XVI. Geffrey Whitney

Motto: Prouidentia.

SVCHE prouidence hath nature secret wroughte

In creatures wilde, and eeke such knowledge straunge,

That man by them in somme thinges maie be taughte:

As some foretell when weather faire will chaunge;

Of heate, of raine, of winde, and tempests’ rage,

Some showe by signes, and with their songs presage.

But leauing theise, which almost all doe knowe;

The crocodile, by whome th’ Ægyptians watche

Howe farre that yeare shall mightie Nilus flowe,

For theire shee likes to laie her egges and hatche:

Such skill deuine, and science to foretell,

Hath nature lente vnto this serpent fell.

Which showes they should with due regarde foresee,

When anie one doth take in hande a cause,

The drifte and ende of that they doe decree,

And longe thereon to ponder and to pause:

For after-witts are like a shower of rayne,

Which moistes the soile when witherd is the graine.