The peripatetic or, Sketches of the heart, of nature and society; In a series of politico-sentimental journals, in verse and prose, of the eccentric excursions of Sylvanus Theophrastus; Supposed to be written by himself [by John Thelwall] |
 | [I]. |
[Thee, vital beam! fair Virtue's guide!] |
| II. |
| III. |
 | The peripatetic |  |
20
[Thee, vital beam! fair Virtue's guide!]
Thee, vital beam! fair Virtue's guide!
And terror of the guilty soul,
From Heav'n's immortal throne supply'd
Fear's haggard empire to controul!
And terror of the guilty soul,
From Heav'n's immortal throne supply'd
Fear's haggard empire to controul!
Thee, thee I hail! the emblem fair
Of sacred Truth's eternal charm—
Whose glance appals with swift despair
Tyrannic Fraud's oppressive arm!
Of sacred Truth's eternal charm—
Whose glance appals with swift despair
Tyrannic Fraud's oppressive arm!
Thee, whom the felon dreads to view,
As tyrants dread fair Reason's ray!
Thee will I hail, with rev'rence due,
Protectress of my lonely way.
As tyrants dread fair Reason's ray!
Thee will I hail, with rev'rence due,
Protectress of my lonely way.
21
Then cast, fair beam! thy radiant spell around,
By which the ruffian's hardy sinew fails,
His iron soul in magic fetters bound,
While conscious dread o'er each stern thought prevails.
By which the ruffian's hardy sinew fails,
His iron soul in magic fetters bound,
While conscious dread o'er each stern thought prevails.
| The peripatetic | |