Essays and phantasies

by James Thomson

ESSAYS

AND

PHANTASIES.

BY

JAMES THOMSON,

AUTHOR OF

"THE CITY OF DREADFUL NIGHT, AND OTHER POEMS;"
"VANE'S STORY, WEDDAH AND OM-EL-BONAIN, AND OTHER POEMS."

LONDON:

REEVES AND TURNER,

196 STRAND.

1881.

CONTENTS.

		PAGE
A Lady of Sorrow:
Introductory Note		1
I.	The Angel	4
II.	The Siren	10
III.	The Shadow	16
Proposals for the Speedy Extinction of Evil and Misery		51
Bumble, Bumbledom, Bumbleism		104
Per Contra: The Poet, High Art, Genius		124
Indolence: A Moral Essay		142
A National Reformer in the Dog-Days		166
An Evening with Spenser		177
Open Secret Societies		190
Sayings of Sigvat		213
A Word for Xantippe		220
Sympathy		228
Liberty and Necessity		250
A Walk Abroad		257
The Fair of St. Sylvester		269
A Note on Forster's Life of Swift		281
A Note on George Meredith		289
On the Worth of Metaphysical Systems		296
A Few Words on the System of Spinoza		303
In our Forest of the Past		313