C 1 



Nor paint confpicuous on the foremoft plain 120 

 Whate'er is falfe, impertinent, or vain ; vi. 



Every foreign 



But like the Tragic Mufe, thy luftre throw, 

 Where the chief a&ion claims its warmcft glow. 



This rare, this arduous tafk no rules can teach, 

 No fkill'd preceptor point, no practice reach ; 125 

 'Tis Tafte, 'tis Genius, 'tis the heav'nly ray 

 Prometheus ravifh'd from the car of day. 



In Egypt firft the infant Art appear'd, 

 Rude and unform'd; but when to Greece fhe fteer'd 



Nee quod inane, nihil facit ad rem, five videtur inanen-j'icle*- 



Improprium, minimeque urgens, potiora tenebit 

 -Ornamenta operisj Tragicjc fed lege fororis, 85 



Summa ubi res agitur, vis fumma requiritur Artis. 



Ifla labore gravi, ftudio., monitifque magiftri 

 Ardua pars nequit addifci : rariffima namque, 

 Ni prius asthereo rapuit quod ab axe Prometheus 

 Sit jubar infufum menti cum flamine vita?. <jo 



Mortal! haud cuivis divina haec munera dantur ; 

 uti Daedal earn licet omnibus 'ire Corintbum* 

 fj 2, 



