Anonymous

“ Concise and clear, I thought it must be so.
If he advis'd, to choose each theme with care,
As genius prompts, or as our strength will bear;
The man, who scarce a birthday ode could frame,
Yet dar'd an epic, was, I thought, to blame. ”

“ Man's first offence, and Eden's bow'rs betray'd.
Isis then saw me tread, with willing feet,
Her winding banks, the Muses' lov'd retreat.
Here hoary Science taught me to compare
Truth's genuine light with Falshood's outward glare:
Gave me to scan each ancient sage's theme,
Zeno's stern rule, and Plato's learned dream. ”