A Map of the Earth and Seas

[p. 28] Now learn what Signs o're different Lands controle,But first take this short figure of the whole:

The Winds Cardinal

East, West, and North, and South, on either side,These Quarters lie oppos'd, the World divide:As many Winds from these four Quarters flie,And fight and rattle, thro' the empty Sky:Rough Boreas from the North, bears Frost and Snows,And from the East, the gentle Eurus blows.Wet Auster from the torrid South is thrown,And pleasing Zephyrus cools the setting Sun.

The Collateral winds

'Twixt these two other Winds their Seats do claim,Alike in Nature, different but in Name.Around the Earth the liquid Ocean plays,The Ball enclosing with a soft Embrace;But yet on many parts, Earth's bending sides,Or open Bays receive the flowing Tides.

The Mediterranean Sea and the several parts

The Sea admitted from the Western Shores,Doth on the Right Hand wash the swarthy Moors;And Lybia's Sands, where once great Carthage stood,Then o're the Syrtes whirls the rapid Flood;And thence to Egypt it directly flows,Where what dry Heaven denies, the Nile bestows.The Left Hand Sea by Spain and France extends,And follows Conquering Italy as it bends;

[p. 29] Till into Streights the barking Sylla draws,And whirls it round Charybdis greedy Jaws;Loos'd from these Streights, the Flouds spread wide again,And freely flow in the Ionian Main:Then on the left they turn, and winding flow,Fair Italy surround, and drink the Po.Then make rough Adria's Gulph; the other sideIllyrium washes with a gentle Tide,Sees Epire's Cliffs, and Corinth's lofty Towers,Then winds round plain Morea's open Shores.Thence Northward into vast recesses tostThe Sea confines the Learn'd Achaia's Coast:Thence North and Eastward the unwilling FloodConfin'd by Streights, and stain'd with Helle's BloodTo fam'd Byzantium cuts its winding way,And joyns Propontis to the Euxine Sea;Behind whose back the Lake Meotis liesReceives full Tanais, and the Sea supplies.

Hence when the Circling Waves return againThe weary Sailer to the Open Main,He cuts th' Icarian, and th' Aegean TideBy Asia's Coasts, and wonders at their Pride:And whilst the left hand Course he still pursuesAs many Trophies, as he places views;A thousand Nations, ²⁹Taurus mount, that threatsThe Floods, the Bay that from the Sea retreatsParcht Syria's Plains, and the Cilician Seats,Till he at last to Egypt turns his OarsAnd sees the Waves dye on the swarthy Shores.Thus ruling Nature draws her bounding Lines,Checks midland Seas, and all their Rage confines.

The Islands of the Mediterranean

Yet midst this Sea a thousand Islands rise;Shap'd like a Foot the low Sardinia liesNear Lybia's shores; Trinacria fill'd with Fires,But just cut off from Italy, retires,And adverse Greece Euboean Cliffs admires.Jove's Birth-place Crete appears, a goodly Isle,And Cyprus beaten by the adverse Nile;A thousand lesser Isles Command these Seas,Rhodes, Delos, and the equal Cyclades,Fam'd Aulis, Tenedos, and by Sardinia's sideLies Corsica, and breaks the coming Tide;Near the Streight's Mouth the Baleares Reign,And strong Ebusus Triumphs o're the Main.Ten thousand smaller Rocks the Waves disperse,Too little to be nam'd, too mean for Verse.

[p. 30] The Caspian Sea

Nor doth the Ocean but one single wayAttempt the Earth, and force an open Bay,It tries on every side, but Mountains boundInsulting Billows, and preserve the Ground;For 'twixt the Summer East and Northern PoleThrough narrow Channels secret Waters roul,Till spread at last upon the open PlainThey make the Caspian like the Euxine Main.

The Persian Gulph

Southward encroaching Waters doubly press,O'reflow the Earth, and in a vast recessOne part more East runs on, and breaks a wayThrough Persia's Banks, and makes the Persian Bay:

The Arabian Gulph

More West the other soft Arabia beats,Where Incense grows, and pleasing Odor sweats,Which sends us Gums soft Luxury to please,And reconcile the angry Deities:Strange that the same, when differently apply'd,Should calm the Rage of Heaven, and serve our Pride.This Bay is call'd th' Arabian Gulph, the NameThe Country gives it, and 'tis great in Fame.

[p. 31] Africa

Thus lie the Seas; Earth midst this mighty FloodContains, first Africk, where proud Carthage stood;Once great in Arms, and whose extended swayO're Libya stretcht, and made the Spains obey:When Hannibal wrapt Alban Towns in flame,And eterniz'd the bloody Trebia's Name;When led by Fate he March'd to overcome,And pour'd his swarthy Libya upon Rome:When gasping Consuls groan'd on every Plain,And Cannae's Fields were burd'ned with the slain.

