Must string his nerves, and imp his eagle-wings, Impatient of the painful steep, to soar 40 High as the summit; there to breathe at large AEthereal air, with bards and sages old, Immortal sons of praise. These flattering scenes, To this neglected labour court my song; Yet not unconscious what a doubtful task To paint the finest features of the mind, And to most subtile and mysterious things Give colour, strength, and motion. But the love Of Nature and the Muses bids explore, Through secret paths erewhile untrod by man, 50 The fair poetic region, to detect Untasted springs, to drink inspiring draughts, And shade my temples with unfading flowers Cull'd from the laureate vale's profound recess, Where never poet gain'd a wreath before. From Heaven my strains begin: from Heaven descends The flame of genius to the human breast, And love and beauty, and poetic joy And inspiration. Ere the radiant sun Sprang from the east, or 'mid the vault of night 60 The moon suspended her serener lamp; Ere mountains, woods, or streams adorn'd the globe, Or Wisdom taught the sons of men her lore; Then lived the Almighty One: then, deep retired In his unfathom'd essence, view'd the forms, The forms eternal of created things; The radiant sun, the moon's nocturnal lamp, The mountains, woods, and streams, the rolling globe, And Wisdom's mien celestial. From the first Of days, on them his love divine he fix'd, 70 His admiration: till in time complete What he admired and loved, his vital smile Unfolded into being. Hence the breath Of life informing each organic frame; Hence the green earth, and wild resounding wares; Hence light and shade alternate, warmth and cold, And clear autumnal skies and vernal showers, And all the fair variety of things. But not alike to every mortal eye Is this great scene unveil'd. For, since the claims 80 Of social life to different labours urge The active powers of man, with wise intent The hand of Nature on peculiar minds Imprints a different bias, and to each Decrees its province in the common toil. To some she taught the fabric of the sphere, The changeful moon, the circuit of the stars, The golden zones of heaven; to some she gave To weigh the moment of eternal things, Of time, and space, and fate's unbroken chain, 90 And will's quick impulse; others by the hand She led o'er vales and mountains, to explore What healing virtue swells the tender veins Of herbs and flowers; or what the beams of morn Draw forth, distilling from the clifted rind In balmy tears. But some, to higher hopes Were destined; some within a finer mould She wrought and temper'd with a purer flame. To these the Sire Omnipotent unfolds The world's harmonious volume, there to read 100 The transcript of Himself. On every part