72
Poems on
Here court the Muses, while the Sun on high
Flames in the Vault of Heav'n, and fires the Sky;
Or while the Night's dark Wings this Globe surround,
And the pale Moon begins her solemn Round;
Bid my free Soul to starry Orbs repair,
Those radiant Worlds that float in ambient Air,
And with a regular Confusion stray
Oblique, direct, along th' aëreal Way:
Or when Aurora, from her golden Bow'rs,
Exhales the Fragrance of the balmy Flow'rs,
Reclin'd in Silence on a mossy Bed,
Consult the learned Volumes of the Dead:
Fal'n Realms, and Empires in description view,
Live o'er past Times, and build whole Worlds anew,
Or from the bursting Tombs in Fancy raise
The Sons of Fame, who liv'd in antient Days;
And lo! with haughty Stalk the Warriour treads!
Stern Legislators frowning lift their Heads!
Flames in the Vault of Heav'n, and fires the Sky;
Or while the Night's dark Wings this Globe surround,
And the pale Moon begins her solemn Round;
Bid my free Soul to starry Orbs repair,
Those radiant Worlds that float in ambient Air,
And with a regular Confusion stray
Oblique, direct, along th' aëreal Way:
Or when Aurora, from her golden Bow'rs,
Exhales the Fragrance of the balmy Flow'rs,
Reclin'd in Silence on a mossy Bed,
Consult the learned Volumes of the Dead:
Fal'n Realms, and Empires in description view,
Live o'er past Times, and build whole Worlds anew,
Or from the bursting Tombs in Fancy raise
The Sons of Fame, who liv'd in antient Days;
And lo! with haughty Stalk the Warriour treads!
Stern Legislators frowning lift their Heads!
I
