IN THE MOON.
11
For all our unsuccessful Pains,[1]
And lost Expence of Time and Brains.
For, by this sole Phænomenon,
180 We've gotten Ground upon the Moon;
And gain'd a Pass, to hold dispute
With all the Planets that stand out;
To carry this most virtuous War,
Home to the Door of every Star,
185 And plant th’ Artillery of our Tubes
Against their proudest Magnitudes;
To stretch our Victories beyond
Th’ Extent of planetary Ground;
And fix our Engines, and our Ensigns
190 Upon the fixt Stars vast Dimensions,
(Which Archimede, so long ago,
Durst not presume to wish to do)
And prove, if they are other Suns,
As some have held Opinions;
195 Or Windows in the Empyreum,
From whence those bright Effluvias come
Like Flames of Fire (as others guess)
That shine i' the Mouths of Furnaces.
Nor is this all, we have atchiev'd,
200 But more, henceforth to be believ'd,
And lost Expence of Time and Brains.
For, by this sole Phænomenon,
180 We've gotten Ground upon the Moon;
And gain'd a Pass, to hold dispute
With all the Planets that stand out;
To carry this most virtuous War,
Home to the Door of every Star,
185 And plant th’ Artillery of our Tubes
Against their proudest Magnitudes;
To stretch our Victories beyond
Th’ Extent of planetary Ground;
And fix our Engines, and our Ensigns
190 Upon the fixt Stars vast Dimensions,
(Which Archimede, so long ago,
Durst not presume to wish to do)
And prove, if they are other Suns,
As some have held Opinions;
195 Or Windows in the Empyreum,
From whence those bright Effluvias come
Like Flames of Fire (as others guess)
That shine i' the Mouths of Furnaces.
Nor is this all, we have atchiev'd,
200 But more, henceforth to be believ'd,
- ↑ 175. Most excellent and virtuous Friends.] The Sense of the Word virtuous in this Speech and other Parts of this Poem is to be taken from the French Virtù, from whence the Term Virtuoso.
205.
