Oh, thou, in Hellas deemed of heavenly
birth,
Muse, formed or fabled at the minstrel’s
will!
Since shamed full oft by later lyres
on earth,
Mine dares not call thee from thy
sacred hill:
Yet there I’ve wandered by
thy vaunted rill;
Yes! sighed o’er Delphi’s
long-deserted shrine
Where, save that feeble fountain,
all is still;
Nor mote my shell awake the weary
Nine
To grace so plain a tale—this lowly lay
of mine.
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