Classic Poem

From CLAUDIAN.

Jove saw the heav'ns in glassy sphere exprest,
And smiling, thus the pow'rs above addrest:
‘At what bold tasks will man's presumption aim?
In this small globe he mocks the wordly frame.
Lo! from my work the rival artist draws
The heavenly motions, and great Nature's laws.
Each star includes an animating soul,
And beauteous order regulates the whole.
Through the bright Zodiack yearly rolls the sun,
And mimic moons each month their courses run.
Audacious art thus lifts her crest on high,
And deems she sways the empire of the sky.
Salmoneus once fictitious lightening hurl'd;
But here, behold a counterfeited world!’