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]. |
 | II. |
| III. |
 | The peripatetic |  |
68
[Thee, Queen of pensive Visions! to whose ear]
Thee, Queen of pensive Visions! to whose earSad Philomela pours her nightly moan,
While far-diffus'd thy modest beams appear
O'er hills, vales, groves, and purling riv'lets thrown—
Thee, nurse of thought!—or if thy silver ray
Break through the fleecy-margin'd clouds, serene,
Between the Aspine's trembling leaf to play,
Or spread thy light o'er Ocean's boundless scene,—
Or if, sublime! one spacious orb of fire,
Behind the eastern wave thou risest slow,
Confronting, while his dazzling wheels retire,
The varied tints of Day's expiring glow—
Thee, placid Queen! whatever tint be thine,
Thee will I woo, while solemn Silence reigns;
Thee, whose mild lustre sheds the calm divine
That wild emotion's painful throb restrains!
And, O, 'tis thine, with thought-subliming ray,
To wake the seraph power that wings the soul
To heights unthought amidst the garish day,
Beyond the bounds that Vision's orb controul.
Thine, too, to lead to Inspiration's spring
The Muse, sweet soother of my pensive hours!
To plume afresh young Fancy's tow'ring wing,
And give to magic verse sublimer powers.
| The peripatetic | |