Classic Poem

THAT Chemic Labours studious hours beguile
Who shall contemn? or hear, with haughty smile,
That forth retorts and tubes new matter flies,
Rests in Receivers, or ascends the Skies!
Though ne'er personified were Chemic Powers,
In Heathen Temples, or in Druid Bowers,
Though ne'er on Altars were inscribed their name,
To them ne'er Column rose, nor Sacred Flame,
Though Greece and Egypt, bending e'en to clods,
Gave them no niche amidst their myriad gods,
Nor even Poetry hath Tablet given
To speak them, as they are, chief ministers of Heaven!
Yet, Chemic Powers, to you I raise my song,
My Numbers dedicate that pour along.
S ECOND C REATORS ! 'tis your mighty sway
Gives Ætna's terrors, and its splendid ray,
Blanches the Polar scenes, imparts the glare
Of Northern Light that trembles through the air!
Beneath the Earth, its ponderous Strata too,
Its Gold, its Diamonds, are illumed by you.
But, you yet teem with Themes of higher worth,
Still greater Wonders owe to you their birth!
The U NIVERSAL M ENSTRUUM 's piercing beam,
Of which wan Sages read, discourse, and dream,
Is only you! you the pervading E NS
Whose subtile fluid with all Nature blends.
On Earth, no Plant but by your influence rose,
From loftiest Palms, to lowliest Herb that grows,
The herb, thus rais'd, sustains with fragrant juice
The creatures Heaven destined for our use.
Thus M AN 's at length sustain'd! with blood supplied
To swell his veins and through each artery glide.
From various Orders, Forms, and Tastes, it came,
Concocted and sublimed by Chemic Flame,
And o'er the frame extends its balmy course,
The form enlarges, gives each sinew force,
Mounts upward to the Brain, the Nerves attains,
Refines as flowing, and each Sense sustains,
The beams bestows that gleam in Woman's eye,
And tints the blushes that arrive and fly!
The Chemic agency I still pursue!
And in its last, sublimest, office view.
The human frame, improved thus every hour,
Sustains now flights of I NTELLECTUAL power!
Supports the M IND , that dares the starry way
Illumed and guided by the Problem's ray,
His mind sustain'd, who saw conceived the whole,
Retain'd, for all men's weal, a N EWTON 's Soul!
Its highest Office! Rich P OTOSI 's Mines,
The Wealth the vast volcanic Globe confines,
The clearing Whirlwind's roar, the Earthquake's throe,
The Wonders midst the troublous Deep below,
Each Grandeur, Beauty, which o'er Earth we find,
How far inferior all—to fostering N EWTON 's Mind!