A POEM.
GENERAL ARGUMENT.
The pleasures of the imagination proceed either from natural objects, as from a flourishing grove, a clear and murmuring fountain, a calm sea by moonlight; or from works of art, such as a n.o.ble edifice, a musical tune, a statue, a picture, a poem. In treating of these pleasures, we must begin with the former cla.s.s; they being original to the other; and nothing more being necessary, in order to explain them, than a view of our natural inclination toward greatness and beauty, and of those appearances, in the world around us, to which that inclination is adapted. This is the subject of the first book of the following poem.
But the pleasures which we receive from the elegant arts, from music, sculpture, painting, and poetry, are much more various and complicated. In them (besides greatness and beauty, or forms proper to the imagination) we find interwoven frequent representations of truth, of virtue and vice, of circ.u.mstances proper to move us with laughter, or to excite in us pity, fear, and the other pa.s.sions.
These moral and intellectual objects are described in the second book; to which the third properly belongs as an episode, though too large to have been included in it.
With the above-mentioned causes of pleasure, which are universal in the course of human life, and appertain to our higher faculties, many others do generally occur, more limited in their operation, or of an inferior origin: such are the novelty of objects, the a.s.sociation of ideas, affections of the bodily senses, influences of education, national habits, and the like. To ill.u.s.trate these, and from the whole to determine the character of a perfect taste, is the argument of the fourth book.
Hitherto the pleasures of the imagination belong to the human species in general. But there are certain particular men whose imagination is endowed with powers, and susceptible of pleasures, which the generality of mankind never partic.i.p.ate. These are the men of genius, destined by nature to excel in one or other of the arts already mentioned. It is proposed, therefore, in the last place, to delineate that genius which in some degree appears common to them all; yet with a more peculiar consideration of poetry: inasmuch as poetry is the most extensive of those arts, the most philosophical, and the most useful.
BOOK I. 1757.
ARGUMENT.
The subject proposed. Dedication. The ideas of the Supreme Being, the exemplars of all things. The variety of const.i.tution in the minds of men; with its final cause. The general character of a fine imagination. All the immediate pleasures of the human imagination proceed either from Greatness or Beauty in external objects. The pleasure from Greatness; with its final cause. The natural connexion of Beauty with truth [2] and good. The different orders of Beauty in different objects. The infinite and all-comprehending form of Beauty, which belongs to the Divine Mind. The partial and artificial forms of Beauty, which belong to inferior intellectual beings. The origin and general conduct of beauty in man. The subordination of local beauties to the beauty of the Universe. Conclusion.
With what enchantment Nature"s goodly scene Attracts the sense of mortals; how the mind For its own eye doth objects n.o.bler still Prepare; how men by various lessons learn To judge of Beauty"s praise; what raptures fill The breast with fancy"s native arts endow"d, And what true culture guides it to renown, My verse unfolds. Ye G.o.ds, or G.o.dlike powers, Ye guardians of the sacred task, attend Propitious. Hand in hand around your bard 10 Move in majestic measures, leading on His doubtful step through many a solemn path, Conscious of secrets which to human sight Ye only can reveal. Be great in him: And let your favour make him wise to speak Of all your wondrous empire; with a voice So temper"d to his theme, that those who hear May yield perpetual homage to yourselves.
Thou chief, O daughter of eternal Love, Whate"er thy name; or Muse, or Grace, adored 20 By Grecian prophets; to the sons of Heaven Known, while with deep amazement thou dost there The perfect counsels read, the ideas old, Of thine omniscient Father; known on earth By the still horror and the blissful tear With which thou seizest on the soul of man; Thou chief, Poetic Spirit, from the banks Of Avon, whence thy holy fingers cull Fresh flowers and dews to sprinkle on the turf Where Shakspeare lies, be present. And with thee 30 Let Fiction come, on her aerial wings Wafting ten thousand colours, which in sport, By the light glances of her magic eye, She blends and shifts at will through countless forms, Her wild creation. G.o.ddess of the lyre, Whose awful tones control the moving sphere, Wilt thou, eternal Harmony, descend, And join this happy train? for with thee comes The guide, the guardian of their mystic rites, Wise Order: and, where Order deigns to come, 40 Her sister, Liberty, will not be far.
Be present all ye Genii, who conduct Of youthful bards the lonely wandering step New to your springs and shades; who touch their ear With finer sounds, and heighten to their eye The pomp of nature, and before them place The fairest, loftiest countenance of things.
Nor thou, my Dyson, [3] to the lay refuse Thy wonted partial audience. What though first, In years unseason"d, haply ere the sports 50 Of childhood yet were o"er, the adventurous lay With many splendid prospects, many charms, Allured my heart, nor conscious whence they sprung, Nor heedful of their end? yet serious Truth Her empire o"er the calm, sequester"d theme a.s.serted soon; while Falsehood"s evil brood, Vice and deceitful Pleasure, she at once Excluded, and my fancy"s careless toil Drew to the better cause. Maturer aid Thy friendship added, in the paths of life, 60 The busy paths, my unaccustom"d feet Preserving: nor to Truth"s recess divine, Through this wide argument"s unbeaten s.p.a.ce, Withholding surer guidance; while by turns We traced the sages old, or while the queen Of sciences (whom manners and the mind Acknowledge) to my true companion"s voice Not unattentive, o"er the wintry lamp Inclined her sceptre, favouring. Now the fates Have other tasks imposed;--to thee, my friend, 70 The ministry of freedom and the faith Of popular decrees, in early youth, Not vainly they committed; me they sent To wait on pain, and silent arts to urge, Inglorious; not ign.o.ble, if my cares, To such as languish on a grievous bed, Ease and the sweet forgetfulness of ill Conciliate; nor delightless, if the Muse, Her shades to visit and to taste her springs, If some distinguish"d hours the bounteous Muse 80 Impart, and grant (what she, and she alone, Can grant to mortals) that my hand those wreaths Of fame and honest favour, which the bless"d Wear in Elysium, and which never felt The breath of envy or malignant tongues, That these my hand for thee and for myself May gather. Meanwhile, O my faithful friend, O early chosen, ever found the same, And trusted and beloved, once more the verse Long destined, always obvious to thine ear, 90 Attend, indulgent: so in latest years, When time thy head with honours shall have clothed Sacred to even virtue, may thy mind, Amid the calm review of seasons past, Fair offices of friendship, or kind peace, Or public zeal, may then thy mind well pleased Recall these happy studies of our prime.
