James Thomson, 1727 (1700-1748)
Happy Britannia! where the Queen of Arts,
Inspiring vigour, Liberty abroad
Walks unconfined, even to thy farthest cots,
And scatters plenty with unsparing hand
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Thy sons of glory many! Alfred thine,
In whom the splendour of heroic war,
And more heroic peace, when govern’d well,
Combine; whose hallow’d name the Virtues Saint,
And his own Muses love; the best of kings!
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Fair thy renown
In awful sages and in noble bards;
Soon as the light of dawning Science spread
Her orient ray, and waked the Muses’ song.
......
For lofty sense,
Creative fancy, and inspection keen
Through the deep windings of the human heart,
Is not wild Shakespeare thine and Nature’s boast?
The Seasons: Summer. 1727, ll. 1442-6, 1479-83, 1531-4, and 1563-6.