of the astonishment, which the confusion of Tongues broght into the Babel-builders.
Through Forrests thrill their roaring thunder-claps,
The shivering Fowls do suddenly forgo
Their nests and perches, fluttering to and fro
Through the dark ayr, and round about ther rings
A whistling murmur of their whisking wings;
The grissell Turtles (seldom seen alone)
Dis-payer'd and parted, wander one by one;
And even the feeble downie feathered Yong
Venture to fly, before their quils be strong:
Even so, the Builders of that Babel-Wonder,
Hearing Gods voice aloud to roar and thunder
In their rude voices barbarous difference,
Take all at once their fearfull flight from thence
On either hand; and through th'Earth voidly-vast
Each packs a-part, where God would haue him plac't.
For, Heav'ns great Monarch (yer the World began)
Having decreed to giue the World to man;
Would not, the same a nest of theeues should be,
That with the Sword should share his Legacie;
And (brutely mix) with mongrell stock to stoar
Our Elements, round, solid, slimy floar:
But rather, fire of Couetize to curb,
Into three Parts he parts this spacious Orb,
'Twixt Sem and Cham, and Iapheth: Sem the East,
Cham South, and Iapheth doth obtain the West.
Having decreed to giue the World to man;
Would not, the same a nest of theeues should be,
That with the Sword should share his Legacie;
And (brutely mix) with mongrell stock to stoar
Our Elements, round, solid, slimy floar:
But rather, fire of Couetize to curb,
Into three Parts he parts this spacious Orb,
'Twixt Sem and Cham, and Iapheth: Sem the East,
Cham South, and Iapheth doth obtain the West.
That large rich Countrey, from Perosite shoars
(Where stately Ob, the King of Rivers, roars,
In Scythian Seas voiding his violent load,
But little less then six dayes sayling broad)
To Malaca: Moluques Iles, that bear
Cloues and Canele: well-tempered Sumater
Sub-equinoctiall: and the golden streams
Of Bisnagar, and Zeilan bearing gemms:
From th'Euxin Sea and surge of Chaldean Twins
To th'Anian Streight: the sloathfull sly my Fens
Where Quinzay stands; Chiorze, where Buls as big
As Elephants are clad in silken shag,
Is great Sems Portion. For the Destinies
(Or rather Heav'ns immutable Decrees)
Assur t'Assyria send, that in short time
Chale and Rhesen to the Clouds might climbe,
And Niniue (more famous then the rest)
Aboue them raise her many-towred Crest:
The sceptred Elam chose the Persian Hils,
And those fat fields that swift Araxis fils;
Lud, Lydia: Aram all Armenia had:
And Chalde fell to learned Arphaxad:
(Where stately Ob, the King of Rivers, roars,
In Scythian Seas voiding his violent load,
But little less then six dayes sayling broad)
To Malaca: Moluques Iles, that bear
Cloues and Canele: well-tempered Sumater
Sub-equinoctiall: and the golden streams
Of Bisnagar, and Zeilan bearing gemms:
From th'Euxin Sea and surge of Chaldean Twins
To th'Anian Streight: the sloathfull sly my Fens
Where Quinzay stands; Chiorze, where Buls as big
As Elephants are clad in silken shag,
Is great Sems Portion. For the Destinies
(Or rather Heav'ns immutable Decrees)
Assur t'Assyria send, that in short time
Chale and Rhesen to the Clouds might climbe,
269
Aboue them raise her many-towred Crest:
The sceptred Elam chose the Persian Hils,
And those fat fields that swift Araxis fils;
Lud, Lydia: Aram all Armenia had:
And Chalde fell to learned Arphaxad:
Cham became Soverain over all those Realms
South-bounded round with Sun-burnt Guinne streams;
Botangas, Benin, Cephal, Guaguametre,
Hot Concritan, too-full of poysonie matter;
North-ward with narrow Mid-terranean Sea
Which from rich Europe parts poor Africa:
Tow'rds where Titans Euening splendor sank,
With Seas of Fez, Cape-verde, and Cape-blanc:
And tow'rds where Phœbus doth each morning wake,
With Adel Ocean and the Crimsin Lake.
And further, all that lies between the steep
Mount Libanus, and the Arabian Deep,
Between th'Erythrean Sea, and Persian Sine,
He (mighty Prince) to's Afrik State doth ioyne.
His Darling Canaan doth nigh Iordan dwell
(One-day ordain'd to harbour Israel):
Put peopled Lybia: Mizriam Egypt mann'd:
And's first-born Chus the Æthyopian strand.
South-bounded round with Sun-burnt Guinne streams;
Botangas, Benin, Cephal, Guaguametre,
Hot Concritan, too-full of poysonie matter;
North-ward with narrow Mid-terranean Sea
Which from rich Europe parts poor Africa:
Tow'rds where Titans Euening splendor sank,
With Seas of Fez, Cape-verde, and Cape-blanc:
And tow'rds where Phœbus doth each morning wake,
With Adel Ocean and the Crimsin Lake.
And further, all that lies between the steep
Mount Libanus, and the Arabian Deep,
Between th'Erythrean Sea, and Persian Sine,
He (mighty Prince) to's Afrik State doth ioyne.
His Darling Canaan doth nigh Iordan dwell
(One-day ordain'd to harbour Israel):
Put peopled Lybia: Mizriam Egypt mann'd:
And's first-born Chus the Æthyopian strand.
Iapheth extends from struggling Hellespont,
The Tane and Euxin Sea, to th'double Mount
Of famous Gibraltar, and that deep Main,
Whose tumbling billows bathe the shoars of Spain:
And from those Seas, where in the steed of Keels
Of winged Ships they roule their Chariot wheels,
To the Marsilian, Morean, and Thyrrhenian;
Ligurian Seas, and learned Sea Athenian,
Iust opposite to Asia rich in spice,
Pride of the Word, and second Paradise:
And that large Countrey stretcht from Amana
To Tanais shoars, and to the source of Rha.
The Tane and Euxin Sea, to th'double Mount
Of famous Gibraltar, and that deep Main,
Whose tumbling billows bathe the shoars of Spain:
And from those Seas, where in the steed of Keels
Of winged Ships they roule their Chariot wheels,
To the Marsilian, Morean, and Thyrrhenian;
Ligurian Seas, and learned Sea Athenian,
Iust opposite to Asia rich in spice,
Pride of the Word, and second Paradise:
And that large Countrey stretcht from Amana
To Tanais shoars, and to the source of Rha.
Forth of his Gomers loigns (they say) sprung all
The war-like Nations scattered over Gaul,
And Germains too (yerst called Gomerits):
From Tubal, Spaniards: and from Magog, Scythes:
From Madai, Medes: from Mesech, Mazacans:
From Iauan, Greeks: from Thyras, Thracians.
The war-like Nations scattered over Gaul,
And Germains too (yerst called Gomerits):
From Tubal, Spaniards: and from Magog, Scythes:
From Madai, Medes: from Mesech, Mazacans:
From Iauan, Greeks: from Thyras, Thracians.
Heer, if I list, or lov'd I rover-shooting,
Or would I follow the vncertain footing
Of false Berosus and such fond Deluders
(Their zealous Readers insolent Illuders)
I could deriue the lineall Descents
Of all our Sires; and name you every Prince
Of every Province, in his time and place
(Successiuely) through-out his Ancient Race:
Yea, sing the Worlds so divers populations;
And of least Cities showe the first Foundations.
But, never will I so my sails abandon
To every blast, and rowing so at randon
(Without the bright light of that glorious Star
(Which shines 'boue all the Heav'ns) venture so far
On th'vnknowne surges of so vast a Sea
So full of Rocks and dangers every way;
Having no Pylot, saue som brain-sick Writers
Which coyn Kings names, vain fabulous Inditers
Of their own fancies, who (affecting glory)
Vpon a Flyes foot build a goodly story.
Or would I follow the vncertain footing
Of false Berosus and such fond Deluders
(Their zealous Readers insolent Illuders)
I could deriue the lineall Descents
Of all our Sires; and name you every Prince
270
(Successiuely) through-out his Ancient Race:
Yea, sing the Worlds so divers populations;
And of least Cities showe the first Foundations.
But, never will I so my sails abandon
To every blast, and rowing so at randon
(Without the bright light of that glorious Star
(Which shines 'boue all the Heav'ns) venture so far
On th'vnknowne surges of so vast a Sea
So full of Rocks and dangers every way;
Having no Pylot, saue som brain-sick Writers
Which coyn Kings names, vain fabulous Inditers
Of their own fancies, who (affecting glory)
Vpon a Flyes foot build a goodly story.
Som words allusion is no certain ground
Whereon a lasting Monument to found:
Sith fairest Rivers, Mountains strangely steep,
And largest Seas, never so vast and deep
(Though self-eternall, resting still the same)
Through sundry chances often change their name:
Sith it befals not alwayes, that his feed
Who builds a Town, doth in the same succeed:
And (to conclude) sith vnder Heav'n, no Race
Perpetually possesseth any place:
But, as all Tenants at the High Lords will,
We hold a Field, a Forrest, or a Hill:
And (as when winde the angry Ocean moues)
Waue hunteth waue, and billow billow shoues:
So do all Nations iustle each the other,
And so one People doth pursue another;
And scarce the second hath a first vn-housed,
Before a third him thence again haue rowsed.
