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APOLLO'S VISIT.

Then Erato he sought, the Muse of Love;

But here, again, it was his lot to prove

What bitter hopelessness his search befel! For, in the stead of Erato, he saw,

Scribbling soft rubbish with immense eclat,

She of the three initials L. E. L.

Now Polyhymnia, who over song

And harmony presides, among the throng

He sought; but, in her place, alas, he found
A lady full of quavers and of shakes,
A prima donna making sad mistakes,
Giving for harmony unnatural sounds.

Calliope his next attention claimed,
Of epic poetry the goddess named;

But her he found asleep with fast-closed eye:

He tried to wake her, but 'twas all in vain;

Phoebus at first her trance could not explain,

Until he saw Montgomery's Satan by.

135

136.

APOLLO'S VISIT.

Lastly Urania he turns to find,

To whom Astronomy has been assigned;

But fate once more his inclination mars:

Disgusted with our uncongenial clime,

Urania, since Sir Isaac Newton's time,

Has taken up her quarters in the stars.

Hurt at the treatment which his protegés

Have met with, "Phoebus you're a fool," he says,

"For sending them to this most dull of nations; Since English apathy to death has frozen

Each veritable Muse, while they have chosen

To worship only vulgar imitations."

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