Of Aries
Aries in 15 AD: the wool trade, and a fortune that comes and goes like a fleece.
[p. 9] First Aries shines, and as he oft doth loseHis Fleece, and then as frequently renews,'Twixt sudden Ruin, and a fair EstateHe fixes the variety of Fate;He gets, then loseth, then returns to Gain,Then Loss steals in, and empties all his pain;He rears new Lambs, he doth encrease the Fold,And makes the Rams to shine in native Gold;Betters the Wool, and whilst the Subject growsHe forms Mens Minds to use what he bestows;To Pick, to Card, to Spin, and Weave, to dealIn Cloath with gain; to Buy, Exchange, and sell:All useful Arts, whose constant Works supplyMens real Wants, not only Luxury:This ¹⁷Pallas owns, nor doth disdain to claimArachne's conquest as her greatest Fame.These are the manners, these the various ArtsWhich Aries Rays, and secret force imparts;To anxious fears he troubled Minds betraysAnd strong Desires to venture all for Praise.
The notes
¹⁷ Alluding to the Tryal of skill between Pallas and Arachne, describ'd by Ovid, in the Sixth Book of his Metamorphosis. (Creech’s note, 1697)
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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).