 | Poetical essays on Several Occasions |  |
124
TO ARABELLA.
When you, fair Arabella, deign to write,The Muses round attentive stand,
And catch your Thoughts at second hand,
To aid their Pencil, and inspire their Flight.
Then waft them high on painted Wings
To strike with Harmony their Strings.
The tuneful Sisters love their Play,
And Gods themselves keep Holiday.
Now lest Apollo shou'd the Truants know,
They pillage some bright Genius here below.
But oft, incens'd he finds the Cheat,
And doubly tasks them for Deceit.
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And dull Mortality hang o'er each Flight.
So bright your Fancy, and so soft each Line,
That when the Vagrants steal from you
Their Censor thinks each Stanza new,
And says 'tis all divine.
| Poetical essays on Several Occasions | |