It breaks on rocks and woods; they ne'er reftore,
The forms, the image then appears no more:
But if 'tis thrown on dense, and smooth, as glass,
It must return; thofe things it cannot pafs,
As clothes; nor break because the thing's polite;
Hence forms return from fuch, and please the
fight:
And hence the polish'd glass, whate'er you place
Before, as fwift as thought, returns the face:
Which proves that num'rous trains of forms"
arofe,
160
And fuch as the reflecting mirror fhows,
Thin fubtle images, all like to thofe,
Each moment fpring; and hence 'tis juftly faid,
Their rife is quick; thefe forms are quickly made;
As num'rous rays muft ev'ry minute flow
From the fun's orb, to keep all full of light below;
So num'rous images from things must rear,
Each minute rife, and wander through the air:
Because let hafty Itands the mirror place, 169
This way, or that; yet ftill we view the face,
The colour, shape, returning from the glass.
So often, when the heav'ns, fercne and bright,
Look, gay, and clear, and fmile with gaudy light;
A horrid cloud ftraight hides its glorious face,
As if the fhades of hell had left their place,
And fill'd the vaulted fkies: fo thick the night!
So dark the clouds appear, fo much affright!
And yet how fubtle, if compar'd with thefe,
How thin, what nothings are the images?
How vaft the difproportion 'twixt thefe two! 180
'Tis more than thought can think, than words
can fhow.
Now next, how faft they move, how quick they fly,
Parting with fwifteft wings the yielding sky: How they outstrip dull time where'er they go, How quick, how fwift they are in paffing thro'; In few, but sweetest numbers, mufe rehearse: My few fhall far exceed more num'rous verfe. Thus dying fwans, tho' fhort, yet tuneful voice, Is maze delightful than a world of noife.
First, then; experience tells, that thin, and light,
And fubtle things are fit for hafty flight:
Such is the ray, the vapour of the fun;
How fwift its race! 'Tis finifh'd when begun :
For they are thin contextures: almost feed;
And cut the parted air with greatest speed;
No lets to flop, but when one part is gone,
Another flows and drives the former on:
The rays ftill rife in a continued ftream,
The foll'wing lafhes on the lazy beam :
So far their reafon holds: the airy race
Of images must pass a mighty space,
Each point of time: For firft, fome force behind
Still drives them on t'ourtrip the ling'ring wind;
Their texture is fo thin, their frame fo rare,
That they can ficely enter any where,
And even per ctiate the midle air.
Befides, if thefe compofures from above
So fwiftly through the lower region move;
If it one point of time the glorious ray
Swiftly defcends, and fhows approaching day;
From heaven to earth can take its hafty flight,
And gild the diftant globe with gaudy light;
If this fo fwift, than fwifter thofe that lay
On furfaces of things, which nought could stay;
No flops could hinder as they fly away:
They larger fpace in that short time must fly,
While the fun's lazy beams creep through our sky.
Another inftance of their swiftnefs this.-
In bowls of water fet abroad by night,
We know that ftars do fhed their feeble light;
So quick the glorious ray defcends from far, 1
And we look downward to behold the ftar:
Which shows the images, with eager halte,
From heav'n reach diftant earth; they move lo
faft,
Before the fingle prefent now is past.
Slow time admires, and knows not what to call
The motion, having no account so finall.
Thus then thefe images, that strike our eyes, And make us fee, from real things must rise. Thus odours rife from gums; a gentle breeze From rivers flow; and from the neighb'ring fa Sharp falts arife, and fret the fhores around: Thus all the air is fill'd with murm'ring found: And whilft we walk the trand, and, pleas'd
The wanton, waves, or fqueeze, or mingle rue,
Or falt, or bitter taftes our tongue furprife:
So certain 'tis that fubtle parts arile
From all, and wander in the lower skies:
These never cease to flow, because the ear,
And eyes, and nofe, still smell, or fee, or hear.
