Page images
PDF
EPUB

II:

But firft with thy refiftlefs light,

Disperse those phantoms from my fight,
Thofe mimic shades of thee:

The fcholiaft's learning, fophift's cant,
The vifionary bigot's rant,
The monk's philofophy.

III.

O! let thy powerful charms impart
The patient head, the candid heart,
Devoted to thy fway;

Which, no weak paffions e'er mislead,
Which ftill with dauntlefs fteps proceed
Where reafon points the way.

IV.

Give me to learn each fecret caufe;
Let Number's, Figure's, Motion's laws
Reveal'd before me ftand;

These to great Nature's scenes apply,
And round the globe, and through the sky,
Disclose her working hand.

V.

Next, to thy nobler search resign'd,
The bufy, reftless, human mind
Through every maze pursue;
Detect Perception where it lies,
Catch the ideas as they rise,
And all their changes view.

VI. Say

VI.

Say from what fimple springs began
The vaft, ambitious thoughts of man,
Which range beyond controul;
Which feek Eternity to trace,
Dive through the infinity of space,
And strain to grasp the whole.

VII.

Her fecret ftores let Memory tell,
Bid Fancy quit her fairy cell,

In all her colours dreft;

While, prompt her fallies to controul,
Reason, the judge, recalls the foul

To Truth's fevereft teft.

VIII.

Then launch through Being's wide extent;
Let the fair fcale, with juft afcent,
And cautious fteps, be trod;
And from the dead, corporeal mafs,
Through each progreffive order pafs
To Instinct, Reafon, God.

IX.

There, Science! veil thy daring eye;
Nor dive too deep, nor foar too high,
In that divine abyss;

To Faith content thy beams to lend,

Her hopes to affure, her fteps befriend,
And light her way to bliss.

X. Then

X.

Then downwards take thy flight again,

Mix with the policies of men,

And focial nature's ties ;

The plan the genius of each ftate,

Its intereft and its powers relate,
Its fortunes and its rise.

XI.

Through private life pursue thy course,
Trace every action to its fource,

And means and motives weigh:
Put tempers, paffions, in the fcale,
Mark what degrees in each prevail,
And fix the doubtful sway.

[blocks in formation]

XIV.

Hail! queen of manners, light of truth;
Hail! charm of age, and guide of youth;
Sweet refuge of distress:

In bufinefs, thou! exact, polite;

Thou giv❜ft Retirement its delight,
Profperity its grace.

XV.

Of wealth, power, freedom, thou! the caufe
Foundrefs of order, cities, laws,

Of arts inventress, thou!

Without thee, what were human-kind ?

How vaft their wants, their thoughts how blind!
Their joys how mean! how few!

XVI.

Sun of the foul! thy beams unveil !
Let others spread the daring fail,
On fortune's faithlefs fea :
While, undeluded, happier I
From the vain tumult timely fly,
And fit in peace with Thee.

END OF AKENSIDE'S POEMS.

CONTENTS.

« EelmineJätka »