The champions in distorted postures threat;
And all appear'd irregularly great.

Here happy Horace tun'd th' Aufonian lyre
To sweeter founds, and temper'd Pindar's fire :
Pleas'd with Alceus' manly ́rage t' infuse
The fofter spirit of the Sapphic Mufe.

The polish'd pillar diff'rent fculptures grace;
A work outlafting monumental brass.
Here fmiling Loves and Bacchanals appear,
The Julian ftar, and great Auguftus here.
The Doves, that round the infant Poet spread
Myrtles and bays, hang hov'ring o'er his head.

IMITATIONS.

220

225

230

VER. 224. Pleas'd with Aleaus' manly rage t' infufe-The fofter Spirit of the Sapphic Mufe.] This expreffes the mix'd character of the odes of Horace: the fecond of these verfes alludes to that line of his,

Spiritum Graiæ tenuem camœnæ,

As another which follows, to

Exegi monumentum ære perennius,

The action of the Doves hints at a paffage in the fourth ode of hi

third book.

Me fabulofa Vulture in Appulo
Altricis extra limen Apuliæ,

Ludo fatigatumque fomno,

Fronde nova puerum palumbes

Texêre; mirum quod foret omnibus d

Ut tuto ab atris corpore viperis

Dormirem et urfis; ut premerer facra

Lauroque collataque myrto,

Non fine Diis animofus infans.

Which may be thus englished ;

While yet a child, I chanc'd to ftray,
And in a defart fleeping lay;

The favage race withdrew, nor dar'd
To touch the Muses' future bard;
But Cytherea's gentle dove

Myrtles and Bays around me fpread,
And crown'd your infant Poet's head,
Sacred to Mufic and to Love.

Here, in a fhrine that caft a dazzling light,
Sate fix'd in thought the mighty Stagirite;
His facred head a radiant Zodiac crown'd,
And various Animals his fides furround;
His piercing eyes, ere, appear to view
Superior worlds, and look all Nature through.
With equal rays immortal Tully fhone,
The Roman Roftra deck'd the Conful's throne:
Gath'ring his flowing robe, he seem'd to stand
In act to speak, and graceful stretch'd his hand.
Behind, Rome's Genius waits with Civic crowns,
And the great Father of his country owns.

These maffy columns in a circle rise,
O'er which a pompous dome invades the skies:
Scarce to the top I ftretch'd my aching fight,
So large it spread, and fwell'd to fuch a height.
Full in the midft proud Fame's imperial feat
With jewels blaz'd, magnificently great;
The vivid em'ralds there revive the eye,
The flaming rubies fhew their fanguine dye,
Bright azure rays from lively fapphires ftream,
And lucid amber cafts a golden gleam.
With various-colour'd light the pavement shone,
And all on fire appear'd the glowing throne;
The dome's high arch reflects the mingled blaze,
And forms a rainbow of alternate rays.
When on the Goddess first I caft my fight,
Scarce feem'd her stature of a cubit's height;

235

240

245

250

255

260

265

But fwell'd to larger fize, the more I gaz'd,
"Till to the roof her tow'ring front she rais'd.
With her, the 1 emple ev'ry moment grew,
And ampler Vistas open'd to my view:
Upward the columns fhoot, the roofs afcend,
And arches widen, and long iles extend.
Such was her form, as ancient bards have told,
Wings raise her arms, and wings her feet infold;
A thousand bufy tongues the Goddess bears,
And thousand open eyes, and thousand lift'ning ears.
Bencath, in order rang'd, the tuneful Nine
(Her virgin handmaids) fill attend the fhrine:
With eyes on Fame for ever fix'd, they fing;
For Fame they raise the voice, and tune the string;
With time's first birth began the heav'nly lays,
And last, eternal, thro' the length of days.

Around thefe wonders as I caft a look,
The trumpet founded, and the temple fhook,

IMITATIONS.

Her felfe tho wonderly straight,

That with her feet fhe the earth reight,
And with her head the touchyd heaven

VER. 270. Beneath in order rang'd, etc.]
I heard about her throne y-fung
That all the palays walls rung,
So fung the mighty Mufe, fhe
That cleped is Calliope,
And her feven fillers eke

-

VER. 276. Arund theje wonders, etc]
I heard a noife approachen blive,
That far'd as bees done in a hive,
Against her time of cut flying;
Right fuch a manere murmuring,
For all the world it feemed me.
Tho gan I lock about and fee
That there came ent'ring into th' hall,
A right great company withal;
And that of fundr regions,
Of all kind of conditions, etc. -

270

275

And all the nations, fummon'd at the call,
'rom diff'rent quarters fill the crouded hall:
Of various tongues the mingled founds were heard ;
n various garbs promifcuous throngs appear'd;
Thick as the bees, that with the Spring renew
Their flow'ry toils, and fip the fragrant dew,
When the wing'd colonies first tempt the sky,
O'er dusky fields and shaded waters fly,

Or fettling, feize the fweets the bloffoms yield,
And a low murmur runs along the field.
Millions of fuppliant crouds the fhrine attend,
And all degrees before the Goddess bend ;

281

285

290

The poor, the rich, the valiant and the fage,
And boasting youth, and narrative old-age.
Their pleas were diff'rent, their request the fame:
For good and bad alike are fond of Fame.
Some the difgrac'd, and fome with honours crown'd;
Unlike fucceffes equal merits found.

Thus her blind fifter, fickle Fortune, reigns,
And undifcerning fcatters crowns and chains.
First at the fhrine the Learned world appear,

295

And to the Goddess thus prefer their pray'r.

Long have we fought t' inftruct and pleafe mankind,
With ftudies pale, with midnight vigils blind;
But thank'd by few, rewarded yet by none,

301

We here appeal to thy fuperior throne:
On wit and learning the juft prize bestow,
For Fame is all we must expect below.

IMITATIONS,

VER. 294. Some fhe difgrac'd, etc.]

And fome of them the granted fone,
And fome the warned well and fair,
And fome the granted the contrai:-
Right as her fifter dame Fortune
Is wont to ferve in commuac.

305

The Goddess heard, and bade the Mufes raise
The golden Trumpet of eternal Praife:

From pole to pole the winds diffuse the found,
That fills the circuit of the world around;
Not all at once, as thunder breaks the cloud;
The notes at firft were rather fweet than loud:
By just degrees they ev'ry moment rise,

Fill the wide earth, and gain upon the skies.
At ev'ry breath were balmy odours fhed,

310

Which ftill grew fweeter, as they wider fpread; 315
Lefs fragrant fcents th' unfolding rofe exhales,
Or fpices breathing in Arabian gales.

Next thefe the good and just, an awful train,
Thus on their knees addrefs the facred fane.
Since living virtue is with envy curs'd,

And the best men are treated like the work,
Do thou, juft Goddefs, call our merits forth,
And give each deed th' exact intrinfic worth.
Not with bare justice fhall your act be crown'd,
(Said Fame) but high above defert renown'd:

IMITATIONS.

VER. 318. the good and juft, etc ]
Tho came the third companye,
And gan up to the dees to hye,
And down on knees they fell anone,
And faiden: We ben everichone
Folke that han full truely
Deferved Fame right-fully,
And prayen you it might be knowe
Right as it is, and forth blowe.

I grant, quoth fhe, for now we lift
That your good works fhall be wift.
And yet ye shall have better loos,
Right in defpite of all your foos,
Than worthy is, and that anone.
Let now (quoth fhe) thy trump gone-
And certes all the breath that went
Out of his trump's mouth fmel'd
As men a pot of baume held
Among a basket full of rofes.-

320

325