When Oxford saw in her Radclivian dome Greek skill and Roman rivall'd here at home, Wond'ring she stood, till one judicious spark Address'd the crowd, and made this sage remark,— "The most unlicens'd plagiary,—this Gibbs! "Nothing in all his pile but what he cribs. "The ground he builds upon is not his own; "I know the quarry whence he had his stone, "The forest too where all his timber grow'd, "The forge in which his fused metals flow'd;— "Slightly survey the edifice intire, "'Tis all a borrow'd work from base to spire." Thus with our epic architect he deals, Who says that Milton in his poem steals; Steals, if he will;—"but without license?" No; Pedlars in verse unmeaningly do so. Him Phœbus licens'd; and the Muses nine Help'd the rare thief to raise up A DESIGN. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...INDIFFERENCE by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY THE SUICIDE by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY ODES: BOOK 2: ODE 8. AMORET by MARK AKENSIDE LINES TO MR. WYNCH ON HIS FORTH-FIFTH BIRTHDAY by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD FRAGMENTS INTENDED FOR DEATH'S JEST-BOOK: MAN'S GUARD AGAINST DEATH by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES THE LAST MAN: SWEET TO DIE by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES A LETTER TO A LADY; HER DESIRING AUTHOR TO POLISH POEMS OF BISHOP KEN by JOHN BYROM |