leaving him to settle the title, and only begging him to suppress the author's name or to hide it in an anagram, as many people are perverse enough to think it an ingens indecus for a nobleman to work in the free and sublime sciences. He has not had time to revise the manuscript owing to domestic affairs,[1] other studies, and social intercourse with friends. He next proceeds in some poetical lines[2] to declare his intention of seeing more of the world in order to increase his knowledge, as it will be time enough later on to return to the frigid North, and, like other nobles, waste his time on horses, dogs, and luxury, unless God should reserve him for something better. Having (in prose) assured Pratensis of his lasting friendship wherever they both may be, and reminded him that they shall at all events be contemplating the same sun, moon, and stars, he gives vent to his feelings in the following lines, which may serve as a specimen of Tycho's poetical effusions:—
"Et quia disiunctis, Radios coniungere in unum
Non licet, et nosmet posse videre simul,
Jungemus radios radiis radiantis Olympi,
Quando micant claro, sydera clara, Polo.
Tunc ego, quam specto, figens mea lumina cœlo
Est quoque luminibus, Stella videnda, tuis.
Sic oculos pariter Cœlum coniunget in unum,
Nostra licet iungi corpora Terra vetet."
Finally, he ends this lengthy introduction by asking Pratensis to urge the workmen who are making him a celestial globe and other instruments, so that they can all be ready when he comes over again.[3]
Next comes the account of the star, exactly as afterwards
- ↑ Perhaps this is an allusion to his having fallen in love about this time, as we shall see farther on.
- ↑ Reprinted in Danske Magazin, ii. p. 186 (Weistritz, ii. p. 59).
- ↑ This globe is mentioned at some length in the above-mentioned letter from Pratensis of April 16, 1573. It must have been a beautiful piece of work, the surface silvered with gilt stars, &c.
