OF substance I've thought, and the varied disputes On the nature of man and the notions of brutes; Of systems confuted, and systems explain'd, Of science disputed, and tenets maintain'd ... These, and such speculations on these kind of things, Have robb'd my poor Muse of her plume and her wings; Consumed the phlogiston you used to admire, The spirit extracted, extinguish'd the fire; Let out all the ether, so pure and refined, And left but a mere caput mortuum behind. |