Page:The Pleasures of Imagination - Akenside (1744).djvu/72

58 So spake the goddess; while thro' all her frame Cœlestial raptures flow'd, in every word, In ev'ry motion kindling warmth divine To seize who listen'd. Vehement and swift As light'ning fires the aromatic shade In Æthiopian fields, the stripling felt Her inspiration catch his fervid soul, And starting from his languor thus exclaim'd.


 * Then let the trial come! and witness thou,

If terror be upon me; if I shrink To meet the storm, or faulter in my strength When hardest it besets me. Do not think That I am fearful and infirm of soul, As late thy eyes beheld: for thou hast chang'd My nature; thy commanding voice has wak'd My languid pow'rs to bear me boldly on, Where'er the will divine my path ordains Thro' toil or peril: only do not thou Forsake me; O be thou for ever near, That I may listen to thy sacred voice, And guide by thy decrees my constant feet. But say, for ever are my eyes bereft? Say, shall the fair Euphrosyné not once Appear again to charm me? Thou, in heaven! O thou eternal arbiter of things! Be thy great bidding done: for who am I To