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

"Nor, while its light dispels each dreary doubt, / To put the heavenly lamp of Reason out, / But trim, and feed it, that its friendly aids, / May shape his track thro' Time's untrodden shades"

Not left to wander long thro' dubious ways,
By natural Reason's glimmering rays;
Or, poring round, by philosophic spark,
Whose beams still dropp'd him, blundering in the dark.
He, happy Peasant! soon perceiv'd such light,
As chas'd the chearless gloom of Nature's Night!
A Light that led thro' pages Heav'n inspir'd,
By all Believers lov'd, by Saints admir'd!
Whose Truths his mental strength intensely stirr'd,
And show'd their shallow systems all absurd;
While God's pure Grace thro' his rapt Spirit spread,
Warm'd his dull heart, and wak'd his dreaming head--
Infus'd fresh bliss beyond all pow'rs of Speech,
All rarest Prose, and Poesy, can reach!
Yet, tho' blest Love of God, on wing sublime,
Surpass'd the scanty bounds of Sense and Time--
Reveal'd such rapturous bursts of heavenly bliss,
As forc'd the Soul to loath a Scene like this;
And long, like Peter, on bright Tabor's hill,
Wish'd such clear visions might continue, still!
But Man, incarnate Man! ne'er doom'd to rest,
In such beatitudes, among the Blest,
Till quitting time, and vile corporeal clay,
He finds fix'd residence in endless day!
But this blest Book of Heav'n was ne'er design'd,
To set aside Man's energies of Mind;
Nor, while its light dispels each dreary doubt,
To put the heavenly lamp of Reason out,
But trim, and feed it, that its friendly aids,
May shape his track thro' Time's untrodden shades--
Point out his path thro' many a puzzling maze,
Where Revelation's light ne'er pours its blaze--
For Heav'n lights up its feebler beams, to show
Best use of objects in this Life below--
Objects far less important, and sublime,
That simply appertain to Sense and Time;
While by that pure effulgence, Man enjoys
That boundless bliss, in part, which Heav'n supplies!

Light::Lamp

Searching "reason" and "lamp" 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>

01/20/2006