[ The power of song ]

Orpheus, we learn from Ovid and Lempriere,
Led all wild beasts, but women, by the ear,
And had he fiddled at the present hour,
We'd seen the lions waltzing in the Tower;
And old Amphion, such were minstrels then,
Had built St. Paul's without the aid of Wren.
Verse too was justice, and the bards of Greece
Did more than constables to keep the peace;
Abolish'd cuckoldom with much applause,
Call'd county-meetings, and enforced the laws;
Cut down crown influence with reforming scythes,
And served the church — without demanding tythes:
And hence, throughout all Hellas and the East,
Each poet was a prophet and a priest,
Whose old establish'd board of joint controuls
Included kingdoms in the care of souls.

Next rose the martial Homer, Epic's prince!
And fighting's been in fashion ever since;
And old Tyrtaeus when the Spartans warr'd,
(A limping leader, but a lofty bard),
Though wall'd Ithome had resisted long,
Reduced the fortress by the force of song.
When oracles prevail'd, in times of old,
In song alone Apollo's will was told.
Then if your verse is what all verse should be,
And gods were not ashamed on't — why should we?

The Muse, like mortal females, may be woo'd,
In turns she'll seem a Paphian, or a prude;
Fierce as a bride when first she feels — affright!
Mild as the same, upon the second night!
Her eyes beseem, her heart belies, her zone;
Ice in a crowd, and lava when alone:
Wild as the wife of alderman or peer,
Now for his Grace, and now a grenadier!