Miscellanies in Prose and Verse | ||
14
Ode on SCIENCE.
Oh, heav'nly born! in deepest cells,If fairest Science ever dwells
Beneath the mossy cave,
Indulge the verdure of the woods,
With azure beauty gild the floods,
And flow'ry carpets lave;
For melancholy ever reigns,
Delighted in the sylvan scenes
With scientific light;
While Dian, huntress of the vales,
Seeks lulling sounds and fanning gales,
Tho' wrapt from mortal fight;
Yet, Goddess, yet, the way explore,
With magic rites and heathen lore,
Obstructed and depress'd:
'Till wisdom gave the sacred nine,
Untaught, not uninspir'd, to shine,
By Reason's power redress'd.
15
To moralize the human thought
Of mad opinion's maze,
To erring zeal they gave new laws;
Thy charms, O Liberty, the cause,
That blends congenial rays,
Bid bright Astræa gild the morn,
Or bid a hundred suns be born,
To hecatomb the year.
Without thy aid in vain the poles,
In vain the zodiac system rolls,
In vain the lunar sphere:
Come, fairest princess of the throng,
Bring sweet philosophy along
In metaphysic dreams;
While raptur'd bards no more behold
A vernal age of purer gold,
In Heliconian streams.
16
To curse some other destin'd land,
By Folly led astray:
Ierne bear on azure wing,
Energic let her soar and sing,
Thy universal sway.
So when Amphion bade the lyre
To more majestic sounds aspire,
Behold the madding throng,
In wonder and oblivion drown'd,
To sculpture turn'd by magic sound,
And petrifying song.
Miscellanies in Prose and Verse | ||