Here Nature angry with Mankind preparesStrange Monsters, Instruments ³⁰of future Wars;Here Snakes, those Cells of Poyson, take their Birth,Those living Crimes and grievance of the Earth;Fruitful in its own Plagues, the Desart shoreHears Elephants, and frightful Lions roar;Serious it seems in all these Monstrous shapes,But sports in the lewd Limbs of Mimick Apes.The Country's large, the Barren Plains extendA mighty space, and then in Egypt end;

Asia

Thence Asia spreads, a fruitful Soil, the StreamsRoul Golden Sand, the Ocean shines with Gems;The Trees drop Balsom, and on all the BoughsHealth sits, and makes it Sovereign as it flows.Thence India lies, a Land more large than thought,The Parthians oft, though not securely fought;They flying still delude Rome's firmer Powers,And yet Command a different World from Ours.These Taurus bounds, whose threatning Mountains riseTo awful Hights, and wound the lower Skies;A thousand Nations lie by Tanais floodWhich cuts the Scythia's, stain'd with humane blood;By Lake Meotis, and the Euxine TideWhich Nature sets as bounds to Asia's Pride.

[p. 32] Europe

Europe remains, which first the Beauteous loadReceiv'd, and where the Bull confess'd the God;Hence came its Name, in that the grateful JoveHath Eterniz'd the Glory of his Love:Here Greece is seen, with Ruin'd Antient Troy,And shew'd what Fates attend unlawful joy:A Country Rich in Men of wondrous parts,The place of Learning, and the Seat of Arts:Here Athens stands, which makes the best pretenceTo Sovereignty in Wit and Eloquence:For Courage Sparta, and for DeitiesFam'd Thebes, whose Heroes People half the Skies:Epirus, Thessaly, whose lasting PraiseOne single Pyrrhus, and Achilles raise.

To these Ilyrium joyns, and Warlike Thrace,The Seat of Mars, and breeds a stubborn Race.Thence ³¹Germany, a mighty Country runs,And wonders at the vastness of her Yellow Sons.Thence South and Westward in a fertile PlainLies France, for Tribute fam'd, for Battels Spain:But Italy Crowns all, whom Rome hath givenCommand of Earth, and joyns ³²her self to Heaven.

What Signs govern each Country

These Bounds the Earth, and these the Seas confine,And God allots to every part a Sign;No Land is free, no stately Town deny'dThe kind Protection of a Starry Guide:For as in Man, the work of Hands Divine,Each Member lies allotted to a Sign;And as the Body is the common careOf all the Signs, each Limb enjoys a share:

[p. 33] (The Ram defends the Head, the Neck the Bull,The Arms bright Twins are subject to your Rule;I'th' Shoulders Leo, and the Crab's obey'dI'th' Breast, and in the Guts the modest Maid;I'th' Buttocks, Libra; Scorpio warms desiresI'th' secret parts, and spreads unruly fires;The Thighs, the Centaur, and the Goat CommandsThe Knees, and binds them up with double bands.The parted Legs, in cold Aquarius meet,And Pisces gives protection to the Feet.)So in the greater World, the Members shareCelestial Rulers, and enjoy their Care:

Why different Men of different Shapes and Colours

Hence different Men, in different Climes we view,They vary in their shape, or in their Hue;The Matter's common, and in all the same,But private Stamps, distinctly mark the Frame.Vast Yellow Offsprings are the German's Pride,Whilst Neighbouring France is not so deeply dy'd:But hotter Climates narrower Frames obtain,And low-built Bodies are the growth of Spain:Hesperia mixeth sweet with many Grace,And temper'd Mars appears in every Face:Whilst active Greece produceth finer parts,Their looks betray their Exercise and Arts:Short Curl'd up Hair the Sons of Syria grace,Whilst Ethiopia's […],[…],[…];Less India blackens, […],And mixeth Colours in the Tawny Face:But Egypt's slimy Plains affect the sightWith brighter Colours, and approach to White.Parcht Lybia burns her Sons, […]She shews, and […];Whilst Mauritania […],(Her Name betrays it) with the blackest Dye.

We left a few demeaning words out here. They are on page 33 of the printed book.

[p. 34] Tho' each Speech Organs fram'd alike employs,How many Languages confound the Voice?How different Vertues Reign, how different Crimes?Mens Manners are as various as the Climes.Like Trees transplanted by the Farmer's Toyl;Vice turns to Vertue, in another Soyl.Tho' Seed the same, yet different Fruits are born,Thus Yellow Ceres varies in her Corn.Nor doth the Vine on every Hill produceLike Grapes, nor Bacchus press an equal Juice.Rich Cinnamon, not every Country bears,Nor are all Fields bedew'd with Myrrha's Tears.

Nor is this great variety exprestIn Man, and Fruits alone, but it divides the Beast:Here Lions roar, and there in dreadful WarsThe high-built Elephant his Castle rears;Looks down on Man below, and strikes the Stars,As many parts, so many Worlds appear,For every part is subject to a Star;They spread their Influence, and the Countreys payA due compliance to the Fatal Ray.

