Theatrum chemicum Britannicum· Containing severall poeticall pieces of our famous English philosophers, who have written the hermetique mysteries in their owne ancient language. / Faithfully collected into one volume, with annotations thereon, by Elias Ashmole, Esq. Qui est Mercuriophilus Anglicus. The first part.

JOHN GOWER CONCERNING The PHILOSOPHERS STONE.

AND also with great diligence, Thei fonde thilke Experience: Which cleped is Alconomie, Whereof the Silver multeplie; Thei made, and eke the Gold also. And for to telle howe itt is so: Of bodies seven in Speciall, With fowre Spirites joynt withall; Stant the substance of this matere, The bodies which I speke of here, Of the Plannets ben begonne, The Gold is titled to the Sonne: The Moone of Silver hath his part, And Iron that stonde uppon Mart: The Leed after Saturne groweth, And Jupiter the Brasse bestoweth; The Copper sette is to Venus: And to his part Mercurius Hath the Quicksilver, as it falleth, The which after the Boke it calleth, Is first of thilke foure named Of Spirits, which ben proclaymed, And the Spirite which is seconde, In Sal Armoniake is founde:

The third Spirite Sulphur is, The fourth Sewende after this, Arcennium by name is hotte With blowyng, and with fires hote: In these things which I say, Thei worchen by divers waye. For as the Philosopher tolde, Of Gold and Sylver thei ben holde, Two principall extremitees, To which all other by degrees, Of the mettalls ben accordant, And so through kinde resemblant: That what man couth awaie take, The rust, of which they waxen blake, And the savour of the hardnes; Thei shulden take the likenes; Of Gold or Silver parfectly, But for to worche it sykerly, Betweene the Corps and the Spirite, Er that the Metall be parfite, In seven formes itt is sette Of all, and if one be lette, The remnant may not avayle, But otherwise it maie nought fayle; For thei by whome this Art was founde, To every poynt a certayne bounde, Ordeinen that a man may finde, This Craft is wrought by wey of kinde; So that there is no fallace in; But what man that this werke begyn; He mote awaite at every tyde, So that nothynge be left asyde.

Fyrst of the Distillacion, Forth with the Congelacion,

Solucion, Disscencion, And kepe in his entencion, The poynt of Sublimacion, And forthwith Calcinacion, Of very Approbacion, So that there be Fixacion, With temperate hetes of the fyer, Tyll he the perfite Elixer, Of thilke Philosophers Stone, Maie gette, of which that many one Of Philosophers whilome write: And if thou wolt the names wite, Of thilke Stone with other two, Which as the Clerkes maden tho; So as the Bokes itt recorden, The kinde of hem I shall recorden.

These old Philosophers wyse, By wey of kynde in sondry wise; Thre Stones made through Clergie, The fyrst I shall specifie, Was cleped Vegetabilis; Of which the proper vertue is, To mans heale for to serve, As for to keepe, and to preserve, The body fro sicknes all, Till death of kinde upon hym fall. The second Stone I the behote, Is Lapis Animalis hote: The whose vertue, is proper and couth, For Eare and Eye, Nose and Mouth; Whereof a man may here, and see, And smell and tast, in his degree, And for to feele and for to goe, Itt helpeth a man of both two:

The witts five he underfongeth To keepe, as it to hym belongeth.

The third Stone in speciall by name is cleped Minerall, Which the Mettalls of every myne, Attempreth, till that thei ben fyne; And pureth hem by such a wey, That all the vice goth awey, Of Rust, of Stynke, and of Hardnes: And when they ben of such clennes, This minerall so as I fynde, Transformeth all the fyrst kynde, And maketh hem able to conceive, Through his vertue and receive Both in substance and in figure, Of Gold and Silver the nature. For thei two ben the extremitees, To which after the propertees, Hath every mettall his desire, With helpe and comforte of the fyre. Forth with this Stone as it is said, Which to the Sonne and Moone is laide: For to the Red, and to the White, This Stone hath power to profite; It maketh Multiplicacion Of Gold and the fixacion, It cause••h and of this babite, He doth the werke to be parfite: Of thilke Elixer which men call Alconomy, as is befalle To hem, that whilome were wise; But now it stant all otherwise: Thei speken fast of thilke Stone, But how to make it now wote none.

After the sooth Experience, And nathles greate diligence, Thei setten up thilke dede, And spillen more then thei spede; For alwey thei fynde a lette, Which bringeth in povetee and Dette; To hem that rich were to fore, The Losse is had the Lucre is lore: To gette a pound thei spenden five, I not how such a Craft shall thrive: In the manner as it is used, It were better be refused, Then for to worchen upon wene, In thinge which stant not as thei wene: But not for thy who that it knew, The Science of himselfe is trew: Uppon the forme as it was founded, Whereof the names yett be grounded; Of hem, that first it founden out: And thus the fame goth all about, To such as soughten besines, Of vetue and of worthines, Of whom if I the names call, Hermes was one the first of all, To whom this Art is most applied, Geber thereof was magnified, And Ortolane and Morien, Among the which is Avicen. Which founde and wrote and greate partie, The practicke of Alconomie, Whose bokes plainlie as thei stonde, Uppon this Crafte few understonde. But yet to put hem in assay, There ben full manie now a day,

That knowen litle that thei mene, It is not one to wite and wene, In forme of words thei it trete; But yet thei failen of beyet. For of to much, or of to lite, There is algate found a wite: So that thei follow not the line, Of the perfect Medicine, Which grounded is upon nature; But thei that writen the Scripture; Of Greke, Arabe, and Caldee, Thei were of such Auctoritee, That thei firste founden out the wey, Of all that thou hast herd me sey, Whereof the Cronicke of her Lore, Shall stonde in price for evermore.