To mortal sense impart :

They beft the foul with glory fire;

They noblest counfels, boldeft deeds infpire;

And high o'er Fortune's rage inthrone the fixed heart. I. 2.

;

Nor lefs prevailing is their charm
The vengeful bofom to difarm
To melt the proud with human woe,
And prompt unwilling tears to flow.
Can wealth a power like this afford?
Can Cromwell's arts, or Marlborough's fword,
An equal empire claim?

No, HASTINGS. Thou my words wilt own: Thy breaft the gifts of every Mufe hath known; Nor shall the giver's love disgrace thy noble name. I. 3.

The Mufe's aweful art,

And the fair function of the poet's tongue, Ne'er fhalt thou blush to honour; to affert From all that scorned vice or flavish fear hath fung. Nor fhall the blandishment of Tuscan ftrings Warbling at will in pleasure's myrtle bower; Nor fhall the bafer notes to Celtic kings

By lying minstrels paid in evit hour,

Move Thee to fpurn the heavenly Mufe's reign.
A different ftrain,

And other themes

From her prophetic fhades and hallow'd streams
(Thou well can't witness) meet the purged ear:
Such, as when Greece to her immortal (hell
Rejoicing liften'd, godlike founds to hear;
To hear the sweet inftructress tell
(While men and heroes throng'd around)
How life its noblest use may find,
How best for freedom be refign'd;

And how, by glory, virtue fhall be crown'd.
II. 1.

Such was the Chian * father's ftrain

To many a kind domeftic train,

Whose pious hearth and genial bowl

Had cheer'd the reverend pilgrim's foul:
When, every hofpitable rite

With equal bounty to requite,

He ftruck his magic ftrings;

And pour'd spontaneous numbers forth,

And feiz'd their ears with tales of ancient worth,

And fill'd their musing hearts with vast heroic things.

* Homer.

B 4

II. 2. Now

II. 2.

Now oft, where happy spirits dwell,
Where yet he tunes his charming shell,
Oft near him, with applauding hands,
The genius of his country ftands.

To listening gods he makes him known,

1

That man divine, by whom were fown

The feeds of Græcian fame:

Who first the race with freedom fir'd; From whom Lycurgus Sparta's fons inspir'd; From whom Plataan palms and Cyprian trophies came. II. 3.

O nobleft, happiest age!

When Aristides rul'd, and Cimon fought;
When all the generous fruits of Homer's page
Exulting Pindar faw to full perfection brought.
O Pindar, oft fhalt thou be hail'd of me:
Not that Apollo fed thee from his fhrine;
Not that thy lips drank fweetness from the bee;
Nor yet that, ftudious of thy notes divine,

Pan danc'd their measure with the fylvan throng;
But that thy fong

Was proud to unfold

What thy base rulers trembled to behold,

Amid corrupted Thebes was proud to tell
The deeds of Athens and the Perfian fhame:
Hence on thy head their impious vengeance fell.
But thou, O faithful to thy fame,
The Mufe's law didft rightly know;
That who would animate his lays,

And other minds to virtue raise,

Muft feel his own with all her spirit glow.
III. I..

Are there, approv'd of later times,
Whose verse adorn'd a* tyrant's crimes?
Who faw majestic Rome betray'd,

And lent the imperial ruffian aid?

Alas! not one polluted bard,

No, not the strains that Mincius heard,

Or Tibur's hills reply'd,

Dare to the Muse's ear aspire;

Save that, inftructed by the Græcian lyre,

With freedom's ancient notes their shameful task they

III. 2.

Mark, how the dread Pantheon ftands,

Amid the domes of modern hands:

Amid the toys of idle state,

How fimply, how feverely great

* Octavius Cæfar.

[hide.

Then

Then turn, and, while each western clime
Prefents her tuneful fons to Time,

So mark thou Milton's name;

And add, "Thus differs from the throng "The spirit which inform'd thy aweful song,

"Which bade thy potent voice protect thy country's

III. 3.

Yet hence barbaric zéal

His memory with unholy rage pursues ;

[fame."

While from these arduous cares of public weal
She bids each bard begone, and reft him with his Muse.

O fool! to think the man, whofe ample mind
Muft grafp at all that yonder ftars furvey;
Muft join the nobleft form of every kind,
The world's most perfect image to display,
Can e'er his country's majesty behold,

Unmov'd or cold!

O fool! to deem

That He, whose thought muft vifit every theme,
Whose heart muft every strong emotion know
By nature planted, or by fortune taught;
That He, if haply fome presumptuous foe,
With false ignoble science fraught,

Shall