From Heaven my strains begin: from Heaven descends The flame of genius to the chosen breast, And beauty with poetic wonder join"d, 100 And inspiration. Ere the rising sun Shone o"er the deep, or "mid the vault of night The moon her silver lamp suspended; ere The vales with springs were water"d, or with groves Of oak or pine the ancient hills were crown"d; Then the Great Spirit, whom his works adore, Within his own deep essence view"d the forms, The forms eternal of created things: The radiant sun; the moon"s nocturnal lamp; The mountains and the streams; the ample stores 110 Of earth, of heaven, of nature. From the first, On that full scene his love divine he fix"d, His admiration: till, in time complete, What he admired and loved his vital power Unfolded into being. Hence the breath Of life informing each organic frame: Hence the green earth, and wild-resounding waves: Hence light and shade, alternate; warmth and cold; And bright autumnal skies, and vernal showers, And all the fair variety of things. 120 But not alike to every mortal eye Is this great scene unveil"d. For while the claims Of social life to different labours urge The active powers of man, with wisest care Hath Nature on the mult.i.tude of minds Impress"d a various bias, and to each Decreed 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 130 To search the story of eternal thought; Of s.p.a.ce, and time; of fate"s unbroken chain, And will"s quick movement; others by the hand She led o"er vales and mountains, to explore What healing virtue dwells in every vein Of herbs or trees. But some to n.o.bler hopes Were destined; some within a finer mould She wrought, and temper"d with a purer flame.
To these the Sire Omnipotent unfolds, In fuller aspects and with fairer lights, 140 This picture of the world. Through every part They trace the lofty sketches of his hand; In earth, or air, the meadow"s flowery store, The moon"s mild radiance, or the virgin"s mien Dress"d in attractive smiles, they see portray"d (As far as mortal eyes the portrait scan) Those lineaments of beauty which delight The Mind Supreme. They also feel their force, Enamour"d; they partake the eternal joy.
For as old Memnon"s image, long renown"d 150 Through fabling Egypt, at the genial touch Of morning, from its inmost frame sent forth Spontaneous music, so doth Nature"s hand, To certain attributes which matter claims, Adapt the finer organs of the mind; So the glad impulse of those kindred powers (Of form, of colour"s cheerful pomp, of sound Melodious, or of motion aptly sped), Detains the enliven"d sense; till soon the soul Feels the deep concord, and a.s.sents through all 160 Her functions. Then the charm by fate prepared Diffuseth its enchantment Fancy dreams, Rapt into high discourse with prophets old, And wandering through Elysium, Fancy dreams Of sacred fountains, of o"ershadowing groves, Whose walks with G.o.dlike harmony resound: Fountains, which Homer visits; happy groves, Where Milton dwells; the intellectual power, On the mind"s throne, suspends his graver cares, And smiles; the pa.s.sions, to divine repose 170 Persuaded yield, and love and joy alone Are waking: love and joy, such as await An angel"s meditation. Oh! attend, Whoe"er thou art whom these delights can touch; Whom Nature"s aspect, Nature"s simple garb Can thus command; oh! listen to my song; And I will guide thee to her blissful walks, And teach thy solitude her voice to hear, And point her gracious features to thy view.
Know then, whate"er of the world"s ancient store, 180 Whate"er of mimic Art"s reflected scenes, With love and admiration thus inspire Attentive Fancy, her delighted sons In two ill.u.s.trious orders comprehend, Self-taught: from him whose rustic toil the lark Cheers warbling, to the bard whose daring thoughts Range the full orb of being, still the form, Which Fancy worships, or sublime or fair, Her votaries proclaim. I see them dawn: I see the radiant visions where they rise, 190 More lovely than when Lucifer displays His glittering forehead through the gates of morn, To lead the train of Phoebus and the Spring.
Say, why was man so eminently raised Amid the vast creation; why empower"d Through life and death to dart his watchful eye, With thoughts beyond the limit of his frame; But that the Omnipotent might send him forth, In sight of angels and immortal minds, As on an ample theatre to join 200 In contest with his equals, who shall best The task achieve, the course of n.o.ble toils, By wisdom and by mercy preordain"d?
Might send him forth the sovereign good to learn; To chase each meaner purpose from his breast; And through the mists of pa.s.sion and of sense, And through the pelting storms of chance and pain, To hold straight on, with constant heart and eye Still fix"d upon his everlasting palm, The approving smile of Heaven? Else wherefore burns 210 In mortal bosoms this unquenched hope, That seeks from day to day sublimer ends, Happy, though restless? Why departs the soul Wide from the track and journey of her times, To grasp the good she knows not? In the field Of things which may be, in the s.p.a.cious field Of science, potent arts, or dreadful arms, To raise up scenes in which her own desires Contented may repose; when things, which are, Pall on her temper, like a twice-told tale: 220 Her temper, still demanding to be free; Spurning the rude control of wilful might; Proud of her dangers braved, her griefs endured, Her strength severely proved? To these high aims, Which reason and affection prompt in man, Not adverse nor unapt hath Nature framed His bold imagination. For, amid The various forms which this full world presents Like rivals to his choice, what human breast E"er doubts, before the transient and minute, 230 To prize the vast, the stable, the sublime?
