VERSES Supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk, during his solitary abode on the island of Juan Fernandez. I. I AM monarch of all I survey, My right there is none to dispute: From the centre all round to the sea, I am lord of the fowl and the brute. O Solitude! where are the charms That sages have seen in thy face? Better dwell in the midst of alarms, Than reign in this horrible place. II. I am out of humanity's reach, III. Society, friendship, and love, IV. Religion! what treasure untold V. Ye winds that have made me your sport,' Of a land I shall visit no more. VI. How fleet is a glance of the mind! Compar'd with the speed of its flight, The tempest itself lags behind, And the swift-winged arrows of light. When I think of my own native land, In a moment I seem to be there; But, alas! recollection at hand Soon hurries me back to despair. VII. But the sea-fowl is gone to her nest, 16 REPORT Of an adjudged Case, not to be found in any of the Books. I. BETWEEN Nose and Eyes a strange contest arose, The spectacles set them unhappily wrong; The point in dispute was, as all the world knows, To which the said spectacles ought to belong. II. So Tongue was the lawyer, and argued the cause With a great deal of skill, and a wig full of learning, While chief baron Ear sat to balance the laws, So fam'd for his talent in nicely discerning. III. In behalf of the Nose it will quickly appear, And your lordship, he said, will undoubtedly find, That the Nose has had spectacles always in wear, Which amounts to possession time out of mind. IV. Then holding the spectacles up to the court, Your lordship observes they are made with a straddle 242 As wide as the ridge of the Nose is; in short, Design'd to sit close to it, just like a saddle. V. Again, would your lordship a moment suppose, 'Tis a case that has happen'd, and may be again,) That the visage or countenance had not a Nose, Pray who would, or who could, wear spectacles then? VI. On the whole it appears, and my argument shows, With a reasoning the court will never condemn, That the spectacles plainly were made for the Nose And the Nose was as plainly intended for them. VII. Then shifting his side, (as a lawyer knows how,) wise. VIII. So his lordship decreed, with a grave solemn tone, Decisive and clear, without one if or butThat, whenever the Nose put his spectacles on, By day-light or candle-light-Eyes should be shut. |