Page:The Pleasures of Imagination - Akenside (1744).djvu/25

Nor yet arrives in sight of mortal things.
Ev'n on the barriers of the world untir'd
She meditates th' eternal depth below;
Till, half recoiling, down the headlong steep
She plunges; soon o'erwhelm'd and swallow'd up210
In that immense of being. There her hopes
Rest at the fated goal. For from the birth
Of mortal man, the sov'reign Maker said,
That not in humble nor in brief delight,
Not in the fading echoes of renown,215
Pow'rs purple robes, nor pleasure's flow'ry lap,
The Soul should find enjoyment: but from these
Turning disdainful to an equal good,
Thro' all th' ascent of things inlarge her view,
Till every bound at length should disappear,220
And infinite perfection close the scene.

Call now to mind what high, capacious pow'rs
Lie folded up in man; how far beyond
The praise of mortals, may th' eternal growth
Of nature to perfection half divine,225
Expand the blooming soul? What pity then
Should sloth's unkindly fogs depress to earth
Her tender blossom; choak the streams of life,
And blast her spring! Far otherwise design'd
Almighty wisdom; nature's happy cares230
Th' obedient heart far otherwise incline.
Witness the sprightly joy when aught unknown