University of Virginia Library

Without thy chearful active energy
No rapture swells the breast, no Poet sings,
No more the maids of Helicon delight.
Come then with me, O Goddess heavenly gay!
Begin the song; and let it sweetly flow,
And let it wisely teach thy wholesome laws:
“How best the sickle fabric to support
“Of mortal man; in healthful body how
“A healthful mind the longest to maintain.”
'Tis hard, in such a strife of rules, to chuse
The best, and those of most extensive use;
Harder in clear and animated song
Dry philosophic precepts to convey.

6

Yet with thy aid the secret wilds I trace
Of nature, and with daring steps proceed
Thro' paths the muss never trod before.