And, fearing memory, with short-lived chalk
(Wanting the tongue of paper) writ their talk.
The patron of Parnassus and the Nine,
To Jove presented and the rest divine
Their suits, with comely grace and majesty.
50But Phoebus was the orator: 'Lo! I
Thy daughters undertook to patronize,
Great Emperor of the crystal-spangled skies!
And shield their measures from the sullen rage
Of envious ignorance, this critic age.