BOOK I.
ARGUMENT.
The subject proposed. Difficulty of treating it poetically. The ideas of the Divine Mind the origin of every quality pleasing to the imagination. The natural variety of const.i.tution in the minds of men; with its final cause. The idea of a fine imagination, and the state of the mind in the enjoyment of those pleasures which it affords.
All the primary pleasures of the imagination result from the perception of greatness, or wonderfulness, or beauty in objects. The pleasure from greatness, with its final cause. Pleasure from novelty or wonderfulness, with its final cause. Pleasure from beauty, with its final cause. The connexion of beauty with truth and good, applied to the conduct of life. Invitation to the study of moral philosophy. The different degrees of beauty in different species of objects; colour, shape, natural concretes, vegetables, animals, the mind. The sublime, the fair, the wonderful of the mind. The connexion of the imagination and the moral faculty. Conclusion.
With what attractive charms this goodly frame Of Nature touches the consenting hearts Of mortal men; and what the pleasing stores Which beauteous Imitation thence derives To deck the poet"s or the painter"s toil, My verse unfolds. Attend, ye gentle Powers Of musical delight! and while I sing Your gifts, your honours, dance around my strain.
Thou, smiling queen of every tuneful breast, Indulgent Fancy! from the fruitful banks 10 Of Avon, whence thy rosy fingers cull Fresh flowers and dews to sprinkle on the turf Where Shakspeare lies, be present: and with thee Let Fiction come, upon her vagrant wings Wafting ten thousand colours through the air, Which, by the glances of her magic eye, She blends and shifts at will, through countless forms, Her wild creation. G.o.ddess of the lyre, Which rules the accents of the moving sphere, Wilt thou, eternal Harmony, descend 20 And join this festive train? for with thee comes The guide, the guardian of their lovely sports, Majestic Truth; and where Truth deigns to come, Her sister Liberty will not be far.
Be present all ye Genii, who conduct The wandering footsteps of the youthful bard, New to your springs and shades: who touch his ear With finer sounds: who heighten to his eye The bloom of Nature, and before him turn The gayest, happiest att.i.tude of things. 30 Oft have the laws of each poetic strain The critic-verse employ"d; yet still unsung Lay this prime subject, though importing most A poet"s name: for fruitless is the attempt, By dull obedience and by creeping toil Obscure to conquer the severe ascent Of high Parna.s.sus. Nature"s kindling breath Must fire the chosen genius; Nature"s hand Must string his nerves, and imp his eagle-wings, Impatient of the painful steep, to soar 40 High as the summit; there to breathe at large AEthereal air, with bards and sages old, Immortal sons of praise. These flattering scenes, To this neglected labour court my song; Yet not unconscious what a doubtful task To paint the finest features of the mind, And to most subtile and mysterious things Give colour, strength, and motion. But the love Of Nature and the Muses bids explore, Through secret paths erewhile untrod by man, 50 The fair poetic region, to detect Untasted springs, to drink inspiring draughts, And shade my temples with unfading flowers Cull"d from the laureate vale"s profound recess, Where never poet gain"d a wreath before.
From Heaven my strains begin: from Heaven descends The flame of genius to the human breast, And love and beauty, and poetic joy And inspiration. Ere the radiant sun Sprang from the east, or "mid the vault of night 60 The moon suspended her serener lamp; Ere mountains, woods, or streams adorn"d the globe, Or Wisdom taught the sons of men her lore; Then lived the Almighty One: then, deep retired In his unfathom"d essence, view"d the forms, The forms eternal of created things; The radiant sun, the moon"s nocturnal lamp, The mountains, woods, and streams, the rolling globe, And Wisdom"s mien celestial. From the first Of days, on them his love divine he fix"d, 70 His admiration: till in time complete What he admired and loved, his vital smile Unfolded into being. Hence the breath Of life informing each organic frame; Hence the green earth, and wild resounding wares; Hence light and shade alternate, warmth and cold, And clear autumnal skies and vernal showers, And all the fair variety of things.
But not alike to every mortal eye Is this great scene unveil"d. For, since the claims 80 Of social life to different labours urge The active powers of man, with wise intent The hand of Nature on peculiar minds Imprints a different bias, and to each Decrees its province in the common toil.
To some she taught the fabric of the sphere, The changeful moon, the circuit of the stars, The golden zones of heaven; to some she gave To weigh the moment of eternal things, Of time, and s.p.a.ce, and fate"s unbroken chain, 90 And will"s quick impulse; others by the hand She led o"er vales and mountains, to explore What healing virtue swells the tender veins Of herbs and flowers; or what the beams of morn Draw forth, distilling from the clifted rind In balmy tears. But some, to higher hopes Were destined; some within a finer mould She wrought and temper"d with a purer flame.
