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]. |
[“To calm Reflection's sober train] |
| II. |
| III. |
 | The peripatetic |  |
12
[“To calm Reflection's sober train]
“To calm Reflection's sober train,
“Each plant a useful lesson gives:
“A moralizer on the plain
“Each turf and smiling blossom lives.”
“Each plant a useful lesson gives:
“A moralizer on the plain
“Each turf and smiling blossom lives.”
Such, while my infant fancy strove
Against Misfortune's sullen power,
And oft, in mead or smiling grove,
Pensive I rov'd the lonely hour.
Against Misfortune's sullen power,
And oft, in mead or smiling grove,
Pensive I rov'd the lonely hour.
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Such were the notes, to lull my woe,
When first I wak'd the rustic string,
Blest Contemplation taught to flow,
While o'er me wav'd her seraph wing.
When first I wak'd the rustic string,
Blest Contemplation taught to flow,
While o'er me wav'd her seraph wing.
And trust me nymph or gentle swain
Who haunt the stream or shadowy dell,
Experience has confirm'd the strain
Which early tun'd my pensive shell.
Who haunt the stream or shadowy dell,
Experience has confirm'd the strain
Which early tun'd my pensive shell.
'Tis not alone the letter'd friend,
The busy world's instructive throng,
That can the useful lesson lend,
That lengthens Wisdom's vary'd song.
The busy world's instructive throng,
That can the useful lesson lend,
That lengthens Wisdom's vary'd song.
Go, hear the raging billow roar,
Go, mark the swiftly-changing cloud,
Or trace some rivulet's winding shore,
Some lowly vale, or mountain proud,
Go, mark the swiftly-changing cloud,
Or trace some rivulet's winding shore,
Some lowly vale, or mountain proud,
Or plung'd within some forest's shade,
Whose mingled boughs exclude the day,—
There shalt thou meet the heav'n-born maid,
And hear, entranc'd, her sacred lay.
Whose mingled boughs exclude the day,—
There shalt thou meet the heav'n-born maid,
And hear, entranc'd, her sacred lay.
| The peripatetic | |