Natures Picture Drawn by Fancies Pencil To the Life Being several Feigned Stories, Comical, Tragical, Tragi-comical, Poetical, Romancical, Philosophical, Historical, and Moral: Some in Verse, some in Prose; some Mixt, and some by Dialogues. Written by the Thrice Noble, Illustrious, and most Excellent Princess, The Duchess of Newcastle [i.e. Margaret Cavendish]. The Second Edition |
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An Expression of the Doubts and Curiosity of Man's Mind.
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 | Natures Picture Drawn by Fancies Pencil To the Life |  |
An Expression of the Doubts and Curiosity of Man's Mind.
There was a Man which much desir'd to know,
When he was dead, whither his Soul should go;
Whether to Heaven high, or down to Hell,
Or the Elyzium Fields, where Lovers dwell;
Or whether in the air to flie about;
Or whether it, like to a Light, goes out.
At last the Thoughts, the Servants to the Mind,
Which dwell in Contemplation, to find
The truth; they said, No pains that they would spare
To travel every where, and thus prepare:
Each Thought did clothe it self with Language fit,
For to enquire, and to dispute for it:
And Reason they did take to be their Guide,
Then straight unto a Colledg they did ride;
Where Scholars dwell, and learned Books are read,
The living Works of the most Wise, who're dead.
There they enquired, the truth for to know,
And every one was ready for to show;
Though every sev'ral Work, and sev'ral Head,
And sev'ral Tongue, a sev'ral path still lead;
Where the Thoughts were scattering several ways,
Some tedious long, others like short Essays.
But Reason, which they took to be their Guide,
With rest and silence quietly did 'bide,
Till their return, who ragged and all torn,
Came back as naked as when they were born:
For in their travels hard disputes had past,
Yet all were forc'd for to return at last.
But when Reason saw their poor condition,
Naked of Sense, their Words, and Expedition,
And Expectation too, and seeming sad,
(But some were frantick, and despairing, mad.)
She told them, They might wander all about,
But she did fear the Truth would ne're find out.
Which when they heard, with rage they angry grew,
And straight from Reason they themselves withdrew.
Then all agreed they to the Court would go,
In hopes the Courtiers then the truth might know:
The Courtiers laugh'd, and said they could not tell;
They thought the Soul in Sensual Pleasures dwell,
And that it had no other Heaven or Hell;
The Soul they slight, but wish the Body well.
This answer made the Thoughts not long to stay
Among the Courtiers, but soon went their way.
When he was dead, whither his Soul should go;
Whether to Heaven high, or down to Hell,
Or the Elyzium Fields, where Lovers dwell;
Or whether in the air to flie about;
Or whether it, like to a Light, goes out.
At last the Thoughts, the Servants to the Mind,
Which dwell in Contemplation, to find
The truth; they said, No pains that they would spare
To travel every where, and thus prepare:
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For to enquire, and to dispute for it:
And Reason they did take to be their Guide,
Then straight unto a Colledg they did ride;
Where Scholars dwell, and learned Books are read,
The living Works of the most Wise, who're dead.
There they enquired, the truth for to know,
And every one was ready for to show;
Though every sev'ral Work, and sev'ral Head,
And sev'ral Tongue, a sev'ral path still lead;
Where the Thoughts were scattering several ways,
Some tedious long, others like short Essays.
But Reason, which they took to be their Guide,
With rest and silence quietly did 'bide,
Till their return, who ragged and all torn,
Came back as naked as when they were born:
For in their travels hard disputes had past,
Yet all were forc'd for to return at last.
But when Reason saw their poor condition,
Naked of Sense, their Words, and Expedition,
And Expectation too, and seeming sad,
(But some were frantick, and despairing, mad.)
She told them, They might wander all about,
But she did fear the Truth would ne're find out.
Which when they heard, with rage they angry grew,
And straight from Reason they themselves withdrew.
Then all agreed they to the Court would go,
In hopes the Courtiers then the truth might know:
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They thought the Soul in Sensual Pleasures dwell,
And that it had no other Heaven or Hell;
The Soul they slight, but wish the Body well.
This answer made the Thoughts not long to stay
Among the Courtiers, but soon went their way.
Then to the Army straight they did repair,
Hoping the Truth of Souls they should find there;
And of the Chief Commander they enquire,
Who willing was to answer their desire.
They said for certain, that all Souls did dye,
But those that liv'd in Fame or Infamy.