Who, that from heights aerial sends his eye Around a wild horizon, and surveys Indus or Ganges rolling his broad wave Through mountains, plains, through s.p.a.cious cities old, And regions dark with woods, will turn away To mark the path of some penurious rill Which murmureth at his feet? Where does the soul Consent her soaring fancy to restrain, Which bears her up, as on an eagle"s wings, 240 Destined for highest heaven; or which of fate"s Tremendous barriers shall confine her flight To any humbler quarry? The rich earth Cannot detain her; nor the ambient air With all its changes. For a while with joy She hovers o"er the sun, and views the small Attendant orbs, beneath his sacred beam, Emerging from the deep, like cl.u.s.ter"d isles Whose rocky sh.o.r.es to the glad sailor"s eye Reflect the gleams of morning; for a while 250 With pride she sees his firm, paternal sway Bend the reluctant planets to move each Round its perpetual year. But soon she quits That prospect; meditating loftier views, She darts adventurous up the long career Of comets; through the constellations holds Her course, and now looks back on all the stars Whose blended flames as with a milky stream Part the blue region. Empyrean tracts, Where happy souls beyond this concave heaven 260 Abide, she then explores, whence purer light For countless ages travels through the abyss, Nor hath in sight of mortals yet arrived.
Upon the wide creation"s utmost sh.o.r.e At length she stands, and the dread s.p.a.ce beyond Contemplates, half-recoiling: nathless, down The gloomy void, astonish"d, yet unquell"d, She plungeth; down the unfathomable gulf Where G.o.d alone hath being. There her hopes Rest at the fated goal. For, from the birth 270 Of human kind, the Sovereign Maker said That not in humble, nor in brief delight, Not in the fleeting echoes of renown, Power"s purple robes, nor Pleasure"s flowery lap, The soul should find contentment; but, from these Turning disdainful to an equal good, Through Nature"s opening walks enlarge her aim, Till every bound at length should disappear, And infinite perfection fill the scene.
But lo, where Beauty, dress"d in gentler pomp, 280 With comely steps advancing, claims the verse Her charms inspire. O Beauty, source of praise, Of honour, even to mute and lifeless things; O thou that kindlest in each human heart Love, and the wish of poets, when their tongue Would teach to other bosoms what so charms Their own; O child of Nature and the soul, In happiest hour brought forth; the doubtful garb Of words, of earthly language, all too mean, Too lowly I account, in which to clothe 290 Thy form divine; for thee the mind alone Beholds, nor half thy brightness can reveal Through those dim organs, whose corporeal touch O"ershadoweth thy pure essence. Yet, my Muse, If Fortune call thee to the task, wait thou Thy favourable seasons; then, while fear And doubt are absent, through wide nature"s bounds Expatiate with glad step, and choose at will Whate"er bright spoils the florid earth contains, Whate"er the waters, or the liquid air, 300 To manifest unblemish"d Beauty"s praise, And o"er the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of mortals to extend Her gracious empire. Wilt thou to the isles Atlantic, to the rich Hesperian clime, Fly in the train of Autumn, and look on, And learn from him; while, as he roves around, Where"er his fingers touch the fruitful grove, The branches bloom with gold; where"er his foot Imprints the soil, the ripening cl.u.s.ters swell, Turning aside their foliage, and come forth 310 In purple lights, till every hillock glows As with the blushes of an evening sky?
Or wilt thou that Thessalian landscape trace, Where slow Peneus his clear gla.s.sy tide Draws smooth along, between the winding cliffs Of Ossa and the pathless woods unshorn That wave o"er huge Olympus? Down the stream, Look how the mountains with their double range Embrace the vale of Tempe: from each side Ascending steep to heaven, a rocky mound 320 Cover"d with ivy and the laurel boughs That crown"d young Phoebus for the Python slain.
Fair Tempe! on whose primrose banks the morn Awoke most fragrant, and the noon reposed In pomp of lights and shadows most sublime: Whose lawns, whose glades, ere human footsteps yet Had traced an entrance, were the hallow"d haunt Of sylvan powers immortal: where they sate Oft in the golden age, the Nymphs and Fauns, Beneath some arbour branching o"er the flood, 330 And leaning round hung on the instructive lips Of h.o.a.ry Pan, or o"er some open dale Danced in light measures to his sevenfold pipe, While Zephyr"s wanton hand along their path Flung showers of painted blossoms, fertile dews, And one perpetual spring. But if our task More lofty rites demand, with all good vows Then let us hasten to the rural haunt Where young Melissa dwells. Nor thou refuse The voice which calls thee from thy loved retreat, 340 But hither, gentle maid, thy footsteps turn: Here, to thy own unquestionable theme, O fair, O graceful, bend thy polish"d brow, a.s.senting; and the gladness of thy eyes Impart to me, like morning"s wished light Seen through the vernal air. By yonder stream, Where beech and elm along the bordering mead Send forth wild melody from every bough, Together let us wander; where the hills Cover"d with fleeces to the lowing vale 350 Reply; where tidings of content and peace Each echo brings. Lo, how the western sun O"er fields and floods, o"er every living soul, Diffuseth glad repose! There,--while I speak Of Beauty"s honours, thou, Melissa, thou Shalt hearken, not unconscious, while I tell How first from Heaven she came: how, after all The works of life, the elemental scenes, The hours, the seasons, she had oft explored, At length her favourite mansion and her throne 360 She fix"d in woman"s form; what pleasing ties To virtue bind her; what effectual aid They lend each other"s power; and how divine Their union, should some unambitious maid, To all the enchantment of the Idalian queen, Add sanct.i.ty and wisdom; while my tongue Prolongs the tale, Melissa, thou may"st feign To wonder whence my rapture is inspired; But soon the smile which dawns upon thy lip Shall tell it, and the tenderer bloom o"er all 370 That soft cheek springing to the marble neck, Which bends aside in vain, revealing more What it would thus keep silent, and in vain The sense of praise dissembling. Then my song Great Nature"s winning arts, which thus inform With joy and love the rugged breast of man, Should sound in numbers worthy such a theme: While all whose souls have ever felt the force Of those enchanting pa.s.sions, to my lyre Should throng attentive, and receive once more 380 Their influence, un.o.bscured by any cloud Of vulgar care, and purer than the hand Of Fortune can bestow; nor, to confirm Their sway, should awful Contemplation scorn To join his dictates to the genuine strain Of Pleasure"s tongue; nor yet should Pleasure"s ear Be much averse. Ye chiefly, gentle band Of youths and virgins, who through many a wish And many a fond pursuit, as in some scene Of magic bright and fleeting, are allured 390 By various Beauty, if the pleasing toil Can yield a moment"s respite, hither turn Your favourable ear, and trust my words.
