Bloomfield's Blossoms, Wisdom Ancient
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Bloomfield's Blossoms
This allegorical poem, sometimes going under the tile 'The Campe of Philosophy', by the 16th Century alchemical
philosopher and physician, William Bloomfield, was included in Ashmole's
Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum
,
1652. A number of early manuscript copies have survived. Transcribed by Luke Roberts.
.
The compendiary of the noble science of
alchemy compiled by Mr Willm Blomefeild
philosopher & bacheler of phisick admitted
by king Henry the 8th of most famous memory.
Anno Domini 1557
1
When Phebus was entered the signe of the ramm,
In the month of march when all Doth springe,
Lying in my bed, an old man to me came.
Laying his hand on my buysy head slumbringe,
"I am," he said, "Tyme, producer of cunninge.
Awake & rise, prepare thy selfe quickly;
My entent is to bring thee to [the Campe of] philosophy.
2
"Bloomes & blossomes plentiful in that feild
Bynn pleasantly flourishinge, vernant with collers gay.
Liuely water fountaines, eke beastes both tame & wild
Ouershadowed with trees fruitful, & on euery spray
Melodiously singinge, the birdes doe sitt & say:
'Father, sonn, & holy ghoste, to one god [in] persons three;
Impery & honor be to the holy trinitye.'"
3
Lo! thus when he had said, I arose swiftly,
Doeing on my clothes in haste with agility.
Towardes the camp, wee went, of philosophi,
The wonderful sightes there for to see.
To a large greate gate, father tyme first brought me,
Which closed was; then he to me saide,
"Each thing his time hath; be thou nothing Dismaied."
4
The great admiracion I tooke into my selue,
With sore & huge perturbacions of minde,
Beholdinge the gate fastned with lockes twelue.
I fantasied but smalle that time should be my freind.
"Why studiest thou, man," quoth he; "art thou blind?"
With a rodd he touched me, whereat I Did Downe fall
Into a straunge sleepe, & In a Dreame he showed me all.
The Dreame of Mr Blomefeild
5
Audite somnium meum quod vidi.
The Mt yeere of Christ, D L & seuen,
In the month of march, asleep as I did lye,
Late in the night, of the clocke about eleuen,
In spiritu rapt I was, soodenly into heauen;
Where I saw sittinge in most glorious maiesty
Three beholding, I adored but one in deitye:
6
A Spirit incircumscript with burninge heate incombustible;
Light of brightnes permanent, as fountaine of all light;
Three knit in one, with glory incomprehensible,
Which to behold I had a greate Delighte.
This trulye [to attayne] surmounted my might;
But a voice from that glorious brightnes to me saide,
"I am one god of Immeasurable maiesty: [be not afraide]."
7
In this vision so cleare, that it selfe did so extend
With a voice most pleasant, being three & one,
Pearsed my minde, & taught me to comprehende
The darke sayinges of philosophers each one:
The altitude, latitude & profundity of the stone
To be three in substance & one in essence,
A most heauenly treasure procreate by quintessence.
8
The studied I what quintessence should be;
Of visible thinges apparant to the eye
The fifth being, even a straunge privity
In euery substance resting invisibly.
The invisible godheade is the same, thought I,
Prime cause of beinge & the prime essence,
And of this macrocosm the most suffren quintessence.
9
This is the heauenly and secret potencyall
That Devided is, & resteth indivisible
In [all] thinges animall, vigitall, & minerall;
Whose vertue in them, & strength, is invisible.
From god it cometh, & god maketh it sencible
To some preelect; to other doth it denay.
As I sate thus museinge, a voice to me did say:
10
"Study thou no more of my being, but stedfastly
Beleeue this trinity equally knit in one.
Further of my Secretes to muse is but folly,
Passing thy capassity, & all human reason."
The heauens closed vp againe in that season.
Then father Tyme set me at the gate,
And Deliuered me a key to enter in thereat:
11
The key of knowledge & excellent Science,
Whereby all secretes of philosophi are reserate:
The Secretes of nature sought out by Diligence,
Voidinge fables envious of fooles inveterate:
With recipe & Decipe, this science is violate.
Therefore [to me] this key he did Dispose,
The secretes of this art to open & Disclose.
12
This said father Tyme, this key when he mee tooke:
"Vnlock," quoth he, "this gate by thy selue."
And then vpon him sorrowfully Did I looke,
Saying that one key vndoe could not lockes twelue.
"Whose axe is sure," quoth he, "both the head & helue,
Hold will together till the tree Downe fall.
So open thou the first locke, & thou hast opened all."
