The Tropick Signs

[p. 121] Now nicely view the Tropick Signs that lieOppos'd in the four Quarters of the Skie;Call'd Tropick Signs, because when these appear,The World then Turns the Seasons of the Year:Thus Spring in Cancer, in Autumnal ScalesThe Summer turns, in Caper Autumn fails;Thence shivering Winter creeps congeal'd with Frost,Yet melts again; and in the Ram is lost:These loose the Seasons, to their full Career,And make the Course of the Revolving Year;And these being Hingers of the World, createNew Powers in Stars; and fix new Rules for Fate.

[p. 122] Cancer

In Heavens high Arch, and on the utmost LineOf Summers progross, Cancer seats his Sign:There stretches out the greatest length of Day,And then declines, and makes it soon decay;But all the time which, as he bears the LightHe takes from Day, He still conveys to Night.Then Corn grows yellow on the fruitful Soil,And lusty Reapers bare their Limbs for toil:Then Seas grow warm, the Floods forbear to roar,And Billows languish on the quiet Shore.Then Mars goes forth, nor is the Scythian CoastFrom Roman Arms defended by her Frost:And whilst their Pools and Marshy Grounds are dry,Fearing our Force, the conquer'd Germans fly:Then Nile o'reflows, and Egypt's fruitful Plain,Rich Harvests yields, nor needs the aid of Rain.Thus lies the World, when with exalted Ray,I'th' Summer Solstice Phoebus bears the DayThro' Cancer's Sign, and drives the highest Way.

Capricorn

Oppos'd the Goat in narrowest rounds of LightWheels Winter on, but long extends the Night;Yet soon Ascending, He contracts the Shade,To Day returning all the waste he made;The Fields unwrought, then lie, unplough'd the Seas,And Mars in Quarters, lies consign'd to Ease:Rocks cleave with Frost; and by the Cold, opprest,All Nature's Powers, are stiffned into Rest.

[p. 123] Aries

The next in Power are those two Signs that riseWith equal Revolutions of the Skies;Which times of Day and Night adjust, and bringThe Autumn on, or else advance the Spring.The Sun returning in his Yearly Race,To Cancer's Sign meets Aries midst the Space,Seated between the Point, from whence he bendsHis upward Course, and that in which he ends.There plac'd as Umpire in the midst oth' way,Contracted Night, he well adjusts to Day.And as thro' him the Sun goes on to climbThe Heavenly steep, He makes a change in time;For Day, that shorten'd in the Winter Bend,The Ram first lengthens; and the next extend,'Till rais'd in Cancer, to the utmost heightOf Summer's pitch, He wheels the longest Light.

Then Seas lie husht: Then Earth grows bold to bear,And trusts young Flowers to the serener Air:Then Beasts in Fields, and Birds in every Grove,Press on with Fury to consummate Love.With joyful Songs the vocal Forests Ring,And various Leaves adorn the gawdy Spring:With such brisk Powers are Nature's parts possest,When wak'd, she rouses from her Winter's Rest.

Libra

Oppos'd to Aries, Libra's Stars appearWith the like power to sway the rouling Year,She equals Day and Night: But soon the ScaleO'repois'd by Darkness, lets the Night prevail;And Day, that lengthned in the Summer's height,Shortens 'till Winter, and is lost in Night.Then from the burthen'd Elms, the generous VineDescends, and Presses over-flow with Wine:Then Wheat is sown, whilst Autumn's heats remainTo loose the Clods, and mollifie the Grain.These have their Powers, and as these Signs createA turn in Seasons, so they doe in Fate:From Tropick Signs (for by their name, we guessTheir turning Natures) who can hope for less?

[p. 124] What Degrees in the Tropick Signs are to be considered

But wide in their mistake, who think to seeThese Powers spread equally in each Degree;Not every Portion of the Tropick SignsTurns Seasons, and the Planets force confines,But one Day only, in the blooming PrimeOf Spring, in Autumn One adjusts the Time,One Day in Aries doth to Time restoreEquality, and Libra boasts no more;One Longest Day in Cancer's Sign is born,One Night of equal length in Capricorn:The other Days roul on with different Light,Now gaining from, now losing time to Night.

Thus One Degree in Tropick Signs createsA change in Heaven, and turns the Rules of Fates;No fixt Decree's secure, their boundless sway,Extends to all, and makes the Stars obey.But which that is that governs, Fate's Decree,There Authors differ, nor can Art agree;For some the Eighth, and some the Tenth assign,The First Degree —— is only Thine,Thine, but the Muse with scorn, forbears the Name;Unworthy mention, and too mean for Fame.