Whereon a lasting Monument to found:
Sith fairest Rivers, Mountains strangely steep,
And largest Seas, never so vast and deep
(Though self-eternall, resting still the same)
Through sundry chances often change their name:
Sith it befals not alwayes, that his feed
Who builds a Town, doth in the same succeed:
And (to conclude) sith vnder Heav'n, no Race
Perpetually possesseth any place:
But, as all Tenants at the High Lords will,
We hold a Field, a Forrest, or a Hill:
And (as when winde the angry Ocean moues)
Waue hunteth waue, and billow billow shoues:
So do all Nations iustle each the other,
And so one People doth pursue another;
And scarce the second hath a first vn-housed,
Before a third him thence again haue rowsed.
So, th'ancient Britain, by the Saxons chac't
From's natiue Albion, soon the Gaules displac't
From Armonik; and then victoriously
(After his name) surnam'd that, Britannie.
From's natiue Albion, soon the Gaules displac't
From Armonik; and then victoriously
(After his name) surnam'd that, Britannie.
So, when the Lombard had surrendered
Fair, double-named Isthers flowry-bed
To scar-fac't Hunnes; he hunteth furiously
The rest of Gaules from wealthy Insubrie;
Which after fell in French-mens hands again,
Won by the sword of Worthy Charlemain.
Fair, double-named Isthers flowry-bed
To scar-fac't Hunnes; he hunteth furiously
The rest of Gaules from wealthy Insubrie;
Which after fell in French-mens hands again,
Won by the sword of Worthy Charlemain.
So, th'Alain and North Vandal, beaten both
From Corduba and Seuil by the Goth,
Seiz'd Carthage straight; which after-ward they lost
To wise Iustinians valiant Roman Hoast:
And Romans, since, ioyn'd with the barbarous troop
Of curled Moors, vnto th'Arabians stoop.
From Corduba and Seuil by the Goth,
Seiz'd Carthage straight; which after-ward they lost
To wise Iustinians valiant Roman Hoast:
And Romans, since, ioyn'd with the barbarous troop
Of curled Moors, vnto th'Arabians stoop.
271
The sacrilegious greedy appetite
Of Gold and Scepters glistering glorious bright,
The thirst of Vengeance, and that puffing breath
Of elvish Honour built on blood and death,
On desolation, rapes and robberies,
Flames, ruins, wracks, and brutish butcheries,
Vn-bound all Countries, making war-like Nations
Through every Clymat seek new habitations.
Of Gold and Scepters glistering glorious bright,
The thirst of Vengeance, and that puffing breath
Of elvish Honour built on blood and death,
On desolation, rapes and robberies,
Flames, ruins, wracks, and brutish butcheries,
Vn-bound all Countries, making war-like Nations
Through every Clymat seek new habitations.
I speak not heer of those Alarbian Rovers,
Numidian Shepheards; or Tartarian Drovers,
Who shifting pastures for their store of Cattle:
Do heer and there their hairy Tents imbattle:
Like the black swarms of Swallows swiftly-light,
Which twice a-year cross with their nimble flight
The Pine-plough'd Sea, and (pleas'd with purest ayr)
Seek every Season for a fresh repair:
But other Nations fierce, who far and nigh
With their own bloods-price purchast Victory;
Who, better knowing how to win, then wield;
Conquer, then keep; to batter, then to build;
And brauely choosing rather War then Peace,
Haue over-spread the World by Land and Seas.
Numidian Shepheards; or Tartarian Drovers,
Who shifting pastures for their store of Cattle:
Do heer and there their hairy Tents imbattle:
Like the black swarms of Swallows swiftly-light,
Which twice a-year cross with their nimble flight
The Pine-plough'd Sea, and (pleas'd with purest ayr)
Seek every Season for a fresh repair:
But other Nations fierce, who far and nigh
With their own bloods-price purchast Victory;
Who, better knowing how to win, then wield;
Conquer, then keep; to batter, then to build;
And brauely choosing rather War then Peace,
Haue over-spread the World by Land and Seas.
Such was the Lombard, who in Schonland nurst,
On Rugeland and Liuonia seized first.
Then having well reveng'd on the Bulgarian
The death of Agilmont, the bold Barbarian
Surpriseth Poland; thence anon he presses
In Rhines fair streams to rinse his Amber tresses:
Thence turning back, he seats him in Morauia;
After, at Buda; thence he postes to Pauia;
There raigns two hundred years: triumphing so,
That royall Tesin might compare with Po.
On Rugeland and Liuonia seized first.
Then having well reveng'd on the Bulgarian
The death of Agilmont, the bold Barbarian
Surpriseth Poland; thence anon he presses
In Rhines fair streams to rinse his Amber tresses:
Thence turning back, he seats him in Morauia;
After, at Buda; thence he postes to Pauia;
There raigns two hundred years: triumphing so,
That royall Tesin might compare with Po.
Such was the Goth, who whilom issuing forth
From the cold, frozen Ilands of the North,
Imcampt by Vistula: but th'Air (almost)
Being there as cold as on the Baltick Coast,
He with victorious arms Sclavonia gains,
The Transylvanian and Valacchian Plains.
Thence plies to Thracia: and then (leaving Greeks)
Greedy of spoil, foure times he bravely seeks
To snatch from Rome (then, Mars his Minion)
The Palms which she o'r all the World had won;
Guided by Rhadaguise, and Alaric,
And Vidimarius, and Theodoric:
Then coms to Gaul: and thence repulst, his Legions
Rest ever since vpon the Spanish Regions.
From the cold, frozen Ilands of the North,
Imcampt by Vistula: but th'Air (almost)
Being there as cold as on the Baltick Coast,
He with victorious arms Sclavonia gains,
The Transylvanian and Valacchian Plains.
Thence plies to Thracia: and then (leaving Greeks)
Greedy of spoil, foure times he bravely seeks
To snatch from Rome (then, Mars his Minion)
The Palms which she o'r all the World had won;
Guided by Rhadaguise, and Alaric,
And Vidimarius, and Theodoric:
Then coms to Gaul: and thence repulst, his Legions
Rest ever since vpon the Spanish Regions.
Such th'antik Gaul: who, roving every way,
As far as Phœbus darts his golden ray,
Seiz'd Italy; the Worlds proud Mistress sackt
Which rather Mars then Romulus compackt:
Then pill'd Panonia: then with conquering ploughs
He furrows-vp cold Strymons slymie sloughs:
Wastes Macedonia: and (inclin'd to fleece)
Spares not to spoyl the greatest Gods of Greece:
Then (cloyd with Europe) th'Hellespont he past,
And there Mount Ida's neighbour world did waste:
Spoyleth Pisidia: Mysia doth inthrall:
And midst of Asia plants another Gaul.
As far as Phœbus darts his golden ray,
272
Which rather Mars then Romulus compackt:
Then pill'd Panonia: then with conquering ploughs
He furrows-vp cold Strymons slymie sloughs:
Wastes Macedonia: and (inclin'd to fleece)
Spares not to spoyl the greatest Gods of Greece:
Then (cloyd with Europe) th'Hellespont he past,
And there Mount Ida's neighbour world did waste:
Spoyleth Pisidia: Mysia doth inthrall:
And midst of Asia plants another Gaul.
Most famous Peoples dark Antiquity,
Is as a Wood: where bold Temerity
Stumbles each step; and learned Diligence
If selfe intangles; and blind Ignorance
(Groping about in such Cimmerian nights)
In pits and ponds, and boggs, and quag-mires lights.
Is as a Wood: where bold Temerity
Stumbles each step; and learned Diligence
If selfe intangles; and blind Ignorance
(Groping about in such Cimmerian nights)
In pits and ponds, and boggs, and quag-mires lights.
It shall suffice me therefore (in this doubt)
But (as it were) to coast the same about:
And, rightly tun'd vnto the golden string
Of Amrams Son, in gravest verse to sing,
That Sem, and Cham, and Iapheth did re-plant
Th'vn-peopled World with new inhabitant:
And that again great Noahs wandring Boat
The second time o'r all the World did float.
But (as it were) to coast the same about:
And, rightly tun'd vnto the golden string
Of Amrams Son, in gravest verse to sing,
That Sem, and Cham, and Iapheth did re-plant
Th'vn-peopled World with new inhabitant:
And that again great Noahs wandring Boat
The second time o'r all the World did float.
Not that I send Sem, at one flight vnceast,
From Babylon vnto the farthest East,
Tartarian Chorats silver waues t'eslay,
And people China, Cambula, Cathay,
Iapheth to Spain: and that profanest Cham,
To thirsty Countries Meder' and Bigam,
To Cephala vpon Mount Zambrica,
And Cape of Hope, last coign of Africa.
From Babylon vnto the farthest East,
Tartarian Chorats silver waues t'eslay,
And people China, Cambula, Cathay,
Iapheth to Spain: and that profanest Cham,
To thirsty Countries Meder' and Bigam,
To Cephala vpon Mount Zambrica,
And Cape of Hope, last coign of Africa.
