Nor was the work impair'd by storms alone,
But felt th' approaches of too warm a sun;
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 summit, in the temple's shade,
Nor heat could melt, nor beating storms in-
vade.

There names inscrib'd unnumber'd ages past, From time's first birth, with time itself shall last;

The growing tow'rs like exhalations rise, And the huge columns heave into the skies.

The eastern front was glorious to behold, With diamond flaming, and Barbaric gold. There Ninus shone, who spread th' Assyrian fame,

And the great founder of the Persian name: There, in long robes, the royal Magi stand; Grave Zoroaster waves the circling wand: The sage Chaldæans rob'd in white appear'd, And Brachmans, deep in desert woods rever’d. These stopp'd the moon, and call'd th' unbodied shades

frost)

Rise white in air, and glitter o'er the coast;
Pale suns, unfelt, at distance roll away,
And on th' impassive ice the lightnings play;
Eternal snows the growing mass supply,
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 ev'ry face
Of various structure, but of and grace:
Four brazen gates, on columns lifted high,
Salute th' diff'rent quarters of the sky.
Here fabled chiefs, in darker ages boru,
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 legislators seem to think in stone.
Westward a sumptuous frontispiece appear'd,
On Doric pillars of white marble rear'd,
Crown'd with an architrave of antique mold,
And sculpture rising on the roughen'd gold.
In shaggy spoils here Thesens was beheld,
And Perseus dreadful with Minerva's shield:
There great Alcides, stooping with his toil,
Rests on his club, and holds th' Hesperian
spoil:

Of talismans and sigils knew the pow'r,
And careful watch'd the planetary hour.
Superior, and alone, Confucius stood,
Who taught that useful science, to be good.

But, on the south, a long majestic race || Of Egypt's priests the gilded niches grace, Who measur'd earth, describ'd the starry spheres,

And trac'd the long records of lunar years. | High on his car Sesostris struck my view, Whom sceptered slaves in golden harness drew:

His hands a bow and pointed javelin hold,
His giant limbs are arm'd in scales of gold.
Between the statues obelisks were plac'd,
And the learn'd walls with hieroglyphics
grac'd.

Of gothic structure was the northern side,
O'erwroughtwith ornaments of barb'rous pride;
There hugeColosses rose, with trophies crown'd;
And Runic characters were grav'd around.
There sat Zamolxis with erected eyes;
And Odin here in mimic trances dies.
There on rude iron columns, smear'd with
blood,

The borrid forms of Scythian heroes stood, Druids and bards (their once loud harps un

strung),

sound,

Start from their roots, and form a shade around:
Amphion there the loud creating lyre
Strikes, and beholds a sudden Thebes aspire!
Cytheron's echoes auswer to his call,
And balf the mountain rolls into a wall:

Which o'er each object casting various dyes,
Enlarges some, and others multiplies:
Nor void of emblem was the mystic wall;
For thus romantic fame increases all.
The temple shakes, the sounding gates un-
fold,

ascend,

gold;

bend,

Of bright transparent beryl were the walls,
The friezes gold, and gold the capitals:

As heaven with stars, the roof with jewels glows,

And ever-living lamps depend in rows.
Full in the passage of each spacious gate,
The sage Historians in white garments wait;
Grav'd o'er their seats the form of Time was
found,

bound.

Within stood heroes, who thro' loud alarms In bloody fields pursued renown in arms. High on a throne, with trophies charg'd, I view'd [dued, The youth that all things but himself subHis feet on sceptres and tiaras trod,

And his horn'd head belyed the Lybian god. There Cæsar, grac'd with both Minervas, shone;

Cæsar, the world's great master, and his own;
Unmov'd, superior still in ev'ry state,
And scarce detested in his country's fate.
But chief were those who not for empire
fought,
[bought.
But with their toils their people's safety
High o'er the rest Epaminondas stood;
Timoleon, glorious in his brother's blood;
Bold Scipio, saviour of the Roman state,
Great in his triumphs, in retirement great;
And wise Aurelius, in whose well-taught'
mind

fjoin'd, (

With boundless pow'r unbounded virtue,
His own strict judge, and patron of mankind.
Much suff'ring heroes next their honours
claim,

Those of less noisy and less guilty fame,
Fair Virtue's silent train: supremne of these
Here ever shines the godlike Socrates;
He whom ungrateful Athens could expel,
At all times just but when he sign'd the shell;||
Here his abode the martyr'd Phocion claims,
With Agis, not the last of Spartan names;
Unconquer'd Cato shews the wound he tore;
And Brutus his ill genius meets no more.

But in the centre of the hallow'd choir,
Six pompous columns o'er the rest aspire;
Around the shrine itself of Fame they stand,
Hold the chief honours, and the fane com-
mand.

