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 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
220
II. THE POETIC FUNCTION.—2.
I asked; and it was answered me—‘The PraiseAnd Burthen, which to these did once belong,
Is now committed to the Lords of Song;—
For, throned above earth-mist, and Time's poor haze,
Their spiritual spheres they build and raise:
And those eternal Truths on which are hung
The fates of mortals, lurk their leaves among;
And what exalts a nation; what betrays.
Therefore the People cleave to them: and all
To whom the World, not Truth and Man, are dear
Abhor them, and suspect; despise, yet fear;
And will not bid them to their festival,
Unless, like Balak's wise and wicked Seer,
They merge the Prophet in the Sorcerer.’
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |