Dryden and Milton.
By H. W. C. Hosmer.
All of divine in poetry we lose
When wayward Genius prostitutes the muse,
Lured by the fatal gleam of golden showers,
And aims to make available his powers,
By pandering to vitiated Taste,
While runs the garden of his heart to waste.
When wayward Genius prostitutes the muse,
Lured by the fatal gleam of golden showers,
And aims to make available his powers,
By pandering to vitiated Taste,
While runs the garden of his heart to waste.
Dryden was ruined when he tuned his string
To gain the guerdon of a heartless king,
Amuse a gay, licentious court with lays
Mocking at virtue, and indecent plays.
Alone the mere available he sought,
At honor's price a wretched stipend bought;
The hill-tops of the Beautiful forsook,
On scenes of hollow revelry to look;
Bow at the footstool of anointed Sin,
Less sure of royal favor than Nell Gwynn.
Oh! what a loss to letters when withdrawn
From high, heroic theme was 'glorious John,'
Led by Romance to her old haunted shore,
Pluming his wing for epic flight no more!
To gain the guerdon of a heartless king,
Amuse a gay, licentious court with lays
Mocking at virtue, and indecent plays.
Alone the mere available he sought,
At honor's price a wretched stipend bought;
The hill-tops of the Beautiful forsook,
On scenes of hollow revelry to look;
Bow at the footstool of anointed Sin,
Less sure of royal favor than Nell Gwynn.
Oh! what a loss to letters when withdrawn
From high, heroic theme was 'glorious John,'
Led by Romance to her old haunted shore,
Pluming his wing for epic flight no more!
Eternal praise is deathless Milton's due,
To an exalted calling ever true;
Although his books the common hangman burned
When, triumphing, the Second Charles returned,
Still his great heart a love of freedom fired,
While Want and Woe to crush his soul conspired.
To an exalted calling ever true;
Although his books the common hangman burned
When, triumphing, the Second Charles returned,
Still his great heart a love of freedom fired,
While Want and Woe to crush his soul conspired.
