Or wilt thou rather ftoop thy vagrant plume,
Where gliding thro' his daughter's honour'd fhades
The smooth Peneus from his glaffy flood
Reflects purpureal Tempe's pleasant scene?
Fair Tempe! haunt belov'd of sylvan pow'rs,
Of Nymphs and Fauns, where in the Golden Age
They play'd in fecret on the fhady brink

With ancient Pan, while round their choral steps
Young hours and genial gales with conftant hand
Shower'd bloffoms, odour's, fhow'r'd ambrofial dews,
And springs Elyfian bloom. Her flow'ry store
To thee nor Tempe fhall refufe nor watch
Of winged Hydra guard Hefperian fruits
From thy free fpoil. O! bear then unreprov'd
Thy fmiling treafures to the green recefs
Where young Dione ftays with sweetest airs
Entice her forth to lend her angel form
For Beauty's honour'd image. Hither turn
Thy graceful footsteps; hither, gentle Maid!
Incline thy polish'd forehead; let thy eyes
Effufe the mildness of their azure dawn,
And may the fauning breezes waft afide
Thy radiant locks, difelofing as it bends
With airy foftnefs from the marble neck
The cheek fair-blooming and the rofy lip,
Where winning fmiles and pleasures fweet as Love
With fanctity and wisdom temp'ring blend
Their foft allurement: then the pleafing force

Of nature, and her kind parental care.
Worthier I'd fing; then all th' enamour'd youth,
With each admiring virgin, to my lyre

Should throng attentive, while I point on high
Where Beauty's living image, like the Morn
That wakes in Zeyhur's arms the blushing May
Moves onward; or as Venus when the ftood
Effulgent on the pearly car, and smil'd

Fresh from the deep, and conscious of her form, To fee the Tritons tune their vocal fhells,

And each cerulean fifter of the flood

With loud acclaim attend her o'er the waves
To feek the Idalian bow'r, Ye smiling band
Of youths and virgins! who through all the maze
Of young defire with rival steps purfue
This charm of beauty, if the pleafing toil
Can yield a moment's refpite, hither turn
Your favourable ear, and truft my words.
I do not mean to wake the gloomy form
Of Superstition dreft in Wisdom's garb
To damp your tender hopes; I do not mean
To bid the jealous Thund'rer fire the heav'ps,
Or fhapes infernal rend the groaning earth,
To fright you from your joys; my cheerful fong
With better amens calls you to the field,
Pleas'd with your generous ardour in the chafe
And warm like you. Then tell me, for ye know,
Does beauty ever deign to dwell where health

And active ufe are firangers? Is her charm
Confefs'd in aught whose most peculiar ends
Are lame and fruitlefs? Or did Nature mean
This pleafing call the herald of a lie,
To hide the fhame of difcord and disease,
And catch with fair hypocrify the teart
Of idle Faith O'no! with better cares
Th' indulgent mother, confcious how infirm
Her offspring tread the paths of good and ill,
By this illuftrious image, in each kind
Still moft illuftrious where the object holds
Its native pow'rs most perfect, fhe by this
Illumes the headstrong impulfe of defire,
And fanctifies his choice. The gen'rous glebe
Whese bofom fmiles with verdure, the clear track
Of ftreams delicious to the thirfty foul,

The bloom of nectar'd fruitage ripe to fenfe,
And ev'ry charm of animated things,
Are only pledges of a ftate fincere,
Th' integrity and order of their frame
When all is well within, and ev'ry end
Accomplished. Thus was beauty fent from Heav'n
The lovely ministress of Truth and Good

In this dark world; for Truth and Good are one,
And Beauty dwells in them, and they in her
With like participation: wherefore then,
O fons of Earth! would you diffolve the tie ?

O! wherefore with a rash impetuous aim,
Seek ye thofe flow'ry joys with which the hand
Of lavish Fancy paints each flatt'ring scene
Where beauty feems to dwell, nor once inquire
Where is the fanction of eternal truth,
Or where the feal of undeceitful good,
To fave your fearch from folly! Wanting these
Lo! Beauty withers in your void embrace,
And, with the glitt'ring of an idiot's toy,
Did fancy mock your vows. Nor let the gleam
Of youthful hope, that fhines upon your hearts,
Be chill'd or clouded at the awful task,

To learn the lore of undeceitful good,

And truth eternal. Though the pois'nous charms
Of baleful fuperftition guide the feet

Of fervile numbers through a dreary way

To their abode, through deferts, thorns and mire,
And leave the wretched pilgrim all forlorn
To mufe at laft amid the ghoftly gloom

Of graves, and hoary vaults, and cloifter'd cells,
To walk with fpectres through the midnight fhade,
And to the screaming owls accurfed fong

Attune the dreadful workings of his heart,
Yet be not ye difmay'd: a gentler star

Your lovely fearch illumines. From the grove
Where Wisdom talk'd with her Athenian fons
ambitious hand intwine a wreath

Could my

Of Plato's olive with the Mantuan bay,

Then fhould pow'rful verfe at once difpel

Those monkish horrors, then in light divine
Difclofe th' Elyfan profpect, where the steps
Of those whom Nature charms thro' blooming walks,
Through fragrant mountains and poetic ftreams,
Amid the train of fages, heroes, bards,

Led by their winged Genius and the choir
Of laurell'd Science and harmonious Art,
Proceed exulting to th' eternal shrine

Where Truth confpic'ous with her fifter twins,
The undivided partners of her fway,

With Good and Beauty reigns.
O let not us,
Lull'd by luxurious Pleasure's languid strain,
Or crouching to the frowns of bigot Rage,
O let us not a moment pause to join

That godlike band! and if the gracious pow'r
Who first awaken'd my untutor'd fong,
Will to my invocation breathe anew.

The tuneful fpirit, then through all our paths
Ne'er fhall the found of this devoted lyre
Be wanting; whether on the rofy mead,

When Summer fmiles, to warn the melting heart
Of Luxury's allurement, whether firm
Against the torrent and the ftubborn hill
To urge bold Virtue's unremitted nerve,
And wake the ftrong divinity of foul

That conquers Chance and Fate, or whether ftruck
For founds of triumph to proclaim her toils