LXV

TO MR. HENRY CARY,

ON THE PUBLICATION OF HIS SONNETS.

Marcellus, since the ardors of my strain

To thy young eyes and kindling fancy, gleam

With somewhat of the vivid hues, that stream

From Poesy's bright orb, each envious stain

Shed by dull Critics, venal, vex'd and vain,

Seems recompens'd at full;—and so wou'd seem

Did not maturer Sons of Phœbus deem

My verse Aonian.—Thou, in time, shalt gain,

Like them, amid the letter'd World, that sway

Which makes encomium fame;—so thou adorn,

Extend, refine and dignify thy lay,

And Indolence, and Syren Pleasure scorn;

Then, at high noon, thy Genius shall display

The splendors promis'd in its shining morn.