The poems and translations of Sir Edward Sherburne (1616-1702) ::

Men from ye Sea, fish from ye Earth might rise
And Beasts have their Extraction from ye Skies;
All Creatures by a Strange promiscuous Birth
Alike inhabit every part of Earth.
The same trees still should not the same fruit beare
But change; and every thing grow every where.
For if a proper Seed were not assignd
To all, what certaine Parent could We find:
But since of such each thing is formd; from thence
(As genial Matter gives the difference)
They take their Birth & being. Thus We [see]
All things produc'd from all things cannot bee,
Since every certaine species does Comprise
Within itselfe it's proper Qualities.

Besides; why Roses does the gentle Spring
Produce, Warme Summer, Corne, Grapes Autumne bring?
But that of certaine severall seeds composd
They in their proper Seasons are disclosd,
As them ye kind & gently-fostering Earth
Matures, & brings into a perfect Birth.
Else everything would in a Moment grow
Nor their productions to due Seasons owe.
Nor time or space for their Increase would need
Would they augment from nothing, as from Seed.

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Small Infants in a trice would Men become
And Trees at once shoot forth, grow up, & bloome.
Wch sence confutes; for by Degrees We find
Each thing does grow, and growing keeps its kind,
To prove from their owne Matter they augment
And have from thence their Proper Nourishment.
Add unto this that without timely showres
Earth cannot bring forth either fruits or flowres
Nor Creatures if their dayly food desist
Or propagate their kinds, or long subsist.
'Tis better then We severall things surmise
From varied common Principles arise
(As words from letters formd), then to beleive
Any a being can from none receive.
Lastly; why should not Nature Men have made
So bigg; as might on foot through deep seas wade
Levell huge mountaines at a stroake; nor dy
'Till many Ages they had seen go by;
But that to each created thing We find
A just proportiond Matter is assignd?

This for a certaine truth be then decreed
That out of nothing nothing can proceed:
Since what soever Nature does disclose,
To Seminall Matter its Conception owes.

Lastly ground manurd, We see the untilld Plaine
Excells, & Culture betters fruit & Graine.
For Earth does the prime Seeds of things comprize
Which Wee by kindly-quickning Exercise
Plowing the pregnant furrows up, incite
To take a timely Birth & view the light.
Were not this true, th'uncultivated Soyle
Would of itselfe improve without our Toyle.

Next, Nature to their Elementall States
All things resolves, but none annihilates.
For were there ought whose each part mortall were,
That soon would perish quite, & disappeare,
Nor any force would need yet to constraine
The Dissolution of its naturall chaine.
But since all formd of seed Eternall are
Till accidentall Violence impaire
Their subtle Union & their frames unknit
Nature no Dissolution will admitt.

Besides, if all that's long since past & gone

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Have sufferd mere Annihilation,
From whence does Venus unto life againe
All Creatures bring, or Earth wth food sustaine.
Whence doe clear Springs, & forraigne floods supply
The greedy Ocean? how Starrs feeds the Sky?
(For all that's Mortall time must needs decay)
But if from it's first Birth unto this day
The Principles exist of wch what ere
This present Systeme shews created were,
Those sure must be immortal & assert
That into nothing nothing can revert.
In briefe by one & the selfe same Effect,
Did not eternall Matter them connect
Or more or lesse, all things dissolvd might bee,
One single touch inflict Mortalitie,
And ruine Nature; But since different Ties
Of Principles, and Matter that nere dies
Hath each corporeall Substance, that secure,
Till some strong force dissolves it doth endure
Nor when dissolv'd, does unto nothing fall
But the Materiall Principles of All.

So showres wch the great Father of the Sky
Powres into Earths Materiall Bosome die
And seeming perish; yet sweet flowres & fruit
And Trees from thence wth Leavy branches shoot,
Thence food for Man & beast. Thence Towns Wee see
Still florish wth a numerous Progenie.
Thence Woods resound wth birds harmonious Layes
Thence Chattell in the fertile Pastures graze
Stretching their weary Limbs in sweet repose,
Whilst from full Baggs the milky humour flowes.
Thence tender Sucklins in a sportive Way
Cloyd wth the Teat, about the Meadowes play.
Nothing then wholy perishes Wee see
Since Nature by a wise Reficiency
So orders all, that in the Birth of things
One from the Ruine of another springs.

