6
THE ELEPHANT
65 Apply'd one Eye, and half a Nose
Unto the optick Engine close.
For he had lately undertook
To prove, and publish in a Book,
That Men, whose nat'ral Eyes are out,
70 May, by more pow'rful Art, be brought
To see with th' empty Holes as plain,
As if their Eyes were in again:
And, if they chanc'd to fail of those,
To make an Optick of a Nose;
75 As clearly it may, by those that wear
But Spectacles, be made appear;
By which both Senses being united
Does render them much-better sighted
This great Man, having fix'd both Sights
80 To view the formidable Fights,
Observ'd his best, and then cry'd out,
The Battle's desperately fought:
The gallant Subvolvani rally,
And from their Trenches make a Sally
85 Upon the stubborn Enemy,
Who now begin to rout and fly.[1]
Unto the optick Engine close.
For he had lately undertook
To prove, and publish in a Book,
That Men, whose nat'ral Eyes are out,
70 May, by more pow'rful Art, be brought
To see with th' empty Holes as plain,
As if their Eyes were in again:
And, if they chanc'd to fail of those,
To make an Optick of a Nose;
75 As clearly it may, by those that wear
But Spectacles, be made appear;
By which both Senses being united
Does render them much-better sighted
This great Man, having fix'd both Sights
80 To view the formidable Fights,
Observ'd his best, and then cry'd out,
The Battle's desperately fought:
The gallant Subvolvani rally,
And from their Trenches make a Sally
85 Upon the stubborn Enemy,
Who now begin to rout and fly.[1]
- ↑ 103. 104, 105, 106. For as th' Arcadians were reputed—Of all the Grecians the most stupid—Whom nothing in the World could bring—To civil Life, but fiddling.] The Arcadians were reckoned stupid even to a Proverb.—Hence Lucian's Expression Ποθεν γαρ εν Αρκαδια σοφιςης, η φλοσοφος. See also Juvenal,læva in parte mamillæ
Nil salit Arcadico juveni ——— Sat. vii. v. 160.They were no less remarkable for their Fondness for Music; and Polybius observes, that by the Laws of their Country, they were
obliged
