ODE TO GENIUS.
WRITTEN IN THE YEAR 1805.
INSCRIBED TO THE YOUNG ROSCIUS.
Whence is that pow'r, whose awful magic call,
Imperious bids the astonish'd world attend,
Before whose shrine adoring myriads fall,
To whom the hero, sage, and monarch bend;
Whose touch has force to chain the rebel mind,
To teach the Critic's torpid heart to feel,
Silence the snakes round Envy's brow entwin'd,
And bid the tear from sullen eye-balls steal?
Imperious bids the astonish'd world attend,
Before whose shrine adoring myriads fall,
To whom the hero, sage, and monarch bend;
Whose touch has force to chain the rebel mind,
To teach the Critic's torpid heart to feel,
Silence the snakes round Envy's brow entwin'd,
And bid the tear from sullen eye-balls steal?