I do not mean on bless"d Religion"s seat, Presenting Superst.i.tion"s gloomy form, To dash your soothing hopes; I do not mean To bid the jealous thunderer fire the heavens, Or shapes infernal rend the groaning earth, And scare you from your joys. My cheerful song With happier omens calls you to the field, 400 Pleased with your generous ardour in the chase, And warm like you. Then tell me (for ye know), Doth Beauty ever deign to dwell where use And apt.i.tude are strangers? is her praise 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 win each fond admirer into snares, Foil"d, baffled? No; with better providence 410 The general mother, conscious how infirm Her offspring tread the paths of good and ill, Thus, to the choice of credulous desire, Doth objects the completest of their tribe Distinguish and commend. Yon flowery bank Clothed in the soft magnificence of Spring, Will not the flocks approve it? will they ask The reedy fen for pasture? That clear rill Which trickleth murmuring from the mossy rock, Yields it less wholesome beverage to the worn 420 And thirsty traveller, than the standing pool With muddy weeds o"ergrown? Yon ragged vine Whose lean and sullen cl.u.s.ters mourn the rage Of Eurus, will the wine-press or the bowl Report of her, as of the swelling grape Which glitters through the tendrils, like a gem When first it meets the sun. Or what are all The various charms to life and sense adjoin"d?
Are they not pledges of a state entire, Where native order reigns, with every part 430 In health, and every function well perform"d?
Thus, then, at first was Beauty sent from Heaven, The lovely ministress of Truth and Good In this dark world: for Truth and Good are one; And Beauty dwells in them, 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 and greedy aim Seek ye to rove through every flattering scene Which Beauty seems to deck, nor once inquire 440 Where is the suffrage 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 yet let hope, That kindliest inmate of the youthful breast, Be hence appall"d, be turn"d to coward sloth Sitting in silence, with dejected eyes Incurious and with folded hands; far less 450 Let scorn of wild fantastic folly"s dreams, Or hatred of the bigot"s savage pride Persuade you e"er that Beauty, or the love Which waits on Beauty, may not brook to hear The sacred lore of undeceitful Good And Truth eternal. From the vulgar crowd Though Superst.i.tion, tyranness abhorr"d, The reverence due to this majestic pair With threats and execration still demands; Though the tame wretch, who asks of her the way 460 To their celestial dwelling, she constrains To quench or set at nought the lamp of G.o.d Within his frame; through many a cheerless wild Though forth she leads him credulous and dark And awed with dubious notion; though at length Haply she plunge him into cloister"d cells And mansions unrelenting as the grave, But void of quiet, there to watch the hours Of midnight; there, amid the screaming owl"s Dire song, with spectres or with guilty shades 470 To talk of pangs and everlasting woe; Yet be not ye dismay"d. A gentler star Presides o"er your adventure. From the bower Where Wisdom sat with her Athenian sons, Could but my happy hand entwine a wreath Of Plato"s olive with the Mantuan bay, Then (for what need of cruel fear to you, To you whom G.o.dlike love can well command?), Then should my powerful voice at once dispel Those monkish horrors; should in words divine 480 Relate how favour"d minds like you inspired, And taught their inspiration to conduct By ruling Heaven"s decree, through various walks And prospects various, but delightful all, Move onward; while now myrtle groves appear, Now arms and radiant trophies, now the rods Of empire with the curule throne, or now The domes of contemplation and the Muse.
Led by that hope sublime, whose cloudless eye Through the fair toils and ornaments of earth 490 Discerns the n.o.bler life reserved for heaven, Favour"d alike they worship round the shrine Where Truth conspicuous with her sister-twins, The undivided partners of her sway, With Good and Beauty reigns. Oh! let not us By Pleasure"s lying blandishments detain"d, Or crouching to the frowns of bigot rage, Oh! let not us one moment pause to join That chosen band. And if the gracious Power, Who first awaken"d my untutor"d song, 500 Will to my invocation grant 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 free Virtue"s steps, and to her side Summon that strong divinity of soul Which conquers Chance and Fate: or on the height, 510 The goal a.s.sign"d her, haply to proclaim Her triumph; on her brow to place the crown Of uncorrupted praise; through future worlds To follow her interminated way, And bless Heaven"s image in the heart of man.
Such is the worth of Beauty; such her power, So blameless, so revered. It now remains, In just gradation through the various ranks Of being, to contemplate how her gifts Rise in due measure, watchful to attend 520 The steps of rising Nature. Last and least, In colours mingling with a random blaze, Doth Beauty dwell. Then higher in the forms Of simplest, easiest measure; in the bounds Of circle, cube, or sphere. The third ascent To symmetry adds colour: thus the pearl Shines in the concave of its purple bed, And painted sh.e.l.ls along some winding sh.o.r.e Catch with indented folds the glancing sun.
