Classic Poem

Tell me what genius did the art invent,
The lively image of a voice to paint?
Who first the secret how to colour sound,
And to give shape to reason wisely found?
With bodies how to clothe ideas taught,
And how to draw the picture of a thought?
Who taught the hand to speak, the eye to hear,
A silent language roving far and near;
Whose softest notes outstrip loud thunder's sound,
And spread their accents through the world's vast round;
Yet with kind secrecy securely roll
Whispers of absent friends from pole to pole!
A speech heard by the deaf, spoke by the dumb,
Whose echo reaches long long time to come;
Which dead men speak as well as those alive:
Tell me what genius did this art contrive?