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

"But, tho' thy mental eye no Sprites discern,"

But, tho' thy mental eye no Sprites discern,
Or, from such fancied forms, contemptuous, turn--
Hear'st, from disjointed jaws, no sentence break,
To soberer Souls they practically speak--
And tho' Thy Spirit spurns their silent plea,
Still fancying Death is distant far from Thee--
Tho' in their mouths no admonition dwells,
Reason reads thus, in all those hollow cells;
"In spite of human pride, and human pow'rs,
"Each haughty head shall soon lie low as Ours!"

Body::Eye::Mental Eye

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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>

Mind's Eye

08/29/2005