The "Ars Poetica" Of Horace

XXIII.     I love the lyric muse!     For when mankind ran wild in groves,     Came holy Orpheus with his songs     And turned men's hearts from bestial loves,     From brutal force and savage wrongs;     Came Amphion, too, and on his lyre     Made such sweet music all the day     That rocks, instinct with warm desire,     Pursued him in his glorious way.     I love the lyric muse!     Hers was the wisdom that of yore     Taught man the rights of fellow-man--     Taught him to worship God the more     And to revere love's holy ban;     Hers was the hand that jotted down     The laws correcting divers wrongs--     And so came honor and renown     To bards and to their noble songs.     I love the lyric muse!     Old Homer sung unto the lyre,     Tyrtaeus, too, in ancient days--     Still, warmed by their immortal fire,     How doth our patriot spirit blaze!     The oracle, when questioned, sings--     So we our way in life are taught;     In verse we soothe the pride of kings,     In verse the drama has been wrought.     I love the lyric muse!     Be not ashamed, O noble friend,     In honest gratitude to pay     Thy homage to the gods that send     This boon to charm all ill away.     With solemn tenderness revere     This voiceful glory as a shrine     Wherein the quickened heart may hear     The counsels of a voice divine!