To these the Sire Omnipotent unfolds The world"s harmonious volume, there to read 100 The transcript of Himself. On every part They trace the bright impressions of his hand: In earth or air, the meadow"s purple stores, The moon"s mild radiance, or the virgin"s form Blooming with rosy smiles, they see portray"d That uncreated beauty, which delights The Mind Supreme. They also feel her charms, Enamour"d; they partake the eternal joy.
For as old Memnon"s image, long renown"d By fabling Nilus, to the quivering touch 110 Of t.i.tan"s ray, with each repulsive string Consenting, sounded through the warbling air Unbidden strains, even so did Nature"s hand To certain species of external things, Attune the finer organs of the mind; So the glad impulse of congenial powers, Or of sweet sound, or fair proportion"d form, The grace of motion, or the bloom of light, Thrills through Imagination"s tender frame, From nerve to nerve; all naked and alive 120 They catch the spreading rays; till now the soul At length discloses every tuneful spring, To that harmonious movement from without Responsive. Then the inexpressive strain Diffuses its enchantment: Fancy dreams Of sacred fountains and Elysian groves, And vales of bliss: the intellectual power Bends from his awful throne a wondering ear, And smiles: the pa.s.sions, gently soothed away, Sink to divine repose, and love and joy 130 Alone are waking; love and joy, serene As airs that fan the summer. Oh! attend, Whoe"er thou art, whom these delights can touch, Whose candid bosom the refining love Of Nature warms, oh! listen to my song; And I will guide thee to her favourite walks, And teach thy solitude her voice to hear, And point her loveliest features to thy view.
Know then, whate"er of Nature"s pregnant stores, Whate"er of mimic Art"s reflected forms 140 With love and admiration thus inflame The powers of Fancy, her delighted sons To three ill.u.s.trious orders have referr"d; Three sister graces, whom the painter"s hand, The poet"s tongue confesses--the Sublime, The Wonderful, the Fair. I see them dawn!
I see the radiant visions, where they rise, More lovely than when Lucifer displays His beaming forehead through the gates of morn, To lead the train of Phoebus and the spring. 150
Say, why was man [Endnote A] so eminently raised Amid the vast Creation; why ordain"d Through life and death to dart his piercing eye, With thoughts beyond the limit of his frame; But that the Omnipotent might send him forth In sight of mortal and immortal powers, As on a boundless theatre, to run The great career of justice; to exalt His generous aim to all diviner deeds; To chase each partial purpose from his breast; 160 And through the mists of pa.s.sion and of sense, And through the tossing tide of chance and pain, To hold his course unfaltering, while the voice Of truth and virtue, up the steep ascent Of nature, calls him to his high reward, The applauding smile of Heaven? Else wherefore burns In mortal bosoms this unquenched hope, That breathes from day to day sublimer things, And mocks possession? Wherefore darts the mind, With such resistless ardour to embrace 170 Majestic forms; impatient to be free, Spurning the gross control of wilful might; Proud of the strong contention of her toils; Proud to be daring? Who but rather turns To heaven"s broad fire his unconstrained view, 175 Than to the glimmering of a waxen flame?
Who that, from Alpine heights, his labouring eye Shoots round the wide horizon, to survey Nilus or Ganges rolling his bright wave Through mountains, plains, through empires black with shade, 180 And continents of sand, will turn his gaze To mark the windings of a scanty rill That murmurs at his feet? The high-born soul Disdains to rest her heaven-aspiring wing Beneath its native quarry. Tired of earth And this diurnal scene, she springs aloft Through fields of air; pursues the flying storm; Rides on the vollied lightning through the heavens; Or, yoked with whirlwinds and the northern blast, Sweeps the long tract of day. Then high she soars 190 The blue profound, and hovering round the sun Beholds him pouring the redundant stream Of light; beholds his unrelenting sway Bend the reluctant planets to absolve The fated rounds of Time. Thence far effused She darts her swiftness up the long career Of devious comets; through its burning signs Exulting measures the perennial wheel Of Nature, and looks back on all the stars, Whose blended light, as with a milky zone, 200 Invests the orient. Now amazed she views The empyreal waste, [Endnote B] where happy spirits hold, Beyond this concave heaven, their calm abode; And fields of radiance, whose unfading light [Endnote C]
Has travell"d the profound six thousand years, Nor yet arrives in sight of mortal things.
