TO MR. HOBBES.
147
Thy nobler vessel the vast ocean tries,
And nothing sees but seas and skies,
Till unknown regions it descries,
Thou great Columbus of the golden lands of new philosophies!
Thy task was harder much than his;
For thy learn'd America is
Not only found-out first by thee,
And rudely left to future industry;
But thy eloquence, and thy wit,
Has planted, peopled, built, and civilized, it.
And nothing sees but seas and skies,
Till unknown regions it descries,
Thou great Columbus of the golden lands of new philosophies!
Thy task was harder much than his;
For thy learn'd America is
Not only found-out first by thee,
And rudely left to future industry;
But thy eloquence, and thy wit,
Has planted, peopled, built, and civilized, it.
I little thought before
(Nor, being my own self so poor,
Could comprehend so vast a store)
That all the wardrobe of rich Eloquence
Could have afforded half enough,
Of bright, of new, and lasting stuff,
To clothe the mighty limbs of thy gigantick sense.
Thy solid reason, like the shield from heaven
To the Trojan hero given,
Too strong to take a mark from any mortal dart,
Yet shines with gold and gems in every part,
And wonders on it grav'd by the learn'd hand of Art!
A shield that gives delight
Ev'n to the enemies' sight,
Then, when they're sure to lose the combat by 't.
(Nor, being my own self so poor,
Could comprehend so vast a store)
That all the wardrobe of rich Eloquence
Could have afforded half enough,
Of bright, of new, and lasting stuff,
To clothe the mighty limbs of thy gigantick sense.
Thy solid reason, like the shield from heaven
To the Trojan hero given,
Too strong to take a mark from any mortal dart,
Yet shines with gold and gems in every part,
And wonders on it grav'd by the learn'd hand of Art!
A shield that gives delight
Ev'n to the enemies' sight,
Then, when they're sure to lose the combat by 't.
Nor can the snow, which cold Age does shed
Upon thy reverend head,
Upon thy reverend head,
