Page:The Pleasures of Imagination - Akenside (1744).djvu/91

But now, ye gay!^[1] to whom indulgent fate,
Of all the muse's empire hath assign'd
The fields of folly, hither each advance
Your sickles; here the teeming soil affords
Its richest growth. A fav'rite brood appears;195
In whom the dæmon, with a mother's joy,
Views all her charms reflected, all her cares
At full repay'd. Ye most illustrious band!
Who, scorning reason's tame, pedantic rules
And order's vulgar bondage, never meant200
For souls sublime as yours, with generous zeal
Pay vice the rev'rence virtue long usurp'd,
And yield deformity the fond applause
Which beauty wont to claim; forgive my song
That for the blushing diffidence of youth,205
It shuns the unequal province of your praise.

Thus far triumphant^[2] in the pleasing guile
Of bland imagination, folly's train
Have dar'd our search: but now a dastard-kind
Advance reluctant, and with fault'ring feet210
Shrink from the gazer's eye: infeebled hearts,

1. But now ye gay, &c.] Ridicule from a notion of excellence, where the object is absolutely odious or contemptible. This is the highest degree of the ridiculous; as in the affectation of diseases or vices.
2. Thus far triumphant, &c.] Ridicule from false shame or groundless fear.

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