BLEST leaf! whose aromatic gales dispense To templars modesty, to parsons sense: So raptured priests, at famed Dodona's shrine Drank inspiration from the steam divine. Poison that cures, a vapour that affords Content, more solid than the smile of lords: Rest to the weary, to the hungry food, The last kind refuge of the wise and good. Inspired by thee, dull cits adjust the scale Of Europe's peace, when other statesmen fail. By thee protected, and thy sister, beer, Poets rejoice, nor think the bailiff near. Nor less the critic owns thy genial aid, While supperless he plies the piddling trade. What, though to love and soft delights a foe, By ladies hated, hated by the beau, Yet social freedom, long to court unknown, Fair bealth, fair truth, and virtue are thy own. Come to thy poet, come with healing wings, And let me taste thee unexcised by kings. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DREAM-PEDLARY by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES THE LAND OF COUNTERPANE by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON I SHALL LIVE TO BE OLD by SARA TEASDALE DEATH by MALTBIE DAVENPORT BABCOCK HON. MR. SUCKLETHUMBKIN'S STORY: THE EXECUTION; A SPORTING ANECDOTE by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM THE LAST MAN: KISSES by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES |