To Roberto

Miss Porden

Where hast thou been, to what new sphere,
Hast thou pursued thy arduous flight,
Hast thou been new Munchaussen stories framing
New worlds discovering and new planets naming,

Or didst thou to the sun thy journey steer,
To find the nature and the cause of light.
Or in the blue aetherial vault afar,
Now dost thou shine anew discovered star,
Or as a comet shew they radiant face.
If so, tho’ in that bright disguise,
Still may we view thee with admiring eyes,
And thy eccentric course thro’ aether trace,
But if thou dwell’st in this sublunar vale
Soon may thy Attic friends thy pleasing presence hail.

The Genii of the Attic Chest