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Epistle to a Friend Concerning Poetry (1700) and the Essay on Heroic Poetry (second edition, 1697) by Samuel Wesley
page 45 of 85 (52%)
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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