But since from nothing, Nothing (We assert)
Can come; nor ought thats borne, to nought revert,
Tis fitt, (least thou shouldst doubt that wch I write,
'Cause Atoms cannot be discern'd by Sight)
That Wee in each created Thing declare
What kind of Bodies (though unseene) there are.

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First then, Wind stirrd, to watery Mountains swells
The Seas smooth plane, sinks Ships, & clouds dispells,
Then hurrying through the Feilds, before him strows
Tall trees, makes Hills to tremble, Woods o'rethrows;
Threatning Destruction wth a Rage uncurbd,
Whilst the chaf'd Sea, roars to be so disturbed.

Winds then are unseene Bodies, wch do fly
Through Sea, & Land, & sweep the clouded Skie.
Nor otherwise their Furie Propagate,
Then Waters wch some suddaine showres dilate
Fall tumbling like a torrent from some Hill
And Vallies wth the Spoyles of forrests fill,
Nor can strong bridges their assault abide:
The Rain-swolne Streame wth an impetuous tide
Hurries away what ever does impose
And ruine wth the threatning Deluge flowes;
Such in their fury Winds incenst appeare
And like a deluge all before them beare,
Whilst both their Motion & effects declare
That they Corporeall well as Rivers are.
Next severall Sents we smell, yet I suppose
None ere could see them comeing to his Nose.
Who ere did see the Heate, or freesing cold?
What subtle Eye did ever voice behold?
Yet these are bodies; one sence shews them such
For None but Bodies can be touchd or touch.
To instance further; the same Cloaths hung ny
The shore grow moist, spred to the sun grow dry
Yet how the wett comes thether none perceives
Nor how the Cloths (dispeld by heat) it leaves.
So in the Course of many slideing yeares,
A Ring Wee see by onely wearing, weares.
So drops peirce Marble, so the Plowghs hard share
Does in the feilds through often use impaire.
Nolesse the Stony Pavement in the Street
Wasts wth the frequent touch of trampling feet.
And brazen Statues wch some Gate adorne
By often handling We perceive are worne.
Yet though the Waste be visible the Eye
Can nere what Bodies fleet from them descry.
Next, those things Which a naturall growth acquire
By small degrees insensibly aspire:
And whatsoever does by age decay

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As unperceptibly does waste away.
Rocks by the Seas Salt Waves are undermind
Yet how they frett away no Eye can find.
Nature does then whatever she disclose
Of Principles invisible compose.
Yet think not Corporeity alone
All things invests, they doe a Vacuum owne:
Which, if well understood, will usefull bee
Nor suffer thee to doubt the Truth, or mee.

Vacuum is then a void & empty Space
Without wch nothing e're cann shift it's place
For Bodies alwayes Bodies would impede
Nor ever could move forward or recede
Unlesse some yeilding Principle there bee.
But severall things wth much Varietie
Move in the Sea the Earth & Heaven We find
As they by different Reasons are inclin'd.
Which yet if all Vacuity you wave
Nor Motion could nor Generation have:
For Matter if on every side opprest
Must needs lie stifled in unactive rest.

Dense Bodies next & which most solid are
You may perceive yet mix'd wth somthing Rare.
Soft Springs from stony Rocks hard Entrails creep
And hollowe Caves doe liquid Christall weep.
Food in all Creatures when digested flowes
Through every Part; Trees thrive, & fruit disclose;
The Reason 'cause the Sapp does from ye Root
It selfe into the Bole and Branches shoot.
Sounds passe through bard up Gates and Walls of Stone
And freezing Cold does peirce unto the Bone.
Which yet, if there were no Vacuitie
For Corporall Transitions ne're could bee.
Why should some bodies others next outweigh,
Yet in Dimensions not more Large then they?
For if of Wool & lead two balls like full
Of Atoms were, like Lead would weigh the Wool.
But to have Weight, of Atoms is alone
The Property; of Vacuum to have none.
Hence what hath equall Bulk, but lesse of weight
Must more of vacuum needs participate.
And those things wch of equall bignes are
Yet have more weight; must lesse of Vacuum share.

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There is then mixt in every thing Wee see
That wch Wee seek, and call Vacuitie.

