Upon Nothing by John Wilmot Earl of Rochester

<p>Production and Sound Design by Kevin Seaman</p><p> </p><p>Upon Nothing</p><p>BY JOHN WILMOT EARL OF ROCHESTER</p><p>Nothing! thou elder brother even to Shade:</p><p>That hadst a being ere the world was made,</p><p>And well fixed, art alone of ending not afraid.</p><p> </p><p>Ere Time and Place were, Time and Place were not,</p><p>When primitive Nothing Something straight begot;</p><p>Then all proceeded from the great united What.</p><p> </p><p>Something, the general attribute of all,</p><p>Severed from thee, its sole original,</p><p>Into thy boundless self must undistinguished fall;</p><p> </p><p>Yet Something did thy mighty power command,</p><p>And from fruitful Emptiness’s hand</p><p>Snatched men, beasts, birds, fire, air, and land.</p><p> </p><p>Matter the wicked’st offspring of thy race,</p><p>By Form assisted, flew from thy embrace,</p><p>And rebel Light obscured thy reverend dusky face.</p><p> </p><p>With Form and Matter, Time and Place did join;</p><p>Body, thy foe, with these did leagues combine</p><p>To spoil thy peaceful realm, and ruin all thy line;</p><p> </p><p>But turncoat Time assists the foe in vain,</p><p>And bribed by thee, destroys their short-lived reign,</p><p>And to thy hungry womb drives back thy slaves again.</p><p> </p><p>Though mysteries are barred from laic eyes,</p><p>And the divine alone with warrant pries</p><p>Into thy bosom, where truth in private lies,</p><p> </p><p>Yet this of thee the wise may truly say,</p><p>Thou from the virtuous nothing dost delay,</p><p>And to be part with thee the wicked wisely pray.</p><p> </p><p>Great Negative, how vainly would the wise</p><p>Inquire, define, distinguish, teach, devise,</p><p>Didst thou not stand to point their blind philosophies!</p><p> </p><p>Is, or Is Not, the two great ends of Fate,</p><p>And True or False, the subject of debate,</p><p>That perfect or destroy the vast designs of state—</p><p> </p><p>When they have racked the politician’s breast,</p><p>Within thy Bosom most securely rest,</p><p>And when reduced to thee, are least u