De prodigiosa specie, naturaq[ue] cometae, qui nobis effulsit altior lunae sedibus, insolita prorsus figura, ac magnitudine, anno 1577 plus septimanis 10. apodeixis tum physica tum mathematica

Physician.

JUPITER, having looked down upon the earth from his heavenly citadel,
Patient.

What new frenzy is this, he says, throughout the whole world?
I had believed that so many draughts, when it was recently unwell,
taken to purge the stomach, had been sufficient.
Disease.

But the seeds of disease were scattered into a vast mass:
The arms, legs, and feet are sick from the head.
Cause.

The heart, from which the vigor of life comes, behold, is now the cause of ruin
And death, where health is accustomed to be safe.
Quality.

The sick part does not know the contagions of its own stain,
Yet it exerts force upon the healthy parts as well.
Cure.

Therefore, come now, let the earth be swept from the highest summit:
Soft backs do not fear rough brooms.
Omen.

Let the messenger emerge from the gates of Capricorn in the South,
Bringing a terrifying mane with scattered fire.
Comparison of the comets of the year 1556 and this one of 1577. The goal and divine utility of the scourge.

So that if my Belgium was purged by an old scourge,
Let Europe act as the physician of this whole matter.
While kings soften toward the peoples through their own deaths,
Let the people themselves know how to submit to their own king.
While the rabies of war falls, cut off from the root,
And let tight love glue together what hatred tore apart.