Page:The Pleasures of Imagination - Akenside (1744).djvu/72

⁠So spake the goddess; while thro' all her frame600
Cœlestial raptures flow'd, in every word,
In ev'ry motion kindling warmth divine
To seize who listen'd. Vehement and swift
As light'ning fires the aromatic shade
In Æthiopian fields, the stripling felt605
Her inspiration catch his fervid soul,
And starting from his languor thus exclaim'd.

Then let the trial come! and witness thou,
If terror be upon me; if I shrink
To meet the storm, or faulter in my strength610
When hardest it besets me. Do not think
That I am fearful and infirm of soul,
As late thy eyes beheld: for thou hast chang'd
My nature; thy commanding voice has wak'd
My languid pow'rs to bear me boldly on,615
Where'er the will divine my path ordains
Thro' toil or peril: only do not thou
Forsake me; O be thou for ever near,
That I may listen to thy sacred voice,
And guide by thy decrees my constant feet.620
But say, for ever are my eyes bereft?
Say, shall the fair Euphrosyné not once
Appear again to charm me? Thou, in heaven!
O thou eternal arbiter of things!
Be thy great bidding done: for who am I625

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