Hail, then, immortals! ye who shine above, Each, in his sphere, the literary Jove; And ye the common people of these skies, A humbler crowd of nameless deities; Whether 'tis yours to lead the willing mind Through history's mazes, and the turnings find; Or whether, led by science, ye retire, Lost and bewildered in the vast desire; Whether the Muse invites you to her bowers, And crowns your placid brows with living flowers; Or godlike wisdom teaches you to show The noblest road to happiness below; Or men and manners prompt the easy page To mark the flying follies of the age: Whatever good ye boast, that good impart; Inform the head and rectify the heart. Lo! all in silence, all in order stand And mighty folios first, a lordly band; Then quartos their well-ordered ranks maintain. And light octavos fill a spacious plain: See yonder, ranged in more frequented rows, A humbler band of duodecimos; While undistinguished trifles swell the scene, The last new play and frittered magazine. Thus 'tis in life, where first the proud, the great, In leagued assembly keep their cumbrous state; Heavy and huge, they fill the world with dread, Are much admired, and are but little read: The commons next, a middle rank, are found; Professions fruitful pour their offspring round: Reasoners and wits are next their place allowed, And last, of vulgar tribes a countless crowd. First, let us view the form, the size, the dress; For these the manners, nay the mind express; That weight of wood, with leathern coat o'erlaid; Those ample clasps, of solid metal made; The close-pressed leaves, unclosed for many an age; The dull red edging of the well-filled page; On the broad back the stubborn ridges rolled, Where yet the title stands in tarnished gold; These all a sage and laboured work proclaim, A painful candidate for lasting fame: No idle wit, no trifling verse can lurk In the deep bosom of that weighty work; No playful thoughts degrade the solemn style, Nor one light sentence claims a transient smile. Hence, in these times, untouched the pages lie, And slumber out their immortality: They _had_ their day, when, after all his toil, His morning study, and his midnight oil, At length an author's ONE great work appeared, By patient hope, and length of days, endeared: Expecting nations hailed it from the press; Poetic friends prefixed each kind address; Princes and kings received the ponderous gift, And ladies read the work they could not lift. Fashion, though Folly's child, and guide of fools, Rules e'en the wisest, and in learning rules; From crowds and courts to Wisdom's seat she goes, And reigns triumphant o'er her mother's foes.