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ON THE INGENIOUS MR. JONES'S ELEGANT TRANSLATIONS AND IMITATIONS OF EASTERN POETRY,
  


332

ON THE INGENIOUS MR. JONES'S ELEGANT TRANSLATIONS AND IMITATIONS OF EASTERN POETRY,

AND HIS RESOLUTION TO DECLINE TRANSLATING THE PERSIAN POETS.

The Asian Muse, a Stranger fair!
Becomes at length Britannia's care;
And Hafiz' lays, and Sadi's strains,
Resound along our Thames's plains.
They sing not all of streams and bowers,
Or banquet scenes, or social hours;
Nor all of Beauty's blooming charms,
Or War's rude fields, or feats of arms;
But Freedom's lofty notes sincere,
And Virtue's moral lore severe.

333

But ah! they sing for us no more!
The scarcely-tasted pleasure's o'er!
For He, the Bard whose tuneful art
Can best their varied themes impart—
For He, alas! the task declines;
And Taste, at loss irreparable, repines.