20

In air felf-balanc'd hung the globe below,
Where mountains rife, and circling oceans flow,
Here naked rocks, and empty waftes were seen;
There towery cities, and the forests green :
Here failing fhips delight the wandering eyes;
There trees and intermingled temples rife :
Now a clear fun the fhining scene displays;
The tranfient landscape now in clouds decays.
O'er the wide prospect as I gaz'd around,
Sudden I heard a wild promifcuous found,
Like broken thunders that at diftance roar,
Or billows murmuring on the hollow fhere:
Then gazing up, a glorious pile beheld,
Whole towering fummit ambient clouds conceal'd,
High on a rock of ice the structure lay,
Steep its afcent, and flippery was the way;
The wonderous rock like Parian marble shone,
And feem'd, to distant fight, of folid stone.
Infcriptions here of various names I view'd,
The greater part by hoftile time subdu'd;
Yet wide was fpread their fame in ages paft;
And poets once had promis'd they should laft.
Some fresh engrav'd appear'd of wits renown'd;
I look'd again, nor could their trace be found.
Critics I faw, that other names deface,
And fix their own, with labour, in their place :
Their own, like others, foon their place refign'd,
Or difappear'd, and left the first behind.
Nor was the work impair'd by ftorms alone,
But felt th' approaches of too warm a sun;

IMITATIONS.

Now valeis, and now foreftes,

And now unneth great bestes, Now rivers, now citees,

Now towns, now great trees, Now fhippes fayling in the fee.

30

40

Ver. 27. High on a rock of ice, &c.] Chaucer's third book of Fame.

It stood upon fo high a rock,
Higher standeth none in Spayne-
What manner stone this rock was,
For it was like a lymed glass,
But that it fhone full more clere;
But of what congeled matere
It was, I niste redily;
But at the laft efpied I,

And found that it was every dele,
A rock of ice, and not of ftele.
Ver. 31. Infcriptions here, &c.]

Though faw I all the hill y-grave
With famous folkes names fele,
That had been in much wele
And her fames wide y-blow;
But well unneth might I know,
Any letters for to rede
Their names by, for out of drede
They weren almoft off-thawen fo,
That of the letters one or two
Were molte away of every name,
So unfamous was woxe her fame;
But men faid what may ever laft?
Ver. 41. Nor was the work impair'd, &c.]

For Fame, impatient of extremes, decays
Not more by envy, than excess of praise.
Yet part no injuries of heaven could feel,
Like crystal faithful to the graving steel:
The rock's high fummit, in the temple's fhade,
Nor heat could melt, nor beating ftorm invade.
Their names infcrib'd unnumber'd ages past
From time's first birth, with time itself shall laft; 50
These ever new, nor subject to decays,

Spread, and grow brighter with the length of days.

60

So Zembla's rocks (the beauteous work of frost) Rife white in air, and glitter o'er the coaft; Pale funs, unfelt, at distance roll away, And on th' impassive ice the lightnings play; Eternal fnows the growing mafs fupply, Till the bright mountains prop th' incumbent sky As Atlas fix'd, each hoary pile appears, The gather'd winter of a thousand years. On this foundation Fame's high temple stands; Stupendous pile! not rear'd by mortal hands. Whate'er proud Rome or artful Greece beheld, Or elder Babylon, its frame excell'd. Four faces had the dome, and every face Of various structure, but of equal grace! Four brazen gates, on columns lifted high, Salute the different quarters of the sky. Here fabled chiefs in darker ages born, Or worthies old, whom arms or arts adorn, Who cities rais'd, or tam'd a monstrous race, The walls in venerable order grace: Heroes in animated marble frown, And legiflators feem to think in ftone.

70

Weftward, a fumptuous frontifpiece appear'd, On Doric pillars of white marble rear'd, Crown'd with an architrave of antique mold, And sculpture rifing on the roughen'd gold. In fhaggy spoils here Thefeus was beheld, And Perfeus dreadful with Minerva's fhield: 80 There great Alcides, ftooping with his toi!, Refts on his club, and holds th' Hefperian spoil: Here Orpheus fings; trees moving to the found Start from their roots, and form a fhade around : Amphion there the loud creating lyre Strikes, and behold a sudden Thebes aspire!

IMITATIONS.

That they were molte away for heate,
And not away with ftormes beate.
Ver. 45. Yet part no injuries, &c.]

