That bear him vengeful o'er the embattled plain,
Relents, and fooths his own fierce heart to ease,
Unwonted ease. The fire of Gods and men,
In that great moment of divine delight,
Looks down on all that live; and whatfoe'er
He loves not, o'er the peopled earth and o'er
The interminated ocean, he beholds
Curs'd with abhorrence by his doom severe,
And troubled at the found. Ye, Naiads, ye
With ravish'd ears the melody attend
Worthy of facred filence. But the flaves
Of Bacchus with tempeftuous clamours strive
To drown the heavenly strains; of highest Jove,
Irreverent; and by mad prefumption fir'd
Their own difcordant raptures to advance
With hoftile emulation. Down they rush
From Nyfa's vine-impurpled cliff, the dames
Of Thrace, the Satyrs, and the unruly Fauns,
With old Silenus, through the midnight gloom
Toffing the torch impure, and high in air
The brandish'd Thyrfus, to the Phrygian pipe's
Shrill voice, and to the clashing cymbals, mix'd
With fhrieks and frantic uproar. May the Gods
every unpolluted ear avert
Their orgies! If within the feats of men,
Within the feats of men, the walls, the gates
Which Pallas rules, if haply there be found
Who loves to mingle with the revel-band
And hearken to their accents; who afpires
From fuch inftructers to inform his breast
With verfe; let him, fit votarist, implore
Their inspiration. He perchance the gifts
Of young Lyæus, and the dread exploits,
May fing in apteft numbers: he the fate
Of fober Pentheus, he the Paphian rites,
And naked Mars with Cytherea chain'd,
And strong Alcides in the spinster's robe,
May celebrate, applauded. But with you,
O Naiads, far from that unhallow'd rout,
Muft dwell the man whoe'er to praised themes
Invokes the immortal Muse. the immortal Mufe
To your calm habitations, to the cave
Corycian or the Delphic mount, will guide
His footsteps; and with your unfüllied ftreams
His lips will bathe: whether the eternal lore
Of Themis, or the majefty of Jove,
To mortals he reveal; or teach his lyre
The unenvied guerdon of the patriot's toils,
In thofe unfading islands of the bleft,
Where facred bards abide. Hail, honour'd Nymphs;
Thrice hail. for you the Cyrenaïc fhell,
Behold, I touch, revering. To my fongs
Be present ye with favourable feet,
And all profaner audience far remove.
Through all the spacious walks of Time,
Where'er the Mufe her power display'd,
With joy have liften'd and obey'd.
For taught of heaven, the facred Nine
Perfuafive numbers, forms divine,
To mortal fenfe impart :
They beft the foul with glory fire;
They noblest counfels, boldest deeds infpire;
And high o'er Fortune's rage inthrone the fixed heart.
Nor lefs prevailing is their charm
The vengeful bofom to disarm;
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 breast the gifts of every Muse hath known; Nor fhall the giver's love difgrace thy noble name. I. 3.
The Mufe's aweful art,
And the fair function of the poet's tongue,
I e'er fhalt thou blush to honour; to affert
From all that scorned vice or flavish fear hath fung.
Nor fhall the blandifhment of Tuscan strings
Warbling at will in pleasure's myrtle bower;
Nor fhall the bafer notes to Celtic kings
By lying minstrels paid in evil hour,
Move Thee to spurn the heavenly Mufe's reign.
A different ftrain,
And other themes
From her prophetic fhades and hallow'd streams
(Thou well can'st witnefs) meet the purged ear:
Such, as when Greece to her immortal fhell
Rejoicing liften'd, godlike founds to hear;
To hear the fweet 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.
Such was the Chian * father's ftrain
To many a kind domestic 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 fpontaneous numbers forth,
And feiz'd their ears with tales of ancient worth,
And fill'd their musing hearts with vaft heroic things.
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