HERE interposing, as the GODDESS paus'd, —
"Oh blest BRITANNIA! in THY Presence blest,
" THOU Guardian of Mankind! whence spring, alone,
"All human Grandeur, Happiness and Fame:
" For Toil, by THEE protected, feels no Pain;
"The poor Man's Lot with Milk and Honey flows;
" And, gilded with Thy Rays, even Death looks gay.
"Let other Lands the potent Blessings boast
" Of more exalting Suns. Let  Woods,
"Untended, yield the vegetable Fleece:
" And let the little Insect-Artist form,
"On higher Life intent, it's silken Tomb.
" Let wondering Rocks, in radiant Birth, disclose,
"The various-tinctur'd Children of the Sun.
" From the prone Beam let more delicious Fruits
"A Flavour drink, that in one piercing Taste
" Bids each combine. Let  Vineyards burst
"With Floods of Joy, with mild balsamic Juice
" The  Olive. Let  breathe
"Her spicy Gales, her vital Gums distill.
" Turbid with Gold, let  Rivers flow;
"And  Floods draw soft, o'er Pearls, their Maze.
" Let  vaunt her Treasures; let
"Deep in her Bowels her own Ruin breed,
" The yellow Traitor that her Bliss betray'd, —
"Unequall'd Bliss! — and to unequall'd Rage!
" Yet nor the gorgeous  nor golden
"Nor, in full Prime, that
" Where flames the falling Day, in Wealth and Praise,
"Shall with BRITANNIA vie, while, GODDESS, she
" Derives her Praise from  her matchless Charms.
"Her hearty Fruits the Hand of  own;
" And, warm with Culture, her thick-clustering Fields
"Prolific teem. Eternal Verdure crowns
" Her Meads; her Gardens smile eternal Spring.
"She gives the Hunter-Horse, unquell'd by Toil,
" Ardent, to rush into the rapid Chace:
"She, whitening o'er her Downs, diffusive, pours
" Unnumber'd Flocks: She weaves the fleecy Robe,
"That wraps the Nations: She, to lusty Droves,
" The richest Pasture spreads; and Her's deep-wave
"Autumnal Seas of pleasing Plenty round.
" These her Delights: And by no baneful Herb,
"No darting Tyger, no grim Lion's Glare,
" No fierce-descending Wolf, no Serpent roll'd
"In Spires immense progressive o'er the Land,
" Disturb'd. Enlivening These, add Cities, full
"Of Wealth, of Trade, of chearful toiling Crowds:
" Add thriving Towns: add Villages and Farms,
"Innumerous fow'd along the lively Vale,
" Where bold unrival'd Peasants happy dwell:
"Add ancient Seats, with venerable Oaks
" Embosom'd high, while kindred Floods below
"Wind thro' the Mead; and Those of modern Hand,
" More pompous, add, that splendid shine afar:
"Need I her limpid Lakes, her Rivers name,
" Where swarm the finny Race? Thee, chief, O
"On whose each Tide, glad with returning Sails,
" Flows in the mingled Harvest of Mankind?
"And thee, thou  whose prodigious Swell,
" And Waves, resounding, imitate the Main?
"Why need I name her deep capacious Ports,
" That point around the World? And why her Seas?
"All Ocean is her own, and every Land
" To whom her ruling Thunder Ocean bears.
"She too the Mineral feeds: th' obedient Lead,
" The Warrior-Iron, nor the Peaceful less,
"Forming of Life art-civiliz'd the Bond;
" And  the  Merchant sought of old,
"Not dreaming then of BRITAIN's brighter Fame.
" She rears to  an undaunted Race:
"Compatriot zealous, hospitable, kind,
" Her's the warm CAMBRIAN: Her's the lofty SCOT,
"To Hardship tam'd, active in Arts and Arms,
" Fir'd with a restless an impatient Flame,
"That leads him raptur'd where Ambition calls:
" And ENGLISH MERIT Her's; where meet, combin'd,
"Whate'er high Fancy, sound judicious Thought,
" An ample generous Heart, undrooping Soul,
"And firm tenacious Valour can bestow.
" Great Nurse of Fruits, of Flocks, of Commerce, SHE!
"Great Nurse of Men! by THEE, O GODDESS, taught,
" Her old Renown I trace, disclose her Source
"Of Wealth, of Grandeur, and to BRITONS sing
" A Strain the  never touch'd before. "