Deriv'd from Codrus, not a thousand gifts
Dealt round him with a wife, benignant hand,
No, not the Olympic olive by himself
From his own brow transferr'd to foothe the mind
Of this Fififtratus, can long preferve 255
From the fell envy of the tyrant's fons,
And their affaffin dagger. But if death
Obfcure upon his gentle steps attend,
Yet fate an ample recompence prepares
In his victorious fon, that other great
Miltiades, who o'er the very throne
Of glory fhall with Time's affiduous hand
In adamantine characters ingrave
With honeft prudence: me it ill befeems
Again to fupplicate the unwilling croud
To refcue from a vile deceiver's hold
That envied power which once with eager zeal
They offer'd to myself; nor can I plunge
In counfels deep and various, nor prepare
For distant wars, thus faultering as I tread
On life's laft verge, ere long to join the fhades
Of Minos and Lycurgus. But behold 325
266 What care employs me now. My vows I pay
To the fweet Mufes, teachers of my youth
And folace of my age. If right I deem
Of the ftill voice that whispers at my heart,
The immortal fifters have not quite withdrawn 330
Their old harmonious influence.
Let your
With facred filence favour what I fpeak, [tongues
And haply fhall my faithful lips be taught
To unfold celeftial counfels, which may arm
As with impenetrable steel your breafts
For the long ftrife before you, and repel
The darts of adverfe fate. He faid, and fnatch'd
The laurel bough, and fate in filence down,
Fix'd, wrapp'd in folema mufing, full before
The fun, who now from all his radiant orb 346
Drove the gray clouds, and pour'd his genial
Upon the breaft of Solon. Solon rais'd
Aloft the leafy rod, and thus began.
The name of Athens; and, by freedom arm'd ·
'Gainft the gigantic pride of Afia's king, 265
Shall all the atchievements of the heroes old
Surmount, of Hercules, of all who fail'd
From Theffaly with Jafon, all who fought
For empire or for fame at Thebes or Troy.
Such were the patriots who within the porch
Of Solon had affembled. But the gate
Now opens, and across the ample floor
Straight they proceed into an open space
Bright with the beams of morn: a verdant fpot,
Where ftands a rural altar, pil'd with føds
Cut from the graffy turf and girt with wreaths
Of branching palm. Here Solon's felf they found
Clad in a robe of purple pure, and deck'd
With leaves of olive on his reverend brow.
He bow'd before the altar, and o'er cakes
Of barley from two earthen veffels pour'd
Of honey and of milk a plenteous ftream;
Calling meantime the Mufes to accept
His fimple offering, by no victim ting'd
With blood, nor fullied by deftroying fire,
But fuch as for himfelf Apollo claims
In his own Delos, where his favourite haunt
Is thence the Altar of the Pious nam❜d.
Unfeen the guests drew near, and filent view'd
That worship; till the hero prieft his eye
Turn'd toward a feat on which prepar'd there lay
A branch of laurel. Then his friends confefs'd
Before him flood. Backward his ftep he drew,
As loth that care or tumult fhould approach
Thofe early rites divine: but foon their looks,
So anxious, and their hands, held forth with fuch
Defponding gefture, bring him on perforce
To speak to their affliction. Are ye come,
He cried, to mourn with me this common fhame;
Or afk ye fome new effort which may break 300
Our fetters? Know then, of the public caufe
Not for yon traitor's cunning or his might
Do I defpair: nor could I wish from Jove
Aught dearer, than at this late hour of life,
As once by lows, fo now by ftrenuous arms 305
From impious violation to affert
Of flowing harmony to foften war's
Dire voice, or in fair colours, that might chari
The public eye, to clothe the form auftere
Of civil counfel. Now my feeble age
Neglected, and fupplanted of the hope
On which it lean'd, yet finks net, but to you,
To your mild wifdom flies, refuge belov'd
Of folitude and flence. Ye can teach
The viñons of my bed whate'er the gods
In the rude ages of the world infpir'd,
Or the first heroes acted: ye can make
The morning light more gladfome to my fenfe
Than ever it appear'd to active youth
Purfuing carelefs pleafure: ye can give
To this long leifure, thefe unheeded hours, 365
A labour as fublime, as when the fons
Of Athens throng'd and fpeechlefs round me food
To hear pronounc'd for all their future deeds
The bounds of right and wrong. Celestial
I feel that ye are near me: and behold,
To meet your energy divine, I bring
A high and facred theme; not less than thofe
Which to the eternal cuftody of fame
Your lips intrufted, when of old ye deign'd
With Orpheus or with Homer to frequent
The groves of Hemus or the Chian hore,
Ye know, harmonious maids (for what of all My various life was e'er from you eftrang'd?) Oft hath my folitary fong to you reveal'd
Reveal'd that duteous pride which turn'd 'my
Like the fair handmaid of a fately queen,
check'd my prow, and thence with eager fteps
The city of Minos enter'd. O ye gods,
Who taught the leaders of the fimpler time
By written words to curb the untoward will 445
Of Mortals, how within that generous ifle
Have yet the triumphs of your power dilplay'd
Munificent! Thote (plendid merchants, lords
Or traffic and the ea, with what delight
1 faw them at their public meal, like fons
Of the lame household, join the plainer fort
Whole wealth was only freedom! whence to thefe
Vile envy, and to those fantastic pride,
Alike was ftrange; but noble concord ftill
Cherifh'd the ftrength untam'd, the ruftic faith 455
Of their first fathers. Then the growing race,
395 How pleafing to behold them in their schools,
Their ports, their labours, ever plac'd within,
O fhade of Minos, thy controling eye!
