ODE X.
53
Oft as from stricter hours resign'd
I quit the maze where science toils,
Do thou refresh my yielding mind
With all thy gay, delusive spoils.
But, O indulgent, come not nigh
The busy steps, the jealous eye
Of gainful care and wealthy age,
Whose barren souls thy joys disdain,
And hold as foes to reason's reign
Whome'er thy lovely haunts ingage.
With me, when mirth's consenting band
Around fair friendship's genial board
Invite thy heart-awakening hand,
With me salute the Teian chord.
Or if invok'd at softer hours,
O seek with me the happy Bow'rs
That hear Dione's gentle tongue;
To beauty link'd with virtue's train,
To love devoid of jealous pain,
There let the Sapphic lute be strung.
But
