Upon Nothing

	Nothing, thou elder brother even to Shade,
	Thou 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,
5	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.
10	Yet Something did thy mighty power command
	And from thy fruitful Emptiness’s hand
	Snatched men, beasts, birds, fire, water, air, and land.
	Matter, the wicked’st offspring of thy race,
	By Form assisted, flew from thy embrace,
15	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 reign and ruin all thy line.
	But turncoat Time assists the foe in vain
20	And bribed by thee destroys their short-lived reign
	And to thy hungry womb drives back the slaves again.
	Thy mysteries are hid from laic eyes,
	And the divine alone by warrant pries
	Into thy bosom, where the truth in private lies.
25	Yet this of thee the wise may truly say,
	Thou from the virtuous nothing tak’st away,
	And to be part of thee the wicked wisely pray.
	Great Negative, how vainly would the wise
	Inquire, define, distinguish, teach, devise
30	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 state,
	When they have racked the politician’s breast,
35	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 thought, at best, for nothing fit,
40	While weighty Something modestly abstains
	From princes’ coffers and from statesman’s brains;
	And nothing there like stately Nothing reigns.
	Nothing, that dwells with fools in grave disguise,
	For whom they reverend forms and shapes devise,
45	Lawn sleeves, and furs, and gowns, when they like thee look wise.
	French truth, Dutch prowess, British policy,
	Hibernian learning, Scotch civility,
	Spaniards’ dispatch, Danes’ wit are mainly seen in thee.
	The great man’s gratitude to his best friend,
50	Kings’ promises, whores’ vows, to thee they bend,
	Flow swiftly into thee and in thee ever end.