Poems By Mr. Polwhele. In three volumes |
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 | Poems |  |
And great, indeed, that eloquence, empower'd,
Where erst dishonor triumph'd, to oppose
Skill to deep skill; give probity the charms
Which varnish over vice; and her own arts
Against herself direct with dext'rous aim—
Those colourable arts her motley spawn
Vaunt to the world's broad glare. With idle arm
Truth holds the unpolish'd targe against design
And fell oppression. No romantic muse
Would warn thee, that, beneath the senate's roof,
The blustering CLEON claims thy vigilance
Suspicious; the smooth orator, adept
In tricks theatrical; and he, who points,
Colossal plunderer, with a tyrant's air,
His gorgeous spoils. Since, then, the task were vain
Amid a cumbrous empire's wide display,
Its fashions, luxuries, its commercial pride,
Its opulence and grandeur, to restore
Thy country to primæval plainness—deem'd
Of old the close companion of pure worth;
Since idle every effort to recall
Simplicity of manners, be thy care
To bid magnificence and ornament
Subserve integrity; o'er subject earth
To spread the greatness of the British laws;
With an extensive empire co-extend
The virtues, whose kind influence softens life;
And nurture, with a patron's liberal warmth,
Fancy and taste: hence sprung thy splendid art;
And, lo, to these addrest, thy eloquence
Shall from corruption gain her host of slaves!
Where erst dishonor triumph'd, to oppose
Skill to deep skill; give probity the charms
Which varnish over vice; and her own arts
Against herself direct with dext'rous aim—
Those colourable arts her motley spawn
Vaunt to the world's broad glare. With idle arm
Truth holds the unpolish'd targe against design
And fell oppression. No romantic muse
Would warn thee, that, beneath the senate's roof,
The blustering CLEON claims thy vigilance
Suspicious; the smooth orator, adept
128
Colossal plunderer, with a tyrant's air,
His gorgeous spoils. Since, then, the task were vain
Amid a cumbrous empire's wide display,
Its fashions, luxuries, its commercial pride,
Its opulence and grandeur, to restore
Thy country to primæval plainness—deem'd
Of old the close companion of pure worth;
Since idle every effort to recall
Simplicity of manners, be thy care
To bid magnificence and ornament
Subserve integrity; o'er subject earth
To spread the greatness of the British laws;
With an extensive empire co-extend
The virtues, whose kind influence softens life;
And nurture, with a patron's liberal warmth,
Fancy and taste: hence sprung thy splendid art;
And, lo, to these addrest, thy eloquence
Shall from corruption gain her host of slaves!
| Poems | |