_Antiquity of Poetry_

Sure when the Maker in his Heav'nly Breast
Design'd a Creature to command the rest,
Of all th' _Erected Progeny of Clay_
His Noblest Labour was his _First Essay_.
There shone th' Eternal Brightness, and a Mind
Proportion'd for the Father of Mankind.
The Vigor of Omnipotence was seen
In his high Actions, and Imperial Mien.
Inrich'd with Arts, unstudy'd and untaught,
With loftiness of Soul, and dignity of Thought
To Rule the World, and what he Rul'd to Sing,
And be at once the Poet and the King.
Whether his Knowledge with his breath he drew,
And saw the Depth of Nature at a View;
Or, new descending from th' Angelick race,
Retain'd some tincture of his Native Place.

Fine was the Matter of the curious Frame,
Which lodg'd his _Fiery Guest_[1], and like the same
Nor was a less Resemblance in his Sense,
His Thoughts were lofty, just his Eloquence.
Whene're He spoke, from his _Seraphick_ Tongue
Ten Thousand comely Graces, ever young,
With new _Calliopes_ and _Clio's_ sprung.
No shackling Rhyme chain'd the free Poet's mind,
Majestick was His Style, and unconfin'd.
Vast was each Sentence, and each wondrous strain
Sprung forth, unlabour'd, from His fruitful Brain.