But here Least from the Truth thou be declind
We must oppose what is by some divin'd.
Waters say they to scaly fishes yeild
A liquid Path; the place they leave still filld
By the uniteing Waves; hence they would prove
That all things may in a full Medium move.
But this is far from Truth; for if no space
The Waters yeilded; How from Place to Place
Could fishes move? and if not move; how then
Could the divided Waters close agen?
All bodies then must either Motion want
Or you in things a mixed Vacuum grant.

Lastly two Bodies by some suddaine force
Suppose disjoyn'd. The subtle Aire by Course
Must needs fill up the Vacuum thats between
Yet that at once can never enter in,
Since it must needs possesse place after place
And by degrees fill up the empty Space.

But if some think that the condensing Aire
Does in an Instant the void breach repaire,
They erre, for there's a Vacuum first descry'd
Was not before; next thats wth Aire supplyd
Which first was void; not can yet I presume
Aire move itselfe without a Vacuum.
Thus thou (though long disputes may be maintaind)
Wilt to confesse it be at length constrain'd.

Much more could I alledge in its Defence
To take from thee all ground of Diffidence
But these small Hints to a sagacious Mind
Sufficient are; the rest they selfe may find.
For as a well-nos'd Hound, if he the Traile
Of some wild Beast discover, will not faile
By that to trace him to his shady Layre
So, one by one will things themselves declare
To thy wise search; through windings of deceit,
Till thou hunt truth out of its darke Retreat.
And this unlesse [by] sloath from thence declin'd
I dare assure thee, thou shalt clearly find
Such Streames of Argument & in such store
My fluent toung from my full brest shall powre
That life I feare would hardly last so long

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As I could stretch my Philosophick Song.

But to returne to our intended Race
Nature of these two things, Body and Space
Is (as considerd in itselfe) composd,
The first in the Last moveing, & inclosd.
That there are bodies common Sence does give
Which unlesse We as a prime ground beleive
No hope remaines for reason to assure
The doubting mind in things that are obscure.
And if no Space there bee such as Wee call
A Vacuum bodies could not move at all.
Nor is there any thing thou canst suppose
As a third Nature, or distinct from those.
For what soever is you must confesse
Is either one of these or more or lesse;
This, if it take the least Imagin'd touch
Mongst Bodies must be rankd, & passe for such.
But if untactible, & pervious,
It must be what is Vacuum cald by us.
Besides; what ever is, or acts alone
Or by some media[ting Ac]tion.
Or else is such, as others comprehends,
And place to be, & space to move in, lends;
But none but Bodies act or are imployd
And no thing can lend Place but what is voyd.
Besides those two then, no third Nature e're
By Sence or Reason can be made appeare.
For Whatsoever the whole World presents
Or conjuncts are of these, or the Events.
Conjuncts are such as cannot in their kind
Be wthout Ruine to themselves disjoynd,
As heat from fire; from Streames Wett; Weight from stone
From Bodies touch, from Vacuum to have none.
But those whose Presence or whose Absence brings
No reall Detriment to Naturall things,
As freedome, Servitude, Wealth, Poverty
War, peace and such like; these are wont to bee
And justly, stil'd Events. Such time; wch knowes
No reall being of it selfe; but flowes
From things, on whose mere Notion it depends,
For Present, future, Past, Sence apprehends
From Motion onely & the Rest of things.
Thus when Troys Warr, and Hellens Rape fame sings

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Take heed least these so force us say, they owne
A reall being of themselves alone
When they Irrevocably wth the dead
Of whom they were th'Events long since are fledd.
For time no Action ever can present
But must of things or Place be an Event.
In fine were there no Matter nor no space
To lend to things and actions fitting place
Paris close fires, by Helens Beauty rais'd
Into such Hostile flames had never blaz'd.
Nor had the wooden Horse, wth armd Greekes fr[au]ght
Destruction to deceived Ilium brought.
Thus you see plainly that no Actions past
Like Bodies, of themselves subsist or last.
Nor can with Vacuum the same Nature share,
But the Events of Place & Bodies are.

Now, Bodies partly Principles are found
And partly such as Principles compound.
The first are proofe against all Violence
For their Solidity is their Defence.
Though it seem hardly credible to find
A Body thats so solidly combin'd.
For Thunder through thick Walls & Houses goes,
So Voice & Sounds; Iron in the furnace glowes.
Stones wth excessive Heat in peeces splitt
And gold by fire it's hardnesse doth remitt;
Brasse melts in conquering flames; so heat & cold
Pearce silver; this, when in our hands We hold
A cup wth water fild to Sence is clear:
So far from solid does each thing appeare.
Since Reason yet & Nature wills it so,
Lend thy Attention while I briefly show
That those wch We for Principles declare
Both solid Bodies & eternall are.