What Countreys are govern'd by Aries

Plac't midst the pleasing Vernal Signs, the RamCommands the narrow Streight o're which he swam;When from the Mothers Rage, his Fleece convey'dThe Brothers safe, and dropt the falling Maid;Content he swam, and with his Burthen pleas'd,He mourn'd his Loss, and griev'd to be so eas'd:The near Propontis too his Beams obeys,And Syria feels the Influence of his Rays:The loose Garb'd Persians, know his gentle Rule,Their Garments bear Relation to his Wool:With Nile that swells at Fiery Cancers Beams,And Egypt drown'd by its o're-flowing Streams.

[p. 35] By Taurus

Cold Scythia's Rocks, Arabia's wealthy Groves,And powerful Asia, Taurus Empire proves,Rich in their Corn, and wanton in their Loves.

By Gemini

The boysterous Euxine, bent like Scythian bows,Beneath the Twins subjection gladly flows,And they of Ganges infant Streams dispose.

By Cancer

The swarthy Indians Fiery Cancer sways,His Rule the Blackness of their Hue betrays,And Ethiopia's heated with his Ray.

By Leo

The Phrygian Plains the large Bithynian Woods,The ³³Servant of the Mother of the Gods,The Lion own, the Cappadocian ShoarWith fierce Armenia, hear the Lion Roar.And Macedon, that all the World subdu'd,Submits to the Great Monarch of the Wood.

By Virgo

In happy Rhodes the gentle Maids ador'd,Rhodes, the retirement of our future ³⁴Lord;Blest Island truly Sacred to the Sun,E're since in thee the Glorious Caesar Shone,The World's great Light, whom with expecting EyesMankind desires, and longs to see him rise.The Dorick Plains, the rich Ionian Towns,Arcadia Rival to the waining Moons:With Warlike Caria high in Antient FameOwe all Subjection to her modest Flame.

By Libra

What Sign, could you dispose the Signs, should fallTo Latium's share, but that which poizeth all;To which by Nature, it must needs belongTo value things, and separate Right from Wrong.In which the Times are weigh'd, and Day with NightAre met, the Darkness equal to the Light:The Scales rule Italy, where Rome Commands,And spreads its Empire wide to Foreign Lands:They hang upon her Nod, their Fates are weigh'dBy her; and Laws are sent to be obey'd:And as her powerful Favour turns the Poize,How low some Nations sink and others rise!Thus guide the Scales, and then to fix the Doom,They gave us ³⁵Caesar, Founder of our Rome.

[p. 36] By Scorpio

The following Sign rules Carthage Conquer'd Towers,Subject they lie, to Scorpio's Scaly Powers;With Lybia's Sand, and Egypt's fruitful Soil,The slimy ³⁶Gift of the o're-flowing Nile.Large Bounds, but yet too narrow to confineThe vast Ambition of this craving Sign;He claims the Isles of the Italian Main,And low Sardinia's subject to his Reign.

By Sagittarius

To Crete the Centaur makes an hateful claim,And still keeps up the Memory of its shame:It bore a Centaur once, and that confinesThe Isle to the same Figure in the Signs:To him their Skill and Darts, the Cretans owe,And imitate the sureness of his Bow.Trinacria follows, Crete's Example drawsHer Sister Isle, and yields it to his Laws;And Latium's Shores, which narrow Friths disjoyn,Here baffle Nature, and in him combine,Nor would be differenc'd by another Sign.

By Capricornus

The West, and Northern Parts, rich France and Spain,Contracted Goat, are subject to thy Reign,And Germany, since ³⁷Varus stain'd thy Shore,A Seat for Beasts, and fit for Man no more:This monstrous Sign hath variously engrost,(He Rules at Sea and Land) thy doubtful Coast,Now Earth appearing, now in Water lost.

[p. 37] By Aquarius

But Young Aquarius with his watry Fires,From Egypt to the Clydes Isles retires;The stout Cilicians, and the Neighbouring PlainWith Sailing Tyre are subject to his Reign.

By Pisces

When Heaven grew weak, and a successful FightThe Giants rais'd, and Gods were sav'd by flight;From Snaky Typhon's Arms, a Fishe's shapeSav'd Venus, and secur'd her from a Rape:Euphrates hid her, and from thence his StreamsOwe all Obedience to the Fish's Beams.Wide Parthia's Plains confin'd by mighty Rocks,The Nations round, long bent unto its YokesWith Tigris Streams, the Red-Sea's shining ShoresAre Subject to the Heavenly Fish's Powers.

What Influence these Signs have on the several Countries subject to their Rule

Thus Earth's divided, these the Signs that swayIts Portions, and the Parts their Beams obey;These Signs the Tempers, of their Empires show,The Parts above, directing those below,Their Powers infuse: And thus as Ruling SignsAre now Oppos'd, and now agree in Trines,Or other Site maintain, which Site directsTheir Fatal Influence, various in Effects;So Towns with Towns, and roaring Seas with Seas,And Land with Land, or differs or agreees.And as these Signs direct, so Men should chooseThis Town, this Country, or that Seat refuse;Here Hate expect, there surest Friendship prove,As Heaven directs, and Stars decree above.