They cannot touch those other things that can; For whatfoe'er is touch'd, that must be touch'd again.

Therefore, the manfions of thofe happy pow'rs
Muft all be far unlike, diftinct from ours;
Of fubtle natures, fuitable to their own:
All which, by long difcourfe, I'll prove anon.
But now, to say this fpacious world began, 169
By bounteous Heav'n contriv'd to pleasure man;
And, therefore, this vaft frame they toil'd to raife,
And fit for us, fhould meet with equal praife;
Or be esteem'd eternal, all fecure
From ruin, or the teeth of time endure;
And that 'tis impious to defign to prove
What, was contriv'd by the wife pow'rs above,
And fix'd eternal for the man they love.
That this can die, that this to fate can bow,
And with bold reafon ftrive to overthrow,

And make that mortal they defign'd not fo. 180S

191 S

'Tis fond: For what could man return again?
What profit to the gods for all their pain, [reft,
That they fhould work for him? Why break their
In which they liv'd before, fecure and bleft?
What coming joy, what pleasure could they view,
To leave their former life, and seek a new?
For they delight in new, whofe former state
Was made unhappy by fome treach'rous fate :
But why fhould they, who liv'd in perfect ease,
Who ne'er faw any thing but what did please,
Be tickled thus with love of novelties?
Perhaps they lay obfcure, and hid in night,
Till things began, and day produc'd the light.
Befides, what harm, had the fun idly ran,
Nor warm'd the mud, nor kindled it to man,
What harm to us, if we had ne'er began?
True: thofe that are in being once, should ftrive
As long as pleasure will invite to live;
But they, who ne'er had tasted joys, nor feen
What hurt to them, fuppofe they ne'er had been?
Befides: whence had the gods their notice,"
whence their mind,

201

}

And still fuch motions, ftill fuch ways purfue,
As may fupply decaying things by new.

For were ignorant how beings rise, How things begin; yet reasons from the skies, From ev'ry thing deduc'd, will plainly prove, This world ne'er fram'd by the wife power's above; 219

So foolish the defign, contriv'd fo ill!
For first; thofe tracts of air what creatures fill?
Why beafts in ev'ry grove, and fhady hill?
Vaft pools take part, and the impetuous tide,
Whole spreading waves the distant shores divide;
Two parts in three the torrid zone does burn,
Or frigid chill, and all to deferts turn.

330

And all the other fields, what would they breed, If let alone, but briars, thorns, and weed? These are their proper fruits, this nature would, Did not laborious mortals toil for food; And tear, and plough, and force them to be good. Did not they turn the clods with crooked share, By frequent torments forcing them to bear; No tender fruits, none of their own accord Would rife to feed proud man, their fancy'd lord.

Nay, often too, when man with pains and toil, Has plough'd, and overcome th' unwilling foil; When flow'rs put forth, and budding branches shoot,

Look gay, and promise the much long'd-for fruit, The fcorching fun, with his two busy beams, 240 Burns up, or clouds destroy the fruits with ftreams. Or chill'd by too much fnow they foon decay, Or ftorms blow them and all our hopes away.

But farther; why fhould parent nature breed Such hurtful animals? why cherish, feed Destructive beafts? Why should fuch monsters

grow,

Did the kind gods difpofe of things below? Why plagues to all the feafons of the year belong? And why should hafty death deftroy the young?

}

[eafe;

A man, when first he leaves his prim'tive night, Breaks from his mother's womb to view the light: Like a poor carcafe, tumbled by the flood, He falls all naked and befmear'd with blood, An infant, weak, and deftitute of food With tender cries the pitying air he fills; A fit prefage for all his coming ills: While beafts are born, and grow with greater No need of founding rattles them to please; No need of tattling nurfes bufy care They want no change of garments, but can The fame at any feafon of the year. They need no armis, no garrifon, or town, No ftately caftles to defend their own, Nature fupplies their wants; whate'er they crava She gives them, and preferves the life the gave.

[wear

201

But now, fince air, and water, earth, and fire Are bodies all produc'd, and all expire; Since these are fuch, thefe that compofe this frame, The nature of the whole must be the fame: 269 For thofe, whofe parts the ftrokes of fate control, If those are made, and die, fo muft the whole. Now, fince the members of the world we view, Are chang'd, confum'd, and all produc'd anew; It follows then, for which our proofs contend, That this vaft frame began, and fo muft end

282

But left you think I poorly beg the caufe;
And that it disagrees with nature's laws,
That water, air, that earth, and fire should ceafe,
And fail; that they can die, and can increase ;
Confider; earth when parch'd with bufy beams,
And trodden much, flies up in dusky streams:
And little clouds of thick'ning duft arife,
Difpers'd by winds through all the lower skies:
And gentle rivers too, with wanton play,
That kifs their rocky banks, and glide away,
Take somewhat still from the ungentle ftone,"
Soften the parts, and make them like their own.
And by what thing another's fed, and grows,
That thing fome portion of its own must lose.
Now, fince all fpring from earth, and fince we call,
And justly too, the earth, the source of all; 291
Since all, when cruel death diffolves, return
To earth again, and she's both womb and urn:
The earth is chang'd, fome parts must sometimes
cease,

And fometimes new come on, and she increase.
Befides, that feas and rivers waste and die,
And fill increase by conftant new supply,
What need of proofs? This ftreams themselves
do fhow,

300

And in foft murmurs bubble as they flow.
But left the mafs of water prove too great,
The fun drinks fome to quench his nat❜ral heat:
And fome the winds brush off; with wanton play,
They dip their wings, and bear fome parts away.
Some paffes through the earth, diffus'd all o'er,
And leaves its falt behind in every pore;
For all returns, through narrow channels spread,
And joins where'er the fountain shows her head;
And thence sweet streams in fair meanders play,
And through the valleys cut their liquid way;
And herbs, and flow'rs on ev'ry fide beftow, 310
The fields all fmile with flow'rs where'er they
flow.

But more; the air, through all the mighty frame, [fame; Is chang'd each hour, we breathe not twice the Because, as all things waite, the parts must fly To the vast fea of air; they mount on high, And foftly wander in the lower sky. Now, did not this the wafting things repair, All had been long ago diffolv'd, all air. Therefore, fince all things waste their vital chain

Diffolv'd, how can the frame of air remain ?
It rifes from, and makes up things again. 321.
Befides, the fun, that conftant fpring of light,
Still cuts the heav'ns with ftreams of fhining white;
And the decaying old with new fupplies:
For ev'ry portion of the beam that flies,
Is but fhort-liv'd, it just appears, and dies.
And thus 'tis prov'd.-

So from our lights, our meaner fires below, Our lamps, or brighter torches, streams do flow, And drives away the night: they still supply New flames, as fwiftly as the former die, New beams ftill tremble in the lower iky. 340. No fpace is free, but a continu'd ray Still keeps a couftant, though a feeble day; So fast, ev'n hydra-like, the fruitful fires Beget a new beam as the old expires.

So fun and moon, with many a num'rous birth, Bring forth new rays, and fend them down to earth,

Which die as faft: left fome fond fools believe, That these are free from fate, that these must live. Ev'n ftrongest towns and rocks, all feel the rage Of pow'rful time: ev'n temples wafte by age: 350 Nor can the gods themselves prolong their date, Change nature's laws, or get reprieve from fate : Ev'n tombs grow old, and waste, by years o'erthrown,

}

Mens graves before, but now become their own.
How oft the hardest rock diffolves, nor bears
The strength but of a few, though pow'rful years!
Now if that rock, for infinite ages paft,
Stood still fecure, if it was free from wafte;
Why should it fail, why now diffolve at last?
Lastly, look round, view that vast tract of sky,
In whofe embrace our earth and waters lie
Whence all things rife, to which they all return,
As fome difcourfe; the fame both womb and urm.
'Tis furely mortal all: for that which breeds
That which gives birth to other things, or feeds,
Muft lose some parts; and when these things de
cease,

It gets fome new again, and must increase.

