Six Centuries of English Poetry: Tennyson to Chaucer

AN ODE TO HIMSELF.

Where dost Thou careless lie
Buried in ease and sloth?
Knowledge that sleeps, doth die;
And this security,
It is the common moth
That eats on wits and arts, and [so] destroys them both.

Are all the Aonian1 springs
Dried up? lies Thespia waste?
Doth Clarius'2 harp want strings,
That not a nymph now sings;
Or droop they as disgrac'd,
To see their seats and bowers by chattering pies3 defac'd?

If hence4 thy silence be,
As 'tis too just a cause,
Let this thought quicken thee:
Minds that are great and free
Should not on fortune pause;
'Tis crown enough to virtue5 still, her own applause.

What though the greedy fry
Be taken with false baits
Of worded balladry,
And think it poesy?
They die with their conceits,
And only piteous scorn upon their folly waits.

Then take in hand thy lyre;
Strike in thy proper strain;
With Japhet's line,6 aspire
Sol's chariot for new fire,
To give the world again:
Who aided him, will thee, the issue of Jove's brain.7

And, since our dainty age
Cannot endure reproof,
Make not thyself a page
To that strumpet the stage;
But sing high and aloof,
Safe from the wolf's black jaw, and the dull ass's hoof.8

NOTES.

This poem is found in the collection of miscellaneous pieces, by Ben Jonson, entitled "Underwoods." The poet reproaches himself for his own indolence.

1. Aonian springs. The fountain Aganippe, situated in Aonia, was much frequented by the Muses, who were therefore sometimes called "Aonides." They were also called Thespiades, because Mount Helicon, one of their favored resorts, was in the vicinity of Thespia, and was itself named "Thespia rupes."2. Clarius. The name applied to the celebrated oracle of Apollo at Clarus, on the Ionian coast.3. pies. Magpies, "who make sound without sense."4. hence. For this reason. 5. virtue ... her own applause. Compare:

"Virtue is her own reward."—Dryden, Tyrannic Love.

"Virtue, a reward to itself."—Walton, Compleat Angler.

"Virtue is its own reward."—Prior, Imitations of Horace.

6. Japhet's line. The line of Iapetus, the father of Prometheus, who stole fire from the chariot of the sun.7. issue of Jove's brain. Athene, or Minerva.8. "Safe from the slanderer and the fool."

Clyx.com