So feel by night, our touch will foon betray The fhape, like that the fight beheld by day. Thus then the caufe, whence touch and fight
Is one: the fame affects the hands and eyes. For, thus, if, when 'tis dark, we feel a fquat, The touch informs what hape the thing
What is it makes us fee the like by day,
But the fquare image riding on the ray.
Therefore thefe images are caufe of fight
All would be dark without them, and all bid a
night.
But now thefe images, thefe fuble ftreams
Are fcatter'd all around, on all the beams:
And therefore wherefoe'er we turn our eye,
(In that alone the pow'r of fight does lie)
Thefe images appear, and quickly show
The colour, fhape, and tell the distance too.
For thefe arifing from the object seen, Drive forward all the air that lies between: This ftream of air unto the eyes does flow, And gently grates the ball and paffes thro': 15 This flows the distance
For as the ftream of air, that paffes by,
Is long, or fhort; as that does strike the eye,
So far, or near, the objects feem to lie.
All this is quickly done; at once we view
The distant thing, and know the distance too.
But more; no wonder that the eye deferies?
The things themfelves, altho' the forms that
Are fingle; far too fubtle for our eyes. [nfe,
For winds molett, cold makes the member
fmart;
And yet what fenfe perceives each fingle part!
What fenfe each atom of the cold and wind?
None feel the fingle force, but all conjoin'd:
Then we perceive the ftroke, when pains com-
mence;
As if external force did wound the sense;
In flints we prefs the utmost parts alone,
Yet feel not that: that is to touch unknown;
We feel the inward hardness of the ftone.
Now learn; I'll fing why each reflected face
Is feen, as if remov'd beyond the glass; 28
For fo it feems: As when the hind'ring door
Imprifons up the longing eye no more;
But, open'd wide, permits the eager fight,
O'er objects, plac'd without, to take its flight,
View all around, and revel with delight.
The object then by double air is shown;
The air, that lies within the gate, is one:
And then the gate itfelf is plac'd between,
Then th' outward air, and then the object feen.
Thus when the image of the glafs does rife,
And makes its paffage forward to our eyes,
It drives before it all the air between;
So that is felt before the glass is seen:
And when we fee the polifh'd fpecular plain;
Our form flies to it, and returns again;
Still driving on the air that lies between;
So that is felt before the face is feen:
And that's the cause, why each returning face
Seems far remov'd, and plac'd beyond the glass.
But more; returning forms, that reach the
fight,
Tranfpofe the parts, and turn the left to right.
Becaufe the forms, that strike the polish'd plain
Are not reftor'd the fame, unchang'd again;
But ftriking strong, are turn'd a diff'rent way.
This inftance clears it: Take a form of clay
Not yet grown dry, and dash it on a seat;
Now if the form's entire, the front retreat,
And come behind, the parts preferve their fite;
The right will feem the left, the left the right.
Beides; returning forms do often pass,
And fly from one into another glass.
Thus from one fingle thing thefe plains reflore
Six images, and often ten, or more.
Thus let the thing be hid i' the fartheft cell;
Yet place the plains by art, and fet them well,
The flitting images to all will come,
And all the thing appear in ev'ry room.
But more; the fhapes tranfpos'd by th' former
Which pafs to others, there are turn'd again.
But convex glaffes fhow the bodies site,
Reftoring left as left, and right as right:
Because the image is reflected twice,
From glafs to glass, and after strikes our eyes:
Or elfe 'tis turn'd about; for that the face
Is turn'd about as it does backward pass,
We learn ev'n from the figure of the glass.
But farther on the image feems to wait
Qn all our steps, and imitate our gait.
For when we move and leave fome parts o' th' glafs,
The parts thus left no more return the face;
For nature does by steady laws ordain,
That when a forni comes on, and turns again,
The lines make equal angles with the plain.
The fight a fulgid object hates, and flies: The fun ev'n blinds the bold and prying eyes, Because the rays are ftrong, and fwiftly fly, And with repeated strokes disturb the eye. Through pure and unrefifting air they fall, And break the texture of the injur'd ball. Befides, al! objects that are glaring bright, Do hurt and burn the eye, and fpoil the fight; For flames a thousand hurtful parts contain, Which ftrike the tender eye, and raise a pain.
