Betwixt them both a greater circle lies,
And equally bisects the starry skies.
When Phœbus cuts this Equinoctial way,
He gives to man the balanc'd night and day:
When weeping Autumn mourns the empty fields,
And when to genial Spring stern Winter yields.
On it the Ram his golden fleece reclines; 530
To it his crooked knees the Bull inclines;
On it Orion's diamond-studded waist;
To it the Hydra lifts her coiled breast;
Onward through Scorpio's outstretch'd Claws its track,
Cutting the Serpent, and the brawny back
Of Serpentarius. Closely soars above
The mighty messenger of thundering Jove. 540
Nor distant far the snorting Winged Horse,
With flowing mane pursues his daily course.
The orbits of three circles we have trac'd,
Directly round the polar axis plac'd:
The fourth, obliquely running through the sky
From lowest Capricorn to Cancer high,
Touches each Tropic, and unites the twain,
Twice cutting through the equinoctial line.
No skilful hand, though Pallas lent her art,
To orbs such various movements could impart, 550
Harmonious all. On the celestial sphere
Though stars untold, as ocean's sand, appear,