Next, as we rise, appear the blooming tribes 530 Which clothe the fragrant earth; which draw from her Their own nutrition; which are born and die, Yet, in their seed, immortal; such the flowers With which young Maia pays the village maids That hail her natal morn; and such the groves Which blithe Pomona rears on Vaga"s bank, To feed the bowl of Ariconian swains Who quaff beneath her branches. n.o.bler still Is Beauty"s name where, to the full consent Of members and of features, to the pride 540 Of colour, and the vital change of growth, Life"s holy flame with piercing sense is given, While active motion speaks the temper"d soul: So moves the bird of Juno: so the steed With rival swiftness beats the dusty plain, And faithful dogs with eager airs of joy Salute their fellows. What sublimer pomp Adorns the seat where Virtue dwells on earth, And Truth"s eternal day-light shines around, What palm belongs to man"s imperial front, 550 And woman powerful with becoming smiles, Chief of terrestrial natures, need we now Strive to inculcate? Thus hath Beauty there Her most conspicuous praise to matter lent, Where most conspicuous through that shadowy veil Breaks forth the bright expression of a mind, By steps directing our enraptured search To Him, the first of minds; the chief; the sole; From whom, through this wide, complicated world, Did all her various lineaments begin; 560 To whom alone, consenting and entire, At once their mutual influence all display.
He, G.o.d most high (bear witness, Earth and Heaven), The living fountains in himself contains Of beauteous and sublime; with him enthroned Ere days or years trod their ethereal way, In his supreme intelligence enthroned, The queen of love holds her unclouded state, Urania. Thee, O Father! this extent Of matter; thee the sluggish earth and tract 570 Of seas, the heavens and heavenly splendours feel Pervading, quickening, moving. From the depth Of thy great essence, forth didst thou conduct Eternal Form: and there, where Chaos reign"d, Gav"st her dominion to erect her seat, And sanctify the mansion. All her works Well pleased thou didst behold: the gloomy fires Of storm or earthquake, and the purest light Of summer; soft Campania"s new-born rose, And the slow weed which pines on Russian hills 580 Comely alike to thy full vision stand: To thy surrounding vision, which unites All essences and powers of the great world In one sole order, fair alike they stand, As features well consenting, and alike Required by Nature ere she could attain Her just resemblance to the perfect shape Of universal Beauty, which with thee Dwelt from the first. Thou also, ancient Mind, Whom love and free beneficence await 590 In all thy doings; to inferior minds, Thy offspring, and to man, thy youngest son, Refusing no convenient gift nor good; Their eyes didst open, in this earth, yon heaven, Those starry worlds, the countenance divine Of Beauty to behold. But not to them Didst thou her awful magnitude reveal Such as before thine own unbounded sight She stands (for never shall created soul Conceive that object), nor, to all their kinds, 600 The same in shape or features didst thou frame Her image. Measuring well their different spheres Of sense and action, thy paternal hand Hath for each race prepared a different test Of Beauty, own"d and reverenced as their guide Most apt, most faithful. Thence inform"d, they scan The objects that surround them; and select, Since the great whole disclaims their scanty view, Each for himself selects peculiar parts Of Nature; what the standard fix"d by Heaven 610 Within his breast approves, acquiring thus A partial Beauty, which becomes his lot; A Beauty which his eye may comprehend, His hand may copy, leaving, O Supreme, O thou whom none hath utter"d, leaving all To thee that infinite, consummate form, Which the great powers, the G.o.ds around thy throne And nearest to thy counsels, know with thee For ever to have been; but who she is, Or what her likeness, know not. Man surveys 620 A narrower scene, where, by the mix"d effect Of things corporeal on his pa.s.sive mind, He judgeth what is fair. Corporeal things The mind of man impel with various powers, And various features to his eye disclose.
The powers which move his sense with instant joy, The features which attract his heart to love, He marks, combines, reposits. Other powers And features of the self-same thing (unless The beauteous form, the creature of his mind, 630 Request their close alliance) he o"erlooks Forgotten; or with self-beguiling zeal, Whene"er his pa.s.sions mingle in the work, Half alters, half disowns. The tribes of men Thus from their different functions and the shapes Familiar to their eye, with art obtain, Unconscious of their purpose, yet with art Obtain the Beauty fitting man to love; Whose proud desires from Nature"s homely toil Oft turn away, fastidious, asking still 640 His mind"s high aid, to purify the form From matter"s gross communion; to secure For ever, from the meddling hand of Change Or rude Decay, her features; and to add Whatever ornaments may suit her mien, Where"er he finds them scatter"d through the paths Of Nature or of Fortune. Then he seats The accomplish"d image deep within his breast, Reviews it, and accounts it good and fair.
Thus the one Beauty of the world entire, 650 The universal Venus, far beyond The keenest effort of created eyes, And their most wide horizon, dwells enthroned In ancient silence. At her footstool stands An altar burning with eternal fire Unsullied, unconsumed. Here every hour, Here every moment, in their turns arrive Her offspring; an innumerable band Of sisters, comely all! but differing far In age, in stature, and expressive mien, 660 More than bright Helen from her new-born babe.
To this maternal shrine in turns they come, Each with her sacred lamp; that from the source Of living flame, which here immortal flows, Their portions of its l.u.s.tre they may draw For days, or months, or years; for ages, some; As their great parent"s discipline requires.
Then to their several mansions they depart, In stars, in planets, through the unknown sh.o.r.es Of yon ethereal ocean. Who can tell, 670 Even on the surface of this rolling earth, How many make abode? The fields, the groves, The winding rivers and the azure main, Are render"d solemn by their frequent feet, Their rites sublime. There each her destined home Informs with that pure radiance from the skies Brought down, and shines throughout her little sphere, Exulting. Straight, as travellers by night Turn toward a distant flame, so some fit eye, Among the various tenants of the scene, 680 Discerns the heaven-born phantom seated there, And owns her charms. Hence the wide universe, Through all the seasons of revolving worlds, Bears witness with its people, G.o.ds and men, To Beauty"s blissful power, and with the voice Of grateful admiration still resounds: That voice, to which is Beauty"s frame divine As is the cunning of the master"s hand To the sweet accent of the well-tuned lyre.