Befides, whatever jaundice eyes do view, Look pale as well as thofe, and yellow too. For lurid parts fly off with nimble wings, And meet the diflant coming forms of things; And others lurk within the eyes, and feize, And ftain with pale the ent'ring images.
More though our eyes are all enclos'd in night, They fee thofe objects that are plac'd in light; Because, though first the nearer darker air Creeps ev'n into the eyes, and fettles there; Straight comes with vig'rous force the shining
Cleanfes the pores, and drives the shades away;
For, 'tis more fubtle, and more ftrong than they..
When this has cleans'd and open'd ev'ry pore,.
Which the dark heavy air had stopp'd before,
The forms of things come in: they swiftly fly,
And frike, and raise a motion in the eye.
But now, when we ourselves are in the light,
The objects in the dark ne'er move our fight;
Becaufe a thicker air does ftill come on;
A darker as the former dark is gone,
And ftops the pores; and thus no forms can rife,
None move and find a paffage to our eyes.
Now farther: 'tis by fure experience found,
A fquare when seen at diftance feems a round;
Because all angles feem when seen from far,
Obtufe, or rather not at all appear.
For through the flitting air all forms that fly
Are ftruck and blunted in the lower sky,
And fo grow weak, and never move the eye:
So all the angles hid, the things appear
All round, though each may be a perfect fquare;
Yet not like perfect rounds, and seen when near.
And fhadows feem to move, to turn and stay
As bodies do; and fervilely obey.
Now how can air, only depriv'd of light,
(For fhadow is no more; a sudden night)
On all the members various motions wait,
And turn, and imitate her body's gait?
But thus it happens, when we walk by day,
Our bodies ftop the paffage of the ray;
But when we leave the place, they further flow,
And their warm kiffes on the earth bestow.
And thus the fhadow feems to move, to bend
As bodies do, and all their walk attend;
For ftill new rays fpring from the glorious fun,
The former dying when their race is run:
And, therefore, earth is foon depriv'd of light,
And rays as foon come on and chase the night;
The negro darkness wash'd becomes a white.
And yet, here's no deception of the eyc,
For 'tis its office only to defery,
Or how, or in what place the fhadow is;
It must not pass the narrow bounds of this q
But if the fhadows are the fame or no; Whether they die; or as the body go, 'Tis not the office of the eye to know: 'Tis reafon's office that; for that's defign'd
Things nature, and philofophy to find the mind.
Thus fhips, though driv'n by a profperous gale, Seem fix'd to failors; thofe feem under fail That lie at anchor fafe; and all admire, As they row by, to fee the rocks retire.
Thus ftars feem faften'd to the steady pole, Though all with daily conftant motion roll; 409 Yet they, when they have climb'd the tedious eaft, Pafs through the fky, and headlong fall to west. And fo the fun and moon feem fix'd above, Yet fure experience tells us that they move.
And rocks in feas that proudly raise their head, Though far disjoin'd, though royal navies spread Their fails between; yet, if from distance shown, They feem an ifland all combin'd in one.
So boys that whirl around, then ceafe to move, Think all the pillars dance and roofs above: So trong the thought, they dread the tott'ring wall
And fear the roof will crush them with the fall.
Thus when kind nature fhows her infant-day,
And the new fun peeps forth with trembling ray,
And loth or fearful to begin the race,
Looks o'er the mountains with a blushing face;
That hill o'er which the humble beams appear
Scorching with neighb'ring flames is often near,
And we might touch the fun if we were there.
When yet the real space is vaftly wide
Great tracts of land, and many a fwelling tide,
The diftant fun and that near hill divide.
Thus little puddles that in streets do lie, Though scarce inch deep, admit the searching( eye,
To view as large a space as earth from fky.
Thus when in rapid streams my horfe has flood, And I look'd downward on the rolling flood; Though he flood ftill, I thought he did divide The headlong ftreams, and ftrive against the tide;
And all things feem'd to move on ev'ry fide. Thus courts, though equal wide, yet feem to bend,
And grow more narrow at the diftant end:
The roof deprefs'd, the fides feem join'd in one,
The weary'd fight loft in a darkfome cone.