Here was a docile band in tuneful tones
Thy laws pronouncing, or with lofty hymns
Praifing the bounteous gods, or, to preferve
Their country's heroes from oblivious night,
Refounding what the Mule inipir'd of old;
There, on the verge of manhood. others met,,465
In heavy armour through the heats of noon
To march, the rugged mountains height to climb
With meafur'd fwiftnefs, from the hard-bent bow
To end refiftle's arrows to their mark,
Or for the fame of prowels to contend,
Now wrestling, now with fifts and ftaves oppos'd,
Now with the biting falchion, and the fence
Of brazen fhields; while still the warbling flute
Prefided o'er the combat, breathing strains
Grave, folemn, foft; and changing headlong
To willing exile; earnest to withdraw.
Fro a envy and the disappointed thirst
Ot lucre, left the bold familiar ftrife,
Which in the eye of Athens they upheld
Againft her legiflator, fhould impair
With trivial doubt the reverence of his laws.
To Egypt therefore through the Ægean ifles
My courie I fteer'd, and by the banks of Nile
Dwelt in Canopus. Thence the hallow'd domes
Of Saïs, and the rites to Ifis paid,
I fought, and in her temple's filent courts,
Through many changing moons, attentive
The venerable Sonchis, while his tongue
At morn or midnight the deep ftory told
Of her who repre:ents whate'er has been,
Or is, cr fhall be; whofe myfterious veil
No mortal hand hath ever yet remov'd.
By him exhorted, fouthward to the walls
Of On I pats'd, the city of the fun,
The ever youthful god. 'Twas there amid 400
His priefts and fages, who the live-long night
Watch the dread movements of the ftary Iphere,
Or who in wondrous fables half difclofe
The fecrets of the elements, 'twas there
That great Pienphis taught my raptur'd ears 405
The fame of old Atlantis, of her chiefs,
Aud her pure laws, the first which earth obey'd.
