Whom nothing in the world could bring

To civil life but fiddling,

105

The assembly with the Privolvans,
Another of as great renown

And solid judgment, in the moon,
That understood her various soils,

And which produc'd best genet-moyles,
And in the register of fame

Had enter'd his long living name,

115

106 and 109. These lines refer to the likeness of a fiddle in the moon, as drawn in the hand of Crowdero (fig. 14, ante). The singing regards the music of the spheres, so frequently alluded to by the ancient poets.

110. This line contains a strong allusion to the preponderances or librations of the moon, as mentioned in the note on the 88th line.

113. The third member of the society is drawn in fig. 40, together with the elephant, the object of his discovery, situate in the moon at the end of the prototype of his telescope. It is the same character as constituted the goddess Fame in Hudibras, (drawn ante, fig. 25,) to which there seems to be an allusion by the mention of great renown in this line, and of Fame herself in line 117. She

After he had por'd long and hard
T' th' engine, gave a start and star'd-
Quoth he, a stranger sight appears
Than e'er was seen in all the spheres:
A wonder more unparallel'd,

Than ever mortal tube beheld:

An elephant from one of those
Two mighty armies is broke loos e,
And with the horror of the fight
Appears amaz'd, and in a fright:
Look quickly, lest the sight of us,

120

125

Should cause the startl'd beast t'imboss;

130

is situate, in strong light, on the south side of the moon, facing the north, and with her head to the right hand of the north.

It is a large one, far more great,
Than e'er was bred in Afric yet,
From which we boldly may infer
The moon is much the fruitfuller.
And since the mighty Pyrrhus brought
Those living castles first, 'tis thought,
Against the Romans in the field,
It may an argument be held
(Arcadia being but a piece,

135

Since, from the greatest to the least,

All other stars and constellations

Have cattle of all sorts of nations,

And heaven, like a Tartar's hord,

With great and numerous droves is stor❜d:
And if the moon produce by nature

150

A people of so vast a stature,

'Tis consequent she should bring forth Far greater beasts too than the earth

155

150. Alluding to the different beasts in the zodiac.

(As by the best accounts appears

Of all our great'st discoverers);

And, that those monstrous creatures there

Proud of his interest in the glory

165

Of so miraculous a story;
When one who for his excellence

In heightening words and shadowing sense,

167. The fourth member of the society is exhibited in

Fig. 41.

н

as composed of light, about the centre of the moon

And magnifying all he writ
With curious microscopic wit,
Was magnify'd himself no less
In home and foreign colleges,
Began, transported with the twang
Of his own trillo, thus t' harangue.
Most excellent and virtuous friends,
This great discovery makes amends
For all our unsuccessful pains,
And lost expense of time and brains:
For, by this sole phenomenon,
We've gotten ground upon the moon,
And gain'd a pass, to hold dispute
With all the planets that stand out;
To carry this most virtuous war
Home to the door of every star,
And plant th' artillery of our tubes
Against their proudest magnitudes;

170

175

180

185

facing the north, (the north being placed on the right hand,) and with his head to the left hand of the north: the shadow which was the prototype of Hudibras's (folded) letter to his mistress, is, in the hand of this figure, a microscope. His large nose is such an one as a man might have who is given to speak through his nose, which may be alluded to, perhaps, by the terms twang and trillo, in line 173.