Achaian marble formed the gorgeous pile,
August the fabric! elegant its style!

On brazen hinges turned the silver doors,
And chequered marble paved the polished floors;
The Roof, where storied tablature appeared,
On columns of Corinthian mould was reared;
Of shining porphyry the Shafts were framed,
And round the hollow Dome bright jewels flamed:
APOLLO'S Priests before the holy shrine

Suppliant poured forth their Orisons divine,
To front the Sun's declining ray 'twas placed,
With golden Harps and branching Laurels graced :
Around the Fane, engraved by Vulcan's hand,
The Sciences and Arts were seen to stand;
Here ESCULAPIUS' snake displayed his crest,
And burning glories sparkled on his breast;
While from his eye's insufferable light
Disease and Death recoiled in headlong flight:
Of this great Temple through all time renown'd,

Sunk in oblivion, no remains are found.

Contiguous here, with hallowed woods o'er

spread,

Renowned PARNASSUS lifts its honoured head;

I

There roses blossom in eternal Spring,
And strains celestial feathered warblers sing:
APOLLO, here, bestows th' unfading Wreath;
Here Zephyrs aromatic odours breathe,
They o'er Castalian plains diffuse perfume
Where round the scene perennial Laurels bloom;

Fair daughters of the Sun, the sacred Nine!
Here wake to ecstasy their Harps divine,
Or bid the Paphian lute mellifluous play
And tune to plaintive Love the liquid lay;
Their numbers every mental storm controul,
And lull to Harmony th' afflicted soul;

With heavenly balm the tortured breast compose,

And soothe the agony of latent woes:

The verdant shades that HELICON surround,

On rosy gales seraphic tunes resound;
Perpetual Summers crown the happy hours,
Sweet as the breath that fans Elysian flowers:
Hence Pleasure dances in an endless round,
And Love and Joy, ineffable, abound.

IV. Stop wandering thought! methinks I feel

their strains

Diffuse delicious languor through my veins:

Adieu ye flow'ry vales, and fragrant scenes,
Delightful bowers, and ever vernal greens!
Adieu ye streams! that o'er enchanted ground
In lucid maze th' Aonian hill surround;

Ye fairy scenes! where Fancy loves to dwell,
And young Delight, for ever, oh, farewell!
The Soul with tender luxury you fill,

And o'er the Sense Lethean dews distil

Awake, O MEMORY! from th' inglorious Dream,
With brazen lungs resume the kindling theme;
Collect thy powers, arouse thy vital fire,
Ye Spirits of the Storm my verse inspire!
Hoarse as the whirlwinds that enrage the Main
In torrent pour along the swelling Strain.

Now, thro' the parting wave impetuous bore, The scudding Vessel stemmed th' Athenian Shore; The Pilots, as the waves behind her swell,

Still with the wheeling Stern their force repel;
For this assault should either Quarter feel
Again to flank the Tempest she might reel :
The Steersmen every bidden turn apply,

To right, and left, the spokes alternate fly

Thus, when some conquered Host retreats in fear,

The bravest leaders guard the broken rear;
Indignant they retire, and long oppose

Superior Armies that around them close;

Still shield the flanks, the routed squadrons join,

And guide the flight in one continued line:
Thus they direct the flying Bark before

Th' impelling floods, that lash her to the Shore:
High o'er the Poop th' audacious Seas aspire,
Uprolled in hills of fluctuating fire;

With lab'ring throes she rolls on either side,
And dips her gunnels in the yawning tide;
Her joints unhinged in palsied languors play,
As ice-flakes part beneath the noon-tide ray:
The Gale howls doleful thro' the blocks and shrouds,
And big Rain pours a deluge from the clouds;
From wintery magazines that sweep the sky,
Descending globes of Hail impetuous fly;
High on the Masts, with pale and livid rays
Amid the gloom portentous Meteors blaze;
Th' ethereal dome in mournful pomp array'd
Now buried lies beneath impervious shade,

Now, flashing round intolerable light,

Redoubles all the horror of the night

Such terror SINAI's trembling hill o'erspread,
When Heaven's loud trumpet sounded o'er its head:
It seemed, the wrathful Angel of the wind
Had all the horrors of the skies combin'd,
And here, to one ill-fated Ship opposed,
At once the dreadful magazine disclosed :
And lo! tremendous o'er the deep he springs,
Th' inflaming sulphur flashing from his wings;
Hark! his strong voice the dismal silence breaks,
Mad Chaos from the chains of Death awakes:
Loud, and more loud, the rolling Peals enlarge,
And blue on deck the fiery tides discharge;
There all aghast the shivering wretches stood,
While chill suspense and fear congealed their blood;
Wide bursts in dazzling sheets the living Flame
And dread concussion rends th' ethereal frame;
Sick Earth convulsive groans from shore to shore,
And Nature shuddering feels the horrid roar.

Still the sad prospect rises on my sight,

Revealed in all its mournful shade and light;