The Axis
The invisible line the sky turns on, and the two poles at its ends.
[p. 13] Now view the point where turn the shining Bears,And from their height look down on other Stars.Which never set but onely change their SitesTo the same point; and whirl the meaner Lights;Thither the Axis runs, whose adverse PolesBears the poiz'd World, and Heaven about it rolls;No solid substance that the weight might bearBut an imagin'd Line stretcht through the Air;Begun from either Pole the Line extendsEarth's Centre through, and in the other ends.For since the frame turns round, that fancy'd LineWhich cuts the middle, too minutely thinBy turning round it self to measure space,But still confin'd to one imagin'd place,Is call'd the Axis; cause unapt to moveIt sees Stars whirl, the shining Planets rove,And swiftly measure the vast space above.
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The text is Thomas Creech's 1697 verse translation, checked word by word between three scans of the same type (the 1697 printing, the 1700 printing and a third copy). The long s is printed as s; every other spelling is Creech's. Pages are cited as the 1697 printing numbers them. The portrait is William Marshall’s engraving of Lilly from the front of the 1659 printing (Wellcome Library, public domain).