The first up-tracing, from the dreary void, 1745 The whole magnificence of heaven and earth; Obvious or more remote, with livelier sense, 1750 TUTOR'D by thee, bence POETRY exalts Her voice to ages; and informs the page With music, image, sentiment, and thought, Never to die! the treasure of mankind! Their highest honour, and their truest joy! WITHOUT thee, what were unenlighten'd Man? A savage roaming thro' the woods and wilds, In quest of prey; and with th' unfashion'd fur Rough clad; devoid of every finer art, 1755 1760 Nor moral excellence, nor social bliss, Nor guardian law, were his; nor various skill 1765 Of navigation bold, that fearless braves 1770 And woes on woes, a still-revolving train ! 1775 Embellish life. While thus laborious crowds Ply the tough oar, PHILOSOPHY directs The ruling helm; or like the liberal breath Of potent Heaven, invisible, the sail Swells out, and bears th' inferior world along. 1780 Poorly confin'd, the radiant tracts on high Of never-ending wonders, to conceive 1785 Of the SOLE BEING right, who spoke the word, 1790 And Nature mov'd complete. With inward view, Unfetter'd, and unmixt. But here the cloud, I So wills ETERNAL PROVIDENCE, sits deep. In wayward passions lost, and vain pursuits, This Infancy of Being, cannot prove 1800 The final issue of the works of God; By boundless Love and perfect WISDOM form'd, And ever rising with the rising mind. |