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 |  |
105
It shall suffice me then to follow the ancient bounds,
And from the golden mouth of Moses taking grounds,
With all religious heed in verses to record
How Sem, Iaphet and Cham, the world with people stor'd;
And how of mighty Noe the far-out-roaming boat
Did thus the second time all countries ouer-float.
And from the golden mouth of Moses taking grounds,
With all religious heed in verses to record
How Sem, Iaphet and Cham, the world with people stor'd;
And how of mighty Noe the far-out-roaming boat
Did thus the second time all countries ouer-float.
Yet not as if Sems house from Babilon did run
Together all at once vnto the rising sun;
To drinke of Zaiton the water siluer-fine,
To peopl' all rich Catay with Cambalu and Chine:
Nor Iaphet vnto Spaine; nor that vngodly Cham
Vnto the droughty soile of Meder and of Bigam,
The fields of Cephala, the Mount of Zanzibar,
The promontory of Hope, which Africk thrusts-out far.
Together all at once vnto the rising sun;
To drinke of Zaiton the water siluer-fine,
To peopl' all rich Catay with Cambalu and Chine:
Nor Iaphet vnto Spaine; nor that vngodly Cham
Vnto the droughty soile of Meder and of Bigam,
The fields of Cephala, the Mount of Zanzibar,
The promontory of Hope, which Africk thrusts-out far.
For as th'lblean hills, or those Hymettick trees,
Not all in one yeeres space were couered with Bees;
But first some little rock, that swarmed eu'ry prime
Two surcreases or three, made on their tops to clime,
Aside and all about those nurslings of the Sun,
At length all o're the cliffes their hony-combs to run:
Or as two springing Elmes, that grow amids a field
With water compassed, about their stocks doe yeeld
A many younger trees; and they againe shoot-out
As many like themselues encroaching all about;
And gaining foot by foot, so thriue: that aft'r a while
They for a shared mead a forrest make that Isle:
Accordinly the men who built th'Assyrian tower,
Were scattred all abroad; though not all in an hower;
But first enhous'd themselues in Mesopotamie;
By processe then of time increasing happily,
They pass'd streame after streame, and seizd land after land;
And were not th'age of all cut short by Gods command,
No country might be found so sauage or vnknow'n
But by the stock of man had bin ere this o'regrown.
And this the cause is why the Tigre-abutting coast,
In all the former time of all did flourish most.
That first began to warre, that only got a name,
And little knew the rest but learned of the same.
For Babylon betimes drawne vnd'r a kingly throne
Th'emperiall scepter swaid before the Greeks were knowne
To frame a politie, before by charming tones
Amphion walled Thebes of self-empyling stones;
Yer Latins had their townes, yer Frenchmen houshold rents,
Or Dutchmen cottages, or Englishmen their tents:
So Hebers sonnes had long abhorred Altars made
For any heathen gods; with Angels had their trade;
And knew the great Vnknowne, yea (ô most happy thing!)
With eyes of faith beheld their vnbeholden king.
The learned Chaldee knew of stars the numb'r and lawes,
Had measured the skie, and vnderstood the cause
That muffleth vp the light of Cinthia's siluer lips,
And how her thwarting doth her brothers light eclips.
The Priest of Memphis knew the nature of the soule,
And straitly marked how the heau'nly flames doe roule;
Who, that their faces might more flaming seeme and gay,
In Amphitrites poole once wash them euery day:
He physick also wrote and taught Geometree,
Before that any Greeke had learn'd his A Be Cee.
All Egypt ouershone with golden vtensils,
Before the limping smith by Ætnaes burning kills
Had hammerd iron barrs: before Prometheus found
The fire and vse thereof vpon th'Argolian ground.
Not all in one yeeres space were couered with Bees;
But first some little rock, that swarmed eu'ry prime
Two surcreases or three, made on their tops to clime,
Aside and all about those nurslings of the Sun,
At length all o're the cliffes their hony-combs to run:
106
With water compassed, about their stocks doe yeeld
A many younger trees; and they againe shoot-out
As many like themselues encroaching all about;
And gaining foot by foot, so thriue: that aft'r a while
They for a shared mead a forrest make that Isle:
Accordinly the men who built th'Assyrian tower,
Were scattred all abroad; though not all in an hower;
But first enhous'd themselues in Mesopotamie;
By processe then of time increasing happily,
They pass'd streame after streame, and seizd land after land;
And were not th'age of all cut short by Gods command,
No country might be found so sauage or vnknow'n
But by the stock of man had bin ere this o'regrown.
And this the cause is why the Tigre-abutting coast,
In all the former time of all did flourish most.
That first began to warre, that only got a name,
And little knew the rest but learned of the same.
For Babylon betimes drawne vnd'r a kingly throne
Th'emperiall scepter swaid before the Greeks were knowne
To frame a politie, before by charming tones
Amphion walled Thebes of self-empyling stones;
Yer Latins had their townes, yer Frenchmen houshold rents,
Or Dutchmen cottages, or Englishmen their tents:
So Hebers sonnes had long abhorred Altars made
For any heathen gods; with Angels had their trade;
And knew the great Vnknowne, yea (ô most happy thing!)
