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