[Nereides:] Eclogue VIII. Proteus. William Diaper Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
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Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
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Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. T126092 Diaper, William, d. 1717. Nereides: or Sea-Eclogues. London Printed by J. H. for E. Sanger, at the Post-House, at the Middle-Temple-Gate in Fleetstreet 1712 pp. 36-40. x, 69 p.

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[ Nereides : ] Eclogue VIII . Proteus . Proteus had sent his scaly Herd to feed , And slumber'd on a Bed of slimy Weed ; Ino and Cete thither chanc'd to stray , They saw , and seiz'd him as he sleeping lay : Anxious for Flight , now flashing Flame he seems , Now softly glides away in melting Streams . But they fast held him , till he smiling said ; With Songs , nay more than Songs you shall be paid . He then began — To sing of Truths unknown , unheard before , While all the Sea was still , and Winds were heard no more . He sung the World's first Birth , and wondrous Frame , How Bodies all from one great Fluid came . Of different Parts compos'd , a liquid Mass Incessant mov'd in the unbounded Space : ( The Essence of a Fluid is confest To move , and to be solid is to rest ) And as they flow , all Fluids ever bend To fly around , and to a Circle tend ; Thus a true Chaos did at first arise From moving Globules of a different Size ; But finer Atoms were more free to move , And with the sluggish Parts too active strove Till they had prest them down from those above : 'Twas then th'unsullied Light did first appear , And the bright æther shone unmixt with grosser Air . At length by tedious time , and slow Degrees Was form'd the Center of unfathom'd Seas , Made of large Globules , which th'aerial Sphere By Motion thrust from it , and settled here ; Then first the Ocean knew his constant place , And th'azure Deep unvail'd his smiling Face . 'Tis Motion makes ( when different Bodies meet ) What Gravity we call , and pressing Weight , While restless Fluids ever drive below Bodies more solid , or — that move too slow . Long rowl'd the Sea , before the Earth appear'd , No Pastures yet were seen , no bleating Flocks were heard , 'Till th'Ocean's constant Motion closer prest An earthy Scum , which gathering still encreast ; But here th'intrinsick Fluids still remain , And hardest Mettle will its Flux regain . Whene'er dissolv'd the Parts their Freedom know , And with new Joy again they love to flow . He sung , how Heav'n displeas'd with earthy Man , Disturb'd the Seas ; how all the Mass began To move enrag'd ; The Motion thus encreast , The sinking Earth down to the Center prest ; Such was the antient Deluge , when the Flood Pour'd o'er the Plains , and on the Mountains stood ; While Earth-born Mortals too absurdly teach That solid Bodies to the Center reach . E'er Land was seen , the Ocean had its Birth , And now th'Abyss supports the shallow Crust of Earth . Thus Proteus sung , and sung — yet more divine , How Souls unbody'd act , and how incline ; That Knowledge now is at the best no more , But a Research of what we knew before . The Soul as yet to no dull Body joyn'd , Sees all Idea's in th'eternal Mind ; The native Beams are sullied and obscur'd , And quench'd at once , in grosser Clay immur'd , 'Till rouz'd at length by Thought , and studious Care , Like latent Sparks with sudden Light they glare . Gladly the conscious Mind the Hint pursues , And rising Images with Wonder views ; Now finds she long before Existence had , And that those Truths were rather found than made . Thus Science grafted do's on Ignorance grow ; Men lose to find , and turn unwise to know . Folly their fancy'd Knowledge do's create ; The greatest Hardship this of human Fate , With Pain they learn , what they with Ease forgat . The God thus ended his mysterious Lay , When ruddy to the Waves , sunk the declining Day .