( 26 )
O turn this dreadful Omen far away!325
On Freedom's Foes their own Attempts repay;
Resume her sacred Fire fo near supprest,
And fix her Shrine in every Roman Breast.
Tho' bold Corruption boast around the Land,
"Let Virtue, if she can, my Baits withstand!"330
Tho' bolder now she urge th' accursed Claim,
Gay with her Trophies rais'd on Curio's Shame;
Yet some there are who scorn her impious Mirth,
Who know what Conscience and a Heart are worth.
O Friend and Father of the Human Mind,335
Whose Art for noblest Ends our Frame design'd!
If I, tho' fated to the studious Shade
Which Party-strife nor anxious Pow'r invade,
If I aspire in public Virtue's Cause,
To guide the Muses by sublimer Laws,340
Do thou her own Authority impart,
And give my Numbers Entrance to the Heart.