First then since We a twofold Nature find
Of Things unlike, and differing farr in kind,
Body and Space: These of Necessitie
Each of themselves pure, and a part must be.
For where there's Body there no space is knowne
And where Space is there body can be none.
Prime solid Bodies then no doubt there are
Exempt from Vacuum; yet of that a share
There is in all that's generated, found.

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Which therefore solid Matter needs must bound.
Nor does it ly in Reason to unfold
How things can in themselves a Vacuum hold
Unlesse it first be granted, there remaine
Somthing that solid is, & does restraine.
Now tis of Matter onely the Designe
In things the subtle Vacuum to confine.
Then Matter form'd of solid Bodies, may
For ever Last though all things else decay.

Againe, if no such thing as Space were knowne
All would be solid; Bodies were there none,
All would be Space. But these alternately
By each divided are; nor really
Is their mere void, or solid; there are then
Corporeall Substances that intervene
Whose fulnesse does divide the spacious Voyd.
These by no outward force can be destroyd,
Nor reunited be if once disjoynd,
Nor by what Means soe're their Ruine find.
For without Vacuum how can ought be broke?
Or cut in two, or severd by a Stroke?
Suffer by Moisture, heat, or cold? the Ways
By wch each corruptible thing decayes.
For how much more of Vacuum all things share
So much more subject to corrupt they are.
Prime Solid Bodies then from Vacuum free
Can nere decay; but must eternall be.
And were there no such Matter unto nought
What ever is would have long since been brought
Or had from thence its birth; yet both wch, mov'd
By Reasons dictate, We before disprov'd.
There must be then prime Bodies free from waste
That all things into them resolv'd, atlast
May new supplies againe of Matter Raise
For Nature to repaire her old Decayes.
The seeds & Principles of things are pure
And solid Bodies then, that will endure
Through all times changes; without wch No ground
For Natures Reparation can be found.

Lastly if Nature had not sett an End
How far corporeall fractions should extend,
Foregoing times had minc'd all Matter so
That nought thence form'd to perfect Age could grow.

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For all Things sooner We dissolv'd behold
Then recompos'd: what therefore dayes of old
Diminishd have; and time Successively
Continues still t'impaire, that these can be
Renewd againe; Experience tells us yet
There is a bound to Diminution sett,
Since every thing repaird againe We find
And time t'acquire their Perfect growth assign'd.

Next, though most solid bodies We declare
The Principles of Matter; Things that are
Composd of them may yet be mollified
(As Earth, Aire, Vapours, Streams that gently glide)
Because there is an Intermixture found
Of Vacuum in what ever they compound.

But if soft Principles did all things frame
No Cause can be assign'd whence Metalls came
And harder Flints: For Nature need must bee
Without a Ground-Worke of Soliditie.

Pure solid Bodies then there are, from whence
Things Strength & Substance take, as they condense.
Since Nature then to All hath sett an End
How far their growth shall & their Lives extend
Orderd what can be firm what not; the frame
Of Things unchang'd is, Substance still the same
(As in ye Plumes of Birds of the same kind
Where Spotts though various yet still like We find.)
The Ground of Matter likewise must be needs
Immutable, for and the simple Seeds
Of Things be chang'd, none could for certaine kn[ow]
What may be borne, what not; nor Reason show
Why to strict Limits Matter hath confin[d]
The Powr's of things, & their fixd bounds assignd.
Why severall Creatures should from Race to Race,
Retaine Their Parents Motions, Manners, face.

Now that each bodies extreme Summit flies
The Test of Sence & our dim-sighted Eyes
Tis 'cause its Nature does no Parts containe
But indivisible does still remaine
It selfe of others the first Part & Last.
Thence (by condensing into order cast)
Other like Parts doe bodies consummate
Which since they never can as seperate,
And by themselves, subsist, they must of force

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So closely cleave that nought can them divorce.
Prime bodies then of simple solidnes
Consist: whose minute Parts to Union presse
By no strange concourse cimented; but by
Their owne innate perfect Simplicity
Whose Diminution Nature, that intends
Them for her Seminall Reserve, defends.

