Here, in a shrine that cast a dazzling light,

Sate, 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 hand. 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 show 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 front she rais'd.
With her, the temple every moment grew,
And ampler vistas open'd to my view:
Upward the columns shoot, the roofs ascend,
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 busy tongues the Goddess bears,
And 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:

With Time's first birth began the heav'nly

lays,

And last eternal through 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 diff'rent 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 bend;

The poor, the rich, the valiant, and the sage, And boasting youth, and narrative old age. Their pleas were diff'rent, 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:
On 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 acts 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."