Of Cancer
Cancer in 15 AD: merchants on far seas. Manilius was not kind about it.
[p. 11] But glowing Cancer (where the Summer SunWith fiery Chariots bounds the Torrid Zone,Drives fiercely up, then with a bending ReinSinks down, and runs in lower Rounds again.)As close in's Shell he lies, affords his AidTo greedy Merchants, and inclines to Trade:His Births shall sail, through Seas and Dangers tostTo reap the Riches of a Foreign Coast.
What thrifty Nature hath but thinly sownIn Many Countries, they shall bring to One;Intent on gain ne're heed the Poors complaintBut thrive on Scarcity, and live on Want:For Wealth undaunted gather every Wind,Out-sail good Fame, and leave Repute behind,And when their greedy Hands have seiz'd the StoreOf this, search other Worlds, and seek for more.Or else at home prove griping Vsurers,Complaining at the slowness of the Years,Wish swifter Suns, and set too vast a rateOn Time it self, to raise a quick Estate:Their Bodies shall be Strong, inur'd to Pain,Their Wits Contriving, and intent on gain:
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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).