"And holiest far of what the sun surveys

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"Thro' his whole course were those primeval seats "Which with religious footsteps he had taught

"Their sires t' approach, the wild Dectean cave "Where Jove was born, the ever verdant meads "Of Ida, and the spacious grotto where

"His active youth he pass'd, and where his throne Yet stands mysterious, whither Minos came

ແ

"Each ninth returning year, the king of gods "And mortals, there in secret to consult

"On justice, and the tables of his law

"T' inscribe anew: oft' also with like zeal

"Great Rhea's mansion from the Gnossian gates
"Men visit, nor less oft' the antic fane
"Built on that sacred spot along the banks
"Of shady Theron, where benignant Jove

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"And his majestic consort join'd their hands, "And spoke their nuptial vows. Alas! it was there "That the dire fame of Athens sunk in bonds

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"I first receiv'd, what time an annual feast "Had summon'd all the genial country round "By sacrifice and pomp to bring to mind "That first great spousal, while the enamour'd youths "And virgins with the priest before the shrine "Observe the same pure ritual, and invoke "The same glad omens.

509

There among the crowd

"Of strangers from those naval cities drawn "Which deck like gems the island's northern shore, "A merchant of Ægina I descry'd,

sprung

"My ancient host; but forward as I
"To meet him, he with dark dejected brow
"Stoop'd half averse; and, "O Athenian guest!
He said, "art thou in Crete these joyful rites
"Partaking? Know thy laws are blotted out;
"Thy Country kneels before a Tyrant's throne."
"He added names of men, with hostile deeds
"Disastrous, which obscure and indistinct

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"I heard; for while he spake my heart grew cold, "And my eyes dim; the altars and their train "No more were present to me; how I far'd, "Or whither turn'd, I know not, nor recall "Aught of those moments, other than the sense "Of one who struggles in oppressive sleep, "And from the toils of some distressful dream "To break away, with palpitating heart,

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"Weak limbs, and temples bath'd in deathlike dew, "Makes many a painful effort. When at last "The sun and Nature's face again appear'd, "Not far I found me, where the public path "Winding thro' cypress groves and swelling meads "From Gnossus to the cave of Jove ascends: "Heedless I follow'd on, till soon the skirts

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“Of Ida rose before me, and the vault

"Wide op'ning pierc'd the mountain's rocky side. "Ent'ring within the threshold, on the ground

"I flung me, sad, faint, overworn with toil.

*

540

THE

BEGINNING OF THE FOURTH BOOK

OF THE

PLEASURES OF IMAGINATION.

MDCCLXX.

ONE effort more, one chearful sally more,
Our destin'd course will finish; and in peace
Then for an off'ring sacred to the pow'rs
Who lent us gracious guidance, we will then
Inscribe a monument of deathless praise,
O my advent'rous Song! With steady speed
Long hast thou, on an untry'd voyage bound,
Sail'd between earth and heav'n; hast now survey'd
Stretch'd out beneath thee all the mazy tracks
Of passion and opinion, like a waste

Of sands, and flow'ry lawns, and tangling woods,
Where mortals roam bewilder'd; and hast now
Exulting soar'd among the worlds above,
Or hover'd near th' eternal gates of heav'n,

If haply the discourses of the gods

VOL. II.

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A curious but an unpresuming guest

Thou might'st partake, and carry back some strain Of divine wisdom, lawful to repeat,

And apt to be conceiv'd, of man below.

A diff'rent task remains, the secret paths

Of early genius to explore, to trace

Those haunts where Fancy her predestin'd sons,
Like to the demi-gods of old, doth nurse
Remote from eye profane. Ye happy souls!
Who now her tender discipline obey,

Where dwell ye? what wild river's brink at eve
Imprint your steps? what solemn groves at noon
Use ye to visit, often breaking forth

In rapture 'mid your dilatory walk,

Or musing as in slumber on the green?

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-Would I again were with you!-O ye Dales
Of Tyne! and ye most ancient Woodlands! where
Oft' as the giant flood obliquely strides,
And his banks open and his lawns extend,

Stops short the pleased traveller to view
Presiding o'er the scene some rustic tow'r
Founded by Norman or by Saxon hands;
O ye Northumbrian shades! which overlook
The rocky pavement and the mossy falls
Of solitary Wensbeck's limpid stream,
How gladly I recall your well-known seats

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