Even on the barriers of the world untired She meditates the eternal depth below; 208 Till, half recoiling, down the headlong steep She plunges; soon o"erwhelm"d and swallow"d up In that immense of being. There her hopes Rest at the fated goal. For from the birth Of mortal man, the Sovereign Maker said, That not in humble nor in brief delight, Not in the fading echoes of renown, Power"s purple robes, nor pleasure"s flowery lap, The soul should find enjoyment: but from these Turning disdainful to an equal good, Through all the ascent of things enlarge her view, Till every bound at length should disappear, 220 And infinite perfection close the scene.
Call now to mind what high capacious powers Lie folded up in man; how far beyond The praise of mortals, may the eternal growth Of Nature to perfection half divine, Expand the blooming soul! What pity then Should sloth"s unkindly fogs depress to earth Her tender blossom; choke the streams of life, And blast her spring! Far otherwise design"d Almighty Wisdom; Nature"s happy cares 230 The obedient heart far otherwise incline.
Witness the sprightly joy when aught unknown Strikes the quick sense, and wakes each active power To brisker measures: witness the neglect Of all familiar prospects, [Endnote D] though beheld With transport once; the fond attentive gaze Of young astonishment; the sober zeal Of age, commenting on prodigious things.
For such the bounteous providence of Heaven, In every breast implanting this desire 240 Of objects new and strange, [Endnote E] to urge us on With unremitted labour to pursue Those sacred stores that wait the ripening soul, In Truth"s exhaustless bosom. What need words To paint its power? For this the daring youth Breaks from his weeping mother"s anxious arms, In foreign climes to rove; the pensive sage, Heedless of sleep, or midnight"s harmful damp, Hangs o"er the sickly taper; and untired The virgin follows, with enchanted step, 250 The mazes of some wild and wondrous tale, From morn to eve; unmindful of her form, Unmindful of the happy dress that stole The wishes of the youth, when every maid With envy pined. Hence, finally, by night The village matron, round the blazing hearth, Suspends the infant audience with her tales, Breathing astonishment! of witching rhymes, And evil spirits; of the death-bed call Of him who robb"d the widow, and devour"d 260 The orphan"s portion; of unquiet souls Risen from the grave to ease the heavy guilt Of deeds in life conceal"d; of shapes that walk At dead of night, and clank their chains, and wave The torch of h.e.l.l around the murderer"s bed.
At every solemn pause the crowd recoil, Gazing each other speechless, and congeal"d With shivering sighs: till eager for the event, Around the beldame all erect they hang, Each trembling heart with grateful terrors quell"d. 270
But lo! disclosed in all her smiling pomp, Where Beauty onward moving claims the verse Her charms inspire: the freely-flowing verse In thy immortal praise, O form divine, Smooths her mellifluent stream. Thee, Beauty, thee The regal dome, and thy enlivening ray The mossy roofs adore: thou, better sun!
For ever beamest on the enchanted heart Love, and harmonious wonder, and delight Poetic. Brightest progeny of Heaven! 280 How shall I trace thy features? where select The roseate hues to emulate thy bloom?
Haste then, my song, through Nature"s wide expanse, Haste then, and gather all her comeliest wealth, Whate"er bright spoils the florid earth contains, Whate"er the waters, or the liquid air, To deck thy lovely labour. Wilt thou fly With laughing Autumn to the Atlantic isles, And range with him the Hesperian field, and see Where"er his fingers touch the fruitful grove, 290 The branches shoot with gold; where"er his step Marks the glad soil, the tender cl.u.s.ters grow With purple ripeness, and invest each hill As with the blushes of an evening sky?
Or wilt thou rather stoop thy vagrant plume, Where gliding through his daughters honour"d shades, The smooth Peneus from his gla.s.sy flood Reflects purpureal Tempo"s pleasant scene?