Genius of ancient Greece, whose faithful steps 690 Have led us to these awful solitudes Of Nature and of Science; nurse revered Of generous counsels and heroic deeds; Oh! let some portion of thy matchless praise Dwell in my breast, and teach me to adorn This unattempted theme. Nor be my thoughts Presumptuous counted, if, amid the calm Which Hesper sheds along the vernal heaven, If I, from vulgar Superst.i.tion"s walk, Impatient steal, and from the unseemly rites 700 Of splendid Adulation, to attend With hymns thy presence in the sylvan shade, By their malignant footsteps unprofaned.
Come, O renowned power; thy glowing mien Such, and so elevated all thy form, As when the great barbaric lord, again And yet again diminish"d, hid his face Among the herd of satraps and of kings; And, at the lightning of thy lifted spear, Crouch"d like a slave. Bring all thy martial spoils, 710 Thy palms, thy laurels, thy triumphal songs, Thy smiling band of Arts, thy G.o.dlike sires Of civil wisdom, thy unconquer"d youth, After some glorious day rejoicing round Their new-erected trophy. Guide my feet Through fair Lyceum"s walk, the olive shades Of Academus, and the sacred vale Haunted by steps divine, where once, beneath That ever living platane"s ample boughs, Ilissus, by Socratic sounds detain"d, 720 On his neglected urn attentive lay; While Boreas, lingering on the neighbouring steep With beauteous Orithyia, his love tale In silent awe suspended. There let me With blameless hand, from thy unenvious fields, Transplant some living blossoms, to adorn My native clime; while, far beyond the meed Of Fancy"s toil aspiring, I unlock The springs of ancient wisdom; while I add (What cannot be disjoin"d from Beauty"s praise) 730 Thy name and native dress, thy works beloved And honour"d; while to my compatriot youth I point the great example of thy sons, And tune to Attic themes the British lyre.
[Footnote 2: Truth is here taken, not in a logical, but in a mixed and popular sense, or for what has been called the truth of things; denoting as well their natural and regular condition, as a proper estimate or judgment concerning them.]
[Footnote 3: "Dyson:" see _Life_.]
BOOK II. 1765.
ARGUMENT.
Introduction to this more difficult part of the subject. Of Truth and its three cla.s.ses, matter of fact, experimental or scientifical truth (contra-distinguished from opinion), and universal truth; which last is either metaphysical or geometrical, either purely intellectual or perfectly abstracted. On the power of discerning truth depends that of acting with the view of an end; a circ.u.mstance essential to virtue. Of Virtue, considered in the divine mind as a perpetual and universal beneficence. Of human virtue, considered as a system of particular sentiments and actions, suitable to the design of Providence and the condition of man; to whom it const.i.tutes the chief good and the first beauty. Of Vice, and its origin. Of Ridicule: its general nature and final cause. Of the Pa.s.sions; particularly of those which relate to evil natural or moral, and which are generally accounted painful, though not always unattended with pleasure.
Thus far of Beauty and the pleasing forms Which man"s untutor"d fancy, from the scenes Imperfect of this ever changing world, Creates; and views, enarnour"d. Now my song Severer themes demand: mysterious Truth; And Virtue, sovereign good: the spells, the trains, The progeny of Error; the dread sway Of Pa.s.sion; and whatever hidden stores From her own lofty deeds and from herself The mind acquires. Severer argument: 10 Not less attractive; nor deserving less A constant ear. For what are all the forms Educed by fancy from corporeal things, Greatness, or pomp, or symmetry of parts?
Not tending to the heart, soon feeble grows, As the blunt arrow "gainst the knotty trunk, Their impulse on the sense: while the pall"d eye Expects in vain its tribute; asks in vain, Where are the ornaments it once admired?
Not so the moral species, nor the powers 20 Of Pa.s.sion and of Thought. The ambitious mind With objects boundless as her own desires Can there converse: by these unfading forms Touch"d and awaken"d still, with eager act She bends each nerve, and meditates well pleased Her gifts, her G.o.dlike fortune. Such the scenes Now opening round us. May the destined verse Maintain its equal tenor, though in tracts Obscure and arduous! May the source of light, All-present, all-sufficient, guide our steps 30 Through every maze! and whom, in childish years, From the loud throng, the beaten paths of wealth And power, thou didst apart send forth to speak In tuneful words concerning highest things, Him still do thou, O Father, at those hours Of pensive freedom, when the human soul Shuts out the rumour of the world, him still Touch thou with secret lessons; call thou back Each erring thought; and let the yielding strains From his full bosom, like a welcome rill 40 Spontaneous from its healthy fountain, flow!
But from what name, what favourable sign, What heavenly auspice, rather shall I date My perilous excursion, than from Truth, That nearest inmate of the human soul; Estranged from whom, the countenance divine Of man, disfigured and dishonour"d, sinks Among inferior things? For to the brutes Perception and the transient boons of sense Hath Fate imparted; but to man alone 50 Of sublunary beings was it given.
Each fleeting impulse on the sensual powers At leisure to review; with equal eye To scan the pa.s.sion of the stricken nerve, Or the vague object striking; to conduct From sense, the portal turbulent and loud, Into the mind"s wide palace one by one The frequent, pressing, fluctuating forms, And question and compare them. Thus he learns Their birth and fortunes; how allied they haunt 60 The avenues of sense; what laws direct Their union; and what various discords rise, Or fixed, or casual; which when his clear thought Retains and when his faithful words express, That living image of the external scene, As in a polish"d mirror held to view, Is Truth; where"er it varies from the shape And hue of its exemplar, in that part Dim Error lurks. Moreover, from without When oft the same society of forms 70 In the same order have approach"d his mind, He deigns no more their steps with curious heed To trace; no more their features or their garb He now examines; but of them and their Condition, as with some diviner"s tongue, Affirms what Heaven in every distant place, Through every future season, will decree.