For on that other fide I fey
Of that hill which northward ley,
How it was written full of names
Of folke, that had afore great fames,
Of old time, and yet they were

As fresh as men had written hem there
That felf day, or that houre

That I on hem gan to poure;
But well I wifte what it made;
It was conferved with the shade
(All the writing that I fye)
Of the castle that ftoode on high,
And flood eke in fo cold a place,

Cytheron's echoes anfwer to his call,
And half the mountain rolls into a wall:
There might you see the lengthening fpires afcend,
The domes fwell up, the widening arches bend, 90
The growing towers like exhalations rise,
And the huge columns heave into the fkies.
The eastern front was glorious to behold,
With diamond flaming, and Barbaric gold.
There Ninus fhone, who spread th' Affyrian fame,
And the great founder of the Persian name:
There in long robes the royal Magi stand,
Grave Zoroafter waves the circling wand:
The fage Chaldeans rob'd in white appear'd,
And Brachmans, deep in defert woods rever'd. roo
Thefe ftopp'd the moon, and call'd th' unbody'd
fhades

To midnight banquets in the glimmering glades;
Made vifionary fabrics round them rife,
And airy speares skim before their eyes;
Of Falifmans and Sigils knew the power,
And careful watch'd the planetary hour.
Superior, and alone, Confucius ftood,
Who taught that useful science to be good.
But on the fouth, a long majestic race
Of Egypt's pricfts the gilded niches grace,
Who meafur'd earth, defcrib'd the ftarry spheres,
And trac'd the long records of lunar years.
High on his car Sefoftris ftruck my view,
Whom feepter'd flaves in golden harness drew :
His hands a bow and pointed javelin hold;
His giant limbs are arm'd in chains of gold.
Between the ftatues obelifks were plac'd,
And the learn'd walls with hieroglyphics grac'd.
Of Gothic ftructure was the northern fide,
O'erwrought with ornaments of barbarous pride.120
There huge Coloffus rofe, with trophies crown'd,
And Runic charaЯers were grav'd around.
There fate Zamolxis with erected eyes,
And Odin here in mimic trances dies.
There on rude iron columns, finear'd with blood,
The horrid forms of Scythian heroes ftood.
Druids and Bards (their once loud harps unftrung)
And youths that dy'd to be by poets fung.
Thefe and a thousand more of doubtful fame,
To whom old fables gave a lafting name.
In ranks adorn'd the temple's outward face;
The wall in luftre and effect like glafs,
Which, o'er each object cafting various dyes,
Enlarges fome, and others multiplies:
Nor void of emblem was the mystic wall,
For thus romantic Fame increases all.

130

The temple shakes, the founding gates unfold, Wide vaults appear, and roofs of fretted gold: Rais'd on a thousand pillars wreath'd around With laurel-foliage, and with eagles crown'd: 140 Of bright transparent beryl were the walls, The freezes gold, and gold the capitals:

IMITATIONS.

Ver. 132. The walls in luftre, &c.]
It fhone lighter than a glass,
And made well more than it was,

As heaven with stars, the roof with jewels glows,
And ever-living lamps depend in rows.

Full in the paffage of each spacious gate,
The fage historians in white garments wait;
Grav'd o'er their feats the form of time was found.
His fcythe revers'd, and both his pinions bound
Within flood heroes, who through loud alarms
In bloody fields pursued renown in arms.
150
High on a throne with trophies charg'd I view'd
The outh that all things but himself subdu'd;
His feet on fceptres and tiaras trod,

And his horn'd head bely'd the Libyan god.
There Cæfar, grac'd with both Minervas fhone;
Cæfar, the world's great master, and his own;
Unmov'd, fuperior still in every state,

And scarce detefted in his country's fate.
But chief were thofe, who not for empire fought,
But with their toils their people's fafety bought:160
High o'er the reft Epaminondas flood;
Timoleon, glorious in his brother's blood;
Bold Scipio, faviour of the Roman ftate;
Great in his triumphs, in retirement great;
And wife Aurelius, in whofe well-taught mind
With boundless power unbounded virtue join'd,
His own ftrict judge, and patron of mankind.
Much fuffering heroes next their honours claim,
Thofe of lefs noify, and lefs guilty fame,
Fair virtue's filent train: fupreme of these
Here ever fhines the godlike Socrates;
He whom ungrateful Athens could expell,
At all times juft, but when he fign'd the fhell:
Here his abode the martyr'd Phocion claims,
With Agis, not the laft of Spartan names:
Unconquer'd Cato fhews the wound he tore,
And Brutus his ill genius meets no more.

170

But in the centre of the hollow'd choir, Six pompous columns o'er the rest aspire; Around the fhrine itself of fame they ftand, 180 Hold the chief honours, and the fame command. High on the first, the mighty Homer shone; Eternal Adamant compos'd his throne, Father of verfe in holy fillets drest, His filver beard wav'd gently o'er his breast; Though blind, a boldness in his looks appears; In years he feem'd, but not impair'd by years.

IMITATIONS.

Ver. 179. Six pompous columns, &c.]
From the dees many a pillere,
Of metal that fhone not full clere, &c.
Upon a pillere faw I ftonde
That was of lede and iron fine,
Him of the fe&t Saturnine,
The Ebraicke Jofephus the old, &c.
Upon an iron pillere ftrong,
That painted was all endlong,
With tigers' blood in every place,
The Tholofan that hight Stace,
That bear of Thebes up the name,
Ver. 182.

