Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 1.djvu/468

426 Because Parnassus, though a Mount divine,

Is poor as Irus, or an Irish mine.

Two objects always should the Poet move,

Or one or both,—to please or to improve.

Whate'er you teach, be brief, if you design

For our remembrance your didactic line;

Redundance places Memory on the rack,

For brains may be o'erloaded, like the back.

Fiction does best when taught to look like Truth,

And fairy fables bubble none but youth:

Expect no credit for too wondrous tales,

Since Jonas only springs alive from Whales!

Young men with aught but Elegance dispense;

Maturer years require a little Sense.

To end at once:—that Bard for all is fit

Who mingles well instruction with his wit;