Page:Scotish Descriptive Poems - Leyden (1803).djvu/100
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CLYDE;
Or shows how, launched, the wandering comet runs,Through different systems, circling different suns; 160How countless suns are sown through boundless space,And worlds around them roll with rapid race. Blest they who nature's secret wonders scan,Which unprofaned she hides from vulgar man;Whose raptured minds, with piercing skill, can traceThe circling fluids through their mazy race;See through what channels, nature upward heavesThe nourishment of flowers, of fruits, and leaves;What strainers separate each; what wondrous artMay due consistencies, and forms impart; 170The curious texture of the tubes survey,And from the pores see subtle odours play:How the firm bones their strength and grandeur lend,And vitals soft from injury defend;How principles, by nature prone to strife,Kindly conspire to the support of life:Impelled through all the complicated frame,How rapid fluids feed the vital flame:Whence on the face the glowing beauties rise,And all the soul beams genuine from the eyes. 180 That curious chemist mark! whose keen desireExamines nature by tormenting fire;