IF by dull rhymes our English must be chain'd, And, like Andromeda, the Sonnet sweet Fetter'd, in spite of pained loveliness, Let us find out, if we must be constrain'd, Sandals more interwoven and complete To fit the naked foot of Poesy: Let us inspect the Lyre, and weigh the stress Of every chord, and see what may be gain'd By ear industrious, and attention meet; Misers of sound and syllable, no less Than Midas of his coinage, let us be Jealous of dead leaves in the bay wreath crown; So, if we may not let the Muse be free, She will be bound with garlands of her own. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MIDSUMMER FROST (2) by ISAAC ROSENBERG DOWNFALL OF POLAND [FALL OF WARSAW, 1794] by THOMAS CAMPBELL BOSTON HYMN; READ IN MUSIC HALL, JANUARY 1, 1863 by RALPH WALDO EMERSON ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD by THOMAS GRAY THE MASTER BLACKSMITH by ARNOLD ANDREWS TO THE SHAH (2) by AWHAD AD-DIN 'ALI IBN VAHID MUHAMMAD KHAVARANI |