And ye, Pierian Sisters,[BS] sprung from Jove And sage Mnemosyne,--full long debarred[149] From your first mansions, exiled all too long[150] From many a hallowed stream and grove,[151] Dear native regions[BT] where ye wont to rove, 115 Chanting for patriot heroes the reward Of never-dying song! Now (for, though Truth descending from above The Olympian summit hath destroyed for aye Your kindred Deities, _Ye_ live and move,[BU] 120 Spared for obeisance from perpetual love For privilege redeemed of god-like sway) Now,[152] on the margin of some spotless fountain, Or top serene of unmolested mountain, Strike audibly the noblest of your lyres, 125 And for a moment meet the soul's desires![153] That I, or some more favoured Bard, may hear What ye, celestial Maids! have often sung Of Britain's acts,--may catch it with rapt ear, And give the treasure to our British tongue! 130 So shall the characters of that proud page Support their mighty theme from age to age; And, in the desert places of the earth, When they to future empires have given birth, So shall the people gather and believe 135 The bold report, transferred to every clime; And the whole world, not envious but admiring, And to the like aspiring, Own--that the progeny of this fair Isle Had power as lofty actions to achieve 140 As were performed in man's heroic prime; Nor wanted, when their fortitude had held Its even tenor, and the foe was quelled, A corresponding virtue to beguile The hostile purpose of wide-wasting Time-- 145 That not in vain they laboured to secure, For their great deeds, perpetual memory, And fame as largely spread as land and sea, By Works of spirit high and passion pure! VARIANTS: [Footnote 131: 1827. And Fancy in her airy bower kept watch, Free to exert some kindly influence; I saw--but little boots it that my verse A shadowy visitation should rehearse, For to our Shores such glory hath been brought, That dreams no brighter are than waking thought-- 1816. Free to exert her kindliest influence; 1820. ] [Footnote 132: 1827. A landscape richer than the happiest skill 1816. ] [Footnote 133: 1827. Tower, town, and city--and suburban grove, 1816. ] [Footnote 134: 1832. ... wild deer rove; And, in a clouded quarter of the sky, Through such a portal as with chearful eye The traveller greets in time of threatened storm, Issued, to sudden view, a radiant Form! 1816.