The fragrant waters on my cheeks bestow'd Not scorn'd in heav'n, though little notic'd here. I prick'd them into paper with a pin, (And thou wast happier than myself the while, Thou, as a gallant bark from Albion's coast Where spices breathe, and brighter seasons smile, So thou, with sails how swift! hast reach'd the shore, Yet O the thought, that thou art safe, and he! And, while the wings of Fancy still are free, 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, My right there is none to dispute; I am lord of the fowl and the brute. That sages have seen in thy face? I am out of humanity's reach, I must finish my journey alone, Society, friendship, and love, My sorrows I then might assuage age, And be cheer'd by the sallies of youth. Religion! what treasure untold Or smil'd when a sabbath appear'd. Ye winds that have made me your sport, Convey to this desolate shore 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 its flight, The tempest itself lags behind, And the swift-winged arrows of light. When I think of my own native land, In a moment I seem to be there; But alas! recollection at hand Soon hurries me back to despair. But the sea-fowl is gone to her nest, And mercy, encouraging thought! ERASMUS DARWIN was born at Elton, near Newark, Nottinghamshire, in 1732. He studied at St. John's College, Cambridge, and afterwards at Edinburgh, where he took his medical degree. In the year 1756 he settled as a physician at Lichfield; where, and afterwards at Derby, he pursued his professional career with considerable success. It was late in life when he sought to achieve fame in the service of the Muses; he had indeed cultivated a natural taste for poetry, and occasionally satisfied his circle of friends of his ability to compose agreeable verses; but he knew that a poetic reputation, though flattering, is by no means profitable; and until he felt his station as a physician perfectly secure, he did not venture to commit his compositions to the press. In 1781, he published the first part of his "Botanic Garden." In 1789 and 1792 the other two parts appeared. His only other production of any note is "The Temple of Nature." This was printed after his death, and is but a weak echo of his greater poem. Darwin was twice married, and died in 1802. The person and character of Dr. Darwin were both singular. On his first visit to Lichfield he is described as of a thick and clumsy form, with heavy and ungainly limbs; much seared with the small-pox; and stuttering exceedingly. Twenty years afterwards he is pictured with " hard features on a rough surface; older in appearance than in reality." His personal defects were in part redeemed by his wit and talents; yet both in awkwardness of person and unamiability of mind he resembled Dr. Johnson, whom he greatly disliked. Both were despots in habit, intolerant of opposition, and sarcastic to an extreme; but the great genius of the native of Lichfield was not the prerogative of him who resided there. Dr. Darwin was an avowed sceptic:-a coarse mind, rude habits, and an ungenerous disposition were in him uncontrolled by religion; he was naturally uncourteous, boisterous, and tyrannical, and the coldness of his creed did not soften his temper or subdue his passions. "He dwelt so much and so exclusively on second causes, that he too generally seems to have forgotten there is a first" This defect in his philosophy is also the great defect of his poetry. He writes in a clear, sensible, and manly style, with a strong desire of communicating information in an attractive form, and some of his Episodes are both interesting and affecting, but he rarely warms into enthusiasm, excites the imagination, or touches the heart; he is indeed seldom more than merely satisfactory. His poem consists of two parts-the first contains the Economy of Vegetation, and the Second the Loves of the Plants; both are accompanied by learned, interesting, and useful explanatory notes. The plants are personified, and the descriptions are full of gorgeous beauty; their habits are given in a clear and lucid manner, so as to fix themselves upon the memory. The Goddess of Botany descends to earth to receive the welcome of Spring; and the four elements, represented by gnomes, water-nymphs, sylphs, and nymphs of fire, are in attendance to do her bidding. To each class she gives the allotted task-and the enumeration of their several duties forms the first four cantos of the poem. It will be at once perceived that this plan gives the author abundant opportunities for introducing descriptions of all objects in nature or in art: he has availed himself of them; and tells not only of the wonders of earth, sea, and sky, but of the uses to which science has applied them. Thus, when the Botanic Queen reminds her gnomes that they have seen subterranean fires producing clay-a compliment is conveyed to Mr. Wedgwood, who brought the manufacture of it to such perfection in England; and immortality is promised even to his "medallions." In the second part, the Loves of the Plants, the allegory is carried still farther-every flower and shrub is personified: the Sun-flower becomes a dervise, and leads his train to worship the sun; the Mimosa is a shrinking nymph; and the Miseltoe a spirit seeking her lovers among the clouds. This division of the work abounds in episodes relieving its more scientific details, and producing the effects of so many interesting stories in carrying the reader untired through the whole. Thus, the Orchis Morio, the parent root of which shrivels up and dies, as the young shoot flourishes, is transformed into a fond mother, nourishing her infant at the cost of her own life; and the fable is illustrated by the story of a wounded deer flying with her fawn to the woodlands, and by the history of a soldier's wife, who, watching with her babe the distant battle, is |