Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO THOMAS STANLEY, ON HIS POEMS AND TRANSLATIONS, by WILLIAM HAMMOND


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO THOMAS STANLEY, ON HIS POEMS AND TRANSLATIONS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: If what we know be made ourselves, for by
Last Line: To crown thee, ravish garlands from his dust.
Subject(s): Poetry & Poets; Stanley, Thomas (1625-1678); Translating & Interpreting


IF what we know be made ourselves, for by
Divesting all materiality,
And melting the bare species into
Our intellect; ourselves are what we know,
Thou art in largeness of thy knowing mind,
As a seraphic essence unconfin'd;
Content within those narrow walls to dwell,
Yet canst so far that point of flesh out-swell,
That thine intelligence extends through all
Languages which we European call.
What Colossaean strides dost thou enlarge!
Fixing one foot in Sequan's wat'ry barge,
Dost in Po t' other lave, teaching each swan
A note more dying than their idiom can:
Vext Tagus' nymphs receive of thee new dresses,
Composing in Thame's glass their golden tresses:
Yea, more, I've seen thy young Muse bathe her wing
In the deep waters of Stagira's spring.
Nor do thy beams warm by reflex alone;
Those that emerge directly from the Sun
Of thy rich fancy, warm our loves, as well
As those whom other languages repel;
Thou the divine acts thus dost imitate,
As well conserve an author, as create.
On then, brave youth, learning's full system; go,
Enlarge thyself to a vast folio;
That the world in suspense where to bestow
That admiration, which it late did owe
To the large-knowing Belgic Magazine,
May justly pay it thee as his assign.
If future hours with laden thighs shall strive
To fill as well thine intellectual hive,
As those are past, the Court of Honour must,
To crown thee, ravish garlands from his dust.





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