This too is Truth; where"er his prudent lips Wait till experience diligent and slow Has authorised their sentence, this is Truth; 80 A second, higher kind: the parent this Of Science; or the lofty power herself, Science herself, on whom the wants and cares Of social life depend; the subst.i.tute Of G.o.d"s own wisdom in this toilsome world; The providence of man. Yet oft in vain, To earn her aid, with fix"d and anxious eye He looks on Nature"s and on Fortune"s course: Too much in vain. His duller visual ray The stillness and the persevering acts 90 Of Nature oft elude; and Fortune oft With step fantastic from her wonted walk Turns into mazes dim; his sight is foil"d; And the crude sentence of his faltering tongue Is but opinion"s verdict, half believed, And p.r.o.ne to change. Here thou, who feel"st thine ear Congenial to my lyre"s profounder tone, Pause, and be watchful. Hitherto the stores, Which feed thy mind and exercise her powers, Partake the relish of their native soil, 100 Their parent earth. But know, a n.o.bler dower Her Sire at birth decreed her; purer gifts From his own treasure; forms which never deign"d In eyes or ears to dwell, within the sense Of earthly organs; but sublime were placed In his essential reason, leading there That vast ideal host which all his works Through endless ages never will reveal.
Thus then endow"d, the feeble creature man, The slave of hunger and the prey of death, 110 Even now, even here, in earth"s dim prison bound, The language of intelligence divine Attains; repeating oft concerning one And many, past and present, parts and whole, Those sovereign dictates which in furthest heaven, Where no orb rolls, Eternity"s fix"d ear Hears from coeval Truth, when Chance nor Change, Nature"s loud progeny, nor Nature"s self Dares intermeddle or approach her throne.
Ere long, o"er this corporeal world he learns 120 To extend her sway; while calling from the deep, From earth and air, their mult.i.tudes untold Of figures and of motions round his walk, For each wide family some single birth He sets in view, the impartial type of all Its brethren; suffering it to claim, beyond Their common heritage, no private gift, No proper fortune. Then whate"er his eye In this discerns, his bold unerring tongue p.r.o.nounceth of the kindred, without bound, 130 Without condition. Such the rise of forms Sequester"d far from sense and every spot Peculiar in the realms of s.p.a.ce or time; Such is the throne which man for Truth amid The paths of mutability hath built Secure, unshaken, still; and whence he views, In matter"s mouldering structures, the pure forms Of triangle or circle, cube or cone, Impa.s.sive all; whose attributes nor force Nor fate can alter. There he first conceives 140 True being, and an intellectual world The same this hour and ever. Thence he deems Of his own lot; above the painted shapes That fleeting move o"er this terrestrial scene Looks up; beyond the adamantine gates Of death expatiates; as his birthright claims Inheritance in all the works of G.o.d; Prepares for endless time his plan of life, And counts the universe itself his home.
Whence also but from Truth, the light of minds, 150 Is human fortune gladden"d with the rays Of Virtue? with the moral colours thrown On every walk of this our social scene, Adorning for the eye of G.o.ds and men The pa.s.sions, actions, habitudes of life, And rendering earth like heaven, a sacred place Where Love and Praise may take delight to dwell?
Let none with heedless tongue from Truth disjoin The reign of Virtue. Ere the dayspring flow"d, Like sisters link"d in Concord"s golden chain, 160 They stood before the great Eternal Mind, Their common parent, and by him were both Sent forth among his creatures, hand in hand, Inseparably join"d; nor e"er did Truth Find an apt ear to listen to her lore, Which knew not Virtue"s voice; nor, save where Truth"s Majestic words are heard and understood, Doth Virtue deign to inhabit. Go, inquire Of Nature; not among Tartarian rocks, Whither the hungry vulture with its prey 170 Returns; not where the lion"s sullen roar At noon resounds along the lonely banks Of ancient Tigris; but her gentler scenes, The dovecote and the shepherd"s fold at morn, Consult; or by the meadow"s fragrant hedge, In spring-time when the woodlands first are green, Attend the linnet singing to his mate Couch"d o"er their tender young. To this fond care Thou dost not Virtue"s honourable name Attribute; wherefore, save that not one gleam 180 Of Truth did e"er discover to themselves Their little hearts, or teach them, by the effects Of that parental love, the love itself To judge, and measure its officious deeds?
But man, whose eyelids Truth has fill"d with day, Discerns how skilfully to bounteous ends His wise affections move; with free accord Adopts their guidance; yields himself secure To Nature"s prudent impulse; and converts Instinct to duty and to sacred law. 190 Hence Right and Fit on earth; while thus to man The Almighty Legislator hath explain"d The springs of action fix"d within his breast; Hath given him power to slacken or restrain Their effort; and hath shewn him how they join Their partial movements with the master-wheel Of the great world, and serve that sacred end Which he, the unerring reason, keeps in view.
For (if a mortal tongue may speak of him And his dread ways) even as his boundless eye, 200 Connecting every form and every change, Beholds the perfect Beauty; so his will, Through every hour producing good to all The family of creatures, is itself The perfect Virtue. Let the grateful swain Remember this, as oft with joy and praise He looks upon the falling dews which clothe His lawns with verdure, and the tender seed Nourish within his furrows; when between Dead seas and burning skies, where long unmoved 210 The bark had languish"d, now a rustling gale Lifts o"er the fickle waves her dancing prow, Let the glad pilot, bursting out in thanks, Remember this; lest blind o"erweening pride Pollute their offerings; lest their selfish heart Say to the heavenly ruler, "At our call Relents thy power; by us thy arm is moved."
