Page:The Progress of Poetry - Madan (1783).djvu/23
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Yet this the least of his superior fame,
Whose mighty genius caught great Lucan's flame;
Where Pompey sunk intrepid to his doom,
And each free strain breathes Liberty and Rome.
Whose mighty genius caught great Lucan's flame;
Where Pompey sunk intrepid to his doom,
And each free strain breathes Liberty and Rome.
Fain would I now th' excelling Bard reveal,
And point where most th' assembled Muses dwell;
Where Phœbus has his warmest smiles bestow'd,
And who most labours with th' inspiring God:
But while I strive to fix the ray divine,
And round that head the laurel'd triumph twine,
Unnumber'd Bards distract my dazzled sight,
And my first choice grows faint with rival light.
And point where most th' assembled Muses dwell;
Where Phœbus has his warmest smiles bestow'd,
And who most labours with th' inspiring God:
But while I strive to fix the ray divine,
And round that head the laurel'd triumph twine,
Unnumber'd Bards distract my dazzled sight,
And my first choice grows faint with rival light.
So the bright road that stains the lucid skies,
Seen, when fair Cynthia's temperate beams arise,
Seen, when fair Cynthia's temperate beams arise,
Thick