University of Virginia Library


331

[O sovereign Sleep! in whose papaverous glen]

O sovereign Sleep! in whose papaverous glen
Dwell the dark Muses of Cimmerian men!
O Power of Dreams! whose dusky pinions shed
Primæval chaos on the slumberer's head!
Ye misty Clouds! amid whose folds sublime
Blind Faith invokes the Ghost of Feudal Time!
And thou, thick Night! beneath whose mantle rove
The Phantom Powers of Subterranean Jove!
Arise, propitious to the mystic strain,
From Lethe's flood, and Zeal's Tartarian fane;
Where Freedom's Shade, 'mid Stygian vapours damp,
Sits, cold and pale, by Truth's extinguished lamp;
While Cowls and Crowns portentous orgies hold,
And tuneful Proteus seals his eyes with gold!