IN THE MOON.
55
Or whether Male and Female screws
In th' Ir'n and Stone th' Effect produce?
What makes the Body of the Sun,
That such a rapid Course does run,
To draw no Tail behind through th' Air,
As Comets do, when they appear,
Which other Planets cannot do,
Because they do not burn, but glow?
Whether the Moon be Sea, or Land,
Or Charcoal, or a quench'd Firebrand;
Or if the dark Holes that appear,
Are only Pores, not Cities there?
Whether the Atmosphere turn round,
And keep a just Pace with the Ground;
Or loiter lazily behind,
And clog the Air with Gusts of Wind?
Or whether Crescents in the Wane
(For so an Author has it plain)
Do burn quite out, or wear away
Their Snuffs upon the Edge of Day?
Whether the Sea increase, or waste,
And, if it do, how long 'twill last;
Or if the Sun approaches near
The Earth, how soon it will be there?
These were their learned Speculations
And all their constant Occupations;
To measure Wind, and weigh the Air,
And turn a Circle to a Square;
To make a Powder of the Sun,
By which all Doctors should b' undone;
To find the North-west Passage out,
Although the farthest Way about;
If Chymists from a Rose's Ashes
Can raise the Rose itself in Glasses;
Whether the Line of Incidence
Rise from the Object, or the Sense?
To stew th' Elixir in a Bath
Of Hope, Credulity, and Faith;
To explicate by subtle Hints
The Grain of Diamonds and Flints,
And in the Braying of an Ass
Find out the Treble and the Base;
If Mares neigh alto, and a Cow
A double Diapason low.
In th' Ir'n and Stone th' Effect produce?
What makes the Body of the Sun,
That such a rapid Course does run,
To draw no Tail behind through th' Air,
As Comets do, when they appear,
Which other Planets cannot do,
Because they do not burn, but glow?
Whether the Moon be Sea, or Land,
Or Charcoal, or a quench'd Firebrand;
Or if the dark Holes that appear,
Are only Pores, not Cities there?
Whether the Atmosphere turn round,
And keep a just Pace with the Ground;
Or loiter lazily behind,
And clog the Air with Gusts of Wind?
Or whether Crescents in the Wane
(For so an Author has it plain)
Do burn quite out, or wear away
Their Snuffs upon the Edge of Day?
Whether the Sea increase, or waste,
And, if it do, how long 'twill last;
Or if the Sun approaches near
The Earth, how soon it will be there?
These were their learned Speculations
And all their constant Occupations;
To measure Wind, and weigh the Air,
And turn a Circle to a Square;
To make a Powder of the Sun,
By which all Doctors should b' undone;
To find the North-west Passage out,
Although the farthest Way about;
If Chymists from a Rose's Ashes
Can raise the Rose itself in Glasses;
Whether the Line of Incidence
Rise from the Object, or the Sense?
To stew th' Elixir in a Bath
Of Hope, Credulity, and Faith;
To explicate by subtle Hints
The Grain of Diamonds and Flints,
And in the Braying of an Ass
Find out the Treble and the Base;
If Mares neigh alto, and a Cow
A double Diapason low.
The