361

But grant the world eternal, grant it knew No infancy; and grant it never new ; Why then no wars our poets fongs employ, 370 Before the fiege of Thebes, or that of Troy? Why former heroes fell without a name? Why not their battles told by lafling fame? But 'tis as I declare; and thoughtful man, Not long ago, and all the world began: And, therefore, arts that lay but rude before, Are polish'd now, we now increase the store, We perfect all the old, and find out more. Shipping's improv'd; we add new oars and wings; And mufic now is found, and fpeaking ftrings. These truths, this rife of things we lately know; Great Epicurus liv'd not long ago: By my affiftance young philofophy In Latin words now firft begins to cry.

382

But if you think fucceffive worlds, the fame They now appear, but earthquakes thook the

frame,

Or fire destroy'd, or floods fwept all away; Grant only this, and you the cause betray:

า

Whose parts no wedge divides, which know no
And fuch are feeds as I explain'd before: [pore:
Or elfe because, like empty space, 'tis fuch
399
As is fecure from stroke, and free from touch!
Or elfe, because it can admit no bound,
'Tis infinite, and knows no place beyond,
To which the feeds may fink, This makes the all
Eternal; there's no place where feeds may fall,
And breed confufion here. No space does lie
Without the whole to which the parts may fly,
And leave the mighty all to waste and die.
But now the world's not folid, ev'ry mass
Contains between the feeds fome empty space :
Nor is't like void; for thousand things, if hurl'd
With mighty force, can ftrike and break the world.
Seeds rushing on, may bear fome parts away, 412
Like vi'lent ftreams, and fo the world decay.
Befides, there's fpace beyond, to which the tie
Of union loos'd, the fcatter'd parts may fly:
Therefore, thefe heav'ns and earth can wafte
and die;

And, therefore, once began; for what can fail,
And wafte: o'er what the ftrokes of fate prevail,
Must be unable to endure the rage
Of infinite paft time, and pow'r of age.

420

430

But, laftly; fince th' elements at jars, Still fight, are ftill engag'd in civil wars, Cannot their battles ceafe, their wars be done, And all the other parts fubmit to one? The fire prevail, and with deftructive beams Dry feas, the thirsty fun drink up the ftreams? Which now he seems to try, but all in vain; For rivers still bring new fupplies amain; So faft, so great, as if defign'd to raise A flood, and o'er the centre spread the feas: But that's in vain; the waters ftill decay, The winds brufh off and bear fome parts away; The fun drinks fome; the ftars take fome for food, And feem to threaten more a drought than flood. Thus they still fight, with equal force maintain The war; now conquer, and now yield again. Yet fire, as ftories go, did once prevail, And once the water too was spread o'er all. The fire prevail'd, when the fun's furious horfe, Dildaining Phaeton's young feeble force, 440 Ran through the sky in an unusual course; And, falling near the earth, burnt all below, Till angry Jove did dreadful thunder throw, And quench'd the hot-brain'd fiery youth in Po.. But Phoebus gather'd up the scatter'd ray, And brought to heav'n again the falling day. The horses too that ran through heav'n's wide plain,

449

He caught, and harness'd to the coach again.
They ever fince, in due obedience, drew
The flaming car. This Greece reports as true,
Yet 'tis abfurd: but all may yield to flame,
If great fupplies of rapid matters came
From the vast mass: for then those feeds must fail,
And fink again, or fire must ruin all.

