644 COWPER ON ALEXANDER SELKIRK,

IIf.

VERSES SUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN BY
ALEXANDER SELKIRK,

DURING HIS SOLITARY ABODE ON THE ISLAND OF JUAN FERNANDEZ,

BY WILLIAM COWPER,.

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.

T am out of humanity’s reach,
T must finish my journey alone,
Nevor hear the sweet music of speech—
I start at the sound of my own.
The beasts that roam over the plain
My form with indifference sce ;
They are so unacquainted with man,
Their tameness is shocking to me.

Society, friendship, and love,
Divinely bestowed upon man,
Oh, had I the wings of a dove,
How soon would I taste you again }
My sorrows I then might assuage
In the ways of religion and truth,
Might learn from the wisdom of age,
’ And be cheered by the sallies of youth.

Religion! what treasure untold
Resides in that heavenly word !
More precious than silver and gold,
Or all that this Earth can afford.
But the sound of the church-going bell
These valleys and rocks never heard,
Ne’er sighed at the sound of a knell,
Or smiled when a Sabbath appeared.