UPON DR. HARVEY.
111
"This my retreat, but only He
"Who made both it and me.
"The heart of man what art can e'er reveal?
"A wall impervious between
"Divides the very parts within,
"And doth the heart of man ev'n from itself conceal."
She spoke but, ere she was aware,
Harvey was with her there;
And held this slippery Proteus in a chain,
Till all her mighty mysteries he descry'd;
Which from his wit th'attempt before to hide
Was the first thing that Nature did in vain.
"Who made both it and me.
"The heart of man what art can e'er reveal?
"A wall impervious between
"Divides the very parts within,
"And doth the heart of man ev'n from itself conceal."
She spoke but, ere she was aware,
Harvey was with her there;
And held this slippery Proteus in a chain,
Till all her mighty mysteries he descry'd;
Which from his wit th'attempt before to hide
Was the first thing that Nature did in vain.
He the young practice of new life did see,
Whilst, to conceal its toilsome poverty,
It for a living wrought, both hard and privately.
Before the liver understood
The noble scarlet dye of blood;
Before one drop was by it made,
Or brought into it, to set up the trade;
Before the untaught heart began to beat
The tuneful march to vital heat;
From all the souls that living buildings rear,
Whether imply'd for earth, or sea, or air;
Whether it in the womb or egg be wrought;
A strict account to him is hourly brought
How the great fabrick does proceed,
What time, and what materials, it does need:
He so exactly does the work survey,
As if he hir'd the workers by the day.
Whilst, to conceal its toilsome poverty,
It for a living wrought, both hard and privately.
Before the liver understood
The noble scarlet dye of blood;
Before one drop was by it made,
Or brought into it, to set up the trade;
Before the untaught heart began to beat
The tuneful march to vital heat;
From all the souls that living buildings rear,
Whether imply'd for earth, or sea, or air;
Whether it in the womb or egg be wrought;
A strict account to him is hourly brought
How the great fabrick does proceed,
What time, and what materials, it does need:
He so exactly does the work survey,
As if he hir'd the workers by the day.
