To Dr. Richard Helsham. Upon my Recovery from a dangerous Fit of Sickness. Mary Barber Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Broad Street Oxford OX1 3BG UK
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
Taylor Institution Library St Giles' Oxford OX1 3NA UK info@eighteenthcenturypoetry.org https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/
Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. T42622 519 p. 45 Barber, Mary, ca. 1690-1757. Poems on Several Occasions [poems only]. London Printed for C. Rivington, at the Bible and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1734 pp. 30-31. xlviii,283,[7]p.; 8⁰.

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To Dr. Richard Helsham "Dr Richard Helsham (1682/3-1738), physician and scientist in Dublin, was Swift's personal physician and friend." (Tucker [1992], 209) . Upon my Recovery from a dangerous Fit of Sickness . For fleeting Life recall'd , for Health restor'd , Be first the God of Life and Health ador'd ; Whose boundless Mercy claims this Tribute due : And next to Heav'n , I owe my Thanks to you ; To you , who feel the Ease your Med'cines give , And , in reviving Patients , doubly live ; You , who from Nature's Dictates never stray ; But wisely wait , till she points out the Way : Where-e'er she leads , unerring , you pursue Her mazy System , op'ning to your View . In you reviv'd we Ratcliff's Genius see , Heighten'd by Learning and Humanity . With Ease all Nature's Secrets you explore , And to the noblest Heights of Science soar . Your Thoughts , unbounded , travel with the Sun ; And see attendant Worlds around him run ; Which trace their distant Courses thro' the Sky , Nor fly his Throne too far , nor press too nigh . The wise and wond'rous Laws you clearly know , Which rule those Worlds above , and this below . The World of Life , which we obscurely see , In all its Wonders , is survey'd by thee : And thou in ev'ry Part canst something find , To praise thy Maker , and to bless thy Kind : Quick to discern , judicious to apply , Your Judgment clear , and piercing , as your Eye : Ev'n Med'cines , in your wise Prescriptions , please ; And are no more the Patient's worst Disease . Goodness , and Skill , and Learning less than thine , Rais'd Æsculapius to the Realms divine .