Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ODE UPON DOCTOR HARVEY, by ABRAHAM COWLEY


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ODE UPON DOCTOR HARVEY, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Coy nature, (which remain'd, tho aged grown
Last Line: Will sure have her revenge on him at last.
Subject(s): Harvey, William (1578-1657)


1.

COY Nature, (which remain'd, though aged grown,
A beauteous virgin still, injoy'd by none,
Nor seen unveil'd by any one)
When Harvey's violent passion she did see,
Began to tremble, and to flee,
Took Sanctuary, like Daphne, in a tree:
There Daphne's lover stopt, and thought it much
The very Leaves of her to touch;
But Harvey, our Apollo, stop't not so,
Into the Bark, and root, he after her did goe:
No smallest Fibres of a Plant,
For which the eyebeam's Point doth sharpness want,
His passage after her withstood.
What should she do? through all the moving wood,
Of Lives indow'd with sense, she took her flight;
Harvey persues, and keeps her still in sight.
But as the Deer long-hunted takes a flood,
She leap't at last into the winding streams of blood;
Of man's Meander all the Purple reaches made,
'Till at the heart she stayd,
Where turning head, and at a Bay,
Thus, by well-purged ears, was she o're-heard to say.

2.

Here sure I shall be safe (sayd shee)
None will be able sure to see
This my retreat, but only hee,
Who made both it and mee.
The heart of Man, what Art can e're reveal?
A Wall Impervious between,
Divides the very Parts within,
And doth the Heart of man ev'n from it self conceal.
She spoke, but e're she was aware,
Harvey was with her there,
And held this slippery Proteus in a chain,
'Till all her mighty Mysteries she descry'd;
Which from his wit th' attempt before to hide,
Was the first Thing that Nature did in vain.

3.

He the young Practise of New life did see,
Whil'st to conceal its toylsome Poverty,
It for a Living wrought, both hard, and privately.
Before the Liver understood
The noble Scarlet Dye of Blood,
Before one drop was by it made,
Or brought into it, to set up the Trade;
Before the untaught Heart began to beat
The tuneful March to vital Heat,
From all the Souls that living Buildings rear,
Whether implyd for earth, or sea, or air,
Whether it in the womb or egg be wrought,
A strict account to him is hourly brought,
How the Great Fabrick do's proceed;
What time and what materials it do's need.
He so exactly do's the work survey,
As if he hir'd the workers by the day.

4.

Thus Harvey sought for truth in truth's own Book,
The creatures, which by God himself was writ;
And wisely thought 'twas fit,
Not to read Comments only upon it,
But on th' original it self to look.
Methinks in Art's great Circle others stand
Lockt up together, Hand in Hand;
Ev'ry one leads as he is led;
The same bare path they tread,
And Dance, like Fairies, a fantastick round,
But neither change their motion, nor their ground:
Had Harvey to this Road confin'd his wit,
His noble Circle of the Blood, had been untrodden yet.
Great Doctor! Th' art of Curing's cur'd by thee,
We now thy Patient Physick see,
From all inveterate diseases free;
Purg'd of old errors by thy Care,
New-dieted, put forth to clearer ayr,
It now will strong, and healthful prove;
It self before Lethargick lay and could not move.

5.

These Vseful secrets to his Pen we owe,
And thousands more 'twas ready to bestow;
Of which, a Barbarous War's unlearned Rage
Has robb'd the Ruin'd Age;
O cruel loss! as if the Golden Fleece,
With so much cost, and labour bought,
And from afarr by a Great Hero Brought,
Had sunk even in the Ports of Greece.
O cursed warre! who can forgive thee this?
Houses and towns may rise again,
And ten times easier it is
To re-build Pauls, than any work of his.
That mighty task none but himself can doe,
Nay, scarce himself too now;
For though his Wit the force of Age withstand,
His Body, alas! and time it must command,
And Nature now, so long by him surpass't,
Will sure have her Revenge on him at last.





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