Deep in my bolum funk the noble tale;
And often, while I liften'd, did my mind
Foretell with what delight her own free lyre 410
Should fometime for an Attic audience raile
A new that lofty fcene, and from their tombs
Call forth thofe ancient demigods to speak
Or juftice and the hidden providence
That walk among mankind. But yet meantime 415
The myftic pomp of Ammon's gloomy fons
Became lets pleafing, with contempt I gaz'd
On that tame garb and thofe unvarying paths
To which the double yoke of king and prieft
Had cramp'd the fullen race. At laft with
hymns
Invoking our own Pallas and the gods
Of chearful Greece, a glad farewell I gave
To Egypt, and before the fouthern wind
Spread my full fails. What climes I then survey'd,
What fortunes I encounter'd in the realm
Which with religious footsteps he had taught
Their fires to approach the wild Dictan cave
Where jove was born: the ever-verdaut meads 490
Of Ida, and the fpacious grotto, where
His active youth he pass'd, and where his throne
Yet ftands myfterious; whither Minos came
Each ninth returning year, the king of gods
And mortals there in fecret to confult
On juftice, and the tables of his law
To infcribe anew, Oft alio with like zeal
Great Rhea's manfion from the Cnoffian gates
Men vifit; nor less oft the antique fane
Built on that acred pet, along the banks
Of fhady Theron, where benignant jove
And his ma eftic con'ort join'd their hands
And spoke their nuptial vows. Alas, 'twas there'
That the dire fame of Athens funk in bonds
N n
I first receiv'd ; what time an annual feaft
Had fummon'd all the genial country round,
By lacrifice and pomp to bring to mind
That firft great pouial; while the enamour'd
youths
And virgins, with the priest before the shrine,
Oberve the fame pure ritual, and invoke
The fame glad omens. There, among the croud
Of ftrangers from thofe naval cities drawn
Which deck, like gems, the island's northern
fhore,
A merchant of Egina I describ'd,
My ancient hoft. But, forward as Iprung 515
To meet him, he, with dark dejected brow,
Stopp'd half-averie; and, O Athenian guest,
He laid, art thou in Crete; thele joyful rites
Partaking? Know thy laws are blotted out:
Thy country kneels before a tyrant's throne. 520
He added names of men, with hoftile deeds
Diaftrous; which obfcure and indiftin&
I heard for, while he ipake, my heart grew cold
And my eyes dim: the altars and their train
No more were prefent to me: how I far'd,
Or whither turn'd, I know not; nor recall
Aught of thofe moments other than the fenfe
Of one who ftruggles in oppreffive fleep,
And, from the toils of fome diftrefsful dream
To break away, with palpitating heart,
Weak limbs, and temples bath'd in death-like
dew,
Makes many a painful effort. When at last
The fun and nature's face again appear'd
Not far I found me; where the public path,
Winding through cyprets groves and iwelling
meads,
From Cnoffus to the cave of Jove afcends.
Heedles I follow'd on; till foon the fkirts
Of Ida role before me, and the vault
Wide-opening pierc'd the mountain's
fide. Entering within the threshold, on the ground 540 flung me, fad, faint, overworn with toil,
Of fands and flowery lawns and tangling woods,
Where mortals roam bewilder'd ; and haft now
Exulting foar'd among the worlds above,
Or hover'd near the eternal gates of heaven,
If haply the difcourfes of the gods,
A curious, but an unpre uming guest,
Thou might'ft partake, and carry back fome
ftrain
Of divine wildom, lawful to repeat,
And apt to be conceiv'd of man below.
A different task remains; the fecret paths
Of early genius to explore: to trace
Thofe haunts where Fancy her predeftin'd fons,
Like to the demigods of old, deth nurse
Remote from eyes profane. Ye happy fouls
Who now her tender difcipline obey,
25
Where dwell ye? What wild river's brink at
Imprint your fteps? What folemn groves at noon i
Ue ye to vifit, often breaking forth
In rapture 'mid your dilatory walk,
Or mufing, as in flumber, on the green?
--Would I again were with you !---O ye dales
Of Tyne, and ye most antient woodlands; where
Oft as the giant flood obliquely ftrides,
And his banks open, and his lawns extend,
Stops fhoft the pleafed traveller to view
Prefiding o'er the fcene fome ruftic tower
Founded by Norman or by Saxon hands:
O ye Northumbrian fhades, which overlook
The rocky pavemement and the mofly falls
Of folitary Wenfbeck's limpid stream;
How gladly I recall your well-known feats
Belov'd of old, and that delightful time
When all alone, for many a luminer's day,
I wander'd through your calm receffes, led
In filence by fome powerful hand un'een,
Nor will I e'er forget you. Nor fhall e'er
The graver tasks of manhood, or the advice
Of vulgar wifdom, move me to disclaim
Thofe ftudies which poffels'd me in the dawn
Of life, and fix'd the colour of my mind
For every future year: whence even now
From fleep 1 reicue the clear hours of morn,
And, while the world around lies overwhelm'd
In idle dark nefs, am alive to thoughts
Of honourable fame, of truth divine
Or moral, and of minds tu virtue won
By the tweet magic of harmonious verse :
The themes which now expect us. For thus far
On general habits, and on arts which grow
Spontaneous in the minds of all mankind,
Hath dwelt our argument; and how felf-taught,
Though feldom confcious of their own employ,
In Nature's or in fortune's change'ul fcene
Men learn to judge of beauty and acquire
Thofe forms fet up, as idols in the foul
For love and zealous praife. Yet indiftinet,
In vulgar bofoms, and unnotic'd lie
Thefe pleasing ftores, unless the cafual force
Of things external prompt the heedle's mind
To recognize her wealth. But fime there are to
Confcious of nature, and the rule which man
O'er nature holds: fome who, within themfelves
Retiring from the trivial fcenes of chance
And momentary paffion, car at will
Call up thefe fair exemplars of the mind;
Review their features; can the fecret laws
Which bind them to each other and difplay
By forms, or founds, or colours, to the fenfe
Of all the world their latent charms di play:
Even as in Nature's frame (if fuch a word,
If fuch a word, fo bold, may from the lips
Of man proceed) as in this outward frame
Of things, the Great Artificer pourtrays
His own immenfe idea. Various names
ON yonder verdant hilloc laid,
Thefe among mortals bear, as various figns 85
They ufe, and by peculiar organs peak
To human fenfe. There are who by the flight
Of air through tubes with moving ftops dif-O
tinet,
Or by extended chords in meafure taught
To vibrate, can affemble powerful founds
Exprefling every temper of the mind
From every caufe, and charming all the foul
With paffion void of care.
