"Hear thou, of Heaven unconscious! From the blaze Of glory, stream'd from Jove's eternal throne, Thy soul, O mortal, caught th' inspiring rays That to a god exalt earth's raptur'd son.
"Hence the bold wish, on boundless pinion borne, That fires, alarms, impels the maddening soul; The hero's eye, hence, kindling into scorn, Blasts the proud menace, and defies control.
"But, unimprov'd, Heaven's noblest boons are vain: No sun with plenty crowns th' uncultur'd vale; Where green lakes languish on the silent plain, Death rides the billows of the western gale.
"Deep in yon mountain's womb, where the dark cave Howls to the torrent's everlasting roar, Does the rich gem its flashy radiance wave? Or flames with steady ray th' imperial ore?
"Toil deck'd with glittering domes yon champaign wide, And wakes yon grove-embosom'd lawns to joy, And rends the rough ore from the mountain's side, Spangling with starry pomp the thrones of Troy.
"Fly these soft scenes. Even now, with playful art, Love wreathes thy flowery ways with fatal snare. And nurse th' ethereal fire that warms thy heart, That fire ethereal lives but by thy care.
"Lo, hovering near on dark and dampy wing. Sloth with stern patience waits the hour assign'd, From her chill plume the deadly dews to fling, That quench Heaven's beam, and freeze the cheerless mind.
"Vain, then, th' enlivening sound of Fame's alarms, For Hope's exulting impulse prompts no more; Vain even the joys that lure to Pleasure's arms, The throb of transport is for ever o'er.
"O who shall then to Fancy's darkening eyes Recall th' Elysian dreams of joy and light? Dim through the gloom the formless visions rise, Snatch'd instantaneous down, the gulf of night.
"Thou, who securely lull'd in youth's warm ray, Mark'st not the desolations wrought by Time, Be rous'd or perish. Ardent for its prey Speeds the fell hour that ravages thy prime.
"And, midst the horrors shrin'd of midnight storm, The fiend Oblivion eyes thee from afar, Black with intolerable frowns her form, Beckoning th' embattled whirlwinds into war.
"Fanes, bulwarks, mountains, worlds, their tempest whelms: Yet Glory braves unmov'd th' impetuous sweep. Fly then, ere hurl'd from life's delightful realms, Thou sink t' Oblivion's dark and boundless deep.