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On the Death of the Hon. JOHN WINTHROP, Esq. L. L. D. Hollisian Professor of Mathematicks and Natural Philosophy, at Harvard College, Cambridge.
|
 | Poems, dramatic and miscellaneous |  |
235
On the Death of the Hon. JOHN WINTHROP, Esq. L. L. D. Hollisian Professor of Mathematicks and Natural Philosophy, at Harvard College, Cambridge.
Addressed to his LADY.
A seraph shot across the plain,
The lucid form display'd,
The starry round he here explor'd,
And cry'd—“great Winthrop's dead.”
The lucid form display'd,
The starry round he here explor'd,
And cry'd—“great Winthrop's dead.”
Down through the planetary fields,
Where countless systems roll,
A Newton's glorious kindred shade,
Descends to meet his soul.
Where countless systems roll,
A Newton's glorious kindred shade,
Descends to meet his soul.
They through the trackless paths of light
Still wonder, and adore,
And mount towards the central source,
Of all creative power.
Still wonder, and adore,
And mount towards the central source,
Of all creative power.
But lo! the sons of Harvard weep,
And science drops a tear,
Philosophy, her favorite mourns,
And stoic souls revere.
And science drops a tear,
Philosophy, her favorite mourns,
And stoic souls revere.
The wrangling disputant abash'd,
Adores great nature's God,
And zealously explores the path
Th' illustrious sage has trod.
Adores great nature's God,
And zealously explores the path
Th' illustrious sage has trod.
As life forsook his dying lids,
Faith view'd the glorious prize,
Yet nature dropt a friendly tear
Before he reach'd the skies.
Faith view'd the glorious prize,
236
Before he reach'd the skies.
Though death with “dewy fingers cold,”
Pervades the fainted brow,
Compassion mov'd the quivering lip,
And in a last adieu—
Pervades the fainted brow,
Compassion mov'd the quivering lip,
And in a last adieu—
He his last sanction to the truth,
To doubting sceptics leaves.
While weeping friends deplore his loss,
And sad Honoria grieves;
To doubting sceptics leaves.
While weeping friends deplore his loss,
And sad Honoria grieves;
He sigh'd—“the ancient sages grop'd
“Through error's mazy round,
“Through earth and air, to hell's abyss,
“They sought one cause profound—
“Through error's mazy round,
“Through earth and air, to hell's abyss,
“They sought one cause profound—
“One Great First Cause—in every form,
“In every star they greet,
“From Woden's dark and dreary cave,
“To Jove's etherial seat.
“In every star they greet,
“From Woden's dark and dreary cave,
“To Jove's etherial seat.
“They snatch'd each feeble ray of light,
“And cherish'd to a flame,
“As nature in ten thousand forms
“Spake one eternal name.
“And cherish'd to a flame,
“As nature in ten thousand forms
“Spake one eternal name.
“Kind Heaven beheld a wandering world,
“With altars rear'd to fate,
“And condescended to reveal
“A pure, immortal state.
“With altars rear'd to fate,
“And condescended to reveal
“A pure, immortal state.
“But clearer light in modern time
“Our wiser youth has taught,
“Whatever Socrates might preach,
“Or gloomy Plato thought,
“Our wiser youth has taught,
“Whatever Socrates might preach,
“Or gloomy Plato thought,
237
“Are but enthusiastic dreams;
“And such, the perfect code,
“Seal'd by a messenger divine,
“The sacred son of God.
“And such, the perfect code,
“Seal'd by a messenger divine,
“The sacred son of God.
“By fancy's ebullitions swell'd
“With philosophic fume,
“Both Moses and Saint Paul renounce,
“For evangelic Hume.
“With philosophic fume,
“Both Moses and Saint Paul renounce,
“For evangelic Hume.
“Shall such intelligence and thought
“As actuates a mind,
“Like reas'ning Locke, or pious Boyle,
“To Hades be consign'd?—
“As actuates a mind,
“Like reas'ning Locke, or pious Boyle,
“To Hades be consign'd?—
“No more to live—no more to think,
“But perish as the brute;
“This for the Christian faith and hope,
“Ah! what a substitute!—
“But perish as the brute;
“This for the Christian faith and hope,
“Ah! what a substitute!—
“Witlings may sport at every truth
“The sacred page contains,
“And academic fools dispute
“With mazy, muddled brains;
“The sacred page contains,
“And academic fools dispute
“With mazy, muddled brains;
“The word on Sinai's mount reveal'd
“Has demonstrative proof,
“Nor less the condescending grace
“Of a redeemer's love.”
“Has demonstrative proof,
“Nor less the condescending grace
“Of a redeemer's love.”
An heavenly energy divine,
Retarded long his mind,
While Angels heard the dying trill
In aid to truth design'd.
Retarded long his mind,
While Angels heard the dying trill
In aid to truth design'd.
The musick of the spheres resounds,
And hasten'd his delay,
A cherub lower'd his golden wing
To waft him on his way.
And hasten'd his delay,
238
To waft him on his way.
He through a galaxy of light
By Newton's eye unseen,
Beyond the telescopic view
Of weak ey'd mortal men,
By Newton's eye unseen,
Beyond the telescopic view
Of weak ey'd mortal men,
Treads o'er the pavement of the skies,
And looking down surveys,
A thousand transits gliding through
The vast etherial space.
And looking down surveys,
A thousand transits gliding through
The vast etherial space.
Venus may pass the nether sun,
And worlds revolving roll;
The great astronomer beholds
The author of the whole.
And worlds revolving roll;
The great astronomer beholds
The author of the whole.
Huygen's little tubes thrown by,
And Gravesande's narrow scale,
To view the magnitude of plan,
An Angel's opticks fail.
And Gravesande's narrow scale,
To view the magnitude of plan,
An Angel's opticks fail.
Hail! bright, exalted, happy soul,
Disrob'd of earth born clay,
Thine agile wing moves o'er the orbs.
Through seas of liquid day.
Disrob'd of earth born clay,
Thine agile wing moves o'er the orbs.
Through seas of liquid day.
But, hah!—the literary world
Laments the recent blow,
Beside the yew grown cover'd tomb,
Long—virtue's tears will flow.
Laments the recent blow,
Beside the yew grown cover'd tomb,
Long—virtue's tears will flow.
His kind persuasive voice allur'd
To learning's happy seat,
And truth and friendship both combin'd
To bless the lov'd retreat.
To learning's happy seat,
And truth and friendship both combin'd
To bless the lov'd retreat.
239
The listening youth hung on the lip
Where soft instruction flow'd,
In every emulative breast
The thirst of knowledge glow'd.
Where soft instruction flow'd,
In every emulative breast
The thirst of knowledge glow'd.
Some at Apollo's shrine may bow,
And ask another name,
To fill the philosophic chair
And reach a Winthrop's fame;
And ask another name,
To fill the philosophic chair
And reach a Winthrop's fame;
But, oh! thou great all perfect source!
Of knowledge, light, and truth,
Send in the prophet's flaming car,
A guide to Harvard's youth.
Of knowledge, light, and truth,
Send in the prophet's flaming car,
A guide to Harvard's youth.
| Poems, dramatic and miscellaneous | |