The gods ftill listen'd to their constant prayer,
And made the poets their peculiar care.
They, with contempt, on fortune's gift look down,
And laugh at kings who wear an envy'd crown.
Rais'd and transported by their foaring mind,
From their proud eminence they view mankind
Lost in a cloud; they see them toil below,
All busy to promote their common woe.
Of guilt unconscious, with a steady foul,
They fee the lightnings flash, and hear the thunders roll.
When, girt with terrors, Heaven's Almighty Sire
Launches his triple bolts, and forky fire,
When o'er high towers the red destroyer plays,
And ftrikes the mountains with the pointed blaze;
Safe in their innocence, like Gods, they rife,
And lift their fouls ferenely to the skies.
Fly, ye profane ;---the facred Nine were given
To blefs thefe lower worlds by bounteous heaven:
Of old, Prometheus, from the realms above,
Brought down thefe daughters of all-mighty Jove,
When to his native earth the robber came,
Charg'd with the plunder of ethereal flame.
As due compaffion touch'd his generous mind,
To fee the favage ftate of human kind;
When, led to range at large the bright abodes,
And fhare th' ambrofial banquets of the Gods;
In many a whirl he faw Olympus driven,
And heard th' eternal harmony of heaven.
Turn'd round and round the concert charm'd his ears
With all the inufic of the dancing spheres;
The facred Nine his wondering eyes behold,
As each her orb in just divisions roll'd;
The thief beholds them with ambitious eyes,
And, bent on fraud, he meditates the prize;
A prize the nobleft gift he could bestow
(Next to the fire) on human race below;
At length th' immortals reconcil'd refign'd
The fair celeftial fifters to mankind;
Though bound to Caucafus with folid chains,
Th' aspiring robber groan'd in endless pains;
By which deterr'd, for ages lay fupine
The race of mortals, nor invok'd the Nine:
Till heaven in verfe fhew'd man his future ftate,
And open'd every diftant fcene of fate.
First, the great father of the Gods above
Sung in Dodona and the Libyan grove;
Next, to th' enquiring nations Themis gave,
Her facred anfwers from the Phocian cave;
Then Phoebus warn'd them from the Delphic dome,
Of future time, and ages yet to come;
And reverend Faunus utter'd truths divine
To the first founders of the Latian line.
Next the great race of hallow'd prophets came,
With them the Sibyls of immortal fame,
Infpir'd with all the God; who rapt on high
With more than mortal rage unbounded fly,
And range the dark receffes of the sky.
Next, at their feafts, the people fung their lays
(The fame their prophets fung in former days);
Their theme an hero, and his deathlefs praife.
What has to man of nobler worth been given
Than this the best and greatest boon of heaven?
Whatever power the glorious gift bestow'd,
We trace the certain footsteps of a god;
By thee infpir'd, the daring poet flies,
His foul mounts up, and towers above the skies ;
Thou art the fource of pleasure, and we fee
No joy, no tranfport, when debarr'd of thee;
Thy tuneful deity the feather'd throng
Confefs in all the measures of their fong.
Thy great commands the favages obey,
And every filent native of the fea :
Led by thy voice, the starting rocks advance,
And liftening forefts mingle in the dance.
On thy sweet notes the damn'd rejoice to dwell,
Thy ftrains fufpended all the din of hell;
Lull'd by the found, the Furies rag'd no more,
And Hell's infernal porter ceas'd to roar.
Thy powers exalt us to the realms above,
To feast with Gods, and fit the guests of Jove :
Thy prefence foftens anguish, woe, and strife,
And reconciles us to the load of life;
Hail, thou bright comfort of these low abodes,
Thou joy of men and darling of the Gods.
As prieft and poet, in thefe humble lays,
I boldly labour to refound thy praise;
To hang thy fhrines, this gift I bring along,
And to thy altars guide the tender throng.
PROCEED, ye Nine, defcended from above,
Ye tuneful daughters of almighty Jove;
To teach the future age, I haften on,
And open every fource of Helicon.
Your priest and bard with rage divine infpire,
While to your shrine I lead the blooming choir.
Hard was the way, and dubious, which we trod,
Now fhow, ye goddeffes, a furer road;
Point out thofe paths, which you can find alone,
To all the world but to yourselves unknown;
Lo! all th' Hefperian youths with me implore
Your fofter influence, and propitious power,
Who, rang'd beneath my banners, boldly tread
Thofe arduous tracks to reach your mountain's head.
New rules 'tis now my province to impart;
First to invent, and then difpofe with art;
Each a laborious task: but they who share
Heaven's kinder bounty, and peculiar care,
A glorious train of images may find,
Preventing hope, and crowding on the mind.
The other talk, to fettle every part,
Depends on judgment, and the powers of art;
From whence in chief the poet hopes to raise
His future glory, and immortal praise.
This as a rule the nobleft bards esteem,
To touch at firft in general on the theme;
To hint at all the fubject in a line;
And draw in miniature the whole defign.
Nor in themselves confide; but next implore
The timely aid of fome celestial power;
To guide your labours, and point cut your road,
Choose, as you please, your tutelary God;
But ftill invoke fome guardian deity,
Some power, to look aufpicious from the sky:
To nothing great fhould mortals bend their care,
Till Jove be folemnly addrest in prayer.
'Tis not enough to call for aid divine,
And court but once the favour of the Nine;
When objects rife, that mock your toil and pain,
Above the labour and the reach of man;
Then you may fupplicate the bleft abodes,
And ask the friendly fuccour of the Gods.
Shock not your reader, nor begin too fierce,
Nor fwell and bluster in a pomp of verse ;
At first all needlefs ornament remove,
To fhun his prejudice, and win his love.
At first, you find most favour and fuccess
In plain expreffion, and a modest dress.
For if too arrogant you vaunt your might,
You fall with greater fcandal in the fight,
When on the niceft point your fortune stands,
And all your courage, all your ftrength demands.
With gradual flights furprize us as we read;
And let more glorious images fucceed,
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