The three tours of Doctor Syntax In search of 1. The picturesque, 2. Of consolation, 3. Of a wife. The text complete. [By William Combe] With four illustrations |
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 | The three tours of Doctor Syntax |  |
“In ev'ry way, in ev'ry sense, Man is the care of Providence;
And whensoe'er he goeth wrong, The errors to himself belong:
Nor do we alway judge aright Of Fortune's favours, or her spite.
How oft with pleasure we pursue Some glitt'ring phantom in our view;
Not rightly seen or understood, We chace it as a real good:
At length the air-born vision flies And each fond expectation dies!
Sometimes the clouds appear to low'r,
And threat misfortune's direful hour:
We tremble at the approaching blast:
Each hope is fled—we look aghast;
When lo! the darkness disappears, The glowing sun all nature cheers;
The drooping heart again acquires Its former joys, its former fires.
Last night I wander'd o'er the plain
Through unknown ways and beating rain,
Nor thought 'twould be my lot to fall On such an inn as Welcome Hall:
Indeed with truth I cannot say When there I came I lost my way,
For all was good, and nought to pay.”
Thus Syntax, with reflection fraught, Soliloquiz'd the moral thought;
While Grizzle, all alive and gay, Ambled along the ready way.
Last night she found it no disaster To share the fortune of her master;
She, 'mong the finest hunters stood,
And shar'd with them the choicest food:
In a fine roomy stable plac'd, With ev'ry well-trimm'd clothing grac'd,
Poor Grizzle was as fair a joke To all the merry stable-folk,
As the good Doctor's self had been, To the kind gentry of the Inn.
And whensoe'er he goeth wrong, The errors to himself belong:
Nor do we alway judge aright Of Fortune's favours, or her spite.
How oft with pleasure we pursue Some glitt'ring phantom in our view;
Not rightly seen or understood, We chace it as a real good:
At length the air-born vision flies And each fond expectation dies!
Sometimes the clouds appear to low'r,
And threat misfortune's direful hour:
We tremble at the approaching blast:
Each hope is fled—we look aghast;
When lo! the darkness disappears, The glowing sun all nature cheers;
The drooping heart again acquires Its former joys, its former fires.
Last night I wander'd o'er the plain
Through unknown ways and beating rain,
Nor thought 'twould be my lot to fall On such an inn as Welcome Hall:
Indeed with truth I cannot say When there I came I lost my way,
For all was good, and nought to pay.”
Thus Syntax, with reflection fraught, Soliloquiz'd the moral thought;
While Grizzle, all alive and gay, Ambled along the ready way.
Last night she found it no disaster To share the fortune of her master;
She, 'mong the finest hunters stood,
And shar'd with them the choicest food:
In a fine roomy stable plac'd, With ev'ry well-trimm'd clothing grac'd,
Poor Grizzle was as fair a joke To all the merry stable-folk,
As the good Doctor's self had been, To the kind gentry of the Inn.
| The three tours of Doctor Syntax | |