Full wonder high on a pillere

Of iron, he the great Omer,

&c.

190

The wars of Troy were round the pillar feen:
Here fierce Tydides wounds the Cyprian queen;
Here Hector glorious from Patroclus' fall,
Here dragg'd in triumph ronnd the Trojan wall.
Motion and life did every part infpire,
Bold was the work, and prov'd the mafter's fire;
A ftrong expreffion moft he feem'd t' affect,
And here and there disclos'd a brave neglect.

A golden column next in rank appear'd.
On which a fhrine of pureft gold was rear'd;
Fit ifh'd the whole, and labour'd every part,
With patient touches of unwearied art:
The Mantuan there in fober triumph fat,
Compos'd his pofture, and his look fedate;
On Homer still he fix'd a reverend eye,
Great without pride, in modeft majesty.
In living fculpture on the fides were spread
The Latian wars, and haughty Turnus dead;
Eliza stretch'd upon the funeral pyre,

200

Here, like fome furious prophet, Pindar rode,
And feem'd to labour with th' infpiring God.
Across the harp a careless hand he flings,
And boldly finks into the founding ftrings,
The figur'd games of Greece the column grace,
Neptune and Jove furvey the rapid race.
The youths hang o'er their chariots as they run;
The fiery steeds feem ftarting from the stone;
The champions in distorted postures threat;
And all appear'd irregularly great.

Here happy Horace tun'd th' Aufonian lyre
To fweeter founds, and temper'd Pindar's fire;
Pleas'd with Alcexus' manly rage t' infufe
The fofter fpirit of the Sapphic mufe.
The polish'd pillar different fculptures grace;
A work outlasting monumental brass.

IMITATIONS.

Ver. 196, &c.

There faw I ftand on a pillere
That was of tinned iron cleere,
The Latin poet Virgilye,

That hath bore up of a great while
The fame of pious Æncas:

And next him on a pillere was Of copper, Venus' clerke Ovide, That hath fowen wondrous wide The great god of love's fameTho faw I on a pillere by Of iron wrought full fternly, The great poet Dan Lucan, That on his fhoulders bore up then As hye as that I might fee, The fame of Julius and Pompee.

And next him on a pillereitode Of fulphure, like as he were wode, Dan Claudian, fo the for to tell,

220

Here fmiling Loves and Bacchanals appear,
The Julian ftar and great Auguftus here.
The doves that round the infant poet spread 230
Myrtles and bays, hung hovering o'er his head.
Here, in a fhrine that caft a dazzling light,
State fix'd in thought the mighty Stagyrite;
His facred head a radiant Zodiac crown'd,
And various animals his fides furround;
His piercing eyes, erect, appear to view
Superior worlds, and look all nature through.
With equal rays immortal Tully fhone,
The Roman roftra deck'd the conful's throne:
Gathering his flowing robe, he seen'd to stand 24●
In act to speak, and graceful stretch'd his hand.
Behind, Rome's genius waits with civic crowns,
And the great father of his country owns.

250

These maffy columns in a circle rife, O'er which a pompous dome invades the skies: Scarce to the top Iftretch'd my aching fight, So large it fpread, and fwell'd to fuch a height. Full in the midft proud Fame's imperial feat With jewels blaz'd, magnificiently great; The vivid emeralds there revive the eye, The flaming rubies fhew their fanguine dye, Bright azure rays from lively sapphires stream, And lucid amber cafts a golden gleam. With various-colour'd light the pavement shone, And all on fire appear'd the glowing throne; The dome's high arch reflects the mingled blaze, And forms a rainbow of alternate rays. When on the goddess first I caft my fight, Scarce feem'd her ftatue of a cubit's height; But fwell'd to larger fize, the more I gaz'd, 26 Till to the roof her towering front the rais'd. With her, the Temple every moment grew, And ampler viftas open'd to my view: Upward the columns fhoot, the roofs afcend, And arches widen, and long aisles extend. Such was her form, as ancient bards have told, Wings raise her arms, and wings her feet infold; A thousand bufy tongues the goddess bears, And thousand open eyes, and thousand listening ears. Beneath, in order rang'd, the tuneful nine (Her virgin handmaids) ftill attend the thrine: With eyes on Fame for ever fix'd, they fing; For Fame they raife the voice, and tune the ftring, With time's first birth began the heavenly lays. And last, eternal, through the length of days.

IMITATIONS.

