Page:The Pleasures of Imagination - Akenside (1744).djvu/54

That sorrow sheds upon a brother's grave,
But the dumb palsy of nocturnal fear,
Or those consuming fires that gnaw the heart
Of panting indignation, find we there
To move delight?—Then listen, while my tongue175
Th' unalter'd will of heav'n with faithful awe
Reveals; what old Harmodius wont to teach
My early age; Harmodius, who had weigh'd
Within his learn'd mind whate'er the schools
Of wisdom, or thy lonely-whisp'ring voice,180
O faithful nature! dictated of the laws
Which govern and support this mighty frame
Of universal being. Oft the hours
From morn to eve have stole unmark'd away,
While mute attention hung upon his lips,185
As thus the sage his awful tale began.

⁠"Twas in the windings of an ancient wood,
When spotless youth with solitude resigns
To sweet philosophy the studious day,
What time pale autumn shades the silent eve190
Musing I rov'd. Of good and evil much,
And much of mortal man my thought revolv'd;
When starting full on fancy's gushing eye,
The mournful image of Parthenia's fate,
That hour, O long belov'd and long deplor'd!195
When blooming youth, nor gentlest wisdom's arts,
Nor Hymen's honours gather'd for thy brow,

Nor