LITMIR.BIZ

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       The lovely ministries of Truth and Good

       In this dark world: for Truth and Good are one,

       And Beauty dwells in them, [Endnote F] and they in her,

       With like participation. Wherefore then,

       O sons of earth! would ye dissolve the tie?

       Oh! wherefore, with a rash impetuous aim,

       Seek ye those flowery joys with which the hand

       Of lavish Fancy paints each flattering scene 380

       Where Beauty seems to dwell, nor once inquire

       Where is the sanction of eternal Truth,

       Or where the seal of undeceitful Good,

       To save your search from folly! Wanting these,

       Lo! Beauty withers in your void embrace,

       And with the glittering of an idiot's toy

       Did Fancy mock your vows. Nor let the gleam

       Of youthful hope that shines upon your hearts,

       Be chill'd or clouded at this awful task,

       To learn the lore of undeceitful Good, 390

       And Truth eternal. Though the poisonous charms

       Of baleful Superstition guide the feet

       Of servile numbers, through a dreary way

       To their abode, through deserts, thorns, and mire;

       And leave the wretched pilgrim all forlorn

       To muse at last, amid the ghostly gloom

       Of graves, and hoary vaults, and cloister'd cells;

       To walk with spectres through the midnight shade,

       And to the screaming owl's accursed song

       Attune the dreadful workings of his heart; 400

       Yet be not ye dismay'd. A gentler star

       Your lovely search illumines. From the grove

       Where Wisdom talk'd with her Athenian sons,

       Could my ambitious hand entwine a wreath

       Of Plato's olive with the Mantuan bay,

       Then should my powerful verse at once dispel

       Those monkish horrors: then in light divine

       Disclose the Elysian prospect, where the steps

       Of those whom Nature charms, through blooming walks,

       Through fragrant mountains and poetic streams, 410

       Amid the train of sages, heroes, bards,

       Led by their winged Genius, and the choir

       Of laurell'd science and harmonious art,

       Proceed exulting to the eternal shrine,

       Where Truth conspicuous with her sister-twins,

       The undivided partners of her sway,

       With Good and Beauty reigns. Oh, let not us,

       Lull'd by luxurious Pleasure's languid strain,

       Or crouching to the frowns of bigot rage,

       Oh, let us not a moment pause to join 420

       That godlike band. And if the gracious Power

       Who first awaken'd my untutor'd song,

       Will to my invocation breathe anew

       The tuneful spirit; then through all our paths,

       Ne'er shall the sound of this devoted lyre

       Be wanting; whether on the rosy mead,

       When summer smiles, to warn the melting heart

       Of luxury's allurement; whether firm

       Against the torrent and the stubborn hill

       To urge bold Virtue's unremitted nerve, 430

       And wake the strong divinity of soul

       That conquers chance and fate; or whether struck

       For sounds of triumph, to proclaim her toils

       Upon the lofty summit, round her brow

       To twine the wreath of incorruptive praise;

       To trace her hallow'd light through future worlds,

       And bless Heaven's image in the heart of man.

      Thus with a faithful aim have we presumed,

       Adventurous, to delineate Nature's form;

       Whether in vast, majestic pomp array'd, 440

       Or dress'd for pleasing wonder, or serene

       In Beauty's rosy smile. It now remains,

       Through various being's fair proportion'd scale,

       To trace the rising lustre of her charms,

       From their first twilight, shining forth at length

       To full meridian splendour. Of degree

       The least and lowliest, in the effusive warmth

       Of colours mingling with a random blaze,

       Doth Beauty dwell. Then higher in the line

       And variation of determined shape, 450

       Where Truth's eternal measures mark the bound

       Of circle, cube, or sphere. The third ascent

       Unites this varied symmetry of parts

       With colour's bland allurement; as the pearl

       Shines in the concave of its azure bed,

       And painted shells indent their speckled wreath.

       Then more attractive rise the blooming forms

       Through which the breath of Nature has infused

       Her genial power to draw with pregnant veins

       Nutritious moisture from the bounteous earth, 460

       In fruit and seed prolific: thus the flowers

       Their purple honours with the Spring resume;

       And such the stately tree which Autumn bends

       With blushing treasures. But more lovely still

       Is Nature's charm, where to the full consent

       Of complicated members, to the bloom

       Of colour, and the vital change of growth,

       Life's holy flame and piercing sense are given,

       And active motion speaks the temper'd soul:

       So moves the bird of Juno; so the steed 470

       With rival ardour beats the dusty plain,

       And faithful dogs with eager airs of joy

       Salute their fellows. Thus doth Beauty dwell

       There most conspicuous, even in outward shape,

       Where dawns the high expression of a mind:

       By steps conducting our enraptured search

       To that eternal origin, whose power,

       Through all the unbounded symmetry of things,

       Like rays effulging from the parent sun,

       This endless mixture of her charms diffused. 480

       Mind, mind alone, (bear witness, earth and heaven!)

       The living fountains in itself contains

       Of beauteous and sublime: here hand in hand,

       Sit paramount the Graces; here enthroned,

       Celestial Venus, with divinest airs,

       Invites the soul to never-fading joy.

       Look then abroad through nature, to the range

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