"Confess her scanty power, correct, controul, "Tell her how far, nor farther, she may go; "And rein with reason's curb fantastic taste." Yes, I will hear thee, dear lamented shade, And hold each dictate sacred. What remains Unsung shall so each leading rule select As if still guided by thy judgment sage; While, as still modell'd to thy curious ear, Flow my melodious numbers; so shall praise, If aught of praise the verse I weave may claim, From just posterity reward my song. Fair are the gardens of the Aonian mount, Which paint the Maiden's bow'rs. And clear the waters of the gurgling fount: Where the quick ripple in the sunbeams plays, Turning to endless forms each glance of twinkling blaze. O'er the gay scene th' enamour'd inmates roam: From Nature's manifold supplies. Alas! for whom ! Many a gleam of sprightly thought, Many a sad and sable mood, Whether from dazzling lustre brought, Or nurs'd by shades of darksome wood, Keep death-like silence on their native shore, Since he, that gave them speech, is heard no more. Flown is the spirit of GRAY That to breathe harmonious lay. Calliope informs the band: Hush'd are the warblers of the grove, attentive to the sound. "Soft and slow "Let the melting measures flow, "Nor lighter air disturb majestic woe. "And thou, sage Priestess[62] of our holy fire, "Who saw'st the Poet's flame expire, "Thy precious drops profusely shed "Thou nurtur'dst once a grateful throng, [62] Cambridge University, where Gray died. "When Milton pour'd the sweets of song "Now wake that faithful lyre-mute Dulness 66 reigns: "Your echoes waft no more the friendly theme; "Clogg'd with thick vapours from the neighb'ring "plains, "Where old Cam hardly moves his sluggard "stream. "But when some public cause "Claims festive song, or more melodious tear, "Discordant murmurs grate mine ear. "Ne'er model'd by Pierian laws, "Then idly glares full many a motley toy, "Anacreontic grief, and creeping strains of joy. "Far other modes were thine, "Victim of hasty fate, "Whom now the powers of melody deplore; "Whether in lofty state[64] "Thou bad'st thy train divine "Of raptures on Pindaric pinions soar : [63] In 1638 the University published a volume of poems to the memory of Mr. Edward King, Milton's Lycidas. [64] See Gray's Pindaric Odes. R "Or hoping from thyself to fly "To childhood's careless scenes[65], "Thou sent'st a warm refreshing eye "On Nature's faded greens: "Or when thy calm and steadfast mind "Fond of the look, that loves the ground[66]; "Discern'd by Reason's equal light, "How gaudy Fortune cheats the sight; "While the coarse maid, inur'd to pain, "Supports the lab'ring heart, and Virtue's happiest ❝reign. "But most the music of thy plaintive moan[67] "By Contemplation's eye serenely view'd, [65] Ode on a distant prospect of Eton College. [66] Hymn to Adversity. [67] Church-yard Elegy. |