For, as Hymetus and Mount Hybla were
Not over-spread and covered in one year
With busie Bees; but yearly twice or thrice
Each Hyue supplying new-com Colonies
(Heav'ns tender Nurcelings) to those fragrant Mountains,
At length their Rocks dissolv'd in Hony Fountains:
Or rather, as two fruitfull Elms that spred
Amidst a Cloase with brooks environed,
Ingender other Elms about their roots;
Those, other still; and still, new-springing shoots
So over-growe the ground, that in fewe years
The somtimes-Mead a great thick Groue appears:
Even so th'ambitious Babel-building rout,
Disperst, at first go seat themselues about
Mesopotamia: after (by degrees)
Their happy Spawn, in sundry Colonies
Crossing from Sea to Sea, from Land to Land,
All the green-mantled neather Globe hath mann'd:
So that, except th'Almighty (glorious Iudge
Of quick and dead) this World's ill dayes abbridge,
Ther shall no soyl so wilde and savage be,
But shall be shadowed by great Adams Tree.
Not over-spread and covered in one year
With busie Bees; but yearly twice or thrice
Each Hyue supplying new-com Colonies
(Heav'ns tender Nurcelings) to those fragrant Mountains,
At length their Rocks dissolv'd in Hony Fountains:
Or rather, as two fruitfull Elms that spred
Amidst a Cloase with brooks environed,
Ingender other Elms about their roots;
Those, other still; and still, new-springing shoots
So over-growe the ground, that in fewe years
The somtimes-Mead a great thick Groue appears:
Even so th'ambitious Babel-building rout,
Disperst, at first go seat themselues about
Mesopotamia: after (by degrees)
Their happy Spawn, in sundry Colonies
273
All the green-mantled neather Globe hath mann'd:
So that, except th'Almighty (glorious Iudge
Of quick and dead) this World's ill dayes abbridge,
Ther shall no soyl so wilde and savage be,
But shall be shadowed by great Adams Tree.
Therefore, those Countries neerest Tigris Spring,
In those first ages were most flourishing,
Most spoken-of, first Warriors, first that guide,
And giue the Law to all the Earth beside.
In those first ages were most flourishing,
Most spoken-of, first Warriors, first that guide,
And giue the Law to all the Earth beside.
Babylon (living vnder th'awfull grace
Of Royall Greatness) sway'd th'Imperiall Mace,
Before the Greeks had any Town at all,
Or warbling Lute had built the Dircean Wall:
Yer Gauls had houses, Latins Burgages,
Our Britains Tents, or Germans Cotages.
Of Royall Greatness) sway'd th'Imperiall Mace,
Before the Greeks had any Town at all,
Or warbling Lute had built the Dircean Wall:
Yer Gauls had houses, Latins Burgages,
Our Britains Tents, or Germans Cotages.
The Hebrews had with Angels Conversation,
Held th'Idol-Altars in abhomination,
Knew the Vnknowen, with eyes of Faith they saw
Th'invisible Messias, in the Law:
The Chaldees, Audit of the Stars had made,
Had measur'd Heav'n, conceiv'd how th'Earths thick shade
Eclipst the silver brows of Cynthia bright,
And her brown shadow quencht her brothers light.
Held th'Idol-Altars in abhomination,
Knew the Vnknowen, with eyes of Faith they saw
Th'invisible Messias, in the Law:
The Chaldees, Audit of the Stars had made,
Had measur'd Heav'n, conceiv'd how th'Earths thick shade
Eclipst the silver brows of Cynthia bright,
And her brown shadow quencht her brothers light.
The Memphian Priests were deep Philosophers,
And curious gazers on the sacred Stars,
Searchers of Nature, and great Mathematicks;
Yer any Letter, knew the ancient'st Atticks.
And curious gazers on the sacred Stars,
Searchers of Nature, and great Mathematicks;
Yer any Letter, knew the ancient'st Atticks.
Proud Ægypt glistred all with golden Plate,
Yer the lame Lemnian (vnder Ætna grate)
Had hammer'd yron; or the Vultur-rented
Prometheus, 'mong the Greeks had fire invented.
Yer the lame Lemnian (vnder Ætna grate)
Had hammer'd yron; or the Vultur-rented
Prometheus, 'mong the Greeks had fire invented.
Gauls were not yet; or, were they (at the least)
They were but wilde; their habit, plumes; their feast,
But Mast and Acorns, for the which they gap't
Vnder the Trees when any winde had hapt:
When the bold Tyrians (greedy after gain)
Durst rowe about the salt-blew Africk Main;
Traffikt abroad, in Scarlet Robes were drest,
And pomp and pleasure Euphrates possest.
They were but wilde; their habit, plumes; their feast,
But Mast and Acorns, for the which they gap't
Vnder the Trees when any winde had hapt:
When the bold Tyrians (greedy after gain)
Durst rowe about the salt-blew Africk Main;
Traffikt abroad, in Scarlet Robes were drest,
And pomp and pleasure Euphrates possest.
For, as a stone, that midst a Pond ye fling,
About his fall first forms a little ring,
Wherein, new Circles one in other growing
(Through the smooth Waters gentle-gentle flowing)
Still one the other more and more compell
From the Ponds Centre, where the stone first fell;
Till at the last the largest of the Rounds
From side to side 'gainst every bank rebounds:
So, from th'Earth's Centre (which I heer suppose
About the Place where God did Tongues transpose)
Man (day by day his wit repolishing)
Makes all the Arts through all the Earth to spring,
As he doth spread, and shed in divers shoals
His fruitfull Spawn, round vnder both the Poles.
About his fall first forms a little ring,
Wherein, new Circles one in other growing
(Through the smooth Waters gentle-gentle flowing)
Still one the other more and more compell
From the Ponds Centre, where the stone first fell;
Till at the last the largest of the Rounds
From side to side 'gainst every bank rebounds:
274
About the Place where God did Tongues transpose)
Man (day by day his wit repolishing)
Makes all the Arts through all the Earth to spring,
As he doth spread, and shed in divers shoals
His fruitfull Spawn, round vnder both the Poles.
Forth from Assyria, East-ward then they trauell
Towards rich Hytanis with the golden grauell:
Then people they the Persian Oroâtis;
Then cleer Choaspis, which doth humbly kiss
The Walls of Susa; then the Vallies fat
Neer Caucasus, where yerst th'Arsaces sat:
Then mann they Media; then with humane seed,
Towards the Sea th'Hyrcanian Plain they speed.
Towards rich Hytanis with the golden grauell:
Then people they the Persian Oroâtis;
Then cleer Choaspis, which doth humbly kiss
The Walls of Susa; then the Vallies fat
Neer Caucasus, where yerst th'Arsaces sat:
Then mann they Media; then with humane seed,
Towards the Sea th'Hyrcanian Plain they speed.
The Sons of these (like flowing Waters) spred
O'r all the Countrey which is bordered
With Chiesel River, 'boue Thacalistan;
Gadel and Cabul, Bedan, Balestan.
O'r all the Countrey which is bordered
With Chiesel River, 'boue Thacalistan;
Gadel and Cabul, Bedan, Balestan.
Their off-spring then, with fruitfull stems doth stoar
Basinagar, Nayard, and either shoar
Of famous Ganges; Aua Toloman,
The Kingdom Mein, the Musky Charazan;
And round about the Desart Op, where oft
By strange Phantasmas Passengers are scoft.
Basinagar, Nayard, and either shoar
Of famous Ganges; Aua Toloman,
The Kingdom Mein, the Musky Charazan;
And round about the Desart Op, where oft
By strange Phantasmas Passengers are scoft.
Som ages after, linkt in divers knots,
Tipur they take, rich in Rhinocerots;
Caichin, in Aloes; Mangit, and the shoar
Of Quinz' and Anie lets them spread no more.
Tipur they take, rich in Rhinocerots;
Caichin, in Aloes; Mangit, and the shoar
Of Quinz' and Anie lets them spread no more.
From that first Centre to the West-ward bending,
Old Noahs Nephews far and wide extending,
Seiz less Armenia; then, within Cilicia,
Possess the Ports of Tharsis and of Issea,
And the delicious strange Corycian Caue
(Which warbling sound of Cymbals seems to haue)
Iönia, Cappadocia, Taurus horns,
Bythinia, Troas, and Meanders turns.
Old Noahs Nephews far and wide extending,
Seiz less Armenia; then, within Cilicia,
Possess the Ports of Tharsis and of Issea,
And the delicious strange Corycian Caue
(Which warbling sound of Cymbals seems to haue)
Iönia, Cappadocia, Taurus horns,
Bythinia, Troas, and Meanders turns.
Then passing Sestos Straights; of Strymon cold,
Herber and Nest they quaff; and pitch their Fold
In vales of Rhodope, and plow the Plains
Where great Danubius neer his death complains.
Herber and Nest they quaff; and pitch their Fold
In vales of Rhodope, and plow the Plains
Where great Danubius neer his death complains.
On th'other side, Thrace subtle Greece beswarms;
Greece, Italy (famous for Art and Arms):
Italy, France; France, Spain, and Germany
(Rhines fruitfull bed) and our Great Britany.
