VERSES SUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN BY ALEXANDER SELKIRK, DURING HIS SOLITARY ABODE IN THE ISLAND OF JUAN FERNANDEZ. I AM monarch of all I survey, I am lord of the fowl and the brute. That sages have seen in thy face? Than reign in this horrible place. I am out of humanity's reach, I must finish my journey alone, I start at the sound of my own. 10 The beasts, that roam over the plain, My form with indifference see; They are so unacquainted with man, Their tameness is shocking to me. Society, friendship, and love, Divinely bestow'd upon man, O, had I the wings of a dove, How soon would I taste you again! My sorrows I then might assuage 20 In the ways of religion and truth, Might learn from the wisdom of age, And be cheer'd by the sallies of youth. Religion! what treasure untold Resides in that heavenly word! More precious than silver and gold, But the sound of the church-going bell These vallies and rocks never heard, Never sigh'd at the sound of a knell, Ye winds, that have made me your sport, Some cordial endearing report Of a land I shall visit no more. My friends, do they now and then send A wish or a thought after me? O tell me I yet have a friend, Though a friend I am never to see. How fleet is a glance of the mind! Compar'd with the speed of it's flight, The tempest itself lags behind, And the swift winged arrows of light. 40 When I think of my own native land, But the seafowl is gone to her nest, The beast is laid down in his lair; Even here is a season of rest, And I to my cabin repair. There's mercy in every place, And mercy, encouraging thought! Gives even affliction a grace, And reconciles man to his lot. 50 ON THE PROMOTION OF EDWARD THURLOW, ESQ. TO THE LORD HIGH CHANCELLORSHIP OF ENGLAND. ROUND Thurlow's head in early youth, And in his sportive days, Fair Science pour'd the light of truth, See! with united wonder cried Discernment, eloquence, and grace Proclaim him born to sway The balance in the highest place, And bear the palm away. 10 |