 | The Works and Rest of the Creation |  |
BOOK I.
The Argument.
The Subject proposed at large. Address to the Dutchess of Somerset. An Invitation to the Lovers of Philosophical Science, especially those of the Fair Sex. The Terraqueous Globe, surveyed, with the Distributions and Uses of the Elements: Two of which, only the Earth and Waters, are treated of in this First Book; that concludes, with an Episodical Description of the general Deluge, and a View of the different Hypotheses concerning it.
No more a Fisher, by the Reedy Streams,
To easy Notes I chaunt the Rural Themes,
These pleas'd me once, when, artless in the Shade,
I Nature, first, in simplest Charms survey'd.
To gaze o'er all her Prospects now I soar;
The Streams, and Shades, confine my Haunts no more.
To easy Notes I chaunt the Rural Themes,
These pleas'd me once, when, artless in the Shade,
I Nature, first, in simplest Charms survey'd.
To gaze o'er all her Prospects now I soar;
The Streams, and Shades, confine my Haunts no more.
Teach me, Fair Tutoress, thro' thy Realms to stray!
Steep are the Paths I climb, and long my Way.
Light, with thy Rays, my favour'd Feet to press
Thy awful Fane, they inmost deep Recess.
To midnight Walks, to visionary Cells,
To Groves, where Hermit Inspiration dwells,
Lead thy chast Vot'ry; while my raptur'd Soul
Wou'd range thy devious Lengths from Pole to Pole;
To Stars, and Suns of boundless Space wou'd rise:
To Worlds, yet, unsurvey'd by mortal Eyes.
Steep are the Paths I climb, and long my Way.
Light, with thy Rays, my favour'd Feet to press
Thy awful Fane, they inmost deep Recess.
To midnight Walks, to visionary Cells,
To Groves, where Hermit Inspiration dwells,
4
Wou'd range thy devious Lengths from Pole to Pole;
To Stars, and Suns of boundless Space wou'd rise:
To Worlds, yet, unsurvey'd by mortal Eyes.
Thou, whose bright Form the gentlest Heart inspires;
Whose pleas'd Regards my sole Ambition fires;
Who, rais'd to cherish ev'ry generous Art,
Dost, like a Sun, on All, thy Beams impart:
By Nature fram'd benevolently kind;
Whom Birth not more ennobles than thy Mind:
Will Somerset, auspicious Influence deign!
While for her Audience, I repeat my Strain?
That to her Patronage, long since, addrest
Boasts no small Fame, in her Acceptance blest.
Perhaps, that, now relabour'd, may appear
Chang'd more to please her tun'd, judicious Ear.
So got Prometheus, the celestial Ray,
To warm, with Life, his Workmanship of Clay.
Whose pleas'd Regards my sole Ambition fires;
Who, rais'd to cherish ev'ry generous Art,
Dost, like a Sun, on All, thy Beams impart:
By Nature fram'd benevolently kind;
Whom Birth not more ennobles than thy Mind:
Will Somerset, auspicious Influence deign!
While for her Audience, I repeat my Strain?
That to her Patronage, long since, addrest
Boasts no small Fame, in her Acceptance blest.
Perhaps, that, now relabour'd, may appear
Chang'd more to please her tun'd, judicious Ear.
So got Prometheus, the celestial Ray,
To warm, with Life, his Workmanship of Clay.
And Ye, whose Taste Philosophy esteems,
Not lik'd the less when Verse attempts its Themes,
Free from the Spleen that dulls th' Adept severe;
In Tempers faultless, as in Judgment clear:
But chief, ye Fair, whose tempted Hand invites
The Rose of Science, while it's Thorn afrights;
Who, by the Poet's Effort, may be won
To read deep Systems, that in Prose ye shun.
For love of Candour, as for Genius prais'd,
Smile on a Muse by generous Motives rais'd,
Cheer her bold Flights th' etherial Tracts along;
For You I meditate the arduous Song.
Not lik'd the less when Verse attempts its Themes,
Free from the Spleen that dulls th' Adept severe;
In Tempers faultless, as in Judgment clear:
But chief, ye Fair, whose tempted Hand invites
The Rose of Science, while it's Thorn afrights;
5
To read deep Systems, that in Prose ye shun.
For love of Candour, as for Genius prais'd,
Smile on a Muse by generous Motives rais'd,
Cheer her bold Flights th' etherial Tracts along;
For You I meditate the arduous Song.
Hear, how creative Wisdom first design'd
This beauteous World, the Seat of Human Kind.
Orbicular he turn'd the ductile Mold,
And thro' vast Space the pondrous Wonder roll'd;
Convenient Form, that round his central Sun
The Wand'rer might his annual Circuit run;
And on their Thrones reseat, in gentle Sway,
The Pow'rs that rule, by turns, the Night and Day;
That healthful Tides might unresisted flow,
And Seasons change, and genial Breezes blow.
New, various Modes on Matter he impress'd,
And taught th' Atomic Motion where to rest;
Spread the sirm Earth's indissoluble Base,
And pour'd the liquid Sea's surrounding Space,
Then sinely stretch'd aloft the fleecy Air,
And bad to upmost Realms the Fire repair,
What various Blessings they for Man produce!
How wond'rous is the Elemental Use!
This beauteous World, the Seat of Human Kind.
Orbicular he turn'd the ductile Mold,
And thro' vast Space the pondrous Wonder roll'd;
Convenient Form, that round his central Sun
The Wand'rer might his annual Circuit run;
And on their Thrones reseat, in gentle Sway,
The Pow'rs that rule, by turns, the Night and Day;
That healthful Tides might unresisted flow,
And Seasons change, and genial Breezes blow.
New, various Modes on Matter he impress'd,
And taught th' Atomic Motion where to rest;
Spread the sirm Earth's indissoluble Base,
And pour'd the liquid Sea's surrounding Space,
Then sinely stretch'd aloft the fleecy Air,
And bad to upmost Realms the Fire repair,
What various Blessings they for Man produce!