Others mean time
The rugged mats of metal, wood, or stone,
Patiently taming; or with easier hand
Defcribing lines, and with more ample scope
Uniting colours; can to general fight
Produce thofe permanent and perfect forms,
Thofe characters of heroes and of gods,
Which from the crude materials of the world 100
Their own high minds created. But the chief
Are poets; eloquent men, who dwell on earth
To clothe whate'er the foul admires or loves
With language and with numbers.
A field is open'd wide as nature's fphere;
Nay, wider various as the indden acts
Of human wit, and vaft as the demands
Of human will,
The bard nor length, nor
depth.
Nor place, nor form controls. To eyes, to ears,
To every organ of the copious mind,
He offereth all its treasures. Him the hours,
The fealons him obey: and changeful Time
Sees him at will keep measure with his flight,
At will outstrip it. To enhance his toil,
He fummoneth from the uttermost extent
Of things which God hath taught him, every
form
Auxiliar, every power: and all befide
Excludes imperious, His prevaling hand
Gives, to corporeal effence, life and fenfe
And every ftately function of the foul.
The foul itfelf to him obfequious lies,
Like matter's paffive heap; and as he wills,
To reafon and affection he affigns
Their juft alliances, Their juft degrees:
Whence his peculiar honors; whence the
Where oaks and elms, a friendly fhade, O'erlook the falling ftream, mafter of the Latin lyre,
A while with thee will I retire
From fummer's noontide beam.
11.
And, lo, within my lonely bower,
The induftrious bee from many a flower
Collects her balmy dews:
"For me," the fings," the gems are born,
"For me their filken robe adorn,
Their fragrant breath diffufe."
III.
Sweet murmurer! may no rude ftorm
This hofpitable fcene deform,
Nor check thy glad fome toils;
Still may the buds untullied fpring,
Still fhowers and funfhine court thy wing
To thefe ambrofial fpoils.
Nor where the boding raven chaunts,
Nor near the owl's unhallowed haunts
Will the her cares employ ;
But flies from ruins and from tombs,
From fuperftition's horrid glooms,
To day-light and to joy.
VII.
Nor will the tempt the barren wafte:
Nor deigns the lurking ftrength to tafte
Of any noxious thing;
13 But leaves with fcorn to envy's ufe
The infipid nightfhhade's baneful juice,
The nettles fordid fting.
O fountain of the golden day,
Could mortal vows but urge thy fpeed,
How foon, before the vernal ray,
Should each unkindly damp recede!
How foon each tempeft hovering fly,
That now, fermenting, loads the sky,
Prompt on our heads to burst amain,
To rend the forest from the steep,
And, thundering o'er the Baltic deep,
To 'whelm the merchant's hopes of gain!
*This Ode was afterwards entirely altered; as may be feenin the following poem. Te reader will not be difpleafed to fee it as it was originally written. N
Hence the loud city's bufy throngs
Urge the warm bowl and splendid fire;
Harmonious dances, feftive fongs
Against the fpiteful heaven confpire:
Meantime perhaps with tender fears
Some village-dame the curfew hears,
While round the hearth her children play:
At morn their father went abroad;
The moon is funk, and deep the road:
She fighs, and wonders at his stay.
|