 | The Works of William Mason |  |
From fate like this my truth-supported lays,
Ev'n if aspiring to thy pencil's praise,
Would flow secure: but humbler aims are mine;
Know, when to thee I consecrate the line,
'Tis but to thank thy genius for the ray
Which pours on Fresnoy's rules a fuller day:
Those candid strictures, those reflections new,
Refin'd by taste, yet still as nature true,
Which, blended here with his instructive strains,
Shall bid thy art inherit new domains;
Give her in Albion as in Greece to rule,
And guide (what thou hast form'd) a British School.
Ev'n if aspiring to thy pencil's praise,
Would flow secure: but humbler aims are mine;
Know, when to thee I consecrate the line,
'Tis but to thank thy genius for the ray
Which pours on Fresnoy's rules a fuller day:
Those candid strictures, those reflections new,
Refin'd by taste, yet still as nature true,
Which, blended here with his instructive strains,
Shall bid thy art inherit new domains;
Give her in Albion as in Greece to rule,
And guide (what thou hast form'd) a British School.
And, O, if aught thy Poet can pretend
Beyond his favourite wish to call thee Friend,
Be it that here his tuneful toil has drest
The Muse of Fresnoy in a modern vest;
And with that skill his fancy could bestow,
Taught the close folds to take an easier flow;
Be it, that here thy partial smile approv'd
The pains he lavish'd on the art he lov'd.
Beyond his favourite wish to call thee Friend,
6
The Muse of Fresnoy in a modern vest;
And with that skill his fancy could bestow,
Taught the close folds to take an easier flow;
Be it, that here thy partial smile approv'd
The pains he lavish'd on the art he lov'd.
| The Works of William Mason | |