"From the blooming store / Of these auspicious fields, may I unblam'd / Transplant some living blossoms to adorn / My native clime: while far above the flight / Of fancy's plume aspiring, I unlock / The springs of ancient wisdom; while I join / Thy name, thrice honour'd! with the immortal praise / Of nature, while to my compatriot youth / I point the high example of thy sons, / And tune to Attic themes the British lyre."
The Pleasures of Imagination
Over 33 entries in the ESTC (1744, 1748, 1754, 1758, 1759, 1763, 1765, 1767, 1768, 1769, 1771, 1775, 1777, 1780, 1786, 1788, 1794, 1795, 1796).<br>
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Text from Mark Akenside, <u>The Poems Of Mark Akenside</u> (London: W. Bowyer and J. Nichols, 1772).<br>
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Compare the poem as first published: Mark Akenside, <u>The Pleasures of Imagination: A Poem. In Three Books.</u> (London: Printed for R. Dodsley 1744). &lt;<a href="http://name.umdl.umich.edu/004832460.0001.000">Link to ECCO-TCP</a>&gt; &lt;<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=vy0GAAAAQAAJ">Link to Google Books</a>&gt;<br>
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Also reading <u>The Pleasures of Imagination</u> (Otley, England: Woodstock Books, 2000), which reprints <u>The Pleasures of Imagination. By Mark Akenside, M.D. to Which Is Prefixed a Critical Essay on the Poem, by Mrs. Barbauld.</u> (London: Printed for T. Cadell, jun. and W. Davies, (successors to Mr. Cadell), 1795). &lt;<a href="http://estc.bl.uk/T85421">Link to ESTC</a>&gt;