The fun to failors feems from sea to rise, And fet; for they fee only feas and fkies. All which does feem t' eppofe, and to commence Strong proofs against the certainty of fenfe.
Thus ignorants, when plac'd on steady shores, Think feeble fhips are row'd with broken oars. The rudder's fhatter'd, and the planks appear, And they are loth to trust their fafety there; 451 Because that part which lies above the flood, Seems firm and ftraight, and regular, and good, But that below feems broke; and, turning up, Afcends again and reaches near the top.
And when by night the clouds are whirl'd above, The moon and glitt'ring ftars do feem to move, As driven forward by a fecret force,
A diff'rent way from their own nat'ral courfe.
If any preffes underneath his eyes, Straight all the objects doubled seem to rife! Two lamps appear when only one is brought, His wealth feems doubled, and he's rich is thought;
Each man appears increas'd in form and grace, Almoft Geryon, with a double face.
And, lastly, when the eyes with fleep oppreft, And all the body lies diffolv'd in reft; The members seem awake and vig❜rous ftill, Now o'er a plain, now flood, or shady hill, 469 They feem to move; and, ev'n in darkest night, They think they see the fun diffuse his light. They fee him chafe the frighted fhades away, And clear a paffage for approaching day : They feem to hear a voice, though all around Deep filence ftands, nor bears the weakest found.
Ten thousand fuch appear; ten thousand foes To certainty of fenfe, and all oppofe
In vain; not fenfe, but judgment 'tis mistakes, And fancy'd things for real objects takes.
He that fays nothing can be known, o'erthrows His own opinion; for he nothing knows. So knows not that: what need of long difpute! Thefe maxims kill themselves, themselves confute. But grant this might be known, and that he knew; Yet fince he has difcover'd nothing true, What mark or what criterion then can show, Or tell what 'tis to know, or not to know? Or how could he, what truth, what falfehood learn?
How, what was doubt, what certainty, difcern?
From fenfe all truth and certainty infer; 490 In vain fome ftrive to prove that fenfe can err: For that which would convince, which would oppofe
The fenfes, must be furer far than those.
Now, what is more to be believ'd than fenfe?
Is falfe and erring reafon rais'd from thence?
Errors in parent fenfe can reason fhow?
Errors which fhe from fenfe alone can know?
And thus if fenfe be falfe, then reafon too is fo..
What, can the ears convince the eyes? Can those
Convince the hand, the palate, or the nofe? 500
Tell them, whene'er they err, whene'er they
mifs,
And give falfe notions? A fond fancy this!
For each a proper ufe and pow'r enjoys;
A proper obje& ev'ry fenfe employs.
Thus heat and cold and other qualities
Affect the touch, while colours ftrike the eyes,
Odours the fmell, favours the tafte; but none
Invades another's right, ufurps his throne,
All live at peace, contented with their own;
Therefore, from what the other fenfes fhow, 518
In vain we feek to prove one fenfe untrue;
Or from itself-
For ftill we must an equal credit give
To each; and all muft equally believe.
'Tis truth whate'er the fenfes do declare;
Though reafon cannot tell thee why a fquare
Should feem a perfect round when feen from far.)
Better affign a falfe, than this pretence
Should overthrow the certainty of fense;
Queftion its truth, rather than that should fall,
On which depends our fafety, life, our all.
For now, not only reafon is o'erthrown,
Unless we truft our fenfe, but life is gone.
For how can man avoid the bad, or choose
What's good for life, unless they follow thofe?
Therefore, thofe pompous reafons fome afford
Against our fenfe, are empty and abfurd.
But, laftly, as in building, if the line
Be not exact and ftraight, the rule decline;
Or level falfe, how vain is the defign!
Uneven, an ill-fhap'd, and tott'ring wall
Muft rife, this part must fiok, that part muft fall;
Because the rules were falfe, that fashion'd all.
Thus reafon's rules are falfe, if all commence,
And rife from failing and from erring fenfe.