[ftand

Seas once prevail'd, nor could the towns withThe raging waves: they spread o'er all the land. But when the num'rous feeds, the mighty mass Supply'd, were turn'd from this into another place,

The water ceas'd, and the continual rain : And rivers ran within their banks again,

46€

Now I will fing, how moving feeds were hurl'd, How tofs'd to order, how they fram'd the world: How fun and moon began; what fteady force Mark'd out their walk; what makes them keep their course :

For fure unthinking feeds did ne'er dispose
Themselves by counfel, nor their order chofe:
Nor any compacts made, how each should move,
But from eternal, through the vacuum ftrove,
By their own weight, or by eternal blows,
All motions try'd, to find the best of those, 470
All unions too: if, by their various play,
They could compofe new beings any way:
Thus long they whirl'd, moft forts of motion paft,
Moft forts of union too, they join'd at last
In fuch convenient order, whence began
The fea, the heav'n, and earth, and beafts, and

man:

}

But yet no glitt'ring fun, no twinkling star,
No heav'n, no roaring fea, no earth, no air,
Nor any thing like these did then appear,
But a vaft heap; and from this mighty mafs 480
Each part retir'd, and took its proper place :
Agreeing feeds combin'd; each atom ran,
And fought his like, and fo the frame began:
From difagreeing feeds the world did rise,
Because their various motion, weight, and size,
And figure, would not let them all combine,
And lie together: nor friendly motions join:
Thus fkies, and thus the fun first rais'd his head,
Thus ftars, thus feas o'er proper places spread.

For first the earthly parts, a heavy mass, 490
And closely twin'd, poffefs'd the middle place.
Now as these heavy parts combin'd more close,
Defcending ftill, they vex'd with conftant blows
The lurking parts of sea, of stars, and skies,
And fun; and squeez'd them out, and made them
rife:

Because those feeds are fubtle, more refin'd,
And round, and smooth, and of a leffer kind
Than those of earth; and fo can freely país
The fubtle pores of the defcending mafs.
And thus the parts of heav'n did first retire, Sco
And bore up with them num'rous feeds of fire:
As when the fun begins his early race,
And views the joyful earth with blushing face,
And quaffs the pearly dews, fpread o'er the

grafs;

the

From earth he draws fome mists with busy beams, From wand'ring waters fome, and running ftreams: [high,

SIC

These thin, these fubtle mifts, when rais'd on
And join'd above, fpread clouds o'er all the sky:
Juft fo the parts of heav'n did upward move,
The fubtle ether, thus combin'd above:
And vaftly wide, and fpread o'er ev'ry place,
Contains the reft within her kind embrace:
Thus heav'n : then rofe the moon, and stars, and
fun;

Which through the fky with conftant motions run:
Because their feeds were all too light to lie
In earth, nor light enough to rife on high,
And pass the utmost limits of the sky;

But, plac'd between them both, the midft controul,

520

Certain, but moving portions of the whole:
Juft as in man, fome parts refufe to ccafe
From motion, fome ftill lie diffolv'd in ease.
There things retir'd, the heavier parts of clay
Sunk farther down, and made an eafy way
For flowing ftreams, and caverns for the fea.
And as by conftant blows, the vig'rous fun
Did ftrike the upper parts, and prefs them down,
More moisture rofe; and then did ftreams increafe:
More parts were still squeez'd out, and swell'd
the feas:

More ether then, of air more parts did rife, 530
And borne on high, there thicken'd into skies
The mountains rais'd their heads; the humble
field

Sunk low; the ftubborn ftones refus'd to yield;
The rocks did proudly ftill their height maintain,
Nor could all fink into an equal plain.

Thus earth at firft was fram'd; and thus did fall The loweft, as the fediment of all.

Thence feas, thence air, thence ether, ev'ry mass,

539

Diftin& from others, took its proper place;
All fluids and all differently light,
And therefore reach'd the lefs, or greater height.
Then liquid ether did the fartheft rear,
And lies on fofteft beds of yielding air:
But yet its parts ne'er mix, whilft winds did blow,
And rapid ftorms difturb all here below,
They undisturb'd move round the steady pole;
And fun, and stars, with conftant motion roll:
For that by conftant turns the sky may move,
The conftant motions of the waters prove.
This thing the mighty mafs, the ocean fhows;
For that, at fettled hours, till ebbs and flows. 550
Now learn what moves the ftars, what mighty
force
[courfe.

