91: She spoke: and veteran BARBAULD caught the strain,
92: And deem'd her songs of Love, her Lyrics vain;
93: And ROBINSON to Gaul her Fancy gave,
94: And trac'd the picture of a Deist's grave!
95: And charming SMITH resign'd her power to please,
96: Poetic feeling and poetic ease;
97: And HELEN, fir'd by Freedom, bade adieu
98: To all the broken visions of Peru;
99: And YEARSELEY, who had warbled, Nature's child,
100: Midst twilight dews, her minstrel ditties wild,
101: (Tho' soon a wanderer from her meads and milk,
102: She long'd to rustle, like her sex, in silk)
103: Now stole the modish grin, the sapient sneer,`
104: And flippant HAYS assum'd a cynic leer;
105: While classic KAUFFMAN her Priapus drew,
106: And linger'd a sweet blush with EMMA CREWE.
107: Yet say, ye Fair, with man's tyrannic host,
108: Say, where the battles ye so proudly boast,
109: While, urg'd to triumph by the Spartan fife,
110: Corporeal struggles mix'd with mental strife?
111: Where, the plum'd chieftain of your chosen train,
112: To fabricate your laws, and fix your reign?
113: Say, hath her eye its lightnings flash'd to scath
114: The bloom young Pleasure sheds on Glory's path;
115: Her ear, indignant as she march'd along,
116: Scorn'd every charm of soft lascivious song?
117: Say, hath she view'd, if pass'd the mourner by,
118: The drooping form, nor heav'd one female sigh;
119: Arm'd with proud intellect, at fortune laugh'd,
120: Mock'd the vain threat, and brav'd the envenom'd shaft?
121: Say, hath your chief the ideal depths explor'd,
122: Amid the flaming tracts of spirit soar'd,
123: And from base earth, by Reason's vigor borne,
124: Hail'd the fair beams of Mind's expanding morn?
125: Alas! in every aspiration bold,
126: I saw the creature of a mortal mould:
127: Yes! not untrembling (tho' I half ador'd
128: A mind by Genius fraught, by Science stor'd)
129: I saw the Heroine mount the dazzling dome
130: Where Shakspeare's spirit kindled, to illume
131: His favourite FUSELI, and with magic might
132: To earthly sense unlock'd a world of light!
133: Full soon, amid the high pictorial blaze,
134: I saw a Sibyl-transport in her gaze:
135: To the great Artist, from his wondrous Art,
136: I saw transferr'd the whole enraptur'd Heart;
137: Till, mingling soul with soul, in airy trance,
138: Enlighten'd and inspir'd at every glance,
139: And from the dross of appetite refin'd,
140: And, grasping at angelic food, all mind,
141: Down from the empyreal heights she sunk, betray'd
142: To poor Philosophy -- a love-sick maid!
143: -- But hark! lascivious murmurs melt around;
144: And pleasure trembles in each dying sound.
145: A myrtle bower, in fairest bloom array'd,
146: To laughing Venus streams the silver shade:
147: Thrill'd with fine ardors Collinsonias glow,
148: And, bending, breathe their loose desires below.
149: Each gentle air a swelling anther heaves,
150: Wafts its full sweets, and shivers thro' the leaves.
151: Bath'd in new bliss, the Fair-one greets the bower,
152: And ravishes a flame from every flower;
153: Low at her feet inhales the master's sighs,
154: And darts voluptuous from her eyes.
155: Yet, while each heart-pulse, in the Paphian grove,
156: Beats quick to IMLAY and licentious love,
157: A sudden gloom the gathering tempest spreads;
158: The floral arch-work withers o'er their heads;
159: Whirlwinds the paramours asunder tear;
160: And wisdom falls, the victim of despair.
161: And dost thou rove, with no internal light,
162: Poor maniac! thro' the stormy waste of night?
163: Hast thou no sense of guilt to be forgiv'n,
164: No comforter on earth, no hope in Heaven?
165: Stay, stay -- thine impious arrogance restrain --
166: What tho' the flood may quench thy burning brain,
167: Rash woman! can its whelming wave bestow
168: Oblivion, to blot out eternal woe?
169: "O come (a voice seraphic seems to say)
170: "Fly that pale form -- come sisters! come away.
171: "Come, from those livid limbs withdraw your gaze,
172: "Those limbs which Virtue views in mute amaze;
173: "Nor deem, that Genius lends a veil, to hide
174: "The dire apostate, the fell suicide. --
175: "Come, join, with wonted smiles, a kindred train,
176: "Who court, like you, the Muse; nor court in vain.
177: "Mark, where the sex have oft, in ancient days,
178: "To modest Virtue, claim'd a nation's praise;
179: "Chas'd from the public scene the fiend of strife,
180: "And shed a radiance o'er luxurious life;
181: "In silken fetters bound the obedient throng,
182: "And soften'd despots by the power of song.
183: "Yet woman owns a more extensive sway
184: "Where Heaven's own graces pour the living ray:
185: "And vast its influence o'er the social ties,
186: "By Heaven inform'd, if female genius rise
187: "Its power how vast, in critic wisdom sage,
188: "If MONTAGUE refine a letter'd age;
189: "And CARTER, with a milder air, diffuse
190: "The moral precepts of the Grecian Muse;
191: "And listening girls perceive a charm unknown
192: "In grave advice, as utter'd by CHAPONE;
193: "If SEWARD sting with rapture every vein,
194: "Or gay PIOZZI sport in lighter strain;
195: "If BURNEY mix with sparkling humour chaste
196: "Delicious feelings and the purest taste,
197: "Or RADCLIFFE wrap in necromantic gloom
198: "The impervious forest and the mystic dome;
199: "If BEAUCLERK paint Lenora's spectre-horse,
200: "The uplifted lance of death, the grisly corse;
201: "And e'en a Princess lend poetic grace
202: "The pencil's charm, and breathe in every trace.
203: She ceas'd and round their MORE the sisters sigh'd!
204: Soft on each tongue repentant murmurs died;
205: And sweetly scatter'd (as they glanc'd away)
206: Their conscious "blushes spoke a brighter day."
