Classic Poem

N ATURE must the pearl endear
Of the Elegiac tear;
Feelings can alone inspire
Tones of the pathetic Lyre;
They must form its vital string,
They must guide its ruffled wing,
On a pedant mourner's lay,
Ridicule and Satire play.
Wreckt on the sepulchral theme,
Laughter's jest and Folly's dream,
Wit, and Fancy, could not save
Cowley from Oblivion's grave,
In their Elegies entomb'd
Waller slept, and Pope was doom'd.
Art insults the tear no more:
Grief must other aid implore;
And Simplicity alone
Sheds the dew, or strikes the tone,
Which to Nature, and the heart,
Love and Sorrow can impart.