Page:The Progress of Poetry - Madan (1783).djvu/12

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With roses crown'd, on flowers supinely laid,
Anacreon next the sprightly lyre essay'd';
To light fantastic measures beat the ground,
Or dealt the mirth-inspiring juice around;
No care, no thought, the tuneful trifler knew,
But mark'd with bliss each moment as it flew.

Say, Muse, the soil where smooth Clitumnus glides,
And rolls, thro' fields profuse, his ductile tides;
Where swoln Eridanus in state proceeds,
And fertile Mincio wanders thro' the meads;
Where breathing flowers ambrosial sweets distil,
And the soft air with balmy fragrance fill.—
O Italy! tho' smiling Plenty reigns,
Tho' Nature laughs amid thy bloomy plains;

Tho'

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