Page:Alexander's Feast - 1904.djvu/8

 IMOTHEUS, placed on high

Amid the tuneful quire,

With flying fingers touched the lyre:

The trembling notes ascend the sky,

And heavenly joys inspire.

The song began from Jove,

Who left his blissful seats above,

(Such is the power of mighty love.)

A dragon's fiery form belied the god:

Sublime on radiant spires he rode,

When he to fair Olympia pressed:

And while he sought her snowy breast,

Then round her slender waist he curled,

And stamped an image of himself, a sovereign

of the world.

The listening crowd admire the lofty sound,

A present deity, they shout around;

A present deity, the vaulted roofs rebound:

With ravished ears

The monarch hears,

Assumes the god,

Affects to nod,

And seems to shake the spheres.