Page:The Pleasures of Imagination - Akenside (1744).djvu/103

Rh With endless choice perplex'd. At length his plan Begins to open. Lucid order dawns; And as from Chaos old the jarring seeds Of nature at the voice divine repair'd Each to its place, till rosy earth unveil'd Her fragrant bosom, and the joyful sun Sprung up the blue serene; by swift degrees Thus disentangled, his entire design Emerges. Colours mingle, features join, And lines converge: the fainter parts retire; The fairer eminent in light advance; And every image on its neighbour smiles. A while he stands, and with a father's joy Contemplates. Then with Promethéan art, Into its proper vehicle he breathes The fair conception; which imbodied thus, And permanent, becomes to eyes or ears An object ascertain'd: while thus inform'd, The various organs of his mimic skill, The consonance of sounds, the featur'd rock, The shadowy picture and impassion'd verse, Beyond their proper pow'rs attract the soul By that expressive semblance, while in sight Rh