13
"What is this first locke named, tell me then,
I Pray thee," said I, "and what shall I it call?"
"It is," quoth he, "the secret of all the wise men,
Chaos; in the bodies called the first originall,
Prima materia, our mercury, our menstruall,
Our vitrioll, our sulphur, our lunary most of price.
Put the key in the locke, & it will open with a trice.
14
Then the key of knowledge buysily I tooke in hand,
And began to search the hollownes of the locke;
The wardes thereof I scare did vnderstand,
So craftily conveid they were in their stocke.
I proued euery way; at the last I did vnlocke
The crafty ginnes thus made for the nonce,
And with it, the other lockes fell open all at once.
15
At this gate opening, euen in the entry
A number of philosophers in the face I mett,
Workeing all one way the secretes of philosophy
Vpon Chaos Darke, that amongst them was sett.
Sober men of liueing, peaceable & quiet,
They buysily Disputed de materia prima,
Reiecting cleane away simul stulta et friuola.
16
Heere I saw the father of philosophers, Hermes.
Heere I saw Aristotle with cheere most Iocunde.
Heere I saw Morien & Senior in turba more & lesse;
Geber, [Democritus], Albert, Bacon, & Ramond;
The monke, & the chanon of Bridleington so profound;
Workeing most soberly, who said vnto me:
"Beware though beleeue not all that thou dost see,
17
"But if thou wilt enter this camp of philosophy,
With thee take time to guide thee in the way;
For by pathes & broade waies, Deep vallyes & hils high
Here shalt thou finde with sightes pleasant & gay.
Some thou shalt finde which vnto thee shall say,
'Recipe this & that,' & with a thowsand thinges more
Decipe thy selfe & other[s] as they haue done before."
18
Then father Tyme & I by fauour of these men,
Such sightes to see, passed foorth toward the campe
Where wee met Disguised philosophers ten,
With porfiries & morters, ready to grind & stamp;
Their heades shakeing, their hands full of the cramp;
Some lame [with] spasums, some febull, wann, & blind,
With arsneck & sulphur, to this art most vnkind.
19
These were Broke the preste & yorke in cotes gay,
Which robbed king henry of a million of gold;
Martin pery, mayre, & thomas De Lahaye,
Saying that the king they greatly enrich would.
They wispered in his eare, & this tale him told:
"Wee will worke for your highnes the Elixer vite,
A princely worke called opus regale."
20
Then brought they in the vicar of Maldon
With his lyon greene, that most royall secret,
Richard record & little Master Edon
(Their mettals by corrosiue[s] to calcinate & fret);
Hugh oldcastle & Sir Robert greene with them mett,
Rosting & broileinge all thinges out of kinde,
Like philosophers left off with loss in the end.
21
Yet brought they [forth] thinges beautifull to sight,
Deluding the king thus from day to day;
With copper cytrinate for the red, and albefied [for] the white,
And with mercury rubified in a glass full gay.
But at the last, in the fire, it went away.
All this was because they neuer knew the verity
Of altitude, latitude, & profunditye.
22
Thence father Tyme brought me to a wildernes,
Into a thicket haueing by pathes many [a one].
Steps & footinges I saw there more & lesse,
Wherein the foresaid men had wandered & gone.
There I saw Marcasites, minerals, & many a stone,
As yrides, talke, & alom lay digged from the ground,
The mines of leade & Iron that they had out fownde.
23
No marvell I trow, though they were much set by,
That with so greate riches could [endue] a kinge.
So many sundry waies to fill vp his treasurie
With filthy matter, great charges in to bring:
The very next way a prince to bring to begginge,
And make a noble realme & common wealth decay.
These are royall philosophers the cleane contrary way.
24
From thence foorth I went, Tyme beinge my guide,
Through a greene wood where birdes sang clearly,
Tyll wee came to a feild, pleasant, large, & wide,
Which he said was called the camp of philosophy.
There downe we sate, to heere the sweete harmony
Of the diuers birdes in their sweete notes singinge,
And to receiue the flauour of the flowers springinge.
25
Heere Iuno, heere pallas, heere Apollo doe Dwell;
Heere true philosophers take their dwelling place.
Heere duly the muses nine drinck of pirenes well.
No bosting broyler heere the art can deface.
Heere lady philosophi hath her royall palace,
Holding her court in her high consistory,
Sitting with her councelers most famous of memory.
26
Thus one said vnto me (an ancient man was he),
Declareing [forth] the matter of the stone,
Saying that he was sent thither to comfort me,
And of his religion for to chuse me to be one.
