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Soul of the universe, bright Poesy! Thy spirit vivifies, and, like the blast That's burning in the desert swiftly free, In its course all inflames where it has past. Happy the man who feels within his breast The fire celestial purely is possessed! For that to worth, to virtue elevates, And to his view makes smile the shadowy forms Confused of joys to come, and future fates: Of cruel fortune 'gainst the gathering storms It shields him, causing him to dwell among The beings of his own creation bright: It arms him daringly with wings of light, And to the world invisible along Bears him, to wondering mortals to unseal The mysteries which the horrid depths reveal. High inspiration! O, what hours of joy, Deep and ineffable, without alloy, Hast thou benign conceded to my breast! On summer nights, with brilliant hues impressed,