92
Odes.
Yet once more, O ye Muses! deign 15
For me, the meanest of your train,
Unblam'd t' approach your bless'd retreat,
Where Horace wantons at your spring,
And Pindar sweeps a bolder string,
Whose notes the Aonian hills repeat. 20
For me, the meanest of your train,
Unblam'd t' approach your bless'd retreat,
Where Horace wantons at your spring,
And Pindar sweeps a bolder string,
Whose notes the Aonian hills repeat. 20
III.
Or if invok'd where Thames's fruitful tides
Slow thro' the vale in silver volumes play,
Now your own Phœbus o'er the month presides,
Gives Love the night, and doubly gilds the day:
Thither, indulgent to my pray'r, 25
Ye bright harmonious Nymphs! repair,
To swell the notes I feebly raise;
So, with inspiring ardours warm'd,
May Gower's propitious ear be charm'd
To listen to my lays. 30
Or if invok'd where Thames's fruitful tides
Slow thro' the vale in silver volumes play,
Now your own Phœbus o'er the month presides,
Gives Love the night, and doubly gilds the day:
Thither, indulgent to my pray'r, 25
Ye bright harmonious Nymphs! repair,
To swell the notes I feebly raise;
So, with inspiring ardours warm'd,
May Gower's propitious ear be charm'd
To listen to my lays. 30
I.
Beneath the pole, on hills of snow,
Like Thracian Mars, th’undaunted Swede
To dint of sword defies the foe,
In fight unknowing to recede:
From Volga's banks th' imperious Czar 35
Leads forth his furry troops to war,
Fond of the softer southern sky:
The Soldan galls th' Illyrian coast,
But soon the miscreant moony host
Before the victor-cross shall fly. 40
Beneath the pole, on hills of snow,
Like Thracian Mars, th’undaunted Swede
To dint of sword defies the foe,
In fight unknowing to recede:
From Volga's banks th' imperious Czar 35
Leads forth his furry troops to war,
Fond of the softer southern sky:
The Soldan galls th' Illyrian coast,
But soon the miscreant moony host
Before the victor-cross shall fly. 40