A cloth of tyssew he had him vpon,
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Bloomfield's Blossoms
This allegorical poem, sometimes going under the tile 'The Campe of Philosophy', by the 16th Century alchemical
philosopher and physician, William Bloomfield, was included in Ashmole's
Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum
,
1652. A number of early manuscript copies have survived. Transcribed by Luke Roberts.
.
The compendiary of the noble science of
alchemy compiled by Mr Willm Blomefeild
philosopher & bacheler of phisick admitted
by king Henry the 8th of most famous memory.
Anno Domini 1557
1
When Phebus was entered the signe of the ramm,
In the month of march when all Doth springe,
Lying in my bed, an old man to me came.
Laying his hand on my buysy head slumbringe,
"I am," he said, "Tyme, producer of cunninge.
Awake & rise, prepare thy selfe quickly;
My entent is to bring thee to [the Campe of] philosophy.
2
"Bloomes & blossomes plentiful in that feild
Bynn pleasantly flourishinge, vernant with collers gay.
Liuely water fountaines, eke beastes both tame & wild
Ouershadowed with trees fruitful, & on euery spray
Melodiously singinge, the birdes doe sitt & say:
'Father, sonn, & holy ghoste, to one god [in] persons three;
Impery & honor be to the holy trinitye.'"
3
Lo! thus when he had said, I arose swiftly,
Doeing on my clothes in haste with agility.
Towardes the camp, wee went, of philosophi,
The wonderful sightes there for to see.
To a large greate gate, father tyme first brought me,
Which closed was; then he to me saide,
"Each thing his time hath; be thou nothing Dismaied."
4
The great admiracion I tooke into my selue,
With sore & huge perturbacions of minde,
Beholdinge the gate fastned with lockes twelue.
I fantasied but smalle that time should be my freind.
"Why studiest thou, man," quoth he; "art thou blind?"
With a rodd he touched me, whereat I Did Downe fall
Into a straunge sleepe, & In a Dreame he showed me all.
The Dreame of Mr Blomefeild
5
Audite somnium meum quod vidi.
The Mt yeere of Christ, D L & seuen,
In the month of march, asleep as I did lye,
Late in the night, of the clocke about eleuen,
In spiritu rapt I was, soodenly into heauen;
Where I saw sittinge in most glorious maiesty
Three beholding, I adored but one in deitye:
6
A Spirit incircumscript with burninge heate incombustible;
Light of brightnes permanent, as fountaine of all light;
Three knit in one, with glory incomprehensible,
Which to behold I had a greate Delighte.
This trulye [to attayne] surmounted my might;
But a voice from that glorious brightnes to me saide,
"I am one god of Immeasurable maiesty: [be not afraide]."
7
In this vision so cleare, that it selfe did so extend
With a voice most pleasant, being three & one,
Pearsed my minde, & taught me to comprehende
The darke sayinges of philosophers each one:
The altitude, latitude & profundity of the stone
To be three in substance & one in essence,
A most heauenly treasure procreate by quintessence.
8
The studied I what quintessence should be;
Of visible thinges apparant to the eye
The fifth being, even a straunge privity
In euery substance resting invisibly.
The invisible godheade is the same, thought I,
Prime cause of beinge & the prime essence,
And of this macrocosm the most suffren quintessence.
9
This is the heauenly and secret potencyall
That Devided is, & resteth indivisible
In [all] thinges animall, vigitall, & minerall;
Whose vertue in them, & strength, is invisible.
From god it cometh, & god maketh it sencible
To some preelect; to other doth it denay.
As I sate thus museinge, a voice to me did say:
10
"Study thou no more of my being, but stedfastly
Beleeue this trinity equally knit in one.
Further of my Secretes to muse is but folly,
Passing thy capassity, & all human reason."
The heauens closed vp againe in that season.
Then father Tyme set me at the gate,
And Deliuered me a key to enter in thereat:
11
The key of knowledge & excellent Science,
Whereby all secretes of philosophi are reserate:
The Secretes of nature sought out by Diligence,
Voidinge fables envious of fooles inveterate:
With recipe & Decipe, this science is violate.
Therefore [to me] this key he did Dispose,
The secretes of this art to open & Disclose.
12
This said father Tyme, this key when he mee tooke:
"Vnlock," quoth he, "this gate by thy selue."
And then vpon him sorrowfully Did I looke,
Saying that one key vndoe could not lockes twelue.
"Whose axe is sure," quoth he, "both the head & helue,
Hold will together till the tree Downe fall.
So open thou the first locke, & thou hast opened all."
