THE

POWERS OF GENIUS.

Combination of Genius.

[bine,

OBSERVE the man in whom these powers com-
Rous'd and excited by some great design;
Where'er he darts his intellectual ray,
Obstructions vanish, mountains melt away;
The prospect clears, and in the darkest night,
The torch of Genius sheds its searching light.

Her voice of thunder like Prospero's rod,
Bids fairy people tremble at her nod,
She bids them leave the silent depths of sleep,
And with their pinions overshade the deep;
Her forces follow at her magic call,

She guides their footsteps, gives her rules to all.
What she designs her nervous arm performs;

She builds her fabric in the war of storms:
The floods descend--it braves the mighty shock;

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Wonderful Powers of Ferdusi,

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Wide to the wind its massy doors unclose,
And hail the stranger to its safe repose:
Thus stands the oak upon the mountain's brow,
And throws its shelter on the shrubs below;
Thus with his wing the eagle guards his nest,
And rock'd in tempests soothes his young to rest.
What bard is that, whose beard all hoary white,
Waves to the breeze which fans the brow of night?
What bard is that, who from his soul of fire,
Rolls the loud thunder of his epic lyre?
Son of the East! what bard is that declare,
Whose eye rolls wildly in the gloom of care?
----Ferdusi * hail! and hail thy wond'rous strain
Which tells the history of thy native plain.
Hail to thy spirit, which thro' lengthening time
Preserv'd its vigour, and its song sublime,

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* Sir William Jones in his Treatise on Oriental Poetry, affixed to his life of Nadir Shah, mentions this poet and his wonderful work. It is entitled, "Shah Nameh," it is a series of epic poems, a poetical record of the annals of Persia, and is said to contain sixty thousand couplets. Mahmud Gazni, sultan of Zablestan, imposed this task upon Ferdusi, and after he had underwent the toil of thirty years to complete his work, the miserly emperor excited his indignation by his scant and pitiful reward.--In disdain the injured bard retired from his court, and sought the protection of the generous caliph of Bagdat. The merits of this poem

THE

POWERS OF GENIUS.

Combination of Genius.

[bine,

OBSERVE the man in whom these powers com-
Rous'd and excited by some great design;
Where'er he darts his intellectual ray,
Obstructions vanish, mountains melt away;
The prospect clears, and in the darkest night,
The torch of Genius sheds its searching light.

Her voice of thunder like Prospero's rod,
Bids fairy people tremble at her nod,
She bids them leave the silent depths of sleep,
And with their pinions overshade the deep;
Her forces follow at her magic call,

She guides their footsteps, gives her rules to all.
What she designs her nervous arm performs;

She builds her fabric in the war of storms:
The floods descend--it braves the mighty shock;

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Bacon; Newton.

Which form'd, and finish'd its stupendous plan,
Fame says the greatest ever form'd by man.

Great Bacon's* soul first led the daring way; Then Newton's system call'd the world to day; Hurl'd from his throne, the ruthless king of night, Pierc'd his retreat and put his hosts to flight:

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refinement, therefore, may have been introduced into the works of the moderns, the spirit and invention of Homer have ever continued without a rival: for which reason I am far from pretending to assert that the poet of Persia is equal to that of Greece, but there is certainly a very great resemblance between the works of those extraordinary men. Both drew their images from Nature herself, without catching them only by reflection, and painting in the manner of the modern poets, the likeness of a likeness; and both possessed, in an eminent degree, that rich and creative invention which is the very soul of poetry."

* It is well known in the literary world, that the discoveries of Newton, excepting those which belong to pure mathematics, were derived from those outlines drawn by the bold hand of Bacon. Newton has exhibited a perfect and accurate system, but he had the example and directions of Bacon. "It would nevertheless (says Dr. Gerard) be a question of very difficult solution, which of the two possess ed the greatest genius; Newton's inquiries concerning bodies the most subtle or the most remote, seem to demand an acuteness and compass of invention, which we might pronounce adequate to all the investigations of Bacon, though his discoveries in mathematics, perfectly original, were not extant to give a sanction to the judgment.”