Printed Material
To My Dear Friend Edward Rushton, of Liverpool,
On the Recovery of His Sight,
By the skilful Operation of Mr. Gibson, of Manchester.
O! art thou my RUSHTON again
Restor’d to the regions of light!
And dost thou no longer remain
Involv’d in the shadows of night!
To wander thro’ life ’mid the gloom
And the horrors that fancy displays,
To be told of the bud and the bloom,
Of light—and the sun’s golden rays.
Like one that a long time hath been
From the friends of his youth faraway,
Thou art come to revisit the scene
That made life’s early morning so gay.
With thee dwelt affection and love,
And still to the Muse thou wert dear,
Yet ah! the bright beam from above
Was wanting thy spirits to cheer.
How great were thy transports, my friend,
The wife of thy bosom to see!
How sweet o’er thy children to bend
And behold them all smiling on thee!
Nor shall he be pass’d in my lay,
For science directed his hand,
Who gave thee the visions of day,
Who held the bright beams at command.
Now come to the Thames and to me,
To this bustle, this hurry, this strife,
And e’en yet to the shades we may flee,
To shelter the evening of life.
12, Hatfield-street, Blackfriars, 10th June, 1807.
J. M.