CANTO I.

Hush'd be the envious tongues that dare
Bright --- to profane
Thy hallow'd shades, where science fair
Has fix'd her sacred reign.

Ah! well I ween, detraction base
Provok'd their impious lay,
Some daemon, that bespeaks a race
Of vile Plebleian clay.

Who shall arraign that blissful scene
Which Phoebus' self approves?
For which the loves and beauty's queen
Forsake th' Idalian groves.

And ev'ry plant, and odorous flow'r
That sips th' Aonian dew,
Transplanted from the muse's bow'r
Reserv'd its sweets for you.

Where courtly dames in bright array,
Peers, knights, and statesmen meet,
Contending all who first shall lay
Their offering at thy feet.

Where tender maids and youths repair
And court some muse's aid
To speak--what oft'--the struggling tear--
And half--drawn sigh betray'd:

With myrtles crown'd, (thy Guerdon fair,)
Their pleasing task they bring,
And blest in tuneful bondage hear
Thy golden fetters ring.

Assembl'd in thy vocal grove
All catch the spark divine,
Like Delphic nymphs, or priests of Jove
At fam'd Dodona's shrine.

Ah me!--how vain in youth and age
To till Parnassian soil!
How fruitless, o'er the classic page
To waste the midnight oyl!

When you, to all your tuneful train
Can breathe the heav'nly flame,
And give to ev'ry rhyming swain
A Poet's sacred Name.

Teach lords and 'squires the lyre to sound
And melt in amorous strains,
Who erst so loud with horn and hound
Alarm'd the peaceful plains,

Or temper'd well with gallant pride
The manag'd courser's speed,
But ne'er before presum'd to guide
The muse's dang'rous steed.

Inspir'd by thee, without dismay
The fiery horse they mount,--
Mark! with what ease they wing their way
And spurn th' Aonian fount!--

Thrice happy bards, your lays prolong;
By your fond aid I deem,
Old Avon shall contend in song
With fair Castalia's stream;

While sweeter than the notes that thrill
When dying swans complain
He hears each wood, each echoing hill
Resound your warbling strain,

And starting from his dark abodes
In majesty of mud
Views songs, rhymes, epigrams, and odes
Come tumbling down his flood.