Selected quad for the lemma: water_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
water_n	earth_n	heaven_n	see_v	4,288	5	3.8847	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01185	The vvisedome of the ancients, written in Latine by the Right Honourable Sir Francis Bacon Knight, Baron of Verulam, and Lord Chancelor or England. Done into English by Sir Arthur Gorges Knight; De sapientia veterum. English	Bacon, Francis, 1561-1626.; Gorges, Arthur, Sir, 1557?-1625.	1619 (1619)	STC 1130; ESTC S100339	47,646	172

beautifull virgine as shee was gathering Narcissus flowers in the meadowes of Sicily and caried her away with him in his Coach to the Subterranean dominions where shee was welcomed with such respect as that shee was stiled the Lady of Dis. But Ceres her mother when in no place shee could finde this her onely beloued daughter in a sorrowfull humour and distracted beyond measure went compassing the whole earth with a burning torch in her hand to seeke and recouer this her lost child But when shee saw that all was in vaine supposing peraduenture that she was caried to Hell shee importuned Iupiter with many teares and lamentations that shee might be restored vnto her again at length preuailed thus farre That if she had tasted of nothing in Hell shee should haue leaue to bring her from thence Which condition was as good as a deniall to her petition Proserpina hauing already eaten three graines of a Pome-granat And yet for all this Ceres gaue not ouer her suite but fell to prayers and moanes afresh Wherefore it was at last granted that the yeere being diuided Proserpina should by alternate courses remaine one sixe moneths with her husband and other six moneths with her mother Not long after this Theseus and Perithous in an ouer hardy aduenture attempted to fetch her from Plutos bed who being wearie with trauell and sitting downe vpon a stone in Hell to rest themselues had not the power to rise againe but sate there for euer Proserpina therefore remained Queene of Hell in whose honour there was this great priuiledge granted That although it were enacted that none that went downe to Hell should haue the power euer to returne from thence yet was this singular exception annexed to this law that if any presented Proserpina with a golden bough it should bee lawfull for him to come and goe at his pleasure Now there was but one onely such bough in a spacious and shady groue which was not a plant neither of it selfe but budded from a tree of another kinde like a rope of Gumme which beeing pluckt of another would instantly spring out This Fable seemes to pertaine to nature and to diue into that rich and plentifull efficacy and variety of subalternall creatures from whom whatsoeuer wee haue is deriued and to them doth againe returne By Proserpina the Auncients meant that aethereall spirite which beeing separated from the vpper globe is shut vp and detained vnder the earth represented by Pluto which the Poet well expressed thus Siue recens tellus seductaque nuper ab alto Aethere cognati retinebat semina coeli Whither the youngling Tellus that of late Was from the high-reard Aether seperate Did yet containe her teeming wombe within The liuing seeds of Heauen her neerest kin This spirit is fained to be rapted by the Earth because nothing can with-hold it when it hath time and leasure to escape It is therefore caught and stayed by a sudden contraction no other wise then if a man should goe about to mixe ayre with water which can be done by no meanes but by a speedy and rapid agitation as may bee seene in froth wherein the ayre is rapted by the water Neither is it inelegantly added that Proserpina was rapte as shee was gathering Narcissus Flowers in the valleyes because Narcissus hath his name from slownesse or stupiditie for indeed then is this Spirit most prepared and fitted to be snatcht by terrestiall matter when it beginnes to be coagulated and becomes as it were slowe Rightly is Proserpina honoured more then any of the other Gods bed-fellowes in beeing styled the Lady of Dis because this spirit doth rule and swaye all things in those lower Regions Pluto abiding stupid and ignorant This Spirit the power celestiall shadowed by Ceres striues with infinite sedulity to recouer and get againe for that brand or burning torch of Aether which Ceres caried in her hand doth doubtles signifie the Sunne which enlightneth the whole circuit of the Earth and would bee of greatest moment to recouer Proserpina if possibly it might be But Proserpina abides still the reason of which is accuratly and excellently propounded in the conditions betweene Iupiter and Ceres For first it is most certaine there are two waies to keepe Spirit in solid and terrestriall Matter the one by constipation or obstruction which is meere imprisonment and constraint the other by administration of proportionable nutriment which it receiues willingly and of its owne accord for after that the included Spirit beginnes to feed and nourish it selfe it makes no haste to be gone but is as it were linckt to its Earth And this is pointed at by Proserpina her eating of a Pome granat which if shee had not done shee had long since beene recouered by Ceres with her torch compassing the Earth Now as concerning that Spirit which