Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Formation of Man
1:40 Thus when the God, whatever God was he,
1:41 Had form'd the whole, and made
the parts agree,
1:42 That no unequal portions might
be found,
1:43 He moulded Earth into a spacious
round:
1:44 Then with a breath, he gave the
winds to blow;
1:45 And bad the congregated waters
flow.
1:46 He adds the running springs, and
standing lakes;
1:47 And bounding banks for winding
rivers makes.
1:48 Some part, in Earth are swallow'd
up, the most
1:49 In ample oceans, disembogu'd, are
lost.
1:50 He shades the woods, the vallies
he restrains
1:51 With rocky mountains, and extends
the plains.
1:52 And as five zones th' aetherial regions bind,
1:53 Five, correspondent, are to Earth
assign'd:
1:54 The sun with rays, directly darting
down,
1:55 Fires all beneath, and fries the
middle zone:
1:56 The two beneath the distant poles,
complain
1:57 Of endless winter, and perpetual
rain.
1:58 Betwixt th' extreams, two happier
climates hold
1:59 The temper that partakes of hot,
and cold.
1:60 The fields of liquid air, inclosing
all,
1:61 Surround the compass of this earthly
ball:
1:62 The lighter parts lye next the fires above;
1:63 The grosser near the watry surface
move:
1:64 Thick clouds are spread, and storms
engender there,
1:65 And thunder's voice, which wretched
mortals fear,
1:66 And winds that on their wings cold
winter bear.
1:67 Nor were those blustring brethren
left at large,
1:68 On seas, and shores, their fury
to discharge:
1:69 Bound as they are, and circumscrib'd
in place,
1:70 They rend the world, resistless,
where they pass;
1:71 And mighty marks of mischief leave
behind;
1:72 Such is the rage of their tempestuous
kind.
1:73 First Eurus to the rising morn
is sent
1:74 (The regions of the balmy continent);
1:75 And Eastern realms, where early
Persians run,
1:76 To greet the blest appearance of
the sun.
1:77 Westward, the wanton Zephyr wings
his flight;
1:78 Pleas'd with the remnants of departing
light:
1:79 Fierce Boreas, with his off-spring,
issues forth
1:80 T' invade the frozen waggon of
the North.
1:81 While frowning Auster seeks the
Southern sphere;
1:82 And rots, with endless rain, th'
unwholsom year.
1:83 High o'er the clouds, and empty realms of
wind,
1:84 The God a clearer space for Heav'n
design'd;
1:85 Where fields of light, and liquid
aether flow;
1:86 Purg'd from the pondrous dregs
of Earth below.
1:87 Scarce had the Pow'r distinguish'd these,
when streight
1:88 The stars, no longer overlaid with
weight,
1:89 Exert their heads, from underneath
the mass;
1:90 And upward shoot, and kindle as
they pass,
1:91 And with diffusive light adorn
their heav'nly place.
1:92 Then, every void of Nature to supply,
1:93 With forms of Gods he fills the
vacant sky:
1:94 New herds of beasts he sends, the
plains to share:
1:95 New colonies of birds, to people
air:
1:96 And to their oozy beds, the finny
fish repair.
1:97 A creature of a more exalted kind
1:98 Was wanting yet, and then was Man
design'd:
1:99 Conscious of thought, of more capacious
breast,
1:100 For empire form'd, and fit to
rule the rest:
1:101 Whether with particles of heav'nly
fire
1:102 The God of Nature did his soul
inspire,
1:103 Or Earth, but new divided from
the sky,
1:104 And, pliant, still retain'd th'
aetherial energy:
1:105 Which wise Prometheus temper'd
into paste,
1:106 And, mixt with living streams,
the godlike image cast.
1:107 Thus, while the mute creation downward bend
1:108 Their sight, and to their earthly
mother tend,
1:109 Man looks aloft; and with erected
eyes
1:110 Beholds his own hereditary skies.
1:111 From such rude principles our
form began;
1:112 And earth was metamorphos'd into
Man.
Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Formation of Man
1:40 Thus when the God, whatever God was he,
1:41 Had form'd the whole, and made
the parts agree,
1:42 That no unequal portions might
be found,
1:43 He moulded Earth into a spacious
round:
1:44 Then with a breath, he gave the
winds to blow;
1:45 And bad the congregated waters
flow.
1:46 He adds the running springs, and
standing lakes;
1:47 And bounding banks for winding
rivers makes.
1:48 Some part, in Earth are swallow'd
up, the most
1:49 In ample oceans, disembogu'd, are
lost.
1:50 He shades the woods, the vallies
he restrains
1:51 With rocky mountains, and extends
the plains.
1:52 And as five zones th' aetherial regions bind,
1:53 Five, correspondent, are to Earth
assign'd:
1:54 The sun with rays, directly darting
down,
1:55 Fires all beneath, and fries the
middle zone:
1:56 The two beneath the distant poles,
complain
1:57 Of endless winter, and perpetual
rain.
1:58 Betwixt th' extreams, two happier
climates hold
1:59 The temper that partakes of hot,
and cold.
1:60 The fields of liquid air, inclosing
all,
1:61 Surround the compass of this earthly
ball:
1:62 The lighter parts lye next the fires above;
1:63 The grosser near the watry surface
move:
1:64 Thick clouds are spread, and storms
engender there,
1:65 And thunder's voice, which wretched
mortals fear,
1:66 And winds that on their wings cold
winter bear.
1:67 Nor were those blustring brethren
left at large,
1:68 On seas, and shores, their fury
to discharge:
1:69 Bound as they are, and circumscrib'd
in place,
1:70 They rend the world, resistless,
where they pass;
1:71 And mighty marks of mischief leave
behind;
1:72 Such is the rage of their tempestuous
kind.
1:73 First Eurus to the rising morn
is sent
1:74 (The regions of the balmy continent);
1:75 And Eastern realms, where early
Persians run,
1:76 To greet the blest appearance of
the sun.
1:77 Westward, the wanton Zephyr wings
his flight;
1:78 Pleas'd with the remnants of departing
light:
1:79 Fierce Boreas, with his off-spring,
issues forth
1:80 T' invade the frozen waggon of
the North.
1:81 While frowning Auster seeks the
Southern sphere;
1:82 And rots, with endless rain, th'
unwholsom year.
1:83 High o'er the clouds, and empty realms of
wind,
1:84 The God a clearer space for Heav'n
design'd;
1:85 Where fields of light, and liquid
aether flow;
1:86 Purg'd from the pondrous dregs
of Earth below.
1:87 Scarce had the Pow'r distinguish'd these,
when streight
1:88 The stars, no longer overlaid with
weight,
1:89 Exert their heads, from underneath
the mass;
1:90 And upward shoot, and kindle as
they pass,
1:91 And with diffusive light adorn
their heav'nly place.
1:92 Then, every void of Nature to supply,
1:93 With forms of Gods he fills the
vacant sky:
1:94 New herds of beasts he sends, the
plains to share:
1:95 New colonies of birds, to people
air:
1:96 And to their oozy beds, the finny
fish repair.
1:97 A creature of a more exalted kind
1:98 Was wanting yet, and then was Man
design'd:
1:99 Conscious of thought, of more capacious
breast,
1:100 For empire form'd, and fit to
rule the rest:
1:101 Whether with particles of heav'nly
fire
1:102 The God of Nature did his soul
inspire,
1:103 Or Earth, but new divided from
the sky,
1:104 And, pliant, still retain'd th'
aetherial energy:
1:105 Which wise Prometheus temper'd
into paste,
1:106 And, mixt with living streams,
the godlike image cast.
1:107 Thus, while the mute creation downward bend
1:108 Their sight, and to their earthly
mother tend,
1:109 Man looks aloft; and with erected
eyes
1:110 Beholds his own hereditary skies.
1:111 From such rude principles our
form began;
1:112 And earth was metamorphos'd into
Man.