But now my mufe, how proper objects please The other fenfes, fing, 'tis told with ease: First then, we founds, and voice, and noises hear, When feeds of found come in and ftrike the ear, All found is body; for with painful force 5407 It moves the fenfe, when with an eager courfe It fcrapes the jaws, and makes the speaker hoarse. The crowding feeds of found that strive to go Through narrow nerves, grate them in paffing through:
'Tis certain then that voice which thus can wound, Is all material; body ev'ry found.
Befides, 'tis known to talk a tedious day, How much it weakens, what it takes away From all the nerves; how all the powers decay; But chiefly, if 'tis loud, and spoke with noife; And, therefore, little bodies frame the voice, 551 Because the fpeaker lofes of his own,
His weakness tells him many parts are gone.
But more; the harfhnels in a voice proceeds From rough; the Iweetness from the fmoother feeds.
Nor are the figures of the feeds alike, [ftrike, Which from the grave and murm'ring trumpet To thofe of dying fwans, whofe latest breath la mournful trains laments approaching death. Thus voice, when rifing from the lungs, it breaks 560
Through jaws and lips, and all the paffion fpeaks,
tongue forms into words with curious art; The tongue and lips do fashion ev'ry part.
And therefore, if the fpeaker be but near,
If distance fit, you may diftinctly hear
Each word, each air; because it keeps the frame
It first receiv'd; its figure ftill the fame.
But if the space be great, through all the air
The found may fly diffus'd, and per fh there:
And therefore, though we hear a murm'ting noife,
No words: the air confounds and breaks the
voice.
571
Befides, one fentence when pronounc'd aloud
By ftrong-lung'd criers, fills the lift'ning crowd,
Breaks into many, for it ftrikes them all,
To ev'ry fingle ear it tells the tale.
But fome parts of the voice that mifs the ear,
Fly through the air diffus'd, and perish there.
Some ftrike on folid buildings; and reftor'd,
Bring back again the image of the word:
This fhows thee why, whilft men through caves
and groves,
580
Call their loft friends, or mourn unhappy loves,
The pitying rocks, the groaning caves return
Their fad complaints again, and seem to mourn.
This all obferve, and I myself have known
Both rocks and hills return fix words for one.
The dancing words from hill to hill rebound,
They all receive, and all restore the found.
The vulgar and the neighbours think, and tell
That there the nymphs and fauns and fatyrs
dwell;
589
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And that their wanton fport, their loud delight
Breaks through the quiet filence of the night:
There mufic's fofteft airs fill all the plains,
And mighty Pan delights the lift'ning swains :
The goat-fac'd Pan, whofe flocks fecurely feed,
With long-hung lip he blows his oaten reed.
The horn'd, the half-beaft god, when brifk and
gay,
[play.
With pine-leafs crown'd, provokes the fwains to
Ten thousand fuch romants the vulgar tell,
Perhaps left men should think the gods will dwell
In towns alone, and scorn their plains and cell:
Or fomewhat; for man, credulous and vain, 601
Delights to hear strange things, delights to feign.
Nor is it ftrange, that things which still deny
An eafy paffage to the fharpeft eye, [come,
Through fuch the fmalleft voice and found can
As when we whifper in a well clos'd room;
Voice can pafs crooked pores; but rays reflect,
Unless the pores be open; all direct,
And ev'ry paffage ftrait as 'tis in glass,
Through which all forts of fpecies freely pafs.
Befides, we know voices and founds divide,
And scatter through the air on ev'ry fide;
One breaks to many, as in darkest nights,
One fhaken fpark will make a thousand lights.
And therefore, all the num'rous voids around
Receive the voice, and each is fill'd with found:
But now the vifive rays fcarce e'er decline,
They still proceed by the exacteft line;
So founds can pafs where never ray can fhine.
But yet fuch founds before they reach the ear, 620
Grow weak, and we for words foft murmurs hear.
We tafte, that's feon explain'd, when favours
[tongue;
From meats by crushing teeth, immerfe the
When juices flowing from the tender meat
(The tender food opprefs'd does feem to fweat)
Bedew the palate; when they fpread all o'er
The fpongy tongue, and land in ev'ry pore.
