And whither tends your elegance of taste,

That thus at length our homely toils you spurn,

That thus to foreign scenes you proudly turn,

That from my brow the laurel wreath you claim

To crown the rivals of your country’s fame.

What though the footsteps of my devious Muse

The measur’d walks of Grecian art refuse?

Or though the frankness of my hardy style

Mock the nice touches of the critic’s file?

Yet, what my age and climate held to view,