On this foundation Fame's high temple stands ;
Stupendous pile! not reard by mortal hands.
Whate'er proud Rome or artful Greece beheld,
Or elder Babylon, its frame excell'da
Four faces had the dome, and every face
Of various stru&ture, but of equal grace !
Four brazen gates, on columns lifted high,
Salute the different quarters of the sky.
Here fabled Chiefs in darker ages born,
Or Worthies old, whom arms or arts adorn, 70
Who cities rais'd, or tam'd a monstrous race ;
The walls in venerable order grace :
Heroes in animated marble frown,
And Legislators seem to think in stone.
Westward, à fumptuous frontispiece appear'd, 75
On Doric pillars of white marble rear'd,
Crown'd with an architrave of antique mold,
And sculpture rising on the roughen'd gold.
In shaggy spoils here Theseus was beheld,
And Perfeus dreadful with Minerva's fhield : 80
There great Alcides, ftooping with his toil,
Rests on his club, and holds th' Hesperian spoil :
Here Orpheus fings; treès moving to the found
Start from their roots, and form á fhade around:
Amphion there the loud creating lyre.
Strikes, and behold a sudden Thebes afpire !
Cythæron's echoes answer to his call,
And half the mountain rolls into a wall :
There might you fee the lengthening spires afcend,
The domes Twell up, the widening arches bend,
The growing towers.like exhalations rise,
And the huge columns heave into the skies.
The Eastern front was glorious to behold,
With diamond flaming, and Barbaric gold.
There Ninus shone, who spread th’ Assyrian fame, 95
And the great founder of the Persian name :
There in long robes the royal Magi stand,
Grave Zoroaster waves the circling wand :
The fage Chaldæans rob’d in white appear’d,
And Brachmans, deep in desert woods rever'd.
These stopp'd the moon, and call'd th' unbody'd shades
To midnight banquets in the glimmering glades;
Made visionary fabrics round them rise,
And airy spectres skim before their eyes;
Of Talismans and Sigils knew the power,
*105 And careful watch'd the Planetary hour. Superior, and alone, Confucius stood, Who taught that useful fcience, to be good.
But on the South, a long majestic race Of Egypt's Priests the gilded niches grace, Who measur'd earth, describ’d the starry spheres, And trac'd the long records of lunar years. High on his car Sesostris struck my view, Whom scepter'd llaves in golden harness drew: His hands a bow and pointed javelin hold; I15 His giant ļimbs are arm’d in scales of gold. Between the statues Obelisks were plac'd, And the learn'd walls with Hieroglyphics grac'd.
Of Gothic structure was the Northern side, D'erwrought with ornaments of barbarous pride.
There
There huge Colosses rose, with trophies crownd,
And Runic characters were grav'd around.
There fate Zamolxis with erected eyes,
And Odin here in mimic trances dies.
There on rude iron columns, smear'd with blood, 120
The horrid forms of Scythian heroes stood.
Druids and Bards (their once loud harps unftrung)
And youths that died to be by Poets sung.
These and a thousand more of doubtful fame,
To whom old fables gave a lasting name,
130
In ranks adorn'd the Temple’s outward face;
The wall in lustre and effect like glass,
Which, o'er each object casting various dyes,
Enlarges fome, and others multiplies:
Nor void of emblem was the mystic wall,
135 For thus romantic Fame increases all.
The Temple shakes, the founding gates unfold, Wide vaults appear, and roofs of fretted gold : Rais'd on a thousand pillars wreath'd around With laurel-foliage, and with eagles crown'd: 140 Of bright transparent beryl were the walls, The freezes gold, and gold the capitals : As heaven with stars, the roof with jewels glows, And ever-living lamps depend in rows. Full in the passage of each spacious gate,
145 The fage Hiftorians in white garments wait;
Gray'a
IMITATION.
Ver. 132. The wall in lustre, &c.]
It Thone lighter than a glass,
And made well more than it was,
As kind of thing Fame is.
Grav'd'o'er their seats the form of Time was found,
His scythe revers’d, and both his pinions bound.
Within stood Heroes, who through loud alarms
In bloody fields pursued renown in arms.
150
High on a throne with trophies charg'd, I view'd
The Youth that all things but himself fubdued ;
His feet on fceptres and tiaras trod,
And his horn'd head bely'd the Libyan God.
There Cæfar, grac’d with both Minervas, shone; 155
Cæfar, the world's great master, and his own;
Unmov'd, fuperior still in every state,
And scarce detested in his Country's fate.
But chief were thofe, who not for empire fought,
But with their toils their people's safety bought : 160
High o'er the reft Epaminondas stood;
Timoleon, glorious in his brother's blood;
Bold Scipio, faviour of the Roman ftate;
Great in his triumphs, in retirement great;
And wise Aurelius, in whose well-taught mind
With boundless power unbounded virtue join'd,
His own strict judge, and patron of mankind.
Much suffering heroes next their honours claim,
Those of less noisy, and less guilty fame,
Fair virtue's filent train : supreme of these
170
Here ever shines the godlike Socrates :
He whom ungrateful Athens could expell,
At all times just, but when he fign’d the Shell :
Here his abode the martyr'd Phocion claims,
With Agis, not the last of Spaitan names :
175 Unconquer'd Cato shews the wound he tore, And Brutus his ill Genius meets no more.
But
But in the centre of the hallow'd choir, Six pompous columns o'er the rest aspire ; Around the shrine itself of Fame they stand,
18 Hold the chief honours, and the fane command. High on the first, the mighty Homer fhone; Eternal adamant compos’d his throne ; Father of verse ! in holy fillets dreh, His filver beard wav'd gently o'er his breast;
185 Though blind, a boldness in his looks appears ; In years he seem'd, but not impair’d by years. The wars of Troy were round the pillar seen: Here fierce Tydides wounds the Cyprian Queen; Here Hector glorious from Patroclus' fall,
190 Here dragg'd in triumph round the Trojan wall. Motion and life did every part inspire, Bold was the work, and prov'd the master's fire;
A strong
IMITATIONS.
Ver. 179. Six pompous columns, &c.]
From the dees many a pillere,
Of metal that shone not full clere, &c.
Upon a pillere saw I stonde
That was of lede and iron fine,
Him of the feet Saturnine,
The Ebraicke Josephus the old, &c.
Upon an iron pillere strong,
That painted was all endlong,
With tigers' blood in every place,
The Tholofan that hight Stace,
That bare of Thebes up the name, Sc.
Ver. 182.]
Full wonder high on a pilere
Of iron, he the great Omer,
And with him Dares and Titus, &c.
VOL. I.
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