Then let us straight advance in quest 195
Of this profound gymnosophist,[1]
And as the fates and he advise,
Pursue, or waive this enterprise.
This said, he turn'd about his steed,
And eftsoons on th' adventure rid; 200
Where leave we him and Ralph awhile.
And to the Conj'rer turn our stile,
To let our reader understand
What's useful of him beforehand.
He had been long t'wards mathematics, 205
Optics, philosophy, and statics,
Magic, horoscopy, astrology,
And was old dog[2] at physiology:
But as a dog, that turns the spit,[3]
Bestirs himself, and plies his feet 210
To climb the wheel, but all in vain.
His own weight brings him down again;
And still he's in the self-same place
Where at his setting out he was;
So in the circle of the arts 215
Did he advance his nat'ral parts.
Till falling back still, for retreat,
He fell to juggle, cant, and cheat:[4]
For as those fowls that live in water
Are never wet, he did but smatter; 220
- ↑ The Gymnosophists were a sect of philosophers in India, so called from their going with naked feet and very little clothing. They were extreme abstinents, and much respected for their superior sanctity. Butler seems to use the word as equivalent to recluse or ascetic.
- ↑ A humorous employment of the proverbial term for an experienced or knowing person.
- ↑ Prior's simile seems to have been suggested by this passage:
Dear Thomas, didst thou never see
('Tis but by way of simile)
A squirrel spend his little rage
In jumping round a rolling cage?
But here or there, turn wood or wire,
He never gets two inches higher.
So fares it with those merry blades
That frisk it under Pindus' shades. - ↑ The account here given of William Lilly agrees exactly with his Life written by himself.
