Woodhouse, James (bap. 1735, d. 1820)

The Life and Lucubrations of Crispinus Scriblerus. A Novel, in Verse, Written in the Last Century

1814, 1816, 1896

"How then should matron Mind, with filial fear, / Judge all the embryo thoughts engender'd there"

How then should matron Mind, with filial fear,
Judge all the embryo thoughts engender'd there!
To kill each procreant male, and thence expel
All, claiming cursed origin from Hell;
Or strength obtain to strangle, ere their birth,
Proud rebel progenies, allied to Earth;
Yet nurse, and nurture, all the sacred Seed,
While banishing the base Egyptian breed;
Training, or stifling, each ideal Child,
Nor, idly, let a savage Race run wild--
Like Hebrew midwives, with obstetric hand
Preserving every birth of Israel's band,
Not fearing any Pharaoh's wicked Will,
One offspring of that promis'd Seed to kill--
Or, Moses-like, when such opponents strive,
Destroy the Foe to save the Friend alive--
Make mocking Ishmael's from the house depart,
But cherish Isaac's both in head and heart.

Body::Engendering::Children Population::Engendering::Children Uncategorized::Judge::Judging

HDIS

Poem first published in its entirety in 1896. The 1814 first edition receives notice in The New Monthly Magazine (March 1815); the poem was written "in the last century" (w. 1795-1820?).

Text from The Life and Poetical Works of James Woodhouse, ed. R. I. Woodhouse, 2 vols. (London: The Leadenhall Press, 1896). <Link to Hathi Trust> <Link to LION>

08/31/2004