The
Athenians
Answer
.
AH
!
Bright
Unknown
!
you
know
not
what
you
ask
!
Angels
wou'd
bend
beneath
the
unequal
Task
.
Were
that
bless'd
World
disclos'd
,
'twou'd
seem
so
fair
,
Who
wou'd
not
leap
Lifes
Barriers
to
be
there
?
Yet
see
a
Glimpse
,
all
,
Heav'n
permits
to
see
,
And
learn
the
rest
from
Faith
and
Extasie
.
The
Paradise
of
God
,
those
happy
seats
which
cost
Far
more
than
that
fair
Eden
we
have
lost
;
Exceeds
luxuriant
Fancies
richest
dress
,
And
Beggers
Rhime
and
Numbers
self
t'
express
.
—
No
,
were
we
lost
in
that
primaeval
Grove
Where
Father
Adam
with
his
New-born
Bride
Walkt
careless
,
walkt
and
lov'd
,
nor
Want
,
nor
Sin
,
Nor
jealous
Rage
,
nor
curst
tormenting
Hopes
Their
Sacred
Verge
approaching
cou'd
we
pierce
As
the
blind
Bard
,
with
intellectual
sight
Thro'
those
first
happy
Mortals
Sylvan
shade
,
Thro'clust'ring
Vines
whose
swelling
Purple
Grapes
With
generous
Juice
invited
the
bless'd
Pair
To
taste
,
nor
fear
to
dye
;
were
all
the
Springs
That
from
some
easie
Mountains
mossy
side
Or
hoary
Rock
ran
gently
murmuring
,
A
thousand
Flour's
upon
the
bending
Banks
,
A
thousand
Birds
upon
the
fragrant
Trees
,
And
Eve
her
self
all
smiling
ioyn'd
the
Quire
,
With
blissful
Hymns
of
chast
and
holy
Love
Were
these
and
more
united
to
compose
A
Poets
Heaven
to
the
true
Heaven
'twou'd
be
A
Barren
Wilderness
,
nay
worse
,
a
World
.
—
Not
Reasons
self
,
a
Ray
of
the
divine
Off-spring
,
and
Friend
of
God
,
when
manacled
In
sinful
mortal
mold
,
altho'
it
trace
,
No
Sister
Truth
thro'
each
Dedalean
maze
,
And
builds
on
Sense
with
well
poiz'd
Argument
,
Not
that
can
tell
us
what
we
there
shall
see
,
Or
have
or
know
,
or
do
,
or
ever
be
.
Nay
tho'
with
nobler
Faiths
more
perfect
Glass
,
We
look
beyond
the
Christal
starry
Worlds
,
We
know
but
part
,
sunk
in
our
darksom
selves
,
And
from
Life's
dungeon
wish
the
glim'ring
Light
,
Coasters
of
Heav'n
we
beat
along
the
shore
,
Some
Creeks
and
Landmarks
found
,
but
know
no
more
.
The
Inland
Country's
undiscover
d
still
,
The
glorious
City
of
th'
eternal
King
,
Yet
of
coelestial
Growth
we
bear
away
,
Some
rich
immortal
Fruit
,
Joy
,
Peace
and
Love
,
Knowledge
and
Praise
,
Vision
and
pure
Delight
,
Rivers
of
Bliss
,
ay-dwelling
from
the
Throne
Of
the
most
high
,
exhaustless
Fund
of
Light
.
There
,
there
is
Heav'n
,
'tis
he
who
makes
it
so
,
The
Soul
can
hold
no
more
,
for
God
is
all
,
He
only
equalls
its
capacious
Grasp
,
He
only
o're
fills
to
spaces
infinite
,
Ah
!
who
can
follow
?
—
That
shall
only
those
Who
with
intrepid
Breasts
the
World
oppose
.
Tear
out
the
glitt'ring
Snake
,
tho'
ne're
so
close
it
twine
,
And
part
with
mortal
Ioys
for
Ioys
Divine
.