Fair Tempe! haunt beloved of sylvan Powers, Of Nymphs and Fauns; where in the golden age 300 They play"d in secret on the shady brink With ancient Pan: while round their choral steps Young Hours and genial Gales with constant hand Shower"d blossoms, odours, shower"d ambrosial dews, And spring"s Elysian bloom. Her flowery store To thee nor Tempe shall refuse; nor watch Of winged Hydra guard Hesperian fruits From thy free spoil. Oh, bear then, unreproved, Thy smiling treasures to the green recess Where young Dione stays. With sweetest airs 310 Entice her forth to lend her angel form For Beauty"s honour"d image. Hither turn Thy graceful footsteps; hither, gentle maid, Incline thy polish"d forehead: let thy eyes Effuse the mildness of their azure dawn; And may the fanning breezes waft aside Thy radiant locks: disclosing, as it bends With airy softness from the marble neck, The cheek fair-blooming, and the rosy lip, Where winning smiles and pleasures sweet as love, 320 With sanct.i.ty and wisdom, tempering blend Their soft allurement. Then the pleasing force Of Nature, and her kind parental care Worthier I"d sing: then all the enamour"d youth, With each admiring virgin, to my lyre Should throng attentive, while I point on high Where Beauty"s living image, like the Morn That wakes in Zephyr"s arms the blushing May, Moves onward; or as Venus, when she stood Effulgent on the pearly car, and smiled, 330 Fresh from the deep, and conscious of her form, To see the Tritons tune their vocal sh.e.l.ls, And each cerulean sister of the flood With loud acclaim attend her o"er the waves, To seek the Idalian bower. Ye smiling band Of youths and virgins, who through all the maze Of young desire with rival steps pursue This charm of Beauty, if the pleasing toil Can yield a moment"s respite, hither turn Your favourable ear, and trust my words. 340 I do not mean to wake the gloomy form Of Superst.i.tion dress"d in Wisdom"s garb, To damp your tender hopes; I do not mean To bid the jealous thunderer fire the heavens, Or shapes infernal rend the groaning earth To fright you from your joys: my cheerful song With better omens calls you to the field, Pleased with your generous ardour in the chase, And warm like you. Then tell me, for ye know, Does Beauty ever deign to dwell where health 350 And active use are strangers? Is her charm Confess"d in aught, whose most peculiar ends Are lame and fruitless? Or did Nature mean This pleasing call the herald of a lie, To hide the shame of discord and disease, And catch with fair hypocrisy the heart Of idle faith? Oh, no! with better cares The indulgent mother, conscious how infirm Her offspring tread the paths of good and ill, By this ill.u.s.trious image, in each kind 360 Still most ill.u.s.trious where the object holds Its native powers most perfect, she by this Illumes the headstrong impulse of desire, And sanctifies his choice. The generous glebe Whose bosom smiles with verdure, the clear tract Of streams delicious to the thirsty soul, The bloom of nectar"d fruitage ripe to sense, And every charm of animated things, Are only pledges of a state sincere, The integrity and order of their frame, 370 When all is well within, and every end Accomplish"d. Thus was Beauty sent from heaven, The lovely ministries of Truth and Good In this dark world: for Truth and Good are one, And Beauty dwells in them, [Endnote F] and they in her, With like partic.i.p.ation. Wherefore then, O sons of earth! would ye dissolve the tie?
Oh! wherefore, with a rash impetuous aim, Seek ye those flowery joys with which the hand Of lavish Fancy paints each flattering scene 380 Where Beauty seems to dwell, nor once inquire Where is the sanction of eternal Truth, Or where the seal of undeceitful Good, To save your search from folly! Wanting these, Lo! Beauty withers in your void embrace, And with the glittering of an idiot"s toy Did Fancy mock your vows. Nor let the gleam Of youthful hope that shines upon your hearts, Be chill"d or clouded at this awful task, To learn the lore of undeceitful Good, 390 And Truth eternal. Though the poisonous charms Of baleful Superst.i.tion guide the feet Of servile numbers, through a dreary way To their abode, through deserts, thorns, and mire; And leave the wretched pilgrim all forlorn To muse at last, amid the ghostly gloom Of graves, and h.o.a.ry vaults, and cloister"d cells; To walk with spectres through the midnight shade, And to the screaming owl"s accursed song Attune the dreadful workings of his heart; 400 Yet be not ye dismay"d. A gentler star Your lovely search illumines. From the grove Where Wisdom talk"d with her Athenian sons, Could my ambitious hand entwine a wreath Of Plato"s olive with the Mantuan bay, Then should my powerful verse at once dispel Those monkish horrors: then in light divine Disclose the Elysian prospect, where the steps Of those whom Nature charms, through blooming walks, Through fragrant mountains and poetic streams, 410 Amid the train of sages, heroes, bards, Led by their winged Genius, and the choir Of laurell"d science and harmonious art, Proceed exulting to the eternal shrine, Where Truth conspicuous with her sister-twins, The undivided partners of her sway, With Good and Beauty reigns. Oh, let not us, Lull"d by luxurious Pleasure"s languid strain, Or crouching to the frowns of bigot rage, Oh, let us not a moment pause to join 420 That G.o.dlike band. And if the gracious Power Who first awaken"d my untutor"d song, Will to my invocation breathe anew The tuneful spirit; then through all our paths, Ne"er shall the sound of this devoted lyre Be wanting; whether on the rosy mead, When summer smiles, to warn the melting heart Of luxury"s allurement; whether firm Against the torrent and the stubborn hill To urge bold Virtue"s unremitted nerve, 430 And wake the strong divinity of soul That conquers chance and fate; or whether struck For sounds of triumph, to proclaim her toils Upon the lofty summit, round her brow To twine the wreath of incorruptive praise; To trace her hallow"d light through future worlds, And bless Heaven"s image in the heart of man.
