Imatges de pàgina
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Where, in her rage, avenging Juno hurl'd
Ill-fated Vulcan from th' ethereal world:

There his eternal anvils first he reared;

Then, forged by Cyclopean art, appeared
Thunders that shook the Skies with dire alarms,
And formed, by skill divine, immortal arms;
There, with this crippled wretch, the foul disgrace
And living scandal of th' empyreal race,

In wedlock lived the beauteous Queen of Love;
Can such sensations heavenly bosoms move!
Eastward of this appears the Dardan shore,
That once th' imperial Towers of Ilium bore,
Illustrious TROY! renowned in every clime
Through the long records of succeeding time;
Who saw protecting Gods from Heaven descend
Full oft, thy royal bulwarks to defend :

Though Chiefs unnumbered in her Cause were slain,
With Fate the gods, and heroes, fought in vain!
That refuge of perfidious Helen's shame

At midnight was involved in Grecian flame;

And now, by Time's deep ploughshare harrowed o'er,

The seat of sacred TROY is found no more:

No trace of her proud fabrics now remains,

But Corn, and Vines, enrich her cultured plains;

Silver SCAMANDER laves the verdant shore,

Scamander, oft o'erflowed with hostile

gore.

Not far removed from Ilion's famous land

In counter-view appears the THRACIAN Strand,
Where beauteous HERO, from the turret's height,
Displayed her cresset each revolving night;
Whose gleam directed loved LEANDER o'er
The rolling Hellespont from Asia's shore:
Till in a fated hour, on Thracia's coast,
She saw her lover's lifeless body tost;
Then felt her bosom agony severe,

Her eyes, sad gazing, poured th' incessant tear;
O'erwhelmed with anguish, frantic with despair,
She beat her swelling breast, and tore her hair;
On dear LEANDER's name in vain she cried,
Then headlong plunged into the parting tide:
Th' exulting tide received the lovely Maid,
And proudly from the strand its freight convey'd.

Far west of Thrace, beyond th' Ægean main, Remote from Ocean lies the DELPHIC plain:

The sacred Oracle of Phoebus there

High o'er the Mount arose, divinely fair!
Achaian marble formed the gorgeous pile,
August the fabric! elegant its style!

On brazen hinges turned the silver doors,
And chequered marble paved the polished floors;
The Roof, where storied tablature appeared,

On columns of Corinthian mould was reared;

Of shining porphyry the Shafts were framed,
And round the hollow Dome bright jewels flamed:
APOLLO'S Priests, before the holy shrine

Suppliant, poured forth their Orisons divine;
To front the Sun's declining ray 'twas placed,
With golden Harps and branching Laurels graced :
Around the Fane, engraved by Vulcan's hand,
The Sciences and Arts were seen to stand;
Here ESCULAPIUS' snake displayed his crest,
And burning glories sparkled on his breast;
While from his eye's insufferable light,
Disease and Death recoiled in headlong flight:
Of this great Temple, through all time renown'd,
Sunk in oblivion, no remains are found.

Contiguous here, with hallowed woods o'erspread,

Renowned PARNASSUS lifts its honoured head;
There roses blossom in eternal Spring,

And strains celestial feathered warblers sing:
APOLLO, here, bestows th' unfading Wreath;
Here Zephyrs aromatic odours breathe;
They o'er Castalian plains diffuse perfume,
Where round the scene perennial Laurels bloom;

Fair daughters of the Sun, the sacred Nine!
Here wake to ecstasy their Harps divine,
Or bid the Paphian lute mellifluous play,
And tune to plaintive Love the liquid lay;
Their numbers every mental storm controul,
And lull to Harmony th' afflicted soul,

With heavenly balm the tortured breast compose,

And soothe the agony of latent woes:

The verdant shades that HELICON surround,

On rosy gales seraphic tunes resound:
Perpetual Summers crown the happy hours,
Sweet as the breath that fans Elysian flowers:
Hence Pleasure dances in an endless round,

And Love and Joy, ineffable, abound.

IV. Stop, wandering thought! methinks I feel their strains

Diffuse delicious languor through my veins:

Adieu, ye flow'ry vales, and fragrant scenes,

Delightful bowers, and ever vernal greens!
Adieu, ye streams! that o'er enchanted ground
In lucid maze th' Aonian hill surround;

Ye fairy scenes! where Fancy loves to dwell,
And

young Delight, for ever, oh! farewell!

The Soul with tender luxury you fill,

And o'er the sense Lethean dews distil

Awake, O MEMORY! from th' inglorious Dream,
With brazen lungs resume the kindling theme;
Collect thy powers, arouse thy vital fire,
Ye Spirits of the Storm my verse inspire!
Hoarse as the whirlwinds that enrage the Main,
In torrent pour along the swelling Strain.

Now, through the parting wave impetuous bore,
The scudding Vessel stemmed th' Athenian Shore;
The Pilots, as the waves behind her swell,
Still with the wheeling Stern their force repel;
For this assault should either Quarter feel,
Again to flank the Tempest she might reel;

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