Beauties of The Botanic Garden

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D. Longworth, 1805 - 216 pages

Beauties of the Botanic Garden by Erasmus Darwin, first published in 1805, is a rare manuscript, the original residing in one of the great libraries of the world. This book is a reproduction of that original, which has been scanned and cleaned by state-of-the-art publishing tools for better readability and enhanced appreciation.

Restoration Editors' mission is to bring long out of print manuscripts back to life. Some smudges, annotations or unclear text may still exist, due to permanent damage to the original work. We believe the literary significance of the text justifies offering this reproduction, allowing a new generation to appreciate it.

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Page 210 - Soon shall thy arm, unconquered steam, afar Drag the slow barge or drive the rapid car ; Or, on wide-waving wings expanded, bear The flying chariot through the fields of air ; — Fair crews triumphant, leaning from above, Shall wave their fluttering kerchiefs as they move, Or warrior bands alarm the gaping crowd, And armies shrink beneath the shadowy cloud.
Page 161 - Alas ! we both with cold and hunger quake — Why do you weep ? — Mamma will soon awake.
Page 158 - O'er ten square leagues his far diverging heads ; Or in one trunk entwists his tangled form, Looks o'er the clouds, and hisses in the storm: Steeped in fell poison, as his sharp teeth part, A thousand tongues in quick vibration dart ; Snatch the proud eagle towering o'er the heath, Or pounce the lion as he stalks beneath ; Or strew, as marshall'd hosts contend in vain With human skeletons the whiten'd plain.
Page 159 - Pleased with the distant roar, with quicker tread, Fast by his hand one lisping boy she led; And one fair girl amid the loud alarm Slept on her kerchief, cradled by her arm...
Page 121 - Launched the vast concave of his buoyant ball. Journeying on high, the silken castle glides Bright as a meteor through the azure tides ; O'er towns and towers and temples wins its way, Or mounts sublime, and gilds the vault of day. Silent with...
Page 160 - Hoarse barks the wolf, the vulture screams from far, The angel, Pity, shuns the walks of war ; — ' Oh spare, ye war-hounds, spare their tender age ! On me, on me...
Page 45 - Now o'er their head the whizzing whirlwinds breathe, And the live desert pants, and heaves beneath ; Tinged by the crimson sun, vast columns rise Of eddying sands, and war amid the skies, In red arcades the billowy plain surround, And whirling turrets stalk along the ground. — Long ranks in vain their shining blades extend, To demon-gods their knees unhallow'd bend. — Wheel in wide...
Page 19 - Shall wave their fluttering kerchiefs as they move ; Or warrior-bands alarm the gaping crowd, And armies sink beneath the shadowy cloud. " So mighty Hercules o'er many a clime Waved his vast mace in Virtue's cause sublime ; Unmeasured strength with early art combined, Awed, served, protected, and amazed mankind.
Page 131 - Ovidian metamorphosis of the flowers, with their floral harems," and witness in succession the transformations of a great variety of plants, all described by their Latin names, and introduced as living personages : " Sofa'd on silk, amid her charm-built towers, Her meads of asphodel, and amaranth bowers, Where Sleep and Silence guard the soft abodes, In sullen apathy, Papaver nods. Faint o'er her couch, in scintillating streams, Pass the light forms of Fairy and of Dreams.
Page 143 - And now, philanthropy ! thy rays divine Dart round the globe, from Zembla to the line ; O'er each dark prison plays the cheering light, Like northern lustres o'er the vault of night; From realm to realm, with cross or crescent Crown' d, Where'er mankind and misery are found, O'er burning sands, deep waves, or wilds of snow, Thy Howard journeying seeks the house of woe.

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