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The Poems Of Mark Akenside

Akenside, Mark (1721-1770)

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THE PLEASURES OF IMAGINATION. A POEM. IN THREE BOOKS.
 1. 
BOOK THE FIRST.
 2. 
BOOK THE SECOND.
 3. 
BOOK THE THIRD.
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THE PLEASURES OF THE IMAGINATION: A POEM.
 1. 
BOOK THE FIRST.
 2. 
BOOK THE SECOND.
 3. 
BOOK THE THIRD.
 4. 
BOOK THE FOURTH.
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ODES ON SEVERAL SUBJECTS. IN TWO BOOKS.
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ODES, BOOK THE FIRST.
  
ODE I. PREFACE.
  
ODE II. ON THE WINTER-SOLSTICE,
  
ODE III. TO A FRIEND, UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOVE.
  
ODE IV. AFFECTED INDIFFERENCE. TO THE SAME.
  
ODE V. AGAINST SUSPICION.
  
ODE VI. HYMN TO CHEERFULNESS.
  
ODE VII. ON THE USE OF POETRY.
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ODE VIII. ON LEAVING HOLLAND.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
  
ODE IX. TO CURIO.
  
ODE X. TO THE MUSE.
  
ODE XI. ON LOVE, TO A FRIEND.
  
ODE XII. TO SIR FRANCIS HENRY DRAKE, BARONET.
  
ODE XIII. ON LYRIC POETRY.
  
ODE XIV. TO THE HONOURABLE CHARLES TOWNSHEND:
  
ODE XV. TO THE EVENING-STAR.
  
ODE XVI. TO CALEB HARDINGE, M. D.
  
ODE XVII. ON A SERMON AGAINST GLORY.
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ODE XVIII. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE FRANCIS EARL OF HUNTINGDON.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
 IV. 
IV.
 V. 
V.
 VI. 
VI.
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ODES, BOOK THE SECOND.
  
ODE I. THE REMONSTRANCE OF SHAKESPEARE:
  
ODE II. TO SLEEP.
  
ODE III. TO THE CUCKOW.
  
ODE IV. TO THE HONOURABLE CHARLES TOWNSHEND IN THE COUNTRY.
  
ODE V. ON LOVE OF PRAISE.
  
ODE VI. TO WILLIAM HALL, ESQUIRE: WITH THE WORKS OF CHAULIEU.
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ODE VII. TO THE RIGHT REVEREND BENJAMIN LORD BISHOP OF WINCHESTER.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
  
ODE VIII.
  
ODE IX. AT STUDY.
  
ODE X. TO THOMAS EDWARDS, ESQUIRE: ON THE LATE EDITION OF MR. POPE'S WORKS.
  
ODE XI. TO THE COUNTRY GENTLEMEN OF ENGLAND.
  
ODE XII. ON RECOVERING FROM A FIT OF SICKNESS, IN THE COUNTRY.
  
ODE XIII. TO THE AUTHOR OF MEMOIRS OF THE HOUSE OF BRANDENBURGH:
  
ODE XIV. THE COMPLAINT.
  
ODE XV. ON DOMESTIC MANNERS.
  
HYMN TO THE NAIADS.
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INSCRIPTIONS.
  
I. FOR A GROTTO.
  
II. FOR A STATUE OF CHAUCER AT WOODSTOCK.
  
III.
  
IV.
  
VI. FOR A COLUMN AT RUNNYMEDE.
  
VII. THE WOOD NYMPH.
  
VIII.
  
IX.

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III.

1.

Are there, approv'd of later times,
Whose verse adorn'd a tyrant's crimes?
Who saw majestic Rome betray'd,
And lent the imperial ruffian aid?
Alas! not one polluted bard,
No, not the strains that Mincius heard,
Or Tibur's hills reply'd,
Dare to the Muse's ear aspire;
Save that, instructed by the Grecian lyre,
With freedom's ancient notes their shameful task they hide.
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2.

Mark, how the dread Pantheon stands,
Amid the domes of modern hands:
Amid the toys of idle state,
How simply, how severely great!
Then turn, and, while each western clime
Presents her tuneful sons to Time,
So mark thou Milton's name;
And add, “Thus differs from the throng
“The spirit which inform'd thy awful song,
“Which bade thy potent voice protect thy country's fame.”

3.

Alluding to his Defence of the people of England against Salmasius. See particularly the manner in which he himself speaks of that undertaking, in the introduction to his reply to Morus.

Yet hence barbaric zeal
His memory with unholy rage pursues;
While from these arduous cares of public weal
She bids each bard begone, and rest him with his Muse.
O fool! to think the man, whose ample mind
Must grasp at all that yonder stars survey;
Must join the noblest forms of every kind,
The world's most perfect image to display,
Can e'er his country's majesty behold,
Unmov'd or cold!
O fool! to deem
That he, whose thought must visit every theme,
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Whose heart must every strong emotion know
Inspir'd by nature, or by fortune taught;
That he, if haply some presumptuous foe,
With false ignoble science fraught,
Shall spurn at freedom's faithful band;
That he their dear defence will shun,
Or hide their glories from the sun,
Or deal their vengeance with a woman's hand!
 

Octavianus Cæsar.

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