Does drive them on; what laws confine their
First, If the orb is mov'd, and whirls, and draws
The fun about; then this may be the cause :
Vaft tracts of air the distant skies do bound,
And with a clofe embrace encircle round;
The upper part of that drives down the skies
From east to weft; the under makes them rife;
And fo the whirl's perform'd. Thus oft a flood
Turns round a wheel, and whirls the weighty
wood.

560

Or else the orbs may lie at reft above,
Steady and fix'd, and only flars may move;
Because the fires, confin'd to little space,
Grow fierce and wild, and feck a larger place,
And thus through the vast heav'n begin their

race.

Or elfe external air, or fubtle wind

May whirl them round: Or they may move to find

Their nourishment; and run where food invites,
And kindly calls their greedy appetites. 569

For true, what fingle force makes ftars to rife
And fet; what governs thefe our fingle skies
Is hard to tell :-

And therefore I, how stars may move, propose
A thousand ways, and numerous as thofe :

And what may whirl the fun, and pale-fac'd

moon,

In all the worlds; but cannot fix on one, Although but one rules here; but which that is 'Tis hard to point; it may be that or this.

And that the heavy parts fhould end their race, And reft and earth poffefs the middle place, 580 Its weight decay'd; that pow'r did weaker grow, Becaufe convenient things were plac'd below, That rofe with it, to which 'tis closely join'd, By nat'ral ties, and strongest bands confin'd: And thus it foftly refts, and, hanging there, Grows light, nor preffes down the lower air. Juft as in man, the neck the head sustains, The feet the whole; yet not one part complains Of preffing weight; neither is vex'd with pains. Yet other weights impos'd we straight per 590 Though lighter far, contract our limbs and grieve. [Such vaft import from fim'lar parts does spring, When one is aptly join'd t' another thing.] So earth was fashion'd in its proper place: Not made, then thrust into the strange embrace Of diff'rent air, but with the world began; A certain part of it, as limbs of man.

ceive,

Befides, the fhaking earth does often move The upper air, disturbing all above; Which could not be, unless the ftrongeft tie 600 Did clofely join the earth, the air, and sky.

Thin fubtle fouls 'caufe clofely join'd, do prop The mighty weight of limbs, and bear it up. What raife the limbs in leaping, what controul, And guide their motion, but the fubtle foul? Which shows the weighty force of things refin'd, When ty'd to others of a groffer kind; As air to earth, to our grofs limbs the mind.

But farther on, the fun and moon do bear
No greater heats, nor figures than appear; 610
Because that space, through which the rays can
fly,

The heat can reach our touch, the light our eye:
Can leffen nothing, nor contract the frame,
Nor make the fire appear a milder flame:
Now fince the vig'rous rays do freely flow
As far as us, and vifit all below!

Their fires and figures are the fame they show:
Nor greater all, nor less.-

And thus the moon,

But more, no wonder that fuch vaft supplies, Such streams of rays from this fmall fun fhould rife,

640

As cherish all with heat, and fill the skies.
For we may fancy this the spring of fire,
To which the vapours of the world retire;
There gather into ftreams, and thence they fall,
As from the fountain's head, and spread o'er all.
Thus have we feen a little fountain yield
Vaft fpreading streams, and flow o'er all the field.
Or elfe the fun might kindle neighb'ring air,
And raise surprising heat and fervour there.
Ferchance the air is of convenient frame,
And may be kindled by a little flame;
As oft in straw and corn fierce flames prevail,
From one poor falling fpark, and fpread o'er

all.