On th'other side, it spreads about Moldauia,
Mare-Maiour, Podolia, and Morauia,
With Transyluania, Seruia, and Panonia,
The Prussian Plains, and over all Polonia:
The verge of Vistula, and farther forth
Beyond the Alman, drawing to the North.
Greece, Italy (famous for Art and Arms):
Italy, France; France, Spain, and Germany
(Rhines fruitfull bed) and our Great Britany.
On th'other side, it spreads about Moldauia,
Mare-Maiour, Podolia, and Morauia,
With Transyluania, Seruia, and Panonia,
The Prussian Plains, and over all Polonia:
275
Beyond the Alman, drawing to the North.
Now turn thee South-ward: see, see how Chaldea.
Spews on Arabia, Phœnice, and Iudea,
Chams cursed Ligne, which (over-fertill all)
Between two Seas doth into Ægypt fall;
Sowes all Cyrenia, and the famous Coast
Whereon the roaring Punik Sea is tost:
Fez, Dara, Argier, Galate, Guzol, Aden,
Terminan, Tombut, Melle, Gago, Gogden:
The sparkling Desarts of sad Libya,
Zeczec, Benin, Borno Cano Nubia,
And scalding quick-sands of those thirsty Plains
Where Iesvs name (yet) in som reverence raigns;
Where Prester Iohn (though part he Iudaize)
Doth in som sort devoutly Christianize.
Spews on Arabia, Phœnice, and Iudea,
Chams cursed Ligne, which (over-fertill all)
Between two Seas doth into Ægypt fall;
Sowes all Cyrenia, and the famous Coast
Whereon the roaring Punik Sea is tost:
Fez, Dara, Argier, Galate, Guzol, Aden,
Terminan, Tombut, Melle, Gago, Gogden:
The sparkling Desarts of sad Libya,
Zeczec, Benin, Borno Cano Nubia,
And scalding quick-sands of those thirsty Plains
Where Iesvs name (yet) in som reverence raigns;
Where Prester Iohn (though part he Iudaize)
Doth in som sort devoutly Christianize.
But would'st thou knowe, how that long Tract, that lies
Vnder Heav'ns starry Coach, covered with yce,
And round embraced in the winding arms
Of Cronian Seas (which Sol but seldom warmes)
Came peopled first? Suppose, that passing by
The Plains where Tigris twice keeps company
With the far-flowing silver Euphrates,
They lodg'd at foot of hoary Nyphates:
And from Armenia, then Iberia mann'd,
Albania, Colchis and Bosphorian strand:
And then from thence, toward the bright Leuant,
That vast Extent, where now fell Tartars hant
In wandring troops; and towards th'other side
Which (neer her scource) long Volga doth divide,
Moscouy Coast, Permia, Liuonia, Prussia,
Biarmia, Scrifinia White-Lake, Lappia, Russia.
Vnder Heav'ns starry Coach, covered with yce,
And round embraced in the winding arms
Of Cronian Seas (which Sol but seldom warmes)
Came peopled first? Suppose, that passing by
The Plains where Tigris twice keeps company
With the far-flowing silver Euphrates,
They lodg'd at foot of hoary Nyphates:
And from Armenia, then Iberia mann'd,
Albania, Colchis and Bosphorian strand:
And then from thence, toward the bright Leuant,
That vast Extent, where now fell Tartars hant
In wandring troops; and towards th'other side
Which (neer her scource) long Volga doth divide,
Moscouy Coast, Permia, Liuonia, Prussia,
Biarmia, Scrifinia White-Lake, Lappia, Russia.
But whence (say you) had that New-World his Guests,
Which Spain (like Delos floting on the Seas)
Late digg'd from darknes of Oblivions Graue,
And it vndoing, it new Essence gaue?
If long agoe; how should it hap that no-man
Knew it till now? no Persian, Greek, no Roman;
Whose glorious Peers, victorious Armies guiding
O're all the World, of this had never tyding?
If but of late; how swarm their Cities since
So full of Folk? how pass their Monuments
Th'Ægyptian Spires, Mausolus stately Toomb,
The Wals and Courts of Babylon and Rome?
Which Spain (like Delos floting on the Seas)
Late digg'd from darknes of Oblivions Graue,
And it vndoing, it new Essence gaue?
If long agoe; how should it hap that no-man
Knew it till now? no Persian, Greek, no Roman;
Whose glorious Peers, victorious Armies guiding
O're all the World, of this had never tyding?
If but of late; how swarm their Cities since
So full of Folk? how pass their Monuments
Th'Ægyptian Spires, Mausolus stately Toomb,
The Wals and Courts of Babylon and Rome?
Why! think ye (fond) those people fell from Heav'n
All-ready-made; as in a Sommer Ev'n
After a sweltring Day, som sultry showr
Doth in the Marshes heaps of Tadpals pour,
Which in the ditches (chapt with parching weather)
Lie crusht and croaking in the Mud together?
Or else, that setting certain slips, that fixt
Their slender roots the tender mould betwixt,
They saw the light of Phœbus lyuening face;
Having, for milk, moist deaws; for Cradle, grass:
Or that they grew out of the fruitfull Earth,
As Toad-stools, Turneps, Leeks, and Beets haue birth?
Or (like the bones that Cadmus yerst did sowe)
Were bravely born armed from top to toe?
All-ready-made; as in a Sommer Ev'n
After a sweltring Day, som sultry showr
Doth in the Marshes heaps of Tadpals pour,
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Lie crusht and croaking in the Mud together?
Or else, that setting certain slips, that fixt
Their slender roots the tender mould betwixt,
They saw the light of Phœbus lyuening face;
Having, for milk, moist deaws; for Cradle, grass:
Or that they grew out of the fruitfull Earth,
As Toad-stools, Turneps, Leeks, and Beets haue birth?
Or (like the bones that Cadmus yerst did sowe)
Were bravely born armed from top to toe?
That spacious Coast, now call'd America,
Was not so soon peopled as Africa;
(Th'ingenious, Towr-full, and Law-loving Soil,
Which, Ioue did with his Lemans name en-stile)
And that which from cold Bosphorus doth spread
To pearl'd Auroras Saffron-coloured Bed.
Because, they ly neerer the diapry verges
Of tear-bridge Tigris Swallow-swifter surges,
Whence our amaz'd first Grand-sires faintly fled,
And like sprung Partridge every-where did spred;
Except that World, where-vnder Castiles King,
Famous Columbus Force and Faith did bring.
Was not so soon peopled as Africa;
(Th'ingenious, Towr-full, and Law-loving Soil,
Which, Ioue did with his Lemans name en-stile)
And that which from cold Bosphorus doth spread
To pearl'd Auroras Saffron-coloured Bed.
Because, they ly neerer the diapry verges
Of tear-bridge Tigris Swallow-swifter surges,
Whence our amaz'd first Grand-sires faintly fled,
And like sprung Partridge every-where did spred;
Except that World, where-vnder Castiles King,
Famous Columbus Force and Faith did bring.
But the rich buildings rare magnificence,
Th'infinit Treasures, various gouernments,
Showe that long since (although at sundry times)
'T had Colonies (although from sundry Climes):
Whether the violence of tempestuous weather
Som broken Vessels haue inforced thither;
Whether som desperat, dire extremity
Of Plague, War, Famin; or th'Authority
Of som braue Typhis (in adventure tost)
Brought weary Carvels on that Indian Coast.
Th'infinit Treasures, various gouernments,
Showe that long since (although at sundry times)
'T had Colonies (although from sundry Climes):
Whether the violence of tempestuous weather
Som broken Vessels haue inforced thither;
Whether som desperat, dire extremity
Of Plague, War, Famin; or th'Authority
Of som braue Typhis (in adventure tost)
Brought weary Carvels on that Indian Coast.
Who maketh doubt but yerst the Quinzay Fraights
As well might venture through the Anian Straights,
And finde as easie and as short a way
From the East Indies to the Tolguage Bay,
As vsually the Asian Ships are wont
To pass to Greece a-cross the Hellespont:
Spaniards to Fez, a-thwart the Straight Abilia:
Through Messine stream th'Italians to Sicilia?
As well might venture through the Anian Straights,
And finde as easie and as short a way
From the East Indies to the Tolguage Bay,
As vsually the Asian Ships are wont
To pass to Greece a-cross the Hellespont:
Spaniards to Fez, a-thwart the Straight Abilia:
Through Messine stream th'Italians to Sicilia?
From Tolm and Quiuir's spacious Plains (wherein
Bunch backed Calues, with Horse-like manes are seen,
And Sheep-like Fleece) they fill Azasia,
Toua, Topir, Canada, Cossia,
Mecchi, Auacal, Calicuaz, Bacalos,
Los Campos de Labor (where Floods are froze).
Bunch backed Calues, with Horse-like manes are seen,
And Sheep-like Fleece) they fill Azasia,
Toua, Topir, Canada, Cossia,
Mecchi, Auacal, Calicuaz, Bacalos,
Los Campos de Labor (where Floods are froze).
On th'other side, Xalisco soyl they Man
(Now new Galizia) Cusule, Mechuacan:
And cunningly in Mexik Sea they pile
Another Venice (or a City-Ile).