High on the first the mighty Homer shone,
Eternal adamant compos'd his throne;
Father of verse! in holy fillets drest,
His silver beard wav'd gently o'er his breast;
Tho' blind, a boldness in his look appears;
In years he seem'd, but not impair'd by years.
The wars of Troy were round the pillar seen:
Here fierce Tydides wounds the Cyprian
queen;

With patient touches of unwearied art:
The Mantuan there iu sober triumph sate,
Compos'd his posture, and his look sedate;
On Homer still he fix'd a rev'rend eye,
Great without pride, in modest majesty.
In living sculpture on the sides were spread
The Latian wars, and haughty Turnus dead;
Eliza stretch'd upon the fun'ral pyre ;
Eneas bending with his aged sire:
Troy flam'd in burning gold; and o'er the
throne

Arms and the Man in golden cyphers shone.
Four swans sustain a car of silver bright,
With heads advanc'd, and pinious stretch'd for
flight:

Here, like some furious prophet, Pindar rode,
And seem'd to labour with th' inspiring god.
Across the harp a careless band he flings,
And boldly sinks into the sounding strings.
The figur'd games of Greece the column grace;
Neptune and Jove survey the rapid race.
The youths hang o'er their chariots as they

run,

The fiery steeds seem starting from the stone: The champions, in distorted posture, threat: And all appear'd irregularly great.

Here happy Horace tun'd th' Ausonian lyre To sweeter sounds, and temper'd Pindar's fire: Pleas'd with Alcæus' manly rage t'infuse The softer spirit of the Sapphic muse. The polish'd pillar diffèrent sculptures grace, A work outlasting monumental brass. Here smiling loves and Bacchanals appear; The Julian star, and great Augustus here. The doves that round the infant poet spread Myrtles and bays, hang hov'ring o'er his head.

Here, in a shrine that cast a dazzling light, Sat fix'd in thought the mighty Stagyrite; His sacred head a radiant zodiac crown'd, And various animals his sides surround; His piercing eyes, erect, appear to view Superior worlds, and look all nature through.

With equal rays immortal Tully shone, The Roman rostra deck'd the consul's throne: Gath'ring his flowing robe, he seem'd to stand In act to speak, and graceful stretch'd his band, Behind, Rome's genius waits with civic

crowns,

And the great father of his country owns

These massy columns in a circle rise, O'er which a pompous dome invades the skies: Scarce to the top I stretch'd my aching sight, So large it spread, and swell'd to such a height. Full in the midst proud Fame's imperial seat With jewels blaz'd, magnificently great: The vivid em'ralds there revive the eye, The flaming rubies shew their sanguine dye, Bright azure rays from lively sapphires stream,

And lucid amber casts 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 cast my sight,
Scarce seem'd her stature of a cubit's height;
But swell'd to larger size, the more I gaz'd,
Till to the roof her tow'ring head she rais'd.
With her, the temple ev'ry moment grew ;
And ampler vistas open'd to my view :
Upwards the columus shoot, the roofs ascend,
Aud arches widen, and long aisles extend.
Such was her form as ancient bards have told,
Wings raise her arms, and wings her feet en-
fold;

A thousand busy tongues the goddess bears,
A thousand open eyes, and thousand list ning

ears.

Beneath, in order rang'd, the tuneful Nine (Her virgin handmaids) still attend the shrine; With eyes on Fame for ever fix'd, they sing ; For Fame they raise the voice, and tune the string: [lays, With Time's first birth began the heavenly And last eternal thro' the length of days.

Around these wonders as I cast a look, The trumpet sounded, and the temple shook; And all the nations, summon'd at the call, From diffrent quarters fill the crowded hall: Of various tongues the mingled sounds were

heard;

In various garbs promiscuous throngs appear'd;

Thick as the bees that with the spring renew
Their flow'ry toils, and sip the fragrant dew,
When the wing'd colonies first tempt the sky,
O'er dusky fields and shaded waters fly,
Or settling seize the sweets the blossoms yield,
And a low murmur runs along the field.
Millions of suppliant crowds the shrine attend,
And all degrees before the goddess beud ;
The poor, the rich, the valiant, and the sage,
And boasting youth, and narrative old age.
Their pleas were diffrent, their request the

same;

For good and bad alike are fond of fame.

Some she disgrac'd, and some with honours crown'd;

Unlike successes equal merits found.
Thus her blind sister, fickle Fortune, reigns :
And, undiscerning, scatters crowns and chains.
First at the shrine the learned world appear,
And to the Goddess thus prefer their pray'r;
Long have we sought t'instruct and please
mankind,

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

The Goddess heard, and bade the Muses
raise

The golden trumpet of eternal praise:
From pole to pole the winds diffuse the sound,
That fills the circuit of the world around;
Not all at once, as thunder breaks the cloud :
The notes at first were rather sweet than loud;
By just degrees they ev'ry moment rise,
Fill the wide earth, and gain upon the skies.
At ev'ry breath were balmy odours shed,
Which still grew sweeter as they wider spread;
Less fragrant scents th' unfolding rose exhales,
Or spices breathing in Arabian gales.

Next these the good and just, an awful train,
Thus on their knees address the sacred 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 intrinsic worth.
Not with bare justice shall your act be crown'd
(Said Fame), but high above desert renown'd:
Let fuller notes th' applauding world amaze,
And the loud clarion labour in your praise.

This band dismiss'd, behold another crowd Preferr'd the same request, and lowly bow'd; The constant tenour of whose well-spent days No less deserv'd a just return of praise. But straight the direful trump of slander sounds!

Thro' the big dome the doubling thunder bounds;

Loud as the burst of cannon rends the skies,
The dire report thro' ev'ry region flies;
In ev'ry ear incessant rumours rung,
And gath`ring scandals drew on ev'ry tongue.
From the black trumpet's rusty concave broke
Sulphureous flames, and clouds of rolling
smoke:

The pois'nous vapour blots the purple skies,
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: For thee (they cried) amidst alarms and strife We sail'd in tempests down the stream of life;