[Works of John Stowell + note by R.J.Moore]

To Sensibility
A Fragment

August 1794

DESPOTIC ruler of the gen'rous breast,
Young SENSIBILITY, his thine to swell
The heart with transport, or convulse with pain :
Which shall I call thee, blessed or accurst ?
Art thou not both ? no, that were Folly's censure,
As well an angel might be too a devil.
Blest let me name thee then, altho' I feel,
And often bleeding, feel thy keenest stroked :
Yet are they given as salutary pill,
Which kindly mend the mental appetite,
And the pure animated soul prepares
For such a feast of bliss, as thou alone,
Rich SENSIBILITY, could'st ever yield.

O let me not forget thy early favours,
When first my youthful fancy, led by thee
Delighted, stray'd through many a paradise,
Alas, too quickly lost !
Thou fountain pure of all the social virtues -
Thine is humanity, and friendship thine,
Warm charity, and heart dissolving love !
How poor is that man's lot unblest by thee !
Friendship denied her liberal gifts to him:
His senseless heart ne'er bounds o'er waves of rapture
Nor floats on gentle tides of soft emotion'
But sleeps in one dull still unvaried calm;
Let no such cheap security be mine ;
Rather continue still thy influence,
Tho' pungent sorrows mingle with thy joys.

Candidus

Cregmallin, 29 Aug 1794

Note

The above appeared in the Manks Mercury of the 30th August 1794;
FPC: Creg Mallin is the headland to the north of Peel Bay.