The Literary Gazette, 19th May 1827, page 317
ORIGINAL POETRY.
GENIUS.
Lines suggested by a View of the Sculpture designed by
Mr. Lough, and described in last week's Literary Gazette.
Glory of earth, and light from heaven,
Young Genius! but for thee,
And the wild wonders to thee given,
How base our earth would be!
Bright halls, where meet the vain and cold,
The idle and the gay,
With feelings cast in one set mould—
Do they redeem our clay?
The mart, where for gold's sordid sake
The trader sears his heart—
Is there aught of the things that make
Our nature's nobler part?
Or in the hind who duly plies
Each day's accustomed beat;
As very dust as that which lies
Unconscious at his feet?
Or in those higher ranks that know
No world of inward thought,
As vapid as their outward show,—
Vanity vainly bought?
And yet this world is animate
With the fine spirit sent,
Vivid as Hope, and strong as Fate,—
Mind's purer element.
Like mountains with one golden vein
Of rich ore running through;
Like that ore asking but the pain
Of being brought to view.
Such is mankind, and such the store
That dwells within his mind;
Or rather, some there are whose ore
Is wealth for half their kind.
