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 |  |
The Doctor smiled at the conceit:
Who would not smile at such a treat
Of wand'ring fancy, which would feign
Ape reason in poor Patrick's brain;
While of the list'ning country folk,
Some star'd, and others smelt a joke.
Now from the margin of the Lake,
The trav'llers did their journey make
Towards Bowness, when, it was not long
Before the Doctor spied a throng,
A motley troop, that lay at ease Beneath the wood's embow'ring trees.
Some slept upon the naked ground,
With one poor blanket wrapp'd around;
Scarce shelter'd from the open sky, But by the leaves' green canopy;
Others awake the slumb'ring fire
With weeds, with greenwood, and with briar,
Or watch the pot with hungry care, That did the mingled food prepare.
These feed the infant at the breast, Or nurse its outcries into rest;
While bare-feet children, brisk and gay,
Amuse the hour in various play:
And as the aged Crones sat smoking,
The young were laughing, singing, joking;
But though the scene seem'd to express
The outward shew of wretchedness,
No visage mark'd that heart-felt care Had taken up its dwelling there.
“Whom have we here?” the Doctor cried:
Pat touch'd his hat, and thus replied.
Who would not smile at such a treat
Of wand'ring fancy, which would feign
Ape reason in poor Patrick's brain;
While of the list'ning country folk,
Some star'd, and others smelt a joke.
Now from the margin of the Lake,
The trav'llers did their journey make
Towards Bowness, when, it was not long
Before the Doctor spied a throng,
A motley troop, that lay at ease Beneath the wood's embow'ring trees.
Some slept upon the naked ground,
With one poor blanket wrapp'd around;
Scarce shelter'd from the open sky, But by the leaves' green canopy;
Others awake the slumb'ring fire
With weeds, with greenwood, and with briar,
Or watch the pot with hungry care, That did the mingled food prepare.
These feed the infant at the breast, Or nurse its outcries into rest;
While bare-feet children, brisk and gay,
Amuse the hour in various play:
And as the aged Crones sat smoking,
The young were laughing, singing, joking;
But though the scene seem'd to express
The outward shew of wretchedness,
No visage mark'd that heart-felt care Had taken up its dwelling there.
“Whom have we here?” the Doctor cried:
Pat touch'd his hat, and thus replied.
| The three tours of Doctor Syntax | |