Jones, Henry (1721-1770)

Kew Garden. A Poem. In Two Cantos.

1763, 1767

"So stern Philosophy severe affirms, / With shrunk abstracted eye, and iron soul."

And lo a flourish'd portico enrich'd,
That wears th'embroidery of the Queen it guards,
Where Fancy on her vernal throne presides
O'er all the colours of the painted year,
That charm th'affections, and deceive the eye;
Oh sweet inchantment, never feel decay;
Is beauty too a visionary bliss?
Do lovers languish for a fairy dream?
Are lilies living in the virgin face?
Are roses mingling with their whiteness there?
Ah sweet illusions all! are these unreal?
Are these the phantoms of a magic spell?
So stern Philosophy severe affirms,
With shrunk abstracted eye, and iron soul;
But nature to the heart so close akin,
Smiles in her face, her mystic frown defies,
To beauty clings, and her cold creed abhors.

Mineral::Iron::Iron Soul

Searching "soul" and "iron" in HDIS (Poetry)

3 entries in ESTC (1763, 1767).

See Kew Garden: a Poem. In Two Cantos. By Henry Jones (Dublin: Printed for William Watson, 1763). <Link>

Text from Kew Garden. A Poem. In Two Cantos. By Henry Jones (London: Printed by J. Browne, 1767). <Link to Hathi Trust>

06/07/2005