Page images
PDF
EPUB

Five Sifters only now remain,
And every Cloyster, every Fane
Deferted droops its languid Head,
Since Luther here new Tenets spread.
To Boxtehude a wealthy Dame,
With a most beauteous Daughter, came;
An Officer their Steps purfu'd,

Who with fond Eyes the Virgin view'd.
We met, we talk'd, and Bochart jok'd
With the fair Damfel; this provok'd
The Son of Mars; as ufual, warm'd
With many a Glass, he loudly ftorm'd,
And urg'd our undefigning Friend
All Contests with the Sword to end:
Scarce could we make the Quarrel ceafe,
And join their Hands in Pledge of Peace.
Next Morn, a Boat convey'd us o'er
The Elbe, to Hamburgh's trading Shore.
Here, drefs'd in rich Brocades, the Fair
Towns, Landscapes, on their Shoulders bear:
Such Tints not ev'n the watry Bow,
Nor Juno's beauteous Bird, can fhow.
Slefwick my languid Limbs receiv'd,

And Gottorp's antique Beds reliev'd.
I there twelve Days with Joy remain'd,
By ancient Manufcripts detain'd:-
And now I ranfack'd o'er and o'er

Each crowded Chamber's letter'd Store ;

Now

Now modern Perfia's barbarous State
Heard* Olearius oft relate;

Nor did ev'n Holftein's Duke decline
In our inftructive Lore to join.

Sharp bilious Pains my Comrade's Breaft,
Soon as from hence we went, oppreft;

But Eafe, next Day, Emetics yield,
And Hadersleben faw him heal'd.

Now full in View the Baltic roars ;
Embark'd, we fail from Holftein's Shores.
Funen, not diftant, in the Main
Appears; the fruitful Soil I gain ;
And, shivering with a hafty Storm,
At Odenfee grow dry and warm.
But while at Night asleep we lay,
Our Riding-Coats were ftol'n away:
Expos'd to Showers, I, with a Heart
Moft heavy, in the Morn depart.

At Nybourg we arrive by Night,
Where in a Dungeon, from the Light
Secluded, lies that guilty Fair,
That Royal Harlot, who could dare
Dire Poifons for her Lord to brew:
For fuch a Crime fure Death was due!

* The Duke of Holftein's Librarian, a Man of great Wisdom and Learning, of which he gave Proofs in An • Account of his Travels through Muscovy and Perfia,' which he undertook by the Duke's Order.

In

In Sight are fruitful Zealand's Shores;
We scarce had reach'd them, urg'd by Oars
And Sails, when rag'd the Eastern Wind;
Another Veffel, juft behind,

Dash'd on funk Rocks, was nearly loft.
A milk-white Plumage, on this Coast,
Adorns each beauteous Turkey Fowl;
The Dogs in Strains unusual howl.
There, intermingled, thick as Leaves,
We faw on Gibbets Wolves and Thieves :
Stuck in the Planks beneath were Knives;
The Sick, it feems, to fave their Lives,
This Method try; for (fo they say)
Whoever takes a Knife away,

Is doom'd the fame Disease to bear,
Transferr'd from him who ftuck it there.
At Rofchild every Stranger stays,
On Denmark's Royal Tombs to gaze.
Next, Copenhagen in the Clouds
Her fam'd Obfervatory fhrouds ;
Whofe Top, fo gradually the Plain
Inclines, a Chariot may attain.
Swift through this Royal City flies
Our Carriage; tir'd we close our Eyes.
When well refresh'd, we to the Court
To fee the Monarch, pleas'd refort.
Pur-blind am I, the Room was wide,
A Pair of Spectacles supply'd

My

My Sight's Defect, and by their Aid
The King distinctly I furvey'd :
But he, with Indignation fir'd,
Prepar'd to feize me; I retir'd
From that inhospitable Shore,
Refolv'd to venture there no more.
Once facred to the ftarry Skies,
In the mid Ocean* Huen lies;
Now loft to Fame, the Fisher's Guile
Is all the Study of the Ifle.
Thither I fteer'd; with pious Awe
I there great Tycho's Manfion faw;
And 'midft his Structures, now decay'd,
With heart-felt Melancholy stray'd.

We then once more unfurl'd our Sail :
But, when at Sea, a fudden Gale
With most impetuous Fury blew ;
We faw, and fhudder'd at the View:
Our Cloaths well drench'd, at length fecure,
We gain'd thy Harbour, Elfeneur :

* This Island was given to Tycho Brahe for his Life by Frederick II, King of Denmark, together with a large Penfion: And on August 8, 1576, this great Aftronomer laid the Foundation of his famous Obfervatory, or Castle, which he called Uraniburg, where he refided one and twenty Years. After the Death of King Frederick, the Emperor Rodolphus II. invited him to refide at his Court, then at Prague, to which City he accordingly went, and met with a moft gracious Reception. He died there, of a Retention of Urine, in 1601, aged 55.

Here,

Here, though just rescu'd from the Wave,
I still was near a watry Grave;

For while my Eye with heedlefs Gaze,
Important Cronenburgh surveys,

*

Close to the Ditch my Foot I found:
What Perils Travellers furround!
Whoe'er can Peace enjoy at Home,
By my Advice would never roam.

Spite of the Wind's tempestuous Roar,
We cross the Sound to Schonen's Shore.
Our Hoft there cook'd a strange Repast,
Delicious to a Gothland Taste :

He kindly urg'd us first to eat,
Sprinkled with Saffron, falted Meat:
Then on the Board at once appear

Raw Mutton-Steaks, dry'd Currants, Beer,
Sweet-fcented Herbs, Ice pounded, Wine,
Cloves, and quick Pepper, fifted fine:
The Table laft full many a

Pound

Of Ginger, Butter, Sugar, crown'd;
With Mustard, Honey, Fennel, Oyl,
And Coriander.---All the Toil
And Skill of Hecaté could ne'er

In Stygian Shades fuch Cates prepare ;
Nor worse the Drugs, if Fame be true,
Which unrelenting Step-dames brew..

A ftrong Castle in Zealand, where all Ships that pafs through the Sound pay Toll.

Each

« PreviousContinue »