With eyes of faith beheld their vnbeholden king.
The learned Chaldee knew of stars the numb'r and lawes,
Had measured the skie, and vnderstood the cause
That muffleth vp the light of Cinthia's siluer lips,
And how her thwarting doth her brothers light eclips.
The Priest of Memphis knew the nature of the soule,
And straitly marked how the heau'nly flames doe roule;
Who, that their faces might more flaming seeme and gay,
In Amphitrites poole once wash them euery day:
He physick also wrote and taught Geometree,
107
All Egypt ouershone with golden vtensils,
Before the limping smith by Ætnaes burning kills
Had hammerd iron barrs: before Prometheus found
The fire and vse thereof vpon th'Argolian ground.
Alas, we were not then, or, if we were, at least
We led an vnkouth life, and like the sauage beast,
Our garments feathers were, that birds in moulting cast;
We feasted vnder trees and gaped after mast.
VVhen as the men of Tyre already durst assay
To raze the saltie Blew twixt them and Africa,
Aduentur'd merchandise, with purpl'enguirt their flanks,
And pleasure kept her court about Euphrates banks.
For as a peble stone if thou on water fling
Of any sleepie poole, it frames a little ring
First whereabout it fell; then furth'r about doth rase
The wauing marbl', or eu'n the trembling Chrystall face
VVith mouing paralels of many circles moe,
That reaching furth'r abroad together-waxing flow
Vntill the round at length most outward and most large
Strikes of the standing lake both one and other marge:
So from the Cent'r of All (which here I meane to pitch
Vpon the waters brinke where discord sproong of speech)
Man dressing day by day his knowledge more and more
Makes arts and wisdome flow vnto the circle-shore;
As doth himselfe increase, and as in diuers bands
His fruitfull seed in time hath ouergrowne the lands.
We led an vnkouth life, and like the sauage beast,
Our garments feathers were, that birds in moulting cast;
We feasted vnder trees and gaped after mast.
VVhen as the men of Tyre already durst assay
To raze the saltie Blew twixt them and Africa,
Aduentur'd merchandise, with purpl'enguirt their flanks,
And pleasure kept her court about Euphrates banks.
For as a peble stone if thou on water fling
Of any sleepie poole, it frames a little ring
First whereabout it fell; then furth'r about doth rase
The wauing marbl', or eu'n the trembling Chrystall face
VVith mouing paralels of many circles moe,
That reaching furth'r abroad together-waxing flow
Vntill the round at length most outward and most large
Strikes of the standing lake both one and other marge:
So from the Cent'r of All (which here I meane to pitch
Vpon the waters brinke where discord sproong of speech)
Man dressing day by day his knowledge more and more
Makes arts and wisdome flow vnto the circle-shore;
As doth himselfe increase, and as in diuers bands
His fruitfull seed in time hath ouergrowne the lands.
From faire Assyriland the Semites gan to trauell
Vnto the soile beguilt with glystring Hytan-grauell,
And peopling Persiland dronke Oroates iuyce,
And wat'r of cleare Coaspe that licks the walls of Suse:
So tooke the fruitfull dale and flow'r-embellyd plaines
Betwixt high Caucase tops, where shortly Arsace raignes:
And some in Medye dwelt, and some began to make
The fields abutting on the great Hircanian Lake.
Vnto the soile beguilt with glystring Hytan-grauell,
And peopling Persiland dronke Oroates iuyce,
And wat'r of cleare Coaspe that licks the walls of Suse:
So tooke the fruitfull dale and flow'r-embellyd plaines
Betwixt high Caucase tops, where shortly Arsace raignes:
And some in Medye dwelt, and some began to make
The fields abutting on the great Hircanian Lake.
These mens posteritie did like a flood surround
And ouerflow in time the Cheisel-fronting ground:
They came in diuers troopes vpon Tac[illeg.]istan,
Caras, Gadel, Chabul, Bedane and Balistan.
And ouerflow in time the Cheisel-fronting ground:
108
Caras, Gadel, Chabul, Bedane and Balistan.
Their Of-spring afterward broke-vp with toyling hands
Narzinga, Bisnagar, and all the plenteous lands
That Ganges thorow flowes, and peopled Toloman,
The realme of Mein, and Aue, and muskie Carazan:
They saw the fearefull sprights in wildernesse of Lop,
That maske in hundred shapes wayfairing men to stop.
Narzinga, Bisnagar, and all the plenteous lands
That Ganges thorow flowes, and peopled Toloman,
The realme of Mein, and Aue, and muskie Carazan:
They saw the fearefull sprights in wildernesse of Lop,
That maske in hundred shapes wayfairing men to stop.
Long aft'r at sundry times this Race still coasting east
Tipura seizd that breeds the horny-snowted beast,
Mangit and Gaucinchine that Aloes hath store;
And stopt at Anie straights and Cassagalie shore.
Tipura seizd that breeds the horny-snowted beast,
Mangit and Gaucinchine that Aloes hath store;
And stopt at Anie straights and Cassagalie shore.