Strange things there see they (that amaze them much)
Green Trees to wither with their very touch;
And in Nicaragua, a Mountain top,
That (Ætna-like) bright Flashes belches vp.
Thence, reach they th'Isthmos of rich Panama,
And on their right hand build Oucanama,
With Cassamalca, Cusco, Quito: and
In famous Peru's very golden Strand
Admire the Lake that laveth Colle about,
Whose Waves be salt within, and fresh without:
And streams of Cinca, that, with vertue strange,
To hardest stone soft Mud and Chalk do change.
(Now new Galizia) Cusule, Mechuacan:
277
Another Venice (or a City-Ile).
Strange things there see they (that amaze them much)
Green Trees to wither with their very touch;
And in Nicaragua, a Mountain top,
That (Ætna-like) bright Flashes belches vp.
Thence, reach they th'Isthmos of rich Panama,
And on their right hand build Oucanama,
With Cassamalca, Cusco, Quito: and
In famous Peru's very golden Strand
Admire the Lake that laveth Colle about,
Whose Waves be salt within, and fresh without:
And streams of Cinca, that, with vertue strange,
To hardest stone soft Mud and Chalk do change.
Then seiz they Chili, where all day the Deep
Runs roaring down, and all the night doth sleep:
Chinca, the Patagons, and all the shoar
Where th'azure Seas of Magellan do roar.
Left-ward, they spread them 'longst the Darians side;
Where through th'Vrabian Fields the Huo doth slide,
Neer Zenu's stream, which toward the Ocean drags
Pure grains of Gold, as big as Pullets eggs:
To new Granada, where the Mount embost
With Emeralds doth shine; Cumanean Coast,
Where noysom vapours (like a dusky night)
Bedimms their eyes, and doth impair their sight:
Therefore som troops from Cumana they carry
To Caripana, Omagu and Pari:
By Maragnon, all over fell Brasile,
And Plate's fat Plains, where flowes another Nile.
Runs roaring down, and all the night doth sleep:
Chinca, the Patagons, and all the shoar
Where th'azure Seas of Magellan do roar.
Left-ward, they spread them 'longst the Darians side;
Where through th'Vrabian Fields the Huo doth slide,
Neer Zenu's stream, which toward the Ocean drags
Pure grains of Gold, as big as Pullets eggs:
To new Granada, where the Mount embost
With Emeralds doth shine; Cumanean Coast,
Where noysom vapours (like a dusky night)
Bedimms their eyes, and doth impair their sight:
Therefore som troops from Cumana they carry
To Caripana, Omagu and Pari:
By Maragnon, all over fell Brasile,
And Plate's fat Plains, where flowes another Nile.
Ghess too, that Grotland yerst did Picne store,
And Ireland fraught Los Campos de Labor;
As Tombut, Melli, Gago and Terminan,
Planted the Plains and shoars of Corican.
And Ireland fraught Los Campos de Labor;
As Tombut, Melli, Gago and Terminan,
Planted the Plains and shoars of Corican.
Yet (happely) thou'lt gladly grant me this,
That mans ambition ay so bound-less is,
That steepest Hils it over-climbs with ease,
And runs (as dry-shod) through the deepest Seas:
And (maugre meagre Thirst) her Carvels Lands
On Afrik, Tolmon, and Arabian sands;
But hardly credit'st, that one Family
Out of foure couples should so multiply,
That Asia, Europ, Africa, and All
Seems for their off-spring now too straight and small.
That mans ambition ay so bound-less is,
That steepest Hils it over-climbs with ease,
And runs (as dry-shod) through the deepest Seas:
And (maugre meagre Thirst) her Carvels Lands
On Afrik, Tolmon, and Arabian sands;
But hardly credit'st, that one Family
Out of foure couples should so multiply,
That Asia, Europ, Africa, and All
Seems for their off-spring now too straight and small.
If thou set-light by th'everlasting Voice,
Which now again re-blest the Love-full choice
Of sacred Wedlocks secret binding band;
Saying, Increase, Flourish and Fill the Land:
Which now again re-blest the Love-full choice
Of sacred Wedlocks secret binding band;
Saying, Increase, Flourish and Fill the Land:
278
And if (profane) thou hold it for a Fiction,
That Seauenty Iewes, in Ægypt (in affliction)
Within foure-hundred yeers and half three-score,
Grew to fiue-hundred-thousand soules and more:
That Seauenty Iewes, in Ægypt (in affliction)
Within foure-hundred yeers and half three-score,
Grew to fiue-hundred-thousand soules and more:
Consider yet, that being fed that while
With holesom Fruits of an vn-forced soil,
And kindly meats, not marred by the Book,
And wanton cunning of a sawcy Cook;
Waigh furthermore, that being not cut-down
With bloody swords when furious neighbours frown;
Nor worn with Travell, nor enfeebled
With hatefull Sloth; Our Grand-sires flourished
Hundreds of yeers in youth; and even in Age
Could render duly Venus Escuage:
And that Polygamy (in those dayes common)
Most Men vsurping more then one sole Woman,
Made then the World so mightily augment
In vpright Creatures; and (incontinent)
From fruitfull loins of one old Father-stock,
So many branches of man-kinde to flock:
Even as an ear of Corn (if all the yield
Be yeerly sow'n still in a fertill Field)
Fils Barns at length; and spreads in spacious Plain
Millions of millions of like ears again.
Or, as two Fishes, cast into a Meer,
With fruitfull Spawn will furnish in few yeer
A Town with victuall, and serve (furthermore)
Their neighbour Waters with their Fry to store.
With holesom Fruits of an vn-forced soil,
And kindly meats, not marred by the Book,
And wanton cunning of a sawcy Cook;
Waigh furthermore, that being not cut-down
With bloody swords when furious neighbours frown;
Nor worn with Travell, nor enfeebled
With hatefull Sloth; Our Grand-sires flourished
Hundreds of yeers in youth; and even in Age
Could render duly Venus Escuage:
And that Polygamy (in those dayes common)
Most Men vsurping more then one sole Woman,
Made then the World so mightily augment
In vpright Creatures; and (incontinent)
From fruitfull loins of one old Father-stock,
So many branches of man-kinde to flock:
Even as an ear of Corn (if all the yield
Be yeerly sow'n still in a fertill Field)
Fils Barns at length; and spreads in spacious Plain
Millions of millions of like ears again.
Or, as two Fishes, cast into a Meer,
With fruitfull Spawn will furnish in few yeer
A Town with victuall, and serve (furthermore)
Their neighbour Waters with their Fry to store.
Have not our Daies a certain Father know'n,
Who, with the fruit of his own body grow'n,
Peopled a Village of a hundred Fires,
And issue-blest (the Crown of Old Desires)
In his own life-time, his own off-spring saw
To wed each other without breach of Law?
So far, the branches of his fruitfull Bed
Past all the Names of Kinreds-Tree did spred.
Who, with the fruit of his own body grow'n,
Peopled a Village of a hundred Fires,
And issue-blest (the Crown of Old Desires)
In his own life-time, his own off-spring saw
To wed each other without breach of Law?
So far, the branches of his fruitfull Bed
Past all the Names of Kinreds-Tree did spred.
'Tis know'n, that few Arabian Families
New-planted Lybia with their Progenies,
In compass of three hundred yeers and less;
And Bugi, Argier, Oran, Thunis, Tez,
Fez, Melli, Gago, Tonbut, Terminan
With hatefull Laws of Heathnish Alcoran.
New-planted Lybia with their Progenies,
In compass of three hundred yeers and less;
And Bugi, Argier, Oran, Thunis, Tez,
Fez, Melli, Gago, Tonbut, Terminan
With hatefull Laws of Heathnish Alcoran.
If this among the Africans we see,
Whom cor'zive humour of Melancholy
Doth alwaies tickle with a wanton Lust,
Although less powrfull in the Paphian Ioust
For Propagation (for, too-often Deed
Of Loues-Delight, enfeebles much their seed:
And inly still they feel a Wintery Fever;
As outwardly, a scorching Sommer ever)
Ghess how much more, those, whose hoar heads approach
And see the turnings of Heav'ns flaming Coach,
Doo multiply; because they seldom venter,
And, but in season, Venus lists to enter.
And, the cold, resting (vnder th'Artick Star)
Still Master of the Field in champian War,
Makes Heat retire into the Bodies-Towr:
Which, there vnited, gives them much more powr.
Whom cor'zive humour of Melancholy
Doth alwaies tickle with a wanton Lust,
Although less powrfull in the Paphian Ioust
For Propagation (for, too-often Deed
Of Loues-Delight, enfeebles much their seed:
279
As outwardly, a scorching Sommer ever)
Ghess how much more, those, whose hoar heads approach
And see the turnings of Heav'ns flaming Coach,
Doo multiply; because they seldom venter,
And, but in season, Venus lists to enter.
And, the cold, resting (vnder th'Artick Star)
Still Master of the Field in champian War,
Makes Heat retire into the Bodies-Towr:
Which, there vnited, gives them much more powr.
