Address
WHAT ! is it then so slight a thing
To touch the Muse's sacred string!
Is it to Common Mortals given
To be like Beings formed in Heaven,
To be all Spirit, unclogged air,
And in angelic gifts to share?
Oh, listen to me whilst I tell
The Powers that in such mortals dwell.
—Inspiring Beings! guidance lend,
And o'er me in the venture bend,
Nor from my daring pen depart
Whilst tracing out the POET'S art!
All information is his own
Of what belongs to either zone;
Not by laborious Tasks acquired,
Or by Attention, strained and tired,
Ah no! his intellectual glance
Pervades Creation's mystic dance.
What others gain by Study hard,
Flows in, upon the musing Bard,
A Word, the slightest Hint will do
To bring all knowledge in review.
Calm and unmoved his mind may seem,
Emitting scarcely forth a gleam;
Chance but a casual spark to stir,
The brightest flashes quick occur,
All is instant fulgent Light
Pouring on his mental sight!
Still, various is his glowing mind
Acute to feel, by Taste refined.
His thought can reach to Nature's soul,
Its Agents see, conceive the whole,
Ascend where stars in millions flame,
Millions ungifted, yet, with name,
Each star a Sun, whose Planets roll
In circles kept in firm controul.
All rapt with Awe, the Poet burns
As he to their CREATOR turns,
In fervid strains his raptures pour—
Who, like a Poet, can adore?
From Skies, his glance in Fancy's flight
Surveys Earth's hidden Wonders bright;
Sees Nature's works, the veins of ore,
The glittering arch, the sparry floor.
Darts where the Salt Mines columns vast
O'er realms unsun'd their Radiance cast,
Whose Domes pour down the Diamond's beam,
In rays that form one sparkling stream
And brilliance 'neath the earth display
Unequall'd in the upper day.
His eye from splendid visions there,
He turns to scenes midst healthful air,
To Men, now blithe amidst the day,
Now soothed by pensive lunar ray;
All Characters at once he sees,
In all their varying degrees,
As by the quadrant of his mind
Their altitude is clear defined.
God, through his Works, thus widely sought,
The MORAL SYSTEM fills his thought.
And here his intellectual eye
Wonders on Wonders will descry;
He sees, in lovely Order ranged,
Eternal Virtues, never changed;
And, though some Principle of Ill
Lurks each unguarded space to fill,
Yet, Moral Order still is found
Where'er he looks the Earth around,
Eternally it must endure
The WORD that spake it made it sure!
Though hurricanes and tempests fly,
And whirlwinds vex the Indian sky,
Only in brighter hue it shines,
From midst Confusion—all refines!
Again his soul in Transport moves,
Who, like a Poet, feels and loves!
Led by Imagination bright,
O'er all the Earth he takes his flight;
In Palmy Groves he'll now reside,
Tomorrow skim th' Atlantic Tide,
Pierce through the Deep, its Grottoes know,
And roam where ruby Corals grow.
—Where'er he breathes, whate'er he meets,
Each Object, as from HEAVEN , he greets;
Each is an Altar, or a Shrine,
Erected to the Power Divine—
To raise Devotion's glowing fire,
Strike Mortal, if thou canst, the P OET'S Lyre!
To touch the Muse's sacred string!
Is it to Common Mortals given
To be like Beings formed in Heaven,
To be all Spirit, unclogged air,
And in angelic gifts to share?
Oh, listen to me whilst I tell
The Powers that in such mortals dwell.
—Inspiring Beings! guidance lend,
And o'er me in the venture bend,
Nor from my daring pen depart
Whilst tracing out the POET'S art!
All information is his own
Of what belongs to either zone;
Not by laborious Tasks acquired,
Or by Attention, strained and tired,
Ah no! his intellectual glance
Pervades Creation's mystic dance.
What others gain by Study hard,
Flows in, upon the musing Bard,
A Word, the slightest Hint will do
To bring all knowledge in review.
Calm and unmoved his mind may seem,
Emitting scarcely forth a gleam;
Chance but a casual spark to stir,
The brightest flashes quick occur,
All is instant fulgent Light
Pouring on his mental sight!
Still, various is his glowing mind
Acute to feel, by Taste refined.
His thought can reach to Nature's soul,
Its Agents see, conceive the whole,
Ascend where stars in millions flame,
Millions ungifted, yet, with name,
Each star a Sun, whose Planets roll
In circles kept in firm controul.
All rapt with Awe, the Poet burns
As he to their CREATOR turns,
In fervid strains his raptures pour—
Who, like a Poet, can adore?
From Skies, his glance in Fancy's flight
Surveys Earth's hidden Wonders bright;
Sees Nature's works, the veins of ore,
The glittering arch, the sparry floor.
Darts where the Salt Mines columns vast
O'er realms unsun'd their Radiance cast,
Whose Domes pour down the Diamond's beam,
In rays that form one sparkling stream
And brilliance 'neath the earth display
Unequall'd in the upper day.
His eye from splendid visions there,
He turns to scenes midst healthful air,
To Men, now blithe amidst the day,
Now soothed by pensive lunar ray;
All Characters at once he sees,
In all their varying degrees,
As by the quadrant of his mind
Their altitude is clear defined.
God, through his Works, thus widely sought,
The MORAL SYSTEM fills his thought.
And here his intellectual eye
Wonders on Wonders will descry;
He sees, in lovely Order ranged,
Eternal Virtues, never changed;
And, though some Principle of Ill
Lurks each unguarded space to fill,
Yet, Moral Order still is found
Where'er he looks the Earth around,
Eternally it must endure
The WORD that spake it made it sure!
Though hurricanes and tempests fly,
And whirlwinds vex the Indian sky,
Only in brighter hue it shines,
From midst Confusion—all refines!
Again his soul in Transport moves,
Who, like a Poet, feels and loves!
Led by Imagination bright,
O'er all the Earth he takes his flight;
In Palmy Groves he'll now reside,
Tomorrow skim th' Atlantic Tide,
Pierce through the Deep, its Grottoes know,
And roam where ruby Corals grow.
—Where'er he breathes, whate'er he meets,
Each Object, as from HEAVEN , he greets;
Each is an Altar, or a Shrine,
Erected to the Power Divine—
To raise Devotion's glowing fire,
Strike Mortal, if thou canst, the P OET'S Lyre!
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