Traverse empyreal spheres with buoyant feet,
Free as the zephyr, as the shot-star fleet;
And waft thro' worlds unknown the vital ray,
The flame that wakes creations into day.
Creatures of fire and ether! winged with light,
To track the regions of the Infinite!
From purer elements whose life was drawn,
Sprung from the sunbeam, offspring of the dawn.
What years on years, in silence gliding by,
Have spar'd those forms of perfect symmetry!
Moulded by Art to dignify alone,
Her own bright deity's resplendent throne,
Since first her skill their fiery grace bestowed,
Meet for such lofty fate, such high abode,
How many a race, whose tales of glory seem
An echo's voice—the music of a dream,
Whose records feebly from oblivion save,
A few bright traces of the wise and brave;