Those that Infamous were, without all doubt
Were damn'd, and from reproach should ne'r get out:
But such whose Fame their Noble Deeds did raise,
Their Souls were blest with an Eternal Praise;
And those that dy'd, and never mention'd were,
They thought their Souls breath'd out to nought but Air.
Hoping the Truth of Souls they should find there;
And of the Chief Commander they enquire,
Who willing was to answer their desire.
They said for certain, that all Souls did dye,
But those that liv'd in Fame or Infamy.
Those that Infamous were, without all doubt
Were damn'd, and from reproach should ne'r get out:
But such whose Fame their Noble Deeds did raise,
Their Souls were blest with an Eternal Praise;
And those that dy'd, and never mention'd were,
They thought their Souls breath'd out to nought but Air.
With that the Thoughts were very much perplext,
Then did resolve the Chymists should be next
Which they would ask: so unto them they go
To be resolv'd, If they of Souls did know.
Then did resolve the Chymists should be next
Which they would ask: so unto them they go
To be resolv'd, If they of Souls did know.
They said unto the Thoughts, When Bodies dye,
Souls are th' Elixir, and pure Chymistry:
For Gold, said they, can never wasted be,
Nor can it alter from its purity.
Eternal 'tis, and shall for ever last,
And as pure Gold, so Souls do never wast.
Souls are the Essence, and pure Spirits of Gold,
Which never change, but shall for ever hold:
And as Fire doth the pure from dross divide,
So Souls in Death are cleans'd and purifi'd
From grosser parts of Body; and no doubt
The Soul, as Spirits, Death exhaleth out:
It is the Essence of great Nature's store;
All Matter hath this Essence, less or more.
Souls are th' Elixir, and pure Chymistry:
For Gold, said they, can never wasted be,
Nor can it alter from its purity.
Eternal 'tis, and shall for ever last,
And as pure Gold, so Souls do never wast.
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Which never change, but shall for ever hold:
And as Fire doth the pure from dross divide,
So Souls in Death are cleans'd and purifi'd
From grosser parts of Body; and no doubt
The Soul, as Spirits, Death exhaleth out:
It is the Essence of great Nature's store;
All Matter hath this Essence, less or more.
After the Thoughts had mused long, In fine,
Said they, we think the Soul is more Divine,
Than from a Metal'd Earth for to proceed;
Well known it is, all Metals Earth doth breed:
And though of purest Earth the true Gold be,
Being refin'd by Heat to that degree
Of pureness, by which it long doth last,
Yet may long time and labour make it wast,
To shew 'tis not Eternal; and perchance
Some slight Experience may that work advance,
Which Man hath not yet found; but Time, said they,
May Chymists teach; and so they went away.
Said they, we think the Soul is more Divine,
Than from a Metal'd Earth for to proceed;
Well known it is, all Metals Earth doth breed:
And though of purest Earth the true Gold be,
Being refin'd by Heat to that degree
Of pureness, by which it long doth last,
Yet may long time and labour make it wast,
To shew 'tis not Eternal; and perchance
Some slight Experience may that work advance,
Which Man hath not yet found; but Time, said they,
May Chymists teach; and so they went away.
But travelling about, they weary grew;
To rest a while, they for a time withdrew
The search of Truth, into a Cottage went,
Where liv'd an aged Cottage, well content,
A Man and Wife, which pious were, and old;
To them the Thoughts their tedious Journeys told,
And what they went to seek, the Truth to find
Concerning Souls, to tell unto the Mind:
For we desire, said they, the truth to know,
From whence the Soul proceeds, or where 'twill go,
When parted from the Body. The Old Man said,
Of such Employment he should be afraid,
Lest Nature or the Gods should angry be
For his Presumption and Curiosity.
If it be Nature's work, there is no doubt
But it doth transmigrate all things about:
And who can follow Nature's steps and pace,
And all the subtil ways that she doth trace?
Her various Forms, which curious Motion makes;
Or what Ingredients for those Forms she takes?
Who knows, said he, the Cause of any thing,
Or what the Matter is whence all doth spring?
Or who at first did Matter make to move
So wisely, and in order, none can prove;
Nor the Decrease, nor Destinies can find,
VVhich are the Laws that every thing do bind.
But who can tell that Nature is not VVife
To mighty Jove? and he begets the life
Of every Creature which she breeds, and brings
Forth several Forms; each Figure from her springs.