Thus with a faithful aim have we presumed, Adventurous, to delineate Nature"s form; Whether in vast, majestic pomp array"d, 440 Or dress"d for pleasing wonder, or serene In Beauty"s rosy smile. It now remains, Through various being"s fair proportion"d scale, To trace the rising l.u.s.tre of her charms, From their first twilight, shining forth at length To full meridian splendour. Of degree The least and lowliest, in the effusive warmth Of colours mingling with a random blaze, Doth Beauty dwell. Then higher in the line And variation of determined shape, 450 Where Truth"s eternal measures mark the bound Of circle, cube, or sphere. The third ascent Unites this varied symmetry of parts With colour"s bland allurement; as the pearl Shines in the concave of its azure bed, And painted sh.e.l.ls indent their speckled wreath.
Then more attractive rise the blooming forms Through which the breath of Nature has infused Her genial power to draw with pregnant veins Nutritious moisture from the bounteous earth, 460 In fruit and seed prolific: thus the flowers Their purple honours with the Spring resume; And such the stately tree which Autumn bends With blushing treasures. But more lovely still Is Nature"s charm, where to the full consent Of complicated members, to the bloom Of colour, and the vital change of growth, Life"s holy flame and piercing sense are given, And active motion speaks the temper"d soul: So moves the bird of Juno; so the steed 470 With rival ardour beats the dusty plain, And faithful dogs with eager airs of joy Salute their fellows. Thus doth Beauty dwell There most conspicuous, even in outward shape, Where dawns the high expression of a mind: By steps conducting our enraptured search To that eternal origin, whose power, Through all the unbounded symmetry of things, Like rays effulging from the parent sun, This endless mixture of her charms diffused. 480 Mind, mind alone, (bear witness, earth and heaven!) The living fountains in itself contains Of beauteous and sublime: here hand in hand, Sit paramount the Graces; here enthroned, Celestial Venus, with divinest airs, Invites the soul to never-fading joy.
Look then abroad through nature, to the range Of planets, suns, and adamantine spheres Wheeling unshaken through the void immense; And speak, O man! does this capacious scene 490 With half that kindling majesty dilate Thy strong conception, as when Brutus rose [Endnote G]
Refulgent from the stroke of Caesar"s fate, Amid the crowd of patriots; and his arm Aloft extending, like eternal Jove When guilt brings down the thunder, call"d aloud On Tully"s name, and shook his crimson steel, And bade the father of his country, hail!
For lo! the tyrant prostrate on the dust, And Rome again is free! Is aught so fair 500 In all the dewy landscapes of the Spring, In the bright eye of Hesper, or the morn, In Nature"s fairest forms, is aught so fair As virtuous friendship? as the candid blush Of him who strives with fortune to be just?
The graceful tear that streams for others" woes?
Or the mild majesty of private life, Where Peace with ever blooming olive crowns The gate; where Honour"s liberal hands effuse Unenvied treasures, and the snowy wings 510 Of Innocence and Love protect the scene?
Once more search, undismay"d, the dark profound Where Nature works in secret; view the beds Of mineral treasure, and the eternal vault That bounds the h.o.a.ry ocean; trace the forms Of atoms moving with incessant change Their elemental round; behold the seeds Of being, and the energy of life Kindling the ma.s.s with ever-active flame; Then to the secrets of the working mind 520 Attentive turn; from dim oblivion call Her fleet, ideal band; and bid them, go!
Break through time"s barrier, and o"ertake the hour That saw the heavens created: then declare If aught were found in those external scenes To move thy wonder now. For what are all The forms which brute, unconscious matter wears, Greatness of bulk, or symmetry of parts?
Not reaching to the heart, soon feeble grows The superficial impulse; dull their charms, 530 And satiate soon, and pall the languid eye.