is in Mettals and minerals it is chiefly perchance restrained by the solidity of Masse but that which is in Plants and Animals inhabites a porous body and hath open passage to bee gone in a manner as it lists were it not that it willingly abides of its owne accord by reason of the relish it finds in its entertainment The second condition concerning the six moneths custome it is no other then an elegant description of the diuision of the yeere seeing this Spirit mixt with the Earth appeares aboue ground in vegetable bodies during the summer months and in the winter sinkes downe againe Now as concerning Theseus and Perithous their attempt to bring Proserpina quite away the meaning of it is that it oftentimes comes to passe that some more subtill spirits descēding with diuers bodies to the Earth neuer come to sucke of any subalternall Spirit whereby to vnite it vnto them and so to bring it away But on the contrary are coagulated themselues and neuer rise more that Proserpina should bee by that meanes augmented with inhabitants and dominion All that wee can say concerning that sprig of gold is hardly able to defend vs from the violence of the Chymicks if in this regarde they set vpon vs seeing they promise by that their Elixar to effect golden mountaines and the restoring of naturall bodies as it were from the portall of Hell But concerning Chymistry and those perpetuall sutors for that philosophicall Elixar wee know certainly that their Theory is without grounds we suspect that their practise also is without certaine reward And therefore omitting these of this last part of the parable this is my opinion I am induced to beleeue by many figures of the Ancients that the conseruation and restauration of naturall bodies in some sorte was not esteemed by them as a thing impossible Coronets So as euer since that time all the Muses haue attired them selues with plumed heads except Terpsichores onely that was mother to the Sirenes The habitation of the Sirenes was in certaine pleasant Ilands from whence as soone as out of their watch-tower they discouered any ships approching with their sweet tunes they

meant those externall and vaine rites and emptie Ceremonies by which men doe oppresse and fill vp the sincere worshippe of God things composed rather for ostentation then any way conducing to true piety Neither doe they hold it sufficiēt to offer such mock-sacrifices vnto God except they also lay them before him as if he had chosen and bespoke them Certainly the Prophet in the person of God doth thus expostulate concerning this choise Esa. 58. 5. Num tandem hoc est illud ieiunium quod ELEGI vt homo animam suam in diem vnum affligat caput instar iunceae demittat Is it such a fast that I haue chosen that a man should afflict his soule for a day and to bow downe his head like a Bull-rush Hauing now toucht the state of Religion the parable conuerts it selfe to the manners and conditions of humane life And it is a common but apt interpretation by Pandora to be meant pleasure voluptuousnes which when the ciuill life is pampered with too much Arte and culture and superfluitie is ingendred as it were by the efficacy of fire and therefore the worke of voluptuousnes is attributed vnto Vulcan who also himselfe doth represent fire From this doe infinite miseries together with too late repentance proceed and ouerslowe the minds and bodies and fortunes of men and that not onely in respect of particular estates but euen ouer kingdomes and common-wealthes for from this fountaine haue wars and tumults and tyrannies deriued their originall But it would bee worth the labour to consider how elegantly and proportionably this Fable doth deliniate two conditions or as I may say two tables or examples of humane life vnder the persons of Prometheus and Epimetheus for they that are of Epimetheus his sect are improuident not foreseeing what may come to passe hereafter esteeming that best which seemes most sweete for the present whence it happens that they are ouertaken with many miseries difficulties and calamities and so leade their owne liues almost in perpetuall affliction but yet notwithstanding they please their fancy and out of ignorance of the passages of things doe entertaine many vaine hopes in their mind whereby they sometimes as with sweet dreames solace themselues and sweeten the miseries of their life But they that are Prometheus his schollers are men endued with prudence foreseeing things to come warily shunning and auoyding many euils and misfortunes But to these their good properties they haue this also annexed that they depriue themselues and defraud their Genius of many lawfull pleasures and diuers recreations and which is worse they vexe and torment themselues with cares and troubles and intestine feares For beeing chained to the pillar of necessitie they are afflicted with innumerable cogitations which because they are very swift may bee fitly compared to an Eagle and those griping and as it were gnawing and deuouring the liuer vnlesse sometimes as it were by night it may bee they get a little recreation and ease of mind but so as that they are againe suddenly assaulted with fresh anxieties and feares Therefore this benefit happens to but a very few of either condition that they should retaine