Season of sighs perfumed, and maiden flowers, Young Beauty's birthday, cradled in delight And kept by muses in the blushing bowers Where snow-drops spring most delicately white! Oh it is luxury to minds that feel Now to prove truants to the giddy world, Calmly to watch the dewy tints that steal O'er opening roses—'till in smiles unfurled Their fresh-made petals silently unfold. Or mark the springing grass—or gaze upon Primeval morning till the hues of gold Blaze forth and centre in the glorious sun! Whose gentler beams exhale the tears of night, And bid each grateful tongue deep melodies indite.

SUMMER

Now is thy fragrant garland made complete, Maturing year! but as its many dyes Mingle in rainbow hues divinely sweet, They fade and fleet in unobserved sighs! Yet now all fresh and fair, how dear thou art, Just born to breathe and perish! touched by heaven, From lifeless Winter to a beating heart, From scathing blasts to Summer's balmy even! Methinks some angel from the bowers of bliss, In May descended, scattering blossoms round, Embraced each opening flower, bestowed a kiss, And woke the notes of harmony profound; But ere July had waned, alas, she fled, Took back to heaven the flowers, and left the falling leaves instead.

AUTUMN

Field flowers and breathing minstrelsy, farewell! The rose is colourless and withering fast, Sweet Philomel her song forgets to swell, And Summer's rich variety is past! The sear leaves wander, and the hoar of age Gathers her trophy for the dying year, And following in her noiseless pilgrimage, Waters her couch with many a pearly tear. Yet there is one unchanging friend who stays To cheer the passage into Winter's gloom— The redbreast chants his solitary lays, A simple requiem over Nature's tomb, So, when the Spring of life shall end with me, God of my Fathers! may I find a changeless Friend in thee!

WINTER

The trees are leafless, and the hollow blast Sings a shrill anthem to the bitter gloom, The lately smiling pastures are a waste, While beauty generates in Nature's womb; The frowning clouds are charged with fleecy snow, And storm and tempest bear a rival sway; Soft gurgling rivulets have ceased to flow, And beauty's garlands wither in decay: Yet look but heavenward! beautiful and young In life and lustre see the stars of night Untouch'd by time through ages roll along, And clear as when at first they burst to light. And then look from the stars where heaven appears Clad in the fertile Spring of everlasting years!

BENJAMIN GOUGH.

EXERCISE, AIR, AND SLEEP

(Abridged from Mr. Richards's "Treatise on Nervous Disorders.")

The generality of people are well aware of the vast importance of exercise; but few are acquainted with its modus operandi, and few avail themselves so fully as they might of its extensive benefits. The function of respiration, which endues the blood with its vivifying principle, is very much influenced by exercise; for our Omniscient Creator has given to our lungs the same faculty of imbibing nutriment from various kinds of air, as He has given to the stomach the power of extracting nourishment from different kinds of aliment; and as the healthy functions of the stomach depend upon the due performance of certain chemical and mechanical actions, so do the functions of the lungs depend upon the due performance of proper exercise.

Man being an animal destined for an active and useful life, Providence has ordained that sloth shall bring with it its own punishment. He who passes nearly the whole of his life in the open air, inhaling a salubrious atmosphere, enjoys health and vigour of body with tranquillity of mind, and dies at the utmost limit allotted to mortality. He, on the contrary, who leads an indolent or sedentary life, combining with it excessive mental exertion, is a martyr to a train of nervous symptoms, which are extremely annoying. Man was not created for a sedentary or slothful life; but all his organs and attributes are calculated for an existence of activity and industry. If therefore we would insure health and comfort, we must make exercise—to use Dr. Cheyne's expression—a part of our religion. But this exercise should be in the open air, and in such places as are most free from smoke, or any noxious exhalations; where, in fact, the air circulates freely, purely, and abundantly. I am continually told by persons that they take a great deal of exercise, being constantly on their feet from morning till night; but, upon inquiry, it happens, that this exercise is not in the open air, but in a crowded apartment, perhaps, as in a public office, a manufactory, or at a dress maker's, where twenty or thirty young girls are crammed together from nine o'clock in the morning till nine at night, or, what is nearly as pernicious, in a house but thinly inhabited. Exercise this cannot be called; it is the worst species of labour, entailing upon its victims numerous evils. Good air is as essential as wholesome food; for the air, by coming into immediate contact with the blood, enters at once into the constitution. If therefore the air be bad, every part of the body, whether near the heart or far from it, must participate in the evil which is produced.

It is on this account that exercise in the open air is so materially beneficial to digestion. If the blood be not properly prepared by the action of good air, how can the arteries of the stomach secrete good gastric juice? Then, we have a mechanical effect besides. By exercise the circulation of the blood is rendered more energetic and regular. Every artery, muscle, and gland is excited into action, and the work of existence goes on with spirit. The muscles press the blood-vessels, and squeeze the glands, so that none of them can be idle; so that, in short, every organ thus influenced must be in action. The consequence of all this is, that every function is well performed. The stomach digests readily, the liver pours out its bile freely, the bowels act regularly, and much superfluous heat is thrown out by perspiration. These are all very important operations, and in proportion to the perfection with which they are performed will be the health and comfort of the individual.

There is another process accomplished by exercise, which more immediately concerns the nervous system. "Many people," says Mr. Abernethy, "who are extremely irritable and hypochondriacal, and are constantly obliged to take medicines to regulate their bowels while they live an inactive life, no longer suffer from nervous irritation, or require aperient medicines when they use exercise to a degree that would be excessive in ordinary constitutions." This leads us to infer that the superfluous energy of the nerves is exhausted by the exercise of the body, and that as the abstraction of blood mitigates inflammations, in like manner does the abstraction of nervous irritability restore tranquillity to the system. This of course applies only to a state of high nervous irritation; but exercise is equally beneficial when the constitution is much weakened, by producing throughout the whole frame that energetic action which has been already explained.

Страница 2 из 12

Назад 1 2 3…12 Далее

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 14, No. 392, October 3, 1829

AI-разбор доступен после входа

О книге

Читать онлайн

FOUR SONNETS

(For the Mirror.)

SPRING

SUMMER

AUTUMN

WINTER

EXERCISE, AIR, AND SLEEP

(Abridged from Mr. Richards's "Treatise on Nervous Disorders.")

Вам также может понравиться

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 279, October 20, 1827

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 262, July 7, 1827

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 264, July 14, 1827

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 276, October 6, 1827

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 14, No. 385, August 15, 1829

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 14, No. 399, Supplementary Number

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 273, September 15, 1827

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 20, No. 582, December 22, 1832

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 268, August 11, 1827

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 12, No. 331, September 13, 1828

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 12, No. 333, September 27, 1828

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 13. Index to Volume 13