Page:The Pleasures of Imagination - Akenside (1744).djvu/67

Rh This thy benignant purpose to fulfil, I deem uncertain; and my daily cares Unfruitful all and vain, unless by thee Still farther aided in the work divine.

She ceas'd; a voice more awful thus reply'd. O thou! in whom for ever I delight, Fairer than all th' inhabitants of heaven, Best image of thy author! far from thee Be disappointment, or distaste, or blame; Who soon or late shalt every work fulfil, And no resistance find. If man refuse To hearken to thy dictates; or allur'd By meaner joys, to any other pow'r Transfer the honours due to thee alone; That joy which he pursues he ne'er shall taste, That pow'r in whom delighteth ne'er behold. Go then once more, and happy be thy toil; Go then but let not this thy smiling friend Partake thy footsteps. In her stead, behold! With thee the son of Nemesis I send; The fiend abhorr'd! whose vengeance takes account Of sacred order's violated laws. See where he calls thee, burning to be gone, Fierce to exhaust the tempest of his wrath On yon devoted head. But thou, my child, Controul his cruel frenzy, and protect Thy