The Works of William Mason ... In Four Volumes |
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| XIII. | SONNET XIII.
OCCASIONED BY
A DIDACTIC POEM ON THE PROGRESS OF CIVIL SOCIETY. |
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 | The Works of William Mason |  |
134
SONNET XIII. OCCASIONED BY A DIDACTIC POEM ON THE PROGRESS OF CIVIL SOCIETY.
Old as I am, I yet have powers to sneerAt him, who dares debase the gold of Gray
With his vile dross, and by such base allay,
Hope to buy off the critic's frown severe;
Him too, whose page e'erwhile had dar'd appear
With shameless front the symbols to display
Of Pagan rites obscene, and thence convey
Shame to each eye, profaneness to each ear.
Methinks, through Fancy's tube, my friend I spy
Thron'd on a cloud in yon etherial plain,
“Smiling in scorn;” methinks, I hear him cry,
“Prosaic Poetaster, cease to drain
“The filthy dregs of Epicurus' sty;
“They shall not mix with my nectareous strain!”
What Mr. Gray thought and writ (see his Detached Thoughts, printed in his Memoirs, Vol. III. p. 113, last edition) gives complete authority to this Prosopopæia.
“The doctrine of Epicurus is ever ruinous to society. It had its rise when Greece was declining, and, perhaps, hastened its dissolution, as also that of Rome. It is now propagated in France and in England, and seems likely to produce the same effects in both.” May heaven avert, at least, the latter part of this presentiment formed above forty years ago!
| The Works of William Mason | |