13
"What is this first locke named, tell me then,
I Pray thee," said I, "and what shall I it call?"
"It is," quoth he, "the secret of all the wise men,
Chaos; in the bodies called the first originall,
Prima materia, our mercury, our menstruall,
Our vitrioll, our sulphur, our lunary most of price.
Put the key in the locke, & it will open with a trice.
14
Then the key of knowledge buysily I tooke in hand,
And began to search the hollownes of the locke;
The wardes thereof I scare did vnderstand,
So craftily conveid they were in their stocke.
I proued euery way; at the last I did vnlocke
The crafty ginnes thus made for the nonce,
And with it, the other lockes fell open all at once.
15
At this gate opening, euen in the entry
A number of philosophers in the face I mett,
Workeing all one way the secretes of philosophy
Vpon Chaos Darke, that amongst them was sett.
Sober men of liueing, peaceable & quiet,
They buysily Disputed de materia prima,
Reiecting cleane away simul stulta et friuola.
16
Heere I saw the father of philosophers, Hermes.
Heere I saw Aristotle with cheere most Iocunde.
Heere I saw Morien & Senior in turba more & lesse;
Geber, [Democritus], Albert, Bacon, & Ramond;
The monke, & the chanon of Bridleington so profound;
Workeing most soberly, who said vnto me:
"Beware though beleeue not all that thou dost see,
17
"But if thou wilt enter this camp of philosophy,
With thee take time to guide thee in the way;
For by pathes & broade waies, Deep vallyes & hils high
Here shalt thou finde with sightes pleasant & gay.
Some thou shalt finde which vnto thee shall say,
'Recipe this & that,' & with a thowsand thinges more
Decipe thy selfe & other[s] as they haue done before."
18
Then father Tyme & I by fauour of these men,
Such sightes to see, passed foorth toward the campe
Where wee met Disguised philosophers ten,
With porfiries & morters, ready to grind & stamp;
Their heades shakeing, their hands full of the cramp;
Some lame [with] spasums, some febull, wann, & blind,
With arsneck & sulphur, to this art most vnkind.
19
These were Broke the preste & yorke in cotes gay,
Which robbed king henry of a million of gold;
Martin pery, mayre, & thomas De Lahaye,
Saying that the king they greatly enrich would.
They wispered in his eare, & this tale him told:
"Wee will worke for your highnes the Elixer vite,
A princely worke called opus regale."
20
Then brought they in the vicar of Maldon
With his lyon greene, that most royall secret,
Richard record & little Master Edon
(Their mettals by corrosiue[s] to calcinate & fret);
Hugh oldcastle & Sir Robert greene with them mett,
Rosting & broileinge all thinges out of kinde,
Like philosophers left off with loss in the end.
21
Yet brought they [forth] thinges beautifull to sight,
Deluding the king thus from day to day;
With copper cytrinate for the red, and albefied [for] the white,
And with mercury rubified in a glass full gay.
But at the last, in the fire, it went away.
All this was because they neuer knew the verity
Of altitude, latitude, & profunditye.
22
Thence father Tyme brought me to a wildernes,
Into a thicket haueing by pathes many [a one].
Steps & footinges I saw there more & lesse,
Wherein the foresaid men had wandered & gone.
There I saw Marcasites, minerals, & many a stone,
As yrides, talke, & alom lay digged from the ground,
The mines of leade & Iron that they had out fownde.
23
No marvell I trow, though they were much set by,
That with so greate riches could [endue] a kinge.
So many sundry waies to fill vp his treasurie
With filthy matter, great charges in to bring:
The very next way a prince to bring to begginge,
And make a noble realme & common wealth decay.
These are royall philosophers the cleane contrary way.
24
From thence foorth I went, Tyme beinge my guide,
Through a greene wood where birdes sang clearly,
Tyll wee came to a feild, pleasant, large, & wide,
Which he said was called the camp of philosophy.
There downe we sate, to heere the sweete harmony
Of the diuers birdes in their sweete notes singinge,
And to receiue the flauour of the flowers springinge.
25
Heere Iuno, heere pallas, heere Apollo doe Dwell;
Heere true philosophers take their dwelling place.
Heere duly the muses nine drinck of pirenes well.
No bosting broyler heere the art can deface.
Heere lady philosophi hath her royall palace,
Holding her court in her high consistory,
Sitting with her councelers most famous of memory.
26
Thus one said vnto me (an ancient man was he),
Declareing [forth] the matter of the stone,
Saying that he was sent thither to comfort me,
And of his religion for to chuse me to be one.
A cloth of tyssew he had him vpon,
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