How wond'rous is the Elemental Use!
6
First let me, Parent Earth, thy Praise rehearse,
And be the Theme propitious to my Verse!
To thy own Graces similize my Song,
Smooth as thy Plains, and as thy Mountains strong:
Thy Mountains, whose robust, cementing Bands,
With stable Sinews, brace the spacious Lands,
Secure the Vales beneath from Oceans force,
And check of nipping Winds the noxious Course;
On shelter'd Plains reflect the Solar Ray,
Whence ripen'd Glebes the Peasant's Toil repay.
Their Heights (each form'd some different Tribe to cheer)
The largest Vegetable Produce rear:
Whose rugged Brakes, impassable and rude,
Protect the Savage, solitary Brood.
The Tyger here, and Vulture's rabid Kind,
Their covert Lares, and shady Eyries find;
Whom Nature banish'd from the social Plains,
Nor cou'd subsist, with theirs, the milder Trains.
Far down their hideous Steeps the frighted Eye
Paths, never trod by human Feet, can spy,
Prospects of vast Antiquity it views:
The Thoughts deep-wildering in a strange Amuse.
Where ruin'd Piles of age-fell'd Trees lie hurl'd,
That seem the first Productions of the World:
At whose dead Roots, in all the Parent-Grace,
Rise the young Groves; a verdant numerous Race.
And from the bare, bleak Precipice, whose Height
Frowns shudd'ring Horror on the aching Sight,
One swoln, continuous Sheet the Torrents throw;
For ever thund'ring on the Beach below.
And be the Theme propitious to my Verse!
To thy own Graces similize my Song,
Smooth as thy Plains, and as thy Mountains strong:
Thy Mountains, whose robust, cementing Bands,
With stable Sinews, brace the spacious Lands,
Secure the Vales beneath from Oceans force,
And check of nipping Winds the noxious Course;
On shelter'd Plains reflect the Solar Ray,
Whence ripen'd Glebes the Peasant's Toil repay.
Their Heights (each form'd some different Tribe to cheer)
The largest Vegetable Produce rear:
Whose rugged Brakes, impassable and rude,
Protect the Savage, solitary Brood.
The Tyger here, and Vulture's rabid Kind,
Their covert Lares, and shady Eyries find;
Whom Nature banish'd from the social Plains,
Nor cou'd subsist, with theirs, the milder Trains.
Far down their hideous Steeps the frighted Eye
Paths, never trod by human Feet, can spy,
Prospects of vast Antiquity it views:
The Thoughts deep-wildering in a strange Amuse.
Where ruin'd Piles of age-fell'd Trees lie hurl'd,
That seem the first Productions of the World:
7
Rise the young Groves; a verdant numerous Race.
And from the bare, bleak Precipice, whose Height
Frowns shudd'ring Horror on the aching Sight,
One swoln, continuous Sheet the Torrents throw;
For ever thund'ring on the Beach below.
Cross the whole Earth, link'd close, long, broad, and tall,
One Chain they stand, the World's steep, dreadful Wall
Their apt Positions, rang'd from East to West,
The Vapoury Forces in their March arrest;
That, North and South, detaching off their Pow'rs,
Wou'd Mid-Land Climes deprive of succouring Show'rs:
The humid Prisoners, on their Tops confin'd,
Mute, down their Sides, a furtive Passage wind,
Then in a gushing Spring their Freedom gain,
Or 'scape, a River, murmuring thro' the Plain:
While Part, that stop'd, and cool'd, to Clouds unite,
Thence, in dark Columns take their cumbrous Flight,
Least torrid Climes with barren Droughts shou'd pine,
Lest a dry Waste, beneath the burning Line.
Their tall Ascents the ambient Landskips show,
And useful Minerals find their Beds below.
They Bulwarks stand, the safe defensive Mounds
Of neighb'ring States, and mark their separate Bounds;
And aid the Water-Nymphs their Course to keep,
In easy Progress, to their Sire, the Deep.
One Chain they stand, the World's steep, dreadful Wall
Their apt Positions, rang'd from East to West,
The Vapoury Forces in their March arrest;
That, North and South, detaching off their Pow'rs,
Wou'd Mid-Land Climes deprive of succouring Show'rs:
The humid Prisoners, on their Tops confin'd,
Mute, down their Sides, a furtive Passage wind,
Then in a gushing Spring their Freedom gain,
Or 'scape, a River, murmuring thro' the Plain:
While Part, that stop'd, and cool'd, to Clouds unite,
Thence, in dark Columns take their cumbrous Flight,
Least torrid Climes with barren Droughts shou'd pine,
Lest a dry Waste, beneath the burning Line.
Their tall Ascents the ambient Landskips show,
And useful Minerals find their Beds below.
They Bulwarks stand, the safe defensive Mounds
Of neighb'ring States, and mark their separate Bounds;
8
In easy Progress, to their Sire, the Deep.
Strange is the Sight Tucoman's Plain unfolds,
Whose Mount the pleas'd American beholds:
It's lofty Clifts, a cristal Form display,
Like one vast Diamond glittering to the Day.
Beneath its huge Extent, a hideous Cave
Drinks in, a plunging Currents gloomy Wave.
O'er which the Natives, on a caney Raft,
In dread Adventure dared their Crew to waft;
Whose Length of subterranean Stream to trace
Spent the bold Band a whole diurnal Space.
Peru's vast Andes, how immense they rise!
And Alpine Summits pierce th' inferiour Skies.
Damoan's Pike the Persian gives by Night,
From its sulphureous Soil, a sparkling Light;
From whose clear Heights prodigious, he, by Day,
The vastly-distant Caspian can survey.
Who knows not, Tenerife, thy boasted Name?
Far as the Sun o'erlooks is spread thy Fame.
Renown'd in Homer's and in Maro's Song,
Ida's and Atlas' Heights shall flourish long;
And, crown'd in sacred Lays, Lebanus stands,
Proud in her Groves, the Queen of Asian Lands.