Fools! who of G.o.d as of each other deem; Who his invariable acts deduce From sudden counsels transient as their own; 220 Nor further of his bounty, than the event Which haply meets their loud and eager prayer, Acknowledge; nor, beyond the drop minute Which haply they have tasted, heed the source That flows for all; the fountain of his love Which, from the summit where he sits enthroned, Pours health and joy, unfailing streams, throughout The s.p.a.cious region flourishing in view, The goodly work of his eternal day, His own fair universe; on which alone 230 His counsels fix, and whence alone his will a.s.sumes her strong direction. Such is now His sovereign purpose; such it was before All mult.i.tude of years. For his right arm Was never idle; his bestowing love Knew no beginning; was not as a change Of mood that woke at last and started up After a deep and solitary sloth Of boundless ages. No; he now is good, He ever was. The feet of h.o.a.ry Time 240 Through their eternal course have travell"d o"er No speechless, lifeless desert; but through scenes Cheerful with bounty still; among a pomp Of worlds, for gladness round the Maker"s throne Loud-shouting, or, in many dialects Of hope and filial trust, imploring thence The fortunes of their people: where so fix"d Were all the dates of being, so disposed To every living soul of every kind The field of motion and the hour of rest, 250 That each the general happiness might serve; And, by the discipline of laws divine Convinced of folly or chastised from guilt, Each might at length be happy. What remains Shall be like what is past; but fairer still, And still increasing in the G.o.dlike gifts Of Life and Truth. The same paternal hand, From the mute sh.e.l.l-fish gasping on the sh.o.r.e, To men, to angels, to celestial minds, Will ever lead the generations on 260 Through higher scenes of being; while, supplied From day to day by his enlivening breath, Inferior orders in succession rise To fill the void below. As flame ascends, As vapours to the earth in showers return, As the poised ocean towards the attracting moon Swells, and the ever-listening planets, charm"d By the sun"s call, their onward pace incline, So all things which have life aspire to G.o.d, Exhaustless fount of intellectual day! 270 Centre of souls! Nor doth the mastering voice Of Nature cease within to prompt aright Their steps; nor is the care of Heaven withheld From sending to the toil external aid; That in their stations all may persevere To climb the ascent of being, and approach For ever nearer to the life divine.
But this eternal fabric was not raised For man"s inspection. Though to some be given To catch a transient visionary glimpse 280 Of that majestic scene which boundless power Prepares for perfect goodness, yet in vain Would human life her faculties expand To embosom such an object. Nor could e"er Virtue or praise have touch"d the hearts of men, Had not the Sovereign Guide, through every stage Of this their various journey, pointed out New hopes, new toils, which, to their humble sphere Of sight and strength, might such importance hold As doth the wide creation to his own. 290 Hence all the little charities of life, With all their duties; hence that favourite palm Of human will, when duty is sufficed, And still the liberal soul in ampler deeds Would manifest herself; that sacred sign Of her revered affinity to Him Whose bounties are his own; to whom none said, "Create the wisest, fullest, fairest world, And make its offspring happy;" who, intent Some likeness of Himself among his works 300 To view, hath pour"d into the human breast A ray of knowledge and of love, which guides Earth"s feeble race to act their Maker"s part, Self-judging, self-obliged; while, from before That G.o.dlike function, the gigantic power Necessity, though wont to curb the force Of Chaos and the savage elements, Retires abash"d, as from a scene too high For her brute tyranny, and with her bears Her scorned followers, Terror, and base Awe 310 Who blinds herself, and that ill-suited pair, Obedience link"d with Hatred. Then the soul Arises in her strength; and, looking round Her busy sphere, whatever work she views, Whatever counsel bearing any trace Of her Creator"s likeness, whether apt To aid her fellows or preserve herself In her superior functions unimpair"d, Thither she turns exulting: that she claims As her peculiar good: on that, through all 320 The fickle seasons of the day, she looks With reverence still: to that, as to a fence Against affliction and the darts of pain, Her drooping hopes repair--and, once opposed To that, all other pleasure, other wealth, Vile, as the dross upon the molten gold, Appears, and loathsome as the briny sea To him who languishes with thirst, and sighs For some known fountain pure. For what can strive With Virtue? Which of Nature"s regions vast 330 Can in so many forms produce to sight Such powerful Beauty? Beauty, which the eye Of Hatred cannot look upon secure: Which Envy"s self contemplates, and is turn"d Ere long to tenderness, to infant smiles, Or tears of humblest love. Is aught so fair In all the dewy landscapes of the Spring, The Summer"s noontide groves, the purple eve At harvest-home, or in the frosty moon Glittering on some smooth sea; is aught so fair 340 As virtuous friendship? as the honour"d roof Whither, from highest heaven, immortal Love His torch ethereal and his golden bow Propitious brings, and there a temple holds To whose unspotted service gladly vow"d The social band of parent, brother, child, With smiles and sweet discourse and gentle deeds Adore his power? What gift of richest clime E"er drew such eager eyes, or prompted such Deep wishes, as the zeal that s.n.a.t.c.heth back 350 From Slander"s poisonous tooth a foe"s renown; Or crosseth Danger in his lion walk, A rival"s life to rescue? as the young Athenian warrior sitting down in bonds, That his great father"s body might not want A peaceful, humble tomb? the Roman wife Teaching her lord how harmless was the wound Of death, how impotent the tyrant"s rage, Who nothing more could threaten to afflict Their faithful love? Or is there in the abyss, 360 Is there, among the adamantine spheres Wheeling unshaken through the boundless void, Aught that with half such majesty can fill The human bosom, as when Brutus rose 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 the crimson sword Of justice in his rapt astonish"d eye, 370 And bade the father of his country hail, For lo, the tyrant prostrate on the dust, And Rome again is free? Thus, through the paths Of human life, in various pomp array"d Walks the wise daughter of the judge of heaven, Fair Virtue; from her father"s throne supreme Sent down to utter laws, such as on earth Most apt he knew, most powerful to promote The weal of all his works, the gracious end Of his dread empire. And, though haply man"s 380 Obscurer sight, so far beyond himself And the brief labours of his little home, Extends not; yet, by the bright presence won Of this divine instructress, to her sway Pleased he a.s.sents, nor heeds the distant goal.
To which her voice conducts him. Thus hath G.o.d, Still looking toward his own high purpose, fix"d The virtues of his creatures; thus he rules The parent"s fondness and the patriot"s zeal; Thus the warm sense of honour and of shame; 390 The vows of grat.i.tude, the faith of love; And all the comely intercourse of praise, The joy of human life, the earthly heaven!