[Page 32]
ODE VI. On the Absence of the Poetic Inclination.
1 QUEEN of my songs, harmonious maid,
2 Why, why hast thou withdrawn thy aid?
3 Why thus forsook my widow'd breast,
4 With dark infeebling damps oppress'd?
5 Where is the bold prophetic heat,
6 With which my bosom wont to beat?
7 Where all the bright mysterious dreams
8 Of haunted shades and tuneful streams,
9 That woo'd my Genius to divinest themes?
10 Say, can the purple charms of wine,
11 Or young DIONE'S form divine,
12 Or flatt'ring scenes of promis'd fame
13 Relume thy faint, thy dying flame?
[Page 33]14 Have soft, melodious airs the pow'r,
15 To give one free, poetick hour?
16 Or from amid th' Elysian train,
17 The soul of MILTON shall I gain,
18 To win the back with some coelestial strain?
19 O mighty mind! O sacred flame!
20 My spirit kindles at his name;
21 Again my lab'ring bosom burns;
22 The Muse, th' inspiring Muse returns!
23 Such on the banks of TYNE confest,
24 I hail'd the bright, ethereal guest,
25 When first She seal'd me for her own,
26 Made all her blissful treasures known,
27 And bade me swear to follow HER alone.
Source edition
Akenside, Mark, 1721-1770. Odes on several subjects. London: printed for R. Dodsley. And sold by M. Cooper. M.DCC.XLV., 1745, pp. 32-33. 54p.; 4⁰. (ESTC T42068; OTA K027268.000) (Page images digitized by University of California Libraries.)
Editorial principles
The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.
Other works by Mark Akenside
- HYMN TO THE NAIADS. ()
- [Inscription] I. For a GROTTO. ()
- [Inscription] II. For a Statue of CHAUCER at WOODSTOCK. ()
- [Inscription] III. ()
- [Inscription] IV. ()
- [Inscription] VI. For a Column at RUNNYMEDE. ()
- ODE I. Allusion to HORACE. ()
- ODE II. On the WINTER-SOLSTICE, M. D.CC.XL. (); ON THE WINTER SOLSTICE. M. D.CC.XL. ()
- ODE III. Against SUSPICION. ()
- ODE IV. To a GENTLEMAN whose MISTRESS had married an old Man. ()
- ODE To the Right Honourable FRANCIS Earl of HUNTINGDON. MDCCXLVII. ()
- ODE To the Right Reverend BENJAMIN Lord Bishop of WINCHESTER. ()
- ODE V. Hymn to CHEARFULNESS. The Author Sick. ()
- ODE VII. To a FRIEND, on the hazard of falling in LOVE. ()
- ODE VIII. On leaving HOLLAND. ()
- ODE IX. To SLEEP. ()
- ODE X. On LYRIC Poetry. ()
- ODE. ()
- [THE PLEASURES OF IMAGINATION. A POEM.] ()