Medulla Poetarum Romanorum Or, the Most Beautiful and Instructive Passages of the Roman Poets. Being a Collection, (Disposed under proper Heads,) Of such Descriptions, Allusions, Comparisons, Characters, and Sentiments, as may best serve to shew the Religion, Learning, Politicks, Arts, Customs, Opinions, Manners, and Circumstances of the Antients. With Translations of the same in English Verse. By Mr. Henry Baker |
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Man.
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 | Medulla Poetarum Romanorum |  |
Man.
See Infant.
A creature of a more exalted Kind
Was wanting yet, and then was Man design'd:
Conscious of Thought, of more capacious Breast,
For Empire form'd, and fit to rule the rest.
Whether with Particles of heav'nly Fire
The God of Nature did his Soul inspire,
Or Earth, but new divided from the Sky,
And, pliant still, retain'd th' Ætherial Energy.
Was wanting yet, and then was Man design'd:
Conscious of Thought, of more capacious Breast,
For Empire form'd, and fit to rule the rest.
Whether with Particles of heav'nly Fire
The God of Nature did his Soul inspire,
Or Earth, but new divided from the Sky,
And, pliant still, retain'd th' Ætherial Energy.
71
Whilst all the mute Creation downwards bend
Their Sight, and to their earthy Mother tend,
Man looks aloft: and with erected Eyes
Beholds his own hereditary Skies.—
Time was, when we were sow'd, and just began;
Their Sight, and to their earthy Mother tend,
Man looks aloft: and with erected Eyes
Beholds his own hereditary Skies.—
Meerly the Hope, and Promise of a Man:
Then Nature's Hand (fermented as it was)
Moulded to Shape the soft coagulated Mass.
In Time the little Man is fully form'd,
The breathless Embrio with a Spirit warm'd:
And when the Mother's Throws begin to come,
The Creature, pent within the narrow Womb,
Breaks his blind Prison: pushing to repair
His stifled Breath, and draw the living Air,
Cast on the Margin of the World he lies,
An helpless Baby, and by Instinct cries.
He next essays to walk, but downward press'd,
On four Feet imitates his Brother Beast:
By slow Degrees he gathers from the Ground
His Legs, and to the Rolling-Chair is bound:
Then walks alone:—a Horseman now become,
He rides a Stick, and travels round the Room.
In time he vaunts among his youthful Peers,
Strong-bon'd, and strung with Nerves, in Pride of Years:
He runs with Mettle his first merry Stage:
Maintains the next, abated of his Rage,
But manages his Strength, and spares his Age.
Heavy the third, and stiff, he sinks apace,
And tho' 'tis down-hill all, but creeps along the Race.
Now sapless on the Verge of Death he stands,
Contemplating his former Feet and Hands:
And Milo-like, his slacken'd Sinews sees,
And wither'd Arms, once fit to cope with Hercules,
Unable now to shake, much less to tare the Trees.—
The Brutes, whom Nature did in Sport create,
Unknowing of themselves, and of their Fate,
By secret Instinct still erect their Eyes
To Parent Heaven.—
73
Of All, is nearer to the Skies ally'd?
Nature in him an active Soul hath wrought,
Hath giv'n him Language, and the Pow'r of Thought:
In him the God descends, well pleas'd to find
An Image there of his Almighty Mind.—
The Brutes, of every kind, dwell on the Earth:
Or hang in Air: or thro' the Waters glide:
Nor ought but Rest, or Food, or Joys of Sense,
Are their Pursuit.—Since, therefore, Speech, to them,
And Reason was deny'd, Man was produc'd,
To overlook and Rule: Language he has
Expressive of his Mind: and various Arts
To practise, or invent, a Genius fit.
Or hang in Air: or thro' the Waters glide:
Nor ought but Rest, or Food, or Joys of Sense,
Are their Pursuit.—Since, therefore, Speech, to them,
And Reason was deny'd, Man was produc'd,
To overlook and Rule: Language he has
Expressive of his Mind: and various Arts
To practise, or invent, a Genius fit.
Man o'er the Globe extends his regal Sway:
The Soil, by him subdu'd, is forc'd to bear
Of Fruits, and Grain, a large and rich Encrease.
Wild Beasts are tam'd, and tutor'd for his Use,
And o'er the Seas his Vessels plow their Way.
He too, alone erect, stands nobly forth,
And to the Stars lifts up his starlike Eyes:
Beholds the Heav'ns, and Jove himself explores:
Nor superficially the Gods to know
Is he content: deeply he searches Heav'n,
And seeks his Origin among the Stars.—
What signifies to Man that he from Heav'n
The Soil, by him subdu'd, is forc'd to bear
Of Fruits, and Grain, a large and rich Encrease.
Wild Beasts are tam'd, and tutor'd for his Use,
And o'er the Seas his Vessels plow their Way.
He too, alone erect, stands nobly forth,
And to the Stars lifts up his starlike Eyes:
Beholds the Heav'ns, and Jove himself explores:
Nor superficially the Gods to know
Is he content: deeply he searches Heav'n,
And seeks his Origin among the Stars.—
His Soul derives, that with erected Front
He walks sublime, and views the starry Skies,
If, like the Brutes irrational, he acts?—
| Medulla Poetarum Romanorum | |