Page:The Pleasures of Imagination - Akenside (1744).djvu/101

Rh The prospect from that sweet accession gains Redoubled influence o'er the list'ning mind.


 * By these mysterious ties the busy pow'r

Of mem'ry her ideal train preserves Intire; or when they would elude her watch, Reclaims their fleeting footsteps from the waste Of dark oblivion; thus collecting all The various forms of being to present, Before the curious aim of mimic art, Their largest choice: like spring's unfolded blooms Exhaling sweetness, that the skilful bee May taste at will, from their selected spoils To work her dulcet food. For not th' expanse Of living lakes in summer's noontide calm, Reflects the bord'ring shade and sun-bright heav'ns With fairer semblance; not the sculptur'd gold More faithful keeps the graver's lively trace, Than he whose birth the sister-pow'rs of art Propitious view'd, and from his genial star Shed influence to the seeds of fancy kind; Than his attemper'd bosom must preserve The seal of nature. There alone unchang'd, Her form remains. The balmy walks of May There breathe perennial sweets: the trembling chord Re-