Poem by Mark Akenside

On a Sermon Against Glory

I.

Come then, tell me, sage divine,
Is it an offence to own
That our bosoms e'er incline
Toward immortal glory's throne?
For with me nor pomp, nor pleasure,
Bourbon's might, Braganza's treasure,
So can fancy's dream rejoice,
So conciliate reason's choice,
As one approving word of her impartial voice.

II.

If to spurn at noble praise
Be the pass-port to thy heaven,
Follow thou those gloomy ways;
No such law to me was given,
Nor, I trust, shall I deplore me
Faring like my friends before me;
Nor an holier place desire
Than Timolean's arms acquire,
And Tully's curule chair, and Milton's golden lyre. 

1. Hymn to the Naiads
2. Ode 7. On the Use of Poetry
3. Ode 12. On Recovering from a Fit of Sickness, In the Country
4. Ambition and Content
5. Ode 8. On Leaving Holland

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