Thefe juices, if their feeds be round and fmooth,
Tickle, feem fweet and pleafing to the mouth;
But if the feeds be rough as they defcend,
They hurt the nerves, feem bitter and offend.
The favours please within the mouth alone;
For when the food's defcended farther down,
We tafte no more, and all the pleasure's gone.
So when 'tis in the veins, when ev'ry pore
Is fill'd, we feel not, we are pleas'd no more,
And thus it matters not what forts of food
Increase the limbs, and make the flesh and blood,
If 'tis digeftive, if for ftomach good.
639
Now I'll explain why different forts of meat
Please diff'rent men. Why that which one will eat,
Another lothes. Why things yield fweet repa
To one, but bitter to another taste.
Hh jj
That when one object yields a sweet repast
To one, but bitter to another taste;
He that accounts it fweet, perceives the smooth
Round parts that tickle, and that please the mouth;
But he that thinks it bitter, rough alone
And hooks does feel: the fmooth glide gently down:
But those with pointed hooks as they defcend, Strike through, and lance the organ, and offend.
These rules apply'd, each fingle cafe explain : For inftance; when a man is torn with pain, 671 Whether from inbred gall the fever came, Or putrid air begot the hurtful flame;
The organ's chang'd, fo thofe which pleas'd before,
Are lothfone now, now they delight no more;
Their figures difagree with ev'ry pore.
But those do moft agree, thofe fit the part
Which fret the injur'd nerves, and cause a smart :
For, as I faid before, feeds rough and smooth
Lie hid in ev'ry thing, in honey both,
Or to offend, or to delight the mouth.
First, then, 'tis certain ftreams of odours rife
From ev'ry thing; but for their diff'rent fize
And figures, they do diff'rently agree
To animals. Thus honey ftrikes the bee;
The hound with faithful nose pursues the train; And geefe, Rome's faviours once, perceive a
Thus beafts preferve their lives, they know their food
By fmell; and fly the bad, and choose the good.
Odours are dull, and those of swifteft wings,
Not to propofe the images of things,
Scarce fly fo far as feeble founds; but tofs'd
By angry winds, in flitting air are lost.
For first, the pleafing odour flowly flows
From inmoft parts: for that it comes from those,
Ev'n common fenfe affures; for heat, or prefs,
Or bruife, or break the gums, the fmells increase.
In parts are greater far than parts of voice, 700
(This makes its flight more flow and fhort than
Because through walls it cannot freely go,
Though founds can find an eafy paffage through.
And thus 'tis hard to find an object out
By fmell alone, but we must trace about,
Because the odours, wand'ring in the air,
Grow dull and weak, and lose their brisk nefs there,
Nor quickly lead us to the thing that's fought;
And therefore hounds are often at a fault.
Not only founds and tastes, but images
And colours, diff'rent eyes offend and please.
Thus when the cocks call forth the morning'
light,
The fiercest lions cannot bear the fight,
Their courage finks, and they prepare for flight,.
For fubtle pointed particles that lie
In cocks, fent forth, offend the lion's eye; These pains ftraight force him turn his head and fly.
Yet thefe hurt not our eyes, they caufe no pain; For they ne'er enter, or return again 719 Through proper pores; and fo the skin preferves Her texture whole; they never lance the nerves. Now farther (my delight), my mufe will show What things do move the mind, and whence they flow.
First, then, thin images fill all the air,
Thousands on ev'ry fide, and wander there.
Thefe, as they meet, in various dance will twine,
As threads of gold, or fubtle fpider's line:
For they are thin; for they are subtler far
Than finest things that to the sight appear.
These pass the limbs; no narrow pores control;
They enter through, and strike the airy foul.
Hence 'tis, we think we fee, and hence we dread
Centaurs and Scyllas, Cerberus' monftrous head,
And many empty fhadows of the dead.
For various images fly ev'ry where;
Some rife from things; and fome are form'd in
By chance; and fome from these combin'd ap-
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