Not so the moral species, nor the powers Of genius and design; the ambitious mind There sees herself: by these congenial forms Touch"d and awaken"d, with intenser act She bends each nerve, and meditates well pleased Her features in the mirror. For, of all The inhabitants of earth, to man alone Creative Wisdom gave to lift his eye To Truth"s eternal measures; thence to frame 540 The sacred laws of action and of will, Discerning justice from unequal deeds, And temperance from folly. But beyond This energy of Truth, whose dictates bind a.s.senting reason, the benignant Sire, To deck the honour"d paths of just and good, Has added bright Imagination"s rays: Where Virtue, rising from the awful depth Of Truth"s mysterious bosom, [Endnote H] doth forsake The unadorn"d condition of her birth; 550 And dress"d by Fancy in ten thousand hues, a.s.sumes a various feature, to attract, With charms responsive to each gazer"s eye, The hearts of men. Amid his rural walk, The ingenuous youth, whom solitude inspires With purest wishes, from the pensive shade Beholds her moving, like a virgin muse That wakes her lyre to some indulgent theme Of harmony and wonder: while among The herd of servile minds, her strenuous form 560 Indignant flashes on the patriot"s eye, And through the rolls of memory appeals To ancient honour; or in act serene, Yet watchful, raises the majestic sword Of public Power, from dark Ambition"s reach To guard the sacred volume of the laws.
Genius of ancient Greece! whose faithful steps Well pleased I follow through the sacred paths Of Nature and of Science; nurse divine Of all heroic deeds and fair desires! 570 Oh! let the breath of thy extended praise Inspire my kindling bosom to the height Of this untempted theme. Nor be my thoughts Presumptuous counted, if, amid the calm That soothes this vernal evening into smiles, I steal impatient from the sordid haunts Of strife and low ambition, to attend Thy sacred presence in the sylvan shade, By their malignant footsteps ne"er profaned.
Descend, propitious, to my favour"d eye! 580 Such in thy mien, thy warm, exalted air, As when the Persian tyrant, foil"d and stung With shame and desperation, gnash"d his teeth To see thee rend the pageants of his throne; And at the lightning of thy lifted spear Crouch"d like a slave. Bring all thy martial spoils, Thy palms, thy laurels, thy triumphal songs, Thy smiling band of art, thy G.o.dlike sires Of civil wisdom, thy heroic youth Warm from the schools of glory. Guide my way 590 Through fair Lyceum"s [Endnote I] walk, the green retreats Of Academus, [Endnote J] and the thymy vale, Where oft enchanted with Socratic sounds, Ilissus [Endnote K] pure devolved his tuneful stream In gentler murmurs. From the blooming store Of these auspicious fields, may I unblamed Transplant some living blossoms to adorn My native clime: while far above the flight Of Fancy"s plume aspiring, I unlock The springs of ancient wisdom! while I join 600 Thy name, thrice honour"d! with the immortal praise Of Nature; while to my compatriot youth I point the high example of thy sons, And tune to Attic themes the British lyre.
BOOK II.
ARGUMENT.
The separation of the works of Imagination from Philosophy, the cause of their abuse among the moderns. Prospect of their reunion under the influence of public Liberty. Enumeration of accidental pleasures, which increase the effect of objects delightful to the Imagination. The pleasures of sense. Particular circ.u.mstances of the mind. Discovery of truth. Perception of contrivance and design.
Emotion of the pa.s.sions. All the natural pa.s.sions partake of a pleasing sensation; with the final cause of this const.i.tution ill.u.s.trated by an allegorical vision, and exemplified in sorrow, pity, terror, and indignation.
When shall the laurel and the vocal string Resume their honours? When shall we behold The tuneful tongue, the Promethean band Aspire to ancient praise? Alas! how faint, How slow the dawn of Beauty and of Truth Breaks the reluctant shades of Gothic night Which yet involves the nations! Long they groan"d Beneath the furies of rapacious force; Oft as the gloomy north, with iron swarms Tempestuous pouring from her frozen caves, 10 Blasted the Italian sh.o.r.e, and swept the works Of Liberty and Wisdom down the gulf Of all-devouring night. As long immured In noontide darkness, by the glimmering lamp, Each Muse and each fair Science pined away The sordid hours: while foul, barbarian hands Their mysteries profaned, unstrung the lyre, And chain"d the soaring pinion down to earth.
At last the Muses rose, [Endnote L] and spurn"d their bonds, And, wildly warbling, scatter"d as they flew, 20 Their blooming wreaths from fair Valclusa"s [Endnote M] bowers To Arno"s [Endnote N] myrtle border and the sh.o.r.e Of soft Parthenope. [Endnote O] But still the rage Of dire ambition [Endnote P] and gigantic power, From public aims and from the busy walk Of civil commerce, drove the bolder train Of penetrating Science to the cells, Where studious Ease consumes the silent hour In shadowy searches and unfruitful care.
