5
GONE are those unblest times, when niggard Fame
Allow'd to few the Poet's sacred name;
When Genius, trembling with unmanly fear,
Claim'd not the wreath, which he deserv'd to wear,
Till nine long years[1] had lent their tedious aid,
To touch the forms his magic hand pourtray'd;
Allow'd to few the Poet's sacred name;
When Genius, trembling with unmanly fear,
Claim'd not the wreath, which he deserv'd to wear,
Till nine long years[1] had lent their tedious aid,
To touch the forms his magic hand pourtray'd;
- ↑ The time prescribed by Horace for suppressing a composition for the purpose of improvement, is somewhat abridged by Vida; but, according to the latter, it is at least three years.Tuque adeo vitæ usque memor brevioris, ubi annos
Post aliquot (neque enim numerum, neque tempora pono
Certa tibi) addideris decoris satis atque nitoris;
Rumpe moras, opus ingentem dimitte per orbem
Perque manus, perque ora virúm, permitte vagari.
Poet. lib. iii, 520.
