Neglected Genius A Poem. Illustrating the Untimely And Unfortunate Fate Of Many British Poets; From the Period of Henry the Eighth to the Aera of the Unfortunate Chatterton. Containing Imitations of their Different Styles, &c. &c. By W. H. Ireland |
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IN IMITATION OF THE STYLE OF MILTON;
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Lines IN IMITATION OF THE STYLE OF MILTON;
BEING THE OFENING OF AN INTENDED POEM UPON THE OCEAN.
Flow, restless ocean, turbulent, sublime,Incessant flow:—to thee, vast wat'ry world,
I tune the solemn strain, and list thy roar,
Expansion buoyant, scene magnificent;
Thou vasty deep, whereon reflective glows
Day's burning, penetrative beam; whose plane,
Earth's mirror, shews the concave bright of heav'n;
Thee I invoke:—or peaceful, or perturb'd,—
By day, by night, thy grandeur still displays
The sov'reign signet of Omnipotence.
O that these eyes might pierce thy liquid depths,
Instructing thus mine anxious mind to solve
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So should bold truth give genius rapid wing,
To paint the wonders of thy dread abyss,
And give expression tenfold energy.
Back to thine earthy bourn, conviction cries;
My genius sickens, and my soul recoils,
As on the tow'ring cliff I pause aghast,
While to my palsied sense the angry surge,
In thunders roaring, speaks me but a man.
Stripp'd, destitute I stand, of plea bereft,
To act the darling purpose of my soul;
In vain I turn, a cheerless gloom pervades,
Tho' eager genius pictures still fond hope,
Alluring to the task.—Dare I proceed?
Will procreative fancy boldly plunge
Amidst the element's profundity?
Can the imagination, kindling hot,
Embody regions unexplor'd?—I breathe!
Fresh vigour nerves me to essay the task,
And launch my bark of genius on a sea,
Fathomless and illimitable.—
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