From thence indeed, Hunns, Herules, Franks, Bulgarians,
Circassyans, Sweves, Burgognians, Turks, Tartarians,
Dutch, Cimbers, Normans, Alains, Ostrogothes,
Tigurins, Lombards, Vandals, Visigothes,
Have swarm'd (like Locusts) round about this Ball,
And spoil'd the fairest Provinces of all:
While barren South had much a-doo t'assemble
(In all) two Hoasts; that made the North to tremble:
Whereof; the One, that one-ey'd Champion led,
Who famous Carthage rais'd and ruined:
Th'other (by Tours) Charles Martell martyr'd so,
That never since, could Afrik Army showe.
Circassyans, Sweves, Burgognians, Turks, Tartarians,
Dutch, Cimbers, Normans, Alains, Ostrogothes,
Tigurins, Lombards, Vandals, Visigothes,
Have swarm'd (like Locusts) round about this Ball,
And spoil'd the fairest Provinces of all:
While barren South had much a-doo t'assemble
(In all) two Hoasts; that made the North to tremble:
Whereof; the One, that one-ey'd Champion led,
Who famous Carthage rais'd and ruined:
Th'other (by Tours) Charles Martell martyr'd so,
That never since, could Afrik Army showe.
O! see how full of Wonders strange is Nature:
Sith in each Climat, not alone in stature,
Strength, hair and colour, that men differ doo,
But in their humours and their manners too.
Whether that, Custom into Nature change:
Whether that, Youth to th'Elds example range:
Or divers Laws of divers Kingdoms, vary-vs:
Or th'influence of Heav'nly bodies, cary-vs.
Sith in each Climat, not alone in stature,
Strength, hair and colour, that men differ doo,
But in their humours and their manners too.
Whether that, Custom into Nature change:
Whether that, Youth to th'Elds example range:
Or divers Laws of divers Kingdoms, vary-vs:
Or th'influence of Heav'nly bodies, cary-vs.
The Northern-man is fair, the Southern foul;
That's white, this black; that smiles, and this doth scoul:
Th'one's blithe and frolick, th'other dull and froward;
Th'one's full of courage, th'other fearfull coward:
Th'ones hair is harsh, big, curled, th'other's slender;
Th'one loveth Labour, th'other Books doth tender:
Th'one's hot and moist, the other hot and dry;
Th'ones Voice is hoarse, the other's cleer and high:
Th'one's plain and honest, th'other all deceipt:
Th'one's rough and rude, the other handsom neat:
Th'one (giddy-brain'd) is turn'd with every winde:
The other (constant) never changeth minde:
Th'one's loose and wanton, th'other continent;
Th'one thrift-less lavish, th'other provident:
Th'one milde Companion; th'other, stern and strange
(Like a wilde Wolf) loves by himself to range:
Th'one's pleas'd with plainness, th'other pomp affects:
Th'one's born for Arms, the other Arts respects.
But middling folk, who their abiding make
Between these two, of either guise partake:
And such have stronger limbs; but weaker wit,
Then those that neer Niles fertill sides do sit;
And (opposite) more wit, and lesser force,
Then those that haunt Rhines and Danubius shoars.
That's white, this black; that smiles, and this doth scoul:
Th'one's blithe and frolick, th'other dull and froward;
Th'one's full of courage, th'other fearfull coward:
Th'ones hair is harsh, big, curled, th'other's slender;
Th'one loveth Labour, th'other Books doth tender:
Th'one's hot and moist, the other hot and dry;
Th'ones Voice is hoarse, the other's cleer and high:
Th'one's plain and honest, th'other all deceipt:
Th'one's rough and rude, the other handsom neat:
Th'one (giddy-brain'd) is turn'd with every winde:
The other (constant) never changeth minde:
Th'one's loose and wanton, th'other continent;
Th'one thrift-less lavish, th'other provident:
Th'one milde Companion; th'other, stern and strange
(Like a wilde Wolf) loves by himself to range:
Th'one's pleas'd with plainness, th'other pomp affects:
Th'one's born for Arms, the other Arts respects.
280
Between these two, of either guise partake:
And such have stronger limbs; but weaker wit,
Then those that neer Niles fertill sides do sit;
And (opposite) more wit, and lesser force,
Then those that haunt Rhines and Danubius shoars.
For, in the Cirque of th'Vniversall City;
The Southern-man, who (quick and curious-witty)
Builds all on Dreams, deep Extasies and Transes,
Who measures Heav'ns eternall-moving Dances,
Whose searching soule can hardly be suffiz'd
With vulgar Knowledge, holds the Place of Priest.
The Northern-man, whose wit in's Fingers settles,
Who what him list can work in Wood and Mettles,
Who (Salmon-like) can thunder counterfait;
With men of Arms, and Artizans is set.
The Third (as knowing well to rule a State)
Holds, gravely-wise, the room of Magistrate.
Th'one (to be briefe) loves studious Theory,
The other Trades, the third deep Policy.
Yet true it is, that since som later lustres,
Minerva, Themis, Hermes and his Sisters
Have set, as well, their Schools in th'Artick Parts,
As Mars his Lists, and Vulcan Shops of Arts.
The Southern-man, who (quick and curious-witty)
Builds all on Dreams, deep Extasies and Transes,
Who measures Heav'ns eternall-moving Dances,
Whose searching soule can hardly be suffiz'd
With vulgar Knowledge, holds the Place of Priest.
The Northern-man, whose wit in's Fingers settles,
Who what him list can work in Wood and Mettles,
Who (Salmon-like) can thunder counterfait;
With men of Arms, and Artizans is set.
The Third (as knowing well to rule a State)
Holds, gravely-wise, the room of Magistrate.
Th'one (to be briefe) loves studious Theory,
The other Trades, the third deep Policy.
Yet true it is, that since som later lustres,
Minerva, Themis, Hermes and his Sisters
Have set, as well, their Schools in th'Artick Parts,
As Mars his Lists, and Vulcan Shops of Arts.
Nay, see we not among our selves, that live
Mingled almost (to whom the Lord doth give
But a small Turf of earth to dwell-vpon)
This wondrous ods in our condition?
We finde the Alman in his fight courageous,
But salable; th'Italian too-outrageous;
Sudden the French, impatient of delay;
The Spaniard slowe, but suttle to betray:
Th'Alman in Counsell cold, th'Italian quick,
The French in constant, Spaniards politick:
Fine feeds th'Italian, and the Spaniard spares;
Prince-like the French, Pig-like the Alman, fares:
Milde speaks the French, the Spaniard proud and brave;
Rudely the Alman, and th'Italian grave:
Th'Italian proud in 'tire, French changing much;
Fit-clad the Spaniard, and vn-fit the Dutch:
The French man braves his Fo, th'Italian cheers-him;
The Alman spoils, the Spaniard never bears-him:
The French-man sings, th'Italian seems to bleat;
The Spaniard whines, the Alman howleth great;
Spaniards like Iugglers iet, th'Alman; like Cocks;
The French goes quick, th'Italian like an Ox:
Dutch Lovers proud, th'Italian envious;
Frolick the French, the Spaniard furious.
Mingled almost (to whom the Lord doth give
But a small Turf of earth to dwell-vpon)
This wondrous ods in our condition?
We finde the Alman in his fight courageous,
But salable; th'Italian too-outrageous;
Sudden the French, impatient of delay;
The Spaniard slowe, but suttle to betray:
Th'Alman in Counsell cold, th'Italian quick,
The French in constant, Spaniards politick:
Fine feeds th'Italian, and the Spaniard spares;
Prince-like the French, Pig-like the Alman, fares:
Milde speaks the French, the Spaniard proud and brave;
Rudely the Alman, and th'Italian grave:
Th'Italian proud in 'tire, French changing much;
Fit-clad the Spaniard, and vn-fit the Dutch:
The French man braves his Fo, th'Italian cheers-him;
The Alman spoils, the Spaniard never bears-him:
The French-man sings, th'Italian seems to bleat;
The Spaniard whines, the Alman howleth great;
Spaniards like Iugglers iet, th'Alman; like Cocks;
The French goes quick, th'Italian like an Ox:
Dutch Lovers proud, th'Italian envious;
Frolick the French, the Spaniard furious.
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Yet would the Lord, that Noahs fruitfull Race
Should over-spread th'Earths vniversall Face:
That, drawing so his Children from the crimes
Which seem peculiar to their Native Climes,
He might reveal his grace: and that Heav'ns lights
Might well incline (but not constrain) our sprights:
That over all the World, his Saints alwaies
Might offer him sweet Sacrifice of Praise:
That from cold Scythia his high Name as far
Mighthy resound as Sun-Burnt Zanzibar:
And that the treasures which strange Soils produce,
Might not seem worth-less for the want of vse;
But that the In-land Lands might truck and barter,
And vent their Wares about to every Quarter.
Should over-spread th'Earths vniversall Face:
That, drawing so his Children from the crimes
Which seem peculiar to their Native Climes,
He might reveal his grace: and that Heav'ns lights
Might well incline (but not constrain) our sprights:
That over all the World, his Saints alwaies
Might offer him sweet Sacrifice of Praise:
That from cold Scythia his high Name as far
Mighthy resound as Sun-Burnt Zanzibar:
And that the treasures which strange Soils produce,
Might not seem worth-less for the want of vse;
But that the In-land Lands might truck and barter,
And vent their Wares about to every Quarter.
