{"id":7150,"date":"2021-05-26T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-26T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspaperhistory.com\/?p=7150"},"modified":"2021-05-26T01:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-26T05:00:00","slug":"alexander-selkirk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/desperaudio.com\/newspaperpoetry\/alexander-selkirk\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexander Selkirk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>From The Birmingham Age-Herald, May 26, 1913.<\/em><br><em>By William Cowper.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Alexander-Selkirk\">Alexander Selkirk<\/a>, the Scottish sailor, was the prototype of the marooned traveler in Daniel Defoe\u2019s novel Robinson Crusoe (1719).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\">I am a monarch of all I survey,\n &nbsp; &nbsp; My right there is none to dispute.\n From the center all round to the sea\n &nbsp; &nbsp; I am lord of the fowl and the brute.\n O Solitude, where are the charms\n &nbsp; &nbsp; That sages have seen in thy face?\n Better dwell in the midst of alarms\n &nbsp; &nbsp; Than reign in this horrible place.\n \n I am out of humanity\u2019s reach;\n &nbsp; &nbsp; I must finish my journey alone;\n Never hear the sweet music of speech\u2014\n &nbsp; &nbsp; I start at the sound of my own.\n The beasts that roam over the plain\n &nbsp; &nbsp; My form with indifference see;\n They are so unacquainted with men,\n &nbsp; &nbsp; Their tameness is shocking to me.\n \n Society, friendship, and love\n &nbsp; &nbsp; Divinely bestowed upon man,\n O had I the wings of a dove,\n &nbsp; &nbsp; How soon would I taste you again!\n My sorrows I then might assuage\n &nbsp; &nbsp; In the ways of religion and truth;\n Might learn from the wisdom of age\n &nbsp; &nbsp; And be cheered by the sallies of youth.\n \n Religion! what treasure untold\n &nbsp; &nbsp; Resides in that heavenly word!\n More precious than silver and gold,\n &nbsp; &nbsp; Or all that this earth can afford,\n But the sound of the church-going bell\n &nbsp; &nbsp; These valleys and rocks never heard\u2014\n Never sighed at the sound of a knell,\n &nbsp; &nbsp; Or smiled when a Sabbath appeared.\n \n Ye winds that have made me your sport,\n &nbsp; &nbsp; Convey to this desolate shore\n Some cordial, endearing report\n &nbsp; &nbsp; Of a land I shall visit no more.\n My friends, do they now and then send\n &nbsp; &nbsp; A wish or a thought after me?\n O tell me I yet have a friend,\n &nbsp; &nbsp; Though a friend I am never to see.\n \n How fleet is the glance of a mind!\n &nbsp; &nbsp; Compared with the speed of its flight,\n The tempest itself lags behind;\n &nbsp; &nbsp; And the swift-winged arrows of light,\n When I think of my own native land,\n &nbsp; &nbsp; In a moment I seem to be there\n But, alas! recollection at hand\n &nbsp; &nbsp; Soon hurries me back to despair.\n \n But the sea fowl is gone to her nest;\n &nbsp; &nbsp; The beast is laid down in his lair;\n Even here is a season of rest,\n &nbsp; &nbsp; And I to my cabin repair.\n There\u2019s mercy in every place;\n &nbsp; &nbsp; And mercy, encouraging thought\n Gives even affliction a grace,\n &nbsp; &nbsp; And reconciles man to his lot.<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I am a monarch of all I survey,<br \/>\n     My right there is none to dispute.<br \/>\n From the center all round to the sea<br \/>\n     I am lord of the fowl and the brute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9],"tags":[320],"class_list":["post-7150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newspapers","category-the-birmingham-age-herald","tag-william-cowper"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/desperaudio.com\/newspaperpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/desperaudio.com\/newspaperpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/desperaudio.com\/newspaperpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desperaudio.com\/newspaperpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desperaudio.com\/newspaperpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/desperaudio.com\/newspaperpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7150\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/desperaudio.com\/newspaperpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desperaudio.com\/newspaperpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desperaudio.com\/newspaperpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}