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The botanic garden, a poem

In two parts. Part I. Containing The economy of Vegetation, Part II. The Loves of the plants. With philosophical notes. The fourth edition. [by Erasmus Darwin]
Darwin, Erasmus (1731-1802)
  
[epigraph]

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[section]
  
TO THE AUTHOR OF THE POEM ON THE LOVES OF THE PLANTS.
  
TO Dr. DARWIN.
  
TO Dr. DARWIN.
  
TO Dr. DARWIN.
  
Address to the River Derwent, on whose Banks the Author of the Botanic Garden resides.
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THE BOTANIC GARDEN.
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PART I. CONTAINING THE ECONOMY OF VEGETATION
 I. 
CANTO I.
 I. 
I.
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II.
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III.
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IV.
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VI.
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VII.
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 VIII. 
VIII.
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XII.
  
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CANTO II.
  
[prologue]
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
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III.
 IV. 
IV.
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V.
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3.
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4.
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VI.
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2.
 VII. 
VII.
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VIII.
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IX.
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XI.
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CANTO III.
  
[prologue]
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
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III.
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IV.
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V.
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 VI. 
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VII.
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VIII.
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XII.
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XIII.
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XIV.
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CANTO IV.
  
[prologue]
 I. 
I.
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II.
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III.
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2.
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IV.
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VIII.
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X.
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XII.
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 XIII. 
XIII.
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XIV.
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2.
 XV. 
XV.
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PART II. CONTAINING THE LOVES OF THE PLANTS
 I. 
CANTO I.
 II. 
CANTO II.
 III. 
CANTO III.
 IV. 
CANTO IV.

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v

TO THE AUTHOR OF THE POEM ON THE LOVES OF THE PLANTS.

BY THE REV. W. B. STEPHENS.
Oft tho' thy genius, Darwin! amply fraught
With native wealth, explore new worlds of mind;
Whence the brightores of drossless wisdom brought,
Stampt by the Muse's hand, enrich mankind;
Tho' willing Nature to thy curious eye,
Involved in night, her mazy depths betray;
Till at their source thy piercing search descry
The streams, that bathe with Life our mortal clay;
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Tho', boldly soaring in sublimer mood
Through trackless skies on metaphysic wings,
Thou darest to scan the approachless Cause of Good,
And weigh with steadfast hand the Sum of Things;
Yet wilt thou, charmed amid his whispering bowers,
Oft with lone step by glittering Derwent stray,
Mark his green foliage, count his musky flowers,
That blush or tremble to the rising ray;
While Fancy, seated in her rock-roof'd dell,
Listening the secrets of the vernal grove,
Breathes sweetest strains to thy symphonious shell,
And “gives new echoes to the throne of Love.”
Repton, Nov. 28, 1788.
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