a garland then were nosegays twined, And from the works that mortal hands had made, A second, nobler art was now displayed. The child of beauty, self-sufficient now, That issued from your hands to perfect day, Loses the chaplet that adorned its brow, Soon as reality asserts its sway. The column, yielding to proportion's chains, Must with its sisters join in friendly link, The hero in the hero-band must sink, The Muses' harp peals forth its tuneful strains. The wondering savages soon came To view the new creation's plan "Behold!"βthe joyous crowds exclaim,β "Behold, all this is done by man!" With jocund and more social aim The minstrel's lyre their awe awoke, Telling of Titans, and of giant's frays And lion-slayers, turning, as he spoke, Even into heroes those who heard his lays. For the first time the soul feels joy, By raptures blessed that calmer are, That only greet it from afar, That passions wild can ne'er destroy, And that, when tasted, do not cloy. And now the spirit, free and fair, Awoke from out its sensual sleep; By you unchained, the slave of care Into the arms of joy could leap. Each brutish barrier soon was set at naught, Humanity first graced the cloudless brow, And the majestic, noble stranger, thought, From out the wondering brain sprang boldly now. Man in his glory stood upright, And showed the stars his kingly face; His speaking glance the sun's bright light Blessed in the realms sublime of space. Upon the cheek now bloomed the smile, The voice's soulful harmony Expanded into song the while, And feeling swam in the moist eye; And from the mouth, with spirit teeming o'er, Jest, sweetly linked with grace, began to pour. Sunk in the instincts of the worm, By naught but sensual lust possessed, Ye recognized within his breast Love-spiritual's noble germ; And that this germ of love so blest Escaped the senses' abject load, To the first pastoral song he owed. Raised to the dignity of thought, Passions more calm to flow were taught From the bard's mouth with melody. The cheeks with dewy softness burned; The longing that, though quenched, still yearned, Proclaimed the spirit-harmony. The wisest's wisdom, and the strongest's vigor,β The meekest's meekness, and the noblest's grace, By you were knit together in one figure, Wreathing a radiant glory round the place. Man at the Unknown's sight must tremble, Yet its refulgence needs must love; That mighty Being to resemble, Each glorious hero madly strove; The prototype of beauty's earliest strain Ye made resound through Nature's wide domain. The passions' wild and headlong