Page:The works of Anne Bradstreet in prose and verse.djvu/189

 The

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��Four Elements,

'T^He Fire, Air, Earth and water did contefl^'

-^ Which was the fhrongefl, nobleft and the beft, Who was of greateft ufe and might'eft force; In placide Terms they thought now to difcourfe,^ That in due order each her turn fliould fpeak; But enmity this amity did break All would be chief, and all fcorn'd to be under Whence iffu'd winds & rains, lightning & thunder The quaking earth did groan, the Sky lookt black The Fire, the forced Air, in funder crack; The fea did threat the heav'ns, the heavn's the earth. All looked like a Chaos or new birth : Fire broyled Earth, & fcorched Earth it choaked Both by their darings, water fo provoked That roaring in it came, and with its fource Soon made the Combatants abate their force

��J Fire, Aire, Earth, and Water, did all conteft.

k Who the moft good could fhew, & who moft rage For to declare, themfelves they all ingage.

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