Thus Souls and Bodies joined in one Gin,
Though Bodies mortal be, the Soul's divine,
As being first begot by Jove, and so
The purest part of Life's the Soul, we know;
For th' animated part from Jove proceeds,
The grosser part from Nature self she breeds.
And what's more Animated than Mankind,
Unless his Soul, which is of higher Kind?
Thus ev'ry Creature to Jove and Nature are,
As Sons and Daughters, and their Off-spring fair.
And as their Parents of them do take care;
So they, as Children, ought not for to fear
How they dispose of them, but to submit
Obediently to all that they think fit;
Not to dispute on idle Questions still,
But shew obedience to their Maker's will.
Man asketh blessing of his Father Jove,
And Jove doth seem Mankind the best to love.
And Nature she her blessing doth bestow;
VVhen she gives Health, makes Plenty for to flow.
The blessings which Jove gives unto Mankind,
Are peaceful Thoughts, and a still quiet Mind:
And Jove is pleas'd, when that we serve his VVife
(Our Mother Nature) with a Virtuous Life:
For Moral Virtues are the Ground whereon
All Jove's Commands and Laws are built upon.
Thoughts trouble not your selves, said he, which way
The Soul shall go to Jove, and Nature pay:
For Temperance, wherein the Life is blest,
That Temperance doth please the Life the best.
Intemperance doth torture Life with pain;
And what's superfluous, to us is vain.
Therefore return, and temper well the Mind,
For you the truth of Souls shall never find.
At last came Reason, which had been their Guide,
And brought them Faith; in her they did confide.
Taking their leave, away with Faith they ride,
And Faith e're since doth with the Mind reside.
To rest a while, they for a time withdrew
The search of Truth, into a Cottage went,
Where liv'd an aged Cottage, well content,
A Man and Wife, which pious were, and old;
To them the Thoughts their tedious Journeys told,
And what they went to seek, the Truth to find
Concerning Souls, to tell unto the Mind:
111
From whence the Soul proceeds, or where 'twill go,
When parted from the Body. The Old Man said,
Of such Employment he should be afraid,
Lest Nature or the Gods should angry be
For his Presumption and Curiosity.
If it be Nature's work, there is no doubt
But it doth transmigrate all things about:
And who can follow Nature's steps and pace,
And all the subtil ways that she doth trace?
Her various Forms, which curious Motion makes;
Or what Ingredients for those Forms she takes?
Who knows, said he, the Cause of any thing,
Or what the Matter is whence all doth spring?
Or who at first did Matter make to move
So wisely, and in order, none can prove;
Nor the Decrease, nor Destinies can find,
VVhich are the Laws that every thing do bind.
But who can tell that Nature is not VVife
To mighty Jove? and he begets the life
Of every Creature which she breeds, and brings
Forth several Forms; each Figure from her springs.
Thus Souls and Bodies joined in one Gin,
Though Bodies mortal be, the Soul's divine,
As being first begot by Jove, and so
The purest part of Life's the Soul, we know;
For th' animated part from Jove proceeds,
The grosser part from Nature self she breeds.
112
Unless his Soul, which is of higher Kind?
Thus ev'ry Creature to Jove and Nature are,
As Sons and Daughters, and their Off-spring fair.
And as their Parents of them do take care;
So they, as Children, ought not for to fear
How they dispose of them, but to submit
Obediently to all that they think fit;
Not to dispute on idle Questions still,
But shew obedience to their Maker's will.
Man asketh blessing of his Father Jove,
And Jove doth seem Mankind the best to love.
And Nature she her blessing doth bestow;
VVhen she gives Health, makes Plenty for to flow.
The blessings which Jove gives unto Mankind,
Are peaceful Thoughts, and a still quiet Mind:
And Jove is pleas'd, when that we serve his VVife
(Our Mother Nature) with a Virtuous Life:
For Moral Virtues are the Ground whereon
All Jove's Commands and Laws are built upon.
Thoughts trouble not your selves, said he, which way
The Soul shall go to Jove, and Nature pay:
For Temperance, wherein the Life is blest,
That Temperance doth please the Life the best.
Intemperance doth torture Life with pain;
And what's superfluous, to us is vain.
Therefore return, and temper well the Mind,
For you the truth of Souls shall never find.
113
And brought them Faith; in her they did confide.
Taking their leave, away with Faith they ride,
And Faith e're since doth with the Mind reside.
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