Exhaust th' imaginary vase, Fair forms in faultering measures chase, Catch from bright eyes th' ecstatic beam, And of ideal transports dream. Divine Enchantress, FANCY! deign O deign to cheer my humble cell! Thence grave Parochial Cares expel: Shield me from swathed Infants' scream, And clouds of suffocating steam, That from the Gossip's bowl exhale, Mix'd with tobacco's potent gale! From Undertakers' gloomy brows, Shield me from puritanic cant Of Faded Maids, who matins haunt, And many an opiate Inference! Shield me from sounds at strife with sense! From Pedantry of formal port, And Consequence in cassoc short! So, Goddess, thy propitious smile And strew life's barren path with flow'rs. To blend her simple blooms with thine; If WYATT's plaudit crown her lays. C AMATORY ODES. O DE I. LET the sons of Lucre pine For glittering heaps of golden ore, To swell th' accumulated store Bid dire explosion the deep realms invade, And earth-born light'nings gleam athwart th' infernal shade. Pride, on thy vesture's purple fold And rubies blush in circling gold : Low at thy nod let suppliants bow, And crested chiefs precedence yield; Thy hand the rod of empire wield, And wreaths of triumph grace thy brow:A nobler aim let my ambition own, Be Love my empire, LESBIA's heart my throne! Where into rage the wint'ry blast Awakes old ocean's sullen wave To meet the forked lightning's flash; Then down th' adventurous vessel dash, Found'ring within the black abyss: Or let his freight secure the surges sweep, And of their prey defraud the monsters of the deep : My bark the tide of young desire, O Venus to thy happy realm Shall waft, fair Hope direct the helm, |