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

"Thus piercing Spirits poise all weak Mankind / By sterling standard form'd in manag'd Mind"

Thus piercing Spirits poise all weak Mankind
By sterling standard form'd in manag'd Mind;
While Wisdom, learn'd, by long-experienc'd pow'rs,
Concentering all her intellectual dow'rs,
With heavenly light, explores the latent parts,
Of labyrinthine heads, and muffled Hearts--
For faithful Truth this Apophthegm declares,
"The Man that knows his own heart knows all Their's!"

Mineral::Sterling

Searching "mind" and "sterling" in HDIS (Poetry)

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>

06/03/2005