650

Or elfe the fun has fecret ftores of heat, Dark, and unfhining ftores, but vaftly great; And thefe increase the warmth, thefe move the fenfe,

660

And these united, make the heat intense. [bends,
How tow'rds both poles the fun's fix'd journey
And how the year his crooked walk attends,
Why from the fummer's height he foon declines,
And falls to vifit the cold winter figns,
And then returns. And why the nimble moon
Does drive her chariot fafter than the fun;
And in one month through all the zodiac go,
While the grave fun's a year in walking through.
For this a thoufand reafons may be shown;
But yet 'tis hard, nor fafe, to fix on one.
For firft, Democritus has found the cause
Perhaps, and rightly fettled nature's laws;
For thus he fays: Great orbs are whirl'd above,
And by that whirl the lower circles move;
And fo the distant orbs that lie below,
Far from this fpring of motion, move but slow,
Because the pow'r ftill leffens. Thus the fun
Is far outstripp'd by nimble stars, that run
In higher rounds; much more the lower moon.
Now fince he's plac'd fo low, fince weak the
force,

She cannot have an equal nimble courfe

669

}

With itars; fo these may overtake the moon,
And pafs beyond her oft'ner than the fun.
Thus he may feem to move, her walk appear
Through all the figns, 'caufe they return to her.
Befides, by turns a conftant ftream of air, 680
At fix'd and certain feafons of the year, [decline,
Might rush from either part, and make the fun
And fall from fummer to the winter fign;
Or drive it up again, and bring the rays
And heat to us, and fhow us longer days.
And thus the mroon, thus other stars may rife,
And fink again into the winter fkies.
Driv'n by these two conftant ftreams of air..
For clouds in forms two diff'rent ways do move,
The lower oppofite to those above.
What wonder then the fun with vig'rous beams,
And stars are driven by two constant streams?
And day may end, and tumble down the weft,
And fleepy night fly flowly up the east;
Because the fun having now perform'd his round,
And reach'd with weary ames the utmost bound

690

of finite heav'n, he there puts out the ray,
Weary'd and blunted all the tedious day
By hind'ring air, and thus the flames decay.
Or elfe that conftant force might make it move 700
Below the earth, which whirl'd it round above.

And fo the constant morning ftill may rife,
And with pale fires look through the lower skies;
Because the fun rolls round with conftant ray,
And, rifing upwards, fhows approaching day;
Or elfe because the fires, diffolv'd at night,
There join again, and scatter vig'rous light.
Thus when the morning fun begins to rife,
Its flames lie fcatter'd o'er the eastern skies,
Then gather to a ball: And this we view 710
From Ida's top; this fame reports as true.
Nor is it ftrange that common feeds of fire
Should to the eastern quarter still retire,
Still ev'ry day return, and make a fun;
Because a thousand other things are done
At fet, and conftant times, and then alone.
Thus trees, at certain times, thus fhrubs do fhoot
At certain times, and bud, and bear their fruit.
Thus teeth in boys begin, and thus they fall;
Thus beards in youth; at certain seasons all: 720
Thus thunder, fnow, and storms, and winds appear
At fix'd and certain seasons of the year.
As things first happen'd, they continue on;
The courfe that chance first gave them, ftill they

run.

}

The days may longer grow, and vig'rous light Unwillingly give place to drowfy night; And fometimes fleepy night may longer stay, And flowly wake before approaching day : Because the fun might walk the conftant rounds In crooked paths, and in uneven bounds; Nor into equal parts the globe divide, Now longer here, and now on th' other fide, Until it comes, and warms with neighb'ring rays The line, and measures equal nights and days, The line lies juft between the north and fouth, And leaves an equal diftance unto both, Because the zodiac is oblique,———— Through which the fun his yearly walk does go, And views obliquely all the world below; Thus teach aftronomers; and this confefs'd 74 A fair opinion probable at least

Orelle the air is thick, and ftops the ray, Nor gives the fun a free and eafy way. And this prolongs the tedious winter night, The darkness flowly yields to ling'ring light. Or elfe at certain feasons of the year, The flames meet flowly in the eastern air, And frame the fun, and make the day appear. But more: the moon may shine with borrow d