Ver. 259. Scarce feem'd her ftature, &c.
Methought that she was so lite,
That the length of a cubite
Was longer than fhe feemed be;
But thus foone in a while fhe,

Her felfe tho wonderly ftraight,

That with her feet the the earth right, And with her head the touchyd heaven--Ver. 270. Beneath, in order rang'd, &c.] I heard about her throne y-fung That all the palays walls rung, So fung the mighty mufe, the That cleped is Cuiliope,

270

Around these wonders as I caft a look, The trumpet founded, and the temple shook, And all the nations, fummon'd at the call, From different quarters fill the crowded hall: Of various tongues the mingled founds were heard ; 280

In various garbs promifcuous throngs appear'd;
Thick as the bees, that with the fpring renew
Their flowery toils, and fip the fragrant dew,
When the wing'd colonies first tenipt the sky,
O'er dusky fields and shaded waters fly,

Or, fettling, feize the sweets the blossoms yield,
And a low murmur runs along the field.
Millions of fuppliant crowds the fshrine attend,
And all degrees before the goddess bend;
The poor, the rich, the valiant, and the fage, 290
And boafting youth, and narrative old age.
Their pleas were different, their requeft the fame;
For good and bad alike are fond of Fame.
Some the difgrac'd, and fome with honours crown'd;
Unlike fucceffes equal merits found.
Thus her blind fifter, fickle Fortune, reigns,
And undiscerning scatters crowns and chains.

First at the shrine the learned world appear, And to the goddess thus prefer their prayer. Long have we fought t' inftruct and please mankind, 300

With ftudies pale, with midnight vigils blind;
But thank'd by few, rewarded yet by none,
We here appeal to thy fuperior throne:
On wit and learning the just prize bestow,
For Fame is all we must expect below.

The goddess heard, and bade the mufes raise
The golden trumpet of eternal praise :
From pole to pole the winds diffuse the found,
That fills the circuit of the world around;

Not all at once, as thunder breaks the cloud; 310
The notes at first were rather sweet than loud:
By just degrees they every moment rife,
Fill the wide earth, and gain upon the skies.
At every breath were balmy odours shed,
Which ftill grew fweeter, as they wider fpread;
Lefs fragrant fcents th' unfolding rose exhales,
Or fpices breathing in Arabian gales.

IMITATIONS.
Ver. 276. Around these wonders, &c.]
I heard a noise approachen blive,
That far'd as bees done in a hive,
Against her time of out-flying,
Right fuch a manere murmuring,
For all the world it seemed me,
Tho gan I look about and fee

That there came entering into th' hall,
A right great company withal;
And that of fundry regions,
Of all kind of conditions, &c.--
Ver. 294. Some the difgrac'd, &c.]

And fome of them the granted fone,
And feme the warned well and fair,
And fome the granted the contrair-
Right as her fifter dame Fortune

320

Next these the good and just, an awful train, Thus on their knees address the facred fane. Since living virtue is with envy curs'd, And the best men are treated like the worst, Do thou, just goddess, call our merits forth, And give each deed th' exact intrinfic worth. Not with bare justice shall your act be crown'd, (Said Fame) but high above defert renown'd: Let fuller notes th' applauding world amaze, And the loud clarion labour in your praise.

This band difmifs'd, behold another crowd Preferr'd the fame request, and lowly bow'd; The conftant tenor of whofe well-fpent days 330 No less deferv'd a just return of praise. But straight the direful trump of flander founds; Through the big dome the doubling thunder bounds; Loud as the burst of cannon rends the skies, The dire report through every region flies, In every ear inceffant rumours rung, And gathering fcandals grew on every tongue. From the black trumpet's rufty concave broke Sulphureous flames, and clouds of rolling smoke : The poisonous vapour blots the purple skies, 340 And withers all before it as it flies.

A troop came next, who crowns and armour

wore,

And proud defiance in their looks they bore:

IMITATIONS.

Ver. 318. The good and juft, &c.]

Tho came the third companye,
And gan up to the dees to hye,
And down on knees they fell anone,
And faiden: We been everichone
Folke that han full truely
Deferved fame right-fully,
And prayen you it might be knowe
Right as it is, and forth blowe.

I grant, quoth fhe, for now we lift
That your good works fhall be wist.
And yet ye fhall have better loos,
Right in despite of all, your foos,
Than worthy is, and that anone.
Let now (quoth fhe) thy trump gone-
And certes all the breath that went
Out of his trump's mouth fmel'd
As men a pot of baume held
Among a basket full of rofes.-

Ver. 328,338. Behold another crowd, &c.-
From the black trumpet's rufty, &c.]
Therewithal there came anone
Another huge companye

Of good folke

What did this Eolus, but he
Took out his trump of brafs,

That fouler than the devil was:
And gan his tramp for to blowe,
As all the world fhould overthrowe.
Throughout every regione
Went this foul trumpet's foune
Swift as a pellet out of a gunne,.
When fire is in the powder runne.
And fuch a fmoke gan cut wende,