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| John Novak's illustration of Thule, the period of cosmography at the Paris Review |
Things that go well together:
A 16th century English composer puts to tune a poem about wonder and the edge of the world.
A 21st century illustrator sketches visions of volcanic eruptions and traveling merchants from Spain who've encountered wonder at the edge of their known world.
The Poem:
Thule, the period of cosmography,
Doth vaunt of Hecla, whose sulphureous fire
Doth melt the frozen clime and thaw the sky;
Trinacrian Etna's flames ascend not higher:
These things seem wondrous, yet more wondrous I,
Whose heart with fear doth freeze, with love doth fry.
The Andalusian merchant, that returns
Laden with cochineal and china dishes,
Reports in Spain how strangely Fogo burns
Amidst an ocean full of flying fishes:
These things seem wondrous, yet more wondrous I,
Whose heart with fear doth freeze, with love doth fry.
