Page:The Poetical Works of William Collins (1830).djvu/106

But wherefore need I wander wide
To old Ilissus' distant side,
Deserted stream, and mute? 15
Wild Arun^[1] too has heard thy strains,
And Echo, midst my native plains,
Been soothed by Pity's lute.

There first the wren thy myrtles shed
On gentlest Otway's infant head, 20
To him thy cell was shown;
And while he sung the female heart,
With youth's soft notes unspoil'd by art,
Thy turtles mix'd their own.

Come, Pity, come, by Fancy's aid, 25
E'en now my thoughts, relenting maid,
Thy temple's pride design:
Its southern site, its truth complete,
Shall raise a wild enthusiast heat
In all who view the shrine. 30

There Picture's toils shall well relate
How chance, or hard involving fate,
O'er mortal bliss prevail:
The buskin'd Muse shall near her stand,
And sighing prompt her tender hand, 35
With each disastrous tale.

1. The river Arun runs by the village of Trotton in Sussex where Otway had his birth.