Whose Mount the pleas'd American beholds:
It's lofty Clifts, a cristal Form display,
Like one vast Diamond glittering to the Day.
Beneath its huge Extent, a hideous Cave
Drinks in, a plunging Currents gloomy Wave.
O'er which the Natives, on a caney Raft,
In dread Adventure dared their Crew to waft;
Whose Length of subterranean Stream to trace
Spent the bold Band a whole diurnal Space.
Peru's vast Andes, how immense they rise!
And Alpine Summits pierce th' inferiour Skies.
Damoan's Pike the Persian gives by Night,
From its sulphureous Soil, a sparkling Light;
From whose clear Heights prodigious, he, by Day,
The vastly-distant Caspian can survey.
Who knows not, Tenerife, thy boasted Name?
Far as the Sun o'erlooks is spread thy Fame.
Renown'd in Homer's and in Maro's Song,
Ida's and Atlas' Heights shall flourish long;
9
Proud in her Groves, the Queen of Asian Lands.
Descend, my Muse, and view the humble Plain,
Haunt of thy Hours, and Emblem of thy Strain,
Nurse of the verdant Wreath that crowns thy Lay,
The Lover's Myrtle, and the Poet's Bay:
Whose mild Retreats his rural Pipe persuades,
Hid in thy cooling Bowers, and twilight Shades.
Thy level Face, with vary'd Flowers o'erspread,
Affords the winding Stream an oozy Bed;
Luxurious Pastures yields the grazing Kind,
And plenteous Ceres to the toiling Hind.
O! who shall bear me from the Noon-Day-Beam
To Tempe's flow'ry Walks, and laurell'd Stream?
To where Alcinous fragrant Gardens yields,
Hesperia Groves, or Enna bloomy Fields?
Haunt of thy Hours, and Emblem of thy Strain,
Nurse of the verdant Wreath that crowns thy Lay,
The Lover's Myrtle, and the Poet's Bay:
Whose mild Retreats his rural Pipe persuades,
Hid in thy cooling Bowers, and twilight Shades.
Thy level Face, with vary'd Flowers o'erspread,
Affords the winding Stream an oozy Bed;
Luxurious Pastures yields the grazing Kind,
And plenteous Ceres to the toiling Hind.
O! who shall bear me from the Noon-Day-Beam
To Tempe's flow'ry Walks, and laurell'd Stream?
To where Alcinous fragrant Gardens yields,
Hesperia Groves, or Enna bloomy Fields?
How shall I count the various Reptile Race,
That spread the fruitful Mother's latent Face;
Whose ample Legions every Clime supplies
Of different Instincts, Textures, Class, and Size,
From the enormous Elephant supreme,
To the base Mite's scarce visible Extreme?
And lower down, what Tribes unnotic'd throng,
That Wonder raise, while they elude my Song!
In one small humid Speck, the curious Eye
Can Millions of their little Forms descry.
What Kingdoms of th' innumerous Insect-Kind,
On one small Leaf commodious Dwelling find!
Perhaps, on this mean Spot, the little Pow'rs
View Rivers, Hills, and Fields ; a World like ours.
The Ribs, and harder Parts, present their Eyes
A Ridge of Mountains, that stupendous rise;
Like those tall Summits the Peruvian boasts,
Or those that part Iberia's spreading Coasts.
Long winding Streams appear their liquid Veins,
And their smooth Coats a Width of boundless Plains.
O Nature, thy minutest Works amaze,
Pose the close Search, and lose our Thoughts in Praise!
That spread the fruitful Mother's latent Face;
10
Of different Instincts, Textures, Class, and Size,
From the enormous Elephant supreme,
To the base Mite's scarce visible Extreme?
And lower down, what Tribes unnotic'd throng,
That Wonder raise, while they elude my Song!
In one small humid Speck, the curious Eye
Can Millions of their little Forms descry.
What Kingdoms of th' innumerous Insect-Kind,
On one small Leaf commodious Dwelling find!
Perhaps, on this mean Spot, the little Pow'rs
View Rivers, Hills, and Fields ; a World like ours.
The Ribs, and harder Parts, present their Eyes
A Ridge of Mountains, that stupendous rise;
Like those tall Summits the Peruvian boasts,
Or those that part Iberia's spreading Coasts.
Long winding Streams appear their liquid Veins,
And their smooth Coats a Width of boundless Plains.
O Nature, thy minutest Works amaze,
Pose the close Search, and lose our Thoughts in Praise!
EARTH! who thy Objects, endless, can excite?
Rich Funds of inexhaustible Delight!
If on thy Garden's flowery Scene I stay,
I gaze bewilder'd at the bright Display.
What White can match the Lilly's virgin Snows?
What Red the Crimson of the blushing Rose?
What regal Purple with the Scabius vie?
Or Scarlet match the Poppy's flaming Dye?
What Yellow, lovely as the Golden Morn,
The Lupine, and the Heliotrope adorn!
How mixt a Hue the streaky Tulip stains!
How curious the Carnation's marbled Veins!
Ethereal Blue the silky Violets wear,
And all unite their Sweets in mingling Air.
Rich Funds of inexhaustible Delight!
11
I gaze bewilder'd at the bright Display.
What White can match the Lilly's virgin Snows?
What Red the Crimson of the blushing Rose?
What regal Purple with the Scabius vie?
Or Scarlet match the Poppy's flaming Dye?
What Yellow, lovely as the Golden Morn,
The Lupine, and the Heliotrope adorn!
How mixt a Hue the streaky Tulip stains!
How curious the Carnation's marbled Veins!
Ethereal Blue the silky Violets wear,
And all unite their Sweets in mingling Air.
Sing we of Plants and Herbs a various Kind,
For Use medicinal, and Food design'd,
Effectual to retard th' impetuous Blood,
When fev'rish Heats disturb the vital Flood;
To free from wan Disease the beauteous Face,
And flush the Features with a lively Grace;
The Dropsy's swoln Distortion to subdue,
Or change th' enfeebling Jaundice' loathsome Hue.
