Whence admiration overflows the mind, And leaves the pleasure felt, but undefin'd. Stay, daring Rider, now no longer rove; Now pass to find the palace through the grove: Whate'er you see, whate'er you feel, display The Realm you sought for; daring Rider, stay.
" Here various Fancy spreads a varied scene, And Judgment likes the sight, and looks serene, And can be pleas'd itself, and helps to please, And joins the work, and regulates the lays. Thus, on a plan design'd by double care, The building rises in the glittering air, With just agreement fram'd in every part, And smoothly polish'd with the nicest art.
" Here laurel-boughs, which ancient heroes wore, Now not so fading as they prov'd before, Wreath round the pillars which the Poets rear, And slope their points to make a foliage there. Here chaplets, pull'd in gently-breathing wind, And wrought by lovers innocently kind, Hung o'er the porch, their fragrant odors give, And fresh in lasting song for ever live. The shades, for whom with such indulgent care Fame wreaths the boughs, or hangs the chaplets there, To deathless honors thus preserv'd above, For ages conquer, or for ages love.
"Here bold Description paints the walls within, Her pencil touches, and the world is seen : The fields look beauteous in their flowery pride, The mountains rear aloft, the vales subside;
The cities rise, the rivers seem to play, And hanging rocks repell the foaming sea; The foaming seas their angry billows show, Curl'd white above, and darkly roll'd below, Or cease their rage, and, as they can 'v lie, Return the pleasing pictures of the sky The skies, extended in an open view, Appear a lofty distant arch of blue,
In which Description stains the painted bow, Or thickens clouds, and feathers-out the snow, Or mingles blushes in the morning ray, Or gilds the noon, or turns an evening gray.
"Here, on the pedestals of War and Peace, In different rows, and with a different grace, Fine Statues proudly ride, or nobly stand, To which Narration with a pointing hand Directs the sight, and makes examples please By boldly venturing to dilate in praise; While chosen beauties lengthen out the song, Yet make her hearers never think it long. Or if, with closer art, with sprightly mien, Scarce like herself, and more like Action seen, She bids their facts in images arise, And seem to pass before the Reader's eyes, The words like charms inchanted motion give,
And all the Statues of the Palace live. Then hosts embattled stretch their lines afar, Their leaders' speeches animate the war, The trumpets sound, the feather'd arrows fly, The sword is drawn, the lance is toss'd on high, The brave press on, the fainter forces yield, And death in different shapes deforms the field. Or, should the shepherds be dispos'd to play, Amintor's jolly pipe beguiles the day, And jocund Echos dally with the sound, And Nymphs in measures trip along the ground, And, ere the dews have wet the grass below, Turn homewards singing all the way they go.
"Here, as on circumstance Narrations dwell, And tell what moves, and hardly seem to tell, The toil of Heroes on the dusty plains, Or on the green the merriment of Swains, Reflection speaks: then all the Forms that rose In life's inchanted scene themselves compose; Whilst the grave voice, controling all the spells, With solemn utterance, thus the Moral tells : So Public Worth its enemies destroys, Or Private Innocence itself enjoys.'
"Here all the Passions, for their greater sway, In all the power of words themselves array; And hence the soft Pathetic gently charms, And hence the bolder fills the breast with arms. Sweet Love in numbers finds a world of darts,
And with Desirings wounds the tender hearts. Fair Hope displays its pinions to the wind, And flutters in the lines, and lifts the mind. Brisk Joy with transport fills the rising strain, Breaks in the notes, and bounds in every vein. Stern Courage, glittering in the sparks of Ire, Inflames those lays that set the breast on fire. Aversion learns to fly with swifter will, In numbers taught to represent an ill. By frightful accents Fear produces fears; By sad expression Sorrow melts to tears : And dire Amazement and Despair are brought By words of Horror through the wilds of thought. 'Tis thus tumultuous Passions learn to roll; Thus, arm'd with Poetry, they win the soul.
"Pass further through the Dome, another view
Would now the pleasures of thy mind renew, Where oft Description for the colors goes, Which raise and animate its native shows; Where oft Narration seeks a florid grace To keep from sinking ere 'tis time to cease ; Where easy turns Reflection looks to find, When Morals aim at dress to please the mind; Where lively Figures are for use array'd, And these an Action, those a Passion, aid.
"There modest Metaphors in order sit, With unaffected, undisguising Wit, That leave their own, and seek another's place,
Not forc'd, but changing with an easy pace, To deck a notion faintly seen before,
And Truth preserves her shape, and shines the more.
"By these the beauteous Similies reside, In look more open, in design ally'd, Who, fond of likeness, from another's face Bring every feature's corresponding grace, With near approaches in expression flow, And take the turn their pattern loves to show; As in a glass the shadows meet the fair, And dress and practise with resembling air. Thus Truth by pleasure doth her aim pursue, Looks bright, and fixes on the doubled view.
"There Repetitions one another meet, Expressly strong, or languishingly sweet, And raise the sort of sentiment they please, And urge the sort of sentiment they raise.
"There close in order are the Questions plac'd, Which march with art conceal'd in shows of haste, And work the Reader till his mind be brought To make its answers in the Writer's thought. For thus the moving Passions seem to throng, And with their quickness force the soul along; And thus the soul grows fond they should prevail, When every Question seems a fair appeal; And if by just degrees of strength they soar, In steps as equal each affects the more.
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