Yet none a deeper knowledge boafted,
Since old Hodge Bacon, and Bob Grosted.
Th' intelligible world he knew,

And all men dream on 't to be true,

That in this world there's not a wart
That has not there a counterpart ;
Nor can there, on the face of ground,
An individual beard be found
That has not, in that foreign nation,
A fellow of the felf-fame fashion;
So cut, fo colour'd, and fo curl'd,

As thofe are in th' inferior world.

He 'ad read Dee's prefaces before

The devil and Euclid o'er and o'er;

And all th' intrigues 'twixt him and Kelly,
Lefcus and th' Emperor, wou'd tell ye :
But with the moon was more familiar
Than e'er was almanack well-willer;

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Her fecrets understood fo clear,

That fome believ'd he had been there;
Knew when she was in fitteft mood

For cutting corns, or letting blood:
When for anointing fcabs and itches,
Or to the bum applying leeches ;
When fows and bitches may be spay'd,
And in what sign best cyder 's made;
Whether the wane be, or increase,

Best to set garlic, or sow pease;

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Who first found out the man i̇' th' moon,

That to the ancients was unknown;

How many dukes, and earls, and peers,
Are in the planetary spheres,

Their airy empire, and command,

Their fev'ral strengths by fea and land ;

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What factions they 've, and what they drive at In public vogue, or what in private :

With what defigns and interests
Each party manages contests.

He made an inftrument to know

If the moon fhine at full or no;

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That would, as foon as e'er fhe fhone, ftraight Whether 't were day or night demonstrate;

Tell what her d'ameter to an inch is,

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And prove that she's not made of green cheese.

It wou'd demonftrate, that the man in

The moon's a sea mediterranean ;

And that it is no dog or bitch

That stands behind him at his breech,

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But a huge Cafpian sea or lake,

With arms, which men for legs mistake;
How large a gulf his tail composes,

And what a goodly bay his nofe is ;

How many German leagues by th' fcale

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Cape fnout's from promontory tail.

He made a planetary gin,

Which rats would run their own heads in,
And come on purpose to be taken,
Without th' expense of cheese or bacon;
With lute-strings he would counterfeit
Maggots, that crawl on dish of meat;
Quote moles and spots on any place
O' th' body, by the index face;
Detect lost maidenheads by fneezing,
Or breaking wind of dames, or piffing;
Cure warts and corns, with application
Of medicines to th' imagination :

Fright agues into dogs, and scare,

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With rhymes, the tooth-ach and catarrh ;

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Chase evil spirits away by dint

Of fickle, horseshoe, hollow flint;
Spit fire out of a walnut-shell,

Which made the Roman flaves rebel;

And fire a mine in China here,

With sympathetic gunpowder.

He knew what s'ever 's to be known,
But much more than he knew would own.
What medicine 'twas that Paracelfus
Could make a man with, as he tells us ;
What figur'd flates are beft to make,
On wat'ry furface duck or drake;
What bowling-stones, in running race
Upon a board, have swiftest pace ;
Whether a pulse beat in the black
List of a dappled louse's back;
If systole or diastole move

Quickest when he's in wrath, or love;
When two of them do run a race,
Whether they gallop, trot, or pace ;
How many scores a flea will jump,

Of his own length, from head to rump,

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