They to new Strength the languid Pow'rs reclaim,
When pale Consumptions waste the pining Frame,
Or paralytic Rheums the Nerves untie,
And healing Balm to wounded Limbs apply.
With native Sweetness some delight the Sense,
And Pleasure to the Sight and Taste dispense.
When, in the salutary Garden led,
Thy Steps approach the Mint's delicious Bed,
How strong its grateful Scent embalms the Place!
Or can the flow'ry Thyme thy Bosom grace,
Dear to the labouring Bee, and not afford
Rich Fragrance from its aromatic Hoard?
The od'rous Briar thy Senses will beguile,
Or the press'd Bank of hardy Camomile.
When vigorous Health thy Appetite renews,
Here may thy Hand a cooling Sallad chuse,
Or Herbs by culinary Art prepare,
For thy plain Board, Pythagorean Fare.
For Use medicinal, and Food design'd,
Effectual to retard th' impetuous Blood,
When fev'rish Heats disturb the vital Flood;
To free from wan Disease the beauteous Face,
And flush the Features with a lively Grace;
The Dropsy's swoln Distortion to subdue,
Or change th' enfeebling Jaundice' loathsome Hue.
They to new Strength the languid Pow'rs reclaim,
When pale Consumptions waste the pining Frame,
Or paralytic Rheums the Nerves untie,
And healing Balm to wounded Limbs apply.
With native Sweetness some delight the Sense,
And Pleasure to the Sight and Taste dispense.
12
Thy Steps approach the Mint's delicious Bed,
How strong its grateful Scent embalms the Place!
Or can the flow'ry Thyme thy Bosom grace,
Dear to the labouring Bee, and not afford
Rich Fragrance from its aromatic Hoard?
The od'rous Briar thy Senses will beguile,
Or the press'd Bank of hardy Camomile.
When vigorous Health thy Appetite renews,
Here may thy Hand a cooling Sallad chuse,
Or Herbs by culinary Art prepare,
For thy plain Board, Pythagorean Fare.
Ascend we now the Beauties to relate
Of spreading Trees that rise with loftier State,
Whose leafy Arms support the feath'ry Throng,
Protect their Dwelling, and secure their Young;
Or for the Herds convenient Shelter form
From the Night-Dews, or Day's pernicious Storm;
Or serve for Man, a cool defensive Veil
In sultry Hours, and fan th' enlivening Gale.
How tall the Fir! and yet his Root is found
Spread o'er the Surface of the shallow Ground,
To the hard Rock he grows cemented fast,
And proudly braves the furious Northern Blast.
Where the big Ganges rolls his princely Flood,
The Fig-Tree's tow'ring Shade o'erlooks the Wood,
Whose lofty Head the Archer's Skill defies,
Nor can his fleetest Shaft to pierce it rise.
Here, Nightly flowers, in fragrant Blossoms gay,
The Nure's fair Tree, that Mourner of the Day:
At Sight of whom she sheds her Eve-deck'd Charms,
Sinks her sick Head, and folds her sadning Arms.
The green Eusada springs, on Afric's Soil,
A Wood in Breadth, without the Planter's Toil:
The far-stretch'd Shoots, that thick its Trunk surround,
Bend their Tops, arching, to the Parent-Ground,
Whence a new Race, turn'd curving by their Weight,
A fresh, and these a following, Crop create:
In native Arbours, fenc'd to Sun or Rain,
Embowring kindly all that sultry Plain.
The Lamb-resembling Plant, with Fleeces full,
Affords a mimic, vegetable Wool;
Warm as that Animals, when us'd undrest,
To line from Cold the frozen Russian's Vest.
Warm India's Aloe yeilds the swarthy Brood
Milk, Wine, and Oil, their Cloathing, House, and Food.
The wild Priapus
here, on arid Plains,
In his swoln Leaf, a gelid Lymph contains.
And Fountain-Trees their plenteous Streams supply,
Where scorching Climes the vital Springs deny;
Whose gladding Shades the droughty Pilgrim finds,
And quaffs Refreshment thro' their juicy Rhinds.
In Troops the thirst-afflicted Insects rove,
Sip the cool Draughts, and cheer their pining Drove.
Of spreading Trees that rise with loftier State,
Whose leafy Arms support the feath'ry Throng,
Protect their Dwelling, and secure their Young;
Or for the Herds convenient Shelter form
From the Night-Dews, or Day's pernicious Storm;
Or serve for Man, a cool defensive Veil
In sultry Hours, and fan th' enlivening Gale.
How tall the Fir! and yet his Root is found
Spread o'er the Surface of the shallow Ground,
To the hard Rock he grows cemented fast,
And proudly braves the furious Northern Blast.
Where the big Ganges rolls his princely Flood,
The Fig-Tree's tow'ring Shade o'erlooks the Wood,
13
Nor can his fleetest Shaft to pierce it rise.
Here, Nightly flowers, in fragrant Blossoms gay,
The Nure's fair Tree, that Mourner of the Day:
At Sight of whom she sheds her Eve-deck'd Charms,
Sinks her sick Head, and folds her sadning Arms.
The green Eusada springs, on Afric's Soil,
A Wood in Breadth, without the Planter's Toil:
The far-stretch'd Shoots, that thick its Trunk surround,
Bend their Tops, arching, to the Parent-Ground,
Whence a new Race, turn'd curving by their Weight,
A fresh, and these a following, Crop create:
In native Arbours, fenc'd to Sun or Rain,
Embowring kindly all that sultry Plain.
The Lamb-resembling Plant, with Fleeces full,
Affords a mimic, vegetable Wool;
Warm as that Animals, when us'd undrest,
To line from Cold the frozen Russian's Vest.
Warm India's Aloe yeilds the swarthy Brood
Milk, Wine, and Oil, their Cloathing, House, and Food.
