The Poetical Works of Henry Brooke ... In Four Volumes Octavo. Revised and corrected by the Original Manuscript With a Portrait of the Author, and His Life By Miss Brooke. The Third Edition |
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THE QUESTION.
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 | The Poetical Works of Henry Brooke |  |
386
THE QUESTION.
INSCRIBED TO LADY CAROLINE RUSSELL.
I
From our frail sire, who first knew sin,Thro' every stage of age and youth,
The World's Grand Question still hath been,
“Whence is Beauty, what is Truth?”
II
This to resolve, or to inquire,Employed The Learn'd of every age;
Alike perplex'd the Son and Sire,
The Dull, the Subtle, and the Sage.
III
At length, impatient of delay,The World agreed no more to wait;
But cast disputed Truth away,
As well from Practice, as Debate.
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IV
Then Beauty, on unrivall'd ground,Sole cause of contest, stood alone;
And every Knight hath form'd, or found,
A favourite Princess of his own.
V
To Magic Numbers, one confinesThe Castle, where The Charmer dwells;
And one, to Corresponding Lines
Of Angles, Cubes, and Parallels.
VI
By sounds of soft attraction led,Her Power the Man of Music feels:
The Scholar dreams She's in his Head;
The Dancer swears She's in his Heels.
VII
In Pleasure some, and some in State,Their cloud-composed Enchantress spy;
And, from Ambition's towery height,
She catches many a wishful eye.
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VIII
In Symmetry, Discerners viewA Glance of Beauty's Real Queen;
And nearer, by a Chosen Few,
The Sentimental Fair is seen.
IX
But each, like Knights of old emprize,(Whate'er his present flame) requires,
That All should find conforming eyes,
And join to bow—where he admires.
X
To fix this Fire of wandering Love,Supernal Power resolv'd to shew,
That what was Truth in Heaven above,
Alone made Beauty here below.
XI
For this, He purposed to condenseWhat Angels felt of Good or Bright,
With Sentiment to strike the Sense,
And give the Charm of Soul to Sight.
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XII
At length The Plastic Power descendsWith Heaven's Select Ingredients fraught:
To earth his beamy flight He bends,
And into Substance features Thought.
XIII
From Zembla's frozen clime, He choseA quantity of Virgin-air,
For Lucid Organs, to compose
The Moving Fabric of his Fair.
XIV
With this He blends the Portion due,Nine Solar Rays of Morning Light,
To give a Blush of chastest hue,
As deep and warm, as pure and bright.
XV
From Hybla's sweets, that breathe in fame,He press'd the Prime of Bloom and Bud;
And, through the soft transparent frame,
He pour'd The Aromatic Flood.
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XVI
Sphered in the Center, as a Sun,Within He hung The Cordial Freight,
Which from Eternal Truth He won,
And bid The embosom'd Heaven to beat.
XVII
From Number, Music, Sisters twin,He caught the Magic of the Face;
And, from the Sentiment within,
He pictured Motion, Mien, and Grace.
XVIII
Thus folding, in One Radiant Frame,Each Beauty Humanely-Divine,
He gave His System up to Fame,
And Mortals call her—CAROLINE!
| The Poetical Works of Henry Brooke | |