Sovereign of birds. The furious god of war,
His darts forgetting, and the winged wheels
That bear him vengeful o'er th' embattled plain,
Relents, and sooths his own fierce heart to ease,
Most welcome ease. The sire of gods and men,
In that great moment of divine delight,
Looks down on all that live; and whatsoe'er
He loves not, o'er the peopled earth and o'er
The interminated ocean, he beholds
Curs'd with abhorrence by his doom severe,
And troubled at the sound. Ye, Naiads, ye
With ravish'd ears the melody attend,
Worthy of sacred silence. But the slaves
Of Bacchus with tempestuous clamours strive
To drown the heavenly strains; of highest Jove
Irreverent, and by mad presumption fir'd
Their own discordant raptures to advance
With hostile emulation. Down they rush
From Nysa's vine-impurpled cliff, the dames
Of Thrace, the satyrs, and the unruly fauns,
With old Silenus, reeling through the crowd
Which gambols round him, in convulsions wild
Tossing their limbs, and brandishing in air
The ivy mantled Thyrsus, or the torch
Through black smoke flaming, to the Phrygian pipe's
Shrill voice, and to the clashing cymbals, mix'd
With shrieks and frantic uproar. May the gods
From every unpolluted ear evert
Their orgies! If within the seats of men,
Within the walls, the gates, where Pallas holds
The guardian key, if haply there be found
Who loves to mingle with the revel-band
And harken to their accents; who aspires
From such instruction to inform his breast
With verse; let him, fit votarist, implore
Their inspiration. He perchance the gifts
Of young Lyæus, and the dread exploits,
May sing in aptest numbers: he the fate
Of sober Pantheus, he the Paphian rites,
And naked Mars with Cytherea chain'd,
And strong Alcides in the spinster's robes,
May celebrate, applauded. But with you.
O Naiads, far from that unhallow'd rout,
Must dwell the man whoe'er to praised themes
Invokes the immortal muse. The immortal muse
To your calm habitations, to the cave
Corycian or the Delphic mount, will guide
His footsteps; and with your unsullied streams
His lips will bathe: whether the eternal lore
Of Themis, or the majesty of Jove,
To mortals he reveal; or teach his lyre
The unenvy'd guerdon of the patriot's toils,
In those unfading islands of the bless'd,
Where sacred bards abide. Hail, honour'd nymphs;
Thrice hail. For you the Cyrenaïc shell
Behold, I touch, revering. To my songs
Be present ye with favourable feet,
And all profaner audience far remove.
SCIENCE! thou fair effusive ray
From the great source of mental day,
Free, generous, and refin'd!
Descend with all thy treasures fraught,
Illumine each bewilder'd thought,
And bless my labouring mind.
But first with thy resistless light,
Disperse those phantoms from my sight,
Those mimic shades of thee:
'The scholiast's learning, sophist's cant,
The visionary bigot's rant,
The monk's philosophy.
O! let thy powerful charms impart
The patient head, the candid heart,
Devoted to thy sway:
Which no weak passions e'er mislead,
Which still with dauntless steps proceed
Where reason points the way.
Give me to learn each secret cause;
Let number's, figure's, motion's laws
Reveal'd before me stand;
These to great nature's scenes apply,
And round the globe, and through the sky,
Disclose her working hand.
Next, to thy nobler search resign'd,
The busy, restless, human mind
Through every maze pursue;
Detect perception where it lies,
Catch the ideas as they rise.
And all their changes view.
Say from what simple springs began
The vast ambitious thoughts of man,
Which range beyond control;
Which seek eternity to trace,
Dive through the infinity of space,
And strain to grasp the whole.
Her secret stores let memory tell,
Bid fancy quit her fairy cell,
In all her colours drest;
While prompt her sallies to controul,
Reason, the judge, recalls the soul
To truth's severest test.
Then launch through being's wide extent;
Let the fair scale, with just ascent,
And cautious steps, be trod;
And from the dead, corporeal mass,
Through each progressive order pass
To instinct, reason, God.
There, Science! veil thy daring eye;
Nor dive too deep, nor soar too high,
In that divine abyss ;
To faith content thy beams to lend,
Her hopes to assure, her steps befriend,
And light her way to bliss.
Then downwards take thy flight again,
Mix with the policies of men,
And social nature's ties ;
The plan the genius of each state,
Its interests and its powers relate,
Its fortunes and its rise.
Through private life pursue thy course,
Trace every action to its source,
And means and motives weigh:
Put tempers, passions, in the scale,
Mark what degrees in each prevail,
And fix the doubtful sway.
That last, best effort of thy skill,
To form the life, and rule the will,
Propitious power! impart :
Teach me to cool my passions's fires,
Make me the judge of my desires,
Raise me above the vulgar's breath,
Pursuit of fortune, fear of death,
And all in life that's mean :
Still true to reason be my plan,
Still let my actions speak the man,
Through every various scene.
Hail! queen of manners, light of truth;
Hail! charm of age, and guide of youth;
Sweet refuge of distress:
In business, thou! exact, polite;
Thou giv'st retirement its delight,
Prosperity its grace.
Of wealth, power, freedom, thou the cause;
Foundress of order, cities, laws,
Of arts inventress, thou!
Without thee, what were human kind?
How vast their wants, their thoughts how blind!
Their joys how mean! how few!
Sun of the soul! thy beams unveil !
Let others spread the daring sail,
On fortune's faithless sea:
While undeluded, happier I
From the vain tumult timely ffy,
And sit in peace with thee.
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