The Human Frame likened to a House.
Man’s body’s like a house: his greater bones
Are the main timbers; and the lesser ones
Are smaller joists; his limbs are laths daubed o’er,
Plastered with flesh and blood; his mouth’s the door;
His throat’s the narrow entry; and his heart
Is the great chamber, full of curious art.
His stomach is the kitchen, where the meat
Is often put, half sod, for want of heat.
His spleen’s a vessel nature does allot
To take the scum that rises from the pot;
His lungs are like the bellows, that respire
In every office, quickening every fire;
His nose the chimney is, whereby are vented
Such fumes as with the bellows are augmented;
His eyes are crystal windows, clear and bright,
Let in the object, and let out the sight;
And as the timber is, or great or small,
Or strong or weak, ’tis apt to stand or fall.
