James Beattie:
THE MINSTREL; OR, The PROGRESS OF GENIUS.
A POEM, IN TWO BOOKS.
Me vero primum dulces ante omnia Musę,THE FIRST BOOK.
Quarum sacra fero, ingenti perculsus amore,
Accipiant.--
Virgil.
Ah! who can tell how hard it is to climb
The steep where Fame's proud temple shines afar!
Ah! who can tell how many a soul sublime
Has felt the influence of malignant star,
And waged with Fortune an eternal war!
Check'd by the scoff of Pride, by Envy's frown,
And Poverty's unconquerable bar,
In life's low vale remote has pined alone,
Then dropt into the grave, unpitied and unknown!
....