the commodities of prouidence and free themselues from the miseries of care and perturbation neither indeed can any attaine vnto it but by the assistance of Hercules that is fortitude and constancie of minde which is prepared for euery euent and armed in all fortunes foreseeing without feare enioying without loathing and suffering without impatience It is worth the noting also that this vertue was not naturall to Prometheus but aduentitiall from the indulgence of another for no in-bred and naturall fortitude is able to encounter with these miseries Moreouer this vertue was receiued and brought vnto him from the remotest parte of the Ocean and from the Sunne that is from wisedome as from the Sunne and from the meditation of inconstancie or of the waters of humane life as from the sailing vpon the Ocean which two Virgill hath well conioyned in these verses and betweene the Oracles of sense and the mysteries of faith vnlesse an hereticall religion and a commentitious philosophy be pleasing vnto vs. Lastly it remaines that wee say something of the games of Prometheus performed with burning torches which againe hath reference to arts and sciences as that fire in whose memory and celebration these games were instituted and it containes in it a most wise admonition that the perfection of sciences is to be expected from succession not from the nimblenesse and promptnes of one onely authour for they that are nimblest in course and strongest in contention yet happily haue not the lucke to keepe fire still in their torch seeing it may be as well extinguished by running too fast as by going too slowe And this running and contending with lampes seemes long since to be intermitted seeing all sciences seeme euen now to flourish most in their first Authours Aristotle Galene Euclid and Ptolomie succession hauing neither effected nor almost attempted any great matter It were therefore to bee wished that these games in honour of Prometheus or humane nature were again restored that matters should receiue successe by combate and emulation not hang vpon any one mans sparkling and shaking torch Men therefore are to bee admonished to rouse vp their spirits trie their strengths and turnes and not referre all to the opinions and braines of a few And thus haue I deliuered that which I thought good to obserue out of this so wel knowen and common Fable and yet I will not denie but that there may bee some things in it which haue an admirable consent with the mysteries of christian religion and especially that sailing of Hercules in a Cuppe to set Prometheus at libertie seemes to represent an image of the diuine Word comming in flesh as in a fraile vessell to redeeme Man from the slauery of Hell But I haue interdicted my penne all liberty in this kinde lest I should vse strange fire at the altar of the Lord. 27. SCYLLA AND ICARVS or the Middle-way MEdiocrity or the Middle-way is most commended in morall actions in contemplatiue sciences not so celebrated though no lesse profitable and commodious But in politicall imployments to be vsed with great heed and iudgement The Ancients by the way prescribed to Icarus noted the mediocrity of manners and by the way betweene Scylla and Charybdis so famous for difficulty and danger the mediocritie of intellectuall operations Icarus being to crosse the sea by flight was commanded by his Father that hee should flie neither too high nor too lowe for his wings being ioynd with waxe if he should mount too high it was to be feared lest the waxe would melt by the heat of the Sunne and If too lowe least the mistie vapours of the Sea would make it lesse tenacious But he in a youthfull iollitie soaring too high fell downe headlong and perished in the water The parable is easie and vulgar for the

way of vertue lies in a direct path betweene excesse and defect Neither is it a wonder that Icarus perished by Excesse seeing that Excesse for the most part is the peculiar fault of youth as Defect is of age and yet of too euill and hurtfull waies youth commonly makes choise of the better defect being alwaies accounted worst for whereas excesse containes some sparkes of magnanimitie like a bird claimes kindred of the Heauens defect onely like a base worme crawles vpon the earth Excellently therefore said Heraclitus Lumen siccum optima anima A drie light is the best soule for if the soule contract moisture from the earth it becomes degenerate altogether Againe on the other side there must be moderation vsed that this light be subtilized by this laudable siccity and not destroyed by too much feruency And thus much euery man for the most part knowes Now they that would saile betweene Scylla Charybdis must be furnished as well with the skill as prosperous successe of nauigation for if their shippes fall into Scylla they are split on the Rocks if into Charybdis they are swallowed vp of a Gulfe The morall of this parable which we will but briefly touch although it containe matter of infinite contemplation seemes to be this that in euery Art and Science and so in their rules and Axiomes there bee a meane obserued betweene the rocks of distinctions and the gulfes of vniuersalities which two are famous for the wracke both of wittes and artes 28. SPHINX or Science THey say that Sphinx was a