Verses, Supposed To Be Written By Alexander Selkirk, During His Solitary Abode In The Island Of Juan Fernandez.

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.     I am out of humanitys reach,     I must finish my journey alone,     Never 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 see;     They are so unacquainted with man,     Their tameness is shocking to me.     Society, friendship, and love,     Divinely bestowd upon man,     O, 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 cheerd 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,     Never sighd at the sound of a knell,     Or smiled when a Sabbath appeard.     Ye winds, that have made me your sport,     Convey to this desolate shore     Some cordial endearing report     Of a land I shall visit no more.     My friends, do they now and then send     A wish or a thought after me?     O tell me I yet have a friend,     Though a friend I am never to see.     How fleet is the glance of the mind!     Compared with the speed of its flight,     The tempest itself lags behind,     And the swift-winged arrows of light.     When I think of my own native land,     In a moment I seem to be there;     But alas! recollection at hand     Soon hurries me back to despair.     But the sea-fowl is gone to her nest,     The beast is laid down in his lair;     Even here is a season of rest,     And I to my cabin repair.     Theres mercy in every place,     And mercy, encouraging thought!     Gives even affliction a grace,     And reconciles man to his lot.