The World compared to a mighty City, wherein dwell people of all conditions, continually trafficking together and exchanging their particular commodities, for benefit of the Publike.
Her's the Kings Palace, there the Innes of Court:
Heer (to the Thames-ward all a-long the Strand)
The stately Houses of the Nobles stand:
Heer dwell rich Merchants; there Artificers:
Heer Stik man, Mercers, Gold-Smiths, Iewellers:
There's Church-yard furnisht with choice of Books;
Heer stand the Shambles, there the Rowe of Cooks:
Heer wonn Vp-Hosters, Haber dashers, Horners;
There Pothecaries, Gracers, Tailours, Tourners:
Heer Shoo-makers; there Ioyners, Coopers, Coriers;
Heer Brewers, Bakers, Cutlers, Felters, Furriers:
This Street is full of Drapers, that of Diars;
This Shop with Tapers, that with Womens Tiars:
For costly Toys, silk Stockings, Cambrick, Lawn,
Heer's choice-full Plenty in the curious Pawn:
And all's but an Exchange, where (briefly) no man
Keeps ought as private. Trade makes all things common
So com our Sugars from Canary Iles:
From Candy, Currance, Muskadels and Oyls:
From the Moluques, Spices: Balsamum
From Egypt: Odours from Arabia com:
From India, Drugs, rich Gemms and Ivory:
From Syria, Mummy: black-red Ebony,
From burning Chus: from Peru, Pearl and Gold:
From Russia, Furres (to keep the rich from cold)
From Florence, Silks: from Spain, Fruit, Saffron, Sacks
From Denmark, Amber, Cordage, Firres and Flax:
From France and Flanders, Linnen, Woad and Wine:
From Holland, Hops: Horse, from the banks of Rhine.
In brief, each Country (as pleas'd God distribute)
To the Worlds Treasure paies a sundry Tribute.
From Candy, Currance, Muskadels and Oyls:
From the Moluques, Spices: Balsamum
From Egypt: Odours from Arabia com:
From India, Drugs, rich Gemms and Ivory:
From Syria, Mummy: black-red Ebony,
From burning Chus: from Peru, Pearl and Gold:
From Russia, Furres (to keep the rich from cold)
From Florence, Silks: from Spain, Fruit, Saffron, Sacks
From Denmark, Amber, Cordage, Firres and Flax:
From France and Flanders, Linnen, Woad and Wine:
From Holland, Hops: Horse, from the banks of Rhine.
In brief, each Country (as pleas'd God distribute)
To the Worlds Treasure paies a sundry Tribute.
And, as somtimes that sumptuous Persian Dame
(Out of her Pride) accustomed to name
One Province for her Robe, her Rail another,
Her Partlet this, her Pantofles the tother,
This her rich Mantle, that her royall Chain,
This her rare Bracelets, that her stately Train:
Even so may Man. For, what wilde Hill so steep?
What so waste Desart? what so dangerous Deep?
What Sea so wrackfull? or so barren Shoar
In all the World may be suppos'd so poor,
But yeelds him Rent; and, free from envious spight,
Contributes frankly to his Lifes Delight?
(Out of her Pride) accustomed to name
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Her Partlet this, her Pantofles the tother,
This her rich Mantle, that her royall Chain,
This her rare Bracelets, that her stately Train:
Even so may Man. For, what wilde Hill so steep?
What so waste Desart? what so dangerous Deep?
What Sea so wrackfull? or so barren Shoar
In all the World may be suppos'd so poor,
But yeelds him Rent; and, free from envious spight,
Contributes frankly to his Lifes Delight?
Th'inammell'd Vallies, where the liquid glass
Of silver Brooks in curled streams doth pass,
Serve vs for Gardens; and their flowry Fleece
Affords vs Sithe-work yeerly twice or thrice;
The Plains for Corn; the swelling Downs for Sheep;
Small Hills for Vines; the Mountains strangely-steep
(Those Heav'n-climb Ladders, Labyrinths of Wonder,
Cellars of Winde, and Shops of Sulph'ry Thunder;
Where stormy Tempests have their vgly birth;
Which thou mis-call'st the blemish of the Earth;
Thinking (profane) that God, or Fortune light,
Made them of envy, or of oversight)
Bound with eternall bounds proud Emperies;
Bear mighty Forrests, full of Timber-Trees
(Whereof thou buildest Ships, and Houses fair,
To trade the Seas, and fence thee from the Air)
Spew spacious Rivers full of fruitfull breed,
Which neighbour-Peoples with their plenty feed;
Fatten the Earth, with fresh, sweet, fertill mists;
Drive gainfull Mills; and serve for Forts and Lists
To stop the Fury of War's waste-full hand,
And ioyn to th'Sea the middle of the Land.
The Wildes and Desarts, which so much amaze-thee,
Are goodly Pastures, that do daily graze-thee
Millions of Beasts for tillage, and (besides)
Store thee with Flesh, with Fleeces, and with Hides.
Yea, the vast Sea (which seems but onely good
To drown the World, and cover with his Flood
So many Countries, where we else might hope
For thrifty pains to reap a thankfull Crop)
Is a large Lardar, that in briny Deeps,
To nourish thee, a World of Creatures keeps:
A plentious Victualler, whose provisions serve
Millions of Cities that else needs must starve
(Like half-dead Dolphins, which the Ebb lets ly
Gasping for thirst vpon the sand, a-dry):
'T increaseth Trade, Iournies abbreviates,
The flitting Clouds it cease-less exhalates;
Which, cooling th'air, and gushing down in rain,
Make Ceres Sons (in sight) to mount amain.
Of silver Brooks in curled streams doth pass,
Serve vs for Gardens; and their flowry Fleece
Affords vs Sithe-work yeerly twice or thrice;
The Plains for Corn; the swelling Downs for Sheep;
Small Hills for Vines; the Mountains strangely-steep
(Those Heav'n-climb Ladders, Labyrinths of Wonder,
Cellars of Winde, and Shops of Sulph'ry Thunder;
Where stormy Tempests have their vgly birth;
Which thou mis-call'st the blemish of the Earth;
Thinking (profane) that God, or Fortune light,
Made them of envy, or of oversight)
Bound with eternall bounds proud Emperies;
Bear mighty Forrests, full of Timber-Trees
(Whereof thou buildest Ships, and Houses fair,
To trade the Seas, and fence thee from the Air)
Spew spacious Rivers full of fruitfull breed,
Which neighbour-Peoples with their plenty feed;
Fatten the Earth, with fresh, sweet, fertill mists;
Drive gainfull Mills; and serve for Forts and Lists
To stop the Fury of War's waste-full hand,
And ioyn to th'Sea the middle of the Land.
The Wildes and Desarts, which so much amaze-thee,
Are goodly Pastures, that do daily graze-thee
Millions of Beasts for tillage, and (besides)
Store thee with Flesh, with Fleeces, and with Hides.
Yea, the vast Sea (which seems but onely good
To drown the World, and cover with his Flood
So many Countries, where we else might hope
For thrifty pains to reap a thankfull Crop)
Is a large Lardar, that in briny Deeps,
To nourish thee, a World of Creatures keeps:
A plentious Victualler, whose provisions serve
Millions of Cities that else needs must starve
(Like half-dead Dolphins, which the Ebb lets ly
Gasping for thirst vpon the sand, a-dry):
'T increaseth Trade, Iournies abbreviates,
The flitting Clouds it cease-less exhalates;
283
Make Ceres Sons (in sight) to mount amain.
But, shall I still be Boreas Tennis-ball?
Shall I be still stern Neptunes tossed Thrall?
Shall I no more behold thy native smoak,
Dear Ithaca? Alas! my Bark is broak,
And leaks so fast, that I can rowe no more:
Help, help (my Mates) make haste vnto the shoar:
O! we are lost; vnless som friendly banks
Quickly receive our Tempest-beaten planks.
Heer (as it were) wearied with so long a voiage, from so broad & bottomless an Ocean (in imitation of the inimitable Author) the Translater hoping kinde intertainment, puts in for the Port of England: whose happy praises he prosecutes at large; Concluding with a zelous Prayer for preservation of the King, and prosperity of his Kingdom.
Shall I be still stern Neptunes tossed Thrall?
Shall I no more behold thy native smoak,
Dear Ithaca? Alas! my Bark is broak,
And leaks so fast, that I can rowe no more:
Help, help (my Mates) make haste vnto the shoar:
O! we are lost; vnless som friendly banks
Quickly receive our Tempest-beaten planks.
Ah, curteous England, thy kinde arms I see
Wide-stretched out to save and welcom me.
Thou (tender Mother) wilt not suffer Age
To snowe my locks in Forrein Pilgrimage;
That fell Brasile my breath-less Corps should shrowd,
Or golden Peru of my praise be proud,
Or rich Cathay to glory in my Verse.
Thou gav'st me Cradle: thou wilt give me Herse.
Wide-stretched out to save and welcom me.
Thou (tender Mother) wilt not suffer Age
To snowe my locks in Forrein Pilgrimage;
That fell Brasile my breath-less Corps should shrowd,
Or golden Peru of my praise be proud,
Or rich Cathay to glory in my Verse.
