“And all creation’s varied works to trace;
“’Tis thine each flitting phantom to pursue,
“Each hidden power of verse to bring to view,
“To shed o’er British taste celestial day,
“And reign o’er Genius with unrivall’d sway.”
Such was the high behest—the sacred choice
Long has been sanction’d by our candid voice:
The favour’d relics of your Shakspeare’s hand,
Unrivall’d, and inimitable, stand.
If hope of fame some modern bards has led