EPISTLES CRITICAL AND DIDACTIC. EPISTLE I. On the DIFFERENT STYLES OF POETRY. ΤΟ HENRY LORD VISC. BOLINGBROKE. FROM THOMAS PARNELL, D. D. Vatibus addere calcar, Ut studio majore petant Helicona virentem. Hor. I HATE the vulgar with untuneful mind; Hearts uninspir'd, and senses unrefin❜d. Hence, ye prophane: I raise the sounding string, When Greece could truth in Mystic Fable shroud, And with delight instruct the listening crowd, An ancient Poet (Time has lost his name) Deliver'd strains on Verse to future fame. Still, as he sung, he touch'd the trembling lyre, And felt the notes a rising warmth inspire. Ye sweetening Graces, in the music throng, Assist my genius, and retrieve the song From dark oblivion. See, my genius goes "WIT is the Muse's horse, and bears on high. The daring Rider to the Muses' sky: Who, while his strength to mount aloft he tries, "At first, he riseth o'er a land of toil, Where wings by fancy never feather'd fly, And sense is cramp'd while words are par'd to shape; Would all the brightest strokes of verse require, |