Now from the Center-point inclining to the Set
Far spred abroad themselues the children of Iaphet,
To Armenie the lesse, and after to Cilice,
So got the hau'ns at length of Tarsis and of Ise,
The sweet Corician caue, that neere to Parnas hill
Delights the commers-in with Cymball-sounding skill:
Huge Taure his loftie downes, Ionie, Cappadoce,
Meanders winding banks, Bythine and Illios.
Far spred abroad themselues the children of Iaphet,
To Armenie the lesse, and after to Cilice,
So got the hau'ns at length of Tarsis and of Ise,
The sweet Corician caue, that neere to Parnas hill
Delights the commers-in with Cymball-sounding skill:
Huge Taure his loftie downes, Ionie, Cappadoce,
Meanders winding banks, Bythine and Illios.
Then boldly passing-o're the narrow cut of Sest,
They dronke the water chill of Strimon, Heber and Nest:
The Rhodopean dales they graz'd, and laid in swathes
The leas that (running-by) Danubies water bathes.
They dronke the water chill of Strimon, Heber and Nest:
The Rhodopean dales they graz'd, and laid in swathes
The leas that (running-by) Danubies water bathes.
Thrace did a thonside fill the Grecian territorie;
Greece peopled Italie, law-giuing, louing-glory;
By Italie was France, by France was filled Spaine,
The borderings of Rhine and all the Great Britaine:
Ath'otherside againe it sent a Colonie
Both to the Pont-Eusine, and toward Moldauie;
So raught Transyluanie, Morauie, Hungarie,
And Seruie farther-west, and eastward Podolie.
Thence men to Prussie came and Wyxell borders ear'd,
Then that of Almanie that narre the Pole is rear'd.
Greece peopled Italie, law-giuing, louing-glory;
By Italie was France, by France was filled Spaine,
The borderings of Rhine and all the Great Britaine:
Ath'otherside againe it sent a Colonie
Both to the Pont-Eusine, and toward Moldauie;
So raught Transyluanie, Morauie, Hungarie,
And Seruie farther-west, and eastward Podolie.
Thence men to Prussie came and Wyxell borders ear'd,
Then that of Almanie that narre the Pole is rear'd.
Now turning to the South, consider how Chaldea
Spewes-out in Arabie, Phenice and Chananea,
The cursed line of Cham; yet ne'r the lesse it growes,
And twixt Myd-sea and Red along int'Egypt goes:
So stores the towne Corene, and that renowmed coast
Whereon the Punick Seas are all to-froth betost;
Fesse, Gogden, Terminan, Argin, Gusola, Dara,
Tombuto, Gualata, Melli, Gago, Mansara,
The sparkling wildernesse of Lybie breeding-venim,
Caun, Guber, Amasen, Born, Zegzeg, Nubye, Benim;
And of the droughtie soile those euer-moouing sands,
Where Iesus yet is known and Prestre Ian commands;
Who, though in many points he commeth neere the Iew,
Yet hath a kind of Church not all vnlike the true.
Spewes-out in Arabie, Phenice and Chananea,
The cursed line of Cham; yet ne'r the lesse it growes,
109
So stores the towne Corene, and that renowmed coast
Whereon the Punick Seas are all to-froth betost;
Fesse, Gogden, Terminan, Argin, Gusola, Dara,
Tombuto, Gualata, Melli, Gago, Mansara,
The sparkling wildernesse of Lybie breeding-venim,
Caun, Guber, Amasen, Born, Zegzeg, Nubye, Benim;
And of the droughtie soile those euer-moouing sands,
Where Iesus yet is known and Prestre Ian commands;
Who, though in many points he commeth neere the Iew,
Yet hath a kind of Church not all vnlike the true.
Here if thou meane to know whence all the land so large,
Which vnder-lies the draught of many a sliding barge,
All-ouer pau'd with Ise, and of the sea of Russe
Enuironed about with surges mutinous,
Was come-vnto by men; thinke after they forsooke
The plaine where Tegil flood swift-running ouertooke
Once and againe the streame of running-far Euphrates
They lodged at the foot of hoary hill Nyphates.
Which vnder-lies the draught of many a sliding barge,
All-ouer pau'd with Ise, and of the sea of Russe
Enuironed about with surges mutinous,
Was come-vnto by men; thinke after they forsooke
The plaine where Tegil flood swift-running ouertooke
Once and againe the streame of running-far Euphrates
They lodged at the foot of hoary hill Nyphates.
So forth of Armenie the field Hiberian,
The Colchish, th'Albanick, and high Bospherian
Might well be furnished, and thence vnto th'Vprist
Might come the Tartar fell, who roameth where he list
All on that circuit huge; and thence accoast the Set
Was stoard the land that Rha doth neere his rising fret,
The shore of Lyuonie, the plaine, of Moscouie,
Byarmie, Permie, Russe, White-lake and Scrifinie.
The Colchish, th'Albanick, and high Bospherian
Might well be furnished, and thence vnto th'Vprist
Might come the Tartar fell, who roameth where he list
All on that circuit huge; and thence accoast the Set
Was stoard the land that Rha doth neere his rising fret,
The shore of Lyuonie, the plaine, of Moscouie,
Byarmie, Permie, Russe, White-lake and Scrifinie.
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