Thus from their guardians torn, the tender arts [Endnote Q] 30 Of mimic fancy and harmonious joy, To priestly domination and the l.u.s.t Of lawless courts, their amiable toil For three inglorious ages have resign"d, In vain reluctant: and Torquato"s tongue Was tuned for slavish pasans at the throne Of tinsel pomp: and Raphael"s magic hand Effused its fair creation to enchant The fond adoring herd in Latian fanes To blind belief; while on their prostrate necks 40 The sable tyrant plants his heel secure.
But now, behold! the radiant era dawns, When freedom"s ample fabric, fix"d at length For endless years on Albion"s happy sh.o.r.e In full proportion, once more shall extend To all the kindred powers of social bliss A common mansion, a parental roof.
There shall the Virtues, there shall Wisdom"s train, Their long-lost friends rejoining, as of old, Embrace the smiling family of Arts, 50 The Muses and the Graces. Then no more Shall Vice, distracting their delicious gifts To aims abhorr"d, with high distaste and scorn Turn from their charms the philosophic eye, The patriot bosom; then no more the paths Of public care or intellectual toil, Alone by footsteps haughty and severe In gloomy state be trod: the harmonious Muse And her persuasive sisters then shall plant Their sheltering laurels o"er the bleak ascent, 60 And scatter flowers along the rugged way.
Arm"d with the lyre, already have we dared To pierce divine Philosophy"s retreats, And teach the Muse her lore; already strove Their long-divided honours to unite, While tempering this deep argument we sang Of Truth and Beauty. Now the same glad task Impends; now urging our ambitious toil, We hasten to recount the various springs Of advent.i.tious pleasure, which adjoin 70 Their grateful influence to the prime effect Of objects grand or beauteous, and enlarge The complicated joy. The sweets of sense, Do they not oft with kind accession flow, To raise harmonious Fancy"s native charm?
So while we taste the fragrance of the rose, Glows not her blush the fairer? While we view Amid the noontide walk a limpid rill Gush through the trickling herbage, to the thirst Of summer yielding the delicious draught 80 Of cool refreshment, o"er the mossy brink Shines not the surface clearer, and the waves With sweeter music murmur as they flow?
Nor this alone; the various lot of life Oft from external circ.u.mstance a.s.sumes A moment"s disposition to rejoice In those delights which, at a different hour, Would pa.s.s unheeded. Fair the face of Spring, When rural songs and odours wake the morn, To every eye; but how much more to his 90 Round whom the bed of sickness long diffused Its melancholy gloom! how doubly fair, When first with fresh-born vigour he inhales The balmy breeze, and feels the blessed sun Warm at his bosom, from the springs of life Chasing oppressive damps and languid pain!
Or shall I mention, where celestial Truth Her awful light discloses, to bestow A more majestic pomp on Beauty"s frame?
For man loves knowledge, and the beams of Truth 100 More welcome touch his understanding"s eye, Than all the blandishments of sound his ear, Than all of taste his tongue. Nor ever yet The melting rainbow"s vernal-tinctured hues To me have shown so pleasing, as when first The hand of Science pointed out the path In which the sunbeams, gleaming from the west, Fall on the watery cloud, whose darksome veil Involves the orient; and that trickling shower Piercing through every crystalline convex 110 Of cl.u.s.tering dewdrops to their flight opposed, Recoil at length where concave all behind The internal surface of each gla.s.sy orb Repels their forward pa.s.sage into air; That thence direct they seek the radiant goal From which their course began; and, as they strike In different lines the gazer"s obvious eye, a.s.sume a different l.u.s.tre, through the brede Of colours changing from the splendid rose To the pale violet"s dejected hue. 120
Or shall we touch that kind access of joy, That springs to each fair object, while we trace, Through all its fabric, Wisdom"s artful aim, Disposing every part, and gaining still, By means proportion"d, her benignant end?
Speak ye, the pure delight, whose favour"d steps The lamp of Science through the jealous maze Of Nature guides, when haply you reveal Her secret honours: whether in the sky, The beauteous laws of light, the central powers 130 That wheel the pensile planets round the year; Whether in wonders of the rolling deep, Or the rich fruits of all-sustaining earth, Or fine-adjusted springs of life and sense, Ye scan the counsels of their Author"s hand.
What, when to raise the meditated scene, The flame of pa.s.sion, through the struggling soul Deep-kindled, shows across that sudden blaze The object of its rapture, vast of size, With fiercer colours and a night of shade? 140 What, like a storm from their capacious bed The sounding seas o"erwhelming, when the might Of these eruptions, working from the depth Of man"s strong apprehension, shakes his frame Even to the base; from every naked sense Of pain or pleasure, dissipating all Opinion"s feeble coverings, and the veil Spun from the cobweb fashion of the times To hide the feeling heart? Then Nature speaks Her genuine language, and the words of men, 150 Big with the very motion of their souls, Declare with what acc.u.mulated force The impetuous nerve of pa.s.sion urges on The native weight and energy of things.
