Page:Romance of the Rose (Ellis), volume 3.pdf/73

Rh

Drawing the dross apart from gold

Till nothing base the metals hold,

And brought together then shall be

Pure metals by affinity.

Fine gold is of its special kind,

However Nature hath combined

Aught else therewith in divers ways

Which ’neath its mother’s bosom stays

Entombed, till ’tis, when time hath worn

Of sulphur and quicksilver born.

For so by learned books we’re taught.

Thence men have knowledge duly sought,

And whosoe’er thereby hath found

The means these spirits to compound,

And cause them so to mix and lie

That they no more apart can fly,

But in one mass with welding sure

Together come, purged clear and pure,

And force the sulphur to lie dead,

Coloured at will, or white or red,

That man shall have, who worketh so,

All metals ’neath his power, I trow.

And thus of quicksilver, fine gold

Those make who perfect knowledge hold

Of alchemy, and colour add

And weight, through things that may be had

At little cost, and precious stones

From gold men make, whose worth atones

For all the labour.

In likewise

Men may with subtle art devise

How to pure silver may be turned

All baser metals, when they’ve learned