Odes on Several Subjects/To the Muse
For works with similar titles, see To the Muse.
ODES
ON
SEVERAL SUBJECTS.
To the MUSE.
I. 1.Yet once more, sweetest Queen of Song,Thy humble suppliant lead along,Thro' Fancy's flow'ry plains:Oh bear me to th' ideal grove,Where hand in hand the Graces rove,And sooth me with seraphic strains!'Tis thine, harmonious Maid, to cullDelicious balm to heal our cares;'Tis thine to take the prison'd soul,And lap it in Elysian airs;While quick as thought at thy divine commandThe realms of grace, and Harmony expand.
I. 2.And lo before my ravisht eyesThe visionary scenes arise!I hear the tender lute complain,While Sappho breathes her am'rous pain;(O guard me from such fierce desires,Thou God of Raptures, God of Fires!)I hear Anacreon's honey'd tongueTo Love and Wine repeat the song;His flight sublime the Theban Swan prepares,And louder music wakes the wond'ring spheres.
I. 3.But hark how sweet the numbers swell,While Homer waves his foul-enchanting wand!Entranc'd the list'ning Passions stand,Charm'd with the magic of his shell.Whether to arms his trump resounds,The heart with martial ardour bounds;Or sprightly themes his hand employ,Instant we catch the spreading joy;Or when in notes majestic, deep, and slow,He bids the solemn streams of sorrow flow,Amaz'd we hear the sadly-pleasing strain,While tender anguish steals thro' ev'ry vein.
II. 1.Father of verse, whose Eagle-flightFatigues the gazer's aching sight,And strains th' aspiring mind;Teach me thy wondrous heights to view,With trembling wing thy steps pursue,And leave the less'ning world behind.Fond, foolish wish!—Can human eyesThe rapid arrow's track descry?Can gross Mortality arise,And spring beyond the vaulted sky?Lost is the momentary path, and boundBy cumbrous chains we creep along the ground!
II. 2.Yet some there are with pow'r endow'dTo soar above the groveling croud;By Thee, fair Fancy, raptrous maid,By Thee, O sweet Enthusiast, led,Sublime beyond the milky wayWith strong seraphic plumes they stray;Or pierce within the sacred shade,Where Nature's plastic forms are laid;Then strike with daring hand the magic strings,And warm to life a new Creation springs.
II. 3.Hail chosen Few, whose happier birthThe Muse beheld, and bad your due feet climbFame's slipp'ry hill, and paths sublime,Untrod by vulgar sons of earth!When Virtue droops all sick and pale,In bleak Misfortune's desart vale,'Tis your's to steal away her care,And softly sooth the pensive Fair:'Tis your's to cull, from Fancy's fairy stores,The brightest gems, and sweetest-breathing flow'rs,Then bind with Dædal art such wreaths divine,As bloom secure on Truth's immortal shrine.
III. 1.Haste then!—for soft Etesian galesSupply the [1]Pilot's welcome sails,And waft him o'er the main;And gentle Show'rs, the Daughters fairOf pregnant clouds, and balmy air,Rejoice the faint, and thirsty plain:Oh haste, your sweetest numbers shed,Fraught with the genial dew of praise, On Glory's fav'rite Sons, who tread anUnweary'd Danger's thorny maze;Who tear fresh laurels from War's ghastly brow,Or steer the stedfast bark, tho' tides of Faction flow.
III. 2.But, O ye Delegates of Jove,Sent from the starry realms aboveTo guard the clime, with Dragon-eyes,Where all the Muse's treasures rise,Should Gothic Ignorance invadeWith lawless foot the virgin shade,And too incontinent presumeRashly to pluck the golden Bloom;Wide wave the flaming sword, and send, O sendYour brightest shafts to quell the Stygian Fiend!
III. 3.With holy dread, ye Guardians of her store,Fulfill your charge, nor[errata 1] too profuse of praiseEmbalm, with her immortal Lays,The carion-corps of Pride, or Pow'r!Let Dulness her vain Favours shedOn smiling Folly's kindred head;Or Vice, in tinsel trappings drest,Promote the wretch who flatters best; Disdain the Crew!—And in some distant grove,To Worth afflicted, friendless raise your voice;So shall the Muse your honest Songs approve,And deathless Fame reward your uncorrupted Choice!
Erratum