Next, were there nothing least: each bodie might
Though ne're so small have Parts yet Infinite
For say the halfe from any thing were tane
That halfe yet into halfe may part againe
By endlesse Sections; what Difference
Betwixt the least things then & most immense,
If as the greatest Quantities possesse
Infinite Parts; the smallest doe no lesse?

But since 'gainst this even Reasons selfe protests
Nor can it gaine beleife in knowing Breasts
Convicted Judgemts must confese there are
Minutest Bodies wch no Parts doe share
Whose Substance No Division can undoe
And therefore solid & eternall too.
Lastly if Nature wch does all things frame
Into least Parts did not resolve the same
Their Diminutions she could nere repaire,
For Things wch of no Parts composed are
Must want the various ties, the Motion, Weight
Which geniall Matter does participate.
If to corporeall Fractions then be sett
No bound; there must in things be bodies yet
Which from Eternity have still remain'd
Nor any Damage hetherto sustain'd.
But if a perishing fragility
Attends their Nature; they could never be
From everlasting; but must needs have faild
By times continuall Batteries assaild.

Farr then from Truth & Reason they retire
Who draw the generall Birth of things from fire:
Of wch alone they dreame the World consists.
In whose defense the first that takes the Lists
Is Heraclitus, more esteemd among
The vainer Grecians for his obscure toung
Then valued by the Wise; who seeks not Words
But Matter wch unclouded Truth affords.

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For the Unwise those things still magnify
Which shrowded under darke Expressions ly
And think all's Truth wch a faire Varnish bears
Or wth a pleasing Sound affects the Ears.
But what mongst things could such a difference breed
If all did from meere fire alone procede?
For 'tis all one whether condens'd it bee
Or rarifyd if still the Parts agree
In Nature wth the whole: wch more or lesse
But differs by their Want or their Excesse.
Beyond wch Nothing you can ere suppose
To come from such a Cause; wch can disclose
(Should they allow what yet their Schoole rejects
A Vacuum,) no such various Effects.
But these wth Contradictions meeting, yet
Still Loath in things a Vacuum to admitt
Whilst they endeavour wholly to eschue
A Path thats difficult, they leave the true.
Nor see they yet whilst they a Vacuum shun
That all must needs condense & be made One.
Whence nothing ever can transmitted bee
As heat, & Light & smoke from fire, We see,
Whose freer Nature does Restraint detest
Nor can subsist of parts together prest.

But if some think fire by admistion leaves
It's proper Body & a new receives,
This in the least part granted; wholly brings
All fire to nothing, & from thence All things.
For what transform'd it's naturall bounds doth passe
Is strait the death of what before it was.
Somthing must therefore needs remaine entire
Least all to Nothing be reduc'd wth fire
And Things not from their Causes be reviv'd
But from a meere Non Entity deriv'd.

Since therefore certaine Bodies do remaine
Which one & the same Nature still retaine
Whose presence, Absence, & chang'd order, brings
A changed Nature to compounded things
Tis cleere these Principles cannot be fire,
For though some should be present some retire,
Or changd or added be twere yet in vaine
If all a fiery quality retaine,
Wch save it's like can nothing else create.

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But thus it seems if I the Truth may state
Bodies there are whose Concourse Motion Site
Figure & order fiery Births excite,
Their Nature by their change diversify'd,
By no Resemblance yet to fire ally'd
Nor ought that bodies unto Sence subjects
Or what (to it applyd) the Truth detects.
But to affirme Fire is each thing thats knowne
And nothing reall but itselfe alone
Is an Opinion farr from Reason held
And as it fights 'gainst Sense by Sense refeld;
By wch the Nature of each thing is learnd
And fire itselfe by this Wise Greek discernd.
Of wch the judge he makes his Sence & Eyes
And yet their Test in things as cleare denies.
Which, more then folly, Madnesse seems to Mee;
For to know truth from falshood can their be
A Rule then Sence more certaine? why againe
Do some to heate alone all things restraine
As their chief Cause; yet that to fire deny
Since either equall folly seems t'imply.
Who then to fire alone ascribes the Cause
Of this Worlds various fabrick, or who draws
The solid Masse of things from subtle Aire
Or think that water does all formes prepare
Or that

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[Men from ye Sea, fish from ye Earth might rise]