monster of diuers formes as hauing the face and voice of a virgine the wings of a bird and the talents of a Griphin His abode was in a mountaine neere the Citie of Thebes he kept also the high waies and vsed to lie in ambush for travellers and so to surprize them to whom being in his power he propounded certaine darke and intricate riddles which were thought to haue bene giuen and receiued of the Muses Now if these miserable captiues were not able instantly to resolue and interprete them in the middest of their difficulties and vnto it for its gratious countenance and volubilitie of tongue Wings are added because Sciences and their inuentions doe passe and flie from one to another as it were in a moment seeing that the communication of Science is as the kindling of one light at another Elegantly also is it fained to haue sharpe and hooked talents because the Axioms and arguments of Science doe so fasten vpon the mind and so strongly apprehend and hold it as that it cannot stirre or euade which is noted also by the diuine Philosopher Eccl. 12. 11. Verba sapientum saith he sunt tanquam aculei veluti claui in altum defixi The words of the wise are like goads and like nailes driuen farre in Moreouer all Science seemes to be placed in steepe and high mountaines as being thought to be a loftie and high thing looking downe vpon ignorance with a scornefull eye It may bee obserued and seene also a great way and farre in compasse as things set on the toppes of mountaines Furthermore Science may well be fained to besette the high waies because which way so euer we turne in this progresse and pilgrimage of humane life wee meete with some matter or occasion offered for contemplation Sphinx is saide to haue receiued from the Muses diuers difficult questions and riddles and to propound them vnto men which remaining with the Muses are free it may be from sauage cruelty for so long as there is no other ende of studie and meditation then to know the vnderstanding is not rackt and imprisoned but enioyes freedome and libertie and euen in doubts and variety findes a kind of pleasure and delectation but when once these Aenigmaes are deliuered by the Muses to Sphinx that is to practise so that it bee sollicited and vrged by action and election and determination then they beginne to be troublesome and raging and vnlesse they be resolued and expedited they doe wonderfully torment and vexe the minds of men distracting and in a manner rending them into sundry parts Moreouer there is alwaies a twofold condition propounded with Sphinx her Aenigmaes To him that doth not expound them distraction of minde and to him that doth a kingdome for he that knowes that which he sought to knowe hath attained the end he aimed at and euery artificer also commands ouer his worke Of Sphinx her riddles there are generally two kinds some concerning the nature of things others touching the nature of Man So also there are two kindes of Emperies as rewards to those that resolue them the one ouer nature the other ouer men for the proper and chiefe end of true naturall philosophy is to command and sway ouer naturall beeings as bodies medicines mechanicall workes and infinite other things although the schoole being content with such things as are offered and pryding it selfe with speeches doth neglect realties and workes treading them as it were vnder foote But that Aenigma propounded to Oedipus by meanes of which hee obtained the Thebane Empire belonged to the nature of man For whosoeuer doth throughly consider the nature of man may be in a manner the contriuer of his owne fortune and is borne to command which is wel spoken of the Romane Arts. Tu regere imperio populos Romane memento Hae tibi erunt artes Romane remember that with scepters awe Thy Realmes thou rule These arts let be thy lawe It was therefore very apposit that Augustus Caesar whether by premeditation or by chance bare a Sphinx in his Signet for hee if euer any was famous not onely in politicall gouernment but in all the course of his life he happily discouered many new Aenigmaes concerning the nature of Man which if he had not done with dexteritie and promptnesse he had oftentimes fallen into imminent danger and destruction Moreouer it is added in the Fable that the body of Sphinx when shee was ouercome was laide vpon an Asse which indeed is an elegant fiction seeing there is nothing so accute and abstruse but beeing well vnderstood and diuulged may be apprehended by a slowe capacitie Neither is it to be omitted that Sphinx was ouercome by a Man lame in his feet for when men are too swift of foot and too speedy of pace in hasting to Sphinx her Aenigmaes it comes to passe that shee getting the vpper hand their wits and mindes are rather distracted by disputations then that euer they come to command by workes and effects 16. PROSERPINA or Spirit PLuto they say being made king of the infernall dominions by that memorable diuision was in despaire of euer attaining any one of the superiour Goddesses in mariage especially if he should venter to court them either with words or with any amorous behauiour so that of necessitie he was to lay some plot to get one of them by rapine taking therefore the benefit of opportunitie he caught vp Proserpina the daughter of Ceres a