14
In his swoln Leaf, a gelid Lymph contains.
And Fountain-Trees their plenteous Streams supply,
Where scorching Climes the vital Springs deny;
Whose gladding Shades the droughty Pilgrim finds,
And quaffs Refreshment thro' their juicy Rhinds.
In Troops the thirst-afflicted Insects rove,
Sip the cool Draughts, and cheer their pining Drove.
Of Trees a numerous Growth each Climate bears,
And ev'ry Soil their several Species wears:
The Alder in the marshy Ground delights,
And the dry Vale the Myrtle's Shade invites;
Pale Ash the Mountain's steepy Head o'erlook,
And Sallows tremble o'er the gliding Brook;
The Ebony in sultry India grows,
And hardy Yew thrives best in Scythia's Snows.
How well they seem for various Uses made,
The Pine for Straightness, and the Beech for Shade!
For stately Building we the Cedar prize,
And the firm Oak the naval Bark supplies.
Ceylonia's spicy Groves their rich Perfume
Afford, and Myrrha weeps her od'rous Gum.
The pleasing Theme, too copious, I decline,
To tell the Product of the useful Vine:
Or how, where warmer Climes the Soil improve,
Blooms, with perpetual Sweet, the Orange Grove.
Here ripening Citrons their Perfection find,
And the Pomegranate's rich, transparent Kind.
Shou'd I the Orchard's plenteous Growth commend,
Where the ripe Boughs with clust'ring Fruitage bend,
My Verse might sing the British Apple's Praise;
Fam'd in the modern Georgic's happier Lays.
Or, should I, in inferior Strains, assume
The shapely Pear to praise, or glossy Plum,
The Peach with native Down enwoven o'er,
The Mulb'ry purpled with a Lover's Gore:
These, liberal Earth thy Blessings might declare,
Kind to our Wants with an indulgent Care.
And ev'ry Soil their several Species wears:
The Alder in the marshy Ground delights,
And the dry Vale the Myrtle's Shade invites;
15
And Sallows tremble o'er the gliding Brook;
The Ebony in sultry India grows,
And hardy Yew thrives best in Scythia's Snows.
How well they seem for various Uses made,
The Pine for Straightness, and the Beech for Shade!
For stately Building we the Cedar prize,
And the firm Oak the naval Bark supplies.
Ceylonia's spicy Groves their rich Perfume
Afford, and Myrrha weeps her od'rous Gum.
The pleasing Theme, too copious, I decline,
To tell the Product of the useful Vine:
Or how, where warmer Climes the Soil improve,
Blooms, with perpetual Sweet, the Orange Grove.
Here ripening Citrons their Perfection find,
And the Pomegranate's rich, transparent Kind.
Shou'd I the Orchard's plenteous Growth commend,
Where the ripe Boughs with clust'ring Fruitage bend,
My Verse might sing the British Apple's Praise;
Fam'd in the modern Georgic's happier Lays.
Or, should I, in inferior Strains, assume
The shapely Pear to praise, or glossy Plum,
The Peach with native Down enwoven o'er,
The Mulb'ry purpled with a Lover's Gore:
16
Kind to our Wants with an indulgent Care.
Nor less the Water's efficacious Aid,
For mutual Ornament and Service made;
To purify the Earth's corrupted Stores,
And drench with kindly Showers her droughty Pores;
Hence all the verdant, vegetable Kind,
And Birds, and Beasts, and Men Refreshment find.
For mutual Ornament and Service made;
To purify the Earth's corrupted Stores,
And drench with kindly Showers her droughty Pores;
Hence all the verdant, vegetable Kind,
And Birds, and Beasts, and Men Refreshment find.
What Beauties does the rural Landskip take
From the clear Fountain, and expansive Lake!
Can I forget the smooth relucent Stream,
So oft my Solace, and so late my Theme?
You cristal Natives of the flow'ry Mead
Invite my Walk, and tempt my sportive Reed;
Unnumber'd Nations in your Branches play,
And fruitful Lands receive you in your Way;
You to the Father-Ocean bear his Rains,
And from superfluous Moisture free the Plains.
From the clear Fountain, and expansive Lake!
Can I forget the smooth relucent Stream,
So oft my Solace, and so late my Theme?
You cristal Natives of the flow'ry Mead
Invite my Walk, and tempt my sportive Reed;
Unnumber'd Nations in your Branches play,
And fruitful Lands receive you in your Way;
You to the Father-Ocean bear his Rains,
And from superfluous Moisture free the Plains.
In that new World, which Europe's Plunderers keep,
Canada flows, unfathomably deep:
Among the Race of Floods none fairer shines,
Whose Banks her Nymphs adorn with clust'ring Vines.
Vast Amazone a Waste of Waters seems,
And Oronoque, with his disparted Streams:
Where the wild Natives dare their Limbs expose
To hunt the Castor o'er the wintry Snows.
Largest of Floods the Ganges, where he glides,
Bengala's Land in girdled Isles divides;
Hung with rich Fruits their Bosoms sweet appear,
And blooms, in Flow'rs, the ever-verdur'd Year.
The broad Euphrates Asia's Sons may boast,
Wide-watering, many a League, his peopled Coast,
Where once-fam'd Babylon, its choak'd-up Pass
Drowns, in a dreadful, desolate Morass.
See fierce Araxes, washing Persia's Soil,
In rapid Pace along his Channels boil:
Indignant, on the Pontal Curb he frowns,
And in his Gulphs the ruin'd Fabric drowns.
Thro' Afric's Desart-Woods, and firey Sands,
The wave-full Niger pours his streaming Bands.
There furious Volta, white with foamy Stain,
His Torrents empties on the bellowing Main.
And, from the Seat of Abyssinian Kings,
Huge Nile his fertilizing Currents brings.
Canada flows, unfathomably deep:
Among the Race of Floods none fairer shines,
Whose Banks her Nymphs adorn with clust'ring Vines.
