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Nothing, thou
elder brother even to shade,
That hadst a being ere
the world was made,
And (well fixed) art alone of
ending not afraid.
Ere time and place were, time and
place were not,
When primitive Nothing Something
straight begot,
Then all proceeded from the great
united--What?
Something, the general attribute of
all,
Severed from thee, its sole original,
Into
thy boundless self must undistinguished fall.
Yet
Something did thy mighty power command,
And from thy
fruitful emptiness's hand,
Snatched men, beasts,
birds, fire, air, and land.
Matter, the wickedest
offspring of thy race,
By Form assisted, flew from
thy embrace,
And rebel Light obscured thy reverend
dusky face.
With Form and Matter, Time and Place did
join,
Body, thy foe, with these did leagues combine
To spoil thy peaceful realm, and ruin all thy line.
But turncoat Time assists the foe in vain,
And,
bribed by thee, assists thy short-lived reign,
And to
thy hungry womb drives back thy slaves again.
Though
mysteries are barred from laic eyes,
And the Divine
alone with warrant pries
Into thy bosom, where thy
truth in private lies,
Yet this of thee the wise may
freely say,
Thou from the virtuous nothing takest
away,
And to be part of thee the wicked wisely pray.
Great Negative, how vainly would the wise
Inquire,
define, distinguish, teach, devise?
Didst thou not
stand to point their dull philosophies.
Is, or is
not, the two great ends of Fate,
And true or false,
the subject of debate,
That perfects, or destroys,
the vast designs of Fate,
When they have racked the
politician's breast,
Within thy bosom most securely
rest,
And, when reduced to thee, are least unsafe and
best.
But Nothing, why does Something still permit
That sacred monarchs should at council sit
With
persons highly thought at best for nothing fit?
Whist
weighty Something modestly abstains
From princes'
coffers, and from statesmen's brains,
And Nothing
there like stately Nothing reigns,
Nothing, who
dwellest with fools in grave disguise,
For whom they
reverend shapes and forms devise,
Lawn sleeves, and
furs, and gowns, when they like thee look wise.
French truth, Dutch prowess, British policy,
Hibernian learning, Scotch civility,
Spaniard's
dispatch, Dane's wit are mainly seen in thee.
The
great man's gratitude to his best friend,
King's
promises, whore's vows, towards thee they bend,
Flow
swiftly to thee, and in thee never end.
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