Possumus ire domus pecudumque in corpora condi.’
“Lucian’s cock was first Euphorbus, a captaine:
‘Ille ego (nam memini) Trojani tempore belli
Panthoides Euphorbus eram.’ ”
And Plato, in Timæus, and in Phædo —
Ev. Enough of Plato, dear Astrophel; or believe, with me, that his philosophy on this point was merely figurative of the similarity of mind, or genius, or feature, between the dead and the living;—as it was said of old, that the soul of Raphael had transmigrated to the body of Francesco Mazzola (Parmegiano), because his style and personal beauty so closely resembled those of the all but divine master of his art.
And pray what was the gist of that special astronomer, who affirmed that he “saw something written in the moon?”—A wild romance only? No, forsooth. Pythagoras may classically vociferate —
“——errat, et illinc,
Huc venit, hinc illuc, et quoslibet occupat artus
Spiritus: eque feris humana in corpora transit,