Epistle to a Friend Concerning Poetry (1700) and the Essay on Heroic Poetry (second edition, 1697) by Samuel Wesley
page 45 of 85 (52%)
page 45 of 85 (52%)
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Each nicer _Vertue_ from the _Walls_ repel, 910
And _Heav'n_ it self regale with the Perfumes of _Hell_. This from the World our dreaded _Foe_ will drive, As _murm'ring Bees_ are forc'd to leave their _Hive_; _Souls_ so _refin'd_ such _Vapours_ cannot bear, But seek their _native Heav'n_ and purer Air: When _She_ and all her heav'nly _Guards_ are gone And her bright _Heroe_ absent, all's our own: If any _pious Fools_ should make a stand, To stop our _Progress_ through the conquer'd Land, They soon shall pass for _hot-brain'd Visionairs_, 920 We'll run 'em down with _Ridicule_ and _Farce_. Must they _reform_ the World! A likely _Task_! Tis _Vizard_ all, and them we'll soon _unmask_. The rest will _tumble_ in, or if they stay And loiter in _Damnation's_ ample Way, I've one _Expedient_ left, which can't but take, My last _Reserve_; From yon black _brimstone_ Lake, Whence two _Canals_ thro _subterranean Veins_ Are drawn to _Sodom_ and _Campania's_ Plains, My self I'll fill a _Vial_, and infuse 930 My very Soul amid the _potent Juice_: This _Essence_ near my _Heart_ I'll with me bear, } And this among my _dearest Fav'rites_ share, } Already _tutor'd_ by the _Theatre_; } Who pass'd those _Bugbears Conscience, Law_ and _Shame_ Have there been taught that _Virtue's_ but a _Name_: _Exalted Souls_ who _vulgar Sins_ despise; Fit for some _new discover'd_ nobler _Vice_; One _Drop_ of this their _frozen Blood_ shall warm, |
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