Of the Motion of the Blood

1
Some by their industry and2 learning found
That all the blood like to the sea runs round:
From two great arteries it doth begin,3
Runs through all veins, and so comes back again.4
The muscles like the tides do ebb and flow                   5
According as the several spirits go.
The sinews, as small pipes, come from the head,
And5 all about the body they are6 spread,
Through which the animal spirits are conveyed
To every member, as the pipes are laid.                        10
And from those sinews-pipes each sense doth take
Of those pure spirits, as they us do make.

  1. In 1653 this poem is called “The Motion of the Blood”
  2. their industry and] Industry of 1653
  3. it doth begin] the Blood it runs 1653
  4. Runs through all veins, and so comes back again.] Through all the Veines, to the same backe comes. 1653
    The reference is to William Harvey’s publication on the circulation of the blood, published in Latin in 1628 and in English in 1653.
  5. And] And they are 1664, 1668
  6. body they are] Body 1664, 1668