To Mrs. Montagu.

While, bending at thy honour'd shrine, the Muse         Pours, MONTAGU, to thee her votive strain,     Thy heart will not her simple notes refuse,         Or chill her timid soul with cold disdain.     O might a transient spark of genius fire         The fond effusions of her fearful youth;     Then should thy virtues live upon her lyre,         And give to harmony the charm of truth.     Vain wish! they ask not the imperfect lay,         The weak applause her trembling accents breathe;     With whose pure radiance glory blends her ray,         Whom fame has circled with her fairest wreathe.     Thou, who while seen with graceful step to tread         Grandeur's enchanted round, can'st meekly pause     To rend the veil obscurity had spread         Where his lone sigh deserted Genius draws;     To lead his drooping spirit to thy fane,         Where attic joy the social circle warms;     Where science loves to pour her hallow'd strain,         Where wit, and wisdom, blend their sep'rate charms.     And lure to cherish intellectual powers,         To bid the vig'rous tides of genius roll,     Unfold, in fair expansion, fancy's flowers,         And wake the latent energies of soul;     Far other homage claims than flatt'ry brings         The little triumphs of the proud to grace:     For deeds like these a purer incense springs,         Warm from the swelling heart its source we trace!     Yet not to foster the rich gifts of mind         Alone can all thy lib'ral cares employ;     Not to the few those gifts adorn, confin'd,         They spread an ampler sphere of genuine joy.     While pleasure's lucid star illumes thy bower,         Thy pity views the distant storm that bends     Where want unshelter'd wastes the ling'ring hour; -         And meets the blessing that to heav'n ascends!     For this, while fame thro' each successive age         On her exulting lip thy name shall breathe;     While woman, pointing to thy finish'd page,         Claims from imperious man the critic wreathe;     Truth on her spotless record shall enroll         Each moral beauty to her spirit dear;     Paint in bright characters each grace of soul -         While admiration pours a gen'rous tear.