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]. |
[Still asthe young Enthusiast I pursue] |
 | II. |
| III. |
 | The peripatetic |  |
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[Still asthe young Enthusiast I pursue]
Still asthe young Enthusiast I pursue,
And eager trace his lonely wanderings wild,
Fresh rise the haunted scenes to Fancy's view
Which oft the throbbings of this heart beguil'd;
And eager trace his lonely wanderings wild,
Fresh rise the haunted scenes to Fancy's view
Which oft the throbbings of this heart beguil'd;
Through which the Muse, full oft, in pensive mood,
Has led me, 'raptur'd, all the livelong day,
(Charm'd with wild Nature's works, sublimely rude!)
To point the moral, and attune the lay:—
Has led me, 'raptur'd, all the livelong day,
(Charm'd with wild Nature's works, sublimely rude!)
To point the moral, and attune the lay:—
Where oft, in ecstasies of mournful thought,
Enthusiast Fancy rush'd upon my soul,
And tun'd the airy harp, whose whispers taught
The force of gloomy passions to controul:—
Enthusiast Fancy rush'd upon my soul,
And tun'd the airy harp, whose whispers taught
The force of gloomy passions to controul:—
Where, of the sordid World forgetful grown,
Its wants, its cares, its slanders, and its hate,
By Meditation's friendly aid alone,
I snatch'd a boon amidst the frowns of fate.
Its wants, its cares, its slanders, and its hate,
By Meditation's friendly aid alone,
I snatch'd a boon amidst the frowns of fate.
O! bowers of Enfield!—Woods, and wilds, and streams,
Whose mazy wanderings spread enchantment round;
Where oft, protected from the noon-tide beams,
These limbs have stretch'd along the mossy ground;
Whose mazy wanderings spread enchantment round;
Where oft, protected from the noon-tide beams,
These limbs have stretch'd along the mossy ground;
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Where oft the Lark has call'd me up to roam,
And lose in Nature's charms Misfortune's pain;
Till Evening's pensive songster warn'd me home;
Yet held me list'ning to her mournful strain.
And lose in Nature's charms Misfortune's pain;
Till Evening's pensive songster warn'd me home;
Yet held me list'ning to her mournful strain.
O bowers of Enfield! and thou bushy dell,
Beside whose runnels as I wont to rove
My trembling fingers first attun'd the shell
To notes responsive of neglected love!—
Beside whose runnels as I wont to rove
My trembling fingers first attun'd the shell
To notes responsive of neglected love!—
There too, oft loitering in the darkling glade,
The moral Muse that sung Amanda's woe
Frequent I wooed, the mournful theme to aid,
And teach my infant numbers how to flow.
The moral Muse that sung Amanda's woe
Frequent I wooed, the mournful theme to aid,
And teach my infant numbers how to flow.
O bowers of Enfield! which some future lay
Shall sing—Might Heav'n permit the song to live.
O!—dear-remember'd bowers and riv'lets! say
To me what joys could rural nature give.
Shall sing—Might Heav'n permit the song to live.
O!—dear-remember'd bowers and riv'lets! say
To me what joys could rural nature give.
And thou! gay Surry!—thou, whose pastur'd lawns,
Clear-smiling brooks, and gently-sloping hills,
Luxuriant verdure's gayest tint adorns,
While thro' each grove the sweetest music trils!—
Clear-smiling brooks, and gently-sloping hills,
Luxuriant verdure's gayest tint adorns,
While thro' each grove the sweetest music trils!—
Thee, Queen of Beauty! whose enamell'd vales
And graceful foliage Thames delights to view,
While o'er his channel crowd the sportive sails
Thy winding bounds, luxuriant, to pursue;—
And graceful foliage Thames delights to view,
While o'er his channel crowd the sportive sails
Thy winding bounds, luxuriant, to pursue;—
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Thee, from thy throne, on Richmond's beauteous height,
Where streams, groves, villas, at thy footstool lay,
Will I invoke, to say with what delight
Among thy smiling scenes I wont to stray.
Where streams, groves, villas, at thy footstool lay,
Will I invoke, to say with what delight
Among thy smiling scenes I wont to stray.
For thou hast seen me oft, at Evening hour,
Thy wild-wood flowrets twining round my head,
With fixt regard each glowing tint devour
By waining Phœbus o'er the welkin spread:—
Thy wild-wood flowrets twining round my head,
With fixt regard each glowing tint devour
By waining Phœbus o'er the welkin spread:—
And thou hast mark'd me, in the woodland scene,
With infant fingers cull the mossy store,
And still, with meditative smile serene,
Each various product's various hues explore:—
With infant fingers cull the mossy store,
And still, with meditative smile serene,
Each various product's various hues explore:—
But chief where'er the silver-fretted brook
Pour'd its low cadence, hast thou seen me stray,
To mark its eddies oft, with pensive look,
While glanc'd the noon-tide, or the Lunar ray.
Pour'd its low cadence, hast thou seen me stray,
To mark its eddies oft, with pensive look,
While glanc'd the noon-tide, or the Lunar ray.
| The peripatetic | |