The Poetical Works of the Right Hon. George Granville, Lord Lansdowne/13
IN PRAISE OF MIRA.
Tune, tune thy lyre; begin, my Muſe!
What nymph, what queen, what goddeſs, wilt thou chuse?
Whoſe praises ſing? what charmer’s name
Tranſmit immortal down to fame?
Strike, ſtrike thy ſtrings; let Echo take the ſound,5
And bear it far, to all the mountains round;
Pindus again ſhall hear, again rejoice,
And Hæmus too, as when th’ enchanting voice
Os tuneful Orpheus charm’d the grove,
Taught oaks to dance, and made the cedars move.10
Nor Venus nor Diana will we name;
Mira is Venus and Diana too;
All that was feign’d of them apply’d to her is true:
Then ſing, my Muſe! let Mira be our theme.
As when the ſhepherds would a garland make,15
They ſearch with care the fragrant meadows round,
Plucking but here and there, and only take
The choiceſt flowers, with which ſome nymph is crown’d;
In framing Mira, ſo divinely fair
Nature has taken the ſame care;20
All that is lovely, noble, good, we ſee,
All, beauteous Mira! all bound up in thee.
Where Mira is, there is the queen of Love,
Th’ Arcadian paſtures and th’ Idalian grove.
Let Mira dance, ſo charming is her mien,25
In ev’ry movement ev’ry grace is ſeen:
Let Mira ſing, the notes ſo ſweetly wound,
The Syrens would be ſilent at the ſound.
Place me on mountains of eternal ſnow,
Where all is ice, all winter winds that blow;30
Or caſt me underneath the burning line,
Where everlaſting ſun does ſhine,
Where all is ſcorch’d—Whatever you decree,
Ye gods! wherever I ſhall be,
Mira ſhall ſtill be lov’d, and ſtill ador’d by me.35