Encouragements to this Study
It is hard, he admits, and worth it. A pep talk in verse.
[p. 20] A subtle and surprizing Task is shown,Much have I past, yet still you lead me on;These things seem dark, whilst I the rest explore,Enjoy my Precepts, and complain no more.'Tis God you search for, by my Aid you trieTo climb, and view the inside of the Sky;Confin'd by Fate, you search its boundless sway,And seek to know the Laws you must Obey:The narrow Bounds of your own Breast you pass,Enjoy the World, and rove in the vast space:Painful, but always noble things are hard,Great is the Task, but equal the Reward:Nor let the various Maze thy Thoughts repress,Enter, and you are certain to possess.
Is Gold thy Aim? What mighty Pains attend?Mountains are level'd, and the Mines descendThrough Earth's deep Center; though she hides her StoreWe tear her up, and reach the hidden Oar:For shining Gems we cut the burning Zone,Such Dangers are the value of a Stone:The fearful Farmer makes his Yearly Vow,And Pain still presseth the deceiving Plow:In War no Danger's shun'd, we fight for Spoyl,E'en lazy Luxury leads us on to Toyl;For Food and Cloaths from East to West we run,And Spendthrifts often sweat to be undone.Are perishing Goods worth so much Pains and Cost;Hard to be got, and in injoyment lost?Then what must Heaven deserve? ²⁶That Gold, that buysThe rest, how disproportionate a Price!It asks a higher value, and to gainThe God, lay out thy self, The Price is Man:
The notes
²⁶ Quantum est quo veniat Omne, I have follow'd the Interpretation of Scaliger; but do not reject the Opinion of Huetius; Though of less force than Scaliger's. (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).