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To hint at all the subject in a line;
And draw in miniature the whole design.
Nor in themselves confide; but next implore
The timely aid of some celestial pow'r;
To guide your labours, and point out your road;
Choose, as you please, your tutelary god;
But still invoke some guardian deity,
Some pow'r, to look auspicious from the sky;
To nothing great should mortals bend their care,
'Till Jove be solemnly addrest in pray'r.
'Tis not enough to call for aid divine,
And court but once the favour of the nine;
When objects rise, that mock your toil, and pain,
Above the labour and the reach of man;
Then you may supplicate the blest abodes,
And ask the friendly succour of the gods.
Shock not your reader, nor begin too fierce,
Nor swell and bluster in a pomp of verse;
At first all needless ornament remove,
To shun his prejudice, and win his love.
When you set out, you meet with most success,
In plain expression, and a modest dress.

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