 | The Poetical Works of Reginald Heber |  |
333
FRAGMENT ON ALCHEMY.
So fares the sage, whose mystic labours tryThe thorny paths of fabled alchemy.
Time, toil, and prayer, to aid the work conspire,
And the keen jaws of dross-devouring fire.
In one dim pile discordant embers blaze,
And stars of adverse influence join their rays;
Till every rite perform'd, and labour sped,
When the clear furnace dawns with sacred red,
From forth the genial warmth and teeming mould,
The bright-wing'd radiance bursts of infant gold.
| The Poetical Works of Reginald Heber | |