Of Virgo
Virgo in 15 AD: speakers, scholars, and the fastest shorthand in Rome.
[p. 12] But modest Virgo's Rays give polisht partsAnd fill Mens Breasts with Honesty and Arts;No tricks for Gain, nor love of Wealth dispense,But piercing Thoughts, and winning Eloquence;With words persuasive, and with Rhetorick strongThey rule, and are e'en Monarchs by their Tongue,Through Nature's Secrets too, they boldly press,Tho' deeply hid, and meet a just success;In Short-Hand skill'd, where little Marks comprise,Whole words, a Sentence in a Letter lies;And whilst Obedient hands their Aid afford,Prevent the Tongue, and Fix the falling Word.But bashful Modesty, casts down their Eyes,The best of Vices, yet 'tis still a Vice,Because it stifles, checks, or nips like FrostA blooming Vertue, and the Fruit is lost.Besides, though strange such Influence should comeFrom Virgo's Rays, she gives a fruitful Womb.
In the app the old words open a note in the margin when you tap them, the old books read the planets of your own chart, and each book opens where you left it. Free, no account, no email.
14160+ people cast their chart here in the last 30 days.
Keep reading
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).