TO Mr. GRAY, ON HIS ODES.
[]I.
REPINE not, GRAY, that our weak dazzled Eyes
Thy daring heights and brightneſs ſhun,
How few can track the Eagle to the ſkies,
Or like Him, gaze upon the Sun!
II.
The gentle Reader loves the gentle Muſe,
That little dares, and little means,
Who humbly ſips her Learning from Reviews,
Or flutters in the Magazines.
III.
No longer now from Learning's ſacred Store
Our Minds their health and vigor draw;
HOMER, and PINDAR are rever'd no more,
No more the Stagyrite is Law.
[2]IV.
Tho' nurſt by theſe, in vain thy Muſe appears,
To breath her ardors in our Souls;
In vain to ſightleſs Eyes, and deaden'd Ears
The Light'ning gleams, and Thunder rolls!
V.
Yet droop not, GRAY, nor quit thy Heav'n-born Art,
Again thy wond'rous Powers reveal,
Wake ſlumb'ring Virtue in the Briton's Heart.
And rouſe Us to reflect, and feel!
VI.
With antient Deeds our long-chill'd Boſoms fire,
Thoſe Deeds, which mark ELIZA's reign!
Make Britons, Greeks again—Then ſtrike the Lyre,
And PINDAR ſhall not Sing in vain.
- Citation Suggestion for this Object
- TextGrid Repository (2020). TEI. 3439 To Mr Gray on his odes. University of Oxford Text Archive. . https://hdl.handle.net/21.T11991/0000-001A-5FC0-1