Yet more: her honours where nor Beauty claims, Nor shows of good the thirsty sense allure, From pa.s.sion"s power alone [Endnote R] our nature holds Essential pleasure. Pa.s.sion"s fierce illapse Rouses the mind"s whole fabric; with supplies Of daily impulse keeps the elastic powers 160 Intensely poised, and polishes anew By that collision all the fine machine: Else rust would rise, and foulness, by degrees Enc.u.mbering, choke at last what heaven design"d For ceaseless motion and a round of toil.-- But say, does every pa.s.sion thus to man Administer delight? That name indeed Becomes the rosy breath of love; becomes The radiant smiles of joy, the applauding hand Of admiration: but the bitter shower 170 That sorrow sheds upon a brother"s grave; But the dumb palsy of nocturnal fear, Or those consuming fires that gnaw the heart Of panting indignation, find we there To move delight?--Then listen while my tongue The unalter"d will of Heaven with faithful awe Reveals; what old Harmodius wont to teach My early age; Harmodius, who had weigh"d Within his learned mind whate"er the schools Of Wisdom, or thy lonely-whispering voice, 180 O faithful Nature! dictate of the laws Which govern and support this mighty frame Of universal being. Oft the hours From morn to eve have stolen unmark"d away, While mute attention hung upon his lips, As thus the sage his awful tale began:--
""Twas in the windings of an ancient wood, When spotless youth with solitude resigns To sweet philosophy the studious day, What time pale Autumn shades the silent eve, 190 Musing I roved. Of good and evil much, And much of mortal man my thought revolved; When starting full on fancy"s gushing eye The mournful image of Parthenia"s fate, That hour, O long beloved and long deplored!
When blooming youth, nor gentlest wisdom"s arts, Nor Hymen"s honours gather"d for thy brow, Nor all thy lover"s, all thy father"s tears Avail"d to s.n.a.t.c.h thee from the cruel grave; Thy agonising looks, thy last farewell 200 Struck to the inmost feeling of my soul As with the hand of Death. At once the shade More horrid nodded o"er me, and the winds With hoa.r.s.er murmuring shook the branches. Dark As midnight storms, the scene of human things Appear"d before me; deserts, burning sands, Where the parch"d adder dies; the frozen south, And desolation blasting all the west With rapine and with murder: tyrant power Here sits enthroned with blood; the baleful charms 210 Of superst.i.tion there infect the skies, And turn the sun to horror. Gracious Heaven!
What is the life of man? Or cannot these, Not these portents thy awful will suffice, That, propagated thus beyond their scope, They rise to act their cruelties anew In my afflicted bosom, thus decreed The universal sensitive of pain, The wretched heir of evils not its own?"
Thus I impatient: when, at once effused, 220 A flashing torrent of celestial day Burst through the shadowy void. With slow descent A purple cloud came floating through the sky, And, poised at length within the circling trees, Hung obvious to my view; till opening wide Its lucid orb, a more than human form Emerging lean"d majestic o"er my head, And instant thunder shook the conscious grove.
Then melted into air the liquid cloud, And all the shining vision stood reveal"d. 230 A wreath of palm his ample forehead bound, And o"er his shoulder, mantling to his knee, Flow"d the transparent robe, around his waist Collected with a radiant zone of gold Aethereal: there in mystic signs engraved, I read his office high and sacred name, Genius of human kind! Appall"d I gazed The G.o.dlike presence; for athwart his brow Displeasure, temper"d with a mild concern, Look"d down reluctant on me, and his words 240 Like distant thunders broke the murmuring air:
"Vain are thy thoughts, O child of mortal birth!
And impotent thy tongue. Is thy short span Capacious of this universal frame?-- Thy wisdom all-sufficient? Thou, alas!
Dost thou aspire to judge between the Lord Of Nature and his works--to lift thy voice Against the sovereign order he decreed, All good and lovely--to blaspheme the bands Of tenderness innate and social love, 250 Holiest of things! by which the general orb Of being, as by adamantine links, Was drawn to perfect union, and sustain"d From everlasting? Hast thou felt the pangs Of softening sorrow, of indignant zeal, So grievous to the soul, as thence to wish The ties of Nature broken from thy frame, That so thy selfish, unrelenting heart Might cease to mourn its lot, no longer then The wretched heir of evils not its own? 260 O fair benevolence of generous minds!