Thou gav'st me Cradle: thou wilt give me Herse.
All hail (dear Albion) Europ's Pearl of price,
The Worlds rich Garden, Earths rare Paradise:
Thrice-happy Mother, which ay bringest forth
Such Chiualry as daunteth all the Earth
(Planting the Trophies of thy glorious Arms
By Sea and Land, where ever Titan warms):
Such Artizans as do wel-neer Eclipse
Fair Natures praise in peer-lesse Workmanships:
Such happy Wits, as Egypt, Greece and Rome
(At least) have equall'd, if not overcom;
And shine among their (Modern) learned Fellows,
As Gold doth glister among paler Yellows:
Or as Apollo th'other Planets passes:
Or as His Flowr excels the Medow-grasses.
The Worlds rich Garden, Earths rare Paradise:
Thrice-happy Mother, which ay bringest forth
Such Chiualry as daunteth all the Earth
(Planting the Trophies of thy glorious Arms
By Sea and Land, where ever Titan warms):
Such Artizans as do wel-neer Eclipse
Fair Natures praise in peer-lesse Workmanships:
Such happy Wits, as Egypt, Greece and Rome
(At least) have equall'd, if not overcom;
And shine among their (Modern) learned Fellows,
As Gold doth glister among paler Yellows:
Or as Apollo th'other Planets passes:
Or as His Flowr excels the Medow-grasses.
Thy Rivers, Seas thy Cities, Shires do seem;
Civil in manners, as in buildings trim:
Sweet is thine Air, thy Soil exceeding Fat,
Fenç't from the World (as better worth then That)
With triple Wall (of Water Wood and Brass)
Which never Stranger yet had powr to pass;
Save when the Heav'ns have, for thy hainous Sin,
By som of Thine, with false Keys let them in.
Civil in manners, as in buildings trim:
Sweet is thine Air, thy Soil exceeding Fat,
Fenç't from the World (as better worth then That)
With triple Wall (of Water Wood and Brass)
Which never Stranger yet had powr to pass;
Save when the Heav'ns have, for thy hainous Sin,
By som of Thine, with false Keys let them in.
About thy borders (O Heav'n-blessed Ile)
There never crawls the noysom Crocodile;
Nor Bane-breath'd Serpent, basking in thy sand,
Measures an Acre of thy flowry Land,
The swift-foot Tiger, or fierce Lioness
Haunt not thy Mountains, nor thy Wilderness;
Nor ravening Wolves worry thy tender Lambs,
Bleating for help vnto their help-less Dams;
Nor suttle Sea-Horse, with deceitfull Call,
Intice thy Children in thy Floods to fall.
There never crawls the noysom Crocodile;
Nor Bane-breath'd Serpent, basking in thy sand,
Measures an Acre of thy flowry Land,
The swift-foot Tiger, or fierce Lioness
Haunt not thy Mountains, nor thy Wilderness;
Nor ravening Wolves worry thy tender Lambs,
Bleating for help vnto their help-less Dams;
284
Intice thy Children in thy Floods to fall.
What though thy Thames and Tweed have never rowl'd,
Among their gravell, massy grains of Gold?
What though thy Mountains spew no Silver streams?
Though every Hillock yeeld not precious Gemms?
Though in thy Forrests hang no Silken Fleeces?
Nor sacred Incense, nor delicious Spices?
What though the clusters of thy colder Vines
Distill nat Clarets, Sacks, nor Muscadines?
Yet are thy Woolls, thy Corn, thy Cloth, thy Tin,
Mines rich enough to make thee Europes Queen,
Yea Empress of the World; Yet not sufficient
To make thee thankfull to the Cause efficient
Of all thy Blessings: Who, besides all this,
Hath (now nine Lustres) lent thee greater Bliss;
His blessed Word (the witnes of his fauour)
To guide thy Sons vnto his Son (their Saver)
With Peace and Plenty: while, from War and Want,
Thy neighbours Countries never breathed scant.
And last, not least (so far beyond the scope
Of Christians Fear, and Anti-Christians Hope)
When all, thy Fall seem'd to Prognosticate,
Hath higher rais'd the glory of thy State;
In raysing Stvards to thy regal Throne,
To Rule (as David and as Salomon)
With Prudence, Prowesse, Iustice, and Sobriety,
Thy happy People in Religious Piety.
O too too happy! too too fortunate,
Knew'st thou thy Weal: or were thou not ingrate.
Among their gravell, massy grains of Gold?
What though thy Mountains spew no Silver streams?
Though every Hillock yeeld not precious Gemms?
Though in thy Forrests hang no Silken Fleeces?
Nor sacred Incense, nor delicious Spices?
What though the clusters of thy colder Vines
Distill nat Clarets, Sacks, nor Muscadines?
Yet are thy Woolls, thy Corn, thy Cloth, thy Tin,
Mines rich enough to make thee Europes Queen,
Yea Empress of the World; Yet not sufficient
To make thee thankfull to the Cause efficient
Of all thy Blessings: Who, besides all this,
Hath (now nine Lustres) lent thee greater Bliss;
His blessed Word (the witnes of his fauour)
To guide thy Sons vnto his Son (their Saver)
With Peace and Plenty: while, from War and Want,
Thy neighbours Countries never breathed scant.
And last, not least (so far beyond the scope
Of Christians Fear, and Anti-Christians Hope)
When all, thy Fall seem'd to Prognosticate,
Hath higher rais'd the glory of thy State;
In raysing Stvards to thy regal Throne,
To Rule (as David and as Salomon)
With Prudence, Prowesse, Iustice, and Sobriety,
Thy happy People in Religious Piety.
O too too happy! too too fortunate,
Knew'st thou thy Weal: or were thou not ingrate.
But least (at last) Gods righteous wrath consume vs,
If on his patience still we thus presume-vs:
And least (at last) all Blessings had before
Double in Curses to torment-vs more:
Dear Mother England, bend thine aged knee,
And to the Heav'ns lift vp thy hands with me;
Off with thy Pomp, hence with thy Pleasures past:
Thy Mirth be Mourning, and thy Feast a Fast:
And let thy soule, with my sad soule, confesse
Our former sins, and foul vnthankfulnes.
If on his patience still we thus presume-vs:
And least (at last) all Blessings had before
Double in Curses to torment-vs more:
Dear Mother England, bend thine aged knee,
And to the Heav'ns lift vp thy hands with me;
Off with thy Pomp, hence with thy Pleasures past:
Thy Mirth be Mourning, and thy Feast a Fast:
And let thy soule, with my sad soule, confesse
Our former sins, and foul vnthankfulnes.
Pray we the Father, through th'adopting Spirit,
Not measure vs according to our merit;
Nor strictly weigh, at his high Iustice Beam,
Our bold Rebellions, and our Pride extream:
But, for his Son (our dear Redeemer's) sake,
His Sacrifice, for our Sins Ransom, take;
And, looking on vs with milde Mercies Ey,
Forgive our Past, our Future Sanctifie;
That never more, his Fury are incense
To strike (as now) with raging Pestilence
(Much lesse provoke him by our guilt so far,
To wound vs more with Famine and with War.
Not measure vs according to our merit;
Nor strictly weigh, at his high Iustice Beam,
Our bold Rebellions, and our Pride extream:
But, for his Son (our dear Redeemer's) sake,
His Sacrifice, for our Sins Ransom, take;
And, looking on vs with milde Mercies Ey,
Forgive our Past, our Future Sanctifie;
285
To strike (as now) with raging Pestilence
(Much lesse provoke him by our guilt so far,
To wound vs more with Famine and with War.
Lord, cease thy wrath: Put vp into thy Quiver
This dreadfull shaft: Dear Father, vs deliver:
And vnder wings of thy protection keep
Thy Servant Iames, both waking and a-sleep:
And (furthermore) we (with the Psalmist) sing,
Lord, give thy iudgements to (our Lord) the King,
And to his Son: and let there ay beene
Of his Male Seed to sit vpon his Throne,
To feed thy Folk in Iacob, and (advance)
In Israel thy (dear) Inheritance,
And (long-long-lived) full of Faith and Zeal,
Reform (like Asa) Church and Common-weal;
Raysing poor Vertue, razing proudest Vice,
Without respect of Person or of Price;
That all bold Atheists, all Blaspheamers, then,
All Popish Traitors may be weeded clean.
And, Curst be All that say not heer, Amen.
This dreadfull shaft: Dear Father, vs deliver:
And vnder wings of thy protection keep
Thy Servant Iames, both waking and a-sleep:
And (furthermore) we (with the Psalmist) sing,
Lord, give thy iudgements to (our Lord) the King,
And to his Son: and let there ay beene
Of his Male Seed to sit vpon his Throne,
To feed thy Folk in Iacob, and (advance)
In Israel thy (dear) Inheritance,
And (long-long-lived) full of Faith and Zeal,
Reform (like Asa) Church and Common-weal;
Raysing poor Vertue, razing proudest Vice,
Without respect of Person or of Price;
That all bold Atheists, all Blaspheamers, then,
All Popish Traitors may be weeded clean.
And, Curst be All that say not heer, Amen.
FINIS.
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