The Temple of Nature, Or, The Origin of Society: A Poem, with Philosophical Notes

Front Cover
John W. Butler, and Bonsal & Niles, 1804 - 344 pages
 

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 30 - Hence without parent by spontaneous birth " Rise the first specks of animated earth ; " From nature's womb the plant or insect swims, " And buds or breathes with microscopic limbs.
Page 126 - The rush-thatch'd cottage on the purple moor, Where ruddy children frolic round the door, The moss-grown antlers of the aged oak, The shaggy locks that fringe the colt unbroke, The bearded goat with nimble eyes, that glare Through the long tissue of his hoary hair, As with quick foot he climbs some ruin'd wall And crops the ivy, which prevents its fall ; With rural charms the tranquil mind delight, And form a picture to th
Page 188 - Hence when a monarch or a mushroom dies, Awhile extinct the organic matter lies ; But as a few short hours or years revolve, Alchemic powers the changing mass dissolve Emerging matter from the grave returns, Feels new desires, with new sensations burns, With youth's first bloom a finer sense acquires, And loves and pleasures fan the rising fires...
Page 32 - Rings join to rings, and irritated tubes Clasp with young lips the nutrient globes or cubes ;. And urged by appetencies new select, Imbibe, retain, digest, secrete, eject. In branching cones the living web expands, Lymphatic ducts, and convoluted glands ; Aortal tubes propel the nascent blood, And lengthening veins absorb the refluent flood ; Leaves, lungs, and gills, the vital ether breathe On earth's green surface, or the waves beneath.
Page 139 - ... both which could be quickly opened or closed by the pressure of the fingers, the vocality was given by a silk ribbon about an inch long and a quarter of an inch wide stretched between two bits of smooth wood a little hollowed; so that when a gentle current of air from bellows was blown on the edge of the ribbon, it gave an agreeable tone, as it vibrated between the wooden sides, much like a human voice. This head pronounced the p, b, m, and the vowel a, with so great nicety as to deceive all...
Page 85 - ... animal. So the horns of the stag are sharp to offend his adversary, but are branched for the purpose of parrying or receiving the thrusts of horns similar to his own, and have therefore been formed for the purpose of combating other stags for the exclusive possession of the females, who are observed, like the ladies in the times of chivalry, to attend the car of the victor.
Page 195 - Death, — and HAPPINESS SURVIVES ; How life increasing peoples every clime, And young renascent Nature conquers Time ; And high in golden characters record The immense munificence of NATURE'S LORD.
Page 141 - Reasoning," says one of the most ingenious, and original of these, " is that operation of the sensorium, by which we excite two or many tribes of ideas; and then. re-excite the ideas, in which they differ or correspond. If we determine this difference, it is called judgment ; if we in vain endeavour to determine it, it is called doubting. If we re-excite the ideas in which they differ, it is called distinguishing ; if we re-excite those in which they correspond, it is called comparing.
Page 10 - Whether immers'd in day, the Sun your throne, You gird the planets in your silver zone; Or warm, descending on ethereal wing, The Earth's cold bosom with the beams of spring; Press drop to drop, to atom atom bind, Link sex to sex, or rivet mind to mind; Attend my song!
Page 122 - ... babe, soon after it is born into this cold world, is applied to its mother's bosom; its sense of perceiving warmth is first agreeably affected ; next its sense of smell is delighted with the odour of...

Bibliographic information