Page:The Pleasures of Imagination - Akenside (1744).djvu/20

6 That uncreated beauty, which delights The mind supreme. They also feel her charms; Enamour'd, they partake th' eternal joy.


 * As Memnon's marble harp, long renown'd of old

By fabling Nilus, to the quivering touch Of Titan's ray, with each repulsive string Consenting, sounded thro' the warbling air Unbidden strains; ev'n so did nature's hand To certain species of external things, Attune the finer organs of the mind: So the glad impulse of congenial pow'rs, Or of sweet sound, or fair proportion'd form, The grace of motion, or the bloom of light, Thrills thro' imagination's tender frame, From nerve to nerve: all naked and alive They catch the spreading rays: till now the soul At length discloses every tuneful spring, To that harmonious movement from without Responsive. Then the inexpressive strain Diffu-