THE PRAISE OF PINDAR.
IN IMITATION OF HORACE'S SECOND ODE, B. IV.
"Pindarum quisquis studet æmulari, &c."
Pindar is imitable by none;
The Phœnix Pindar is a vast species alone.
Who e'er but Dædalus with waxen wings could fly,
And neither sink too low nor soar too high?
What could he who follow'd claim,
But of vain boldness the unhappy fame,
And by his fall a sea to name?
Pindar's unnavigable song
Like a swoln flood from some steep mountain pours along;
The ocean meets with such a voice,
From his enlarged mouth, as drowns the ocean's noise.
The Phœnix Pindar is a vast species alone.
Who e'er but Dædalus with waxen wings could fly,
And neither sink too low nor soar too high?
What could he who follow'd claim,
But of vain boldness the unhappy fame,
And by his fall a sea to name?
Pindar's unnavigable song
Like a swoln flood from some steep mountain pours along;
The ocean meets with such a voice,
From his enlarged mouth, as drowns the ocean's noise.
So Pindar does new words and figures roll
Down his impetuous dithyrambick tide,
Which in no channel deigns t' abide,
Which neither banks nor dykes control:
Whether th' immortal Gods he sings,
In a no less immortal strain,
Or the great acts of God-descended kings,
Who in his numbers still survive and reign;
Down his impetuous dithyrambick tide,
Which in no channel deigns t' abide,
Which neither banks nor dykes control:
Whether th' immortal Gods he sings,
In a no less immortal strain,
Or the great acts of God-descended kings,
Who in his numbers still survive and reign;