Vast Amazone a Waste of Waters seems,
And Oronoque, with his disparted Streams:
17
To hunt the Castor o'er the wintry Snows.
Largest of Floods the Ganges, where he glides,
Bengala's Land in girdled Isles divides;
Hung with rich Fruits their Bosoms sweet appear,
And blooms, in Flow'rs, the ever-verdur'd Year.
The broad Euphrates Asia's Sons may boast,
Wide-watering, many a League, his peopled Coast,
Where once-fam'd Babylon, its choak'd-up Pass
Drowns, in a dreadful, desolate Morass.
See fierce Araxes, washing Persia's Soil,
In rapid Pace along his Channels boil:
Indignant, on the Pontal Curb he frowns,
And in his Gulphs the ruin'd Fabric drowns.
Thro' Afric's Desart-Woods, and firey Sands,
The wave-full Niger pours his streaming Bands.
There furious Volta, white with foamy Stain,
His Torrents empties on the bellowing Main.
And, from the Seat of Abyssinian Kings,
Huge Nile his fertilizing Currents brings.
What have not darker Ages wond'ring read
Of its recluse, impenetrable Head?
His strange o'erflowing Stream, that spread around
With a kind Deluge drowns the teeming Ground;
And how, thro' seven wide Mouths, he, rushing steep
With deaf'ning Clamours, swells th' inferiour Deep?
Of fam'd Eridanus, whose watry Bands
Divide, with length'ning Streams, Saturnian Lands?
A spacious Course; whence antient Bards devise
He pours his ample Urn thro' half the Skies.
Meonian Verse shall Phrygian Xanthus praise,
And Tyber flow renown'd in Virgil's Lays;
Slain Acis' Change, and Achelous' Wrong,
With artful Fable dress the pleasing Song.
Nor unremember'd, in the Classic Strain,
Shall sad Alpheus' amorous Flood remain
Unnumber'd Streams, that now ignobly glide,
Swift Ladon, and Enipeus' sacred Tide,
With smooth Eurotas murmur in the Lay,
And Peneus; verdur'd with eternal Bay.
Me, Jordan, shall thy hallow'd Name delight,
And to rais'd Themes my musing Thoughts invite.
What Wonders of thy sacred Stream are told,
With Truth inspir'd, renown'd in Songs of old!
How Israel's Sons thy dry Foundations trod,
And how the Prophet's Mantle cleav'd thy Flood!
King of the watry Family, whose Wave
Baptismal Rites to Man's Redeemer gave,
When o'er his Head was seen the radiant Dove,
And Heav'n approv'd the Deed with Words of Love.
Happy the Hermit on thy Banks reclin'd,
Who feasts with Dreams inspir'd his raptur'd Mind.
Forbear we Ister's spreading Flood to name,
The Northern Volga, or the British Thame
For happy Shores, and gentle Streams renown'd,
With princely Domes, and regal Navies crown'd.
Of its recluse, impenetrable Head?
His strange o'erflowing Stream, that spread around
With a kind Deluge drowns the teeming Ground;
18
With deaf'ning Clamours, swells th' inferiour Deep?
Of fam'd Eridanus, whose watry Bands
Divide, with length'ning Streams, Saturnian Lands?
A spacious Course; whence antient Bards devise
He pours his ample Urn thro' half the Skies.
Meonian Verse shall Phrygian Xanthus praise,
And Tyber flow renown'd in Virgil's Lays;
Slain Acis' Change, and Achelous' Wrong,
With artful Fable dress the pleasing Song.
Nor unremember'd, in the Classic Strain,
Shall sad Alpheus' amorous Flood remain
Unnumber'd Streams, that now ignobly glide,
Swift Ladon, and Enipeus' sacred Tide,
With smooth Eurotas murmur in the Lay,
And Peneus; verdur'd with eternal Bay.
Me, Jordan, shall thy hallow'd Name delight,
And to rais'd Themes my musing Thoughts invite.
What Wonders of thy sacred Stream are told,
With Truth inspir'd, renown'd in Songs of old!
How Israel's Sons thy dry Foundations trod,
And how the Prophet's Mantle cleav'd thy Flood!
King of the watry Family, whose Wave
Baptismal Rites to Man's Redeemer gave,
19
And Heav'n approv'd the Deed with Words of Love.
Happy the Hermit on thy Banks reclin'd,
Who feasts with Dreams inspir'd his raptur'd Mind.
Forbear we Ister's spreading Flood to name,
The Northern Volga, or the British Thame
For happy Shores, and gentle Streams renown'd,
With princely Domes, and regal Navies crown'd.
How advantageous the surrounding Seas
In their wide Tracts to cool the Summer-Breeze!
The Ships unwieldy Burthen to sustain,
And yeild an easy Passage thro' the Main;
With all her rich Embargo swift she rides,
Help'd by the Force of Winds, and hast'ning Tides.
Thus vastly-distant Lands acquainted grow,
And, mutually, commercial Aids bestow.
Shall I their strange, exhaustless Treasure sing,
How with rais'd Dews they feed the bubbling Spring,
Supply the spongy Clouds with Showery Stores,
And back receive the Tribute of the Shores?
Vast Riches, that the Wealth of Earth outvie,
In its hid, solitary Bottom lie.
Or tell how the rebellious Deep of old
O'er the broad Lands a direful Deluge roll'd,
Whose swelling Tides, by angry Heaven employ'd,
The World, with all its guilty Race, destroy'd?
Say, Muses, how averse to Nature's Laws
Such Woe befel, from what stupendous Cause?
In their wide Tracts to cool the Summer-Breeze!
The Ships unwieldy Burthen to sustain,
And yeild an easy Passage thro' the Main;
With all her rich Embargo swift she rides,
Help'd by the Force of Winds, and hast'ning Tides.
Thus vastly-distant Lands acquainted grow,
And, mutually, commercial Aids bestow.
Shall I their strange, exhaustless Treasure sing,
How with rais'd Dews they feed the bubbling Spring,
Supply the spongy Clouds with Showery Stores,
And back receive the Tribute of the Shores?
Vast Riches, that the Wealth of Earth outvie,
In its hid, solitary Bottom lie.
Or tell how the rebellious Deep of old
O'er the broad Lands a direful Deluge roll'd,
Whose swelling Tides, by angry Heaven employ'd,
The World, with all its guilty Race, destroy'd?
20
Such Woe befel, from what stupendous Cause?
Some think
ere this nor Sea nor Hill was found,
But a smooth Surface cloath'd our Planet round,
Till torn by Earthquakes its convexive Shell,
Sapp'd by th' imbosom'd Waters, inward fell;
When strait th' unbroken Fountains pour'd their Stores,
With wide Confusion, and o'ertop'd the Shores:
Hence Seas, and Mountains their Formation owe,
Relicts of Ruin, and deforming Woe.
Others suppose surcharging Rains might fall,
With double Weight, on half the drowning Ball;
Whence the o'erbalanc'd Pole preponder'd low,
And let surrounding Seas their Bounds o'erflow,
Which the whole Earth's disorder'd Frame engross'd.
Its Center chang'd, and Equilibrium lost.
A Sage , deep learn'd in Secrets of the Wise,
Reports, a Comet rul'd th' indignant Skies,
Whose Atmosphere, a vast collected Train,
Might furnish Vapour for th' incessant Rain.
Yeild we to them who different Schemes propose:
How from his Channels antient Ocean rose,
With all his Floods to fresh Possessions led;
And sunk on Earth his new, perpetual Bed;
Whence his forsaken Bottom firmer grew,
Drain'd by degrees, the present Scene we view.
From hence they solve why oft we buried find
The Bones of Fish, and their testaceous Kind,
Sunk in the settling Ooze, when hurrying Floods
Rush'd to new Seats, and chang'd their first Abodes.
But a smooth Surface cloath'd our Planet round,
Till torn by Earthquakes its convexive Shell,
Sapp'd by th' imbosom'd Waters, inward fell;
When strait th' unbroken Fountains pour'd their Stores,
With wide Confusion, and o'ertop'd the Shores:
Hence Seas, and Mountains their Formation owe,
Relicts of Ruin, and deforming Woe.
Others suppose surcharging Rains might fall,
With double Weight, on half the drowning Ball;
Whence the o'erbalanc'd Pole preponder'd low,
And let surrounding Seas their Bounds o'erflow,
Which the whole Earth's disorder'd Frame engross'd.
Its Center chang'd, and Equilibrium lost.
A Sage , deep learn'd in Secrets of the Wise,
Reports, a Comet rul'd th' indignant Skies,
21
Might furnish Vapour for th' incessant Rain.
Yeild we to them who different Schemes propose:
How from his Channels antient Ocean rose,
22
And sunk on Earth his new, perpetual Bed;
Whence his forsaken Bottom firmer grew,
Drain'd by degrees, the present Scene we view.
From hence they solve why oft we buried find
The Bones of Fish, and their testaceous Kind,
Sunk in the settling Ooze, when hurrying Floods
Rush'd to new Seats, and chang'd their first Abodes.
Long time th' encreasing Waters cover'd o'er
The delug'd World, all Ocean robb'd of Shore;
When the known Sire, whom Heav'n's Concern to save,
In the clos'd Ark indulgent Shelter gave,
Loos'd first a Raven on enquiring Wing,
That ne'er return'd her Embassy to bring.
'Tis thought the Bird unclean her Hunger fed,
And Feet upstaid on the thick-floating Dead.
Then by the Dove he fresh Discovery sought,
Who a soil'd Branch of dripping Olive brought,
Pacific Signal, that distinctly show'd
Earth's new Recovery from th' abated Flood.
The delug'd World, all Ocean robb'd of Shore;
When the known Sire, whom Heav'n's Concern to save,
In the clos'd Ark indulgent Shelter gave,
Loos'd first a Raven on enquiring Wing,
That ne'er return'd her Embassy to bring.
'Tis thought the Bird unclean her Hunger fed,
And Feet upstaid on the thick-floating Dead.
Then by the Dove he fresh Discovery sought,
Who a soil'd Branch of dripping Olive brought,
Pacific Signal, that distinctly show'd
Earth's new Recovery from th' abated Flood.
Leave we unsung, the Globe in Ruin hurl'd,
And drear, dead Silence of th' unpeopled World:
A Scene so sad, Almighty Pity swore
The wasteful Waters should prevail no more,
When high in Air he plac'd the peaceful Sign,
And bad his sacramental Rainbow shine.
A milder Horror let the Muse explore,
The Northern Ocean, and its gloomy Shore:
Where Winters their eternal Stations keep:
A dismal Region, and a stormy Deep.
Yet, ev'n on those uncultivated Meads,
The hardy Stag her numerous Bevy breeds.
In Air the Fowls, the Fish in Ocean sport,
And vast Leviathan maintains his Court.
Here dire Maelstroom with horrid Vortex raves,
By Sailors deem'd the Navel of the Waves,
Suppos'd thro' perforated Earth to flow,
Or from some strange Hiatus mov'd below.
Not more destructive to the Seaman's Freight
Fam'd Scylla, or Ceraunia's antient Strait,
Nor Malea's dreary Cape, a fatal Land,
Nor where the Syrtes spread their swallowing Sand.
Hapless the Bark that, down the Torrent hurl'd,
Surveys the Bottom of th' amazing World.
And hapless they whom icy Bonds controul,
Imprison'd far beneath the freezing Pole,
Constrain'd to suffer Winter's Rage severe,
And languish out the half-benighted Year.
Far otherwise the South's pacific Main,
Where never Storm disturbs the glassy Plain,
But only breathing Gales are heard to sigh,
And brooding Halcyons o'er the Surface fly.
Vast Lands unknown his peaceful Seas divide,
And universal Ocean joins his Tide.
What Muse the strange Inhabitants shall tell,
That in the watry World secluded dwell?
