Page:Vida's Art of Poetry.djvu/92

First, then, with care a just expression chuse,
Led by the kind indulgence of the muse,
To dress up ev'ry subject when you write,
And set all objects in a proper light.
But lest the distant prospect of the goal$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$
Should damp your vigour, and your strength controul,
Rouse ev'ry power, and call forth all the soul.
See! how the nine the panting youth invite,
With one loud voice to reach Parnassus' height;
See! how they hold aloft th' immortal crown,
To urge the course, and call the victor on;
See from the clouds each lavish goddess pours,$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$
Full o'er thy head, a sudden spring of flow'rs,
And roses fall in odorif'rous show'rs,
Celestial scents, in balmy breezes fly,
And shed ambrosial spirits from the sky.

In chief avoid obscurity, nor shroud
Your thoughts and dark conceptions in a cloud;
For ^[1] some we know affect to lose the light,
Lost in forc'd figures, and involv'd in night,

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1. Persius and Lycophron.

Studious