"Say! wilt Thou listen to his weaker strains, / Who pants to range round Fancy's rich domains; / To vindicate her empire, and disown / Proud System, seated on her injur'd throne?"
— Hayley, William (1745-1820)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Dodsley
Date
1782
Metaphor
"Say! wilt Thou listen to his weaker strains, / Who pants to range round Fancy's rich domains; / To vindicate her empire, and disown / Proud System, seated on her injur'd throne?"
Metaphor in Context
Such dark decrees have letter'd Bigots penn'd,
Yet seiz'd that honour'd name, the Poet's Friend.
But Learning from her page their laws will blot;
Scorn'd be their arrogance! their name forgot!
Th' indignant Bard, abhorring base controul,
Seeks the just Critic of congenial soul.
Say! Mason, Judge and Master of the Lyre!
Harmonious Chief of Britain's living Choir,
Say! wilt Thou listen to his weaker strains,
Who pants to range round Fancy's rich domains;
To vindicate her empire, and disown
Proud System, seated on her injur'd throne?
Come! while thy Muse, contented with applause,
Gives to her graceful song a little pause,
Enjoying triumphs past; at leisure laid
In thy sweet Garden's variegated shade,
Or fondly hanging on some favourite Oak
That Harp, whose notes the fate of Mona spoke,
Strung by the sacred Druids' social band,
And wisely trusted to thy kindred hand!
Come! for thy liberal and ingenuous heart
Can aid a Brother in this magic art;
Let us, and Freedom be our guide, explore
The highest province of poetic lore,
Free the young Bard from that oppressive awe,
Which feels Opinion's rule as Reason's law,
And from his spirit bid vain fears depart,
Of weaken'd Nature and exhausted Art!
Phantoms! that literary spleen conceives!
Dullness adopts, and Indolence believes!
While with advent'rous step we wind along
Th' expansive regions of Heroic song,
From different sources let our search explain
Why few the Chieftans of this wide domain.
Haply, inspiriting poetic youth,
Our verse may prove this animating truth,
That Poesy's sublime, neglected field
May still new laurels to Ambition yield;
Her Epic trumpet, in a modern hand,
Still make the spirit glow, the heart expand.
Be such our doctrine! our enlivening aim
The Muse's honour, and our Country's fame!
Yet seiz'd that honour'd name, the Poet's Friend.
But Learning from her page their laws will blot;
Scorn'd be their arrogance! their name forgot!
Th' indignant Bard, abhorring base controul,
Seeks the just Critic of congenial soul.
Say! Mason, Judge and Master of the Lyre!
Harmonious Chief of Britain's living Choir,
Say! wilt Thou listen to his weaker strains,
Who pants to range round Fancy's rich domains;
To vindicate her empire, and disown
Proud System, seated on her injur'd throne?
Come! while thy Muse, contented with applause,
Gives to her graceful song a little pause,
Enjoying triumphs past; at leisure laid
In thy sweet Garden's variegated shade,
Or fondly hanging on some favourite Oak
That Harp, whose notes the fate of Mona spoke,
Strung by the sacred Druids' social band,
And wisely trusted to thy kindred hand!
Come! for thy liberal and ingenuous heart
Can aid a Brother in this magic art;
Let us, and Freedom be our guide, explore
The highest province of poetic lore,
Free the young Bard from that oppressive awe,
Which feels Opinion's rule as Reason's law,
And from his spirit bid vain fears depart,
Of weaken'd Nature and exhausted Art!
Phantoms! that literary spleen conceives!
Dullness adopts, and Indolence believes!
While with advent'rous step we wind along
Th' expansive regions of Heroic song,
From different sources let our search explain
Why few the Chieftans of this wide domain.
Haply, inspiriting poetic youth,
Our verse may prove this animating truth,
That Poesy's sublime, neglected field
May still new laurels to Ambition yield;
Her Epic trumpet, in a modern hand,
Still make the spirit glow, the heart expand.
Be such our doctrine! our enlivening aim
The Muse's honour, and our Country's fame!
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
4 entries in LION and ESTC (1782, 1785, 1788).
First published as An Essay on Epic Poetry; in Five Epistles to the Revd. Mr. Mason. With Notes. (London: Printed for J. Dodsley, 1782). <Link to Hathi Trust>
Reprinted in Poems and Plays, by William Hayley, Esq. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1785). <Link to ECCO>
Text from new edition of Poems and Plays, by William Hayley, Esq. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1788). See also William Hayley, Poems and Plays, by William Hayley, Esq., vol. 3 of 6 vols. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1785). <Link to ECCO>
First published as An Essay on Epic Poetry; in Five Epistles to the Revd. Mr. Mason. With Notes. (London: Printed for J. Dodsley, 1782). <Link to Hathi Trust>
Reprinted in Poems and Plays, by William Hayley, Esq. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1785). <Link to ECCO>
Text from new edition of Poems and Plays, by William Hayley, Esq. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1788). See also William Hayley, Poems and Plays, by William Hayley, Esq., vol. 3 of 6 vols. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1785). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
06/17/2004
Date of Review
01/07/2012