What undiscover'd Climes, and hidden Coasts,
Conceal their new, unnam'd, unnumber'd Hosts?
Or who recount the various Plants that grow
In liquid Fields, and coral Groves below?
And drear, dead Silence of th' unpeopled World:
A Scene so sad, Almighty Pity swore
The wasteful Waters should prevail no more,
When high in Air he plac'd the peaceful Sign,
And bad his sacramental Rainbow shine.
23
The Northern Ocean, and its gloomy Shore:
Where Winters their eternal Stations keep:
A dismal Region, and a stormy Deep.
Yet, ev'n on those uncultivated Meads,
The hardy Stag her numerous Bevy breeds.
In Air the Fowls, the Fish in Ocean sport,
And vast Leviathan maintains his Court.
Here dire Maelstroom with horrid Vortex raves,
By Sailors deem'd the Navel of the Waves,
Suppos'd thro' perforated Earth to flow,
Or from some strange Hiatus mov'd below.
Not more destructive to the Seaman's Freight
Fam'd Scylla, or Ceraunia's antient Strait,
Nor Malea's dreary Cape, a fatal Land,
Nor where the Syrtes spread their swallowing Sand.
Hapless the Bark that, down the Torrent hurl'd,
Surveys the Bottom of th' amazing World.
And hapless they whom icy Bonds controul,
Imprison'd far beneath the freezing Pole,
Constrain'd to suffer Winter's Rage severe,
And languish out the half-benighted Year.
Far otherwise the South's pacific Main,
Where never Storm disturbs the glassy Plain,
But only breathing Gales are heard to sigh,
And brooding Halcyons o'er the Surface fly.
24
And universal Ocean joins his Tide.
What Muse the strange Inhabitants shall tell,
That in the watry World secluded dwell?
What undiscover'd Climes, and hidden Coasts,
Conceal their new, unnam'd, unnumber'd Hosts?
Or who recount the various Plants that grow
In liquid Fields, and coral Groves below?
O Derham!
Britain's fam'd, industrious Sage,
Be this the Palm of thy accomplish'd Age;
This last, this promis'd Enterprize pursue,
Deny'd to Athens, and reserv'd for You .
While I new Worlds, and various, led to roam,
Launch'd on wide Seas, far-distant from my Home,
This Harbour for my little Pinnace seek;
A short, sweet Respite in the shelt'ring Creek.
Till on my Voyage, with a full-sprung Gale,
Refitted, and refresh'd, I trust my Sail.
Be this the Palm of thy accomplish'd Age;
This last, this promis'd Enterprize pursue,
Deny'd to Athens, and reserv'd for You .
While I new Worlds, and various, led to roam,
Launch'd on wide Seas, far-distant from my Home,
This Harbour for my little Pinnace seek;
A short, sweet Respite in the shelt'ring Creek.
Till on my Voyage, with a full-sprung Gale,
Refitted, and refresh'd, I trust my Sail.
The End of the First Book.
These Things are impossible, were the Earth plane, angular, or any way contrary to the present Figure.
Dr. Hook discovered with the Microscope eight Millions, two hundred and eighty Thousand Animalcula in one single Drop of Water, and he suspects Millions of Millions might be contain'd in it. A Method of making these Computations is published by Mr. Lewenhoeck, Phil. Trans No. 131. P. 844.
Some of these Trees cover a Thousand Paces in Circuit, and are able to lodge under the Branches Three Thousand Men.
The Aloe Muricata, and Cinnamon-Tree of Ceylon furnish the Indians with Food, Cloth, Oyl, Milk, Wine, Honey, and Materials for Building and Shipping, particulariz'd by Mr. Ray. Wisdom of God. As also by our pious Herbert:
------ The Indian Tree alone
Is Cloathing, Meat, and Trencher, Drink and Can,
Boat, Cable, Sail, and Needle: all in one.
Is Cloathing, Meat, and Trencher, Drink and Can,
Boat, Cable, Sail, and Needle: all in one.
The Priapus Vegetabilis holds Bags of Water at the Ends of his Leaves, somewhat like the wild Pine of Jamaica, accurately describ'd by Sir. Hans Sloane, Lowth. Abrid. Phil. Trans. Vol. II. P. 669.
Des Cartes's Theory improv'd upon by Dr. Burnet, Woodward, and others; whose antiscriptural Account of the Origin of Mountains, reflects very unhappily on the eminent Theorists.
Mr. De la Cross in his Memoirs for the Ingenious. Mr. Ray countenances this Opinion, in part. Miscel. Discourses, P. 66.
Mr. Whiston in his New Theory of the Earth, assigns a Comet as a Cause of the Deluge, which, at that Time, in its Perihelion pass'd very near the Earth's Orbit. The same which since was observed in the Year 1680. This illustrates Kircher's Work De Arca Noæ, that asserts the Rain in the Deluge to be miraculous.
This is thought the most ingenious System: and best agrees to the Scriptures of any. The Author is Mr. Abr. de la Pryme. See Lowth. Abridg. Phil. Trans. Vol. II. P. 430. It supposes the Antediluvian World had an external Sea with Land, Mountains, &c. about the Bigness these are of at present: That the subterraneous Caverns and Pillars being broken by Earthquakes, most Part, if not the whole, was swallowed up by the Seas we now have; and the present Earth rose out of the Bottom of the Antediluvian Sea, in its Room, as Islands are now sunk, and others thrust out in their Stead. Hence it is no longer a Wonder that Shells, Shell-Fish, Bones of Fish, Fruits, &c. are found in Beds and Quarries in vastly inland Mountains; for here they bred in the Antediluvian Sea, were elevated with them in the Deluge; fell into, and were buried in Chasms, that would necessarily happen in the thrusting up of the Earth; and are found in the Soil that was flung with Confusion and Violence from one Place to another, by the working of the Waters, and the Ferment and Hurry things were then put into.
| The Works and Rest of the Creation | |